DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 4), with familiar Hermes, and henchman Xavier (Swashbuckler 2)
Chaff (Vivimancer 4), with henchman "No. 7" (Halfling 1), familiar Pretty Bird, and riding hound Stinky Dog
Torak (Cleric 4)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 1)
The "Purple Haze" continued to slog forward against the stubborn wind, in pursuit of the zombie raft. Thanks to the wind, they made very little headway day after day. They did notice that the raft now appeared to be disintegrating, as bodies and parts of crocodiles started to drift past them as the days wore on. Chaff (now fully recovered), flew high above the ship on the
ebony fly to see if there was any sign of the rafts' ultimate destination. He saw nothing in that south-easterly direction. Behind them to the north-west he spied the Magic Isles from whence they'd come, noting there were still a lot of isles they had not explored for wizard towers. To the north-east was a cloud bank that looked to lay over distant land, while due west was a long (15+ mile) sandbar.
In spite of there being no destination in sight, the party decided to push on another few says. Eventually, the raft disintegrated completely, leaving them sailing blindly on it's previous course. At one point, Pretty Bird flying cover spotted the "Divine Providence" coming up behind them, but it turned away to the west when it spotted the "Purple Haze". On the fourth day, just as the raft completely disintegrated, they finally spotted something ahead. Not land, but a fleet of 4 huge outrigger canoes manned by garishly outfitted jungle tribesmen. Upon sighting the "Purple Haze", these tuned to intercept. The party didn't like the idea of letting 20 fierce native warriors get too close to them, so they had the captain turn the ship about as they manned the catapult. A ball of flaming pitch smashed into one canoe, catching the vessel on fire and flinging a couple of burning natives overboard. It veered aside, but the other three canoes came on, and were soon too close to use the catapult. While the crew worked the sails, the party lined the rail and opened fire with muskets, pistols and crossbow. Kwinsea dove into the water and, keeping below the surface (thanks to Hermes' water breathing ability), came up below the two lead canoes and tied them together with
attach rope. These two slowed, and lost direction and momentum as a result, but the fourth one still pressed on. In this canoe was what appeared to be the leader or witchdocter, so the party focused their fire on him. Chaff tried to
meld flesh without success, but did use
instinct to good effect, causing several of the tribesmen to turn on their fellows and try to eat them! This was all too much for the raiding party, and the canoes all now turned away in retreat, but not before the party splatted one with a final ball of burning pitch.
On the next day, they party finally decided to abandon the 'chase'. Rather than head straight back to the Magic Isles though, they headed due west to the sandbar. Now with a more favorable wind, they reached the island in the afternoon. It was indeed a long sandbar, anchored at one end by a rocky bluff, and at the other by a low, marshy island. Sailing about they spied only two notable structures. One was a perfectly square black building, on low knoll on the marshy island. After the ship had been in view for awhile, a trio of figures emerged to watch them sail by. They were humanoid, dressed in outlandish armor. The other structure was a massive golden barge, run aground on the sandbar. There was no sign of life around it, but the party decided to wait for nightfall before landing, unsure who or what they might encounter. Lynessa also didn't want to risk bringing the "Purple Haze" too close to shore, especially given the crew shortage. So the party went ashore in the ships boat, landing just down the beach from the barge. The two halflings were sent to scout ahead, but were challenged when about 40' from the barge. "Halt there, you hairless monkeys! Stand back or face our wrath, you useless wastes of protein!" The rest of the party rushed up, and now they could see three figures, much like those they'd spied earlier in the day; tall, skinny, vaguely elf-like, dressed in outlandish armor and armed with wickedly barbed pole-arms. They stood under the prow of the barge. After some further trading of insults, swords were draw and a fight begun. Kwinsea tied up the leader with
command rope, while the halflings and Xavier closed with weapons. It was proving to be a tough fight, so Chaff dropped a
web, trapping the leader and one other (plus No 7 and Beuford), while the third fled into the darkness. The halflings were cut free, the two elf-things dispatched, and everyone's attention turned to the barge ...
TOTAL XP
895
GAINS
None
KILLS
9 cannibals
2 Freakish Space-Elf Things
LOSSES
None
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