[written by Phil, player of Bartholomew Pettibone, regarding a recent, rather eventful, expedition into the Ocean's Throat sea-caves, and earning Bart 100 xp per level]
From
the Journals of Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone
A
Purveyor of Enchanting Sorcery
16
October 2021
Cavernous
Treachery
Recently,
I had accompanied Durham on a diplomatic mission into the Ocean's
Throat Caverns. During the negotiations with the local sakkra tribe
(the Selayah), on behalf of the Wasgo Renyu residing nearby, it
became apparent that the Selayah might harbor animosity for both the
pirates infesting the lower caverns, as well as the grey men and
their masters, behind the Green Doors. With the intent of enjoining
the Selayah to ally with us in confronting common enemies, and the
promise of potentially lucrative plunder, I began to garner interest
from several of my comrades in undertaking a new expedition into the
caves. Our premier goal would be to initiate discussions with Kaa,
the “boss” of the Selayah tribe, and to gain his trust and
alliance. That was our plan, but as we all know, plans have a way of
… unravelling.
In
the smoke-filled common room of Cothon Understar – with the aromas
of roasted meat, spiced puddings, heady beverages, and an odd
assortment of fungal delights abounding – a veritable host of
heroes raised their tankards and agreed to partake in this newest
quest of our good fortunes. Durham, of course, would join, and with
him came Pako (his faithful Renyu companion), and a rather brutish
hireling – Kogus, also called “The Bodyguard” (large, very
large, and very wide). Sesel, Raoden, and Dark Avin also agreed to
undertake this mission, as it tied directly into our looming
confrontation with the grey men and their masters. Hey-Jo found the
idea of lucre, and the possibility of knocking a few heads, too
tempting to overlook, and so promised their assistance as well.
Another of our acquaintances, Althis of the Crag, had heard of the
potential for raising capital, and so he promised his arcane arts to
benefit our plan. With Gan (Bearer of All Things, and Protector of
All Knowledge), and myself included, our company was ten strong.
Perhaps one of the largest explorers group, at least in recent times,
to enter the Ocean's Throat. Arngeir of the Green Gleam had also
professed interest in accompanying us, but had to beg leave due to
“unforeseen” necessities.
The
plan was simple, and relied foremost on using our good friend
Durham's recent influence with the Selayah sakkra to gain an audience
with Kaa, their “boss”. We would then invite Kaa to personally
join us for a raid on the hidden pirate encampment. We believed this
might impress Kaa, providing him the opportunity to show us how great
and strong he was, and for us to show Kaa the breadth of our powers
as well. We mused that if he refused this offer, we might be able to
use that to publicly impugn his strength – to shame him. Perhaps
thence we could goad him into a personal one-on-one ritual combat
with our champion for control over his domain, or at least possibly
subdue him and demand that he provide us with information concerning
the pirates and the grey men. This sounded somewhat crude and
brutish, but after all, Kaa's “leadership” over the Selayah was
based on a “might makes right” and “killer takes all”, kind
of mentality. And if he joined us for the hunt, who knows,
“something” might happen to Kaa while he was furiously engaged in
melee. You just never know.
Our
troupe of ten strong gathered supplies and headed north, out by the
Fisherman's Gate. We marched boldly across the beaches of the migdol,
under the watchful eyes of the Barcidae – fairly thumbing our noses
at their recent shaming in the arena. The entrance to the Ocean's
Throat, hidden in a copse of trees, was reached with no encounter.
Our lanterns were lit, and we made haste delving into the darkness,
down by way of the rough-hewn stairs in this semi-natural cavern.
No
obstacles faced us on our journey. We made our way swiftly to the
Selayah tribal warrens, and soon found ourselves in the presence of
Kaa. Our coming did not displease Kaa, and he was excited that
tribute had been brought to him. Or rather, that Durham had brought
this group of “hairless man-apes” as slaves to be given over to
him. Durham convinced Kaa to put those types of thoughts out of his
mind, and instead invited the great Kaa to join us for a hunt. He
explained that the invitation to show strength was the tribute that
had been brought. After much deliberation, and haughty
one-up-manship, Kaa finally agreed to accept the invitation – but
only under the agreement that all territory cleared by this joint
affair would fall under the direct control of Kaa, and all plunder
would be his to dispense with. Hence, tribute would be paid, and Kaa
would be satisfied.
Recalling
that Avin wore a torc that automatically and constantly picked up
spoken languages, and translated them quietly to their ears alone, I
stepped up beside them and began speaking in Mr'shan. It was my hope
that my words would not be understood by Kaa, or any of his warriors,
but that I and my fellows might be able to have some clandestine
conversation. My words were to the effect of: “Let us allow Kaa to
believe that we agree to his terms. If he is killed in battle, so be
it. If we are victorious against the pirates, and he is perhaps
weakened, we could then challenge Kaa to a duel of submission. If he
were physically bested, in front of his most trusted and robust
chiefs, we might then have control over all of the Selayah warrens
and territory.” My fellows agreed, and the sakkra were none the
wiser of our treacherous purrings. The deal was struck, and Kaa, with
ten of his strongest and most trusted chiefs, gathered their
armaments and joined us in a hunt for pirates.
The
pirate camp, of which most of us were well familiar, was attained
without incident. The beach palisade on the southern beach, with its
massive ballista, was found to be manned by what seemed to be at
least eight to ten individuals. Luckily our party was not initially
noted, and Durham and I, with a few of the sakkra chiefs, were able
to quietly sneak close to this outpost without being discovered. With
a well-timed incantation I was able to wrap the arcana around those
behind the barrier. We heard the sounds of several bodies falling
down into forced cataleptic slumber, followed by the immediate,
surprised cry of at least one individual who was not affected.
Fearing that further shouts of alarm might give us away, the sakkra
quickly scaled the palisade, swarmed the poor fellow and extinguished
his life, and the lives of everyone who had been manning the post. No
alarm was sounded; however, this was our first taste of how
singularly violent and murderous the sakkra could be.
Across
the waters, on the far side of the massive cavern, we could make out
what appeared to be a large work party, unloading a single vessel at
anchor nearby. The Dark Wing – a vessel stoked in both infamy and
terror – was that very vessel. Kaa was well pleased with the easy
success of our initial surprise attack, and his warriors seemed to be
enervated by a palpable blood lust. Instead of waiting for a plan of
action to be developed, Kaa rallied his chiefs, and they all slipped
into the water and began to swim stealthily across to where the party
of twenty or more pirates were busy working. Our party watched,
dumbfounded by Kaa's wildly inept mind, and opened the secret door in
a nearby rock column that we knew led up to a passageway hewn into
the cavern's ceiling. That hallway passed overhead, across the great
bay of saltwater, to the far side of this massive cavern, leading to
several chambers used for storage and into the pirate's feasting
hall. Our plan was to allow the sakkra to attack and set up a
diversion, while our group covertly crossed over from above, to
engage the pirates unaware.
We
made our way quickly up and across, and hastily looted what we could
from the few rooms at the northern end of the passage, above where
the pirates were working. As we looted, the sakkra emerged from the
water and began harrying the work party on the northern beach.
However, before we could make our way down to join the melee, a group
of about ten pirates came running up and into the passage where we
had gathered. Apparently they had been sent to man the arrow slits in
the overhead corridor, in order to rain arrows down onto the
marauding sakkra.
Althis
had been keeping a watch, and as the pirates approached in a rush,
unaware of our presence, he engulfed them in a constricting mass of
sticky webs – all but one! That fellow came up short of stumbling
headlong into Althis' trap, and a number of us saw that he turned,
intent on heading back the way he had come. Fearing that he would
give away our position and surprise, members of our party skewered
the poor lackey with several arrows. He fell dead, and no sound
escaped his lips. Those caught tight in Althis' web were made to
understand that if they uttered a sound, if they could not keep
themselves quiet, they too would be killed immediately. However, we
impressed upon them that if they submitted and remained quiet, they
would be released unharmed. All remained quiet. Little did any of us
quite understand the unique savagery of the sakkra, yet to be
revealed.
Althis,
Durham, Pako, and Kogus remained above, and began firing arrows and
bolts down at the pirates who were caught up in the melee occurring
on the beach. The sakkra had confronted the pirates on work duty, and
had a rather large contingent pinned down in an alcove. Neither group
seemed to have a clear advantage, and they mostly hurled taunts and
insults at each other. While the sakkra were smaller in number, they
had range with their javelins. The pirates, while outnumbering the
sakkra more than two to one, and having a good defensive position,
did not have the stomach for running headlong into a storm of
well-aimed javelins. I suspect it was their hope that the sakkra
would soon weary of their actions and slink away with what little
prizes they had attained. After all, once the sakkra were out of
ammunition, the pirates could easily hunt them down.
The
rest of our group made our way down the stairs on this far side, and
initiated a skirmish with about ten additional pirates who were
firing missiles, ineffectively, at the sakkra from a different
balcony-vantage point. Hey-Jo immediately pulled the arcana around
them, and the entire group, save one, fell into a deep slumber. That
remaining individual was mind-rushed by Sesel, and forced over the
edge, to fall into the water below. At that moment, surprising
everyone at hand, Althis unleashed a terrible force! A thin streak of
white hot flame burst from his finger, streaking down from the upper
corridor, and struck the ground near the center of the bulk of the
pirates defending their alcove position. When that flame touched the
ground, it exploded into a blinding ball of fire, killing many of
their number, and wounding a good number more! As this was happening,
Durham had loosed some well-aimed arrows that struck the captain of
the pirates with some serious wounds. As we made our way through to
where this frackas had been occurring, the pirate captain spied us,
and being seriously wounded and fire-singed, must have feared that
all was lost. She held her weapons high and called for a parlay.
The
sakkra were not inclined to grant parlay; however, Durham came down
and spoke calmly with Kaa, and convinced him that the pirates had
been vanquished and no longer posed a threat. Besides, he noted,
there were several more prisoners upstairs who needed to be dealt
with. Durham begged this single boon from the Kaa, petitioning that
these few prisoners, including the captain would be his day's reward,
to do with as he willed. Kaa agreed, hissed several insults at the
captain, then ordered his chieftains to go inside, to gather the
other prisoners, and to prepare for a ritual celebration. The fate of
the pirate captain and her minions was heatedly discussed among our
group, and it was ultimately decided to spare them, allowing her and
a goodly number of her mates to depart unhindered and unarmed (in a
small-boat). Interestingly, ten of her fellows decided to “jump
ship” and join our cause. While they seemed to fear the ferocious
savagery of the sakkra, I suspect they had been awed by our strength
and our apparent command over the lizardmen, and perhaps saw a new
avenue for employment.
The
sakkra took over the pirates' mess hall and began ritualistically
executing the prisoners gathered from the web, dismembering and
roasting them, and devouring them. Kaa boasted of his prowess and
strength, his glorious command and execution of the battle, and
insisted that we attend their celebration. We graciously declined,
explaining to Kaa that there was still much treasure and stores to be
accounted for and prepared for transport to his warren-halls. In
truth, most of our company was appalled at the sakkra's murderous
behavior, and we made a quick decision to put an end to Kaa's reign.
It was at about this point when Gan mumbled something about seeing
the sakkra eating the pirates gave credibility to his notion of
eating bandits. I honestly don't know what's gotten into Gan lately.
While
the sakkra were entertaining themselves, we set the pirate turncoats
to work, reloading the Dark Wing with the cargo that they had
recently unloaded. A few of our party took this time to prepare and
ignite a massive bonfire. Once everything was loaded, and the fire
was blazing, we stationed our new-found lackeys along the Dark Wing's
railing – closest to the shore – each armed with bows and arrows.
Althis, Hey-Jo, Pako, and Kogus also remained aboard, prepared with
their own missile weapons. Durham then invited the Kaa out to
continue his celebration of our victory at the bonfire, with wine and
song and tales of grandeur! This offer was flatly declined, perhaps
in anger and retribution for our refusing to join the sakkra's fiesta
of horror and torment. With sakkra, it's hard to tell. The excuse
given by Kaa was that the few surviving prisoners, and the loot,
should now be carried to his warrens, and there distributed among his
chieftains. Sesel used his control over the mind to send out a wash
of goodwill that helped Durham further cajole and convince Kaa to
refrain from that course of action and join us by the fire, instead.
Kaa acquiesced; however, he also decreed that four of his chiefs
should return to the Selayah warrens to bring back more sakkra to
help carry lucre.
Kaa
and the bulk of his chieftains joined Sesel and Durham, leaving the
mess hall to gather on the beach, where the bonfire was blazing. The
four lesser chiefs designated to return to the tribe continued to
mill around the mess hall, arguing with each other and gathering
baubles, while preparing to leave. As they were distracted, and
everyone else was at the bonfire, I dropped the arcana around them
and toppled them into slumber. At that same moment, Sesel used the
full force of his mind control to utterly crush the life out of Kaa,
while most of his retinue was laid low by arrows and bolts loosed by
Althis, Hey-Jo, Pako, Kogus, and our new pirate friends. Only one
sakkra chieftain was left standing. He stood in glazed-over
astonishment and surprise, and as the word, “TREACHERY!”, was
escaping its mouth in an ear-piercing shriek, Avin ran forward and
impaled the lizard with his estoc, grinning while its life drained
away.
It
was about this time when Arngeir of the Green Gleam came gliding into
the cavern room aboard their panga, pulling up to the beach and
offering assistance in our expedition. They professed that they had
intended to join us earlier, but their presence had been required for
personal business back in Cothon. It is, after all, tax season.
Loading
of the Dark Wing was nearing completion, and the bodies of the sakkra
were wrapped in old sailcloth and stowed aboard. As Sesel and I
watched this operation we chatted and recalled from an earlier
excursion here that the pirates had kept prisoners of their own in a
locked chamber just off of the main feasting hall. That chamber was
located and the few wastrels who were incarcerated were released and
provided with food and drink. They were certainly in a state of
shock, especially after hearing and seeing what they could of the
singular destruction of the pirates, and our subsequent slaying of
the sakkra. They were concerned that they were being freed only to be
slaughtered from behind. We were able to allay their fears, informing
them that they were free to go their own merry way, or to join us
aboard the Dark Wing, and that we would deliver them peaceably to
Cothon.
As
the pirate corpses were dealt with, disposed of in the bonfire,
several of us recalled that a particular pirate – a wizard of
renown – had not been accounted for in the skirmishing. Nor did any
of us recall anyone attempting escape. Thus, we began searching the
lower chambers for this wizard. Durham used his scanning device and
noted two individuals close by, behind what appeared to be a secret
door. Althis cast a dweomer of silence on a sling bullet and stood
nearby to Avin as they attempted to use brute strength to force the
portal open. However, some strange force must have been infused into
the wood of this portal, and Avin was unable to even budge it. We
suspected arcane powers at work, as the door appeared to be made of
wood, and not in the best condition. A quick decision was made, and
Arngeir wielded their exotic halberd, taken weeks earlier from the
grasp of a defeated demon, and began smashing and hacking the door in
an attempt to destroy it.
When
a large enough hole was created, Althis tossed the magicked stone
into the room, snuffing out all sound, and the ability to speak the
words necessary to perform any arcane manifestations. Gan and Sesel
each activated their singularly amazing helms, providing them the
ability to perceive invisible opponents. Peering in, they reported
that two individuals stood near the far wall of the room. Hey-Jo
stepped near to the opening, and being outside the influence of the
silence, they twisted the arcana into a spell of deep slumber. To our
surprise, Gan and Sesel reported that only one of the invisible
figures had slumped to the ground. The other remained standing, and
appeared to be frantically grabbing at something at their waist.
Recognizing that it was likely the wizard still standing, and she
appeared to be reaching for a weapon of power, Gan and Sesel rushed
forward, grasping the figure and easily pinning her, stifling any
further altercations.
These
two captives were trussed up tightly, gagged, and hauled aboard the
Dark wing, to be returned to Cothon and handed over to the Hanse. We
had heard rumor of a citizen of Gadeed being kidnapped by the
pirates, and we suspected one of our captives might be her. We also
believed that one might be a particular wizard who was of special
interest to the authorities. We expected that at a minimum a goodly
ransom for the former, and a lucrative bounty for the latter, might
appropriately be owed us for our troubles. However, as these two
remained invisible, we could not be sure about their identities, nor
did we wish to remove their gags to question them, for fear of
allowing a wizard to unleash their fury.
With
everything loaded, and Arngeir on board to help command our prize,
our skeleton crew was able to maneuver the Dark Wing through the
cavern's western entrance, and out onto Dirac's Sea. We turned her
bow south and west, toward Cothon, and within hours reached the
entrance to the harbor. Authorities in several vessels made way from
the city to intercept us, as the Dark Wing was easily identifiable
and well known as a locally marauding vessel. However, it must have
been readily apparent that we were overloaded and maneuvering poorly,
and certainly not a serious threat. We were also flying a set of
colors from our yardarms that Durham had seen fit to acquaint the
Cothon authorities about months before. These flags proclaimed that
we were friends under duress, not foes, and wished to parlay. Upon
closing with us and positing questions, snippets of our heroics
emerged, Durham was recognized, and the captains of the military
vessels allowed us entrance to Cothon, to dock at the quays of the
Hanse.
Our
booty was unloaded and tallied, the Dark Wing was duly registered
(details of this shall be forthcoming), the sakkra bodies were
delivered to the alchemists, our pirate comrades were offered
employment at Sesel's new iq'ta (or allowed to depart unhindered),
and the two invisible hostages were delivered to the Hanse. All told,
a very lucrative and rousing adventure – at the very least! The
pirates who had been secretly operating out of the Ocean's Throat
caves had been utterly vanquished, their lair and most recent cargoes
had been seized and cleaned out, their most prized vessel (Dark Wing)
had been claimed as our prize, and the leader of the troublesome
Selayah sakkra (along with ten of his most stalwart chiefs) had been
eliminated. Indeed, a rather raucous celebration ensued, beginning at
the Kantor and continuing at the Understar – albeit not nearly as
savage and murderous as that of the Selayah sakkra.
Durham
vowed to return to the Selayah warrens soon enough, cowing them into
submission. He hoped to win the freedom of a local sakkra priest from
the unnecessary imprisonment Kaa had subjected him to. It had been
determined that freeing the priest of G'Kar would be a worthy
adventure for the near future! Perhaps it would atone for our
treacherous behavior?
As
a final note of import, one of the pirate hostages, delivered to the
Hanse, was indeed revealed to be a citizen-member of one of Gadeed's
great Houses – Hadisha, I believe. Word was that she had been
kidnapped by the pirates months before, and was being compelled to
assist them in some rather interesting research. Recent rumors also
mentioned something about the crazy alchemist, Yramrag (recently
brought to justice), corresponding with the pirate wizard (Vikonya?)
about what lies behind the Green Doors – curiously, some of those
missives were said to have been signed by Hadisha. I feel that it
might be profitable and desirable to question her about that
research; I will attempt to seek an audience with her, and fathom out
what she may know. However, for now, I will return to Bob and pursue
information concerning a specific item brought out of the tomb of
Itra the Swift: a tumbaga ring shaped into a beaked head with three
rubies set as its eyes – I suspect that it may have some connection
to the colossi who guard the entrance to the Oracle.
