Inferno II: Electric Boogaloo

12 Pharast, 537 EM
 
Here I sit in my very own officer's quarters on a ship. How I got here is the culmination of a wild couple of days.
 
We first laid eyes on the inn, where Praxkin had pointed us toward in our pursuit of the Azure star and the cultists that attacked my friends on the night of the storm. We carefully entered the ruined inn and had a look around. Aside from a couple vermin within, we otherwise found very little of note inside. That is until we found a secret passage beneath the fireplace. This lead us into a cave system that connected to a facility, this facility was guarded by a couple undead pets, that looked like former ship's crew. During our fight with them, an interesting... person... presented himself to us and offered aid. Slug, he name is, provided us with a safe place to rest and told us about the rest of his family. They have always been cruel to him and left him behind in this place while they proceeded deeper into the cave system to launch 'the ship'.
After our rest, Slug showed us around the rooms in this section of the cave, here there were some supplies, tools and digging gear, as well as a coin minting press for counterfeit coins. We took note of the supplies and found within them a curious magical amulet, an artifact that allows the wearer to be more in-tune with the sea. Finally Slug warned us about the blue lights in the next section of the caves, he gave us a jar and said that his family would catch the light in the jar to be safe from their affects.
We took the advice of Slug and caught one of the blue wisps in a jar, within this ethereal chamber filled with a creeping miasma and strange flora, we were attacked by some large vermin. During this fight I attempted something heroic, or stupid, but that distinction lies in the results and they were spectacular! I fearlessly leapt across a large pit only to land just behind one of the large vermin, and it did not know I was coming, this allowed me to jam my sword between two of its armor plates and dispatch it back to the earth. as the combat completed we saw a chamber glowing brighter with blue light. I approached with great caution and skill, and as I caught sight of the chamber within there was, what I can only describe, as a porcelain woman. Her white skin was cracked and fractured, and from within she glowed with the same ethereal blue light, and atop her head was a sailors tricorn. Just as soon as I laid eyes on her she turned to face me, despite my deft sneaking, she found me. I quickly retreated to my compatriots, and she proceeded to the edge of her chamber. From there she issued us a warning, not to enter her chamber lest she cause us great harm. There was something she said, about her lost leader, and what I inferred, perhaps love of some sort. I went out on a limb and tested a hypothesis and named Cyclops Bill, informing her that we intended to rid his resting place of the interlopers. This seemed to soften her stoic demeaner. She told us that she did not believe that we could, that we did not appear to have the metal, so I promised her that we would return when we had, and parlay with her further.
We proceeded bypassing her chamber, deeper into the caves, where I fell victim to the most devious of traps, despite how careful I was being, not rushing at all. Shortly past there we encountered what I assume was the first of Slug's brothers. I saw Mr P dart off into the darkness, issuing threats and I heard the sound of fighting, as I proceeded forward, maintaining my hiding place, when I next laid eyes on my friend he was lying in a heap on the floor! Wei rushed in to defend him and attempt to render aid, and I knew I could not remain in the back so I ran forward. I spun Mother's ring on my finger, and thought of the colorful dresses she used to wear and channeled that memory into a spell. I conjured a vibrant array of bolts of colorful cloth and the brute was instantly fascinated by them. In that moment Wei and I both landed substantial blows against the foe, felling him. Wei quickly turned her attention to Mr P, returning him to consciousness, thank god. just as he rose, a fowl cave creature descended on us. But our combined might ended its attack as quickly as it began. we caught our breath and searched the chamber. Finding a small horde of gems, and the most curious, some sheet music on the brute. From there we descended down deeper into the cave down what appeared to be a dry well.
The chamber beneath was most curious a large chasm, and in the center a stone platform with... and organ, complete with ivory keys, built of what appeared to be all manor of bones. I must admit the arts are lost on me, but thankfully Wei is learned in such things and began to play from the sheet music that we found. She struck an incorrect key and the platform began to crumble. Thankfully she seems to handle pressure quite well, and steeled her self and completed the piece to perfection! This seemed to satisfy the enchantment or mechanism to which a bridge was delivered to us that allowed us to proceed.
Next we found several water shoots, in the shape of a human skull, not ominous at all, and determined that they were the only means to proceed. We each chose one and jumped in. We slid and curved and were grasped at by what appeared to be skeletal limbs. In what felt like minutes, but was likely mere seconds, were deposited into a small pool of water. As we gathered our senses and assessed our surroundings we found ourselves in a large cave, a lagoon of sorts. and resting in the water below us was an intact tall ship! I found myself asking if perhaps what we heard of Cyclops Bill and the legend of his lost ship were indeed true!
We determined that if there was someone on the ship, they were yet unaware of our presence, we retreated to a small ledge of rock above the pool of water we landed in and took rest for the night, planning on assaulting the ship and whomever remained of Slug's family in a more prepared state.
After several hours of rest, I had noted that the cave was filling, albeit slowly, with water and we were going to have to act. we got closer and surveyed the ship and its surroundings, just as we did, we determined that someone on the ship was aware of our presence Mr P slid down a waterfall into the lagoon and Wei most gracefully... floated... down, just as I jumped into Mr P's arms we saw the first of the skeletons coming towards us. From there, the next several minutes can only be described as chaos.
Mr P called on his ancestors power and grew in size, we smashed a few skeletons, and then we caught sight of Slug's mother and other brother as they joined the fray. I must have caught some confidence from the day prior as I drew my blade and engaged in the melee, gaining the upper hand on the brother and mother at various points in the combat, preventing them from taking action. I saw Wei at one point draw her impressive, and exotic sword and cleave a skeleton in two, and I witnessed Mr Pea crush one into the deck of the ship. I was grievously wounded at a point but we prevailed against the family and their undead servants. we searched the ship for any remaining threats, only to find the captains quarters complete with quite a sight.
Therein lied what I can only assume was the remains of Cyclops Bill and his officers, skeletal though they were, their garb and his eyepatch gave away their station. Before them sat a set of scales, on which was some counterfeit coins and a finely faceted Ruby. Attached to the scales was some sort of mechanism, its function escaped my figuring. We were unsure of what we should do next and decided to spend some hours resting and regaining our strength before proceeding. During the rest Mr P noted that the eyepatch housed a setting for a gem, that looked to match the Ruby on the scales. We took a chance and swapped, deftly, the ruby for another gem in our bag, off setting the scale slightly, I quickly attempted to set the gem in the eyepatch, and I must admit, I faltered. While I fumbled the gem into place, the scales went off balance, Wei set off down into the ship and made some attempt to stop whatever the mechanism was designed to do. I do not know if she was successful or not, but I know that I managed to set the ruby. As soon as I did, Bill's skeletal remains animated, they stood and addressed us. They told us that they had been cursed, stuck in limbo forever attempting to complete a ritual that had been interrupted. He thanked us for freeing him and allowing him rest, for this he granted us his ship, The Inferno, and with what remained of his power, he restored it to a seaworthy state.
As we took in the magic restoring the ship we noted that something had caused the cave to become unstable, perhaps the same magic that restored the ship, or what was left of the stasis on Bill was holding it up. Either way the cave was coming down. Thankfully I remember some of the basics of setting a ship to sail and setting the rigging, I pointed Mr P and Wei to task and manned the wheel. We found a gap in the cave wall and navigated our way out, and into the bay below the Inn.
A day later we find ourselves back in the port of Stanton's Bluff. We recruited Slug and the Porcelain Lady, who I do not yet fully trust, she seems... off, she introduced herself as Deacon Ployte and has taken up with us. Today we will make our way into town and find if Prax Qin made it back to town alright, as well as seek some crew for our new venture: the ship named: Inferno II: Electric Boogaloo.