The Great Ones gathered together at the Kraken’s Eye Inn and Tavern to spend the night. The inn’s common room was bustling with activity, so Ezio, Oromis, and I stepped outside while the others secured us a room. Hebo and the others got a job from the proprietor, a Loxodon named Dobrun. It seemed that a vagrant was taking up one of the rooms in the inn and was not paying his fares. With this vagrant – called Dead Beat – in the last remaining room, there would be no room for us here.
Hebo, Luna, and Eclipse marched upstairs to take care of the matter (Petra did not join them as she had begun stealing drinks at the tavern). With the room key in hand, Hebo opened the door and demanded to speak to the Mr. Beat. He was met by five imposing figures. Mr. Beat refused and smashed a bottle across Hebo’s head. Luna and Eclipse tried to be imposing, but the man was perhaps too drunk to care. Angry and injured, Hebo went invisible, snuck behind the vagrants, and hurled a bottle at Mr. Beat. His companions finally decided to leave, and Hebo won the room for the night.
Luna brought the rest of us back inside and up to the room (Oromis had to carry Petra as she could no longer walk straight), and we began to set up for the night. I used my magic to repair the broken items in the room, and Hebo cast a magical hut spell to protect us in the night. Before we slept, we quickly discussed our affairs for the morning. Ezio and I were in charge of selling the horses and wagon. I went downstairs as the tavern was becoming quieter, giving a gold piece to Dobrun if he would help us sell the horses.
During the night, I discovered Ezio’s delight in gambling. We played cards throughout the night and I walked away with quite a bit of his money – though I slipped some of it back into his bag when he was not looking. Ezio eventually went to sleep and I stayed up with Luna, watching over our allies.
In the morning, we went our separate ways to get ready for our hopeful travels to the Moonrift Orchards. Luna and Hebo were to find Soul and his siblings at the Cat’s Tail. Oromis, Petra, and Eclipse were going to purchase a map and some other items we needed. Ezio and I were to find a buyer for our horses. Dobrun delivered a message early in the morning that a local stable was interested in purchasing. We left immediately to make the transaction. That went smoothly, and Ezio refilled his coin purse. I would give the money from the sale of Petra’s horse and Hebo’s cart to them when we met up again later.
Oromis, Eclipse, and Petra entered the market to purchase Hebo some new armor, and a new bow for Oromis and Eclipse. Petra searched for a canned food store and purchased enough food to last our party for number of days. They then ventured down to the docks. There, Oromis met a cartographer named Sonsa, who sold him a map of the Moonrift Orchards. Oromis also became employed to Sonsa and acquired supplies to be a cartographer. If Oromis could map some new regions, Sonia would pay him very well for his work.
Hebo and Luna found Cloud at the ship, the Cat’s Tail. Cloud was eager to have them and all of us aboard, but said to wait for her brother, Soul, before a fare could be negotiated. Hebo and Luna went fishing off the docks for a bit before Hebo began performing on the docks for passers by. Eventually, Soul and his other sister Gift arrived. Hebo, Luna, and Soul settled on a price of 56 gold for passage to the Moonrift
Our party reconvened at noon and boarded the Cat’s Tail. With all of our affairs in town settled, we departed. Soul showed us to our room and cots below deck, and we settled to watch the waters while the ship sailed.
The first day and night of our voyage was without incident. I prepared some new spells for our trip while Ezio and I gambled again. Luna joined us this time, winning a gold piece from me (though I had just won it from Ezio moments earlier). Luna learned an interesting tale. It seemed that Cloud had run into another person with similar eye features as Luna, but without Luna’s charm. This person left Cloud feeling especially uneasy, especially with the long black scythe it carried. Oromis spent as much time as he could with Gift. Gift, normally very shy and reserved, was eager to teach Oromis how to use his cartographer’s tools, and Oromis learned about how many of the tools worked. Eclipse spent most of the time helping Hebo with his seasickness. Petra took care of our meals and gave me the clean jars for crafting purposes. Ezio continued to train with his weapons.
It was on the second night that our voyage turned sour. During the day, we noticed a storm to the south. Soul informed me that it was nothing to worry about, but the storm continued to pick up as the day drew on. When night came, the wind and rain hammered against the hull of the Cat’s Eye. Soul ordered us down below deck while he and his sisters tied down the sails. Our party and the Tabaxi sailors settled below deck while the waves crashed against the boat. Soul suggested we sleep, but my companions found it impossible amid the tempest that rocked the boat.
A loud crash gave us a start, but the very sudden quiet gave us genuine alarm. The sound of the rain had gone. The rolling waves ceased. The howling gale was absolutely silent. Something was wrong. We armed ourselves as Hebo offered to become invisible and scout outside. While he did this, Eclipse used her magic wand to detect anything magical out of the ordinary, but did not find anything. After a moment, he returned and related what he saw.
What Hebo found was a strange shore with incredibly blue water. The ship had wrecked on a rocky shore with scattered rocks. Some moss and lichen covered the rocks. Gulls were eating crabs in the crags of the shore. A few boar were racing by. To the east was another wrecked ship. Further in the shore was a very large and dark cave.
Ezio and Eclipse asked to go invisible to inspect the cave. Hebo, Petra, and Luna went to scout around the ship while I helped Soul and his sisters repair as much of the boat as we could. Oromis was on guard, but became nervous from Ezio and Eclipse’s long absence. He slowly ventured to the cave and watched it from the inside. An hour passed before I sent him a mental message and told him to return.
Ezio and Eclipse returned and described the cave. It was incredibly dark, very deep, and full of old, salty odors. A pool was inside with a derelict boat dock. They feared to venture further in without backup. What concerned us more than anything was the occasional metallic sound they heard from deep inside. Fearing an ambush from some unseen foe, I created an alarm spell over the entrance to the cave. If anything crossed my spell, I would know it and could inform my allies before anything came to us.
Perhaps the strangest part about our shipwreck was the apparent daylight. We knew that it should be well into the night, but daylight shone down upon us. We opted to rest and explore the area in the morning (or rather, the night).
Soul and his sisters remained on the Cat’s Tail with Spoink, and continued to make repairs to the ship. The Great Ones ventured towards the nearby shipwreck for inspection. Luna suggested that we could use some of its parts to repair the Cat’s Eye. But as we approached, something caught her eye. Before she could say anything, we found ourselves flanked by a new enemy from inside the wreckage.
A Green Dragon emerged from the ship.
What can we do but fight?