The Island in the Captured Sea
Session fourteen began with the party and Asgarr, the sea elf mariner, on board a stolen ship heading for deep sea. Callister and Asgarr, both skilled seamen, handled the ship well with just the two of them.
The journey was uneventful for several days. During the trip, Asgarr revealed what he sought in the middle of the Captured Sea. He worked for a large business organization as did his brother. This organization tracked its ships through magical means. His brother, first officer on one of those ships, the Grey Gull, stopped for unknown reasons in the middle of the Captured Sea, stayed there for several days and then suddenly vanished from the company's scrying spells. The organization was slow to respond to this crisis and, for weeks, had failed to send out a rescue ship. So, Asgarr decided to take matters into his own hands and steal a ship, the Running Fox. His goal was to find his brother's ship and rescue the entire crew, including his brother.
The party shared some of their quest with Asgarr, but not everything, making sure to carefully select which words to use in reference to their quest.
Finally, after several days, some 150 miles of the coast from Malkora, the playes came across a mist shrouded island that was not on any of the maps. A city could be seen on the coast and they approached. As they pulled up and docked at a set of piers, they saw another ship docked two piers off. Asgarr recognized this other vessel as the Grey Gull, his brother's ship. The party approached to investigate. Signs of battle were apparent on the deck of the Grey Gull, as were blood stains, but no bodies. A quick search of the ship found only one survivor, a young human woman in one of the officers' quarters, huddled in a blanket and apparently suffering from sickness or poison. She was carried back to the Running Fox and Willum cast a few healing spells on her. Meanwhile, the party investigated the island.
The ruins of an ancient city stood on the shore. This city was covered in barnacles and seaweed lay everywhere on the ground. It seemed as if the city, and the entire island, had been underwater for years and had only recently risen from the waves. The party spent the rest of the day searching. The architecture of the city was Irenni, a culture which predated the Great War, which made the city extremely old. After eight hours of searching the party found only one thing of interest: a large temple in the center of town which was not aged or barnacle covered. Around the building no seaweed had grown. The temple had not aged at all. The group decided to head back and save the exploration of this large building for the next day.
As they returned to their ship, they were attacked by several huge creatures which seemed to be nothing more than animated mounds of rotting seaweed. These shambling mounds literally rose from the seaweed around them. A fierce battle was joined, but the party was victorious. The Conclave Defiant returned to the ship, relocated to a position about a mile from the island and spent a quiet night preparing for the next day.
Next: Into the labyrinth, the group's greatest challenge yet.