A huge thank-you to our corporate sponsor: Chicken Enchiladas, Butternut Squash Bundt Cake, and Pomegranate Margaritas. Without you, we couldn’t do what we do here.
Also, a lovely thank you to Brent for taking actual notes that I now can transcribe here into print.
Now, to the good stuff. Party of five. Recap.
Fiona: Lightfoot Halfling Rogue (Jenny)
Thalia: High Elf Wizard (Kurt)
Gallan (Sidekick): Wood Elf Fighter (Kurt)
Ahfa: Human Paladin (Brent)
Zulu (Sidekick): Dwarf Cleric (Brent)
When last we left off, our fearless adventurers were exploring the shipwreck ruins off the northern end of Stormwreck Isle. Ahfa the Paladin learned the hard way not to just go bursting through doors…as he met with a zombie or two. Good thing his friends were there to help.
Speaking of the paladin, there is much raising of eyebrows as he lays hands on himself, curing the scratch he received in his battle with the undead just a few minutes ago.
After the excitement of dispatching the two zombies on the wreck’s main deck, the party is now on their guard for the other shenanigans that await. Gallan ascends, relatively easily, the rope ladder to the crow’s nest. The nest is strewn with bits of of this, that, and the other and a casual glance by the fighter turns up nothing. Thalia’s eyes are helpful in this scenario as she also ascends and discovers some shinies in the mess of wood shaving, clumps of dry grass, and material that looks suspiciously like human hair.
What they find: a small gold bracelet, a single gold hoop earring, two tiger eye gems, and a bloodstone gem.
Thalia then comes down and heads up onto the quarterdeck and finds the ship’s wheel. As she examines the mother-of-pearl mechanism, she sees the words “Compass Rose” engraved on it. Judging by the state of the ruins, the mold, rot, and mildew…this seems to be an older wreck and not the one Varnoth might have spotted a few nights ago. The other three remain on the main deck below, and they are about to search the other rooms therein. Ahfa moves into what must have been, once upon a time, a mess hall/eating area. Nothing is left there except a long dining table and smashed bits of crockery and glass.
Zulu enters into another room, where six sets of bunk beds are pushed up against the wall. Obviously, this is where the crew would have slept. On one wall, Zulu sees a faded portrait in a gilded fame hanging; in it is a couple, arms around each other, and there is an engraving on the frame below it: Aleithia and Brastos – Together Forever. The woman is raven-haired and dressed in the nautical wear of the zombies the party has stumbled across already. The man is blond and smiling and is dressed in merchant’s wear.
Fiona the rogue is searching the captain’s quarters, safe now that is it free of zombies. She pulls a slim tome of poetry from the rickety bookcases and pockets it (as a gift for Frub when they return to Dragon’s Rest, she says). There is a splintered and broken four-poster bed that is covered with a holey, moldered velvet blanket. Fiona also investigates a desk in this room as well, and she sees a large mariner’s compass engraved upon it, and well as four skeleton keys that appear to fit in slots at the compass directions. Also, there is this riddle that provides clues:
These directions lead to treasure,
The letters point the way.
The keys open what’s inside,
The value of which will make for a good day.
After a bit of ruminating and various checks of Intelligence and Investigation, Fiona and later Thalia and Ahfa are able to solve the puzzle and open the two small drawers underneath the desk – which contain: a pouch with 50 gp, a dagger, and a rolled-up leather kit that turns out to be a set of cartographer’s tools.
Thalia surveys the large, gaping hole in the floor on far side of the room. The jaggedly broken wood seems to indicate something heavy fell through the floor. And indeed, as the high elf wizard peers down below, she sees the hole is also in the floor below this one. There appears to be another floor even below that…but it is completely submerged under the water.
The questers descend the stairs into the lower deck below, and it is here the terrain becomes precarious. Because of the tilt of the shipwreck, about half of this deck is submerged in up to 18 inches of water. This will make walking around a little more difficult. Ahfa and Gallan are the first to step into the new room, with Fiona following closely behind…
And they bump smack into a ZOMBIE!
There is much hacking and piercing…and a couple of Guiding Bolts that go awry due to the Paladin’s bad dice rolls. And, this one zombie is made all the more difficult by the fact that they keep rising after they’ve fallen! Radiant damage or critical hits are the only effective weapons against this strain.
As three of the group battle it out in Zombieland, Thalia and Zulu are about to enter the fight of their lives as, from the shadows, another ominous splashing sound is heard. A ghoul lurking in the corner waited until the party was preoccupied with his zombuddy before coming onto the scene.
However, with only a minor flesh wound to the wizard, the cleric and Thalia dispatch the ghoul rather quickly and nicely. And the undead creature stays dead.
Meanwhile, raise your hand if you’ve ever had a birthday with those trick birthday candles. You know the ones that keep relighting themselves even after you’ve totally blown them out? Yeah, well, the zombie Gallan, Ahfa, and Fiona are fighting is a lot like that. But, eventually, Gallan’s enthusiasm is enough to finally beat the creature down. And the zombie stays (un)dead. Thank the gods.
Ahfa gets the eyebrow-raise again from Thalia as he offers to lay hands on her to help with her injury, but alas, the wizard knows all healing is good healing and accepts the pat on the back.
And that, my dear readers, is where the session ends for tonight. There are some crates and such that can be searched on this level. PLUS, there is a whole other level of the ship to explore as well.
A job well done to our crew for not dying and killing all the things!
As ever your scribe,
Heather