2025/09/06: Journey to Rael-Aestra

Buzz, Kelsey, Nimbus, Union, Othar, Malakai   The first two days of travel toward Rael-Aestra were uneventful. Party members trained, meditated, studied, enjoyed hobbies, and (in Knight's case) occasionally teleported home to coordinate with subordinates.   On the evening of the third day, the peace was broken. The glow of infernal engines gave away the presence of an imposing dwarven skyship (an Imperator Axeship) hiding in the clouds. The party had no interest in staying to fight, and they evaded the airship's first and second volleys to make an escape.   The next morning, they encountered four of the magma dwarves' "battle boats". One was zorched by Othar at long range, though it survived and got away. Two more were engaged and destroyed by the first use of Buzz's lightning cannon combined with fire from the Ragnarok and a giant soul-searing flare from Othar that finished them off explosively.   The remaining ship grappled the Ragnarok with an anti-ship harpoon, got counter-grappled by Kelsey going giant sized, and had Nimbus board up the harpoon chain where she killed the harpoon crew. Kelsey then climbed aboard and killed 42 of the 60 man crew in three seconds while Nimbus fought and killed the 'clerical' pyro axe-wielding captain of the magma dwarven ship.   Kelsey almost went down from fire damage, as the crew had fire beam AOE spell effects they could use off their axes.   The Ragnarok crew looted and then scuttled the captured boat after finding that the control gauntlet was linked to the worship of some dark diety that gave control over the fire elemental powering the ship and its weapons.