"Olhydra preserve us..." Shoalar growls as he and his men hold their position in the deckhouse. 

Paakia lifts Pike over her head and throws him into the water. "SWIM WITH THE FISHES!" She shouts at him, laughing. After that, she moves toward the cabin. She doesn't block the door with her body, as she noticed more than one of her allies seem to need the vision. She peers at the men inside with a wide smile. "It must be an honor to be defeated by one of the Ganu-Miala clan."

"Back, heathen!" Shoalar cries as he waves his hand and conjures a skeletal hand near Paakia. It latches onto her arm and assails her with the chill of death, but before she can rake it off, it disappears, leaving a blighted hand print where it once clung to her flesh. You feel very cold, Paakia.

In rage and frustration from her plan not working on the halfling sailor, Nix runs at the Shoalar as fast as her little legs would allow. Casting Shillelagh as she gets to her new foe she brings her quarterstaff down as hard as possible, trying to club the man. Seeing a feisty battle ready Gnome is a sight to see, Shoalar's eyes got wide as he saw the quarterstaff come down towards his head and was able to just move it enough to not get his brain caved in, the staff making a loud thud against the ship deck. 

Tidbits, seeing Pike go into the river, and after having felled the Sailor that was attacking Paakia, come out of hiding and rushes towards the boat. Once he is aboard he surveys the situation. A large cat holds the Genasi below it's claws, and the Sailors are being tide to handrails. No evident fighting, which to Tidbits means it's time to procure. He casts his Mage Hand modifying the spell from how his Wizard Master had originally taught it to him so that it appears invisibly and has it begin to rifle through the sailor's pockets. All told a few silver coins are to be had for his efforts, and Tidbits is ok with that.

Paakia is disappointed that the sailors gave up so readily. She frowns looking from Arial's cat form to the tied up sailors. She enters the cabin to back up Arial in any way he might need to completely subdue Shoalar. She decides to try giving him a sneer and says, "Wow, your crew was easy to defeat... almost like you were, um, a buncha children!!!"

Shoalar desperately rises, wary of the cat before him, and vanishes from sight, reappearing on the deck of the ship. He runs to the edge and scoops some water from the River Dessarin, then turns. 

“Olhydra take you!” Shoalar shouts as the water in his hand turns into a massive tidal wave. The sailors tied to the rails scream as the wave pummels them with tremendous force. Robin and Tidbits are smacked by the wave, but manage to shrug off most of the damage. The sailors lie unmoving and the ship, now full of water, begins to sink. 

Crag-rial prowls out of the cabin and locks eyes with Shoalar. He licks his fangs and roars as he rushes toward the cultist. Unfortunately, Shoalar deftly avoids the horse tiger, who lands just behind him, growling.

I focus in on Shoalar once more.  O'qula, flying so high up that no one else even knows that she's up there, does likewise.  I aim carefully, fire one last time, and land a nasty blow on Shoalar's right hip.  The impact knocks him slightly off balance and pivots him a few degrees, leaving him wide open for Arial's spell. 

Paakia swings at Shoalar and completely misses. She curses in her folly. 

Crag-rial leaps back, nimbly dodging Shoalar’s attempts to stab at him. Midair, he shifts back to his Triton form and lands with a flourish. Brandishing a cocky smile, Arial pulls a trickle of moonbeam from the midday sky over Shoalar. Slowly but surely, the light begins to sear the genasi’s flesh, until he begins to steadily glow brighter and brighter, until Arial saunters over to him. "Well, mate, looks like the only bodies in the water, are your men." Arial taps Shoalar in the chest and he vanishes into stardust with a defiant scream. With the threat removed, both Paakia and Arial notice the now ashore Pike. With a flick of the wrist and a forceful tug, a Thorn Whip pulls the cultist towards the both of them. Arial leans in close, "Well, that was easier than I thought it would be." He gets down close to the muppet, "Wanna tell me about your boss now, mate?"

“I always knew this’d be the death of you, cap...” Pike mutters with his head down. He then winces painfully as he brings his face up to Arial’s. He looks around the all of you, and as he does you see fear and anger in his eyes. “If I tell you where you can find the people Shoalar worked for, will you let me go?”

Arial looks him in the eyes, and thinks for a moment. He recognizes that look. It’s a look far too familar. The smile fades, Arial nods his head, “Aye. You’ll be free to go. No harm will come to you. You have my word. So long as you don’t betray my trust here.”

Pike shakes his head and curses under his breath. “Alright. There’s a castle upriver, in the hills. Rivergard Keep. That’s where we picked up our cargo. Broody bastard named Jolliver Grimjaw runs the place with his boys. Some kinda smuggling operation. They shake down riverboats for protection money too, and recruit for the weird cult Shoalar was part of...” He explains. “You have to believe that I wasn’t a part of any of that nonsense. I worked with Shoalar before he joined. I wasn’t about to leave his side. But now... guess I can.”

Arial frowns, stands, removes his hat, and places it to his chest, “I’m sorry. I know you probably hate us, hate me, mate. I know that’s how I felt... how I still feel. But, would the Shoalar you knew have killed his crew? I hope you can believe me when I say that if we don’t stop this cult, these fanatics, then things are gonna get a lot worse. And I’m not sure they’ll get better if it comes to that.”

“I saw you accept the crew’s surrender,” Pike says, looking to Robin. “I didn’t expect Shoalar would kill them, but... I guess you’re right. Ever since he got in that water cult, he grew even more obsessed with it. Damn... what a shame. He wasn’t the best man, but he was my captain... You say you’re gonna try and take down the cult? I think you’re crazy, but... good luck with that, I guess. Can I go now?”

Arial nods and gestures for the rest of the team to let him through.

"That was quite honorable of you," Paakia stands by Arial, hands on her hips. Her voice contains mock shock, though it was clear from her tone that she knew Arial was not the kind to sucker punch others. She looks at Pike up and down. "Arial is kind. I am not. If I see you in this watery cult again, I will end you." Her voice is friendly, but the threat is clear.

"Yes, honorable, but if he does go back to the other he'll reveal our secrets, secrets that we are looking for the cult. We will lose the element of..." Tidbits thinks for a second, or at least appears to before finishing his sentence. "...surprise! element of surprise"

Arial nods in agreement with Paakia and shouts as Pike walks away, “Aye, that’s true mate. I once saw her rip a gnu in half. To be honest, I’m not even sure how she did it!” Arial looks at the concerned gnome and then to the halfling walking away, “That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I’d rather not stoop to Shatterkeel’s level.”