Session 4

9/4/07

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11-12 Newyear, 721IA

Underwater woes

 

[the uber short from-memory-only version]

we spent 2 days getting ready - Crow and Miassharra dug up some info, Cyan turned Qyllion into a water elemental and Jacob got plastered.  we found posted a "Help Wanted" ad in the Ghostly Minstrel and came up with a Clericky guy and a Dragon Shaman.  We decided not to wait for Linech's guy, and leave immediately.  We rented two rowboats and went to the place where the ship went down.  As we went down, we encountered a group of Sahaugins making off with the ship's cargo.  We beat them and searched the ship.  The only thing we found were crates full of shivvel (we "remembered" that it become inert when exposed to water). We then followed the trail of jetsam leading off towards shore.  On the way, we encountered a Triton fighting a group of Sahaugin and saved him.  We continued following the trail of junk into a cave (we had dragged the rowboats with us).  We also noticed that there was a storm going on.  We entered the cave and fought another group of sahaugin.  The cave went above water, where we found some warriors with slaves and crates of cargo from the boat.  The were very nervous and mentioned a "demon woman" and they were going to wait for reinforcements.  Disregarding stealth, the party charged into battle.  The battle went well, in no small part due to the animal summoned by Cyan's "Summon Monster III" scroll.  We also noted that there was a large pile of shattered glass nearby.  However, Jingles didn't make it.

 

--Hooray for Celestial Critters with mega damage dealing capabilities. Something else I remember that happened or is otherwise caught in my brain for some reason: The Triton (I forget his name) was from some underwater city nearby and may need help getting back. I seem to think he may need some assistance from us in some way. If not, it still might be useful to have him as an underwater contact. Perhaps some undersea trade between Ptolus and the Triton city? Could be good RPing to assist negotiations.(Dave)

 

 

 

Early the next morning, the party divided, each with their own matters to attend to. Cyan consulted with his mentor Darsus, devising a way to bring his companion Qyllion on the approaching expedition. He gathered materials and prepared for a complicated and protracted ritual.

 

After shopping for a few trinkets, Mia procured a scroll of Alter Self, hoping to improvise a quick solution to the difficulties presented by Linech's mission. Crow dashed off a message to Linech, requesting a few days for preparation. He also composed a polite letter to Count Zavere requesting financial assistance with their mission. Then he headed to the Delver's library to research magic and equipment options. Jacob, however, had slept little, and, sullen and harrowed, drowned his sorrows in deepwine at the Ghostly Minstrel.

 

Linech's reply was terse and gruff. The mission couldn't wait and had to be carried out within two days. To ensure the party's cooperation, he'd send the halfling, Seanus, to accompany them in two days' time. The Count also responded, insisting on an immediate audience. Mia, frustrated by her inability to even translate the arcane inscription on her newly purchased scroll, and Crow, armed with a stack of notes on underwater survival and combat, headed to the Noble's Quarter to meet with him.

 

The Count was particularly interested in the golden statue Crow described seeing in Linech's burrow. He told the bewildered adventurers that he believed the statue was actually a friend of his, Abercombie, a noble who had disappeared some time earlier. While he was unable to provide additional funds, he did double the reward for investigating Linech and offered another for the recovery of the statue, an arrangement the two delvers found acceptable.

 

They then headed to the docks to investigate Linech, his daughter Linelle, and the circumstances of the attack on the ship. It seemed the Balacazar family held a grudge against Linech for losing the Shivvel operation. Word on the street was that Linech's life was in danger. Little was known about Linelle, but she was well-liked by those who had heard of her. Inquiries into the wreck yielded the name of Dodun Fisk, an old fisherman who owned Sard's Boats.

 

The next morning, a tired but conscious Jacob rejoined Crow, Mia, and Cyan, who appeared without his usual avian adornment. Instead, a moving mass of animated water trailed behind him. This did nothing to improve his standing in the eyes of the Minstrel's patrons.

 

The party headed toward the docks and located Fisk, who told them the ship went down about a half mile from shore. Fire exploded in several location on deck, and gold- and purple-robed people were seen fleeing the debris. Qyllion, in his new form, determined that the harbor at that point was less than 100 feet deep, and a passing fish warned Cyan of danger in that part of the sea.

 

A quick stop back in Midtown for supplies stretched into hours as the party deliberated in the Minstrel on the best course of action. Zaid the bartender, overhearing the discussion, recommended taking on new members and suggested two able-looking adventurers he had recently met. K'vash, a serious-looking man dressed in bright red scale mail and a matching shield, and Kensin, an armored cleric, agreed to aid the party in their mission. Cyan suggested they set off immediately to avoid bringing Seanus along the following day.

 

Fisk rented them two boats, and they set sail. Upon reaching the location of the wreck, everyone downed their potions of Water Breathing and slid into the water, some clinging to the anchor lines as they faded slowly into the deep. The sunlight scattered more sparsely as they sank, and soon sunrods were necessary to see anything.

 

The form of a small boat, flung on its side, keel torn open, revealed itself as they neared the bottom, but before they could determine what had happened, they were attacked by two large sharks and their masters, fierce reptilian humanoids that Cyan recognized as sahuagin.

 

Each pair of attackers set upon a different set of adventurers. Kensin and Crow quickly took down a shark while Cyan directed Qyllion to pound its keeper. Jacob and K'vash tore into the other sahuagin, aided by Mia and her nimble maneuvers. K'vash gave off a subtle glow, and each time one of the angry denizens connected with his allies' flesh, they were scorched by a jet of steam. As the battle wound on, and the party continued to take grievous hits, the aura shifted, restoring their vitality.

 

Jacob seemed to be arguing with himself, but as the battle turned against him, he set his resolve and summoned a fiendish octopus from the lower planes. It wrapped itself around a shark and began squeezing the life out of it. Despite reinforcements from another pair of marauders, the party eventually slew their assailants. Searching the wreckage, however, revealed only floating bits of Shivvel and a trail of splintered wood leading northwest.

 

Following the trail proved easy, and after about 15 minutes, the party found two sahuagin engaged in a bloody battle with a desperate, bluish-skinned man. The rescuers finished off the sharkmen quickly. Cyan, able to understand the bubbly gibberish spoken by their new acquaintance, recognized it as Aquan. Translating, he introduced him as [forgot name], a triton, sworn enemy of the sahaugin. He offered to continue with the party and aid them.

 

Another 15 minutes of travel along the rocky ocean floor brought them to the mouth of a large underwater cave. Qyllion scouted the area and relayed images of sheer cliffs and a small cave entrance just above the waterline a few hundred yards to the north. Mia checked for traps, and, finding none, the party anchored the boats and set off into its dim maw.

 

The passage continued in a relatively straight path, eventually widening into a large, domed room. Before they had stepped very far into the area, they were set upon by more shark-riding sahuagin. The team coordinated their attacks better this time, outmaneuvering their opponents and slogging through a long battle that eventually saw them victorious. But another ambush awaited them in the next chamber, and the party was hard-pressed to keep the snapping jaws and flashing steel at bay. Their new triton friend, thanks to the racial enmity between his people and the sahuagin, took the brunt of the beating, but the air-breathers managed to keep him alive while still battling on. Finally, three more creatures lay dead at their feet, and light filled the tunnel ahead, beckoning from above.

 

The shaft led to a large, open-air dome beneath the rock, lit by ensconced torches ringing the chamber. On dry land they could see the shattered remnants of a glass coffin, six brutish looking thugs, and their leader, a capable-looking soldier, who was berating two cowering slaves. The guards, eyeing the opposite end of the hall warily, edged toward a thick iron door behind him.

 

The water was deep enough for the party to approach within a dozen feet of the shore without being noticed. Mia and Crow snuck in closer, crouching to remain below the water line. Shouts echoed through the chamber, and the terrified voices of the slaves insisted they would not go near the "devil child."

 

Two of the guards heard movement in the water and drew their longbows. Jacob charged for the shore, K'vash emerged from the water brandishing his crossbow, and Mia tumbled quickly behind Jacob. Pelted by a volley of arrows, the others headed for dry land, Cyan behind Mia and Kensin, Crow and K'vash toward the leader and the scared slaves. Heartened by the sudden attack, the slaves turned on their master, but one was quickly cut down.

 

Three guards pulled out longswords and broke off to confront the anguished knight, while the others left their leader to punish his insubordinate slaves and rushed toward the shore and the approaching invaders. These men proved tougher than the petty criminals the team was used to dealing with in Ptolus, but the tide turned when Cyan unfurled a scroll and summoned a celestial bison into the conflict. It steamrolled over several of the guards, goring them after they'd been wounded by the other adventurers. When only the leader remained, the last slave lunged at him, the name of his dear comrade pouring from his lips in a despondent wail. "Jingles!"

 

His punches rebounded off the man's breastplate, though, and only the quick intervention of the party and their even quicker steel saved him from his friend's fate. The party stood among the fallen bodies, weapons slick with blood, and pondered the ominous words they'd heard before the fray. Devil child.

 

XP

Everyone gets 1,232 xp.

 

Loot

 

Coins/Gems/Shells/other easily sold items

3098gp, 64sp

 

(someone needs to say they are carrying or claiming these, at least until we get back to Ptolus)

3 Masterworked Long Spears (305ea) (Crow carries)

3 Masterworked Long Swords (315ea) (Crow carries)

 

We said we weren't taking these, but they are available:

3 Breastplates (200gp each) (Crow carries 2)

 

The following breakdown is not final and assumes:

1) No one wants to take any of the weapons

2) Cyan "pays us back" - how we want to deal with this is up for debate

 

Total Value: 4934.4 gp / 6 = 822.4

Kensin/Kyrtor(no idea what it actually is): 822gp, 4sp

Cyan: 0gp

Miassharra: 1036gp

Crow/Jacob: 1126gp, 8sp

(Mia/Crow/Jacob received the same total amount of gold during sessions 3 and 4, Cyan received about the same amount)

 

(if we take 2 breastplates)

5334.4 / 6 = 889

2Ks        = 889

Miassharra = 889 + 239.8

Crow/Jacob = 889 + 324.8

Cyan       =

 

(if we take 3 breastplates)

5534.4 / 6 = 922.4

2Ks        = 922.4

Miassharra = 922.4 + 248.8

Crow/Jacob = 922.4 + 336.8

Cyan       =

 

Again, this is not final.  If anyone *cough*Dave*cough* wants to propose something different, go for it.

 

Cyan: [OOC] By paying you all back you mean I get nada while you guys get a equal share so that we all have round about the same gp worth right? I am fine with that. The only potential hickup may come if there is an item that is destined for Cyan. Then he will have to give up the cloak to accept it and there will ensue more mathematical madness for the next person to get the cloak or whatever else may come.

 

[IC] "No offense to you muscle bound types but if you want the money from selling this stuff," Cyan points to the spears, swords and breastplate, "You sure as Hades better be carrying it. I have a hard time carrying around my own shite let alone all that extra metal. That looks to be a couple hundred pounds. Not the kind of thing you want weighing you down when you are trying to swim your butt back to the surface. Or trying to hide and sneak around the next corner."

 

Miassharra: [OOC] If you're cool with this arrangement, I'm just going to say the four of us are even right now, and ignore any spare change.  Hopefully "mathematical madness" will be infrequent.

 

Cyan: [OOC] Yeah that works for me. Once we get back to town we will need to put som ecash together for another wand of Cure light wounds. We are down to single digit charges. I am not sure of how Liam wants to play his cleric. Healbot or hard charging cleric-o-war. So another wand to supplement the clerics healing would still be a worthwhile expenditure.

 

Crow: "Throw the weapons in my pack, unless any of you want to claim one. They look to be of fine quality." He also removes his leather armor and drops it to the ground by the fallen, replacing it with one of their breastplates. Then he grabs one more and stuffs it into his pack. "That's all I can carry and still maintain a bit of maneuverability. Can anyone carry the other?"

 

[OOC]: If Liam wants, he can play both roles. Drop Divine Favor, Bless, and Protection from Evil (sounds good seeing as we're heading toward a "devil child") left and right and spontaneous Cures when we need them. But yeah, with 6 of us, we can afford a full wand. Maybe a wand of Lesser Vigor instead? Not as good for in-combat healing, but more cost effective when we've got downtime. Both if we can afford it.

 

Cyan: [IC] "3 LongSpears and 3 LongSwords in your pack eh? They must be that ultra-cool collapsible kind. Or have you been skimming the profits and got yourself an extra-dimensional backpack there?"

 

Crow: [IC] "Not all of us have a pack sized for a waifish schoolgirl. It's called spatial reasoning." He pulls a roll of silken cord from his pack. "And improvisation. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."

 

Cyan:[IC] " I never claimed to be the smart one though I am happy to see you picked up on that all by yourself. Perhaps you have greater intellect than I had previously given you credit for. Either way Crroooooowwwwwwww, waifish schoolgirls are 'IN' this year I'll have you know. In fact I think I have one here with me now." Cyan makes a show of lifting up his cloak and searching within. A gurgling chorus of sounds wash over you all and you realize after a few moments Qyllion is laughing in earnest.

 

Miassharra: [IC] Miassharra dashes over from the crates, where she has been investigating the broken glass, and hisses under her breath, "Quiet you fools!  Linech's 'daughter' is still somewhere nearby -- and don't forget the reinforcements these men mentioned.  Just pick up the loot and shut up."

 

Jacob: Jacob ignores the kerfuffle and Mia's call for quiet.  He thinks to himself, Is mother leading me down a dark path?  Did she know I could summon these fiendish creatures from the start?  Is she really my mother?  Is this what my God has in store for me?  He stares at his mother's ghostly form.  She smiles at him knowlingly.  Why, mother?  Why?

[OOC:]  I know that I trust you guys to figure out the booty each week.  I'll go with whatever you guys decide.  As far as carrying some of it home, I can't really carry much more without incurring some penalty.  So, as a last resort, I'll take something smaller, maybe the coinage...?

 

Cyan: [IC] Cyan glares at the 'girl' for a long second but then turns back to Crow and whispers with a grin, "We oughta get her a waifish schoolgirl uniform. Maybe some big-girl boobies to fill it out." He chuckles and looks over his shoulder to make sure Mia didn't hear him.

 

Crow: [IC] Crow whispers back, "Actually, I was hoping you really did have a schoolgirl stashed in that cloak..."

 

Cyan: [IC] You jes wait Crow. Once I get enough arcane ability and the appropriate mastery of some certain spells, I can conjure you up a girl. Be she waifish or...not so much. Whatever your fancy. Don't you ever notice how there are never any successful lonely wizards? Hell we can even charm em to do what we want. Course, that is probably going over some sort of line........."

 

Crow: [OOC] We're 105 xp short of 3rd level. We totally should have killed Seanus.