Eries leads the party into a little rowboat that she's gotten for just this occasion and rows the party out, with the help of one of the strong young men or woman in the boat, to the middle of Jeggare Harbor. "It's somewhere around here..." she murmurs, before handing over the potion of waterbreathing and the potion sponge to Burahl.
The waterbreathing spell and potions are consumed, giving the party two hours of time to be underwater, and then the party dives, one by one, into Jeggare Harbor. The water is bitingly cold for a first few moment of sitting in the water, but the bodies quickly become used to it. And then it's time to dive underwater. Swimming straight down, or in some facsimile of it, is pretty hard, especially for the less physically powerful members of the party, but fifteen minutes and the party reaches nearly the bottom of the Jeggare Harbor. Even through the murkiness of the water and the growing dark of night, the silhouette of the ship is visible, laying against the bottom of the river.
The ship struck a rock outcropping as it sank, splitting off a section of the bow from the rest of the ship, the rock itself blocking easy access to the aft section of the ship. There is, however, a sizable hole in the side of the hull on the aft section, apparently punched into the ship by the Guard's trebuchets. There are a pair of doors and hatches on the top of the aft section (which lays on its side, so the normally upward-facing hatches face horizontally) as well.
Akiki is not a water sort of elf. She frowns copiously, but does jump in when bidden. She flounders a bit at swimming down, but manages it with some flailing. She makes sure she trails close after Raijinn, so she can grab him if she starts drowning. The wings probably help.
Thaven downs a potion, leaving his precious bow and arrow behind. He takes out a dagger and clenches it in his hand, then jumps into the water after Akiki.
Unable to spare the extra casting, and aware of her unwillingness to go in the water, Fredo leaves Cat on shore. "Just get home safe," he says firmly, doing his best to hide his discomfort at the prospect of being separated from her for the first time in a while. He kneels down, and she butts her head into the palm of his hand. "Don't do anything foolish." She gives him a look and saunters off. He's reassured nonetheless.
The robe bunching up around his ankles makes kicking difficult, so Fredo has to virtually pull himself to the bottom of the harbor. Upon seeing the wreck, he makes for the protruding foremast and uses it to guide himself down to the detached bow. He peers over the edge to the exposed inner decks. "This end'll be easier to investigate first. It's open, and smaller."
The bow of the ship is a significantly smaller portion of the ship, although all of its decks are open to exploration. The doors into the forecastle and the galley of the ship swing open in the current of the bay, providing easy access to the small wooden rooms.
Burahl inspects the section of the galley and finds it odd there's no evidence of supply cargo present.
"Look! There's no traces of supplies, or food storage for that matter. It almost looks like this ship was meant to be sunk when it departed its original port."
Akiki flails around, trying to swim towards the other decks. She waves her hands at Burahl, though its hard to say what she means by such handwaving. Then she rolls her eyes, and points at the other half of the ship. Doesn't look like there's much here.
Thaven stares about, but doesn't see much. The bubbles issuing from the ratfolk's mouth don't seem to make him any clearer. He kicks his feet and swims closer to the ship.
"Strange." Raijinn mutters, following Burahl. "Any idea how many crew are typically on a ship of this size?"
"No one aboard means no one to feed," burbles Fredo. Kroft had mentioned that no one on the ship had responded to the hails from the Citadel, and this find merely confirmed that the ship hadn't been crewed. "But we already knew that. Looks like if we want to learn something new, we'll have to go into the back." Fredo pushes along the side of the ship toward the hole under what had once been the waterline.
Raijinn isn't really sure how many people are supposed to go on a ship of this size, but he knows that it's probably more than thirty. Supplies for zero is definitely way out of line. This isn't a small ship - it's a warship-galley.
Goffred pulls himself along the ship's hull to the hole in it, and pokes his head in through the hole. With a light spell, it's clear to see a relatively large hold on the inside of the ship, its contents spilled and ruptured and floating in pieces around the water. The contents of the ship appear to have once been rats and black boxes, based off of the shards of black boxes and dozens of dead rats floating around.
At the back of the hold is a large jigsaw shark, who immediately butts its head against a door at the back of the hold.
Burahl immediately looks alarmed at the shark and motions the others to halt their advance and points to the jigsaw shark.
With little bubbles and a loud voice he tries to make clear it's not a normal shark.
"That's not a normal shark. Not even a trained pet. More self-aware than any of those. That must be someone's Animal companion, a druid's probably."
"Be alert, it might be left here to guard this ship."
Raijinn frowns at Burahl's hypothesis. "It wouldn't be unlike the Queen to use a magician to enforce her idea of order." He begins to reach for sword, unsure of how useful it would be in the water, but feeling safer with it close at hand all the same. "Do you happen to know how far a companion like this can be from its master?"
"We can separate ourselves from our companions," says Fredo. "I left Cat on the shore, remember? But a shark companion probably means the master likes spending time in the water." He grimaces in dismay as the shark, instead of attacking them, swims face-first into the back wall of the hold. "And I'd wager they're behind that door." Fredo draws Cressida's gift, and readies a counterspell. He'd never faced a druid in their element before, but having it all around them couldn't be safe.
Just a few moments after the bumping of heads on the back of the hold, a door is shoved open and a horrifying visage pokes its head out of another room farther into the ship.
Roughly humanoid-shaped, this woman has thin white hair that hangs in the water and pale, pale skin. Milky eyes rest in her face and sharp teeth adorn her mouth. A coral-encrusted trident rests in her hand and an angry snarl is on her lips.
She snarls a few words at the party and then rushes forward to attack.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Thaven burbles a war cry, raises a dagger and moves to ready an attack at her or the shark, whichever comes close enough first! for damage!
Not understanding the language that the woman speaks, but knowing a threat when he hears one, Raijinn swims towards her, moving to intercept and prevent her from getting close to his companions. Intending to be able to question the druid back on dry land, he swings sword with the intention of incapacitating, rather than inflicting mortal damage.
Akiki shakes off the haziness in the water, and pushes herself off of the ship in order to get around behind the shark, her shiny new rapier out.
Akiki and Thaven kick off, resisting the nauseating feeling as they close in on the shark that swims to meet them, stabbing at it from opposite sides with their respective pointy sticks. Thaven finds purchase in the thing's flesh and lets loose a thin stream of blood as he cuts into the thing's blubbery hide.
The hag passes a clawed hand over her face, and when the face is revealed again her skin has grown gnarled and thicker, with thorny outcroppings across it. You look at the change has taken place over her entire skin's surface, at least as far as you can see.
The shark turns and tries to bite at Thaven.
But even in the water, Thaven is nimble enough to dodge out of the way of the deadly creature's jaws.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Seeing the hag cast defensive spell, Fredo decides to make the most of his own spells before they can no longer affect her. He points Cressida's rod at the druid and channels heat through it. A jet of superheated water lances from the tip of the rod. It nearly loses coherence before it touches the hag, but Fredo holds the rod and his will steady until an angry red mark appears on her skin.
Burahl keeps swimming to not sink any further and keeps his quarterstaff in a defensive way out in front of him, ready to defend and strike back when the shark approaches.
He looks at the master of the shark inquisitively and tries to determine what she is.
Goffred points his rod at the hag and lances a ray of superheated water at the hag. The ray wavers, but Goffred is strong enough to pierce the hag's innate resistance and land the hit on her.
Raijinn swims towards the hag and swings his sword in her general direction, but unfortunately for him her skin is far too thick to penetrate with the meager blow that he offered her.
Burahl stays back, kicking his little legs to stay afloat and holding his staff in front of him defensively.
Despite the weight of her armor Emmera keeps afloat, and casts a spell to empower her teammates.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Thaven kicks twice and stabs again at the shark! for damage!
Akiki is able to navigate to stay on the other side of the shark using her legs and one hand. The other stabs at its fleshy bits with her rapier again.
For the second time, Akiki's shiny new rapier skids off of the shark's admittedly very rough skin, failing to pierce or injure the creature. Fortunately, Thaven is well-trained in fighting animals and so stabs it a second time with his dagger - another spurt of blood colours the water a little bit pinker.
In response to Raijinn's advance on her, the hag draws her trident up in front of her, bristling with indignation, and stabs it at the tiefling.
She pierces his active defenses, avoiding his nimble frame, and stabs him twice in the torso. His blood billows out of his unarmored body, colouring the water around the dueling pair.
At the same time, her shark attempts to bite Thaven again.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Fredo winces in sympathy as the trident digs into Raijinn's belly, then considers his options. His one remaining attack spell might not work, and Raijinn needs help. As soon as the blood thins, Fredo concentrates on the defensive magic protecting the hag, and does his best to unravel it.
"Try again, Raijinn," he says. "Emmera, Burahl, Raijinn might appreciate your aid."
Fine, I didn't wan to do this. The effect is quite horrible.
Burahl brings up a flask he has kept hidden for quite some time and unstoppers it with his teeth before drinking it. Suddenly the ratfolk grows bulkier, his muscles seem to bulge and it looks even as though he has grown bigger and his teeth more dangerous. He looks more like a wererat now than his own self.
Raijinn swallows hard as the trident cuts into his belly, and his eyes narrow as the water fills with his blood. For a second, he pauses, holding his breath, hoping that the shark won't be attracted to the smell. But with it seeming distracted by Thaven, he returns his attention to the Druid, and at Fredo's encouragement, makes another attack on the druid, his sword leaving a trail of ice crystals in the water.
Goffred casts a spell, successfully ripping the magical defenses from the hag while she attacks his ally. Raijinn capitalizes on this and delivers a chillingly strong blow with his scimitar-magic combo, tiring the hag out. Burahl sinks lower when he imbibes a mutagen for the first time, growing bulkier and stronger but at the expense of some of his intellect.
Emmera swims forward, her hand glowing with positive energy, and casts a spell upon Raijinn while pulling her sword into her hand.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Thaven grunts as the shark worries his arm, sending blood into the water. He kicks out, trying to stay steady.
He stabs again at the shark! for damage!
Akiki wiggles herself to be a little better positioned, and drives her rapier-gift into the squishiest part of the shark that she can find.
Akiki finally positions herself well enough to wedge the new rapier she has into the flesh of the shark, striking a particularly vulnerable-looking spot with the sharp point of her weapon.
Thaven, however, is much less accurate with his dagger and fails to penetrate the shark's thick hide a third time.
The shark responds in kind to Akiki, whirling around in place to bite at her with its powerful jaws.
Fortunately, she manages to wiggle just far enough away so that it snaps on empty water.
The sea hag attempts to cast a spell defensively, holding herself back from attack by Raijinn...
She holds out a hand and a blasting current flows from it to strike Raijinn and Goffred who are in a relative line in front of her. Raijinn is pushed back five feet from the hag and Goffred is pushed back ten.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Now that the druid stands alone and he doesn't risk ensnaring anyone else, Fredo feels safe conjuring thick cables of spider silk to hold her in place. They fill a whole corner of the cabin, their edge extending just beyond the druid, but close enough to Raijinn for him to grab and pull himself in.
Burahl tries his best to swim closer to the fight, holding out his quarterstaff in his now bulkier arms as he tries to get closer to the shark.
Goffred casts a spell, filling the waterlogged warship with strands of sticky, cloying fiber. Unfortunately, Yvicca is fairly nimble and manages to avoid getting stuck in too much of it. In addition, Raijinn flails and fumbles in the water, the currents working against even his prodigious strength in such a way that he fails to make any progress towards Yvicca, and indeed he sinks downwards.
Burahl, newly-empowered, swims towards the hag with a quarterstaff in hand.
Emmera casts a spell, summoning into form a translucent longsword. The longsword lunges towards Yvicca...
...Unfortunately, it fails to penetrate her tough skin.
Initiative:
Akiki - 21
Thaven - 20
Yvicca and Skinshear - 20
Goffred - 11
Raijinn - 9
Burahl - 8
Emmera - 8
Thaven sort of spins in the water, trying to attack but doing nothing good...
BUMP! BUMP! BUMP!
The struggle against the hag is a difficult one, and bubbles shower the surface from the heavy breathing. After a few moments, Thaven and Akiki manage to kill the shark animal companion, between flanking and stabbing it. Burahl and Raijinn and Goffred manage to, between their spells, damage the hag significantly. The hag's blood colours the already dirty water, and she morphs into a shark and speeds away. She's lost her animal companion and has taken a lot of injury, so she cuts her losses and swims away.
It leaves the ship empty once again.
Fredo waves his hand, and the webbing he had conjured shrivels up and disintegrates, clearing the door deeper into the ship.
"Come on," he says, waving the others down to the door. "The spell won't last forever, and our hostess might come back." He opens the door if he can, and swims inside.
Burahl follows after Goffred, his mutated body still a little odd to behold but it makes him better in swimming and he's able to keep up with the rest.
"Should we split up and search the ship? That would be faster I'd reckon. It seems we might have cleared the most dangerous threat already from the ship." The ratfolk says in bubbles as he nears Goffred.
Our heroes split up and search the ship. There are only a few intact rooms worth searching, still, so everyone is done within ten minutes. In the ship's infirmary, it seems the hag had taken up residence. There are a few fetishes and gatherings of things like animal carcasses and skulls. In addition, there is a single intact coffer, with the image of a human skull emblazoned on its surface. The coffer is about two feet to a side.
In the captain's quarters of the ship, the group finds its first humanoid body. Clad in dark robes, the corpse of a male human floats, pale and decomposing, in the water. A brass holy symbol depicting a plague fly is attached to a leather cord that wraps around his neck.
Fredo makes his way to the infirmary first, and finds himself drawn to the coffer. He gives it a cursory sweep for magic, then, whatever the result, tucks it carefully under his arm. Examining it can wait.
When a call comes from the captain's cabin, Fredo comes, hauling the coffer along. Finding it heavier than expected, he pawns it off on Emmera the first chance he gets. "Be careful with that," he said. "It's sealed, and the seal survived the ship's sinking. I don't want it opened until we're back on dry land." He turns to examine the body.
Thaven hangs back, his dagger out and scanning the murky waters for any more hag-shark duos.