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Previously on Call from the Deep

Starring:
Gotwald Ironhorn, level 12 minotaur Rune Knight Fighter
Mac, level 12 tortle Drakewarden Ranger/Rogue
Savra Akkedis, level 12 lizardfolk School of Necromancy Wizard
Torrel, level 12 kenku Fathomless Warlock Pact of the Amulet/Fighter

That’s a wrap on Call from the Deep! My first non-first party campaign, and the first time I heavily combined two different books: Call from the Deep, and Ghosts of Saltmarsh.

The campaign lasted 68 sessions and took about 18 months, averaging a little over two hours a session.

Recap

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Level 2

  • After meeting in Neverwinter in Session 0, this ragtag party is sent to the nearby town of Saltmarsh to investigate a haunted house.
  • The house isn’t haunted, however, but the party finds a smuggling ring. They’re betrayed by Ned, and make allies with Sanbalet, the ringleader.
  • The adventure concludes as the party takes over the next ship to arrive, discovering captured allies, including the triton Harley Finn, and a deeper plot involving sahuagin.

Salvage Operation

Level 3

  • Clues from their commandeered ship lead the party to the island of Gunderlun, to the west. On the way, they meet enemy turned potential ally Captain Callous, and stop and investigate a derelict ship, defeating sahuagin, and rescuing victims before the ship is dragged down by a giant octopus.

The Crash

Level 4

  • The Zoo Crew arrive in the town of Gundbarg and meet the King. They learn of strange things on the other side of the island, including a crashed alien ship.
  • Accompanied by Shandri, and a mysterious rescued man named Bern, the party travel across the island and arrive in Fiskrbark. The village has been decimated, and Bern transforms into a deep scion.
  • Following clues from the village, the party explores a nautiloid ship wreck, and from there roots out an underwater base of sahuagin from an old, submerged shipwreck, and a nearby mine.
  • In the mine the party meets a mind flayer, who teases a more powerful entity before disappearing. The party are forced to defeat the mutated townsfolk.

The Black Armada

Level 5

  • Having defeated the enemies on the west end of the island and discovered the mind flayer, the party returns to Gundbarg. They’ve learned of a major upcoming attack on Neverwinter, and race back in their ship.
  • Through a series of large, cinematic battles the party (and Captain Callous) charges through a blockade of The Black Armada, an organized group of pirates, mutated monstrosities, and even undead, led by Sea King Tentrix.
  • At the docks the party saves as many people as they can while rebuffing enemy forces.
  • After the siege, the party follows a mysterious ghostly pirate ship into the city, and into a temple, while a creature speaks telepathically to Torrel, calling for aid.
  • At the bottom of the temple the party discovers the pirates’ target — an aboleth! The party rescues the aboleth, who can provide more information about what’s going on. The ancient demi-god kraken, Slarkrethel has been defeated, or subsumed, by another, and this new force is using the kraken and its forces to wage a gigantic war across the Sword Coast.

Pirates’ Skyhold

Level 6

  • The party explores the first lead, following up on the ghost pirates’ origins. It leads them to a floating island near Neverwinter. 
  • The island is home to a village of lizardfolk in a crisis. After dealing with them and re-capturing their airship elemental, the party storms an ancient castle, defeats the pirates, and comes face-to-face with their master, an adult black dragon!
  • The dragon is sweet on the lizard wizard necromancer, and reveals who hired him.
  • The party returns to Neverwinter and confronts Ned(!) in a bar, where the bandit reveals his new affiliation, and his deep scion transformation. In the end, Ned is defeated.
  • [Bonus two-player session]: Mac and Savra root out a bandit force holed up in a tower in Neverwinter.

The Sahuagin Stronghold (The Final Enemy)

Level 7

  • The next lead is to deal with the sahuagin threat on the Sword Coast. The party sails south, meets allies in Thornhold, then learns from the lizardfolk in the nearby swamp that their former home was taken over by the sahuagin, and transformed into a partially submerged island.
  • The island is crawling with hundreds of sahuagin, but the party infiltrates the base in hopes of rescuing captured citizens from Neverwinter, and destabilizing the sahuagin leadership.
  • Inside, they meet Kysh, another captured triton explorer (and Harley’s lover), and Borgas, a lovable catfish-man.
  • The party and their allies sneak and then battle their way through the mega-dungeon, defeat the high priestess (though not the King and Queen), save more victims, and flee out the entrance with the sahuagin hot on their tails, ultimately escaping in their ship.

The Styes

Level 8

  • The aboleth sends them to a mysterious, foggy island town known as The Styes. Here the party investigates a recently executed serial killer, a copycat killer, and the machinations of the Kraken Society.
  • The investigations lead to a warehouse, then to a temple, and finally to another mind flayer, who was using the death and fear to transform a kraken spawn into a servant of the mind flayer colony.
  • The party defeats the mind flayer and releases the kraken spawn. They learn the name of their ultimate foe: Zellix’Phor, the Elder Brain of the mind flayer colony.

Pirate Lords

Level 9

  • Stopping at a tavern in Mintarn, the party meets Captain Callous again, who tells them of the Pirate Lords under Sea King Tentrix. The five lords are dangerous, searching for powerful items and allies in the southern Sea of Swords, and also hunting the now infamous party. They’re then attacked by the slaad Pirate Lord, who is forced to flee.
  • The party finds another Pirate Lord at Ironhand’s Cairn. Mac splits the party; while the rest fight the guards, he slips inside and meets with The Storm Maiden, claiming defection. He helps her battle the ghostly guards and come away with the loot.
  • The two sides meet in the middle of the dungeon, where Mac reveals his duplicity, and the party defeats The Storm Maiden and claims the treasure.
  • On to Narino, a sea elf city underwater. The party discovers another Pirate Lord, Dhurge the sahuagin, infiltrating a temple. But Dhurge’s crew has been attacked by the dungeon’s current resident.
  • After defeating Dhurge, the party parleys with the vampire, and slinks away with their lives.
  • On the high seas, the party’s ship is attacked by another Pirate Lord, Desecratus, a naga captain from Chult. The ship-to-ship battle ends spectacularly with the juvenile kraken emerging, and dragging the enemy ship to the watery depths.

Sea King Tentrix

Level 10

  • Armed with magic compasses from the Pirate Lords, the crew sails into the Nelanther Isles, arriving in the fortified Driftwood Docks that guard Tentrix’s lair.
  • The party battles fortified islands, ballistae, and dozens of pirates, along with their leader, the Pirate Lord frost giant. Savra polymorphs him into a chicken.
  • Arriving at the inner floating fortress, the party first attempt a deceptive entrance. When that quickly falls apart, a large-scale battle ensues, drawing multiple enemy forces, split party, and taking multiple sessions.
  • The battle includes rescuing a captured Sanbalet, gaining control of a marid, the party’s ship kamikaze-ing itself into the fortress, and ultimately defeating Sea King Tentrix. Though Scummer the slaad captain escapes.

Purple Rocks

Level 11

  • With pirate enemies closing in and their ship destroyed, the marid teleports the party to where a strong psychic signal pulled from Tentrix: the islands known as Purple Rocks, headquarters of the Kraken Society.
  • At Utheraal the party meet a Kraken Priest ally who has concerns over his own organization. Sure enough, the next day he’s sentenced to be sacrificed to the kraken by his own peers. The party unmasks the mind flayer in charge and defeats the enthralled priests.
  • Journeying across Purple Rocks, the party finds a hidden entrance to the underwater lair of the kraken, as well as the macabre biological laboratory of the mind flayer.
  • A severed head functions as a recorder, informing the party about the mind flayer colony’s arrival, conquest of the kraken and Kraken Society, and the location of four “Augmenter Brains” that keep the Elder Brain in control of Slarkrethel.

Ascarle

Level 11-12

  • The vast caverns of Ascarle are mostly dry thanks to magic sigils keeping the ocean water at bay. Large domes tease the mind flayer’s arrival, but the party sticks to the quest of seeking out the Augmenter Brains.
  • Their journey across the mega-dungeon takes them past insane cultist, mutated monsters, and into the underwater sections of the elven city, now ruled by the former Elven Queen turned Deathlock Mastermind.
  • After skirmishing with the deathlock and defeating sahuagin and other threats, the party meets a surprising ally — Vestress, the former reagent of Ascarle, and a mind flayer lich! She’s an ally of the kraken’s and hates her former colony, who tried to kill her before.
  • With Vestress’ help, the party defeats the deathlock, leaves the underwater ruins, return to the cavern, and explore one of the illithid domes, destroying the final Augmenter Brain.
  •  With the brains destroyed and much of the colony decimated, the party ascends into the water ruins, and the lair of the kraken, discovering that the elder brain is physically grafted onto the gargantuan creature! 
  • The party battles the kraken-brain alongside their allies, including an army of triton allies. The brain is forced to flee into the Astral Plane.
  • The party chooses to hunt down the Colony of Zellix’Phor, entering the Astral Plane from Vestress’ portal and defeating the Elder Brain and last surviving mind flayers once and for all.

Trivia and Stats

Sessions: 68

Total Inspiration earned: 75

Total number of downed PCs (0 hp): 21

Total deaths: 0

Deadliest Session: Session 4

Most downed PC: Savra (7)

Total Critical Hits: 86

Most Critical Hits: Torrel (28)

Total Short Rests: 28

Total Long Rests: 17

Sessions with no combat: 4 

Most Demnix fanart: Gotwald and Mac (tie)

Number of physical cameos from previous player characters: 3 (Kalinaar, Kazin, and Gillian; Miri, Edmond, and George were also mentioned, but did not appear)

Epilogue

Torrel

The kraken offers Torrel whatever he wants, and Torrel wants to continue to faithfully serve. The Kenku warlock becomes the new Deep Lord of the Kraken Society, working to spread the faith of the kraken throughout the sea and the Sword Coast. Staying in Purple Rocks, Sanbalet works directly for Torrel to help enrich and fund the faction.

Favorite Magic Item: Tentacle Arm 
Favorite NPC: Sanbalet
Favorite location/quest: The Black Armada/Siege of Neverwinter
Favorite moment: Using Kenku mimicry to infiltrate a ship

Savra

The necromancer returns to the Black Dragon Garrundar at the floating island, and through his power and connections, becomes Faerun’s youngest lich! The presence of the powerful duo threatens Neverwinter’s relative peace and stability.

Favorite magic item: Slippers of Spider Climbing
Favorite NPC: Garrundar
Favorite location/quest: Pirates’ Skyhold
Favorite moment: Meeting the black dragon and cutting a deal

Mac

After realizing his drake is an intelligent creature (lol), Mac becomes a drakes’ rights activist. He leaves the sea behind to adventure across the land, getting into other adventures along the way.

Favorite magic item: Hat of Disguise
Favorite NPC: Borgas
Favorite location/quest: Pirate Lords
Favorite moment: Splitting the party at Ironhand Cairn

Gotwald

The former pirate turned crusader finds a new ship to captain, vowing to eliminate piracy from the Sea of Swords. He works with the tritons and forms the Sword Coast Guard. Borgas bounces between Mac’s adventures and Gotwald’s. 

Favorite magic item: Mariner’s Armor
Favorite NPC: Kysh
Favorite location/quest: The Styes
Favorite moment: The four session-long Tentrix lair battle

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