Session 11: Dangerous Waters Report

General Summary

The crew tended to the injured following the harpy attack, members of the Menagerie musing that the voyage was not as safe as initially advertised. The rest of the day went by without incident, though the thunderstorms to the south appeared to be approaching their route. The following morning, the Menagerie were shaken awake by rough seas, the once-distant thunderstorms now fully upon them. Captain Banil ordered all hands on deck to help keep the ship from capsizing. The stronger members of the Menagerie helped keep the sails from tearing away, while Rinrin kept an eye out for anyone that might be knocked overboard. Dacha used his Mantle of the Wavemother to control the waters around the ship, not able to fully steady the vessel but at the very least able to stop the worst of the storm's effects.

As the crew manned their stations, a draconic roar rang out from overhead and a bronze dragon wyrmling dove from the clouds to land at the center of the ship. Soon after, three storm elementals emerged from the dark thunderhead in pursuit of the young dragon. Brakmat and Banil could hear the wyrmling calling for help and both relayed the information to the rest of the crew, who engaged the elementals in combat. The bronze dragon nearly succumbed to its injuries several times and both Dacha and Brakmat found themselves flung off the ship by the elementals, but eventually the crew was able to subdue the attackers. The wyrmling thanked them, introducing itself as Bah'busan. It had been migrating north to find its own hunting grounds when it ran afoul of the elementals. The dragon then proceeded to transform into a shark and swim away.

With the storm elementals defeated, the thundercloud disappeared, leaving behind a thick fog that seemed to envelop the ship. The Triton's Lance continued on its journey, where it ran afoul of a Sahuagin raiding party. The Sahuagin's leader demanded tribute from the crew, but after an insulting display by Rinrin, instead ordered his men to slaughter everyone on board. The fight was very tense, with several members of the Menagerie getting dangerously injured, but eventually the raiding party was dispatched with no casualties to the crew.

The captain ordered the ship to weigh anchor as the sky was dark and the fog was far too thick to continue navigating safely. That evening, Dacha approached Nightwind in her cabin, the two hitting it off and ending up spending the night together.

The fog was still thick the following day when one of the deckhands spotted what appeared to be a Violet Brigade ship sending out a distress beacon. Rinrin tried to warn the captain that the ship did not resemble any Violet Brigade ship she'd seen in her years in Quilport and Captain Banil agreed, but due to the rules of parley set down by the Aubergine League, she was obligated to help out any ship flying Aubergine League colors that sent out a distress beacon. As the two ships approached, the Triton's Lance was boarded by a half-orc sailor introducing himself as Captain Broadside, joined by his first mate, a water genasi woman. They claimed they were lost in the fog and in need of supplies; in spite of her misgivings, Captain Banil agreed to lend them supplies.

While Broadside and his first mate remained on deck, six of his crew descended to the lower parts of Triton's Lance, escorted by Hunson and the deckhands. Dacha had woken up later than everyone else that day and saw this entourage heading for the depths of the ship; Rinrin also sent her familiar to follow them. Both were able to discern that these sailors were actually pirates, but not before the pirates were able to subdue and bound the crew. Before the pirate crew made it back to the deck of the ship, Rinrin alerted Captain Banil that something was wrong and a fight broke out on deck. The Menagerie and the pirates engaged in combat, with one of the pirates being knocked overboard while Captain Broadside knocked Droknar unconscious. The pirates' first mate threatened to toss Captain Banil overboard while Dacha once again called upon the powers of his Mantle of the Wavemother to summon a whirlpool around Broadside's ship. The druid threatened the Captain and his crew to stand down before he sent his ship to the bottom of the Ruuldalai.