Game-Summaries:10/13/2018 Recollections

Recollections by Ci

I realized during this mission that as ill-suited as I am for espionage, our dear Cassio is hopeless indeed... though inflation of his personal importance comes naturally, it does come from a place of honesty. Cassio truly believes himself to be that important. Bless his armored heart, he cannot help but tell the truth as he sees it. This does not seem to be a desirable trait when infiltrating a stronghold of the Cult of the Kraken. Dereth, Cassio, Ember, Amon, Loco and I accompanied the House of Water on a mission to investigate a gathering of suspected Cult Members on yet another mysterious island outside Kraken's Landing. The Blues were initially unimpressed with our skills as spies, though we eventually concocted a passable cover as a troop of travelling minstrels.

We met our cult contacts on board ship, and managed somehow to convince them that we were the entertainers we claimed to be. We traveled uneventfully to the island, and were ushered in as part of the entertainment for a celebration feast to be held that evening. After our initial arrival I was able to to hide myself in the main chamber as preparations for the feast were made. During the preparations and after our surprisingly well received performance, we were able to discover a few key bits of information. First, we were able to confirm that this group was in fact the Cult of the Kraken that we had encountered on multiple occasions. Second, I was able to identify the leader of this group of the Cult. Lastly, and perhaps most ominously, I was able to discover that this celebration was in honor of the completion of something called "The Cannon." I immediately thought of the shipboard magical cannon we found in Windy Bluff... I had thought that secured by the Magistery in Windy Bluff! It turns out we had the thing in our hands and let it go...

Cassio also attracted a fan, to everyone's surprise but his, and from him and one of the Cultists who wanted to preach his faith to Dereth, we learned that whatever plot they have in motion, will come to fruition on the New Year. We also learned that these cultists actually revere the being we know as the Nameless. One them not only spoke its name but did so with almost fevered devotion! Fearful of this utterance, we ended our meeting before we could learn more, however.

There was a passage leading lower into the island, we resolved to find our way past their guards. We hoped to find and eliminate an aspect of Shar Ngolyeth we did before, in order to return this island the sea. We both found and did not find what we hoped. After a stealthy take down of the guards, we discovered that many of not all of these cultists are not human at all, and instead some form of the creatures we had known as the Deep Ones. What followed was a harrowing dive into what seemed the entrails of some great beast, periodic fights with these Deep Ones, aided by liberal use of spells of Water-breathing. We eventually made our way to a series of chambers separated by organic membranes. Among these we did indeed find and eliminate Aspects of Shar Ngolyeth as before. We did indeed manage to destroy them, but unlike before, their death had no effect on the island. Indeed, Cassio's infallible sense for evil told us we must tread deeper. What we eventually found shook us mightily.

At the lowest level of this island we came face to face with Shar Ngolyeth himself, rather than some pale aspect of it's power. This creature turned out to be an Elder Brain of immense size and power, and It was nearly the death of us. Friend Amon, had not been quite himself through this journey, and when we faced Shar Ngolyeth] it was revealed why. This thing was actually his Patron! It commanded him to do battle with us, and though he attempted to resist, he was forced to turn the powers granted to him by this monster on us. We fought valiantly however, and were nearly able to fell this thing, despite most of the party being unconscious and myself having to fight from a seated position after being charmed by Amon and dominated by the sheer will of Shar Ngolyeth.

In the end however, the creature was able to flee not only from the island, but from this plane of existence however. Along the way Amon was severed from his connection from Shar Ngolyeth and left adrift without patron or powers. The flight of Shar Ngolyeth then, had the desired effect... the island was returning to the sea from whence it came. We managed to escape the flooded tunnels and rejoin our spymaster, only to find all of the cultists dead either by her hand or by the flight of the Elder Brain. We left the island in a state of shock with more questions then answers from this mission.

• If a being such as Shar Ngolyeth can be enticed to do the will of the Nameless, what other horrors has it co-opted?

• Where is the cannon that we let slip through our hands, and how will it be used to bring about the coming of the Nameless?

• What can be done to interrupt the plot we still know precious little of, other than the date of its activation?

• Is the Nameless at the center of all these plots, including the machinations of Danifae and Zuggtmoy, and if so, how can we hope to defeat such a being?]]

These questions haunt me as I write these words in the candlelight of my rooms here in Shanjiu Keep. With the reminder of the price of failure burning with a green glow in the Great Hall below me, I hope we are up to the task of answering these questions. If not, I fear they may be no one left to build a memorial for the rest of us should we fail.

Recollections by Dereth

I am thankful for Ci for giving everyone the big picture of what we encountered in the Mind Flayer cave. I'd only like to elaborate on a few details that may come up again.

Amon met Fleur of the Blue with Vaughn. Vaughn is a man whose partner Lissa was taken by the Cult of the Kraken. We doff our armor and set ourselves up as a performance troupe. Jan (Ci) was our acrobat, Lassio (really?!) was our tarot reader, Mammon (Amon) acted as fortune teller with Morgjorb (Loco) assisting him, Margaret (Fleur) played harp, Ember acted as fire-dancer, and Gawain (myself) acted as medic and tambouriner.

Nothing of note happened on our transit to Kraken's Landing, but we noticed that the ship was laden with food stuffs and other basic supplies. The cult can not cultivate anything yet, it seems. A cultist escort deactivates traps along our route into the keep. The cult of the Kraken has made their own keep from the risen rock. We are taken the their main hall where Ci stealthily hears Captain Heck ramping up the group for a celebration, but he also hears mild dissent that "red eye" is truly revered and only Umberlee truly matters. After being referred to as "R'Lyeh's chosen", it was our time to perform. I am wildly impressed with Cassio's self-control and our ability to use our talents for fun. Perhaps we should be doing more of that for people...

Aside from the reverent preaching, we also learned about what could have been the origin of the gods. Was it fate or chance that could have directed this Nameless creature to "win" the gods. Let us never hear the song celebrating the Red Eye of Azathoth during THIS feast that the priest, Wratha, tried to sing.

Using Cassio's ability to sense perversions of magic, we descended while Fleur "interrogated" the captain and the other cultists. Ci covers Amon's Folly well, but as a man devoted to another god, I do not blame Amon. If the Lady of the Lake told me I was in a den of snakes, I would turn and root out that evil without thought. Amon's questioning of his patron's wishes was savvy and saved us, at great personal cost. While I may not believe he chose the best god to devote himself to, I am happy he has found a more clear path.