Realms S1E12 Ocean of Storms

The party has smooth sailing until they find the missing ship and its only survivor, a man named Ted. But what happened to their own Captain and where on Ukodor did all these undead pirates come from??

Player Characters Present
Jeidobii, Torq, Denahi, Burakubuu, Guest: Ted

Synopsis
Our heroes are out to sea. Thus far the voyage has been pleasant and uneventful. Jeidobii expresses a need to speak with the Captain. He attempts to seek him out but is intercepted by Zeek, the First Mate.

Zeek is elusive about the captain’s whereabouts and availability and after some back and forth, Jeidobii finally relents. He takes his friends aside and gifts them all the ability to breathe water for the day as a precaution. Torq engages Zeek in conversation and establishes some rapport, smoothing over the initially tense introduction, but gains no further information.

Above, the crew spots a ship. As they approach, they realize it is the one they’ve been looking for and being their approach. They pull in and tie off against the lost vessel and Torq and Burakubuu board it while the others stay behind. Torq and Buu find the deck abandoned but signs of struggle are evident. They go to search the Captain’s room on the lost ship and discover a small man in some very big armor.

He is frightened and initially hesitant but the pair put him at ease and learn he calls himself Ted. He was part of the crew of this ship and he locked himself in the room for what seemed like days if not weeks ago. All the while he heard horrible sounds outside and feared for his life. Assuring him the danger is past, Torq and Buu escort him out of the room and start heading back to the other ship when suddenly both ships are set upon by undead pirates comprised of humans and hulking orcs.

Split apart, the party battles the undead upon both ships. Zeek joins them in battle while Reezo, the young boy at the ship’s wheel, cowers in fear. The heroes prevail, discovering in the process that much to their surprise, and Ted’s, for that matter, Ted is quite a formidable warrior. As Torq, Ted and Buu start to make their way back to their own ship, Buu senses a great evil below decks. He asks Ted what he knows, but Ted can offer only that a special gem was being carried back to Edayk. The trio heads down to retrieve it, and discover the gem itself is the source of the evil Buu had sensed. Torq fearlessly grabs the chest holding the gem and they make their way back over to their original ship.

Meanwhile, Jeidobii and Denahi seek out the captain. Getting no response they break his door down and discover him dead. They see no signs of forced entry. A storm approaches and begins rocking the ship just as Buu, Ted and Torq are attempting to cross over. They make it but the violent storm throws the party off balance. Torq falls into the ocean and Denahi tosses Buu her Ring of Water Walking as he goes to dive in after his large friend. Buu has forgotten, however, that he doesn’t know how to swim and quickly sinks below the waves. Luckily, they were both safe thanks to Jeidobii’s spell from earlier and Torq takes the ring from Buu and lifts him up. They climb back up to the ship’s deck.

Buu goes to give a second look to the captain’s quarters and, wondering how it was missed, finds stab wounds upon the captain. As he searches for any other evidence, Jeidobii takes control of the storm to calm it while Denahi mends the sails that were damaged in the battle earlier. Buu steps out of the cabin to tell his friends his findings when he finds himself under attack by an unseen enemy. He quickly realizes they are under attack by invisible enemies and uses his special senses to locate their “presence” calling out the locations to his friends. Jeidobii makes use of the storm itself to call lightning down upon the enemies, revealed now as dark elves. With Ted’s help, the party obliterates their enemies.

The melee ended, Burakubuu realizes it has been some time since they’ve seen Zeek and worries he may have fallen overboard during the storm. He goes to the upper deck to look for any signs of the lost man when the ship bumps something below, hard. Buu fears they may have just plowed over the former first mate. Jeidobii leaps into the waters and takes the form of a shark to investigate.