CHAPTER 23: Gale's Grace

General Summary

8TH LIFE:
LAST TIME ON D&D:
A month into the kings of Leon's adventures in the southern seas we started with a morning like any other. Budrash fished with Okle and Odi, Ryuk woke up in Gale's Cabin, Selasi was taight Triton water magic by Zomos, Uul taught Saramir how to use a Trident, and Rila and Sycamore worked on the War Carrage. This normalicy was broken up by the arrival of Four-Chains who was openly welcomed into the Terramin Company. After sailing into a heavy fog. You all met a Tiefling that looked like a captive, but shortly after meeting her, Sycamore among the rest of the company realized she was a pirate necromancer. Meivas cast a protective spell on the ship, preventing any undead from getting on the ship and killing the pirate not moments after this realizing this.
Later, on seeing two Hobgoblin ships in the distance, Sycamore Selasi, and Uul came up with a plan that centered around sailing between the two ships and using Selasi's magic to tilt each ship inward, letting Rila fire canons directly on the decks of each ship. It is now, in the middle of an epic battle that you find yourselves facing off against

INITIATIVE
SYCAMORE
UUL
GA-TRELL
BUDRASH
4-CHAINS
SELASI
Sycamore you find yourself with the rest of the Kings of Leon and Terramin company in the middle of a battle with two Ga warships, both of which are nearly destroyed but flanking Gale's Grace.
For a moment, you can't remember what's going on or why you are here. Nothing makes sense, but your life is in danger as a very tall Hobgoblin in regal looking armor faces down against you.
GA-TRELL: A tall, red furred, red skinned Hobgoblin in elegantly designed armor with a top knot with a massive club slung over his shoulder, atop the Crowsnest.
HP: 70 AC: 18 ATK: 1d10 x 3 Spiked Club
Spells:
Dispell
Poison Spray: 1d12
Magic Missle 1d4 x 5

During this fight, Uul turns himself into a bear, which is pretty cool.

AFTER 1 TURN

As you fight, you notice blue figures growing in the water.
Okle and Odi tackle one of the Ga, stabbing him to death.
Saramir is stabbed in the hand and reels back

AFTER 1 TURN
THE MAST FALLS EVERYONE ROLL ACROBATICS
Rila's leg is pinned by the mast, she tries to get under it but she clearly needs help.

"As soon as you run over to her and take her hand, you see blood cover her face and hear the sound of flesh rendering, you look down and see a spiked tenticle has pierced through your chest. Your hand goes limp and you are lifted up and above to face the glowing red eye of the Grolovacri.
And then everything goes dark.


BACK TO THE CRYING BANDIT:
But this did not happen to you, you know this to be true cause you are very much alive, but you feel the pain of that hit, the coldness of death. Maybe it happened to you, a version of you, but not you you. Because today you find yourself standing in front of the Crying Bandit
Though there is nothing around, the air is cold.
Inside: "The warmth only provided by a fire hits you as you enter the tavern. ROLL HISTORY.
IF FAIL: Shadow like figures sit at the tables, mutely and slowly conversing with each other, occasionally breaking to take sips of their ale.
IF SUCCEEDS: You recognize the same "shadow" patrons as before. A large group of elves in the corner, An Elf, Orc, and Human cleaning up the mess their Dwarven friend made, a large group of shadows gathered around
But your eye naturally leads to two solid figures behind the bar, Hormin and Vo-Alod who polishes a glass.
Hormin turns to you:
"Ah, Sycamore, it's good to see you"
If Sycamore is apprehensive:
"Calm down, calm down, you're going to appreciate this visit, trust me. Do you mind if we talk in my office"
He turns to Vo-Alod:
"Tend while I'm gone please, and go check on the crybaby"
If asked about the "crybaby:"
You've already met him.

Hormin SNAPS
And you blink, opening your eyes to see that you are now sitting in a very organized office space with Hormin sitting behind a stone desk.
PERCEPTION:
-His desk is completely empty with exception of a very old looking painting of a dwarven woman holding a baby.
-Behind him is a massive bookshelf filled to the brim with what looks like homemade books.
IF ASKED ABOUT PICTURE: My family, they were my family. Before I left. We've all had to make difficult decisions.

"Can I offer you something. A Sinclair hot link or some Thinwafes. Maybe a drink? Some Iron Flagon brew from Kinsmead? Quite rare these days."
"You're probably wondering why I pulled you off of the....Gale's Grace. I know you were having a good time, but hear me out, I have my reasons. First and foremost, I want to congratulate you. I've seen this set stage play out billions and billions of times, with billions and billions of different people but it's never...been like this. This is new. All of this. You've united kingdoms, grown as a warrior and as a person. But the reason why you and you alone are here Sycamore.... is that you were supposed to die today.

Then it comes back to you, what really happened (THE REAL LAST TIME ON D&D)
"Budrash hunted with Odi and Okle, Ryuk slept with Gale (many times), Zomos joined the Terramin and taught Selasi some tritan water magic, Uul taught Saramir how to use a Trident that he stole from a Zomos company soldier, and Four-Chains appeared on the ship. But Uul was no where to be found when Rila went to wake him up for the war carrage. After a breakfast including Zomos inquiring about the whereabouts of the Primordial Elemental egg that was on his ship and Uul deflecting the question successfully, Gale's grace sailed into a large cloud of fog. Inside the fog you found a ship full of dead bodies and a Tiefling with one horn who claimed to have been attacked by the orcs who were members of her crew. After some creepy conversation and her hiring the terramin to bring all of the dwarven bodies on to the ship and push the orcs out to a watery grave, the Tiefling, named Cherish revealed herself as a pirate and resurrected the dead bodies who destroyed much of the ship."
In fact. You did die. Uh...many times. Because of how...unique this iteration is with your involvement in preventing the fall of mortals, I saw you die over and over and over again and never saw you survive without my intervention. So. I pulled you out.... And I want you to understand how hard that was for me. As difficult as you and your group has been, as rough as our relationship has been. You and your friends are the closest to have come to actually saving Dioya. So. I need you. All of you. Alive. Messing with time like this though... is not something I can do easily, even in the southern sea where the fabric of reality is weak. Taking you

After not just witnessing, but feeling yourself die a third time, your concept of death changes and you gain NINETH LIFE.
NINETH LIFE:
You only need to make 2 saving throws.

WHERE IS HERE:
This is my pub, the Crying Bandit. It exists outside of space and time to properly allow me to asses

WHO ARE YOU:
I am a dwarf who happens to know a bit more than most dwarves.
WHY:
PERSUASION FAIL: I'm doing this because I hate to see the world of mortals destroyed, you know, since I'm a dwarf its a downer to see my people along with all...people get massacred. You are my hope in creating a timeline where that does not happen.
PERSUASION 15+: I'm doing this to protect Dioya and the mortals who live on it. I...normally would not do such a thing, but... There is someone on Dioya who means a lot to me. Someone who I would do anything to protect. Surely you can empathize. Excuse me for not including a name.
BILLIONS AND BILLIONS:
"I have selected individuals to...stop this crisis from multiple different timelines, multiple different worlds. You and your friends were an attempt like any other, none of you were heroes, none of you were special, and none of you were destined for greatness. Ever wonder what your life would be like if I had never brought you here?
*SNAPS*
"You see a timelapse of you in your temple with Fenric, for a few moments that contain years, you two enjoy your time together but you see Fenric get sick and eventually, pass away. Your fur grows grey quite quickly after that and you watch yourself live the rest of your days in isolation until one day, tall, shadowy soldiers tear the temple down, crushing you in it."
"And the same goes for the rest of them. Ryuk has died a million times, alone doing the bidding of Bayez, 4-Chains dies on one of his many adventures to far distant lands, alone, Uul dies angry and alone, unable to defeat his greatest enemy, and Budrash meets his fate as the last soldier of Kinsmead to survive the onslaught of the apocalypse. I have seen this happen to you and your friends more times than you can imagine, but in this timeline, the only one that you'll ever experience, you, are the you that exists now."

"These shadows, they're memories of those who have failed. Most never make it a few days, others simply run out of time."

GALAXA:
Who? I...Wait, who?... I had no clue they....were on Dioya...this changes everything...maybe their involvement in this iteration....hm.




"That thing that killed you, it is not from this timeline or from this world, it is from a world parallel yet separate to Dioya called Chloraphis. Its name, Grolovacri, the Warlord of the Ocean. I must apologize, in my tampering with time and space hundreds of years ago, I brought the Saughin from Chloraphis to Dioya, weakening the fabric of reality in the south but never tearing it. For hundreds of years, the Saughin never proved to be more than pests to sea fairing and merfolk. Isolated cultists and sea bandits at best. But the presence of that doorway on your carriage that the Fullipire witches created must have allowed them to summon their god. And now, since Grolovacri has assimilated the portal with its body, more than just the Saughin are in the southern seas.
Sycamore, your friends have all but died. They have washed up on an island that should not exist hundreds of miles off of the coast of the Meer Forest. You must save your friends, but even more than that, you must prevent any more creatures from coming through that rift. Can I have your word?"
He SNAPS and in his hands, a thin cloak appears, it
"You have a pension for sneaking, it feels only right to give this to you knowing what you are about to face. This is the DIOYABOUND CLOAK. It is tied to the very planet that you are on. When a creature not native to Dioya attempts to find you while you sneak, they will always fail. It is a powerful tool. See to it that you use it to make things right."

DIOYABOUND CLOAK:
When sneaking any creature that is not native to Dioya automatically fails perception checks.

"I admit, not knowing where this world is going for the past few months has been exciting and nerve-wracking, even for me. But you are running out of time. Save your friends, close the rift, and stop the incoming apocalypse. If not for me, but for you and your friends."



SYCAMORE DOES NOT ASK ANY QUESTIONS OUT OF HASTE. HORMIN IOU'S HIM A CONVERSATION
WAKING UP
You find yourself standing on black sand, waves just barely reching your feet, surrounding you on the shore are pieces of a ship and in front of you, strewn about the beach are the Kings of Leon and Selasi, passed out:

Sycamore has all of his stuff.
BUDRASH is all good and has all of his stuff.
Four-Chains only has his Heavy Crossbow
Selasi has nothing
Uul only has his Spellbook and his new Ky Robes. His arm has shattered and there is now only a human arm.
Ryuk only has his Amulet of Most Wanting.

Sycamore covers everyone who is naked with Kelp.


AFTER THEY GET THEIR BEARINGS:

PERCEPTION CHECK: 15: You see 6 figures in the water, they quickly dip down.
SAUGHIN X6
HP: 22
AC: 12
ATK: 1d4 Bite 1d8 Spear
LOCATHAH SOLDIER: A Humanoid with a fish like face, colorful and intense dawning armor that looks like it's made from dead coral appears from the water.
HP: 50
AC: 19
ATK: 1d6 x 2 Coral Daggers

Sycamore attacks the Locathah as well as Budrash, Uul casts thunderwave on the Saughin, killing all of them. The Locathah is killed by Three green-skinned humanoids no larger than the size of gnomes. They wear armor made from weaved roots.
Budrash runs to hug one, assuming they are friends. A Grung stabs him in the hand with a dagger and budrash spikes it to the ground. Ryuk, in an attempt to keep the peace lays the dagger Sycamore gave him on the ground but gets run through with a spear. Sycamore vampiric touches and kills the grung, keeping the frog man's corpse.

They can't talk to the Grung.
A fter 1 Grung dies, 2 magic missiles hit the other two, killing them, 1 missfires and hits Budrash.
You all turn to see the half armored Hobgoblin leader from the ship, clutching his arm. "Agh god dammit, that fifth one was a missfire, Sorry about that Scaly."
Ga-Trell tries to diffuse the situation:
"Listen, my ship has been sunk, same with yours. I have no reason to fight you when we're on some weird island full of frog looking freaks."

IF HE'S KY: NO
I'm no Ky. Never was one. Almost was a while back when the title was first introduced by Vol, but I was never good at it. So after resigning as a Ky I became "grand admiral" of the Zo's fleet.

ABOUT UUL: NO
Listen, kid. I don't know you, you don't know me. The only thing about you that stands out is that you're alive. I got no issue with you if you don't have an issue with me.

When Ga-Trell tries to join the group, he is threatened by Uul that if he even steps one foot out of line he will kill him. Trell, now afraid but respecting of Uul complies and does not waver in this.

They can use survival to follow wreckage or to follow footsteps.

MOSS FOREST:
As you follow___ you notice that the environment is totally different than anything you've ever seen before. The ground is muddy and all of the trees, with lifted roots are caked with moss. Around the roots are large salt deposits. Its dank.
Suddenly, you all hear a male scream come closer and closer and closer until:
RYUK ROLLS ACROBATICS
SUCCEEDS: You dodge the armorclad body that rockets towards you, he falls in the mud, half of the scales on his armor torn off. It's Zomos.
FAILS: The body of Zomos lands right on top of you 1d4.
Zomos gets up, clutching a coral dagger, "Damn thing ate the kid"
From the direction where he was thrown, a massive creature that looks like the cross between a bear and an angler fish approaches you, it's drooling.
EVERYONE ROLLS INITIATIVE AT A DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE OF THE MUD.
AFTER 1 TURN ROLL FOR SARAMIR AND THE ANGLER: A Black hand bursts from the chest of the angler, then another, and from its stomach comes Saramir, enraged and panting, killing the Angler.
Zomos and Saramir have been traveling for a little less than a day, trying to find everyone.

PEBBLE TEMPLE:
They follow footsteps until they come across a massive temple made of what looks like millions of small pebbles. Each pebble has been coated in a solidified tart that holds it all together.
Sensing danger, Uul casts invisibility on Saramir.
Outside, Rila jumps out of a bush and yells who goes there, a cross bow in her hand. She is very happy to see everyone and scolds Sycamore, asking where he went off to. She shows Meivas who has been stablized but is not that good to fight. She mentions that she woke up near the temple and found Spotter being nudged by Four-Chains' Goat. The goat seemed to lead them to a temple where the Goat ran ahead inside, Soon after, Odi and a wounded Meivas saw them and Odi had a panic attack, running into the temple. Spotter followed inside while Rila healed Meivas.

Ga-Trell and Zomos stay behind while Saramir joins the group in the Mausoleum.

INSIDE THE TEMPLE:
When they enter they hear the sounds of someone in pain.
Beautiful depictions of frog like creatures are depicted with darker colored pebbles in the form of hieroglyphics mosaics.
IF THEY CONTINUE DOWN THEY ALL NEED TO ROLL DEX SAVING THROWS ABOVE 15 OR TAKE SPIKE DAMAGE FROM A TRAP 1d8.
Following down the path they see that this is a mausoleum, full of dead bodies of these frog creatures. Each inlay has a depiction of the frogs above the specific cell.
They come across Spotter who has been stebbed and is bleeding out. He looks up and says Odi did this after he tried to calm him down "Watch out...he's gone berzerk"
They can continue down the hall after ANOTHER TRAP CHECK WHICH FOUR-CHAINS SENSES to enter the MAIN HALL. where a massive stone structure that looks like Grolovacri stands, in front of it is a crying Odi. BUDRASH GETS CHARISMA ADVANTAGE.
They also see Kenneth, who is staring at a mosaic in front of him of what looks like Grolovacri, but not exactly the same as when you have seen him, being made by the massive hands of two creatures, a serious looking creature with beast and humanoid facial features with what looks like noise all around its hand and the hand of a horned humanoid creature with no sound coming from hits hand.. Below Grolovacri are all sorts of fish like creatures including what looks like the Saughin and the frog people.
Four-Chains ignores Odi to check on Kenneth which triggers the frenzied Odi to turn around, Budrash tells Ryuk some words in draconic to calm Odi down, Ryuk mimicking Okle's voice, but he does not say most of the words correctly and Odi attacks Ryuk, stabbing him. Selasi tackles Odi off of Ryuk and grabs the dagger from him, breaking through to him and calming him down.
Kenneth stares intensely at this mosaic and then Four-Chains steps in front of him, shaking the goat from his trance and letting him joining him again. Everyone is freaked out by Kenneth and Four-Chains summons him again to be talked to by Ryuk, but Kenneth seems to have no idea where he was even though Budrash could see massive amounts of magic coming from him.
Selasi recognizes the two figures on the mosaic as depictions of Aartrops and Eppiten
Sycamore pushes over the statue of Grolovacri.


THE SEARCH FOR GALE:
As soon as they exit the mausoleum, they start hearing the sound of frogs croaking in the distance, many of them.
When they get close enough, Wind starts pushing them forward, Selasi rolls an arcana at advantage. If 10+ She feels its magic coming from Gale.
Meivas is levitated by Uul and carried by Sycamore while Spotter is carried by Budrash.
Ryuk sprints ahead and following the sound of the croaking frogs you notice Hobgoblin bodies impaled on spears with their mouths sewn shut.
There is a larger body that has been burned as well. ON INVESTIGATION 15 (SELASI GETS ADVANTAGE) they recognize that this is the body of Luro.
THE RITUAL:

As the croaking gets louder and louder, you come across the source, a massive gathering of Grung, hundreds of them all croaking in a crowd surrounding a cliff that hangs over the ocean. Atop the cliff is a Golden Grung with a staff and tied to a wooden pilar is Gale, who looks worse for wear.
In their heads they all hear "Look at you, my sweet babies. It's so good to see you. We don't have much time, it's far too late. This gold guppy has sapped so much of my energy to summon him. But I'm using the last of what I got to relay this message to all of you, my crew. When that ugly sea son of a bitch shows up, Give him hell for destroying my ship. And Selasi, I just want you to know. I'm so proud of who you've become. For 65 years of my life I felt alone in the world, never having seen another like us, andfor the first time in my life, I felt a sense of purpose. I want you to live, go beyond me. You treat the crew like I have, like family, and get those nice boys to where they need to go. I'll be the wind at your back my dear, closer than ever. Oh and Ryuk. You were a solid 7 out of 10 hun.
During this speech, Ryuk bolts forward to save Selasi.
The Golden Grung taps its staff and a massive orb of white energy starts growing towards everyone, every grung who falls in the circle keeps croaking, but they make no noise.
" Meivas, Protect them. NOW"
Meivas weakly casts Guardian Circle.

When the spell is over, everything is eerily silent as the light fades. Gale is gone from her pillar but a warm breeze blows past all of you, carried on it, gales hat which travels the distance and lands gently on her head.
In the sky above, you all notice a shooting star cross the sky, HISTORY OR ARCANA CHECK: As legend states, When a genesi with Genie blood dies, they can cast one final spell.
As soon as the shooting star fades, a MASSIVE gust of wind blasts from Selasi as her skin turns from a deep blue to a Turquoise, her hair lifted naturally.
"Selasi, you feel that Gale still with you, pushing you forward, always a part of you"

SELASI BECOMES A WIND AND WATER GENESI:
Levitate
Gust of Wind
Wind Wall
Cone of Cold (Air and Water Genesi Spell)


This emotional moment is cut short when the water below starts glowing, thousands of bioluminescent blue orbs.

Every Grung Bows but 3 WARRIORS AND THE GOLDEN ONE.
Sycamore dawns the cloak, sneaking by the grung and launching himself in the air, coming down on the golden grung and slitting its throat in one go, killing it.

On the death of the golden grung, The ground starts to shake and all of the grung fall over, passed out, From the water, more menecing than before and radiating power rises the form of the massive creature. Its tentacles have now created fully formed hands. But in the center of its head is the unmistakable singular eye of Grolovacri, now a glowing ball of light. (ARCANA CHECK 20 REVEALS THATS THE RIFT)
Inspired and enraged by the death of their captain, The Terramin Company and Kings of Leon launch an all out attack starting with an enraged Ryuk casting all 5 beams of his scorching ray apart, then together to create a massive beam that burns Grolovacari's chest, Selasi flies forward and blasts it in the face with a lightning bolt.
Saramir, Zomos, and Ga-Trell attack its body while Budrash plays the song of the Draconic Hero, assuming the form and flying towards Grolovacri, picking up Sycamore for the attack. Ryuk polymorphs himself into a Manticore and lets Uul ride on his back. Uul high fives Manticore Ryuk's tail, enlarging him. As the rest of the kings of Leon launch an arial attack, 4-Chains fires off flaming cheavy crossbow bolts at Grolovacri along with the other Terramin.
Selasi blasts Grolovacri with a Cone of Cold, inciting the rift in Grolovacri's head to crack all around. Grolovacri's eye lets out debris from Gale's Grace including a panicked Pennywhistle.

Grolovacri grabs Selasi, trapping her in its hands but gets blasted by an Acid and Lightning breath attack from Budrash, bashed in the jaw by Ryuk's tail, and gets its face burned by a fireball from Uul. Sycamore drops from Budrash, unseen by Grolovacro and lands a devistating blow to its head while Selasi misty steps to the back of Uul.
Grolovaci uses his tentacles to attack Budrash, but budrash unleashes an acidic breath attack that melts through the tentacle. 4-Chains nails the creature in the chest with a crossbow bolt attack and Selasi drops from the back of Uul, channeling Gale within her who guides her and as she casts shatter, splitting the head of Grolovacri, opening the rift.


WHEN GROLOVACRI DIES
It staggers back, screaming, in the center of its face, its eye creates cracks around its face that spread throughout its body. The bodies of the grung start being sucked into it and water starts pouring out of it, splashing all over everyone. You all feel the sand shift below you.
ROLL PERCEPTION CHECK
You all see pieces of wood coming towards you, swirling above you as water floods around you and then.
EVERYTHING GOES BLACK.
You are all woken up by Pennywhistle freaking out.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT"
Wind hits the sail and its been fully repaired, the sail painted with the image of a flagon with a face, weeping. A canon has also been left beside the war carriage. A note is attached to it.

Report Date

14 Nov 2018