Our party is making their way across the Sea Of Fallen Stars to their next goal, the shores of Impiltur. Along the way on their sea-faring journey, of course they run into pirates!
The mid-morning sun strikes droplets of water across the deck of The Starcross II, making it look like crystals are dancing about. A unique name for the ship as it crosses waters, not stars. Even the first the Starcross I, didn't cross stars. She now is long lost. Many years ago she was a warship out of the nation of Turmish, who they were warring with their rival to their south, the nation of Chondath. The two nations bordering The Vilhon Reach you just passed through on your way out to the sea. She was overpowered and believed to be sunk by an "independent observer" Buccaneer faction out of The Pirate Isles. It was rumored she was carrying gold to help establish the new treasury in Chondath once Turmish conquered it. Obviously that war effort never came to that conclusion. So in honor of her efforts this ship was named The Starcross II. It also is a nod to the legend of the sunken ship and her booty that according to some in the Isles, lays unclaimed to this day.
Earlier this morning after their confrontation with The Thing That Should Not Be, one of the deck hands up in his nest had signaled that land was approaching. He was able to do that because of a giant mountain. "The Earthspur," commented Capt Morsho from his bridge chair. He pointed to the north and through the mid-morning sea mist, they could see off in the distance, indeed a great mountain jutting up into the sky. A cloud layer concealed its peak height, but he told them that it rose near 8,000 feet out of the southern tip of The Dragonisle. The major isle out here in The Pirate Isles. And a location that he must make a stop at. The Captain then came down to the deck to speak with the party and provide his reasons.
The Dragonisle. The Sea Of Fallen Star's main hub for all pirates and their...activities.
He began. "Ya see, when ye pass through these Pirate Isles, you must stop and honor the Pirate's Code, and pay your fealty to the resident Pirate Lord who resides in the port of Immurk's Hold, named for our current Pirate Lord, Captain Immurk The Invincible. It's been some time since I passed through these waters on this end and this time I must make my allegiances known in order to progress you to Impiltur. As long as ye stick with me, and keep yer traps shut, you'll be just fine. Much finer than most, as not everybody that passes through the Isles leaves with their lives." He then gives you a wink of assurance, maybe? Or warning? Hard to tell as the old timer Captain makes his way back to his bridge and begins barking orders to his crew to set the sails and rigs and make their way for 'The Hold'. They will arrive in the next few hours, where anchor will be dropped just offshore and they will be rowed into port on a tender boat that is used to row crew and cargo to shore and then back to ship.
Immurk's Hold. The largest settlement in the Pirate Isles and it's de facto capital. Home and base of operations to approx 3000-4000 pirates of various factions at any time of the seasons. As the party are escorted to shore, it is clear they are in a pirate haven. Numerous ships are anchored all about the bay, and moored at sturdy and makeshift docks, pirate business coming and going. Upon land itself, this is what some might call an advanced shantytown. But this is vibrant! There are small fires lit everywhere. Numerous houses and warehouses and tavern-like establishments spot the territory. There is so much noise as well, from cheering to fighting. Chickens and dogs run loose. Children and adults alike having sword fights in the sands. There are teams of working men moving cargo to the various store holds scattered about. The environment seems to extend further into land, but from this vantage point they cannot see that deep in. And up on a high crag to the north, sits Fort Greyrock, home to their Pirate Lord, Captain Immurk The Invincible. The fort flying its banner, a giant Jolly Roger flag upon its high tower.
Immurk's Hold, the port capital of The Dragonisle. And home to Pirate Lord Immurk The Invincible
The party are stared at, whistled at, yelled at, laughed at, and overall "welcomed" as they make their way through the Hold on foot to Fort Greyrock, led by Captain Morsho and one of his first mates. The captain is well-recognized among his fellows. When they arrive at the entrance to the fort, they are paused by two well dressed and armored pirate leads. They step down a step to Capt Morsho. One of them smiles when he recognizes who is before him. "Capt Silver-Eye oh my what a treat this be! To have you on our honored steps!" Capt Morsho takes a moment to reflect upon this welcome, & then hauls off and punches the guard square on the nose! The guard staggers back then straightens up laughing as the two men then embrace and exchange well-wishes. The other guard glares at the lot, easily sending out his ill-will feelings towards them all. "Who are the whelps with ye, Captain?" he asks with a half-filled mouth of rotted teeth. Morsho steps up to this ornery guard and leans in and whispers something in the guards ear. The guard's eyes widen as he listens, and then grins his toothy grin and steps back to his spot. "Well thats all ye had to say, old friend. Please, make your way inside. Our Lord be waitin for ya!"
The group walks through the old stone halls of the fort. There are many rooms, mostly behind closed doors. There are a few other open areas where pirate business is being conducted, or food being prepared and served with drink o' plenty. There are some common areas where fireplaces roar and pirates talk, argue, and laugh. There are also of course sounds coming from upstairs in the private areas leading them to believe in the lively life of being a pirate. Eventually they make their way to a set of large double wooden doors latched with an iron bar at the end of the hall. Entering this room they are overwhelmed by the luxury all around. Marbled floors, columns and walls. And every bit of those walls, floor, ceiling and object in this room is at minimum laden with gold and silver trinkets of all kinds. There are crowns, pots and pans, and pitchers and furniture, and gem piles and any other object they can think of. Treasure that would make a dragon salivate. And the crowning piece set in dead center against the back wall, which itself is covered in a beautiful colored mural of the Pirate Isles, is the gold and bronze throne of Fort Greyrock, upon which sits the Lord Of The Pirates, Captain Immurk The Invincible. Capt Morsho turns to the party for a moment and whispers in a cautionary tone. "Stay put, and quiet. The best place to be is always nearest the door." When they turn to look back to the doors and count how many steps away they are, there are a company of well-outfitted Pirate guards standing sentry. Their hungry eyes upon them all.
The Lord Of The Pirates, Captain Immurk The Invincible
Lord Immurk, always happy to see such an old friend, rises from his seat, arms raised outward and with exclamation in his old voice said, "Now are my old eyes deceiving me, or is that my old mate Captain Silver-Eye?" Capt Morsho advanced and the two men embraced in their arms as old friends would. "You've gotten grey in the beard as you have in your eyes, old friend." Immurk chuckled sarcastically. He himself is an advanced aged man now. A man who has seen a thousand nights on the sea at a time for many, many times. He moved with the gait of a man of his years, but his eyes and voice were those of a young whip fresh out on the decks. He wears an extravagant outfit and a gold trimmed crown upon his head, seemingly carved of bone and painted coral blue, like his throne. The Pirate Lord then changed his tone with his next words directed right at his old mate. "It's been so, so long since you've made your way to my realm old friend. Heh heh, I am actually surprised to be honest that you've finally decided to visit after all these years of you just sailing around the isles, just skimming the outsides, avoiding the need to pay your fealty, ey?!" That last bit came out with pure intent to anyone listening. Over the next few minutes Capt Morsho and Lord Immurk exchanged words. Some were heated, some were one-sidedly sheepish, and others were of surprise. Capt Morsho also briefly explained that he was on a contract to cross the sea on behalf of the Tethyrian nation. This part caused the bushy eyebrows of the Pirate Lord to raise more than once. You mention wealthy nations to any pirate and you'll get that same reaction no matter their age or condition they may be in.
"Ahh, so adventurers they be, ey?" The Pirate Lord said with intent as he made his way around Capt Morsho and over towards the party. He walked past them all giving them an eye up and down, a sniff here and there. Maybe a poke or two at the bigger individuals in the group. "Ay they be fine and fit they be. Hmmm I like that." he said as he stomped his peg leg onto the marble floor, causing an echo to ring out. Captain Morsho immediately made his way over as well to clearly turn the conversation away from his charges, but he was in the presence of his Lord and his attempt failed as soon as he began it. Lord Immurk made his way back to his throne and looked out the window to his left. "Is that the Stormcross II I see moored out there in the bay? Fine ship she is. Not as fast or as strong as her predecessor of course, but still a fine ship. I'll be sure she is handed back to ya without a scratch!" he said with emphasis and a wink of his eye. Capt Morsho then chanced the fates and interrupted. "My Lord, we are just simply passing through to our ways in the north. There's nothing we could possibly…" he was cut off then and there by Lord Immurk. He began with a raise of volume in his voice and maybe even an intimidating sneer of sorts. To Capt Morsho he said, "Your sister, Margaret, she lives well these days, doesn't she, CAPTAIN?!" The immediate look of resignation covered Capt Morsho's face and body language.
"Ay my Lord she does. Her walls are strong, and her lands fertile. Just as she be now as well with her third youngin arrived." That's all he was able to get out when Lord Immurk rose, stood tall and said "I'm starving, lets eat! I've got a tale to tell ya!" And with a whip of his hand that said "follow me" he made his way out of the throne room and led everyone to the dining hall. This room just as fancy of furniture and trimmings, had a grand table laden with exotic foods and drinks of all types set out. Sitting at the head of the table, the Pirate Lord Immurk began his tale giving his most animated version. "It was ages ago, well before the silver set into his eyes, when a young whip of a wannabe pirate named…Castor Morsho, was sailing through the isles with his sister, bringing her to safer lands as hers was strife with war and terror. Sadly his skills at piracy being as green as the coral below, his ship was accosted and overtaken by a rowdy pirate outfit. He and his sister captured, their belongings claimed anew, were brought onto the decks of the menacing and true pirate ship, The Stone Shark. And then the young lad was simply tied up and tossed overboard, while his sister was kept. Her screams were all he heard when he surfaced, watching her get sailed away into the distance with her new acquaintances. He was nothing more than a wet rat when he crawled onto the Hold's shores begging for help to get his sister back. Now, every pirate that takes on a job only does so only when there is investments to be made in return. So I being the Lord Of The Pirates, graciously offered to rescue his sister, in exchange, Sir Castor here would Captain one of my new ships, The Starcross II in service to claiming new lands for the good of the Code. Return every six months with his decks full of his pillages to me. Some of which are still decorating these old halls. He did good for the first few years, but then he didn't. Month after month passed and no Captain Morsho. Of course tales over the years told of sightings of The Starcross II. Sightings of the ship everywhere but here, at the Hold. And now suddenly you are here, eating my food, drinking my drink. My old friend," he chuckled purposely, " its time for ye final debts to be paid!" With that the Pirate Lord stopped talking and drank. And drank. And ate all while menacingly eyeing up his old mate.
After too many moments of uncomfortable silence for anyone at the table, the Pirate Lord continued, this time with a spark in his eyes. "Out in the seas there be a relic, The Pirate's Eye. A relic so potent, I be considering its ownership the sign for meself to finally hand the Isles to my successor. Of course I be too many years to be going out on such a task, but you my old friend, still with your pirating wits, just happen to have five seemingly boisterous allies that easily could assist. I provide ye a ship, and ye make your way to…" the old man paused for dramatic effect looking at all seated at the table. "...Myth Nantar, the sunken city. You go down into the depths with the aid of my…friend, and retrieve that relic for me. Rumor says it lies down in The Vaults, the former stronghold of the city. Bring the relic back, & all your debt to me be paid in full all in witness of The Code". And with that, Lord Immurk rose, mildly wobbly from age and drink, and made his way out to a common room with a fireplace to probably pass out in front of. As he left the room he said with an eye on Capt Morsho, "beds upstairs for ye all. Rest deep for ye need to be at the docks at dawn." And with that he swished out of the room and sight.
When the party all looked to Captain Morsho, he knew he had some answers that needed to be given. And so over the rest of the food and drink, they all now got just that. A mild conversation that Capt. Morsho did not hold the truth back from, further cementing his stature as yes a former pirate, but still a good man. This kept the party content. For now.
The next morning arrived. As the group made their way downstairs to leave for the docks, there is someone waiting for them. A woman. She is dressed in robes and rags of greens and browns, and adorned with heavy face paint and jewelry strewn across her hands and in her long braided hair. She has dark skin, and even darker eyes. She silently beckons the party to follow her. She leads them to one of the rooms downstairs, which then goes down one more level. In the center of this subterranean room there is a giant globe made of water, suspended by itself in the air. Its huge, its gotta be 20-30 feet in diameter. The woman then extends her hands out motioning them to get into the globe of water. This of course was met with some hesitation, but that was somehow calmly abated when she said in a soft voice "To be in the depths you must embrace the depths". Well the party decided "what's the worst that could happen?" as they one by one walked into the globe of water. Once inside, as the moments passed, they looked out to see the woman outside the globe doing some sort of riveting dance and they can lightly hear shes chanting loudly. The pressure in their lungs begins to grow as they instinctively want to breathe, and just when they are about to burst and let their body take in the water, the woman places her hands onto the globe and a harsh wave of pressure passes through. The impact makes them all automatically inhale. And then exhale. And again. That is because they are now able to breathe as if they are not in the water! Once the shock of this wares off, the water itself around them seems to evaporate into them, leaving them standing in the center of the room, all the water gone. All that remains is the woman. She looks at the party with a proud grin and says in her sultry voice…"twenty four hours"…and then she simply walks out of the room.
Nobody knows her name, but they do know what she's capable of.
At the docks, there is a pair of pirates and Pirate Lord Immurk waiting for the party at a small ship in one of the slips. He makes his usual boisterous speech in front of his men about how things around here soon will be changing all thanks to Capt Silver Eye and his courageous crew. He then turns to Capt Morsho and quietly, yet just loudly enough for you all to hear as well says in a purposeful tone "Bring me back the relic…or don't." He then assigns his two men to the ship to aid in navigation, and walks away to watch everyone board the ship and set off on their task. He grows smaller and smaller as they are taken out, and begin their way to Myth Nantar. It wont be a long journey, as the ruins of Myth Nantar are just to the south encompassing the last bit of tiny isles that mark the perimeter of the Pirate Isles. While en route they all discover onboard in multiple chests provided by their Pirate Lord, they have been left with a cache of weapons, armor and various tools of aid. You see, in the water if combat is to occur, it is quite different.
In one of the chests there are a couple spears, a set of javelins, a shortbow and two rapiers. All of which are worn, but are also rated +2. Another chest contains vials and bottles of poison that can be applied to the weapons. Upon further examination of the bottles, labels prove they contain a solution known as Crawler Mucous. That is learned to be a poison that causes debilitating effects upon contact. Handle with care. The final chest contains studded leather armors of various designs and colors, but they all have a peculiar sheen to them. These armors if worn will provide the wearer with a bit of extra protection against piercing damage.
After a few hours of mildly choppy waters, Lord Immurk's men and Capt Morsho agree they have arrived at the location where Myth Nantar should lie below. Capt Morsho and Lord Immurk's men will remain on the ship while the party make their way to the sunken city. All there is left to do now is…dive in. After some decided to gear up in the leather armors and grab some of the free weaponry, each party member decides to make a show of going overboard. The sea birds above if they could talk would tell how they saw moments of a hilarious scene of Alystn just squeezing his nose, closing his eyes and sort of falling in. They saw Inka impressively cannonball into the water(once again, not in her birthday suit). Eventually they were all finally in the water and disappearing below the surface. As they make their way down into the depths, foot by foot, they are instantly transported to another world. Wildlife never seen before swims around them in the likeness of strange fishes and seaweeds and beds of colorful coral. The deeper they go the darkness gets lit up at random by bioluminescent creatures creating a dazzling light show all around them. They as curious of the party, as the group of them. It also is a fascinating experience realizing that they are breathing on their own underwater! Down here below the surface, there are no sounds. There are just the pressures of the current pushing against and for them. Eventually they make their way hundreds of feet down and soon coming into view, appearing from the dark of the depths, across the seabed before the party is the ancient sunken city of Myth Nantar.
The ancient sunken city, Myth Nantar. Once a jewel of the Sea Of Fallen Stars, now it's graveyard.
The Vaults is a huge pantheon style structure set on the western end of the city. Its ancient stone construction covered in various seaweeds and corals showing some of it's age. Fish and other mostly harmless creatures swim about it. Large sets of steps on each of its sides lead up to its face where columns 60 feet high keep the structure soundly in place. And beyond, a large gaping stone arch opening that leads into The Vaults. Once they make their way inside, they can feel the currents have stopped here. There seems to be a still in the water all around them, like when one is on the surface of the water, and it pauses and turns into a sheet of glass. As they pass through the halls of The Vaults, the ruin of time is more apparent the deeper in they go. Broken walls, broken floors, entire collapsed sections at some points. Yet their way through seems apparent as this grand hallway of sorts leads further in without obstruction. Soon enough they arrive at what appears to be a dead end if it weren't for all the skeletons floating around and resting forever on the floor near the wall ahead. It seems none have made it past this point in their attempts, most likely to get the very same prize the party are here for. They are the plentiful remains of men and monster alike it seems from the known design to very unknown design of the numerous bones surrounding them. The wall ahead which is about 35 feet high and 20 feet wide seems to be just a flat surfaced wall, but upon closer inspection, there is indeed a seam running down its center. It is also covered in pockmarks and cracks and impact points. Clear signs that others in the past tried to get the door open, but judging from all the bones, none had succeeded. As the group are examining this scene, they feel the water's current suddenly start up, pushing against them, meaning something is moving in their direction.
In the depths, there are sharks. But these are no ordinary sharks as the party discovers
Swimming down from above, to the depths of their eye level, appear a group of shark-like creatures. There are near twenty of the fearsome creatures, all of various design, swimming around & led by a brooding beast who looms before the party at the fore of the group donned in some sort of blackened armor. Besides all appearing like anthropomorphous sharks, they also physically appear…not very alive. Yet at least one of them speaks as the leader of this pack addresses the party in a menacing tone. "You are not of the waters, but of the wretched above. Here to remove that which belongs?" After conversing with the creatures, the lead shark had some eerie things to say. It addressed the party like they had never been before. Referencing the relic it began, "The goal of so many that came before, yet as you can see, all have failed their test. So now, shall you join their ranks and sink to the bottoms of oblivion? As you see, they all float down here!" The leader then takes on a melancholic tone before continuing. "Or will ye be the ones to gain the infamy so many have come to seek? To tear the corruption within asunder and remove it from this realm. To release those who did not choose their forms." The leader, who has now been named Sharky McSharkFace, turns and looks upon the grouping of shark creatures, like a Captain would to his own crew. The rest of the pack begin to swim wildly around, excitedly even, as if they are in anticipation of what comes next. And that which comes next is told to the party very purposely as Sharky McSharkface begins to swim away with these final words. "To be worthy of passage, ye must be worthy of victory over the true Guardian Of The Vault." As he and his shark mates all swim away and out of view, the party begin to feel here in the depths a rumble beginning. Any wildlife that was swimming around is now suddenly gone. There is a moment of calm under the waters here. And then the rumbling intensifies below them as the floor all around them in a wide berth explodes open, and within a shower of bubbles and rubble rising before them is The Guardian Of The Vault
If you're looking to hire a Guardian, there's few better choices than...The Morkoth!
Now this was a creature unlike the party had ever seen before. It was octopus like with its massive tentacles and beaked mouth. But also it was maybe even a bit spider like with its extra spindly legs protruding from its midsection. Clearly to the party, for the time being, this was the fearsome Spiderpuss! And now they had to figure out how to defeat it. Which turned out to NOT be an easy feat. Being underwater, their weapon selection was quite limited. Good thing they remembered the spears and armors from the ship. And that they still were able to cast spells When you're underwater like this, you'll try almost anything to survive. As did the monster it seemed as upon its head was a pile of what could only be considered it's own treasure hoard of past battles. Various items and remains seemed to be piled up and unmoving upon its massive head. Alystn and Sendak both got a good closeup look of this strange setup as they more than once, were grappled by the giant monster's tentacles and brought up to be added to it's "collection". Luckily they were able to avoid becoming an added permanent fixture to the pile using various battle tactics. The Goliath's favorite being able to "blink" in and out of different areas, ending up behind the monster more often than not, out of view like a proper Monk Of The Shadows.
Another battle problem the party had was Sherrinford seemingly falling under some sort of trance sent out by the creature because the Gnome wanted to just swim right up to the thing as if it was his best mate of many years! Thankfully Alystn recognized the problem after releasing himself from the powerful(and piercing) hold of the tentacles, and had a magical answer for that, releasing the charm on the Gnome that the monster had beamed out. Many magic missiles were thrown. Many javelins were sent forth. And may piercing tentacle attacks were survived thanks to the special armors from the ship. And in the end, it was found out that the creature's vitals seemed to be connected to its two giant eyes. After taking out one of its eyes with a well placed javelin shot, the party moved in. Being able to breathe underwater, they kind of felt like they could do this dance all day! But they weren't here for that. It was all about the relic for them. Grab the relic, and get back to the surface where they belonged so they could be on their way and done with this pirate business. With this emphasis on their minds, they landed the fatal blow to the mighty beast in its remaining eye. This was solidified by what happened next. The head of the mighty beast began to separate from its "neck area" where the spider-like legs protruded. This is where inside the creature was discovered possibly another small creature appeared. It being as dead as the "Spiderpuss" itself, it's inky blood began to pool all around the party as they waded in its shadow. The blood then seemed to take on a life of it's own as it turned into tendril like streams which began to swim towards the dead end wall. As it did, it slowly enveloped the entire wall. The blood then appeared to seep into the seam in the center, and along the perimeter. Then somehow it began to glow a bright pearl blue, so bright everyone had to shade their eyes. Suddenly a slight rumble occurred as the wall began to separate, revealing the Vault of Myth Nantar!
Approaching the inside cautiously, the party was within a simple stone room, quite large and slightly tipped due to recent pressure changes and shifts from the Guardian's arrival. Centered in this vault upon an ornate stone pedestal built into its floor, encased in some type of glass box, is The Pirate's Key. It is a large object, about the diameter of a large round shield. And as they all peer upon it, they see it is shimmering? Emanating? Some sort of force slightly outpouring from it. Now they need to decide who among them shall take the relic from its casing.
The Pirate's Eye. A navigational relic full of power and value in the right hands. Or the wrong ones.
This brought up some major and important discussion among the group. They recalled how it was described to them by both Lord Immurk, and then by the Sharky McSharkface. Was it evil, they wondered? Was it magickal? And if so, what kind as they currently had zero idea. This led to Pip our resident Sorcerer to decide the best hands on approach would be to use none of their hands, but a proper casting of Mage Hand! This allowed them to maneuver the relic out of its casing and then swim with it all the way back to the ship, where Capt Morsho and the two mates were waiting. The Captain was very relieved to see his charges in one piece, albeit a bit banged up, but alive and with the relic in their possession. As soon as Pip managed to get it safely on board, he recalled his Mage Hand spell and that's when the relic just clanged onto the deck of the ship. Everybody froze. Everybody stared at it. Waiting for what might happen next. The only one who truly knew what happened next was Inka. She decided to walk over and pick the relic up. And when she did...
Inka is suddenly standing in her Firbolg homeland of The Winterwood. It is in flaming ruins, razed to the ground. She can clearly hear the screams and cries(and silence) of her brethren in the near distance around her, yet she saw no one. She then, maybe instinctively, looks high to the sky, & shrouded amongst the clouds and smoke tainted red with blood, she sees a dark shape. An outline of a familiar form hovering over the landscape. And that all too familiar evil cackle heard before. "It's her," Inka thought. Damnit, it's her!" Suddenly she is back on the deck of the ship with her friends and Capt Morsho, all their eyes upon the Firbolg. Unable, mainly due to the immediate uncomfortableness she is now feeling, to fully explain what happened when she grabbed the relic, the party had to decide. Do they surrender this relic to Lord Immurk as assigned, and escape the Isles north to Impiltur with their lives in tow? Or risk it all, and keep the relic for themselves, as it may be a clue on how to track down The Step-Queen who is clearly not letting go of the fact that this band of heroes will simply not fall as her plans demand....
FIN
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