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The Party (Garthor, Rome-Bee, Wisteria, and Vessariel WHO DEFINITELY HAS BEEN HERE THIS WHOLE TIME AND IS AN ELVEN BARBARIAN AND NOT A SMALL AUTOMATON) emerge victorious from the pirates’ hideout and celebrate their victory with some drinks and recreational vomiting.
A kenku bard who plays the hurdy gurdy also shows up but he’s super unimportant so who cares. Departing the pirates’ tavern (which is cheekily named the Half Mast), our heroes follow the scent of actually good tavern food to find their way back to Sam’s Joint, where Quark is awaiting delivery of the recently recovered magical parchment. On the way they are briefly sidetracked by an encounter with an odd clown-like salesperson peddling mysterious magic items for bizarre costs. Garthor and Vessariel “narrowly” avoid being mugged while seeking a Robotocist. Wisteria considers making a purchase before the clown-merchant flees from an angry mob, despite seeming impervious to physical violence.
The party makes their way to Sam’s and are directed to Quark’s room, where he nervously answers the door but is relieved to see the party has returned triumphant. He pays them the promised reward (which he has obviously obtained through the sale of some of his finer possessions) and sheepishly requests their continued employment on a seafaring voyage. He promises to pay them upon arrival and inquires about how things stand with Captain Roberts, just as the Captain himself arrives and reveals that he was also hired for the very same voyage. The party agrees and heads to the docks, recruiting additional crew along the way thanks to Vessariel’s intimidation as well as Garthor’s flying leap through a second story window (and MIRACULOUS recovery from said leap). As our sundry crew boards the ship and Wisteria snacks on a rat, we shove off for Wayfinder Isle.
The party does some bonding over discussion of wizard towers and Rome-Bee’s manure bucket, then turns in for the night (with the exception of Garthor, who gets his Titanic on and then spends some time in the crow’s nest). Eventually the ship drifts off course, and after a few hours finds itself heading straight into the Everstorm, a hundreds-year-long hurricane that has raged endlessly and unmoving some miles east of Wayfinder. Confronted by crewmembers, Captain Roberts is unresponsive as he steers the ship directly into the storm. Only after being repeatedly shaken by Wisteria does the Captain come to his senses and immediately begin barking orders. The crew tries its best to bring the ship about, almost losing one of its own overboard before they are rescued by Wisteria. Thanks to good coordination and quick thinking, the crew manage to pull the ship’s course away from certain doom and into a broad spiral around the storm’s center.
At some point Vessariel goes below deck to ferret out Quark, who is cowering in the captain’s quarters and admits enchanting Roberts to take a course directly into the storm. Quark reveals he is on the run from someone after stealing the very parchment the party recovered for him. He also claims that he knows there is someone at the center of the storm who can help him escape his pursuer. The first mate is also discovered tied up in the captain’s quarters and is freed by Vessariel. A mysterious, otherworldly telepathic voice begins demanding the crew help it reach the center of the storm before growing impatient and violently tearing a hole in the ship’s hull, which then begins to flood. Vessariel’s quick thinking and assertive leadership results in a crewmember plugging the hole with their leg, which is seized and violently pulled by the monster in the waters outside. After suffering pain to the point of losing consciousness, this unfortunate crewmate is ejected back into the ship and the hole is filled by a slimy, pale tentacle. The crew member remains unconscious but their leg shows signs of aquatic mutation where it was touched by the tentacle. After a brief fight, the tentacle retreats, while a cowed Quark attempts to be helpful by brewing and administering a rough-and-ready healing potion for the unconscious crewmate, who awakens convulsing and frenzied and is immediately stuffed back into the hull-hole.
Above deck, our slimy, telepathic foe climbs aboard the ship, revealing itself as an Aboleth, just in time for Garthor (who has grown tired of slip ’n’ slide-ing all over the ship) to roll his way below deck, completely unaware of the creature’s presence. The unfortunate hole-plugger suddenly turns violent and is swiftly dispatched by Vessariel, and all able-bodied crew are ordered topside by Captain Roberts. A grumpy Garthor instead heads for a hammock and Vessariel, true to her mission, guards him. Above deck, the storm rages, and several of our heroes (and a cowardly Quark) engage the Aboleth. Rome-Bee pierces two of the creature’s eyes with excellent archery, another crewmate is given a bone-crunching tentacle hug, and the Aboleth is poison sprayed right in the ying-yang. All the commotion catches the attention of Garthor, who makes his way topside and finally discovers that things are maybe not going so great. Springing into action, he retrieves his trusty metal folding chair from his hammerspace speedo and brings the thunder (actually lightning). Unfortunately, in addition to the Aboleth, several allies also feel the thunder (actually lightning), including Garthor who is downed and subsequently tentacle-smacked before being revived by Wisteria. Quark flings firebolts from the safety of a stairway.
The ship’s forward mast is torn from its deck by the enraged Aboleth and the resulting stump is utilized as high ground by Rome-Bee, who rips an arrow out of one the Aboleth’s eye sockets before plunging the same arrow ito its one remaining eye, blinding it entirely. An emboldened Quark steps forward onto the deck only to be bowled over the side of the ship by the boom. Wisteria slithers her way behind the Aboleth, coating herself in slime, and throws a rope in an attempt to valiantly rescue Quark (so that he may be tortured later). Vessariel, fed up with the situation, flies into a rage and hacks off one of the Aboleth’s tentacles. Seemingly defeated, the creature goes limp and slides off the deck of the ship, just as it is cresting a particularly large wave. Quark is hit by the Aboleth’s unmoving form but manages to maintain his grip on the rope, until Wisteria lifts him from the water and he slips and plunges into the sea below.
As the ship descends the wave, the party sees that they are on a collision course with a sharp rocky outcropping only moments before impact. A huge hole is torn in the hull as it catches on the rocks and the ship’s momentum causes it to pivot and run broadside into a jagged ridge, splitting it in half. The next few minutes (hours?) are a blur as the party is tossed about by the waves, clinging to whatever bits of the ship remain. Some time later our heroes awaken on the black-sand beaches of one of several islands in the eye of the storm, disoriented but apparently alive. Where have they found themselves? Who else survived? Will Rome-Bee ever get those arrows back? Only time will tell 🙂