Tag Archives: unknown sea creature

007 – In My Bunk, Under the Covers – Cleverly Using a Light Spell

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After some discussion, we surmised that we are not yet tall enough to ride the ride that is the Prisim Theater. Settling into a quieter routine, I returned to my research and Zeno began his intense work on a massive slaw for the Beggar’s Feast. I am not entirely sure what has possessed him to make a slaw, of all things. I mean, it’s generally a thing that you make to balance the flavors and textures of a meal, not really a food stuff in and of itself and therefore sub-optimal for the pot luck nature of the Beggar’s Feast.

I suppose, as an elf, he cannot help it. His palate is compromised from birth.

In the middle of Zeno’s odd domestic bliss, the dock bell began to ring. Everyone, save the towered bell ringer, made haste away from the docks. We picked up our gear and ran toward it. Surveying the area, all we could find was a bag and belaying pin abandoned on the ground. Following the direction of the bell ringer, we were able to soon locate the cause of all the commotion.

It had a human torso and a catfish face with a fishy tail. Three seaspawn arrived with it, the big guy holding a large harpoon and a rope tied around the ankle of one of the seaspawn. A fight ensued, Zeno taking the large harpoon right in his chest. It was not pretty. However, we did prevail, though as we pulled up the rope from the seaspawn’s leg we found that we had not been able to save the kidnapped sailor.

We built a bonfire and at least saved the sailor from transforming into something worse than a corpse. He was a member of the crew of the Hyperion. I should look into that.

As we were sorting things out, we spotted a commotion back in town and we went to check it out. A butcher was pitching a fit because some kobolds had been in his trash and then scurried down a storm drain. The leader of the group had a shiny scaled snout. We checked out the storm drain and decided to look into the problem tomorrow.

Instead, we headed to the Blossom for drinks and intel. Kyra said that it was odd for the kobolds to be here in town. While everyone debating the merits of chasing kobolds, I slipped upstairs to see what Ashran was reading. (Men & Hunters this time. Mostly about fighting goblins, zvarts, imps, mephits, quasits, that sort of thing.) Ashran agreed that it was strange for the kobolds to be in town like that and seemed pleased that we were going to go check it out the next day.

Eventually, it was time to head to bed. Zeno came up to drag me away from reading and we headed back to our room. At some point during the night, a visitor stopped by to see Zeno. He wore platemail and a half black, half white mask that covered his face. He referred to himself as a member of The Judgement Legion. They fight the lawlessness of the city, trying to bring order and structure to this chaos.

He would not give his name, saying that individual names do not matter. He did say that if we should ever need aid in our work, we should let the bouncer at The Old Fashioned Blossom know. He also asked that we talk up his group at the Beggar’s Feast. I might need to put a little song together for that. I mean, I do have all this talent. I might as well use it for something productive.

Action Items:

  • find out what happened to The Hyperion
  • Ashran’s height
  • write a song about a town in chaos that is saved by order (in the meantime, sing Street of Laredo)

002 – At Mistside Cross – Settling in at Da-Rin

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The ship docked at the Mistside Cross, the former Thessalian section of Da-Rin, and I went in search of answers. Za’lynn accompanied me to assist with both his knowledge and imposing visage. I was lucky enough to find a priest of Athena at the universal temple who offered us use of the library there. Sadly, the place is mostly in disarray. Lydros, the Priest of Athena, after hearing what I was looking for, suggested that I might want to speak with Ellenmore the Old, the owner of a nearby sage shop. 

After making what we could of the information in the ruined library, I was able to ascertain that nothing of what we had encountered so far was in the pre-Arkyn texts. Though there was nothing directly on the conch, I did find a few entries that begin to make me wonder if the elemental nature of the conch is somehow linked with the Titans. This will take further investigation.

As Za’lynn and I searched through documents, Jade, Tyanna, and Zeno went in search of a drink. Arestes, the bartender at The Voiceless Fish, was full of information about the horrible things we’d seen on the ship. The deep ones, it seems, are a new problem in the last 10 years. It is assumed that they are some byproduct of the island explosion. 

The creatures do not seem to get along with sahaugin or lizard folk. They are often seen with sea spawn, the creatures that appear as drowned men with the sea beginning to claim their form. They maraud and raid, never straying far from the water as drying out seems to cause them to wither and desecate. Their tactics are not complex, simple shock and awe.  

Arestes also offered more general understanding of the area. The Old Fashioned Blossom is a higher class tavern, and if you plan to do anything illicit there one should either keep it secret or be very upfront about it. It is the haunt of The Requiem of Nobles, a very intense gang. They focus on obtaining wealth from the ruins of the nobility. 

That night, we attended the Beggar’s Feast at the church. It’s held once a week, everyone bringing what they can so all can share. It was a lovely time, with everyone eating and socializing. An old timer there told us that the sea creatures mostly appear at night, mostly. When they do, a song echoes from the ocean. It’s been a couple of weeks since their last appearance.

After the feast broke up, Jade walked over to meet the severe looking dwarven woman who stood at the edge of things. Casta turned out to be a member of The Requiem of Nobles. She wore her copper hair in a loose braid, fine vest over her leather armor, boots polished with jewelry worn in plain sight. She offered some professional courtesies and a job. 

A warlock lives in a manor house in some disputed territory in the NNW section. We can be paid for our time and turn over the loot rights, or we can arrange for a share of what is found.

The next morning, with plans to head out toward the pirate cove, we stopped by the Sage’s place to get a read on the conch. He promised to look further into things (both sea creatures and conch) and let us know if he found anything. Currently, he could only offer that it would surely open only a small portal, like a window, and was therefore likely designed for a specific location and/or reason. 

Da-Rin regions: 

  • The Stormside section of the city holds a church of Poseidon. 
  • Whitespire is the tower in the very center of the city. The clergy of Arkyn resides there. I will need to visit there eventually to see what they know about both these new creatures, and what happened here 25 years ago. 
  • Waveside is the home of a large cemetery. Make sure to stop by Mad Felicia’s and pay respects when visiting that section. She considers herself a caretaker of the dead and exploring her domain without her blessing is not advised. 

Action Items: 

  • Assist in recovering the church’s library
  • Is the conch linked to a Titan
  • Mending cantrip that adds fashion
  • Dehydration spell
  • Visit Whitespire
  • Recon with Sage

001 – Aboard The Turtle – Less than a day from Da-Rin

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I was woken in the middle of the night to find Jade leaning over my berth, whispering of mutiny. It was unclear at first if I was being roused to participate or prevent, but as I gathered my senses a plan to warn Captain Ramone Vieranan of the treachery of his first mate, Two-Teeth Sutherland, took shape. The First Mate was offering a ‘pirate’s life’ to those willing to take part in the mutiny. 

Some finer points of how to respond were debated among my shipmates as Jade slipped off to speak with the Captain. She had not returned very long before the cabin door flew open and the First Mate stood there with his dozen or so mutineers. As weapons were drawn, Zeno found that he had to abandon his very fine ‘Archipelago of Friendship’ speech. (Must take the time to document this entire speech. Very moving.)

Two-Teeth demanded that we throw down down our weapons and offered to deliver us safely to port in return. Za’lynn was the first to leap to action striking at Two-Teeth before the mutineers pushed into the small cabin. Jade was the first to take one down (that tabaxi has claws upon claws) as Zeno tried to reason with those attacking us. “We’re all seamen together,” he pleaded, but it was to no avail. 

In what I thought would be the most terrifying moment of the fight, Za’lynn went down. Tayanna had him quickly on his feet again, however the brush with death must have heightened his awareness because he was suddenly quick to notice that Two-Teeth was not, in fact, bleeding blood as one might expect. Instead, sea water dripped from his wounds. As we called attention to this fact, trying to point out to the mutineer their poor decision making skills, that was when it screamed. 

The image of Two-Teeth shimmered and the creature beneath came into view. It opened it’s grotesque lamprey mouth and let loose a blood chilling scream that left most (not me, of course) frozen and shaking. While everyone (but not me) stood there immobile, the creature glared at us with its compound eyes, then turned into water as it leapt out of the porthole. 

Not sure what it was, we went off to search Two-Teeth’s quarters. There we found the usual accoutrement of a sailor: pipe, tobacco, cutlery, a magical mouth piece to a horn.  The piece contained some sort of weak conjuration magic. We also found the body of Two-Teeth in a chest. Zeno said he seemed a week dead, drowned, but his body was still wet. 

We showed the body to the Captain and discussed the details of the mutiny. He felt that the creature had likely been after a magical conch that he had recently acquired. He produced the conch (Jade had been holding it) and it too held conjuration magic. The Captain had picked it up in Thessalia with the understanding that it would assist him in gaining Poseidon’s favor. 

A burial at sea was attempted for Two-Teeth’s remains, however that did not go as expected. As his body hit the water, his eyes opened. Thinking him alive, Za’lynn dove in after him. However, Two-Teeth did not respond favorably to this rescue. Instead he opened his mouth wide and tried to bite into Za’lynn and pull him under. The marine, thankfully, was well trained and escaped this fate and made it back onto the deck of the ship. 

After deeper inspection of the conch, I was able to ascertain that it (when reunited with its mouthpiece and blown) will open a small elemental portal. The nature of that portal to be determined by the geographical location in which it was blown. 

So, we have a horrible sea creature with part of an item that opens an elemental portal. This cannot be good. I have agreed to research this conch when we reach Da-Rin. My real work is important, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to learn more about this incident. 

If my research doesn’t turn up anything, or maybe doubly so if it does, there is an outpost on the northeast approach to Da-Rin that may need to be investigated. It seems that this is where Two-Teeth was promising the bounty of a ‘pirate’s life’. There is a sea cave or cove in that area that could offer more information. I shall have to see. 

Action Items: 
Record Zeno’s Archipelago of Friendship speech
Research what Two-Teeth turned into
Research what dead Two-Teeth was
Research the conch