Vix, now bound and tethered by a length of rope, solemnly guides the party westward, towards the river.
A couple hours pass and the party arrive at the river bank, leaving the tangled forest behind them. A mighty flowing river stretches before them, more than 200ft across with strong currents. Another exaggerated version of it's Material Plane counterpart, the Stonepool River.
The party find a section with less rocky banks, and a more gentle current. Mornington has a tidy solution, he digs out something from the depths of his bag, revealing a small wooden box. Positioning it near the river, he opens its lid and utters the activation phrase. Suddenly materials fly out of the box; rope, sails, boards, nails, and an anchor. Growing in size and folding out of extra dimensional space, a ship builds itself like a giant jigsaw puzzle possessed by the ethereal. In a few short moments a ship 20ft long, 10 ft wide, with a sail, ten oars and a deck, sits before them.
Amarion notices clear signs that this magic item is of elven design, and questions the others on where they acquired such an item. Found in the captain's quarters of Faunar Watchtower, it's a mystery as to how such an item ended up in the Guradam Kingdom. Vix makes a few comments about the ship and questions how he, being bound and all, is going get on the thing. Crom quickly rises to the occasion and before Vix knew what was happening, he soares through the air and bounces hard across the ships deck. "Ow!"
Edward and Mornington climb aboard while Crom and Amarion move to the rear to push the boat into the river. Edward looks over the deck and the various workings of the ship, his time as a crew member of the Alacrity flooding back to him. Crom and Amarion push, the boat shifts across the muddy bank and gains buoyancy in the water. The two warriors climb aboard as the ship picks up speed, heading downstream.
Tales of old fill the head of the bard on deck, and Mornington begins acting as a pirate of the Dawnreach coast, sporting an accent that visibly contorts Amarion's face. Mornington takes the helm, ready to command his sailors.
The ship has been in motion for well under an hour when Vix spots something upstream, a large fish tail breaks the water's surface before disappearing back underwater. Vix warns the others that they might have company. Edward spies through the eyes of his Familiar Artax and can see a fin in the water gaining on the ship.
Everyone breaks into action, Crom and Amarion take an oar each, rowing frantically. Edward rushes to rig the sail and pulls taut a rope as the sail bulges with the force of the wind. Mornington brandishes his "BRINEY BLADE!" and shouts words of encouragement to his crew as he steers the ship forward. The fin of the submerged creature is gaining and Mornington can see the waters getting increasingly choppy up ahead. Rocks jut up from the water's surface and Mornington narrowly avoids them.
The fin catches up and a large shape begins to rise as the water swells a few feet behind the ship, the water surface breaks as the head of a large shark looking monstrosity emerges from the water and lashes out at the back of the ship. It has strange whiskered appendages and several rows of vicious teeth that clamp down on the stern of the ship. Everyone braces to keep their balance and Vix goes flying once more, falling between the empty rowing seats. Edward moves from the sails and fires two streaks of violet energy towards the exposed face of the creature, knocking it from the ship and back into the water.
The river turns to rapids and the ship is swaying quite severely now. Mornington continues trying to mitigate damage to the hull, while Crom continues putting his full bodies effort into rowing. Amarion however, abandons his oar and moves to the back of the ship. He casts speak with animals to try and reason with this wild creature. He hears a deep voice when conversing with the shark-like creature, although it seems to be of very low intelligence muttering food over and over and claiming that this is it's river.
The crew intermittently change roles on the ship, and Edward slings more eldritch projectiles.
The creature has almost gained back up to the boat and Amarion raises a dagger in one hand as the other is placed on his holy book. Energy flows around him and his form quickly turns to mist that vanishes into one small point before he reappears on top of the aquatic monster! He stabs down with his dagger, wedging it into the creatures back. He then uses it to keep hold as the water of the rapids splashes around him. The creature flinches uncomfortably at the wound and starts thrashing. Its tail swings around to its side, slamming into Amarion, who is plunged into the cold waters. The others look on in horror.
Mornington gives up the helm to Crom who takes charge of navigating the treacherous rapids. Mornington casts vicious mockery, causing psychic damage to the shark-beast and slowing it far more than he expected. Edward desperate for options to slow down the creature and hopefully recover Amarion, reaches into his magical haversack. He thinks of the item he wants then withdraws the Petrification Gland he harvested from the forest spider. He looks at the slimey gland in his hand then at the approaching fin cutting through the water.
Amarion battles with the current as he struggles to surface. Once he emerges he gasps air to regain the breath knocked out of him. He looks around and sees nothing immediate to help him traverse the water. He sees a rock downstream that is fast approaching. He swims across to align himself with the rock, and soon slams into it. He climbs atop the rock and then grasps his firefly medallion. He is transformed into a bright firefly, capable of flying at incredible speeds. He streaks through the air trying to catch up to the ship.
The beast's maw emerges from the river once more, lunging at the ship. Edward is stood ready, he launches the petrification gland into it's mouth as the jaws close. The ships deck is crushed between the dagger like teeth, but then the creature pauses for a moment. It releases the ship as it starts to visibly choke. Edward sees into it's mouth where a good portion has turned to stone. The creature, incapacitated from it's injury, loses the chase, and the boat is left in peace.
Amarion lands on the ship, transforming back to his elven form, and the ship is slowly but surely repairing itself through magical means.
The party continue sailing until the waters calm and the land flattens. They then lay eyes on their destination. To the east, no more than a mile away, lies Exile's Henge .
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