Dragon Turtle Says the Siren Did It - December 20, 2024

 - Downstairs DnD!

- Long May He Reign

- They arrive at the third island in the chain around dusk. This island doesn't have beaches, instead it has a short cliff edge.

- It looks lush.

- Soliana sends Stardust to do a loop of the island in the dying sunlight.

- Stardust sees what might be smoke coming from the far (south) side of the island. 

- Captain Vander agrees to sail to the south side of the island and anchor there for the night as it shouldn't take very long and shouldn't be dangerous in the current conditions.

- LONG REST

- Soliana sets herself up on a barrel with her cloak and her bedroll and a book in her lap to watch the island through the night. She ends up forgetting to watch the island and just reading her book during the night.

- The next morning, when everyone comes up on deck it is immediately obvious to everyone that the island is farther away than it was when they dropped anchor last night. They anchored like 1/4 miles away from the island and now it's between 1 and 1.5 miles away.

- Niniel dives into the water.

- First she checks that the anchor's chain is intact, and it is. 

- Niniel then swims to the bottom of the chain to the anchor itself and everything seems okay, though she cannot see the ocean floor.

- From there Niniel swims in the direction of the island, but she does not see the ocean floor sloping up towards it. 

- Niniel gets the idea that she could swim under the island.

- She carefully approaches and gets within 200' of the island where she can see that the sides of the island come down fairly deep (maybe 30' or so) and then she can see what looks like a foot.

- So after like an hour of her swimming and investigating, Niniel returns to the ship and gets them to lower a rope ladder.

- Niniel reports to the group that she thinks it might be a dragon turtle

- No one else has heard of a dragon turtle.

- Niniel explains that they can be very fierce if irritated, but might not be if approached politely, and everyone agrees to head towards the island.

- Soliana says she can try sending a Message to it and asking politely if it's seen what's happened to the local sailors.

- Once they get close enough to the island, Soliana does the Message spell in Draconic saying, "Hello, Mr or Ms Dragon Turtle, we are looking for some missing sailors? Have you seen anything?"

- Soliana then has a conversation with it learning it's name is Avra. They have been here for a thousand years and have no squabble with the humans. Avra confirms that the woman who lives in the shack on that other island is in fact a hag who once gave them a lovely cup of tea. Avra says then that the humans are squabbling with a siren who lives in a temple on a small island to the east of this location. 

- Niniel gets back into the water and swims toward the head of Avra and she swims until she can see their head turn to look at her. She tries speaking to Avra in both Primordial and Common asking if it has seen or heard of Revelora (the city she lived in underwater).

- Avra responds that it knows about Revelora, but they stay away from it. 

- They get back to the Windrunner and tell Captain Vander what they have learned.

- Niniel checks her Patron Pouch and it is empty despite the fact that she has put a shark's tooth and the ornate key are gone, so she gets some paper from Soliana and writes a note about Avra and sticks that in the pouch too.

- Finally near this day's dusk, they get near an island with a stepped pyramid type of structure on it, and Soliana can't recall a god who would have a temple of this type.

- The sailor Lane kind of wants to come with them, and he ends up taking lightning dmg twice from two different Shocking Grasps (Soliana and Niniel), and Captain Vander finally gets tired of hearing him be dumb and she sends him to go clean the deck

- The next morning as they are rowing towards the island with the ziggurat-thing and Soliana and Poetry see the remains of several fishing boats. They are fresh wrecks.

- They row up to the beach. Lane waits with the landing craft with wax stuffed in his ears.

- While they are walking along the beach, Soliana's book lets her know that he can hear digging coming from off over there.

- Soliana gets everyone else's attention and makes digging motions and then points wNhere the book directed her and starts heading that way.

- They crest a small hill, and find about ten men chained together with leg chains digging what looks like a foundation for a structure.

- After some discussion, Niniel takes her earplugs out and approaches with Caleb who does not take the wax out of his ears.

- Niniel walks up and learns that they are building a statue of a woman. The men are clearly out of it speaking in short and choppy sentences with almost no information provided. They are confused by questions.

-  Niniel uses Minor Illusion to create the image of her best friend from Revelora (Jineresa or Jin) standing in this guy's hole

- All the men look frightened and start digging faster.

- The group follows a path up to the temple and come to a set of double doors, which Niniel pushes open. There's a long hallway that leads in and down.

- There are pictograms on the walls of fish and other underwater creatures.

- Caleb checks for traps as they progress, but doesn't find anything.

- They progress deeper and it is nice and cool in the tunnel that is lit by bio-luminescent fungus. They find an area where is looks like the missing sailors are housed in little monk cells with doors that lock on the outside. 

- They explore a little farther and find some supply rooms. 

- Eventually the main path leads to a pool of water. Niniel sticks her head into the water and can see a 20' diameter passage that leads down into a much larger chamber. 

- Poetry and Caleb drink their Potions of Water Breathing while Soliana casts Alter Self on herself and then everyone dives in and swims to the chamber at the end of the Passage.

- Because everyone has wax in their ears Soliana casts Message to ask for the siren to please release the sailors. Niniel sighs.

- The siren tries to approach Soliana and Soliana hides behind Niniel immediately.

- Niniel finally takes the wax out of her ears and asks if there's any way they could take the fishermen back to their families, but the siren says they are paying for their crimes against the ocean. She is the one who called the fish away trying to lure out the ones responsible for over-fishing and drastically damaging the underwater ecosystem.

- Soliana asks if they could please take the fishermen back and try to work out a deal where Elisra (the siren) can help guide them on how much to fish not to damage the ecosystem 

- During the conversation Soliana learns that a great tsunami that wrecked an entire coastal nation in the historical timeline that was about 1300 years ago for them happened only about 70 years ago for Elisra. The siren calls it The Great Reckoning.

- Elisra agrees to let the fishermen come back with them so that they can bring the lesson about overfishing back to the city, and if they go back to their bad practices she can just capture them again.

- Soliana also suggests she just enchant the mayor who will then order people to only fish the appropriate amount, which intrigues Elisra. 

- After a little more conversation, they head out of the temple to find a galleon sitting in the water and a landing craft on the shore. Captain Jerkface has arrived.

 

- 300 XP each for 1800 XP total ea.

50/50 Shot that Old Lady is a Hag #BiasedMuch? - December 13, 2024

 - CR PJ shirt

SHARK ATTACK

- Shark1 moves up to Niniel in the hull of the shipwreck and misses biting her

- Zemma dives into the water and swims up to the nearest Shark (S2) and Rages in its face

- S2 bites Zemma for 12 (6) piercing dmg

- Caleb dives into the water swimming 60' toward S2, then manifests his first ever psionic knife, and throws it at S2 for 11 psychic dmg

- S3 swims up to Niniel, flanking with S1, biting her for 15 piercing dmg

- Niniel grabs S1 and Shocking Grasps him for 7 lightning dmg then she summons a tentacle dealing 3 cold dmg to S3 in her place as she attempts to turn to and swim to her friends, but S3 bites her for 7 piercing dmg

- S4 swims up to Niniel and bites her for 7 piercing dmg and she is unconscious

- Poetry casts Faerie Fire on

- S5 swims into the boat following the smell of blood

- Soliana casts Alter Self (Aquatic Adaptation) on herself and dives into the water swimming as far as she can

- S1 swims past S4 eating Niniel and out to Zemma who is also bleeding and thrashing.

- Zemma slices her beastly claws into S2 for 8 slashing and then again for 8 slashing dmg and S2 is dead!

- Caleb throws another psychic knife at S1 for 7 psychic dmg

- S3 swims up after S1 and is hovering in the opening in the hull of the Minstrel. 

- Niniel fails a Death ST

- Poetry moves into the water and Thorn Ships S1 for 2 piercing

- S5 hangs out in the first room

- Soliana swims to hide behind Zemma and casts Wither and Bloom on the three sharks around Niniel and Niniel such that S3 and S4 take 6 necrotic dmg and S1 takes 3 necrotic dmg and Niniel regains 6 HP.

 

- S1 swims up to Zemma and bites her for 4 piercing dmg

- Zemma slices into S1 for 11 slashing dmg killing it then she moves up to S3 and slices into it for 6 slashing dmg

- Caleb swims into the opening of the hull and throws a psychic knife into S4 as it continues to chew on Niniel for 16 psychic dmg

- S3 bites Zemma for 5 piercing dmg

- Niniel moves her tentacle up to S4 and wallops it for 4 cold dmg killing it then she casts Witch Bolt on S3 for 21 lightning dmg killing it then she swims 

- Poetry readies another Thorn Whip if S5 comes into view

- S5 swim away when it sees its whole school is dead

- Soliana swims over and feeds a willing Niniel a Healing Elixir for 6 more HP

END OF SHARK ATTACK

- Niniel goes back into the boat and pokes around now that the sharks are gone with Soliana sticking nearby whole she can still breath underwater and Niniel finds an ornate key

- Niniel tucks the key behind her ear like a pencil

- Zemma pulls the body of the shark that was fried with lightning to the shore and starts skinning it and cutting some shark steaks 

- Soliana casts Identify on the ornate key, but it is not magical. Just fancy.

- They have shark steaks for lunch.

- Soliana Messages Captain Vander about the shark attack and the captain confirms receipt of the message.

- While they have their belated lunch, Soliana sends Stardust up to circle the island, and she can see there's a bit of a lagoon in the middle 

- Once their lunch is finished they hike over to the shack and Niniel and Soliana search the inside of the tiny shack, and they find a skeleton under some boards that look like they fell from the roof on top of it., but among the decrepit crates they find a chest that looks undamaged.

- Niniel sticks the ornate key into the chest and when she turns it an illusory bag appears over the key hole and when she turns it back a sword appears

- They try opening the chest while the bag is the image they can see and when they open the chest there's a bag inside. They remove the bag and close the chest and the chest disintegrates into dust.

- Niniel doesn't see anything in the bag but her arm will disappear all the way to the shoulder. She then experiments by sucking up a whole bunch of lagoon water, and when she tips the bag over no water comes out.

- Soliana Identifies the bag and it is in fact a Bag of Holding, and she also says that they can turn it inside out to empty it if Niniel wants to see what the previous own had in it

- Niniel turn the bag inside out and everyone is immediately pelted with about 300 lb of small rocks. Niniel and Caleb take 10 bludgeoning dmg and everyone else takes 5.

- They all collect a few rocks from the giant pile and head back to the boat.

- Soliana Messages Captain Vander and they are picked up no problem.

- The agree to head to the next closest island and when they get close enough they can see a small hut on the beach with smoke coming from a rudimentary chimney

- Soliana gets in a small landing craft with a couple of sailors and they get her just close enough to cast the Message spell to the contents 

- The elderly-sounding lady invites her for jasmine tea and to talk about sailors, and Soliana turns to Caleb and says there's a hag in that hut and he says she biased against old ladies who live alone in remote areas. 

- Soliana is too far away from the boat to Message Niniel, so she writes a note on paper to Niniel asking if they should go to the hut YES or NO and sends it back to the boat with Stardust.

- Niniel circles the NO, and also writes Poetry says that old lady is going to eat you.

- Soliana sends a polite, "I'm sorry but we really have to go look for these missing sailors. I hope you have a good evening." Because there's no reason to make an enemy and they go back to the boat and head for the next island.

- They get to the next island, but it's full dark by this time so they decide to investigate in the morning.

- 300 XP ea for 1500 XP total ea.

A Sharky Fish-tuation #CaptYorinJerkfaceIII - November 22, 2023

 

 - Pink cow hoodie

- Stardust is summoned in hawk form and Soliana sends them up to do a circle to get a lay of the land and Stardust can just barely see a shipwreck at one of the nearby islands, though it doesn't seem like a new shipwreck, but it's a place to start looking.

- Meanwhile, Caleb arrives at the Shriveled Barnacle to find two groups of sailors engaged in a verbal argument. One side is lead by a half-elf man (maybe 20 people) and the other slightly smaller group is led by a half-orc woman (8-10 people).

- Half-elf man calls the half-orc woman an outsider with no right to be here while the half-orc woman says they're better sailor who didn't need their rich daddy to buy them a boat!

- Caleb looks to the bartender who is watching to make sure a fight doesn't break out and damage his bar, but he also doesn't want to get in the middle of things if he doesn't have to.

- Caleb addresses the half-man, "All this because she doesn't look like you and think like you?" to which the man agrees.

- The woman says she has a sloop with a crew of 8-10.

- The man brags that he has a galleon with the help of "an investment".

- Caleb asks what happens to the galleon if the loud-mouth dies and one of the opposing side sailor calls out, "His daddy repossesses it."

- The loud-mouth then wanders off with his troupe, and Caleb proceeds to speak with the woman.

- The woman (Captain Rax Vander) is here trying to get bounty work, but the mayor wouldn't talk to her. Caleb says that he did have an offer from the mayor and proposes that they work together. They negotiate a fee of 18 GP. Caleb goes ahead and give her 10 GP up front. They can also sleep on the ship tonight before they set out to explore the shipwreck Soliana found with Stardust in the morning.

- Before they head out, Niniel gets a stuff drink from the bartender.

- Captain Vander is in charge of the Wind Runner which looks sleek and fast.

- Soliana offers to do some Mending around the ship before they rest.

- Long Rest!

- Soliana has a dream(?) during her trance about swimming and finding swimming to be easier and then being grabbing by lightning-y underwater plants and she sweeps her arms out and the plants wither and then she feels better, and she opens her eyes and sees some purple energy zap from her book to Niniel's book.

- Soliana asks Niniel to check her book when she wakes up and there's new writing in Niniel's book as well as in Soliana's

- As they are discussing their new books, there's a commotion from the deck above and they dart upstairs to find the SS Asshole Galleon blocking the Wind Runner into their dock

- Niniel says that if they can line the ship up just right she can give them a boost to get out, so the Captain expertly up to the very narrow opening, and Niniel casts Gust and the blow right past the much.

- Niniel then turns and see Monsieur Asshole on the deck scowling at them, and then she casts Minor Illusion creating a 5' tall hand making a very rude gesture at Captain Yorin Jerkface III. (Yorin is correct, but they are just calling him Jerkface the III since his daddy bought him the big boat.)

- They arrive at the lush island with a heavily weathered ship wreck near desk.

- Soliana sends Stardust up again and she sees through her eyes that the island has like a ring of hills with a cay in the middle with some abandoned primitive structures.

- Captain Vander gets them within about 100 yards of the shore so Niniel swims it, and while she's waiting for the landing craft to catch up she sees an obvious path into the lush jungle, then she gets back into the water and explores the shipwreck and notices it was called The Minstrel. The hold is full of rotted and deteriorated good and then she notices that something in the water is stalking her. She looks over her shoulder and sees an 8' long shark.

- She tries to negotiate with the shark who swims around in a swirly motion and there are four other sharks who slowly surround Niniel, who insists she isn't tasty and she can get them other food.

- The sharks definitely seem interested in food.

- About this time Soliana Messages Niniel to ask if she found anything interesting on the shipwreck and gets information about the shark situation, and gets everyone moving that direction.

- Niniel creates a Minor Illusion of some dolphins swimming by outside but the sharks are still more interested in her.

- Niniel turns and books it out the nearest exit.

-300 XP ea for 1200 XP total ea.

But Divination Doesn't Do That - November 15, 2024

 

 - CR PJ top 

- April fender bender on I-30 on-ramp

- Soliana suggests they do a circle around the island to examine it before they get any closer and asks to borrow a spyglass.

- Zemma also watches from the crow's nest.

- Through the spyglass, Soliana observes that there are several small islands rather one medium sized island. Maybe four or five. None more than about a miles across. The nearest island seems mostly barren , just rocks with perhaps some very small vegetation.

- Off near one of the islands, there appears to be a shipwreck. 

- The area with the islands and the glowing lightning looking tendrils (?) is fairly large, so they don't do a whole loop.

- They decide to examine the shipwreck first to see if they can glean what caused it to make sure they don't end up shipwrecked.

- They load up with three sailors into the landing craft and it's slow going because the four of the five party members are wimps.

- The shipwreck is nose down in a sand bar. There are no visible bodies and no obvious signs of carnage. The ship is still in pretty good shape, so it's a relatively recent wreck. There are some ropes that make it look like it they launched their small boats.

- Niniel sticks her hand into the water and does not get immediately zapped.

- Soliana tries to examine the glowy stuff again, but the water is too murky.

- Niniel directs the sailors and they get the landing craft within about 20' of the shipwreck so that the party (except Poetry who waits on the boat) can walk over to the craft. Soliana sticks her head underwater and can read "adow" in the part that isn't buried in sand. The Moon Shadow was the boat that never returned to Sir Foxglove.

- Niniel and Zemma go to check the crew's quarters while Soliana and Caleb go to the captain's quarters to looks for the ship's log.

- The crew's quarters are empty, with most of the personal possessions are missing, but they do find a rucksack in the corner with a weird looking hat and 10 GP. The hat looks a bit like a yarmulke, but with "tentacles" that has a bit of magic. Zemma puts on the hat. Nothing bad immediately happens. Niniel and Zemma each take 5 GP.

- Caleb finds a log book on the desk. It's a standard book with weather and locations. The last entry is about running aground. Nothing about where they went.

- Soliana looks around the bed area that there is a book between the bed and the wall. It is a journal with the captain's personal thoughts. The other captain wrote about a storm that swept them onto the sandbar which they weren't expecting because the islands aren't charted. The tone shifts and it becomes a story about finding a witch and it seems like they're not on the ship any more, but it could also be the outline to a novel he wants to write? The location where the witch seems to be doesn't sound like the visible parts of the islands. He talks about trees and forests and there is none of that visible from here. The entries about the witch are dated like the other entries and they are dated from a few days after the entries about running aground.

- Soliana casts Detect Magic as a ritual. Zemma and Niniel show up as she is flipping through the journal looking for illusory script (of which there is none), so after a look around the whole cabin to double check, she casts Identify on the hat and it is a Cap of Water Breathing.

- Niniel then goes to check the aft cargo hold. There are a lot of barrels back there. They seem to be full of food stuffs and other supplies. After that she checks for a forward cargo hold (underwater where everything feels like a charged like air full of static electricity) where she finds a hole in the hull and that anything that had been stored in this area has been washed through it. She swims out the hole and finds a few of the crate also holding more supplies and "boring stuff".

- Using her Message cantrip, Soliana reads the passage that describes where the witch was found, but it also doesn't match anything Niniel can see underwater near the ship.

- Niniel determines that the static-like charge feels like its coming from the island. Maybe the nearest one.

- The sailors agree to drop the party off on the nearest island and then get other sailors to transfer the stores from the Moon Shadow to the Storm Caller. They will either message them or send sparks into the air or some other means of getting their attention when they are ready to be picked up again.

- The electric feeling is in the air and the ground feels unstable like things are still moving a little bit. Is the island still growing?

- Soliana determines that the rocks are mostly basalt. Aerated with lightning?

- Niniel still hasn't found anything she can talk to that's native to the area. (She can talk to any critter with a swim speed.) 

- Soliana ritually casts Detect Magic again and there's a very strong magical divination field here that originates in the center of the island. 

- They start walking. As they go, there's a hum that grows and then when it gets to a certain size, there's a pulse that flows out and over everyone. Soliana feels kind of nauseated, but Caleb immediately vomits and feels dizzy and like his equilibrium shot. 

- They keep walking and when they are almost to the center of the island when there's another pulse, Soliana, Niniel, and Poetry all stagger and loss their balance and stumble to their knees.

- Zemma still has no idea what anybody is talking about.

- After the second pulse, everybody's senses go fuzzy and then suddenly they are somewhere else.

- They are in an office and a person asks, "So you really think you can find them?"

- Niniel asks who he is and he is Mayor Brigsby. He is a short, stocky man with a round body and bushy hair. His attire is a bit old fashioned. They can see a bay of water out of the office window.

- Soliana asks what the date is from where she is hiding behind Caleb, but she is ignored completely.

- Caleb agrees that they can find the fishermen who went missing. 

- Niniel wanders near his desk to see what she can glean from anything that might be on his desk, and there's a newspaper that read "Canticle Bay Times".

- No one in the group has heard of Canticle Bay.

- The fishermen have been having to go farther and farther out to get fish and they just haven't been coming back.

- Niniel looks in her black pouch that she had already emptied on the cairn at Sir Foxglove's and now there is a large, black fish scale in there. It has a purple-y sheen to it.

- Mayor Brigsby refuses to talk to anyone except Caleb. He offers 500 GP to the group if they can find survivors (rumors of shipwrecks on an island) or figure out what has happened to the fishermen so that it doesn't continue to happen. Recommends they go talk to people in the Shriveled Barnacle to talk to some of the other sailors.

- Caleb then asks for a date, but the date given to him is not in a calendar system he has ever heard of. 

- Soliana thinks it's a very old calendar system.

- Caleb agrees to the job since there's not much else to be done in this situation.

- They leave the office and find themselves in a cobble-stoned street.

- Most of the people in the street are human, but there are also elves and halflings and DWARVES?!

- Soliana tugs on Niniel's sleeves and tells her that on land dwarves died out nearly a 1000 years ago. She thinks they may have been sent back or projected back in time. 

- They head down to the beach. There are no dead fish, so the fish area more like leaving rather than diving. 

- Niniel wades into the water and talks to a fish. The fish is happy. It has noticed the bigger fish going away. It knows where they went. It was a few tides ago at least. It knows why they went, and it wasn't because they were scared. It wasn't because they were hungry. It was not a migration. Something told them to go away or calls them away. It was not a big thing that called them away. It was a voicy thing that called them away. 

- While Niniel was underwater, Soliana cast Identify on the fish scale and learns that is not magical and was not created by magic. 

- Soliana starts to cast Find Familiar, but since that's going to take an hour Niniel goes to talk to some women farther down the beach who are repairing nets and cleaning the days catch and things. Niniel asks where they are, and they welcome her to Canticle Bay, which is on an island. It's a small village that mostly keeps to itself. There's a small ship here and there who bring supplies, but not much else. 

- There are some other small islands around so it would be a miracle if the 30 or so men who have gone missing with the five or six boats that were lost. 

- Niniel asks about men who refuse to talk to women, and apparently there are some men who are just right asses.

- Caleb went to the Shriveled Barnacle to start investigating since their experience to the point of splitting up implied other men would only talk to him.

 

- 210 XP ea for 900 XP total ea. LEVEL UP

Sea Battles - November 8, 2024

 

- Missouri S&T pullover

- Soliana immediately runs over to tell the Captain that he can't rob an Arrandalian ship in front of people from Arrandale.

- Caleb tries to back her up by telling him she is Lady Soliana Ashera, Lady of the Twilit grove and her Aunt is Lady Ialantha Helenelis, handmaiden to the queen. 

- The Captain is unmoved. 

- The other ship actually from Arrandale signals "Listen closely" and the Storm Caller's crew does not know the correct response (the silence sings), and Soliana and Caleb both refuse to say what the correct answer is.

- The Storm Caller signals back "I'm listening" and the other ship 

- Caleb and Zemma started trying to physically drag Soliana below decks, but she teleports out of Zemma's grip directly into the path of a sailor knocking them both down. He kicks her and she rolls over to the railing. She she starts using Prestidigitation to make sparkling lights in the faces of sailors on deck to distract them and Mage Hand to untie knots just tied by sailors to make them do the work again and again. Just a general nuisance. Her book helps by making an annoying humming of anyone within 15' of her causing additional confusion.

- The other ship CRACK disappears from view. Soliana happened to look over and saw it happen and thinks it went invisible. 

- The Captain calls for the sailors to stand down. 

- Soliana gets herself up and dusts herself off and holding her head as high as she can pretending she still has dignity and she marches down to the galley and sits down in her spot near Hargak and bursts into tears. She and Hargak talk about how her parents were murdered by thieves after telling him they're all thieves, and he is relieved that there's no chance they actually were the ones who murdered the Asheras since they were murdered in the marketplace in Arrandale.

- Niniel tries to tell Soliana off for endangering the crew of the ship they need to get to the place they were paid to investigate. She argues back for a bit, but then just pulls her pillow over her head with one arm while holding her book with the other.

- Once left alone, Soliana spends the rest of the afternoon figuring out how to do the Unseen Servant spells, and then she sends her invisible servant to get her meals until the next afternoon when Niniel drags her out of the room and the entire crew gives her a round of applause while she tries to hide behind a barrel, but Niniel prevents that too.

- A few more days pass on the sea, Soliana learns a bit of cooking from Hargak and gets some canvas and rope scrapes from the bosun(s) and makes herself some book holsters. She shows them off to Niniel and Zemma and Poetry who all think she is adorable.

- Niniel spends all the time she can on deck and sometimes gets in the water to talk to dolphins and fish and things when the wind is calm enough.

- Caleb keeps an eye on Soliana since she's under-aged, but she's too busy learning and making to notice too much.

- Poetry hangs out and makes friends with some of the sailors.

- Zemma is basically one of the crew now. She talks like a sailor, she's dressed like a sailor, and she climbs about in the rigging just as well as any of the crew.

- Soliana learns the Find Familiar spell, and conjures herself a tabby cat she names Stardust.

- That evening the wind has been picking up for a few days, and it's getting colder and colder in the air, and it starts to snow.

- Niniel asks Aldrin if they are near the Icy Expanse, but they are not and Aldrin says that it's very unusual for it to be snowing in the tropics. He consults his maps and they are 3-4 days away from the location they are trying to reach. 

- Soliana casts Detect Magic (ritual) and determines the snow is not the direct result of a magical spell, but there is something going on. 

- As they are looking around, the ocean starts to light up from underneath, and it looks like lightning under the water.

- Caleb asks if "it's supposed to do that?" 

- Niniel calls out, "Hello? Friend?" 

- There is a sort of call or cry or screech in response. It does not sound pretty or happy.

- Soliana is also studying this phenomenon and says that it seems like some kind of elemental.

- Niniel asks, "Do you want us to leave?" There's another screech, and it sounds closer than it did before.

- She looks down and sticking to the bow of the ship is a weird frog thing that's glowing softly blue.

- Suddenly there is a second frog it also screeches.

BATTLE WITH ELEMENTAL SEA FROGS

- Poetry moves up to the two frogs just coming over the rail and casts Thunder Wave on them also catching Niniel dealing 5 thunder dmg to all, pushing none.

- Frog2 bites at Poetry, but Soliana casts a Silvery Barbs in its face making it miss.

- Zemma moves up to F3, Rages, and slices into it with a battleaxe for 8 slashing dmg

- Frog3 bites Zemma for 3 (1) piercing and 2 cold dmg and she is grappled.

- Soliana casts Mage Armor on herself as she is moving away from the railing toward the center of the ship

- Frog4 climbs over the railing and then projectile vomits a piece of ice at Caleb for 9 bludgeoning and 7 cold dmg, knocking him unconscious.

- Caleb is dying.

- F5 climbs over the railing and vomits ice at Soliana, but she saw what the last one did and dodges.

- Niniel Hexes Frog3 and then Eldritch Blasts it for 12 force and necrotic dmg. 

- Poetry summons Ember (Wildfire Spirit) and then tells Ember to attack F2 which it does for 13 fire dmg.

- F2 misses biting Poetry again.

- Zemma wriggles free of the froggie maw easily. Zemma gives a draconic war cry and F2 and F3 now grant Advantage until the start of her next turn.

- F3 misses biting Zemma.

- Soliana runs over to Caleb, force feeds him a health potion (6 HP) and then runs back towards Aldrin. 

- F4 vomits an ice projectile at Zemma for 6 (3) bludgeoning and 2 cold dmg.

- Caleb stands up asking what's going on, "Frogs!" Soliana calls from 20' away. So then he pulls out his short bow and shoots F3 for 14 piercing dmg. The F3 explodes into a snow flurry and dissipates on the wind. He drops prone along the edge of the stairs making himself a much smaller target for the ice balls.

- F5 misses Niniel with an ice vomit.

- Niniel moves the Hex to F2 calling F5 a jerk as she does so then she casts Eldritch Blast on F2 for 17 force / necrotic dmg and it poofs into snow.

 

- Poetry moves next to Niniel and casts Thunder Wave on F5 for 13 thunder dmg and it goes flying backwards into the ocean. Ember throws a Flame Seed at F4 for 4 fire dmg

- Zemma moves around the bowsprit to F4 and then misses with her axe 

- Soliana casts Magic Missile on F4 for 7 force dmg.

- F4 misses biting Zemma.

- Caleb stands back up and shoots F4 for 11 piercing dmg. Then he drops and tucks against the stairs again.

- Niniel Hexes F4 and then casts Eldritch Blast on it for 12 force / necrotic dmg and it explodes into a flurry of snow.

 END OF BATTLE

- Niniel runs to the edge of the ship and the lightning thing is still there.

- Aldrin asks if they needs to change course, but Niniel says she isn't the captain.

- Soliana stops cowering against Aldrin long enough to do a Message spell to the lightning under the water and says, "Please leave us alone. We're just passing through."

- Aldrin makes the decision to slightly adjust course and they do start moving away from the lightning. They just wandered into its territory?

- After some time Aldrin adjusts course back to the intended destination.

- In the afternoon of the third day after, land is sighted. There is some kind of island there, and it is definitely snowing. There is more of the green lightning in the water around the island.

 

- 690 XP total

Ship Life - November 1, 2024

 

 - LOTR in a D20

 

- From the Silverwind Trading company, Soliana learns that the book came in a shipment that came from Adderly in the Southern Continent (Scaldras) from a private seller named Thornwick Elsmere. 

- The day after that information is acquired everyone meets at the Storm Caller. Niniel asks a sailor for Captain Thomas Gringamore who is a tall, sturdy human man. He looks over everyone with a gimlet eye.

- The coordinates given to the Captain are mostly east-southeast. 

- The Captain asks if they know what they are look for, and Soliana explains that Sir Foxglove has observed / studied the ley lines, and that they are moving and he has triangulated the origin of the movement to the coordinates that the captain has. No idea what will be there when they get there.

- A halfling sailor (cabin boy) named Finn (Bristleback) is asked to show them to their quarters.

- Niniel tries to compliment Soliana on talking to strangers, and Soliana says that she knew Niniel would let her know if she did it wrong, and when Niniel tells her that "isn't healthy", Soliana turns to Zemma and says, "See, I did it wrong." 

- There are two quarters with four hammocks in each room, two stacked vertically on each wall.

- The ship's cook is an orc male named Hargak who begrudgingly consents to let them use his stove over night.

- Soliana says she wouldn't mind watching Hargak cook since she's never been allowed in a kitchen before, and that she can help clean up and she Prestidigitations some dirty cookware clean. It's the cleanest it's been, possibly, since it was new.

- It only takes about ten minutes before Soliana and Hargak have a system where she uses Prestidigitation on anything he places in a certain area and she just reads the book on ley lines and casts absentmindedly.

- Caleb hangs out near Soliana because he has been tasked with protecting her and he doesn't know the crew yet to know if any of them might be a danger to her.

- Zemma goes looking for a job on the ship and starts learning knots and how to climb the rigging and things.

- A sailor named Jack starts talking to Soliana and she says she an Adventurer, but she's new at it. She just saw the ocean for the first time the day before yesterday.

- Jack and Caleb and Niniel argue about whether her trident is a knife or not, and they eventually stop arguing with her mostly to avoid being stabbed.

- Soliana can barely eat dinner because she is immediately seasick.

- Hargak gets out of kitchen duty like 90 minutes early because of Soliana's magical cleaning and Poetry gets started brewing the first Potion of Water Breathing. She's also casting Guidance through the door on one particular sailor enough that his shipmates are accusing him of cheating.

- A tall, thin elf (Aldrin) witnesses Soliana's seasickness, her response, "I just saw the ocean for the first time the day before yesterday and now it's trying to kill me."

- He gives her some advice about deep breaths and watching a point on the horizon and after a bit she starts to feel less like death. 

- Aldrin also give her some lemongrass to make into tea and goes about his business observing the rest of the crew, barking order occasionally as needed.

- Eventually they all get some rest.

- The next morning there's a little bit of a storm with some thunder and lightning. 

- Soliana manages to keep all her food down with the help of the lemongrass.

- And so a week passes.

- During that time there's a stall day, and Niniel takes a rope and drags Soliana down into the ocean to start teaching her how to swim. She's just in her slip and she's wet and shivering and there's a sailor Niniel catches checking out the sodden elf girl, and Niniel gets onto him. Soliana Prestidigitation dries herself dry and scrambles back into her dress and goes for hot tea.

- Niniel also helps Poetry experiment with her wildfire spirit (Ember) and it makes a lot of steam obscuring a fair space.

- While this experiment is happening another ship (flying the flags of Arrandale) is sighted, and Captain Gringamore says "Let's go get 'em!"

- 540 XP total

A Meeting in a Tavern - October 6, 2024

 

 - Dallas Stars (Sport puck?)

- In the city Port Carling at the mouth of the Sapphire River where it empties into the Cobalt Gulf (the largest city in the Kolstad Dominion), in the Captain's Keep tavern near the port (one of the nicer taverns), Caleb is playing cards with a group of sailors while Soliana tries to hide in plain sight because she's never been in a tavern before.

- In waltzes a blue lady with blue hair and asks the bartender for their best drink, then asks one of the sailors (Aiden) what their playing and flops into an empty chair. Her name is Niniel.

-  Soliana is practically hiding under the table when a woman (Poetry) starts making illusory fire to entertain her, and Soliana Prestidigitations back some dancing flames on her drink.

- Zemma the kobold is fetching food and drink because she was getting some for Poetry and other people started thinking she was the waitress. 

- Someone tries to pickpoket Caleb, and that person finds his dagger at their wrist very quickly.

- There is lots of conversation over cards.

- Soliana reminds Caleb about the shipping manifest from the Silverwind Traders and Aiden says he can show them the offices in the morning.

- On her way back to the boat someone tries to mug Niniel, and she bitch-slaps him with a tentacle (8 cold dmg) and yells for Caleb something about carrying his weight.

BATTLE WITH A MUGGER

- Bandit1misses Aiden twice

- Niniel Hexes the Bandit Leader and then backs up a bit and then she throws a ball of water at his face (Eldritch Blast) for 10 force and necrotic dmg.

- B3 runs up to Niniel and misses twice.

- Poetry steps out of the tavern doors and bursts into flames, then the flames steps off of her and become another version of her but made of fire which then throws a ball of fire for 14 fire dmg to B1.

- B2 shoots Poetry for 10 piercing dmg.

- Zemma runs out the door and up to B3 and slices into him with a battleaxe for 19 slashing dmg

- Soliana hands a Healing Elixir to Poetry through the door then casts Sacred Flame on BL for 7 radiant dmg

- Caleb runs out the door straight up to BL and misses with his rapier 

- BL then also misses Caleb with his sword

- B1 knocks Aiden unconscious in two hits

- Niniel moves her tentacle over to B1 and smacks him for 8 cold dmg then Niniel steps away from B3 and shoots another ball of water (Eldritch Blast) at BL for 12 cold and 4 necrotic dmg.

- B3 misses Zemma and then hits her for 6 bludgeoning dmg

- Poetry drinks the potion and regains 5 HP and then the fire version throws another ball of fire to B3 for 5 fire dmg.

- B2 misses Poetry with his crossbow

- Zemma cries out and turns into a saber-toothed cat (anthropomorphic) and slashes B3 to death then runs around behind BL

- Soliana runs back to the window to see again, sees Aiden's down and casts Magic Missile at B1 and he goes down, instant regret.

- Caleb using the distraction of the saber-toothed Zemma stabs BL run in the gut for 22 piercing dmg.

- BL Disengages and starts to run away

 

- Niniel moves up next to Caleb and Zemma and tells B2 he can either run or end up dead like his other friends.

- Poetry reaches down and casts Cure Wounds on Aiden for 6 HP then her fire spirit throw another ball of flame at B2 for 4 fire dmg.

- B2 runs away up the path next to BL.

- Zemma runs up to 10' behind BL and readies an attack in case they turn around to come back.

- Soliana collapses and mutters, "I think I just killed someone."

- Caleb shoots a warning arrow after then with his short bow.

END OF BATTLE

- Niniel and Aiden finally head back to Aiden's ship.

- Caleb finds 20 GP in the pockets of the fallen muggers

- The next morning the bartender tells Caleb good job about running off those bandits, and that there's an old man on Wanderer's Way (points at a hill up the window) and says the old man's name is Foxglove. 

- Aiden then leads the newly formed party to the Silverwinds Traders offices where the clerk says that it'll take a day or two to find the information because the information from a year and a half ago is stored down in archives. (Caleb pays a GP for this information which Soliana offers to pay back since its about her book, but he says what's a GP between friends? Soliana has never had friends before.)

- Since they have to wait anyway, they go to see Old Man Foxglove to kill the time.

- Soliana ends up telling the group about how her parents were murdered on the walk up the hill.

- An older human man in a green robe with a frizzy cloud of white hair opens the door and then invites them in when he hears they might be looking for adventurous work. (Sir Grispin Foxglove)

- They are invited inside and he has lots of books, so Soliana is comforted.

- Niniel reads him as an absent-minded professor type not a person putting on a jovial act and Caleb notes that the parlor they are in is quite cluttered and dusty with books, but the room across the hall is a workshop of some kind.

- Sir Foxglove says that he has been studying the lay lines, but they have been staring to move about a year ago. He is confident that something is happening in the ocean.

- He is very interested to learn Niniel is from the ocean. She is a bit loath to share information.

- He has arranged for a modest brig called the Storm Caller to go to the place where he thinks are happening, which was hard to arrange after the Moon Shadow when missing (Should have been back like 4 months ago.)

- Niniel has not heard of nor where the sailors on her boat talking about it. They just talked about the icy expanse that they avoid.

- Niniel gets right to the point about how much he is planning to pay, which is 100 GP ea. up front and 300 GP each on their return.

- He suspects there is some kind of magical disturbance or anomaly in this particular location in the ocean, and he just wants to know what that is.

- Sir Foxglove's title is inherited.

- Captain Thomas Gringamore is waiting on his ship when they are ready to set sail.

- As the group is leaving Sir Foxglove's Niniel receives "instructions" to build a small stone cairn in the yard of the cottage. 

- Niniel makes an excuse to the group that she wants to ask Sir Foxglove a question, so she goes back inside and asks him where a picture from her book is, and he tells her that while he doesn't know exactly, he believes it might be a location on the southern continent which is known for its jungles.

- After that she goes behind a bush and builds the cairn as instructed. Further instructions are received to put the item from the black pouch on top of the cairn (a squid beak) and when she does she chants an incantation over it that she didn't even know was in her head and which she understands none of.

- Niniel catches up with her new friends and she makes Soliana ask a stranger for directions, which she is terrified to do.

- The find the Gilded Flask on Fishhead St per the directions, and Niniel makes Soliana also talk to the shop keep, even though the bell on the door scared her. 

- While Soliana makes a list of the ingredients she wants, Niniel inquires about Potions of Water Breathing (80 GP), but he could also sell her the recipe and the ingredients for about 30 GP a pop instead, but then Poetry (who knows how to use her Herbalism Kit) would take about two days each to make (each).

- XP?