Session 23: The Fortress Report
General Summary
The party sends Kysh and Borgas back to inform the Alliance of Oceanus's deceit and what they know of the Sea Devils. Mystan uses Sending to notify Captain Fireborn of the prisoners headed their way and the betrayl of Oceanus.
The party makes camp in the marshes and lights no fire. Mystan uses Clairvoyance to see the Sea Devils realizing that their prisoners are gone. Among the Sahuagin is a hulking figure clad in armor of bone and shell. During the night, Virion meets Ixsurrangkarkerin, the Scourge of Hool, who gives his thanks; the party has brought more peoples into the conflict, damning ruin upon more people.
Towards the end of his watch, Virion wakes Mystan and tells him that he just met a black dragon.
The rest of the night passes without incident, though Virion sees a Potlatch in Old Harbor. Ornate masks and slaves and food are given, but dragons interrupt and attack the ceremony. The dragons are driven off, and fall out of the sky and into the Silverstream River. But instead of hitting the water, they fall past a waterfall and into a great pit.
Mystan takes next watch, and deals with rustmites and magical mosquitoes, but otherwise sees not much. Bubbles takes the next watch, happy to be out of the swamp water, and they see the sun rise.
This time, they are going to enter via the front door on the 1st level. Uk-thin infuses Bubbles' flipper-wrapping things with Boots of the Winding Path. Their plan is to do Silence, Grease, and Fireball -- and Vortex Warp if necessary -- in that order to deal with anybody they immediately see. This will drop anyone they cannot avoid. Not to mention, they have Prestidigation to clean up the mess. Bubbles will deal with any survivors. So, with Enhance Ability and Pass Without Trace, they are ready to scout.
They come to the large stone doors, and find them barred from the inside. Mystan casts Silence as a ritual, targeting the doors. He opens the apeture, seeing 9 Sahuagin and a gong in the next room over. They seem confused by the lack of sound, so Mystan closes the window and drops the silence.
Bubbles has the bright idea to retrieve a log for Uk-thin to stand on, and their plan is for Mystan to open the apeture, cast Silence, then have Uk-thin cast Grease (they will break the log), and then have Virion cast Fireball. Five survived, but they were all greviously injured. Realizing they cannot alert their allies and are boxed in by a grease fire, the Sea Devils throw open the door - but Bubbles is too quick. They stab one armed with a warhammer and disarm him, and the Sahuagin is horribly injured. A second stab annihilates the Sea Devil. The second Coral Smasher is disarmed and is immediately killed. Bubbles then attacks the Sahuagin Champion, but misses. Uk-thin then Vortex Warps the champion, but he resists! The two charred Sahuagin charge Bubbles with their spears and bites, but the Locathah expertly dodges and parries all but one spear. Virion then stabs a charged corpse with a sword enhanced via Green-Flame Blade, killing one Sahuagin and having the fire leap over and finish burning the second one. He then uses his extra attack to thrust at the Champion, who sidesteps easily. He stabs at Bubbles with a spear, who blocks with their shield. He then rakes at Virion, drawing some blood, before trying to bite Mystan, missing. Mystan retaliates with Toll the Dead and Spiritual Weapon, greviously injuring him. Bubbles then flicks their rapier, disarming the Champion and slaying him.
The bodies are deposited in a mass grave, and a dwarven inspriction written by Uk-thin says "In memorium to our collatoral damage" while Virion replaces it with "In memorium to the brave defenders of such-and-such cave." Prestidigitation and Silence allow the party to clean up the room and hide all their tracks. They then take the gong to the mass grave.
Pass Without Trace has ended, and Uk-thin cannot do it again. Mystan then casts Locate Creature, focusing on the big scary armored dude in the Clairvoyance spell. The spell reveals that the guy is deep within the fortress, center-ish on the lowest level, and not moving. The brass bar that held the door shut also goes into the marsh, buried elsewhere.
To get around the gate, Virion casts Sleep through the gate while Uk-thin casts Vortex Warp Mystan over. Two sahuagin fall unconcious, a net trap falls in the hall but Bubbles, Uk-thin*, and Virion all roll nat 20s to get around the gate. The gate raised, you all are in.
They tie the Sea Devils up, Virion got an 18 on one of them and a 24 (nat 20) on the other. The prisoners are taken to a tree in the marsh (by the mass grave), and tied to a tree. Bubbles steals their spears.
Succeeding most of their checks, they find several unfinished rooms (including barracks), and an armory. They also find the slave pens, where Uk-thin casts Cure Wounds on a slave they come to learn is named Elmo (5 hit points back). They learn he is from the Sea Princes and his party was killed, he has been toiling away. They promise to retrieve him. They find the larder, including ceremonially stored organs. Uk-thin feeds the ooze one organ; the ooze greedily dissolves the liver, and grows a little. Uk-thin retrieves the ooze, and they use daggers and Firebolt to destroy the organs.
There's also a storeroom full of tools and supplies to build out the fortress. Within it is a secret room with a Glyph of Warding, which Uk-thin realizes is rigged to do some kind of cold magic. They succeed the save and use Absorb Elements. Within it is a suit of Mithral Plate Armor, three shields bearing the insignia of prince Monmurg (a spire rising against a lavendar sky), a plain suit of chainmail, and a Cloak of the Manta Ray. Uk-thin tries to disarm the trap, and fails spectacularly, getting seriously injured. Mystan heals them though. Within the coffer is a Bag of Holding containing 12 Potions of Water Breathing and Elmo's spellbook. The unfinished room leading down to the second level is crawling with eight Sahaugin and ten more slaves. They ditch it, heading out. They grab Elmo on the way out and escape to camp, taking all the weapons with them.
Camped a football field inland (with the mass grave further in), the party gives Elmo his spellbook back and sleep, planning to use Tongues to interrogate the Sea Devils later. They add to the bags of holding their new prisoners and corpses, dumping the corpses. The five prisoners (three Sahuagin, one Priestess, one Warhammer guy). The prisoners are near the camp, not the mass grave. First watch is taken by Uk-thin, who watches the prisoners and the camp. After scaring off some giant salamanders, they hand it off to Virion, which goes uneventfully. Bubbles takes last watch, and the morning comes.
Mystan casts Tongues on Virion and himself. Virion grabs the one of the normal troops, and he and Mystan march the guy to the mass grave, while Bubbles and Uk-thin watch the other prisoners.
The first one is mortified by the mass grave, and Virion is scary as hell, so he blabs. The other two corroborate it. The Coral Smasher gives more information on the fortress, Blademaster Makaht, and their plans for an amphibious assault on Saltmarsh in twenty-three days.
The Priestess, though, is harder to crack. Mystan roughs her up with his warhammer, and Virion shoots her, but she refuses to talk. In the end. the party takes her in as a prisoner.
In total, they learn the Sea Devils initially numbered around 300. They have a complete map of the surface level floor, and a good idea of the layout of the two submerged floors.
Eda Oweland and the town Council give the party a beachside house with aquatic access as thanks for saving the town over these past few months. Captain Fireborn requests the party aid in the assault, offering Virion and Mystan Honorary Lieutenants. Uk-thin is offered Ensignship, but Lt. Commander Fireborn says that if the assault goes well, they can become one of her marines.
The party makes camp in the marshes and lights no fire. Mystan uses Clairvoyance to see the Sea Devils realizing that their prisoners are gone. Among the Sahuagin is a hulking figure clad in armor of bone and shell. During the night, Virion meets Ixsurrangkarkerin, the Scourge of Hool, who gives his thanks; the party has brought more peoples into the conflict, damning ruin upon more people.
Towards the end of his watch, Virion wakes Mystan and tells him that he just met a black dragon.
The rest of the night passes without incident, though Virion sees a Potlatch in Old Harbor. Ornate masks and slaves and food are given, but dragons interrupt and attack the ceremony. The dragons are driven off, and fall out of the sky and into the Silverstream River. But instead of hitting the water, they fall past a waterfall and into a great pit.
Mystan takes next watch, and deals with rustmites and magical mosquitoes, but otherwise sees not much. Bubbles takes the next watch, happy to be out of the swamp water, and they see the sun rise.
This time, they are going to enter via the front door on the 1st level. Uk-thin infuses Bubbles' flipper-wrapping things with Boots of the Winding Path. Their plan is to do Silence, Grease, and Fireball -- and Vortex Warp if necessary -- in that order to deal with anybody they immediately see. This will drop anyone they cannot avoid. Not to mention, they have Prestidigation to clean up the mess. Bubbles will deal with any survivors. So, with Enhance Ability and Pass Without Trace, they are ready to scout.
They come to the large stone doors, and find them barred from the inside. Mystan casts Silence as a ritual, targeting the doors. He opens the apeture, seeing 9 Sahuagin and a gong in the next room over. They seem confused by the lack of sound, so Mystan closes the window and drops the silence.
Bubbles has the bright idea to retrieve a log for Uk-thin to stand on, and their plan is for Mystan to open the apeture, cast Silence, then have Uk-thin cast Grease (they will break the log), and then have Virion cast Fireball. Five survived, but they were all greviously injured. Realizing they cannot alert their allies and are boxed in by a grease fire, the Sea Devils throw open the door - but Bubbles is too quick. They stab one armed with a warhammer and disarm him, and the Sahuagin is horribly injured. A second stab annihilates the Sea Devil. The second Coral Smasher is disarmed and is immediately killed. Bubbles then attacks the Sahuagin Champion, but misses. Uk-thin then Vortex Warps the champion, but he resists! The two charred Sahuagin charge Bubbles with their spears and bites, but the Locathah expertly dodges and parries all but one spear. Virion then stabs a charged corpse with a sword enhanced via Green-Flame Blade, killing one Sahuagin and having the fire leap over and finish burning the second one. He then uses his extra attack to thrust at the Champion, who sidesteps easily. He stabs at Bubbles with a spear, who blocks with their shield. He then rakes at Virion, drawing some blood, before trying to bite Mystan, missing. Mystan retaliates with Toll the Dead and Spiritual Weapon, greviously injuring him. Bubbles then flicks their rapier, disarming the Champion and slaying him.
The bodies are deposited in a mass grave, and a dwarven inspriction written by Uk-thin says "In memorium to our collatoral damage" while Virion replaces it with "In memorium to the brave defenders of such-and-such cave." Prestidigitation and Silence allow the party to clean up the room and hide all their tracks. They then take the gong to the mass grave.
Pass Without Trace has ended, and Uk-thin cannot do it again. Mystan then casts Locate Creature, focusing on the big scary armored dude in the Clairvoyance spell. The spell reveals that the guy is deep within the fortress, center-ish on the lowest level, and not moving. The brass bar that held the door shut also goes into the marsh, buried elsewhere.
To get around the gate, Virion casts Sleep through the gate while Uk-thin casts Vortex Warp Mystan over. Two sahuagin fall unconcious, a net trap falls in the hall but Bubbles, Uk-thin*, and Virion all roll nat 20s to get around the gate. The gate raised, you all are in.
They tie the Sea Devils up, Virion got an 18 on one of them and a 24 (nat 20) on the other. The prisoners are taken to a tree in the marsh (by the mass grave), and tied to a tree. Bubbles steals their spears.
Succeeding most of their checks, they find several unfinished rooms (including barracks), and an armory. They also find the slave pens, where Uk-thin casts Cure Wounds on a slave they come to learn is named Elmo (5 hit points back). They learn he is from the Sea Princes and his party was killed, he has been toiling away. They promise to retrieve him. They find the larder, including ceremonially stored organs. Uk-thin feeds the ooze one organ; the ooze greedily dissolves the liver, and grows a little. Uk-thin retrieves the ooze, and they use daggers and Firebolt to destroy the organs.
There's also a storeroom full of tools and supplies to build out the fortress. Within it is a secret room with a Glyph of Warding, which Uk-thin realizes is rigged to do some kind of cold magic. They succeed the save and use Absorb Elements. Within it is a suit of Mithral Plate Armor, three shields bearing the insignia of prince Monmurg (a spire rising against a lavendar sky), a plain suit of chainmail, and a Cloak of the Manta Ray. Uk-thin tries to disarm the trap, and fails spectacularly, getting seriously injured. Mystan heals them though. Within the coffer is a Bag of Holding containing 12 Potions of Water Breathing and Elmo's spellbook. The unfinished room leading down to the second level is crawling with eight Sahaugin and ten more slaves. They ditch it, heading out. They grab Elmo on the way out and escape to camp, taking all the weapons with them.
Camped a football field inland (with the mass grave further in), the party gives Elmo his spellbook back and sleep, planning to use Tongues to interrogate the Sea Devils later. They add to the bags of holding their new prisoners and corpses, dumping the corpses. The five prisoners (three Sahuagin, one Priestess, one Warhammer guy). The prisoners are near the camp, not the mass grave. First watch is taken by Uk-thin, who watches the prisoners and the camp. After scaring off some giant salamanders, they hand it off to Virion, which goes uneventfully. Bubbles takes last watch, and the morning comes.
Mystan casts Tongues on Virion and himself. Virion grabs the one of the normal troops, and he and Mystan march the guy to the mass grave, while Bubbles and Uk-thin watch the other prisoners.
The first one is mortified by the mass grave, and Virion is scary as hell, so he blabs. The other two corroborate it. The Coral Smasher gives more information on the fortress, Blademaster Makaht, and their plans for an amphibious assault on Saltmarsh in twenty-three days.
The Priestess, though, is harder to crack. Mystan roughs her up with his warhammer, and Virion shoots her, but she refuses to talk. In the end. the party takes her in as a prisoner.
In total, they learn the Sea Devils initially numbered around 300. They have a complete map of the surface level floor, and a good idea of the layout of the two submerged floors.
Eda Oweland and the town Council give the party a beachside house with aquatic access as thanks for saving the town over these past few months. Captain Fireborn requests the party aid in the assault, offering Virion and Mystan Honorary Lieutenants. Uk-thin is offered Ensignship, but Lt. Commander Fireborn says that if the assault goes well, they can become one of her marines.
Rewards Granted
- Mithral Plate Armor
- Three shields bearing the insignia of prince Monmurg (a spire rising against a lavendar sky)
- One plain suit of chainmail
- Cloak of the Manta Ray
- Bag of Holding
- 12 Potions of Water Breathing
- A House in Saltmarsh
- Saltmarsh Citizenship
Missions/Quests Completed
The party successfully scouted out the Javan Fortress, completing the mission given to them by the Aquatic Alliance.
Character(s) interacted with
- Kysh
- Borgas
- Captain Eliander Fireborn
- Elmo
- Senior Councilwoman Eda Oweland
- Councilwoman Manistrad Copperlocks
- Councilman Anders Solmor
- Lt. Commander Ana Fireborn
Notes
*Technically Mystan got the nat 20 because we mixed up who was going there.
Uk-thin Rolsar
Lawful Good Gensai (Guild Artisan)
artificer 4
artificer 4
31 / 31 HP
STR
16
16
DEX
13
13
CON
14
14
INT
17
17
WIS
12
12
CHA
11
11
Bubbles
Virion Sylvenne
C/N Wood Elf (Noble)
Wizard 2
Wizard 2
7 / 12 HP
STR
12
12
DEX
16
16
CON
13
13
INT
16
16
WIS
14
14
CHA
14
14
Co'oquilan Mystan
Bronze Dragonborn (Acolyte)
Cleric 3
Cleric 3
10 / 24 HP
STR
14
14
DEX
11
11
CON
14
14
INT
13
13
WIS
16
16
CHA
13
13
Report Date
03 Sep 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Comments