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tuesdaydnd · 6 years

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BEYOND VERENZIA

A D&D Adventure

Part Three

Shark God Rising

8-22-17

Since only Zul and Aemei know how to locate the Ransom Jack, they go on a small two masted ship to recover the cutlass. Zul attempts to strike up a conversation with the pirates, but finds them nervous and suspicious. They have lost too many ships for it to be bad weather or enemy ships; they sense something is badly wrong.

Zul understands the pirates from her mother’s stories. A hundred years ago, Zul’s mother sailed with the Bloodport pirates. Her first mate was a dragonborn, which is how she learned to speak dragonborn.

Before they reach the ship, they see something splashing in the water. There is a female aquatic elf with a trident fighting with a tentacle monster. Zul wants to help, but there isn’t enough floating seaweed to do an entangle spell. She casts fairy fire instead that illuminates the tentacles. Aemei uses the more direct approach and dives in. After a moment Zul joins him.

Aemei punches the tentacles without much effect. Zul begins to cut them. As the monster thrashes around they see the gaping mouth of a shark and realize the creature they are fighting is a shark with tentacles.

The monster pulls Aemei under. Zul dives down to rescue him. The sea elf pulls free from the distracted creature and produces a small piece of coral from a pouch. A quick spell makes it grow. The tentacles attach themselves to the new object, allowing Aemei to escape.

Back on board the ship, the Sea elf introduces herself as Athali. She explains the monster they saved her from was a lusca, but the surface dwellers call them a sharktapus. Normally the sea elves are secretive and have little contact with the surface world, but she has been sent out from her city on a mission. There have been a number of strange disappearances lately, and she has been sent to investigate.

Athali accompanies them to the Ransom Jack which is riding even lower in the water than before. They find the cutlass Skorzia described, still in the hand of a dead man. After some experimenting Zul discovers that the blade can shoot out a stream of salt water.

As they return to their own ship Zul wonders if there is a link between what is killing the sea elves and what is attacking the pirate ships. She can’t think about it for very long however. The lookout sights a Brigitain frigate bearing down on them. It’s too fast for them to run, so all they can do is stand their ground.

Back in Mortegoth Montague and Maelyss are planning to exit the city of the dead. The only unguarded way out of the city is a kind of sewer. Since very few in the city eat food this river of waste is actually composed of flesh and bones and other body parts from those who were killed by the undead rulers of the city. There is a pack of ghouls living off this refuse, making this exit very dangerous.

Finally, they decide to go out the way they came in, the main city gates. They go one at a time. Maelyss is stopped by Gilead and her crusaders. The kitsune manages to bluff her way past and leaves after getting a strong warning never to return.

Montague has a harder time of it. Gilead orders him to open up the containers he is transporting.

“It’s not a good idea to open them,” he says quite truthfully.

Gilead is very suspicious of the volatile contents, but Montague assures her that the materials will be used for making weapons against the undead. She accepts this and lets him pass.

In the wilderness Mika finds someone asleep by a fire. She wakes him up to see if he has any supplies that she can use. The barbarian Dar-gon doesn’t have much in the way of supplies, but he did pass a town a while back that could supply what they need. The group, including the freed slaves heads towards the town.

Teela is very excited to see her first city, but Mika cautiously makes her stay behind to guard the freed slaves. She and Dar-gon enter the small town. The first thing they see is a statue of a man with a sword in his hand, his face frozen in fear. It is a very realistic statue. As they go deeper into the city they encounter more statues like these arranged randomly. Many of the statues are holding their hands up over their face. The town is oddly quiet except for the distant sound of breaking glass.

Mika hangs back, but Dar-gon forges ahead. He decides to gather some food since the town seems to be deserted. A noise alerts him to the presence of a monster. He sees a large basilisk scuttle across his path.

His first attempt to kill it misses. It almost strikes him with its petrifying gaze, but his barbarian toughness allows him to shrug it off. He lands a powerful blow, almost severing its head.

Mika arrives to investigate the noise. She sees the wounded monster trying to get away from Dar-gon. There is a man holding a sack it the air who has a stick in his other hands. Something in the sack is squirming. There are yelps of pain as he smacks the sack with the stick.

Mika attacks him, and during the fight, she manages to cut the sack open. A pair of baby basilisk fall out and scamper away. The larger basilisk stops fighting with Dar-gon and runs to the babies. The three monsters head out of the city.

While this has been happening, the thieves who have been looting the down notice the intruders. An archer starts shooting arrows at them. Dar-gon and Mika decide that they might as well loot the town themselves, and start to work.

They split up to cover more ground. Dar-gon finds a cattle pen where two armed men have trapped many of the town’s citizens. Apparently after most of the warriors in town were petrified by the basilisk the thieves rounded up the rest of the people and are holding them prisoner.

When the thieves see Dar-gon they decide to attack and take his axes. A violent fight ensues. Dar-gon loses one of his axes when it becomes stuck in a club belonging to one of the thieves. Mika hears the fight and arrives in time to help, bringing down a man with a well-placed throwing knife.

After freeing the townspeople, the adventurers discover the rest of the thieves trying to leave town in a cart filled with loot. They attack and after a furious battle they are able to take the cart, leaving town with their ill-gotten gains. Fortunately, they have not forgotten to get food for the starving ex-slaves.

When they reunite with Teela and the former slaves on the outskirts of town they find the young elf is very proud of herself.

“You won’t believe what happened,” Teela gushes. “A mother basilisk and her two babies came by. They were so cute. The mother had a head wound, but I put a poultice on it, she’ll be fine.”

Far away on the ocean Zul and Aemei see the Brigataine warship bearing down on them. Knowing they are out gunned the pirate ship makes to flee, but a lucky shot with the catapult takes off the mast of the pirate ship. Now they have no choice but to stand their ground.

Athali doesn’t normally get involved with surface affairs, but since they helped her she agrees to pitch in. Aemei and Athali dive into the water. Aemei tries to smash the ship with his fists, but it is too well constructed. With Athali’s help he rides a waterspout up to a hatch which the ship uses to fire ballista bolts.

Zul creates fire on the deck to take the catapult out of action, but by this time the two ships are at close quarters. Massive arrows shoot out of the side of the ship as the Brigataine warship lets loose a barrage from their ballista. The pirate ship is knocked violently about; causing Zul to lose her concentration and the fire vanishes.

Aemei bursts onto the gun deck and starts to take out the sailors with a flurry of blows. At the same time Zul dives into the water so she can take the battle to the enemy. Using her power to warp wood she makes handholds and climbs onto the deck of the warship. Over her head, grapple lines are secure as the Brigataine navy men swarm onto the pirate ship.

As Aemei battles on the gun deck Zul emerges on the upper deck where she sees that her fire has already been put out. Athali is there, fighting with her trident. Zul uses her flaming blade attack and starts furious combat with the sailors. Hearing the battle Aemei finishes off the sailor he was fighting and heads for the ladder to the upper deck.

During the chaos of battle, the two ships crash together. By the time everyone is on their feet the captain of the Brigataine ship has captured Athali and has a knife to her throat.

“A sea elf,” the captain snarls. “Is this how you took Queen’s Landing?”

Zul has no idea what she’s talking about. Ikasaria jumps to the Brigataine ship and joins her. From the corner of her eye, Zul sees that the pirates are holding their own and can free their ship if they have a good distraction.

The Brigataine captain is named Morgan Bradiss. She is a severe looking woman, very angry, almost obsessed with vengeance.

“It was a massacre. Over two hundred people dead. Only the pirates could have done it. What did you do with the bodies?” Captain Bradiss demands.

“Look, we just got here, and we were planning on leaving,” Zul reasons with her.

“Bring it up at your trial. I lost a husband and two children in Queen’s Landing. I’m going to either kill you now or hold you until a judge can come from Brigataine to order you hanged.”

Zul tries to explain calmly that she is not a pirate and has no idea what happened at Queen’s Landing. Captain Bradiss doesn’t seem inclined to listen to reason.

Athali has been slowly reaching for the pouch at her belt. The sea elf makes eye contact with Zul and casually remarks, “It grows faster in water.”

Thinking quickly Zul brandishes the blade that shoots a stream of water just as Athali drops a piece of coral to the deck. The coral instantly starts growing, knocking Captain Bradiss down. Seeing the Brigataine navy occupied the pirates sever the lines connecting their ships and pull free. Aemei knocks out a few sailors as Zul and Athali confer.

“Back to the ship, or over the side?” Athali asks. “I can help you if you don’t mind getting wet.”

“Over the side,” Zul decides as she watches the pirates putting up their remaining sails and making their escape. Captain Bradiss is still pinned under a massive lump of coral that fills the deck.

Once Zul, Aemei and Ikasaria join Athali in the water the sea elf whistles. Dolphins appear and helpfully allow the heroes to ride them. A sort of a harness is quickly assembled so the dog can be towed by a dolphin. They shoot through the water, leaving both ships behind.

It is a strange, but exhilarating way to travel. Athali has no trouble with directions and guides them without error to a small island with sandy beaches. It is Galados, the home of the Haydozee, the gliding monkeys that make superb sailors.

Saying goodbye to the dolphins the adventurers come ashore exhausted by their ordeal. Zul does have the presence of mind to check and see if the island has a messenger raven. It turns out that they do. She sends a message to her comrades at the Thin Pigeon, telling them where she is.

Coming back from Mortigoth Montague encounters a stream of ragged people coming down the road. They are the survivors from the village that was attacked by a basalisk and ransacked by thieves. They are trying to find food since everything in their town was taken from them and many men are still stone statues. Montague feels sorry for them and shares his food. He promises to return and help them if he can.

Meanwhile in Verenzia Mika and Dar-gon start to cash in on their ill-gotten gains. Several of the slaves have found work on nearby farms. Eight of them go all the way to Verenzia where they secure employment at the Thin Pigeon.

Montague arrives back a few days after them. He gives Valacav the volatile substances that the lich requested. The bard can’t help but ask why he wants such dangerous material. Valacav explains that he is investigating the building block of all matter, and that by breaking down the substance of things great powers may be unleashed.

Montague asks about helping the petrified townspeople. Valacav offers him a potion that will help him cast the spell and sends him to get a remove curse scroll. Montague does as he asks, and quickly deflects the questions when the magician wants to know where the magic potion came from.

Quickly riding back to the beleaguered town he casts his spell, freeing the citizens who were trapped in stone. The people are grateful, but they cannot reward him since their entire town has been stripped of anything valuable.

Back in Verenzia, Teela is impressed with Montague’s actions. She’s never met a bard before. He is so taken with her that he takes her on as an apprentice.

At the Thin Pigeon, Takkar the elf barbarian has been working as a bartender. He’s managed to make some money and is on duty when the messenger raven arrives from Zul saying where she is and what she has been up to. Hastilt he contacts the rest of the adventurers. They all agree to get a ship and head down to the Thousand Islands.

Takkar and Montague try to find a ship that they can rent. The captains are very suspicious of them and want more money up front than they have.

Back at the Thin Pigeon, Mika and Dar-gon are heading out the door when a man bursts in and demands to see the woman who owns the bar. It is the Merchant Prince Pesko. The prince is disappointed when he is told that Zul is not there.

Suddenly Pesko stiffens and drops to the pavement. There are two small arrows imbedded in his back, like the kind fired by a wrist crossbow. The prince is dead before he hits the ground, a victim of the poison on the bolts as well as their precise aim, which struck him in the heart.

Mika checks the area to see if any killer is visible. When she sees the coast is clear she immediately loots the body. He has very little on his for such a wealthy man. In addition to some gold pieces, she takes a ring with a pale oval stone off his little finger. He is carrying some papers that she also steals. The documents involve cargo manifestos, but not from one of Pesko’s ships, but rather ones that belonged to his archrival Prince Zikar.

When Mika and Dar-gon join Montegue and Takkar on the docks, they reveal that they have enough money to charter a ship. Neither of them mentions that the money came from the town that was looted. Once the ship is hired there’s nothing left to do but go shopping and pick up some supplies. Soon they are sailing south on a fifteen man schooner.

Far to the south on the island of Galados Athali leads Zul, Aemei and Iskataria into a ramshackled trading post. Inside they hear a Hadozee whose cousin is on a Brigataine ship describe the massacre at Queen’s Landing. There wasn’t a single body found, but evidence of a great battle and a lot of blood. Over two hundred people in the colony were wiped out, leaving no survivors.

Athali wants some potions so her new friends can breathe underwater. The owner of the store is reluctant to part with such valuable items, but Athali turns on the charm. “Come on, you know I’m good for it,” she reminds him.

With the potions, the adventurers and their dog can now breathe underwater. The potion even modifies their hands and feet, giving them webbed fingers and toes. It is a strange experience to suddenly start breathing water. They dive deep, following Athali, feeling the pressure of the water grow on them as they sink down to the depths where the sun cannot reach.

As they swim, Zul hears Ikasaria yelp. When she looks around the dog has banished. Even Athali isn’t sure what happened until Aemei spots an odd discoloration in the water. It is a vampire squid, twisting its body flat to hide in a cloud of its own making.

Athali uses the blunt end of her spear to attack so she won’t hurt the dog. Aemei tries to swim around to hit it in the head, but he isn’t sure where to aim his attack. Zul manages a spell that disperses the cloud, revealing their multi tentacle attacker.

Once it is visible both Athali and Aemei attack. The vampire squid releases Ikasaria, who has sucker marks where the hungry mouths on the tentacle bit into him to draw his blood. Zul helps the dog with a cure light wounds.

The injured squid retreats, flattening itself until it is almost paper thin and vanishes into another cloud.

“We’ll be to my city soon,” Athali assures them.

The rest of the adventurers are on a ship sailing south. Montague plays sea chanties, which everyone appreciates. Takkar pits his strength against the sailors in an arm wrestling contest.

One night they are awakened by a loud scream. Rushing up to the deck, Montague and Takkar see that a cecaelia, a being who is half man and half octopus attacking the sailors. He is slashing with a spear, and is strangling one sailor with his tentacles. It is hard to approach him without being caught up in his thrashing tentacles.

Montagu attacks with his rapier and misses, narrowly avoiding being run through by the spear. As Takkar and Mika attack the octopus man pulls himself back across the deck.

“This is for massacring our people!” he shouts. “Death to air breathers.”

Montague tries to play something calming. The wounded cecaelia tries to go over the side of the ship, but Dar-Gon grappels with him. During the struggle Dar-gon is pulled into the water, but the octopus man is pinned to the deck.

The adventurers interrogate their captive. When Montague heals him slightly the cecaelian calms down enough to talk with them. His people are at war with the surface world since a group of them were killed while trading with a pirate ship. The slaughter was so complete that they assume it had to be an ambush and blame the air breathers.

The name of the pirate ship where his comrades died was the Ransom Jack, a name that means nothing to this group of adventurers, but would be very familiar to their companions.

Meanwhile Dar-gon finds himself in the water with two more of the octopus people. A woman grabs him with her tentacles and pins his arms, holding his head just above the water.

“Let Kallen go, or I’ll kill your friend!” she shouts.

On the deck the adventurers debate whether they should just kill their captive. Teela emerges from below deck and is appalled that they would consider killing a captive they have already injured so badly.

In the water Lyria, the cecealian woman senses that they are close to murdering her friend.

“Take me as your prisoner and let him go,” she announces. “He’s injured and needs medical help.”

The deal is quickly struck. Kallen is released after getting a stern lecture not to profile people. Lyria keeps her word, releasing Gar-Gon and climbing up onto the deck of the ship with her powerful tentacles and surrendering.

She explains more about how their people trade with the pirates, providing useless things like gold and silver from wrecked ships in return for exotic foods they can’t get below the sea, like chicken and pork.

Most importantly, she knows the last known location of the Ransom Jack and can lead the ship there.

When they arrive at the location, the ship is gone. Fortunately they all have underwater breathing potions so they can search for the now sunken vessel. There are enough water breathing potions on board for everyone. Teela is giddy with excitement about going underwater. Even Noxoura agrees to join them.

Once they get used to being underwater they explore the wrecked ship. It is lying on its side, exposing the holes in the bottom that sank the ship. Noxoura uses her claws to pull herself through the tangled wreckage. She emerges from the ship’s interior with a severed human arm in her mouth.

“It looks like a shark bit the arm off,” Lyria ponders. “Which is weird since I don’t see any sharks around here.”

Everyone agrees the area is oddly shark free.

“Maybe it’s like in the woods, where you don’t find bears in places where there are dragons.” Teela speculates.

Lyria finds a clamshell knuckle-duster and part of a severed tentacle. She knows this is the spot of the massacre, but what could have done it? Sharks could not punch a hole in the bottom of a ship like that. Her people kill sharks all the time, and find them a nuisance.

A school of small fish shoot past them. Three large, majestic whales swim slowly after them. Montague has been playing his lute on the wreck, trying to capture the feel of the sea. When he hears the long, slow sounds the whales makes, he incorporates that into his tune. The whales begin to slowly swim around him in a great circle. Noxiura grabs one of the whale’s fins and rides it around.

The barbarian Dar-gon has gotten bored with nothing to challenge him. He swims away accompanied by Lyria. Unexpectedly they find themselves facing three sahuagin. The scaley fish men are armed and seem to be upset about something.

At the city of the sea elves Zul, Aemei and Ikasaria are stopped by guards. Perlancil Te refuses them entry, saying air breathers aren’t allowed.

“We’re breathing water now,” Zul points out, but her snark is wasted on the guard. Only after Athali explains how they saved her life does she relent.

Perancil reveals that something terrible has happened to their goddess. Reluctantly she allows them to enter.

They marvel at the city that seems to be grown from living coral. None of the inhabitants have seen a dog before, so the group attracts a great deal of interest. At a hastily called meeting with the leaders of the city Athali puts forth her theory that the same force that is killing their people is responsible for the attacks on the pirates and the Queen’s Landing.

“Once before our goddess called upon strangers from the surface world in a time of crisis,” the city elders remember. “Perhaps this is a sign and these are the people who can help us.”

Against the wishes of the priests, the elders allow the adventurers into the sacred grotto to meet with their goddess, Sassrindal. Strange hallucinogenic substances are released into the water. As they breath the water, the cave around them seems to transform into a shimmering dome. They see a woman with green skin and tentacles floating before them.

It is the sea goddess Sassrindal. Unfortunately she is clearly in distress. One of her tentacles has been ripped off and a chunk has been bitten out of her side.

“Help me,” she says, barely conscious. Zul uses a healing word, which seems to help somewhat. Sassrindal’s black eyes focus for a moment. “You must stop him.”

“Who?” Zul asks. The goddess vanishes and they are in an ordinary cave again.

Outside the adventurers confer with the priests and Athali.

“It’s what we feared,” the priests admit. “She has been attacked on the spiritual plane by Takuatu the great shark god. This must mean his power is growing.”

Athali informs them that Takuatu was once worshipped by the Nianu people, who ruled the islands over a thousand years ago. When they overthrew the priests they killed all the wereshark high priests and no one has worshipped Takuatu since. The shark god is suddenly much more powerful than he ever has been.

All the talk of shark gods and shape shifters has Zul and Aemei thinking. Things are starting to fit together and the picture doesn’t look good. Zul asks abouit communicating with the rest of the party and is told how to send a message through a parrot fish. Zul prepares a message and sends the fish on its way.

Miles away under the sea Dar-Gon is talking to the sahuagin. The sea creatures are upset that he is trespassing on their sacred sight. Apparently the wrecked ship is the sight of a sacrifice and they have come to worship there as a shrine.

Dar-Gon pretends to be there for the same reason. Suspiciously the sahuagin ask if he is one of the sacred ones.

“Sure, I’m a sacred one,” the barbarian agrees.

The sahuagin want to know why he is accompanied by one of the octopus people.

“She’s my captive,” he explains.

One of the sahuagin waves a length of driftwood at him threateningly.

“If you are a sacred one, I demand that you change.”

“Go ahead, change,” Lyria teases him.

“I’ll change when I say it’s time,” Dar-Gon declares, hoping to bluff his way through.

The sahuagin are cowed for the moment. Dar-Gon leads them to the surface where he hopes to capture them on the deck of the ship. The fish men will be easier to handle once they’re out of water.

The trick almost works. Dar-Gon convinces the sahuagin that the ship on the surface is going to be a sacrifice just like the one that sank. Once they surface he orders them to surrender their weapons. His high handed attitude is too much. One of the sahuagin declares that the human is not a sacred one and waves his length of driftwood. Dar-Gon is pulled away by a whirlpool that forms next to him.

They are close enough to the ship that the crew is able to catch most of them with nets. During the fight, Mika pitches in to take the sahuagin down. Although the shaman manages to escape to the deep, the other two are brought on board where they can be questioned.

The fish men refuse to talk at first, but Takkar and Dar-Gon do not hesitate to use force. After being stabbed a few times, they begin to talk. They are torn between their desire to brag about their god and keeping their plan secret.

The sahuagin worship a shark god. The people killed on the sunken ship were sacrifices to their god, which is why they consider the shipwreck a sacred place and were making a pilgrimage to it. They can’t perform sacrifices themselves, only the sacred ones can do that. The sacred ones are doing something that will bring their god back, and he will scour the sea, attacking any ship that dares cross the ocean.

The adventurers take their captives underwater. They find that Montague has finished his whale symphony and the huge animals have moved on. As they are debating what to do with their prisoners, a parrotfish arrives with the message from Zul.

The message from the fish gives greater urgency to their mission. Ultimately, Montague kills the prisoners. Takkar keeps their severed heads and a few of their fins.

Lyria can guide their ship to where the sea elves city is, but once they are there she must keep her distance. Her people and the sea elves are old enemies. Perencil is even more upset at the arrival of more outsiders, but she has no choice but to allow them to enter.

The adventurers enjoy their first visit to the city of coral. Teela gets to know her aquatic cousins. They buy more potions and Noxoura collects glowing stuff. Takkar wants a new weapon, but can’t find one to his liking.

After exchanging information they take their ship and sail to the island of the Nianu. As they approach the island, they pass several natives fishing in canoes. One of the canoes heads for the island to give a warning about their arrival.

When their longboat arrives at the beach they are met by a stern, heavily armed group of warriors. When the Anui are told that the adventurer’s have come looking for the shark god they are informed that that god is no longer worshipped on the island.

After some conversation, Apana, war chief of the Nianu agrees that they should come into the village to talk to the elders. Since it is their custom to feast visitors the adventurers find themselves at a lavish banquet full of island grown food and fish from the sea.

Meanwhile Maelyss has slipped off into the jungle in fox form and is scouting around. Following strange scents, she discovers an isolated beach where two men guard the giant jaws of a shark that is imbedded in the sand.

Back in the village the elders say that worship of Takuatu the shark god is forbidden. Apana seems as if he wants to say more, but he keeps silent.

Maelyss returns with news of what she found. The god still seems to have a heavily guarded shrine. As they debate their plans Zul slips away with Tahani, the princess of the Nianu.

Once they are away from the feast Tahani warns Zul that they are in great danger. Even though it is forbidden, the worship of the shark god has returned.

“Once we ruled over hundreds of islands, until we were beaten by the larger ships from the mainland. That was when we turned out backs on the old ways and destroyed the shrines to the blood hungry Takuatu.” The princess explains. “Now he is being worshipped again. There are those who say that the shark god can make out people great again and we will once more rule the seas.”

When Zul asks why the elders don’t do anything about this she is told that many would like to fight the shark cult, but they are forbidden. Everyone knows someone who is in the cult. This is a small island. If violence breaks out it would mean a civil war that could destroy them as a people.

The adventurers wind up going alone into the jungle to find the shrine at the beach. Montague doesn’t want to be a distraction, but finally agrees to go along with the plan. He approaches the guardsd and asks if they have heard the good word about Shrimp Jesus.

The bard is attacked by the guards, but the rerst of the adventuers rush to his aid. Unfortunately, they see the guards shift into a half human, half shark form and realize this will be no easy battle.

Montague uses animate rope to entangle one of the were-sharks. Aemei attacks another, but when he stabs it he sees that it regenerates almost at once. The shifters are attacking mostly with their claws and teeth, and the adventurers can’t seem to harm them.

Zul uses flaming sphere to dehydrate on of the shifters and set him on fire. The paniced were-shark bolts for the ocean, but he is brought down by Aemei. During the brutal battle Aemei thrusts her hand down the monster’s throat to deliver a finishing blow. The were-shark is killed, but Aemei’s shoulder is slashed by the monster’s teeth.

Unexpectedly Apana shows up with his magic shark tooth sword. When he attacks it clearly does real damage. The native warrior explains that only a magic weapon can finish off the monster. He hands his sword to Takkar who uses it to saw the were-shark in half.

As everyone recovers from the battle Apana admits he has wanted to go after the cult for a long time, but was forbidden. The arrival of the adventurers gave him the excuse he needed.

“You fought well,” the warrior tells them. “Too bad we have to kill your friend.”

Since Aemei was slashes by the teeth of the were-shark, he will now become one of them. When he shape shifts he will turn evil and be under the control of Takuatu. There may be a way of saving him, but it involves a lengthy ritualistic tattoo and there’s no guarantee that it will work.

Back at the village Aemei gets the tattoo done by the tribes kahuna, or medicine man. Meanwhile Takkar wants an enchanted shark’s tooth sword of his own and has the village priests bless a weapon for him.

When the tide goes out it reveals a cave near the shrine whose entrance is blocked by the ocean most of the time. Inside they find a captive waiting to be sacrificed as well as maps drawn on the walls of the cave.

The maps show a spot in mid ocean, near a volcanic island that seems to be the center of their worship. Athali studies the map and declares that this is the spot where Takuatu will cross over into the world.

Surprisingly the captive turns out to be Zenwyn, a Dragonborn cleric that was a good frien of Zul’s mother. It was Zenwyn who taught Zul to speak Dragonborn.

Athali goes back to rally her people to head to the spot under the sea where the final ceremony will take place. Unfortunately it may be too late by the time she gets back with the army of undersea elves. The adventurers have no choice but to sail on to the location drawn on the wall of the cave and hope they can resist whatever they find there.

They sail for two days, heading for a black cloud on the horizon. When they draw closer they are enveloped in a cloud of steam. They realize a volcano dumping lava into the ocean causes the steam. They must sail a boiling sea to reach their destination.

Diving under the water they face a wall of swirling black water, apparently an undersea volcanic vent is pouring out into the area making it impossible for them to see. Inside the “cloud” they have a hard time breathing the water and are almost blind.

They are attacked by sahuagin. The monsters can sense their presence the way sharks can, by following the electric impulses of their muscles. As they battle in the darkness they see that the sahuagin have a cloth tied around their gills to filter out the minerals in the cloud. By pulling the cloth off they force the sahuagin to retreat. Once they can see again they make short work of the monsters.

Unfortunately, their fight has drawn the attention of more sahuagin who are coming from all around them. They have no choice but to swim to the spot on the map and hope for the best. There is a swimming fight as they draw closer to where the ceremony is taking place. Montague uses a high pitched noise to distract the monsters. Noxoura knocks one out with a slash of her drugged tail blade.

Maelyss blinds another with foxfire. Takkar slashes with his shark tooth sword. As wave after wave of sahuagin attack most of the adventurers are injured, their blood clouding the water.

Suddenly the sound of a gong vibrates the water around them. Teela and Lyria fight a delaying action to keep the sahuagin at bay while the rest of the group race to the site of the ceremony.

When they reach the spot they see a powerful looking were-shark and two other smaller shape shifters. Apparently, they have already read the spell since there is a huge watery portal open in front of the trio. The two smaller shape shifters are wearing the tattered remains of human clothing. One is dressed as if he were in the Brigataine navy, the other is dressed like a pirate. No doubt there were the two responsible for the sinking of the Ransom Jack and the massacre at Queen’s Landing.

The adventurers smash the gong. Montague taunts the high priest, telling him “Your god is dead.”

“Too late,” the high priest sneers. “The gateway is open. Takuatu has already heard the sound of the gong and is coming.”

The adventurers attack the weresharks, but unlike the sahuagin, the shape shifters are fast, powerful and intelligent. During the battle Maelyss swims toward the large portal. It is dark on the other side and there is a constant stream of cold water coming out of it. She swims through the portal.

As the battle continues, Noxoura attacks one of the humanoid sharks with her claws and teeth. Before it can rip her to shreds, Takkar slashes it with his shark tooth sword. Aemei swims in and finishes off the shark priest.

On the other side of the gateway Maelyss finds herself surrounded by black, icy cold water. The pressure on her is so great that she can barely move. The spell that allows her to breathe water is keeping her alive, but just barely. In the distance, she sees a shape growing closer. It looms larger and larger until she realizes that it is a shark the size of a cruise ship, a monstrosity heading for the portal and her world.

“Now you shall be the first to die,” the high priest sneers as he shrugs off the attack from Mika. At the same time Maelyss is pulled back through by the high-pressure water. She shoots out of the portal and uses her speed to kick the high priest, sending him flying. Maelyss reports on what is coming for them on the other side of the portal.

A wounded Lyria shows up, injured during her fight with the sahuagin. “That must lead to the Elemental Plane of Water,” she guesses. “That’s where Takuatu has his home.”

Maelyss is determined to get back to the fight and dives against the current, forcing herself through the portal, back to the cold darkness. Noxoura secures her fish in the wicker basket the natives gave her and follows Maelyss.

When the high priest was sent tumbling a scroll fell from his robes. Montague grabs the paper with mage hand and finds that this is the spell that was used to open the gateway, the spell that so many had died for. The high priest attacks to get the scroll.

On the other side of the gateway some of the adventurers are trying to stop Takuatu, but the shark god is too big and powerful. Their best efforts leave nothing but scratches on its monstrous hide.

Meanwhile Montague uses animate rope to entangle the high priest. Aemei grabs the rope and starts swimming away. Noxoura shoots out of the portal and slams into the remaining shark priest, sinking her fangs into him. As the bloody battle ensues, the high priest starts to bite through the rope that is binding him.

Mika attacks, also using the high pressure stream of water, but she manages to drive her trident deeply into the high priests’s chest. Aemei attacks with a flurry of blows and finds that his fists of fury can damage the magical creature.

The shark god is starting to appear, his massive head thrusting through the portal. Teela grabs the scroll and reverses the spell, closing the gateway. As the gateway vanishes it chops off the head of Takuatu the shark god. Surrounded by a cloud of black blood the severed head sinks slowly to the bottom of the sea. The shark shape shifters change back to men, but one of them drowns instantly and the high priest is too badly injured to make the change and also dies.

Suddenly the battle is ended. Not all the heroes have survived. Aemei takes the severed head back to the city of the sea elves to present it to their goddess. Montague does not accompany his fellow adventurers. He has seen and done much and has much to contemplate. He decides to go on a long journey to wander the world learning new songs. Teela accompanies him.

The army of sea elves has vanquished the sahuagin. Athali leads the surviving heroes back in triumph. There they commune with Sassrindal the goddess of the sea. The goddess grants the heroes the permanent ability to breathe water. The goddess is pleased to see the affection Noxoura has for one of the denizens of the sea, so she grants an extra boon to the fish that has accompanied the catgirl.

The remaining heroes sail for Bloodport. There they take possession of the ship, which has been waiting for them. It has been outfitted with new weapons and prepared for seagoing adventures. Captain Sostasi is anxious to leave the pirate isle and gratefully sails them back to Verenzia where their adventures began. Perhaps if they had known what deadly conspiracies awaited them on the streets of Verenzia they wouldn’t have been so eager to return.

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