[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment