Session 26. - Cloudhunting

General Summary

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23^rd of Frost's End, 1440 A.P.

 

Sunrise came early the next morning, turning the waterways below into pools and streams of liquid gold. As the airship floated high above, the party took in the majesty of the view and ate another of Umami's equally majestic meals.

 

Once they had woken up sufficiently, and lauded the chef with their usual compliments they set about their task: hunting and capturing some cloudhunter rays for their captain. Torak took first watch and started searching the skies for the creatures. Angrar, despite his lack of confidence in his ability, practiced on the ballista. While he practised, Axon kept chatting with him, trying to learn more about his new companion. After cleaning up after the morning meal, Umami spent time on the upper deck with the captain and Bolt-1, showing interest in their maps and plans, but in actuality using the time to practice his Dhabaran. Deadeye helped Angrar load and aim the ballista but he kept getting distracted at the scenery and would frequently zone out, enamoured by the thrill of being so high in the sky.

 

Oorr left the others to their own devices and went looking for the young faun, Alvarine. It had been a long time since he'd seen, let alone talked to, another of his kind and he was drawn to her in ways he wasn't quite sure he could explain. After knocking on her cabin door and not receiving a response, he went looking for her. He found her in the lower deck, checking on the supplies and immediately tried chatting with her. He introduced himself grandiosely and immediately was met with girlish giggles. Oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation, he continued to tell her about the travails and adventures he's had on his journey and she smiled shyly and slowly edged her way towards the stairs. As she got further away, he unconsciously started raising his voice so she could still hear him. He caught himself doing it and moved to follow so he could continue the story in a much more civilised tone. When he made to follow her up the stairs, she almost broke into a run and headed for her cabin. When he got to the top he distinctly heard her cabin door close and lock. Deadeye, who was heading down to relieve Torak on watch, snorted humourously at the situation and asked Oorr if every woman he talked to runs away like that? Before he could retort, Deadeye was past him and the moment was gone.

 

After about half an hour, Deadeye called out that he'd spotted a pod of rays below and off in the distance. The captain whipped out his spyglass and trained it towards the direction Deadeye described. After a few moments, Deadeye called out a second sighting. After observing them both, the captain said to avoid the nearer pod as it looked like it had a large male with it and gave orders to Bolt-1 to descend through the clouds and get close to the other pod.

 

Torak heard Deadeye calling out about the rays but his grasp of the language was so poor that as soon as the first pod had been spotted, he took aim and fired, falling far short of the mark. To make matters worse, in his haste, he'd forgotten to anchor the netting and his shot sailed down and quickly disappeared into the swamp far below. He managed to look ashamed as he and Angrar set about reloading the ballista. Both of them triple checking to ensure this one was secured properly.

 

Bolt-1 maneuvered the airship down through the cloudy haze and as they got closer to the water below, the sounds of birdsong and abundant life rose up to meet them. They levelled out and Torak lined up another shot. This one was within range, but his aim was off and the net flew wide. He and Angrar started to reel the net back in while Deadeye emerged from the lookout and took a position at the second ballista with Umami assisting him. Axon stood between the two bows, ready to help where needed and Oorr stood near the stern of the ship giving directions that no one heeded.

 

As Torak and Deadeye were lining up their next shots, a dark shadow crossed over their ship and suddenly the air between them and the pod of cloudhunters was filled with harpoons. Three of them hit their marks and the rest made the pod scatter. The others watched as the three rays that had been hit were reeled into another airship that appeared out of the clouds above them.

 

Where their ship was sleek with graceful lines and simple wooden craftsmanship that gave it character, this new ship was a rusted hodgepodge of scrap metal and twisted cables suspended underneath a ratty canvas balloon that looked like it would burst apart at any moment. It was roughly half their size and it managed to hover in the air, in much the same manner that bricks don't, occasionally belching a cloud of greasy smoke from some unseen engine. Oorr distinctly heard the Captain say the name "RASSMUSSEN!" and he spat it with such venom that even Oorr was taken aback.

 

The other ship changed course, almost as if they'd heard the captain's curse, and moved to block the party's access to the rays which were scattering as another round of harpoon spears launched from the other ship. Axon moved over beside the Captain who'd come down from the upper deck and asked who or what was Rassmussen? The captain responded tersely that he was a poacher. He and his crew killed the rays for their hides with no regards for the ecosystem or for science. They were a menace and needed to be stopped.

 

Oorr eyed the other ship predatorily, despite it looking like it was falling apart. He said if they capture it then they could have their own ship and not have to worry about hunting these silly rays. Thankfully the captain didn't hear him, but the others did and gave him a side-eye glance, just to double check that Urith hadn't returned unannounced.

 

Axon and the others acknowledged the captain's assessment while paying little mind to Oorr's wild idea and started searching for targets on the other ship. They saw several people moving about on the other ship, their heads and upper bodies the only thing visible above the railing. They seemed to be focused on reeling in the rays they'd harpooned rather than on the party. It wasn't until Torak took aim with his ballista and fired a shot at the other ship (and missed) that they took notice. A couple of the men on the other ship opened fire with bows and one of them, who was almost as tall as Angrar, pointed at the ship and seemed to cast a spell that encompassed the whole front of the ship and everyone on it. Everyone it touched felt an immediate crushing weight as if the whole planet rested on their chest and it became difficult to breathe. Oorr was able to shake off the effects, as did Umami but the blow stunned Angrar, Deadeye and Torak and knocked them prone on the deck. Axon was just outside the spell's effect and thankfully didn't get hit.

 

Once they returned to their senses and they could easily breathe again, they returned fire. Deadeye took aim at a couple of the archers, trading several shots back and forth with them but they seemed more interested in the cloudhunters and ignored the little kenku after one volley. Axon fired off a spell at the pilot of the other airship which caused it to swerve, which in turn, made the archers miss the rays. The rays scattered, with the bulk of the pod continuing to flee, while several of the creatures remained behind and engaged both ships and their crews.

 

Oorr started climbing up the rigging and made his way onto the large canvas air bladder that kept the ship afloat. From his high vantage point, he started eyeing the diminishing gap between the ships and calculating trajectories and thinking that he could make the jump. He was determined to board the other ship and commandeer it, regardless of what the others said or thought. Before he could make the leap though, one of the rays flew out of the clouds and whipped him with one of it's tendrils, sending a massive electric shock through him. Thankfully he was able to keep his feet on top of the balloon but the shock arrested his momentum and he didn't attempt the jump. After defending against a few more of the rays whiplike tendrils, he climbed back down to the much more stable deck, looking for another way to the other airship.

 

Angrar fended off another ray that flew across the deck while Umami chanted and provided support to everyone he could see. Axon tossed a spell at the giant spellcaster, who shook it off easily. When he saw how unphased the big guy was by his spell, he shouted to the others that they needed to focus on "Rassmussen". The captain shouted back, "that's not Rassmussen, that's Kreegyr, his first mate." The captain pointed at the weasily little man they could barely see hunched over the other ship's wheel, "That's Rassmussen!."

 

Axon acknowledged the correction with a nod and told the others to focus on the big guy just as Kreegyr pulled something from a bag at his waist, unrolled it and stepped onto it in a smooth, singular motion. Seconds later he rose off the other ship's deck on a carpet and flew towards them.

 

While the others were watching Kreegyr fly towards them, Torak ignored the curiousity and instead focused his attention on the rays that continued to harass both ships. He followed Oorr's lead and climbed up onto the balloon and waited for one of the rays to fly by for another pass. When it did he didn't even hesitate and jumped onto its back, heedless of the thousand feet of empty air beneath him. He landed nimbly and gripped tightly onto the horned ridges on the beast's back as it rolled and tried to throw him off. Torak embraced the hunter's spirit within himself and his senses sharpened, as did his teeth and fingernails. He clawed the beast, slicing several gashes in it's leathery hide. It rolled again, and this time he lost his grip and tumbled out of the sky. Thankfully he was near the airship and the beast's roll practically tossed him onto the deck. He landed hard against some crates and didn't immediately return to his feet. Umami moved to tend to him.

 

Deadeye switched targets from the archers to Kreegyr, who was now very close to their ship, and let loose with several arrows. The arrows struck the large half-ghrym solidly in the chest, but like Axon's spell before, seemed to have little visible effect. The large man inexorably flew closer, unleashing an unseen spell of his own, that made Deadeye stagger back in pain but seemingly had little effect beyond that.

 

Kreegyr flew around the ship and unleashed another spell as he approached, this time targetting Oorr. As the party watched Oorr started shrinking before their eyes, momentarily becoming the same size as Torak, but just as quickly he returned to his regular size, managing to fight off whatever spell had been cast. Unfortunately, not all of his gear followed suit. The fancy sword that he has spent all his money on in Aldergrove, stayed small and now resembled an ornate dirk rather than the original rapier it had been. Oorr did not seem pleased that his investment had shrunk in the wash and taunted the large half-ghrym to come closer.

 

The big man did not take well to the taunting and as the party watched, he moulded and shaped his arm into a long, jagged blade made out of bone that he attacked with. Oorr fenced with him when he was next to the ship and ducked back out of reach, or so he thought. Kreegyr's blade arm extended unnaturally and impaled a shocked Oorr. Torak took the opportunity to defend his friend and cast a Thorn whip spell on Kreegyr, hoping to snare him and pull him off the carpet and into midair where gravity could do their dirty work for them. Sadly the spell was unsuccessful and Kreegyr stayed firmly planted on the carpet.

 

When he recovered, Oorr quickly said a prayer to Rayah and impulsively ran and jumped off the airship, summoning his great fog cloud as he went. Using his armour's inherent magics he teleported through the fog and landed behind Kreegyr on the carpet. He used the fog to his advantage and landed several telling blows on the giant. Kreegyr tried to return the favour but the swirling fog made him miss and almost sent him over the edge of the carpet in a mis-step.

 

The fog did no one else any favours either as everyone on the ship became blinded. Torak regained his feet with Umami's help but even his keen senses couldn't pierce the fog. Angrar swung wildly at one of the rays but mis-stepped in the fog and his hammer tumbled overboard. He sighed at the inconvenience of it all and willed the hammer to return to him. Deadeye gave up on shooting his own arrows and moved to one of the ballista, hoping to find a target. Axon contemplated dispersing the fog but realised that it was thinning naturally as the ships passed through it.

 

With the fog clearing, Kreegyr renewed his focus on Oorr, and lay into him with his heavy bone blade. Oorr gave as good as he got though and landed a mortal blow just as the fog fully dispersed. The others looked over just in time to see the large man tumble from the carpet into the swamp far below. Some as yet undiscovered mercenary part of Umami's soul cried out and he quickly told Deadeye to catch the body before it dropped out of sight. Deadeye lined up and took a shot with the ballista. The strike landed true and the net quickly entangled the falling half-ghrym's body and left him dangling far below.

 

Angrar dispatched one of the rays and shifted to help Deadeye reel in their catch.

 

Oorr found himself stranded on the carpet without a way to control it and shouted for the others to throw him rope. Axon did and they dragged him back to the deck where he stepped off the carpet, which instantly dropped lifeless to the deck.

 

While everyone else helped reel in their catches, another ray appeared from under the ship and poised its static charged tendrils to attack the unprotected flanks of Axon and Umami. Before it could lash out however, Torak spoke some words of power and enthralled it to his will. He jumped on to its back again and directed it to fly up to the other airship. He cackled madly and hung on as the creature shot straight up vertically and quickly closed with the other airship.

 

Once he was level with it, he dove off, rolled across the deck and viciously attacked the helmsman from behind, knocking him to the ground. The archers (and several other crew that had not been visible from below) noticed their helmsman (The one identified as Rassmussen) go down and turned from the rays they were fighting to face his attacker.

 

From below, the others tried to figure out how to quickly get up to join Torak, but couldn't find a solution and just told Bolt-1 to climb as quickly as he could.

 

After dispatching Rasmussen, Torak quickly realised that he was extremely outnumbered and used the last vestiges of his spell to call the cloudhunter back to him. Unfortunately the beast was stubborn and resisted his summons. The beast lashed out with its tails, striking several of the other ship's crew and grazing the ratty balloon holding the ship afloat. The barbed tendril ripped a hole in the balloon and the static charge it held triggered a catastrophic explosion that pitched the airship into a steep dive. Torak hoped he had enough control of the ray still and leapt onto its back at the last minute. Unfortunately he misjudged the distance and slid off the creatures back without getting any grip.

 

He tried to regain control of the rays but the blast had scared it senseless and it was flying away as fast as it could. He tumbled from the sky and the others watched in horror as they couldn't reach him. He searched inside himself, trying to think of a flying creature that he could morph into but the ability was beyond him. He remembered that squirrels sometimes were able to glide between trees and used his druidic powers to morph into one.

 

He stretched his tiny arms out as far as he could and tumbled towards the airship. The others thought about using the ballista to catch him like they had with Kreegyr but realised that Kreegyr was still dangling below the ship and they wouldn't have time to finish reeling him in and reloading before he plummeted to his death. The other ballista wasnt any help either as it didn't have the angle for a clean shot.

 

Finally Axon came up with an idea and summoned his mage hand at the last instant and grabbed the tiny squirrel as it fell through the air. Catching it just at the edge of his range. He pulled the squirrel shaped Torak onto the deck and the small wildling shifted back into his natural form and curled into a fetal ball. Umami gently guided the wildling to his cabin and let him rest while the others watched the wreckage of the other ship crash into the swamp below. It burned for a while but as they kept moving high above, it was soon out of sight.

 

With the other ship dealt with, the party looked for more rays, but the pod had scattered. They busied themselves shoring up the ship and repairing what damage they could. Angrar reeled in Kreegyr and once the hulk of a body was on board, they unceremoniously rifled through his corpse, finding a bag of holding strapped to his belt along with a small money pouch. Once the body was looted, Oorr rolled Kreegyr's corpse off the ship before anyone could stop him and watched as he silently plummeted to the ground. He took great pleasure watching the body fall and was imagining the crater he'd make when he landed. Just as he was losing sight of the body as it passed through a cloudbank, a sliver of fear shot through him... did the body just move? Nah. It was just the wind. Had to be... Oorr looked closer and he swore he saw Kreegyr's body spasm but it disappeared into the clouds and was gone before he could be certain. Oorr decided that he'd been imagining things and casually whistled to himself and went to rejoin the others.

 

Axon rolled up the carpet and replaced it in the bag as the group bickered lightly as to who would get what loot before everyone deciding that both pieces would be considered group loot for the time being.

 

Once things settled down, Axon took watch and they went back to search for more rays. Unfortunately the rest of the day was unsuccessful, as was the next with their captain becoming slightly more irritable with each passing day.

 

After two more days without any further sightings, the captain informed them that tomorrow would be the last day and successful or not, he'd take them to Tharsis the following day. They all went to bed feeling somewhat melancholy and hoped that tomorrow would bring better luck...

Rewards Granted

• 971 xp
• Bag of Holding
• Carpet of Flying

Character(s) interacted with

• Professor Reginald Crankshaft XXXIII
• Bolt-1
• Alvarine
• Rassmussen
• Kreegyr

Notes