Far Isles Session #32 - The Golden Barge, Part #2

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
Abdul el Abdul (Fighter 4)
Torak (Cleric 4)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 1)

The party made a quick search of the galley, finding nothing of interest beyond a collection of fine steel cooking implements. Taking stock of their own supplies, they decided it was best to go back to the "Purple Haze" to rest, re-memorize and refit. They were not waylaid on the way back, and after taking care of on-board business, the full party headed back to the golden barge the next day, this time in daylight. Climbing the ramp and crossing the deck, they notice there were a few more piles of bones. At about the same moment, three more of the translucent men came running across the deck towards them, nearly invisible in the midday sun.  The three fell upon the party, flailing away with battleaxe and exhortations to give up their weak flesh. One was quickly cut down, which caused to other two to turn and head for the valve door leading into the barge, yelling 'heathens! apostates!' as they ran". The party followed, hoping to catch them before they got away and spreading the alarm, but the duo got clean away.

Ammunition?

Once inside the entry tower, they decided to head up the stairs this time rather than pursue deeper into the barge right away. They climbed the open-mesh metal stairway to a trap-door, very much like the the first tower they'd investigated. Chaff had No.7 take the lead, and the halfling threw open the door and climbed into the tower. The roof here was intact, and in the centre stood a huge crossbow-like weapon mounted on a pintle mount. A mass of heavy hoses ran from the weapon and into the floor, and there was a hole in the tower roof in the direction the weapon was pointed. Around the tower walls were steel racks, designed to hold round objects about the size of a grapefruit. They were empty though, except for a single round glass ball filled with some amber fluid (which Abdul el Abdul claimed). Closer examination of the weapon revealed a chamber at the end about the size of the round ball. They also found that when it was moved on the pintle mount, the hole in the roof moved with it, so there was a always a clear field of fire. There was a brief discussion about dismounting the weapon and bringing it back to the "Purple Haze", but that didn't seem feasible. As the party turned to leave it, however, Kwinsea recalled the scorch marks at the bottom of the tower. Worried that it could be turned on them as they passed through the tower on the way in or out of the barge, she decided to disable the weapon by cutting the hoses. Which, unfortunately, proved to be filled with high pressure, hot hydraulic fluid, leaving the aquamancer with some nasty burns.

The party headed back into the long room with the sorted clothes, and this time took a different door. Abdul el Abdul opened a door into a small dinning room, with a long mahogany table laden with platters of grilled meat. That's about all he had time to see, however, as a trio of translucent ghuls jumped out of hiding and swung their axes at his head. Abdul el Abdul charged at the closest ghul, pushing it back to allow more of the party into melee. A short period of sword swinging followed, which left their three foes dead on the floor. A quick look about revealed nothing of interest except the three silver patters (which got stuffed in a pack), so the party headed back to the galley to explore deeper into the heart of the barge.

Passing through the galley, they noted the bodies from their fight the night before were gone. Chaff cast Kalandrain sight, hoping to find a magical meat cleaver, but to no avail. With Xavier in the lead, they made their way to the other door, which the henchman opened. On the other side was a huge room, occupied by 10 translucent ghuls. Two big gronky ghuls stood on a low dais, apparently preaching to the 'congregation'. But the service ended when Xavier opened the door, and they all rushed over to the poor swashbuckler. He was quickly cut down, but was saved from death by No.7 binding his wounds. Beuford jumped on top of the fallen henchman and started swinging at the ghuls, while Chaff used his paralyzation wand to cut down the the numbers a bit. This was followed by a bonewarp on the biggest ghul (who Chaff noted was swinging a magical axe), turning it's arms into useless sponge, and Kwinsea cleared a path into the room using tidal force to push back the crowd in front of the door. That allowed the party to pour in the door (and over Xavier), and there followed a long drawn out fight. No. 7 was cut down by a mighty axe blow, but was likewise saved from death by the timely intervention of Torak. In the end, the party did prevail and stood triumphant over a mess of pink, jelly-ish bodies. Abdul el Abdul claimed the magic axe. It was a finely crafted weapon, covered in highly detailed insect engravings, which seemed to crawl about the  head of the axe when you stared at it.

Eld Leader

Pushing bodies aside, they searched the room. There were a number of other exists, which given their currently battered condition, no one wanted to check right now. Other than the bodies and dais, the only other item of note in the room were three rings carved into the floor around that dais. About a foot in diameter and recessed a little into the floor, the three glowed a faint blue. The party puzzled over these for awhile, but could not figure out what they did. In the end, they decided the best course of action was to retreat back to the ship with the fallen henchman. They made it out of the barge without incident, and rowed back to the "Purple Haze" to rest and resupply. They returned to the beach the next day and made it to the barge without incident. However, as they ascended the bow ramp, the party was ambushed by a trio of the galactic space-elves. It was a short fight, as Chaff sent two running in fear using instinct, while Kwinsea tied up the leader with command rope. The party questioned their captive bfore going further on the barge. In between his ranting and raving about 'hairless apes, fit only for the protein vats' and other such diatribes, the party manged to deduce that the space-elf things (aka The Eld) were the original owners of the golden barge, but for some reason had lost and could not regain control of it from the translucent ghuls. The party tired to negotiate a deal where the two groups could team up to recapture the vessels, but the Eld wasn't about to treat with 'low-intelligence scum destined for the fuel cells' as anything close to an equal in any such arrangement.

TOTAL XP
2435

GAINS
3 Silver Platters (50gp each)
Jeweled Harness (300gp)
The Terminaxe (Battle Axe +1, covered in crawly insect designs)

KILLS
13 translucent pink ghuls
2 larger, and scarier, pink ghuls

LOSSES
Xavier (temporarily)
"No. 7" (temporarily)