Araxie of course enters her massive captain's quarters and immediately runs a bath and soaks.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Droop spots glowing lights under the water at various places around the ship. The ship vibrates slightly, which alerts Araxie and forces her out of her bath.
Droop descends the rigging and sends his wolf to alert those below in the crew quarters.
When everyone is assembled they look into the water and see 6 different spots of blue arcane light deep below the water surface.
Val immediately jumps in the water. Water is freezing cold and dark. He uses his detect magic to see what seem to be ritual summoning circles being formed upon the sea floor. He is not able to see who or what is doing the summoning but can see the magic weave form from their hand movements. He targets that.
Araxie jumps into the water and sees two grey skinned creatures at each summoning circle performing some sort of ritual. She attacks swimming fast, trident in hand.
Droop summons giant octopuses which form upon the deck of the ship. Droop commands them into the water to attack whatever threat they find.
Ropers In The Night
8,100 XP
Within each summoning circle a large rock-like structure begins to emerge. By the time Val and Araxie are underwater two of them are already making their way towards the ship and begin climbing aboard. The other circles begin forming their own rock-like towering structure within.
The two rock-like, Ropers, using their long tentacles pull themselves up and over the ships railing and attack.
Deshani uses Bigbys Hand to grab one of the ropers and holds it above the deck and begins to crush it. Maddox attacks it using his sword.
Droop sees the other roper begins to attack.
Soon the first roper is crushed under the glowing arcane hand of Deshani's crumbling like crumbs of stone upon the deck.
That's when the third roper pulls itself up on the deck. Maddox takes a massive amount of damage from one of the ropers crushing rock-like tentacles.
Under the water both Araxie and Val have killed enough of the monks performing the rituals to interrupt the summoning. Several rock structures are stuck halfway in the sea floor and remain there.
After a while they finish off the monks with Araxie killing and dismembering them and the water fills with a black liquid ooze that spreads out.
On deck the last roper surviving grabs Droop and begins to crush him and then bites him several times. The little goblin falls unconscious, death being staved off only by his magical ring holding him at the brink of death.
Val, swimming at the surface of the water grasps onto the ship but is unable to climb out of the freezing water. He reaches for a potion of flying and floats up to the ships railing landing, hands on hips looking fantastic.
He sees the little goblin lying unconscious and near death on the deck of the ship amid a mass of stone rubble. He walks over and performs spare the dying.
Awaking, Droop hears the group debate over what exactly just happened. Maddox was hoping to inspect one of the bodies from the water. Droop calls forth his octopuses that he had summoned and tells them to bring one of the bodies from the water.
The octopus emerges dragging a grey mangled corpse. There is not a lot left. Araxie had done a lot of damage but clearly the body is decomposing quickly. so quickly one may call it disintegrating before their eyes.The creature's skin was grey and remnants of horns upon the head would suggest some sort of devil.
The group collectively turns away and heads back to sleep.
Library Heist
(yes...apparently nothing is above being robbed)
The next day, Deshani is found wandering the ship. There are no books on board. She is trying to figure out what is so important about Maddox's book that would attract such devilish attention. There are no books to be found. She is hesitant about returning to the Prism Library but she knows that that is the most likely place to find the source of information she seeks. Val and Droop agree to accompany her.
They head to the library. No librarian greets them. The only activity are the library automatons going about their daily work of sorting and organizing the books. Val decides that he would like to know how one works, perhaps even build or repurpose one. He asks one of them where he might find a book on automaton building and programming. It directs him to a shelf and retrieves a large tome filled with schematics and magic runes.
It then directs Val to sign out of the book. Val signs the ledger, "Maddox".
The automatons are a combination of clockwork and arcanic workings. As he tries to figure out what he is reading he looks to the automaton waiting patiently beside him and Val decides it would be way easier to figure out if he actually had an automaton of his own. He tries to figure out the off button from the book. He cant figure it out.
He asks Deshani for a bit of help. Deshani takes a quick break from searching for her book and flips to the index she finds the procedure to shut down the automaton. Val, then folds it as best he can and tosses over his back.
Deshani has collected a massive stack of books and Droop has collected a tower of random books he has found and the group looks at all of them wondering how they will carry all of them. It is then that they look to the other automatons going about their business. One of them opens the door on its chest reaches in and pulls out a book that clearly would not have had the space to fit inside it's body. The chest of the automaton acts as a "bag of holding". They load up Val's deactivated automaton.
They return to the ship.
The Ships Crew
Back on the ship, Araxie and Maddox watch as crew, recruited back by the former Captain MacKensey, file back aboard the ship. Some of them, knowing Araxie is the new captain, talk loud enough for Araxie to hear grumblings about having a female captain. It's bad luck to have a female aboard a ship, nevermind being captain. Araxie takes note of each and every offensive speaker.
Val drops off his automaton back in his room and decides it needs sprucing up. He spends his time applying detailed paint to depict a sparkling rainbow effect across the mechanical being. He stands back, covered in bright colors and sparkles to admire his handywork.
Topside, Araxie has assembled her new crew and begins to give a speech introducing herself and the other in her close group to the sailors. She is then interrupted by a howling screech from below decks in Deshani's voice "Get Out Of My Room!". Four sailors soon emerge from below panting from the run they have just made.
Araxie singles out the individuals she had overheard making disparaging comments about her. The other sailors back away forming a ragged circle around the seven sailors. Araxie explains she has no time for anyone who isn't willing and able to follow her orders. She tells them to get off her ship. When these seven sailors then look to the former captain MacKensey but this incenses Araxie further and she bellows at them. Aided by the sword of Maddox the seven make a quick exit off the ship.
Strange Visitors
7,300 XP
As these sailors depart, a distinguished elderly gentleman in fine robes accompanied by 4 very familiar tall robed guards boards the ship. He introduces himself as Count Taraka. He is in the employ of The Duke Of Baldur's Gate, Lundbaar Gnusbat, who wishes to apologize. He inquires if there are private quarters in which they can talk freely. Araxie and the others are suspicious but she shows them into her own personal quarters. The guards are told to wait outside.
Maddox sits at one end of the table while Count Taraka sits at the other. Count Taraka tells the group that Lundbaar Gnusbat apologizes for the rudeness of his request for Maddox's book. Clearly the group is not some ragtag group looking to make money selling a rare and powerful book. Lundbaar is an eager collector of such antiquities. His eagerness had simply overwhelmed his better sense. But clearly, the group does not fully appreciate the power of the book they hold in their possession.
The book's power to save the world is of utmost importance. If they do not know how to use it, then better it be given to those who can. In return, he is prepared to give each of them whatever it is they desire the most. All else pales in comparison to the sheer chaos that would envelop this world if the book should fail to be used properly.
The group as well as the interests that Count Taraka represents simply want the same thing. For the wicked to be punished and chaos to be exterminated from the universe. Surely what could the group argue against such pure goals. He turns to each and speaks to them individually, offering whatever it is they truly desire. To Val he offers eternal beauty and the adoration of people forever. They will speak of Val's beauty in legends. Val listens intently. All Count Taraka asks for in return is possession of the book. A book that the group can do nothing with. He will ensure the book is used to fight chaos.
Maddox uses sense good and evil and studies Count Taraka. It shows a creature sitting across from Maddox, as clearly evil as anything he has encountered before.
The Theft Of The Book
Maddox swears that the Count shall never take this book. With that Count Taraka turns to Val with his hand extended. Val pulls out from behind his back the book, which he places in the Count's hands. Maddox becomes incensed and climbs upon the table and strides across it to stand in front of the Count, his sword imbued with arcanic energy. Maddox brings the sword down with terrible fury but the Count then opens a portal behind him and steps through, escaping the group.
The rest of the group swing the doors open and attack the guards. The guards once they realize that the Count is in possession of the book and has escaped, they too teleport away from the group. But it isn't long before the group hears shouts of surprise and excitement from sailors out on the deck of the ship. They burst out onto the deck to see the guards running away up the gangplank as well they see Count Taraka up on the cliffs running into the tower, Morkath's Seminary.
Araxie and Deshani lob spears and spells at the retreating guards while Maddox grabs onto Val who teleports them up to the school at the top of the cliff.
They burst through the door, hinges failing and dust flying everywhere. They stand in the swirling debris silhouetted by the outside light. All they see though is surprised students sitting at various tables with their studying interrupted.
Nothing looks out of place except for Maddox and Val.
The Reacquiring Of The Book
Val uses his detect magic but the room is filled with various objects everywhere that give off a magical glow. He studies each item and person as best he can quickly. He notices that one of the students holds a regular notebook but using his magic sense, the book looks much larger and more powerful than a simple notebook filled with arcana.
Maddox strides to the student in question, and grabs the notebook out of the students hand. He blasts both the book and the student with Moonbeam from his chest piece. The result is several students fall unconscious in the blast but the book no longer looks like a notebook, it is the book that was stolen from Maddox. Gone too is the student. In his place a broad humanoid creature with the features of a tiger.
Before Maddox or Val can react, a shimmering portal opens up beneath the creature. Visions of a burning plain filled with the stench of sulfur come from the portal. Count Taraka screams in agony and protests that he has done his part. That it isn't his fault. But his screams of protests are cut short as the portal closes.
At least they have the book back.
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