Session 24 7/24/2022

Elektrah, Brottar, Arden, Lucia

Tasha, Bill, Michael, Megan

The party was on the docks watching the captain and his new crew load the barge and check things over. There is still about two hours before the barge is due to leave again. They notice that the other adventuring party isn't back yet and decide to make sure they're not in any trouble. Lucia and Elektrah search the markets, Arden checks the churches, and Brottar checks the taverns. After asking around to see if anyone has seen the party, Brottar is directed to the Warrens. Lucia directs him to a certain web of alleyways. They find the other group's halfling lying on the ground, thoroughly trounced. Lucia helps him up and Arden heals some of his wounds. The halfling was making a deal with one of the local thieves and was promptly beaten and robbed. There is some concern that he might be cursed with Lycanthropy as the thieves he was assaulted by were known to be were-rats. He's fairly certain he wasn't bitten but is still a little worried. Arden doesn't have Remove Curse handy but might be able to do so later. The rest of the halfling's party went to the nearest church (of Ilmater) to get help. With a warning about the barge captain's promise to leave without them, the party heads back to the barge. With everyone on board, the barge makes it's way further down the river, starting with an abrupt lurch.

Brottar notices that the barge isn't run by ropes or paddles or anything. He asks the captain how it's powered and the two discuss mechanics and engines. After a little bit, the barge comes to a sudden stop and the engine dies. Suspecting the mechanisms are tangled in something, Brottar offers to go under the barge and see what happened. Wearing Elektrah's Hat of WaterBreathing, he inspects the engine and sees a yellow slime tangled in the gears of the engine. He's given a long handled dagger to poke at it and see if he can figure out what it was. He stabs it a few times, seemingly damaging it. At some point, a large portion of the slime 'falls' out. Not wanting to get his hands too deep into the mechanisms, he asks for and is given a polearm. He tries to work some more of the slime out and is punched by it. After some very brief underwater combat, the slime dissipates. The captain isn't able to get the engine started. Brottar goes back underneath and wiggles the pike around, pushing a gear back into place. He gets back on board and the captain starts the barge again. The rest of the day passes uneventfully. In the morning, the party sees a small metal creature running alongside of the barge. It's able to keep up with them, but doesn't seem to be paying them any attention. The captain is relatively unconcerned. Eventually, it runs off into the pasture nearby and disappears in a flash of light.

Later on that day, the captain stops the barge and has the crew drop the anchor. The party sees a large whirlpool in the river in front of them. The captain orders the crew to bring up the growling crates. They take out slimy/shiny scaly creatures and throw them into the whirlpool. Concerned about the fact that there is a whirlpool in the middle of a river, Arden banishes the whirlpool which promptly disappears. Little did they know that there was one at the back of the ship as well. A large 10' tall humanoid creature made of just water climbs up onto the back of the barge. Elektrah calls Lightning down onto it which does some damage, but also kinda fries the boat and Brottar a little bit. Lucia approaches it, but doesn't really have any range attacks so she holds back. Arden tries to banish it, but the Elder Water Elemental resists. Brottar rushes up to it but isn't able to attack. Brottar's Dire Wolf attacks for a small amount of damage. The Elder Water Elemental swings at Brottar and misses once. The second attack hits. Elektrah, curious to see what happens, tries (and succeeds!) to polymorph the Elder Water Elemental into a frog. A 10' tall water elemental is now an average sized frog. Arden calls to Brottar to punt it off the back of the barge and suggests to the captain that it's time to raise the anchor and start the engine. The lightning disabled the engine a bit and, after several minutes of tinkering, the engine roars to life. The other adventuring party, no longer paralyzed with fear and confusion, look at our party with awe. The barge continues its way down the river.

1,800 XP for a very brief anti-climactic not-combat.

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