Aella, Alot, Craig, and Corvid stop atop the battlements of the citadel at Seaton, prepared for the imminent attack of the resurrected black dragon, Aulicus.
Craig noticed a swelling of the ocean in the harbor far below. A mass of water rose up, washing onto the harbor jetty a hundred feet below. The water receded, revealing a swarming mass of crab!
The crab ranged in size from normal to jumbo. They seemed to be led by a crab the size of a human - it was Bess! Bess was leading an army of crab to help defend the city of Seaton.
Then, to Craig's amazement, he saw Bess turn and address a humanoid with a lute strung over his shoulder - it was Cai'luin the sea-elf bard.
Cai'luin had returned!
CHAPTER 80
"AULICUS REBORN"
The Crew of the Sea Ghost:
- Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
- Patriarch Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.
- Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
- 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. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.
Cai'luin Returns
Patriarch Craig said a short prayer and his voice became miraculously amplified, "Cai'luin! Up here!"
Cai'luin dashed up the stairs through the warehouse district towards the gate house of the citadel. In a moment he had rejoined his friends atop the battlements.
"Where have you been?" asked the dwarf.
"Oh, just rescuing my people's sacred coral polyp, convincing them to help defend the coast from the Brotherhood ships, and rallying all the crabs of the Azure Sea to battle. That's all."
"We're glad you're back."
Final Preparations
A warm breeze picked up. The fires of sea battles were visible out at sea. The invasion was underway. Somewhere in the night sky was a black dragon ridden by a crazed dragon cultist bent on destroying the citadel of Seaton.
The team had three scrolls bearing a spell of Flight between them and three people capable of casting them - Aella, Corvid, and Cai'luin.
Patriarch Craig, who had for several weeks been suffering under a curse from the magical Deck of Many Things, prayed to his god Tristin, the Raven King, for assistance. "Oh Mighty Raven King. Hear my prayer. Remove this magical curse placed upon me so that I might mete out divine vengeance upon this foul dragon that defies you will."
DM- Patriarch Craig used his Divine Intervention cleric ability to ask his god to remove the Medusa card's curse that gave him -2 on all saving throws. Only a god or the magic of The Fates card can end this curse, so Divine Intervention was his only option. He had an 11 percent chance of success. It was a long shot.
There was much cheering and laughing at the table! It couldn't have come at a more opportune time!
Patriarch Craig thought he heard a voice from far away. It said, "Huh? What? Who is this? Whatever. Sure. Go for it!" He felt reinvigorated! He was free from his curse!
The others mapped out their scroll strategy. As soon as they saw the dragon, Corvid would use a scroll on himself, Cai'luin would use a scroll on Alot, and Aella would use a scroll on Patriarch Craig. Using this strategy, the close fighters could go toe-to-toe with the dragon in mid-air while those with ranged attacks remained on the battlement.
Corvid said a prayer to Tristin and a majestic steed miraculously appeared. Corvid mounted the noble beast and prepared for battle.
Attack on the Tower
Everyone was on high alert, scanning the night sky for any hint of the dragon. Suddenly, one of the guards on one of the towers screamed in pain. The hapless fellow melted from a stream of acid that emerged from the darkness! Cries of fright and alarm issued from the other guards in the tower as they abandoned their posts in fear.
Corvid read the spell on the scroll, casting flight upon his steed. He took to the air, galloping towards the tower. He caught a glimpse of something large moving in the night. He sent forth a bolt of holy fire that struck the dark shape, briefly illuminating it and revealing it to be the black dragon, Aulicus, and his rider the evil priest Orgmond!
Aella immediately read the spell on her scroll, granting flight upon Alot.
Alot immediately shot into the night sky towards the dragon.
Craig, expecting Aella to cast the spell on himself, leaped into the sky with no effect. He sent a stern glare at Aella. "You were supposed to cast flight on me! You know, like IN THE PLAN!"
The sorceress shrugged, "Sorry, I got caught up in the moment!"
Cai'luin said, "Don't worry! I got you covered!" The sea-elf bard read the spell off the final scroll, granting Craig the power of flight.
The dragon Aulicus flapped its wings to reposition. A stream of acid shot forth from its mouth. The acid sprayed upon Alot and Corvid. Alot was able to hold up his magic shield and deflect the acid but Corvid took the brunt.
DM- Corvid failed his save and took 44 points of acid damage. Alot made his save for half and used his Warforged ability to reduce that to zero.
The dragon's rider pointed his hands at Alot and uttered a prayer to Tiamat. Aella pointed the magic Trident of Manaan at the priest and the prayer was disrupted!
DM- I was trying to cast Guiding Bolt. Aella interrupted. It was the first time she had used the Counterspell feature of the trident! Fun!
Alot shot towards the dragon and began repeatedly stabbing the rider, the priest Orgmond, with his magic javelin. Alot shoved Orgmond with his shield, knocking the rider out of his saddle. Orgmond was stuck in an awkward position and unable to move. Alot seized the advantage and continued stabbing the rider over and over and over until he lay slumped, strapped limply into his saddle, dead.
Aella hurled a bolt of magical lightning at Aulicus. The dragon writhed as electricity arced off his armored hide!
Aulicus saw Aella cast the lightning bolt. He became incensed! "You! I remember you! You are the one who slew me! I will feast upon your bones!" He tried to evade the others in an attempt to fly towards Aella but his way was blocked by Alot.
Father Craig followed up with a bolt of fire from the heavens!
Cai'luin cast a bardic spell to create a sphere of psychic static around the dragon. The haphazard placement of the attack caught Alot within its area of effect. The static had a minor effect on Aulicus but Alot was left shaken and addled.
The dragon bore down on Alot, being the only target within arm's reach. Aulicus bit into Alot and tore at him with his claws, rending parts of the automaton sentinel's nigh impervious armor.
DM- Tail hit for 10, Claw critical for 24, Claw hit for 26!
Corvid charged through the air atop his holy steed. He slashed and stabbed at the dragon with his magical sword Faith Keeper!
DM- 31 damage, then 30 damage!
Aella followed through with a sorcerous Chaos Bolt!
The dragon flailed its tail around in an attempt to strike Alot but to no avail.
Alot stabbed the dragon over and over with his magical javelin
Patriarch Craig prayed for a guiding bolt to strike the dragon, illuminating the dragon in radiant light!
Cai'luin cast another bardic spell of synaptic static, this time paying attention to the position of his colleagues. Aulicus fought against the attack but it was too much. The dragon lost consciousness and plummeted towards the river 120 feet below!
Corvid dove down towards the river. There he found the dragon, barely alive. He stabbed the dragon through the heart. There, bobbing in the river in the dark, he cut out the dragon's heart. He returned it to his colleagues so that Patriarch Craig could burn the heart in holy fire, ensuring that the dragon could not be resurrected again.
Epilogue
DM- After the battle, I gave my players some broad strokes of what happened at Niole Dra, Saltmarsh, Manaan, Monmurg, etc. but I left the details up to them. I would ask them questions like "So, what happens to Baron Solmor - does he live or was he assassinated? Now that the royal family and the courtiers are dead, does the Duke of Seaton take a greater role in running the kingdom?" That kind of thing.
In the weeks and months that followed, it became known that the entire royal family, along with many courtiers, visiting dignitaries, and other nobles and merchants, had died from poison during the celebration of the solstice in Niole Dra. Baron Solmor, having been kept from the festivities by his servant Skerrin, survived. The hapless baron was ushered away from the capital and taken back to Saltmarsh.
When they returned, they found a town in revolt. Aella finally placated her rival Eda Oweland with news that the sea elves would assist the fishermen of Saltmarsh by filling their nets. This alliance allowed Aella and Eda to foment rebellion among the commoners of Saltmarsh, overthrowing the town guard and temporarily arresting Commander Fireborn and Manistrad Copperlocks. Baron Solmor returned to find his home ransacked, his treasury emptied and shared among the townspeople. Aella told the baron that his title meant nothing without a mandate from the people.
Skerrin had disappeared and could not be found.
A new town council was created - one elected by the residents. The position of Mayor was created to replace the authority once held by the baron. The mayor would be elected by the townspeople.
Cai'luin oversaw the rebuilding of Manaan with the reestablishment of the sacred coral within the druid's grove. He did his best to bring together the survivors of the attack to rebuild the kingdom. Prince Aegon and Princess Nyx could not be found.
Craig and Alot left Saltmarsh to spread the knowledge of the Raven King, Guardian of the Gates of Death, throughout the land.
And thus ends the story of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh - for now.
The End
What an ending! I'm glad I got to follow these journals to their end. I hope you had fun GMing it! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, and, out of curiosity, what made you decide to have the black dragon from Tomb of the Lizard King be your final boss?
DeleteThanks. I did enjoy this campaign. Obviously there are things I'd do differently were I to run it again, but overall my players enjoyed it much more than Out of the Abyss and Tomb of Annihilation.
DeleteI brought Aulicus back for a few reasons:
1) the players (and one player character) have a history with him, and recurring villains are the best!
2) I wanted to resolve some dangling plot threads such as: what ever happened to the black dragon egg? What ever happened to Orgmond? What was Skerrin's master plan?
3) Corvid came to Oerth to avenge the death of Auric. Aulicus is the one who KILLED Auric so I was able to give the character the vengeance his character wanted, even if the player forgot all about that angle and didn't realize it.
4) The first time they fought Aulicus, he was nerfed. I wanted to give them a re-match with a full-power adult black dragon. Turns out 5 additional levels and plenty of time to prepare makes you more than a match.