Close Calls

Life, Relocation

As heavy rain battered roof tops, many slept. Aurum kept a close watch over their captive while getting what sleep he could. It was nice being able to fall back on training and old routines - a sense of normalcy he hasn't had in about a month. Breezy whimpered apologies in his sleep, some for responsibility and some out of fear of reprisal.   Adeline and Ryz managed to sleep, even despite the horrifying display of the Heron Captain attacking a ship in the blockade.

When morning broke, the trio found the wounded Stuart to inform him of the tragic loss of his family. Shocked and devastated, he needed time to think and process the loss. They left the metallic visages with him to do manage, with help from the Armory if needed.   The group split up for a brief time in the morning to gather what they needed for the trip. Adeline took a trip to the shore to spend time contemplating things on the beach, especially with so many new experiences. Aurum purchased potions in preparation. Ryz went to the local magic shop - the Component Compendium - to inquire about curses.   There they met Callum Bruce, a rotund and happy salesman with a love for magic. Ryz's eye caught a table of oddities and inquired. Callum ran through most of the items, showing off their... interesting qualities. The hat of flowing water (when held as if worn on the head, salt water pours endlessly from it), the boots of firewalking (provides perfect fire protection for the feet, but have a perpetual burning sensation when worn), the Master's key (able to lock any door), the umbrella of traversal (can be ridden like a boat when held upside down) - this one piqued Ryz's interest. After some brief haggling, Ryz bought it, using the exchange to strike up conversation.   Asking about curses, Ryz revealed their duck. Unsurprised by the object, he beheld it and got to work identifying what was the deal with it. As his spell finished, he look amazed. "It's cursed alright, that's a Spirit of the Sea." This was both comforting and worrying to Ryz, being able to confirm that it was, in fact, a trapped Spirit of the Sea.   "Which one, I cannot tell. And all I know about curses like this is you need three things. 1) you need to know it's true name. 2) you need to know the right ritual and 3) you need to perform it where it comes from." Ryz thanked him for the information, and the excellent umbrella, and went on their way to meet up with the others.   On their way to meet up, a massive charge could be felt in the air. An alarm sounded from the nearby lighthouse. A few minutes later, as everyones hair was standing on end, a blinding flash lit up the sky. A few seconds later, a deafening boom you could feel in your chest crashed over the town. In the distance, Josh was heard screaming in shock and pain "fffffuck!"   At The Cart and Buggy, everyone in the entourage met up to travel. Two busses were rented, with the appropriate amount of oxstriches to pull them. Ryz, excitedly, immediately showed off the umbrella. It was not an effective time to do so, so it was a little underwhelming. They love it no less.   The first day of travel was uneventful. A mildly rainy day that scored the beautiful countryside of Amana. While on route, Ryz gathered Adeline and Aurum to come clean about their duck. As they did, Baba let them know that there was a button next to the door to silence the sitting area, where their captive was sitting. They pressed the button and began to explain their cursed duck, the trapped Spirit of the Sea, and some of the anxiety of resolving it.   They shared information, trying to pinpoint which one it is, and where it's from. Eventually, thanks to Adeline's time on a pirate ship and Ryz's knowledge of the oceans around Espiria, they realized that it was the Spirit of the Queencrest Ocean, known to be a spirit manifested as a behemoth man o war jellyfish - piece one of the puzzle down.   During the journey, the trio continued to try to be pleasant enough in the hopes that Breezy might divulge more information. He did not, remaining mostly pensive and gloomy. That night they rested at a convenient site along the main road. Baba set up triggers around so the group could get the rest they needed. The following day was much the same, for a time. A light drizzle and not much to do. At around mid day, something seemed off. The party, enjoying the views, spotted some figures laying in hiding just off the road up ahead. As they stopped and prepared to take a look, a Spear came flying out, plunging into Josh's right thigh.   Combat   It was a messy affair, with the Oddbasilians, clerics, and Baba running to the rear to find protection. Aurum lobbed Breezy up onto Baba's floating disk to take him to safety. The fighting was chaotic and grueling.   Warforged, 10 in number, lead by a captain, came up in 3 groupings. Some attacked the oxstriches, killing two. The rest attacked the party. Ryz, not being much of a fighter, managed to do fantastic crowd control with their thunderwave spell. Aurum went toe to toe with several hitting them hard with his greatsword. Adeline was finding the sweetspots in their armor to deal massive damage with her knives. It seemed difficult to deal any significant damage as they were well trained and resisted a lot of damage.   The warforged captain charged forward, swiftly climbing atop the EmeraldCrest, standing face to face with a wounded and freightened Josh. Adeline felt a surge of complex emotions seeing her pseudo-surrogate brother in such danger. She deftly crawled under the carriage, scaled the EmeraldCrest, and plunged one of her daggers deep in the captain's side. Though its face was not emotive, Josh could sense the fear calculated in the stiffened response from the Captain: a feeling he knew all too well, especially when in response to Adeline.   Josh quickly made distance between himself and the duo as they dueled on top of the emerald crest. Ryz continued blasting and moving warforged with thunderwaves as Aurum attempted to shift their focus and beat down as many as he could. With another swift strike, Adeline forced the captain to begin fleeing. While doing so, Aurum got a solid slash in, weakening it further. As it fled, Josh found the perfect angle beside a carriage to loose an arrow - the final blow to bring the captain down. Meanwhile, Ryz managed to destroy a soldier with perfectly placed blasts.   With the captain dead, some command, or lack thereof, signalled the warforged to retreat. They did so in a disorderly manner, running in every direction. Aurum spared the captain, preventing its death and binding it. Hopefully it would provide answers.