1. Journals

WoW C0.S3.03- Stranded In Saragross Pt3

WoW Chapter 0: Stranded in Saragross Prequel
June 2, 2023

  1. Our adventurers took shelter from the rain in the orc occupied ship, planning to wait out the night. Then just before midnight, the orcs on watch raised the alarm and everyone sprung to action. 60 or more lacedons (aquatic ghouls) were attacking the ship. They had horrid glowing eyes and bloated bodies and long razor sharp claws. As the battle began, the stroke of midnight hit and all the orcs fell to the ground convulsing from the midnight tears poison Elsys had administered. The ghouls soon tore into Captain Rideout and Wes, and the group seemed to be in grave danger as they swarmed the ship. Thankfully, a quick thinking Poofy 52 hatched an escape plan.
  2. Poofy cast polymorph and transformed N8 into a giant eagle. N8 ascended into the sky carrying Elsys, Gyk and Persimmon, just in time to avoid the raking claws of the ghouls. Poofy followed closely with her natural flight abilities. Mr. Anchovy dove into the waters below the floating seaweed and was able to follow his master from afar. With the light of the full moon, the sharp eyes of N8’s eagle form were just able to orient him in the otherwise dark night.
  3. The team made a direct line to the Crows Nest, presuming they had to either kill Franco to lower the shimmering dome trapping them, or convince him to allow them to leave Saragross. They landed on the seaweed bed nearby and found the Crows Nest completely deserted with no signs of life, not even any lights. N8 used darkvision to do a stealthy solo recon mission, and made his way into a locked room using his thieves tools. Inside was what looked like a bedroom, but the bed showed no signs of being used,
  4. N8 called the rest of the group to join him and they searched for more clues. They located several books and papers on the desk, and a particular book caught their interest. It was a book with accounts of famous pirates across history. A bookmark was inserted into a chapter which covered the tales of Draga Saltbiter, one of the most infamously cruel pirates from nearly 300 years ago. He had disappeared and was never seen again about 200 years ago. They turned a page and saw to their dismay a portrait that looked eerily like Franco… They also read that Draga was a devout cleric, and often demanded sacrifices to the sea goddess Umberlee.
  5. They continued their search and located a hidden hatch in the floor. Opening it, they saw merely the water below the decking on which the Crows Nest was built. After closer inspection, they saw faint blue lights down in the depths. The group downed their Potions of Underwater Action giving them water breathing and enhanced swimming ability for one hour, and descended into the dark water.
  6. They came upon the sunken ship 100 feet below the Crows Nest, of which the main mast protruded above the water line, and onto which the Crows Nest was built. The ship seemed to be in pristine condition, with little signs of decay. They saw no signs of life, and only some eerie blue lanterns on the deck. They determined these were lit by Candles of the Deep, which burned even underwater, but could be extinguished. They circled around the side and saw the name Vengeance painted on the siding of the ship. This matched the name of Draga Saltbiter’s ship…
  7. They continued to the back of the ship and peered into the captain’s quarters to see a sleeping Franco (or is it Draga?). A decisive Poofy immediately summoned a horrible image of a duck in Franco’s mind, and he awoke with a bolt. He looked right at the party, strode over to them, and warned: “you are fools to come here, an ill advised plan to challenge me in my own domain”. Franco suddenly turned and bolted to the cabin door, and the group lost sight of him. 4 Sahuagin and several sharks appeared from the murky darkness and battle ensued.
  8. The group tried to locate Franco, and was just able to see him making his way to the bow of the ship at the edge of the darkness. Persimmon was able to waylay him with two giant octopuses who grappled him with their tentacles. Poofy successfully charmed the Sahuagin and commanded them to turn against the sharks. Elsys loosed an arrow and hit Draga, but he laughed it off and seemed to take no damage. N8 then used his lightning gem he had acquired at the orc ship and hit two Sahuagin, the octopuses, and Draga with a blast of lightning. Again Draga seemed to laugh off the attack. A huntr shark helped finish off the octopuses and Draga escaped their clutches to grab a magic harpoon from the bow. Gyk’raal was blinking in and out of the ethereal plane and from there could see that Draga was not just a mere mortal being, and alerted the group that he was wreathed in dark energy.
  9. Gyk’raal then successfully paralyzed Draga with hold person, and Persimmon added on a field of grasping vines to further contain him. While he was restrained, the group quickly turned their attention to a megalodon giant shark who had joined the battle. Then Draga changed form into a giant shark, breaking his paralysis, and nearly escaping the vines. The group was searching for answers for how to damage Draga, it seemed only psychic damage was working. All the while, the charmed Sahuagin and the rest of the party continued to successfully take down several ferocious sharks.
  10. Then Draga changed form again, this time into a horrible Shark/Human hybrid, revealing himself to be a Wereshark. He broke free of the vines and viciously attacked Elsys, and landed a bite on Persimmon who was soon knocked unconscious. Gyk’rall quickly revived her, but a second megalodon shark continued to wreak havoc on the group as all seemed doomed. Then in desperation, Elsys tried attacking Draga with their magic hand axe, and finally did damage. N8 followed with a sneak attack with his arm grapple, which also seemed to work. Reacting in rage, Draga successfully froze them both to the deck using a spell, and continued his assault.
  11. Gyk'raal feared this could be the end for he and his allies, and reached within himself for strength. He heard a voice reply “Gyk’raal, this is not how your story ends…”. A wild magic surge erupted from Gyk’raal forming a cloud of mud, obscuring the vicinity. Out of the mud emerged the ghostly form of an emerald dragon spirit. The spirit landed several vicious rending attacks on Draga.  Poofy also continued to land psychic damage attacks on Draga, with the stupid image of a duck looming above him. Furious, Draga cast thunder step, disappearing with an explosion, damaging everyone within 10 feet of him. Persimmon once again was knocked unconscious.
  12. Draga reappeared next to Poofy and sunk his massive razor-sharp teeth into her for massive damage. Poofy felt her blood run cold, and immediately knew something felt terribly wrong. She would later confirm she had been afflicted with the curse of Lycanthropy. From the safety of his mud cloud Gyk knew his closest companion was in grave danger, and lashed out at Draga a final desperate psychic lance attack. Finally, Draga fell unconscious.
  13. Suddenly all the nearby sharks entered a frenzy, and more sharks emerged from the darkness. They began feeding on the corpse of Draga… onlookers saw a dark aura transfer from Dragas body into the largest shark. The shark began to swim away but then other sharks then began attacking it… it seemed some battle for power was afoot.
  14. As this chaos continued the wounded party sheltered in the sunken ship. They explored the lower decks and found what looked like a collection of relics Draga had acquired from other victims of Saragross over the hundreds of years he had held court here. They were a bit wary of of touching things in fear of further curses, but Elsys felt called to a set of two Shou Lung Katanas, a weapon rarely seen except in regions to the far east of Faerun. N8 also acquired an odd rod with unique properties, which they later determined to be an Immovable Rod. The group also kept one Candle of the Deep per party member.
  15. After the shark melee seemed to have dissipated, or at least moved elsewhere, the group bolted for the surface and gazed upon the first rays of dawn from the Crows Nest. The walls that Draga had summoned to trap them in the domain had indeed disappeared, including the mystical dome blocking interplanar travel. The group decided not to tempt their luck by staying in Saragross any longer to retrieve more goods from the lost ship. They quickly downed their potions of interplanar travel.
  16. Soon the potions took effect and everyone felt themselves ripped back through the layers of reality and found themselves in the barracks of Interplanar Rescuers headquarters. Hearing their arrival, Erdom poked his head out of his office and greeted the party. Gyk’raal lamented to Erdom that his first ever mission for IR: Waterdeep had been an extremely dangerous one and that they had been trapped there for days. Erdom chuckled and confirmed his own first mission was equally as dangerous. Erdom helped patch up the wounded and the group recounted the adventure over a few pints of ale.
  17. Later that night, Gyk’raal was greeted in a dream by the visage of the gem dragon draconic spirit who had aided him in battle. It warned “The omega diamond… it is more than just a gem for the vain to admire… Follow its path closely… in the wrong hands it could conquer us all…”

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