I’m not going to lie. I’m still having difficulty in accepting Hookeri’s name change to that of Dwayne Johnson’s alter ego. I don’t like it. I am off his bandwagon. I am officially putting all of my support behind Darkius. I have an ESO character named Biz Darkee, so I feel a kinship with Darkius. I’m already missing the army of the dead in favor of pirates. The word harlot got tossed around so that does help make up for it. Speaking of pirates….
Tales from the Plunderbund Consortium
Dark Sun Campaign – Chapter 14
Heading north, the group began their journey to South Ledopolus in the hopes of finding a silt skimmer for their own purposes. As usual, they traveled at night and rested during the day. On the second morning during her watch, Ilana noted two lizard-like figures in the distance. Ilana recognized them as S’surons, a.k.a. lizard men, who were likely out patrolling for their clan. Ilana called out to them, but due to having no language in common, the S’surons hefted their weapons in a defense position. Through a series of grunts, groans, and threatening body language, it was conveyed to the lizard men that they should leave, which they did.
Unsure whether the scouts would return with reinforcements, the group decided to force march through the day. They also took the long path around the nearby salt marshes to lessen the chance of meeting the S’suron clan.
After a few more days of boring travel the party was again moving through a salt flat when the ground began to shake and they heard the sound of a large stampede. Looking into the distance they saw a giant beast bearing down upon them. Four elephant like legs, giant claws, and many sharp teeth, it was obvious they were in the path of a Rampager!
Ilana quickly responded by casting Slow on the beast. This allowed them to get a few shots in before the creature could react. After sustaining minimal damage, the Rampager broke free of the slow and attacked Rock (the former Hookeri). As soon as the beast’s claws struck Rock’s weapon, it dissolved into a pool of obsidian goo. Thinking they might be outmatched, Darkius banished the creature back to the elemental chaos from which it originated.
After a few more days of uneventful travel the group arrived in South Ledopolus. Upon entering the port town the group decided to head for the nearest inn and were directed to the Spiked Kank Inn. Just as the adventurers were arriving outside the inn, a woman screamed, “defiler!”, and pointed in Ilana’s direction. A panic ensued and the sound of half-giant guards came baring down upon the group.
Ilana quickly darted down a side ally and cast Disguise Self to mask her appearance while the other adventurers met with the guards. As she was exiting the ally to watch the group’s interaction, she saw a wanted poster with her picture on it. The posters gave her full name and identified her as a “Harlot Defiler and Consort to Demons.” A 500 gold bounty was offered, and bounty hunters were directed to turn Ilana in to the Balic Templars staying at the Spiked Kank Inn.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was being grilled about their association with the “Defiler Bitch.” Luckily, just before they were ordered to the dungeons for torture, three individuals, dressed as Templars from Balic, exited the tavern and said they would speak with the group. The three Templars, who did not offer their names, purchased lunch, rooms, and drinks for the party. In exchange, all they wanted was for the group to deliver a message to Ilana. If she turned the Orb of Kalid-Ma over to Andropinis she would be richly rewarded. If she refused, the wanted posters would soon appear all over the Tyr region and the Dragon of Tyr might be tipped off that someone is attempting to become a dragon without his permission. The three Templars then departed.
Undeterred, the party decided not to give in to Andropinis’s demands. It was still their intention to find a silt skimmer and get Darkius to the Bleak Tower. Heading to the docks to evaluate their options, the group saw 1) that a bridge was apparently being constructed that would connect North and South Ledopolus; and 2) that said bridge was currently being attacked by giants.
Curious, the adventurers asked a nearby bystander what was happening. They learned that for the past two-years engineers have been trying to complete this bridge, which would make moving good significantly easier. Unfortunately, the giants who make their home on a nearby island think that the bridge is being built to allow the “small folk” to take over their flint mines. Further, while merchant houses such as House Inikia are for the bridge’s construction, other houses are actively opposed and feed into the giant’s paranoia. Darkius thought briefly about getting involved in the matter considering his ties to House Inikia, but was convinced by Illana, who believes in the property rights of the giants, to leave the issue alone.
Soon after arriving at the docks the group met with Halfling Captain Vallos, who was looking for guards for silt skimmer guards for the next three months. The three-month circuit would involve multiple stops at various settlements along the silt coast and in Balic. The group decided that they would join the crew, get to the first port, and then take over the ship as it left the first port.
As the skimmer was taking off the next morning, in order to effectuate their plan, the party went into the slums and found an old, drunk, grizzled, former silt-pirate captain. They offered the captain booze and money if he would take over navigation of the ship after their mutiny. The dwarf, named Thelrig, gladly accepted.
The group reported to the silt skimmer the next morning and were assigned their duties, with some guarding during the day and the others at night. The first two days of the journey were uneventful with the group making new friends and evaluating potential co-conspirators as to their future mutiny and seizing of the vessel.
On day three the group heard a loud crashing sound as a boulder hit the front-right wheel, greatly reducing the speed of the silt skimmer. Scanning the horizon, the party saw that the boulders originated from a nearby island, and were being thrown by a pair of beast-head giants. Darkius began using his Mending spell to repair the ship as the rest of the party engaged in a ranged battle with the rock-throwing giants. Eventually, after Darkius magically repaired the ship, the silt skimmer landed on the island and Alexa proceeded to axe the now-wounded giants to death.
After taking care of the giants, the captain ordered the skimmer to immediately set sale as they had already lost too much time. Unfortunately, a scant few hours after continuing their journey, the vessel was attacked and boarded by silt pirates. Ilana was particularly infuriated by this as she could not attack with fireballs due to the fact it would burn down their own skimmer. Decided to work strategically, Rock proceeded to put many arrows in the pirate captain while the rest of the party killed about half of the pirates. With the party hurting and the pirates not wanting to take on any more casualties, the two sides parlayed, and the pirates agreed to leave peacefully.
The next few days were uneventful, giving the party plenty of time to discuss their move against the Captain Vallos. However, before any such plan could be put into action, on the seventh day of travel the winds kicked up and visibility became next to nothing. Just then, emerging from the silt storm, came two silt elementals that began attacking the party.
Ilana was easily able to remove one of the elementals from the battle by levitating it into the air. Having removed that elemental from play, the group was able to soundly defeat its brother. Upon the first elemental going down, the party used their ranged weapons and spells to take pot shots at the other elemental until it died.
Unfortunately for the party, killing the second elemental was the key to setting off a deadly trap. Upon the death of the second silt elemental, the bodies of the two elementals joined together and created a silt typhoon that broke the silt skimmer in half. The last thing the group remembered was sinking into the depths of the silt sea . . .
You can find us at the actual 9 Deuce website where we have the archives as well as other content such as horror movie reviews, wrestling blogs, podcasts, and some other material. We’re on Facebook, on Twitter @official9deuce, or Tumblr @ superkent92 or Instagram at Official9Deuce . Share this, like this, write us an email with a question or a comment at kent@9deuce.com. Hell, you can subscribe via RSS. Facebook and the website are probably the best bets. Thank you.