Game-Summaries:6/30/2018 Recollections

Recollections by Cassio

The name of the island is (was) the Cassiopelago™

"The Cassiopelago is dead... long live the Cassiopelago!"

Recollections by Ci

For this mission we were led by Coin, a member of our initiate class that I had not spent much time with as of yet. I found him a very capable leader, and a fierce warrior. These brothers and sisters in arms in The Eternal Order continue to impress me. Coin had called for help investigating a rumor of a wholly new island that had appeared of the coast of Kraken's Landing. It appears that sometime after the events of the Mission to investigate Octopus Pirates (See Game-Summaries:5/12 Recollections), this new island simply rose from the sea, fully formed.

There was little more information available, so we decided to make our way to the island to "see with the clear eyes of truth, rather than the blind eyes of rumor" as the Book of the Mountain would say. we enlisted the help of friend Captain Jenny Harkens (for a modest fee) to transport us to this Mysterious Island.

Our trip on the Second Best was without incident, and we found the island easy. There were dangerous shoals nearby, however, and Captain Harkens would approach no closer than a few hundred yards. She did, however, leave us with a small launch and a promise to return in a few days. Unfortunately, our complete inexperience with boats and oars resulted in several hours of fruitless rowing before we finally reached the mist-clouded shores of the Island. Exhausted, wet, but alive, we prepared to make camp on the sparse beach.

A quick reconnaissance of the surrounded area, revealed nothing of note except for a small puddle on the only visible path. the rest of island seemed, to our eyes and that of Coin's magical companion Owlie, covered with strange impenetrable aquatic flora, and little else. The puddle however seemed to emanate a fair magical aura detectable by our spell-casters. Not being able to identify anything strange about the puddle by visual examination, I dropped a small pebble in its center to observe the result. To my surprise, a creature seemingly made of water rose up in the puddle to face us. It seemed more curious than aggressive however, and we slowly backed away from the creature. After a few minutes it retreated to its puddle again, and we were able to make camp, rest, and cast off our exhaustion.

When we awoke, we made our way down the only visible path, making sure to keep our distance from the puddle containing what we later learned was a Water Weird. We encountered a number of these puddles along our path, but passed them all without incident. After a long march we were confronted with appeared to be something we recognized as similar to a Sea Hag (Ember had previously conjured such a creature to our benefit when battling the Gem Trolls). These creatures approached with menace, and knowing their dangerous and foul nature, I attacked them on sight. Though I damaged one, they seemed to want to trade with us, rather than fight. They offered to take us to the "Temple" in exchange for hair and blood for each of us. I remembered at once both our experience with the Intelligent Trolls and the words of my Masters, "All life has value. If we have but the wisdom to learn, all things may teach us" I feared not giving these creatures, the castoffs of this temporary vessel we call a body, and was indeed intrigued by what we might learn of this island and its nature from these creatures. Our dear impetuous Paladin Cassio would have none of it however, much as with the Trolls. He enjoined the Hags in battle and we were all forced to defend ourselves. I do respect Cassio's commitment to his beliefs, and the Mountain knows, I myself have little patience with those that would prey on the weak and defenseless, but I do wish... sometimes... that our Cassio was a little more... flexible.

In a brief but intense fight against the trio, we were able to slay two, and restrain the third. We were able to force the remaining Hag to give up the location of this "Temple of the Deep Ones", as she named it, in exchange for her life. She kept her end of the bargain, and we released her accordingly, much to Cassio's consternation. As we approached the dread temple, Coin once again made use of his familiar to scout and then lure the temple's guardians to us. The temple itself seemed lifted or grown right from the sea bed, and it's multiple entrances were guarded by aquatic creatures we had never seen before. Were these the "Deep Ones" the hag spoke of? Owlie alighted near them, gained their attention, then led then on a merry chase towards our hastily planned ambush.

Pearl erected a wall of thorns across a narrow isthmus of land that led up to the Temple. We attacked with ranged attacks and magic as these creatures approaches us one or two at a time. Our fighters guarded the approach through the water to either side of the wall. though they were able to enter the water and leap into our midst almost unawares, we were able to take these creatures one at a time, and did not have to face their combined fury.

Once we had dispatched the "Deep Ones" we approached the Temple itself. here we encountered an old nemesis, and a decidedly new one. In the highest chamber of the tower, we see a ghostly incarnation of Captain Jarzon. near one end of the chamber we see a statue that seems to resemble a Mindflayer crossed with an Octopus (perhaps the pirate's masks that were described to me were intended to resemble this visage?). Captain Jarzon seems to have been more successful in death, than he was in life in his attempt to return Shar Ngolyeth to this realm. Surrounding the statue is an otherworldly glow, and a mass of writhing tentacles much larger than I have ever seen. Knowing we have defeated Jarzon once, I trust we will be to do so again, and instead focus on closing whatever portal he has opened to allow this monstrosity through. I attack the statue, whereupon it, perhaps predictably, comes to life and moves to attack us in return. We find ourselves in a now desperate battle against both an undead captain, and some Aspect of the Horror he seeks to return to the world.

Jarzon falls quickly, as I expected, but the Aspect is much harder to bring down. We do triumph in the end however, without serious hurt. The destruction of the statue seemed to have broken the Aspect's foothold in our realm, as both the tentacles and the island begin to disappear. Thankfully the island's retreat back into the depths, proceeds at a reasonable pace rather than a cataclysmic one, and we are esaily able to make our way back to the shore to await our ride home. The pieces of the broken statue turn out to be worth a fair amount of money, so leave the island not completely empty handed after all.

We do not leave with much more information on this Cult of the Kraken than we had before, unfortunately. It does seem, however, that this cult may be more dangerous than we previously suspected. Any group capable of raising a whole island from the bottom of the sea, or entreating a being of powere to do so on their behalf, is capable of great damage.The Magistery agrees that The Cult of the Kraken bears further investigation.

Recollections by Jeroy

We head to the new island off of Kraken's Landing with captain Jenny Harken on the Second Best. We arrived with no complications. The waters around the island are murky and surrounded by rocky reefs. Harken would not risk her ship and sent us to shore in a row boat to row ashore and onto this mysterious new island. The seas had turned and our rowing skills were lacking, we ended up lost for several hours before finally making it to land in a state of exhaustion. The shore was rocky and barren. The plants that can grow appear slimy and limp, like that of seaweeds. The entire island appears to have been thrust up from the depths of the ocean. Coin calls upon his trusted familiar, Owlie, to scout around but his efforts were stymied by the thick clouds and fog surrounding the island. He could see the island was only a few square miles and generally sloping up towards its center, but no other details could be seen. With that small amount of information we decide to investigate the island to learn what we could.

We came upon a clearing in the slimy woods with a puddle. Ci walked over to investigate, walking around the puddle several times with a curious look to his face. Dissatisfied with the lack of action he retrieved a pebble and tossed it. Small ripples began to form around the water, but unnaturally slowly. This water was no normal puddle. Soon a creature, made of the water, emerged from the puddle and stared directly at us. No one moved. Pearl attempted to speak with the creature but it doesn't respond. We slowly backed away as close to the shore as we could. We set up camp for the night to rest ourselves and eventually the water creature slumped back into its puddle. I do 100 push ups.

We awaken at 10pm feeling better prepared for the quest ahead. We pass several puddles but make no attempt to disturb them which allows us to pass without incident. We soon enter a marsh, where Ci realizes we are being watched and from the swampy muck three Hags appear. We are instantly surrounded. Cassio and Ember warn us that if they are like the Hags they have battled before then be wary to not get too close. The creatures approach us and the battle has begun. Pearl casts a flame sphere as Ci lets out a volley of arrows. Ember is about to attack when the Hags tell us they have an offer for us. They will take us to the temple for a low price. They ask for a drop of blood and lock of hair from each of us. We look towards each other to consider the proposition as we don't even know what this island is, why it is here, or whose temple it is. However before we can discuss further Cassio springs into action shoving one of the Hags prone and declaring he "won't stand idly by while [his] friends make deals with dark magic!" and something else about his oath and greatness. Ember roles her eyes at his antics, Coin stands jaw agape as he prepared to cut his wrist (not sure if it were for the blood or an exit strategy), while Ci, Pearl, and I prepare our weapons for battle.

We kill two of the Hags when the third makes a mad dash for the swamp but Ci with his nimble speed (f@*king monks) he catches her before she can slip away. We intimidate her into showing us where the temple is and she reluctantly agrees. As we prepare to move on Coin turns to Cassio and in his most commanding and stern voice I've heard from him since meeting at the Magistery "Next time you want you want to speak for me during negotiations - don't and keep that thing in your pants." Coin is much more articulate when mad. As we make our way to the temple we ask who this temple is for however she only cryptically responds "the deep one."

Soon we come to find the temple in the distance, a towering cathedral of bone, coral, and tentacles. We let our prisoner go and she scurries off into the surrounding marsh and plants. Owlie flies around the temple to see several guards armed with tridents. Soon they spot him and then see us, they begin to charge at us wildly and again the battle is upon us. One charges at me and we exchange raging blows, Ci launches several arrows, while Ember conjures a polar bear which kills the creature. We look up to the temple to see several more charging towards us. Pearl and Coin prepare a trap of a wall of thorns and fireball for when they get closer. Coins fireball kills one, as Ci kills another with his bow. The creatures dive into the water surrounding. We cannot see them and are left in a tense state. We do not know if they have left or are planning a sneak attack of their own. Suddenly one spring from the water over all of us landing on Pearl and slashing at her. Ember casts fire, Pearl swings back with her staff, Coin casts ray of sickness, and Cassio dispatches it with his sword. Another leaps from the water again attacking Pearl, once it lands I charge and attack it for two mighty blows. Ci attacks with his bow and a flurry of blows, as Ember kills it with a black flame. The final creature, oblivious to the plight of its compatriots leaps out of the water directly into the middle of our group. As it lands it realizes the mistake it has made as we all attack together, killing ti quickly. The battle has been won as we look up towards the temple which waits for us. Within the temple walls we find a large cavernous chamber illuminated by a glowing pink fungus. In the center of a room we see a temple alter that looks to have been used for sacrifices that stands over a large hole over 80 feet deep. We look at each other, pull out 100 feet of rope, and make our way to the bottom.

We enter a second chamber where at the far end a writing mass of eyes and tentacles stares back at us. Within the tentacles is a statue of a mindflayer that we guess is Shar Ngolyeth. Beside the creature we see a specter of Captain Jarzon. I turn to Pearl "Didn't we kill him?" She looks straight ahead, shrugs her shoulders and calmly responds "Ember made a polar bear appear earlier, I guess anything is possible."

Jarzon turns towards us and asks if we are here "to make a sacrifice to the lower gods" We shake our heads no. Equally dissatisfied and pleased with our response he responds "then I will take what is mine." We draw our weapons as he lunges towards us. Pearl casts a flame sphere on the Aspect of Shar Ngolyeth and Ci launches two blows on the statue. I charge in a rage at Captain Jarzon landing two powerful blows. The statue melts into the ground and then reappears within our group. The statue attacks Cassio with two mighty blows. Jarzon touches me for 7 damage. Ember conjures a plesiosaur that bites at the statue. Coin casts a fireball on Jarzon who disappears. We center our focus on the statue. Pearl swings but misses as Ci attacks with his bow. I look down at my Soulmate and say "Good job today, you've earned a rest" and draw my Skeleton Key. I charge for the statue and in all my might I land two critical hits. The creature passes through me and then attacks me. Cassio attacks three times dealing massive damage. The plesiosaur bites into the statue with its ferocious jaws and Coin kills it with a fireball. The statue crumbles into multiple fragments. We gather as many as we can carry and make our way to the surface.

As we reach the surface we realize the island is becoming unstable but we successfully make it to our boat and out to see. Captain Harkens picks us up and we are back on our way to Solace after another long adventure. Once back at the Magistery we speak with Grandmaster Jorlen, grandmaster of the material domain. We describe the encounter to him and he responds with only "the Kraken Cult is becoming a problem, we will have to deal with them."

I arrive back at my bunk where I prepare to clean my Soulmate and Skeleton Key. As I am about to sit down on my bed I find four letters resting on my pillow, each with a seal of different colors - green, red, blue, and black.