The Story

Jotna curses and sits next to Elma for a moment. She reaches into her pack and pulls out a dollop of lard, enough to get her through the day at least. She grimaces and eats it.
"Want any?" she offers to Elma.

Then she stands and starts looking around at the walls, as well as trying to see if the water goes someone they could follow. If the area is otherwise dry, there might be an exit?

As she does so, though, she keeps her distance from the water’s edge, saying, "Maybe… don’t disturb the water?"

Jotna scratches her head.

Borda will take a moment to sit and eat. Watching the other for a moment before resuming looking for a way out. He doubts there's enough life down here to keep something dangerous alive in the lake, but it's not worth chancing.

"Eh, not ready for a bath anyway."

Keftar picks a dryish spot away from the lake's edge and horks down a day's worth of rations. He'll allow Elma and anyone else who needs it to drink from his waterskin if they are so inclined. Who knows if that lake water is any good. His stomach has been growling from only subsisting on the porridge Turo gave them earlier and he cracks a smile as he finishes his food.

Finally, as Turo finishes his apple, Keftar decides to answer Turo's question from earlier before they entered the underground lake "room."

"What does it look like I could bring? I got this log from your place after all! I got a hammer too in case anyone has a nail. I don't know if a compass would help, but maybe something that could point the way out would be nice!"

Keftar looks a little huffy and crosses his arms. He sullenly watches as Borda looks more around the place.

Returning from his short look around, Borda sits with the others. "From the look, that water goes under the wall there, to another cave."

Jotna squints into the water and looks at the others. "Someone's gotta go for a swim, see if we can get out this way... Or what. 'Cause I would rather not have to backtrack; my feet are sore."

She sets her shield, club, and bow down. With a serious look, she says, "OK listen up, you lot. I'm gonna go check it out, but in order to do so, I'm taking off my armor, and then I'm gonna ... turn into something else. So I don't want you all losing your cool and attacking me or something. You hear? But I gotta take off everything in order to transform so... You been warned, heh."

With that, she begins to undo the straps and buckles that hold her leather armor in place. Once she is naked, she looks once more at everyone, her scarred body visible in the flickering torch light.

Suddenly, her skin turns a shade of green, matching the small patches of green around that awful scar on her head. She leans forward, her torso elongating and limbs thickening. Her hair disappears into her body and is replaced with scales. Her eyes enlarge and grow a membrane over them, as she sprouts a stout tail. After a moment of transformation, Jotna is now a giant green scaly lizard, with thick scales, a powerful jaw, and spiny teeth. Her strange bulbous eyes look at the others, her nictitating membrane sliding across her pupil, as she turns to the water and slides in.

She swims over to the opening and under water, under the wall, to see what lies on the other side.

Keftar has seen a lot in his short life, but his jaw still drops as Jotna's skin turns green and she moves into the water as a large four-legged lizard!

"Well, you don't see that every day."'

He leans back on his sitting spot and looks around at the group.

"Depending on what she finds down there, should we sleep before taking a swim? We've already walked for hours and I am pooped!"

Lizard Jotna takes a look.

Jotna returns to the group, looking around as she does so for any threats or shortcuts underwater. When she reaches the shore, she crawls out and transforms quickly and grotesquely back into human form, her body still wet from the swim, and her green scaly skin only visible on the side of her head, near her mortal wound.

She picks up her undershirt and holds it against herself for a moment and says, "So, yeah, this here is a way through, but you gotta hold your breath for a while. Maybe too long for some of you."

She eyeballs them. Could she, in her strengthened lizard form, carry one of them more quickly than they themselves could swim, thus allowing them, to get through the underwater passage fast enough not to need to hold their breath for very long? (I'e., not to need that save?)

Jotna thinks about it and adds, "I could help one of you at a time, but you’d still have to hold your breath."

"Looks like some of us could use a rest before goin' on deadly swim."