Session 20 - Mammal Attack

20/05/5-10

The party found themselves among the dead Kobolds in their "impenetrable" fortress. Boxes of supplies were scattered around the camp and in the south corner, some damage from the Ogre coming and going could be seen. Valeyo inspected Hopper and found that this horn had been nailed to his head via 2 large nails. He touched the horn and it felt like what a blue dragon's horn would be, rather than a fake. The horn itself looked damaged, as if torn from something. Milivoj broke around the skull to loosen it, before prying it off. The whole thing was almost a foot long.

Up where the Ogre's tracks could be seen, Otto was investigating and he found a large chest, with what looks like a crowbar coming from it. After opening it, what he had taken for a crowbar, was the limb of an iron bow with a spot for a candle, a couple of potions, a scroll and some loose coinage. The party grabbed the items and continued onwards.

21/05/5-10-22/05/5-10

The next couple of days were spent in uneventful travel. While on the road, Sapphira attuned to the bow, revealing it to be a Candelflame Longbow.

23/05/5-10

Finally the group could see the small town of Akulavod in the distance. On the far side of town stood a line of trees, stretching all the way to the coast. The group approached a large communal park area and Otto reminded them, that the priest they are looking for is Eletheria, a dragonborn of pearlescent green. They headed to the Sandshark tavern, where it was quite busy, despite it being the middle of the day. A number of tables in the park were being used by the patrons who brought their food there. Otto and Cassini started asking around for the dragonborn, while Shiek kept an eye on people's reactions. The people treated the questions with mistrust, seemingly not too fond of outsiders. The overall feel, was that if the people do know of this dragonborn, they weren't willing to share with the group. Shiek overheard a table of women talking about the party, saying they have likely come for shark season. They also mentioned that a Knyzhtit visiting was bad enough, but more tourists is even worse. Shiek shared this discovery and the party headed to the Town Hall. On approach, they noticed that the building pulled double duty, also serving as a base for the Sila. A young man in Sila clothing greeted them and asked their purpose. Valeyo questioned where they can see the sharks that the town is famous for and if they are supposed to hunt or simply observe them. The young man explained that the waters near the town are just shallow enough for sharks to breed and spawn, while not allowing other large predators to interfere. Thousands of sharks come from the south and the north and can be seen in the shallows north of here.

Valeyo thanked him, mentioning that the people in the tavern were not as helpful, and the man remarked that it is because of the town's remoteness, they are slow to trust. The young man did mention that a King's Guard was visiting recently. The Kings Guard was actually born in Akulavod, but a high ranking nobleman - Zelik Chernov. It seemed surprising that a nobleman could be from the town, but the guard assured the group that it is the case. He was in town on official business and the young man told the group to wait, while he ran in to grab something.

While waiting on him, Valeyo asked Milivoj if he had heard of this Zelik Chernov and Milivoj enthusiastically confirmed, saying that Zelik is one of the greatest King's Guard there is, having been born a poor son of a fisherman, and being raised to the rank of Voivod for services to the king. The guard returned bearing 3 posters. The first, a large side profile poster of Zelik with his griffon - a recruitment poster, signed by Zelik himself. The others were a wanted posters of Blazh and one of another figure. It showed a fiend that attacked Konskirav, the image was nondescript ,but vaguely tieflingesque. Otto could tell this had been drawn based on multiple scattered accounts, but something looked familiar. Cassini and Milivoj too felt they had seen it before, but all 3 realized after a moment that it resembled Simona Valova, despite the horns. They were referred to as a "winged fiend". There was also a writ of donation to the town to help with infrastructure.

Focusing on the drawing of Zelik, it showed a man in his late 30s with jet-black slick back hair and a prominent nose. He looked very well built with a well-defined jawline and no scars on his face - almost exaggerated. Valeyo thanked the young man, saying that his attitude is much better than the curmudgeons in the tavern. The young man responded that if they were to stay around they warm up to them. Valeyo doubted it asking if that had ever happened and the man said that recently a dragonborn woman came into town. After a few weeks the town had welcomed her. Currently she lives up in a cave north of town, near the spawning pools, however she hasn’t been seen for weeks. The party thanked him, saying their goodbyes and headed to the spawning pools, to look for the cave.

On the way some in the group pondered if sharks are mammals or not and Cassini confidently confirmed that they are. While waking on the beach, the party saw a series of wooden structures stretching into the sea. The beach started becoming rockier, as the elevation rose, becoming a 20ft cliff as they headed north. Eventually they reached a cave entrance with a small stream running through it. The entrance was dark, but a light could be seen deeper inside. As they walked inside they could see red and blue mushrooms coming from the sides. Rounding a corner, up a small ledge was a campsite on the far left. A small pond, from which the stream originated which had water dripping it in from the top. To the right in a large ribcage was a unconscious pearlescent green dragonborn.

Valeyo approached and saw that she was gagged and bound. He cast Mirror Image and moved back, urging someone else to help her. Cassini pointed out that the ribcage could be that of a blue dragon. As Otto woke her up, her eyes went wide and Otto told her to calm down, as he was a friend sent by Sardior. She asked "Where is it!" and in a panic started looking around, knocking over some of the bones. There was a disturbance in the water and Shiek saw a shark head peer over. The Shark then spoke in common saying "Delicious, more food.". It started emerging from the water, revealing the humanoid body of a Sahuagin. A large shark body bearing a trident waked out of the water, followed by 2 priestesses.

Combat ensued. After some time, the large shark enraged and Valeyo used Dissonant Whispers, killing it. Sapphira killed the spellcasters with some flaming shots from her new bow.

The party turned to question Eletheria. She said she had been here for a few weeks. Then the shark turned up and imprisoned her, intending to eat her. Otto asked if she is alright and she said no, asking for her staff. Otto brough it to her and it as a blue twisted staff, the top of which appeared to be broken. It looked similar to the horn the party had found earlier. Milivoj took the dragon horn out of his saddlebags and when she saw it, she assumed they had ran into the Ogre. She explained that he had jumped her and stolen the horn. Cassini began trying to mend it and she thanked the group for their help. Otto responded, telling her that she really had Sardior to thank for sending him here. She asked to discuss this after resting as she hadn't slept for 3 days. Upon closer inspection, the group could tell she was a gemstone dragonborn. Otto picked up the trident an on it could see runes carved in a language foreign to him, its craftsmanship looked rather nice and he handed the oversized weapon to Milivoj.