Expedition 32: Black Powder: Certified Effective against Boats, Forests, and Giants

### Roster

Brightstaff, Zaryx Greatsword Vaxilondrav, Karkul Skyscale Vaxilondrav, Zafeer Skimmer Vaxilondrav, Gronteus Glad-of-War Vaxilondrav, Yezra Stormfriend Vaxilondrav, Xywyn Vivid Vaxilondrav

### Summary

In this oneshot, the Vaxilondrav Clan escapes from Tidelight to their new home in the East.

### Detailed Writeup

**Expedition Giver:** Nexrin Vaxilondrav and the elders of his clan.

**Expedition Objectives:** To evacuate the 200-strong Vaxilondrav clan from Tidelight and get them safely aboard Verrlek’s transport ships heading to Dyrroc.

**Expedition Log:** Early on the 6th of Titanus, Brightstaff guided his small sailing ship, the comically named *Mt. Nomad*, toward the isle of Tidelight, just off the coast of Memrix. A large, thickly forested island, Tidelight’s tall cliffs prevented easy access. Brightstaff caught sight of three large vessels anchored a few miles north of the isle, and saw some dragonborn peering out at his ship as he circled, but nobody came to greet or impede him as he headed for the island’s one beach.

Though he had never been to Tidelight, Brightstaff’s friend Nexrin had carefully (repeatedly, and slowly) told him what he needed to do: find the one sandy beach on the Memrixian side of the island, take a letter of introduction to the council of elders, and then organize the clan to board Verrlek’s transport vessels when they arrived to carry the family to Dyrroc. Brightstaff easily navigated the choppy water and caught sight of the beach after only an hour’s travel.

Unfortunately, on the beach was a minor military encampment. Nine Dualithi vessels, long, single-sailed ships armed with rams, were beached on the shore. A hundred men, dwarves, and mousefolk milled about, surrounding a large command tent, many armed and armored. Not one was a dragonborn, and Brightstaff surmised that the Dualithi were not on the same side of the War as the Vaxilondrav clan. He beat a hasty retreat before he was spotted.

Unable to dock normally, Brightstaff shrugged and relied on his usual tactic, displays of ludicrous athleticism, to solve his problems. Anchoring his vessel near a cliff, he launched himself fifteen feet up and landed safely on Tidelight.

Yezra Stormlight, Tempest Cleric and one of the finest warriors of the Vaxilondrav clan, was patrolling the island for Dualithi forces. For days, the Dualithi had been demanding that the Vaxilondrav clan surrender their warriors and children or face the sword, and though they had not yet moved into Tidelight’s thick forests to smoke the dragonborn out, fear abounded. Yezra and the other fighting drakes of the clan were patrolling the island for Dualithi sneak attacks, and so Yezra was understandably suspicious when Brightstaff arrived surreptitiously from the cliffs.

Nexrin’s letter, Brightstaff’s obvious inability to bluff, and Yezra’s calm demeanor prevented a nasty altercation, and Brightstaff was taken to the Council of Elders of Tidelight without incident. There, he was brought up to speed about the Dualithi demands, and he shared news of Nexrin’s activities in Vrall. He was also introduced to the six elite warriors of Tidelight. In addition to Yezra, there was the battle-ready and sword-collecting Zaryx, the fur-armored Karkul, the skillful sailor Zafeer, the heavily armored warrior Grontieus, and Vivid Knight admirer Xywyn. Brightstaff nodded politely and immediately forgot half their names, despite trying his best (sorry, team).

Once in council, the group deduced that the three large ships Brightstaff had seen anchored away from the island were probably Verrlek’s vessels. Establishing contact with him would be the best way to plan the evacuation. The elders knew Dualithi patrol boats criss-crossed the sea; so, fearing the *Mt. Nomad* might be discovered, the Magnificent Seven of Tidelight quickly raced back to the boat and piled in. The jump off the clifface and swim posed… varying levels of challenge to the party members, but everyone made it safely aboard.

Once the *Mt. Nomad* got under way, a Dualithi patrol vessel did present itself, and its crew decided to pick a fight, no doubt spotting the dragonborn packed aboard our ship. Two humans, two dwarves, and four mousefolk gathered weapons as their vessel swept in along our side. While we argued about whether to run or fight, mousefolk slingers opened fire, and the battle was joined.

The boats traded missiles, arrows, bolts, and slings, as Brightstaff swung our ship out of the other’s path. Xywyn, despite Brightstaff’s instructions, focused fire on the mousefolk slaves manning the Dualithi boat, killing two, while the rest of the party brought a human down, taking no hits in return thanks to our heavy armor. One dwarf foiled us with a heavy tower shield, blocking some shots; the other used a heavy crossbow that fired arrows coated in highly flammable Dualithi fire. Despite these threats, luck was on our side and we were clearly getting the best of the battle. The Dualithi made to flee.

Disaster struck! Gronteus, attempting to climb the *Nomad’s* mast, was flung overboard as Zaryx, eager to catch our foes, grabbed hold of the ship’s ropes and, in a minor miracle, managed to coax incredible speed out of our vessel, leaving Gronteus adrift! Karkul, thinking quickly, tied a rope to a crossbow bolt and shot Gronteus with it as the ship surged away. Displaying athleticism that impressed even Brightstaff, Gronteus grabbed the bolt embedded in his chest and wave-surfed after the speeding *Nomad*, throwing javelins even as he balanced against the spray.

The Dualithi continued to flee as we struggled to follow, raining down more fire, injuring another mousefolk but making little progress against the dwarves’ guard. When Xywyn, or possibly Karkul, it was going pretty fast, attempted to pole-vault to the enemy ship using his glaive, he rolled the ship and knocked Yezra and Zafeer overboard.Yezra clambered back aboard; Zafeer was saved only by Grontieus’s incredible reflexes, as he caught Zafeer while water-surfing. Zaryx managed to board the enemy ship and hewed into a dwarf with his sword, but was nearly knocked unconscious in turn. Things briefly looked dire.

The injured dwarf fell to missile fire. Brightstaff, impatient and finally in jumping range of the enemy vessel, leapt aboard it with a burst of Ki and smashed down the other. Down to two mousefolk of dubious loyalty and massively outgunned, the Dualithi captain surrendered. When we arrived to greet Verrlek, we were comfortably divided between two vessels, one guided by Brightstaff, the other by Zafeer. Zaryx stole many swords from our foes, and we arrived at Verrlek’s small fleet flush with victory.

Verrlek greeted us warmly, took the two mousefolk to ship as free citizens to Vrall, and took the two living Dualithi to hold for a while as prisoners. He explained that his vessels couldn’t get close to the island for fear that the Dualithi would attack; thus far, they hadn’t dared strike at independent traders, but that might change if Verrlek tried to evacuate the Vaxilondravs. A tense debate ensued, but we quickly realized our advantages.

We had a Dualithi ship. We had nine arrows coated with Dualithi fire, taken from the dwarven archer. Verrlek could provide us with a barrel of black powder; one that could be conveniently divided into nine bags. And the Dualithi had nine ships.

We were gonna sneak right in and blow their waships to kingdom come.

Brightstaff donned his finest outfit, worn previously only to Vrall’s Ball, while the archers of the Seven hid under the boat’s deck. Brightstaff steered into the Dualithi’s camp shouting warm greetings, dazzling them with his splendid clothes, and then turned for a sweeping strike at just the right moment. The archers opened fire and battle was joined.

In the opening salvo, Yezra and Zafeer blew two Dualithi ships to pieces, though Gronteus catastrophically missed, catching the forest alight. Fortunately, it did eventually burn out before threatening the Vaxilondrav clan.

A more immediate threat soon presented itself. The enemy mobilized. Fourteen mousefolk slingers. Thirty-odd Dualithi soldiers. A war mage, stepping out of the command tent, and a Goliath, whose very presence seemed to chill the air, emerging behind him. Our surprise had bought us a round, but then the enemy got serious.

After Xywyn blasted another ship apart, sending its mast careening into yet one more, the war mage cast a spell that smothered our ship in choking gas. We were forced to retch and recoil as we failed to do anything, even as sling stones and crossbow bolts rained down around us, poorly aimed through the fog. By the time we emerged, the enemy was ready, mobilizing their ships, rowing out to meet us.

Perhaps they had thought that boarding the ships would let them slay us before we could destroy another. A fatal mistake for many of them. Xywyn struck with fortune’s gift. His arrow punched through a ship’s deck, and detonated in the vessel’s core. The whole ship splintered in two. Another ship swept sideways, its hull and ropes shredded by splinters. The war mage, standing on the dock, was sent careening backwards by the shockwave and fell on his neck, killing him instantly. The Dualithi slingers began to murmur and eye their guards, their morale surging. Perhaps they could escape?

From the water, a bubbling surged.

While the fog had shrouded our ship, the Goliath had, apparently, stepped into the water. Declining to swim, he had strode forward, leisurely. We knew this because he grew as he did it. He erupted from the water, towering up forty feet, hefting a mass of water that froze in his hand. A full-grown Ice Giant hurled a boulder of rime at Brightstaff, who tried, and miserably failed, to deflect it. He was smashed onto the deck as the Dualithi soldiers cheered.

Our fate seemed sealed. Yezra shot a black powder arrow into the giant’s armpit, dealing critical damage from the explosion and opening a gushing wound in its side. Zafeer and Grontius followed suit as Zaryx hucked javelins at the beast, but we were eating crossbow fire; Yezra and Zafeer’s epic shots were matched by the Dualithi and both went down. The giant was bloodied, but we were nearly out of fire arrows. Brightstaff, seeing enemy ships closing and the giant readying another missile, tried to pull our ship away, but couldn’t move it fast enough.

Many things won us that battle: Courage. Good fortune. A massive supply of high explosives. But victory would surely have been impossible had the mousefolk not taken their opportunity to revolt, at immense risk, and turn against their erstwhile masters. The slingers turned their weapons on the giant, and despite the long range and the giant’s tough flesh, dealt a staggering blow, raining stones on its back.

The giant turned against them, and four were struck down and killed before the battle ended.

The mousefolk gave us the time we needed. Even as a boarding party leapt over our sides, the tide was turning. Brightstaff knocked one boarder off just as quickly as he clambered aboard. Zaryx brought Yezra back up with paladinic magic, and Yezra in turn healed Zafeer. A melee scrum developed on our boat, but we had the better of it thanks to Grontieus’s strong armor and Karkul’s cunning in battle. Brightstaff knocked the last two boarders off the ship as Zafeer tried, and failed, to turn out ship towards the giant. Zaryx succeeded in the same despite having no experience with boasts. Zafeer grumbled greatly.

The mousefolk dodged heroically and struck down the last of the soldiers on the land. The last Dualithi boast missed our ship with a ramming maneuver. The giant climbed out of the sea and swiped at mice left and right. Battered by explosives, rains of stones, and a few well-placed javelins, it still towered over the field, going strong.

Brightstaff knew what enemy he was called to face. Turning to the Vaxilondravs, he saluted, and with a running leap covered the entire distance to the giant, unleashing a flurry of blows. The giant swiped and struggled, but all of Brightstaff’s trials had won him great strength. He clambered up the giant’s frame and drove his fist into its eye, bringing it down with a crash.

The Dualithi looked. Considered. And bugged out as quick as they could row.

Verrlek landed to a celebration on the shores of Tidelight. He would leave carrying six brave warriors, two hundred dragonborn, and twelve newly freed mousefolk, all promising future citizens of Vrall. He left behind a dozen or so Dualithi prisoners, abandoned on the island to await rescue.

Zafeer, Yezra, Zaryx, Xywyn, Karkul, and Gronteus bid farewell to Brightstaff as he made ready to sail away on the *Mt. Nomad*. All were thrilled to have met him, and Brightstaff joined them in hoping that they could meet again in Vrall, in more peaceful times. May it be so.

**Expedition Result: Unmitigated Success! We rescued more people than we intended to!**

**Expedition Loot:** We successfully rescued twelve total mousefolk from slavery and sent them on to Port Vrall with Verrlek. Monetarily, we had no net gain, but because we were able to capture the campsite and all its resources, Verrlek considered these supplies adequate payment for the additional cargo. The greatest treasure gained, of course, was six new additions to Brightstaff’s fan club.