A Savage Tidings Tale

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The mess hall was a large, open room furnished with a number of tables and chairs. One corner held a roughly seven-foot square cage housing a large numebr of brightly colored parrots, which began squawking as soon as the cage was approached. Arjan immediately began cooing at them, and Thalas had to pull him away bodily.

Athal had already passed through a door on the opposite side of the room into what appeared to be a kitchen area. There was a clang of somthing dropping to the floor, and then a retching sound. Thalas and Arjan rushed to join the rest of the party, who were now kneeling over Arjan. The elf was on his hands and knees, retching up his evening meal.

"Weak stomach?" Thalas mused. The kitchen did have a rank odor to it. The Lotus Dragons might have had riches, finery, and well-trained warriors, but they had a lousy cook.

"Elf," Arjan concluded, with a smirk. Athal rose to his feet, shaking off the effects of the nausea.

"No, I got some of that gook spilled on me when I knocked the cauldron over." Athal pointed to a brown oily substance spilled on the floor from an overturned cauldron. "It must be the poison the Lotus Dragons put on their crossbow bolts. One of the thugs by the pool shot me with one and I felt the same way."

Two other doors led from the room. One led to a storeroom which had little to recommend it except for various foodstuffs, though Kithkanan was finally able to find his missing equipment -- chain shirt, longsword, and longbow -- in one of the crates. The second door led to a moderately sized room with a sandy floor and a number of decorative rocks an seashells.

"Meditation room?" Thalas asked nobody in particular, as Athal began poking about the place. Suddenly a short lizard-like creature darted out from behind a rock and cowered at Athal's feet, sobbing.

"No hurt Chortle, no hurt!" the thing sobbed. "Chortle is only cook! Make nice eatings if big people let Chortle go!"

"Kill it!" Morderas shouted, drawing a weapon. Typical, Thalas thought.

The creature -- it was a lizard-like kobold, wearing a filthy apron -- sobbed and prostrated itself on the floor.

Athal relented. "I won't let them hurt you. Do you know Vanthus? Or any of the big folk here?"

Chortle only sobbed and shook its head. "Please let Chortle go! Make no noise! Not bother big folk!"

"Useless," Thalas said, "Let's get moving."

They trooped out, leaving the kobold, who dashed past them and down a hall, disappearing around a corner. "Maybe we should have followed it?" Quinn suggested, but by then the creature was far out of sight. They went back to the mess hall, and exited out another doorway, which led to another hall, and then turned through a door into what looked like an odd combination of a practice hall and throne room. The floor was padded, and a number of straw-stuffed sparring dummies stood scattered about the left end of the room. To the right, there stood a gilt throne on a raised dais. Arjan, Morderas, and Thalas moved to examine the throne, while Athal and Kithkanan examined the sparring dummies as well as the doorway leading out at the left end of the room.

Suddenly, Kithkanan cried out, and was backing up drawing his sword. One of the straw-stuffed dummies had spring to life, sticking the elf with a rapier. In the dim light, Thalas could make out that the dummy was actually a man who had stuffed his clothing and armor with straw to look like one of the many dummies scattered throughout the room. Another sprung to life, and Athal found himself engaged as well.

Thalas charged in, only to be struck himself as what he had taken to be an inanimate dummy turned out to be a disguised thug. Thalas narrowly missed being impaled on the man's rapier, and dodged back out of the way. By that time, Morderas and Arjan were engaged with a fourth man, though Kithkanan's opponent was on the ground and bleeding, and Athal's opponent was beginning to look outclassed.

Korlick the wonder dog bounded past, hamstringing Arjan's opponent, who went down screaming, and Rhiannon stepped past Thalas, bringing he mace up to smash Thalas' opponent underhand between the legs. The man's eye's rolled back into his head and he collapsed. Thalas struck an another moving figure with his glaive, and the man collapsed with his belly slit open. All of their opponents were down, despite the advantage of surprise, when Quinn, watching the rear from the doorway, announced: "More coming".

Quinn pushed Kirsh out of the way and he and Athal ran quickly back the way they had come, as the others double-checked the remaining objects in the room to make sure they held no disguised thieves. Morderas finished searching the dead men, coming away with six potion bottles and some small vials filled with poison.

Thalas, inspired, said "Give me one of those," pointing at a potion bottle. Morderas shrugged and handed it to Thalas. Thalas grinned, then popped the cork and swallowed the contents in one gulp, much to Morderas and Rhiannon's horror. It was cool, with a faint aftertaste of almonds, and he immediately felt refreshed despite his exertions back at the crocodile pool and in the most recent fight.

"Healing potion," he grinned at the others. "Didn't know for certain, but I figured it was worth a shot. What's the worst that could have happened?" Rhiannon rolled her eyes at him. "What?" he asked, and then Quinn and Athal returned, wiping their blades clean of blood.

"Dispatched two more coming up behind," Quinn said. "Looks like we only have one way left to go." He pointed toward the door by Kithkanan, and the group formed up to proceed.

"Let's hope there aren't many of these thugs left," Thalas muttered as he prepared to follow Athal and Kithkanan.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

They exited the practice room and entered a small dog-legged hallway which led to yet another doorway. As Athal approached, there came a sudden clicking on stone followed by a snarling sound, and Athal darted through the doorway with a yell followed by the rest, one after another. Thalas paused in the doorway, looking into the small stone-walled chamber beyond, in which the rest of the group had surrounded another one of those wolf-spider crossbreeds that they had encountered on the Blue Nixie. As frightening as the creature was, it was hardly holding its own, surrounded as it was by seven hardened adventurers pounding on it with their weapons. They made short work of the creature, and soon it collapsed.

Well, that was anti-climactic, Thalas thought. These wolf-spiders make lousy guard dogs.

Oddly, the wolf-spider was wearing an iron collar attached to a thick chain. The chain led to a hole in the opposite wall, next to an archway leading into the next room. After examining the chain, they stepped through the archway into the room beyond.

The next chamber was well lit and decorated with carved frescoes and inlaid tile. A large hexagonal table of polished wood dominated the room; on one wall hung a large colorful map of Sasserine while on the opposite was a slate on which the names of a number of ships had been written. Thalas moved to the slate, reaching into his pouch for a bit of parchment and an quill he kept there for just such an occasion.

The slate seemed to contain lists of various ships coming and going from Sasserine, with their cargoes and indications that some of them had been "holed". In large letters of red chalk in one corner was a list of all the names of the party (minus Kithkanan) with an annotation: "Vanthus, fix this NOW!!!". In the opposite corner was scrawled an additional bit, but it was in a language and script Thalas had never seen. He copied the foreign bt of doggerel as best he could, and took appropriate notes on the shipping information, then turned to the others.

"Looks like they've been expecting us. They have all of our names. I don't know what it means, but they've done something to some of the ships."

"They're up to something else, too," said Athal, who was examining the map. "There are red, blue, and gold flag pins on this map. Some are on the garrisons, a blue one on the Kellani family estate, and red on the Islani family hold, and a gold on Vanderboren manor. No other clues to what it means, though."

Thalas shrugged, and the others shook their heads with blank expressions. Clearly they had stumbled into some involved criminal enterprise beyond mere thievery, but it was anyone's guess as to what it was. They were all a bit tired and punchy, but determined to find Vanthus before leaving, so they once again exited by the remaining door and pressed onward.

From the succeeding hallway came the sudden stench of decay, and they burst into a room where a swaying, shambling figure on the far wall slowly began to turn to face them It looked like a bugbear -- one of those hairy, bestial, over-large cousins of goblins -- but it didn't move quite naturally.

"Zombie!" cried Kithkanan, bounding forward to slash the creature. Thalas channeled, and shot arcs of green fire at the thing, slowing it, as the blow from the others weakened it until Morderas finally dodged forward and hamstrung it with a slash from one blade, then severed its head with a backhand slash of the other.

They stepped past the now-still bugbear corpse into an opulent chamber. The walls were painted in violet, with silver lanterns hanging at points around the room. The floor was covered with a plush purple carpet. One wall held a large bookcase upon which stood a number of fine statues of animals, stuffed animals, and other fine furnishings. A second wall was covered with a large mural displaying a fleet of ships under full sail entering Sasserine harbor triumphantly, flags bearing the seal of the Lotus Dragons fluttering in the breeze. the center of the room held a polished darkwood table upon which sat a large bowl of fruits and vegetables.

Impressive as the room was, the beautiful woman standing against the far wall was even more so. Of moderate height, she was buxom, with raven hair, ruby lips, and slanted, violet eyes. She smirked as she saw them enter, motioning grandly for them to approach. Her companions -- two black-armored thugs and some sort of ravenous dinosaur creature that stood on two legs almost to the height of a man -- merely growled and looked menacing.

"Well, well," the woman purred. "I am impressed. You sneak into the most powerful guild in Sasserine, kill half of my men ..."

"All of them, unless we miscounted," Morderas interjected.

"... and then stand here calmly to confront me. Perhaps I have misjudged you. Given what you've accomplished, I have an offer. You can spend your time working for the noblewoman for pennies, or you can go to work for me and my organization. The rewards will be far better, and given the fact that you've come this far ..."

"Given what we've done, you ought to surrender," Morderas suggested.

Athal laughed. "Are you Vanthus' fluky? Did he leave you here to delay us? Where is he? Give him up and we'll let you go!"

"And besides," Thalas added, "if what we've seen is the best you can offer, we really don't stand to gain by joining your crew of incompetents."

Her sultry smile turned to a grimace, and she made a slicing motion across he throat with one hand, releasing a chain that led to the dinosaur's collar at the same time with the other. The thieves whipped out their rapiers and closed, as the woman began to screech in an unearthly warbling tone.

In the hallway behind Thalas, where Rhiannon and Quinn had remained with Kirsh, there was a sudden cackle of laughter and a gasp from Rhiannon. Thalas heard a voice say: "I'm afraid this little charade is over, my dear. It has been fun following you, but I'm afraid I'm going to remain with my mistress after all." Thalas could hear a gasp from Quinn, but couldn't turn to look back out the doorway, as the raptor had charged Athal.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

They formed a line across the room, with Morderas and Thalas in the back row, and Rhiannon and Quinn fighting whomever it was out in the hallway. Athal met the charge of the raptor, narrowly avoiding the creature's teeth, while Kithkanan and Arjan each engaged a thief. Thalas gripped his glaive and channeled, preparing a devastating strike on the dinosaur. Morderas dodged and tumbled past the front line, performing a kip-up to stand behind on of the thieves, between the thief and his mistress, and stabbed backward, dropping the man with one blow.

"How do you like us now?" he sneered at the woman. In response, she stopped her screeching, pulled a bone wand from some pocket, and with a deft flick and word of power caused the thief Morderas had just killed to rise to his feet and resume the attack. Some of Morderas' bravado faded at that.

"Fuego!" Thalas intoned, and his glaive burst into flame as he smote the raptor with all of his might. The creature shrieked in pain as the flaming blade sliced and burned through muscle, sinew, and bone, but the animal did not have to suffer long -- Athal pierced it through the heart and it fell.

The woman gasped in shock, dropped the wand, and fumbled in her pouch, withdrawing a small vial. Holding it to her lips, she downed the contents, and her form dissolved immediately into mist which seeped backward through the back wall of the room, disappearing.

"Come back and fight, bitch!" Morderas shouted -- but she was gone.

Kithkanan and Arjan were still engaged with the remaining thief, so Thalas turned to look back out the doorway. Rhiannon and Quinn were engaged with a swarthy, muscular man in a strangely color shirt of chain who was fighting bare-handed. Kirsh was nowhere to be seen. Rhiannon and Quinn were both badly hurt, and it was clear Rhiannon was nearing her breaking point.

Thalas whispered another arcane word of power he'd finally mastered just the day before, gesturing first at Rhiannon and then at Athal. There was a blue flash, and suddenly Athal stood where Rhiannon had. The elf laughed maniacally as the triumphant grin faded from the muscular man's face, just before Athal ran him through.

Athal was just kicking the twitching body from his sword when Arjan stabbed the remaining thief, and the sounds of battle faded. They were victorious, though the mysterious beauty had escaped.

Morderas got to work searching the bedroom that was attached to the sitting room, as Athal and Kithkanan piled the bodies and Quinn collected valuables from the shelves. Thalas concentrated, searching for magical auras, and located one on the bone wand on the floor that the woman had dropped in her retreat, one coming from the collar on the dinosaur's neck, and another on the armor the strange muscular man wore. He pointed these out and the items were collected.

"What happened to Kirsh?" Thalas asked, looking around.

"He turned into that man," Rhiannon said, pointing at the dead man whose armor they had just stripped off. "He had some sort of magical illusion disguising him."

"We're rich! We're wealthy! We're comfortably well off!" came Morderas' shout from the other room. The other rushed to see what he was gloating over.

Morderas had uncovered a couple of large chests. One held a collection of rare perfumes, some of which would bring an enormous price in the right market. But more impressive was a large collection of jewelry and several silk bags containing what Thalas estimated must be close to ten thousand platinum dragons. Added to the riches from the other room -- three finely crafted statues, two coffers of jewelry, some fine silk, and a collection of erotic novels that Arjan was flipping through hungrily, and they had quite a haul. Which almost made up for the fact that they'd explored the entire complex and hadn't found Vanthus.

"Those bags bear the Vanderboren seal," Athal pointed out. "That's Lavinia's missing wealth. We'll have to return it."

Thalas considered that the look on Morderas' face was almost worth the loss of ten thousand platinum dragons. Almost.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

After a quick bit of discussion -- Arjan protesting the morality of taking all this wealth while trying to slip and erotic novel under his tunic while Thalas pointed out that they had just destroyed the most dangerous thieves' guild in Sasserine and they were entitled to some reward, especially since they were returning Lavinia's treasure -- the began to package the loot for easy transport.

Morderas handed a stack of folded papers to Thalas: "You might be interested in this." Thalas opened them, and read:

"This one is dated two days before the fire that killed the Vanderborens!"

... My parents have grown soft. I'm not worried in the slightest that they suspect anything, my delicate flower. The funds you've trusted be with have been more than enough to pay off the local guards, the harbor watch, and the ship's crew to say nothig about the new cargo. Hell, they even offered to help load the barrels! Of course, I didn't tell them what was inside -- I'm sure they'd sing a different song if they knew how much alchemist's fire was loaded into the hold of my father's new plaything. I'll be following the ship's progress for a few days to make sure the fire does the trick, so you'll not be seeing me for at least half a week. Keep you bed warm for me!"

"Slimy bastard. Bet that'll pop the rest of Lavinia's illusions like a soap bubble. The next one is dated three days after the fire."

... It's unbelievable. Sure, she's the eldest sibling, but she knows nothing of life! She spent the last half of her childhood in Thelenar learning how to fold napkins and play the violin, for Hell's sake! It just goes to show you how insane my parents really were ... leaving everything in her care like that. Whatever. She'll need the house to live off of, I suppose. Lavinia's not a bad lass, really ... I kind of miss our time together, to tell the truth. Think she'd be interested in joining the Lotus? I doubt it. And anyway, a second Vanderboren tragedy might get too many people curious. No, for now, whatever's in the vault will have to do.

"and the last, dated two days ago ..."

... I really wish you could have been there, my little dragon, to see their faces before I closed the door! Lavinia's never going to get anywhere hiring fools like them. I wonder if they've found Penkus yet? I hope they didn't die too quickly.

In any case, on to the purpose of this letter. Brissa's in the other room, getting ready for a night out on the town, so I'll have to be quick. Remember that thing she hinted about to me? About the pirates who were supposedly using Kraken's Cove as a base for their smuggling operations? Turns out she wasn't spinning tales -- I've heard that they'll be arriving within the week with a particularly rich cargo. I'll bring her with me on the pretext of joining up with them, get their guard down, and when they're not expecting it my men'll light the ships on fire! It'll be a simple task to pluck the treasure from the water once all those fools are dead. Should be more than enough to make up for what we lost when Lavinia inherited rather than me.

I tell you ... burning people to death on their own boats? It's the best way to make money yet. Wish I'd thought of it years ago!

"Nasty bastard, isn't he? Maybe we should head to this Kraken's Cove to see if we can spike his wheel. We're due for a bit of payback, I think."

The others nodded, then shouldered their loads to return to Vanderboren Manor, report their findings, and plot their next move.

 

[KingCrab]

Just some notes:

Arjan actually killed both the dinosaur and the last thief in the final battle with two (times 3) spear criticals in a row. (He's been enjoying stabbing people in the brain and twisting his spear.)

I liked the "Elf" comment. I didn't say it, but I should have.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Session 5: The Mystery of Kraken's Cove

It was a dirty, bloody, and dead-tired band of adventurers who found themselves banging on the gates of Vanderboren Manor at two hours before dawn that morning. The guards, unused to such a ruckus at that hour of the morning, were surly but opened the gates once they recognized the group. They were ushered into the main hall, and Lavinia soon joined them, wearing a thin lavender robe and trying to straighten her tousled hair. She looked stunning despite having just been wakened from a sound night's sleep.

"We have good news and bad news," Thalas announced.

"Well," Lavinia began, "I don't quite understand."

Thalas went on. "The good news is: your brother Vanthus is a lying, murdering bastard. He killed your parents, joined the thieves guild, and is plotting to blow up a bunch of ships in the harbor with cargoes of alchemist's fire."

Lavinia looked shocked. "That's not possible. I don't believe it. Vanthus may have strayed, but he certainly ..."'

Thalas overrode her. "We have proof," he said, waving Vanthus' letters under her nose, then dropping them in her lap for her to read. "It's all in there. The bad news is that he got away. We're going to go find him and bring him back dead or alive. We're leaving in about a week to intercept him at a place called Kraken's Cove. Do you know where that is?"

Lavinia shook her head silently, looking dumbfounded at the letters in her lap. Her eyes teared up, and she finally spoke: "I think I need to be alone."

"I'd be happy to keep you company," Morderas suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

Thalas smirked. "You're welcome. You might consider letting the watch know about the sabotaged ships; I don't think it is the sort of thing we'll be able to take care of for you."

Thalas bid farewell to his companions, arranging to meet them six days hence. They were all planning on staying at Lavinia's to rest and recuperate, but he had no intention of remaining there like Lavinia's lapdog. His share of the recovered treasure was substantial, enough to keep him going for a while, and he had a number of days to lose himself in study and training.

He returned to his rooms above the kitchen at the Hunter's Rest, and after a good hot bath and evening's debauchery in the common room, headed out to the Emporium to pick up some supplies. Perusing the stacks of books and scrolls, Thalas was able to find a number of useful magical tidbits that might make their next foray more profitable. He spend the next five days carefully transcribing the various notes and scrolls into a single volume, as well as consolidating some of his own research with the notes he'd found scrawled in the margins of his mother's spellbook. He had time to prepare one magical tool of his own -- a magical leaf that when crushed would release an enchantment that would allow him to cause one of his companions to grow to giant's size.

Among his researches was a formula to allow the reading of any language, and he was pleased to find that he was able to employ it successfully. The bit of strange doggerel they'd found scrawled in the Lotus Dragon's hideout turned out to be in the language of the fishes -- Aquan. Unfortunately, the note -- "Make sure to pay the ixit's by month's end" -- was meaningless to Thalas.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Six days after demolishing the Lotus Dragon's hideout, Thalas returned to join his companions at Vanderboren Manor. They'd been busy in his absence. Athal had located a sage in the Noble district, one Sloren Highwall, who was an expert on geography. Sloren located Kraken's Cove for them: eastward, across Blood Bay. Athal had already hired a fishing boat to transport them, as the overland route would be far too long and dangerous. So despite Morderas' protest that they should be checking out the Kellani estate for the return of Rowan and the Lotus Dragons, they soon found themselves at the docks, looking over the fishing scow belonging to a man named Zathid.

"Not much to look at, is it?" Thalas observed.

Zathid spat. "The Gold Endeavor'll get you where you need to go. Only eight nobles each for the trip, there and back. I'll wait for you for a day, even loan you a dinghy to get to shore."

"Think we can trust him?" Quinn asked Morderas.

"He's completely trustworthy," Morderas replied.

They all piled into the boat and stowed their gear, and soon they were slicing across the waves, leaving Sasserine harbor and heading east. The night passed swiftly and without incident, and at dawn the next morning they awoke to find themselves entering a large bay where the sea ran red.

"What causes that?" Kithkanan asked Arjan.

"Some say twas the curse of the gods," Zathid interjected, "when Pelor struggled with Osprem, Osprem made the sea run red with Pelor's blood. Other's say it's the blood of all the men who've been sent to the briny deeps here by pirates."

Arjan rolled his eyes. "It's small plants in the water. When too many of them grow, they turn the water red."

"Really?" Thalas asked. "That sounds fascinating. What kind of plant, and what makes them grow ...". He and Arjan were soon deep in conversation about the biology of Blood Bay. Maybe Arjan isn't so bad after all, thought Thalas, he certainly seems to know the natural world better than I.

They soon reached a headland on the eastern side of the bay. Zathid dropped anchor, lowered the dinghy, and pointed east. "Kraken Cove's on the other side of those cliffs. There's a path up them ... land here and go in overland and they won't see you coming. More 'n my life's worth sailing into that bay. I'll wait for ye until nightfall, but if yer not back by sundown, I'll leave without ye."

Plumes of smoke were rising from the far side of the cliffs, so Thalas could see what the man meant. They were soon rowing to shore, and after a bit had secured the dinghy on the beach and were climbing the narrow path to the top of the cliff.

Upon reaching the top a shocking scene appeared below. They could just see the entrance to the cove -- part of it was out of view behind a bend of land to the right. One three-masted ship rode at anchor far out in the cove. Closer in, a number of ships were burning, throwing plumes of black smoke into the clear morning air. Even the water appeared to burn. They readied their weapons and started down the narrow path that wound down the far side of the hill toward the cove.

As they reached level ground, Quinn came running back up the trail from where he had scouted ahead. "Something strange ahead," he reported. "Dead animals everywhere. Any they don't look normal."

Arjan gave a cry, and all of them rushed forward to prevent the druid from running ahead on his own. The sight ahead was indeed disturbing. The rotting corpses of a number of jungle creatures lay along the trail. Each was hideously deformed, with scars oozing pus, strange bone spurs and cankers growing at odd locations, even additional limbs growing out of backs and bellies. They didn't have much time to make sense of what was going on, for there was a strangled cry from ahead.

Four deformed monkeys closed on them from out of the jungle, and dead ahead of them roared a large, four-armed beast that looked as if it had been sewn together from the bodies of a number of other animals.

"I knew we should have killed that taxidermist," Arjan hissed.

"That is definitely not natural," Thalas agreed.

They set their weapons as the creatures charged. Morderas immediately impaled one, then jumped aside in horror as the creature exploded into a pool of acid. He then shrieked in pain as a second one attacked and bit him, though he made short work of it. One monkey approached within range of Thalas, but Thalas smashed its head with his glaive before it could get to close, and he was well out of range of its death throes. The others dispatched the last monkey-thing behind him as Korlick met the charge of the four-armed abomination. Kithkanan ran up behind the dog, and with a powerful blow struck the creature down, dodging out of the way as it too collapsed into a pool of hissing acid. Korlick whined and moved to hide behind Arjan.

Morderas show a wound that was infected and still swelling with a strange growth of bone. He said he felt light headed, and none too sure of his wits. Rhiannon examined him, but could do nothing for the bite.

Thalas shivered, and they resumed their march on Kraken's Cove.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

They reached the beach, where a grisly sight met their eyes. In front of the large cave mouth to their left, the entire beach was covered in blood and strewn with the bodies of what must have been twenty or more men and women, each hideously deformed and with the flesh literally stripped from the bone in places. From back in the cave, horrible shrieks, maniacal laughter, and the sounds of meal striking metal could be heard.

"We have to go in there?" Thalas asked. Athal only nodded, and Morderas moved to take point. The dark elf then charged ahead into the depths of the cave as the main body of the party entered a large chamber with a sandy floor. Quinn moved ahead to find Morderas, only to return shortly to motion them ahead -- Morderas had already found trouble.

They rounded a corner to find Morderas sneaking across another chamber, slinking along the wall to approach what looked like three pirates in discussion ... only to prove to be three deformed, human-like creatures in sailor's garb chewing on the lifeless remains of another human form. Morderas was able to get close enough to stab one as the others rushed to his aid, firing arrows or swinging swords. Thalas loosed a both of acid energy from his fingers, striking one creature, as Athal, Kithkanan, and Korlick closed on the others. Athal jumped up on a table, stabbing down at one, and soon all of them had collapsed into the same hissing pools of acidic goo that the monkeys had become.

"What happened here?" Thalas whispered to no one in particular, but there was no answer as they continued their march into another passage, the sounds of battle in the distance growing louder and drawing them on.

The entered an enormous chamber that must have been sixty feet by a hundred, with passages radiating from it at the points of the compass. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of bolts of silk fabric, arranged in row after row so that the far side of the chamber could barely be seen.

"We ought to bring this back," Thalas mused," The chicks will dig us."

"Not so much," Kithkanan replied, pointing. Most of the silk bolts had been ruined, some by water, others by blood and gore.

From out of the silks, something that looked like a cross between a halfling and a raccoon jumped out behind Morderas and attempted to bite him. As the others responded and moved to surround the things, Athal moved off to scout the rows of silk. His shout of "Dinosaur" alerted them that there was another opponent out there, though they had their hands full with the raccoon thing. Thalas moved to his right skirting the wall, attempting to get to where he could see where Athal was fighting. Quinn, too, charged through the silks, then shouted from help. Thalas just reached where he could see Quinn thrusting through the silks at a whirling, dodging lizard creature, just as Athal went down beneath one of the creature's claws.

"Help Athal!" Thalas shouted in the direction of Rhiannon and the others, who were finally putting the giant rodent-thing down. Kithkanan charged off through the silk bolts towards the sound of fighting. Thalas concentrated and channeled, disappearing from his spot by the wall and reappearing close to the snarling dinosaur while Athal's unconscious form appeared in his former place against the cave wall. Thalas channeled again as Kithkanan engaged the creature, distracting it, and inflicting grievous wounds on it even as it forced Quinn to retreat.

Thalas sprang forward, striking with all his might with his glaive, and the blade swept down into the creature's skull, causing it to rear, convulse, and then drop. The body then fumed and dissolved into another pool of acid. Thalas turned, seeing Rhiannon treating a groggy Athal against one wall, while Morderas and Quinn bandaged their own wounds.

"Tough beast," Kithkanan observed. "Nearly took all of us down. Let's hope there aren't any more of them."

Thalas merely panted, too exhausted to reply.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Once everyone had been bandaged or caught their breath, they began searching the large room. Thalas concentrated on detecting magical auras and was surprised to find not only a pair of magic slippers on the raccoon-thing (sadly too small for anyone to wear), but also that the entire chamber radiated a sick, low-level necromantic taint. He informed the others, but they could make nothing of it save Rhiannon, who speclated that it might be related to the strange magical curse poison disease that had infected every living thing they had found so far.

They exited the room through another passage, and soon found themselves in a large square trophy room. The enormous skull of some sort of lizard creature dominated one wall, and the others were covered with painting, seascapes, bits from various ships, various bits of unindentifiable sea monsters. One intriguing trophy was part of the hull of a ship, carved with the faded letters "T M A UT". Another was an enormous ship's bell inscribed with the words "Sea Ghost".

There was a large elaborately locked chest, too, built of stout timber reinforced with iron. Morderas tried the lock but could find no way to open it, and when he suggested using their weapons to bash it open Athal just shook his head and pointed onward. The sounds of the distant battle were growing louder.

They left the trophy room and followed another passage through which they could soon hear pounding surf, and they entered a chamber that was half-submerged under water. Low holes in the back wall let in the surf, and the water ebbed and flowed in time with the crashing of the waves on the distant shore.

A human figure was hunched no the edge of the tidal pool, back toward them, sobbing. It rose and turned as they entered, revealing what had once been a young pretty (if slightly plump) woman, but was now a deformed mockery of her former form. Her eyes were gone, and strange growths poked out of her skin and torn dress at odd points. She began to step toward them, staggering, and reaching out with hands that were now clawed talons.

"Vathus, is that you? I've waited my love," the thing pined.

Brissa. Morderas pitched his voice low: "Yes, it's me Brissa. I've returned to save you."

Brissa snarled and her face wrenched in fury, and she rushed forward swinging her taloned hands about wildly. Arjan began intoning magical syllables, and a large grey-headed bear twinkling with golden light appeared just behind Brissa and lumbered toward her. The wolf-bear never reached her, though -- Kithkanan struck her down with a single blow. Her head rolled across the sand to fall with a plop into the tidal pool, and her body slumped to the sand, gradually dissolving until the only thing that could be recognized was the Lotus Dragon tattoo on one shoulder.

"Something tells me we're not going to find Vanthus here, again," Thalas observed.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Session 6: The Savage Tide

Rhiannon examined Brissa's body. "I can't figure out what this is. it's the same source that is poisoning Morderas, and I can't cure it. It's partly magical, partly acts as a poison, and partly acts as a disease. I can temportarily reverse it with some preparation, but that's all I can do, I'm afraid."

Moderas looked nervous. "I'll take temporary reversal as soon as you can manage. This thing growing on my shoulder doesn't feel natural."

As the cave where they had put Brissa to her final rest was a dead end, they backtracked to the last intersection and chose another passage, still following the sounds of metal-on-metal combat. They soon entered a maze-like area of stone corridors and columns, here three more deformed, diseased pirates attacked them, though with close cooperation and some aggressive fighting by Korlick the wonder dog they quickly dispatched these next foes.

Passing through the maze-like chamber, they reached an area where both the sounds of the surf and the sounds of fighting grew louder, and the stone passage soon opened onto a sandy-floor cave that backed onto a tidal pool where the waves repeatedly lapped the sandy shore.

Standing with her back to the pool was a beautiful raven-haired woman dressed in form-fitting jet black armor, with a wide-brimmed hat cocked jauntily over one eye. She held a cutlass in one hand and a dirk in the other, and skillfull dodged back and forth, thrusting at and parrying the attacks from the dozen or more diseased pirate figures that surrounded her. The enemy of my enemy ... Thalas thought, as Kithkanan and Athal ahead of him drew their blades.

Kithkanan charged the mass of necrotic flesh, dropping two of the pirates with a single slashing blow before they were even aware of him. Thalas pulled a mallorn leaf from his belt pouch, reading the arcane glyphs he had scribed there with octopus ink, then cruching the leaf as the glyphs began to pulse with purpule light. Thalas pointed, and Athal suddenly grew to ten feet in height, his sword increasing in lenght in proportion to his growth. Athal also charged the enemy, felling another pirate with a single overhand blow that arced nearly to the ceiling of the cavern.

The pirates responed to this new threat, with the rearmost -- who were having difficulty engaging the woman due to the press of bodies in front of them -- whirling and advancing on line. As they turned, the woman herself dodged lightning quick and downed four of her opponents in a blinding fury of flashing blades.

As the line advanced, Athal whirled and sliced the sinews of another pirate just as it came within reach of his blade. Thalas moved into the open, castign first one spell to distract Moderas' opponent, and then concentrating to channel his energy into a focused, precise attack. When he delivered that strike, Moderas' opponent dropped, and Thals continued his attack, successfully wounding the pirate that faced Arjan. Moderas then spun and dove behind Arjan's opponent, striking him in the knees.

"It's time to end this, boys!" the woman cried, stabbing two more with a thrust from each of her blades. She staggered back to pant, blades hanging loosely from her hands, and oberve the scene in front of her.

To Thalas' left, Athal sliced another opponent in two, causing the decaying body to splash acid over Quinn and Rhiannon, who wer eunable to get out of the way in time. Arjan meanwhile screamed to Thalas' right as a pirate succeeded in rending his side with a pair of talons. Athal stuck down another pirate, leaving a single one surrounded by Morderas, Arjan, and Thalas ... but with Athal's extended reach, he stepped forward and destroyed that one as well before any of the others could land a telling blow.

"Well done, me hearties," said the woman as she wiped and sheathed her blades. "I don't know who ye be, but I be in yer debt just the same. I be Captain Harliss Jornal of the Crimson Fleet, and these unfortunates we have just sent to Osprem's locker were me crew before Vanthus Vanderboren turned them into twisted nightmares."

Thalas looked at the others and shrugged. "Crimson Fleet" didn't mean anything to him, either.

"Is he a wizard, then?" Athal asked. "We're hunting Vanthus ourselves, for betraying us and attempting to get us killed. We suspect him of much, murder and worse, but didn't think he was capable of this."

"I'll tell ye what happened," the woman replied, relaxing as the others also sheathed their weapons, and Morderas began pilfering bodies. "Vanthus approached us a week ago with an offer of cheap cargo. We figured he was a black marketeer, and arranged to meet him at this cove. Vanthus waited until the ships arrived, then dumped alchemist's fire in the water and set all the shipa afire."

"Yeah, he does seem to have a thing for that tactic," Thalas interjected, "he was planning the same thing back in Sasserine harbor, and used the same trick to kill his own parents."

"Aye, he's a piece of work, that one," Harliss agreed. "While the ships were burning he tried to rob me hold. I surpried him when he came up on deck, and he dropped what he was trying to steal -- a black pearl the size of a fist. His blood splashed on it as I struck at him,. The pearl cracked, and a green gas began spewing from it, going straight through the side of the ship in an expanding cloud. The pearl rolled off the deck and into the water, and when it hit it exploded. A green mist filled me vision, and I felt famished and feverish, but then the feeling was gone. When it passed, Vanthus and I were the only humans left -- everyone ele had transformed into one of those ... things. Vathus dove from the deck and swam to the shore through the fire and disappeared; I came to shore to try and put the pieces together and was atatcked by what was left of me own crew."