Session 25: The Gang Goes Boating


 * Rainy season has started; it’s wet and humid. We are in the dining area of the Reef with Yanger reading a headline “Thrane remilitarizes border”. Kalti shows up with his new Kodex, and asks what the plan was.
 * Vesun mentions going to the Cracked Mirror because Noelle has a lead with the caterers.
 * Tork wants a hat of Disguise Self, and wants it to look like a butler hat.
 * Sarienne asks the guard captain hobbo to go to the library for some reason (20 gold).
 * Kalti says with his research there are some kind of creatures behind the seals and we’ll have to defeat them. There’s an old temple on an ancient island (Atrus) nearby with some kind of helpful artifact, but Yanger hasn’t been able to find a captain.
 * Tork gets a letter from Fola (librarian) re: missing books. The author lives in Sharn - “Outlandish Tales of Dark Places and Horrible Countries” - in Upper North Edge.
 * Apparently Lady Edna inherited a boat (the Silver Marlin) that would work that’s sitting in the docks, so we decide to head down there and check it out.
 * Vesun and Sarienne stop in at the Cracked Mirror.
 * Albert and Noelle are there in the back. Noelle asks Albert to leave the room.
 * She says she talked to her friend in House Golandra, but she so worried her brother Benjamin went missing. They fought recently (he’s the goodie two-shoes) and she said she’d tell everyone about his gambling problem and debts at Fortune’s Favor (casino). She thinks he’s going to try to intimidate people there, wants us to intervene.
 * Ophelia is her friend in House Golandra who could get us into the party by hiring us… if we get her brother back.
 * Albert is being bitchy because there’s no audience, and Vesun indicates we might be able to get him into the gala as entertainment.
 * Zaz is chatting with Rio, she turns and asks if we’re okay. She says Halek is on the warpath. When Vesun asks about Benjamin, she says to talk with Chance (whose casino it is–he only pays attention to high rollers).
 * On the way back to the Reef to check in with Yanger, we get jumped by two goblins hiding behind gargoyles on rooftops.
 * Vesun blinks himself, Cornerio, and Sarienne behind the caster. The archer jumps down to a ramp and runs onto another building. Tork lifts Vikrit up into the air 20 feet (a ghostly hand gives a thumbs up and becomes huge, Vikrit yells “THIS RUUUULES”) and he shoots the archer. The caster summons a giant celestial owl. Vesun draws his mace and moves into melee range, taking a slash from the owl. Cornerio pulps the caster, and Sarienne drops her bow to sickle the owl (Vesun then kills it when it tries to get away). Vikrit and Sarienne tie the surviving goblim up and keep him from dying - they interrogate him and he says Clan Boromar halfling paid 20 gold to each of them (+ gave feather) to attack us.
 * Cornerio: “You didn’t let me kill him, you didn’t let me murder him, you didn’t let me torture him!” Vesun: “What alignment are you again?”
 * Vesun points out that helping the goblin is community outreach.
 * We get home. Cornerio is angry that Vesun healed the goblin who shot him but not him. Vanesse helpfully heals him and does a bunch of negative energy damage, and Vesun makes Cornerio say please.
 * Ideas about getting Albert into Lady Edna’s party to get him into the Ir’Tain gala
 * One of the goblins mentions that Jusk wants to talk to Vikrit, but they leave.
 * Sarienne asks Yanger about the ship. The ship is called the Silver Marlin, and he tells us where it is.
 * We head to the docks.
 * “Oi, that lizard owes me 40 gold!” - there’s a goblin lady (Captain Al). She has a couple people with her - Boyo the gnoll, boson Sandal. She calls Vikrit Li’l Vik–she is the captain of the boat he took to Aundair from Qbarra.
 * Sarienne hires her for 150 gold, not including what Vikrit owes. She is doing Vikrit a favor. Everyone puts in 25 gold
 * Talking about supplies - Vesun: “I’m magic. I can make water.” Vikrit: “Ew.”
 * We get supplied up (Sarienne brings 2 barrels of water) and set sail.
 * After a while the boat starts rocking, Vikrit fixes the sails. Water splashes over the lower deck, almost knocking Sarienne off. Vikrit can’t really see where the island is; Captain Al tries to bring them in to a cove. The water is glowing with bioluminescent coral.
 * There are hulls of ships lying all over the cove. They look like they’ve been crushed.
 * Something huge is coming out of the water - some kind of coral golem. It shoots a hunk of coral and barely misses the sails.
 * Vanesse buffs herself; Tork scorching rays it, shearing off a chunk. Sarienne tries to shoot it but her arrow bounces off. Vikrit tries to get down the mast to the ballista but falls on his ass and bruises his tail. The golem whips coral but doesn’t hit anyone. Cornerio tries to shoot it but misses. Vanesse reloads the ballista. Tork continues fucking it up with Scorching Ray. It moves closer and sprays us with stars, doing damage to Vanesse and Vesun. Captain Al (Janice) shoots the golem. Vesun flies toward the golem’s mouth. Cornerio and Vanesse reload the ballista. Tork shatters the thing’s leg. Vikrit tries to raise the sails. The golem smashes the ship, crushing Tork badly. Cornerio tries to jump at the thing and misses, landing in the water and starting to drown. Vesun looks at it, then Cornerio, then it, then Cornerio… and saves him. Vanesse takes a leap at the golem and splits it in half.
 * Captain Al runs the ship aground and says it will be a while before we can repair it. Tork finds coins over 100 years old - prewar (so do Cornerio &amp; Vanesse). Tork sees some kind of light flickering on top of the mountain during his watch. Next morning, Al says she needs more time.
 * There are 3 drow in a clearing. Cornerio pops out to talk with them, they draw long knives and tell him to drop his hammer, he says “KNIFE to meet you! No.” then Sarienne filets one of them from the shadows. Vikrit moves around them onto a ledge to scope out the area and sees a rickety bridge over a river. Cornerio destroys another with a crit. Vanesse tries to intimidate the last one and nat 1s, Sarienne nat 1s on her insight check and thinks his answer “Djembe Jim” is true. He begs them to kill him, the party continues being dicks and Vikrit shoots him in the neck to kill him. Bodies have a few gold, drow knives, no identifying marks.
 * Vik finds path where they came from, we circle around and trigger a rock trap that almost knocks Vesun into the river. There’s another big clearing with a stockade, 2 rectangular buildings. 2 drow are keeping watch, clearly see Sarienne. Vikrit and Tork circle around, Sarienne to other side. Vesun and Vanesse walk up to the front. Two huge monstrous scorpion creatures scuttle past the hidey bois up to Vesun and Vanesse.
 * Arrowbois shoot at Vanesse and miss. Scorpion bursts out at Vesun, clamping him and doing a buttload of damage. Vikrit shoots it but his arrows don’t do much. Tork moves Vikrit up to the stockade and roasts the scorpion. Vesun moves back and heals himself. Cornerio attacks the scorp. Vanesse gets shot at while she climbs up. One scorpion nearly kills Tork, the other fucks up Sarienne and does 1 Dex damage. Vikrit shoots the one attacking Tork, who magic missiles it to death. Cornerio freezes the tail off the living one. One of the drow knifes Vanesse, and another drow (caster) comes out of one of the buildings. Sarienne slashes the last scorpion to death. Vikrit clambers up the wall. Vanesse accidentally flings her axe, the drow next to her slashes her when she rages and grabs it.
 * The remaining archer gets knocked into Vanesse and the lever opening the gate when Tork magic missiles him. The cleric is casting a spell straight through the gate–and Vesun casts silence on him.
 * Important note: Sarienne’s blackjack is Joker’s Trick.
 * Unimportant note: Jusk’s full name is Juskurak Gorkhaani, and he previously worked in a menagerie. Vikrit has been training him to work with the animals.