Couriers: VS Drakkar
Okay I am v. behind on Couriers summaries so I’m going to make a bunch of posts that summarize but also hopefully hit the emotions right.
Picking up where I left off: The big showdown vs Drakkar.
We made it to the Mouth of the World, a *MASSIVE* hole in the ocean, just literally a hole, like this:
but like a mile across in the middle of the ocean.
Drakkar’s ship, the Maelstrom, is anchored near the edge. Walker gives the party some temp HP and Bud gives us Water Walking just in case. We come right up on them in a broadside, latching the Seahawk to it as we leap aboard. The crew of the Seahawk pushes forward to distract his sea-zombie crew, while the party cuts through to head directly for Drakkar himself. Aeron and Keyleth are slowed as sea-zombie hands literally reach through the deck and grab us, but Kaicis hits Drakkar with a Firebolt and Nimh charges forward through the sea mist surrounding us to get him with a Ray of Frost.
Drakkar reveals he has the ability to electrify the sea mist covering the ship, but Kaicis traps him in a radiant-damage Wall of Fire. This doesn’t hold Drakkar for long, though, and he Terminator walks through the wall to slash at Kaicis, who Hellish Rebukes him in response. Keyleth uses his glass-tipped arrow to escape the grab and double-marks Drakkar, and Aeron escapes and rushes forward to stab Drakkar, but we’re all grabbed again and he summons a massive wave to knock us all prone. Aeron uses his glass-tipped arrow to escape prone, and Nimh uses Misty Step to appear just above Drakkar and does a dramatic hammer-smash downswing coupled with a smite to do massive damage break one of Drakkar’s arms. After another round of hits, including another massive hit by Nimh, Drakkar finally grabs the still restrained Kelvayla and uses his control of the sea to escape the ship over to an outcropping on the edge of the Mouth of the World.
We follow via Water Walk and on the way we are slightly waylaid by some water elementals, and arrive at the outcropping to find a heavily corrupted Drakkar who is now half tentacle and undersea monstrosity. The water around the Mouth of the World starts swirling and bubbling. Keyleth circles around Drakkar to get Kelvayla, who is tied up at the edge of the outcropping hanging over the precipice. Aeron and Nimh push through a fear effect and attack Drakkar, but Nimh is grabbed and thrown into Kaicis. Aeron panics and uses Hunger of Hadar, enveloping Drakkar, but Drakkar uses a blast from Kaicis to judge which direction to move out of it and swamps the outcropping with a wave that pushes Keyleth into the Hunger of Hadar. Aeron drops the spell, and Keyleth rushes Drakkar to hit him with the Sunblade. Nimh meanwhile roars, revealing their scales, and breathes ice breath on Drakkar, charging him and knocking him prone. Tentacles of some massive creature, barbed and thicker than any tree, start reaching out of the Mouth of the World.
Drakkar does another surge-step over to the edge where Kelvayla is and cuts her bonds, sending her falling into the pit of tentacles. But then, with a flash of light, she rises back up in the arms of a woman made of the same crystal as the Star. Cilali.
She blinds Drakkar with her light and everyone rushes forward to attack him, knocking him back into the Mouth of the World, which screams and closes. We all move forward as Cilali and Kelvayla descend to the outcropping, and then pass out.
We wake up back on the ship, Nimh having a major breakdown about the fact that we all have seen their transformation revealed. Keyleth accidentally makes them feel more like a monster with an unintentional comment, while Aeron tries to assure them that he doesn’t think of them as a monster. Nimh doesn’t believe him, and spends the next while quiet and largely avoiding the others as best they can.
We loot the Maelstrom, which we notice has stopped magically repairing itself, and find a strange gilded bracelet and a load of raw mithril. Then we blow it up before we leave. Keyleth confronts Aeron about the magic he uses after having experienced Hunger of Hadar during the fight against Drakkar, and Aeron explains it as having come from a book he’s been slowly translating. Keyleth asks to see it, but Aeron’s throat tightens and he gives an excuse of ‘maybe later’ and leaves. Nimh spends a few days healing a comatose Cilali, who eventually awakens. We explain to her that something bad had clearly happened at the temple, but her people still exist on Ola Ola. After some small consideration, Cilali doesn’t want to go back to them, feeling some guilt for not being there for them, and also wanting to explore the world.
We head back to the Ossa Maria for restocking and some healing/relaxation. Before we get there, the Kuo-toa give Aeron one last basket of prayers and then leave. We were given special accommodations and were told a celebratory feast would be held that night in our honor. We were allowed to enter the sacred garden where their weather orb was located, and were told that the Great Mother wanted to talk to us in person, giving us her blessing and thanks; a massive honor. Afterwards we had the feast and fireworks and a huge celebration. Nimh and Walker snuck away for a bit during the celebration and pierced Nimh’s ears for them.
A bit later, we finally geared up to leave and Xel’bal joined the Seahawk crew officially. The final ride to Fangport took several calm and uneventful days, during which the Sunblade was given to Cilali as a gift. The night before we disembarked, Aeron snuck into Kelvayla’s room while she slept and stole one of her horn cuffs, putting it on as a bangle bracelet.
The next day we disembarked to a big fanfare of the crew of the Seahawk and another musical number, after which they attempt to hit Aeron with a cannon-shot made of fruit as a final friendly revenge for his previous shenanigans. As the Seahawk makes a quick retreat from the Fangport docks, Aeron waves them away with the arm that has the stolen horn cuff/bangle on it, and in the distance he sees Kelvayla squint, realize, and start to yell and make to jump off the ship, only to be held back by a laughing Walker.