DM: Neal
PCs: Ildan, Gaz, IronAle, Snails, Daffodil, Sammal, Cade
Normally I’m not one to write about an adventure but I feel this story is of note. After meeting both IronAle and Snails, who I’ve traveled with before as well as several new faces at the tavern, our party decided to explore. We settled on a ship to the north which some in the group had already taken a swing at, but had some difficulty due to a particularly deadly octopus. To begin the adventure we first traveled through the portal and I’ll be damned if I’ll ever be used to that thing. Froze me to my core, but we were able to take refuge at a person named Momo’s home, who Gaz seemed to know well. After the restful night, our party set off but some time in we ran into a wyvern. After having defeated a wyvern in a previous encounter with a powerful smite strike, and gaining a tooth necklace to show for it, I believed this encounter would be more than manageable. It appears I was severely mistaken, as after bracing myself in a defensive stance it grabbed me in its talons and damn near flew off with me. Thankfully I was able to avoid what may have been a deadly stinger attack in its talons and the party was able to bring it down, with Gaz catching me (despite a wyvern crashing partially down on us in the process). It was a harsh introduction to the journey, but Daffodil and Gaz gained a couple of Wyvern Leather cloaks to show for it, as well as a poisoned weapon for Snails, and we managed to make it to the shipwreck without further issues. After some impressive athletic skills from Gaz to create a pully system we entered the wreck and made our way through the passage. When we arrived we spotted the remains of the octopus that had caused the other members trouble, and not long after some hostile fishmen. We dispatched two quickly, but the third escaped without us ever getting a clear glimpse at it. Gaz broke his armor so we rested shortly to fix it and with several branching paths descended further into the northern area. The water was to our waists and poor Daff had to swim while we were attacked by a sea hag and some rock jellyfish monstrosity. We managed to kill the hag quite quickly and bring down the monster despite several attacks rebounding off its hard exterior, with the poison from Snails being invaluable. In that large area, we found an altar to what appeared to be some flying snake, several tombs, and most importantly what appeared to be a map of the southern portion of our island after carefully removing the algae, blood and dirt cacked onto the mural through the efforts of Snails, Gaz, and I.
Gaz pressed on ahead while IronAle and the rest of the party were far behind, and seemed to be ambushed by what I later found out to be a Wargling Swarm and some priest with the symbol of a Kraken. Both I and IronAle did not know what was happening as we were kept far behind thanks to the high water, but it appeared they were able to take down the monsters, with an apt counterspell from Sammal managing to save Gaz from sure death. The priest appeared to be exceedingly dangerous and had more platinum coins on him than I had ever seen. Upon further inspection of the area, we found nothing else, and with the tide coming in we decided to head out before risking getting caught inside. Prior to exiting I and Gaz decided to quickly peer into the western tunnel that we had previously left unexplored. After carefully making my way through I came upon 2 eel pups attacking some sort of undead hag. After carefully taking my leave, as members of the party were leaving the ship, I quietly motioned to Gaz to keep quiet and avoid that area. Gaz, not seeming to understand my intent, went in behind me and caught the attention of the hag before sprinting out. I still shiver at the memory of those empty eyes, it caught up to me and nearly held me in place but I managed to escape and runoff, dodging another attack while taking my leave. Snails became caught and paralyzed by the undead, so we decided to stay and attempt to save him. With our resources dwindling, we managed to kill her just as she seemed to be preparing to do something sinister. Eventually, after a drawn-out fight between those remaining and the eels, we finally managed to escape from that godforsaken ship. We hurried on our way to the portal, avoiding ruins that we spotted near the bridge back to the portal, and finally made it back to town safely. That was a trip I won’t soon forget, and thankfully we all made it back alive when all things were said and done. In the end, we came out with some extra coin for our troubles and an even more valuable lesson about teamwork.