Many Deals

This is the 13th session of the **Ghosts of Saltmarsh** campaign and overall 20th session for The Albatross Pirates.

After the quicksand incident the crew looks ahead and keeps going on. They enter C-formation. Yelping is heard inside the cave; it is very dark.  Raven gives Darkvision for two hours to Bilji and Felix. The crew sneaks by a group of large frog-like creatures and avoids a confrontation. They go left down a path and see three lizards in a room looking similar to a guard locker room. Toof transforms into a lizard folk using the hat of disguise but combat is not pursued, and an alternative path is chosen. The party wanders and evaluates their options while being in stealth. A lizardmen speech is heard with gnarls and snarls. The party thoroughly evaluates all their options. One room has two sharks and a crawfish alongside a hobgoblin corpse. At every fork in the road the party goes left. They come upon a large set of double doors with a symbol of a cat eye gem on top. The symbol shows merfolk and seafolk bowing before it. Raven listens in to the other side and hears Siggurd Snakeyes and Punketah on the other side. The door opens and combat begins.

Combat rages until Siggurd asks for a cease fire. Toof attacks him but then the lizards surround the crew on all sides outside the door. Felix grapples Punketah and tells her to play nice. Toof goes into the hallway and snarls. The lizards are trying to get the party to put down their weapons. The party complies and stops aggression with Siggurd. Vasnyl and Felix stay with Siggurd to make sure nothing funny happens. A lizard goes to Siggurd and asks "what are these warmbloods doing here". Siggurd reports that the party are the ones he mentioned before. The room the party entered was the throne room.

The lizard opens a back wall and more lizards pour in; the party is surrounded. The leader of the lizards comes out. A large amber coloured cat eye gem is on top of her staff. "Come forward he who wishes to speak to me" she says as Bilji steps up.  Siggurd looks down as the leader lectures him. She demands to know why they are here and Bilji says he is here for Siggurd.  Bilji mentions Saltmarsh and she gets irritated. He explains why the party was hired and she hears him out.  Her assistant suggests dispatching "them" against Saltmarsh. Hal moves up and suggest an agreement where the crew lies and tells Saltmarsh the smugglers are dead. The queen considers his proposal very seriously. It is found out the Sahaugin are attacking coastal cities and the ancient lizardmen temples. She explains she was smuggling sea weaponry to fight their forces. She says she cannot accept Hal's idea. She exclaims the crew will have to be held as prisoners until this can resolve itself better.

Raven reveals the crew has the power of the diplomats. The lizard queen is intrigued and listens to Raven. Raven is able to converse well and suggests having a trusted man to come with them to reason with Saltmarsh. The queen accepts on the condition two crew members will be held as lizardmen hostages. One is selected to be Raven and Felix volunteers. The queen reveals her name as Othokent and to use her name as such for diplomatic purposes. Scaley Scaleshield is sent with the crew who knows barely any common. Felix and Raven are taken to a room that seals with a large hidden stone door. It is dark containing some stools and cloth.  Felix and Raven chat in their cell while the crew goes back to the ship. Allura is waiting on the ship for the crew. They introduce Scaley to her as a diplomat.

Bilji tells Allura they're heading out and will be back. She is very interested as to why he is leaving without her prize. Bilji explains to her what happened. Bilji suggests that the deal will have the treasure she seeks on a ship to the mainland so she can assault it and steal it herself as she cannot enter the lizard lands. She says she is not willing to wait that long. They can either go to the island or she will kill them. She will not budge on this issue. The party is in a really fucked situation now.  The captain decides to grapple her and as he goes the runes on his body glow red from her touch and he is essentially binded. She uses magic on him to suggest he goes back to get her prize. The crew doesn't notice the suggestion. Bilji now wants to go back to claim the treasure for her. Hal inquires as to what will happen with Scaley if they go back and Allura casts suggestion on Scaley to help the crew. The crew takes Finch and Oceanis with them and thinks about using a teleportation scroll to avoid Allura and get out to talk to Saltmarsh.

Oceanis hears the crew needs the orb and says that they can undergo the trials to obtain it. Whoever beats the trials will get the orb. The Crew decides to request the trial for the cat eye orb heirloom. Using tongues from Finch Bilji tells Scaley to request for the crew to participate in the trials. Scaley talks his way through and goes to the throne room where the queen is talking to Siggurd. Scaley whispers in her ear to convince her. He gives the crew a thumbs up as he is able to open up the possibility. Bilji and Oceanis seal the deal and Oceanis finds out his shark was killed in battle and his people are currently in the facility.

Thousand Teeth is the name of the creature who lives deep in the lizard folk lands and keeps it unstable. To pass the trials is to defeat him. A saying is passed about the trials "Build every bridge, become every nightmare, feast on every heart". The queen releases Felix and Raven to help in the trial and after they will be restrained again. Oceanis goes to talk with his kin while the crew, with Finch, go to begin the trial. Scaley comes along. The tunnel is in total darkness and only Morgan can see. They go down a staircase into a room with 6 stone angels weeping blood.

The MVP for this session is Captain Bilji for his extensive diplomacy and simping