Season 6: Voyage of the Damned
1 Out Damn Spot
Captain Jenny agreed to a 35% share of treasure in exchange for a voyage to return Princess Astra to Aqualaria.
Tensions onboard ship worsen as the Palamino travels north-west. Alara and Elowen seem to fall in with the original Palamino crew. The Unchained fell in with the familiar crew of the Horizon's Edge.
The ghost of the dead cabin boy, Petit Jean, appeared over Garet's shoulder at dinner.
Alara was seen pacing the deck at night. Muttering to herself and wringing her hands.
"Murder... murder... murder... Out damn spot. What's done cannot be undone."
On the third day, land was spotted. A small but imposing island. But Brandor came on deck saying that his room had been ransacked. The Heart of Gold was missing!
Venrika investigated using Chronomancy. She saw a time shadow of Brandor in his room. With great psychic effort, she went back further and saw the shadow of a woman searching the room.
An investigation into who I'm the thief was began by using Eeps whip on Princess Astra. But this lead to a dead end. Who would they interrogate next?
2 Monkey Island
Drongforth used detect magic to search for the Heart of Gold below decks while Brandor searched the galley. Brandor found that Hilda had a short sword stashed away behind some pans. Drongforth detected an aura in Elowyn's quarters. The Heart of Gold was stashed in a chest. When questioned under the influence if Eep's whip, she claimed she had "never seen it before in her life."
Jenny insisted that now the item was returned, that this was the end if the matter. They organised a landing party. Brandor, Venrika, Zalaskar and Grok along with a few crew members.
They landed on a sandy beach and saw a central rocky area surrounded by a dense forest. They hunted boar in the forest, Grok and Zalaskar making one kill each.
As they rested back on the beach, a monkey stole the Heart of Gold out of Brandor's pack and fled up the beach to a cave.
The monkey brought them to the ruins. The air here was heavy and cool. All around them, jungle life had reclaimed the walls, leaving the center clear for a shallow, glassy pool of rainwater. Emerging from the depths was a solitary monolith of midnight stone, its surface cross-hatched with ritualistic glyphs. It stood in the water like a tooth in a broken jaw—the final, petrified witness to the temple's slow demise.
No sign of the monkey or the Heart of Gold but they was a dark exit on the far side of the chamber. This must have been where they monkey had escaped to, but that would lead them deeper into the dark depths of the mountain...
3 The Black Freighter
Onboard the Palamino, Astra had taken refuge in the Captain's quarters. Drongforth had been feeling seasick and had anyway been complaining about having trouble sleeping. On deck, a call went out: "Ship ahoy!"
A ship was approaching. The deck chief sent for the Captain who was in her quarters. She arrived on deck, shrugging on her jacket with Princess Astra trailing behind. Astra said that these are dangerous waters and Garet suggested plotting a course that would keep the island between the Palamino and the ship. He also suggested that Eihpos use the remaining row boat to head to the island.
Eep was left alone on the choppy sea, trying her best to row in a straight line, and all the time dark freighter with its black sails was getting nearer. She started to get the hang of the rowing and she were strained to the point of exhaustion to reach the beach. And she reached land not a moment to soon because there was a loud bang and shrapnel filled the air around her. She managed to dive for the safe cover of a tree, the foliage around her shredded by shot.
Meanwhile, back on the island, the landing party examined the exit. The passage was very small so the smallest member of the party, Brandor, lead the way. The passage opened up into another cave. There was something in the middle of the cave and Brandor went to investigate. Venrika followed him in and Brandor said that it was the monkey, but it was already dead.
Too late, Venrika turned to see a giant scorpion hidden in the dark corner of the room. It snapped at her with it's claws and only with effort did Venrika manage to escape its grasp. Brandor interposed himself between the scorpion and Venrika, holding up his magic shield in defence.
After a brief battle, the scorpian was killed, yellow blood oozing onto the rocky cave floor.
4 Fog of War
Eep warned the landing party about the dark freighter. They ran back to camp and decided there was enough time to do a bit of light cooking.
Out of the surrounding forest, a small party of pirate orcs launched a surprise attack consisting of thrown axes followed up by a banzai charge, primarily targeting Grok.
Grok was hurt bad. He had never been hurt this bad before...
Eep put an arrow through the neck of one Pirate. Venrika blasted another with acid. The surviving orcs broke and ran. Groc chased them to the treeline but stopped and just angrily glared at them at the fled.
The landing party started boarding their boats. Meanwhile, the Palamino was closing and slowing as approached the rendezvous point. But the dark freighter had also rounded the island and now gaining on them. Drongforth summoned forth a magical fog to obscure what they were doing.
As the landing boats came alongside the Palamino, lines were thrown and Eep and Venrika climbed up to the deck. Drongforth took the wheel as Captain Jenny abandoned her post at the helm to oversee the small boats. She told them to tie off the boats before giving the command to set sail.
The Palamino surged, the gap between the two ships widening. Drongforth exhaled, the magical glow fading from his hands as he relinquished the wheel back to Jenny. "We have the lead. They can’t catch us on open water with this wind."
Princess Astra, who had been clinging to the rigging near the mast, stepped down. She walked past the panting crew, her eyes fixed not on the pursuing ship, but on the horizon ahead. She looked up at the positioning of the sun, then down at the colour of the water.
"We need to change course," Astra said softly.
Captain Jenny wiped sweat from her brow. "Excuse me, Princess? We are running for our lives on a heading for—"
"I know where we are," Astra interrupted, her voice gaining strength. She pointed a trembling finger toward a distant, hazy silhouette of land to the East. "I didn't recognize the stars before, but the currents... I know this sea."
Eep forced herself to take her eyes off the purusuing ship and turned to the princess. "Is that good news or bad?"
Astra wrapped her cloak tight around her body, her face pale but determined. "We cannot go to the capital. Not yet. We have to stop there."
"There?" Drongforth squinted at the distant island. "Why?"
"Because that is Hyperion," Astra whispered, the name heavy on the wind. "And if we want to survive what's coming next... we have to go ashore."
Jenny looked at the pursuing Freighter, then at the distant island, and spun the wheel.
"Hard to starboard," Jenny sighed. "Next stop, Hyperion."
5 Neptune's Graveyard
The thrill of the chase had vanished, replaced by a suffocating, cold dampness. The Palamino drifted slowly, her sails luffing, as the mist thickened into a wall of gray.
Every few minutes, a shape would loom out of the fog—the skeletal ribs of a long-rotted galleon, or the splintered mast of a schooner protruding from the water like a warning finger.
Captain Jenny gripped the wheel, her knuckles white. "Soundings!" she whispered harshly, afraid to raise her voice. "I don't want to rip the bottom out of her on a submerged keel."
Alara, the young sorceress, stood at the prow. She wasn’t looking at the wrecks; her pale eyes were fixed on the water itself. She hugged her arms across her chest, shivering despite her heavy cloak.
"Turn back," Alara said. Her voice was airy, distant, but it cut through the silence on deck like a whip crack.
Princess Astra stepped up beside her. "We can't, Alara. The freighter is still behind us somewhere. This is the most direct route to Hyperion."
"This isn't a route," Alara murmured, her gaze unfocused. "It’s a stomach.”
Under the ever-present watchful eye of Eep who sat in her crows nest, bow at the ready Grok, Garet and Brandor investigated a wrecked, diving for treasure.
Meanwhile, Drongforth carried out investigations of his own detecting a magic emanating from the Captain's cabin.
Eep spotted dark freighter appear on the horizon. "SHIP AHOY!"
The three divers headed back to the ship. They got on board, still dripping wet.
"If you boys have finished we will raise anchor," said Captain Jenny. She looked out to search at the dark ship in the distance. "We seem to be on a bit of a schedule."
A light rain set in. By late afternoon the bell was rung and the party came on deck. Rising from the sea before them was Hyperion.
It was not a small sandy atoll. It was a fortress of nature. Towering cliffs of black basalt rose hundreds of feet from the crashing surf, topped with a crown of dense, emerald jungle. Waterfalls cascaded down the rock faces like silver ribbons, disappearing into the sea mist at the base.
Captain Jenny spun the wheel, bringing the ship around to face the wind. "Drop anchor!" she commanded, though her voice was hushed. "We've arrived. Welcome to Hyperion."
6 Hyperion
Under a cold, light rain, the landing boats carrying the Palamino’s expedition neared Hyperion Island. Mid-crossing, Drongforth confronted Astra about her powerful magical presence, to which she cryptically replied, “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”
They landed on dark, wet sand shrouded in an unnatural, sound-muffling mist. The overwhelming silence was broken only by the sight of a dilapidated fishing hut and an ancient woman, Mother Kela, tending a small fire. She offered the group intensely salty fish. While Drongforth found it interesting, Brandor the Halfling was violently ill.
The party continued along the ancient, partially Sunken Road (built, said Astra, by a dwarf, K’neth Sunken). Garet, leading the way, narrowly avoided disaster when he triggered a concealed pit trap, jumping clear just as the ground collapsed.
Misfortune struck again when Brandor, tripped a hidden wire. He was violently dragged off the path and into a dark cave entrance. The cave was pitch black. Brandor cast his Light spell to reveal a Giant Spider. Garet immediately rushed to his aid, and seeing the Giant Spider, he quickly intervened, dragging the wounded Halfling back to safety.
The party finally emerged from the choking mist onto a plateau where they saw the ancient, twin pillars that marked the entrance to the Shrine of Hyperion.
The Ballad of Brave Sir Garet
Gather 'round, ye drinkers, and listen to me,
Of the finest two scouts that you ever did see!
There was Brandor the Halfling, quite short and quite stout,
And Garet the Half-Elf, who led the way out.
They marched the Sunken road, the shrine to find,
While the rest of the party followed behind.
Garet walked forward with grace and with pride,
Then the floor disappeared, and he fell inside!
Oh, sing for Sir Garet, the Half-Elf so fast,
When danger approaches, he’s sure to be last!
With the heart of a chicken and legs made for flight,
He’s the bravest adventurer to run from a fight!
He clawed from the pit with a whimper and groan,
His elven dignity completely overthrown.
He looked at the shadows, all spooky and grim,
And decided the front was no place for him.
He spotted Zalaskar, a mountain of scales,
And hid behind the warrior, trembling and pale!
"I’m guarding your back!" Garet squeaked from the rear,
Using the warlock to hide from his fear.
Oh, sing for Sir Garet, the Half-Elf so fast,
When danger approaches, he’s sure to be last!
With the heart of a chicken and legs made for flight,
He’s the bravest adventurer to run from a fight!
But ahead, little Brandor was snatched by a snare,
Yanked by his ankles high into the air!
He dangled and spun like a worm on a thread,
"Help me, oh Garet!" the poor Halfling said.
Then Garet stepped forth! He drew out his blade!
A vision of heroism, brilliantly made!
He charged toward Brandor, he let out a roar...
Then saw a spider moving and ran for the door!
"Good luck!" cried the Half-Elf, and spun on his heel,
Running past Zalaskar with a terrified squeal.
He sprinted so hard that his boots started smoking,
Leaving poor Brandor just hanging and choking!
So raise up a glass to the scout of the day,
Who bravely advances... the opposite way!
If you need a hero to panic and flee,
Then Garet the Half-Elf is the hero for thee!
7 Rage Against The Machine
The landing party entered the temple. It was a large chamber with a half-rotten wooden staircase along each wing. At the far end of the room was a large black statue.
Grok made his way up the stairs while Drongforth and Brandor investigated the statue. Garet stayed in the centre of the room with the Princess and the two sailors. Eep hung back, whip in hand ready to react to danger.
Meanwhile back on the Palamino, Venrika had found Alara in her cabin, pacing the floor and muttering to herself.
"Sleep no more... She has murdered sleep. She waits for us." A bell tolled on deck. Venrika rushed to see what was about. A large crate had been spotted floating nearby. Elowyn asked Timo to get it and he dove in. He attached a line and the crew hauled it up onto the deck. Before long they started to work at opening it with crowbars.
Brandor discovered that the statue was covered in soot. Drongforth pushed open the large metal doors behind the statue to reveal another chamber, this one with a red, glowing fire pit.
That was when the statue started to move...
Back on the ship, the crew hand managed to pry open the top of the crate. From within Venrika heard a deep rasping breathing. Out of the crate burst a raging orc pirate, his viscous sabre slashing at the started sailors. Behind him came another orc!
Back in the temple, the statue was like a hulking suit of matte black iron, this automaton looked like a mockery of sacred armor. Its joints hissed faintly with escaping steam, and a dull, crimson glow pulsed from within the vents on its chest, giving the metallic shell the appearance of a sun dimmed by soot and shadow.
It smashed a fist down on Giorgio, mortally wounding him. The princess fled with Wulfstan up the right stair. Grok flew into a rage, leaping off the top of the left stair and smashing his axe down into the machine.
Drongforth blasted it with multiple scorching rays but the metal giant appeared unaffected. Eep used her whip to drag the unconscious Giorgio to safety. Meanwhile, Garet focused his effort on closing the doors to the fire pit room...
A boarding party had somehow executed a devastating, impossible surprise attack. And through the storm-whipped chaos, a new dread materialized: the dark freighter. It was a silhouette of pure malice against the churning black sky, approaching with a relentless, crushing certainty. Closer. Steadier. Inescapable....
8 Three Hags and a Baby 🎄🎄🎄
Between helping Giorgio, helping her friends, and chasing Princess Astra, Eep opted to go after the Princess. She chased round a corner and saw the shadow figure of an old crone.
"Sleep..."
An irresistible enchanted sent Eep into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile in the ship, a something exploded sending shards of wood flying. She fought like a lion but more orc boarders swung across from the black ship including a huge orc captain. Venrika refused to surrender and was subdued. The last thing she heard as she lost consciousness was "take her to the brig".
Venrika and Eep found themselves in a snowy port town. Eep saw that they were by "Weight Post 4" and recognised it as the customs area down by the docks. They were greeted by a figure who left no tracks in the snow.
"I am the ghost of Christmas past."
They watched as a hooded figure rescued a child abandoned next to one of the weight posts. The figure took a pendant on a chain from. The child and pocketed it and headed into a tavern, The Spiced Almond.
Hendrick, that is to say the ghost of Christmas past, explained. "That woman is Aya, the woman who raised Eep as a child. This is the day when she first found her."
They followed Aya into the tavern where she gambled with the pendant in a game of liars dice.
Hendrick told them that this is where Aya lost the pendant but maybe they could win the game and find out more about it.
Eep and Venrika joined the game along with a gambler called Sal the Snake and also with a familiar face - a young, fresh faced Drongforth. Aya had no luck at all and lost the pendant to Sal the Snake.
Henrick clicked his fingers and they found themselves in a cave with an altar next to a swirling pool. A smartly dressed man stood by them.
"I am the ghost of Christmas Present."
Gathered around the altar were 3 hags. "When will we three meet again? In thunder, Lightning or in rain?"
"When the hurley burley's done. When the battles lost and won."
The hags put an unconscious Wulfstan on the altar and one lifted a dagger. Eep tried to shoot it out of her hand but to no avail. She plunged the dagger into wulfstan and his blood flowed into the pool.
The ghost clicked his fingers and they found themselves in a rundown town which Venrika recognised as Fear Port. They ended up in The Slaughtered Lamb and saw pictures behind the bar of faces they recognised. Drongforth SLAIN, Garret APPREHENDED, Eihpos APPREHENDED, Brandor SLAIN... A deathlike figure appeared, the ghost of Christmas Future. Eep noticed in the corner of the board sheets of parchment labelled Drongforth's Journal. In the notes she discovered a labelled diagram of the metal giant with its weak spot on the back of its neck annotated.
The ghost clicked its fingers and Eep was back in the temple. She dashed to join the fight against the metal giant, using her whip to swing onto its back.
Meanwhile back on the ship, Alara released Venrika from the brig. Along with Elowyn, the launched a surprise attack on the orcs. Elowyn's magic blades curved through the air, cutting into the orc pirate. Venrika warped time around the orcs. Alara Gathered her magical energy:
"Do you know what happens to an orc when it's struck by Lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else."
She unleashed a bolt of lightning that sent the orc captain flying back of the edge of the ship.
9 There's Orcs On the Starboard Bow
Princess Astra charged into the room. "We've got to leave. NOW!"
Despite her urgency nobody seemed in much of a mood to do anything quickly. Especially Garet who had spotted an unopened door and he was damned if he was going to leave without opening it.
Astra told them that Wulfstan was dead, murdered by a coven of three witches (something which of the party present, only Eep had seen in a dream). Even after subjecting her to the power of the whip, Veritas, she stuck to her story.
Meanwhile, Zalaskar was still paralysed by giant spider venom and was wrapped in a web and being dragged away by giant spiders. As the toxin wore off, he cast Misty Step, teleporting himself to safety.
Garet opened the door to reveal a corridor which he was determined to explore. He was undeterred by the cobwebs along the way. Drongforth fired a firebolt into the darkness and Garet saw the sillouette of what look like a witch so he charged hoping that the element of surprise was in his favour. He got ambushed by giant Spiders, one of them landing right on him. He tried to draw his sword but Eejay refused to be pulled from his scabbard so he had to use his dagger.
After that, the party decided to leave. When they got back to the ship, they found it under attack by orc pirates.
They climbed on board to join the defence. In addition to the threat of the orc boarders, they found themselves under fire from a cannon on the enemy ship which was alongside. A blast hit the party and Brandor used his magic shield to protect who he could.
Through the smoke they could make out the shape of more orcs on board the enemy vessel using crossbows to strafe the deck. And then there was the massive deck mounted gun. It was only a matter of time before it fired again...
10: The Battle of the Twin Decks
The party burst into action. Grok roared a battle cry and thundered across the gangplank linking the two ships. Above him, Eep vaulted up the rigging, hooked the crow’s nest with her grapple, and settled into a perfect sniper’s perch.
Arcane fire lit the air as the spellcasters unleashed volley after volley at the orc crew. Drongforth’s blast struck a powder barrel beside the cannon; it erupted in a deafening boom, sending the weapon skidding sideways.
Elowyn swung down onto the deck, dispatching the last of the gunners with swift, practiced strikes. Only one orc remained—first lifted helplessly into the air by Drongforth’s levitation spell, then finished by a crackling Eldritch Blast from Zalaskar. As the smoke cleared, Elowyn spotted a scrawny orc creeping away behind the damaged cannon.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she growled, hauling him up and slamming him onto the planks.
Eep descended to interrogate him with Veritas in hand.
Meanwhile, Grok, Brandor, and Venrika disappeared below decks in search of spoils. Grok emerged triumphantly with pots and pans; Brandor followed with bulging sacks of food; and Venrika returned last, carrying a satisfyingly heavy wooden chest.
Later, back aboard the Palamino, the crew savored well‑earned hammock time and freshly cooked boar in the galley. Mid‑meal, the ship lurched sharply to port, then starboard. Captain Jenny rose, frowning, and hurried topside. The others followed into fierce winds—and there, cutting through the waves, was the dark freighter at full sail.
On its deck stood the original Palamino crew. Elowyn and Alara were among them. Elowyn lifted the Heart of Gold and pointed it straight at Brandor, a smug smile on her face.
Captain Jenny barked orders to raise anchor and give chase, but with only a skeleton crew it was hopeless; the freighter already had too great a lead.
Drongforth and Zalaskar hurled spell after spell, but none could reach the fleeing vessel. Venrika even attempted to slow time itself, yet halting an entire ship was far beyond her grasp.
As the dark freighter vanished eastward, Captain Jenny steadied herself against the rail and gave a new command: they would set their course west toward the heart of Aquilaria.
11 Seraphina All Along
The ship headed to Aquilaria. With much of the crew gone, duties fell to the party, with Grok and Garet hoisting sails, Drongforth proudly at the wheel and Eep on lookout in the crows nest. Venrika stood at Dronforth's side, scanning the horizon with her spyglass.
At the end of her shift, after a long session of spyglass viewing, Venrika fell into a heavy sleep. She awoke to the noise of metal against metal from below decks.
As she descended the ladder into the hold, the familiar smell of salt and tar is gone, replaced by the choking, metallic tang of ozone and a thick, bruised-purple mist that clung to the floor like a living thing. The boiler room was a labyrinth of hissing valves and weeping pipes.
In the flickering light of a dying furnace, she saw a tall, gaunt silhouette cast against the far wall. The shadow’s fingers were impossibly long, ending in jagged, curved claws that sparked against the metal as it moved.
She stepped back in fear bumping into someone and your spun in terror, weapon at the ready. It was Drongforth, but his face a mask of horror. Thick, black thread had been crudely punctured through his eyelids, sewing his eyes shut in a jagged cross-stitch. His lips moved and he said... something creepy.
She was chased onto the deck by a clawed hag who caught her in a steely grip and started sewing her eyes shut... which was when she actually woke up.
They landed on the beach and found a dead landscape where every tree, every blade of grass had been petrified. Turned into blue-indigo crystalline form.
"I'm back. I'm home," said Astra. She ran the sterile sand through her fingers. "They did it. They finally really did it. You blew it up. Ahh, damn you. Gods damn you all to hell."
She led the way through a petrified forest to a high tower. In the entrance hallway she spoke:
"Do not make a sound as you walk, unless you see a statue with its head missing, in which case you must whoop like a celebratory drunk. If the statue is missing its right hand instead, you must bark like a dog until the shadows stop moving.
If the floor beneath you turns to blue glass, immediately cover your mouth—the air there is made of old lies and will choke you. Should you see a flicker of red light in the corner of your eye, cover your eyes and do not look until you feel the temperature drop.
Finally, if you hear the sound of a bone quill scratching, you must whistle a tune of mourning to drown it out. But if the scratching stops abruptly, you must whoop again—unless you are standing on a rug, in which case you must howl like a wolf or be swallowed by the pile."
They made they made their way through and those who failed to follow the instructions found their minds painfully invaded by chaos.
Following many steps they arrived in a large chamber with 8 crystal pillars and a dark pool in the centre. Astra knelt at the pool and immersed her head in the water as she rose she smoothed her hair back on her head, her hair now black and slick almost like a liquid. Her face ad changed. The party recognised her as SERAPHINA DELATHORNE, mistress of dream, guardian of Sanctuary on Mokomoko.
She took them up into another chamber, this one with eight marble pillars and a long table along the centre. bundles of manuscripts were piled up on the table and around the side of the room. At the table was an elderly, balding man who scribed using a large quill pen.
"Greetings, brother of mine," said Seraphina.
Seraphina agreed to honour the promise if a reward, asking each member in turn what they wanted.
Brandor: weapons and armour
Eihpos: 1 million XP
Zalaskar: no comment
Venrika: no comment
Drongforth: power beer
Grok: food
Seraphina turned to the only member who had not yet spoken
"And you, Garet. What do you desire?"
12 Seraphina’s Dream Service: No Refunds, No Guarantees
"I want, " Garet grinned, "I want a sword!"
Venrika face-palmed.
Seraphina said she would deal with their requests the next day.
The next morning she led them down to her dream chamber, all except Venrika who was still sleeping. Seraphina took Drongforth and Grok by the hands and led them into the dark pool.
"Don’t let go of my hand. Traversing the Dreamscape is not like daydreaming in a meadow, little mortals! One wrong step and you’ll stumble into a fever‑slick nightmare of crawling shadows, or bounce into a demon’s nightmare—stronger and harder than a bad girl’s dream and that would end your waking life real quick, wouldn't it?"
Drongforth and Grok entered the pool and found themselves waking next to the huge bed of a giant, his snores reverberating around the room.
Seraphina remained to keep the giant asleep while Drongforth and Grok went on a mission to recover food from the dining room. It was guarded by a huge dog but they fled with a huge roasted pig and a giant bottle of beer.
They exited the dream with there treasure and next up were Eep and Brandor. They awoke in room packed with books and potion bottles. Eep had to make a series of jumps while Brandor defended the door from zombies. Eep returned with a magic dagger which she gave to Brandor. Seraphina had found Eep a potion bottle that and told her to save it for when she needed it most.
Next it was Garrets turn. He found himself on a battleground next to an unconscious Knight.
"There's your sword." Seraphina pointed at a unfortunate soldier with a sword sticking out of his chest.
Garet pulled the sword out and as he held it aloft, it glowed with white light. The troops around him rallied with cries of "the king is alive!"
Unfortunately it also attracted the attention of mounted warriors wearing disorder helmets. "The King is alive. All on the King"
The charged, lances ready and Seraphina ended the dream.
Now all back in the Chamber of Dreams, Seraphina said farewell.
"But before you go," she said, "a word of advice..."
13 City of the Dead
Her eyes lingered on Eep.
“Little rabbit… you’ve always been running, haven’t you?”
“Some run from nightmares. Some run toward them. And some…” She tapped Eep lightly on the forehead. “…run because they were born with a question stitched into their bones. There is a place where the sea tastes of iron and old promises. A place where the gulls cry like grieving mothers and the docks creak with secrets.”
She leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper. “Port Blood remembers you, even if you do not remember it. Once, a trinket found you. A tiny thing. Innocent. Lost. But lost things rarely stay lost. They simply wait for the right dreamer to come looking.”
“Follow the thread, little rabbit. Go. Before the tide changes.”
She went to her dream pool and disappeared below the surface.
Malek was the next to give a farewell message.
"Aqualaria is empty of breath, but not of worth.” He stepped closer, studying each adventurer as though reading the last line of a page only he can see. “The cataclysm did not merely kill—it preserved. Every thought left unfinished, every secret half‑spoken, every dream abandoned in fear… all of them remain here, locked in crystal. And treasures, yes. More than gold.”
He lifted a hand, and a single mote of black ink dripped from his fingertip, evaporating before it touched the ground.
“Walk with caution. Not everything that glitters here is dead. And not everything dead is harmless.” A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corner of his mouth. “Still… if you are brave, and clever, and just a little lucky, you may yet leave this place richer than any king.”
He turned away, robes whispering like turning pages. “Go. The city remembers you now. And it will be watching.”
By the long dried out fountain they entered a house, floorboards not wood but a blue-indigo crystalline structure. Table and chairs, also crystal a painting on the wall that had the exact likeness of Seraphina.
They searched the house and found a trap door which led to a staircase leading down. Drongforth picked up a crystallised chair, cast Light on it and threw it down the stairs.
And that was when Grok noticed the ghostly figure. Its edges flicker, as though its body is constantly trying to remember its own shape. Its face is indistinct, features sliding in and out of focus leaving the impression of glowing, malevolent eyes. As it moved, it left behind a faint trail of glittering dust that evaporated moments later.
Venrika used her staff to slow time for the wraith. Time Warped. Then Rebounded.
The world around the wraith slowed to a crawl. Dust motes hung motionless. But the wraith's outline flickered, vibrating faster and faster until the temporal drag collapsed.
Eep had already vanished below, her small form slipping into the darkness just as the Crystal Wraith lunged. Its fractured silhouette swept through the air like a shard of living glass, but its strike passed harmlessly past Grok’s shoulder as he twisted aside.
Garet stepped forward, drawing his newly claimed sword. The blade answered him instantly—its edge flared with a deep, emerald glow that pulsed like a heartbeat. As he raised it, the green light spilled across the room and washed over the wraith. The creature’s movements faltered, its drifting limbs dragging through the air as though time itself had thickened around it.
Drongforth seized the opening. He thrust out his hand, arcane energy crackling along his arm before erupting in a jagged bolt of blue lightning. The Witch Bolt struck the wraith squarely in the chest, the impact sending fractures racing across its translucent body.
The wraith absorbed blow after blow, an unyielding knot of shadow that refused to fall. Almost in unspoken agreement, the party retreated through the trapdoor, boots thudding down the ladder into the cellar below.
Silence settled. For a heartbeat, it seemed the creature had not pursued.
Then it drifted through the solid ceiling as if the wood were smoke.
Grok and Garet struck the moment it appeared, their attacks landing true. The wraith unraveled into nothing.
In the cellar’s far corner, a rough‑hewn tunnel yawned open, its earthen walls swallowed by darkness…
14 Beneath the City of the Dead
The corridor lead to a room. The party stepped over the threshold, their boots immediately meeting a chorus of dry, rhythmic crunching. The floor was a mosaic of shattered pottery and rusted iron cooking tripods that crumbled under their weight. In the center of the room, a heavy oak table stood as if prepared for a grand banquet, yet the "plates" laid out across the wood were polished human sternums, gleaming with an unsettling, pearlescent sheen in the torchlight. A doorway straight ahead to the East and another to the south. A shut door to the north.
Zalaskar explored south, Venrika and Brandor to the East while the others tried the door to the North.
The North door wouldn't budge so Garet had to force it open. It turned out that it had been held shut by furniture piled up behind it. entered a chamber filled with the refuse of a desperate camp. Discarded boxes and empty bottles littered the floor, and a lone skeleton sat slumped in the far corner. Most of the ceramic jars lining the walls had been smashed into shards that glinted like jagged teeth in the dark.
However, one small jar of honey remained perfectly sealed. It sat centered within a protective ring of salt, though the barrier had been breached by smooth, narrow tracks—less than an inch wide—that smeared the white crystals into the dust.
Meanwhile Brandor followed an easterly passage and saw tiny specks flying their way. They were engulfed by a swarm of insects that were attracted to any leather on their person. Brandor fired up a spell that engulfed himself in fire. And worked to swat any insects that remained to bite Venrika.
Zalaskar found a room with grim mounds of discarded belongings. Piles of boots and shoes were stacked haphazardly by the entrance, ranging from heavy soldier’s boots to delicate children’s slippers. A thick, undisturbed layer of dust coated every surface, yet the floor told a different story. The dust there had been churned into strange, messy rib-like patterns, leading toward various small, dark holes in the walls. This brought back bad memories of Hyperion and he slowly backed away, recoiling in fear as he bumped into Grok.
At this point Drongforth cleared the path east with a veritable frenzy of firebolts.
Together the party ventured east a faint, rhythmic scratching sound vibrated behind the stone walls. Curiously, the scratching seemed to react to their presence, ceasing the moment any of them held their breath to listen. Within the chamber, they discovered four leathery bodies slumped in the shadows. Unlike the remains found earlier, these were not skeletons; the skin was preserved, stretched tight over whatever lay beneath.
A door to the East was barricaded with planks of wood and a sign written in Aqualarian, similar enough to Dwarven for Venrika to read: "Danger". Grok borrowed Eeps trusty crowbars and levered it open to reveal another passage.
It lead to a room with a brick well in the centre. A skeletal hand emerged from the well, gripping the edge with ghastly bone fingers...
14 Follow the White Rabbit
A skeletal warrior emerged from the well and was blasted with a flurry of shots from the party. In that time though, another 5 had clambered out.
As drongforth dashed forward, firing scorching rays, the ground gave way beneath his feet and he disappeared from view.
The others could do nothing but continue fighting the skeletons and they had grabbed poor Brandor to the well, his head hanging over the edge.
Just as the skeletal claws tightened around Brandor’s throat, he reached for the holy symbol at his neck. His eyes snapped open, burning with a cold, white fire that ignored the vertigo of the drop below. He gasped out a prayer and held up his holy symbol. The three skeletons pinning him were hit by a physical wave of sanctity. Compelled by a bone-deep terror, they shrieked and scrambled backward, their mindless aggression replaced by an overriding need to escape.
Drongforth emerged from the pit, rising from the well’s mouth with his boots hovering inches above the stone. His robes billowed in a magical updraft, making him appear less like a fallen wizard and more like a vengeful divine being, bathed in the flickering orange glow of the embers still clinging to his fingertips.
Drongforth hovered for a moment, then flicked his wrist toward the final skeleton that still reached for the group. He unleashed a spear of concentrated heat—a firebolt that roared across the clearing in a streak of orange flame. It struck the creature dead-center in its ribcage, the magical force vaporizing the ancient bindings holding the bones together. In a flash of sparks and charred calcium, the monster was reduced to a pile of glowing ash, leaving the clearing in a heavy, ringing silence.
They noticed a mural at the far end of the room.
"Follow the White Rabbit..." said Garet. Brandow pressed the rabbit and it depressed slightly. There was a click and the wall opened slightly. A secret door!
Beyond was acsmall chamber with an altar and a gold statue.
The most they dared to do was gingerly prod the gold statue.
They searched for an exit. The only lead they found was a section of loose bricks in the wall south of the well. Zalaskar set about blasting the bricks out of the wall using Eldritch blasts.
Looking through the hole, they saw a passage. Tied to the low ceiling were dozens of "alarm" strings made of dried sinew; each one strung with what looked like finger bones...
15 The Hermits Choice
Led by the steady hand of Drongforth, the adventurers bypassed the initial thresholds of the tomb, where the air grew heavy with the scent of ancient decay. They navigated a corridor choked with macabre "alarm" strings—sinew and finger bones that threatened to rattle at the slightest misstep. Beneath the boots of the party, the floor was a thick carpet of discarded insect husks that crunched like autumn leaves, echoing through the low-ceilinged passage.
While the bulk of the unchained pushed forward, Grok and Garet were drawn back by the lure of the golden hoard in statue room.
Meanwhile, Eihpos investigated first a room of empty boxes and jars, then a room with creeky. Noticing strange scrapes on the floorboards beneath a bed, they Pulling the furniture back. In a hidden crawlspace occupied by a frantic, shaved-headed hermit. Eihpos used her magic whip to snare the man, bringing him under the party's control.
As the rest of the adventurers interrogated the captive, Garet ventured back toward the statue room to retrieve food for their new informant. His movement triggered the tomb's silent sentinels; a skeleton animated from the shadows, its rusted blade catching the dim light. Realizing the danger, Garet turned and fled back toward the main group, the clatter of bone and iron pursuing him through the darkness.
Once fed, the hermit spoke of the only two ways out of the vault, presenting the party with a dire choice:
"The Squeeze": A narrow passage that would allow for a safe exit, but would force the unchained to abandon the heavy golden statue.
"The Obsidian Stair": The hermit warned that this route is dangerous.
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