That night the winds once more became calm and the Sea Ghost sat still in the placid sea. The moons of Oerth shone bright and full in the sky above.
Without warning, much as it had done the night before, a mysterious fog appeared around the ship. This fog, however, glowed with an evil orange hue and soon became a very hot humid miasma.
Somewhere in the fog the crew heard the beating of massive drums. The crew was awakened and the C-Team took their positions on the deck.
A dark shape appeared out of the fog 200 feet to stern. It was an ancient Suloisian design, painted black with the carved figurehead of a red dragon. Its tattered sails dangled uselessly from its yards.
The 100 foot long black ship was crewed by 30 dark shadowy figures that appeared to be made of black fog or mist. On her deck were two hulking armored warriors wearing masks that resembled a porcelain doll's face and five humanoid creatures that appeared to be made of porcupine quills. Standing at the helm was a large beast made of gaunt bone with a long tail like a scorpion and tattered wings like those of a locust. The creature of bone wore a tricorn hat.
It was the Vengeful Tempest!
CHAPTER 50
"THE VENGEFUL TEMPEST"
The C-Team:
- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
- Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
- Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright.
- Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan.
- Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson.
DM Note-
I'm running the adventure "The Kraken's Wake" so that we can get some actual use out of the naval rules in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. It fits perfectly in that 8th level dead zone between the Final Enemy and Tammaraut's Fate. It's also fairly light fare and not a deep time or brainpower commitment.
Hard to Port!
Captain Alot immediately rang the ship's bell to wake up his crew. In seconds everyone was at their stations, manning rigging and battening hatches. Captain Alot steered his ship hard to port.
The two armored figures on the Vengeful Tempest launched some bolts from their heavy crossbows to measure the range. As the Sea Ghost crossed in front of the black ship, two massive steel harpoons were fired from recesses in its bow, each trailed a strong black chain. The harpoons stuck fast in the port hull of the Sea Ghost. The chains began to retract and the Vengeful Tempest started reeling in its prey.
Instead of fighting it, the Sea Ghost turned into it. Aella used her storm sorcery to direct the winds into the sails of the Sea Ghost. Captain Alot ordered his crew to tack into that wind and put all speed into closing with the Vengeful Tempest.
A Mighty Wind
Aella waved her arms and created a sphere of wind which she directed onto the deck of the Vengeful Tempest. The sphere expanded into a swirling maelstrom - a miniature storm which lashed and battered the ship's diabolical crew.
With a furrowed brow, and a flick of her wrist and the elbow just so, Aella hurled a glowing orb of wind that swirled and expanded in dimension, until it landed with a howling presence in the middle of the ship's main deck. Ghostly warriors were flung as if matchstick in the mighty gale.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Five winged humanoids covered in dangerously sharp quills were caught within the storm. They took flight to escape it and began flying towards the Sea Ghost. As they neared, Cai'luinn struck a chord on his lute and a massive explosion of water and steam struck the flying creatures in mid-air. It scattered them and destroyed three.
Captain Alot called out to his crew, "RAMMING SPEED! PREPARE FOR BOARDING!"
Ramming Speed!
The Sea Ghost drove straight into the Vengeful Tempest, bow-to-bow. The ram that had been added to the Sea Ghost prior to leaving port struck the black ship, piercing its hull. The bow of the Vengeful Tempest rose up as the two ships became locked with each other. Alot lashed the tiller and darted across the deck of his ship towards the bow.
With a sickening crash, the solid oak ram pierced the hull of the Vengeful Tempest.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Destroy the Ballista
The dragon's head at the front of the Vengeful Tempest began to glow. It belched forth a gout of flame that engulfed everyone on the forward deck of the Sea Ghost. The shadow crew then launched a heavy bolt from the ballista mounted on their bow. The heavy bolt narrowly missed Craig. Craig shouted, "Get that bloody thing!"
...and with a whoosh of naptha, the dragon's head spewed fire on the crew, dousing them in a raging inferno.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Corvid and Alot leaped onto the stern of the Vengeful Tempest and began smashing the ballista. Shadowy crew members shoved against the boarders and tried to push them back, interfering with its demolition.
Undaunted by flame or water, the ghostly crewed cranked back the mighty thews of the ballista and let fire at Craig, intuitively sensing the water magics were eminating from from him.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Cai'luin followed Corvid and Alot, playing his lute and hurling biting insults towards the enemy.
But the brave and stoic sea elf Cai'luin teased them mercilessly and the cursed crew grew so flustered that the shot went wide....giving them even more to curse!-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Corvid twisted and came up behind them and succeeded in destroying the war machine.
....and Corvid used his incredible vengeance to disable the ballista with twin whips of azure flame - never to rise again.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Against the Spined Devils
Two spined devils flew over the mid-deck of the Sea Ghost and menaced Aella. Craig dropped down from the forecastle to the mid-deck to assist her. Aella dismissed her tempest swirling on the deck of the enemy ship so that Alot and Corvid would room to maneuver. One spined devil attacked with a long weapon like a frog gig while the other lashed its tail to launch its quills. Aella managed to lock a continuous Witch Bolt spell on one while Craig's prayers were answered in the form of a miraculous hammer that materialized in the air next to the other, smashing it as it flew. Craig and Aella backed up against the side of the stern deck to reduce the angles from which the spined devils might attack.
....decisions were made, there could be no unmaking them.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Meanwhile, the mangonel on the stern of the Vengeful Tempest continued to launch stone shot at the sails of the Sea Ghost.
Loyal Defenders
With Aella's maelstrom gone, Alot led the charge towards the stern of the Vengeful Tempest, followed by Corvid and Cai'luin. As armored devils interposed themselves between the attackers and their captain, sending crossbow bolts ineffectually at the invaders. As the pair grew nearer the armored defenders threw away their crossbows and took up their halberds.
"Vengeance", cried Corvid, and his rage rose up like a shield - deflecting the bolts away from his skin and into the water below.....-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Captain Morgana lashed her bone scorpion's tail at Captain Alot, piercing his heavy armor. Alot grunted and pulled the venomous sting out of his chest, throwing it aside.
Captain Alot swing his magical dragon's head hammer against the armored devil. The infernal creature was smashed. Glowing cinders and ash swirled and armored components went flying across the deck.
So too did Corvid impale the other armored foe with his magical longsword, reducing it to cinders and armored parts.
Meanwhile the mangonel of the Vengeful Tempest succeeded in destroying the last of the Sea Ghost's sails, leaving nothing but useless tatters dangling from the yards.
The mangonel timber heaved it;s stone in a high ranging arc, slamming home on the Sea Ghost's mast. Those close by would swear they heard a 'crack' from the oaken mast.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Having finally defeated the two spined devils that vexed them, Craig left his hiding place and ran up onto the stern deck of the Sea Ghost, making his way across to the Vengeful Tempest.
Vengeance
Captain Morgana prepared to throw a javelin. Lightning arced and danced off its long jagged form. She hurled it at Cai'luin but missed. The javelin returned to her hand as a bolt of lightning, striking Craig and Corvid.
....some say he's lucky, others say he's got panache, but all agree that his chord's have the ring of thunder.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Alot slammed his dragon hammer into Captain Morgana, knocking her off her clawed feet and onto the deck.
Alot struck her again but it was Corvid who brought his sword down in the killing blow while shouting, "VENGEANCE!"
..and his sword flashed in the midnight,bringing down it's silent judgement upon the wicked.-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
Captain Morgana shuddered under the blow. With her last ounce of strength, she hurled her javelin at the Sea Ghost. It struck the ship and exploded, leaving a massive gash in its hull.
Corvid looked upon the damage to the hull and commented upon the final actions of Morgana. "Boy, that was a real dick move".-The Tale of Aella, Chapter 4 - Morgana's Mystery, by Cai'luin Manaan
As she expired, the sea beneath the Vengeful Tempest began to glow and swirl. The ships began to spin as they were caught within a whirlpool. As the sea began to recede towards the glowing center of the whirlpool, clawed hands emerged from a fiery pit, reaching and clawing for the ship and its crew.
The ethereal crew of the Vengeful Tempest were immediately drawn off the ship and fell into the hellish whirlpool.
Alot shouted, "Time to go!"
Alot, Craig, Corvid, and Cai'luin ran back towards the Sea Ghost as the crew of that ship managed to remove the harpoon from their hull. No longer connected to the doomed ship, the crew of the Sea Ghost watched in awe as the Vengeful Tempest was drawn back into hell via a spiraling vortex.
To Be Continued...
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