SESSION 245: Sailing the Sunless Sea
No longer retreating the hobos sail across the inky abyss.
Day 170 Continued(12.20/0605): Favourable winds. The day started off nice enough. The droogs were rowing, the Captain was navigating, Bunny and Saff were hanging out in the crow’s nest doing nothing as they were virtually running blind, Rhags and Steve were fishing for dinner and Ding-We was slacking err.. plotting. Bunny got lucky when she saw a serpentine form breaching the waters along the port side. She was able to give just enough warning as an 80’ serpent coiled around the SS I.S.O.D.E.T.B.S.B (ya. Read your recaps MOFOs). The serpent wrapped itself around the vessel and began to constrict. First it creaked, then it groaned and the wood began to snap and buckle as we began to bring on water. The Captain called out “Aye she’s gonna bring us down! Sink it before it sinks us!”. His outburst earned him a vicious bite from the creature as it tightened it coils. This would not be and was not a pretty operation. Smash the crap outta the beast before it sunk us. Smash they did until the creature unravelled and sunk back into the sea. The ship was in rough shape as Steve jumped upon the summoned giant seahorse and then followed the serpent to the sea floor hoping to harvest a king’s ransom from its belly. After chasing it for 300 or so feet and then gutting the thing he was not rewarded with anything except fish heads.. Being not that smart and wanting a trophy he dawdled a bit longer to harvest a pair of the serpent’s fangs. He jumped on his mount and made haste for the surface before the spoils of his inner toiling attracted predators.
Topside, repairs would take the better portion of the remaining day and be to the detriment of the cabin. The ship was a little rough when they found it, the serpent had noticeably degraded its condition beyond what in water salvage repairs could remedy. In lieu they renamed their somewhat leaky ship ‘The Serpent’.
Fortune smiled when another encounter occurred but it was benevolent. A curious pod of whale sharks between dives for the abundant plankton in these deeps.
Day 171 (12.20/0605): Favourable winds. A pleasant and uneventful day of sailing.
Day 172 (12.20/0605): Favourable winds. Bunny is roused in the dead of night by the sound of scraping or scratching along the underside of the vessel. It was termites, damn termites. Saff was able to put a couple into magical slumber but the other three were able to grab a meal and disappear into the deeps. No injuries but the ship once more began to leak here and there.
Day 173 (12.20/0605): Strong tail winds. After losing a half day worth of travel, today the winds through this bizarre underground world had some gusto. The Captain was optimistic that they would reach their destination by day’s end even with the current condition of the ship. They would not but it was not the Captain’s fault. A Sahuagin war party had been following the ship from below the surface. Beyond the reach of probing eye or shining light. They attacked silent as death. Amassing underneath along the prow and then climbing up. Driven by wild hatred and the uncontrollable urge to kill they made it topside without notice. The surprise attack was brutal. A shower of spears rained down on the unsuspecting hobos. “Sea Devils! We are under attack to your feet land lubbers!”, screamed Alamend just before a spear slammed into his shoulder.
As the gang scrambled to get to their feet and grab weapon and shield the Sahuagin drew their tridents and flooded the deck. The hobos were flat-footed and now being overrun. There were three groups of ten warriors each with independent command teams that displayed a comfort with overwhelming ship bound terrestrials. Each hobo faced a trio of warriors as the leaders scanned the deck for opportunities. After the combination of the first volley and the follow up skewering by triple trident action Charles, Bibles and Mason were openly bleeding from multiple injuries. This was not the time to be pretty the hobos needed to act decisively. Steve started chopping through opponents as Saffron blasted off magics and the casters on deck had some success as well and then the Sahuagin leaders waded into battle. The hobos were all now bloodied and a few within sniffing distance of mortality. The battle was now in the hands of the gods, just waiting to tip hard in either direction. The hobos pushed hard for divine reckoning. Their perseverance was deemed worthy and the tide of battle changed in the nick of time. Charles swayed on his feet attempting to hold his insides in place as Bimbles fought from one knee and the Captain defended himself while one of his arms was affixed to the cabin with a spear. The final three devils leapt from the ship returning to the inky depths the fight was over. The deck was slick with the mixed blood of combatants. Aid was rushed to the most grievously injured to prevent the likes of Charles from bleeding out.
“Let’s get to work lads we earned our pay. Now it’s time to collect”, barked out Rhagnar as Steve and Dolec joined him to loot the corpses and toss the bodies overboard to the growing number of sharks circling the ship. It seems these raiders up to now had a successful career, many of them adorned in high quality jewelry and a copious amount of coin. The Captain then ordered the sail to be furled, “Hands on the halyard and douse that sail. Drift underway”. He then lashed the wheel and slumped to the ground exhausted and well-bloodied.
The Cauldron and its mysteries would wait another day.
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C10) 313941 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C9) 276643 xp +5% <300001> CRT 1d12/III
+2 save to poison and internal body things; Double eat (gotta feed my baybay)
Hobo Steve the Lord (F9) 289416 xp +5% <360,001> CRT 1d24/V
Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)
Rahgnar the Dwarven Superhero (D8) 210405 xp <280001> CRT 1d20/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)
Critical Wound: disembowelled less able to process poison (-1 penalty)
Missing thirteen teeth
Ding-We the Peg-Legged Sorcerer (W9) 463664 xp +10% <470001> CRT 1d10/I
Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)
Bunny the Thief! (T9) 257448 xp <280001> +10% CRT 1d20/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
The Henchmen
Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY7) 176755 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Mason the Lama of Yrrrg. (C7) 60920 <100001> CRT 1d10/III
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 59051 <64000> +10% CRT 1d16/IV
Franz the Grave Return (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Dolec Da the Hero (F5) 43871 xp +10% <64000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Captain Alamend Strender the Swashbuckler (F5) 25020 <32000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
RESERVES
BoB is the lone lawn ornament for the Basilisk Knights.
Chung Li needs 12 weeks (74 days) and a stack of coin to rewrite his lost spell book.
Elapsed: 33 days (from A-Team calendar)
Elapsed Campaign Time
612 (630) days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Six when we ask the questions:
Was that war-party ranging and raging or are we about a Sea Devil nest?
What mysteries await at the Cauldron?
The sea has not been kind, did we offend something?
Do we have a solution or measure for remedying damage to the ship?
Tale of the Tape
Exploration Below the Blighted Sub-Hex
Location hex: 12.20
KILLS
Greater Sea Serpent
Sea Termites (5) escaped, mostly, with full bellies
Sahuagin war party
LOOT
9000 gp
Jewelry (15) : 15,200 gp total
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