Adventure Notes – The Adventurers – 01

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Prospect of adventure in a fairly newly discovered continent has drawn the attention of each of you. And though you did not know one another before your voyage; each of you had used the last of your coin to book passage aboard the Wave Hammer; a massive sailing ship.

The journey was going to take weeks, which led to each of you getting to know one another; sharing what little you care to share with each other. The Captain, a Minotaur by the name of Trihorn is concerned, as several storms have forced him to sail around the black, storming skies, causing unavoidable delays in the voyage.

These delays lead to being on the open sea during the Hallowing… and even all of you are familiar with. With the sun and moon collide in the sky, and for twelve hours, the world is plunged into complete darkness as the veil between life and death is at its weakest point – and demons are known to enter the mortal plane in hopes of harvesting souls.

The benefit to being out in the open sea is that there are no demons seeking to harvest souls – however, some of the other effects of the Hallowing cause magic and nature itself to behave unusually.

Just as the moon overcomes the sun and blankets the world in darkness, there’s the sound of something breaking out of the water. Then giant tentacles wrap around portions of the ship. Screams and shouts fill the pitch black night as you hear Trihorn’s voice shout, “Kraken!”

Then the sound of the boat snapping, sounding like someone running across a field of dry leaves. Pieces of the ship collide into one another, as you each try to keep your balance, but it’s not long before you each lose sight of one another in the chaos… then there’s blackness.

Time passes, you don’t know if it’s been minutes, hours, or even days – but you awaken on a sandy shore… and by the looks of it, this is not the new continent… but rather a jungle island. The stormy skies have cleared and an intense heat lingers in the air, as if the moisture were being pulled directly from your skin.

As you glance around, it does not appear there are any other survivors from the ship wreck – or if they are, they did not land on this stretch of the beach. There are several bodies that tumble in the waves, bathed in crimson tides. Some appear to have been partially devoured, either by the Kraken or even sharks or other creatures of the sea.

As the minutes pass, it becomes increasingly hotter. The heat seems to extract every ounce of moisture from your body, making it more difficult to do something as simple as breathe.

  • Rex recovers a chest in the remains that has 300gp in it
  • Tiny foot prints are found in the sand that indicate that something else is on the island

As you cut through the jungle that seems determined to prevent you from gaining entrance and finding shade from the sun; something catches your eye. There are some branches that look like they’ve been broken – and not by natural means. Someone – or something – else is on this island.

  • Adrian begins cutting away at the jungle, due to how dense it is
  • Adrian, Korgi and Morsus begin to suffer from the heat
  • Dick notices that the roots are emitting blood
    • Also notes that these plants are emitting spores
  • Adrian unintentionally inhales the spores and sees a vision of a giant baboon
  • Dick tries to blast the jungle, but the flames do little damage
  • Apostrophe decides to plow through them with his stone shape which gives way to a clearing

You spy the entrance to the temple; which is a doorway that appears to be a giant baboon’s mouth open wide. Just outside the doorway, there are five small, humanoid creatures who are reptilian in appearance – their flesh varies from red to purple. They seem preoccupied with some kind of discussion and have not noticed you.

  • Rex uses stealth to approach the Kobolds to over hear them
    • They talk about the Cultists inside and how they’re trying to raise a dead demon
  • Rex attempts to stealth back and fails, and the Kobolds attack
  • After a quick fight the Kobolds are defeated; the three remaining survivors are questioned (and tortured for information) and eventually killed
  • Dick uses his arcana skill to know that an old human mage – who has somehow lived beyond his normal years – named Korvus – was once interested in raising this same demon (recognized by the doorway as Demon Lord, Barlgura)
  • The party attempts to enter the temple but a black liquid seems to prevent seeing inside
  • Apostrophe uses his dancing lights, which seems to vanish 20′ feet into the darkness
  • Adrian and Morsus enter but Adrian succumbs to the darkness and collapses
  • Morsus decides to retreat and drag Adrian out of the darkness
  • Dick fires a firebolt that splits the darkness giving the party the chance to quickly run inside
  • However, both Adrian and Apostrophe unwittingly trip the alarm in the darkness
  • This alerts the four Death Dogs right inside that guard the entrance
  • A battle with the Death Dog ensues and nearly puts an end to the party, but they successfully defeat the Death Dogs