Session 53: Port Ountzous Report

General Summary

Virion has visions of fur trade. Bubbles dreams normally.

Selina and Mystan are in the foothills. They realize they are having a shared dream. They look around. A bison with glowing red eyes is sneaking up towards Mystan. Selina sees a grizzly bear with similar eyes behind her. They both also have glowy eyes.

Seklyn tells Mystan to play dead. Mystan doesn't understand. They're dealing with different threats. Selina explains the situation with the bear, and Mystan the stampede. They decide to run.

The stampede overtakes Mystan, the bear tackles Seklyn. Mystan is left behind with the red eyed bison, who has long horns.
Mystan knows the following things about Lycanthropes (werepeople):

• Lycanthropes’ eyes glow red in the dark.
  
• Lycanthropy is a cruse spread by blood, or given by a powerful entity like a hag or fiend.
  
• Lycantrhopes are fiends, not monstrosities or beasts.
  
• The curse is cured by casting Greater Restoration. Its downsides can be suppressed for a day via Remove Curse. If you have lycanthropy, you can’t cast Greater Restoration to heal lycanthropy.
  
• They are weak to silver, like fiends.
  
• The curse manifests differently for each person, and it provides great benefits: immunity to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonsilvered weapons. It also grealty increases one's strength. Unfortunately, threre are downsides.
  
• Under the light of the full moon, when one touches silver, when one sees blood, and when one enters unhallowed ground they must succeed a Charisma saving throw or lose control and transform into the animal form.
  
• Lycanthropes cannot enter hallowed ground as if under the Forbiddance spell.
  
• They suffer a madness related to the source of the curse that manifests as an extension of their worst flaws and fears. This relates to a perversion of an animal in their culture, which they transform into.
  
• The more the curse affects the lycanthrope, the more the curse causes them to act in accordance with the origin of the curse. When this happens is negotiated between the DM and player. This causes dramatic personality and goal shifts, and permanently puts them in the hybrid form, willing to transform into an animal but unable to transform into a humanoid.
  

Bubbles and Virion are sparring while Seklyn and Mystan talk about lycanthropy on the ship. They need to find someone in Port Ountzous who can help them.

Bubbles did marginally better at sparring, both shaken up from the fight. Bubbles then challenges Gun to a shooting contest, and Gun gets a natural 20, hittign every bottle at once.

On the 28th the party deals with a ship fire (Virion was in the kitchen), and then they see a group of three naval vessels sailing counter-current (but with the winds) from Port Ountzous to they Styes in a bid to reach the Ringshadow line fast enough to hit the trade winds and reinforce Seaton. More navy forces with humanitarian aid will arrive from the Colony of New Keoland. Uk-Thin is aboard and holds the rank of Corporal. Lieutenant Commander Ana Fireborn orders Corproal Rolsar to help fix up the ship. They trade information on the situation: Seaton is under blockade, and rumor has it Saltmarsh will be soon. Shots haven't yet been fired, but negotations with the Fleet of Monmurg are at a standstill. Meanwhile, the party tells Ana about how they have to sail into a magical storm.

Ana explains how important Seaton and Saltmarsh are as sources of timber and furs, as well as the furthest west ports on the mainland.

Seklyn is mad bc empire bad, she pucnhes something. Uk-thin mends it. Rolsar calls the Kor a "Cloud-skin". They then go talk to Talon Co'oqulian about the Styes and the Fort Roslar disappearances.

Selina talks to Virion about how he deals with not being able to do anything. Seklyn talks about Keoland is extracting wealth from the Salmon Coast. The Jan Pana wouldn't be suffering if Seaton and Saltmarsh weren't there. Virion admits that he often just, puts those things out of his mind. Selina accuses him of being in denial, saying "you can't shut the world out; ignorance is not bliss."

Virion argues that he's not blinding himself, he's maintaining a degree of seperation. Seklyn closes the conversation with "You're still a child, you haven't changed."

Mystan doesn't do Divine Intervention when close to the coast to not fuck over everyone else.

They land at Port Outnzous! A grand city overlooking cliffs above a river valley. Every building is upon a mound. Via Remove Curse, Seklyn and Mystan are able to walk into the hallowed ground.

Order-wide Scale Council member, dragonborn man named Scale Lhamboldennish Baradad, greets Talon Co'oquilian and asks to be introduced to Sir Virion Sylvenne--who bows partially--Hunter Bubbles (who doesn't bow, because fish do something weird that doesn't work on land) and Selina or Seklyn of the Outcasts. Scale Lhamboldennish welcomes a member of Aryz of the Outcasts. He also wears a scale-themed gorget, which might be made out of a dragon scale. After a bit, they brew some White Drink and get down to buisness. Lodgings are provided as cells in the temple, and the Scale asks if they need aid on their quest to retrieve the artifact.

Mystan explains the lycanthropy situation. While Scale Lhamboldennish isn't trained in the arcane arts, he says a member of his council is.

Campaign

Ghosts of Saltmarsh Dungeons & Dragons 5e Campaign

Protagonists

Bubbles

Virion Sylvenne

C/N Wood Elf (Noble)
Wizard 2

7 / 12 HP

STR
12

DEX
16

CON
13

INT
16

WIS
14

CHA
14

Co'oquilan Mystan

Bronze Dragonborn (Acolyte)
Cleric 3

10 / 24 HP

STR
14

DEX
11

CON
14

INT
13

WIS
16

CHA
13

Seklyn/Selina

Report Date

07 Sep 2023