Sea of Death Campaign Thread

The now-enlarged party continues on its way... gradually, the floor slopes upwards until you emerge from the murky water and find yourselves in a massive cavern



Moisture drips from the stalactites, causing an irregular but ever-present dripping sound. As you look around, you don't see any signs of the living dead... but... you can hear groans and sighs echoing eerily from somewhere out of sight...

Maira responds excitedly in Primordial "Oh yes! 'May the currents be ever at your back'! It is really lovely to talk to someone who knows Primordial, as it's been a long time since I had a good reason to use it myself. I'm sure I sound quite rusty, but perhaps you could help me practice? I...would also like to ask you more about the things you've seen in your travels, if you don't mind of course!" She smiles hopefully at Areleo, waiting for his reply.

As soon as she realizes she's made Sayyida uncomfortable she looks horrified and immediately apologizes, saying "Oh I'm so sorry! That was so thoughtless of me, I'm usually much more aware of my etiquette, I promise! It's been a little while since I've had to use it, you see. I only wanted to express my gratitude in any way I could, but I'm sure I got a little carried away. I will never touch you without your permission again, I promise."

She glances at Sae and smiles softly at her, if she looks back, murmuring, "That was beautiful bladework. I admire warriors so much. I would definitely not be brave enough to take on a whole dragon by myself like that."

She sidles up to Emrys and, with a note of respect in her voice, asks, "Why are you all here? If you don't mind my asking. I'm only asking in the hopes that I can be of some help to you in the future if there's something specific you want from the caves. Perhaps I can help you identify it?"

Lastly she slips in beside Wade, if he lets her, and says shyly, "I must confess, I have never met a Tabaxi in the flesh, though the tales of your people have spread far and wide, I assure you." Here she becomes very hesitant and almost afraid to speak, but at last she does. "Would you be willing to tell me a little bit about your culture? If that is much too personal to divulge to a near-stranger I completely understand. And if I have offended you by asking, please do tell me, and I will never do so again."

Also, she shudders involuntarily whenever she hears the moaning echoing through the caverns. You can hear her telling herself she's safe now and she has friends, so she isn't alone anymore, and the dragons are dead. Occasionally she mutters the names of people you don't know, and looks very distressed when she does. She seems to be lost in her own world for the moment.

Sayyida looked flustered for a moment, " No...no, its fine!"

" You can touch me whenever you want........wait......that came out............damn.......whatever."

As they moved further into the cavern, " Dead folks up ahead. Careful."

Areleo will sport a smile toward the sea elf which is abnormal for the rest of the party to see. He will move ahead to be first and sword in hand glowing in the water.

“No need to apologize.” Emrys said with a kind smile, sure that the aquatic half-elf was not allied to North.

At first he did not believe her tale, but since by the time they came out of the water Sae had not mentioned any sign of lying he decided to give the newcomer a chance. Either she was an unbelievably good liar or she had the strange amalgamation of luck and misfortune the entire crew showed. Sayyida’s word were unintentionally comical and the halfling could not help but to grim at her, squinting his eyes and nodding his head.

“I’m Emrys and I don’t mind at all.” Specially since he had already talked about their treasure hunt. “Our employers had our crew sent here to retrieve a lantern of sorts. Anything else we find can go into our pockets.” Both them. It was almost funny. “Consider your offer to identify any item accepted.” This way they could be sure of the nature of the thing. “Just be warned that…” Before the warlock could finish his sentence, the paladin gave a warning. “That.” He then turned to Arleo and Yevelda. “I’m guessing both of you take the van? I will follow you suit since I get the best vision in the dark and you follow me. Keep in mind that if you try anything funny…” He gestures to Sayyida and Sae. “… those two will make a number on you.”

Sae raises one eyebrow, smiling at the compliment.    "If this dragon had been whole, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to take it on either.  Rotted flesh seems much easier to pierce.  And it helped immeasurably that I was not alone, but fighting beside the brave warrior who has already made your acquaintance."  She nods to Areleo respectfully; and takes advantage of the closeness of her hand at that moment to work in a salute that also camouflages the gem rub she uses to activate her helm.  "But I thank you for the compliment.  And I must say, what you've been through must have taken some courage too.  Sometimes the battles of waiting in the silence and the dark can be the worst of all."  As she speaks, she concentrates on absorbing not only the stream of consciousness view of Maira's thoughts which the helm gives her but also any subtle clues in her voice and bearing as she reacts to Sae's cue which might indicate there was more to the half-elf's presence than her words alone showed.

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Insight 8

Quote from OisinmacCameron >>

As she speaks, she concentrates on absorbing not only the stream of consciousness view of Maira's thoughts which the helm gives her but also any subtle clues in her voice and bearing as she reacts to Sae's cue which might indicate there was more to the half-elf's presence than her words alone showed.

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Insight 18

(OOC: I'll go ahead and leave it up to Faselina what Sae learns from her Insight check)

The party ventures into the cavern slowly, approaching the unholy cries of anguish. The portion of the cavern that you are currently in seems to be clear of undead, though it is possible that there may be corpses hidden in the murky pools or buried in the damp earth. Do you stop to investigate this area, or continue directly towards the anguished moans of the lost souls?

Sayyida runs her eyes over the terrain, " There could be dead beneath the surface......but there's no way to know without digging and I'd rather find out what that sound is."

" Forward?", she asked as she began moving.

Perception- 7

Areleo while not being very perceptive, will agree to investigate and deal with the problem now rather than getting attacked from behind.

"The groans that one hears are certainly worse than the lurkers one fears.," Sae says to Sayyida as they swim forward.  "But I thnk I'll keep one eye out behind us as we go ... just in case."

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Perception 10

(Sorry it's been a little while, got a bit busy with the other two campaigns I'm running)

No one notices any buried or submerged undead, and so you continue. As you approach, you catch sight of the first 'ordinary' undead in this gods-forsaken place... two ghouls  gnawing on the bones of what was likely one of Miara's fellow explorers. The bones appear to have been picked clean long ago, but the ravenous undead are apparently so hungry that they are still trying desperately to suck any bit of marrow out of the bones that they missed.



The ghouls haven't noticed you yet, and it's difficult to tell if there are more of them nearby hidden from view.

Areleo looks back at the rest of the party to make sure they are ready before swooping in with his blazing blade.

At Areleo's signal that something is amiss ahead, Sae glides over to the outward bulge on the right hand side of the passage and flattens herself against the stone.  ('Cunning Action: You can take a bonus action on each of your turns to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.')  From there, she slowly works her way forward around the bend to get a better view of the situation.  As she moves, she is assessing whether some freak of the currents will allow her to use her bow or if she is still limited to the range of her arm by water resistance.

Quote from OisinmacCameron >>

At Areleo's signal that something is amiss ahead, Sae glides over to the outward bulge on the right hand side of the passage and flattens herself against the stone.  ('Cunning Action: You can take a bonus action on each of your turns to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.')  From there, she slowly works her way forward around the bend to get a better view of the situation.  As she moves, she is assessing whether some freak of the currents will allow her to use her bow or if she is still limited to the range of her arm by water resistance.

 (You aren't under water anymore... this portion of the cave isn't flooded).

Sayyida moved to the corner but waited to see if Arleos charge drew more dead out.

Wade says “We should keep moving “

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Quote from OisinmacCameron >>

At Areleo's signal that something is amiss ahead, Sae glides over to the outward bulge on the right hand side of the passage and flattens herself against the stone.  ('Cunning Action: You can take a bonus action on each of your turns to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.')  From there, she slowly works her way forward around the bend to get a better view of the situation.  As she moves, she is assessing whether some freak of the currents will allow her to use her bow or if she is still limited to the range of her arm by water resistance.

 (You aren't under water anymore... this portion of the cave isn't flooded).

 (Good heavens, silly me.  In that case she'll certainly be readying a fire arrow to shoot the closest ghoul as soon as combat begins, and will kindle it 'as the light of Areleo's igniting blade conceals her tinderbox's telltale glow)

Initiative:
Yevelda
Sae
Areleo
Sayyida

----
Ghouls
Unseen enemies
---
Wade
Maira

Areleo, go ahead and make your opening attack to start us off, then we'll enter regular initiative.

Areleo will move in quickly and bring down his new blade at one or both ghouls. 

Attack: #1 24 #2 19

Damage: #1 17 #2 15