Davek Uldrow

Half-Elf Warlock - Celestial Pact of the Tome / Played By Fredo Gallardo

## **Appearance**

A surprisingly fit Half-Elven male, standing at 5 feet and 11 inches (1.80M) tall.

Disheveled jet black hair and beard that is longer than it should be. Despite his fair complexion, there is a small concentration of freckles around his nose and cheeks suggesting he spent more time in the outdoors early in his youth.

Dressed in simple dark colored outfit comprised of a long sleeved collared shirt, fitted pants, and an overcoat that goes just above the knee's. The outfit practically has function over fashion written all over it and the aroma's of old books and medicinal's emanate from his person.

The overcoat has a number of pockets on the inside and is loose fitted which gives enough room for a leather sling that wraps around his body to secures a tome bound in strange bleached leather and ivory capped corners. On the right, the sling is a leather pack that holds a number of items he uses for research purposes.

## **Background**

Davek was born in Himoor which is a city within Asland, the vassal state to Alendaria. Of mixed race origins, Davek is the product of the union between a Human Male named Eren and a Female Elf named Lilith.

When Eren was just a child, the village of Aramoor was plagued with a disease that quickly spread and afflicted the common folk. Fearing the disease would reach Himoor and eventually the rest of Asland, the research facility in Himoor sent their top researcher, Lilith, to aid in finding a cure.

Lilith, a pathogenic researcher in the Himoor Research Facility, was successful in her search for a cure and was able to eradicate the disease over time, saving the village of Aramoor and its people. Her actions inspired Eren to pursue the study of medicine and eventually become an accomplished herbalist. His success as an herbalist would eventually lead him to Himoor where he would open his own apothecary and where he would eventually be reunited once again with Lilith.

With every passing year Eren, now a full grown adult, soon realized that his feelings of respect for Lilith now also carried a romantic nature to them. It wasn't long before the bond they had through mutual respect and common interests evolved into much more and they were soon wed. A few short years later, Davek would be born.

Growing up, Davek had a fairly normal childhood and spent the majority of his early life assisting his father at the Apothecary where he learned the trade of herbalism. Years later, once he was old enough, Davek would be invited by his mother to join her in the Himoor Research Facility where he was assigned to his mother's team and becoming the youngest researcher in the facility in its history. It was clear from the beginning that Davek was a prodigy and thanks to his knowledge of herbalism, that he learned from his father, he was able to assist in ways some of the senior researchers could not. Overtime Davek would develop an interest in magic and the arcane which he eventually decided to dedicate his full attention to.

Years went on and eventually his father passed of old age. Distraught at the loss of his father, Davek buried himself further into his work with his mother unable to console him. It was during this period that strange artifacts were found within the facility during renovation projects in the old sectors. His mother would soon after inform Davek of the artifacts that were found in the hopes that it would help him cope with the loss of his father. As fate would have it, it was one of these finds that led to his decision to leave home and explore the surrounding world.

## **Personality**

Davek firmly believes the path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. Because of this, when most people would scream and/or run away when they see a demon, he would stop and take notes on its anatomy. It's obvious he hasn't spent a lot of time in the outside world and, given his profession as an herbalist and researcher, most regular and daily interactions whether financial, social, or physical usually aren't fully understood or reacted to appropriately by Davek. As most would say, he fully understands things as they are written but not as they truly are. Nicknamed the absent minded prodigy, his lack of street smarts often get him into troublesome situations in the new world as he explores it.

Even though he lacks common sense, Davek is a kind and gentle soul that truly wants nothing more than to learn the ways of the world and all the secrets he hopes to uncover. Despite his kind nature there is something rather mechanical about Davek's logic. He understands that everything has a cost and believes strongly that in order to gain something, you must first be willing to sacrifice something of equal value.

## **The Story So Far...**

### **Session 35 - Back to the Free City**

For what has felt like weeks, Davek had been stranded in the free city of Penca. Although he had the sufficient funds to pay someone to provide safe passage to any of the other kingdoms or countries the war between the Alendarians and Ciratheans made it almost impossible to secure a way out of the city. With many ships, air and sea faring alike, deciding to stay docked and travel by land being reported as dangerous during times of war preventing any merchants or transportation from leaving the free city, Davek was beginning to feel like he was never going to be able to get out. He was worried about his mother, but he knew that Asland would not likely get pulled in to aid Alendaria this soon into the conflict, but that worry soon shifted to what he realized was his only way out of the city, pirates.

Davek knew he couldn't trust any regular band of bandits by land, not only because he wouldn't be able to trust him but because the linear travel path would limit the amount of exit strategies should they run into any troubles. His only hope was to find a airship crew willing to take him aboard as part of the crew and join them long enough to learn about all the places he would be able to visit, assuming he'd be allowed off the ship. Despite his willing to work as a deckhand or any hand for that matter on an airship, most ships and their captains saw him as more of a nuisance given his lack of experience.

Defeated and not knowing where else to turn, he overheard a group of adventurer's talking about returning to their ship, The Corsair. Taking a chance and hoping that they were indeed heading out of the free city of Penca and out into the open world, Davek hurried closely behind them where he was just barely able to catch up to them and submit his application as a potential crew mate. Although he was initially turned down due to his lack of experience, there was something twinkling in the eyes of a large blue man and an alabaster colored horned tiefling. At the mention of potentially paying for passage, the two jumped at the opportunity asking for 300 gold to consider his offer. Not wanting to get tricked like he had with the previous group he tried to join he offered half up front with the potential to repay his debt with his work. The group agreed and led Davek to the Corsair where he was introduced to Korinn and the rest of the crew. He explained that he had some experience as a medic and was given the seal of approval from the woman he would now call Captain Korinn.

Not long after setting himself up off in a corner towards the bow of the ship, below deck, he overheard that they would be heading to a keep that had recently come under the ownership of a one of the crew that was able to change her appearance to match the seasons of Ningonde. During their expedition Davek was pleased to see Penca eventually disappear on the horizon as they left it behind them, at least until they were near their location and a humming noise began to permeate throughout the entire ship affecting the crew.

Upon arriving at their destination the crew gathered their equipment and prepared to disembark, Davek was having second thoughts. Not wanting to be stranded or left behind, he swallowed his fear and proceeded closely behind the crew. The smell of decay was the first thing that hit their senses, followed by the sight of corpses of humanoid and creature alike. Deciding to have a better look at the surrounding area, Davek assisted in lighting the area by casting light on a Tortles claw like digit. Moments later the sound of claws rattling dozens of times on the walls and ceiling, the new source of light revealing that the sound was coming from 2 carrion crawlers that were preparing to attack. The Crew made short work of the crawlers and noticed multiple mutilated corpses near them. It was obvious they had been victims of the carrion's or other beasts potentially in the area.

A short time of exploring in the keep, the crew were able to find what appeared to be the armory and a number of empty rooms. Some of the rooms had a few statues of armor sets that seemed suspicious but in the end were nothing to worry about. A trap door was discovered and set off successfully, and a floating eye appeared that they had to kill.

### **Session 36 - The Liberation of Bârad Galador; or, a dance with devils**

Still at the keep, the crew continued their mission to eradicate the monsters within so that Pollae could inherit it. Exploring further the smell of fresh blood filled their noses and eventually found what appeared to be a treasury. The crew decided that since it was Pollae's keep, she was the owner of what was within the keep. Pollae did agree to share what she could once they liberate it and it's under her control. Majority of the treasure was behind a very secure door and it took the collaboration of the entire crew to get it to open, they were not disappointed.

Pushing forward Pollae lights a few torches to illuminate a room where they are all face to face with another foe, a stone Golem. A tough fight, the crew managed to overcome the challenge despite it being one of their more difficult fights and pushed onward to a library like room. Davek found a book with general information on the history of the keep along with a few rituals that could come in handy to him later as well as strange symbols drawn on the floor that he was only just able to determine was a teleportation circle of a high level.

Still moving through the keep they eventually see movement in the darkness. The crew attempts to light a torch but is then hit by a fireball that Davek counters with a spell. The demon like creature then makes an attack against both Pollae and Scurbiron.

### **Session 37 - An Unwanted House Guest**

The demon introduced himself as the current lord of the keep and as the room illuminated it was made apparent that he wasn't alone and was accompanied by two other minions. Fighting a demon was no easy task and the majority of the party was down before the battle was one. In time, the two minions were downed and Jefferey, the Tortle expended all of its power to keep the crew on their feet. By the end of the battle the demon was downed and the downed crew were stabilized and brought back from the brink of death.

Following the combat scenario and once fully rested, the whole crew worked together to remove the corpses from the keep while Davek used Prestidigitation to clean the keep of all the blood and unwanted waste. Taking time to himself, Davek read the book that he found and informed Pollae on the geneology of the family once responsible for the keep.  They were allies of the sovereign city of Wamor and were very wealthy.  The family were given the keep due to their favor with the king and it was used as a trading outpost/hub between Penca and Wamor.

After the crew were able to rest and treat their wounds the crew stationed 6 of the ships crew, including Jareth and Jermano, to watch over the keep while the rest of the crew went to the free city of Penca to purchase supplies.

Arriving in Penca the crew was surprised to find that the inhabitants were reacting suspiciously towards the crew, in particular to Pollae, Unkgill, and Scurbiron. Other than the suspicious activity the crew noticed that the amount of guards in the city had also increased. Figuring that the only place they could see a friendly face would be at "The Merciful Rope" Inn and Tavern, they crew headed there to speak with Jefferey the owner. Jefferey informed them that there was a surprisingly large bounty that was placed on each one of the crew.

Realizing that most eyes are on them, the crew became aware of the gravity of the bounty on their heads. One set of eyes in particular, from a stranger sitting at a table at their own, grabbed their attention. Orev, the blue, approached the stranger to question the reason for the stares. The stranger stood up and walked towards the crew only to slam a wadded piece of paper in the center. They learned, as it was made clear to them before, that there was a bounty on their heads. Specifically the bounty was about 1,000 GP per each of the original crew members. Being new to the crew Orev and Davek were not part of the bounty, however since they were accompanying them it brought unwanted attention to them as well.

Choosing to persuade the bounty hunter to forget that she saw them and join them instead, the crew invited her to sit down and join them for a few drinks. The bounty hunter introduced herself as Dax and explained that if the crew could cover the cost of the bounty, that she would consider not turning them in.

Offering Dax the chance to draw from the deck instead of monetary compensation, the offer was too much for Dax to resist. Jefferey approached the bar with a bottle of high proof Boar's Breath and poured a round of drinks. Davek immediately became intoxicated as the rest of the crew drew cards. Magical stuff ensued with Dax gaining a loyal servant, Orev being imbued with a strange power, Scurbiron having gems spawning before his very eyes, and Davek having lost a bit of his senses.

The crew then went on their way to get some shopping done to resupply the ship and their new keep. Scurbiron sold some of his gems and rewarded the crew with some spare coin. After exiting the shop the crew made their way back tot he ship and noticed they were being tailed. Figuring the best way to avoid them would be to split up, Orev and Davek branched up through the crowds with both of them collaborating to distract the guards and break away. Using prestidigitation to create a small ball of confetti that eventually exploded into a bright ball of light, the heavily armored guards were distracted long enough for Orev and Davek to meet back on the ship with the crew.

### **Session 38 - Where to now?**

Finally back at the ship, the new crew mates are informed about what they are looking for. The Corsair is currently on a mission to secure four magical disks. Although two of these disks are present and accounted for, the third disks exact location became unknown as soon as a crew mate named Rinari suddenly disappeared, while the fourth has yet to be found. Assuming the third disk would be hidden somewhere on their ship during the Corsair's escape from Cheptyd the city of gardens, the crew began scouring the ship for any nook and cranny where the disk could be hidden in. Orev, remembering that when Rinari disappeared she left all her belongings in place, decided to reach out to the captain who was currently keeping Rinari's possessions secured in her quarters.

Korinn was extremely skeptical of Orev's intentions but as they continued to discuss the potential of finding either the disk or information of its whereabouts other members of the crew overheard and joined in trying to convince the captain to at least have a look, in private. With the crew assembled before the captain, Korinn takes Rinari's bag of holding and slowly opens it staring into the nothingness within. Moments later Korinn turned the back upside down near the floor where the contents of the bag of holding slowly began to spill out, starting with her clothes and coin purse and then an assortment of personal belongings and other magical items. Unfortunately, the disk was nowhere to be seen. Noticing the spellbook among the supplies, Davek figured there might be something of interest scrawled among the spells tried to convince Korinn that he would only need an hour and would not leave her sight to prevent any mistrust between them. Korinn agreed and Davek looked through the notes, scrawling some of his own notes in his own book, but didn't find anything that could say where the disk was or how it can be located. Still determined, Davek began wandering the ship and approached each of the wizards in charge of controlling the ships movement and defenses in the hopes that they may have a spell that could use or help him learn for his own use but again, to no avail. A bit more deterred, Unkgill soon bumped into Davek and he convinced him that he should probably search within the city. Given that Davek wasn't specifically targeted in the bounty, he should be fine and unbothered.

After submitting his weapons, Davek makes his way to the magic shop and begins a conversation with the shop keeper. Unbeknownst to Davek, Unkgill was following closely and stealthily behind to avoid being seen and to make sure Davek was unharmed during his errand. After explaining his needs, the shopkeeper took advantage of the greenhorn and charged Davok 300 GP for the scroll. Davek, not being a complete idiot but not being used to transactions knew that cantrip and first level spell scrolls should be significantly cheaper, though since he wasn't 100% sure attempted to haggle with his second ingot. Before he could finish what he was saying a coin purse hit Davek on the side of the head, not knowing where the purse came from he pocketed it for the time being and finished his transaction with the shop keeper. Making his way back to the ship, Unkgill continued to follow closely behind Davek but soon found that both of them were being followed. Making a break for it, Unkgill cut through some of the alleyways to lose his pursuer but it took a bit longer for Davek to realize he was actually being followed. The moment Davek realizes he's being followed he thinks of a quick plan and ducks behind an barrel located in a side alley. Not the stealthiest of individuals, the pursuer's footsteps get closer and closer, putting his plan into action Davek creates three illusionary to show a narcotic, a sickening smell, and a cloud of smoke. Once found, Davek jumps out from his hiding spot and blows the cloud of smoke in his face while explaining that it was a powerful narcotic and dispelling 2 affects to show sparks and bursts of color in front of the guard who, now worried, slumped to the ground. Running out of the alley and towards the ship, Davek trips over a small object but still runs off to the ship at full speed.

Back on the Corsair, Davek meets up with Orev after taking a couple of hours to decipher the other ritual spells he found in Rinari's spellbook. Casting the Detect Magic spell, the two combed through the ship and investigated any and all magic blips that Davek could sense. Over the course of an hour they were eventually able to find something hidden beneath a plank in the wall and found a chest. Unable to open the chest itself, Davek and Orev took the chest to Korinn and explained that this is most likely what they were searching for. Pleased with their discovery, Korinn took the chest from the two as Davek explained that there was also something else that had been tailing the ship since their departure from Penca. Ordering Davek to notify her as soon as the object was floating above them near the masts, Davek exclaimed as soon as it was and Korinn let out a furious dragon breath that sent a small imp like creature tumbling down to the deck.

Attempting to restrain it, Orev was injured in the process, but once fully restrained was able to communicate with it by speaking in Infernal. After a brief series of questions and switching to common, the imp explained that his master had been using it to track the Corsair's movements for some time. Unable to gather any further information due to its masters strong influence, the crew decided the best course of action would be to release the imp and see where it flies towards. Struggling to fly away with it's injured wing, Orev commanded his familiar to follow the wounded imp back to it's master. As he scryed through the eyes of his familiar, Orev eventually saw who the pursuers were.

### **Session 39 - Followed**

Orev, not able to hear or see since he was using his familiar's senses, described who he saw on the deck and Pollae, Scurbiron, and Unkgill were able to identify the pursuer as Lady Thema. Explaining that a run in with Lady Thema could be extremely dangerous Davek, feeling he may not have another chance depending on how the encounter will unveil, fished out the small coin purse he had thrown at him and returned it to Unkgill. Davek explained he knew it was his since it reeked of Boars Breath and had bits of wheat inside.

Deciding to prolong any meetup with Lady Thema in the foreseeable future, the Corsair continued on it's way towards its next destination. The further north the Corsair went, the more noticeably cold the weather was getting. Realizing he didn't have much in the way of clothes, Davek approached the captain to explain both the change of the weather and for information regarding their pursuers. Korinn explained that there should be at least a few spare coats or warm clothes suitable for their approaching terrain in the stowage room and ask Scurbiron about it. Scurbiron explained that there isn't any clothing or warm materials in stow to which Korinn could only exhale in annoyance. The captain figured the best course would be to head to the islands surrounding the arctic area which is known for it's small outposts of trappers and traders. Deciding on the closest one to them, Pollae plotted the course and they were on the way. Davek had one other thing to ask the captain regarding Lady Thema, but his order was to let Orev know that she should continue to keep an eye on their pursuer.

Nearing the island outpost, the captain explained to the crew that the ship would not be able to reach their eventual destination due to the harsh weather conditions. She explained that although they will be able to get the ship rather close, that the final leg of their journey would have to be made on foot, so stocking up on equipment and protection from the elements was everyone's responsibility. Davek, went below deck to work with the remainder of his materials to create as many healing potions as he could.

*Unbeknownst to Davek: Dax tries to convince the captain that to let her lay claim to Rinari's remaining possessions, unsuccessfully. Although Korinn did agree that the bag of holding would be useful to the crew during their journey and so handed it to Scurbiron.*

Unkgill, having learned a few new recipes and acquired some necessary materials, opened up his bar and got many of the crew rightfully drunk while Davek continued with his potion crafting. During the celebration, they heard an alarm from up in the crows nest where it was made aware to them that there was a war ship 1km off of their location belonging to the Order of the Heavenly Sword. Jumping into action, the crew began loading cannons, prepping the crew, and increasing their speed. Seeing that there were clouds higher up that could obscure their location, the ship was ordered higher up to move stealthily towards their destination. Fortunately the crew was successfully able to pass unseen, making it to the trapper outpost of Fatun (Fah-Toon) without incident.

Upon landing, the ship went to go stock up on both rations as well as furs to line their clothing to help against the elements. Additionally they asked for information about the island for any potential lead or treasure and learned that it was mostly hunting grounds. The center of the island was prime for aggressive creatures known for their high quality furs but too south and the crew would eventually find trouble with Vampires, as a cursed castle in the woods was located on the south eastern part of the island. In addition to that bit of information, they also heard rumors of ships getting pelted by the caverns of the Gargoyle Baroness.

With their new equipment and information, Davek made a small purchase of herbs that were only available in the arctic region and Scurbiron stocking up enough equipment for the ship. Once the transaction was complete, they progressed south towards the center of the island in the hopes of finding more meat for the ships crew as well as materials that can be used against the cold such as furs, leathers, and fats. The crew were successful in their hunt and made it back with barely any injury. Back at the outpost, Davek made a point to buy a few sweets in the hopes that Korinn could hand them to Pogranix who seemed to still be struggling with their previous encounter.

Fully stocked and ready to move on, the Corsair moved towards their final destination where they docked allowing the welcome party to disembark and begin their search for the 4th and final disk among the giants.

### **Session 40 - Whiteout; or, Dalliances With Giants**

Traversing through the white and desolate expanse, the welcoming crew found themselves in 2 feet of snow moving forward as best they could despite not being able to see much ahead of them. Their only point of reference was heading in the direction of north west which they did, noticing that the area around them was mostly flat. After a day or so the crew eventually saw something in the distance that they walked towards: a banner with a skull emblazoned in the center. The crew investigated the banner but the moment it was touched ended up flying off and being blown with the wind. Unkgill, able to snatch the banner from the air as it was flying off, turned it into a cape. The rest of the crew noticed a mountain in the distance and headed to what was potentially their only source of shelter in the area.

Once at the mountain the crew noticed a few footprints and Davek managed to find a boot of low quality that belonged or was used by a bi-pedal creature. After examining the size and materials used by it, the only creature that he could think of that would use such a boot would be an Orc. After detailing his findings to the crew, they continued after the tracks in the hopes of finding some clue towards what they were seeking. The tracks eventually spread out and eventually lead to some sleek imprint in the snow that looked as if something hid slid down. Following the large track, until they were to exhausted to continue. At this point, using one of the spells learned from Rinari's spellbook, Davek cast Leomund's Tiny Hut to keep the crew hidden as well as comfortable. No longer requiring sleep, Davek volunteered to keep watch while he continued to look through his tome.

The next morning, well rested and ready to continue their trek, the crew continued after the tracks where they walked near what appeared to be dead vegetation. Distracted by the dead plant life, they were caught off guard by a loud roar that echoed through the white space. Orcs surrounded and attacked the crew but the crew were able to hold them off, just as they felt they had fended the orcs off the crew soon realized that the roar was grabbing the attention of something much deadlier as massive boulders soared through the air landing in all directions, thrown by giants.

Managing to escape the onslaught of boulders and find their way back into cover, Davek re-cast Leomund's Tiny Hut where they took a short rest and consumed their daily rations. Just as they were finishing their short rest, tremors began to resonate in the area with each thud and shake of the earth getting more intense over time. With luck on their side, the crew was able to sneak past the giants. Regardless of their success in passing through unseen, the giants were well aware that there is a presence nearby. Despite this, the crew were surprised that they were able to get through unseen, especially due to Orev's incredible height.

### **Session 41 - In the Mountains of Madness; or, The Fury of the Wallbreaker**

Increasing the distance between themselves and the giants, the crew found themselves in a blizzard. Continuing North West in the intense weather, they eventually saw what appeared like a large wall of rocks and boulders off to the distance. Approaching the rock face, the crew struggled to figure out exactly how to approach this obstacle with some opting to walk around the rock face and others deciding to make the climb up. In the end the choice to scale the rock face won and Unkgill, being the most dexterous of the crew, was given Dax's magic rope to take with him. Scurbiron reared up and threw him up as far as possible as Unkgill sprinted as far as he could up the face before leaping the final few feet necessary to get to the top. Magic Rope in stow, it tied itself to the most secure crag and dangled down it's opposite end which had a regular length of rope tied to it.

Once the rope is secure Unkgill shouts out aloud, unintentionally grabbing the attention of the giant a mere 100 feet away. Just as he finishes his sentence, Unkgill is shaken by a boulder that lands just 5 feet behind him. Davek, not sure if Unkgill is aware of what just happened, used the message cantrip to inform Unkgill to keep his voice down. Once things were quiet once again, the crew made their way up the rope and over the rock face. With the help of Dax's magical rope, the crew were over the rock face in no time and were able to continue in their direction. In what felt like hours, the crew saw a mountain in the distance. As they got closer they noticed two hulking giants guarding an intricately carved entrance of their size. Although Davek and Ukngill choose to find a more friendly approach most of the other crew decide to attempt to sneak in. Before either plan could take fruition, they all agreed to take a long rest in the tiny hut in order to prepared for what may come once they approach the entrance.

As soon as they awoke, Dax and Orev agreed to combine their minor illusion abilities in an attempt to create a distraction large enough for them to get through. With Dax making an image of an Owlbear cutout and Orev making a loud firework like bang in front of one of the giants' face, Orev sprinted fast followed by a few of the other crew mates. The giants let out a loud roar and exclaimed in giant, "Who Dares disturb the halls of the Frost Giants!?"

A battle ensued that ended with some members of the crew extremely injured and the two frost giant guards dead. Entering the mountain dwelling, the crew split up to explore their immediate surroundings when they heard the thudding thundering steps of a frost giant making its way towards the entrance to determine the cause of the earlier commotion. Unkgill, Scurbiron, and Davek made their way towards the entrance while the rest of the crew managed to hide just in time to avoid detection.

### **Session 41 - In the Frozen Halls of the Wallbreaker**

The sound of the frost giants steps tipped off Unkgill, Scurbiron, and Davek and they ran out using the ornate sides of the entrance to hide just barely avoiding detection as the giant exited. Seeing that the giants were at least of average intelligence, Davek attempted to communicate with the giant using the message cantrip. Davek explained to the giant that he and the rest of the crew were there to help eliminate the orcs that plagued the base of the mountain, surprised at first that the half-elf could even communicate with him, the giant listened and believed the message received. A second giant emerged from the inside to investigate the commotion, Davek tried to convince the giant as he did with the first one but the second giant was unwavering and convinced the first giant that Davek was an enemy. The first giant picked up Davek thinking about whether or not to eat him but before Davek could attempt to explain again Unkgill was spotted by the second giant that mistook the small goblin for a small orc, especially since Unkgill was wearing the banner of the orc camp. The first giant holding Davek slammed him hard against the ground, not having recovered from the previous encounter, he became immediately unconscious. Unkgill, unaware of what happened to Davek, hid from the giants and managed to avoid detection.

Seeing that two giants are busy with Davek and looking for Unkgill, Scurbiron used that opportunity to run back into the interior of the mountain unseen where he carefully progressed through the unending tunnels and passages. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew continued looking through every nook and cranny of the chambers trying to find the disk. Despite their bickering, they managed to pass unseen past the remaining giants.

Unkgill having avoided detection up until now, managed to spot a bloodied patch of snow through the occurring blizzard. Running towards the patch, Unkgill was able to stabilize and heal Davek with a potion of healing. After regaining consciousness Davek cast "Hunger of Hadar" which engulfed the two giants in blinding darkness and acid covered tentacles. Both of them then ran back into the entrance looking for a place to rest. Just as they make it past the entrance the two can hear the approaching footsteps of yet more storm giants and the clanking of metal against metal. Davek was unable to hide fast enough but Unkgill helped him get to cover and they both witnessed the giants leave the chambers in a war party formation.

Pollae, Orev, Ferg, and Dax continued their search through the chambers managing to ascend to the higher level above. Scurbiron still trying to find the rest of the crew found his way into what appeared to be a mess hall, that's when he heard the horns of battle ringing through the icy chambers. Fortunately, Scurbiron was able to hide under one of the large tables avoiding the giant's war party.

### **Session 42 - Divided We Fall; or, Close Encounters with Giants**

Pollae, Orev, Dax, and Ferg heard the sound of the horns echo through all the chambers and the sounds below them of thundering foot steps and the clanging of metal against metal. Scurbiron was able to watch as the war party marched passed him through the mess hell as he hid carefully under a table. Unkgill and Davek hid just in time as the war party made their way towards the entrance to their stronghold and made their exit.

Exhaling a heavily, both Davek and Unkgill looked around at their current hiding corner and noticed the broken crate and spilled grain. Unkgill takes a few handfuls of grain while Davek takes a moment to cast Leomund's Tiny Hut for them to take a well deserved short rest.

On the second floor Dax, Pollae, Ferg, and Orev continue their way through the the chambers and eventually find what appears to be an armory of sorts. With the hopes that there might be something useful they take a moment to go through the gear but realize almost immediately that the gear, although of decent quality, was far too large for them to use. Just as they were planning on exiting the room, they soon heard the sounds of a giant approaching. Orev, too tempted to not attempt to steal from the giant, used his mage hand to try and unlatch the giant's pouch. Unfortunately do to the giants long strides as it walked and the size of the pouch, the attempted theft was unsuccessful. Feeling the tug on his waist, the giant takes a better look through the makeshift armory room with the crew doing their best to hide behind the large shields in the room. Already agitated by his actions throughout their sneaking, Dax and Pollae silently berate him through visual means and a very angry face from Dax.

Scurbiron still under the table, he decides to emerge for a quick bite but notices the meat is cold, raw, and of unknown origins. Trying to continue his way through and find the rest of the crew he is eventually spotted by a giant that had been left behind to watch over the place in the war party's absence. Scurb tries to run off but the giant continues it's pursuit and manages to get a few hits in. Desperate to break away from the giant's line of sight and with depleting stamina, he finds an elevated section above the mess hall that he could use to even the height difference. Scurbiron runs up and hides behind what he can while preparing an ambush. Just as the giant makes it up to Scurbiron, Scurb jumps out and swings his battleaxe hard against the food of the giant before shoving him off the elevated stage using the short time that he bought for himself to escape.

Around this time, Unkgill and Davek end their short rest and checked the ground for any signs of small or large sized footprints. After a few moments, they spot the small foot prints of a lone average sized humanoid and follow it, hoping to reunite with someone from the crew. As they pressed on they see Scurbiron in the distance running for his life from a giant, calling him over Scurbiron dashes towards Unkgill and Davek. Running towards where Davek and Unkgill emerged from, Davek spotted the larger grouping of humanoid sized footprints and they continued onward away from the giant and making it to the second level.

Tired of being berrated, Orev decided to use the one thing he could use to get rid of the giants once and for all. Thinking closely on the card that he drew previously from Pollae's deck, Orev began thinking of the specific wish that he wanted to make, wishing to remove all the giants in the region disappear. When Orev opened his eyes, there was a noticeable tension that happened for a split moment before realizing that the floors and walls of the chambers were now blood splattered and adorned with some of the giant's remains. Realizing that by wishing away the giants, the orcs were able to take control of the entire snow capped region, Pollae and Dax continued to berate him still knowing that he traded one difficult enemy to many more violent enemies.

Davek, Unkgill, and Scurbiron continue to follow the prints when the reality around them immediately tensed up before reflecting the same new reality that the rest of the crew was now witnessing. Gone were the light echo's of the roaming giants and were now replaced by the chattering and tearing that comes with the new orcish inhabitants. Knowing full well that although weaker, the ability to completely surround and work together to tear apart their enemies made the orcs potentially more difficult than a single giant, Scurbiron advised Unkgill and Davek to exercise extreme caution as they approached the source of the sounds. Not one to take a chance, Davek cast a Synaptic Shock that tore the minds of the 7 or so orcs and their chieftain. They fell to the mind shattering spell but the chieftain remained trying to make it's way towards the half-elf, not one to be shown up, Scurbiron grabbed the chieftain by the legs and pulled hard knocking prone before smashing his battleaxe in its face and ending its life. Continuing on through the second level, Davek noticed that there were remnants of some wall drawings that reflected something that appeared to be a disk. The painting reflected a disk held by regal looking giants that are heading deep beneath waves while a frost giant observes from the clouds. The frost giant in the painting off to the side appears to have previously owned the disk or had lost it to the regal giants that went into the waters. Unfortunately the mural was too damaged to fully comprehend what it was depicting and the three of them continued onwards.

Pollae and the other three decide to finally make their way out of the armory but just as they exit they are ambushed by another group of orcs, just as they are about to start combat Scurbiron, Unkgill, and Davek see them off in the near distance and also engage all finally reunited at last.

### **Session 43 - Overrun With Orcs**

Back together the crew dispatches the orc ambush and decide to have another rest. Davek casts Leomund's Tiny Hut and the group takes a rest, Davek no longer requiring sleep takes time to read and think about their situation. At some in the evening, orcs began investigating the corpses and just as the tiny hut was ready to drop, the crew prepared for another altercation with the surrounding orcs. Now well rested, the crew had no big problem dispatching the enemy. Shortly after while deciding what to do Davek explained to Pollae and the rest of the crew about the murals he saw earlier. Scurb approached Davek about three rune's that he found earlier on his own, a few minutes passed before Davek was able to determine that the rune's were protective in nature though not entirely active.

The crew pushed forward and trying not to go where they had gone previously pressed on until eventually encountering a large stone covered in runes and ornate decorations. The rune's on the stone read "The Horde of Sgengald the Wallbreaker" revealing what they crew knew to be the leader of the giants in the region. Together the crew moved the boulder with Dax sneaking in through the top before the rest of the crew could move the stone enough to actually get through. Once inside, the light touched the walls revealing more the mural Davek had seen previously. Specifically Davek and the rest of the crew could see that there was a fight between the giants and the dragons that resulted in the giants taking control of the disks. Three giants then met, three different types of giants, from the cloud, the storm, and the ice regions. It depicted that the cloud giants took the disk from the ice giants. During this time Dax investigated an ornate statue off to the side and discovered that it was behaving like a living creature and saw signs of it bleeding. Orev suggested Davek heal the statue and he complied, but not Pollae shot the giant in the face. The Sgengald fell over and started to laugh, since Dax was too busy checking the room stealthily, Davek began conversing with the the Wallbreaker asking what was so funny. Sgengald explained to the crew that the disk they were looking for hadn't been there in many years and that it was currently in the possession of Skrymir, a cloud giant living in a large castle beneath the sea. The dying giant then explained to Davek where to find the disk and pointed to a container that held a map, which Davek handed to Pollae. Davek promised to avenge Sgengald by dispatching Skrymir before the crew left in peace and made their way back to the Corsair.

All in all it took the welcoming crew 3 days to make it back safely to the Corsair and Korinn was disappointed with their empty handed return. Although the information they had gathered was important, there was now much more they needed to do if they hoped to survive beneath the waves. Pollae and Korinn plotted a course together and decided to make their way to Penca where they could resupply and think on the next step.

In private, Davek approaches Korinn to look through Rinari's pouch again to look through the scrolls taken from the Garden City of Cheptyd. He explained to Korinn what was written much to her anger. Davek not having much context left with more questions than answers. There was one particular thing Davek did find interesting in Rinari's diary, however he wasn't sure how to put that into affect quite yet.

### **Session 44 - Heist Time**

It was a few days but eventually the Corsair docked in Penca's port. Once the crew found themselves off the ship they went to Belfazar to purchase made potions while Davek bought a variety of different ingredients he needed in order to craft his own while on the ship. Following the potions shop they headed to the magic shop run by Brunhilde where they purchased a few different materials including a couple of cloaks of protection. Following their purchase, Davek & Scurb then approached Brunhilde about the runes they found to which she directed the two to the armorer named Masego.

Before heading to the armorer, the crew headed to the bar where they asked about the possible sale of another ship that they could use to increase their firepower, unfortunately the price of another ship was too great and so they settled on the price of a few drinks instead. Orev, deciding to make use of one of the magic cards he drew from the Deck of Many Things, asked his question regarding a submersible vehicle and learned that such a vehicle was being transported by air and that details of the shipment was available within a nearby barracks. As further details were explained by Orev the crew realized that there were a lot of eyes on the group and so they decided to split up and focus on their individual errands. Dax and Ferg continued drinking with Pollae as Orev returned to the ship. Davek, Scurbiron, and Unkgill headed to the spa, Serratniakuchnia, to relax themselves and upon exiting the spa were assaulted by a half elf and a group of 4 other humans. The three crew members surprised still managed to gain the upperhand and dispatched the 5, with Scurbiron snapping the neck of one of them.

### **Session 45 - Heist; or, How Does A Submarine Fly?**

Having survived the ambush, the crew quickly go through the ambushers belongings for any clues as to who may have ordered the attack. Pollae was able to find a note and a few scrolls along with the wanted posters for the wanted members of the crew, each netting 6,000 GP bounties for them dead or alive. Quickly trying to hide the bodies, the crew mobilized fast and moved the fresh corpses to a nearby rooftop where Davek used prestidigitation to clean any blood or evidence that may bring trouble their way.

Deciding to get out of sight and collect their thoughts, the crew make their way back to the bar. While the majority of the crew drink Boar's Breff, Davek orders a glass of cold milk. They all ordered meals with Dax tries to unsuccessfully order a fluffernutter sandwich, a marshmallow and peanut butter concoction of her own creation. After a few drinks, Pollae takes out the scrolls and inspects them. Realizing that the scrolls are written in a type of Cipher, she speaks with Davek to get his assistance in deciphering the scroll which he begins doing in a corner of the bar as the rest of the crew retire for the night. With most of the crew heading to their rooms for the night, Davek asks Jeffrey about the library and what time it opened the following day. Before heading to bed, unable to get her fluffernutter sandwich, Dax unintentionally makes Jeff cry. Trying to cheer Jeff up as Dax retires for the night, Scurbiron asks for information and tosses him a few coin, learning that the Ciranthean barracks was permitted to be within the Autonomous region of Penca because of previous agreements, he even explained that the best place to find Ciranthean soldiers would be at a bar near their barracks called the Drunken Goaot. Before heading to bed, Scurbiron was informed by Jeff that the bar was somewhat of a members only type scenario and that he or the rest of the crew may not receive a warm welcome if they chose to go there. With the bar nearly entirely empty Pollae, seeing Davek hard at work deciphering the scrolls, walks by and hands him a freshly poured beer before slapping him on the back and heading to bed. Not wanting to be inebriated for the long night ahead he sipped out it until he was doing with the scrolls early in the following morning.

With the cipher translated, Davek walked upstairs with the original text, a summary of the deciphered text in common, as well as the codex that was could serve to translate the entirety of the text word for word if necessary and left it at her door. Then, with a few hours to spend, headed towards the library where he hoped to finalize a few requests as well as have a few questions answered. Arriving at the library, Davek waited for it to open and was directed towards the scribes for help with a spell scroll. With that order 2 hours from completion Davek went to an engineering section to read through pieces that contained information on Military Technologies and the Theories of Underwater Travel. After having his fill he went back to the scribes to make copies of some of the more interesting notes that he found within the two books and patiently waited for their completion.

Meanwhile, as the rest of the crew awoke, they started heading downstairs to the Merciful Rope for an early breakfast. Pollae noticed the deciphered text outside her door and took it downstairs to read. Once the context of the note was clear, she left a message to Davek with Jeffrey to let him know that they were heading to the Drunken Goat. On the way to the Drunken Goat, the crew scoped out the Ciranthean barracks as well as asked and learned of rumors regarding the soldiers stationed there. They learned that the soldiers stationed there had a poor reputation and also a very general understanding of the layout of the barracks itself. Once they finished their observations they headed to the Drunken Goat in attempts to gather more information from the soldiers themselves.

Davek, finished at the library, headed back to the Merciful Rope where he found Dax and Ferguson enjoying a drink. Jeffrey called Davek over and shared the note left to Davek by Pollae. Understanding that he would need to meet with them at the Drunken Goat, Dax drunkenly convinces Davek to head to the armorer first since it was on his way. On his way to the Armorer, Dax stumbled outside of the Merciful Rope and towards a mysterious location. At the armorer Davek asked the armorer regarding the rune's that were found in the Giant's dwelling, he was given a price of 400 GP to place the runes on a piece of armor and was notified that the benefits would vary. Satisfied with the information received Davek headed in the direction of the Drunken Goat to reunite with his friends.

At the Drunken Goat Pollae and Scurbiron attempted to get information and caught the attention of a captain who invited them over for a game of Liar's Dice that would determine whether or not they would get information or get tossed out. One guard in particular, that was extremely protective of his captain and racist towards Dwarves and therefore Scurbiron. After the outcome of the game, the racist soldier named Namek continued to berate Scurbiron which triggered a fight in the tavern. After a few moments the crew was forcefully removed from the Drunken Goat and, deciding that it was for the best to avoid further confrontation, made their way to the Corsair to plan how to break into the barracks where they would get the information needed for their near future aerial heist.

Once their planning was complete, they made their way to the barracks and began their plan unleashing distractions that would allow them access inside. Scurbiron and Davek thunder stepped inside, using the resulting blast as a distraction. Once inside, a few controlled flames were started by the two as the rest of the crew used the resulting distractions to make their way in as well. Realizing having someone of their own look like a Ciranthean guard would be an advantage, Davek changed the colors of Scurbiron's attire to those reflecting that of a Ciranthean. Unfortunately both Davek and Scurbiron do end up being found out and together they successfully stop the soldier without killing him.

### **Session 46 - The Art of Heisting; or, Let's Set Some Shit on Fire**

Immediately after not killing the guard, Scurbiron took out the incapacitated guard. Dax, having successfully snuck into the barracks, locates the captain in his own room and chokes him from behind before attempting to stab him dead. Nearby, Davek and the others began spreading flames in a controlled fashion with Unkgill left mostly unsurprised. As the crew became busier with guards, the fire in the barracks continued to spread uncontrolled and smoke began filling the interior chambers. Davek attempts to put out the excess flames while the rest of the crew engages in combat, but it does little to stop the spread of the flames.

With the fire continuing to spread, a bell is rang alerting everyone in the barracks of the fire. Ferg stands by the door readying a spell to take out any entering and releasing a burning hands as soon as 4 guards enter the room. Additional spells are cast to stop the additional guards coming in while the melee fighters take out other guards that survive the initial impact of magic attacks. Scurb runs into the captains room and finds important documents that look like what the crew was looking for. With the documents that they were looking for in tow, the crew made their escape trying to blend in with the chaos around them. While a few soldiers were initially suspicious of Davek, Dax angrily convinced them to run back in as a superior in command over them successfully. Davek now realizing how he was drawing attention, created a rank badge with his prestidigitation to help order soldiers around. The crew regroup and find a sewer grate that they use to escape and make their way back into the city.

Having escaped the Cirathean Barracks, the crew made their way to the Merciful Rope, where Davek cleaned everyone using his Prestidigitation abilities and then notice that Jeff, their regular bar tender of the region was not currently there. Having felt that they had enough privacy, Scurbiron took the papers taken from the Ciratheans and the crew looked over the papers together. It didn't take long for them to realize that by going after the submersible vehicle they were looking for a possible suicide mission given that the vehicle was being towed by several carrier ships that were guarded by 3 brigantine and 4 dreadnought style air ships.

Scurbiron being the wealthiest of the crew had the immediate thought of simply buying a smaller and much faster ship, but the rest of the crew was skeptical given their financial situation however Scurbiron doubled down by buying the ship entirely on his own. After purchasing a Sloop, the name was quickly decided based on the relationship between Scurbiron and the deceased Talon by naming the Sloop Airship, The Terrible Talon.

With a new ship came a new crew, and with Scurbiron now the captain of his ship, The Terrible Talon, he gave existing members of the welcoming crew. Davek became the new navigator of the ship with Orev being the new quartermaster. Since the submersible vehicle had a few days before moving to the sky, which gave the crew of the Terrible Talon & the Corsair, enough time for them to plan and prepare for their movements.

After 4 days, the crew planned their ambush on the Ciratheans and gathered the materials they needed for their attack.

### **Session 47 - How Does One Steal A Flying Submarine?**

With only a few days left to prepare, the crew split up to make the best of their remaining time before their planned ambush on the Cirathean convoy. With the majority of the worry on Dreadnoughts and the Brigantine ships, Davek headed to the nearest alchemist in the hopes of purchasing black powder which he ended up being successful in purchasing 10 large barrels of it and having them deliver it to their ship as well.

After purchasing the black powder, Davek headed to the library to learn what he could about the types of ships where Dax then went to the local tea broker to get whatever information she could in her own way.

Once all the organizing was executed and there was nothing left to prep, the crew began their 3 day journey in order to get a jump on the Ciratheans and not get caught off guard. With Davek not needing to sleep, he kept watch the entirety of the trip. During one of his watches, he noticed that Dax had come onto the deck from below and signaled over what in the distance could be barely made out was another ship. Slowly but surely other crew members awoke and made themselves above deck where they saw a small rowboat making their way to the Terrible Talon. The crew aboard the rowboat were soldiers in Alendarian uniforms.

The Alendarians were given permission to board the ship and it was made aware that Dax had used her tea broker to offer an agreement to the Alendarian's in the form of the submersible, once the crew had finished their use for it, if and only if the Alendarian's would offer them support in the form of airships. The agreements were made between the crew of Corsair, The Terrible Talon, and the Alendarian fleet that left a soldier behind as collateral as a good gesture proving their commitment to the agreement.

At sunrise there were 4 Alendarian ships that joined the Corsair and The Terrible Talon as they stayed high and out of sight waiting for the Cirathean convoy transporting the submersible. Once the convoy was in sight the ships all took their positions and somehow successfully managed their attack weakening the bonds that held the submersible to the smaller transport ships forcing the submersible to hang from it's sides. The Alendarian's ended suffering a number of casualties and had to leave to prevent from their 4 ships to being dropped out of the sky but the Terrible Talon and the Corsair were successful in disabling a number of ships and therefore preventing extensive damage.

Davek seeing an opportunity to board the submersible vehicle, tells Dax of the flying broom and explains how to operate it before he speaks the necessary magical phrase to activate it. Upon doing so she flies off to do some crazy things... like release a horrifying bottle creature that could potentially bring about the end of the world as we know it... but anyways also used that time to jump into the submersible vehicle and prepare removing the restraints on it used for transport. The Terrible Talon then began it's descent all the while dropping the explosive barrels purchased by Davek that were used to damage any incoming or surrounding ships. Once in a position where Pollae could misty step Davek into the submersible, she teleported him with her racial ability where Davek immediately began activating the ship based on the notes he had written along with teaching Dax the basics of how the submarine works.

With the submersible in the Water, they agreed to rendezvous at what the more senior crew members lovingly called Boom Boom Island.

### **Session 48 - Meanwhile At Boom Boom Island / What Terrors Lie In The Depths**

Powering under the waves, Davek was patiently showing Dax how to perform the simple maneuvers of the ship. Despite her constant button pressing, they were successful in making their way to Boom Boom Island.

Meanwhile, in the skies, the crew and the Corsair were busy incapacitating the rest of the able bodied ships that were hot on their pursuit. Once the ships were disabled, the Terrible Talon and the Corsair suffering significant damage, they made their way to Boom Boom Island where they took a rest and waited for the submersible vehicle to make it from the outside entry. Once nearby, Scurbiron had to remember to warn the new crew members that the island received it's namesake after his old friend, Brath'oul, suggested and lead the charge of rigging the entire islands with Talon's, deceased, stock of grenades and explosives.

Once the danger was out of the way it was decided that the Terrible Talon would fly overhead while the welcoming party squeezed into the submersible vehicle and headed to the point on the map that Sgengald, the mountain giant, had provided for them shortly before his death. With a full day ahead of them, the crew took a moment to observe and admire the view that they normally would not have had the opportunity to, unfortunately it was short lived as small pops and screeching sounds were heard from the outside of the ship. As luck would have it, a trap was set on the ocean bed the submersible was traveling on that hooked any unknowing passerby's. The crew was forced to engage and despite the underwater humanoid's abilities to outnumber and restrain, the crew managed to help each other and make their way back to their ship in one piece.

### **Session 49 - The Depths**

Free from the creatures of the deep, the crew continued exploring the ocean depths making their way ever closer to their destination. Appreciating the sea life and the ocean's natural beauty, the crew continued onward until they happened to see fast darting shadows out of the corner of their eyes. It was soon apparent that these weren't just your average sea life but rather ocean dwelling humanoids atop tamed sharks. The Triton's commanded the submersible to follow them or face trouble and so in order to avoid any unwanted confrontation agreed to do so.

Davek, with Dax at the helm of the submarine, took the time to prepare a spell that would allow him to communicate with these sea folk, which ended up being in vain as when they were finally able to leave the confines of the sub vehicle, the water was drained from their chambers and the Triton's were able to communicate with common.

After a quick and simple interrogation, the Triton's learned of where the Terrible Talon's crew was headed and gave them a simple warning. The storm giants are no longer friendly with the Triton's or any of the ocean dwelling creatures and a giant dragon turtle now guarded their domain. If the crew were truly headed towards the giants' keep then they would definitely be facing death in the face. Once the interrogation was over, the crew was taken to different rooms that while comfortable gave them the impression of holding cells. Scurbiron and Orev were lead to one, while Davek and Dax were taken to another. Ferg, Unkgill, and Pollae were headed to a larger status as they were the most unique and therefore regarded as the commanders of the voyage.

Unable to sleep Davek stayed awake and listened to the guards footsteps as he went over his tome and other books and notes. During his time of study he also overheard a brief confrontation involving Orev and Scurbiron where Orev showed his dislike of the situation and Scurbiron responding by explaining that he slept in the nude while disrobing and pushing his things off to Orev's side of the small dwelling.

The following morning, the Triton's pleased with their search of the submersible, gave the crew better directions to their end goal and information regarding a new member of the giants ranks who was rumored to be the cause for the change of their hospitality and friendly demeanor among the Triton's and other ocean dwelling creatures. With enough coaxing, Dax and Orev were even able to convince the Triton's to fit the sub with a weapon of sorts that functioned similar to a canon.

With the permission of the Triton's to temporarily traverse their domain in order to continue to the Storm Giants' keep, the crew followed the directions before eventually seeing a large shadow of in the distance that they identified as the giant dragon turtle. Moving cautiously slow, the crew moved forward lowering the humming submarine to a a crawl. Unfortunately it didn't help and the shadow spotted them and began homing in on them. Feeling their situation would continue to get worse now that they were found out, Davek began casting another ritual spell while Dax, using Orev as her eyes, traversed the dark depths and attempted evasive maneuvers. Despite the evasive maneuvers, the giant dragon turtle proved to be a dangerous predator of the depths and kept on them, only barely missing it's attacks. It was after a number of missed attacks that thin spear like objects made of the surrounding stone made their way at incredible speeds at the sub. Having prepared for the worse, Davek unleashed his spell and moments before impact materialized tenser's floating disk right in front of an incoming attack which managed to slow it down just enough for Dax, with Orev's eyes, to dive below the incoming attack and continue to dive deeper and deeper where they eventually touched ground and found themselves in front of two large stone doors.

Barely able to see in their surroundings, Orev explained what was before them... two massive stone doors. Before the crew could even begin to contemplate how they would be able to open the doors, the doors themselves opened on their own, or so they appeared to until they noticed three hulking humanoids approaching them and calmly lifting their vehicle and bringing it inside. Once inside the felt the rumble of the doors closing behind them as the giants walked on an incline eventually hitting a pocket of air that seemed that be collected within the keep.

The giant's, like the Triton's the day before, gave a quick interrogation and prevented the crew from carrying any of the weapons that were visible upon their first contact with the giants. Complying with their demands they agreed to leave their visible weapons behind and proceeded cautiously after the three giants where they were led to a large chamber where they were introduced to Skyrmir, the leader and ruler of the Storm Giants. He wasn't alone in the chamber however and the crew immediately noticed another giant to the left of Skyrmir which stood there with a sneering look across his face.

Almost as if rehearsed, the moment the crew introduced themselves, the figure by the side of Skyrmir began to mock the crew and only after introduced himself as Jormgand, the snake. Not named for his treachery but rather for his cunning... or so it was implied. With every word the crew spoke, Jormgand would immediately belittle and shut down any attempt at dialogue and when Skyrmir stirred into thought Jormgand would speak into his rulers ear, quieting his doubts and any action or words from escaping the powerful being.

Having a great suspicion on the giant's hold on his ruler, Orev waited for a moment in which Jormgand spoke again into his leaders ear and cast counterspell against any potential treachery and was not surprised by his success. With the counterspell cast, Skyrmir stirred slowly to life. Before fully rejuvenated Jormgand attempted another whisper but with his spell ability depleted, Davek read the signs and cast a counterspell of his own and thereby disabling the control that Jormgand had, had over Skyrmir. Furious and distraught Skyrmir began to stir angrily and the moment Jormgand attempted to speak, Skyrmir lashed out swinging his sword into the stone near Jormgand's head. Not being one to let an opportunity slide, Dax cast suggestion on the barely recovered Skyrmir, urging him to at the very least give them time to explain their situation.

The suggestion worked, to Jormgand's dismay, and the crew were able to convince Skyrmir that it was Jormgand who was actually controlling the scenes and was the legitimate danger to the Storm Giants entire well being. The convincing even successfully went so far as to frame Jormgand as being an agent of Sgengald the Wallbreaker and leader of the Mountain Giants. Having been found out, at least mostly, Jormgand revealed not to have been a storm giant at all but rather a giant of the clouds. Jormgand threw a large boulder to prevent anyone from entering and aiding or fleeing the chamber but Davek was able to damage it sufficiently with 2 well placed eldritch blasts that prevented it from causing any major interference. The two guards positioned in the room also dropped their disguise and attacked both the crew as a whole and Skyrmir. Working together with Skyrmir the crew were able to down the cloud giants, with Scurbiron even managing to land a combo move with Skyrmir when a stone axe of enormous size was tossed to Scurbiron for a finishing move on one of the cloud giants.

With Jormgand being the last surviving cloud giant, the crew and Skyrmir slowly but surely surrounded him cautiously. It was when things seemed bleak that Jormgand then attempted to flea with a spell that Davek quickly shut down, preventing him from his escape and leaving him face to face beaten and battered in front of the crew and a very angry Storm Giant named Skyrmir.

### **Session 50 - The Storm Kings Story**

Skyrmir launched at Jormgand but before making impact Jormgand attempted to flee again. Without any spells available to the crew, Jormgand was successful in teleporting away. Inspecting the corpses the crew found a bit of gold and a bag of assorted precious metals. A note was also among the belongings which had a logo of a set of weighing scales that Davek had seen before on the notes found by the crews earlier expeditions. Dax took the note and handed it to the Storm Giants leader Skyrmir, who after inspecting the note explained the history of the giants.

With everyone gathered around Skyrmir began by explaining that the Frost Giants originally were in the possession of the artifacts. Sgengald was in possession of the disk and used it to wage war on the storm giants. By using the disks power to open a portal in the storm giants domain, the Wallbreaker and his troops were able to drive the Storm Giants under the sea. In a final push to save themselves from another potential attack, the Storm giants successfully managed to steal the disk with them.

After listening to the giants story, the crew were given a better welcome in addition to food and drink. Davek decided to forego the celebrations in order to maintain his sobriety in the hopes of convincing Skyrmir to entrust the crew with the disk. Unfortunately because of the lack of composure of the rest of the crew, it proved to be rather difficult. Despite a compelling argument and even having the giants leader agree on multiple points it didn't seem that they would be able to escape with the disk. The crew, while not in the best of their mind all agreed that they should regroup back at Boom Boom Island and rest so that they may try again in the morning and attempt another try at convincing the Storm Giant leader.

The following morning the crew were awakened by the storm giants that led them to a mess hall where they were fed. Upon having their meals they were led back to their submersible but first made their way to Skyrmir's chambers and took the time to thank him for his understanding nature as well as the request of the Triton's to make peace once again. Right before the end of their pleasantries Davek attempted again to convince the king but this time with the aid of his now much more sober compatriots, though mostly hungover. With the final point made and the Storm Giant realizing that another infiltration could happen again at any moment, he stood and moved his throne asking Davek to follow him down a small corridor where he was given both access to their library as well as the 4th and final disk.

After a few hours in the library where Davek absorbed as much information as they could while the rest of the crew rested their hangovers, they were once again led to their submersible vehicle where they went on their way. Once out of the cave they made another stop in Ayzyiah, the home of the Triton's, to once again rest and share the news of the new well minded leader of the Storm Giants. With the good news shared, the crew were welcomed much warmer than they had been in the past and were each given a charm of sorts that would be a symbol of their normalized relationships. Davek also received time in their Library which he used all night going through as the rest of the crew slept.

The following morning the crew were bid adieu as they returned to the surface and boarded the Terrible Talon now with three of the four disks and knowledge of the location of the 4th disk. Aboard the Terrible Talon things were much quieter than normal and they crew spread out to look for the ships wizards. Dax heads down to search for Ferg belong deck but she is instantly ambushed by two rogues. Davek, in another section of the ship manages to find the wizards tied up in a separate area near the hull of the ship when the sounds of combat rink through the bottom and soon after the top of the ship.

The first rounds clearly belonging to their attackers, the crew readied for yet another long day at sea.

### **Session 51 - Unexpected Guests > Session 52 - A Moments Respite**

Battle continued to ensue on the Terrible Talon with the crews attackers having the clear upper hand. For what felt like hours, the two groups battled on while trying to keep the disks hidden and centering their focus against the powerful combatants. As the crew finally managed to get the upper hand another enemy entered the fray, an enemy with a clown like appearance and a long whip that it used to attack from the distance. It appeared that this creature was the leader of the attacking force and so it was instantly targetted by Scurbiron while the rest of the crew focused on picking out the other attackers one after the other. Ferg seemingly being one of the only repeated casualties that was fortunately brought back up by Davek.

With the clash of metal and magical explosions still ringing in the air it was clear that despite not starting off having the upper hand over the attackers, their composition made them much better suited for surviving longer encounters, the attackers trying to retreat towards the end but failing to do so and eventually all individually defeated.

The attackers having drawn their last breath, the crew gathered around to loot the bodies in the attempts of finding any clues as to why they were attacked. The first thing found from one of the mercenaries were the wanted posters for the group pricing those of the original Crew of the Corsair at about 400 Platinum Pieces And the newer members of the crew at just 60 Platinum Pieces. There were also a few notes that appeared to be on the whip wielding mercenary that Pollae pocketed and later asked Davek to decipher once they were back on board. With things now in order the crew made their way to Boom Boom Island where they started repairs on the ship and called to Korinn to let her know they've returned to the island with their disk. Another item was found among the ship believed to be magical and so Davek was asked to inspect it in order for attunement to begin on it by Pollae. Once at boom boom island the crew managed to keep themselves busy in their own interests with Pollae managing to successfully attune to the new weapon and Davek successfully managing to decipher the contents of the notes which he then shared and handed back to Pollae.

### **Session 53 - Keys With No Doors**

The following morning the crew gathered around to play a game of dice. The winner, as with previous games before, would gift a magical card from the deck of many things purchased earlier in their adventure. Orev was the winner of the game but ultimately was maybe the loser when he drew a card that permanently reduced his intelligence. Moments after wrapping up their game the crews began hearing sounds of an incoming ship. The ship that pulled into their hidden port was that of The Corsair and its captain Korinn. After explaining what they learned from the depths of the sea, Scurbiron presented Korinn the three disks that they had in their position and then having Davek explain what he and Orev had found previously on the Corsair. Asking for the help of one of the ships wizards as well as one of the crew of the Corsair to fetch the chest, Davek went into detail of how he figures that the chest itself would most likely the final disk itself.

With the Corsair wizard going over the contents of the scroll and studying it for a few moments, he approached slowly towards the chest and began the incantation and gestures necessary to open the chest. The moment the wizard finishing casting the spell from the scroll the scroll shriveled and faded to dust and 3 loud knocks filled the entirety of the chamber they were in and with it the turning of a small mechanism.

Davek stepped forward to open the chest and he was surprised to find within it several dozen golden daggers, emerald bracelets, and a variety of different disks of the variety they were expecting. Unwilling to learn from their previous mistakes both Dax and Orev advanced and reached out to grab the contents of the chest. Within seconds the two were surrounded by swarms of mimics and once again the crew had to work together to avoid causing damage to their friends but to destroy the mimics that have invaded their space. Though not the most difficult encounter that they've experienced it was the only one that they were able to laugh at.

Mimics now dead, the last and final disk was pulled from the chest and reunited for what could possibly be the first time in millennia.

With all the disks now safely in their possession the crew headed back to Penca where they acquired a few supplies as well as a new magical item in the form of a ring for Orev who had to attune by YOLOing off a high building.

### **Session 54 - And Now The Fun Begins**

After Orev's death defying attunement stunt, the crew continues their purchases and information gathering. Davek needing a fresh set of clothing went to the tailors before stopping by the bakery to drop off a thanks to the scribes that have been helping him this whole time. At the merciful rope Scurbiron and Pollae arm wrestle while drinking experimental cocktails made by Jefferey the barman.

Once the light purchasing came to an end, Orev and Scurbiron thought over their ships capabilities as well as it's armor situation. With what they gathered, they upgraded the armor as well as some of the shot available to them and loaded up the Terrible Talon.

Now in the air the crew sets course for the library that they had visited previously and was mentioned in Rinari's notes. It didn't take long however for them to be attacked in the skies. Hooked and anchored by a dreadnought ship, the crew sprang into action trying to remove the chains that held them in place. Within that time the two other ships emerged grabbed and began opening fire on them as well.

The crew scrambled to get the canons loaded and fire back with attention focused on removing the anchor keeping the ship trapped.

### **Session 55 - Boarded**

Orev reached the back of the ship and blasted out the anchor that was keeping the nimble Terrible Talon able to escape the clutches of the dreadnought. Ready to take advantage and cause a bit of chaos both Davek and Scurbiron jumped from the Terrible Talon onto the Dreadnought and began their attack. Forced to engage, the Terrible Talon used it's speed to maneuver the ship to avoid canon fire while still dishing out several rounds against the surrounding ships.

Not before long the ships captain emerged from below decks... Argus. After a long winded battle Scurbiron defeated Argus but not without the chaos of magical explosions and canon fire raining all round them. The Terrible Talon sustained so much damage that it began losing altitude, Scurbiron satisfied with his victory tried getting the wizards to steer the ship to an island in the distance while a smaller ship that they had previously disabled also began to lose altitude plunging towards the water.

Quickly going through the belongings of Argus, they found a sending stone which they only imagined would be connected to one of the enemy ships. Using her changeling abilities, Dax spoke in Argus' voice proclaiming that the crew had gotten onto another ship and to take it down, which the dreadnought began doing while the crew continued plummeting towards the shore by the island.