The Cerulean Exploration Society: Chapter One
General Summary
Hired by a mysterious and unrevealed employer to map the two islands of Cerulea and their many ruins, the Cerulean Exploration Society is a new venture on the sparsely populated islands. Colloquially known as the ‘Islands of Lost Kingdoms’ for the numerous failed attempts to colonize the remote lands, little is known of Cerulea outside of sparse information brought back from the ships that infrequently bring trade goods and supplies to the small settlements that have survived there.
The first ship scheduled to arrive held three of the Society’s new employees: Scrut, a myomorph cleric ; Aspen , an Accipi ranger; and Zayne Richspark, a tiefling rogue. Their first task was to get the Society’s supplies to Cerulea Maxima, the largest settlement on the islands, and set up shop in a building purchased as their headquarters.
After a near-ninety day sea voyage, this advance crew were skirting the northern coast of the main island in a light rain and mist when the party and the crew were accosted by what appear to be creatures in the rain. These Rain Wraith were quickly dispatched by the party, although Aspen quickly flew out of reach after coming dangerously close to a Rain Wraith grabbing her head to drain her life force. When striking the blow that dispatched a Rain Wraith, both Zayne and Scrut found that their weapon began to faintly glow with a misty blue sheen, a mysterious side effect of touching the Rain Wraith, but neither they nor Aspen could ascertain what it might mean.
The captain asked the party to go back below decks as they navigated the coastline towards their destination - the port of Calcaria, where the cargow would be uloaded into one of the warehouses near the dock and prepared for the overland journey to Cerulea Maxima. As had been the case on much of the journey, Scrut volunteered for some duty, being the only one of the three with prior experience on ships, and was sent up to the crow's nest to keep lookout.
The rest of the voyage was uneventful, and ths ship docked safely in Calcaria, which proved to be just a small village with three piers to dock at. The small size of the port was the first indication of just how sparsely populated Cerulea was, as Calcaria is the port where most larger ships dock - the deep waters of the bay upon which it sits proving to be one of the only safe landing points for a ship carrying a good sized cargo to set up an endeavor such as the Cerulean Exploration Society!
There was a little difficulty at the dock, since a bureaucratic dockmaster, a tiefling, made an attempt to shake down the ship's captain for a bribe,but Zayne quickly pointed out the dockmaster's "error" and smoothed over the small delay.
Next stop for the party was at the temple, a pantheon temple that contained a small shrine to each of the gods within it. Scrut tidied up the shrine of his deity, Ades the Mad , gaining the tacit thanks of the acolyte in charge of the temple, but shocking the young acolyte as well with a somewhat profane word of thanks to Ades the Mad for the relatively safe journey across open seas.
Thereafter, the group headed to the tavern for some drinks and to find lodging for the night, as the caravan to Cerulea Maxima was not due to leave until the next day. A group of religious zealots, followeres of Enesis were agitating outside the tavern, protesting the sale of alcohol within Calcaria to little effect other than annoyed looks and a few shouted comments from the tavern patrons. Bypassing the protestors and flashing some rude gestures, the party made their way inside and ordered a round of drinks: Scrut discovered Limon Moonshine, a rather exotic liquor for his northern palate which had not encountered citrus fruti before; Aspen sampled the common Ochre Jelly Ale, a drink popular among innkeepers for the way the small amount of ochre jelly added to the brewing process created a self-cleaning drink that enabled small spills to climb back into the mug; and Zayne opted for Pantheon Rose, reputed to bring extra blessings upon the devout and the secular alike if imbibed in the appropriate quantitites.
As the evening wore on, the party interacted with a few of the bar's patrons. Scrut bought an ale for a muscular woman sitting near the fire sorrowfully nursing her drink in an effort to cheer her up. However, upon learning she had just received news of her mother's death (a few weeks after the fact), he offered his comisserations and moved on, not before learning that the young woman was, in fact, Teyla Clegane, the leader of the guard company that would be protecting their caravan on the way to Cerulea Maxima.
Zayne was a little more productive in engaging with a young elf who apparently had his eye on one of the barmaids. By playing atchmaker between the two, Zayne gave the shy elf an opportunity to talk to his crush, learning that the elf's father, the local lumberjack would not approve of any relationship with the human tavern girl.
Conversations with the locals revealed rumors of missing children from the homesteads on the main road to Cerulea Maxima, but the tavern was friendly and no trouble broke out. Eventually, after a few more drinks, a little concern over a hideous, but friendly, human with an obvious skin condition, and if he might be contagious, and Scrut purchasing a bottle of the Limon Moonshine for the road, the party retired to their rooms, splurging on separate chambers after the confined quarters of the ship, and got their first rest on dry land for many weeks.
Gathering late the following morning with the wagons loaded and the cargo prepared, the group checked in with Teyla Clegane, who the other guards referred to as "Lieutenant", and began their journey - approximately seven days at the pace of loaded wagons - along a well travelled route to their ultimate destination - the town of Cerulea Maxima.
Rewards Granted
- Mysterious effect on weapons (Scrut and Zayne )
- Small divine blessing from the Pantheon Wine (Zayne Richspark )
- +1 Party Reputation in Calcaria
- 1/2 First Tier Level Advancement (Scrut, Aspen, & Zayne Richspark )
Missions/Quests Completed
- Defeat the Rain Wraith
- Negotiate the unloading of the ship with the corrupt dockmaster
Character(s) interacted with
- Lt. Teyla Clegane
- Elf lumberjack apprentice
- Tavern owner
- Corrupt dockmaster
Report Date
01 Dec 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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