Final Preparations
It's the big day, hope to survive.
The woodworkers finished making the wooden goat, Ascii made his own spatial pocket pouch and a homunculus, and we loaded them along with the dragon dung into the goat.
We're now on the boat and the keep is in sight. No clue how we're actually going to take it down.
Hopefully I'll survive and update how we did it...
Under the Ocean
Well, we survived!
I gave everyone a waterbreathing charm, because apparently that's something I can do now, and we jumped off the ship and sunk to the ocean floor. This was my first time "swimming" in saltwater, and honestly I never want to do that ever again if I can help it. The water rushed into my mouth, nose, and ears, and it was so oily and salty...
After walking for a few minutes we saw a large chasm in the ground with some nasty looking crab-people and giant sharks. We debated for a moment whether we want to go around it or swim above it, but after remembering Ascii's swimming capabilities (or lack thereof), we decided to go around. Naturally, there were giant sharks also above the chasm. Apparently the two constants of this multiverse are whirlpools and sharks. Fun!
We managed to distract the sharks thanks to Ascii making a weird rock-based device that created the scent of blood somewhere off in the distance, and then we ran past the sharks before they noticed us. Turns out the sharks weren't the only things that noticed the blood, because as we ran we saw a gigantic sea dragon rip through the ocean floor and devour half of a shark in a single bite.
As I said, first time seeing the ocean, hopefully will be the last.
Approach
We climbed up to a shore and found ourselves before a tall cliff. Thankfully, Kali, Suzi, and Ascii can all fly, and Paris and I are really good climbers, so the ascent wasn't an issue. At the top of the cliff stood the outpost, which hopefully housed Krakos.
To backtrack a tiny bit: just as we climbed out of the water we heard a massive explosion coming from the keep, and we saw a huge fireball, that was then sucked in by some invisible energy.
The castle was missing a wall, and several dismembered and burnt giants lay dead. No sign of Ascii Junior.
We decided that there wasn't much cover we could hind behind if we approached the castle from the breach, so we climbed up another segment of the wall instead. Turns out my companions are terrible at moving around quietly.
Storming the Castle
As soon as we reached the top, a Gygan summoned a huge hand-like monster that charged towards us, and a large, shirtless minotaur ran at us as well. Ascii responded by throwing himself and Paris off the wall, to try and get into a better position, while Sozolan threw a dragon bomb at the minotaur. I took the distraction and ran to a side wall of the keep, to try and flank the defenders.
I snuck around the walls while the fight raged behind me. At some point Kali hit the Gygan sorcerer with a bolt of flames, and I think the minotaur stabbed Suzi? As I rounded the corner, a large horse made of glowing blue metal reared its head and prepared to charge. I managed to take cover behind some debris that lay on the battlements, and the horse charged right past me.
I continued onward, until I saw a four of what I think are called "canons". There were similar objects on The Beast, basically large metal cylinders that are blocked on one side, and can be triggered release either heavy projectiles or magical energies from the open end. This canons were maned by a pair of Gygans, along with the sorcerer that had retreated after Kali's hit. I threw a blasting stone that engulfed the three of them in flames, then ran back down the wall. I'm still not sure why they cause fire in this world, but I guess that's a question for another time.
As I ran down the ramparts I saw that Krakos was out on the field, telekinetically firing a pair of ballistae at Ascii and Sozolan. Paris then charged the Jancan and almost tore him to pieces. I reached the middle of the wall segment when I noticed that I was surrounded: on one side the two non-sorcerer Gygans that I blasted had almost caught up to me, and on the other side the horse was ready to charge at me again. I resolved to throw another blasting stone at the Gygans, then threw myself off the wall to try and throw off the horse.
The first part worked, and the Gygans were blasted, and Kali finished them off quickly. The second part was less successful, as the horse simply jumped off the wall after me and almost trampled me to death.
Thankfully, Kyrah had turned back into her dragon form and charged the horse. I managed to push the horse away from me with a weak blasting stone, and then ran past Kyrah. The horse tried to run past the dragon to get to me, but Kali took it out before it could do anything.
Then it was down to Krakos.
Wrapping Up
We cornered Krakos in the keep, and he released a powerful blast of ice magic that almost killed Ascii. Then we subdued him and convinced him to tell us how to open a gateway to take us home. He told us of a figure "Aharis the Red" who can create portals and control their destinations, then he gave us a large green crystal. He said that when the crystal is broken a portal forms - if it happens where Aharis last stood then the portal leads to him - otherwise it leads to a random destination.
With the crystal in hand, we took Krakos back to the dragonlords, who were slaughtering every last giant. It was honestly a horrible sight, and when we tried to talk Estor out of it, he and Kyrah got into a fight.
Kyrah left in her anger, and then Sozolan used her magic to shrink down Estor, explain how what he was doing was wrong, and then she shattered the green crystal.
A massive portal opened next to us, and I jumped in before Estor or his men could retaliate.
Hopefully the next world will be a bit kinder? It would be nice to land in a place where we don't have to fight for our lives every single day, but I'm starting to think that I'm not going to have a moment's rest until I get home.
It's been over a fortnight since I left. I hope everyone's alright...
But hey, on the bright side, I met a dragon!