The Silent Waters of Lake Insjö - Session 10

Session 10 - 07/13/2024
***the story so far***
 
After a lengthy discussion, we decide to head Eyju, the town in the middle of Lake Insjö.
Over the course of our three day journey to Lake Insjö, on day 2 as we head towards the lake we begin to get a very strange feeling, almost like a tradewind breeze blowing you towards the lake. It gets harsher and harsher the closer we get to the lake. At the apex of the wind's strength, we reach the edge of a massive cavern - we're at the top of the foothills surrounding the lake. Down below, we see a thick layer of fog covering the top of the lake, and a few spires poking through the rolling fog.
In the distance, we see a large spire, with flashes of light in the distance.
The town is definitely in the middle of the lake - its about a day's swim to the town. Harvoni decides to look for a boat, while Diaga and Roger take in the distant light pulses and watches keenly (its a big world).
In the distance far off, I spot what *looks* like a ship, or a boat. There's a silhouette, but with all the fog its kind of hard to tell. Willow and I walk in that direction.
As I walk towards the ship silhouette, I manage to obtain:

icky, gooey, ooey, fluid (-1) (Blue)

As we approach the silhouette, it becomes clear that the shape is of a smaller boat.
We call out to the boat to see if anyone's there. Roger drowns us out completely. What appears to be a silhouette of a person waves at us. We approach the figure. There's a dwarven man.
The dwarven man tells us he ran out of gas, and got moored on the shoreline. The man seems very attached to his boat. The dwarven man tells us his boat is named 'Anya'. There's no sails on the boat, and the dwarven man is insulted that we would even ask the question. The man tells us that nobody typically comes to the southern shore of Lake Insjö.
The dwarven man asks for our help to make some diesel to fill the tank - in exchange, he'll take us wherever we need to go. The dwarven man tells us what we should need is south of where we're at.
The dwarven man hands us the recipe for whale diesel canisters:

1 Red, 0 Green, 2 Blue

the dwarven man needs 3 cans of whale diesel to power Anya. He hands us each an iron ingot (Red) to do as we wish.
Giving indication that the materials are south of us, I head south to start gathering materials.
While there, I manage to gather the following for whale diesel canisters:

Blood (+2)

Fin (+1)

I then head back to the dwarven man. As I come back, I notice Roger has already made some whale diesel canister. I ask Roger if he's willing to teach me how to make them - Roger says he'll do it for 1 Gold. Annoyed, I turn to the dwarven man. With a sly smile looking at Roger, the dwarven man turns to me and says he'll teach me.... for 9 silver.
I'm annoyed at both of them, but happy they've got a vibe going. I hand over the materials I gather.
With his three cans of whale diesel, the dwarf hops into his small boat, and tells us he can take us anywhere.
The dwarven man has no idea what "Roger's Foot" is.
The dwarf does know where Eyju is, and as he fills up his tanks, the rudders lift out from the sand and push the ship into the lake. It's eerily like feet. We set out on the lake, and plunge into the fog.
As we journey to the town of Eyju, we learn its a sizeable fishing town, and completely floats on Lake Insjö. There is a lighthouse that it rests on, anchored to the bottom of the lake.
I ask the dwarven man if we can fish, and he says yes, but tells us there's been some weird things bubbling up from the bottom of the lake. I attempt to fish, and gain:

Venom (+0) (Blue)

We learn of the dwarven man's name - his name is Mathur.
Mathur asks us why we're up at Lake Insjö. Diaga hands him a flyer for the music festival that's gonna occur in Utdanning, and we explain how we're spreading the word. Mathur is curious about the state of Utdanning.
I tell Mathur how Utdanning is presently occupied by Promatican mercenaries. Mathur isn't surprised - he explains how Promaticus in the past nearly took over the entire country, back when Vomethnda was a wee country. The young leader of Promaticus prophesiced a great astronomical event, wiping the Promaticans of the ability to cast magic (according to the history books). The wee nations of Ezlekh and Vomethnda fought back against Promaticus, eventually ending in a treaty declaration that allowed Promaticus to exist so long as they don't have a standing army. Mathur remarks the treaty was made because no one wanted to wander into the darkly-tainted magical lands of Promaticus.
As Mathur rambles on, we notice his voice gets quieter, and quieter, and quieter. Mathur doesn't notice we're talking to him anymore.
As Diaga taps his shoulder, Mathur mouths the word "what", and a panicked look appears in his eyes.
Mathur suddenly draws his gun, and fires a shot - we don't hear anything.
I try to cast Detect Magic, but nothing really happens. Everything is deathly silent.
Diaga pulls up the entire fishing line out, lure and all, but the fishing line is floating in the air - the strands snap, and falls back in the water. Diaga is pissed and throws down his rod - not a sound comes from it.
< BEGIN BATTLE 14 - SILENCE OVER THE WATERS OF LAKE INSJÖ >

Off in the distance, a creature emerges from the lake. A grey blob, with a sharpened beak protruding out of it.

Roger aims the cannon at the front of the boat at the monster, and a large bolt of energy fires out - it doesn't even come close though. The exhaust of the cannon pushes the boat back, and a cartridge ejects out.

The beaks of the creature extend wide, almost as if it's screaming - we don't hear anything. It starts to fade away. As Roger aims, the water beneath the boat churns, almost as if its alive, and crawls up the boat. It reaches out and tries to grab Roger

A Water Elemental emerges at the front of the boat, and attempts to thrash Roger with waves.

A second beaked-blobby squid creature emerges on the right side of the boat, before diving under the waters again.

Diaga sees a weird blob fly straight towards her before it disappears (on the starboard side). A slimy tendril schlumps off the back of Diaga's armor.

A similar blob appears in front of Harvoni, before it too disappears right in front of me. A mighty chunk is taken out of my shoulder, from what feels like a beak. I still don't see it.

Another blob attacks Roger as he's reloading the cannon.

I dive into the water, clutching my shoulder, as I transform into a Giant Octopus. I speedily swim to the front of the boat, and lunge my tentacle at the Water Elemental. I land a blow on the Water Elemental, and grapple it with my large tentacle.

Diaga attacks the creature in front of him, and manages to go for a second attack... and misses horrifically. But as he hits, the creature is struck hard enough, and a field of Silence is dropped.

Willow seizes the opportunity and casts a Cloud of Daggers at one of the beaked-blobby creatures.

Captain Mathur aims his handgun at one of the creatures, and nails a shot. The creature falls back to the lakebed.

One of the flying beaked blobs stabs Roger in the neck, taking flesh.

The Water Elemental manages to break out of my Giant Octopus grapple, and Slams me with two waves for ruthless impact.

Willow feels a presence and gets bitten by one of the beaked blobby flyers. Willow feels a field of Silence.

Diaga tries to swing at the invisible blobby beak that's knawing at him. All of a sudden, a corpse appears in front of Diaga.

I lunge at the Water Elemental with my Tentacle again, striking it with my suction cups.

Willow re-casts a Cloud of Daggers, directly on the Water Elemental, dealing pointy amounts of damage.

Roger shoots a cannonball at the Water Elemental - the bolt of energy streaks out of the cannon and plunges in the lake below, seemingly unaffecting the creature.

There's a weird beak that touches my fleshy Octopus hide, and takes out a bit of flesh in the process.

Roger gets beaked at, and falls, incapacitated by the attack.

The Water Elemental just phases through my Tentacle - guess it wasn't grappled, despite it being a creature, or so I thought.

Willow feels yet another weird feeling, but manages to evade the attack.

Willow tries to go and save Roger, narrowly dodging an attack thanks to Diaga's protection.

I swim, and lunge my Octopussy self at the Water Elemental, failing to land a hit.

Diaga swings at the space in front of him, the weight of his Mace striking something, killing it in the process. Diaga spits on the corpse of the fallen beak blob.

Captain Mathur does a sidestep and tries to shoot the Water Elemental - the bullet strikes the Water Elemental squarely in the chest.

One of the beak blobs screeches, casting another field of Silence. Roger hates this, but it doesn't seem to affect him.

One of the beak blobs casts Hold Person on Diaga, who beats the spell.

The Water Elemental goes to Slam Diaga with punishing waves, whipping Diaga back. "

I slam my Tentacle down on the Water Elemental's head, cracking its watery skull in two with force, killing it, as the Water Elemental fades into a puddle, splashing into nothingness.

Willow aims for one of the flying beaked blob, nailing her shot on the blob.

Roger aims for the last blob with a blast of Eldritch Blast. His aim is good, firing two blasts at the creature, knocking it out of the sky as it plops into the water.

I loot the Water Elemental and gain:

fluid (+1)

< END BATTLE 14 - SILENCE OVER THE WATERS OF LAKE INSJÖ >
Captain Mathur remarks we can hold our own in combat. Despite Mathur's comments, Roger insists he did not get hit.
Diaga asks Captain Mathur what these creatures are, and Mathur informs us that the town of Eyju calls them "Howlers", since they screech and remove sound.
We agree to take a long rest as Captain Mathur resumes sailing the boat to the town of Eyju, and gather some materials in the process.
During the long sailing to Lake Insjö, I gain:

Attilum (+3) ****a very rare material, found in very small quantites of Vomethnda, known for its inherent magical opportunities.

Blood (+0)