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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 349828" data-attributes="member: 1210">Captain ClambakeA joyful reunion occurs.  Laughing with happiness for the first time in the Gloom, our heroes embrace each other in a big party hug.  Surveying the carnage, Turk asks for a recap on what happened and the characters who fought the pirates tell their tale.  There is a moment of silence for poor dead Sith, and a few minutes spent discussing Horbin, who’s still missing.  “He’s probably dead by now on his own,” Turk says grimly.  “Without the Sea Queen to look over and guide him like I had, he couldn’t possibly have survived this long on his own.  What would he eat?  And with the Gloom so full of wisdom draining monsters, his spells would probably give out quickly.”  He sighs.  “Two dead.  Well, at least you guys got the eggs buried and took out the pirates!”“Let’s check out the ship,” Clambake says.  “Arr.”The party examines the rowboat, but it’s too badly burned by Krunkshank’s wall of fire.  The bottom of it has been charred too badly to seal against the water.  But with the party together again a combination of water walking and flight carries them over to the pirate vessel.  The ship, whose name- the Sea Wraith- is emblazoned on the hull- looks old and rickety.  With only a glance most of the group concludes that it shouldn’t even be floating.  The boards are swollen and cracked, the sails are thin and tattered, the mast looks almost like it’s about to fall over.  The band of adventurers starts searching for treasure- and a figure emerges from below decks.  The party stops, drawing weapons, but this is no orc.“Hi,” says the strange, small creature.  It looks almost like a halfling- a scaley, green-tinged, long-faced, clawed and befanged halfling.  He looks around the ship.  “So, ah, I guess you took out the pirates?”“Who the hell are you??” cries out Bolfol.  “And what are you doing here?”“I’m Droidi,” answers the strange one.  “I was on a different ship, umm... looking for something.  These pirates raided the ship I was on and I signed on with them, but I was looking for a way out.  Looks like you provided it.  Thanks.”“Looking for something?” Turk asks.  “In the Gloom?  What were you looking for?”“Well, I, ah, know what causes the Gloom.  I was looking for it, but, uh, now that I’m on my own...”  Droidi pauses.  “Well, I’m not so sure about this Gloom area now.  It’s...”  He pauses again.  “Unnatural.”A few moments to get acquainted, and the party decides to allow Droidi and his giant lizard mount to join with them.  He seems easy going, and he drops his current quest for something called the Decanter of Endless Gloom, preferring escape from... well, the endless Gloom.  After all, why die alone when you can travel with adventurers and die together?"Will you accept the blessings of Na'Rat?" Spukoni asks the newcomer."Uh, sure," Droidi answers, more than a little confused by this strange feathery whip-armed creature.  He looks Spukoni up and down.  "Uh, what are you?""I'm a halfling!" the chaos-touched eldritch master answers with a big grin, and then whips Droidi gently, invoking his chaos touch powers.Pop! Droidi grows a second head.That wacky chaos stuff....The search of the Sea Wraith continues, and though there isn’t much loot, there are some coins and, best of all to Clambake, a fine captain’s jacket.  “Arr,” he says, “I’m Captain Clambake, master of the Sea Wraith!” –and beams a toothy smile at the party.  The ship also seems to have several casks of rum, but strangely the galley holds no food at all.  Uneasily, Krunkshank asks, “Well, how do we contact the giant?”Turk has this well in hand, as it turns out; the sea giant gave him a whistle.  He ducks under the water and blows it, then climbs back on deck, where a discussion about the merits of the Sea Wraith is under way.  Captain Clambake, absentmindedly stroking his clam-emblazoned shield, is speaking: “...sure we can make her sail.  I know she doesn’t look like much, but arr!  A few minor repairs here and there, and she’ll be as good as new.”“None of us know how to sail,” Bolfol points out.  “Sure we do,” Clambake retorts.  “Just follow your captain’s lead, arr!  Rum for everyone!”“Look at those sails, they won’t hold the wind,” Krunkshank argues.  “And this ship’s going to sink any time, look at the boards.”“No, no, have a little faith in her,” Captain Clambake answers, running his hands along the deck railing.  “She’s fine.  She’s the fastest ship in these parts, I’d wager.  Arr!  And all that rum!  Yes, my friends, she’ll do fine.  Why, if she wasn’t such a good ship how would the pirates have done so well?”As the debate continues, off the port bow the water starts to bubble.  A few seconds later, three sea giants emerge.  “HO!” calls the one the party recognizes as the fellow who gave them the eggs.  “Have you buried the eggs?”  His brow, furrowed, seems to pour out sea water.  His blue-green muscles ripple as he nears them, but he stops a short distance from the Sea Wraith.  “Come, let us speak... over here.”“Arr,” responds Clambake, “why not come aboard?”The giants exchange glances.  “That vessel,” says their speaker, “much like the accursed metal one, is EVIL.  You must leave it behind.”“Evil?”  Clambake looks disbelievingly around him.  “You must be mistaken.”  Nonetheless, the group water walks and flies over to the giants.“Oh great giant,” says Turk in a sing-song voice, “we have indeed buried the sacred eggs in the sacred sands, and we’ve driven out the pirates who infested the sacred cove.  What more can we do for you?”The giant’s face smooths.  The two other giants move up beside him.  “You must leave that vessel behind.  I shall destroy it.  My brothers here will carry you to a safe place, an isle inhabited by your kind out of the Gloom.”“Abandon my ship?  Arr, no,” says Clambake, sadness washing over his face.“For a way out of here, it’s worth it,” Spukoni squeaks.  The party begins a debate among themselves, but the lead giant interrupts them.  “I shall destroy this vessel of evil.  It is in your best interest not to be aboard at the time.”“Well, when you put it that way,” Krunkshank says, “Let’s go!”“Arr,” says Clambake gloomily.  “Still, I guess it’s worth it for a way out of here.”The two other giants grab up the party as the leader swims powerfully towards the Sea Wraith.  As the party is scooped up, Turk and Vito lay a dweomer of water breathing on them.  The Wraith and the sea giant leader recede into the mist as the swift sea giants begin taking them away, hopefully out of the Gloom forever.  Only Clambake looks back wistfully.  The sounds of tearing and powerful blows echo across the water behind them, presumably the sounds of the giant destroying the ship.  Captain Clambake sighs, caressing his hat....Well, that's it for the Gloom.  Next time out heroes reach Dorla, a piddly little island famous for experimenting with stupid, unworkable forms of government like democracy... just in time for the last week and a half of an election campaign.  But first, of course, they have to fight a giant barbarian and his pets![Dope!  Edited to add in a very important bit about Droidi's weird appearance getting weirder- can't believe I forgot that the first time through!]</blockquote>

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