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Previously on Call from the Deep
Starring:
Gotwald Ironhorn, level 5 minotaur Rune Knight Fighter
Mac, level 5 tortle Drakewarden Ranger
Savra Akkedis, level 5 lizardfolk School of Necromancy Wizard
Torrel, level 5 kenku Fathomless Warlock Pact of the Amulet/Fighter
With the surprise arrival of Kalinaar and other paladins to help secure the docks, the battle of Neverwinter was finally turning.
But a new threat had emerged from the sea: a ghost ship, carrying skeletal crew, heading upriver for some unknown target deeper in the city.
The terribly injured party quickly run through the gates: Gotwald grabbing Savra’s body, and Mac grabbing a crate of potions from the warehouse.
They collapse in a pile for a quick Short Rest (our house rules change short rests to 5-minutes), and they’re reunited with Torrel.
Torrel has had terrible nightmares, as if a powerful force has been trying to control him. But it’s being rebuffed by another entity, one that draws him deeper into the city, and calls to him.
After downing some potions and recovering some health, the party sets off through the streets of Neverwinter, following the river.
There’s no sign of the ship yet, but plenty of people are standing around, gaping, pointing, and yelling. They’re nervous and scared about the war raging on the docks, and the ominous ghost ship, which seemingly phased through the three stone bridges that cross the river.
As former Neverwinter Watch, Mac takes point and helps lead the party through the streets, while assuring citizens that everything is under control.
They soon spot the ship parked outside the House of Knowledge, aka, the Temple of Oghma.
Recently rebuilt and restored after the cataclysm, the Temple serves as Neverwinter’s great library and hall of public records. It’s one of the city’s proudest buildings and facilities.
Now it’s under attack. The sound of screams and smell of fire and blood come from within.
An old man yells that he recognizes the ghost ship as the Black Scourge, and Captain Blackdagger, a notorious pirate king who ruled the seas decades ago. But, he’s supposed to be dead…
The party charges inside the temple, finding dead and wounded priests, small fires, and a bloody path.
The undead weren’t interested in wanton destruction or loot, however. They seemed to carve a straight path deeper into the facility, destroying anything in their way.
After giving a healing potion to a downed priest, the party learns the ghost pirates went down to the vaults beneath the temple. The vaults are accessible only while escorted by a priest, but it’s just a formality and deterrent to thieves.
The vaults are a labyrinth of archives, books, and scrolls. If not for the obvious, destructive path, it would be easy to get lost in the dimly lit depths.
Torrel begins to hear a voice calling to him, a comforting feeling, but one with increased urgency.
The path leads to a rarely trodden back section and yet another set of stairs going even deeper, this one marked as the Lower Vaults, with restricted access.
The locked iron gate has been smashed open,.
Beyond lies darkness, and the sounds of distant battle.
Savra casts dancing lights and the party moves down, into the Lower Vaults (V1).
The antechamber splits off into three other directions, but a pair of skeletal pirates step out from behind a nearby pillar and fire their arrows, striking Mac. He returns fire but misses both times. Not a fan of tight corridors.
Gotwald unsheathes his anchor axe and goes to town on these skeletons, smashing them to pieces. He’s disappointed that, despite the ghostly ship, these pirates are fully corporeal. Though their undead bodies strangely disappear soon after they are destroyed.
From the eastern passage they can hear the sounds of battle, leading them to a small workshop (V5).
The workshop is half-destroyed from a recent cave-in, where more skeletal pirates battle some small fish-folk. Kuo-toa! A human voice from within the rubble cries out for help — specifically help for “the master.”
The kuo-toa appear awed and grateful for the assistance when Savra unleashes a chilling touch, followed by Gotwald’s axe and Torrel’s eldritch blasts.
Mac gets a little distracted by the crowded corridors, and wanders to the south to explore the storeroom (V6) and library (V4), finding some spell scrolls after in Investigation check.
With the skeletons destroyed, Gotwald heaves several large rocks out of the way, enough to free an older human priest. His garb is that of the Oghmites upstairs, but its dirty and a bit slimy.
He claims that the party must have been summoned by the master, to which Torrel readily agrees.
The priest commands the surviving kuo-toa to start clearing the rubble, while ushering the party back into the antechamber, pointing to the long, northern passage. He says they must hurry to protect the master, as the undead pirates have come to kill him.
He punctuates this by suddenly standing still, eyes rolling in the back of his head, and the voice Torrel has been hearing comes through the priests’ mouth, calling the party to help defend him.
The party are confused and unnerved — but they agree that these ghost/skeleton pirates need to be stopped!
The northern passage ends in a spiral staircase that plunges 30-feet down into salty water that fills the chamber below (V2).
Several skeleton pirates, led by a first mate (sword wraith warrior), are marching down the slimy stairs, and turn suddenly to attack.
Once again Gotwald’s axe proves deadly effective against their bones, while the others provide ranged support from behind.
A critical miss from Gotwald against the first mate nearly sends him tumbling over the side, but he finds his footing, and the last of the pirates fall.
Savra is not a fan of going into the dark, briny water, and the open door below. Thankfully she remembers she has slippers of spider climbing, and can walk along the 50-ft high ceiling and walls (the water comes to a depth of 20 feet).
Gotwald leaves his heavy armor on, but drinks a potion of water breathing. Mac dons his cloak of the manta ray, and Torrel just jumps in as a fathomless warlock.
Beyond the stair chamber they find a flooded library. Several recently slain skeletal pirates lie floating in the water, and a large statue of Oghma has been destroyed and defaced. The sounds of a muffled battle can be heard nearby.
Savra stealthily creeps along the wall and peers around a corner, seeing a large battle unfold underwater: half a dozen skeletal pirates, led by the undead captain, strike at a large, tentacled, multi-eyed monstrosity!
MVPC – Gotwald
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