Help from the Enemy

Navigating the maze of rope bridges and honeycombed corridors was slow work. We had to double back twice in the past hour to avoid bridges with large sections of missing slats. I wish that option were available now, I thought as I peered at our two options across the chasm. Vines choked the right bridge and obscured the cave entrance on the other side. The left bridge held half a dozen will-o’-wisps. There was enough lightning in the air from their furious sparking to make my hair rise up from my scalp. Behind me, I could hear Rhegar and Kyri arguing about the merits of turning back once again but I ignored them as I watched the balls of light drift across the bridge, counting in my head.

I crouched on the cliff edge and used the bridge ropes to brace myself as I leaned out over the edge to watch the will-o’-wisps on the bridge below. A minute or so of watching their movements confirmed my suspicions. I pulled myself up and called Vixi over to my side. “I think the will-o’-wisps are patrolling a territory.” I said, explaining my theory. “Watch the one on the end of the bridge below us. It doesn’t drift onto the last 3 feet of the bridge.” The tiefling knelt down and my previous position. A few moments later she turned her gold eyes to me. “You are correct. It won’t go past the tenth slat.” She ran a hand through violet hair to calm the static as she stood. “How does that help? The bridges aren’t wide enough to avoid their territory.” Before I could lay out my plan, Garn threw a climbing kit at the warlock’s feet. “It means that if we time it right, we can climb down and avoid the wisps all together.” He looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry, I was listening in.” I waved off his apology as the rest of the Order gathered around to hear the new proceedings.

Thank you, Kord, for the hours of training that just allowed me to climb down eighteen feet of rope onto a three foot section of bridge dangling over a bottomless abyss, I prayed as my feet hit the bridge work. I gave Markas the go ahead to start down the rope. Straightening my gear, I leaned against the stone archway and waited for my party to reassemble.

When everyone had caught their breath and Garn had collected his climbing kit, we went down the next passage. Pleased with my own cleverness, I found myself humming an old song my father would sing as he repaired fishing nets. Though his record be dark, is the man-eating shark, who will eat neither woman nor child. I was snapped out of my happy revive by a several short grunting screams followed by a sucking sound. Vixi thrust the torch forward and Kalena rushed to relight the orb on her staff.

The three of us were horrified to see the remainder of our party floating in a wobbling blue-green mass. “I thought gelatinous cubes were just a joke made up by Father Cerance.” I said bewildered by the sight before my eyes. “Come on, we’ve got to get them out of that thing,” said Kalena as she launched a magic missile at the shimmering goo. It shuddered and Rhegar plopped onto the corridor floor on the opposite side of the tidy mass of protoplasm. Seeing the other three struggling to free themselves from the fiend of little shape, I prayed to Kord in hope that he would lend his strength to our attacks. I felt the blessing settle over my comrades as I struck a golden lance of faith across the cube.

“Where in the name of the platinum dragon did you come from?” I heard Rhegar roar. Through the watery mass of the cube I could see him pulling a javelin from his thigh. He was still swearing when a javelin connected with my own side. It bounced off my chainmail but I could feel the start of a bruise nonetheless. A tall purple orchid standing behind a giggling sapling was the last thing I saw before the pink pollen settled over me.

I opened my eyes to find myself in Farport. A smiling dragonborn female ran down the docks toward me. She scooped me into her arms and twirled me in her arms shouting, “Taviramindra! You haven’t changed a bit.” She set me back down on my feet only to be pulled into a hug by a dark-skinned half-elf. “How have you been Tavia? Keeping Farport safe, I hope.” “Better now that you’re back. I do hope you kept Cora out of trouble Caling, though I guess you must have since she is back in one peace.” I pulled them both into a hug, happy to see my best friends after years of separation. Grabbing their hands I pulled them toward shore. “I have so much to tell both of you about the Order of the Rampant Dragon and the battle with Tiamat.”

The pair pulled up short and exchanges meaningful glances. Stepping forward he took my hand and gave me a gentle look. “Tav, sweetie, Merrab told us what happened. You were on a ship bound for Aurincia that got caught in a hurricane. A fishing crew picked you up on an island two months ago. There was never any Order.” Tears welled up in my eyes as I searched his face for a sign he was joking. “But I was there with Garn and Kalena and Vixi and Markas and-“ “Shhh,” said Cora, wrapping an arm as tears slid down my cheeks.

I felt a tear splash onto the back of my hand and my eyes snapped open to reveal a corridor filled with a tower of mucus. I shook my head to clear the hallucination. I could feel a headache coming on, a nasty after effect from the pollen. Part of me was shocked to at what I had been imagining. Would I really rather have made up the whole thing? No. It doesn’t matter. Think on it later, I chided myself. Ignoring the lingering feeling of Cora’s arm on my shoulders, I took in the situation.

Markas had escaped from the cube, a sapling taking his place inside the acidy mass. Well that’s fortunate. At least it isn’t set on eating the seven of us. The two paladins had managed to get the vine creatures between themselves and the cube. It was good planning on their part. If the quivering mass wanted to get at the half-elf and the dragon born, it would need to scoop up the saplings first. The sapling inside the cube dived out, tackling the orchid to the floor in the process. Kyri now stood in the hallway with Vixi, Kalena and I. Behind me the purple orchid cracked a long whippy vine but I deflected with my quarterstaff. The javelins from her minions went wide.

By my side I could see Vixi pulling in power from the feywild spirits in the cave. Essences flowed from the rock wall, from the vines and lichens, even from the will-o’-wisps on the bridge behind us. Her blue-violet hair streamed in an unblown wind and her eyes glowed in the dim light. She unleashed the energy and the cube shuddered violently. So powerful was her attack that the cube tumbled backward, engulfing the tangled orchid and sapling in its path. Now that is how turn a bad situation in our favor.

Markas and Rhegar launched a simultaneous attack on the gelatin wall. The brutality of the attack allowed Garn to finally slip from its confines and he tumbled onto the floor, dripping with slime. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kalena shaking her head clear. Stepping forward I formed powerful prayer on my lips in hopes of healing my exhausted cohorts. The holy symbol on my chest glowed briefly before releasing a pure white light. I felt my spell giving the healing prayer I uttered for Garn an extra boost.

Still in her enchanted state, Vixi pushed the cube forward again. It engulfed the sapling but Markas bounced off the taut surface. The plant girl managed to pull herself from the goo but her back half dissolved before she was completely free. The flowery vines around her face withered as she collapsed on the floor. Inside the ghastly thing, one of the saplings broke into pieces. The cube itself had lost some of its shape. It leaned toward the paladins, looking more like a rhombus than a cube of death. Kyri fired two arrows into its depth. With a final blow from Markas’s flail, the ghastly extruded shape became nothing more than a neutralized puddle on the cavern floor. He shouted a blessing to the Raven Queen and I could see some of the color return to the half-elf’s cheeks.

Now that the cube had been dealt with, the party rushed forward to deal with the remaining three saplings. Garn delivered a breath of ice to freeze their retreat. Despite having been hit by two javelins, Kalena reinforced the dragonborn’s attack with a cold spell of her own that took out the orchid sorceress. One of the saplings escaped through the vines, but two arrows prevented the last minion from going very far.

Weakly we searched through the mess of plant parts and slippery goo. The vines covering the female saplings turned out to be functional light armor suitable for our more mobile types. We stripped the bodies continuing down the passageway. Exhausted, we didn’t travel far. Across the next bridge we discovered another carved room and holed up to recover our strength.

When a Chest Isn't a Chest

The zombies weren’t hard to avoid. In fact, as passages kept breaking off into the cliff face, it was becoming more and more likely that we would lose them all together. Zombies aren’t exactly known for their attention span. Then again, we may have been the only live meat they’d seen in weeks. I, for one, didn’t want to take the chance of slowing down.

A few hours later, Kalena let out an exited cheer. “Hey, I see something behind those vines!” She pulled at the plants. Rhegar strode back to her side and motioned for Kalena to move out of the way. His glaive made quick work of the foliage and the stiff vines fell away to reveal a stone worked archway and room. Through the archway, we could see four nautically styled chests spaced evenly about the room. “Think it’s a trap?” asked Vixi. “Probably.” I replied. Since it was highly unlikely that treasure would be sitting in an unguarded room, we proceeded carefully. Rhegar would search the room for traps, with Kalena holding the light for them. Markas would follow a few steps behind. Kyri, Garn, Vixi, and I would stay in the hallway. Garn and I kept an eye out for wandering guards or zombies, while Kyri and Vixi watched the others, with bow and eldritch curse ready to fire.

The dragonborn made his way cautiously about the room. He tapped the floor, walls, ceiling, and even the chests with the butt of his glaive, making sure it was safe to proceed. Once he completed his circuit of the room, he stood in front of the nearest chest with Kalena at his side. Markas beckoned us into the room, but I stayed at the doorway. Something about this still felt wrong to me and my paranoia told me that we should keep on pair of eyes on the hallways. “I can’t detect any magic traps. Hold your breath.” Kalena said as she threw back the lid.

A monstrous tongue lolled out of the open chest. Kalena screamed as it wrapped itself around Rhegar. I whirled around in time to see a huge sticky fist form from the side of the chest and sock the paladin across the ribcage. “That’s a mimic. It can take the shape of anything around it and if there’s one mimic posing as a chest, there’s likely to be a second!” As Markas went to leap forward, a second chest spewed goo over the paladin from behind, anchoring him to the floor. A third chest in the back of the room sprouted tentacle-like limbs and scuttled toward Rhegar. It formed a fist from one of the appendages and clocked the dragonborn across the head. He slumped over, unconscious.

Garn rushed forward, sidling up next to his scaly comrade. He took a wide swing at the monster, giving Kalena a chance to escape behind him. “No time to go limp on us.” He said giving the paladin a shake. Rhegar’s eyes snapped open and he groaned. Markas loosened himself from the tacky vomit. He tried to confuse the creature but when that fails he whirled his flail. “Careful!” I yelled. “Your weapon can stick in the mimic and you may not get it back!” Awakened, Rhegar wrestled free of the tongue and goo. He stabbed at the chest but it whacked the glaive out of the way with a fist. Vixi unleashed an eldritch bolt into the mimic and its skin flashed different colors for a moment. In front of me, Kyri drew back an arrow on the bow she had taken from the orchid woman. My eyes widened as I watched spines sprout from the body of the arrows. She must have been as shocked as I was because the shots went wide. My slingstone missed the beast but I sent Rhegar a healing prayer to bolster him for the blow that was certainly coming.

The chest vomited more ooze at Garn but the dragonborn avoided the brunt of it. He whirled around and sunk the lifedrinker spear so deep into the mimic’s fist that it severed the limb. His attack bolstered my confidence that we could make it out of this encounter. I think the others felt the same way, because Markas took a swing at his own mimic right after Garn’s attack. Rhegar attempted to freeze the mimics with a blast of cold, but they ignored the attack so he settled for moving into a flanking position across from Kalena. The wizard brandished her dagger at the chest with a fierce look on her face. She shouted over her shoulder for the rest of us to shift position and create an opening for herself and Markas, and we did.

I watched the wizard closely as she pulled magic from the air into a glowing violet ball. Kalena lobbed the ball into the center of the three mimics with a satisfied look on her face. Wisps of purple smoke swirled up around the mimics. Two of the mimics slowed dramatically in their movement and the third slumped over snoring faintly. “Now! Attack now!” She told the rest of us. “Now while I’ve lured them to sleep.” Garn buried his spear in the mimic once again, but this time it remained stuck in the tarish body. Markas landed a blow to the lid of the chest, forcing the lid to close. The mimic changed shape wildly before it crumbled into a pile of stony blocks that then dissolved into goo. Vixi cursed the mimic in the back and in its confused state it briefly became an armoire, its odd mind twisted by psychic damage.

Kyri rushed forward to the sleeping mimic, pulling back a green fletched arrow as far as she could draw it. Spikes and spines sprung up along its length but this time she paid the protrusions no notice and aimed for the hinges holding the lid to the chest body. Mere inches away, the elf released. The deadly projectile slammed into the joint, burying itself to the feathers. The surface of the mimic danced through a dozen patterns before it too dissolved in a pile of sticky residue. Not done, the green haired elf whirled about on her toes, nocking another arrow as she turned. It tore through a tentacle on the last remaining mimic.

All of our attention was now focused on the last mimic. A magic missile exploded against its side and I ran up for an attack. It blocked with one of the fists but the opening allowed Garn to push by and sink his spear into the side. Markas set up for a flank, but the mimic wasn’t giving up yet and pushed his flail out of the way. Rhegar used his chance to sever the fist. Kyri loosened a final arrow into the open mouth and the final mimic crumbled to pumice.

Kalena was the first to recover, jumping around excitedly. “Did you see that? One shot! She took it out in one shot!” The elegant elf looked slightly embarrassed by the excited girl. “I wouldn’t have been able to take that shot if you hadn’t put it to sleep first.” “Yeah, but then you turned around and nailed the other one!” The wizard clapped her hands excitedly. “Those were several very well placed shots.” Garn complimented, offering the elf his hand and the rest of us were quick to add our thanks for Kyri’s excellent archery skills.

The last chest in the back of the room was an actual treasure chest. Inside were two vials of a healing potion, nautical charts of the surrounding islands and four leather bound books. Rhegar tossed me one and I cracked it open. Scanning the page, I recognized the word. “This book contains the ritual for water walking.” Kalena rushed forward and opened another book. “This one has Make Whole. We can fix the provisions box!” She squealed excitedly. “Throw them in the packs then.” Rhegar growled. “You gals can puzzle over them back on the ship when there is time to do things like learn spells. Right now, we should move on.” “I agree.” Said Markas, “Someone probably heard the noise we made fighting the mimics and will be coming to find out if their treasure is intact.” Shoving the items into various packs we continued down the passageway.

Open to the Heavens

I had been eating a bar of dried fruit for breakfast when Vixi ran into the cavern. “Pack up. We need to move because there are zombies coming down the passage.” Rhegar stood, almost lazy in his movements. “So why don’t we just fight them then?” Vixi locked her solid gold eyes onto the dragonborn’s own silver ones. She grabbed the foodstuff from his hand and threw it down into his open bag. “Because there are a lot of them. Maybe 40, certainly 30, and I don’t want to fight that many.” “Nor do the rest of us.” added Kyri as she threw a pointed look at the paladin of Bahamut. “I think heading down the hallway would be prudent.” I nodded my head in agreement with the tiefling and the elf, and threw my stuff into my bag as quickly as possible. As I secured the bag over my shoulder, I could hear the scuffing of bones across the stone floors. Cries of “Brains” and “I want to eat your eyes.” drifted down the corridor.

We took off at a light jog. It probably wasn’t necessary for us to escape the zombies, but it would be nice to have a little leeway if we ran into anything. A couple turns, a staircase, and a blocked corridor later and we found ourselves on a wide ledge overlooking a gigantic shaft. Two rope bridges stretched maybe 150 feet across the open chasm, one sloping up and one sloping down. The silver moonlight streamed down over more bridges above our heads. It has to go up 200 feet, at least. I could faintly hear ocean waves rolling across stone and cautiously took a look over the edge. I gulped hard as I stepped back quickly. “Well it certainly goes down to the Underdark.” I said to no one in particular.

I heard a soft giggling and peered around the shaft for the source. A movement on a bridge 20 feet down caught my eye. As I watched, a Halfling size creature jumped from a tangle of vines. It ran laughing down the wooden slates before diving into another tangle of vines. The vines were growing all over the walls and bridges and the vine creatures weren’t the only things traversing the bridges. Blue-white balls of light drifted lazily back and forth until they encountered another and began sparking furiously.

“What are we dealing with here?” said Rhegar to our resident expert on all things magical. “Well the green plants on the walls and bridges are sapling vines, making the nasty little things running in between them saplings. Nasty, vicious little things; they carry poison darts, have razor sharp barbs, and some spray a hallucinogenic gas. The light balls are actually will-o’-wisps. They’re difficult to see in the light and have a nasty shock when they’re angry. It would be a good idea to not get between two of them. Radiant or lightning doesn’t do much damage to them, sorry Tavia, but they only shock one target at a time.” She smiled at the last bit of information and I heard someone mutter, “Oh good, only one target.”

The occasional screech of “Revenge!” or “Brains!” could be heard behind us but they are tinny from echoing through the hallways, so we took a moment to discuss which way to go. Markas probably summed it up best when he said, “It doesn’t matter if we catch the sirens anymore or not. We were sent to find weapons and artifacts that Perinor can use in five year’s time and we’re bound to find something here.”

Before she started off on the lower bridge, Kalena suddenly stopped. “Wait. We need to let the captain know what’s going on. Even Garn said we would only be gone a day at most.” “You have a good point, wizard.” Garn said, “But it would take far too long to get back to Captain Raccan, even without the zombie crew behind us.” “We wouldn’t need to go back. The shaft opens up to the sky- I can enchant an animal that could fly out the top and out to the ship to deliver the message. All I need is a bird or something.” She hopped up and down excitedly. “Will a bat work?” Kyri called from ledge across the chasm where she had been scouting the cave mouth. “Oh yes, perfectly.” cried the wizard as she ran across the bridge. After ten minutes or so she released the bat, it flew upward and out the cavern mouth, squeaking merrily.

Between her perception of passageways and my book knowledge of typical dungeon layouts, Kyri and I took turns directing the movements of the group. We were just getting ready to cross a fourth bridge when a sapling creature jumped out of the vines on the right side. Markas stepped onto the bridge brandishing his flail and gave the creature a menacing look. It stared at him for a second before falling over laughing. When Markas took a step forward to try to further intimidate it, the sapling gave a piercing whistle, like the kind made when one blows on a blade of grass between ones hands. Seven more saplings morphed out of the vines on the bridge. Halfway down, a larger group of vines settled into a shape as tall and lithe as Kyri, leaves from the vines coming up to form a type of clingy clothing. The sapling-halfings began pulling vines from their own bodies, creating either long whips or straightening them into bamboo-like javelins. The ends dripped acid or glinted with poison. The strange elf-woman in the back strung a wicked looking long bow as she selected arrows from her own thigh.

Kyri fired off two arrows at the archer but they went wide. A small smile playing about her lips, Kalena dropped a fireball into a group of the saplings. I heard Garn give a rather undignified yelp and two of the vines leapt off the bridge flaming. She merely turned to him with a “Relax. There are steel cables under the ropes and vines. It can take a little fire damage.” He grunted out a “If you say so.” as he beat a sapling that had just stung a whip across his leg. Rhegar charged forward into one sapling with a brutal blow. Real blood dripped from its wound but reverted to sap as it fell to the ground. The sapling-elf evaded Vixi’s blast as she began to revert to her natural form. Javelins flew from the saplings, preventing us from attacking while their leader changed. Her limbs became vines and her head was replaced by a giant orchid. From what used to be her mouth, she spewed pale pink pollen. It settled over Garn and Markas and dreamy looks settle over their faces.

I dropped a lance of faith across the sapling as it was about to whip Markas. As the orchid woman began to change forms again, Kyri buried two arrows in her viney body and the woman screamed. Kalena dropped another fireball across the crowd of saplings and they scuttled through the vines trying to give the damaged ones time to lick their wounds. Vixi unleashed a nasty spell at the orchid woman and she withered up, bow clattering onto the bridge. By this time Garn and Markas had shaken their dream state. Markas hit the sapling in front him a wicked blow. He moved to take another shot but two javelins found gaps in his armor and the injured sapling retreats through the vines. As he pulled out the shafts, I blessed his bravery with a healing prayer.

Kyri’s arrows buried themselves into the saplings as they try to retreat down the bridge. Their new grouping further down the bridge encouraged Kalena to drop another fireball in their midst and they screeched in reply. Garn swiped through one, the lifedrinker weapon stealing its leafy little soul, and boosted up Rhegar with a “We’ve got them on the run now.” I managed to get in melee range as we hurried down the bridge and land a good blow across its legs with my staff. A green fletched arrow grew from its head before it exploded, covering me in sap and leaf bits. Kalena dropped a final fireball on the far side of the bridge and Vixi caught the last escaping sapling with a curse that drops it in its tracks.

The cries of “Brains! Eyes!” echoed through the abyss as the zombies spilled onto the ledge. I could see sailors’ clothing draping off their lank frames. Probably the same ones we slew on the beach. I should have stopped, performed Gentle Repose. I thought sadly. Garn’s voice shook me out of my thoughts as he called. “Come on. We need to get ahead of them again.” Kalena expressed a desire to fireball the bridge above us and I wished I had enough range to use a Turn Undead to slow them down. “No time.” He said as he grabbed my arm to hurry me along. Kyri picked the longbow from among the vine carnage and the seven of us scurried down the next cavern.

Those Aren't Butterflies

We had been traveling down the passageway maybe half an hour when we came to a bend in the hallway that opened into a dimly lit room. Garn held his hand up for a halt and we did. He called Kyri to the front and the two had a quick, whispered conversation. She shouldered her bow and snuck forward using the wall as concealment. Peering around my party, I could see a pair of huge orange butterfly wings fluttering but not much else.

The green-haired elf returned shortly and we huddled around, eager to hear what dangers lay ahead of us. “Looks like the room was used for grain storage, but four fey drakes have come across it and are having a feast. Pretty things, but definitely hostile. Now normally I would say we could take them out easily with a couple of well placed arrows or bolts, but they keep dipping down below the sacks. We’re going to have to draw them out to get a clear shot.” Great, I thought, a place where we need Rhegar to come in swinging and he’s off looking for passages.

We shuffled forward to the end of the hallway, trying to keep as much cover for ourselves as possible. Markas let out a shrill whistle to catch the attention of the fey drakes. Collectively, they turned to our position. Two dropped their grain sacks and sat back on their haunches, hissing. The other two rushed forward on monarch-colored wings. Vixi let loose a curse that knocked the nearest one to the ground, but it recovered quickly. Markas roared out a challenge in the Raven Queen’s name and blinded the second, and a hand axe thrown by Garn tore into a wing. Maddened, the other two fey drakes rushed forward to help their companions. Markas leapt away from an attack, while the blinded fey drake swung wildly. The other two clawed at Garn, but the boys were doing a good job keeping the attacks off us.

Suddenly, a pair of crossbow bolts thudded into the wall and I heard the warlord swear in Draconic. Seems like the mutated butterflies weren’t the only thing in the storeroom. Kalena dropped a fireball behind the drakes but only manages to catch one in the fiery blast. I could see blood dripping off Garn’s chainmail, so I sent a healing prayer his way. Inspired by Kalena, I sent a burst of flame down on a drake with purplish scales. Vixi fired off a crackling eldritch bolt, but the drake soared upward to avoid the blast. Garn battered his new spear on the drake in front of him before he released his icy breath with a great roar. It caught the purplish drake almost point blank. For a moment it sparkled with an icy brilliance before it crashed onto the floor, shattering to a million pieces.

Markas had been expertly fending off the attacks from two of the fey drakes. I heard a whispered prayer slip from his lips, thanking the Raven Queen for his new suit of plate. The third remaining fey drake caught a claw across Garn’s shoulder just before a crossbow bolt sunk into his shoulder. Halfway down the room I saw a gnome duck back behind the grain sacks, laughing an evil little laugh as he did. Kalena rushed up next to me. Angrily she cried out, “You’ve tasted ice. Now you will taste fire!” as she dropped a fireball where the gnome disappeared. Clearly the gnome hadn’t gone far, as it shrieked when the fireball exploded. “Ice tastes better” it whined.

I yelled for Garn to turn about and he did, saying, “Technically, that one didn’t taste ice.” Carefully I wrapped my hand around the bolt sticking from his shoulder. “Sorry.” I said as I ripped it from the flesh. Another quick prayer stopped the blood flow. “Thanks.” He mumbled before turning back to the fight. Behind me I heard Vixi curse as a drake avoided another of her spells. A mighty blow from Markas’ spiked chain split the skull of a fey drake with a reddish cast to its scales. It collapsed, pixie dust spilling from cleft skull. Despite his injuries, Garn ducked under one of the drakes, trapping it between the two of us. I battered the startled fey drake with my quarterstaff.

“I wish I could see those damn gnomes.”Kyri says as she fired at the drakes. Another fireball exploded among the grain sacks and Kalena snickered when the gnomes screamed. Markas swung his chain forward, tearing through one wing of the drake in front of him. Seeing her chance, Vixi took off the other one with a well placed blast and it fell to the ground in a cloud of pixie dust.

The last remaining drake turned and grappled onto Garn. Distracted by the fey drake, he didn’t notice the gnomes until their crossbow bolts thudded into his unprotected back. I could see his eyes widen right before he dropped to the floor. Kyri screamed and fired two arrows at the laughing gnome. They hit; one in the forehead and one between the eyes. It fell back, spraying blood across the grain sacks. Kalena ran forward past the drake, which swung wildly at the wizard. She skidded to a stop on the grain covered floor and threw a blast of icy coldness at the gnome, freezing it to the floor. Still enraged, she turned and fired at drake. It burst into a cloud of rainbow sparkles.

Wiping the shimmering dust from my face I knelt beside Garn. Removing the two shafts I wove together a couple healing prayers to stabilize the dragonborn. “Wake up so we can yell at you for your stupidity.” I growled softly in Draconic. Beside me Vixi muttered to herself in some demonic tongue as she smiled. She disappeared briefly as the remaining gnome flew backward into a pile of sacks, screaming as it died. She reappeared next to the corpse and plucked the crossbow from its dead hands.

Markas came up behind my shoulder. “Can we move him?” The others had come over and looked at me expectantly. “He took a lot of damage, I’ll need at least an hour to get him mobile.” I replied. “It would be better if we could stay somewhere close for a couple hours. I know I need rest now, and after healing him, well I would be pretty useless if we have to fight again.” “I think we could all use a rest.” Kyri replied, “This is as good a spot as any. It only has two entrances and we can post lookouts on both. Plus Rhegar can catch up to us.” The others agreed and we set up a makeshift sleeping area between the grain sacks.

A couple hours later, Garn stirred on the floor beside me, waking me from the nap I had been taking. “What happened?” He said weakly, trying to sit up. I pushed him back down. “Move and you’ll be sorry. I used a lot of energy and spells putting you back together and I will not be happy if you make me do it again.” Satisfied that my patient had made it, I called Vixi over to get the dragonborn some food and fill him in while I got some proper sleep.

Bring Out Your Dead

One by one, eight heads broke the water’s surface. The pool in this room was only knee deep and we needed to move aside to let the next swimmer through. Kalena drew the everburning torch from her bag and relit the top of her staff. As light spilled over the stone floor, the dark room became a graveyard. Or maybe what a graveyard would look like if it had been torn apart by a giant. Over a dozen bodies, probably sailors at one point, were strewn across the grotto and their glazed eyes reflected the torchlight. There were huge rends on the bodies, as if claws the size of pickaxes had torn through the corpses. The lack of blood from the claw wounds was a sure indication that the majority of the damage had been done after they died. It was a small comfort.

“I don’t like this.” Rhegar said, voice low, “The sirens can’t have made it this far this fast. I’m going to go back and see if Voko knows of another passage.” Garn and Markas grunted their approval and the silver dragonborn slid back under the water. Doubt he finds anything, I thought.

Meanwhile, Travis was getting antsy. “I don’t know what you’re all so afraid of.” He jumped out of the water. “It’s just dead bodies.” The thief moved toward a faintly lit doorway on the side of the room. “Get back here soldier!” Garn growled as he sloughed though the pool. “We don’t know what did this.” Travis scoffed and ignored the command. “You weren’t even here for the last fight. Stuff down here isn’t difficult and I’m tired of waiting around for the lot of you.” He continued toward the door.

I saw two green spots of light flash briefly in the darkness less than five paces away from Travis. Oblivious he made as if to search one of the bodies next to the doorway. A snarl echoed through the cavern as a gray-black blur slammed into the boy. By the time bows were raised or weapons drawn, the screams had been replaced by the sound of a body being dragged across the floor.

Kalena bravely raised the torch higher, light flickering as her arm shook. In the back of the grotto a mangy wolf-like dog crouched over the bloody body, crunching on a forearm. I heard Kalena back away and bump into Kyri, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off the wolf. It was like no wolf I had ever seen. Mottled black fur covered the body in patches, leaving chunks of diseased gray skin exposed. Black saliva mixed with Travis’s blood as it dripped messily onto the wolf’s chest.

“Gravehound.” Kalena and I said at the same time, voices barely above whispers as we stared at the horror in front of us. The green eyes of the gravehound stared back as it stripped a piece of flesh from the ribcage. Markas steadied himself, more than likely hoping we could make a break for the other door while the gravehound was distracted by its meal. But the moment the paladin set his foot on the floor the gravehound let out an unearthly howl. If three animals were to die in extreme pain at the exact moment, it might be close to this sound. The howling stopped but the gravehound continued to stare at something behind us. I followed its gaze to see a spectral form rise from one of the bodies. Its platemail clanked into place and it raised a wicked black spear. Despite the fact that his face remained blank, I could clearly hear the ghost say, “Get up! Get up and get ‘um, me lads!” followed by a cackle of laughter.

Markas moved forward and tried to perform an eyebite attack on the warrior ghost but failed. Simultaneously, Vixi fired off an eldritch blast and Kalena dropped a fireball behind the specter. They both hit but the ghost appeared to absorb some of the damage. Kyri loosened two arrows in quick succession, but one appeared to go through the body without any effect. Of course, he’s phasing in and out. They are only hitting him when he’s corporeal.

Around the cavern four sailors suddered and rose, shuffling toward the party. One took a swipe at Kalena and caught a nasty blow on her shoulder. Three more made a beeline toward Kyri and Vixi. Garn stepped forward to block the squishier members of our party from the main attack. “Help me.” One zombie muttered as it fumbled an attack. The second grabbed Garn’s arm as the third clawed at his chainmail mumbling “Kill me.” Garn struggled but freed himself from the attack as Kalena backed toward the door. I started prayer to take out the zombie chasing Kalena, but the gravehound rushed to attack me. Its hideous jaws passed through my leg and it collapsed under my weight.

I planted my quarterstaff against the floor and pulled myself up. I could see the foul black saliva creeping into the wound, but I ignored it. I won’t get a better chance to do this. I thought as I pulled holy energy into the symbol of Kord. As the assorted undead reached for Kalena and Garn, I released the spell and felt the familiar wind whip around me. The hot breeze caught two zombies and slammed the undead into the grotto walls. The third zombie attacking Garn was thrown screeching down the hallway Travis had tried to leave through. The gravehound too was thrown against the rear of the cavern and it snarled angrily at me. I sent a healing prayer to Kalena and took a moment to prevent the black saliva from causing my wound to fester.

The ghost warrior struck Markas with his spear, leaving the same kind of grayed flesh the gravehound’s jaws had left in my leg. He returned with a blow of his own. Vixi threw a curse and an eldritch blast at the zombie chasing Kalena. In response, the grateful wizard sent a chilling strike against the ghost. It hit but caused the ghost to become insubstantial just as Kyri’s arrows arrived. With our zombies still incapacitated for the moment Garn and I threw attacks at the ghostly warrior. The damage was enough to destroy the spirit. The ghostly body vaporized and the platemail and spear clattered onto the grotto floor.

Freed from his opponent, Markas moved in to flank with the warlord. I could hear the zombies chanting “Told you. Should have killed me.” Next to me, the dragonborn muttered. “If you come closer, I will.” Unfortunately for our brown haired wizard, the eldritch blast had done little to stop the zombie behind her and it grabbed out for her again. She dodged and Vixi hurled another crackling bolt at the zombie. This time the blast hit true and the zombie fell face first into the pool. Markas mentioned something about running to the door, but it was hard hear him over the battle.

The creatures I had hit with the Turn Undead prayer were recovering. The gravehound began to slinking toward the party but two of Kyri's arrows thudded into the gravehound. It stumbled and snarled at the pale elf. Two of the zombies grabbed Garn while one heads for me, its diseased brain remembering I was the one who caused the searing wind. Garn couldn’t shake out of the zombie’s grip but swung his halbard all the same. The blade managed to almost severe the arm that gripped his throat but the zombie still clung on pleading, “End me now.” The gravehound moved in closer but I slammed my quarterstaff into its head. The wolf crumbled into dust but before its jaws disappeared completely they clamped around my injured leg once again.

Markas moved through the party with a grace befitting of his elven heritage and his spiked chain flew into rotting flesh. Vixi blasted the one near me with an attack that causes white light to stream from its eyes and mouth. Kalena manages to cleverly place a fireball that fried the zombies yet missed the half-elf paladin, causing the one holding Garn to crumble. He yanked the disembodied arm from his neck as an arrow penetrated the skull of zombie on his other side. Vixi teleported to my side as I struck the undead next to me with a lance of fate. A final blow from Markas and the zombie dropped to the ground, not to rise again.

“No more of that.” Said the paladin. “Hack the bodies apart so they can’t rise again.” We set about the task with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than necessary. Or maybe not. We had just gone through two zombie attacks. I doubt it’s the last time we meet undead down here. The bodies were maybe a month old, still fresh enough to have risen as zombies but not yet skeletal. “You know, they might be the crew of the Silver Talon.” Kyri mused. “Let’s not worry about that for now. We have a still have a task to complete.” Garn said as he moved over to Travis’s body. “Does anyone know if he had any family?” he asked, unsure what to do. “He was a teenage theif who was probably headed to Aurincia to pick pockets and got sucked into joining the Order. What do you think?” I remarked, unable to keep the cynicism out of my voice. Calmly, Markas severed Travis’s head, preventing the corpse from being able to rise again, and made a small sign of devotion to the Raven Queen.

Since she had no weapon other than a dagger, Kalena had been examining the armor and spear for magical traps while we had hacked up the bodies. “Neither seem to have negative enchantments. In fact the plate has an armor bonus. The spear might be a lifedrinker weapon.” Garn picked up the spear, testing the balance and heft. “We should make use this stuff then. Here, it looks like the suit will fit you, Markas.” It did and the paladin exchanged his scale armor for the better protection of the plate.

Of the two doorways leading from the room, one went up and one went down. The upper corridor looked rough. Crumbly pumice covered the hallway, making for bad footing if we encountered a fight. The stream flowing from the pool into the downward passage was wide enough for the sirens to have been able to slither down on their own power. It was pretty obvious to me which way we should go, and pretty obvious to the rest of the Order as well. We gathered our gear, took one last look around, and headed down the passageway.

Interview with a Drowned One

The corridor ended in a small round room with a dark pool covering the floor. Hovering above the pool was a ghastly apparition. In life he had been a huge burly half-orc with x-shaped scars on his cheeks. At one time his clothing had been quite fine, but the brocades now looked as if they had sat at the bottom of a lake for the last decade. I thought the fine clothing strange. Most half-orcs in Perinor live in poverty. Their very existence implies a very nasty backstory, as half-orcs themselves are sterile, and so have no culture or society of their own, and usually only come into the world through violence. This one must have been particularly vicious to climb up into a position of power.

A thick chain was wrapped around his body, clinking as he moved. Filthy water dripped from his ghostly body into the dark pool below. His skin was as waterlogged as his clothing. As a cleric concerned with healing, looking at the apparition in front of us made my stomach churn. It could only be the bound spirit of a Drowned One. Drowned Ones only come into existence when a person drowns while committing a heinous crime. I remember Father Cerance saying he hoped we would never encounter one. "Let's please not attack it." I whispered to my companions.

Rhegar nodded in agreement and stepped forward to the edge of the pool. The half-orc sneered at the dragonborn and yawned in open boredom. I saw the paladin suppress a shudder. Father Cerance mentioned a chilling aura caused by the unholy presence of a Drowned One. Making sure his weapon was not brandished, Rhegar began in a calm manner, trying to be as unthreatening as possible. "I am Rhegar, paladin of Bahamut." The half-orc sneers. "So what?" Rhegar continues to put on his show. "We came this way chasing a pair of sirens. But I wonder, why are you here in this pool." "Because I like it here," The ghost snarls in reply.

I thought his responses odd. I knew this guy has immense power at his disposal. He had a good chance of ending us all in a fight. But he seemed almost oblivious! It’s fairly obvious the half-orc wanted something, yet his snide remarks didn't give a clue as to what it could be. Markas stepped forward, trying a slightly different approach. "It takes a great deal of power to circumvent the authority of the Raven Queen. Tell me what is it that holds you here?" "I was the Captain of the Silver Talon. If I had my crew I would be out of here by now." By the way the half-orc sneers out the last sentence, you can tell he wasn't a nice captain, and he thought of his crew as expendable to him.

Vixi pipes up from the back, the last bit of information having triggered a memory: "I've heard stories of the Silver Talon. They were a ruthless, cutthroat bunch that terrorized the waters around Perinor. They sacked both Aurincia and Farport multiple times. The worst, of course, was their captain, Voko the Black. I heard from a shaken sailor two weeks ago that Voko died drowning his pregnant mistress. As everyone knew Voko couldn't sire children, her perfidy was obvious."

We huddled together to form a plan of attack. Spiritual lore about Drowned Ones tell us that we have three ways to get rid of a one. One, a Drowned One can inhabit the body of a person who drowns in the same place where the apparition haunts. We would simply need to provide Voko with a healthy body to drown, so he could take it over. Of course, this would mean unleashing a terrible evil back into the world. Bad idea. Two, fight the powerfully enhanced apparition. Also bad, though preferable to the first option. Three, banish the Drowned One to Hell. There was only one problem with plan three.

"I don't know how to banish anything.” I leaned forward whispering conspiratorily. “Kord sees banishment as a form of cowardice and prefers that we meet foes head on in battle." I looked over at Rhegar as he continues to try and talk to Captain Voko, confirming that the spirit is too busy to notice us. "It doesn't need to be real." Kalena insists. "He just needs to think it’s real." Vixi added, handing me a bag of white sand. We decide that, as a devoted follower of the Raven Queen, Markas is the most convincing one to lead the 'ritual.' He straightened his scale chestpiece and steps forward, chanting. I began making sand patterns on the edge of the pool, and Kalena lit a couple candles.

The Drowned One looked nervously at our activities, the first time we had seen anything other than contempt since we entered the chamber. Markas broke his chant for a moment, dark eyes locking coldly onto those of the pirate captain. "I've had enough of your chatter. Those who have died belong to the Raven Queen and it is far past the time for you to join her." He began chanting again.The half-orc’s demeanor changed instantly. "No! I mean no need for that, friends." Voko smiles fakely, desperation on his face. "You were chasing the two fishy women. Of course, you were. They took their little human slaves and swam out the tunnel at the bottom of the pool." Markas glared at the apparition, weapon at the ready. "If this a trick, your pain will increase fourfold."

Quickly the rest of us waded into the pool. All of a sudden Garn appeared in the doorway and started peppering us with questions. “What is going on? Have you found the sirens yet? Who is-” He was cut off as Rhegar grabbed his arm and grunted out a quick reply in draconic. “Just follow Kyri. We’ll explain on the other side.” Garn nodded and made his way through the water after the elf. As I swam down through the pool I could see two corpses. The female had a golden locket around her neck and I saw Vixi stop to unhook it as she passed. Overhead I could see the surface shimmering as I turned upward, wondering what the next room would bring.

Further Fun with Shipping Crates

We took a few moments to recover from the attack. Thankfully, the wailing was gone. I hadn't noticed its absence during the fight, but now I could see where Rhegar's icy breath and Kalena's fireballs had mutilated the fungus. The two paladins poked at the scrapes on my head but I waved them off. Being a healing cleric does have advantages.

When Rhegar had decided that everyone was fit enough, he returns his attention to the crates. The scraping and chittering were coming from a particular crate. Vixi lowered her ear to the side. "It almost sounds like there are bats inside this box." She announces. Weary from our last encounter, the party creeps toward the crate in question. "Let's limit the surprises. Someone set it on fire." Rhegar said from the front. Obliging, I called up a divine flame to engulf the box. The scraping became frantic and the chittering turned to screeching. As the slats burned, we could see several stirges fluttering about madly. Yet for some reason they won't leave the crate.

Rhegar hopped up onto another crate to get a better view as Kalena ran forward. "Don't throw another fireball!" he yelled. "There's stuff in there and I'd like to see what it is. Wait until they rise." Kyri jumpped onto another set of crates and fired two arrows into the crackling box, hoping to stir up the stirges. It worked and a white stirge flew up from the crate only to plummet to the floor, seared by a magic missile and a lance of faith. A black stirge careened madly forward into Markas. Disgusted, I can see the thing bury its teeth into the half-elf's neck. Another hovers in front of Kyri as she shouted a warning. "There are four spiders headed our way! Take the stirges out quickly!"

There isn't much I can do about spiders but Markas is right in front of me. "How much do you trust me?" I asked. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" he replied back. I made a quite sign of devotion to Kord, but my attack swung wide anyway. A blast from our warlock caused one stirge to vaporize as the one attached to Markas' neck simultaneously explodesd spraying the two of us with warm blood. The last remaining stirge made a beeline for Rhegar where it found an opening in his armor.Suddenly the spiders are upon us.

"But they were half way across the chamber!?" I heard Travis yell. "They're young Deathjumpers," Kyri hissed, "if it's not obvious by now." Travis had dodged one but Vixi wasn't as lucky and a spider sank its fangs into her arm. A third hissed and spat at Rhegar on his crate and a forth caught Markas, already weak from the stirge attack. I could hear arrows richoting off the carapaces as Kyri searched for a weak point. Travis riposted back and forth with his quarry.

Markas didn't look good. I could see the spider's thick saliva slimed over the bite marks. His movements were stiff, but the paladin continued to return blows with the beast. Rhegar hit the spider with a crushing blow, even as the thing on his neck continued to swell. I bolstered Markas with a healing spell, pleased to see some of the color return to his cheeks. I was readying an attack on the stirge, but the dragonborn stopped me. "Get the mother," he said pointing to the large spider in front of his crate. I crouched behind the crate and launched a lance against its abdomen. From my vantage point I could see that the other half of our party had disposed of their pair. A few more blows from the paladins and the irate arachnid collapsed into a leggy heap. The stirge clung tenaciously to Rhegar's neck despite our efforts to dislodge it. It finally exploded from overfeeding, though I think Markas may have helped it along with a blessing.

Stepping down from his crate, Rhegar kicked apart the charred slats of the box that had held the stirges. He rooted around in the gooey black and green mess that had once been deathjumper eggs. From the mass he pulled two items and wiped them quickly on his cloak. The first was a small, ornate box which he passed to Travis. The thief made quick work of the lock and opened the hinges. The smell of fresh beef pies wafted up to meet us and we passed the pies around. Kalena examined the box further as we ate. "The box has an enchantment on it. I've read about boxes like this that can feed a party of ten indefinatly." She handed it to Kyri for safekeeping. "I was a bit damaged by the fire but I think I know of a ritual that could repair it." The second item was a glass vial containing a purple potion. This he handed to Markas and myself. Based on the color, thickness and odor, we determined it would most likely provide resistance to necrotic damage.

"We should break open the rest." said Travis. Right, because opening the last one went so well for us. We need to be moving on. Kyri agreed with my unvoiced thoughts. "We've wasted enough time here. We are chasing sirens and by now they could be almost a mile away." Travis continued to whine, "There could be useful stuff." By now I had decipered the symbols on all the crates. "I don't think so," I said. "Most of these are for restocking. Provisions. Canvas. Tar. Rope." I pointed to the crates as I spoke. "That one does say weapons. I think we should open it, but leave the rest until after we come back through." Rhegar nodded his approval. "Agreed. The rest would only slow us down." We levered open the side, but there was nothing but cutlasses and crossbows. Leaving the crates where they stood, our party headed down the narrow corridor at the back of the room.

Undead and Shipping Crates

As we ran up the beach toward the caves, Garn stopped. “Wait!” he shouted. “We said we were just going to clean off the beach. If we suddenly disappear from view, the captain may think we’re dead and sail off.” Travis huffed, “If we go back we’ll lose the sirens.” “Well our squad should be able to take two sirens and their enthralled porters without a problem. I’ll row back and inform Captain Raccan of the situation.” Garn set off to the longboat, look of confidence on his face.

From the beach the two caves looked like shallow hollows carved by the sea. Standing at the entrance, we realized they were anything but shallow. The initial corridor snaked down into the rock. I could tell it went deep, really deep. Maybe even to The Underdark, I thought as Markas lit a torch and Kalena created a small glowing orb. But my party looked secure so I held my tongue.

Markas and Rhegar took the lead to protect the party from any nasty surprises, Kalena following close behind with her orb. After about sixty yards the corridor opened into a large rocky room with a sandy floor. Numerous wooden crates sat along the walls and vermin could be heard skittering around beyond the torchlight. A strange fungus sprouted from the floor and clung to the crates, conical white flowers sitting delicately on the fuzzy black masses. A faint memory tickled at my head but I couldn’t pin it down. Something about moss was bugging me. Once again I glanced at my party members, but no one looked extra nervous.

Pushing the thought away, I watched Rhegar move to examine the closest crate, beckoning Kalena to follow. As the light washed over the box I could see the shorthand and symbols that sailors used to mark contents and destinations. Before I could translate the label, a high pitched wailing filled the cavern. The whole party froze, some wincing from the noise. I moved toward the fungus. Keen, wail, shriek! That’s it! Shriekers! A green fletched arrow whizzed by, sinking deeply into the crate underneath the fungus. Kalena lets loose a fireball. It singes the flowers, but the moist plant absorbs the damage and the noise only gets louder. My mind was racing. Shriekers summon something, something that was important to remember as a cleric or I wouldn’t have been taught about them specifically. Rhegar was shouting for another fireball when Vixi screamed.

I whipped around to see a second arm burst through the sand floor. Waxy grey skin pulled tight over bony joints and folded in where muscle should be. White bone glared through gaping holes. Four zombies were clawing their way up, surrounding Vixi. I glanced back to see three more emerging near Rhegar, Markas, and Kalena and one more split the distance between Travis and Kyri. Shriekers awaken nearby undead. Undead that are weak against light and radiance.

I licked my lips, striding toward the warlock as I pulled divine power toward me. I wrapped and bundled the power using the holy symbol hanging over my chainmail as the focal point. This wasn’t a terribly powerful spell like Kalena’s Scorching Burst, but it would do the job. I had to let enough of the undead get close to me to make the spell worth the energy it would consume. But I had to keep them far enough away to avoid being grabbed. Zombies have a wicked grab. I could feel the four undead shifting their focus onto me as I took Vixi’s spot. The fifth might have begun shuffling toward me but I couldn’t afford to wait longer. The first zombie raised its arm toward my neck. I blocked with my quarterstaff and released the spell with a single word, “Turn.” At once a searing wind swirled around me. The zombie that had been attempting the grab flew backward down the corridor. The hot, dry wind forced the others against the cavern wall. One hit a protrusion and I heard the crack of breaking bones.

Panting, I nodded over my shoulder to Vixi. I’d saved her and now I’d need more than her help to get me out of the mess it had put me in. Three zombies within grabbing distance was not conducive to staying alive. In response, the tiefling fired off an eldritch blast at the nearest zombie, darkness crackling over its peeling skin. Shifting to a more tactical position, she whistled to Kyri and Travis. I spared a moment to peer over my other shoulder, just in time to see a zombie fall pin cushioned by green arrows. The ranger was already nocking another arrow as I returned my attention to the undead around me.

I wasn’t fast enough to block the next grab and he caught me sharply on the shoulder. One of his mates lunged. I cringed as the hot, sour breath washed over my cheeks. Broken teeth scoured a line down my scalp as it tried to reach my brain. I barely manage to suppress a scream. Elven arrows and fey-pact curses hit the zombies around me. I strike out with a golden lance of light at the undead trying to make me his dinner and twist out of the other's grip. I take a deep, ragged breath, calling on one of my healing spells to staunch the flow of blood from my temple. Before I can move away, the third zombie catches me cruelly where my neck meets the shoulder. The zombies lunge. Kyri catches one before it lands a blow, but the other tears at my hair. "A little help would be nice!!" I yell out, voice high pitched in fear.

Rhegar appears on the opposite side, charging in from where the other three zombies are being burned to a crisp. He lands a heavy blow, marking its skin with a symbol of Bahamut. The zombie drops me and howls at the dragonborn. Without me in the way, Kyri and Vixi blast the remaining undead and Travis even draws his sword for a swipe or two. The zombies crumpled like paperdolls under the flurry of attacks.

Siren's Call

It was the third day from Aurincia and the sun was shining down brillantly on the Southern Stream. I had already performed my morning rituals, setting wards against squalls and making offerings for fair winds. East was a tricky direction, but so far the winds had been favorable. Content, I curled my toes happily against the deck as I listened to Vixi relate an amusing tale of her first solo sailing adventure to the captain and myself. I was wiping tears of laughter from my eyes when the music started.

It was a strange sound, beautiful yet haunting, otherworldy and all encompassing. It seemed to come from everywhere and no where all at once, like it was piped directly into our heads. The captain got a strange look in his eye as he pushed past me and headed toward the bow of the ship. I could feel the ship turning underneath me as sailors drew in some sails and loosened others. Their work was completed in short while and they joined the captain on the bow, dreamly looking toward the horizon. I could also see Rhegar, Garn, and Travis among them.

Vixi and I were soon joined on deck by Kyri, Kalena, and Markas. The paladin had been in the middle of a meditation when the music had started and was unaffected, unlike every other man on the ship. The five of us gathered on the quarterdeck, to attempt to figure out what to do.

"Well Tavia and I know enough about sailing to know what needs to be done, we just don't have the hands needed to do it. The only way we'll turn this ship east again is if we can free at least part of the crew." Vixi stated. "We're sure it's sirens?" asked Markas. I shrugged, "Don't really think it could be anything else." "Okay then let's see if I can help them shake it off." "Start with the captain," Kyri told the paladin, "He would know the most about the waters and moving the ship."

Markas made his way to the captain and after some hushed whispering the captain shook his head, as if waking from a long nap. It didn't take take much explination to get the captain appraised of the situation. He stood on the upperdeck and extended his telescope south. "It's sirens for sure. I can see the rocks they want to crash us on straight south." Kalena's eyes went wide. "Will we crash soon?" she asked timidly. "Nay lass, we should have an hour or so before we hit." "What are our options then?" Kyri asked, ever the responsible one. "Without the crew to trim the sails, not much. I can clap the ship in irons, but the current is still headed south." Markas headed back toward the crowd on the forecastle. "Well if we have an hour, I'll see if I can use the same trick to free our lads and the crew." I nodded to the captain respectfully and followed Markas saying "I've got to have something I can use to help you."

Markas managed to free Rhegar first, and the two paladins managed to free Travis, Garn, and eight of the crew before the hour was up. They subdued the remaining 12 crew members and Captain Raccan hauled the ship around, dropping the anchor. The current would eventually push the Southern Stream into the rocky reef, but it would hold for the time being as long as the enspelled crew was kept away from the sails and capstan.

Loading ourselves into the long boat, we headed for the rocks. Skeletons of less fortunate ships could be seen in the shallow waters. A narrow rocky beach clung to the small rocky island and several caves could be seen in the black wall. Near the east end of the beach, the deck of a large schooner sloped out of the water, he masts and rotting rigging blocking access to the far side of the beach. On the beach itself sat two sirens and ten enchanted sailors. The deck seemed to be our best option for reaching the beach, as it could provide a small bit of cover.

Rhegar and Markas jumped onto the deck first, forming a wall for our long range attacks. Kyri fired with her long bow, picking off archers, and Kalena dropped fireballs onto the clusters created by the elf's tactics. The sirens hissed and spit, angry at the loss of their prey. With renewed force, they sang out, finally capturing Markas in their spell. Dazed, he took a swing at the wizard and was lucky to only hit a glancing blow. As soon as Markas was free, Rhegar was enspelled again. His attack caught me even as I sent out a healing spell to strengthen him. I shook off the attack and returned my attention to the shoreline. By now only four of the sailors remained. Under orders, they grabbed the screaming sirens and dissappeared into the caves. Knowing full well that the sirens would need to be killed in order to free the Stream, we gave chase.