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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 4172289" data-attributes="member: 2205">The group boarded the ship the next morning, perhaps even more bleary eyed than they had been the morning before (except Eladkot, who's eyes looked suspiciously different.)  Then rousing John Williams theme music started while the picture faded and a red line moved silently across the map.However, unlike in Raiders of the Lost Ark this redline trip made a slight detour; it stopped in the middle of the ocean as the ship became befouled in thick, tangled sargasso weeds.  Quite conveniently, the Queen had given them each some parting gifts to help with the mission, including a potion of water-breathing for each of them.  Unfortunately, the group's union rules specifically forbade them from dealing with transportation issues, so only Teren'Kol and Caden doffed a potion and jumped overboard to free the ship, while the rest of them sat on the deck eating donuts and saying, "Ain't my job."That proved to be a mistake, because no sooner had they chopped a few weeds with their hatchets, when two very ugly critters came out from a nearby shallow cave, one of these, and one of those.<img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_gallery/88268_620_77.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_gallery/88268_620_88.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />To be honest with you, it's been long enough now that I don’t even remember the blow by blows of this fight very well, or even what the monster's capabilities were.  I do remember that Caden got fairly quickly reduced to negative hit points and floated paralyzed in the water for several rounds, while Teren'Kol got grappled and squeezed very nearly to death (even with his ring of fast healing; it certainly saved his life, and just barely even then) by the khopru.  Finally the rest of the group took their potions and jumped overboard too, and with their efforts they were able to turn the tide of the battle, finishing off the two fishy menaces and hauling their wounded comrades back on board to be revived.After this interruption, their redline made it's way to Cryx without any further problems.Blackwater itself is an odd town, nestled deep within a cool and shadow-filled fjord.  The water is extremely deep and dark and the sun only shines overhead for a few hours a day because of the steep, high walls.  The city nestles on the narrow shore and floats out deep into the water on pontoons, rafts, barges and rotting piers, all roped together and attached by rotting bridges and gangplanks.Blackwater is notorious for having—literally—no laws.  The only constant is death and taxes; every boat that approaches pays the taxes, and people die in droves every day.  Powerful gangs and pirate captains marshal small armies to protect their interests, and frequently go to war in the streets.  The large market downtown is famous as the best place in the entire Mezzovian to buy slaves, but even that brisk trade is dwarfed by the corpse trade.  The only thing that rouses the ire of everyone is arson—intentional or not.For now, the group stayed away from the markets, but they did march straight for a gigantic basalt cathedral, encrusted with the actual skeletons and corpses of sacrificial victims and enemies of the Dragon-god.  Fairlight banged open the door and strolled through the vast, dark interior to see the high priest."Where are the sea caves?" she demanded (qv Post #9).  The high priest turned to her; his face was a mess of rotting flesh, pulled tightly against his skull.  His robes were open, and his rib cage showed clearly, a sickly green light thrumming like a heartbeat faintly behind the bones.Despite his fearsome appearance, he was rather friendly though; or they caught him a good mood, at least.  He said that seaside caves riddled the entire coastline of Cryx; was there something more specific they wanted?  Before long, they got him rolling on an impromptu sermon on the glories of the dragon-god, which they tried politely to interrupt, but not very well.After listening to his tirade, he remembered that they were there, and suggested that they visit a local diviner to get their questions answered, and they agreed, since clearly the only thing this guy knew much about was the dogma of his sick, dark religion.  He recommends Diellza Batukhan, an old witch who lives on the outskirts of town and has been divining for over a hundred years, and has a reputation as the most accurate and complete of the bunch.  Although the high priest also admits that she seems to be crazy.  He also says he privately suspects that's why she's so good.This sounds good to the group until they hear that she also needs someone to kill so she can read her divinations in his intestines.  Eladkot thinks this sounds like a cheap and efficient way to get the information they need, pointing out the relative ease with which they can buy a slave here in town.  Fairlight (the con artist, remember) takes a stand as the moral compass of the group and says no.  Teren'Kol also doesn't like the idea, since his people were enslaved by the hobgoblins of the Leng Empire and he has a funny thing about slavery ever since.  Eladkot relents.Later that night, though, when they're all asleep, he slips out of the inn alone...</blockquote>

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