Session 12 - Search for the Emperor
9 Flaurmont 1010 - 16 Flaurmont 1010
General Summary
The party spends the night on their ship and heads to town with the Lizardfolk ambassadors to meet with the Saltmarsh Town Council. Upon arrival, the clerk seems to have expected them. They are asked to meet first with the council (without the ambassadors) to share their findings. The party gives them the entire story, highlighting their reaction to finding several forms of hostile creatures on their way to find the Lizardfolk home, and how this had set in their minds that the problems were not coming from the Lizardfolk, but more likely other hostile creatures. The council agrees with their approach, and seems quite happy that the Lizardfolk are seeking an alliance with Saltmarsh, and thanks them for the successful venture. They are given their reward of 750g, and the party leaves to allow the ambassadors and the Town Council to meet. They also ask where Sumadram can be found, and the party explains that he is currently on the ship.
They all go off and do various errands, visiting several shops throughout town. Kiorna Kester is commissioned to make a fancy cloak (for Othokent) and a saddle and bags (for Leo's goat) from Thousand Teeth's hide. At Winston's Store, Leo buys a collapsible pole. Leo also gets his cursed Luckstone removed by Wellgar Brinehanded at the Temple of Protius. Belfur purchases an array of items to set up a new brewery on the newly renamed Everlasting Light. The party members also convert some of their coins into gems, and higher denomination coins, for easier portability. As the day winds down, they all find their way back to the Everlasting Light to rest, and they learn that the council has asked Sumadram to seek out the local Sea Elves to join in the discussions, and that he would be leaving in the morning. The party is very happy for him, and wishes him well in his next adventures, and they hope to see him again, and offer a room any time he is around.
After Sumadram leaves in the morning (diving effortlessly into the water and swimming amazingly fast into the distance), the party heads to The Wicker Goat for lunch. While there a man named Vertheg comes up to the party and introduces himself. He works for Aubreck Drallion, a local merchant, who is seeking the help of the party. Vertheg asks the party if they can join Aubreck at his home for tea in the afternoon to hear his request.
The party agrees to hear him out, and after Vertheg leaves, asks the barkeep about Aubreck. He explains that Aubreck seems like a good fellow. He used to have a pretty big presence, but has fallen on hard times.
The party visits Aubreck for tea as requested. His home is a large mansion, but showing some signs of hard times; they are escorted to the study, where they meet their host. Aubreck is well dressed, but a bit out of fashion, all signs that he is no longer living the lifestyle he once was able to support. In an upholstered chair in the corner, a female Half-Elf that shows signs of great strength is seated, reading a book. Aubreck describes his former shipping empire, and the events leading to the collapse of that empire, specifically that he was making a large (most of his wealth) investment in a single venture, which had required him to sell most of his merchant fleet. He sent his fortune on his grandest ship the Emperor of the Waves to make this large investment about a dozen years ago, but the ship was separated from its escort in a fierce storm, and never seen again. Just a 10 days ago, there was a reported sighting of the ship adrift at sea, about 5 days south-southwest of Saltmarsh. He would like to hire the party to seek the Emperor, and retrieve his fortune, which can be found in the hold of the ship in a crate labelled with a large A, and inside is well secured metal chest. His main concern is for the box, rather than the ship - if they can bring back this chest, he would be able to pay the party 10,000 gold. He is unable to make a significant down-payment since he no longer has the funds for such. In addition, his friend, the half-elf Seraphina, will accompany the expedition to represent his interests. Standing, she tells a bit about herself and explains that she can hold her own in a fight; the party can see she appears quite strong and tall for a half-elf. With a short discussion amongst themselves, the party agrees to take on this mission.
They provision the ship, this time for 14 days, and expand their crew to normal capacity, including a professional Captain (see Crew of the Everlasting Light). With the ship prepared, they let the Council know they will be out of town for about a fortnight on a separate engagement, and head out to sea.
After a few uneventful days, at sea, doing various activities such as fishing, speaking with the passing dolphins, and feeding them, the party is assaulted in the night by a large number of Sahuagin, lead by a spellcaster and a giant, four-armed Sahuagin. The party, being mostly asleep, is awakened by the night watch crew ringing the emergency bell and announcing invaders; fortunately, some of the party was sleeping on deck and were able to respond quickly. The other half of the party was below decks, and takes some time to join the fight. The ship is swarmed on the starboard side by the Sahuagin. The Bosun, by himself on the aft deck, is faced by four Sahuagin and killed, with the party unable to save him. Eventually, after killing nearly a third of the Sahuagin, including their spellcaster, the attackers retreat into the dark waters. Sadly, there is nothing to be done for Ott, but the rest of the crew and party suffered only minor injuries. In the morning, a burial at sea is prepared for Ott, and the party plans to put together some funds for his family back in Saltmarsh.
The next day, they check in with the local dolphins, and this time they know of the floating abandoned ship, and send them in the right direction. It turns out that Seraphina also can speak with animals, and she tries with the seagulls, since they must be close to land as the birds have been around as well, so Elincia is not alone! They head in the direction the dolphins indicated, and they find the ship the next day. It has definitely seen better days! The masts appear to have been sheared clean off, nearly at deck level, and the ship is listing to one side, and sitting a bit low in the water. They take the away boat (Lollypop) to the ship and climb use hooks and rope to board the main deck.
There are signs of blood on the deck, but it is hard to tell when or what kind of event caused this. There is little left on the top deck, and the wheel spins freely, clearly disconnected from the rudder. They open the grates down to the lower deck and peer in, seeing signs of spider webs, but it does not appear flooded. They decide to close the grate, and check the bow cabin. Upon forcing the door (which takes quite some force), they find a room full of spider webs. The party decides to close this door, and try the stern cabin. This room has a stone altar inside, and looks a little less intimidating, though there are still webs to the edges of the room. The party all enters, and are attacked! They are mostly surprised, and are all directly engaged before they can even respond. A giant spider, an Ettercap, and several swarms of smaller spiders set upon them. Things seem a bit grim at first, but the party is able to gain control of the battle, and soon has it under control.
They search the room and find the captain's log. The log tells of the storm the ship was lost in and eventually they were forced to land at an unknown island to take on more provisions. Here they were assaulted by Orcs, and the last entry indicates that while they were able to fight them off, the captain was concerned that a stronger assault may be coming. Seraphina identifies the altar as being dedicated to the Immortal Aracne Prime. From the looks of things, either the orcs or someone else set up this altar, leading to this apparently broad infestation, which the party will have to finish dealing with next session!
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Report Date
01 Mar 2020
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