Serpent's Skull:Log
The Journey to Sargava
The adventure began on the Jeneviere, a cargo ship bound for Sargava that had taken on several passengers at various stops. A reserved half-elven woman named Aerys Mavato, a flamboyant gnome named Gelik Aberwhinge, a mousey scholar named Ieana, a Tian Xian man named Ishiru, a vicious Taldan woman named Sasha Nevah, and a Garundi prisoner named Jask Derindi.
The player characters, Richard, Desmond, and Sarek were spending their time aboard looking into the other passengers and crew. Sarek tailed Ishiru and discovered that he was looking at a collection of treasure maps in his spare time. Desmond chatted up Gelik and learned very little about the man he is, but heard a rumor that Ieana was the actual owner of the Jeneviere, and that she was shacking up with Captain Captain Alizandru Kovack. Gelik metnioned that grumblings among the crew sememed to be growing regarding the course of the ship, and that they seemed to be approaching Sargava from the northwest instead of a straight westerly route. Richard followed the scholar Ieana and learned that she was definitely shacking up in the Captain's quarters, but ALSO on a couple of occassions in First Mate Alton Devers's quarters.
Session 1: Shipwrecked
Toilday, Gozran 26th, 4710
An especially tasty meal was served, and the next thing the PCs knew, they were face down on the shore of an island, near the shipwreck of the Jeneviere being attacked by eurypterids on the shore. They dispatched these with little difficulty, then found that the other passengers of the Jenivere had also ended up unconscious on shore. Ishiru seemed concerned that he was missing his maps, but found his scroll case at his side. Sasha didn't seem interested in waking up if she could help it. Gelik and Jask came about without issue. Aerys retched her guts out but managed to come to.
Richard and Aerys set off to recover their equipment from the wreck, and was able to kill a couple of grindylows that appeared to be going through the PC's things. The grindylows were dispatched with few issues and the characters' equipment was retrieved. Whilst there, Richard also looted the Captain's quarters. Though most things had been washed out through a hole in the side of the ship, the captain's desk was too large to flow out. In it, he found a cache of potions, Jask's holy symbol, several of the Captain's miscellaneous belongings, and some gold.
The party collectively agreed to set up a camp, and Desmond and Sarek set out to scout and find food. They weren't especially successful hunting, but they did spot smoke off the far southern side of the island (which they ascertained to be about 8-9 miles long and 3-4 miles wide, with a crescent-shaped bay, several sizeable hills, and one mountain toward the center of the south side).
The party set up a camp and read the Captain's Log. In the log, the captain initially starts out very matter-of-fact statistics about the voyage (the sort of thing one would expect from a Captain's log), but as the log goes on, more and more of the log is filled with musings about Ieana, progressing to terrible love poems, obsession, anger at the "mutinous First Mate" who seems to be stealing her attention, fantasies about all the "accidents" that could befall the aforementioned first mate, and, eventually, a single-minded press to beach the ship at Smuggler's Shiv. Gelik suggested that charm magic is the most obvious reason for the Captain's sudden shift to single-minded obsession.
As night fell, a light rain fell with it. In the distance, drums could be heard, and when Sarek climbed a tree at the top of the hill to look out, he saw the flickering light of a large fire in the distant south of the island. They decided to set watches - Ishiru initially volunteer, then retracted his volunteering when it was decided that watches would be in pairs. The first watch was Sarek and Jask, and it went quietly without issue. During the second watch, Richard deflected questions from Sasha, who was obsessed with the fact that he had a father and no mother, arguing that didn't make since, since babies come from mothers, not fathers, so it seems like if one parent were out of the picture, it would be the mother. When they completed their watch, they discovered that Ishiru had left the camp. While the party argued regarding how this happened and why, they were attacked by a group of cannibals (all of whom seemed to be of Chelish bent). They were able to kill three of the six attackers, but the others fled.
Session 2: The Island
Wealday, Gozran 27th
The party took a vote to determine if they should break camp or remain in place. Sasha and Jask didn't want to clear camp, but were outvoted and both agreed they'd rather be with the others than stick with their preferred choice. The party moved and relocated to a hill some distance from where they started. They agreed they would scout ahead (the large group was slowing them down considerably) and that Gelik would signal them with lights atop the hill after dark.
Throughout the morning, it was noted that Aerys seemed to be doing poorly. After some speculation and questioning whether she was pregnant, she admitted that she needed a drink badly. Richard provided her with some brandy, which she downed. She seemed to feel better thereafter.
The party continued on and encountered a great monitor lizard called a "shiv dragon" (after the shiv islands off the coast of Sargava). The creature seriously injured Richard, but the party was able to kill it and otherwise emerge unscathed. They continued on until they found what appeared to be a camp made by the captain and Ieana. They found some of Ieana's scarves as well as the captain's tricorn hat (which Richard claimed immediately). Sarek attempted to track the two, but realized that only the captain's set of footprints were human. The other set included a tail, prompting Sarek to recall details of his past.
The party continued on to a nearby hill ridge, where they saw the remains of a derelect nearby. They decided to investigate and were attacked by half a dozen zombies, which nearly killed them all. Sarek was able to finish off the last few, and after licking their wounds, they found a coffer clutched by a skeleton that contained a fine dagger, a locket containing a cameo of a beautiful elf woman, and a ledger that appeared to contain records of an extortion racket by the captain of the ship (the Brine Demon) and the authorities of Eledar in Sargava.
The party continued on until they fell prey to a trap. While Desmond was able to avoid the damaging part of the trap, he was almost lugged up the hill by a pair of cannibals. The party drove them off without much difficulty.
The party ascended the hill and found a hut, which they approached with very little stealth. Inside, they found piles of bones, human teeth nailed into the walls, and an ancient, crumbling leather bound journal, the contents of which were largely unreadable, save for the following lines:
...many survived, the Thrune’s Fang will never sail again. Sargava’s assimilation must proceed without...
...fine hunting on the Shiv, but the bugs are a constant distraction. Nylithati’s skills at healing help fight the sickness, but I fear she has...
...founded. Nylithati has seized control of my crew. They are hers now. And so I have abandoned...
...fine home. Fresh water nearby and I need not endure Nylithati’s ceaseless raving about...
...will not be returning to that gray, silent island again. There is nothing there but horror...
...crew lurking about the area. They seem strange, almost feral. It has been almost a decade since the wreck. I wonder what strange beliefs Nylithati has...
...changed. There was no sign of Nylithati in the camp, but the focus of their ceremony was a cauldron they must have salvaged from the Thrune’s Fang at the base of the ruined lighthouse. It was into this they threw the half-eaten body of the still screaming man...
...all around. I can hear them chanting in the green even now. They call Nylithati “Mother Thrunefang” now, and promise me immortality if I lay down my arms and submit. I know what their immortality consists of, and I’ll have no part of that corrupt life after...
The party decided to make their way back to camp, but encountered the tengu Pezock, who was butchering a goat and singing a jaunty tune in Polyglot about butchering goats. After some discussion (and some very impressive mimicry), he agreed to break bread with him back at his hideout. On the way, they passed the camp whereat the crew of the Crow's Tooth. Pezock insisted that the cannibals ate his crew (and that he became the captain because most of the others were killed). He claimed, variously, that cannibals ONLY eat their own kind ("human cannibals eat humans") but that his captain, who was eaten by cannibals, was a beautiful tengu with long red feathers. When this contradiction was pointed out, he slapped his head several times in frustration or confusion.
They returned to the camp, where they discussed their options, eventually agreeing to all seek out the captain at the mountain. During the night, Sasha and Desmond spotted a human-sized thing with great bat wings, but didn't bring this up until later in the day when they encountered a goat drained of all its blood. Pezock said that the creature was the "Red Mountain Devil," a great lizard-thing with bat wings.
Oathday, Gozran 28th
They got to the mountain, and Pezock and Sarek made their way up. From their vantage point, they were able to spot a hill with only a single banyan tree at the top (on the far western side of the island), a hill where it appeared someone had been digging and making a camp (in the northeast of the mountain) and a lighthouse with surrounding buildings (in the far southwest of the island). There was some discussion regarding whether they were going to be going to the camp on the northeast side of the island (which they presumed to be Ishiru) or the buildings on the west side of the island (which they presumed to be the cannibal camp). Desmond outed Sarek for having personal revenge-based reasons for wanting to seek out the captain and Ieana. He admitted that his family had been slain by someone -or something- that had left tracks like Ieana's.
The party planned an ambush against the cannibals. The plan they hatched was for Richard and Aerys to approach from the north, with Richard freaking out to terrify the cannibals. Prior to that, Sarek, Gelik, Pezock and Desmond would appraoch from the southeast, allowing them to ambush whatever cannibals were in the houses to the southeast. Meanwhile, Sasha and Jask would remain concealed in the northeast of the camp, allowing them to move in for ambush if necessary. The session ended right before the party could effect the plan.
Session 3: The Cannibal Camp
The party made good on their ambush, with Sarek and Pezock ambushing a shaman in the hut in the southeast and taking the shaman hostage. Jask and Sasha managed to befriend a shiv dragon and set it loose on cannibals. Richard and Aerys beat the snot out of some cannibals up in a tower, and the cannibals that came to their aid. Richard threw cannibals at them. Desmond and Gelik managed to sneak into a prison hut and kill several cannibals. After they had whittled down the cannibals, they were attacked by their chieftain, who smashed the party pretty well, defeating, but not killing, nearly every member of the party, PC or otherwise. They were able to defeat him, finally, and they melted the shaman with the hot cauldron. Richard burned down their main hut. They checked the lighthouse and determined that it could be fixed with a couple days' work (Pezock insisted that he could fix it faster given the materials, as he was a "ship's engineer" at some point). The party liberated about 600 gp worth of treasure from the light house.
The party planned to explore a pit that led to caverns at the base of the lighthouse.
Session 4: The Hidden Shrine
The party passed a rope down into the pit, wasting no time, and brought with them Pezzock as he was uninjured in the fracas. Pre-entrance observations of the cavern suggested that it was a tidal cave. They descended into a cavern that appeared natural and was strewn with bones, broken weapons and scraps of clothing, varying in age from very old indeed to perhaps a week or less old. While the party was getting their bearing and preparing a torch (and Pezzock scoured the room for shiny things) they heard something shambling towards them and sniffing. Two pustule-covered hound-like creatures attacked them immediately. One sprayed Desmond with a disgusting mist of filthy fluids when attacked. The party overcame them (attempting to bludgeon them rather than puncture more of the boils on the creatures), and, before continuing deeper into the caverns, Pezzock presented them with a "treasure map" he found that contained a confession allegedly penned by Alizandru Kovack. Jask came down into the caverns with them after seeing the creatures below. He declared that it was his solemn duty to put these creatures to rest.
The next chamber, joined by a narrow, natural corridor, had several recessed hewn alcoves full of fetid seawater, in two of the six of which were bodies that appeared to be in the process of transforming into ghouls. Jask cast a blessing on them to prevent this transformation, which cause them to resume the normal appearance of corpses. They continued into another cavern which had a descent into a tidal pool and look at least partially artificial along its north face. A few large oysters had taken up residence in the water, and Richard obtained two large (if somewhat irregular) red pearls from them. While he was doing so, Desmond and Tsarek realized a pair of ghouls - one of which was the captain himself - were preparing to ambush them. As the ghouls leaped out, they were able to turn the ambush against them and attack first. The ghouls focused largely on Richard and Jask, and the party defeated them. When Jask explained that he was running out of magic for the day, Tsarek offered him a magic dagger to give him at least some combat ability.
They continued into the cavern where it took on a decidedly more artificial appearance, with a hallway that had one turn off at the end, and one partway down. They were attacked by three more ghouls - one of which was wearing a ceremonial robe of black velvet with a red lining and green fringe as well as an amulet and a ring. The party fought these hard, and was eventually able to defeat them, although Pezzock was badly wounded and Robert was nearly paralyzed by the ghouls' powers. A small additional chamber had carvings of snakes on the walls as well as a hymn to the ancient serpent deity Ydersius (which Jask was able to identify with his comprehend languages spell).
They continued further into an intricately carved chamber. The chamber was a long, broad hallway with four pillars, each with a carved stone serpent coiling around it. On each side of the chamber were two large steel cages that could each comfortably hold four to six human-sized occupants. At the far end of the chamber, there was a great set of double doors entering the mouth of an enormous asp. The doors were left open and, as the party approached, a sulfur and brimstone smell could still be detected in the air. Within was a smaller circular chamber containing an altar and spectacularly vivid painted hieroglyphics. These depicted serpentmen enslaving humans and sacrificing them on altars. It also depicted them praying before great monoliths, sending storms to smash ships full of terrified humans against the rocks of the island and smash their homes and flood their temples. Jask offered blessings at this altar to desecrate it and, after some discussion of whether it would be best to also place a trap in the chamber for the next worshiper to come, there was a sudden tremor and the noise of rushing water.
The party made their way out (following Richard, who was enthusiastic about leaving the chamber) and realized that the water in the tide pool chamber had receded down about fifty feet lower into the pool. They discussed briefly seeing if there was anything concealed on the swim out to the ocean, but moved back to the entrance, where Gelik suggested they needed to see what had happened. When they came up, he explained that there had been a rush of wind and suddenly the water on the island had receded away, creating an impossible bowl formation of water around the island. It was clear that leaving the island - or even being rescued - would be impossible until this was rectified and the party surmised that they were trapped. Gelik noted that he saw a lightning bolt strike on or near the island on the eastern side of the island immediately before the water receded.
They decided to rest for the night and established watches. During Richard and Tsarek's watch, a dimorphodon (a small human-sized pterodactyl) which Richard briefly grabbed. Sasha and Desmond were awakened by this and, after Sasha and Tsarek both failed to calm the thrashing beast, they let the creature go. Sasha declared that she wanted one of those immediately. Tsarek suggested that this would be difficult and Sasha explained that an egg would be ideal and that if the parents of the creature objected, she could kill them. Tsarek asked how she would feel if a child were taken from its mother and raised to be an assassin. She suggested that maybe this had happened to her, and that she thought it was great. Richard decided he wanted to EAT a dimorphodon egg. All fully disgruntled, they decided to sleep.
Fireday, Gozran 29th
In the morning, they took a vote on how to proceed. It was briefly suggested that Ishiru should be sought out, as he was something of a deserter and thoroughly untrustworthy, but the group decided that the best approach would be to focus on threats - whatever was preventing them from leaving the island. They followed the cannibals trods toward the eastern side of the island, having promised Sasha they would get a pterosaur egg if they saw an opportunity.
The party made their way east. Along the way, they encountered Ishiru, who emerged hands up from the foliage. After an initial completely transparent lie that he was simply scouting the island, Ishiru admitted that he had been seeking treasure, which he believed had already been stolen by someone. After they suggested that he was obviously only seeking them out because he needed something, Ishiru admitted that he had built a raft, but could not get off the island with the water such as it was. He explained that it was his intent to split the treasure with the rest of the party if they would help him, and, in turn, he would help them. They begrudgingly agreed to let him join the party. He mentioned that he had killed two of the barbarians and no one was impressed.
The party stopped briefly when a pterosaur nest was located atop a tree. Richard, Tsarek and Sasha all shimmied up, discovering three eggs. Richard gave one to a delighted Sasha and ate another raw, thoroughly enjoying it. Sasha declared obnoxiously that she got was she wanted, prompting Aerys to beg Richard for a pull of brandy. Richard gave her about half of what she wanted, to her disappointment.
The party continued toward the mountain where Gelik had seen the lightning strike, arriving around noon. They made their way up the mountain, from whence they were able to spot a group of standing stones on the shores to the north near the mouth of a small river on the shorts of the bay. As they scouted the area, a great winged creature flew overhead, circling menacingly. Pezzock declared it was the "Red Mountain Devil" and became afraid. The party went for cover to hide, with Richard choosing a questionable position and the creature began swooping towards him.
Session 5: The Temple Beneath the Cove
The party faced the winged chupacabra and bested it. The creature retreated after first trying to make off with Gelik. They pursued the creature down near where the standing stones are located. The creature, however, emerged from its lair and, with Jask's Comprehend Languages spell, he was able to determine that the creature wanted to give the party a bribe to allow it to live. The party decided to leave the creature be and accept the bribe, which consisted of a mithril hook designed to be connected to a severed hand (which Ishiru kept), a brass sextant, a +1 buckler with a skull & crossbones on it, an efficient quiver full of arrows (20 normal, 9 cold iron arrows, 7 +1 arrows, two +2 arrows and an aberration slaying arrow) a javelin of lightning, a masterwork composite longbow (+3 Str), and 246 sp, 234 gp and 13 pp. The party divvied this treasure.
The party climbed down to where the water had receded from the bay and noted not only the sunken ship within the cove, but also a pair of great doors depicting images of vampires. The party approached the ship and were verbally accosted by a brash ooze elemental mephit named Ekubus who claimed to be the captain of the vessel. It was notable that he claimed to have cannons (but there was no evidence that they were functional) and his "crew" consisted of miscellaneous sea creatures. Desmond sneaked up on him and he surrendered immediately. He explained that a snake-tailed woman had gone through the "scary doors." While in Ekubus' ship, Desmond found a coiled silver rope, mysteriously undamaged even after apparent years of being submerged.
The party approached the large doors, which depicted vampiric demons feasting on maidens. Jask suggested that it was likely related to a cult of demon worshipers. The party agreed that sounded likely as not. As the door was ajar, Jask, Ishiru, Desmond, Richard and Sarek entered the temple. They immediately encountered a pair of javelin hurling skeletons with little to no self-preservation drive who threw their javelins and promptly fell to their near deaths before being finished off by the party. They found a hidden trap door with bones and spikes below (accompanied by fetid odors), but were forced to close it when some sort of unseen force tried to make its way up and force its way out.
They continued down the hallway and up a set of stairs. They avoided several pit traps before coming to a room with a blood fountain in the middle of it. They heard a faint whirring and ticking noise in the room and left before the doors slammed shut and the sounds of grinding came from within. When the doors reopened, they were able to locate buttons on the pillars in the room that, when pressed, seemed to disable the trap. Through the doors beyond, they encounter a serpentfolk woman wearing the familiar robes of Ieana the scholar from the ship. She regarded them with some slight surprise and cast and enthrall spell to ensure that combat would happen on her terms and schedule.
Session 6: Fighting a Snake Lady
The party asked Ieana what she was doing, and she explained that the temple contained inscriptions that she believed would take her to the hidden location of Azlantean ruins. She explained that the cultists of the Demon Lord Zura who inhabited this island previously were exiles from the Azlantean city of Saventh-Yhi, where an ancient Azlnati hero overcame the serpent god Ydersius and severed his head, leaving his body to writhe and twist its way through the Darklands to this day. However, she explained that she believed that if the head of this grim god could be found, it could be reattached and bring about a new age of serpents. Ieana further explained that she had been decoding this information and determined that Saventh-Yhi was protected from location somehow, but that the cultists seemed to know of another city that they could use to locate it and gain access.
The party asked why she beached their boat and killed everyone aboard and she explained in a matter of fact manner that the "stupid egotistical monkeys" were largely beneath her notice and it was just a convenient way to get to Smuggler's Shiv. She then went on to explain that she would enthrall one or more of them to assist her in leaving the island. She indicated that Ishiru (whom she referred to as "young man" in what may have been an attempt at humor) would do nicely.
At this point, Tsarek asked her about whether she was near Carptown at some point and she stated that she had been in the vicinity, but that she could not be bothered to remember every detail of her less important activities. He clarified that his wife and four-year-old daughter had been killed, and Ieana recognized, based on his explanation, that Tsarek's late wife had been the source of her information on the whereabouts of the temple of Zura she was seeking. Tsarek demanded to know if she had instructed her henchman to kill his family, or if it had been incidental, and Ieana explained that they were beneath her notice, so she did not care (nor, for that matter, did she care about the henchman Tsarek killed). She alluded to the fact that there had been other Serpentfolk present and that they had separated back in Varisia.
While she spoke, Ieana edged closer to a statue of an emaciated bat-woman-thing on the far end of the chamber and, after gathering a cupped handful of blood from the stream on the floor, smeared it on the lips of the statue, causing her to immediately become somewhat insubstantial. Several skeletons rose from the bloody stream that emptied into the underground river at the other end of the chamber, and Richard and Jask made short work of them. Early in the fight, Ieana enthralled Ishiru and they were forced to disarm him. Richard used his lightning javelin and the party members were poisoned several times over by Ieana's fangs. Eventually, though, they overcame her and, after Desmond impaled her on his blade, Richard curb-stomped her to ensure that she was well and truly dead. Tsarek used the glass dagger he had found long ago on the cultists to extract some of Ieana's blood and also pried out one of her fangs as a trophy. They pried a couple of whispering rubies from the eyes of the statue and left the cave by way of the underground river, which emptied into the waterfall.
The party filled their companions in on the situation and Gelik suggested that for such an enlightened superior being, all of Ieana's plans were incredibly short-sighted and seemed to be predicated on the assumption that the bridges she burned behind her would never be a problem (demonstrably false, since the survivors of the ship she beached had, y'know, killed her). He helped the party identify several of the magic items they found on Ieana.
The party returned to the lighthouse, where they worked to complete its construction. During this time, Gelik went over Ieana's notes with Tsarek and determined that they were fairly specific about the location of the ruins. With the proper maps, he believed it would not be difficult to find them. He then explained that he was a member of the Pathfinder Society, and that they would have a keen interest in the ruins. Together, he explained, they could form an expedition and uncover the incredible secrets of the past as well as incredible treasure. Ishiru suggested that he knew how best to fund an expedition, and that they could become very wealthy indeed from a successful excavation of ancient ruins. The ruins, unfortunately, would be located somewhere in the Mwangi Expanse - the vast jungles of norther Garund.
While rebuilding the lighthouse (a task Pezzock was remarkably useful for architecturally), Tsarek spoke with Jask, who admitted that upon returning to civilization, he believes he will be executed. Jask explained that he was involved in smuggling, but when the operation went south, he was scapegoated by corrupt Sargavan officials so that they could evade responsibility. He suggested, however, that if Tsarek were to allow the Sargavan government to have control of an expedition to Azlantean ruins, they would almost certainly be willing to mete out a pardon. Tsarek conceded that Jask had likely saved their lives - and his particularly - several times over, and that he would do whatever he could to help Jask. Desmond and Richard were generally amicable to this idea. Jask also warned that Ishiru bore a tattoo hidden on his shoulder that marked him as an affiliate of the Aspis Consortium, a trade organization As they returned to camp, Aerys approached them and explained that, as a member of the Free Captains of the Shackles (whose ship was tragically lost), Aerys explained that she has the ear of the Hurricane King of the Pirate Counsel, and that he would be very interested in the sort of treasure that could be liberated from Azlantean ruins.
No one asked, nor wanted to ask, Sasha why SHE would no doubt also want to be involved in an expedition.