Session 24
General Summary
Having found Silvercove, a small fishing village on the southern coast of the region of Varoona, attacked and many of its inhabitants missing alongside Oksha, the Deep End began pursuit of Captain Porysis and his ship The Cobra's Envy using Rani's map to find their way to Oksha's current location in the Southern Seas.
For the first hour of travel, the party discussed strategy. Should they carry out a head on attack? Or perhaps challenge Porysis to a duel? Maybe a diversion to allow them to sneak aboard? Although not decided on the how, The Deep End determined that going after Porysis and neutralizing him quickly would be a good strategy. After an hour of talking and sailing, Newt seems to have calmed down a little bit and now agrees that... perhaps they should take some action to minimize casualties.
While traveling, the fleet encountered a rather large herd of ampeels, little charges of electricity shooting off from the water's surface in various spots up ahead. The captain advised that although generally docile, they become aggressive when irritated or disturbed. The party chose to go around and, at noon, called a stop with an estimated ETA on Oksha's location at 30 minutes.
The Widow, swimming, and Newt, flying as a large pelican, flew out to scope out the fleet. Arranged in a cluster out at sea – the shimmering Barrier surrounding the continent just now becoming visible in the distance – the 6 ships of Porysis' fleet seemed to drift haphazardly about one another. In the center sat a slowly drifting vessel of dark wood with painted green scales and rusted bronze bars running vertically along the hull. Slots on the side of this massive galleon seem a prime place for oars... powered by slaves. This is Porysis' slave galleon: The Anaconda. Three small vessels darted around the massive galleon as two large vessels cruised lethargically nearby. One such vessel was particularly eye catching with a metal ram poking out from beneath the waves and a coiled cobra made of glistening gold mounted to the bow. The Cobra's Envy is covered in serpentine golden statues along the railing and cages of various types of snakes are arranged on the deck. Standing at the bow was a vaguely familiar bald Yuan Ti man dressed in scaled armor with two swords strapped to each of his hips and two crossed on his back.
After returning to the ship, Newt and The Widow related the information to the party. Gathering the captain of their borrowed naval fleet, the party commenced another strategy meeting. Moira panicked when she realized she didn't remember how to cast Sending, hurling her notes everywhere. Ghilani mentioned keeping everything in a book, just like his!
The fleet took a slight detour to get within 30 miles of Varoona Proper so that Rani could message Ezra. Newt, suddenly remember that Oksha is blind, panicked as Rani was in the middle of messaging Ezra. In a weird game of "Sending Tag", Rani was able to get into contact with Oksha and her escort, Markus. It seems Oksha is missing her pendant and is currently struggling to cast. The High Priestess mentioned that she was hard to understand. Markus mentioned that he was aboard the Anaconda in the hold. Weapons and armor are being held in storage. It may be possible to arm the slaves, of which he estimated there to be at least 60. He implores the party to find and help Oksha.
After waiting for nightfall, the party began to stealthily approach. Shortly after disembarking the naval ships and walking on the water – ducking and hiding behind the rolling waves feeling incredibly stealthy – The Deep End began to hear cannon fire as the naval fleet took aim at the galleon. The three smaller ships of Porysis' fleet engaged first, followed by one of the larger ships. The Cobra's Envy appeared to hang back somewhat near the Anaconda.
After narrowly avoiding being spotted, the party began to climb the sides of the Cobra's Envy. Newt began casting black tentacles on Porysis, reminding him of his dearly departed friend, Francis Morgan.
While engaged in combat aboard the Cobra's Envy, Newt spent a couple of rounds moving in and out of a sword pocket dimension. Ghilani was grappled and blind, but George's echolocation allowed him to GTFO. Moira remembered she was a twilight cleric. The Widow and Moira dealt with some snakes and some pirates while Moira did the same. Rani eventually closed in on Porysis and dealt a few heavy-hitting blows that severely hurt the seemingly calm and poised pirate captain.
Eventually, Porysis fell as Azhi – after setting the ship's course to ram into the fray – grabbed Oksha and put a knife to her throat. Though unsteady and shaking, Oksha managed to cast a spell, stepping away from a now disinterested Yuan Ti woman. Newt tried to pilot a ship that... required magic to pilot. Ghilani, however, made it up to jerk the ship away from ramming.
Having secured Porysis and Azhi and raising a white flag of surrender, the rest of the pirate fleet seemed to disengage from the fight and move towards the Galleon, which began to slowly pull away.
Oksha expressed concerned for the captive villagers and Markus. After thanking Newt for coming to her aid, she mentioned that finding her pendant may give them some assistance. Simply state, in infernal: "Erebus, I request your aid."
With Markus in the bow of the Anaconda's hold and knowing that there are captives and slaves aboard... will you choose to ram?
Missions/Quests Completed
Although the naval fleet has sustained substantial damage in creating the diversion necessary for The Deep End to sneak aboard the Cobra's Envy, it seems that both the pirate captain and the first mate have been subdued and captured...
Report Date
01 Dec 2021
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