Captain Esteban smiles, "I am sure you will enjoy the journey. Today at noon. Meet at Pier 3." Captain bows and he and Faruq depart.
Gruug says nothing, but glares intensely at Faruq the whole time.
"Don't worry, Gruug, if he gets out of line, we can punch him," Ialda pats her friend on the back, as the group gathers their belongings.
You receive Lavinia's blessing to depart on your trip and near noon, you start making your way through the crowded streets of Eleder. As you near the docks, the bustle of the oppressively is broken by a piercing and hideous shriek. There is a pause in the sounds of commerce as all eyes turn upward to see a massive beast soaring above. The huge reptilian creature looks like a vestige from some long-forgotten area, as it swoops down on the city. Its wickedly hooked beak snatches a passerby off one roof and bites him in two and swallows before landing at the very end of the street where you are currently! Screams of dock workers and civilians fill the air, as the creature again utters its piercing shriek!
This creature looks like a great dragon, at least 20 feet long with a serpentine body, long slender wings and a pointed snout or beak that resembles that of a pteranodon. Its body is colored reddish-violet with lighter shades on its underbelly. A ridge of maroon-colored spines runs the length of its body down the center of its back. A mane of frills, white in color, rings its head.
Now that you see the creature up close, you also see the tentacles growing from its back and the tell-tale signs of "savage fever" infection!
Map of combat - I was lazy adding buildings and such but you get the idea
Ialda pulls her greatclub as she approaches the creature. It takes a bite at her as she moves and takes a great swing.
Attack
Damage
The creature's serpentine neck lashes out with a bite, as soon as Ialda gets within 15' of it, but it bounces off her magical protections. However, the barbarian's blow fails to harm the quasi-dragon's tough scales.
Gruug seems wary of the idea of approaching a savage dragon, but he feels can't show weakness to his comrades so he calls upon Sarenrae to protect him and moves forward.
Round 1
Aeronniell winces as she sees the writhing tentacles on the monster's back, but quickly grabs her moon symbol and instills courage to her allies.
"Take heart! There's just a single one!"
"Where be all these lizards be coming from?", 'Left-Ear' asks to no one in particular. "And how do they keep gettin' infected by demon-monkey plague?" The pirate opens his mouth in a silent scream - silent to everyone but the demon-dragon-thing, which hears a eardrum-shatteringly loud keening.
The beats shrieks in pain, as blood leaks out of its ears, further enraging it.
Round 2:
The creature growls and full-attacks Gruug, but the half-orc priest's aura of protection deflects the evil creature's blows and he is unharmed!
Ialda again swings the magical club.
Attack
Damage
Gruug continues his advance forward and starts circling the beast. He puts all his weight into a mighty swing of his falchion.
Round 2
Aeronniell continues to move into position to get a clearer shot and fires her first arrow.
"Remember these monsters like to snap out when they die!"
for
Doofus Ialda Attack Reroll, DM
Baolo uses his fleet feet to move around the creature, attempting to keep the gap between himself and the fevered creature free of allies, but costing himself shots.
Watching out for his allies, Baolo prepare and looses another pair of arrows at the creature.
The screaming citizens running away turn to admire the group's proficiency from afar!
Round 3:
Completely enraged, the creature full-attacks Gruug again, ripping into him with a bite only!
Gruug grimaces slightly as the dragon takes a nice bite out of him. He steps in to flank the draconic beast, and attempts to give it more pain.
Ialda swings at the dragonic creature,using Grugg's distraction to try and take advantage of the situation.
Attack with Power Attack, Bless, Inspire Courage, and flank.
Damage
Gruug and Ialda's blows cut and bash the creature's head in, respectively, to the raucous cheers of the crowd! Combat over!
"That bugger wasn't as tough as it looked. Thank goodness! Is everyone alright? Gruug? It seemed to really hate you for some reason."
Gruug nods while stemming the flow of blood. "As soon as me call upon Sarenrae for bless'n, it not like me. Me also heard dragons much tougher. But me happy him not! Gruug grins.
"Aye, I thought that thing was going to swallow us up. A good thing that 'Dragonslayer' Gruug were here!" 'Left-Ear' smirks as he creates a soubriquet for the half-orc.
"The Dragon Slayer?! That's clever, Left Ear! Gruug might be famous after the townsfolk tell his tale."
People on the docks move up to pat you on your back and celebrate your exploits, while the guards who appear start hacking the huge creature to pieces for fish food. Captain Esteban and Faruq stand on the River Queen and they applaud your efforts, as you approach. The boat has a draft of only 3 feet, a 77-foot keel, and a 20-foot beam. You see three workers loading supplies and crates onto the boat. The Captain smiles, "Looks I've picked the best adventurers around. Dispatched that huge beast in seconds. Mighty impressive. Let me introduce you to the crew of the River Queen, who will be accompanying us on this journey." He points to Faruq, whom you already know and then to a misshapen dwarf with gray stubble for a beard, who is hunched over, reviewing the contents of some crates. "That there is Hurg, our engineer and caretaker of the Protean engine that powers my ship." You see many scars on the dwarf's bald head and he grunts hello at you all. The Captain continues, "And finally, those three strong grunts there are Danner, Houghman, and Speraggo. They do most of the heavy lifting around here. So come aboard and we will take off, as soon as the supplies are loaded."
Ialda nods at the crew, staying close to Dragonslayer Gruug, keeping he and Faruq a good distance away from each other.
Aeronniell nods uncomfortably at the captain, having donned heavier clothing and a thicker cloak than usual despite the hot weather.
She sighs as she feels the familiar comfort of a ship's deck and tries to find somewhere to make herself comfortable.
Gruug seems confused by his newfound title. "But we all attack it and cast magic that help. We all dragonslayers? Hrmm, but this not like them non-savage dragons that breath stuff at you. Me not even sure that it was a dragon?
When boarding the ship, Gruug's instinct to to send Farug a clear message that his presence near him is not welcome. Fortunately Ialda's keen ability to keep Gruug distracted easily prevents an escalations.
Ialda heads below deck to check out their arrangements for the next bit of sea travel. "Do we at least have bedrolls," she asks, as she pokes her head around, looking for a room or two.
This teakwood cabin is lightly built with stanchions supporting its roof. A single door provides entry and nine shuttered windows look out over the sides of the ship. The teak walls have several wide cracks, and a gap of 2 feet exists between the tops of the walls and the topdeck to allow maximum air circulation in this sweltering enclosure. Cargo crates are often brought in to serve as table and chairs. Crew members place their belongings in bundles of netting that hang overhead, and hammocks can be strung between the stanchions to accommodate 12 in reasonable comfort or 28 if everyone is crammed on top of each other.
As you situate yourself and get your "sea legs" and head off in your journey up the river. Due to delays in the arrival of provisioning orders and getting them loaded aboard, the River Queen is several hours behind schedule as she chugs away from the docks of Eleder. The sun is near setting as Captain Esteban guides her across the great estuary that marks the mouth of the Vanji, where the red-tinted water of the river mixes with the sea. The vast expanse of the Mwangi interior rolls into the distance in the final fire-tinged light of day, overcast by the dark clouds of a thunderstorm that approaches from the east. The massive mate, Faruq, makes his way about the boat lighting hurricane lamps, and the captain shouts down from the pilothouse to secure the loads and make ready for rough weather. The plan is to reach a sheltered bend in the river by nightfall and make anchor there for the night, but it looks like with the approaching storm, darkness is going to come much sooner than expected. You start to feel the drops of heavy rainfall and see the heaving swells start to form.
Gruug feels very much out of place on the ship. When the weather takes a turn for the worse, he holes up in the cabin, sitting in a corner, muttering non-sensical phrases to himself as the swells grow.
It doesn't take long for Patterwell to find his sea legs - if anything, he seems far more at home on the River Queen than he was on dry land. As the weather begins to turn, he finds an oil-soaked slicker to wear. "Go inside?!?", he says with a laugh. "As long as ye need an old deckhand like meself, I'll be here. How much further do ye expect the bend to be, Cap'n?"
"Storm an' salt, I'm wit ya Left-Ear." Baolo also decides to stay outside and sees if he can help ready the ship for the storm.
Ialda shakes her head at Left Ear and Baolo, and heads directly inside to sit with Gruug. "Last thing we need heading to uncivilized lands is to catch our deaths of a cold. It'll be a miserable trip if so. Let's stay dry, and let the sailing vets handle things tonight."
Aeronniell is thankful for the cleansing rain. It somehow makes the River Queen, and their whole "mission" feel less dirty.
She shrugs off the water despite it's chill temperature and keeps her eyes focused on the moon when it's visible between the dark grey clouds.
The River Queen is beset on by heaving swells, lashing rainfall,
and surging waves and everyone except Left-Ear is thrashed about and almost thrown off the boat into the violent sea. Thankfully, Left-Ear begins singing and eerily the sea calms, allowing you to finish securing the loads.
Aero's keen eyesight and hearing, especially under the stars, allows her to spot two medium-sized stone creatures "ride" a wave using their "wings" that crests over the boat enabling them to land stealthily onto the top deck, or so they thought. Pic of creature
She quickly alerts the other 2 party members on board of the danger, as the two creatures peer at them, malice in their dark soulless eyes!
Aeronniell's eyes widen as she tries to study and identify the attacking creatures under the light of the stars.
When Aero points the creatures out, Baolo calls out, "Sound de alarm! Something is tryin' ta board de ship!" Baolo looks through the wicked weather attempting to identify the creatures.
"Boarders!", 'Left-Ear' cries, pulling his bow. "Great winged devils! Let's bleed them, me hearties, and show them what we be made of!" He begins singing a shanty to inspire his allies as he begins to string his bow and nock an arrow.
Left-Ear has heard tales of aquatic gargoyles who dwell at the bottom of bodies of water. They fight as normal gargoyles: 2 claws, 1 bite, and 1 gore of its horns.
"Sea gargoyles!", he cries. "Don't let them drag ye to the bottom, mates! Carve 'em up, an' chum the waters with their blood!"
Round 1: Gargoyles act!
The first gargoyle rushes down the stairs and attacks Aero, clawing her!
The second gargoyle, injured by Baolo, moves past Left-Ear, provoking AoO, climbs over the crates and lands next to Baolo, ripping skin with his claws!