Session 2: Soggy Soufflé Asunder

'''Session 2 of the Campaign. '''[Played on 11/01/16]
 * Taman – Kyle Heisler – Human Ranger


 * Renaia Laia Faraway – Leah – Gnome Rogue


 * Slaplen Eremore – Kyle H-S – Tiefling Warlock


 * Etienne Delavair, aka Krusk – Eddie – Half-Orc Paladin, Knight of Athenine


 * Oras – Brian – Human Monk, devotee of Anoch

Scene 1
On the Soggy Soufflé – third night at sea, before sunrise

Taman stands near the stern of the Soggy Soufflé in the small hours before dawn. Deep in reverie, he almost doesn’t notice an abruptly stifled cry come from behind him, followed by a heavy splash. He turns to find that one of the night’s watchmen has been replaced by a shadowy figure, black-clad save for the steely blade of a short sword, gleaming in the flickering torchlight.

Taman draws his longsword and moves to engage the dark marauder. They meet mid-ship, blades rasping as they exchange attacks. The ranger notices another black-garbed figure moving toward the stern of the ship—where Renaia is sleeping with her raccoon companion, Kindo—and tries to raise the alarm.

Krusk, heavy sleeper that he is, slumbers through the first call—despite resting against the mast, just feet away from where Taman is battling the would-be killer. On the other side of the mast, Slaplen stirs at the ranger’s urgent cry. Below-decks, Oras tosses fitfully in a haunted sleep until he is unceremoniously roused by the cries and commotion above him.

Renaia, awoken by Kindo, springs to her feet, unsheathing one of the many daggers she keeps close at hand—and not a moment too soon. The second attacker looms over her, but before he can strike, the ship rocks and he loses his footing. He pitches forward, falling over Renaia. As he strikes the wooden panel behind her, she slips her blade into the folds of his leather armor. Renaia drives the dagger up into the man’s heart, killing him instantly.

With a kick from Taman and a shout from Slaplen, Krusk at last wakes, taking up his hammer and shield. Meanwhile, two more dark assailants climb over the rail at the stern of the ship, armed with crossbows. One of them opens fire, drilling a quarrel into the back of Taman’s leg.

While Kindo rifles through the pockets of the assassin that she killed, Renaia ducks into the shadows at the base of the stern-castle, so as not to be seen by the two crossbowmen. She surprises one with a shot from her hand crossbow.

After securing his sacred scroll, Oras arrives on the deck and sees the unfolding melee. Hearing another cry that the ship is under attack, Ezrik Manshark—the ship’s battle-scarred first-sword—and some of the other crewmen emerge from their bunks.

Struck by another crossbow bolt, Taman cries out and falls, losing consciousness. Slaplen utters an arcane command and compels the shooter to relinquish his weapon. Krusk and Oras make short work of the remaining attackers. By the divine grace of Athenine, Krusk heals Taman, restoring him to consciousness.

Kindo gives Renaia what he found rummaging through the fallen assassin’s belongings—most significantly, a dark six-sided die and a piece of parchment, parchment that turns out to be a rendering of Renaia herself. At the first opportunity, she burns the drawing in one of the ship’s lanterns. She sets about looting the other bodies, concealing the anxiety she feels as she discovers another depiction of her. She destroys that, too, before sharing some of the fallen men’s coin with Slaplen.

One of the would-be assassins survived the encounter, only to expire before he could be questioned (much to Renaia’s relief).

[Party members receive 100 XP each for the encounter]

Aftermath – Captain Samke Sarosa takes charge and demands a full accounting of the morning’s attack.

Oras investigates the ship’s stern, where he discovers a small skiff attached like a barnacle to the hull of the Soufflé, affixed with boarding spikes and rope. He finds signal torches and spare quivers of crossbow bolts, as well as a drawing of some woman—the page is wet, the image has been distorted. He cannot identify the woman pictured. He shares the information of his findings with his companions, as well as the captain and crew, but none recognize the person in the drawing.

Captain Sarosa notes that the attackers bear the brand of the Buccaneers’ Alliance, but states that their appearance is highly irregular, as her dues are fully paid, and she has always remained in good standing with the pirate lords of the Wild Isles…

Taman goes below deck in search of one of the other passengers, Nyran Darvos, whom he recalled had announced himself as a priest of Mortalis, the Living God. Proud and keen to show off the might of his deity, Nyran gladly heals the ranger’s wounds—and Renaia’s, when she returns from the ship’s hold, where she had been studying the orange gem that she purloined from the Pirate Baron Dreadmoore, as well as the new die, which she suspects is magical.

A little later, Renaia rolls the strange die (3) … There is a brilliant flash of light, blinding everyone on deck. Several seconds later, everyone’s vision returns, and they trade suspicion and speculation before Renaia deflects them (all but Taman) with a relatively plausible theory about a delayed magical attack. However, Taman, too is soon frustrated by the circuitous Gnome, unable to provide the group with an alternative idea or basis for his suspicions.

Some of the party members suggest that the attackers may have been after the ship’s cargo, even suggesting that they search the hold—a suggestion that Captain Sarosa unequivocally denounces. When Slaplen asks how they know that she hasn’t endangered them by taking on some questionable or wrongly-obtained wares, she responds plainly: that if she had, she would have willfully endangered her own life and the lives of her crew—something she would not stand for.

…

Interlude – In the days following the attack, the party gets to know Taman and the other passengers, as well as the ship’s crew.

Krusk, perhaps feeling pangs of insecurity at having encountered a devout worshiper of a rival god, spends several days in his religious vestments preaching about the many virtues of Athenine.

Renaia continues her investigations into the gem and die, and spends the rest of the time gambling with the crew.

At Oras’ suggestion, the party participates in the evening watches, which the Captain doubles in the wake of the attack. She makes it clear that the party is not above suspicion, however, despite the valor they displayed in subduing the men who attacked the ship.

Scene 2
On the Soggy Soufflé – eighth evening at sea, close to sundown

Renaia starts to confide in Slaplen about the magic six-sided die, when the evening sky abruptly darkens to gray, then turns the purple-yellow of bruised flesh. Windless evening air gives way to howling squalls, and waves—pacific only moments before—begin buffeting the ship with a frightful will. The canopy of sickly clouds seems as though it will descend to suffocate the world… A blinding streak of forked white lightning splits the sky from heaven to horizon, followed at once by a peal of thunder that swallows all other sound. And finally, as the party and crew move to seek shelter below decks—a deluge. Rain falls in violent sheets, spilling men and women to the soaked boards as the ship begins to pitch and heave on the restless sea.

What ensues is an all-out fight for survival on the never-more-aptly named Untamed Ocean… Words quite simply could do no justice to the harrowing event.

Highlights and notes of import:
 * With Slaplen’s help Renaia gets below deck. But she loses Kindo when the ship is rocked by a particularly forceful wave. Oras finds the raccoon scrambling for safety and rescues it, keeping it safe even when the ship’s hull is breached. He helps both the gnome and raccoon get to the ladder when water begins flooding into the ship.


 * When the hull is breached, Krusk is swept out to sea, but through an astounding display of athletics, he manages to haul himself onto the side of the tender-boat when the ship pitches toward the waterline.


 * Despite the violent motion of the embattled ship, the onrush of surging seawater, and even the impact of a flailing half-orc, Oras managed to keep himself (and Kindo) from being thrown out of the breach in the ships hull.


 * By the heroic feats of Slaplen and Taman, the party manages to save the crewmen Ruck and Danin Gaspy, who were on deck when the storm hit.


 * Krusk loses most of his equipment when the mast is struck by lightning. Slaplen manages to save one of his gauntlets with a deft mage hand.


 * At the behest of Ezrik, Krusk reaches Captain Sarosa and the cook (her lover – Falby Tenor), healing them. Captain Sarosa assesses the situation, takes charges and orders everyone to the tender-boats.


 * Ezrik and Nyran help Renaia get back on deck, and they are among the survivors who make it to the tender-boat.


 * At one point, the only one still on deck, Slaplen is thrown about by the storm and glimpses what might be the appendage or body of a massive sea creature.

…
 * Even after the tender-boat is secure, Taman doubles back to rescue whomever else he can find (he has spent three months traveling with the ship and feels kinship to some of the crew). He is only able to reach the cook, who was knocked unconscious a second time. With great effort—and voluntarily sustaining several injuries from wind-hurled debris—Taman manages to get the cook to the rail. Danin Gaspy—whom he helped save—is holding the other end of a rope that Taman had tied around himself. With aid from the rest of the party, Taman barely manages to fall into the departing tender-boat, bracing the cook’s fall.

Interlude – On the tender-boat, the survivors cling to life and sanity amidst the madness of the storm. Time passes—Hours? Days? The sky remains an inky pall, the sea a riot of buffeting waves.

At one point, Renaia and Slaplen slip into the Surreal. There, Renaia forms a deeper connection to Kindo, and Slaplen communes with Zazobal. Taman falls into a catatonic state for at least a day.

Scene 3
Days later, the survivors of the Soggy Soufflé find themselves on some strange shore, pulling themselves from the wreckage of their battered tender-boat. They find that much of their gear was lost in the storm, and before they can begin properly salvaging any usable goods from the beach, they hear the sound of many creatures approaching: stamping feet, deep and guttural voices, clanking armor.

The party is surrounded by a force of goblinoids. A bugbear, who seems to be their leader, demands their surrender. Renaia gives her belt pouch with her most important items to Kindo, telling him to hide with it. She tries to hide herself, but there is nowhere to go. The survivors lay down what weapons they have and are taken prisoner by the monstrous humanoids, whose group bears a sigil depicting a broken shield.

[For surviving the storm, and for the sum total of their efforts to save the lives of others—and their own gear—the party members receive 1,000 XP each, enough to reach 3rd level. Note: Some class features will not be acquired until an appropriate downtime in which the character can actually reflect and implement his or her newfound abilities.]