Session 17: Sailing to Uncertainty

General Summary

The Swift Mermaid spearheaded the party's journey back west towards their goal. It was very early morning when the captain awoke from a nightmare where he saw the bronze dragon Vurvayssun get captured during a storm by a strange illithid like creature. Desperate to save the dragon had run out to spy for the storm in question. He was soon joined by Kazagal who had not slept at all in fear of the nightmares that had haunted him as of late. When Dormaruk had calmed down and realized there was no storm in sight, they both decided that it was too close to morning to go back to sleep. 
That morning Nakor went up on deck to watch the sunrise like most mornings. When he saw the captain and the artificer speak he quickly joined in. When Kazagal revealed that he had not slept and it became apparent that no amount of reason or nagging could make him do so, Nakor took it upon himself to convince him by other means. With his magical powers, he reached out into the goliath's mind and made him convinced that he indeed needed to sleep. Later when Jeanne had joined them, they were also joined by the Hellknight Sir Horzin. He demanded to know the whereabouts of Kazagal as it was time for more training. When he couldn't be persuaded to let the goliath sleep, Nakor used his powers to take the armigers shape and train in his stead. Through some illusionary tricks, he managed to make it through the exercise. That's when Mr'iq in the crow's nest spotted pirates approaching them. Amidst the chaos that broke out Kazagal was awoken and joined them up top, after being cryptically briefed by Nakor. 
Dormaruk quickly realized that there was no way of escaping the opposing ship, and instead ordered the cannons readied and steered the ship so it faced the pirates with its broadside. The pirate ship, upon further inspection, as it quickly approached, bore a strange flag. Instead of a skull, it had a strange tentacled head. And its sail seemed to be made of sewn-together skins and bore some strange runes all over. When the pirates slowed their approach, Nakor hailed them telepathically on Dormaruks behest. The answer they received was threatening and soon Dormaruk ordered a warning shot from the cannons. When they continued their approach the captain ordered all cannons to be fired. Splinters flew as some of the cannonballs blasted into the enemy vessel, but most of the shots seemed to be stopped in the air and fall into the sea before they hit their mark. 
Next thing they knew the pirate ship sunk into the ocean and vanished from view. Soon thereafter it appeared behind them, close enough for the pirates to board. A fight broke out, where the crew managed to quickly and effectively hold the attackers back, and when Nakor used his magic to create a massive fiery explosion in the middle of the enemy ship, killing most of their reinforcements and setting the ship ablaze. Those who could abandon the ship, but screams of those trapped in the flames echoed across the battle. As the pirates lost morale, the crew of the Swift Mermaid slew them one by one until only two of them, as well as the captain and his henchmen. 
The captain now visible up close didn't resemble any race they had ever seen before. Bluish skin, a skinny build with elongated limbs, a bloated head, long arms with four fingers on each hand, tentacles growing from the face to resemble a beard. He also seemed to manifest powerful psychic abilities. Along with his zombie-like henchmen, he fought most of the party back with his mind blasts. But when his companions were cut down, he instead abandoned ship and disappeared into the depths. Upon seeing this the last pirates followed suit. They, however, floated up after a while. 
In the aftermath of the battle, the party managed to take the sails from the sinking pirate ship. They also noticed some baby illithids crawling out of the heads of the captain's henchmen, which Dormaruk quickly destroyed. After spending some time of research, Kazagal managed to find the secrets of the sail and by applying some runes to the rudder. This allowed the Swift Mermaid the amazing ability to dive underneath the surface of the sea. Despite the amazement of the newfound powers of the ship, Dormaruk found the concept unnerving. 
Yet another day of travel passed, where Kazagal still didn't sleep, but rather spent the night finally finishing his research into finding a way for making a cloak that allows the user to breathe underwater. When morning came he was once again approached by Nakor who suggested ways of making him sleep without dreams. To this end, he suggested that he took some Drug of drugs, which was still loaded on the ship from their find on the secret island. The two went down to the cargo hold but were stopped by the captain. After they explained the situation he let them pass. They fetched the drug and Kazagal took a hit. He immediately became woozy and the two headed to his bunk. That's when they were stopped by Sir Horzin who had been looking for Kazagal to start today's training. To avoid this Nakor used his magic to confuse the gnome. As he left Kazagal went to bed with Nakor sitting next to him and stroking his hair. 
When Sir Horzin realized what had happened, he marched down to Nakor, fuming with rage. Confronting the aasimar, he ensured him that he would have oversight with this if he apologized. Nakor on the other hand just insulted him for his treatment of Kazagal. The gnome exploded with anger, but did not engage with the prince, but rather went to leave the ship. Jeanne who had witnessed the encounter told the prince that he should be happy to be alive. The Hellknight was, however, convinced to not punish Kazagal for the actions of Nakor. Instead he went into his cabin to cool off. 
A few hours later, Kazagal awoke from a dreamless sleep. He heard about what had happened and went to talk to his master. He apologized and promised that it would not happen again. When Sir Horzin said that he would kill Nakor if it happened again, Kazagal responded that he probably couldn't. This ended in Sir Horzin challenging both Nakor and Kazagal to a duel. Dormaruk ordered the deck empty to make room for the spectacle, which the entire crew was excited to see. The duel itself was quick. No matter what the pair threw at the Hellknight, he kept standing and struck back even harder. When both Nakor and Kazagal laid beaten on deck, Sir Horzin helped his Armiger up. The surprised Kazagal congratulated his master with newfound respect. 
Just in that moment, Me'iq yelled out from the crow's nest that a storm could be sighted to the northwest.

Campaign

The Oceans Call

Protagonists

Nakor

Kazagal Headsmasher

()

8 / 8 HP

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Jeanne de La Brouhaha

Lawful Neutral Human (Imperial Intelligence Officer)
Rogue 7
Fighter 1

53 / 52 HP

STR
7

DEX
18

CON
12

INT
15

WIS
14

CHA
16

Dormaruk Stonehoof

Chaotic Good Minotaur ()
Barbarian 5

24 / 24 HP

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Player Journals

In the Absence of Light by Jeanne de La Brouhaha
Look at me, I'M THE FUCKING CAPTAIN by Dormaruk Stonehoof

Report Date

09 Dec 2021

Primary Location

The Swift Mermaid