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Adventure 2, Part 4: Every action has its consequence

Onboard Dragón’s ship, Couer, a half-elf ranger, was easily picking the iron lock of the brig that will have failed to container her for the third time now, or was it the fourth? Making her way onto the deck, Couer and her companion, a bushbaby named Luna, looked out on Deniz Kalkani to see the right foot of the Shield of Athena aflame. She snuck her way onto the docks and onto the roof of a nearby warehouse to scope out the situation. 

Inside Athena’s left foot, the group had begun to climb the stairs up to a wooden platform at Athena’s waist. There, they found a simple elevator, nothing more than a precarious circle of wood with a central pulley. Isurus chose to take the stairs, relying on those powerful quads and spectular glutes to power upwards quickly. Dragón followed on the stairs, strong, stout dwarven legs keeping up reasonably well. Rolen, Clara, Grimaldi, and Talia took the elevator, with Talia and Grimaldi trading pulls to steadily work their way up the statue to the next floor. As they moved they heard the sound of stone cracking again, but louder now. 

Couer observed the chaos of acolytes below as a half-orc paladin came rushing from down the channel and quickly took command. Couer disguised herself as an acolyte and made her way in the opposite direction toward the left side of the statue, now only lightly smoldering. 

At the next floor, just below Athena’s shoulders, the group found a door leading onto the left arm and a stairway heading upward. Talia and Clara approached the door and began to open it slowly. Rolen sent his magical seagull out the crack in the door over the heads of Talia and Clara. Looking around, he saw a figure, shadowed by the shield, seemingly pouring something onto the statue. Unfortunately, the magical bird startled Talia and as she was opening the door outward, the wind caught it causing her to let it go. It slammed open, hitting loudly against the statue. The figure Rolen was spying on stopped moving and turned toward the left shoulder. The cracking continued. 

Couer made her way to the roof of the temple under the left foot of Athena and started climbing her way up the outside of the statue. As she climbed she saw the magical seagull fly out the shoulder and started moving quickly in that direction. As Couer reached the waist, she spotted a bulky figure above her, also climbing up the back of the statue. She shouted a greeting up to the figure, which shouted a greeting back. She asked if she could accompany him up the statue and he seemed cool with it. 

The others made their way out onto the statue’s arm. Grimaldi took the lead and confronted the figure, which was indeed Iisla, although he didn’t know that. This strange paladin come to confront her, particularly as his blade struck out at her, surprised Iisla. Clara sent dancing lights down toward Iisla to illuminate the area, and revealed the deep scar of acid, which had been carved into the statue between the arm and the shield. Rolen shouted down at Iisla, asking what she was up to. Iisla replied that she wasn’t really in the mind to tell him and continued to fight Grimaldi. Dragón made his way up to the inside of the head of the statue, from which he could see down on the fight through the statue’s nostrils. As he loosed a crossbow bolt out Athena’s nose toward Iisla, Talia blasted her with lighting breath, but Iisla had cast a shield of faith around herself for protection, deflecting the blast. Isurus joined the fray, closing in on Iisla and biting down on her left shoulder. With Iisla grappled, Clara used her mage hand to tie a length of rope to her left leg. The shield began to fall away from the statue, its top leaning out, and stone straining to keep hold. The rift seemed irreparable now. 

Suddenly, a burly dwarf dressed only in a white loincloth came hurdling over the statue’s left shoulder and barreling down toward Iisla. Couer followed behind standing at the top of the statue shoulder just as Dragón had made his way back down and was standing at the shoulder’s doorway below. Iisla, who was damaged, but seemingly unconcerned by the fray quickly became concerned and cast hold person on Isurus, locking the reverse mermaid in place, so that she could disengage. Simultaneously, the shield gave way and began to plummet toward the ground. As the dwarf charged past the group, Talia shouted after him, asking for his name. He roared at her, literally, in response and continued his crusade toward Iisla. Couer climbed onto the front of the statue and gave a rope to Luna, who leaped toward the rope attached to Iisla’s leg. The dwarf struck down at Iisla with his warhammer, causing great damage to her already wounded shoulder. Luna came up short in her jump and was left dangling on the rope attached to Couer. Iisla cut loose the binding on her leg and dove off the statue and into darkness below. As the shield hit the channel opening in front of the statue it shattered and an ominous quake was felt from the direction of the Obsidian Sea.

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Adventure 2, Part 3: Barroom Blitzed

Led by Kaba, Clara, Talia, and Rolen, entered the Parlay. Kaba parted from them and headed for his group’s usual table. Clara, Talia, and Rolen approached the bar. Clara asked for ale and quickly set to drinking. She noticed the pendant in her pocket had begun to glow and tucked it in deeper, covering it from anyone’s sight. Rolen insisted he had a plan, which required the use of a room for an hour. Talia spoke with the barman and booked a room. Rolen tried to sneak a bottle of liquor off the bar… unsuccessfully. He retired upstairs to begin the ritual required to summon a spectral minion. 

Talia, looking around, noticed a nearby table where seemingly sat a shark with mechanical arms chatting happily with a pirate dwarf and a half-elf in armor. Dragón’s attention was turned to his crewmember, returned and badly beaten. Dragón’s scout had been discovered before the smugglers returned to their home base and they had shown their displeasure at being followed. The halfling smuggler captain, her first mate, and the remaining stragglers of her crew staggered up and departed. Dragón, furious, followed, with Grimaldi along for support. Isurus, meanwhile, went back up to the bar, coming up alongside Talia. Talia, taken aback at first glance, had heard rumor back in the Lands of the Dragonborn of a half-shark half-human that was learning the dragonborn mechanical arts in the coastal city of Sahil. She supposed the rumors must have been true and greeted Isurus. 

As Rolen cast his spell, Talia helped repair Isurus’ mechanical arms, and Clara began drunkenly juggling near the bar, garnering a few coin. Dragón and Grimaldi confronted the smugglers outside the Parlay. They were quite drunk, but Dragón threatened them into a temperate sarcasm. He demanded recompense for his beaten companion, but the smuggler captain just laughed him off. Dragón insisted they give him the spoils of their last trip, but they had already sold it. The smugglers had brought in a huge shipment of fuel oil barrels as well as some acid barrels for an old cleric woman. Dragón wanted the payout, if not the merchandise. Drunk, sardonic, and frustrated, the smuggler captain told Dragón he was welcome to return with them to their hideout where the payout lay… along with the rest of her crew. She said if Dragón wanted the shipment he was welcome to take it up with the old woman at the Temple of Athena. 

Dragón and Grimaldi returned inside to find Isurus bathing in the moat behind the bar, where Talia and Clara were talking and drinking. As an hour had passed, Rolen finished his spell and manifested a magical seagull, which he sent out the room’s window to scan the city from the Parlay’s rooftop. Rolen, looking through the eyes of this spectral gull, turned to look at the Shield of Athena and found it to be aflame. 

Rolen came downstairs and informed Talia and Clara that the Shield of Athena was on fire. The three of them, accompanied by Isurus, Dragón, and Grimaldi, made their way out into the Smuggler’s Quarter and up to the temple underneath the left foot of Athena. There, they came upon a chaotic scene of priests and acolytes scrambling to bring buckets of water out of the channel up to the temple, its roof ablaze. Talia stopped one of the panicking acolytes and tried to get a sense of what was happening. He directed her to the paladin, Sami, who was directing the effort to put out the fire. 

Sami, a female half-orc paladin, stood barking orders to acolytes, bringing direction to the firefighting effort. Through her leadership, a manual pump system was used to hose seawater from the channel onto the roof, pushing the fire back. Talia got Sami’s attention and explained that they believed Iisla, a villain their group had been chasing, had infiltrated the temple. Sami responded that Iisla had been at the temple for several months. Iisla had bought far more fuel oil than the temple would ever have needed, Sami considered, and that would fit with the current situation. As they spoke, the roof of the temple under Athena’s right foot erupted into flames. Rolen sent his magical seagull up the statue to scout. At the very edge of its vision, he noticed movement along the shield arm of the statue. Talia asked Sami if there was a way in the temple that they could access the statue. Sami explained there was a staircase up into the statue within the temple. She explained it would be safe enough - the temple and statue are solid stone, the fire won’t bring the statue down. Sami remarked, she still wanted the fire out, of course, being where they live and all, and then left to continue managing the flames. 

The group made their way into the building under the left foot of Athena. It was a comprised of a long hall, with a statue of Athena, gilded in gold leaf at the far end. The room was tall as well, with a high ceiling of thick wood, now smoldering. A door found ajar at the back corner of the room led into a narrow stairway up to this attic-like storage space. Talia checked the door carefully to determine if there was still fire behind it before leading the party into the space. The room was the same area as the hall below, but squat, acting as a storage space. A few in the group had to bend down to enter. Thick, cooling smoke hung in the air, smelling of fuel oil. They saw the wet and smoldering remnants of a large stock of barrels. They made their way to a hatch in the center of the room and entered the foot of the statue. As they got their bearings in the hollow interior of the statue’s foot, they began to hear the sound of stone cracking…

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Adventure 2, Part 2: A dwarven pirate, a half-elven paladin, and a reverse mermaid walk into a bar…

Meanwhile, in the Parlay, a swarthy dwarf and his crew of pirates have entered from the Pirate’s Quarter doors and have gotten themselves a table near the center of the bar floor. The Parlay sits near the front of Deniz Kalkani, a massive two-floored structure that spans the central channel. The first floor is the tavern, and is a mass of round and long tables. At its center sits the circular bar, at the center of which is the raised stage. Between the stage and the bar is a moat of seawater, within which swim the proprietors of the Parlay, merrow (merfolk with an edge). There are two major entrances to the Parlay one to the Smuggler’s Quarter and one to the Pirate’s. The Parlay is the only place in Deniz Kalkani where these two factions, and all those that might profit from them, openly mingle. Each door is flanked by two fonts of seawater, which fill in rivers that run the length of the barfloor and through which the merrow servers carry drink. The outer perimeter of the second floor of the Parlay houses the many rooms that travelers may rent. Most of the second floor is an open space, looking down on the bar floor below, with only a thin balcony wrapping around the perimeter, connecting the rooms. 

The dwarf is known as Dragón de la Mer, a captain of some renown, he and his crew had just returned from a successful trip of plunder near the QDF. Dragón and his crew were content in their drinking when a boisterous crew of smugglers sat down at the table next to them. The smugglers were celebrating their own big score. They were loud, obnoxious, and annoying about it. Dragón confronted them, pushing them to shut up or leave. They could not fight within the Parlay, not without losing privilege of entry for both groups, so the smugglers balked at Dragón and continued drinking. A frustrated Dragón kept a keen eye on the group and ordered one of his crew to follow the first of them to leave back to their base. 

A paladin of Artemis then walked in from the Smuggler’s Quarter entrance. Out of his depth, Grimaldi, a moon-elf of Sagesse Delune, came to Deniz Kalkani in pursuit of one who had wronged his clan. Grimaldi approached Dragón’s table and asked to join him and his crew for a drink. Dragón agreed so long as Grimaldi was paying for the drinks. 

Before Grimaldi could begin to ask Dragón about the object of his pursuit, a commotion broke out from the direction of the Smuggler’s Quarter entrance to the Parlay. Well, first there was an all-encompassing hush, a deafening silence amongst the normal clamor of the bar, which quickly subsided into a great cacophony of reactionary sound. Peering over the crowds, all Dragón could perceive was what appeared to be a shark, standing upright, and making its way into the bar... and did it have arms? 

Isurus was used to being a stranger in a strange land, although that didn’t make it any less awkward. This was one of the many troubles of the reverse mermaids keeping themselves so isolated - people were constantly surprised to see them. It isn’t so strange, really, being mako shark on top and human on the bottom, right? Plus, Isurus knew, them gams and glutes are pretty glorious. Some of the stares stem from that, too, which is even more embarrassing. Isurus hadn’t necessarily put together that the arcana-driven, clawed mechanical arms strapped around their dorsal fin also might be putting people off. 

Isurus walked in and made their way up to the central bar. The merrow at the bar, a scarred and muscular old male with his tendrils on his tied into pseudo-dreadlocks, was familiar enough with Isurus’ people that he greeted the shark-person cordially. Isurus asked the barman for help in repairing their robot arms, one of which seemed to be malfunctioning. A lanky human, the first mate of the smuggler crew, sauntered up to the bar, giving Isurus a bit of a posturing shove, and commanded the barman’s attention in order to get another round of ale for his table. The barman served the man and then explained to Isurus that few around these parts knew of machines like those arms. Best to find some friends in a place like this, or hire some, lest more folk like the smuggler take advantage. Isurus followed the barman’s advice and asked to sit down at the table with Dragón and Grimaldi, agreeing to the same pay for the drinks rule as Grimaldi had. At the same time, two of the smugglers left the bar, followed by one of Dragón’s crew.

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Adventure 2, Part 1: Processing…

When last we left our four adventurers, they along with Kaba the sellsword, were sailing back across the poison waters of the Obsidian Sea toward Deniz Kalkani, the city of brigands, still in shock from the events of the forgotten island. With Clara at the helm of their new ancient ship, and with the peace granted by the ship’s holy protections, the group took the time granted in transit to process and reflect. Talia pondered the necromancy she had seen, the dark forms they had fought, dead bodies granted motion, but not animated by reclaimed souls. Rolen puzzled further on the old cleric and the time he appeared to have lost: since the Cyclic calendar was abandoned at the foundation of the QDF, and it was 623 AF (after foundation) this year, just how old was this man? Clara took the time to check her acquired treasures, the pendant of the Merfolk and the bracer that seems to be at the center of all this… she discovered as she pulled out the bracer to reexamine it that it had turned a dry and flaky green. Rhevenil was quiet, reserved in the concern that they had just been the first step in Iisla’s plans and hoping they were not too late to prevent the next. Her thoughts dwelled on the Shield of Athena temple back in Deniz Kalkani. 

Talia struck up a conversation with Kaba, who seemed much more open to discourse after his near death. Talia asked how Kaba came to know Iisla and what information on her he could provide. Kaba, speaking respectfully to Talia, his savior, explained that he met Iisla the same way they all did, she hired him in the Parlay, the bar back in Deniz Kalkani. She offered a hefty sum for a bodyguard to protect her from adventurers she was guiding to a holy relic of Athena. Go with her there and make sure she comes back. Easy money. Kaba had never been hired by a cleric before, he wasn’t one to rub shoulders with the pious, but he noticed her tattoo and thought it might be a merc crest like his. 

The group was surprised to hear the Iisla had a tattoo and asked for more details, but Kaba, not necessarily the perceptive type, didn’t see much of it. He knew it was at the base of her neck near her back and right shoulder. He thought it was something like a jug or urn, but he doesn’t know. Kaba showed off his own tattoo, his mercenary band’s crest, the mark of the Sawtooth Scabbards, which depicts the rostrum of a sawfish crossed with a sword. He also showed off his scabbard, decorated to look like a sawfish rostrum. Kaba explained that his crew hangs out in the Parlay and acts as extra hands to any smuggler or pirate willing to provide coin. He figured she was an old merc turned church. Everyone in Deniz Kalkani has a past, even the priests, after all. He figured she was after one last big score and since Kaba’s crew wasn’t starting any jobs, he thought why not. Kaba had not believed it possible that he could end up betrayed with his throat cut by some old grandma. 

Talia turned her attention then to Rhevenil and asked for more detail on Deniz Kalkani, on where they could go and what they could do. Rhevenil explained that she also had been staying at the Parlay and performing there for coin. Talia wanted to know more about what temples there were in Deniz Kalkani. More about where Iisla could have come from - or where she might be headed. The only temples Rhevenil knew of in Deniz Kalkani were the two obvious ones: the Shield of Athena and the Beacon of Isis. Each temple consists of an enormous stone statue, 200 ft. high, of the patron deity standing over the channel, one foot on each side, which runs through the center of the city, connecting the Mestethys and the Obsidian Sea. Although the two bodies of water are not truly connected as a series of locks, long abandoned, can be found along the channel. 

The Shield of Athena stands looking out upon the Mestethys at what essentially acts as the front and bustling port of Deniz Kalkani. To Athena’s left is the Smuggler’s Quarter, and to her right is the Pirate’s Quarter: large sections of the waterfront and city sectioned into criminal territories. Between the two, sat atop the channel between Athena and the first lock, is the Parlay, the large tavern/inn that serves all in Deniz Kalkani. The Shield of Athena is still an active temple, Rhevenil was aware of that, but she hadn’t visited. Not her deity. The Beacon of Isis stands looking out to the Obsidian Sea, but essentially mirrors Athena, and is long abandoned as far as Rhevenil knows. 

The group arrived as the sun was setting, and stood looking up at the great statue of Isis as they arrived at the black sand beach of Deniz Kalkani’s Poisoned Quarter. Isis stood, certainly in tact, but clearly not maintained as the stone was stained with dark splotches, much like the trees and lands of the forgotten island. Isis towered over them, holding an ankh at her side with her right hand and cupping the base of a large, round glass lantern held out toward the sea with her left. Clara and Rolen, looked closely at the lantern and could perceive that much of the glass was clouded or shattered. In the ebbing light, the both just barely sensed some motion from within the lantern. 

Once the group disembarked, Kaba declared his thanks and told everyone he was heading back to the Parlay to reconnect with his crew and get a stiff drink. Our heroes took a moment to ponder their next steps, and decided to join Kaba and return to the Parlay to gather what information they could. Rhevenil offered to stay behind with the ship in order to camouflage it and protect it from theft. A clean and in tact ship beached on the acidic shores of the Obsidian Sea was much too obvious a target in a city of thieves, after all. As Talia, Clara, and Rolen departed to catch up with Kaba, Rhevenil urged them to find and stop Iisla.

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Adventure 1, Part 3: What Pieces?

Rolen, Clara, Rhevenil, and Talia awoke to the rousing voice of an older human man in musty cleric robes. The man spoke in rambling bursts, his shock and concern evident in his erratic movement and action. He addressed the party as the Appointed and asked what had happened to the seal. He bemoaned that they have come too late, that the energies of the seal have waned and now the dark god is loosed. The party was understandably confused. Talia repeatedly tried to get his attention, to calm him down and make it clear they had no idea what he was talking about. The man ignored Talia, and rolled through his own thoughts, explaining that the temple housed a seal that contained a dark god of the waters and that that seal has now been broken. 

 At this point the party noticed that the monolith has been shattered. The man continued rambling about how the energies that maintained the seal should have been renewed as its power initially waned, but those assigned to the task by the Guardian, the Appointed, never came. Generations passed, and the island was swallowed by the darkness as it spread through the seal. Those that went out to find the guardians or seek help never returned. Talia inquired what year the man thinks it is and he responds that the last he can recall it was the 203rd year of the Cycle of Athena. This is a calendar system that none of the party recognizes, but Rolen believes it to be at least 500 years past. Clearly, the man said, much time has passed. The remains of everyone he had known and loved scattered throughout the village evidenced that much. The shock of that sets in slowly to the man and he began to cry. 

After he recollects himself, he turned to the party and continued. He told them that all is not lost. They may still be able to rebuild the seal, as long as they have brought the pieces. Again, the party said they had no idea what he is talking about - they do not know of any pieces. The man, exasperated and seemingly unable to understand how the group can be here and know nothing of such obvious things, reiterated, “the pieces of eight, eight objects which the appointed are meant to bring in order to forge the new seal.” He noticed that Clara held the copper bracer and realized that they cannot have the pieces if the bracer is still there. The man explained that the power of the pieces that maintain the seal wane over time, they always did. The Guardian sends the Appointed to take the bracer and seek the next pieces in order to forge the seal again before the power ends. With the pieces exhausted, the bracer contained the last bit of energy holding the seal together. The energies of the last pieces of eight had already long since waned. Removing the bracer opened the seal and released the dark god. 

The party asked about the dark god and tried to explain about Iisla, who had brought them to the temple. He explained that the entity is a water god; it can only traverse by sea. It is ancient source of chaos that taints sea, shore, and creature with the expanding tendrils of its dark essence. So long as the Shield of Athena and the Beacon of Isis are still active in Nur Engel then the god could not escape the surrounding sea. The man explained that Iisla must have been an acolyte of the dark god whose intention was to break the seal. Likely, she is now bent on destroying the Shield of Athena and Beacon of Isis, which are the only things preventing the dark god from entering the Mestethys (the Mediterranean Sea) and destroying the known world. At this point, the man pleads with the adventurers to follow the dark acolyte and save the last lines of defense in Nur Engel. He quickly hurries them out of the temple and pushes them to return to their ship as he returns to his village. 

The group returned to find their ship still there and beach, but eaten away by the Obsidian Sea and now unusable. Rhevenil heard a gurgling gasp and investigated to find the body of Kaba, throat slit and life escaping him. As Clara began to attempt to bandage Kaba, Talia came over and touched his shoulder, sending a spark of natural healing energy coursing into him and closing his wounds. As the group waited for Kaba to awaken, Talia and Rhevenil noticed that the land and woods of the island seemed cleansed despite the taint remaining in the seas. Kaba awaked and concisely explained that Iisla took him by surprise and slit his throat. He accompanied them back the village where the man is collecting and sorting remains near the small wooden temple. 

The man led the group to a wooden harbor and a dry-docked ship with a shield amulet of Athena in its figurehead. He ushered them aboard and again asked them to find the pieces of eight and return to forge the new seal. He does not know how to find them, only the guardians know. He told the party to return to Lantea and ask the guardian to show them the way. The party once again does not know what the man is talking about. They have never heard of Lantea. When they asked him of Lantea, he is concerned, but now unsurprised, by their ignorance, and replied, " I fear I do not know the world beyond anymore. You are not the Appointed, I know, but still I must ask this task of you now. Please, take the bracer, find the pieces of eight and forge the new seal or all of the Mestethys shall be swallowed by darkness. Return to Nur Engel and save the Shield and Beacon. Find Lantea. Find the guardian.” With all the party, and Kaba, on board the ship, the man helped them lower the ship and set. Before the party departed, the man turned and said, “Seafarers and traders like yourselves often referred to Lantea by another name, perhaps you know it better... seek the City of Atlantis."

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Adventure 1, Part 2: The Village and the Temple

Clara, Rolen, Rhevenil, and Talia set forth into the island along an old footpath through a tainted and desiccated forest. The path seemed to curve away from the temple hill, but indicated some form of civilization, so the party continued to follow it. With Talia and Clara at the lead, the party came unto a seemingly abandoned village of stained, worn mudbrick houses. As they cautiously began to approach, they saw more forms, tall, thin, humanoid forms, again coated in this thick, black ooze. These creatures seemed to walk aimlessly throughout the village square and did not seem alerted to the party’s presence. 

The group agreed to avoid the village and sneak their way around its outskirts toward the temple. Clara cast an illusory camouflage over herself, coating her form in the patchy colors of the brown/black of the stained woods. As they made their way around the village, the group saw a more intact structure, a wooden temple to Athena; a smaller, local church it seemed. At this moment, Talia’s bell rang of its own accord. Although she quickly acted to silence it, one of the oozing forms took notice and began to stalk in her direction. As she moved away, she got a brief sense of a spark of life in that form, a sense of a soul. The creature turned back to its aimless wandering and the group made their egress toward the temple proper. 

The party followed a wide stone path leading from the village to a stairway cut into the hill, leading up to the temple. As the approached, they saw the temple was a stone structure, a large dome-shaped building with a long colonnaded hall at its front and a classically styled atrium with large stone doors as entrance. Cautiously, the group examined the remnants of the imagery to Athena at the entrance and the massive doors that blocked their way. The doors were already broken, it seemed, as the left door sat cocked, affording small cracks at its top-right and bottom-left corners. Clara approached the bottom-left space and investigated a small stream of the black, acrid ooze, which flowed out from the temple, carving into the stone foundation. In a spark of blind frustration, Talia approached the door dead on and kicked it sharply. The kick was powerful enough to break the dried wooden hinges that kept the door in place, freeing the door, which then fell forward onto Talia before smashing and breaking on the atrium stairs. 

Clara lit a lantern, and followed by Rolen, and Rhevenil, made her way into the hallway. The hallway was curious; it was a dark, rectangular corridor carved of grayish stone. Three large circular mosaics depicting a profile of Athena lay sequentially down the hall, paired with mosaics depicting the beacon of Isis on ceiling. After extensive investigation, Clara and Rolen determined that the mosaic on the floor contained a pressure plate, which seemed to trigger an arcane trap. Everyone stood back as Talia hefted a large fragment of the stone door onto the plate… to no effect. It seemed the magics of this trap had already been exhausted. 

The second circle, however, they could sense was still active and so Talia hefted a stone onto it, triggering the mechanism and causing a large column of light and flame to surge between ceiling and floor. The third circle was also previously exhausted, and so the party made their way to the entrance of the main, circular chamber of the temple. 

Clara and Rhevenil took point and used examined the room using Clara’s dancing lights. At the chamber’s center lay a series of steps leading of to a central dais, upon which was a tall monolith. Between them and the dais was another of these mosaic circles, which upon further investigation seemed to be place halfway between wall and center at the cardinal directions of the room. In between these circles were rectangular alcoves set into the wall, one each at the secondary directions of the room. In the southwest alcove Clara and Rhevenil saw a conical mass of iron, while in the southeast sat a stone structure in a ‘T’ shape. 

Rolen and Talia hung back in the hallway, investigating a bit further. They noticed that the mosaics on the floor and ceiling, as well as the reliefs on the wall, did not match the rest of the structure’s interior. Best they could tell, it seemed like this was a very ancient structure that was coopted or adapted into a temple to Athena. 

As Clara and Rhevenil continued to explore the chamber, careful to avoid the circular mosaics they knew to be traps, they approached the alcoves in the back half of the room. As she and Rhevenil passed the central dais, Clara noticed a brassy shine coming from atop the monolith. They moved up to the northeast alcove, following the trail of acrid ooze that was streaming from that direction and came upon a large, iron statue of a spear bearer, from which streams of that black substance poured. Casting a light to the west, they saw another iron statue, this of some sort of dog-like creature in the northeast alcove of the chamber. Rolen approached and tried to detect a magical presence to the iron man, but could only sense the slightest spark of a dying arcane light at the core of this iron and oozing form. 

Rolen circled the room, checking the other iron structures for magic, which they did not contain, and determined which of the floor mosaic traps were still active. Following this, Rolen, Rhevenil, and Clara all tentatively approached the dais, but a deep-ceded caution prevented them from approaching further. Talia then came in and stepped onto the dais… and nothing happened. So she then walked up to and touched the monolith. 

At Talia’s touch the monolith grew cold and began to vibrate, and the iron spear bearer awoke. The iron golem slowly stalked forward toward the dais, creaking as its iron plates came into motion and more of the oily black liquid burst forth from its seams. As the monolith cooled, swirls of black mist condensed around it and pearls of the oily substance began to run down its surface. Talia, expecting something of this sort, turned and unleashed her lightning breath at the iron golem, causing it to buckle slightly. Rolen unleashed a firebolt at the golem, which struck at the same point as Talia’s lightning blast, but to seemingly minor effect. As the battle began in earnest, Clara tried to climb the monolith in order to claim the relic, but could not make much progress along its slick surface. In an attempt to distract the spear bearer, Rhevenil created an illusory flamingo, which strutted its way past the iron man… to no effect. 

The iron spear bearer continued to bear down toward Talia, Clara, and Rolen at the central dais. Rhevenil took action, charging around the side of the iron spear bearer and, once again, produced a thunderous clap, knocking the golem away… and onto one of the circular mosaics. As it stepped onto the trap, a column of flame and light took the right half the iron spear bearer. Black ichor now spiraled off that half in streams of acrid mist from glowing iron panels, and though looking rough, still the spear bearer walked, creaking toward the dais. Talia recognized that the golem seemed to be moving toward her and so ran out to the eastern mosaic in an attempt to lure the spear bearer onto it. The iron golem turned to follow Talia and stepping onto a second mosaic, was fully engulfed in the trap’s flame. As the heat and light abated with a burst of acrid steam, the rusted golem collapsed onto the ground. 

Rolen gave Clara a boost and she reached out to take the relic, which she could now see was a copper bracer with a shield of Athena at its center. Talia, meanwhile, used her staff to pop the head off the iron golem, and investigated its internal mechanisms. The idea of arcane and machine working together, of gears and clockwork, was not unfamiliar to Talia, but she had never seen it in practice at this scale or level of finesse. On top of that, this golem had to be hundreds of years old, which did not make sense. 

As Clara grasped the bracer and pulled it off the monolith, she realized it came with seemingly little friction, almost as though it had been floating slightly. Once the bracer was removed from the monolith, everyone was overtaken by an overwhelming force and darkness. Clara and Talia immediately passed out. Rhevenil, who was walking back toward the dais, saw, just as her vision was fading, the form of Iisla coming into the room. Rolen held out long enough to set Clara safely on the ground, but still the darkness took him. As he started to pass out he heard the elderly, cackling laugh of Iisla, which slowly deepened into a deep and sinister rumble. The last thing Rolen saw as he faded was the engraving on the monolith, a full depiction of Athena, holding her shield, but emblazoned with the beacon on Isis, and backed by an eight-pointed star. Finally, Rolen blacked out, and all the party lay unconscious on the temple floor.

[phsquid]

Adventure 1, Part 1: A Rocky Start

This campaign is set in a fantasy version of the classical Mediterranean Sea, with cultures inspired by the archaeology of North Africa, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and Europe. It is broadly themed on the sea, piracy, and marine trade, but may go in many directions as the players make progress in their stories and shape the world around them.

Iisla, an elderly cleric of Shield of Athena temple in Deniz Kalkani, the city of Brigands (Istanbul), uncovered a map to an unknown island in the Obsidian Sea (the Black Sea), which apparently housed an ancient and forgotten temple to Athena, within which could be found a great holy relic. In a tavern in Deniz Kalkani, she hired our adventurers, paying each 10 gold up front in order to accompany her to this mysterious island and recover the artifact on her behalf. She sweetened the pot by offering to let our adventurers keep any treasures they find on their way to the relic and an additional 15 gold piece bonus upon the safe return of the artifact to the archives of the Shield of Athena temple. 

We opened with our adventurers already underway, sailing across the dark and foreboding Obsidian Sea on track to this island and the treasure that waits there. The Obsidian Sea, it should be noted, is named for its deep black color and the sharp, craggy waves that seemingly forever break its surface. No crews venture into its dark waters for they are known to hold many dangerous creatures and no ship can withstand its eroding, caustic waters for long. Iisla is able to bestow the protections of Athena onto the ship, in order to keep it in tact, and so had to accompany the group, along with her hired bodyguard, Kaba. 

 As the group made their way, they began to talk and learn of their company. At the tiller of their moderate sailing ship was Clara, a human rogue, who seems to have a great familiarity with the sea. She was not so familiar with the Obsidian it seemed, as best she tried, she could not prevent the sharp and rocky waves from roughly tossing the ship. The roiling ship did not sit well with Rolen, a scholarly moon-elf wizard, who quickly became seasick. Rhevenil, the half-elven bard, introduced herself as a follower of song and of Artemis, while Talia, the half-elven, half-dragonborn druid, inquired with Iisla about greater details of their journey. Iisla explained, rather rudely, that she knew little of the temple itself or the relic it contained. She had learned only of the existence of these things and the route to the island itself. 

“The temple should be easy enough to find, but I do not know what you will find inside. The object will almost certainly be decorated with the iconography of Athena, be that the Shield or the Owl. If you enter the temple and find an important-looking shiny thing, I imagine it will be safe to assume that is what you are after.” 

Conversation quickly ceased at that remark. As Rolen was heaved (heaving) over the rear starboard corner of the ship he noticed forms emerge from the murk of the ebony water. Quickly notifying the others of the oncoming threat, the party was on its guard as four ooze-covered creatures climbed their way onto the ship. Squat, rotund forms, coated and dripping with a black, acrid oily substance, boarded the ship: two each at the portside bow and the rear-starboard corner. Kaba ran to the bow and struck out at creatures there with his longsword, but found their slick, gelatinous forms difficult to damage. 

Clara, having to maintain hold on the tiller as the creatures attacked, was caught in the side by a bite. The smooth, dripping form split into a maw of sharp, bony teeth, which struck into her and burned with an acidic sting. Clara responded by casting out a powerful spray of colorful lights at the creatures, blinding the two at the rear. Between the efficient use of Rolen’s magic missiles and Talia’s lightning breath, these creatures were quickly dispatched. 

Kaba fought the creatures at the front of the ship, whittling away at the forms, but making little progress. Rhevenil rushed into the fray and clapped her hands together producing a thunderous wave of force that threw one of the creatures back into the sea. The other creature was obliterated as the ooze maintaining its form exploded away in a spray of acrid droplets, leaving only a dry skeleton, which crumbled to the deck. 

There was only a moments respite for the group, as Kaba heard the sound of heavy scraping at the bow of the ship. He turned to see a massive hulking form grasp at the point of the bow and pull itself upward. This creature was again coated in ooze, but had a much more muscular and humanoid form, with some form of fins visible at the sides and crest of the head. Kaba, exasperated, stabbed his sword into the creature, which, again, had surprisingly little effect. Talia came to realize that these creatures were husks, containing no soul or spark of life, and were therefore a form of undead. She quickly made her way to the bow and withdrew a dark metal bell from a holster at her waist. Ringing it once, sharply, she instilled a great fear in the creature as she commanded it to return to death (copyright Garth Nix, TMTMTM). The monstrous, oozing form slunk back under the ship, repelled by the sound of the bell, but reemerged at the stern, looming over Clara and Rolen. 

Rolen cast an illusory shadow over himself and Clara, allowing Clara to strike a powerful sneak attack with her dagger, slicing open the torso of the creature, which gushed with thick, black, acrid ichor. Iisla, who had been keeping back and healing those as needed, walked toward this undead creature and, following Talia’s lead, channeled the power of Athena to strike divine fear into it. The creature was repelled backward by the divine force that emanated from both Iisla’s Shield medallion and Talia’s bell, rearing backward into the Obsidian Sea. 

 As it fell away, Clara saw a brief shine of gold at the creature’s neck, and deftly used her mage hand to grab a pendant off the monster. The pendant was a small gold trident wrapped in a net, carved with Aquan script that none on board could read. The most the party could glean was that this was an object of the Merfolk. 

After this harrowing battle, our adventurers arrived at the island and beached their ship on the shore. Iisla pointed out the temple hill to the group and set them on their way, noting that she had to stay with the ship in order to maintain her protections on it, lest it be eaten away and they have no means of return. Kaba, a man of few words, gruffly stated he would stay with Iisla, since he had been hired to protect her.