TOPIC: R1 2020 Was Blades in the Dark, now D&D5e

Work is not on tonight so I will get to join my favourite rag tab bunch of adventurers. Will have to leave an hour early but its better than nothing.

Also, regarding being sent a 1000 years in the past. I would assume said character would have plenty of opportunity to level up a lot whilst they found a way back to the present.

Foiled again!

Sarge wrote:
I know but I like to at least pretend at being polite.

Season One / Session Six (Part 1)

We begin with a flashback. A swarthy halfling fisherman hauls his nets up from the briny depths of the sea, the wet rope rasping between his calloused palms. The net bulges with struggling fish. It is a good haul, but there is something strange.... A large, pallid sea slug glares up at the fisherman with three oval eyes, glowing red with malice. The fisherman is hypnotized by the strange creature and begins clumsily cutting apart the net with his gutting knife. Dying fish flop onto the pitching deck. His eyes blank, the fisherman plucks up the malevolent mollusc and holds it closer to his face. He barely reacts as the creature crawls into his mouth and forces its way down his gullet....

We cut forward to the sea caves near Whalewater Landing. A pair of hooded villagers drag a bloodied priest of before the cult's profane altar. The halfling fisherman (now completely hairless and covered with a patina of milky slime) bares his pallid chest to the prisoner, revealing a ragged incision splitting his torso. Long, translucent tentacles quest from within the wound, reaching for the priest. The tentacles caress the prisoner's face, leaving trails of pale ichor along his cheek. The priest recoils in disgust, but is held fast by his captors. A moment later, he cries out in pain as his entire body is wracked with violent spasms. Within minutes, the human priest is transformed into a horrid fishman, gills flapping frantically as he gasps for breath. The halfling waves dismissively and the cultists drag the screaming fishman away.....

Back in the present, the Heroes have assaulted the cult's lair below the lighthouse and confronted the halfling boss. Two large, lobster-like monstrosities emerge from the sea to defend their master. The halfling boss brandishes his Staff of Talos and projects a bolt of lightning across the cave, striking Miasma and knocking her down! The chuul scuttle forward and grapple Poddlebrim and Nimin in their vice-like claws. Stinging tentacles paralyze the tortle monk, but Nimin resists the effect and flies into a murderous rage! Sir Henry charges the halfling boss, cutting his opponent down in a single blow! As its host dies, the parasitic critter nestled in the halfling's stomach is ejected from the wound. Sir Henry cries out in horror as pale tentacles lash out. The mutative slime splashes Sir Henry's exposed flesh and he falls to the ground as his body is wracked with violent spasms....

Nimin and Poddlebrim are still grappled by the chuul. Poddlebrim's shell begins to crack under the pressure! Endon and Ezeke rush to aid their friends and the chuul are slain. Darvin sees Sir Henry fall and casts Magic Missile, splashing the juvenile aboleth across the altar... but he is too late, Sir Henry has been transformed into a horrid fishperson!!

Season One / Session Six (Part Two)

Poddlebrim claims the powerful Staff of Talos and gains the ability to cast Lightning Bolt (recharge 6). Ezeke considers his spell list and concludes he cannot reverse Sir Henry's fishy transformation. The Heroes take a long rest before exploring any more of the cave. Miasma slips into a trance and receives a vision from her parents, the King and Queen of Drura! King Tarsus implores his daughter to return the Algorstone to Jaanalume, lest terrible destruction bring the elven nation to ruin. Miasma is kinda "meh, not my problem."

Well rested, the Heroes forge on. They find crates of clockwork components stolen from the hold of the Ambuscade. They also find the Captain of the ship, a gold dragonborn called Tukvo locked up alongside Sir Basil Fondlewood. Captain Tuk agrees to ferry the Heroes to Seasend Isle, which is no great inconvenience as he was heading there anyway. Darvin berates Sir Basil for abandoning Miasma in Keria and losing his men. Sir Basil's moustache droops with shame and he asks that the Heroes give him the opportunity to regain his honour. Sir Henry grudgingly agrees. While Sir Basil may be an arrogant fool, he is still a sworn knight of Eastening and deserving of a second chance.

The Heroes board the Ambuscade and prepare to cast off! Darvin delays long enough to set most of Whalewater Landing on fire. The ship slips from its mooring and sails due west, into the glowering black clouds that plague the Stormwrack Gulf.

Keeper Wick emerges from his clifftop cottage to watch the town burn. A sudden gust of wind blows the hat from his bald head. He looks up to see a large, undead wyvern perched atop the lighthouse! Sitting astride the wyvern's back is the half-orc necromancer Mazoga Strongtusk! With a choked cry, the old man retreats inside his cottage and bolts the door. Mazoga doesn't notice, her attention is fixed on the Ambuscade as it sails into the heart of the storm. She gives the order to pursue and several dozen skeletons charge into the burning village and comandeer a small fleet of fishing vessels. Mazoga's gaze falls upon the skeletal leviathon washed up on the beach and her tusks curl in a wicked grin....

Season One / Session Six (Part Three)

Huge, grey waves toss the Ambuscade around like a toy boat in a bathtub. A cry from the crow's nest - the lookout has spotted a dark shape in the water! Something large crashes into the hull, below the waterline!! The deck pitches violently and Miasma is swept overboard!!! The other Heroes look for her, but she has disappeared beneath the churning water. They do spot a 30ft long skeletal shark circling around to ram the ship a second time! Captain Tukvo pulls a lever beside the wheel and an auto-loading ballista rises from a hatch in the foredeck. Darvin straps himself into the gunner's seat and opens fire!

Meanwhile, several small fishing boats are approaching from the rear. Each vessel is crewed by a half-dozen seafaring skeletons! Poddlebrim brandishes the Staff of Talos and calls down lightning to destroy the necromancer's fleet!

Endon moves to the starboard rail, wondering how he can help out. Suddenly, a zombie wyvern swoops out of the sky and attempts to snatch him from the deck! Endon rolls away and the wyvern becomes tangled up in the ship's rigging. From her position astride the wyvern's back, Mazoga demands that Endon give her the skull. Endon unbuckles his pack (which contains his cookpot, which contains the cursed skull of Urim Rex) and throws it into the hold. Mazoga dismounts to go after it. Endon and Ezeke give chase, while Sir Henry, Poddlebrim and Nimin engage the skeletons who managed to get aboard. Darvin sees the wyvern tangled in the rigging and shoots it with the ballista, impaling the monster to the ship's mast!

Below decks, Captain Tuk's crew frantically repair the damage done to the hull. The hold is partially flooded with seawater. Mazoga splashes forward, reaching for Endon's pack and the prize within. Endon swings his sword and cuts off her outstretched arm at the elbow! She retalliates by casting Blight. Ezeke tries to talk his sister down, but she cannot forgive how the people of Eastening abuse and mistreat half-orc hybrids. Endon rudely interrupts their conversation by disembowling Mazoga! She staggers backwards and falls through the ragged hole her skeletal shark had chewed through the hull, dragged down into dark water.

With the necromancer on her way to the bottom of the sea, the skeletal shark breaks off. The Heroes finish off the last few boarders then gang up on the wyvern.

The Ambuscade sails on and soon reaches Seasend Isle, a tropical paradise hidden away in the eye of the storm. Dense, jungle surrounds a smoldering volcano in the centre of the island. The Ambuscade docks at Last Harbour and Captain Tuk supervises the unloading of his cargo, while the Heroes explore the town. They soon learn that Last Harbour is populated exclusively by clockwork men and women, constructed by Tyrsientom in his workshop.

At this time, there has been no sign of Miasma. She is presumed drowned. The Heroes take a moment to remember their fallen comrade, then head out into the jungle to find an ancient gold dragon.

TBC

(Oops, I forgot to mention that during downtime, Nimin reinforced Poddlebrim's cracked shell with metal plates, increasing his AC by 1.)