Against the Yrch

This two-session game reunited the Band of the Semi-Conscious in an attack on the naval yards of Yrkanan. It took place in February 2006.  

Setting

Den briefly visited the Sapphire Sea, but the rest of the party went directly to Yrkanan.  

Summary of Events

Feristro contacted Den at his monastery, asking a favour. Things having been more-or-less calm for over a year, Den agreed. Feristro set him up with a longboat, and told him to observe a battle between a number of factions aboard a ship in the Sapphire Sea. He intimated it had to do with the yrch of Raangyrn, and that if all went well, no more action need be taken.   All did not go well.   Den had to board the ship he'd been observing to help the boy Corar, who was apparently also working with Feristro. They tried to enter the bridge, but it had been sealed by the yrch who'd been involved in the combat. While normally the yrch would have been unable to do anything from there, it turned out the ship possessed a spelljamming helm. It took off, and Den and Corar were plucked from the ship by a spell of Feristro's.   With the yrch in possession of a spelljamming helm, their war with Dinalom (and Loduen) would experience a turnaround. To forestall this, the rest of the Band of the Semi-Conscious was assembled (or at least, those that could be contacted on such short notice). Feristro also introduced them to Nazarin, a rogue of his acquaintance, who would come with them. They teleported to the orch city of Yrkanan, and quickly took stock of the situation.   While there was no sign of the Shrannyns the yrch had allied with in the previous battle, there were more than enough yrch to occupy the party. They were guarding the heavily-damaged ship in which the spelljamming helm resided, while more soldiers were nearby, protecting an iron-clad warship under construction in the next slip over. The Band decided that, while there was something to be said for stealth and subtlety, it was not what was called for here. They attacked outright, covering their charge with the spells of Anyanka and Nameless.   The orch soldiers fought back fiercely, with a number of arcanists calling on the strange magics of the yrch, but the Band won through to the ship. Even the surprise appearance of a beholder and a number of eyeball beholderkin in the service of Euchton didn't stop them. (Upon later analysis, it was believed likely that the Euchtonite forces were merely taking this opportunity to try to kill the party, and had no connection to the yrch.) Narrik quickly cleared the deck, using his psionic power to grow to a massive size, and wielding one of the ship's masts to great effect. However, when they got to the ship's bridge, they discovered the heavy guards had been a decoy: the helm had been removed!   Reasoning that the most likely place to move the helm to would be the brand-new warship nearby, the Band turned their attention in that direction. With Nameless and Anyanka flying, Narrik jumping, and Den water-walking, the party was aboard before the yrch could react. A water elemental monolith arose from the sea, but it only slowed a couple of them down. The giff Hrûn, who the Band had met before, and a sail minotaur warrior seemed to be under the magical control of the yrch, and fought them, alongside a mighty half-giant mercenary.   From the shelter of the aft castle, a couple of Shrannyn undead, Solarol and Sykes, sniped at the Band. When Den broke through the ceiling of the aft castle, he discovered the summoner of the elemental monolith: it was none other than their former ally, Angelica! It seems Angelica had finally abandoned the gods of good, and devoted herself to Shran. Also with her was another old acquaintance: Relnor. The Band would finally get a chance to deal with him.   Unfortunately, it was at this time that Nazarin revealed his true colours. Unbeknownst to the Band (and, presumably, Feristro), he was a naztharune rakshasa, a sneaky and malicious being of evil. He made it to the bridge before the others, and told the helmsman to take off. Narrik barely grabbed the ship as it became airborne, though the rest of the party was already on deck.   Once airborne, Nazarin proceeded to direct the helmsman in a number of maneuvers designed to throw all others off the ship. He also went about the topsy-turvy vessel, trying to kill the Band. After invisibly bedeviling them for a time, he ran afoul of Nameless and was killed. Meanwhile, Teara nearly fell out of a hole in the side of the aft castle. The Shrannyns, seeing that the battle was lost, retreated, and Relnor did fall, unconscious, through the hole in the side. Seeing an opportunity, Solarol snatched him from the air, and drained his life away, transforming him into a shadow-born.   With the helmsman killed, the ship plummeted to earth. Fortunately for the Band, they worked out that the helm was a psionic one, so Narrik sat in it and arrested their downward motion. They reported to Feristro on their success, then separated once more. Den and Anyanka were dropped off where they could return to their homes easily, and Teara was returned to the Dinalom army she had joined. Narrik and Nameless, however, decided they liked the idea of this spelljamming thing, and flew into Wildspace.  

Characters

Anyanka
Den
Narrik
Nameless
Teara
Nazarin