Tidal Surge

General Summary

The Inheritors of The Seward Estate mull about along Plinzer Road watching the riots unfold just south of their position. Dwarves, furious about the passing of the recent tariffs directed against foreign goods, have stormed the docks. Ship hands, merchants and buyers alike are cutoff from the ships and goods. Supporters of the tariffs mingle with the regular dock traffic and shout slurs or support for the tariffs. The cries of "Ghal Pelor First!" threaten to drown out the fervent cheers of Garad Tengrid and his allies.
Jafar, Jasmine and Rewyn all watch from their position near the break wall. Their job is to make sure this stays peaceful. The local city guard fear that getting involved directly would create even more tension and the Inheritors agree. Rewyn can help but notice that this war of ideology transcends racial lines. Tengrid's supporters are mostly dwarves but humans, Gnomes and Halflings as well. The crowd decrying their shutdown of the docks is equally diverse and equally furious. Both sides have valid points and impetuous demands. And each are equally deaf to each other.
Brielle followers her master, Sandig, around the dock area as he makes conversation with Tengu traders and tries yet again to convince her she's not his property. She doesn't understand why he insists on trying. To her, it's a simple matter of facts. She belongs to him. Mind. Body. Soul. That's the laws of Cinderstone and the only true god of Tairos, Ephias The Chain Maker.
While the riot continues the heroes attention is briefly turned to something else. They hear it first before their eyes find the source. This dull, anguished moan. Part human, part... something else. A thing has washed up on shore. What was once a human woman now lays on the cold sand, her hair having falling out in clumps, her skin gaunt and sickly with patches of bruise colored infection. As she reaches out to wail at them her head seems to unzip vertically and reveal a red mess of writhing tendrils, translucent fangs and horrid spines. The only thing that remains human are her eyes. They're full of humanity and drowned in fear. They recognize a Spawn of the Scorned One, a failed mutation this one.
Then, as they look to the water they see other wailing, screeching, failed mutations bobbing in the chill waters, as if released from below the waves to the surface. Beyond the failed mutations they see others emerging... function hybrids and fully changed victims. With them a Spawn that has truly become a scion of the Scorned One. More fish that man. A long tendril with a single point of light dangles from its forehead whips back and forth as it swims with the surge toward shore.
Sandig and Brielle rushed to the guards tower to alert them to a threat that would cause no political tension to confront. The others spread the warning and rushed to the shore to meet these things head on. Rewyn and Artemesia stayed a top the breakwall to use its height to their advantage and rain down arrows at the attackers.
A few of the creatures are ended by arrows before the main mass hits shore. Jafar is able to cast Wall of Flame as the make landfall to buy the citizens a bit more time to escape. Its flames and light repel the Spawn for a few moments before they start working to navigate around it. But, these threats soon become secondary to another horror.
The waters part, casting a massive rush of water to strike land. In their wake a massive worm who's proportions defy understanding. Its head is a mass of flailing tendrils that spread wide as the maw vomits out more mutated Spawn and the parasites that create them. This Birth Worm that rushes through Jafar's fires to seek more hosts for the parasites.
Jafar struggles with keeping the Scorned One infection that he's been hiding in check. The infection he picked up weeks ago is now forcing its way to the surface. The presence of the Birth Worm seems to amplify the Scream-Song of the Scorned One and his children. And... for a brief moment Jafar loses control infecting a fisherman and then turning on his own sister, Jasmine. Jasmine and Rewyn are able to subdue him and help him regain control. Though his secret is now out. He is one of the Spawn now.
The Inheritors are able to put down the last of the Spawn eventually. Artemesia and Sandig deal with the Spawn Priest and the Birth Worm themselves. When the Birth Worm falls they all take notice of the psychic shock that runs through the surviving Spawn. They become scatter-brained and confused. Easy pickings for the town guard.
The guards rush out to thank them for bringing the situation under control but Sandig takes little pleasure in the congratulations. He immediately tells the guards to lock the newly infected civilians in the tower while he and the rest of the heroes travel to Senator Okan Sage's estate to collect whatever progress he has on a cure for this.
Sage seems worried when they visit that he wasn't able to do enough. He presents them with a barrel of thick, briny white fluid that allows their melee weapons to be extra effective against those with Spawn infection. He also gives them a single vial of a glowing substance. This vial contains the last of Nuriel's essence distilled down into a powerful magical toxin designed to do one thing. If injected or ingested into whatever controls the current waves of Spawn it should cause a psychic overload that would sever their hive connection and hopefully kill the parasites inside them. Recently infected should be cured. Those with longer term infections will either be cured or possibly perish from the shock.
They take the items and leave to rally the rest of their friends and prepare for the trip to Muldrak to end this once and for all.

Rewards Granted

500 Gold- Prearranged payment from Tengrid for acting as peace keepers
4500 XP each- Rewards for 20 dead Spawn, Birth Worm, Spawn Priest and civilians saved

Character(s) interacted with

Okan Sage- He delivered on his promise as best as he said he was able.
Lieutenant Ernart Fillory- He was in charge of the dock guards and he says he will spread word of what you did. He also helps the party buy goods without having to pay the tariff as well as secures ten soldiers to travel with them to Muldrak.

Notes

+Jafar critically failed on a check to know if the weapon coating substance would cure him. After failing the roll he decides to take three vials and down them all at once. He suffers massive damage, vomits lots of black blood and barely passed the fortitude save to avoid even worse effects


+Jasmine asserts herself regarding her brother Jafar. She firmly believes the party will do everything possible to save him and she states clearly that in her eyes her brother comes first over all of them.


+Tengu merchants at this dock seem to think "I need to buy a leather pouch" is code for something illicit like drugs. Sandig just really needed to buy a good leather pouch.



+Sandig was able to secure some addition fighting folk from his church of Tatayne The Breath of Life, worshipers. They'll be coming along with the ten soldiers from Ghal Pelor's army.

Report Date

21 Feb 2018

Primary Location

Ghal Pelor

Secondary Location

The Seward Estate