After a few days anchored at Hestrin Island (2/26 – 2/29), Captain Ephor alerted everyone to the dwindling supply of fresh water. Fresh water was not available on the island, and he commanded his ship to set sail. The Turkey of the Sea followed along. After two days of sailing (3/1 – 3/2), a storm drove the two ships apart. Jerker and Aderian were on The Turkey of the Sea with the small crew of dwarves. A day later, they spotted an island and made landfall.
Meanwhile, The Howl of the Demon sailed for another day before meeting up with a merchant ship called The Grenado (3/5). The captain could offer no spare water, but he did tell of a nearby island populated by elves with the odd habit of wearing no clothing. The Naked Isle, he called it. They spotted the island the next day (3/6), just as the water supply ran out.
A group of naked elves greeted them at a wharf, offering a warm greeting and advice for refilling water casks. A road lead more than a mile from the coast, inland to a small village. Farmers tended crops a long the way, completely unclothed in the warm sun. A feast was held over two days in which all of the sailors also filled the village and cavorted with the villagers. Urgesh made a clumsy attempt at impressing himself to elf maidens, but they lavished him with attention all the same.
After hearing about the abundance of giant frogs on the swampy island, Ollie encouraged the group to go hunting. Saul’s albatross helped them spot a giant python which was quickly killed and dragged back to the village. The next day (3/10), Ollie convinced a young hunter named Duko to lead them out for better hunting grounds. Along the way, Ollie fell into a pool of quicksand. Duko helped him out while the rest of the group seemed to pay little notice.
At the edge of a river, Duko demonstrated spearing a frog. Urgesh tied a rope around his waist and dove after a frog spotted in the water with Ollie holding fast to the rope. The half-orc stabbed the frog, filling the water with a cloud of blood. Another giant frog latched onto his arm. Ollie hauled them out, and the Saul’s lion pounced on the frog.
Duko told of a mysterious shack nearby that he refused to go near because he feared it was haunted. Naturally, the party insisted on investigating. Urgesh crept up to the cabin and spied what looked like a dwarf with his back turned. He retreated to relay this information . As Ollie approach the vine-covered cabin, he offered a mug of ale to what he thought was a fellow dwarf. Instead it was a foul ghoul who lunged at him. The monster was cut down, but commotion disturbed giant bees.
Urgesh and the lion rushed up to fight beside Ollie. Hocuspo used magic to slow some of the bees. Unfortunately, two of the bees stung the lion, who presently toppled over from the poison. Saul ran to his aid, administering anti-toxin. Urgesh retreated while Nate rushed. A larger bee, the queen, attempted to escape. Urgesh brought her down with two arrows.
Inside the filth of the cabin, Ollie pulled a sack of 1,700 electrum pieces from a pile of rags and debris. He also snatched a fine alexandrite gem worth 150 gp. Then, he crawled into a hole that then to the bees lair. He drained a cell of honey into an aluminum urn he kept in his magical backpack. Urgesh filled his helmet with honey. Ferris collected venom from the fallen bees.
The next day (3/11), the party headed for a tower on the east side of the island. The villagers warned it was dangerous, that mysterious frog-men had been seen around the abandoned tower of a deceased wizard. They had no trouble reaching it as it rose above the swampy jungle on a small hill. It had a wide bottom level, a narrow spire that ended in a wider top. They found the back door wizard-locked, but it gave to Tienarth’s touch and they began exploring a series of rooms that ran around the inside of the tower wall.
Ollie led the search. A black fungus covered everything in the first room. The dwarf shut the door right away. The second room contained a shrine of an elf-like deity with four arms. Ferris recognized runes of the thieving arts carved on the shrine. An offering basin sunk into the floor before the shrine. The third room contained a toppled statue.
Behind the fourth door was a vampire in a tattered cloak that met Ollie’s eyes, charming him. Before any of them could react, Ollie stepped forward to allow the vampire to feast on his dwarvish blood. The vampire drank deeply of the crimson fluid, and Ollie felt part of his life drain away. Nate rushed to his side, his holy nature breaking the charm. Tienarth had cast a haste spell, and Nate used the extra speed to bash the vampire with his mace. Urgesh stepped in to finish the job.
Ferris produced a wooden stake, which he drove into the vampire’s heart. They dragged the body out into he sunlight where it withered into dust that soon blew away with the wind. Inside, Ollie snatched a coffers left on a shelf in the vampire lair. Poison needles stabbed him, but he shrugged off the effects. Inside the coffers were 800 cp, 1100 ep, 1400 gp, two bracers worth 900 gp each and a map. Urgesh smashed the coffin to bits.
Moving clockwise, they came to a room with stairs going down and a door to an inner shaft of the tower. They chose the door and climbed up narrow stairs to a second level. It was dark as ink, which did not troubled Urgesh who could see in the dark. However, Saul used fairy fire to illuminate the room. Urgesh, Saul, Ollie and Tienarth squeezed into the small area as Urgesh pulled open a door.
Behind it was a tower of animated fire which lashed out at him. The barbarian swung his great sword Vambier at the flames, which sparkled as the blade passed through. The others retreated, hoping Urgesh would flee, too. He did not. He endured waves of burning fire and continued swinging. For a moment, he stepped back and guzzled a potion which grew his size so that his head bumped against the ceiling. The attacks from the fire elemental continued, and Ollie returned to fight beside Urgesh now that the elemental had emerged from the closet.
The elemental enveloped the dwarf in fire, which he resisted to some degree. And after a few more moments, it was destroyed. Next, Urgesh opened another door, inside of which he saw coins floating in mid-air. He attempted to enter the hallway and was met with a harmless blow from a transparent protrusion. He stabbed into what he now realized was a type of jelly filling a room. After a second stab, the jelly ceased moving. Ollie spent some time cutting up the jelly in order to get the coins out which totaled 10 platinum pieces, which Urgesh pocketed. He also found a golden bowl which he put in his magic backpack.
It took about an hour before the effects of the potion subsided and Urgesh returned to a normal size which allowed him go back down the stairs. Due to Ollie’s pour health, they agreed to return to the village for healing.
End Notes
- Days
- 2/26 – 2/29 Downtime on the ship
- 3/1 – 3/2 Sail in search of water
- 3/3 A storm drives the The Howl of the Demon north. The Turkey of the Sea is separated.
- 3/4 – 3/6 At sea. Meet The Grenado. Land at The Naked Isle.
- 3/7 – 3/11 Adventuring on The Naked Isle.
- Treasure:
- 1,700 ep
- Alexandrite gem worth 150 gp
- 800 cp
- 1,100 ep
- 1,400 gp
- Two bracers worth 900 gp each
- 10 pp
- Bowl worth 1000 gp
- Combat: 5,364 xp
- Giant Python 405 xp
- 2 Giant Frogs 75 xp each
- Ghoul 100 xp
- 13 Giant Bees
- Queen Bee
- Vampire 800 xp
- Fire Elemental 3385 xp
- Gelatinous Cube 280 xp
- Characters 766 xp each (7 shares)
- Ferris (human) 843 xp
- Hocuspo (half share) 383 xp
- Nate (human, smite undead, protect weak, fight) 866 xp
- Ollie (rugged, stubborn, fight, strength, lead, in front) 812 xp
- Saul and Lion (human, wilderness) 850 xp
- Tienarth (outdoors) 774 xp
- Urgesh (half-human, fight, destroy unnatural) 820 xp
- Ships
- The Howl of the Demon
- Crew/Passengers: 86 + 11
- Cargo: 9 of 210 tons
- Food: about 383 man/weeks
- Water: 1500 gallons, about 428 man/weeks
- The Turkey of the Sea
- Crew/Passengers: 8 + 0
- Cargo: 0 of 10 tons
- Food: none
- Water: none
- The Howl of the Demon