Maiden Voyage

Session played on March 31, 2021

Location: Torath-Ka (The Savage Lands)



The crew had served on the Rebecca, a medium-sized frigate currently hauling lumber from the Free Towns to the Kieran Empire.
Four hours ago, the ship was hit by something large below the waterline. Several of the crew were sucked out the bottom in an instant, and a broken lantern set the hull ablaze.
The ship's captain, Jonas Abraham from Earth’s England, managed to beach the ship on the shores of Torath-Ka—the Savage Land—but it seemed the Rebecca was doomed.
Captain Abraham tasked three of his crew, Zatara, Ackbarani, and Ho with foraging out to find provisions while the other 20 crew members of the Rebecca began salvaging what they could from the wreck.
The three crew members did as instructed, of course, and found themselves several miles away along the beach at the edge of a thick jungle.
There, they happened upon an old skiff, its bottom ripped apart long ago.
Ackbarani, a kraken who served as assistant to Dr. Wells the ship's surgeon, suddenly yelled. "It's a crap!"
Zatara and Ho turned to see Ackbarani pulling his foot out of a thick pile of dung partially covered by sand.
"That smells!" Ho said pinching his nose.
Zatara looked around. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said.
Suddenly, in the jungle nearby, something large came crashing out of the thick foliage!
Everyone armed themselves, ready for whatever might come at them.

The creature that emerged out of the jungle was taller than an average man. It resembled a lizard-like beast that walked two hind legs.
Although the three crew members had heard of such strange beasts, they had never ran into one before.
The thing roared and charged at Ho.
Ho barely managed to hold his maul in front of him as the creature opened its mouth wide and tried to bite him. Fortunately, its large head only slammed into his chest. His thick blubbery skin protected him from any serious injury.
Ackbarani, his flintlock pistol in his hand fired into the creature. He hoped his shot would not strike Ho who was struggling to keep the lizard creature from eating him alive.
The kraken's shot struck the creature in the head.
It reared its head and shrieked. Then it toppled over, landed in the sand, and died.
"You alright, Ho?" Zatara asked the grael. Already a large bruise was forming where the creature's head had struck Ho.
"Ho good," Ho said.
"Well, it looks like we found some meat," Ackbarani said kicking the slain creature.
"Let's head back and tell Captain Abraham about this skiff," Zatara said. "It looks like we can repair its hull with the supplies the others have salvaged off of the Rebecca."
Ho slung his maul over his shoulder and grabbed the dead lizard by the tail.
Slowly, the three crewmembers dragged the creature back to the others.
It was already Noon.
It would take them three hours to reach Captain Abraham and the rest of their crew mates.

***

As they walked along the beach they saw smoke from about where they had left the Rebecca.
The three cautiously picked up the pace and crested a dune to see their worst fears confirmed—the ship had burned to the waterline.
Around the hulk were many tracks and pools of blood, but there was no sign of their mates or the stores that had been taken off the ship before they left in the morning.
Ackbarani and Zatara found average-sized footprints in the sand leading into the jungle.
They also noticed drag marks as well, likely from the party’s missing crew mates.
Leaving the dead lizard behind, the three followed the footprints.
After two miles of trekking through the thick jungle, the prints led to a clearing.
There, they saw an ancient stone foundation.
Within it was a short pyramid, its top flat. A crimson pool, on the top of the pyramid, was topped by a statue of a 20’ tall monkape.
Six other sailors sat on their knees before the pool.
Nine red-skinned hairy men stood around the pool while a shaman danced and chanted from behind the prisoners. Their arms were tied together behind them with vines.
With a command word the three couldn't understand, the shaman pointed to one of the prisoners. A nearby red-skinned man pushed the man into the pool.
The man, a young human crewman named Nathaniel Melville from the colonies of America, screamed as he plunged into the red bubbling liquid.
His hands still tied, he struggled to stay afloat. But he was doomed.
The thick red liquid acted like acid. Nathaniel's skin began to melt off his body as he started to drown.
Zatara could barely control the urge to vomit after seeing the horror before him.
He turned to Ackbarani and Ho. "We must do something to save the remaining five crew members."
Ackbarani and Ho nodded in agreement.
"I have a plan," Zatara said.