- The captain's parlay suddenly descended into chaos when their host Franco was shot with a ballista and appeared to be mortally wounded. The dragonborn Captain Asaadi swiftly moved in for the killing blow while everyone was still frozen, but Franco disappeared at the last moment with a deafening thunderclap. A whirlpool began to form under the Crows Nest as cultists sprinted down the gangway to ambush our adventurers and the others gathered for the parlay. The pirates began to attack one another. Thanks to the charm that Poofy 52 had cast on several of the gathered pirates, the party had allies in the battle and the other Captains mainly attacked C. Asaadi and the other pirates. The orcs immediately fled. Gyk was able to cast hold person on C. Asaadi and she was shanked to death while paralyzed.
- Enraged by all of this, an unseen Franco chided in a voice all around them that sounded like rolling thunder: “You choose to live like animals? So be it... but I'm not sure you'll be so keen when you realize you are not at the top of the food chain… and we are all forever trapped in this domain” Everyone then saw what appeared to be a 300 foot tall wall of what looks like jagged white teeth rise out of the ocean 3 miles in the distance encircling the entire floating island of Saragross. A translucent glistening mystical barrier formed into a dome overhead. Franco then called a tidal wave knocking the cultists into the strengthening whirlpool, much to the delight of a hungry shark.
- Soon C. Rideout alerted everyone that a storm surge was approaching. Everyone began to sprint to the shore along the north gangway, while Persimmon and Mr. Anchovy dove into the whirlpool using the seal’s superior swimming abilities. Halfway to shore a 5ft surge of water knocked most into the water, and Persimmon and Mr. Anchovy back into the whirlpool. Franco showed himself and intensified the storm further, calling a lightning strike down on Persimmon and Mr. Anchovy. Poofy was able to damage franco and break his concentration with frightful visions of an all-knowing duck.
- While the party and two of the pirates were able to get safely to shore, everyone was sucked into the whirlpool and perished if they weren't dead already. Franco warned the onlookers not to trifle with him and dove backwards into the heart of the whirlpool and disappeared. The storm waned and the party breathed a little easier having escaped certain death.
- Standing safely on the seaweed shore they were able to make an alliance with C. Rideout and he agreed to help them find the missing ship they were looking for. They proceeded north following the Compass of Sending and saw the orc C. Juhka and Burtz ¾ of a mile ahead to the north. They were able to get their attention and Burtz ensured they could catch up to his captain’s annoyance because he was still charmed by Poofy. After a tense exchange, they agreed to allow the party to travel with them under the premise that Poofy and team had magic powers that could help them all escape Saragross.
- They arrived at the missing ship The Eclipse which had been occupied by the orcs. Rather than having to lead an assault on the ship, the group was welcomed aboard with C. Juhka’s blessing. They found out that the orcs had killed the original crew soon after the ship arrived. The party began negotiating with C. Juhka on splitting the cargo if they were to successfully sail it to port. The party requested to inspect the cargo to inform their negotiation.
- N8 followed the Compass of Sending, and eventually determined the matching compass was in the captains quarters. Going invisible he and Poofy infiltrated the captains quarters thanks to Elsys distracting Juhka away from the door. They found a manifest with strange symbols. It listed gems, furs, ivory, and herbs. They investigated further and discovered a secret manifest in a hidden drawer along with a codex that decoded the symbols. It listed drugs, endangered furs, poisons, and THE OMEGA DIAMOND.
- They resumed their search of the cargo while Poofy charmed the crew with a performance. They discovered the drugs (much to N8’s delight) and other illicit goods. Persimmon located a set of dwarven Mithral Chain Mail armor that was clearly too small for the orcs. They also located a hidden room that had been disguised behind a false stern in the lower deck. Inside they found a vault with the same strange symbols as before. It was sealed by three black swords that shimmered with magic. A hand print with a small inset was also prominent. Using the codex N8 was able to determine it read “Enact the Motto”. They were told when they were hired that N8 was necessary to open the vault, but N8 did not remember any details on his past. All he could recall was that he was built for reconnaissance and assassination. They did locate an iron coin hidden inside N8’s chest cavity, which bore a symbol of a black snake with wings.
- With the help of their friends, Elsys was able to recall that this symbol was that of the Zhentarim, a shadowy mercenary organization well known across the sword coast. Still unable to recall anything about a motto, Elsys struck N8 across the back of the head which caused him to reboot. He briefly accessed the memory core, causing further damage to it. However he was able to recall the Zhentarim mottos including the secret call and response motto “Every blade is a black blade, yet every blade is red when it has done its work” He realized they needed some blood and Elsys volunteered- wiping it along the blades. Then N8 placed the coin into the inset with his hand, voiced the motto aloud, and the vault’s magic door opened.
- Inside they found 100x midnight tears, 100x truth serum, 5x lightning gem, and THE OMEGA DIAMOND. The omega diamond was the biggest diamond anyone had ever seen- it was rough cut about the size of a human head. N8 stowed all of this into his chest cavity of holding which had magically enhanced capacity similar to a bag of holding. The group each took 1 lightning gem.
- Back onboard, Gyk determined that the mystical dome overhead was blocking interplanar travel, and their normal potions would be of no use. Worried about when Poofy’s charm would end, Elsys proposed a toast and mixed midnight tears into the grog of the orcs and other pirates, intending to poison them. They all drank and the poison didn’t seem to do anything…
WoW C0.S2.02- Stranded in Saragross Pt 2
May 14, 2023