Clearing the Emperor of the Waves

General Summary

The party, Murtagh in tow, began to slowly clear the Emperor of the waves room by room. When reaching the lower deck, the party continued to erradicate the monsters it found, and Tethrys very intentionally stepped on the hold door in the floor, falling below to the cargo hold.   Tethrys below found herself surrounded by ghasts, while the party upstairs worked to fight off the swarms of spiders and the ettercaps they had already been a part of. Seeing Tethrys had taken quite a lot of damage, and seeing Tethrys outnumbered and unable to admit it, Guy Fieri jumped into the cargo hold to help where he could. But the odds were still overwhelming. In a panic, Tethrys cast Thunderwave.   In her defense, the thunderwave did push back the enemies.   It also seemed to summon a giant octopus, determined to tear the ship apart. And the party still hadn't found Aubrek's trunk.   The octopus' fierce battering of the ship brought an unknown orc to the cargo hold, who took one look at the mess, grabbed Guy Fieri and started hoofing it up the ladder, giving Guy just enough time to spot the blue A trunk they were looking for. He launched from the orc to the chest. The orc, who seemed to decide "fuck this shit I'm out," made his way up to the lower deck.   The party remaining on the lower deck jumped down, and together they managed to put the chest in Brine's interdimensional space, hoofed it up to the lower deck, up to the main deck, and over the side to swim to the awaiting row boat.   All except Tethrys. Who chose to dive out the side of the Cargo hold. Taking in the size of the giant ocotopus clawing and curling its away around the ship, she swum underneath it all and rose out the waves.   Brine, upon hitting the water when jumping overboard, expected his usual "breathing under water", "easy swimming" effects, but instead-  

The waves crash over head, and you can sense more than see the endless darkness beneath you. The crushing expanse has never held any fear for you- you're its ally. Or it's servant. But this time is different. You draw in a breath, and your lungs are flooded with water. You're drowning, for the first time in years. Fear tries to gain purchase in your brain, and while you do all to stave it off, you see it. The depths are not empty. The depths is one, massive, thing. The tiniest glimpse of a greater being, and it's moving below you. Words creep into your mind on the waves of terror. The Need arises once again. They reach out with tiny hands to try to pick up the ocean. They try to pluck out the stars. The arrogance of ants. Colonies of islands that are beneath me. The ants will burn themselves if left alone, but you will flood them for their folly. You will find my cast off claw, you will take back the Fire. Flood them, save your colony and the yearling. When he was shot from the water, landed sprawling over the side of the row boat.

The party watched as the Emperor of the Waves buckled and crashed in on itself, sinking well beneath the waves. The sky was growing darker, and the promised storm was rolling in.   The journey back to Saltmarsh was quiet. Brine kept his vision to himself, though expressing more interest in the Fires of the Deep. Tethrys, after a few days, thanked Guy for helping him, and the little gnome's irritation and frustration vanished into friendship. Murtagh came along to collect the bounty, and agreed to travel with the party.   When collecting the bounty, Aubrek gave the party the promised 5,000 gold pieces, and the assurance that once he had reestablished himself using the contents of the chest, he would give over both the deeds to the promised lands, and a good map with which to find the island.