Session 15: Interlude Part 2

Politics is a Dirty Business

Our heroes awake refreshed with the memories of their strange dreams fading into the background. In time they will remember everything but for now mostly snatches of them remain.

The ship has arrived back at the Lokarnos City Ship and a meeting is quickly arranged with its leader Iridalla. Assamber decides that honesty is the best policy (the others are less certain) and tells her everything. He draws on the power of the Heart of Mael and conjures an image of Vedris to speak with her sister. Angry words are exchanged and an offer is made but refused.

Assamber tries to get a pledge from Iridalla that she will lossen the suffocating social structures from the Lokarnos but he doesnt really get very far. He does get her to agree to send a diplomat/emissary/spy to the temple of Mael to at least begin to open a dialogue between the two. Assamber has plans it seems for the Temple of Mael although they have very little to do with what Mael wants.

The Ship of Fools

With the last bits of politicking done the group head to the mad old Captain Strom. He is a servant of Mael, on the Path of the Huntsman who has spent the last twenty years proving his worth by hunting and killing the children of Mael. The Kraken is the last step on the path for him. With its death he opens the door to potential immortality for himself and a place in the Great Hunt.

Artemis however has different ideas as the two are rivals.

The captains ship sails out into the deep and a great bone drum is brought out. The bowsun, a brawny sailor begins to pound th drum, specifically enchanted to summon monsters of the deep. From his vantage point in the rigging Artemis sees the sea rise as the Kraken approaches. It is bigger than anything they ever expected, the creature has grown. Nauseating light spills from its forehead where a chunk of a chaos god is lodged. The thing must be half a mile long and hundreds of tentacles lash forward to grab the ship, masts, rigging and men as the beast swallows them all.

Down Amongst the Dead Men

The ship careens down the creatures gullet and as it does so great fleshy masses of tentacles drop down onto the deck. As they are swallowed demonic faces can be seen pressing against the sides of its throat trying to push through. They cannot emerge fully which is just as well but they still strafe the deck with foul smelling acidic chaos imbued sludge.

The ship is quickly carried away from the monsters but the situation is no better. It is deposited in the Krakens stomach on a sea of blood. Great tears and rents have been carved out of its stomach and blood and chaos have congealed together to form a noxious and deadly soup. Something is here using this power to create new demons to birth upon the world. As they pilot across this sludgy mess multi clawed, multi limbed demons rise up and charge the ship supported by flaming pillars of blood. The attack is swift and vicious but severely blunted as Assamber freezes the bloody elementals into place. The lesser demons are quickly dispatched and the demonic ruler of the place cannot overcome them on its own.

The party abandon the ship and push their way through the Krakens innards on foot. The Captain seems to know his way to the heart chamber and they quickly arrive. Pus and blood and slime cover the floor and in the centre stands a great bony shell protecting the Heart.

The Betrayal

As they step forward a voice like a thousand hissing serpents fills the Chamber. "This is mine, you cannot have it, I will not be stopped" spits the last remnant of That Which Dwells Beneath. Morn steps forward and their eyes meet. It recognises him from his dream and snarls in anger.

Once he was a Lord of Chaos, a star faring entity of almost unlimited power which devoured worlds. The battle to reach this one went badly and he was killed, sundered into many pieces one of which fell here and was eaten by the Kraken. This is its last chance to survive, a chance it is unfortunately doomed to fail. It takes the form of an enormous mass of writhing snakes over twenty feet high. Its arms are cordoned masses of serpents ending in dozens of fang filled snakey fingers. That wont help it and although it strikes quickly it is overmatched.

It summons the Children of the Fang to aid it and they fall before the sorcery of the Captain, it tries to overwhelm the group with a mass of snakes but Chiniko counters its powers with ease, its tries to shield itself from its enemies but Chiniko bends fate itself and the creature is quickly destroyed.

While battle has raged the Captain has focused on destroying the bone casing of the Krakens heart. All he has to do is pierce the heart with his spear, bathe in its blood and he will have succeded. He is focused on his task when Morn strikes, shattering the casing with the hammer of Maran Gor and stunning the Captain. Artemis strikes, igniting the Bow of Ashura and Chiniko pronounces its doom. The Heart explodes showering them with blood and the Captain dies screaming, his quest for immortality a failure.

The Krakens body convulves as it enters its death throws. Artemis grabs the Captains body while Assamber gathers the ichor of the Kraken, infused with the blood of Mael. Morn hangs around to make sure that he doesnt try to recover any of the Chaos God while Chiniko scarpers for the boat. Delayed by their efforts the other three find themselves engulfed by a wave of disgusing internal fluids, blood and chaos and as they stagger back to the boat much of their equipment has dissolved into so much useless junk.

With the last of its death throws the Kraken vomits up the contents of its stomach. The wreckage of the ship is scattered across the ocean with our heroes clinging to the remnants. In time they are rescued by the Ship of Dreams and are returned to the Lokarnos City hailed as heroes.

*cut scene*

Iridalla floats within her sanctum in silent communion with her sisters. "Are we decided." Five voices reply in unison. "Yes, the Maelstrom must be protected. He has placed the Stone there. With Mael loose some fool might try to use it again"

"So be it, we shall raise the Krakens spirit and set it to Guard the Stone."

*cut scene two*

The Lokarnos City Ship Inevitable sits just off the coast of Arkhosia. A fleet of smaller boats hover all around it embarking thousands of Arkhosian soldiers ready for the invasion of the Dreaming City States of Ancient Pesh. The Emperor has committed five legions to his conquest and a wing of dragon riders. Even now the dream dragons curl in the bowels of the ship, sleeping so that their fiery might is ready to be unleashed when they arrive.

The Inevitable sails into the distance to much fanfare and cheering. The Emperor himself comes to see his armada leave. It is a good day to be a man who wants to rule the world.

That night, out of sight of land the Lokarnos host a great celebration for their Dragonborn allies. Huge vats of wine and platters of food are served and the party continues long into the night.

In the morning the Lokarnos hurl the corpses of the Legionaires into the deep. It is a good day to be a hungry shark.

In the bowels of the ship Minara, daughter of Mael surveys her latest acquisition. "Good, very good, you will serve me well against your master." Below her five dream dragons twist and snarl, caught in the coils of her sorcery. Soon their minds will be hers and then the daughter of Mael will teach the upstart Emperor the true meaning of betrayal.