The Jungle's Claw #032

General Summary

THE TITANOBOA'S EMBRACE

Game date: 10th/11th day of the Firefly, Year 13944

In the untamed southwestern edge of the Kalnith Jungle, where primordial chaos reigned and danger slithered through ancient shadow, the iron-hulled Rustleech carved its determined path along the winding River Vo. The waterway, born in forgotten ages when gods still walked Nolavor, carried countless secrets beneath its murky depths—waters stained with the blood of adventurers who had dared its treacherous passage. Captain Malista Tinmaw's vessel had survived three days upon these accursed waters, now navigating the notorious stretch known as Witch's Bend.
Green-tinged mists writhed above the poisoned river like spectral serpents. The morning brought an oppressive stillness, the air heavy with foreboding. Even Old Muckfingers, his visage etched by decades of navigating these toxic depths, fell silent as ethereal vapors coiled around the Rustleech's reinforced hull.
Then came the breach—a massive form erupting from the depths. Vaersliss, the River's Coil, legendary titanoboa whose emerald scales stretched beyond three trading barges in length, broke the water's surface with terrible majesty. The serpent's cunning, known in whispered tales exchanged in riverside taverns, had consigned countless vessels to the waterlogged graveyard beneath the Vo.

All hands! Brace for impact!

— Captain Tinmaw commanded, her mechanical arm's runes pulsing with arcane energy.

The titanoboa began its dreaded encircling maneuver, coiling its immense form around the Rustleech's bow. The vessel's reinforced hull, designed to withstand the river's caustic embrace, groaned under pressure never intended by even House Ironwake's master engineers. Wood splintered and metal strained as the constrictor squeezed, threatening to crack the ship like an eggshell.
Sherman, the massive Goliath warrior whose cursed hands bore the meat puppets of his brother and an antagonistic elf, stood resolute upon the deck. His eyes swept across the chaos as goblin crewmen—not common river rats but sailors hardened in House Ironwake's brutal tradition—scrambled to defensive positions.
Kurgan barked commands while Thronn Zamda surveyed their adversary with a hunter's calculating precision. The half-orc ranger's vulture-dog companion, Meat-Beak, prowled nervously at his side, sensing the imminent danger. Nearby, Fouk clutched his arcane tools with steady hands despite the Mummy Dust cravings that perpetually haunted his waking hours. BöötMóöntch observed the unfolding crisis with the measured calm of one intimately familiar with blood magic and darker arts.

Man the Deezle flamethrowers! Prime the fuel! Now!

— Captain Tinmaw's voice cut through the din of battle.

The serpent's crushing grip intensified. Below decks, Engineer Durlag Steamgrip shouted warnings as water began breaching the hull, flooding one of the precious Brinkburn engines. The goblin crew scrambled to contain the damage, but the snake's relentless pressure threatened to splinter the vessel entirely.
Kurgan struggled with one of the heavy flamethrowers, its unwieldy design challenging even his considerable experience. Sherman seized the opportunity, wresting the device from Kurgan's grasp.

I've got this,

— the Goliath growled, hoisting the weapon as though it weighed no more than a child's plaything.

The battle raged as Vaersliss tightened its death-grip. Sherman unleashed gouts of Deezle flame that scorched the creature's scales but failed to loosen its hold. Even as the ship creaked ominously, the snake responded with greater fury, squeezing until the bow began to crack beneath the pressure.
Thronn, drawing upon his extensive knowledge of bestial anatomy, directed Sherman to target the serpent's vulnerable underbelly.

There! Beneath the jaw!

In a final desperate assault, Sherman adjusted his aim. The Deezle flames caught with unexpected ferocity, spreading across the serpent's body in a corona of unnatural fire. Unlike natural flame, the alchemical Deezle clung to the creature's hide, burning even as it thrashed beneath the water's surface.
Fouk, seizing advantage of the monster's distraction, coordinated with Ratak to launch a massive anchor from one of the ship's catapults. The iron hook found purchase in Vaersliss's scales, limiting its mobility and preventing its escape into deeper waters. Simultaneously, Thronn unleashed lightning harvested from their recent behir battle through his bow. The electrical blast illuminated the fog banks, revealing the serpent's full, terrifying magnitude.
Vaersliss, wreathed in stubborn flame and pierced by lightning, finally relinquished its hold on the Rustleech and submerged into the river's murky embrace. Smoke and steam rose from the water's surface as the wounded leviathan retreated to the depths, leaving behind charred scales as grim trophies of their victory.
The triumph came at steep cost. The ship's bow was crushed, and water poured into the forward compartments. Worse, one of the Brinkburn engines had taken on water, crippling the vessel's propulsion and leaving them vulnerable in these treacherous waters.

We've lost an engine! Hull's breached! We're taking on water faster than we can pump it out!

— Durlag shouted from below.

Sherman, hearing Durlag's panicked shout, immediately called down through the hatchway.

What about the bilge pumps? Can we deploy those?

Bilge pumps? Those were the first casualty! All three mechanisms crushed when that beast squeezed us like a damn fruit!

— The grizzled engineer's response came through clenched teeth.

Several goblin crewmen frantically formed a bucket chain, but their efforts seemed futile against the rapidly rising water. Captain Tinmaw's face grew grim as she assessed the damage reports. With the pumps destroyed and one engine compromised, their options were dwindling by the second. The Rustleech, pride of House Ironwake's river fleet, faced the very real possibility of becoming another victim of the River Vo's merciless embrace.
As the crew assessed the damage with growing despair, Fouk stepped forward with unexpected confidence. His hands moved with preternatural skill as he examined the waterlogged Brinkburn engine.

Stand aside,

— Fouk commanded, producing his artificing tools.

What followed astonished even the most seasoned crew members. Fouk's fingers danced across the flooded mechanisms, rerouting conduits, purging water from delicate components, and reconstructing damaged parts with uncanny precision. Within minutes, the engine sputtered back to life, belching smoke and steam into the humid jungle air.
The goblin engineers stood slack-jawed, witnessing what should have required hours of repairs accomplished in moments. Durlag approached Fouk with newfound respect in his eyes.

How did you...?

The grizzled engineer couldn't finish his question, so taken aback by the display of arcane artificing skill.
Meanwhile, BöötMóöntch turned his attention to the breached hull. Where others saw hopeless damage, his Aasimar eyes perceived patterns and possibilities. With dexterous movements that belied his usual demeanor, he manipulated the splintered wood and twisted metal. Blood magic subtly guided his hands as he restored structural integrity through methods that left the goblin crew both impressed and slightly unsettled.
Captain Tinmaw ordered the vessel to make shore for the night, allowing further repairs and a chance for the crew to recover from the day's ordeal. As darkness descended upon the jungle, the goblin sailors celebrated their victory over Vaersliss with raucous abandon. Old Muck Fingers produced a plate of river snails—slimy, still-writhing creatures that he insisted were delicacies among goblin connoisseurs.

Go on, Goblin candy, these are. Put hair on your chest and visions in your head!

— Old Muckfingers urged with a mischievous glint in his rheumy eyes.

Sherman, never one to back down from a challenge, grabbed a handful and consumed them raw. His stomach soon emitted strange gurgles that somehow translated nearby goblin conversations, revealing embarrassing secrets that had the crew howling with laughter.
Fouk, more cautious but equally curious, roasted ten snails over the fire before consuming them. The effect was twofold and potent—his mind formed a temporary connection to goblin ancestral memory, granting him mysterious insights into their crafting techniques, while simultaneously triggering vivid hallucinations. Throughout the night, ancestral goblin spirits whispered ancient secrets in his dreams, while snail-shaped apparitions danced before his waking eyes.
As the crew traded stories and laughter around Sherman's goblin-tongue revelations, the Goliath warrior's eyelids grew heavy. The combined effects of battle fatigue, bizarre snail neurotoxins, and potent goblin spirits took their toll. Soon, Sherman's massive frame slumped against a barrel, his breath deepening into a thunderous rumble that echoed across the shore camp. The sound, reminiscent of a distant Behir's mating call, prompted several superstitious goblins to make warding gestures. Old Muckfingers cackled at their fear, nudging his companions and pointing to the slumbering giant. "That ain't no river beast," he wheezed through broken teeth. "That's just what happens when you fill a Goliath with enough goblin delicacies to stun a troll!" Even Kurgan's normally stoic features cracked into a rare smile, the mercenary leader raising his flask in silent toast to Sherman's impressive sonic display.
As the night deepened and spirits flowed freely from dusty bottles, tales were exchanged around the firelight. The crew spoke of Sythara, the Witch of Nepos, whose shadow had fallen across the Kalnith Jungle like a shroud of deepest midnight.

Born a slave in Nepos, that island city-state in the Great Poison Lake, ruled by wizards cruel beyond mortal imagining. They discovered her talent for magic and sought to use her, to break her will and bind her power.
But she mastered arts they never intended. Slaughtered half the royal house and escaped through waters that should have dissolved flesh from bone. No craft carried her—she walked through that toxic lake by power alone.

— Kurgan recounted, his voice dropping to a whisper as if the witch might hear him across the vast distance.

The goblin sailors nodded solemnly, some making warding gestures against evil.

Now she claims the Kalnith as her domain. The covens that once demanded tribute from ships like ours? Gone or cowering in her shadow.

— as told by Libidinous

More disturbing were the whispers connecting Slazgar Two-Eyes to this formidable witch. The goblin artificer had been merely a small-time weapons dealer before vanishing for nearly a decade. When he returned, he bore a mechanical eye of mysterious origin and knowledge of weapons and engines that defied conventional understanding.

Slazgar was nobody, . A talented tinkerer, sure, but nothing special. Then he disappeared without a trace. When he returned eight years later, the Rust Barons practically begged for his designs.

— Kurgan admitted, taking a long pull from his flask

The exotic weapons and revolutionary engines flowing northward through Grizberg served unknown masters in unseen conflicts across Nolavor. The goblin houses grew rich on this trade, none more than the influential Brinkburn family whose industrial empire dominated the city's Rustwater District.
As dawn broke over the jungle canopy, Captain Tinmaw drove her crew back to their duties with merciless efficiency. Their journey continued northward, toward Grizberg—that sprawling goblin metropolis built upon the ruins of a dead god's stronghold. Six thousand years earlier, the evil deity Zothra-Khaar had perished in the cataclysmic explosion of the Matrix of Earth, an event that permanently scarred the southern world. His underground complex, now called the Whispering Depths, was rumored to contain artifacts of godly power that could reshape reality.
In the privacy of her quarters, Tinmaw and Kurgan revealed to the adventurers their true mission. Slazgar sought capable hands to venture into those forbidden depths beneath Grizberg, to recover one particular relic known as Obsidian Fang—a shard of the dead god's essence.

The Brinkburn family and other Rust Barons guard access to the ruins jealously. They've been trying to plunder the place themselves for decades. But Slazgar believes he knows another way in—a secret passage unknown to the barons.

— Kurgan explained, his voice low despite the privacy of the captain's cabin.

The mission was sensitive—if word reached the Rust Barons that outsiders planned to breach the Whispering Depths, retribution would be swift and merciless. The adventurers were sworn to secrecy, forbidden from sharing details even with the seemingly loyal crew.
By the evening of the fourth day, with repairs complete and the ship moving at full speed, the lookout's cry rang out from the crow's nest. Smoke appeared on the horizon—another vessel approaching through the toxic mists. In these waters, where merchant houses waged silent wars and some ships sailed with crews of animated dead, caution was the wisest course.

It could be Streak Haldar and the Golden Reed. We're sworn enemies, and he'll attack on sight. Prepare for battle!

— Captain Tinmaw warned, her hand resting on her sword hilt as her mechanical arm's runes pulsed with nervous energy.

The adventurers readied themselves for yet another river confrontation, knowing that pirates, rival merchant houses, or darker threats might lie ahead. Their journey to Grizberg—and the forbidden Treasures of a dead god—would demand steel, cunning, and courage beyond measure.
The peril of Witch's Bend had passed, but greater dangers awaited on the horizon, where smoke curled against the darkening sky like the promise of blood yet to be spilled.

Rewards Granted

Category	Details
Treasure and Items Found	Vaersliss Scales: Several large scales harvested from the defeated River's Coil. These emerald-hued plates shimmer with an oily iridescence and possess remarkable resistance to both acid and corrosion. A master armorer could fashion these into exceptional protective gear against river hazards. (Worth 300 gp as raw materials) Goblin Delicacies: A carefully preserved pouch of river snails offered by Old Muckfingers. These rare delicacies induce strange visions and temporary connection to ancestral goblin memories when consumed. Their effects vary dramatically based on preparation method and the consumer's constitution. (Cultural value exceeds monetary worth)
Consumed Items	Deezle fuel expended through ship's experimental flamethrowers (House Ironwake property) One charge of behir lightning energy from Thronn's earlier conquest Emergency repair materials from the Rustleech's stores One day's rations per adventurer during shore repairs River snails consumed by both Sherman and Fouk Various spirits and alcoholic concoctions during evening revelry
Combat XP	Vaersliss, the River's Coil (CR 16): 8,400 XP Tactical Brilliance Bonus (25%): 2,100 XP Total Combat XP: 10,500 XP (2,625 XP per character)
Non-Combat XP	Exploration of Witch's Bend: 800 XP (200 XP per character) Cultural Exchange with River Folk: 600 XP (150 XP per character) Mission Discovery - Obsidian Fang: 1,200 XP (300 XP per character) Ship Repairs and Survival: 1,400 XP (350 XP per character)
Total XP Awards	Sherman: 3,625 XP Thronn: 3,625 XP Fouk: 3,625 XP BöötMóöntch: 3,625 XP
Notes to Transcript	Document the durability of Sherman's connection to goblin tongues (currently translating nearby conversations) Track Rustleech hull integrity (450/500 HP after emergency repairs) Note Fouk's temporary mastery of Brinkburn engine mechanics from ancestral goblin memories Record party reactions to Kurgan's revelation about Obsidian Fang quest Prepare for potential naval confrontation with Captain Streak Haldar's vessel, the Golden Reed Update Deezle fuel reserves for remaining voyage to Grizburg

Campaign

Dead Gods

Protagonists

BootMoontch

Fouk Shadim

Neutral Evil Variant Human (Criminal / Spy)
Rogue 5
Artificer 4

66 / 66 HP

STR
9

DEX
20

CON
15

INT
15

WIS
8

CHA
8

Thronn Zamda

Gherman

Lawfull Evil Goliath (Outlander)
Barbarian 4

45 / 45 HP

STR
19

DEX
14

CON
17

INT
9

WIS
13

CHA
7

Report Date

07 Mar 2025

Primary Location

The Sko-Vo Waterways

Secondary Location

Kalnith Jungle

Related Plots

• The Jungle's Claw
• Voyage of the Rustleech

Related Characters

• Captain Malista Tinmaw
• Fouk
• Kurgan
• Meat Beak
• Sherman
• Thronn