Session 8: The one where Elias kills Jeff Goldblum (December 21, 2022)
Last session, our heroes began their journey to Arkos. Elias decided to call in his brother Lord Jeremias Boulevardier as a replacement on this mission. The others loaded up on some tools, then paid their fare and boarded the Bright Horizon, the very same ship Elias had stowed away on to get to Ivalgo two days earlier.
Shortly after boarding, Heph and Rormir noted a man with a thick moustache, tall hat, and fat pigeon enter a room below decks. A game of craps was taking place there. Heph played and Rormir watched as the moustached man won a decent sum of money and returned to the berth to sleep. Jeremias discovered that this man was in fact Ana Cardi, the spy they had encountered before. They learned from her that the plan behind the burglary went above Governor Literi to Imperator Hardotus himself, and that contrary to what might be expected, Literi was very thankful for the party stopping the burglary. They also learned that the masks the burglars wore were magic and were somehow central to whatever was going on.
Jeremias made quick friends with a trader named Thom who revealed among his wares a shiny octagonal prism that seemed to be made of a solid piece of metal. He said he planned to sell it at auction in Arkos for around 500gp.
Dice played and conversations had, the party took their rest. Jeremias decided to sleep out under the stars up at the forecastle above deck. On a nat 20 perception, he was awoken by an unnatural silence that suddenly hung over the ship. The sea was perfectly calm and fog completely covered the deck. Jeremias could hear a chorus of deep voices singing some ancient melody out over the water, and squinting into the fog he could see pairs of turquoise eyes peering back at him.
Jorge couldn’t make this session, so Dave is playing Rormir for combat, Andrew for role-play.
- Jeremias looks again into the fog and sees the shadow of some
large object in the fog in front of the ship
- The ship will collide with it in about 4 rounds
- He realizes the shadow is of large rocks
- He runs towards First Mate Carol Withers, who is at the helm
- She is blankly staring straight ahead and is swaying with the melody of the music
- Rormir wakes up
- Jeremias is cursing in a steady stream and yelling “Sirens!”
- Heph thinks sirens are just a myth, but is open to the idea that
they might be real
- He doesn’t plug his ears
- Out of the fog come 4 gorgeous men
- They are naked but have a piece of cloth that somehow always covers their genitals, no matter their position or angle
- One tries to charm Jeremias, and succeeds
- Jeremias runs up to the wheel and tries to shove Carol away
from it
- He just barely succeeds
- He spins the wheel as far as he can to port, away from the approaching rocks
- Carol appears to be preparing to retake the wheel
- Jeremias hides behind the wheel and Carol loses track of him on a very good stealth roll
- The party notices the two weapons on the main deck
- There’s a mangonel on the main deck and a ballista on the forecastle
- At this point the party gains access to the ship’s stats
- Rormir knows nothing of sirens and just walks up to the railing to admire the beautiful people approaching
- Heph approaches the railing and asks the closest siren who it is and what it’s doing
- Carol tries to move the wheel back, but Jeremias is resisting the movement
- Two of the sirens approach the boat and try to charm Heph
- He is able to resist through the use of his magic earplugs that he put in earlier (Gnome Cunning, advantage on mental saving throws against magic)
- Jeremias hides again, sneaks around the wheel, grabs a rope
that will go up, and tries to tie it around Carol’s ankle
- She dodges the rope, but Jeremias still has it and is ready to try again
- He grabs the wheel again in preparation to hold it in place
- Rormir is upset about being charmed and shoots at the siren who
charmed him
- He hits it in the face, leaving a pretty hot scar
- He retreats to behind the main mast
- Heph misses another shot and follows Rormir behind the mast
- Carol wrenches the wheel from Jeremias’s hands and steers the boat towards the rocks again
- The sudden direction change causes one of the climbing sirens to fall off the boat and drift away a bit
- One of them charms Jeremias again and suddenly he’s chill with
the direction the ship is heading
- He doesn’t feel compelled not to harm the sirens, though
- One of them charms Heph who is suddenly now best pals with the one in front of him
- The last one tries to charm Rormir but fails
- Jeremias jumps down and shoots the mangonel into the face of
one of them
- The rock crushes his face a little, but he still looks rugged and super hot
- Rormir takes a few steps back
- The siren scratches at him as he steps away but Rormir manages to shoot another arrow at it
- Heph hugs the siren in front of him, counting as a grapple which is
not resisted
- Heph breaks free of the charm and realizes he is hugging a dangerous creature
- Carol points the ship back at the rocks
- The starboard side of the ship is now grinding against the rocks
- The ships rolls well on a constitution save and takes half damage, which is 38
- Ana wakes up (finally; she had been rolling shit perception every round) and runs up onto the deck to ask what’s going on
- The sirens in the water, no longer being able to reach the starboard of the
ship due to the rocks, head towards the stern to try to climb up
- The one Heph is hugging just keeps hugging him back, enjoying the closeness
- Jeremias runs back up to the quarter deck and grabs the rope
again
- He tries to hide, but fails
- He tries to tie the rope around Carol’s ankle again, but also fails
- Rormir shoot the siren Heph is hugging and
Heph gently lowers him to the ground and slits his throat to finish
him off
- He does not look hot after this
- Heph heads towards the quarter deck
- Carol stays put and continues to try to steer the ship into the rocks
- Ana asks Jeremias what it was he wanted her to
do
- He says to shoot the mangonel off the starboard side
- She runs up and launches a giant stone towards the sirens, which splashes harmlessly into the water
- The boat takes more damage from the rocks
- The remaining sirens begin to climb up the side of the ship
- Jeremias hides behind Carol and tries once again to tie the
rope to her ankle
- He finally succeeds
- He pulls out his dagger and says “something witty” and slices the rope he needs to to make the rope fly up
- She gets slammed against the deck, taking 3 bludgeoning damage, and pulled up into the rigging
- Jeremias grabs the wheel and turns it away from the rocks
- One of the sirens falls off the ship due to the sudden movement
- Rormir shoots an arrow at the siren that fell off, but misses
- Heph launches the mangonel at it and it is decimated
- After a moment the body surfaces, and it appears to be lounging gracefully with its hand in fainting-pose on its forehead
- Carol fails to break free from the sirens’ charm
- She cuts herself loose from the rigging and falls 50 feet to the deck
- She takes 23 fall damage, which is just enough to knock her unconscious
- Ana dashes up onto the quarter deck and says “Okay, let’s
finish them here!”
- She readies an action to attack when a siren pops up onto the deck
- The ship veers away from the rocks and heads back out to open sea
- One of the sirens runs up to Ana and she tries to stab it and
misses
- The other siren approaches Ana and both attack her
- One of them hits and scratches her a bit
- Jeremias tries to attack a siren, but misses
- He grabs a rope and swings around the mast, hiding from sight
- Rormir shoots an arrow at one of the sirens and Heph shoots a fire bolt at the same one
- Carol succeeds on a death save
- Ana slashes at the damaged siren and deals some damage
- She misty steps under one of the lifeboats and hides
- Both of the remaining sirens go after Heph
- One of them crits
- Jeremias runs up to the weakened siren and stabs at it
- He back to the deck to hide but fails to blend in
- Rormir shoots the weakened one and Heph manages to barely finish it off with his dagger after a little surge of Luck from somewhere grants him advantage
- Carol fails a death saving throw
- Ana pops up and charges the remaining siren
- She fist bumps Jeremias as she leapfrogs over him
- She crits and deals 28 damage with her rapier, including Sneak Attack, not quite killing it
- The remaining siren tries to stab Ana but misses
- Jeremias hides behind the dead body of the other siren and then
stabs at the last one with his rapier
- He manages to finish it off
- It doesn’t look attractive now that it’s dead
- Combat is now over
- Other members of the crew rush up onto the deck
- Chef Emeril Lagasse heals Carol, who looks at Jeremias and mouths “I’m so sorry”
- The fog dissipates, and land appears up ahead
- They can see the golden domes and lush tree-lined avenues of Arkos
- Merchant Thom comes up on deck and thanks Jeremias for saving the ship
- Thom says he will repay his debt however Jeremias wants
- Rormir is a bit in shock and confused about how he’s bleeding
- Jeremias turns back to Ana, but does not see
her anywhere
- He does see a man in a jumpsuit sweeping the deck and whistling a tune
- Salty’s on his shoulder
- Jeremias says to the man “I suppose you’ll be
hiding”
- The man winks, T poses, and falls backward off the ship, disappearing into the water
- Salty lands on Jeremias’ shoulder and nibbles at
his ear
- Jeremias gives him a cracker
- Jeremias asks Carol “Do you see sirens a lot in these parts?”
- She has a blanket wrapped around her and is drinking cocoa
- She responds “Absolutely not. Those were sirens?”
- Jeremias explains they are from the Feywild
- She just thought they were a myth
- Captain Nanda del Becco asks Jeremias if he has encountered
them before
- He says he hasn’t but is very familiar with them
- She is confused why it happened, but she’s incredibly thankful for the party saving the ship
- The man from the crow’s nest Jeremias had seen the previous night approaches with 4 bags full of gold, and hands them out to Jeremias, Rormir, and Heph
- The other passengers are now out gawking at the damage to the ship
- The starboard side, which previously had “BRIGHT HORIZONS” painted on it, now reads “RIG”