Session 91: The Eagle Soars

General Summary

22nd-25th Unndilar 836PD   22nd Unndilar   Arriving at the shore of Dark Lake, the party decide to rest before they travel across the lake. Raven knows of a small cove where they can rest and be safe knowing that the Drow don’t patrol the lake. Zeni puts up a tiny hut for extra protection and comfort.   23rd Unndilar   Raphael activates the Folding Boat, Raven estimates with that Fan Token it should take 2 instead of 3 days to travel across the lake.   Simeon and Zeni take turns to steer the boat, with Raphael and Raven taking opposite ends to use their keen darkvision to scout their route. Sabali notices several shapes of creatures moving through the water. Travelling all day, Raven spots a small island for the party to moor up and rest for the evening under Zeni’s tiny hut.   Taking first watch with Raphael, Simeon spots a large creature moving out of the water to investigate their hut but it goes away. Sabali, Orlando and Quill take the following watch and Sabali leaves the hut to investigate the tracks, which appear to be from tentacles. As he goes to sleep, Sabali hears voices in his head that the creatures know they are on the island and tells them to come out, but Sabali ignores them. Raven notices several shapes circling around the island.   24th Unndilar   In the last few minutes of the tiny hut, Raven alerts the rest of the party to the still circling creatures. He shoots an arrow into the water and manages to strike one of the shapes, it rears itself out of the water, a monstrous spider-squid hybrid. Orlando recognises it as a Krake Spawn, intelligent creatures that are attracted to magic. Simeon casts light on a rock and as he throws out of the diminishing tiny hut, 4 Krake Spawn scuttle onto the island surrounding the Unbroken!   Orlando is quick on the draw and peppers the top Krake Spawn, whilst Quill downs a fire breathing potion to belch the bottom squid creature. Simeon follows up Quill’s fire breath with his deathly tolls. Raphael hexes and blasts the western spawn, Sabali summons Sabalo to unleashing a messy flurry of shadows and strikes. The bloodied spawn spews a foul vomit from its maw coating Sabali and corroding away Sabalo.   The top spawn moves closer into land, the moist air surrounding it freezes as it channels a storm of ice that Orlando, Raph and Raven manage to dodge the worst of, but the fire breathing Quill is dampened by the cold.   Another spawn calls on its ice powers to entomb Orlando and Raphael in a dome of ice. The bottom spawn resenting Quill’s attempts to make calamari of it with his fire breath, strikes and squeezes its tentacles around him.   Orlando manages to shoot through a section of the ice dome, but his Prayers are unanswered as it misfires due to the frozen metal. The broken section allows Raphael to blast down the spawn attacking Sabali. The vomit covered Tabaxi comes to Quills aid, striking into the same spots where Quill’s axes cleave into the crushing tentacles, but the spawn’s other tentacles grab Sabali in their slimy grip. With both threats in their constricting embrace, the Krake spawn moves back and drags Sabali and Quill into the water with them. Raven’s volley into the spawn is disrupted when the top Krake vomits its foul belly of the deeps onto him.   The intensity of the Unbroken’s morning increase as the fourth spawn in the east grapples Simeon and drags him into the dark waters of the lake. Half the party face a watery grave in the briny grips of these monstrous spawn.   Fortunately, Simeon could still see the light from the island and his mystical magic teleports him back onto dry land and out of the spawn’s reach. Quill with his last breath of air drags his axes deep into the maw of the spawn, and feels its grip slip as his axe ends its life.   Now freed he and Sabali swim back to the island, Sabali summons the last of his strength to assail the top spawn with a flurry of blows. The panting Monk is struck unconscious with the spawn’s own retaliation of furious tentacles. The Krake Spawn recognises it is outnumbered and attempts to retreat, but as it scuttles back it’s wary eyes lock with the barrel of Orlando’s gun and his shot makes sure it never leaves alive.   Raphael feeds Sabali with his own healing potion, and Raven checks the coast is clear with the last and only surviving spawn retreating into the depths. Despite the eventful morning, the rest of the Unbroken’s day remains untroubled as they continue crossing the lake, arriving on shore at the end of the day. Raven finds a spot within a cavern that they safely rest away from the lake, although they can still feel something is searching for them from the water.   25th Unndilar   Starting their new trek, Orlando focuses on the Moradin Amulet to find the closest path to the World Anvil and feels the divine guidance pulling him to a tunnel just left of the cavern. Just as they are about to set off, Raven and Sabali notice something huge rushing across the lake, heading straight towards them.   The waves break as a mighty tentacle the size of a tree slams onto ground, followed by several more that shake and shatter the earth as it hungrily crawls along the shore. The Unbroken rush through the tunnel, but the monster’s screeches echo behind them as it chases them down. Quill takes the rear whilst Orlando and Raven guide the front, they eventually reach a rickety wooden bridge that crosses over a deep and seemingly endless chasm.   The bridge shakes from the rumbling ground of the monster’s pursuit, but as Quill pulls up the rear the watcher from the water bursts through the tunnel. It’s form a terrifying roil of tentacles, a ebony beak that could split a ship in two, and furious golden-amber eyes that eclipse the lone dwarf standing in its way. A multitude of languages, old archaic sounds, scream into the Unbroken’s minds a primal message of kin and vengeance. They realise this is the Aberrant Kraken that sired the Krake Spawn they fought against.   The Kraken’s tentacles slither along the rope of the bridge, pulling itself closer to Quill, the Unbroken pepper the monster with their magic, bullets, arrows and axes but it never flinches or halts. Sabali looses the chain of his Kyoketsu Shoge to try and haul Quill back, but its end dagger goes wide and frays one of the main ropes.   Quill notes the fray, and the other main rope. He looks back to Sabali, his smile reassures his efforts, the dwarven face so often full of rage was at peace as he surveyed each of the Unbroken. As his eyes meet with Orlando, he remembered his fresh bounty of Mama Boom’s cooking to claim if he kept her son safe. “Save me a piece of pie Monsieur Boom”, as the joke passes his lips, Quill raises his Wicked Sisters one last time and brings them down on the ropes.   In a blink, the chasm fills with the falling screeches and failing tentacles of the Kraken, and for a brief moment Aquila seems to soar totemically before he too is lost to the dark below…