Session Summaries; Vol. 07: Rana Mor @ 26 Nov 2006 09:35 am by Kevyspice
Rewards Earned
- Experience Points: 1200
- Treasure: None to speak of
The steady trade winds helped propel the Starchaser up the Ran Pe river for the rest of the day. Balama and her crew were preparing to drop anchor for the evening when somebody spotted a small hut and pier on the bank up ahead. As the ship approached, an old man ran out of the hut and hailed the vessel with a stream of shouted gibberish. Balama shrugged and moved the ship to the pier. The old man introduced himself as Indo, purveyor of exotic crafts, heirlooms, and artifacts. Amidst his efforts to sell his trinkets to the party, he offered some useful information about the Ran Pe and surrounding areas. He warned the party that he was the last outpost of civilization, as snakes, monsters, and the murderous Banda tribe ruled the jungle further up the river.
His sales pitch over, Indo agreed to craft a fine portrait of Gor-bob in time for the party’s return trip. While Gor-bob was posing for Indo’s reference sketch, Edo noticed that the half-orc’s holy symbol was very similar to his own. The two launched into a theological discussion about Pawgma, known to Edo as Obad-hai, while the rest of the group thanked Indo for his information and boarded the ship. The conversation continued as the crew sailed further upstream and dropped anchor for the evening.
The next day, the group entered the jungle. Their slow progress through the heat and humidity was broken only once, when a flurry of blue-feathered arrows streaked from the overgrown right bank. The group dispatched four of their five assailants with a combination of arrows and a fireball, but the fifth fellow disappeared into the jungle before he could be captured or killed. The group decided that pursuit was likely pointless, and instead put as much river as possible between them and the ambush site before dropping anchor for the second night.
The party awoke the next morning to a torrential downpour that continued throughout the day. Twelve hours and twenty miles later, Balama called a halt for the night. A couple of hours into the first watch, Spike heard a pair of thumps on the boat’s hull, followed shortly by a couple of massive lobster-like creatures jumping onto the main deck. He shouted for the rest of the group and engaged one of the chuuls. Hurm and Terez continued to prove themselves more capable as sailors than fighters, but the party worked together efficiently to dispatch one of the lobstrosities and drive the other off. Chow prepared some meat from the fallen chuul for future meals, and the rest of the party headed off to bed.
The rains stopped during the night, and the following day dawned hot and humid. After a few miles, the Ran Pe widened into a vast, reedy marsh. Balama sent Terez to the bow to take soundings, but the boat soon mired up despite the crew’s best efforts. Gor-bob saved the group an unpleasant slog by magically manipulating the water around the boat to propel the craft past the mudbank. The Starchaser passed through the rest of the swamp without incident, and Balama dropped anchor for the night in the channel just past the southern edge of the swamp.
A couple of miles up the Ran Pe, the jungle growth on the east bank parted to reveal the vine-covered ruins of an ancient quay. Balama and her crew manuevered the Starchaser to the landing and tied off. The party disembarked and crept into the overgrown clearing behind the quay, where they discovered the ruins of a small shrine surrounded by a ring poles capped with skulls wreathed in green flame. As the group approached the shrine, one of the skulls emitted a shrill scream and pronounced what sounded like a curse in the Banda language. Somewhat nervous but determined, the group continued their investigation. At the base of each pole they found a small bowl, damp with a faint residue of blood. The party scanned the surrounding jungle, but found no further evidence of the perpetrators of the recent blood sacrifice. After a quick search of the shrine itself, the group boarded the ship again and headed further upriver.