Session 9: The Ex Vyltra

General Summary

The party begins in on the southernmost beach on the Island of Beginnings. They reminisce on the successes and failure of their previous encounter. They remember the failure of to retrieve the artifact, and the loss of Jaque Laument. As they rest on the beach, in the distance, a large, unmarked warship approaches. They wait for it to reach the land, and once it does, a man walks down off the ship in regal plate armor. He walks toward the group, led by a peculiar compass. He claims that he is here for a contract to bring the group to the Kingdom of Camavor. They agree, and board the ship. He shows them around the levels of the ship, and the group notices that all of the ship mates are real world mexicans. He then takes them to the second level below, which has a combination of cells and lodgings for the crewmates, and for prisoners. Inside, two prisoners, one Paladin man, and one Druid woman, reveal themselves as Jack Laument, a soul transferred version of Jaque Laument, and Isolde, a Druid with virtually nothing known about her origins, intentions, or motivations in life. They introduce eachother, and the Captain, Konrad Thorne, reveals that they were imprisoned to ensure they did not run away. His contract is very strict, and requires that he brings everyone on it to Camavor, otherwise he dies. And if he dies, it will be impossible for them to get into the Kingdom, as it is revealed Camavor is its own plane, and therefore incredibly difficult to travel to. Travel across the ocean begins, and the group continues to ask Konrad questions. They choose one of two paths to the city, deciding to go East, past Anyimelle, and up the river towards the Kingdom. They learn that Konrad is a Vampire, bound to a contract that lasts 12,000 years, of which he is 6,000 years in. He claims to have been a Vampire for about 19,000 years, which is supposedly of the younger vampires. Where he comes from. After several hours, the weather turns to a strong thunderstorm, and the boat begins to rock. Konrad, becomes stern, and tells the party of a massive beast that attacks ships at sea. He predicts it will come to attack. Amara climbs to the crow's nest for lookout. In the distance, she notices a large rowboat with one man, and a pile of corpses behind him in the boat. She tells Konrad, who agrees to bring them on board. The crew raises the rowboat, and a red haired scraggly looking man boards. He claims that his ship was attacked by a monster, and that he grabbed who he could and left so they could get a proper burial. The party is immediately suspicious, and Isolde astutely interrogates him. Jack's divine sense revelas that everyone with the red haired man was an undead, and he draws his sword to challenge him. As the groups begin to scuffle, the ship shakes violently, and a collosal sea beast begins to assault the boat. The party utterly slaughters the red haired man as they struggle to stay on top of the boat. With a combination of Jack's smites, Thoralf's rage, and Buzzbee's Schorching rays, the red haired man is launched off the edge of the boat. Most of the other ghouls on the ship fell off from the sea monster's attack, and the final ghoul is quickly felled by Thoralf. Amara attempts to distract the sea beast with an upcast guiding bolt. This unfortunately puts her in a bad position, and it leaps out of the water to attempt to crush Amara in its massive jaws. Isolde quickly casts a spell to reduce Amara's size, and she escapes, leaving the beast emptyhanded. It swiftly swims away, leaving Konrad slow clapping in approval. The party, now alone on the ship, save for Konrad and the Mexicans, decides to relax for a short time. Konrad announces to the party that they are approaching the river's mouth, and tells the entire group to go downstairs, to the bottom most layer with the barrels of food, to hide. Amara being the one most necessary to keep hidden, is put in a barrel and hidden in the corner. After the ship docks at the mouths opening, they are stopped by Anyimelle guards. The party can't hear any details, but a guard and Konrad have a calm discussion above them. Eventually, Konrad and the guard open up the hatch to the third floor, and the guard begins to investigate the barrels. Just before he gets to Amara's barrel, Jack begins hysterically crying. With this distraction, Konrad closes the gate, and rips out the guards' throat with his teeth, before peeling his head away from his body. Disposing of the guard, Konrad continues forward on the ship. The entirte party prepares to rest for the remainder of the trip. Before they do, Buzzbee and Isolde make a concerted effort to seduce Konrad, as an attempt to gain his trust and access the captains quarters. Isolde succeeds, but unfortunately Buzzbee is kicked out. Isolde, having gained his trust, waits for Konrad to leave, and begins to read his rutter, which details some things about Camavor, and how it is an incredibly dangerous city ruled by the Undead. Eventually, she leaves, and the party rests. When they awake, the entire ship is empty, and they find themselves at the seemingly rotted and abanoned dock. They attempt to break into the captains quarters, but instead they knock, and Konrad is there. He frantically and indignantly shoos them away, saying his contract is complete, and that they should now run for their lives. He says he has a new contract, having sold them and their locations to denizens of the Kingdom. They leave, looking to explore the village they've arrived at. It's abandoned filled with rotting corpses, maggots, and all manner of heinous death. Nothing here is of worth, and they head towards a castle they see long in the distance. Eventually, they find themselves along a path that leads to a thick forest. They come upon a horse, recently disembowled. Isolde notices the moon has changed into a looming and unsettling eye that watches her every move, and she's the only one to see it. Amara attempts to pray to Veil for guidance, discovering the moon's true form, and learning that she has entered Veil's domain- but something is terribly wrong.
XP Gains: Amara: 850  Buzzbee: 800 Thoralf: 800 Isolde: 1000 Jack:800

Report Date

18 Jun 2024