The party (Ramas, Clootie, Ryoko and Aetilius) went to Neverwinter to board the Seabird. Gabriel asked them to keep a low profile on the way to the ship, so as not to draw attention. He was afraid that the public might realise they were being dispatched to find the Dymiter, and he didn't want to get peoples hopes up. The party bought a bunch of healing potions, Clootie picked up her Kabuki Mask, and Ramas bought some materials to try and fashion his own buckshot rounds for his pistol (parchment, fabric, ball bearings, string and glue). Once dusk fell, they made their way to the Seabird. On the way a man stopped them. he realised who they were and what they were doing. He wanted to wish them luck - his wife and daughter were aboard the Dymiter and he hoped the party could bring them back to him, or at least give him closure. During the first couple of days at sea, Ryoko started a map of the druid network; Aetilius improved his sailing and navigating skills; Clootie and Ryoko entertained the crew at night with a couple of songs; and Ramas tried some prototype buckshot designs and settled on a parchment package containing ball bearings. On the third day, the Seabird reached the Kraken's Spine. They sailed along the edge until Bartoz spotted a ship tied up in the fog. They carefully sailed into the mist, and drew alongside the ship. It was indeed the Dymiter. The crew grappled the Seabird to the Dymiter, and Ramas climbed up the line with a rope ladder which he lowered down to let the rest of the party climb up (even though they can all fly - they just forgot). On board, the ship seemed deserted, although blood pools cover the deck. The body of a grey haired man was slumped over the wheel, with his back shredded down to the spine. At the front of the ship, a thick rope is lashed to the rail and up into the mist towards a large rock. Downstairs, Aetilius found the first deck had been repurposed from cargo to form crude bedrooms for refugees. The floor was slick with blood and viscera, and drag marks and nail scratches led towards the stairs down to the hold. The group reconvened and then went down to investigate, leaving Ramas on deck to keep lookout. In the hold, Ryoko's spidey sense started to tingle. Aetilius followed the blood trail around some crates, when he noticed something moving in the darkness. A leathery skinned creature with massive sharp teeth, but still dressed in the clothes of a refugee, attacked him, slashing wildly with it's claws - one of it's swipes found a break in his armour and cut across his chest. Ryoko ran up and smashed the creature on the side of the head with her Thornstaff. Aetilius hit it with his mythal axe, cutting it across the chest, then brought a second blow down into it's skull, splitting it in half. The creature slumped, and then pulled itself back up and forced it's skull back together. Another creature leapt up across the crates and jumped onto Ryoko, digging it's claws into her armour as it snapped at her face. A different creature leaped out of the shadows behind Clootie and latched onto her back digging it's claws into her shoulder pads. More of the creatures started to come out of the shadows of the hold to join the fight. Clootie tried to shake the creature on her back loose, but couldn't move it. Ryoko grabbed the one on her chest and threw it to the floor, pulling out Lightbringer and igniting it. The creatures instinctively shrank back from the light. Aetilius charged his mythal axe with fire and swung it at the creature in front of him. The creature deflected the blow, but he brought it back down on the it's broken skull. This time flames erupted across the creature's flesh, leaving it a charred corpse. The creature on Clootie's back tried to bite her neck, but got caught on her shoulder pad. Another leapt up in front of Aetilius, slashing wildly, but he caught all the blows on his shield and armour. The creature in front of Ryoko leapt to it's feet and launched a flurry of blows at Ryoko, cutting her chest. More creatures swarmed out of the darkness. Clootie swung Kulog above her head, just catching the creature latched to her back in the side of the head. Ryoko swung Lightbringer at one of the creatures next to her, catching it in the chest and knocking it backwards. Aetilius ignited his mythal axe again, swinging it into the creature on Clootie's back, causing it to burst into flames. He then swung it back around and caught the creature in front of him in the chest. Another creature raced towards Clootie, leaping onto her chest and snarling in her face. A creature appeared out of the darkness, swiping at Aetilius and tearing chunks out of his armour and flesh before leaping over him and disappearing back into the shadows. Aetilius managed to just catch it in the leg with his axe as it ran past. The swarm was now in danger of overwhelming the group, with four poised ready to attack Ryoko. Clootie decided "fuck this" and released the runes on Kulog. The hammer lifted her up against the ceiling of the hold, before slamming her down to the deck in a peal of thunderous energy. The force of the blast hurled Ryoko against the hull of the ship. From her new vantage point, Ryoko drew herself up and breathed a cone of flame across a group of the creatures. Two of them succumbed to the flames, while the two further away were badly burned. A couple of the crates and barrels also caught light. Ryoko yelled that they needed to get out of here and burn the ship, as even more creatures swarmed out of the darkness. She ran up the stairs, narrowly avoiding the claws of one of the creatures. Aetilius followed her, swiping at the creatures as he passed. At the top of the steps he turned around and channeled the mythal into a protective barrier to help him ward of any pursuers. The creature still stuck to Clootie's now massive chest, bit into her flesh. Angrily, the now massive gnome tore it off her chest and hurled it against the mast. She then turned and squeezed her way up the stairs. Ramas came down the stairs to see the source of the ruckus. Ryoko yelled at him to burn the stairs, so he hurled a firebolt - which erupted in a fairly pathetic whimper. Annoyed, Ramas tossed one of his flasks of Alchemists Fire down the stairwell, which exploded in a satisfying sheet of flame. The group then ran back up the stairs. Clootie flew Ramas down to the Seabird and told Killiwake to take the ship to a safe distance. Ryoko checked the Captains Quarters and quickly grabbed the ships log. Clootie returned and the three of them followed the ship's anchor line up to a ledge and cave in the rock. There they found a single, dishevelled looking survivor (Murray) - clearly driven slightly mad by the event's he'd witnessed. Clootie carried him down to the Seabird and safety, while Aetilius picked up his companion rock-with-a-face-etched-on-it Winston. On the way back to the ship, the survivor recognised the bite on Clootie's chest and started to freak out. The group got him down to the Seabird, and tried to calm him. He explained that "the witch" - presumably Halia, had persuaded the Captain to leave Neverwinter and to head down to the Kraken's Spine. They had moored here, and she had somehow bewitched him so he couldn't leave the wheel or respond. A group of crewmen confronted her, and somehow she killed them without touching them - they started to bleed from their eyes and mouths and fell down dead. She took a lifeboat and rowed off into the mist. That night, the refugees - turned into these creatures - emerged from the hold and tore most of the crew to shreds. Murray escaped with two others up to the rock. One of them died during a trip back to the Dymiter for supplies, the other - Franz - was bitten trying to grab a bottle of brandy. Murray got him back to the rock, but he started to turn so Murray kicked him into the sea. He recognised them from his Gran's stories of the Vrykolakas. The group realised Clootie was probably infected. When she shifted back to normal Clootie size, they saw something moving beneath her skin at the base of her spine. Using Lightbringer, they confirmed something was definitely in there. After a fair amount of psyching themselves up, they drugged her up on some of Ramas's Euphoria - a potent hallucinogen (which reminded Clootie of Jynx's breath attack) - and Ramas cut through her flesh down to her spine. Aetilius used his Mage Hand to grab hold of the parasite - a sickly grey worm like creature winding itself around her spine - and pull it into the daylight. The light caused it to writhe, causing Clootie to start seizing. Ryoko brought Lightbringer over to the creature, the intense light quickly incincerating it and allow Aetilius to pull it free and stick the remains in a flask.