Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gathering Storm
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 2567673" data-attributes="member: 4722"><p>Before the heroes left, some of them were given henchmen, of a sort. The mages' guild sent along Sepeth, a wizard of the first circle, to accompany Krevik as an apprentice; Gareth had an acolyte, Gregor, to serve as his squire on the journey, and Zargo got a scribe to keep records of the quest. </p><p></p><p> The newly expanded party made its way to the docks, where Cornelius had secured passage on a gnomish trading vessel heading downriver to the coast. It was a week's journey to the coastal city of Preven, which passed largely without incident. </p><p></p><p> Preven was a medium-sized walled city; the captain announced that they would be stopping there for two days to pick up supplies before continuing on. Most of the party members decided to stay on board, but Gareth decided he wanted to exercise his horse. He had the mount brought up out of the hold and rode it into the city, alone.</p><p></p><p> Gareth was riding through the town, admiring the scenery, when a child was pushed out of the crowd and landed under the horse's hooves, and was trampled. Gareth immediately dismounted as a woman screamed. The boy's body was badly twisted, and a pool of blood spread from beneath him. He was obviously dead, but the paladin laid his hands on the body.</p><p></p><p> A woman (probably the same one who had screamed earlier) shrieked, “Pervert! He tmurdered my child, and he’s going to do vile things to his body!” </p><p></p><p> Gareth protested that he was only trying to help the boy, but before he could make any effect on the crowd, someone touched his back and uttered a vile word. He cried out as negative energy coursed through his body. The (supposedly dead) child reached up and grabbed him by the throat in a crushing grip. Gareth tried to stand, but the child wouldn’t release his grip, and he couldn't dislodge the little monster.</p><p></p><p> The boy's mother cried, “He’s trying to steal my baby!” and zapped him with an empowererd <em>smite good</em> from behind, dropping him. </p><p> </p><p> The city guard arrived on the scene shortly after and received reports from witnesses (and the boy's mother about how Gareth “deliberately swerved to trample the boy” and then attempted to “sexually molest his corpse in the street.” It was fortunate, perhaps, that Gareth was already dead, and thus could not be taken into custody. Word is sent to the ship of the incident, and Cornelius and Gregor go to retrieve the body. </p><p></p><p> Fortunately, Demetrios got a few scrolls of resurrection from his temple before the group left, and he used one of them on the hapless paladin. Unfortunately, the gnomes now think that Gareth is a sexual deviant; they won't allow their children on deck, and the captain has guards posted on the family quarters.</p><p></p><p> <em>(A side note: on Shtar, gnomish vessels are crewed by extended family groups – there can be two or three generations living and working on a ship.)</em></p><p></p><p> Later, when Gareth is sitting (alone) on the deck, Demetrios approaches him. "Have you considered unburdening your sins to me, my son?”</p><p></p><p> Gareth glared at him. “How would you like me to push you overboard?”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, now you are threatening the elderly in addition to your other sins!”</p><p></p><p> The paladin cursed and stomped off to his room, saying that he would read his scriptures. Zargo took advantage of this and told the captain that he would be remaining in his room, performing penitence. Part of this, she said, was that all furniture (except for the bed) should be removed, and that he could have only bread and water, and meat once a day. The captain was only too happy to comply.</p><p></p><p> That evening, the characters sat down to dinner when Kariann cried out in disgust. "There are meal worms in the biscuits!"</p><p> </p><p> More cries rang out as others discovered maggots in their meat and other vermin in the rest of the food. Demetrios cast purify food and drink and felt a strange resistance to the spell, which he overcame. They finished the meal with a little trepidation. </p><p></p><p> None of the group could understand Gnomish, but at this point, the mutters from the crewmembers were getting ugly; the sailors they saw on deck were casting dark glances at the passenger hallway. </p><p></p><p> Zargo gathered the others together in a quiet corner of the deck. "I've got an idea," she said. "If we perform a purification ritual on Gareth, maybe it'll get the crew to settle down a bit."</p><p></p><p> "Who's going to do it?" Krevik asked. "Cornelius?"</p><p></p><p> "I don't think so," Cornelius rumbled. "I don't think 'I call upon the power of my dark god' will go over too well."</p><p></p><p> Zargo turned to the cleric. "Looks like you're it."</p><p></p><p> Demetrios shook his head. "He threatened to push me overboard. I say we should do it to him and have done with it."</p><p></p><p> Zargo sighed. "We need him, for the moment at least. Just go do this, and we'll have a talk with him later about how stupid he's been acting."</p><p></p><p> "Fine." Demetrios tottered off to his room, muttering something about "no respect for his elders."</p><p></p><p> When everything was in order, Cornelius, Krevik and Gregor accompanied Demetrios to Gareth's room to perform the purification ritual on the paladin. Kariann took up a post outside the door as a guard, and Zargo decided to remain on deck while the ritual was going on.</p><p></p><p> She was approached a few minutes later by the captain.</p><p> </p><p> “As you know, one of your entourage is... suspect,” he said. </p><p></p><p> “We’re doing a purification ritual.”</p><p></p><p> He nodded, but didn't look reassured. “We checked the stores in the hold; someone has broken into them. We have two days’ worth of good food and water left. Tell me, do you recognize this?” He held up a steel gauntlet.</p><p></p><p> Zargo's stomach sank. It was Gareth's. “It’s his. When was this found?”</p><p></p><p> “About 15 minutes ago.”</p><p></p><p> “You do realize that I requested all the furniture be removed; he’s in a penitence cell, after all," Zargo said. "He’s been there all day. Someone moving the furniture out could have grabbed it without anyone else seeing, and planted it.”</p><p></p><p> “But we only had the guards there since dinner. As soon as this ritual is finished, we will go search his room for more evidence. If we find nothing, I will let the matter go. If we do…” He left the sentence hanging. Zargo could easily imagine what would happen. </p><p></p><p> Belowdecks, Demetrios was halfway through the ritual when the door opened. Krevik and Cornelius looked out to see Zargo, the captain, and two burly guards standing in the hallway. Once the ritual was finished, the captain announced his intentions. A quick glance at Zargo confirmed it, so the trio stepped out of the room, leaving Gareth on his own. The gnomes entered and conducted a thorough search. </p><p></p><p> "Captain, look at this," one of the guards said a couple minutes later. He had pulled a satchel from under the mattress. </p><p></p><p> "That's not mine!" Gareth protested. </p><p> </p><p> The guard opened it and dumped it out on the floor, revealing childrens’ underclothes, a doll, and a sketch of the hold, with the food stores marked. The doll belonged to a young girl who’d complained about losing it a few days ago. The captain's face darkened, and he opened his mouth - probably to order the paladin thrown overboard - but Zargo quickly interrupted. </p><p></p><p> “I request that he be placed in a locked room, under guard," Zargo said.</p><p></p><p> The captain agreed. “But only because of who you are, and your reputation as a diva.”</p><p></p><p> “Can we go to the hold and see the food? Maybe we can purify it.”</p><p></p><p> “Aye, and bring along the paladin of perversion, so he can see what he has wrought,” the captain added with a glare at Gareth.</p><p> </p><p> So the captain and the party members, accompanied by the two guards (who stay close to Gareth) all troop down to the hold. Sure enough, most of the food stores have been corrupted – they are rotten and crawling with maggots and worms. Demetrios examines it for a few moments, then takes Krevik and Zargo aside. </p><p></p><p> “We have a problem," the cleric rasped. That’s not your normal corrupted food and water – I’ve read about something like this before.”</p><p></p><p> Krevik looked at the food a little more closely, using his magic sense. “This looks like the effects of one of Nomak’s blight spells. Anything we bring onto the ship will be irrevocably corrupted.”</p><p></p><p> “We can still destroy the maggots,” Demetrios said. “I know a spell that will work.”</p><p></p><p> He went above and returned a few minues later with the ship's cleric. Together, they cast parasite purge, destroying all the maggots, then tossed the corrupted food and water overboard.</p><p></p><p> Afterwards, the captain took Zargo aside. “After seeing that, I don't believe the paladin was the cause of this – he doesn't have that kind of power. My sailors have families, though, and the Cargomistress has nine grandchildren on this ship. I cannot afford to offend them, you understand.”</p><p></p><p> Zargo nodded solemnly.</p><p></p><p> “There are three ports nearby; since I doubt the paladin’s guilt, I will put you off at your choice of one of them. They are all on islands, so you should be able to catch another ship from there.”</p><p></p><p> "Let's go to your cabin and discuss this in privacy," Zargo suggested. </p><p></p><p> They left the hold and went to the captain's cabin to have a discussion. Once they were settled, Zargo began.</p><p></p><p> “If we go ashore, it’ll be a trap,” she said. "Whoever is after us is expecting this."</p><p></p><p> The captain shrugged. "I've got the lives and welfare of my crew to consider, my lady."</p><p></p><p> Zargo looked at him for a moment, but he was resolute. She sighed. "Fine. Where can you drop us?"</p><p></p><p> “I can take you to Aiger’s Knuckle...”</p><p></p><p> “We want the one most isolated by water.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, woman, we be a week and a half from land. We can go to the Seven Jewelled Isles, but there be no port there. Or the Green Mast, that’s a port. But I be expecting compensation – every ship landing there must hand over 10% of its cargo as a tariff.”</p><p></p><p> “Whichever island is least known would be good,” the paladin put in.</p><p></p><p> “That would be the Seven Jewelled Isles,” the captain said.</p><p></p><p> “So be it,” Zargo said. “The Seven Jewelled Isles it is.”</p><p></p><p> A few days later, they arrived at the fifth island, one with a large volcano. The gnomes anchored offshore and put the party ashore with their horses, only too happy to be quit of the “perverted” paladin. </p><p> </p><p> The heroes stood on a broad, white sand beach. The sea stretched out before them to the horizon, clear blue only a few shades lighter than the sky. Behind them, the beach led up to a near-solid wall of jungle, from which they heard the sounds of a wide variety of animal life. </p><p> </p><p> "Well, what do we do now?" Gareth asked. </p><p></p><p> "We could always throw the paladin into the volcano and ask the island gods for a boat," Krevik muttered.</p><p></p><p> Zargo ignored him. "We might as well see if anyone's here."</p><p></p><p> They turned to the forest, only to see a half-naked woman walking toward them. She was very pretty – long dark blond hair, darkly-tanned skin, and a broad smile. She wore nothing but a grass skirt and a necklace of shells. </p><p></p><p> "Greetings," she called to the group. "You're new here."</p><p></p><p> "Yes we are," Zargo said when she had recovered herself. Several of the men were still staring (or, in the paladin's case, attempting not to). "We're looking for a port, so we can catch a ship off these islands."</p><p></p><p> The woman laughed. "There is no port on the Seven Jewelled Isles. I can take you back to my village, if you’d like...” </p><p></p><p> At the group's nods of assent, she turned and led them on a path through the jungle, stopping here and there to pick fruits from the trees they passed. They wound through the forest and up over a low rise to see a small village of about twenty huts below. A few dozen people were scattered about, engaged in a variety of activities, though most of them suspiciously resembled lounging in the sun. Most of the men were loincloths; most of the women wore just grass skirts, like their guide. There was a strange mix of races – elves, humans, even a female dwarf. One of the humans had a tattoo marking him as an exile from Novak Eck. </p><p></p><p> Krevik noticed one man in particular, lying on a mat of reeds eating grapes, and his eyes widened. “Shaklett the Venomous,” he whispered to the others. ”He disappeared about five years ago after a successful run as one of the vilest acid/poison mages the Red City had ever known; his apprentices said he’d gone on a mission to gather spell components for a powerful ritual and was never seen again." </p><p></p><p> Strangely enough, none of the "natives" seem surprised or alarmed to see the newcomers. Indeed, everyone smiled and nodded (those who were awake and not napping in the afternoon heat), then returned to their activities. </p><p></p><p> "You're more than welcome to stay here," the woman told them. "We have plenty of food. Our only rule is that everyone must build a hut to replace the one they take – that way we always have new huts for visitors. Feel free to find an empty hut to change your clothes."</p><p></p><p> “We can't stay," Zargo said again. She turned to the other people and raised her voice. "We seek a ship. Can anyone help us out?" </p><p></p><p> “Well there’s a ship out there,” one of the men said, waving in the general direction of the beach. “We hacked some holes in the hull, but it’s only been there a year or so.”</p><p></p><p> “And would any of you kind men care to help us?”</p><p></p><p> The men looked at each other. “You’re in that much of a hurry?”</p><p></p><p> Zargo sighed. “Just point out the ship.”</p><p></p><p> “It’s out there,” he pointed. “Out where the water turns green. A few hundred yards offshore – the water's pretty shallow out here.”</p><p></p><p> “And what should be aware of on the way out there?”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, crystal oozes, jewel crabs... oh, and Squishhead.”</p><p></p><p> “What’s Squishhead?”</p><p></p><p> “Oh honey, Squishhead’s not an it, it’s a he," their guide said. "He’s an octopus.”</p><p></p><p> “And how big is he?”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, about the size of a hollyphant.”</p><p></p><p> “But you don’t need to worry about him eating you," one of the men added. "Squishhead’s a big coward – he’ll just squirt ink at you and flee.”</p><p></p><p> Another man said, “Oh, and one of the ships rose from the bottom and sailed off about a week and a half ago, crewed by skeletons. It was an iron-keeled thing with a serrated prow.”</p><p></p><p> “Cornelius?” Zargo asked.</p><p></p><p> The blackguard shrugged. “I don’t know who it belonged to. I hated the water.”</p><p></p><p> “You must stay for dinner, at least,” one of the women urged. “Start out early tomorrow.”</p><p></p><p> The party conferred and agreed, and so they sat down to a meal of fruit and roast naka meat.</p><p></p><p> After dinner, Demetrios pulled Cornelius and Krevik aside. “Did either of you get that?”</p><p></p><p> “Get what?” Krevik asked.</p><p></p><p> “I sent a sending to each of you, but it appears that that kind of magic doesn’t work here.”</p><p></p><p> Krevik frowned and cast a <em>detect magic</em>. It worked; there were only a few minor auras, though, besides the party's magic items – some of the men’s tattoos, for example.</p><p> </p><p> When the sun set, most of the villagers retreated to their huts for the night; a few remained around the fires, talking or drinking fermented fruit wine.</p><p></p><p> Zargo cast <em>Leomund’s tiny hut</em> and retreated inside it for the night. She was inside, studying her books, when a monkey appeared inside, snatched a hair clip, and ran out the side of the hut, carrying its prize into the forest. She spotted another attempting to break into a chest, and dispelled the hut. Another twenty monkeys dropped to the ground and scampered off into the forest, to the accompanying laughter of the villagers.</p><p></p><p> “Why’d you cast that spell?” one of the women asked. “Raven monkeys love extradimensional spaces.”</p><p></p><p> "And small, shiny objects," someone else added.</p><p></p><p> “Now you tell us,” Zargo muttered.</p><p></p><p> So the party spent the night with guards posted to keep the monkeys from stealing the rest of their gear.</p><p></p><p> The next morning was beautiful – sunny, warm, the water perfect. The only strange thing was a spider, about an inch long and two high, way out on the water. After breakfast, the group returned to the beach. They planned to cut down some trees and make a raft, then sail it out to the ship and see what repairs needed to be made to it to make it seaworthy. </p><p> </p><p> It took most of the morning to cut down enough trees to make a raft and lash them together with vines to make a raft. Occasionally, some of the villagers would come down to watch for a bit, and a few passed by on gathering expeditions, but they were largely ignored.</p><p> </p><p> Once the raft was complete, Cornelius, Krevik, Demetrios, and Zargo climbed onto it. The bladkguard poled it out into the sea. </p><p></p><p> They got 300 yards from shore from the shore when the vines came loose, and the raft fell apart, depositing the quartet into the warm water. </p><p></p><p> “Nice job, Krevik,” Cornelius sputtered. </p><p></p><p> “If the thing had been properly made of bones and lashed with tendons, it would have worked,” the mage retorted.</p><p> </p><p> <em>(No one had the relevant craft skill, so the DM had me, as the one with the highest Int score, roll for it – I rolled a natural 1.)</em></p><p></p><p> Once they got to shore, they were greeted with more laughter from the villagers. Cornelius stripped off his armor to dry and stalked off, but he returned a short time later. “One of the villagers said that the spider god drags the corpses of those he kills to a harbor on another island, over yonder.” He pointed to the east. “We could get there easily with a water walk, cast on the horses.”</p><p></p><p> Everyone looked at Demetrios, and he shrugged. “It would take a little time to prepare.”</p><p></p><p> "The day is almost wasted, anyway," Zargo said. "Why don't we spend the night here, get ourselves cleaned up, and we'll leave tomorrow morning."</p><p></p><p> The next morning (after another night spent guarding their gear against the thieving monkeys), Demetrios cast <em>water walk</em> on the party's mounts, and they rode off across the waves to the neighboring island. </p><p></p><p> As if by magic, dozens of raven monkeys appeared. One of them, larger than the others, waved a jewelled longsword over its head with both hands.</p><p></p><p> ”Put me down!” the sword cried as the monkey screeched at the party, then ran into the forest.</p><p></p><p> Unlike the last island, there was no path evident in the forest, so they decided to walk along the beach. About a mile along, around a curve in the island's edge, they came over a low rise to see the harbor sprawl below them. A huge, partially-destroyed structure made of basalt blocks sat at the base of the cliffs on the island side of the broad harbor; a great wall, also made of basalt wound its way around the harbor, though this, too, had collapsed in places, revealing the remains of passages and chambers inside it. The water in the harbor was clear, permitting a view of a couple dozen ships at the bottom in various stages of destruction and overgrowth by coral. Entwined among the ships were also dozens of skeletons of large creatures – whales, sea serpents, even what looked like a dragon. </p><p></p><p> “Will that dragon skeleton make a ship large enough for us?” Zargo asked Krevik.</p><p></p><p> He squinted at it and thought for a moment. “Almost. We’ll need some other bones to finish it out, but it should do.” </p><p></p><p> Instead of building a raft, they decide to fly Krevik's <em>flying carpet</em> out over the water <em>(okay, so I forgot about it the first time – sue me)</em>. Demetrios casts water breating on Kariann and Gareth, and they, along with Cornelius (who seemed to have some sort of water breathing ability of his own) dropped into the water to start bringing up bones. Krevik and Zargo remained above, pulling the bones up with ropes the others tied to them. </p><p></p><p> <em>Stay tuned for the next update, when Cornelius says: "Do we really trust Krevik to make a bone ship? He couldn't even get a simple wooden raft right!"</em></p><p></p><p> Famous quote for this session: “I’ll get her back – I’ll become the ultimate meat shield!” – Gareth's player, talking about the woman who attacked him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kerrick, post: 2567673, member: 4722"] Before the heroes left, some of them were given henchmen, of a sort. The mages' guild sent along Sepeth, a wizard of the first circle, to accompany Krevik as an apprentice; Gareth had an acolyte, Gregor, to serve as his squire on the journey, and Zargo got a scribe to keep records of the quest. The newly expanded party made its way to the docks, where Cornelius had secured passage on a gnomish trading vessel heading downriver to the coast. It was a week's journey to the coastal city of Preven, which passed largely without incident. Preven was a medium-sized walled city; the captain announced that they would be stopping there for two days to pick up supplies before continuing on. Most of the party members decided to stay on board, but Gareth decided he wanted to exercise his horse. He had the mount brought up out of the hold and rode it into the city, alone. Gareth was riding through the town, admiring the scenery, when a child was pushed out of the crowd and landed under the horse's hooves, and was trampled. Gareth immediately dismounted as a woman screamed. The boy's body was badly twisted, and a pool of blood spread from beneath him. He was obviously dead, but the paladin laid his hands on the body. A woman (probably the same one who had screamed earlier) shrieked, “Pervert! He tmurdered my child, and he’s going to do vile things to his body!” Gareth protested that he was only trying to help the boy, but before he could make any effect on the crowd, someone touched his back and uttered a vile word. He cried out as negative energy coursed through his body. The (supposedly dead) child reached up and grabbed him by the throat in a crushing grip. Gareth tried to stand, but the child wouldn’t release his grip, and he couldn't dislodge the little monster. The boy's mother cried, “He’s trying to steal my baby!” and zapped him with an empowererd [i]smite good[/i] from behind, dropping him. The city guard arrived on the scene shortly after and received reports from witnesses (and the boy's mother about how Gareth “deliberately swerved to trample the boy” and then attempted to “sexually molest his corpse in the street.” It was fortunate, perhaps, that Gareth was already dead, and thus could not be taken into custody. Word is sent to the ship of the incident, and Cornelius and Gregor go to retrieve the body. Fortunately, Demetrios got a few scrolls of resurrection from his temple before the group left, and he used one of them on the hapless paladin. Unfortunately, the gnomes now think that Gareth is a sexual deviant; they won't allow their children on deck, and the captain has guards posted on the family quarters. [i](A side note: on Shtar, gnomish vessels are crewed by extended family groups – there can be two or three generations living and working on a ship.)[/i] Later, when Gareth is sitting (alone) on the deck, Demetrios approaches him. "Have you considered unburdening your sins to me, my son?” Gareth glared at him. “How would you like me to push you overboard?” “Oh, now you are threatening the elderly in addition to your other sins!” The paladin cursed and stomped off to his room, saying that he would read his scriptures. Zargo took advantage of this and told the captain that he would be remaining in his room, performing penitence. Part of this, she said, was that all furniture (except for the bed) should be removed, and that he could have only bread and water, and meat once a day. The captain was only too happy to comply. That evening, the characters sat down to dinner when Kariann cried out in disgust. "There are meal worms in the biscuits!" More cries rang out as others discovered maggots in their meat and other vermin in the rest of the food. Demetrios cast purify food and drink and felt a strange resistance to the spell, which he overcame. They finished the meal with a little trepidation. None of the group could understand Gnomish, but at this point, the mutters from the crewmembers were getting ugly; the sailors they saw on deck were casting dark glances at the passenger hallway. Zargo gathered the others together in a quiet corner of the deck. "I've got an idea," she said. "If we perform a purification ritual on Gareth, maybe it'll get the crew to settle down a bit." "Who's going to do it?" Krevik asked. "Cornelius?" "I don't think so," Cornelius rumbled. "I don't think 'I call upon the power of my dark god' will go over too well." Zargo turned to the cleric. "Looks like you're it." Demetrios shook his head. "He threatened to push me overboard. I say we should do it to him and have done with it." Zargo sighed. "We need him, for the moment at least. Just go do this, and we'll have a talk with him later about how stupid he's been acting." "Fine." Demetrios tottered off to his room, muttering something about "no respect for his elders." When everything was in order, Cornelius, Krevik and Gregor accompanied Demetrios to Gareth's room to perform the purification ritual on the paladin. Kariann took up a post outside the door as a guard, and Zargo decided to remain on deck while the ritual was going on. She was approached a few minutes later by the captain. “As you know, one of your entourage is... suspect,” he said. “We’re doing a purification ritual.” He nodded, but didn't look reassured. “We checked the stores in the hold; someone has broken into them. We have two days’ worth of good food and water left. Tell me, do you recognize this?” He held up a steel gauntlet. Zargo's stomach sank. It was Gareth's. “It’s his. When was this found?” “About 15 minutes ago.” “You do realize that I requested all the furniture be removed; he’s in a penitence cell, after all," Zargo said. "He’s been there all day. Someone moving the furniture out could have grabbed it without anyone else seeing, and planted it.” “But we only had the guards there since dinner. As soon as this ritual is finished, we will go search his room for more evidence. If we find nothing, I will let the matter go. If we do…” He left the sentence hanging. Zargo could easily imagine what would happen. Belowdecks, Demetrios was halfway through the ritual when the door opened. Krevik and Cornelius looked out to see Zargo, the captain, and two burly guards standing in the hallway. Once the ritual was finished, the captain announced his intentions. A quick glance at Zargo confirmed it, so the trio stepped out of the room, leaving Gareth on his own. The gnomes entered and conducted a thorough search. "Captain, look at this," one of the guards said a couple minutes later. He had pulled a satchel from under the mattress. "That's not mine!" Gareth protested. The guard opened it and dumped it out on the floor, revealing childrens’ underclothes, a doll, and a sketch of the hold, with the food stores marked. The doll belonged to a young girl who’d complained about losing it a few days ago. The captain's face darkened, and he opened his mouth - probably to order the paladin thrown overboard - but Zargo quickly interrupted. “I request that he be placed in a locked room, under guard," Zargo said. The captain agreed. “But only because of who you are, and your reputation as a diva.” “Can we go to the hold and see the food? Maybe we can purify it.” “Aye, and bring along the paladin of perversion, so he can see what he has wrought,” the captain added with a glare at Gareth. So the captain and the party members, accompanied by the two guards (who stay close to Gareth) all troop down to the hold. Sure enough, most of the food stores have been corrupted – they are rotten and crawling with maggots and worms. Demetrios examines it for a few moments, then takes Krevik and Zargo aside. “We have a problem," the cleric rasped. That’s not your normal corrupted food and water – I’ve read about something like this before.” Krevik looked at the food a little more closely, using his magic sense. “This looks like the effects of one of Nomak’s blight spells. Anything we bring onto the ship will be irrevocably corrupted.” “We can still destroy the maggots,” Demetrios said. “I know a spell that will work.” He went above and returned a few minues later with the ship's cleric. Together, they cast parasite purge, destroying all the maggots, then tossed the corrupted food and water overboard. Afterwards, the captain took Zargo aside. “After seeing that, I don't believe the paladin was the cause of this – he doesn't have that kind of power. My sailors have families, though, and the Cargomistress has nine grandchildren on this ship. I cannot afford to offend them, you understand.” Zargo nodded solemnly. “There are three ports nearby; since I doubt the paladin’s guilt, I will put you off at your choice of one of them. They are all on islands, so you should be able to catch another ship from there.” "Let's go to your cabin and discuss this in privacy," Zargo suggested. They left the hold and went to the captain's cabin to have a discussion. Once they were settled, Zargo began. “If we go ashore, it’ll be a trap,” she said. "Whoever is after us is expecting this." The captain shrugged. "I've got the lives and welfare of my crew to consider, my lady." Zargo looked at him for a moment, but he was resolute. She sighed. "Fine. Where can you drop us?" “I can take you to Aiger’s Knuckle...” “We want the one most isolated by water.” “Well, woman, we be a week and a half from land. We can go to the Seven Jewelled Isles, but there be no port there. Or the Green Mast, that’s a port. But I be expecting compensation – every ship landing there must hand over 10% of its cargo as a tariff.” “Whichever island is least known would be good,” the paladin put in. “That would be the Seven Jewelled Isles,” the captain said. “So be it,” Zargo said. “The Seven Jewelled Isles it is.” A few days later, they arrived at the fifth island, one with a large volcano. The gnomes anchored offshore and put the party ashore with their horses, only too happy to be quit of the “perverted” paladin. The heroes stood on a broad, white sand beach. The sea stretched out before them to the horizon, clear blue only a few shades lighter than the sky. Behind them, the beach led up to a near-solid wall of jungle, from which they heard the sounds of a wide variety of animal life. "Well, what do we do now?" Gareth asked. "We could always throw the paladin into the volcano and ask the island gods for a boat," Krevik muttered. Zargo ignored him. "We might as well see if anyone's here." They turned to the forest, only to see a half-naked woman walking toward them. She was very pretty – long dark blond hair, darkly-tanned skin, and a broad smile. She wore nothing but a grass skirt and a necklace of shells. "Greetings," she called to the group. "You're new here." "Yes we are," Zargo said when she had recovered herself. Several of the men were still staring (or, in the paladin's case, attempting not to). "We're looking for a port, so we can catch a ship off these islands." The woman laughed. "There is no port on the Seven Jewelled Isles. I can take you back to my village, if you’d like...” At the group's nods of assent, she turned and led them on a path through the jungle, stopping here and there to pick fruits from the trees they passed. They wound through the forest and up over a low rise to see a small village of about twenty huts below. A few dozen people were scattered about, engaged in a variety of activities, though most of them suspiciously resembled lounging in the sun. Most of the men were loincloths; most of the women wore just grass skirts, like their guide. There was a strange mix of races – elves, humans, even a female dwarf. One of the humans had a tattoo marking him as an exile from Novak Eck. Krevik noticed one man in particular, lying on a mat of reeds eating grapes, and his eyes widened. “Shaklett the Venomous,” he whispered to the others. ”He disappeared about five years ago after a successful run as one of the vilest acid/poison mages the Red City had ever known; his apprentices said he’d gone on a mission to gather spell components for a powerful ritual and was never seen again." Strangely enough, none of the "natives" seem surprised or alarmed to see the newcomers. Indeed, everyone smiled and nodded (those who were awake and not napping in the afternoon heat), then returned to their activities. "You're more than welcome to stay here," the woman told them. "We have plenty of food. Our only rule is that everyone must build a hut to replace the one they take – that way we always have new huts for visitors. Feel free to find an empty hut to change your clothes." “We can't stay," Zargo said again. She turned to the other people and raised her voice. "We seek a ship. Can anyone help us out?" “Well there’s a ship out there,” one of the men said, waving in the general direction of the beach. “We hacked some holes in the hull, but it’s only been there a year or so.” “And would any of you kind men care to help us?” The men looked at each other. “You’re in that much of a hurry?” Zargo sighed. “Just point out the ship.” “It’s out there,” he pointed. “Out where the water turns green. A few hundred yards offshore – the water's pretty shallow out here.” “And what should be aware of on the way out there?” “Oh, crystal oozes, jewel crabs... oh, and Squishhead.” “What’s Squishhead?” “Oh honey, Squishhead’s not an it, it’s a he," their guide said. "He’s an octopus.” “And how big is he?” “Oh, about the size of a hollyphant.” “But you don’t need to worry about him eating you," one of the men added. "Squishhead’s a big coward – he’ll just squirt ink at you and flee.” Another man said, “Oh, and one of the ships rose from the bottom and sailed off about a week and a half ago, crewed by skeletons. It was an iron-keeled thing with a serrated prow.” “Cornelius?” Zargo asked. The blackguard shrugged. “I don’t know who it belonged to. I hated the water.” “You must stay for dinner, at least,” one of the women urged. “Start out early tomorrow.” The party conferred and agreed, and so they sat down to a meal of fruit and roast naka meat. After dinner, Demetrios pulled Cornelius and Krevik aside. “Did either of you get that?” “Get what?” Krevik asked. “I sent a sending to each of you, but it appears that that kind of magic doesn’t work here.” Krevik frowned and cast a [i]detect magic[/i]. It worked; there were only a few minor auras, though, besides the party's magic items – some of the men’s tattoos, for example. When the sun set, most of the villagers retreated to their huts for the night; a few remained around the fires, talking or drinking fermented fruit wine. Zargo cast [i]Leomund’s tiny hut[/i] and retreated inside it for the night. She was inside, studying her books, when a monkey appeared inside, snatched a hair clip, and ran out the side of the hut, carrying its prize into the forest. She spotted another attempting to break into a chest, and dispelled the hut. Another twenty monkeys dropped to the ground and scampered off into the forest, to the accompanying laughter of the villagers. “Why’d you cast that spell?” one of the women asked. “Raven monkeys love extradimensional spaces.” "And small, shiny objects," someone else added. “Now you tell us,” Zargo muttered. So the party spent the night with guards posted to keep the monkeys from stealing the rest of their gear. The next morning was beautiful – sunny, warm, the water perfect. The only strange thing was a spider, about an inch long and two high, way out on the water. After breakfast, the group returned to the beach. They planned to cut down some trees and make a raft, then sail it out to the ship and see what repairs needed to be made to it to make it seaworthy. It took most of the morning to cut down enough trees to make a raft and lash them together with vines to make a raft. Occasionally, some of the villagers would come down to watch for a bit, and a few passed by on gathering expeditions, but they were largely ignored. Once the raft was complete, Cornelius, Krevik, Demetrios, and Zargo climbed onto it. The bladkguard poled it out into the sea. They got 300 yards from shore from the shore when the vines came loose, and the raft fell apart, depositing the quartet into the warm water. “Nice job, Krevik,” Cornelius sputtered. “If the thing had been properly made of bones and lashed with tendons, it would have worked,” the mage retorted. [i](No one had the relevant craft skill, so the DM had me, as the one with the highest Int score, roll for it – I rolled a natural 1.)[/i] Once they got to shore, they were greeted with more laughter from the villagers. Cornelius stripped off his armor to dry and stalked off, but he returned a short time later. “One of the villagers said that the spider god drags the corpses of those he kills to a harbor on another island, over yonder.” He pointed to the east. “We could get there easily with a water walk, cast on the horses.” Everyone looked at Demetrios, and he shrugged. “It would take a little time to prepare.” "The day is almost wasted, anyway," Zargo said. "Why don't we spend the night here, get ourselves cleaned up, and we'll leave tomorrow morning." The next morning (after another night spent guarding their gear against the thieving monkeys), Demetrios cast [i]water walk[/i] on the party's mounts, and they rode off across the waves to the neighboring island. As if by magic, dozens of raven monkeys appeared. One of them, larger than the others, waved a jewelled longsword over its head with both hands. ”Put me down!” the sword cried as the monkey screeched at the party, then ran into the forest. Unlike the last island, there was no path evident in the forest, so they decided to walk along the beach. About a mile along, around a curve in the island's edge, they came over a low rise to see the harbor sprawl below them. A huge, partially-destroyed structure made of basalt blocks sat at the base of the cliffs on the island side of the broad harbor; a great wall, also made of basalt wound its way around the harbor, though this, too, had collapsed in places, revealing the remains of passages and chambers inside it. The water in the harbor was clear, permitting a view of a couple dozen ships at the bottom in various stages of destruction and overgrowth by coral. Entwined among the ships were also dozens of skeletons of large creatures – whales, sea serpents, even what looked like a dragon. “Will that dragon skeleton make a ship large enough for us?” Zargo asked Krevik. He squinted at it and thought for a moment. “Almost. We’ll need some other bones to finish it out, but it should do.” Instead of building a raft, they decide to fly Krevik's [i]flying carpet[/i] out over the water [i](okay, so I forgot about it the first time – sue me)[/i]. Demetrios casts water breating on Kariann and Gareth, and they, along with Cornelius (who seemed to have some sort of water breathing ability of his own) dropped into the water to start bringing up bones. Krevik and Zargo remained above, pulling the bones up with ropes the others tied to them. [i]Stay tuned for the next update, when Cornelius says: "Do we really trust Krevik to make a bone ship? He couldn't even get a simple wooden raft right!"[/i] Famous quote for this session: “I’ll get her back – I’ll become the ultimate meat shield!” – Gareth's player, talking about the woman who attacked him. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Gathering Storm
Top