Storm at Sea

General Summary

Several days of uneventful sailing occurred as the two ships sailed west across the Achinad Sea, during which Anton and Ra'zon continued their survival training and Grom continued practicing deception. On the fourth day, Glarm spotted dark clouds on the horizon as a massive storm approached. The crew of the Mangy Dog worked desperately to keep the ship afloat, and in the course of the storm Grom was knocked overboard. While he managed to get back on board, he was soon knocked unconscious when a crate was caught in the wind and hit him in the head. In the confusion of the storm the crew lost sight of the Tranquil Angel. Eventually they were able to get through the storm thanks primarily to Elria, who used her connection to nature to call upon sea creatures to help right the ship and also spotted a break in the storm.
Once through, the crew noticed the Tranquil Angel far off on the horizon. As they approached it they saw that the larger ship had suffered heavy damage, as the foremast had snapped and fallen onto the deck and the main mast was lost entirely. Realizing there was no way the Angel could get to their destination in its current shape, and that the Dog was in need of some repairs as well, they scanned the horizon and spotted a few small islands. Picking the nearest one and hoping that it contained some trees they could use as a temporary mast they set sail, keeping a slow speed to match the Tranquil Angel as it limped along.
When they approached the island they picked, they saw it was lightly forested. Upon a large cliff jutting out of the eastern edge was the crumbling remains of structure that Ra'zon was able to identify as the ruins of an ancient Arideian waytower; ancient structures created at the height of the Arideian Empire, that used large arcaltium crystals as a sort of homing beacon to make sure their ships weren't lost. About a dozen or so of these were constructed on islands like this across the Achinad Sea. Over the years most of these waytowers had been looted by pirates or adventurers, or been destroyed by storms. This one, however, did not appear on any maps.
The ships moored on a northern beach. While the crews began making repairs to the ships, the party moved through the jungle to explore the ruined tower. On the way, Ra'zon found a pair of brass goggles of a design so unknown that even Anton's monocle couldn't identify it. Ra'zon stashed the goggles in his pack and the party moved on. When they approached the tower, they found it had clearly collapsed from age several hundred years ago. Upon close inspection however, they found clear evidence that someone had been here since then, as many of the stones had been moved around and fashioned into an ad-hoc shelter. This shelter however was also collapsing from age; Elria assumed that judging by the plant growth it had been built and abandoned twenty to thirty years ago. Ra'zon found a hatch leading below ground but unfortunately did not realize the trap attached to it, and as he lifted the hatch a brass tube spewed fire at him.
The party moved into the underground ruins and found themselves in a sort of foyer, sparse and picked clean over the ages except for four sets of decorative armor. Upon close inspection the party realized that the armor's design aesthetic matched the goggles they had found out in the forest. As Ra'zon inspected them more closely, he realized that they were not armor at all but instead some sort of automaton. His hypothesis was confirmed when Anton hit one of them, causing all four to creak to life and begin attacking the party. The party made relatively short work of the attackers, although not before they discovered that the automatons were armed with nets that made fighting them quite difficult. After dispatching them, they began moving deeper into the ruins.

Chapter Sixteen

"Storm at Sea"

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Previous Chapter: I Left My Heart in Vermilla

Next Chapter: Has He Lost His Mind?

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Ingame Date: 13-17^th of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: August 22, 2020
Protagonists:

• Grom
• Ra'zon the Broken
• Anton von Rheintach
• Elria Svistra

Featured NPCs:

• Carmilla Valenti
• Mute Bob

Locations:

• Achinad Sea
• Abandoned Arideian Waytower