Monster Hunters: Lagiacrus

## **Set-up**

We are members of the Laironese Hunter’s Guild. One day, our Mentor gives the following briefing:

> *"We've been getting reports from a Fishing village on the northern part of the West Shore. They've been losing their fishing ships, Claiming some kind of sea monster. We're a little suspicious of the numbers they’re reporting since we haven’t heard anything from the villages nearby and we're coming up on Molid Season. It might be a case of them wanting us to clear the shore for them so they can harvest the rare fish without clearing the area themselves, but just in case these are accurate we're sending you out with a Grand Exchange chest connected to the guild. Whether it’s a hoax or not, you’re gonna be spending a lot of time in the water so prepare appropriately. You head off tomorrow, we hope to hear good news on your return."*
>
>

**TLDR**; A fishing village reports some ships/villagers have been going missing. The nature of the threat: sea monster. We have been given an enchanted chest that can transport items from the guild to us, provided we give the proper justification/proof. We travel a long way north, and finally arrive in town.

Cast of Player Characters
 Darian
 Luke
 Tyrone

## **Session 1**

### **Molid, outskirts of town**

* We arrive in a town called Molid on the northern coast
* We see a very empty-looking dock on the waterfront
* We recall our contact’s name: Junior
* We wander through town until we see the market square

### **Molid, Market Square near Dock**

* A human with a man-bun is directing a group of merchant labourers to unload a ship
* Octavio approaches on broomback
* The human is startled by the appearance of the broom-riding octopus, he falls from his position atop several boxes
* He greets Octavio, who gurgles and dribbles a bunch of water
* “Are you them?” [the human asks if we’re the adventurers they hired to investigate their problem]
* “That’s us, alright” [Buck confirms]
* Wababa asks about the nature of the monster at large
* The Human is very hush-hush, he explains they don’t want to alarm the general populace; he reveals himself to be Junior, the mayor’s son
* Oni disagrees with Junior; he believes the people should know of the threat
* Junior says he hasn’t seen the creature, but knows who has
* We are directed to a fishing boat that survived an “attack”
* Junior warns us, before we go, that the fishermen are superstitious, so to take their tales with a pinch of salt

### **Molid Dock, boat of survivors**

* We go to the dock, recalling that the town is located in a cove along the shoreline
* We find the indicated ship, whose crew suspiciously eyes our approach
* Buck, most confident with sailors, crosses the gangplank and stands on deck, soon followed by the rest of the party.
* The captain, a salty seadog, approaches
* “Can I help you?” [the captain is reluctant to talk at first]
* Buck enquires about the missing ships
* The captain needs little encouragement, launching into his tale of the ‘lagiacrus’ (Buck has heard of the creature before, through fisherman’s tales, but it is not written about in any books), a mythological creature that from descriptions could be either kraken or dragon
* The captain’s tale goes:
* A month ago, or thereabouts, they were on the water fishing
* A sailor in a nearby boat shouted something, having seen a mysterious blue glow beneath them
* The ship is sunk violently, the captain and crew barely escape in the chaos
* Oni presses for a description of the creature
* The captain recalls a ‘blue claw’ and that one of the ships seemed to explode, though they were too far to see in detail
* He marks on our map the location of the attack, at another cove further up the coast where the big fish (Molid, similar to ocean sunfish, which are what the town is named after) come through after spawning, and explains that the cove is only accessible by boat; the only approach by land is from atop a cliff into a circle of deeper water marked by submerged stones
* Octavio manages to say “Cannons?”
* The fishermen apologise, claiming not to carry any arms
* Eager to get going, Wababa produces a box from his kit that he throws into the water, whereupon it unfolds into a decent-sized sailboat
* The sailors are in awe at the magically appearing vessel
* Octavio flashes an opal to the crew, indicating the new boat needs a crew
* They interpret the offer and agree to help out by manning the ship
* We decide to acquire arms from our Grand Exchange chest, and Octavio inks Oni’s quill so a letter of request can be drawn up, asking for cannons to deal with the suspected ‘lagiacrus’
* The letter is placed in the box, but the request for a canon is swiftly denied, as we lack sufficient evidence to support our claims

### **Cove north of Molid, near site of recent attack**

* We decide to seek evidence and ask the captain to show us to the location where the recent attack occurred
* He accompanies us to the cove:
* A shallow expanse of water, several feet deep in the shallows, with deeper water further out in a sudden drop to our northeast. Some wreckage of a ship has washed up and beached in the shallows.
* We wade out, though Buck strolls casually atop the water as though it were solid group, but the captain (Anthony) refuses to accompany us further

### **Cove north of Molid, boat wreckage**

* The boat shows evidence of an explosion: the timbers are scorched
* Damage suggests something forced its way in and the rest of the damages is a result of a single explosion
* It’s unlikely that we discovered the boat in one piece
* We find that the name of the ship was the ‘Argus’
* On the sea floor, a trail of debris leads northwest towards the site the attack likely took place
* Octavio swims out towards the open ocean and spots a conspicuously shaped rock: a closer inspection reveals this to be a fossilised leviathan
* The ancient creature (likely a kind of plesiosaur) is immortalised in stone
* Octavio chips off a piece of the fossil, seeing that some of the bone hasn’t turned to stone yet, and decides to pretend to Oni that the rock is dragon bone

### **Molid**

* With our new evidence we pen a new letter of request, citing our first-hand accounts of the ship’s wreckage, we describe the damage, evidence of a great creature’s destruction, and its potentially explosive capabilities
* Oni writes the letter, in the form of haikus, and we place the fossil in the chest as further proof
* They reply: our request has been granted and they ask if we have an engineer on site, as they also would like to offer an additional weapon – a dragon slayer – provided we can find someone to assemble it, luckily someone on the dock thinks they’re up to the task
* The dragon slayer is a huge ballista, however it comes with only 1 shot as no one is present who would be able to reload it
* In total we are given:
	+ 1 cannon with 12 shots
	+ 1 dragon slayer with 1 huge metal flechette
* Prepared and armed, we make ready for departure
* Buck intimidates some very willing sailors into joining the expedition, so we are able to mount one weapon to each ship (the dragon slayer on ours and the cannon on the support ship)

### **Molid Dock**

* We load the ships in preparation for our expedition
* Buck, the most experienced seaman in the party, acts as foreman, overseeing the installation of the weapons
* Since setting up takes most of the day, we decide to wait until morning to embark

### **Molid (evening)**

* Oni asks for more lore about the lagiacrus
* From what the captain and sailors know:
	+ It capsizes ships
	+ Has a lair
	+ Doesn’t usually inhabit this ocean
	+ Would only allow itself to be displaced by a bigger creature
	+ Is known as the ‘Lord of Lightning’
	+ Kills with a blue glow, that once seen means it’s already too late
* We also visit the local apothecary and requisition:
	+ 8 x potions of lightning resistance
	+ 10 x greater healing potions (4d4 + 4)
* We get 2 potions of lightning resistance and 2 greater healing potions each, with one extra greater healing potion stored on each ship

### **Molid Cove (morning of expedition)**

* Commodore Swashler leads the fleet of two from port

### **Cove north of Molid**

* The cannon ship waits out on the open water of the cove, where we hope to draw the creature for the majority of any engagement
* Our ship, dubbed the Origami Canard, explores the suspected location of the lagiacrus
* We pass under a huge stone arch and find ourselves in deep water
* We find an area with a huge rock shelf hanging a few feet under the water, beneath the shelf is a huge cave
* Within the dark water, we see what looks from our position like a huge shadow
* Wary, Buck extends his magically honed senses and attempts to locate the presence of any monstrosities that may be lurking within 5 miles
* He immediately senses one, scarcely 70 or 80 feet from their current position, located beneath the rock shelf
* Curious about the exact nature of the creature, Buck volunteers to get closer and find out what he can
* We sail the ship near the edge of the shelf and Buck dives out into the open water, his swimming propelling him unnaturally fast through the water
* As he swims closer, Buck notices that its eyes are open and a sliver of yellow glints through the water
* Octavio gets a sudden burst of inspiration and tries to get Buck's attention
* Using some dexterous tentacle-signals, he asks Buck to climb onto the shelf instead of diving beneath it, as Octavio intends to join him and open a hole in the rock shelf
* Flanked by Wababa, Octavio dives into the water, while Ori guards the Canard
* Suddenly, the creature uncurls and rushes towards the two swimmers, the crystals on its back glowing a brilliant blue
* Unnoticed, Buck is able to study the creature as its back is to him, he notices:
	+ The creature is very resistant to lighting and is also resistant (to a slightly lesser extent) to bludgeoning and slashing
	+ Specific points of note:
		- Head/horns are weaker to bludgeoning/slashing
		- Chest is weak to slashing
		- Crystals on its back are weak to bludgeoning
		- Claws and jaw are also weak to bludgeoning
		- Tail may be weak to slashing and a strong enough blow may sever it
* Faced with the creature, Octavio inks and runs, able to get to safety aboard the boat, while Wababa attempts to lead it in the other direction
* Meanwhile, Buck remains unnoticed and is able to swim swiftly to the nearest cliffside, hoping to be safer with a higher vantage point
* Oni quaffs a lighting potion and takes control of the boat, aiming to pilot it away to the safety of open water
* The lagiacrus releases a ball of lightning that flies towards them and explodes across the water’s surface, then it charges the ship, stopping just shy and coiling around itself once more
* Octavio also drinks a lightning potion, then grabs his broom, speaks an instruction, and sends it towards Buck
* Wababa, swimming like the devil, is able to catch up with the boat and gets back onboard, as Oni abandons the helm and takes hold of the oars, rowing with all his might
* Buck grabs the broom, awkwardly climbing astride, as begins flying back towards the boat, noticing as it passes under the stone arch that leads back to the open ocean
* As the Canard passes the arch, the lagiacrus makes chase with blistering speed, it lunge falling only 5ft shy from their position

**END OF SESSION 1**