Session Report 38 - Doom of The Evanescent Mermaid
General Summary
"Alright, if we're the rats then you're the damn snake. Are we gonna do this or what?"
-Gunther, to Pilmouth Black
From The Deep
Aboard the Evanescent Mermaid, Laire, Ramone, Gunther, and Danny are set upon by beings of the deep. Four krulkerlike creatures with writing masses of tentacles on their faces attack. From across the water, Grov, seeing his friends in danger, dives and swims to board the Mermaid as well. The creatures put up a good fight, and on top of using their pincers effectively, they use their face tentacles to slather some icky goo on those close to them. However, luckily, whenever they do this their victims manage to resist the effects. Gunther suspects that this goo might be the source of the purple ailment afflicting some of the survivors.Danny takes quite a beating but manages to kill one of the creatures, then jumps into the Rowboat with his survivor. Ramone kills another and as the two remaining begin to retreat toward the waters, Grov jumps from the side of the ship and finishes off one more.
The group scrambles for the rowboat, doing their best to fit everybody they can in. It takes barely a minute between the death of the third thing and the departure of the rowboat.
Dark Waters
Rain continues to beat down as the rowboat crosses the dark and wavy waters between The Driftwood and The Evanescent Mermaid. The journey is uneasy but passes without anything emerging from the depths. The survivors are brought onto The Driftwood and Graham begins to tend to them. Somebody wonders if the corpse of one of the creatures might help with treating the survivors that have been inflicted with the purpling ailment. Locke also suggests that it might be good to know if the creatures attacked The Evanescent Mermaid for a particular reason.Locke decides to ritually cast a spell that allows him to detect magic, which takes 10 long minutes. The crew sits in wait, wondering if something more will appear. However, the time passes with nothing more than the howling wind, the drumming of the rain, the occasional crash of thunder, and the light chanting of Locke. When the ritual is done, Locke, Laire, Ramone, Chuck, Gunther, and Grov head toward the Mermaid on two rowboats.
Captain Thatchett's Curse
Sensing for magic, Locke picks up some very bad energy stemming from the captain's quarters. With a bit of effort, Gunther pries the door open. The Captain is deceased inside, having blown off the majority of his head with an overloaded flintlock. On his desk in front of him lies a burned tome, atop which is a closed pendant. After ensuring the room is as safe to enter as it can be, radiating fell magic as it is, Locke carefully approaches. Using magic so as not to touch it, he opens the tome and searches for anything legible, eventually stumbling upon a strangely written section on the proper preparation of living sacrifices. He decides that there's nothing good that can come from the tome being in the world, so finishes the job and finishes burning it.Locke then uses magic to open the amulet, in doing so releasing a cry of unsettling energy. Inside is depicted a black heart sprouting luminescent white tentacles covered in eyes, surrounded by some kind of ethereal fabric. The amulet is clearly cursed or something of the like, so Locke moves to close it. At this moment, his mind is beset with vivid images of the being depicted on it, crawling in the dark depths of the sea. Its name comes unwillingly to his lips as he snaps out of the disturbing vision: "Yebenkaherju" (yee-ben-kah-hair-jew).
Locke decides the locket is important, cursed or not, and has Gunther put it in the same magical bag as the obsidian chest. Chuck mentions that the dragon heart reacted to the name. The crew agrees to deal with this once they are off the Mermaid, but for now, they have to check out the cargo hold.
Doom From The Cargo Hold
The cargo hold reeks of decay and the corpses of two of the things from the deep lie here amongst the barrels and crates. The group begins to search for valuable cargo and rations, finding a full crate of rations and some barrels of water and ale, some small valuables, and a crate containing about 50 scrolls of sending, presumably sent straight from Lithlaine Academy.The ship groans and begins to list to one side. At the same time, the distinct scuttling sound of one of the things from the sea climbing up the side of the ship can be heard against the hull. The group scurries to escape, finding that a bright white light emanates from the starboard side of the ship through the cannon ports. Laire rushes for the main deck, being stopped at the top of the stairs by the one remaining thing from the depths, then Grov and Chuck move in to fight it, with Chuck landing a couple of brutal blows to kill the creature.
As the group makes their way onto the upper deck, the reason why the ship is listing and the source of the light are made clear; two massive luminescent eye-covered tentacles extend from the sea, one pulling the ship closer to its doom, and the other striking anybody who tries to escape. However, even with its great force, the group manages to escape with a bit of a struggle, diving onto the rowboats and rowing frantically away, as the Evanescent Mermaid cracks beneath the monstrous force and relinquishes itself to the water.
The tentacles, seemingly stemming from nothing, fade into the darkness.
Adelynne's Tale
Regrouping on The Driftwood, the crew takes a bit of time for respite before heading belowdecks and talking to the one conscious survivor, an elvish woman who, it becomes apparent, it the diplomat Adelynne Trumeraux. She is obviously fear-stricken, and she is positive that whatever curse that brought down the Mermaid is still around. The group agrees this is probably the pendant and agrees to try touching it to the dragon heart when they reach the next island, then, if that does nothing, get rid of it after getting it checked out by a professional.For now, they listen to what Adelynne has to say. She tells of an unusual captain who simply didn't act quite right, and a first mate who was good at his job, but not as trusting or supportive of the captain as he should have been. One night the first mate tried to mutiny, shooting the captain, but was then strangled to death by the captain himself and thrown to the ocean for his crimes. The captain asked not to look into it too much. Two days later Adelynne felt a sense of dread and awoke in a sweat. She rushed to the crow's nest to the sound of a gunshot from the captain's quarters, and then the beings from the deep arrived. They killed the crew then the crew killed each other. All the while, the diplomat was too afraid to descend to the deck, even after days, and starved half to death in the nest.
While the full causes remain a mystery, the group is far too tired to continue, so they head to sleep for the night while the night crew begins the sail back north.
Peter's Last Smile
By the next morning, some sense of normalcy has returned. The ship grows close to The Isle of Weeping Willows and the crew returns to their normal routines. Grov recovers fully from the effects of the dum-dum fruit and promptly gets annihilated by Laire at chess.Peter Hoffin calls Locke over to him to ask a small favour; could the crew please stop over by Libertalia when they get the chance? He'd like to see her and give her a present. Locke is happy to do this when the time is right. Peter smiles joyously and expresses his appreciation, thanking the captain for letting him join the crew and telling him that he really enjoys his time here.
As he says this, a knife pierces his neck from behind, and he is pulled off the ship into the water. Locke stands shocked for a second. Everybody on the main deck stands shocked for a second. Locke yells to the crew that they are under attack, and most folks run to the main deck. Harry backs up to the other side of the ship in fear, only to have one of his arms severed clean off as a blue-hooded figure hoists himself up to the deck, pressing his foot on Harry's chest to bring him more pain. The figure pulls back his cowl slightly, just enough to reveal his face - that of an old Harpsbilgian man with an eyepatch and a trimmed white beard, which comes to a point. The assailant looks Locke square in the eyes and declares, "I will not fail again. You pirate rats will meet my blade. You face Pilmouth Black, the arm of execution."
The assassin, one of Estella Fairford's top men, readies himself for action, draws up his cowl, and goes invisible. The life of each crewmember hangs in the balance.
Report Date
18 Mar 2023
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