Session 6 - Follow the Compass Report
General Summary
After teleporting to the basement of a non-descript house in the Port of Skyfoss, the party first set off to the Bent Hook Tavern to seek out Dirge and give him the note from his father they found in Foss Mine. They left out the details of how his father had been reanimated as a skeleton, and instead gave Dirge space to grieve in his own way. Undoutably, they have earned his respect and friendship.
Upon discussing next steps, they decided to seek out a captain brave (or foolhardy) enough to blindly sail wherever their compass pointed. At the docks, the spotted Lota McGruff about the Broken Crate. After some greetings and small talk, she proclaimed they were crazy for wanting to sail into the Shifting Sea and that she was all aboard as long as they could convince her brother.
Captian Guff McGruff soon joined them and after some miraculously effective buttering up by Varuna , the captain agreed to sail your party for a mere 200 gp which would be returned to you if you managed to give him something of greater value from your adventure. Unfortunately, you didn't have the funds so instead you offered up the coin of Aleran Free Passage you had received from Anna Stone. He quickly accepted, you bought provisions, and set out that afternoon.
After three uneventful days sailing southwest, you reached the edge of the Shifting Seas in the late afternoon. Immediately any normal compass started spinning in circles but your magic ancient compass held fast in its bearing. McGruff dropped the sail to half mast as evening set in and watch shifts were setup. In the night, you discovered the ship was heading straight for a viscious looking storm. Attempting to sail around it proved fruitless as the compass contained to point directly at it. Emboldened by the rising run, you instructed McGruff to sail straight into the storms fury.
As you entered the storm winds and rain lashed against the boat and obscured your vision. Huge swells of the Cloud Sea lifted the boat up and dropped it down again and McGruff fought to keep the ships bearing in the squall. After about thirty minutes sailing toward the heart of the storm, a nearby flash of lighting temporarily blinded you. When your eyes refocused, a robed old woman stood holding a walking stick on the prow of your boat.
She claimed to live nearby and asked you why you had come into the storm. You revealed that you sought a lost shipwheel and she claimed to have it. She offered to trade it in return for one of your crew staying with her for one year and allow her to have your Power. Not trusting her, the party insisted to see the shipwheel. She offered to take one of you back to her home as proof and promised to return you safely back to the ship afterwards. Annie grudgingly accepted and proceeded to fly off into the storm with this mysterious old woman.
After about ten minutes, those remaining on the boat got nervous and decided to sail after Annie by following the compass. It brought them to a rock outcropping jutting from the Cloud Sea which they sailed around to find a partially concealed cove with a wooden dock. They rowed the ship in and departed into the narrow winding tunnel leading into the rock formation.
After a few minutes creeping through the damp dark tunnel, it opened to a small alcove where they found a filthy, emaciated man sitting in the darkness wearing nothing but a moth eaten patchwork jacket. His hands were hugged tightly to his chest, and he constantly muttered to himself "its all lies, don't listen to them", as if in a trance. He would respond to attempted to converse only briefly, before reverting to his maddness. Euthen did notice that water seemed to swirl and pool unnaturally around him.
Beyond the alcove, the tunnel continued and then opened through a narrow crack into a cavernous torch lit room with a pool of murkey water. A figure emerged from the waters, wearing a tattered dress that once might have been elegant. She had a long, scaly snout and sharp teeth that gleam in the dim light. Her eyes were cold and cruel, and she regarded you with a haughty sneer. Her hair was a tangled mess of green and blue strands, and she wore a crown of coral and pearls. Around her neck, wrists, and ankles, you noticed various pieces of bone and shell that she fashioned into crude jewelry. She is thin and frail, but you sense a dark power within her. <session end>
Meanwhile, Annie was deposited by the old woman atop the rock outcropping and told to wait while she fetched the shipwheel for inspection. After twenty miserable minutes atop the rock in the middle of a viscous storm with nothing but Cloud Sea and herself for company, the old woman returned with the shipwheel. Annie inspected it and confirmed it was a magical shipwheel. At this point, the old woman let her hood fall to reveal her gnarled scaly skin, cruel eyes, and eletric blue hair; some type of hag to be sure. Fullfilling her end of the bargain, the hag flew Annie back to where the ship was, except there was no ship to be found...
The hag was going to deposit Annie right there, but she rightfully pointed out the agreement was to return her safely "to the ship". Slyly, the hag returned Annie to the island and flew quickly around its outside to show there was no ship in sight. She then offered Annie refuge from the storm inside her home. With no other clear choice, Annie agreed and the hag flew her to the top of the rock and down through a natural chimney into the hags lair...<session end>
