What else but earth is so willing to be tread upon?

—Archdruid Naqua of Tellwood

The party discovers the cruel truth behind a bath house’s curative mud in today’s elementally imbued scene.

A crier, hired by local business owner Gamwit Silvers, calls out the following as the party passes through a market in a town or city:

Plagued by itches? Weary in your bones and your spirit? Have you a cut that will not heal or a wound that festers without end? Gamwit’s Magical Muds has your cure! Come sit in the warm and enchanted mud bath, and emerge with skin as soft and healthy as a newborn babe!

The crier provides the following information:

Freely:

• The location of the bath house
• The cost of a visit (3 gp per person)
• Rumors that the mud bath is dangerous are nonsense, and no visitor has been harmed in months.

DC 12 Charisma or Charisma-based skills check:

• One guest was crushed to death by the mud when the bath house opened.

The bath house has an elaborate exterior with expensive furnishings and decorations inside. A strange earthy smell permeates the air. Spellcasters may recognize the smell from summoning spells and rituals (DC 17 Intelligence or Intelligence-based skills check.) The attendant is friendly and provides the following information:

Freely:

• Gamwit hired the great Jastrix the Attemptor to enchant some mud.
• The mud does occasionally form limb-like piles, but it’s not a concern and is part of the magic.

DC 12 Charisma or Charisma-based skills check:

• A guest was crushed in an unfortunate accident, but measures have been taken to ensure that won’t happen again.

The bathing chamber is tiled and decorated with expensive tapestries. The bath is a large circular basin capable of comfortably seating up to eight Medium creatures. Taking a short rest submerged in the mud restores 10 hit points. Read the following after the party has been in the chamber a few moments (either as investigators or bathers):

The mud stirs occasionally and forms bubbles on the surface. For a moment, you think you see an open-mouthed visage before it disappears. Soon afterward, a large closed fist rises in the center of the bath then dissolves and is gone.

An earth elemental is bound to the basin by wicked magic. The effect of the magic is to slowly kill the elemental by diffusing its essence into the bath. The primary sustainer of the magic is an enchanted orb affixed to the floor of the basin. Discovering that the mud is an elemental requires a DC 12 Wisdom or Wisdom-based skill check. Understanding the nature of the magic requires a DC 12 Intelligence or Intelligence-based skill check. The elemental can be attacked in its current state. It cannot take any actions and is considered prone and defenseless. It regenerates to full health at the end of every round. Freeing the elemental requires the destruction of the orb (AC 10, hp 35) or the dispelling of the magic that traps it. Once freed, the elemental bubbles back to its home plane. Left behind in the basin is a small stone capable of providing the heat of a small campfire (1/day).

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