Far Isles Session #99 & #100 - Null Meets Mist

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 7)
Chaff (Vivimancer 7), with familiar Pretty Bird and riding raptor, Sue
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 7), with familiar Hermes
Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 7)
Wilhelm (Musketeer 2) [NPC]

Glimpsing at least one other 'yellow man', plus a second figure lurking in the room beyond the stairs, Rodrigo sensed an impossible tactical situation and bellowed to everyone "down the stairs!" And down the stairs they went, jumping off the sides of the open metal staircase in their haste to get away. The party spread out in a circle around the base of the stairs and waited for their foe to follow. It soon did, or rather another automaton with a fully functional blast cannon did. Behind it marched the one with the mangled weapon.  The first leveled it's weapon and fired a blast, thankfully missing.  Kwinsea managed to get an angle where she was able to blast both with a lightning bolt. This blew the already damaged one into it's constituent pieces, and scorched the shiny armor of the second. Chaff then followed up with a web spell that trapped it on the stairs, and it then took just a bit more pummeling from Awg, Rodrigo and Wilhelm  before it too was 'aggressively powered down'.

Meanwhile, Chaff had started casting a  chimera spell, and summoned a mossy, be-tentacled, insectoid monstrosity. He ordered this up the stairs to attack whatever it found in the room above. The rest of the party, with Rodrigo once more in the lead, followed some distance behind. They emerged to see the monster lashing out at a humanoid creature. It was tall with reddish skin and black eyes, wearing some type of silver jumpsuit, and with a collection of golden chains across it's face. Its skin and flesh were very decayed and immediately everyone figured this thing was the undead or undying Armul Urthag. The creature raised a laser pistol and shot the summoned monster as the rest of the party charged in. Wilhelm walloped it with the butt of his musket, but Awg and Rodrigo could make no contact. Kwinsea cast spider climb to get above the fray, while Chaff tucked himself behind some machinery to start summoning another chimera. Armul cast a fan of magic missiles at Kwinsea, Wilhelm and the moss monster, all of whom survived. The party followed up with some hack and slash by Awg and Rodrigo. Kwinsea tried to help from above with  a blast from her prismatic ray gem, but hit the unfortunate Wilhelm instead and thus permanently ended his employ with the party. 

Having been badly beaten by Awg and Rodrigo, Armul's next spell caused him to disappear. Both Awg and Rodrigo lashed out again, assuming he'd just gone invisible. But their weapons hit empty space. Chaff by this time has summoned his latest creation, an ooze-like multi-legged, lizard headed nightmare with poison breath. But for the moment at least, there was nothing for the creature to attack. That didn't last long, for all of a sudden Kwinsea (clinging to the ceiling), noticed a roof hatch opening and the hideous face of Armul Urthag appeared. A few words of a spell from him, and the room the party occupied exploded into a fiery inferno. Everyone suffered hideous damage to within an inch if their lives; or in Chaff's case, an inch beyond. The little vivimancer stumbled out from behind the machinery and collapsed dead on the floor.  But not before he'd directed his latest creation to breath its' foul breath on their foul foe. Kwinsea meanwhile had been trying to silence Armul, but the spell effect ended up centered on the hatch itself rather than their attacker. Awg had used his/her sword to levitate up to the hatch, and then planted a grappling hook into the creatures flesh. In return. Armul shot him with the laser pistol and Awg drifted away dead.  Kwinsea, after quaffing a healing potion, cast another silence spell and this one stuck to Armul. Rodrigo for his part had rushed over to Chaff and rifled through the vivimancers pockets, grabbing the ebony fly, which he then summoned and flew up to take Awg's place in the air. Once there he tried to grab the grappling hook and haul Armul out of the hatch. That didn't work, so dodging laser fire he simply drove his short sword into the creatures face. Armul's skull split in half, and his body slipped through the hatch and fell to the floor below. 

With a sigh of relief and a word of thanks, Kwinsea and Rodrigo searched their fallen friends for healing potions and tossed back the life giving liquors. They then respectfully dumped the bodies in the bag of holding for transport back to civilization and hopefully raising.   But first they still had to find the "Null" so they could complete their mission. While Rodrigo set to ripping jewelry out of Armul's face, Kwinsea looked around the room, There were two KRYO-Tanks, one with the same types of hoses and needles as the ones in the room below. The second had been sealed shut at some point, and inside floated a mass of the blackest black. This amorphous material showed no features, but Kwinsea got the impression that it was moving and whirling about none the less. This, based on the description given by the sage, looked to be the "Null". But what to do now; there was no obvious way to get the primordial magic force from point A to point B. There was a connector on the KRYO-Tank that was matched by an identical one on the stasis cube, but there was no way to join the two. Kwinsea and Rodrigo started to search the room, but found nothing that matched the connections, There was a small locked metal cabinet next to one of the KRYO-Tanks. There was no obvious keyhole or lock, but Kwinsea did not a smooth shiny patch on the front. She tired pushing on it to no avail, before dragging Armul's corpse over and tried his fingers. This worked, and with a 'click' the cabinet opened.  Inside there was no connector, but they did recover another laser pistol and 8 fully charged cartridges. 

Having no luck on this floor, they climbed up through the hatch to check out the roof. There they were able to examine the collection of poles, round disks, and guy-wires they'd seen from a distance. But still no connector. They headed back down the tower, searching the tank room, fallen automatons, and storage room to no avail, They even questioned Gor, who was of no help. In the end the only place left was the floor with the elevator guardians. The two were very wary, knowing they stood little hope of winning a fight at this point, But since Rodrigo had been successful in sneaking behind them before, they decided to take their chances and get into the room with the door frame and weird machinery.  Once there, they saw an obvious switch on the free-standing door frame. And after some hemming and hawing, Rodrigo reached out and flipped it on. The frame lit up and after a few moments a shimmery figure appeared in the frame. It looked like a young female of the same race as Armul Urthag, dressed in a similar silver jumpsuit and with the same golden chains on her face. The figure spoke, but in a language neither Rodrgio or Kwinsea understood. Kwinsea dug out Awg's mother of pearl egg in the hopes it would help. It didn't seem useful, but after Kwinsea had tried saying "hello, we come in peace" a few times, the hologram's speech slowly shifted to near perfect Common. "Greetings. How may I be of assistance? I detect that you carry a Mark 4.1 v2.3247 stasis cube, and four Mark 1.3 v1.112bis65a laser pistols. Do you need assistance with your technology?". Kwinsea asked quickly about connecting the stasis cube to the KRYO-Tank, and the hologram indicated it was simply a matter of using the correct dongle. She gestured vaguely to the left where a piece of machinery suddenly came to life. After a few minutes, the moving and shifting pieces stopped to revel a length of hose or wire with connectors matching that on the stasis cube. The hologram then helpfully informed the pair that the stasis cube could hold the full "4.7 uladecs" of null energy contained in the KRYO-Tank. Questioned about what that meant, and explaining the ultimate planned use of the "Null", the hologram indicated 4.7 uladecs was sufficient to form an anti-magic shield of 4.9 imperial square miles (4.2 Esarian standard miles). Which, after a few quick calculations, reveled an issue with the party's plan to save both Bellephrone and Xin from the Mists.  There wasn't enough "Null" to cover both the Anchorage  island and Xin. 

But that was a problem for another day. After first getting the hologram to recharge all their laser cartridges, Rodrigo and Kwinsea headed back to the shore boat (recovering Chaff's dinosaur along the way) and made their way back to the "No Man's Sea". Once there, they directed Lynessa to raise sail and make haste for the Anchorage and Belleprone. They were especially urgent for now they could see an eerie creeping mist on the eastern horizon; it looked like they had little time to waste. Getting back to Belephrone after a weeks' voyage, they took the sorceress up on her offer to bring back fallen companions as her payment for their help in breaking the cycle of the Mists. 

After couple of days stewing in the pot, Chaff and Awg returned more or less as before, and the party had to decide what to do. Bringing Bellephone into their confidence, they definitely committed to saving the sorceress. But they had hopes of also saving Xin, convinced now that it was the target of the returning Mists. No one really relished the thought of their home getting removed from this world to travel trapped through space and time for all eternity along with the rest of the Far Isles. Besides, all their gold was in the bank there. But they didn't really care much for the Faceless Inquisitor, and so hatched a plan. They would use a third of the "Null" to protect Bellephrone, and use the rest over Xin. But would ensure the Palace of the Faceless Inquisitor was outside the protective shield so the insane ruler would be sucked away with the rest of the Far Isles. This unfortunately, due to the geography of the city, meant several other districts of Xin would be lost (Blackmilk, UnderHulks and the Collegium).  To save as many of the people from imprisonment in the Mists as possible, the party decided to throw a party like Xin had never seen before and invite everyone from those districts especially. Then they could make sure the people stayed under the protective "Null " shield and a least they would be saved. And since, if the plan worked, the city would be ruler-less, Chaff decided to go into politics. The little vivmancer with the intestine hand would try to woo the crowds, take credit for saving them, and take over the city with help from the rest of the party. 

Within a few days, the Mist had crept within sight of the Anchorage. Bellephrone informed them all the islands to the east (the Jungle Isles, Coral Cays and others) were already engulfed. As the Mist started to lap the shores, Chaff mounted the ebony fly, and following the instructions given by the hologram, spread a protective semi-transparent magical shield over Bellephone's end of the island. With that in place, the party jumped aboard the 'No Man's Sea' and headed at top speed for Xin. There, they organized their party and Chaff quietly started paying bribes and clandestinely campaigning [19000gp total cost]. The party was a smashing success, and while the city was lost in a haze of celebration, Chaff once more use the fly to spread the "Null" shield. Everyone thought it was part of the party and cheered him on, but when the Mist moved on after a few days to reveal the missing parts of the city, they all sobered up in a hurry. Chaff, building on his new-found fame and connections, put out word of what happened and claimed credit for saving Xin. But the people saw only the gaping hole where their homes and lives had been. They instead rallied behind one of the city nobles to lead the city; the party's doppelganger enemy, Margrave Uhlan of the 30 Chains! Driven out of Xin by a raging mob, the party jumped aboard the "No Man's Sea" and headed out once more on the high seas ....

AND HERE ENDS THE 'FAR ISLES' CAMPAIGN ...

TOTAL XP

141980

GAINS

2 laser pistols & 8 cartridges
18 jeweled chains (7460gp)

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Automatons
Armul Urthag
The Faceless Inquisitor and approx 40% or the population of Blackmilk, UnderHulks and the Collegium

LOSSES
Chaff [temporarily]
Awg [temporarily]
Wilhelm [permanently] 

Far Isles Session #97 - Palace of the Faceless Inquisitor

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 7)
Chaff (Vivimancer 7), with familiar Pretty Bird, and riding dog, Puppy Whuppy
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 7), with familiar Hermes
Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 7)

The ship was barely at the dock before Lynessa assembled the crew, distributed their pay, and released them to the taverns of the Fogbound Quays for a few days of drunken debauchery. She then turned to the business of repair and resupply, while the party likewise fanned out across Xin in pursuit of their own needs and desires over the next number of weeks.

• Chaff and Kwinsea both tracked down their previous magical mentors (Lady Volana and Xerious the Free, respectively) hoping to add to their spell-casting repertoire. After making suitable payment and performing the requested services, the two settled down to spend the next month in study. Chaff walked away with Chimera I and Blood into Rope, while Kwinsea learned Swarm Transformation and Winter's Wail;   
• In the meantime, Awg visited the calmonari villages and recruited a pair of his/her kin to replace their lost crewmen;
• Once done with spell research, Chaff went shopping for guns from Opher the Gunsmith. She had a new wheel-lock to offer [750gp] which the vivimnacer snapped up. She also showed Chaff her latest invention; a pair of massive bombards. Hideously expensive (10000gp each; 500gp of powder per shot), big (6' long, 3000lbs), destructive (4d6 ship HP damage and chance of fire damage; fires as per catapult in terms of ROF and crew), and likely unreliable. But Chaff's eyes glittered at the thought of having these big boom-boom's on the boat, so after clearing the expense with the rest of the party, he bought them both. And hired a couple of new musketeer gun crews to operate them;
• Chaff also went shopping for a new ride, getting a small raptor dinosaur at a bargain basement price from Vadaris, Predominant Lord Chamberlain of the Satyric Chamber. Dinosaurs are so yesterday among the elite; the latest fad is arctic creatures from the Cold Nar;
• The party also chipped in to get Wilhelm and Lynessa gifts in appreciation of their cheerful service. A fine cutlass for the captain and a bejeweled cuirass for the sergeant; 
• On the magic item front, the party made rounds of the temples to look for potions of healing. Unfortunately, the party is now persona non-grata at most of the temples in town due to their connection with the destruction of the Temple of the Three Virtues and the fire-balling of the Temple of Brall. But the main temple of Garu Dar was willing to deal; they were too stoned to notice what's going on. Six (6) were purchased;
• Likewise, a sage [Palova] was hired to identify the crystal fruit. They learned that crystal fruit allows the individual who eats one to access a higher intelligence (as per the spell Contact Other Plane.) She offered no advice on how one would go about eating one of the fruit without dental disaster; 
• Kwinsea also hired a different sage [Lancarious] to learn more about the liquid lighting the party had liberated from Iomnogoren's lair. She learned that it was essentially the essence of lightning in solid (well, liquid) form. Rich in elemental magic, it could probably be used for lots of magical things. But in an immediate sense, he directed Kwinsea an alchemist who could use it to make lightning related potions. In the end they used they  had to make 3 lightning thermite grenades [2d6 damage in 10' radius, save for half].

Last but not least, the party retained the services of yet another sage to research possible 'god-level magic' that would allow them to follow through on their plan to mask the mists. At the end of their busy month, the party returned to get their information. The sage Gervis described to them a substance known as "The Null". It was the primordial stuff from which magic was formed at the beginning of the universes. It is known for it's ability, among other thing, to overwhelm and mask magical emanations. Gervis did have information on the location of a sample of this "Null", in an old tower to the far south that supposedly dated from before the Godswar that set the planet back to the stone ages millennia ago. The only problem is the party would need something in which to collect the Null; it just can't be stuffed in a sack. The good news was Gervis knew where to find such a thing, an containment device known as a stasis cube. The bad news is it was hidden somewhere in the sprawling mass of the Palace of the Faceless Inquisitor. So the party now faced having to do a little break and entry into the home of the mentally unstable and horrifically powerful ruler of Xin.

After a few moments hesitation, the party decided they had no choice if they wished to go ahead with their plan. They knew a little about the Palace; as the centre of government for the city, it was actually considered public space for the most part and wandering around inside would not be difficult as long as the party didn't act too suspicious. However, the Palace was known to be an indecipherable maze made up of dozens of structures and gardens, and miles of un-mapped and un-mappable passages. Regardless, their first choice was to reconnoiter on foot, so next morning they found themselves arriving in the main courtyard of the Palace, along with the public officers, petitioners and prisoners. Choosing a stairway and door at random, they plunged in.  

They entered into a reception chamber; in one corner stood a stone fountain overflowing with a sticky mauve goo. They choose to ignore this, and exited through a second door into a gallery or museum. The walls consisted of one massive painting depicting a bacchanalian feast. While well done, it was most notable for the eerie feeling that the figures were moving about in one's peripheral vision. Also of note was the cluster of table in the centre of the room, at which sat an old man transcribing text from a massive tome. Chaff went over the engage the gentleman, Tiberian by name,  in conversation. The exasperated scribe explained he was scribing a copy of the Legal Codex of Xin in green ink. When asked why, he explained it was at the orders of the Faceless Inquisitor. And if you could please go away; he had much to do and had no desire to arose the wrath of his mercurial sovereign. Chaff apologized, then surreptitiously cast mind slave on the man to make him more cooperative. From his new best friend, Chaff learned that travel and searching in the Palace was not going to be easy. It had some means of sowing confusion on those who roamed it's halls. It was never clear how to get to where, or even where 'where' was at any given time.  If you were supposed to be 'there', the Palace would allow your destination to be easily found. Otherwise, good luck. Tiberian illustrated that point as he tired to give directions to the party, and hopelessly fumbled the attempt. 

Not sure what to make of Tiberian and his confusion, the party pushed on through another door. This led them along a covered gallery with windows overlooking some unknown courtyard, then down a few flights of stairs to a solid oak door. Once more barging in, they found themselves in what was obviously a torture chamber. Racks and chains and burning  braziers abounded. Curiously, none were in use, although the room was occupied. In the center sat a man tied to a chair, moaning in agony as second man read doggerel verse to him. The 'torturer' turned on the party and demanded to know what they wanted.  Apologizing, they stated they had gotten lost. But what, pray tell, was going on? The torturer explained the man in the chair was a poet, convicted of writing salacious and seditious verse about the Faceless Inquisitor. And his punishment was to spend 101 days listening to the worst poetry that could be found. With that, he turned back to reading to the moaning man, and the party decided leaving would be a good idea. Back up the stairs, they found the gallery oddly changed and unfamiliar; wasn't there a door over there before? Convinced now that Tiberian was right, they fumbled and stumbled around for awhile before finding their way back to the scribe, and then quickly made their way back outside. They would have to find another way besides brute exploratory force to find the stasis cube. 

Sitting down in a tavern to discuss, the party floated to idea of an aerial survey. But that was shot down as it didn't help them find the location of the cube. What they needed was to find someone with extensive knowledge and 'free passage' of the Palace, to pump them for information. What about the maintenance crew or cleaners? They might know. More inquires directed them to the west side of the Palace. Most of the cleaners and labourers lived in the adjacent Blackmilk district, and they would arrive and depart from that side of the Palace. The party set up shop there one morning to watch the process. Boatloads of people would arrive at one of several courtyards, to be met by overseers who would hand out their assignments for the day. The workers would then disappear into the mass of the Palace and re-appear at day's end to collect their pay and head home. They certainly seemed to have no trouble getting around and returning to their start point. The party decided to head into Blackmilk, find a tavern, and ask some questions. Doing so, they struct up a conversation with an old labourer by the name of Ricktor. His story of how they were able to operate in the Palace matched up with that of Tiberian the scribe; the Palace knew where they were supposed to be and would put up no obstacles in the way of their work. Given a description of the stasis cube, Ricktor seemed to recall seeing such a thing in his younger days, on display in one of the quaint little gardens of the Palace. He had no idea where that garden was; it hadn't been in his area of responsibility for 30 years.  But he called over a young custodian named Jord, who knew exactly the garden under discussion. It was now old and overgrown. And apparently dangerous, as he'd been warned not to enter it. He wasn't sure why. But he was able to give a brief description and point out the general location on a rough sketch map of the Palace. 

With that information in hand, Chaff and the ebony fly got invisible and performed a scan of the Palace from the air, locating the garden with relative ease. The vivmancer then returned to pick up the rest of the crew, Kwinsea riding the fly with him, while Rodrigo and Awg rode in the bag of holding. He landed them in the least overgrown space, a well-manicured lawn dotted with flowerbeds. Kwinsea then used the stole of the sacred to cast a locate object spell, which directed her to an adjacent structure which appeared to be a thickly overgrown octagonal greenhouse. There were several doors, but before any one could get too close, a weird voice came from one of the flower beds: "I wouldn't touch the doors. Dangerous, too dangerous". Looking for the source, the party was shocked to find it came from a 15' foot long pink worm with the face of a man. Questioning the odd creature (Germander by name) , they learned first of all that he was responsible for the lovely garden they'd landed in. The worm also explained the reason for his warning; the doors were covered in a spongy fungus which will explode with an astounding blast if disturbed. Unlikely to cause harm, be definitely will attract the attention of someone or something awful. They party didn't question  the 'awful' part much, but instead turned to figure out the doors. In the end, Kwinsea braved the stole once more and cast silence 15' radius on one door. Rodrigo then bravely (and silently) opened the portal, revealing a vine chocked interior. The vines started to move, and in moments some of the tendrils had assumed the form of a woman's face. It came close to the swashbuckler, and seemed to pucker up for a kiss. Assuming it was his turn to take one of the team, Rodrigo complied. The experience left him with the faint taste of dandelion in his mouth, but the vine-lady then dispersed. This opened up the centre of the greenhouse, where Rodrigo immediately spied the stasis cube sitting on a fluted column.  He scooped this up, and then with a final farewell to Germander, the party alighted on the fly once more and headed for the "No Man's Sea. Once aboard, they instructed Lynessa to put to sea immediately, she having been pre-warned to have everything ready to go on a moments notice. 

Following the directions provided by Gervis. the "No Man's sea sailed south for an unevertful week and a half, finding themselves amidst the truly tropical Isles of Endless Smoke. Finding the isle in question was easy, and they were soon circumnavigating the small jungle island. Apart from the thick growth, the outstanding feature was the great grey monolithic tower which stood on a series of bare hills at the north-east end of the island.  Here, they hoped, they would find "The Null". 

TOTAL XP

0

GAINS

Stasis Cube

KILLS/VICTORIES

None

LOSSES
None

Far Isles Session #76 - Back to Xin

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Chaff (Vivimancer 6), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy

Torak (Cleric 6) 
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 6), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 3)
Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 6) 

Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 5)

Before taking leave of Bellephrone, the party plunked down some of their hard earned gold to have her identify a few of their new magic items. The gem recovered from the dragons' haord was found to be a gem of brightness. The shield Jaz had been carrying since the stone ships was known as a bull's eye shield; it would repeal all non-magical thrown weapons as long a the wielder had never fled combat while carrying the shield. They also took the opportunity to have Bellephrone take care of Jaz's swollen tongue, restoring the elf's spell casting (and talking) abilities. 

Their business at the Anchorage complete, the party returned to the "Purple Haze" and made their way back to Xin. Three days later, they found themselves approaching the city as night was falling. There had been extensive discussion along the way about how best to get them and their treasure into Xin; did they want to try sneaking it in to avoid taxes or just take the hit and stay on the laws' good side? In the end, they decided to just pay their share, hiding only some of the more valuable and portable items in the hollow figurehead. The bulk of the coin and precious metals were left free in the hold. Met at the river chain by a customs inspector and a boatload of the Purple, the party let them aboard for inspection. The guards accompanying the inspector into the hold filched a few silver coins, but the customs man himself seemed straight as an arrow and assessed them an 8% tax with no expectation of a  'donation'. Chaff did offer a small gratuity (600gp) for the customs guild to ensure any record of their treasure was buried in paperwork for a few days, until it could be properly hidden away. He was also pressed for information on Calcidius, and the inspector recalled the wizard had shipped out of the city about two weeks ago aboard a scuzzy vessel named the "Bind Fury". 

With customs compete, the ship took on a pilot to bring them into the Fogbound Quays. The next day they paid off the crew and let them disappear into the taverns, but paid the musketeers a bonus to hang around and stand guard over the ship while the party went about their business. This business included:

• Getting their treasure into safe keeping. Chaff dressed up in his best robes, and accompanied by their musketeer Sergeant Wilhelm, headed for the Hill of Gold. Making inquires, he was directed to the premises of a goldsmith by the name of Mesophan. He operated a series of vaults in which many of the nouveau-rich of the city kept their gold. He cut a deal with Chaff to store their gold for a fee of 1% per quarter on the first 250000gp deposited (and lessor fees thereafter), first and last quarters fee paid up front. Suddenly feeling that their hoard was grossly inadequate, Chaff agreed to the terms and deposited 50000gp. But he was rebuffed when he requested an inspection of the vaults. Mesophan did not want anyone to see how he protected his clients' treasure.  So Chaff instead walked away with a contract and series of promissory notes to use around town for their large purchases. 

• The first large purchase was a new ship; the party was feeling cramped in the confines of the "Purple Haze". Taking Lynessa (who signed on for another voyage), they combed the docks looking for vessels for sale. In particular, they wanted a larger ship, but one that was somewhat faster. In the end they settled on the "No Man's Sea", a smaller than usual 3-masted caravel with a narrow hull built for speed. They hired a temporary crew and took her out into the Pool for a test run, finding that it was indeed a fine vessel for their purposes. They sold the "Purple Haze" for 6500gp, and then paid 25000gp for the "No Man's Sky".

• Next step was to go looking for potions. Healing potions as usual, but also some potions of fire resistance as they expected to deal with the fireball flinging Calcidius before too long. Torak and Kwinsea headed for the temple of Brall, and were troubled to find the front of it burned and shattered, crawing with workmen making repairs. Torak went inside to ask after the Munificent Submercer Oha, but was told the high cleric had been killed by a madly raging wizard who came to the temple looking for someone. Torak was introduced to the new Munificent Submercer Naphates, but that meeting ended quickly when Torak let it slip that he and his companions were the ones for whom the wizard had been looking. He was forthright dragged from the premises and informed he should find another temple at which to worship. Torak and Kwinsea when to check with Brother Keera at the Temple of the Three Virtues, but found that it too has been destroyed and the good Brother along with it. Hum, this Calcidius was making it difficult to do business. In the end, they purchased a supply of 5 potions of fire resistance from Gorbo the Alchemist; he had a number on hand given there was a sudden upswing in demand. They commissioned 3 more for later pickup. They also managed to track down 6 healing potions at the lotus-smoke temple of Garu Dar.

• Chaff and Kwnisea both went looking for someone to teach them new spells. Chaff learned that one of his previous contacts, Domai, has run into Calcidius and was no more. Lady Volana was still around however, and she was willing to teach him some new incantations.In addition to the usual monetary fee, she was looking for additional 'parts' for her studies. In particular, she needed six fingers, taken from six different living people. Kwinsea meanwhile tracked down an aquamancer by the name of Xerious the Free. Free in the naked sense, as the wizard liked to 'feel the water on his skin'; he was found wandering around the docks wearing nothing but a large tattoo of a kraken on his back. Kwinsea was looking for some enchantments to help speed up their ship; when she found that a permanent enchantment on the hull would be prohibitively expensive, she settled instead for instruction in one of the wind or ship repair spells. In return, Xerious demanded she bring him a sample of the stomach contents of the Tentacled Beast of the Vasak Depths, a giant squid that lived in a deep underwater canyon just off Xin. Both Chaff and Kwinsea walked away from their respective patrons trying to figure out a way to fulfill their quests. 

• Rodrigo likewise went looking for someone to enchant his dragon parts, but was appalled at how much it would cost. In the end he sold off the skin (1100gp), keeping only the skull (to be mounted on their new ship) and the teeth.

• Awg went to visit the calmonari craftsmen to pick up the work of jeweled art they'd commissioned the last time they were in Xin. It was ready, and consisted of a large abstract latticework structure studded with gems, and which resembled different oceanic scenes depending on the angle from which it was viewed. This large object (now worth 18000gp) was enshrined in a place of honor on the "No Man's Sea". 

The Sculpture

• Speaking of their new vessel, the party tasked asked Lynessa with preparing the "No Man's Sea" for sea. They had the hollow figurehead removed from the "Purple Haze" for installation on their new vessel. Likewise, the catapult was transferred to the new ship, and a second was purchased so they had one at the bow and one at the stern. They also had a few other modifications made; a series of cages below the stern in which to collect fancy fish for H'sslik ,and a false hold to hide more coin next time. Lynessa also ordered four months of provisions and trolled the docks for crew, the new vessel requiring 70 sailors before putting to sea.  

All this activity took time, and the "No Man's Sea" was going to take a few weeks to modify and outfit. The party decided to stay in to an inn for the interim, settling into a rustic little place called the "Little Dolphin", which had a common room open to the harbour below where the patrons could pay to swim with the dolphins (Kwinsea chose the location). But they didn't forget about the danger from Calcidius, and took turns keeping an eye on the vessels coming into port to see if the "Blind Fury" returned. And lucky they did, for just a few days later the hard looking ship sailed back into Xin ... 

TOTAL XP

1100 (from sale of dragon parts)

GAINS

None

KILLS

None

LOSSES

None

Far Isles Session #64 - One-Shot Pahu

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 4), with henchman Corvus (Fighter 2)

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 4)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 2)
Pahu-Mahu (Thief 3)

With several weeks to kill in Xin while Gorbo whipped up the toxin and anti-toxin, Lynessa whipped the "Purple Haze" and crew into shape, and the spell casters scribbled their new spells, the party took care of a little more business:

• Awg did the rounds of a few cartographers, looking for maps. Maps of the Far Isles, the area around Xin, and treasure maps if possible. He found little new on the Far Isles; the only places just now starting to appear on the charts were those already well known to the party. Maps of the area around Xin were also largely non existent; it seems that the vivimantic magic infusing the swamp and bayou beyond the city causes the land and water courses to change constantly, making a permanent map nearly useless. He did pick of a map to an isle with "Golden Boats" on it, only 4 days good sail south-est of Xin. 
• The party also headed to the Flesh Pits to hire a squad of musketeers to help protect the "Purple Haze", especially when the party was absent. The hired a half-dozen hirsute and silk-slashed landsknecht, lead by the gruff Sergeant Rutger, and somehow squeezed them about their crowded ship.

  

  Landsknecht Marines
• Chaff led a delegation to visit the Temple of Brall and Munificent Submercer Oha, to try convincing the priest to commune with Brall on their behalf. After a rocky start where-in Chaff insulted the existence of the gods, the priest agree to do so. They asked three questions. Is there still lots of treasure [>5000gp] in the palace at Mandaro-Shanti? (YES). Does the giant god-snake encountered on the previous trip have more than 3 magic items in it's hoard? (NO). Does the giant god-snake have a substantial [>7000gp] treasure hoard (YES).
• Thinking again about the mysterious shape-shifting Captain de Moncada, the party looked for rumors of any nobles who have been acting weird(er) than usual. They learned that the Margrave Uhlan of the 30 Chains did drop out of the party and spectacle circuit for a few weeks, then mysteriously reappeared. That was much out of character for the  attention-loving playboy.
• Hoping to avoid further customs payments, the party had a new figurehead carved for the "Purple Haze"; a huge tentacled octopus, hollowed-out inside for use as a secret smuggling hold. 
• Finally, they took most of their remaining gold (12000gp) and cut a deal with Awg's calmonari brethren. The aquatic craftsmen would use the jewels and gems from the mud Cthulhu cavern to make a magnificent work of art, and the party would split the profit made when it was resold. This would take some time, leaving completion of  this business for their next visit to Xin. 

Margrave Uhlan of the 30 Chains

After a busy visit to Xin, the "Purple Haze" finally proceeded down river and around the Rock of Vexation to the open sea. Lynessa had the crew turn the ship to the south-east and the second voyage to the Lost Jungle Isles was underway. The wind blew a mix of fair and calm, but otherwise the trip this time was uneventful. After seven days they were back where they'd started their exploration the first time; in a cluster of small islands, one of which was the Island of the God-Snake. Which was exactly where they'd decided to go first. Several sneaky options for approaching the lair of the god-snake were discussed, but in the end bull-headed brute force won the day. The party was rowed over to the island by the ship's crew, and with the burly Corvus in the lead, started to hack their way through the jungle to where they suspected the god-snake laired. It took hours of hard work to make any distance in the thick jungle, even with Pretty Bird flying ahead on point. Which was good, for the parrot was able to give them ample warning when it observed signs of something massive coming through the trees. The party spread out among the vines and ferns of the undergrowth, and prepared for battle. Rodrigo used his sword to summon a monkey army, while Kwinsea used the stole to bless the party, and then concealing mist to protect herself. Pahu and Jaz cracked open their paralytic poison to coat a few arrows/bolts. Whatever was approaching was getting closer and closer, shaking the trees as it worked it's way through the branches. Suddenly there appeared, just yards away from Corvus, a massive serpent's head. As it prepared to lunge  at the fighter, Jaz and Pahu loosed their missiles. The elf missed, but Pahu struck right between the eyes, and after a few moments of thrashing about, the huge god-snake became motionless, paralyzed. Stunned at their ease of victory, the party took a few moments to recover before turning on the immobile snake and ensuring it would stay permanently still.

Beehive Dome

That done, the party pushed on, following the snake's apparent path through the jungle. After another hour or so, they emerged into the first real clearing they'd seen on this particular island. The trees here were massive, and around the base it was obvious someone or something had cleared the undergrowth. Also in the clearing was a curious, beehive shaped pile of fitted stone, 20' across and about 10' high. There was no obvious entrance, except of a 1.5' square opening near the top of the dome. Now who was going to squeeze in there ....

TOTAL XP

2400

GAINS
none

KILLS

1 Giant God-Snake

LOSSES

none

Far Isles Session #63 - That's Not A Ship!!!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 4) with henchman Corvus (Fighter 3)

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird, and riding dog Puppy Whuppy
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 4)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 2)

Dream Leviathan

On board the "Purple Haze", the party prepared for battle. Chaff and Kwinsea cast some spells to protect themselves and beef up the party in general. Corvus and Chit the crossbowman headed below to the stern cabin windows, so they could snip with their bows. Lynessa had the crew slack the sails and then take cover. Everyone then waited for the enemy ship to approach. It closed fairly rapidly; in fact, both Chaff and Rodrigo noticed the speed of the ship did not change with the change in it's point of sail. That was very odd, and the pair joked that maybe this was another one of those whale-tail ships, like the one they'd had the option to buy. After that brief chuckle, the two looked back at their pursuer once more, and now noted the upper decks and sails of the ship started to waver and fade. In a few moments, it was clear to the two that this was no ship! An illusion of some sort had faded away, showing instead a massive leviathan. It opened it's huge toothed maw and surged forward at the "Purple Haze". Chaff and Rodrigo raised the alarm, and now everyone could see the true form of their foe. Lynessa screamed at the crew, who scrambled for rope and sail to get the ship underway and tuned so she was running before the wind. The leviathan continued to slowly gain, so the party did everything they could to slow it down/beat it down. Arrows and bolts flew, Jaz tossed off a magic missile, and Kwinsea tried to reduce it to a smaller menace (no luck). Once it got close enough, Awg and Chaff got into the fray with their laser pistols. In desperation, they even had the sailors run the raft out behind the ship, with the potion of watery death on it, in the hopes the thing would swallow it and drown. It did swallow the raft and potion, but the magic seemed to have no effect. However, by this point it was started to get irritated and mildly injured by all the missile fire, so it broke of the pursuit, dove and swam away. 

Brain Squid Attack!!

With a sigh of relief, they sailed on. Next morning, islands were visible ahead. Lynessa identified these as the "Krakens Claws", a series of rocky islets off the coast of Langushur between Cha'nrk and Xin. She turned the "Purple Haze" north and informed the party they should be in Xin in a few more days. They did not get far, however, when Corvus called out from the bow that there was a body in the water ahead. Without waiting, he jumped overboard and, using his ring of water walking, strolled over to the floating, face down corpse. The body appeared to be that of an ordinary female sailor, dead quite a few days. The fighter hauled out his sword and proceeded to flip the body over. On the sailors face there clung some sort of crustacean/squid thing, which quick as lightning released itself from the corpse and jumped at Corvus. It struck his face, and proceeded to extend a series of tentacles and proboscis into his mouth and nose until they reached his brain. The thing then started sucking away grey matter. Meanwhile, Chaff was getting the crew to lower him and the ships boat into the water, and Kwinsea dove in to go help as well. Jaz, however, saved the day with a sleep spell that took out both the brain squid and Corvus. When Chaff and Kwinsea reached the prone, floating fighter, they easily slid the squid-thing off his face. Kwinsea claimed it for her own, and imprisoned it into an empty water barrel; she intended to use it to pay her 'live octopus' debt to the aquamancer in Xin. Corvus they hauled back to the ship, and Torak performed the last rites of the Drowned God on the dead sailor before sending her to the deeps. 

The next two days were completely uneventful, until Lynessa brought the "Purple Haze" around the Rock of Vexation and into the stream of the Lorogano River below Xin. As they approached the Tower of the Malphegian Inferno and the raised harbor chain, a small boat  full of the Purple and a customs officer approached and hailed them. After answering some questions, the party allowed the officer aboard to inspect the ship and confirm the story told by Chaff; that they were unsuccessful explorers with little to show for their hardships in the Far Isles. Thankfully most of the treasure they did have was small and easily hidden, so they managed to convince the customs officer they had just a small amount of coin. He let them through after a paltry 4% tax on that small pile of coin, plus a 2% 'donation' to the customs guild. 

Having gotten past the taxman, Lynessa brought the "Purple Haze" into the Fogbound Quays and tied up at one of the jetty's. And then the crew took their back-pay and headed for the taverns, leaving their captain and employers alone on the deck. Leaving Lynessa in charge of repairing and resupplying the "Purple Haze", the rest of the party fanned out across the city in pursuit of their own goals. The party's activities in the City of Visions included:

• Awg tried to convince Chit to stay on as his loyal retainer. But the corssbowman had had enough adventure, and wasn't too keen on following a fish-man, so he took his gold and walked away;
• A delegation visited Munificent Submerser Oha at the Temple of Brall, and Brother Keera at the Temple of the Three Virtues, buying up healing potions (5 in total); 
• To beef up the ships locker, Rodrigo and Corvus went to buy enough powder, shot and muskets to arm a mercenary company. Which attracted the attention of a patrol of the Purple, who left without incident once they were convinced the two weren't smart enough to stage an armed insurrection. Afterwords, they went looking for their old nemesis Sergent Lunt, but could not find him anywhere; 
• Kwinsea visited her old geezer aquamancer friend and gave him the brain squid in final payment for the spell he'd taught her. She also was able to get him to teach her "Spider Climb", but only after she'd gathered one of every species of barnacle in the area of Xin (all 27). She then locked herself in her cabin and started transcribing spells into her spell book. In this she was joined by the loyal Jaz, who did the same;
• Chaff went to visit the old alchemist Gorbo, to get him to whip up some venom antitoxin for everyone. He also gave him some of the now dried up paralytic poison, which the old coot could use to whip them up a fresh batch;  and
• With all the hard work down, Corvus decided to try his luck in the wrestling pits again. With

  

  Tog & Corvus

  Rodrigo in tow, he found a likely place and plunked down 2000gp in front of the pit bookies. They agreed to his wager but only offered 1.5:1 ods, and insisted that they chose the opponent. Corvus, a little short on grey mater, agreed. After waiting around for awhile, Corvus met his foe. At almost 8' tall, hairy, and arms almost to his knees, Tog looked to be at least half ogre. And he made short work of Corvus, twisting the fighters arms somewhere up behind his head before rubbing his face in the mud. Which left Corvus humiliated and broke.

TOTAL XP

13

GAINS
none

KILLS

none

LOSSES

Some of Corvus' grey matter, most of his gold, and all of his dignity.