Session 02: The Ruins of Empire Report

General Summary

After their successful performance at the Trials the day before, Turk and Mandragora were woken up by Jerish and led to the main hall, where Siphren welcomed them and four other new recruits, went over some basic rules and laws aboard her ship, and outlined their next mission over breakfast.

Afterwards, the gang took some time to relax at the beach, with Mandragora practicing his archery and Turk relaxing on the sand. They then chatted with Jessamin before noticing and taunting the Tasselwaff Twins as they scraped barnacles off ships.

They then boarded the Lion's Rage and began to learn about their new positions, with Turk joining Yugg'l the goblin as a sailing assistant and Mandragora joining Pliff as a gunner's assistant. Turk immediately took to the work, critically succeeding during their orientation and greatly impressing Roland.

The next few days were spent traveling to Cryophis Islet, with a severe tropical storm whipping up in the evening of the first day marring an otherwise peaceful trip. The morning of the third day, the crew stopped to investigate a blue hole for sunken treasure, only to have a close brush with some chuul -- giant lobster-like sea monsters.

After putting the ship to anchor in a hidden harbor, Siphren tasked Turk with leading the scouting party onto the island, encouraging them to pick two swabs to go with them and Mandragora in search of buried treasure. Turk chose Ronn and Yugg'l, the two goblin swabs, and the party set off into the jungle.

There they navigated the tricky terrain as they investigated two earthquake epicenters and found increasingly clear traces of Order activity, with Mandragora eventually finding a used handkerchief bearing the Order's crest and motto. Tensions begain to rise in the group, with Turk focused on their mission and Mandragora becoming increasingly focused on the presence of the order -- not aware that these two things were tightly linked.

Finally, the party encountered a half-buried ziggurat in a clearing, following the trail of the Order inside. They descended into the inky dark and began exploring the laberynthine tunnels.

On the second floor of the ziggurat, they had a tense encounter with an Order cultist, with other hidden enemies sneaking up on them while keeping out of sight. Making the decision to tactically retreat, the party went back downstairs and engaged in battle with a giant spider and her brood, dispatching them with ease. They then continued to explore the first level of the ziggurat, finding bas-reliefs of the goblin goddess Kikanuti, a number of crypts containing a small amount of treasure, and four stone plinths with keyholes.

Deciding they needed to find the keys, the crew began to look for the order, only to be met by the cultists in the central chamber. Turk played an impromptu bagpipe solo while Mandragora snuck around the enemies and tried to go upstairs, but ran into the Star Scion. Choosing to reunite with the party instead of facing the paladin alone, Mandragora retreated and the two groups faced off, with Turk making the first strike at the Star Scion.

After a tense battle which saw Mandragora knocked unconscious and both Ronn and Yugg'l nearly struck down as well, the party prevailed over the Order members and were able to find four stone keys to put into the plinths. Doing so revealed a treasure horde with gold, gems, treasures, and several magical items.

They also found several clues as to how the Order was able to use earthquakes to find the temples, with a used spell scroll and a shattered magical compass found on the bodies of the slain Order members. After making it back to the Lion's Rage, the party was congratulated by Captain Siphren, and Larry the Quartermaster divvied up the treasure among the crew.

Character(s) interacted with

While talking with Jessamin the harbormaster and waiting for the Lion's Rage to leave port, Turk and Mandragora both noticed Frederick and Filomena working as dock hands to scrape the barnacles off the hull of a dry-docked ship. They took the opportunity to taunt their rivals from the day before, with Turk spraying some seawater at them.

Ronn and Yugg'l, the two goblin swabs, were chosen by Turk to scout out Tsi'moria Ziggurat. They acquited themselves well -- Ronn fighting through fear to take out a cultist and land a few hits on the Star Scion, and Yugg'l providing key spellcasting support, including bring Mandragora back from the brink of death. The goblins also were invaluable in reading some of the ancient engravings found in the tomb.

Mandragora and Turk each began socializing with other crew members, with Mandragora telling Pliff of the "feelings" he gets in his guts and Pliff being properly nervous about their implications, and Turk and Yugg'l both making good impressions on Roland, the first mate.

Notes

Turk's room in the Lion's Den is the quintessential bachelor's pad -- decorated with empty beer bottles with an old mattress on the floor. Mandragora's is more functional, with fletching materials, notebooks, and sketches strewn about the apartment.