Session0001

March 19th
The party sets sail from Karaad towards the imperial capital city of Ossidia around midday. They spend the first travel day settling in to their quarters and retiring for an early night of sleep.

Overnight, the party has a shared dream, wherein all eight of them are standing on a plateau atop a mountain, where a glowing green sword is planted in a pedestal. Though most of the party members have not yet been introduced, they feel familiar to one another in the dream.

A group of eight strange monsters and creatures appear, interposing between the party and the sword: a living blood ooze, a burnt undead child, a mage with a plague doctor's mask, a celestial, an elemental sphere, a monstrous myconid, a sentient rune-carved sword, and an undead soldier of the Alviren Empire. The party battles and defeats these creatures, finding that there seems to be one creature which corresponds to each of them and seems particularly vulnerable to their attacks. During the battle, Odell studies the runes of the sentient blade, and discovers a holy symbol that is unfamiliar to him: three mushrooms growing from a skull.

After defeating the monsters, the party approaches the sword in the pedestal. Odell observes elements of abjuration and transmutation magic on the sword, and finds that its blade is engraved with eight circles. He also notices that the feeling of familiarity and kinship with the party increases in proximity to the sword, seemingly emanating from the sword itself. Patches studies the blade in search of religious symbology, but doesn't find any.

Rye attempts to pull the blade from the pedestal, but is unsuccessful. As he does so, he grows significantly taller and more muscular, and horns emerge from his head. Afterwards, Jack successfully pulls the blade from the pedestal. When he does, the circles along the blade begin to glow with green filigree, and similar circles appear on the chests of each of the party members, with tendrils of arcane energy tethering them all together.

After the blade is removed from the pedestal, the dream fades.

March 20th
The party awakens aboard the Tide King. Immediately upon awakening, disturbed by the dream, Gragnok uses his divine sense while most of the party is nearby.

Odell goes above deck in search of the cabin, and briefly meets with the night shift crew - a sahuagin, an ettercap, and a half-elf, working along with the ship's first mate, a minotaur named Djundor. Odell asks Djundor if the ship has a mage, and explains that he had a strange dream that he suspects was magical in nature. Djundor says that the ship's mage is part of the day shift, but that he will send her to Odell when she awakens.

Meanwhile, Jack, XVIII, Buttonworth, and Frog convene in Frog's private cabin - afforded to him due to his royalty. Frog tells Jack and XVIII about his dream, and Jack and XVIII confirm that they had the same dream. XVIII examines Frog for injuries, but Frog seems to be in good health. During the examination, XVIII takes note that Frog's mushroom cap seems to be organically growing from his flesh, and is not a hat.

When Malkoth awakens, he checks for any remnant of the circle that appeared on his chest during the dream, but finds that nothing remains of it.

Most of the crew and passengers gather in the galley for breakfast. Frog introduces himself while passing out mimosas to the crew and passengers. After a few members of the crew recognize him as a a dignitary, he explains that he is the Crown Prince of the Myconid Kingdom, though he prefers to just be called Frog.

Odell has a conversation with the deck wizard, who is introduced as Sybil Larou. Odell asks about her background and specialization, and she explains that she studied magic in Saltcrest on her own, before breifly joining the navy, and then being hired by Duncan Rivers. Odell asks her if she knows anything about the dream spell. She says that she knows of the spell, but isn't capable of that level of magic. Afterwards, the two spend some time discussing various academic arcane topics.

After Odell's conversation with Sybil, he is approached by Patches, who tells him about seeing him in his dream. Odell shares that he had the same dream. Patches also explains that he is missing most of his memory, not knowing where he is from, what god he serves as a cleric, or even his own name. He explains that he goes by "Patches" because his memory is patchy. Odell takes note of the holy symbol emblazoned on Patches' shield - a candle within a silver circle - which he is completely unfamiliar with, despite his extensive knowledge of holy symbology.

Jack, having overheard Odell and Patches' conversation, discretely warns Patches that he should be quiet about his use of magic, as magic is frowned upon by some. Patches seems unconcerned, saying that his god has given him permission to use magic.

Meanwhile, Gragnok goes in search of XVIII, having sensed an aura from them with his divine sense. He confronts XVIII alone, accuses them of being an undead monster, and asks them what their business is on the ship. XVIII claims to have been unaware that they are undead, and even thanks Gragnok for the information. Gragnok nevertheless expresses distrust for XVIII, and says he will be watching them.

Rye spends most of the morning crafting dynamite in the passengers' cabin of the ship. Malkoth and one of the ship's other passengers, a yellow-scaled kobold, observe him doing so. Malkoth expresses some concern about Rye making dynamite aboard a ship, but Rye seems unconcerned and continues his work.

Below deck, one of the deckhands, a half-elf named Davan Elris, briefly introduces himself to Gragnok, seeming glad to make the acquaintance of someone else with elven heritage.

Later in the morning, Odell talks with Gragnok and Malkoth, and tells them about his dream. They both confirm that they had the same dream as well. Gragnok also tells them that he detected an undead entity aboard the ship, although he does not reveal the identity of the individual.

In the afternoon, Rye plays music for the crew as they work. He plays a trumpet which seems to have magical effects, including illusory visual effects and outlandish music.

Meanwhile, Odell and Malkoth speak with the ship's captain, Duncan Rivers. They ask about the deck mage, Sybil Larou, and her background with the crew. Rivers explains that he hired her both for utility and protection, as the seas are more dangerous lately. They also ask Rivers about the dream that they shared, but Rivers doesn't know anything about it or have any similar experiences. Malkoth asks if there's a sword on board the ship which matches the one the party found in the dream. Rivers admits that he doesn't generally inspect his passengers' cargo, so he isn't sure. He knows that magic items are regulated, and expresses some distaste towards the regulation system, suggesting that it is a money-making scheme.

Below deck, XVIII approached Frog, and tells him that they have been informed that they are an undead monster, and are therefore unfit to serve. They offer Frog his money back, but Frog refuses, welcoming XVIII to continue working for him.

Around midday, the party spots a small jungle island nearby. Captain Rivers begins to steer the ship away from the island. At the same time, the ship is attacked by a variety of creatures from the sea - monstrous crabs, humanoid corpses overgrown with sea life, and coral-like plant creatures.

The party battles the sea creatures. During the battle, two of the ship's deckhands are killed, as well as one of Frog's Karaadian guards - a human named Khali Tuma. While battling, Rye grows large and muscular, and horns emerge from his head, just as they did in the previous night's dream. Jack fights alongside another one of the ship's passengers, a teenage human boy, who shows some prowess in fighting.

As the battle is ongoing, a few members of the party see the kobold passenger come running out of the passengers' cabin. A few seconds later, there is a massive explosion from the cabin, leaving a massive hole in the back of the ship, through which water begins to fill the lower deck.

Captain Rivers begins steering the ship towards the nearby island, as it begins to take on water. The party manages to defeat the remaining sea monsters. XVIII kills the final creature - a humanoid corpse overgrown with sea life. When they do, they bite into the creature's neck and seemingly siphon vitality from it.

As Captain Rivers sails the ship toward the island, the party quickly gathers their belongings, and helps the crew gather food and other supplies before they get waterlogged. Gragnok quickly investigates the passenger cabin where the explosion occurred, and discerns that the explosion came from within the chamber. He finds shrapnel from some sort of spherical metallic device, which doesn't match the construction of Rye's dynamite.

Captain Rivers and the crew work the run the ship aground on the shallows off the coast of the island before it can sink. The ship comes to rest a few hundred feet off the coast.

As the party and crew are taking stock of the situation, Rye confront the kobold passenger, having seen him run out of the passengers' cabin just before the explosion. He asks the kobold what he was doing, but the kobold claims he was just sleeping when the explosion occurred. Rye explains that he is concerned that he will get blamed for the explosion becuase he was making dynamite. The kobold accusses Rye of trying to frame him, insinuating that Rye' dynamite was responsible for the explosion. Rye tries to intimidate the kobold into confessing more, but Captain Rivers deescalates the situation.

Over the next hour, the crew works to remove all of the salvageable supplies and cargo from the ship, and set up a makeshift campsite on the beach. Meanwhile, Jack, Odell, and Patches search for fresh water and food sources. They find a stream nearby, as well as plenty of tropical fruit growing in the jungle. During the search, they also find footprints of grung and kuo-toa in the area.

During their foraging excursion, Jack shares that he originally hails from the north, but that he spent a number of years in the Taruki Jungle. Patches says that he doesn't know where he's from, but that the earliest thing he remembers is waking up on the shores of the Bastion River in the Emerald Highlands.

When asked by Odell, Jack also confirms that he, Frog, and XVIII shared the same dream the night before. Odell speculates that the dream was a form of magic used by a high-level mage, and also speculates that magic may have been involved in the destruction of the ship. He confirms that he is a licensed spellcaster, when Jack asks. He wonders aloud if the other casters aboard the ship are licensed, and shares his belief that the licensing process is important for the safe practice of magic.

Back at the campsite, Captain Rivers apologizes for the trouble, and promises to get to the bottom of who destroyed his ship. He mentions that he heard someone was crafting explosives on his ship, and insinuates that he knows it was Rye. He says that he will have Sybil send a magical message to port for help. When the party asks about investigating the ship for clues, he requests that they stay off of the ship and don't tamper with it.

Malkoth and Rye once again try to interrogate the kobold, but he insists that he doesn't know what happened, and he was just sleeping. Malkoth gets the sense that he is being lied to, but the kobold remains resolute, even after Malkoth presses him and Rye attempts to use enchantment magic on him - which the kobold seems strangely resistant to.

Gragnok speaks Captain Rivers privately, explaining what he found in the passenger cabin, and once again insisting that they need to investigate the ship for clues. Rivers again refuses, and advises that he has set his crew to guard the ship and not allow anyone on board.

The party spends the rest of the evening resting and recuperating from the day's events.

Jack speaks with the boy who fought alongside him against the sea monsters. The boy introduces himself as Harper Wood. In thieves cant, the two discuss the events of the shipwreck. Harper doesn't have any inside information, and doesn't seem to know anything more than the party does. He expresses some apprehension toward Odell, due to his obvious magical background.

Odell privately expresses his confidence and trust to Gragnok. Gragnok explains that he wants to explore the ship for clues, even if it means fighting the crew, but Odell recommends at least waiting until they have rested.

Rye borrows paper from Odell to write a letter, which he places in a bottle and throws into the ocean, claiming that he's sending a letter to his best friend Israphel. When asked for his name, Rye introduces himself to Odell as "Marble Rye Something Or Whatever," seeming unconcerned with what he is called. Odell explains to Rye that throwing his letter into the ocean won't work. Rye instead asks Frog to help him contact Israphel using divine magic, claiming that Israphel is an angel of music. Frog doesn't think that he has any way of doing so, but he humors Rye by using his holy symbol - a globe that projects images of stars - to perform a showy ritual.

Odell sits by the fire with XVIII and Patches, studying an ancient tome. Patches asks Odell if he has ever heard of the Luxturrim Obelisk, but Odell has not. XVIII briefly studies the tome alongside Odell, curious about its contents. They finds that it contains cryptic, coded text written in multiple languages - some common, some exotic, and some unrecognizable. XVIII can't make much sense of the book on their own, but Odell shares his notes about the book with them, and XVIII learns that it contains information about rune magic. During the conversation, Odell recognizes that XVIII is a subspecies of khenra that is native to the Emerald Highlands.

Before retiring for the evening, the party establishes a watch order. Odell and Patches take the first watch. During this watch, Patches demonstrates his ability to shapeshift, transforming from a hobgoblin into an orc, as bark, twigs, and leaves briefly sprout from him before disappearing. Patches makes no explanation for this transformation, even when Odell asks, and seems unphased by it.

On the next watch, Malkoth and Gragnok hear a rumbling growl from the jungle nearby, but the watch is otherwise uneventful.

Rye and Jack take the next watch, during which Rye makes more dynamite. Jack asks Rye if he has a spellcasting license. Rye doesn't know what a spellcasting license is, or even what the Alviren Empire is. When asked, he confirms that he is not from "around here," but doesn't explain where he is from. Rye asks if Jack has a spellcasting license, but Jack says he doesn't because he doesn't practice magic. He says that his tribe in the north got in trouble for magic use, and he's been surprised to see it used more freely in the Empire.

Frog and XVIII take the final watch, during which they see a great, monstrous bird-like creature flying overhead.