Seas Events (season 5: 43-52)

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Session 43:  Prepping the Ship for its Maiden Voyage (10 Napay 788)

• The main officers from the previous crew spent time preparing the new ship and spending their newly earned gold.

• Nathan made an arrangement with a Mystic Theurge from Iott to be the new high cleric of the floating island.

• About 1 month out from the new ship being ready to set sail, they found out that they were no longer needed as part of the corsair fleet.  The crew decided to hunt pirates and go treasure hunting while we keep an eye on the enemies of Lakius.  Nathan and Rin decided to front the money to pay an elite crew for two years.  Natsu offered to be a corporate sponsor of our ship and her crew, but Nathan declined the offer.

• The officers decided to hold interviews for crew and rented a warehouse on one of the larger delivery docks.  The first day brought hundreds of people into the mix and we weeded out many under skilled or generally unsavory candidates.  Nathan posted flyers with requirements for officers and they screened peoples' abilities and casting levels.

• At the end of the first day of interviewing, when the last three of the candidates were in the warehouse, the room suddenly went dark and the doors shut.  The warehouse starting filling with water and shortly after the crew was assaulted by water elementals.  After Nathan used magic to rid the warehouse of extra water, three shadowy watery figures appeared.  The group was ttacked and grappled in watery grips.  Reeling and hurt badly quickly, things were dire.

• Nathan was able to control one of the elemental assassins and manipulate it long enough to polymorph into a polar bear.  Chase used the vanishing ability on his new armor to disappear and sneak around the warehouse healing everyone.  Rinn fought with magically enhanced flame weapons and Sas used spirits to make grapple attempts.  Kasai was knocked out pretty quickly.  Once revived, he snuck out of the warehouse and called for help.

• The crew were barely putting a dent into the assassins.  It quickly became apparent that they were ineffective against the elementals.  Eventually Nathan forced one out of the warehouse where Valdis engaged it in combat.  Other crew members eventually joined the fight and fought to a standstill.  After a while, Kasai was able to wrangle up some help and Beverly came to the rescue.

• Nathan's knowledge of elemental forces determined that they were agents of Lakius' enemies.  Right now, we're licking our wounds and speaking to the constables about the incident.  

 

Session 44:  Setting Sail on the Guardian of the Tides (10 Napay 788 to 20 Napay 788)

• The crew finished up the last bit on the ship, finished hiring crew, named her "Guardian of the Tide" and prepared to set sail.

• The officers were invited to a private dinner with Beverly a couple days before we left port.  While there, she introduced us to a friend of hers; a renowned Diviner named Asinjin.  He is a brilliant Desert Elf; albeit surly and racist.  Asinjin proceeded to tell us that he has been working with Beverly, and several other powerful people, in order to divine the location and motives of the agents of Olhydra.  He mentioned three notable alliances.  The first is a group of pirates who defected and joined the service of Olhydra.  The second is a race of eel folk who live deep under the ocean.  The third is a mighty blue dragon that swore its allegiance to Olhydra.  All of these agents of evil are growing stronger and gathering more followers.  We were tasked with hunting them down and destroying them in order to swing the balance of power back to Lakius' side. The crew agreed to pursue the pirates first in the hope that they could salvage their ship and sell it to pay the crew for a year or two.  Asinjin provided us with a precise location of the pirates and we set sail to pursue them.

• They arrived at their location about six days after the pirates were scryed and are now tracking them to the best of our abilities.  So far, the ship has proven to perform even better than anticipated.  f

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Session 45: The Course to the Servant of the Dark Sea (20 Napay 788 to 1 Progonust 788)

• The crew sailed south in the direction of the renegade pirate ship, all the while asking questions of other sailors as they encountered other ships.  Typically, Nathan would use the crown of air to fly on board, introduce himself, then get info from the crew to connect the dots.  His reputation alone was enough to get us far.  Sas called upon a spirit of the seas who eventually told us exactly where we needed to sail. They sailed for many days and encountered few issues thanks to the Guardian of the Tide.

• Once closer to the Endless Isles and the Oddlands, they were set upon by a pirate ship; the Silver Coin.  It was cloaked somehow and was heading towards them on an intercept course, but Chase pinpointed its location with Detect Ship, the Fey gunman saw what it was by seeing through invisibility, and Nathan tried to dispel it.  When it got close enough, they fired warning shots at it with cannons and Nathan hit it with a Rogue Wave.  It fled immediately. They decided to let that ship go and stay the course hunting our original target.

• Heading to the location given by Sas's spirit guide, they were intercepted by another pirate ship; the Bronze Coin.  The weather was bad.  Chase detected the ship then Nathan put on a show with the crown of air and sucked all the cloud cover and fog into the crown in a two mile radius.  Once the other ship saw that, they disengaged.

• They continued on and came to land where another ship was detected.  Being able to see this ship, Chase was able to determine it was the one they were hunting.  It was anchored near shore next to a large patch of land with a cliff.   At this point, Sas decided to use his spirit projection ability to send his ghost to scout the situation.  He found out all manner of useful information such as the pirate crew locations on the ship, on the beach in huts, and on top of the cliff in a fort.  The fort contained Frost Giants who were being pitched a deal to rule over islands in the frozen parts of Habololy if they swear allegiance to Olyhydra.  Sas returned his spirit back to his body and reported what he saw.

• The crew decided to take the ship, subdue the crew, then convince the giants they should worship Lakius instead of the evil cultist.  Valdis led the Vaas on a dingy raid.  They took the boats from the shore and removed the pirates' way back to their ship.   The other party consisted of all Nathan, Chase, Kasai, Sas, Isiyawa, Midiyro, Ritvali, and Camile.  They swam, flew, and teleported over to the ship.  Once on board, Chase cast Resounding Voice on Nathan and he flooded the deck after intimidating them and preaching of Lakius' might.  They tried to fight back, but Nathan threw up a wind wall to block arrows.  Wake picked off pirates with his force bow, and the rest of us prepared for battle. Chase and Sas used fear and confusion to throw all those below deck into a panic.  Screams of terror could be heard from below.  Ritvali and the others started killing off panicked crew.  When it was cleared of all but a few, a lone Cleric of Sutyr stood to face us.  He ignited a flaming spiritual blade and thwarted ice darts from Chase.  As they prepped for a serious fight, the Cleric received a vicious wound from an invisible Ritvali.  Once he was weakened, Kasai summoned a water monkey to grapple him and the others cut him down.  Sas finished him with a perfect shot using a throwing dagger.  Chase and Kasai dragged the body up to the deck for Nathan to inspect and Wake plugged a force arrow into the pirate scout who managed to dive off the ship and swim to shore to warn the others.

Session 46: Securing the Crew of the Servant of Dark Sea (1 Progonust 788 to 5 Progonust 788)

• After defeating the remaining pirates on the boat and on shore, the crew gathered up their belongings, interrogated some, assigned some to man the ship back to port, and put the rest in the brig.  It was determined that the captain, a sorcerer, and an elite marksman were among the 20 crew at the fort. Nathan used the crown to fly over to the fort and speak to one of the giant guards.  He had Phillipe the Cannon Master cast Tongues on him first.  The giant didn't attack on sight after hearing Nathan speaking perfect giantish.  He convinced the guard to get his leader in order to parlay.  The leader met with him and Nathan offered to help them get rid of the Horarians who were trying to sway them to a cult.  Seeing Nathan's resolve and hearing his perfect giantish went over well as a sign of respect.  Seeing they were hungry, Nathan promised food for payment for the privilege of speaking with the leader and valuables as payment for meeting again to discuss Lakius and the removal of the Horarians.  The leader accepted the terms and Nathan returned to the boat.  They decided a sneak attack at night while the Horarians slept would be best.  The leader said we would only need to take out the guards and he would drug the rest while they slept. With the plan a go, Nathan met with the officers to discuss the details of our away teams.

• They assigned sent the Fey and Ritvali to dispatch the guards and the rest went to meet up with them afterwards.  They took a warrior from the crew, Mernin who spoke barbarian and Thermon as his protector.  Veronika was nice enough to sew him a red shirt for the occasion.  They cast spells on everyone once they reached the top of the cliff and proceeded to the fort.   Once they received the agreed upon signal from the giants (a lit torch), they made their way.  Ritvali and the Fey made short work of the guards and everyone else surrendered after groggily waking to their leaders being beaten unconscious.  Only the captain was killed. They gathered the items, gave metal and coin to the giants, and successfully convinced the giants to consider the faith of Lakius.  They were impressed by the crew's might and agreed to have Nathan back to the island.

• They headed back to the Guardian and talked to the prisoners about their fate.  They could peacefully man the captive ship back to the Destroytian Republic under our supervision and they would be spared being reported to the authorities, or they could remain in the brig and be released to their custody as prisoners of war.  To no one's surprise, dozens volunteered to man the ship.  The crew interrogated the pirates and tested their allegiance before determining who was safe and who remained locked up. They plan on sailing back to the Destroytian Republic since they are allies.  There they will hopefully sell the ship.

• As time passes Camile is utterly disgusted with Chase and his Bardic style.  She's none too pleased with Veronika's shenanigans either.  She laid out an ultimatum to Nathan that consists of her or Chase.  She refuses to go any further with Chase on board.  Nathan is soul searching for the right answer in this dilemma.

Session 47: Hopes of an Easy Bounty Capsized  (5 Progonust 788 to 12 Progonust 788)

• The crews on both ships sailed forth to the Destroytian Republic with the Servant in tow.  While en route, the Guardian was stopped in mid-sail and the Servant nearly crashed into the Guardian, but a collision was averted by quick thinking on Nathan's part with a control water spell.

• A high-pitched voice came from the fog and clouds demanding we give up the Guardian and "The Cleric of Tfop."  The current clerics started to panic, but the rest of the crew figured out the creature was referring to Claude.  The crew was given one minute to prepare, so we began to cast spells and think of alternatives.

• Nathan donned the crown, transformed into a bear, and dove into the water to asses the threat.  He determined there was something down there, but couldn't figure out exactly what it was before his magic was snuffed out and the crown ceased to function.  On deck, our seasoned sailors determined that something was physically holding our ship back and that it wasn't magical.

• After the minute passed and we refused to surrender, the Servant started to slowly capsize.  They freed the prisoners, woke up those sleeping, and Chase cast a Dark Way spell to allow everyone to cross over to the Guardian safely.

• The Guardian was then hit with a Rogue Wave that knocked two of the pirates overboard and rattled everyone else.  Sas fell in as well and retrieved one of them, but the other was killed.  The officers then decided it would be best to regroup and fall back.  Once Sas was back on board, the captain activated the teleporter and jumped out of there about one mile closer to our destination.   The Guardian was unharmed, but we left the Servant behind when we teleported.  They decided not to go back for the Servant.

• Once a count was made, they realized that there was two more pirates missing from our original count.  Not sure what happened, but most likely died during the siege of the Servant.  They decided to continue onward to the Republic, drop the pirates off, and sell some of the loot to pay the crew.

• Within ten miles of port, Chase noticed a huge warship at a dead stop pointing towards the city.  They decided to keep our distance and sailed away a bit.  They sent an away team to the city to try and figure out if it was safe to dock.  Nathan, Sas, Chase, and some of the lizardfolk swam to shore and approached the guard station for entry.  The guards questioned them, but didn't put up a fight.  Sas introduced Nathan as the former High Cleric of Lakius.  They gathered clerics and military officers to cast spells to determine that Nathan was who he said he was.  Once proven true, they were allowed entrance into the city.  They were told that the Iottians were magically holding the warship in place, but that there was no active battles occurring at the moment.  They explained what they wanted to do with the pirates and started up a dialogue with the officials.
  
  On a side note, the drama with Chase and Camille continues.  The officers met without Chase to discuss his tactics and contributions to the crew.  After much debate, the captain presented Chase with some choices; tone down his scare tactics and use Blasphemous Utterance only when authorized by the owners, continue to be employed by the Guardian as a freelance agent at Port Talp, or leave altogether.  Chase decided to be respectful of the officers' wishes and not use his scare tactics while on the ship, but he hasn't fully decided what he plans to do after this tour of duty.         

Session 48: Marids Attack  (12 Progonust 788 to 19 Progonust 788)

• After meeting with the officers in the

  Destroytian Republic, the crew set to drop off the belligerent pirates and bring the rest to Talp.  The crew decided not to bother and go straight to Talp after discovering that we were being followed by a group of elementals.  They made good progress, but  a couple days away from Talp, were surrounded by our previous assailants and the Guardian stopped to a screeching

  halt.  
• The mysterious voice again demanded surrender and that the crew give up Claude and the Guardian.  Sas used his diplomatic skills to buy some time, then they attacked.  They were blasted with water and ice and surrounded on all sides of the ship.
• After a short while, one of the creatures appeared near the front of the boat where the revealing lanterns are located and they were all able to see a blue dragon.  The officers sprung into action and attacked what they saw while the captain ordered everyone else below deck.  Shortly after, it became apparent that the ship was filling with water again through the cannon holes.  The rest of the crew and pirates began bailing water and sealing the holes while remaining below deck.
• After some reconnaissance, they discovered two enormous elementals holding the ship in place.  It also became clear that there was a slew of additional creatures surrounding them in the air and water.  After some serious damage, the blue dragon moved to another side of the boat, but another barrage of melee and magic soon revealed a genie behind what appeared to be an alternate form of a dragon.   Eventually, it dissipated into a pool of water and splashed into the ocean.
• After that, more genies revealed themselves, although most stayed in the water.  Some drug Camille and Sas into the water, others attacked with anti-magic rays and melee weapons.  Tsuri'Motiwas able to wrestle one of the genies onto the deck.  From that point, Valdis, Midiyiro, and Ritvali flanked and attacked it to near death.  It fled at one point, but that group pulled it back for additional beat down.
• The rest of the crew was engaged in all sorts of combat.  Chase was attempting to dispel and disorient them, but soon took to healing as he and Rin took a beating.  Nathan turned into a bear and managed an epic attack on one of them, but was soon reduced to a mere bear cub when he was hit with another anti-magic ray.  Kasai blasted genies with lesser fire orbs, but was targeted after that.  The Captain ordered him below deck.  Sas used his spirit powers to limited avail and the rest of the crew fought, scouted, bailed water, or hid.  Rin enlarged Tsu and they fought in the water to blast genies with arrows, bite attacks, and a mighty arrow storm spell.
• Eventually, Camille was able to turn into a dolphin and escape the elemental whirlpool she was caught in.  She then returned to the ship.  Once there, she was able to dismiss one of the elementals.  With one remaining, it wasn't able to hold the ship between the force of the Everfull sails and the barrage of attacks it was receiving.  They  managed to sail onward without any further disruption.  Fortunately, the Guardian was completely undamaged thanks to its many fortifications.
• We sailed full speed ahead for the remaining day or two and got to Talp safely.  The Floating Isle was nowhere to be found.

Session 49: Marids Attack  (19 Progonust 788 to 18 Baston Sun 788)

• fteo

 

 

 

 

Session 50-52: Duel with Dark Sea  (18 Baston Sun 788 to 22 Baston Sun 788)

• The fight started out slow with the crew of the Guardian circling patiently around Dark Sea's lair.  Shortly after the scouting missions in the undersea cavern, Greymander lit up and Dark Sea approached.  At first, they could only hear the wind shifting and waves crashing, but a lucky shot with an arrow of revealing gave a quick glimpse of the creature and its location.  The huge beast moved in to strike at the ship and the crew engaged in combat.
• The gunners loaded cannon and readied themselves to fire, Amare started shouting orders and getting everyone to their battle stations, the officers cast spells and activated magic items, and the rest of the crew hunkered down in the lower part of the ship.
• Once engaged in battle, everyone sprung into action.  Spells were cast, abilities spent, and magic items activated.  The ship was protected from ramming by the lyre and some of our magical defenses were activated.  Although all these enhancements sound good in theory, it quickly became apparent that Dark Seas was too smart to take us on head to head.  Instead, he began systematically picking the ship apart starting with the rudder.  He then began moving stealthily through the water to confuse us and redirect his position.  He dropped a lightning orb on the ship (which was eventually dispelled by Jean), cast a desiccating bubble that affected various crew, and remained invisible throughout his assault.  we were forced to start repairs on the ship with the lyre and Claude fixed the rudder with a Make Whole spell.
• They managed to land an occasional blow, but really started off slow against the beast.  Nathan evoked the power of the crown of air and turned into a bear, Sas utilized his spiritual abilities, Rin and Tsu took to the water, Chase and Kasai used magic, Claude calculated the best vantage point and readied the Greymander, Valdis began psionically improving himself, the gunners mates aimed the cannons, Parker spotted from the crows nest, and most of the rest went below deck.  The remaining warriors readied swords, harpoons, and bows for attack.
• There was a long period of cat and mouse with Dark Seas toying with us and dimension hopping out of range.  We eventually decided to go in after it, so Nathan, Chase, Rin, Tsu, Claude, and Sas prepped themselves in both physical and ghostly forms to make the journey to his lair.  We took two of the flags from the ship to avoid panic.  We descended into the depths only to be assaulted by the flood of manta rays that we had scouted earlier.  The fight was over before it began when Rin released a lethal volley of arrows with her arrow storm spell.  The rays that lived fled the scene and we continued to search for Dark Seas.  After reaching the lair, Nathan received word from Valdis that Dark Seas was attacking the ship again.  The group below the surface agreed to ascend via the crown of air, but knew that it would take several rounds to reach the ship.
• In the meantime, the remaining crew defended the Guardian as best they could.  It was at this point that Me-en, the great cloud elemental, engaged Dark Seas in open combat.  He dive bombed the dragon in a spectacular aerial display and proceeded to fight it for several rounds.  Dark Seas eventually got the better of him and he was forced to withdraw, but one major thing he accomplished was to rid Dark Seas of his invisibility.  Kasai launched spells, the gunners fired cannon, the archers lobbed arrows, and the others assisted with loading and spotting.
• After exhausting resources to no avail, Dark Seas made his way over to the ship.  He charged it from the sky and came crashing down on deck at full velocity.  The force of the impact tossed several of the crew overboard and destroyed one of our secondary masts.  Fitolin was lost at sea.  With very few crew remaining on board, the dragon engaged Amare in combat.  Amare used his Bardic abilities to create a wall of dancing rope to distract Dark Seas.  It was clear now that Dark Seas was no even bigger, had multiple limbs, and was harder to hit.  It also was capable of dealing devastating damage.  We were in trouble.
• Midiyro bravely charged the beast with his katana, but was swatted away with a mighty tail slap.  Tsari'Moti also attacked, but was crushed and pinned to the deck by tail and talon.  The crew who was overboard worked together to stay afloat and rescue each other with the dingy that was floating near by.  While they were all reorienting themselves, Dark Seas took the opportunity to cause more damage.  He tore at the ship and ripped away at the rope wall.  Taji was eventually able to sneak on deck and pull Tsari'Moti from combat, but Dark Seas would not be robbed of his bloody satisfaction.  He proceeded to grab Midiyro and crush his internal organs.  Once tenderized, he rended his flesh and tore him in half.  He tossed one half of his body into the sea, wiped the venom and blood off his maw, then tossed the other half across the ship and into the ocean.  Midiyro was lost.  His valiant last stand will go down in history.
• It was at this point that the officers resurfaced.  Nathan came splashing out of the water and the rest of the crew remained on the surface treading water.  Rin and Tsu were not yet above water.  It was later revealed that she and Tsu were ensnared by the remaining mantas and forced into combat.  It did not end well for the mantas.
• Nathan then rushed Dark Seas and engaged in hand to hand combat.  Valdis and Claude dimension hopped onto his back, and Chase activated his boots and flew within casting range.  Me-en rejoined the fight, but in a support role.  He dispelled Dark Seas and gave us all protection from electricity.  After the dispel, Dark Seas lost his additional limbs and ceased to hurt as much with his attacks.  This gave Nathan, Claude, and Valdis the chance they needed to inflict some damage.  Claude with the Greymander, Nathan with claw and teeth, and Valdis with a mighty psionically buffed explosive axe attack.  In addition, Chase was launching potent Ice Darts that were landing and causing serious damage.  Dark Seas was angry and starting to loose control.  He fought back and severely injured all that were on his back and neck area.
• At some point during the mass melee, Claude had an epiphany.  He realized that he was pretty awesome and that life would be improved for everyone if there were more of him around, so he wished it so and low and behold, two more Claude's appeared on either side of him.  After greeting each other and complimenting their taste in garb and weaponry, all three Claude's coordinated their attacks.
• After having its defenses weakened and multiple dragon hunters hacking away at it, the true Greymander began to hum.  The vibrato became increasingly loud and disturbing to Dark Seas.  For the first time, the beaten and bloodied crew could see a glimmer of concern in the creatures eyes.  Nathan, Valdis, and Ritvalli (who had snuck up on the dragon) saw that the Greymander was thirsty for blood and soul.  They all focused on assisting Claude, providing him the edge he needed to come down with the Greymander and make one final devastating blow that cut into the dragon's scales and penetrated the brain cavity.  Greymander plunged into its flesh and began the immensely satisfying process of draining the vile beast's soul.  Dark Seas, however, wouldn't be sentenced to oblivion that easily.  His soul fought with Greymander and Claude almost lost control of the sword, and with it, Dark Seas' soul.
• As luck would have it, Claude would come to yet another epiphany.  He realized that T'fop is always on his side and that there's always a shot for the underdog.  He reached down deep and mustered up a little touch of luck.  Like a champion bass fisherman, Claude tugged and pulled at the Greymander, reeling in the dark and corrupted soul like a wriggling fish.  Luck was on our side and the Greymander triumphed in the ultimate battle of will.  Dark Seas was defeated and the crew of the Gaurdian of the Tides collapsed in bitter sweet victory.
• We rested that night, healed, repaired the ship, and paid homage to the victorious dead: Midiyro and Fitolin.  We sent a rescue party to retrieve the bodies and Nathan and Chase made their way down to the lair to gather treasure.  Once down there, it became known that low level magic won't protect people, so Chase had to come back to the surface.  Nathan collected two full loads of loot with the portable hole and we set sail for Port Talp.