The Chaos of Battle
The orca had emerged close enough to the dock that Py'Cott dropped his bundle of whale-fat and leaped onto its back. He hooked the fish-woman's wrist with the end of his pike and twisted, causing her to drop her conch, which he grabbed while diving toward the water, but before he plunged in, he swapped places with the Red Ghost and arrived, smiling, on next to Lex by the lift.
By this time, Burton had followed him onto the orca and stabbed at the fish-woman with a knife that had appeared out of nowhere. As the 'whale' rose up to throw off the new arrival, Thorbin thrust his pike over the fire-barrel and into the creature's melon, stunning it. As it began to roll over, Doc Halfhand, as an octopus, appeared from the water and pulled the fish-woman shaman from the whale's back and began to swim away with her.
Both Burton and the Red Ghost could not stay on as the whale rolled, and they both wound up in the water. This turned out to be fortunate for them, because on the dock, Lex raised his little grey hands and a line of fire burst across the scene, burning the whale, the fish-woman, and an unfortunately-timed surfacing fish-man (who had swam in to go after Burton). All three creatures died, smoking and steaming on the surface of the water.
Doc Halfhand released the fish-woman and dove under as the fire burst across them, but he quickly found himself up against two fish-men armed with spears. They lunged at him, sticking their spears into his fleshy tentacled body. (7 damage).
Burton too, found a spear thrust at him from out of the depths. It struck him in his leg as he treaded water, heading back toward the dock. (7 damage).
On the other side of the dock, in the water, Valrin continued to struggle with the fish-man who had pulled him under. He struck at it with his ice-pick, and got it with a solid blow that kept it from getting at him, but it was still alive and trying in vain to bite at him.
Nearby, Jathlin sent out a thunderous burst that knocked the surrounding fish folk away, killing two of the three. The third grabbed at him, biting and scratching through his meagre prisoner's clothes. (8 damage).
On the cliff, the guards continued to fire at the crab and rider who slowly made their way up the high cliff toward the top. Now the rider returned some of the fire with a blow-gun. Neither side seemed to be taking any particular lead in that skirmish.
Not so on the ship. The prisoners and guards had made their way up to the main deck, only to find it swarming with fish-men, who proceeded to slaughter the already frightened and exhausted men. The ship's mate was trapped at the prow, thrusting his sword at fish-folk who surrounded him. Alone now, as the fishmen overwhelmed what remained of the ship's defenders.
The captain, cleric, and four sailors remained below, and one guard remained with two prisoners. Hearing the chaos above them, they began to use what remained of the cargo to barricade the ladder, but with the hatch open to the sky above, it would not take long for the fish-men to make their way into the depths of the ship.
| GM: | Encounter: Sahuagin Attack! End Round Two; Begin Round Three |
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