1,000 leagues across the sea

Several days after passing through the Kraken’s territory, we came upon a rather unnatural and sudden storm. The weather grew dark and cloudy as quickly as Faenoa eats a bag of cookies. The storm itself was so powerful and booming that not only were several of us on board deafened, the ship itself could not flex enough through the water and booming impacts of the storm and was partially torn apart. I have never seen anything of the sort and still have no idea what had cause to perform such an impressive feat.

Coming out of the storm, though, we identified a Triton out at sea on a very small rocky island. He was practicing martial arts with a wooden log, paying no mind to the location. Faenoa, having effected quick repairs in her role as Bosun, hailed the fellow who seemed friendly enough. He went by Jimbei, and introduced himself as a family man who practiced The Way of the open hand.

I will say my own interest in speaking with the Triton allowed caution to slip as I invited him on board, though he did have impressive nautical knowledge and was able to identify and forewarn of several things that were waiting in our intended direction. Jimbei and I sat over tea for some time discussing the differences in our journey down The Way, and we even had a friendly sparring match to raise ship morale. After some time on board, Jimbei had to go. His family was waiting and he had much still to do. We left on friendly terms and anyone needing assistance from the sea would find it in him.

About two days south of saying goodbye to Jimbei, we came upon a decent sized island just off the coast of the mainland. It created a sound and we decided to stay land side and sail through it. On the island happened to live a Gnome in a hermit’s life. Upon greeting him, he let us know about sea monsters that lived in the sound and attacked passing ships for fun. They were supposedly horrible monstrosities that were able to sink any ship and there was a graveyard of sorts to prove the point.

We spoke some with the hermit who survived off the wreckage of the ships that entered the sound and Faenoa traded some cookies for a ring of the Ram. He let us know that if we saw him in the future, he may have more as you never know what may wash ashore.

It wasn’t long that we traveled onward before we met one of these ‘sea monsters’. It was a Mosasaurus, and a massive one. We were able to neutralize the threat with quick tactical thinking and strong magic, but not before the monster nearly sunk the Red Manta. After the battle I had suggested we remain in the graveyard and use the parts of lost ships to fix our own. This was agreed upon and we spent nearly a week in suspense while Faenoa dutifully got the ship back in order.

The party eventually got the ship back in working condition and set off from the sound back on their way southward. It was about a day before we saw anything of real interest, when we identified a massive earth elemental building an even more massive castle in the sand. Uzza had sent Ral to parlay with the elemental and see what was going on. The elemental was surprisingly level headed and simply asked to be left alone as it was near completion on the task it had been working for some time. Other elementals were seen coming out of the castle and aiding in the finer details of it and when they seemed completed, the group of them lifted the massive sand structure out of the shore and began carrying it inland further than we could see. A very strange sight to be sure, but I would say that anyone would be comfortable there given the amount of detail and workmanship that was put into the castle.

The voyage south continued unabated for some time. It was mostly dull and passed simply watching the main land transform from a jungle environment to grassy plains and then into a vast desert. We had passed another small island of sorts and were rounding what seemed to be the southern part of the main island when we were stopped rather suddenly by a pure white Khenra.

He declared that we were in violation of his Royal Laws and that we were to cease activity or be killed on sight. The crew was quite bored and we had little better to do at the time so we entertained the Khenra. Naal and Uzza had to cast magics in order to understand and speak with him, but it was to our dismay that we had stumbled into lands owned by the Great Khenran Monarchy. The Khenra on our ship was named Osaze and he was a sort of diplomat and sheriff in one. He offered to allow us to plead our case before his court and if things went well, to depart their lands unharassed.

I took to silence and began observing as is my nature while Naal acted as captain, discussing with the Khenra about our relations to the Great Khenran Empire. It turned out that the GKM had little knowledge of the GKE, assuming it to have been destroyed. Further, they had no knowledge of our Khenran diplomat friend, Onnuphi or anything to do with the PIMs that Naal, Uzza and Faenoa showed. Osaze did seem entirely too interested in hearing about the GKE, Onnuphi, and all things regarding them and our own peoples.

It was not long before we were escorted via teleportation to a jail and court house in order to be tried before some juror.

The Trial of the GKM did not seem to take long. Uzza, a practiced lawyer, discussed with the Khenran judge about the things that were said that seemed of great interest and it was agreed that the information our party gave was more than enough to allow us to leave unhindered. We were also informed that if we were to return, that the only port of entry is on the eastern side of their territory and all who wish to pass through GKM territory must register at that port of call. We quickly finished our business with the Khenra, noticing that every single one of them and their dog companions were solid unblemished white, and on the way out is when we saw Rachel. Rachel was a prisoner for some absurd reason and was treated as less than living by the condition she was in. Exhausted, malnourished, sick, and with no suitable living, we requested that she be released to us.

Osaze, being racist and strict, saw her presence as a slight on the building she was in thanks to some manipulative conversation and allowed us to purchase her as a slave, considering we who were not Khenra would most likely die horrible deaths at sea. It seemed the racism of the GKM was able to be used against them and Rachel was allowed to come with us back to our ship which was immediately set on course to return north.

Once back on the ship and departing GKM territory, we took to magical detection and fleeced the entire ship and it’s crew/items for anything that could be determined as a tracker or some marker left behind. After an exhaustive search, we found nothing. I took the time to put Rachel to sleep in my cabin and requested that she not be woken for any reason until she does so naturally, this because she was on the verge of death from being kept awake for so long at the hands of the GKM. After waking up, Uzza had some ointments that she used to cure Rachel of her afflictions and we began the long road to recovery with fresh water, meals and a few weeks of rest for her. When she felt better, Rachel was moved to Uzza’s cabin so that they could speak and luck have it, I was able to find some clothing among some drifting chests that would suffice for Rachel to change into from her rags the GKM had given her. All in all, she seemed to make a full physical rebound. Her mental health, though, had suffered far too much at the torment of the white dogs, and sanity will need to be rebuilt one day at a time, possibly never making a full recovery as sad as it may be.

The days of travel back north were not uninteresting, though. We came upon a retired magic user on the shore line by impressive white cliffs. He was a dwarf that goes by Givac.

Givac was a very friendly dwarf with his own hut that included some spatial oddities. On the outside it was about the size of a tiny hut, but the inside was an ornate and regal Dwarven hall that had doorways to taverns, inns, stores, and all sorts of things. We took a day’s rest at Givac’s in order to partake in some alcohol and the comfort of an inn. That night we sang and danced and Givac even showed us his treasure vault. I was in awe to come into a room the size of our own Inn, full of immensely powerful artifacts and oddities that far surpass anything i’ve seen. All of these were mere trophies for the dwarf who was living the life of relaxation now. When asked, he simply stated that when living on sleeper island, it’s all about location. In this particular place, he was out of harms way from any serious threat and able to live as he pleased.

As we were leaving, we informed him of our own AFK and that we considered him a friend. He invited us or any of the AFK to feel free to return and enjoy his company. He even let us know of an ancient tale of a sword that was stuck in the depths of a temple to the northeast of his hut named Nā ʻuhane nalowale. The temple is guarded by evil dead but the blade itself was something of legend. If we could get our hands on it, it would aid us greatly. With the story and friendship solidified, we headed back to ship and set sail northward to Trader’s Bay.

The voyage back to Trader’s bay from Givac’s hut was long and uneventful, with several days of travel and only sea life to break the monotony. Once there, The party took a couple days to rest and recuperate. Uzza, Naal and I took up fighting in the pits to gain some status and there was even some mention of a task that needed to be handled. A certain magical merchant named Akmed is in search of Chaetognian Oil, also called wurple by the poor. It is apparently a drug of sorts that is useful in magic circles. If interested, look for the Teifling families in the slums.

Anyway, after staying for some time at Traders Bay, we decided it was time to head home, but not before Captain Naal decided we should take some folks with us. Naal put out a decree that anyone wishing to trade a life in the Bay for a life in the AFK should meet at the Red Manta on the eve of the second day. Surprising twenty individuals took him up on the offer, including two gladiators from the fighting pits. With the new crew on board, we were finally on the way home.

The voyage was mostly uneventful on the way around the northern tip, save for one encounter with pirates. We saw their jolly roger right about the time we crested the northern tip. It was also about that time that they started firing at us, letting us know their intentions.

The magically inclined of the party decided that we shouldn’t waste any time in a fair or bloody fight and we were all teleported by magic from our ship to theirs. Once again, the magically inclined used immensely powerful manipulative magics to force them to see reason and stop assailing our ship. We disarmed the crew with very little fighting and further attempted to discern the meaning of the combat. Cober was able to probe minds and Tenfoll’at was able to see that they were cursed. The combination put together that an entity called Serpens had cursed them and they were required to burn ships and slaughter crews in order to keep their own lives.

Naal, having some history of his own with these pirates, had lost his patience after we uncovered these things and decided he was going to burn the ship and wreck it into the sea. We all teleported back to our own ship after disarming the pirates and destroying their sails. Then Naal took hold of our own ship and rammed the pirate vessel, leaving it to sink into the ocean as we departed.

As brutal as this was, Naal recounted a tale of the brutality he experienced at the hands of the pirates as we left them. It is worth nothing that when Naal gets overly passionate, you should avoid coming between his axe and his prey.

After the excitement of the pirate ship, the rest of the voyage was clear and easy. Making port we were relieved to see it still standing, and there were even some at the docks waiting for us. I could hear joy and laughter as individuals were reconnected with loved ones, and I believe I even saw an engagement between Faenoa and Daffodil. I’ve much to discuss with the trading company as we learned a great deal on our voyage, but I am glad to be back.