Session for March 15th: The Eye of the Storm

The party (except Varkin) embarked onto The Guillotine and sailed with the crew out into the Dragonmere, meeting Daph Oliart. For the crew on the ship, the first leg of the voyage was calm, as they followed the map given to them by Lady Raecret to the spot where Jestin Dayglade's ship was last seen. For Varkin, who was currently swimming in the ocean about a mile offshore, it was more perilous. Following the ship, Varkin noticed a psychic presence below him, in the deep ocean beneath his fins. He chose to investigate, and soon found himself face to face with an indescribable eldritch being he did not recognize, which made psychic contact with him. Varkin fought hard to resist its grip on his mind, but found himself enthralled and enslaved by it.   Returning to the surface, Varkin was compelled to act like he'd seen something dangerous down there, but to give nothing away about the hold the being had over his mind. The party and crew debated investigating further but decided that the thing down there was likely not the creature they were looking for and continued further out into the Dragonmere. After an encounter with a ginormous shark that tried to eat crew and ship planks alike, they found themselves facing down an enormous storm. Understanding that the storm was likely of supernatural origin, they decided to brave its harsh winds, biting rain, and crashing waves to capture their quarry.   At first, the crew was accosted by serpents made of pure ocean water, which pulled sailors to their deaths but could not best the Farland Knights. Eventually, though, the true enemy revealed itself to be a powerful storm elemental with a vial at its heart. The Hurricane Vial was found! After a harrowing and dangerous battle, which cost the lives of many crew, almost killed multiple members of the party, and nearly destroyed the vessel, the vial was acquired and the party defeated all of their aqueous foes.   A heroic highlight of the fight was the party's clever use of a combination of Varkin's ability to increase his size and a splash from a potion of growth. Varkin grew to a huge size and jumped into the water to hold the ship afloat and plug holes in the hull with his hands, certainly preventing The Guillotine, the knights, and the crew from sinking to a watery grave.