Rewards Earned
- Experience Points: 675
- Treasure: gold tortoise-shaped paperweight (100 gp); set of ivory false teeth (150 gp); salve in a copper flask; ring of freedom of movement; flask containing viscous magical liquid; 3 potions; immovable rod; folding boat; bag of holding (type I); 3 magical pressure capsules; continual flame torch; several nets; 500 feet of weighted hemp rope; Archais’s journal; 2500 gp; brass mug (350 gp); black silk glove containing numerous emeralds (2500 gp)
While making a final sweep of the monastery grounds, the party was attacked by a pair of massive crustaceans similar to the chuul that nearly swallowed Balama back in Rana Mor. This time around, the creatures burst up from the water on either side of a beached rowboat and quickly incapacitated Spike and Chow, much to the dismay of the other group members.
Richard used his divine power to negate the effects of the chuul’s paralytic tentacles on Spike, but the creature struck Spike again almost immediately. The priest then attempted to destroy the beast, but instead became the next target for the creature’s tentacles and chitinous mandibles.
Balama expended most of her offensive magical capability on the creatures, but she succeeded only in hurting them enough to make them flee back into the water with the paralyzed rogue and priest still in tow. Thus spent, she changed tactics and attempted to levitate Chow’s form out of the water enough to prevent him from drowning. Carmina slew that particular chuul with a good hit from her crossbow, and Isaac used some fancy ropework to lasso Chow and drag him back to shore without strangling him.
Meanwhile, the paralytic effect on Spike dissipated enough for the ship captain to swig a potion of flying and take off after the chuul that was dragging Richard to the depths. Balama summoned several mirror images of herself, used a dimensional door to place the numerous Balamas close to the chuul’s last known location, and then transformed herself into a mermaid in order to hasten her own pursuit.
When she caught up with the creature half a minute later, Balama used one of her few remaining spells to attempt to diminish the chuul’s cognitive capacity, perhaps to make it flee with greater alacrity. Unfortunately for the mage, the change seemed to transform the chuul from an injured beast into a frenzied killing machine, as it released Richard’s form and turned on the numerous mermaids that had suddenly come into range. It had just finished off the final image of Balama when Spike arrived. His rapier made quick work of the chuul, but not quickly enough to save Richard or Balama.
Cursing his foul run of luck, Spike hauled his friends’ inert forms to the surface and flew with them back to the monastery. Still under the effects of the fly potion, he settled his companions on the shore and took off to search for the chuuls’ lair.
The rest of the party prepared Richard and Balama for the journey back to Mavinar, and then investigated the shore more closely. They saw now that the rowboat they had noticed the previous night was riding low in the water for a couple of reasons. First, the hull had been smashed on the rocky shore. Second, a large fishing net, seemingly full, was tied to the back of the boat. When they hauled the net up, the group was horrified but unsurprised to see that the net contained the remains of a dozen hermitage residents. The humans, half-elves, and lone dwarf seemed to be newly dead, but the bodies at the bottom of the net were already chewed and slashed, presumably by the chuuls.
After consulting with Kumar, the leader of the Rangsten monks, and Janore, the priestess of Shalimyr, the group decided that, given the circumstances, ceremonially burning the remains on a funeral pyre would be preferable to the traditional burial at sea or leaving the bodies atop the island’s hills for nature to reclaim.
As they set about preparing the pyre, the group noted a seagull perched on the shore a few paces away. Noticing that the bird seemed to eye them with a bit more pointed interest than was usual for such a creature, the group offered it some food. After it gobbled down the tidbit, the bird dipped its head in a distinct imitation of a human bow. The bird repeated the gesture when one of the party asked it, “Can you understand us?†When Spike returned with the bit of treasure he had found in a nearby sea cave, the group followed the strangely communicative bird up to the abandoned quarters near the top of the hermitage’s western tower.
A more concentrated search of the room uncovered a hidden compartment in the stone wall. While removing the various boxes, bottles, and bags from the compartment, Chow happened to notice a false panel at the top of the compartment. He removed the panel to reveal a leather backpack containing a waterlogged journal. A few minutes’ reading and consultation with the seagull revealed that the bird, whose name was Virgil, had been the familiar of Archais, the garrison wizard who had lived at the Firewatch keep when the installation was first built, fifty years ago. Astounded at the bird’s age, the party continued communicating with Virgil, verifying that Archais was indeed dead, and that his spellbook was not in the keep.
Virgil then gave the group several helpful pointers regarding the equipment they found in the wall compartment, most of which related to Achais’s hobby of exploring shipwrecks. Indeed, Archais had written the names and presumed locations of three dozen ships inside the front cover of the journal. A couple of shipwrecks appeared to be relatively close to the Serpent’s Teeth archipelago where Freeport was located, and there was also mention of the Flying Cloud, the war galley that the sea hag Black Molly had sought near the fishing village of Poisson.
Most of the journal related Archais’s exploits in the Ashindari military and his expeditions to various wrecks, but the last several entries detailed the construction of the Firewatch Island fortification. Given the war-like nature of the Crescent Empire across the bay from the Spice Coast, the Ashindari government feared an eventual seaborne attack or even a full-scale invasion. Thus, they created the keep on Firewatch Island to act as an early warning measure. Unfortunately, necessary materials had been diverted to elsewhere in Ashinda prior to completion of the keep’s wall, so the garrison leaders feared exposure to attack from the sea on the southern approach. Their fears seemed to be realized when Virgil reported a “war galley fully loaded with soldiers and monstrous slaves†approaching from the northeast.
According to the journal, the garrison’s chaplain, a follower of Zaha (the Matyanist face of Shalimyr), beseeched the Stormlord for aid. Whether true divine intervention or mere fortunate happenstance, a sudden, fierce storm blew in and sent the Tammeraut to the sea floor with all hands aboard. The ensuing celebrations were short-lived, however, as Archais suspected that the ship had sunk near Dagon’s Maw, an “ill-starred undersea chasm†a few miles to the north of Firewatch Island. The wizard feared that the ship may have breached the wards laid on the rift by sea elves in the distant past, and, according to his final journal entry a week later, planned to set off to inspect the wreckage and the rift. Further “conversation†with Virgil revealed that Archais never made it to the Maw. Late in the night before the planned expedition, a mass of reanimated drowned sailors and soldiers had attacked the island, leaving no one alive. Virgil confirmed that the creatures were at least the same sort as those that the party had fought the previous night, and may even be the same drowned ones from a half-century ago.
Uneasy, the party mulled over their options. After some discussion, they decided to finish canvassing the former keep, lay the slain hermits to rest atop their pyre, drop off their passengers (the Mavinari investigator and his assistants, Kathkallan, the three monks, and Janore) in Ashinda, attempt to procure diamonds in order to raise Balama and Richard, and return to investigate Dagon’s Maw. When asked, Virgil agreed to accompany the Primrose and the Sea Wind for the time being.
A couple of hours later, Janore and Kumar delivered their benedictions for the dead and lit the pyre. The rest of the group transported their fallen comrades onto the ships, warning the respective crews that Richard and Balama had been greivously injured and required quick attention in town. With that, the ships set sail for Ashinda.
Within another few hours, the city came into view. However, the city was the only the second thing the lookouts noted. From the center of the city rose an immense, twisted tree whose upper branches seemed to brush the clouds far above Ashinda. Spyglasses revealed smashed buildings, raging fires, and numerous pitched battles between the city guard and squads of orcs and trolls. As the party watched, the tree seemed to expand and reach higher into the sky. A foul, diseased jungle had sprung into existence around the base of the tree, and seemed itself to be spreading while the ships approached.
When asked, the Mavinari investigator talked the situation over with his assistants and asked to be put ashore with them so that they could assess the situation and make a report to Governor Johar. After coming to an agreement with his officers and the rest of the party about heading back west to Mavinar, Spike gave orders for volunteers from his crew to take one of the ship’s boats to the docks and return immediately after dropping off the Mavinari contingent. He also agreed to take a written report and a copy of the investigative team’s last wishes to the governor in Mavinar.
With that, the Primrose and the Sea Wind set sail for Mavinar.