Chapter 2b - A Sloop in the Sea

[AleBelly]

Odlo is positively petrified. He can only imagine how easily the kraken could pick him up and plop him in its maw. He would prefer that not happen...

Seeing the tentacle almost severed, he hacks again at it...and going after another if the group manages to slice through the first one.

Odlo initiative [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16

Longknife attack [1d16+1] = 11+1 = 12 damage [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3 mithril dagger attack [1d16+1] = 11+1 = 12 damage [1d4+1] = 3+1 = 4

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven wanderer

After disposing of the kobold, Onnekas watches the battle with the kraken with trepidation. He's weak, he's tired, and he's seasick. He considers going below the deck to wait out the battle, but Olga's defiance, holding strong at the helm, inspires him.

But he asks for help first.

"Yddgrrl, I ask much of you already. Yet the need is dire. Please offer me some protection from this leviathan!"

Invoke patron spell check [1d20+3] = 9+3 = 12

Protection length (rounds) [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3

Doppelgangers [1d7+1] = 6+1 = 7

Alternate reality 1 = yes [1d100] = 34

Onnekas doesn't change.

Being far from terra firma, the elf wonders if the spell of protection will have any effect. Just as he realizes there is a floor to the ocean too, Onnekas smiles as writhing tendrils of kelp shoot up the side of the boat, over the railing, and surround him, inches from his body.

"Thank you, Yddgrrl" he says softly as he grabs his staff with both hands, advancing towards the fight. It's as if they know where he's going to go before he does. The elf watches in awe as several shapes mimicking his stiff, jerky gait begin to materialize from the vegetation.

[greyarea]

Reuter hacks away, wishing he had a sword.

Initiative [1d20+2] = 18+2 = 20
Dagger att [1d20] = 18 dmg [1d6] = 5

[Samwell Turleton]

Dezzoroth, the Demonic Mist

The mist coils and uncoils slowly like it is dancing against the wind and reaches out for the Kraken's skin once more.

Initiative [1d20] = 1
Attack [1d20+2] = 8+2 = 10, Dam. [1d4] = 1

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

Olga continues her struggle with the ship in the storm but takes a moment to glance to her side to see Hannu struggling free of the lashing tentacles. He leaps over the railing of the ship with his pitchfork poised for a downward plunge.

Hannu, you fool!

Olga uncoils the rope of her grappling hook at her hip and unfurls it in the direction of the rail keeping the hook pressed to the deck under her foot.

Initiative [1d20] = 6

[Marullus]

Characters:
On the Deck:

• Samwell Turleton: Olga Snorri (1/4)
• AleBelly: Odlo
• Samwell Turleton: Hannu Survage (1/8)
• greyarea: Reuter (Formerly Sailor #1)
• NPC: Sailor #2

In the Hold:

• Faanku: "Laughing" Pegg

In the Cabin:

• AleBelly: Onnekas
• ybn1197: Hinrick
• greyarea: Casper (Retired/NPC)
• Alethan: Thorhall (Retired/NPC)

The crew rallies into decisive action, driving the sea monster back. Reuter hacks with his dagger, (-5) severing the rest of the tentacle nearest him, while Odlo bisects another tentacle with longknife and dagger. (-3, -4) The two severed appendages flop on the deck among the thick mist. Hannu grabs a dangling line from the mast and leaps overboard, landing on the face of the creature! He stabs down with his pitchfork, rupturing the undamaged eye. (-5) The creature goes flaccid, releasing its grip on the side of the ship and falling away abruptly. Hannu's rope goes taut and he swings outward on the spar, legs flailing, as the creature slips away beneath his feet and slips under the waves. "Hannu, you fool!" yells Olga, tossing the rope from her waist to the dangling farmer to pull him back to the deck.

Onnekas cries out to the gods and kelp leaps up over the mid-deck rail. He ends up ensrounded in waving kelp and the mid-deck is filled with additional elves which bud abruptly from the kelp-pods. Hinrick squeaks, frozen in place. The other Onnekasi grab the ropes, holding the sails and belaying them to aid the other sailor as Olga releases the wheel to save Hannu, keeping the ship stable before they dissolve into a sludge. The winds abate and the storm begins to clear within minutes.

Within an hour, the sky is clear, glowing red on the eastern horizon with the coming dawn. You have surivived the night of storms. With the sea now clear, you see the wrecks of ships on the sea bottom below... Olga's skillfull maneuvering has helped you find your way through a narrow passage between jagged reefs even amidst the storm. Just ahead of you rises a spire of stone, a hill shaped like a stalagmite over a hundred feet tall, rising from a small island which consists of stretches of sandy beaches around the steep slopes upward. Other rocks cause waves to crash in the sea around it, but without a storm, Olga expects she can navigate appropriately around them. Otherwise, the coast is nowhere in sight. Judging direction by the rising sun, Olga finds a southwest heading which she believes will lead back towards the ports you were heading for.

Pegg can narrate her own adventure below deck.

[greyarea]

Reuter hefts a severed tentacle over his head with a cheer. Then he feels the ichor of it drop into his hair, and he flings the rubbery thing into the sea.

He humbly goes back to work on deck, helping with whatever is needed as Olga requires.

[ybn1197]

Hinrick drops to the drop, landing on his rear end, overcome by the chaos of the past several minutes. Letting out a huge sigh, he forces himself to stand up and assist in whatever manner he can.

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven wanderer

As the Onnekasi ha ha, I love it dissolve away, Onnekas nods to them. "Hvasi stalia" he says to his pseudoforms. Soon after, the kelp retreat back to the sea, caressing the elf ever so slightly.

"He may be a fool, but at least he is a brave fool" jokes the elf to Olga in the common tongue. He walks stiffly...though maybe a little less stiffly...towards them, pulling his large sachet of herbs from a pocket. "You both are badly wounded. Let me see if have some healing herbs that may be of help."

Skill check as herbalist to see if he can heal/salve their wounds.

Herbalist skill check [1d20] = 18

He eyes the island longingly, wishing to get off the ship. But he says nothing. He knows they must make it to the ports.

[AleBelly]

Odlo, halfling wanderer

"Well done to us all! We defeated a sea monster!" Odlo is beside himself with pride, and jubilation at still being alive. He examines the severed tentacle at his feet. He looks at the suction nodules, and being a glovemaker, thinks how useful those would be for climbing, etc. But they would soon rot, so he decides against trying to make what he thinks would be a most amazing invention.

He keeps the tentacle aboard, just in case.

[Faanku]

"Laughing" Pegg, the Enduring

Marching on to the upper decks, Pegg looks around at the bloodied and worn faces of those present with an expression of deep concern. "What in the god's names happened here? I heard a curious banging on the side of the shop, and then plenty of screaming."

[Samwell Turleton]

Hannu Survage

Fluids from the eye spray as the creature loosens its grip on the ship and falls away. Hannu feels the grip of the creature weakening and holds on tight to his rope and grabs another that hangs alongside. Hannu bounces and spins a few times while hanging on the side of the ship as he gets some control with both lines.

Haul away!, he yells up to the deck while pulling on the rope tied to the spar to assist his rescuer in lifting his weight.

He gets a purchase on the rail and hauls himself back over. Lying on his back his limbs sprawl on the deck bleeding, bruised pock marked sores forming, where the suckered arms pulled fiercely on his skin. Hannu takes some deep breaths and then lets out a great belly laugh.

Not this time, eh?

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

Olga slumps against the wheel of the ship and lets out a long exhale.

Not bad crew...not bad at all!, she says quietly to herself.

Addressing the group, Well and hard fought all - we owe our lives to the bravery of Onnekas and Hinrick here and I owe my life to the rest of you. Thank you for seeing me to safety from the attacks of the beast.

Olga is going to pull her spyglass and investigate the spire of stone and beaches.

Olga will continue talk as she surveys the landmass, good thinking to rid ourselves of the kobold after all. It was foolish of me to think the creature would yield information. I put us all in grave danger but hopefully we can see ourselves through to Gnupfell. It looks like we have some clear weather and good sailing ahead but we are also in much need of a rest.

The mist nestles in tightly against Olga's feet.


Survey [1d20] = 17

[ybn1197]

Hinrick approaches Olga in a very humble manner. "Do not blame yourself Olga. I wished otherwise myself. I had hoped to convince the Kobold that he could change his ways. That he would be happy among us. I hate what we had to do, but it was necessary to save us all."

[AleBelly]

"Hinrick is right!" pipes Odlo, echoing the sentiment of his halfling kin. "It's not your fault. Besides, it did provide us information. Now we know that even a lowly beast such as that can summon powerful forces if it's part of a cult. I can't say I like knowing that, but now we know it all the same."

He pauses for a couple moments.

"Do you think the storm AND the sea monster were answering its call?"

[Marullus]

Onnekas can easily tell that both Hannu and Olga are pale, drained, and on the brink of death. After running for your lives the whole day befoe and now fighting both storm and sea monster for the entire night, everyone is utterly exhausted. That is, except for Pegg (who had a good bit of a nap in the hold before the banging woke her). Hannu napped briefly in the cabin before the storm worsened, but with his wounds he still fares poorly. With Onnekas's skilled hands, no wounds will be mortal, but recovery will take time and rest.

Olga surveys the sighted land and surrounding oceans, getting her bearings from the rising sun. She is confident that she could either find safe berth on the bare beaches of the island before her, or navigate through the submerged stones and into the open sea. She doesn't know how far off her course she may be, but it should be several days of sailing before making the port at Gnupfell.

Action/Plan?

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

Olga is eager for a rest.

Reuter is it?

You are a good sailor... do you see danger in finding a place to anchor the ship and row to those beaches over there. Olga points with the spyglass offering it to Reuter to see for himself.

[greyarea]

Reuter smiles bashfully and says, I'm just a deckhand, ma'am. I'm good with ropes and knots and things like that, not with captaining a vessel like you. But I can see what I can see.

Reuter looks through the offered spyglass and looks to where she points. Yeah, that looks about as good as we can hope for. I say we get a bit closer before we drop anchor, so we can get to the beach without having to row too much. I think that's a sandbar over there... he says pointing. I bet we can drop there and get to shore with little fuss, least as long as you're the one driving this thing.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

"Well, if it is agreeable I am going to bring the ship there and we can find an opportunity to rest and look around"

[Marullus]

Characters:

• Samwell Turleton: Olga Snorri (1/4)
• AleBelly: Odlo
• Samwell Turleton: Hannu Survage (1/8)
• greyarea: Reuter (Formerly Sailor #1)
• NPC: Sailor #2
• Faanku: "Laughing" Pegg
• AleBelly: Onnekas
• ybn1197: Hinrick
• greyarea: Casper (Retired/NPC)
• Alethan: Thorhall (Retired/NPC)

Onnekas the woodland elf inspects Olga and Hannu's wounds, several of their lacerations quite deep. He washes the wounds in the salt water and binds them up skillfully with healing herbs he produces from his satchel. Soon their pain begins to subside, even if it will take them time and rest to recover fully from their injuries.

Reuter tosses tentacle chunks overboard; Hinrick saves one for his own curiosity as a glovemaker. Odlo provides the silver lining of revelation. Pegg emerges from below decks, helping clean up the mess of the battle.

Olga and Reuter consult and decide to drop anchor and take the rowboat ashore. The seven of you just fit, the vessel a little heavy in the water. Casper, Thorhall, and the other sailor volunteer to remain aboard ship and keep it in-hand. The mist slides overboard after Olga and lays thick on the surface of the water, lending a singularly creepy ambiance, but it seems less objectionable than having it fill the boat.

With a few minutes by the strong oarsmen (most likely Pegg) you reach the beach and pull the rowboat up above the tide line. The good news is that there is deep water practically to the shore and little risk to your ship where you dropped anchor. The beach, however, is realtively narrow - perhaps 100 yards in total from where low-tide currently ebbs and where the steep slopes of stone rise precariously upwards. There's bits of flotsam and detrius scattered along the sands - driftwood and cast offs from the sunken ships and wrecks you saw a half-mile out at the reef. A quick and hopeful look among the nearest items finds nothing of value, but raises a suspicion that there is less of value than you otherwise expected.

An alcove in the lee of the stone precipice shelters you on three sides, a secure place for a campsite for your small crew. The slopes of the pinacle on this face could be climbed without gear, but it would likely take some skill. Gulls and terns wheel and caw in the sky, making a raucous caucophony on the roosts high above.

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