h2. Location

The Artful Driftdodger (Bridge)

Ongoing effects

We ended at the top of Combat Round #3

• Life Bubble (12 more days remaining)
• Surging Euphoria + 1 to Attacks, Saves, and Checks (3 rounds remaining)
• Control Atmosphere – Bubonic Plague (120 Minutes remaining)

Initiatives

22 Illithid – Staggered – 2 to hit, saves, checks
19 Kenari ^
18 Melisande
17 Fate Eater
16 Lenata
16 Fate Eater
15 Dinya
15 Ef Utan
11 Etsuriko
10 Fate Eater (22)
9 Vedis

Theridon conversation remembered – the destruction of the Elder Brain kicked him into the future through the Ether Gap. Friendly ghost? Could he help us scout the Illithids since he’s an undead?

Dodger’s sensors – distortion effect hits the ship. rod of light runs through Lenata through the deck and a booming flash from the bulkhead wall side of engineering. A figure in black armor with a pole arm appears. Dinya the Grave Cleric. Kenari met her, right? The silver frog ship I think… you’ve got the heads?

I tell the rest on the Penumbra and grab Vedis and we port over to the Dodger. Finn sits up and goes “I’m in charge right?” as Etsuriko tells him to lay down and takes command while Vedis is gone.

Mel scans Len, no disease, no radiation, no parasites. Detecting faint like readings from time manipulation effects. She gets a sense of “debugging.” Len is out cold, faint white glow. Luck based magic? Ken whispers in ear “Im going to go pilot the ship now, kay?” Nope, she’s out. Mel recognizes the great relic “Cat Herder” used to jump start the “other ship.”

Dinya was at Loom, investigated Loom and it pulled her here. There was a lot of “goo.” Illithid goo influencing the Loom perhaps? Leodetta the Time Mage is still good and not Illithid. Is the goo still on the blade? Silver shit? Can we analyze it? One other difference, it’s a whispy ectoplasmic variant that quickly disappears. Mel scans it though and picks up a psionic signature and luck magic. FateEater goo? Chronomancer goo the Illithids drained?

Dinya and crew took lightning bracers from Frog Ship that was powering it. Bracers combined with their items keyed them to be able to go to the Loom from there.

There’s a brief flare of light from the Med Bay and Len sits up. “What just happened?” I no longer have any arcane anything anymore. All of my arcane magic is gone! I no longer have access to it for some reason. Whatever happened changed me so that everything is Divine. Something happened to her Fate line to change her. What Dinya followed to get here was her Fate line. Dinya touched the threads attached to her weapon and sliced off the goo with a Smite. The goo was adding chaos to the mix.

There are obscure tales of Sardior the Dragon mettling in races to produce more Psionics, as Vedis talks about gentically modified Elans and Maenads.

“ALL HANDS ON DECK, CONTACT AT EXTREME RANGE.”

Ken ports Vedis back to Penumbra with Len as Ken and Dinya stay on Dodger. THREE SHIPS coming in quick on the 20ton range. Average nautiloid is 40tons. Giving off a familiar and unpleasant tentacle based signature.
Etsuriko wakes up Finn with “wakey powder.” Why do you think I was asleep? I know she was holding out on me!

Len casts Blessing of Luck and Resolve on everyone on Penumbra. +2 on Fear saves. Dinya aura has +4 saves on Fear effects.

Ef casts Shield, Bulls Strength, Fly and Badgers Ferocity.

Mel fires the Dodger at the lead ship that blows up in fireball 200ft across…in the Phlow… shockwave created from explosion as we make Reflex saves as the other ships blow up too. 20pts dmg to shields of each ship.
Etsuriko makes sure nobody ported over on the Penumbra and Ef helps. Mel uses her sensors and emotional sense to see that the ship has gotten more crowded as an Illithid holding three leashes holding Fate Eaters.

The Illithid lets go of the leashes so Ken grabs one and teleports a Fate Eater out into the Phlow. Mel Mind Thrusts the Illithid for 29pts who takes it in stride. Lenata teleports onto the bridge with Vedis who readies her Fang. Dinya swings at the Illithid but misses. Ef uses Dimension Door to go to the bridge of the Dodger. A Fate Eater takes a bite at Vedis but misses. Etsuriko Abundent Steps to the bridge. A Fate Eater misses a chomp.
Vedis attacks with the Fang and hits doing 1pt WIS dmg + 8pts dmg and then crits with Mind Blade for 13pts and -2 to checks.

Ken ports back and Mel casts Life Bubble on us all. Lenata effects the luck “Tugging Strands” and makes the Illthid miss Mel. Len then tries Chains of Light but it makes its save. Dinya swings at a Fate Eater and misses badly (-2 to hit) Ef attacks Illithid. A Fate Eater hits Vedis and for a moment she forgets how to wield two weapons at once. Etsuriko uses her fans to attack a Fate Eater to stagger it, hits a few times and then slips and becomes flat footed.

The Fate Eater then disappeared and 3 more showed in it’s place. Ken grabs the other one that still has a leash, just misses getting hit, and ports another one off the ship.

Mel makes the bridge air toxic and rust colored suddenly on the Dodger. She then gives one of the Fate Eaters the Bubonic Plague. Len touches the Fate Eater and casts Homeward Bound, dismissing it back to its place of origin. POINT TO REMEMBER

Dinya attacks a Fate Eater, hits one and then strains her back for 1pt of STR dmg. Ef full attacks the Illithid, and so does Etsuriko. Illithid attacks Etsuriko but Len tugs and keeps it from hitting her. Vedis uses Energy Push/Wilder Surge on Fate Eater smacking it against the wall – +1 checks/attks for next 3 rounds.

LIFE BUBBLE LASTS FOR 12 DAYS.

THOUGHT: If the Fate Eaters are found still floating out in the Phlow after the fight, could we capture one, keep it in a stasis on the ship and analyze it using the Artful Dodger to find out what it is exactly?

It’s been a long time since I have had the chance to enter anything here but recent events indicate that keeping a log is not only wise but necessary. Luigi gave us our marching orders, so to speak and clues as to why some of us are harder to trace. The tattoos the original members of our group woke up with in the beginning, keep us “unstrung from fate”. We are on our way to Oerth/Grayhawke by way of the Hive both for information and cyberware upgrades. Anything to boost our resistance to the Illithids or make us harder to find, harder to kill.

We were still in the sphere’s when I heard the call that 3 strange ships were coming up behind us and closing fast. Being outnumbered we chose to flee and I had the opportunity to see/feel Penumbra move. Oh is it beautiful, and amazing, I have never flown so fast before. We leapt ahead of our pursuers and before I knew it we were at the border of the Phlogiston. As the three ships crossed the boundary there was a huge explosion as their combustion engines caught in the Phlo and set off a chain reaction. (Obviously not from around here or they would have known better.)

We kept the quick pace for a while longer just in case but I did inquire to the ship how long this was possible. With relief, she replied 24 hours at top speed before it started compromising systems. I took the speed down to something more reasonable which was still fast compared to many ships. Our trip through the Phlo was thankfully uneventful. As we approached Realmspace we encountered no ships. We skirted around the less desirable planets of Glyth and H’Catha. I chose to navigate through a relatively new (15 years old or so) asteroid field – The Boneyard. I felt confident I could navigate it and it saved us two days versus going the long way around.

Of course the asteroid field wasn’t an asteroid field…it was a haunt. A very powerful one. First a Drow warrior appears on the deck, when Etsuriko attempts a slight bow, she walks right through her and the bulkhead. We see the flashback scenes of the battle, of ships resembling metal elven ships with unbelievably destructive weapons. We see ships and rocks twisted together and glimpses of bodies strewn about the wreckage. The palpable feeling of relief as the metal ships are sailing away and the absolute terror as they sent their final destructive volley behind them that ended the ships whose wreckage we sailed through and whose collective anguish and suffering created the haunt. We and our living ship triggered it. I was able to navigate the remaining field with a mental note to research a way to somehow put these poor souls to rest.

We were nearly to the hive when our ship was rocked in the sonic blast of another explosion, this time from directly in front of us at the hive! Then I became aware of an odd thrumming, pulsing wave. I was coming from behind us, I turned to see what it was only to catch sight of another ship screaming into view, I barely had time to nip the Penumbra out of its way. This odd metal pronged ship slammed on the brakes, and drifted sideways and only just managed to avoid crashing into the Hive. Someone was very lucky, I wouldn’t want to face Taj after crashing into the Hive, much less after it had already blown up first.

Naturally, since it’s a ship I hear “DIBS”. There’s someone flying it I thought, they’ll probably object to your “dibs” but have at it Fen. KenariKenari Sanura, Etsuriko and Ef decide to step on over to the other ship and politely inquire “WTF?” (Knowing Kenari) I message Taj and identify our ship as belonging to us and remind her of who we are. Unbeknownst to me her mate in full battle gear already appeared on the other ship called the Artful Driftdodger. Realizing who was there with Etsuriko, he seemed disappointed he didn’t get to kill anyone and blipped over to our ship. Once again, he recognized someone, in this case Fen, seemed disappointed he wasn’t able to crack any heads, barked orders that we were to dock immediately but that we were confined to the two ships and disappeared.

The other ship and the Penumbra dock at the Hive and the Commodore, Fen, Melchior and myself go over to the other ship to join our companions. The exterior is metal, all metal and design is unlike the ships I am familiar with. With two long arms extending in front and the body of the ship in the rear, it doesn’t resemble a ship of the sea or a n insect or sea creature as I am accustomed to. The interior is sleek, metallic, shiny, different. It doesn’t feel like a ship that I’m used to, nothing like the Penumbra of course which is a living entity in its own right. I’m used to ships’ helms having a palpable feel to them, I don’t have to be near it, just being on board is enough. I don’t feel this ones, which is strange.

The operator of this strange craft appears with our companions and I had to struggle to school my expression. It was very like looking in a mirror in some respects. She introduced herself as Milesande, an Aasimar like myself with elven ancestry. She’s taller than I am but thinner with black hair where mine in white but the eyes and facial resemblance is unmistakable. The commodore elbows me, “See, see I told you in one of the timelines you had a kid, I told you! Strong genes!”

What she didn’t know, doesn’t know, what none of my companions know is that Aladan and I have a daughter. When I was on one of my extended missions with the EIN, I was covering diplomatic relations, I was also covering my pregnancy and her birth. I stayed with her as long as I could but duty called. Very few know of her existence and she is being raised in secret for her protection. Only from the sanctity of a powerful temple do I dare scry to check on her, and so my contact is few and far between. Seeing Melisande was a shock, but it gave me hope of my daughter’s survival and success. The group were talking but truthfully I was distracted. She asked if I would mind some kind of testing to see how closely related, how many generations separate us and I agreed. Suddenly, Melisande’s face sharpened and her focus shot to the window “Squidfaces, 5 o’clock!” she yelled

Scrambling we flew up, out, around to greet our unwelcome guest. The Commodore attempted a mind thrust but couldn’t beat their spell resistance, bastards. How the hell did an Illithid and a Ulitharid get in the Hive, much less undetected? The Illithid was floating 30 feet in the air at upper deck level and the Ulitharid was on the dock. Etsuriko appeared on the dock behind the Ulitharid and I could see she used her hand. There seemed to be a delay between the strike and when he crumpled as if every bone had been broken simultaneously. Blood fist strikes again. We all rained damage onto the Illithid until finally Melisande used a Polar Vortex to turn him into, well, calamari slush.

We dragged the remains into her ship, to the “Med bay” for her computer to study. Turns out she and her computer can do better upgrades to us faster than the bugs can. With the use of Nan nites?

Oh, I forgot, shortly after we docked Fen realized he was allowed to leave the ships and went to the bar, he reappeared, inebriated, after the fighting was done of course.

Going to close this for now. Will continue tomorrow after we hear from Taj and know the whereabouts of our other ships and crew. I should have my upgrades selected and implanted within a week or so. Exciting but slightly scary to have something poking around in your brain case making upgrades like you were a ship.

L

Anya,
We are safe at The New Hive. Will post this before we take off.

After we returned Luigi to Bral, we took off for the Hive. On the way there, we had a long & meandering conversation regarding whether or not we were being tracked and if so – how and by whom. Near the edge of the crystal sphere Vedis, Lenata and Ef Utan are struck by a vision of a cat’s cradle of threads that run across everything and everyone – feeding into huge looms – and running through us on the bridge.

In case our current bout of paranoia wasn’t enough – the vision prompts a discussion of the fates. But paranoia takes a back seat to the three ships Kenari and Ef Utan spot coming up fast behind us. Really fast. Lenata hits it ( Penumbra can move!) and we make the sphere….but the three ships coming up behind us are keeping up. Except…well, I don’t know what kind of ships they a or where they are from – but when they leave the sphere and hit the Phlo they explode. Because they are spewing fire behind them. So not from around these parts?

Fen and I spend quality time assembling the still (priorities) and it turns out that my ability to manipulate ki energy means I can fly the Penumbra!!! The Captain can also pilot – so she spends most of her time getting flying lessons from Lenata (my turn will come). And your Uncle learns to use the consoles in the helm room. It’s a fairly uneventful trip to the New Hive – except for the debris field. The Bonecloud debris field (that only appeared 10-15 years ago) is a huge haunt. Specifically, the debris is real – but the ships and people you see – not so much. The Haunt is strong too – as an especially graphic appearance causes all of us to experience some nausea. We notice that some of the Haunt ships resemble the ships that tried to chase us out of sphere and blew up.

It takes a while to get through the debris field, but Lenata is able to do so skillfully. Near The Hive, things get interesting. There’s a huge shock wave and a disruption and we realize that part of the asteroid The Hive sits on has exploded. Lenata tells us that there is a pulsing sensation coming from somewhere behind The Hive. And as that explosion happens – another ship – different looking – and again, not from here appears and races towards us. Lenata does evasive maneuvers and the other ship does not crash into us. I, Kenari and Ef Utan hop over to the other ship and realize it’s Melisande – we had met her briefly in the dreaming (and she gave Kenari a gun, so Kenari is a fan) and Melisande realizes she had traveled to what she calls “pre-gap” time, so she is really excited to see us.

5 Hive ships appear and the next I know – Kattar is on the deck barking at everyone. He’s a little charged up and looks as ready to fight as he is to talk. Melisandre does a fantastic job of grovelling and he seemed a bit mollified – though I later heard he hopped over to the Penumbra too and barked at your Uncle that he was responsible for everyone’s behavior.

We are allowed to dock at the New Hive, but not allowed to leave our ships – so everyone else wanders over to Melisandre’s ship to check it out. Although – Fen is allowed to leave. Membership has its privileges. The Captain notes that Melisandre is a psionic like she is and we go through introductions. It would appear that Melisandre is a descendant of Lenata’s…

While we are getting to know one another – Mel yells out “tentacle faces 5 o’clock”. Out the port window we see two – an Illithid and an Ulitharid. The Captain quick tries a mind blast to no effect. I abundant step outside and hit the Ulitharid with Quivering Palm. He drops. The others make quick work of the 2nd Illithid. Especially when Mel casts some kind of Polar Vortex…Fen shows up then and starts yelling at us “Am I the only one doing my job?”

We haul the corpse in to what Mel calls her “med bay” and she starts doing some technical things to it. Not going to lie Anya – I was only paying half attention to most of this conversation. Until they get to the bits where we can kill Illithid more effectively, it’s just not that meaningful to me. But I think that’s what they were getting at. Melchior is summoned by the Shintak – apparently she wants the gunslinger to be Sheriff for a bit – so he’s going to stay at The Hive.

But eventually, the Shintak herself deigns to appear. We are put through Kenari’s gatekeeping protocol. I believe it is 7 Stars protocol now – so you probably know it (Detect Evil, Detect Aberration, Detect Psionics, Detect Compulsion, Heal & Bio checks – good grief – not suspicious or anything) and once the Shintak’s people clear us she is joins us onboard The Artful Driftdodger (which is the name of Mel’s ship). Mel is really good at the kind of etiquette that Taj Pach likes (Mel actually has etiquette skills so that’s a damn fine start right there) and she and Taj Pach have a long conversation regarding surgeries, enhancements, bioware, something called nanny mites. Mel is going to help us all out with some enhancements in preparation for going to the Underdark.

There is another long conversation about using the Illitihid Lord as a shield or maybe a weapon or a virus. I’m not really sure. But eventually the Shintak asks us what our plans/next steps are. Captain Vedis (Commodore – I should be saying Commodore) explains that we need to get to Greyspace/Oerth/Greyhawk specifically because that is where the Illithid are going to do whatever it is they are planning. So we don’t have a plan, per se, more of a solid idea about how to cause chaos. Ef Utan asks Taj Pach about the the Illithid Wizard we keep seeing in our visions. Taj Pach explains that she and Tavist met him once – when they were fighting the Illithid – and it was a brief meeting. But Strom Wakeman was a wizard from Sigil who figured out an alchemical way to save his personality during his conversion and he has been fighting the Illithid from the inside for years. She tells us that if Strom wants to talk, he will find us – but that we will pretty much definitely not find him – so don’t waste a lot of time trying. Taj gives the Commodore 2 scrolls of Word of Beckoning as well as 1 each of a Cat’s Grace & Bull’s Strength (mass). She also tells the Commodore that her sword, the Fang of Sardior, may well be enough of a relic on it’s own to take out the Elder Brain.

There’s some more back & forth on possible plans. Apparently the Artful Driftdodger has really good weapons that have quite the range on them. The Shintak spends some time talking to Penumbra before she wanders off. She does tell me though that the Serenity is in dock getting some upgrades courtesy of 7 Stars (nothing is ever free). We are reunited with our friends from the Nomad and Serenity. We tell them about our next mission and make it clear it’s basically a suicide run. The decision is made to tuck Serenity & Nomad into The Harrowing with all non-essential personnel which takes a few days to accomplish. Mel performs various surgeries and upgrades. Turns out one of Ef Utan’s descendants is also on this ship (ahhh Fate) and true to form, your Uncle tries to proposition her. It’s ok though – he gets distracted when he discovers there’s a cat on board and he wanders off to find a brush. So I don’t believe you will have a new Aunt anytime soon.

Anya, the Shintak never did explain what happened at The Hive. She didn’t seem all that surprised to be confronted with a dead Illithid Lord. She did, however, seem angry. As angry as I have ever seen that bug. She spent a bunch of time staring at your Uncle so the Phlo knows what she conveyed to him. And as for the Hive…well, if I had to guess – she is prepping for war. One thing I noticed was that when she was told by the Commodore that the Illithid are breeding fate-eaters (as a way to avoid detection by the fates) she emphatically told us to tell her where when we find the location so she can organize a strike mission. And she seems especially close to the Githyanki right now. So Anya, much as I’d like to tuck you into The Harrowing too – I know you won’t go. But keep your head low and your weapons close.

Auntie E.

Taj shows up with her retinue. Welcome, but I’m sure you won’t mind that we all go through the Kenari Protocol now that you’re here. (Hey she remembered!)

*Detect Evil, Aberrations, Psionics and Compulsion – Bio and Heal check by the surgeon

I’d like to be invited onto the Penumbra. Sure, but would you like to see what we killed first? Why wasn’t I informed?

With fabulous but obivously insect oriented ettiqute Melisande addresses the queen bug with all the laboratory results she could need. We enter the med lab and Melisande shows the Illithid lord on the med table with the holo scans. “What do you want to know?”

If we get more than one Illithid lord brain with the node, can we triangulate the location of the Elder Brain?
Could we turn it on enough to create a camoflouge brain scan? What about removing the “node” and turning it into a Species Graft surgery? Mel – “That’s something to research!”

Melisande shows off her surgery methods vs Xixchill methods. Hers can be done in 6-8 hours including recovery.

A xixchill messenger runs up to Fen and hands him a scroll with a wax seal on it with the symbol of a WHEEL on it. Finn opens to read beautiful calligraphy in common.

“We’ve been trying to reach you about your spelljammer’s warranty.” with a locker address in Waterdeep XD

A moderately tall human woman with an armored bodysuit similar to Melisandes show up, looks in, and fades back out again. (Finn notices)

Melisande has a dark sense of humor and an unwavering loathing of Mindflayers so she’s definitely willing to help.

Taj is interested in the tech but she knows it’s only temp here so she’s more interested in what they’re planning to do next. We ask Taj about the Illithid Magic Users:

There was a mindflayer who helped the 7 Stars from the inside during their past campaign. After heavy divination they were able to identify a human sage named Strom Wakeman from Sigil who had concocted an herbal concoction that had allowed him to preserve his consciousness after going through the Illithid change. Met briefly in the hallway of the Overmind complex. Other than that, no idea where he is now.

Could we create an infection for the brain to affect the Overmind instead of a bomb? Might be more effective.

Can hook us up with a scroll to summon Taj or Kattar. Vedis gets two scrolls of word of beckoning.

Drow are at war with Illithids, and if I recall Kenari met one that particularly hated Illithids. Dude with a pretty mace that Kenari hopped around following once. Tavist also has a Drow baby.

A little hockey puck sized thing flies into the room, zips around and hovers above Melisande’s head. “Oh good I’m starting to get them working again.” “Smile for the camera!” She hits a button and then sees the puck’s perspective.

We discuss the possibilities of spells that could be caused Permanent. RESISTANCE

CAT’S GRACE AND BULL STRENGTH MASS SCROLLS

Ask Taj about making Wonderous Items for us to use the Detect Abboration spell at will. (THEY LIVE)

Taj detects Vedis’ sword as being a psionic heavy hitter – a Divine Psionic Relic – The Fang of Sardior. dedicated to the Dragon God of Psionics.

Etsuriko describes where they fought the Overmind before, and Mel says it sounds like the storm in the gap of the Ethereal above the City of the Seven Seraphs. Could the Overmind be setting itself up in the Citadel of Planes?

The Serenity is in drydock getting a refit. Melisande’s ship has big guns that can fire from a bigger distance than ours.

Our crew were happy and incarcerated after the drunken brawls they got into. We should get them out and stash our ships in the Harrowing so we can bring them with us for easy access.

Fin suggests painted mascots on each others ship and gets nicked by a chonker tortise cat.

Ken asks Melisande about a resource for the chronopartical exotic matter and she remembers a lab that made one once before it disappeared. Can we interface the time machine with her ship or the Penumbra?

If the Silver Citadel is where they are creating Fate Eaters, what if we disrupt that and remove their cover from messing with reality?

Githyanki envoy shows up demanding an audience and Taj is off.

Ef Utan and Ella Sorpic meet as Finn tries to hit on her and Ef warns her off.

Could we use Cereberal Parasites as a form of attack? Could we ask the Githyanki?

We gather our cohorts on the ship and move the other ships into the Harrowing, and then head to Oerth and Greyhawk. Melisande quizes the planes people about the Artful Dodger being safe in the Phlow.

Melisande invites Lenata over to learn to pilot the Artful Dodger as Aspodel pilots the Penumbra.

STRATAGIES

1. Can we give the Illithids fleas with Cereberal Parasites?
2. If the Silver Citadel is where they are making Fate Eaters, if we launch an attack that removes their generation will that prevent their cover from doing more to reality without getting attacked by the Fates/Fortunes?
3. Can we make a bomb for the Overmind? What if we infect the Overmind with a disease?

Full genetic scans of all subjects analyzed and added to the medical database.

Anomalies and analysis noted on each individual subject

Subject: Fenelyn

M Human
Augmentations Installed: Dark Vision & Synaptic Accelerator Mk 2 (Wis)
Additional: slight traces of fiendish DNA (Cerebrelith), less than 10% the usual for a tiefling

Subject: Etsuriko

F Human
Augmentation Installed: Dark Vision & Synaptic Accelerator Mk 1 (Dex)

Subject: Kenari

F Pahtra
Augmentation Installed: Synaptic Accelerator Mk 2 (Wis) and Ferocity Species Graft

Subject: Vedis

F Species Unidentified
Augmentation Installed: Synaptic Accelerator Mk 1 and 2 (Wis & Int)
Additional: Markers of external psionic augmentation of her genetics

Subject: Lenata

F Aasimar (Planetar)
Augmentation Installed: Maze Mind, Sonic Vocalyzer (Harmonic)
Additional: Genetic ancestor of Acting Captain Melisande, confirmed,. Undetermined number of generations.

Subject: Ef Utan

M Human
Augmentation Installed: Adv. Darkvision Capacitors & Synaptic Accelerator – MK 2 (Str)
Additional: Genetic ancestor of Ella Sorpic., Undetermined number of generations

Anya,
You’d think I’d be better about writing. How hard is it to put pen to paper anyway? But here I am. Playing catch up. Before we leave Bral, I will send this to you via House Seven Stars mail. Never mind the multi-verse attempting to fall apart or Illithid incursions, there is money to be made and mail to send. I love the Dragon’s (and the Bug’s) single minded determination sometimes.

After the nightmare session on Gromm, we were able to find a guide who would take us the Face of Jira so we could cast the ritual spell to find our own Jammer. They remember me here, so that smooths the way and a suitable Hadozee guide is found. He is salty and bossy. But I said Hadozee so that’s me being redundant. His name was Yaris and the Temple there highly recommended him so we’re willing to assume he’s competent. It’s funny though when he realizes we aren’t exactly incompetent. Not that he looked impressed or anything. Just not angry. Though Ef Utan struggles with silence necessary to move through the Gromm forest (a really remarkable place – must go back). Not that I loved the giant snails. We saw one that was easily 12 tons! We manage to avoid hippos, ant swarms, dinosaurs herded by giant 6 armed Gorallians. There was a lot.
After 4 days of trudging through the forest, we leave the Aurora shield and enter Kaiju territory. Immediately upon exiting the shield we run into Dream Spiders. Kenari wasn’t having any of that so she pulls us all into the ethereal so we can walk around them.

We shift back, trudge some more and hit a cliff. At the bottom is a beautiful lake and (traditionally) in the center of the lake is an island with a Gojira statue. Because putting the statue on land would be too easy obviously. Yaris tells us that is the Face of Jira. After some fast negotiating with Yaris we get him to agree to wait for us for 3 days (in case this ritual doesn’t work and we need an escort back).

After climbing down the ridge, Fen directs us on how to build a raft. Note: I say he directed. He did not build. Ef Utan (with a rebreather), Lenata and the Captain (with Life Bubble) are nominated to swim down. Lenata casted a detect object and was able to find a large enough chunk of amber for our needs. Fen joins the Captain and Ef Utan on the swim down and Ef Utan ends up using Diamond Spray to cut it out of the rock it is in.
I am up on the raft with Melchior, Kenari and Lenata and we hear a giant ripping sound above us. A hole opens in the sky. A Achaek’ek ancient mantis god kaiju strides through the hole. Looks kinda like Taj Pach really. But bigger. By a lot. The water churns up. Lenata almost falls off, Melchior does fall off. He nonsensically mutters “it’s my mantis god and I’ll cry if I want to” as he swims back, but he lucks out when Kenari choses to benign transposition with him. I toss out a rope to help the swimmers back on the raft.

Kenari spies through the rift in the sky a place that resembles the Outlands.

While paddling to the island, Lenata fills us in on the religious history of the giant mantis. I do like to know all about the giant things before they stomp me to death. It’s important to be fully informed.

We hit the island and are able to climb to safety (relatively) as there are shrieking sounds ripping across the sky. A number of people experience sonic discomfort. Kenari (quick thinking) pulls a candle out of her bag of all the things and we make ear plugs. We plane shift to the ethereal and sit back to watch the battle. It’s a full Kaiju fight – a Gojira and the Mantis. We discuss the salability of Kaiju body parts, what happens to puke in the ethereal. Regular conversation stuff. Eventually Gojira drives off the Mantis and settles in for a nap. I nap too. All the way through the casting of the ritual and the appearance of our own Jammer!! [IRL – Covid – I tapped out of game – no notes]

The smalljammer is amazing though. And it’s clearly alive – but we have no way of talking to it yet. Lenata and the Captain head to the helm room and we start travelling (it’s so fast!). Vedis is attempting to commune with the ship while at one of the stations in the helm room – pushes a configuration of squiggly bits and up on the weather deck – where ALL the rest of us are – the ladders lock, the hatches close (with arcane locks)! I encourage everyone to tie off. Just cause. Kenari manages to pick open the lock – the halls are thick with webs and fog. Some of the interior doors have closed too. The deck is filled with poison air and I end up carrying your Uncle to his room through the webs. Kenari yells at Vedis “what are you doing?” While also point out that it is not SHE who is pushing random buttons. Vedis pushes something else and the ship shoots magic missiles – so Kenari marks that one with a grease pencil. I get Fen into a room and go back and get Melchior – dropping him in a room too. Kenari gets the ship to stop – she pulls Vedis away from the console and tells her “Do not touch anything!” “Fine.” Kenari: “Sucks doesn’t it?”

We decide to head to Bral. We have no supplies so it’s the random trail rations people are carrying. Lenata casting a food & water spell once a day and my endless flask of saki versus whatever alcohol everyone else has been hoarding. Turns out it’s a lot. We stay drunk for the entire time it takes us to get to Bral. It does – in my drunken stupor – eventually occur to me to slap a House of 7 Stars flag under the Spelljoined flag on this beauty. So we hit port and aren’t immediately engaged. We manage to get off and stumble our way to The Burnt Tail to get some ACTUAL FOOD. The Captain and Fen stay behind to watch the ship and to do the port paperwork.

After food (oh delicious dumplings) and arranging to have a bunch of food sent to the jammer we head to Luigi’s but we are intercepted by the City Guard. Someone wants to talk to us. That someone is Diadam Cartan. So – crap. We get escorted in and he instantly starts with “tell me about the warship.” Ef Utan objects. It’s not a warship. It’s a cargo ship. Cartan is unhappy – he doesn’t like anything new. He wants the Fireball Alliance to study it. We all say NO. He goes on for a bit about potential dangers. I realize where he’s heading and I do a thing. Basically (oh shit is Tavist going to try to kick my ass for this – do not tell him Anya) I let Cartan know that we are under the umbrella of House of 7 Stars and they are ultimately responsible for our actions on the Rock of Bral. He is actually satisfied by this declaration and lets us go! As we’re heading out of the castle and down the street, we realize we are being followed by a ferret and a ninja. So I announce our destination loudly. I don’t want to make these guys work too hard.

We get to Luigi’s but it turns out he’s off. I didn’t know he took days off. This may be the first time I walked in and he wasn’t here. So we head back to the dock where it turns out our Jammer is causing quite the stir. Fen and the Captain are trying to keep onlookers at bay. A contingent of House of 7 Stars guards show up and ask me I wanted them deployed. (Seriously, I got fired right?) I put them on guard duty and do the same to the 8 monks who show up from my monastery. Together the crowd is pushed back. Kenari has a brief conversation with Sandyfoot. We see Adriana Shipwright, Serig Tomigjack, an Honor Guard around Lady Serena and an elven gentlemen. We board the ship and as I am trying to talk to it, I hear faintly “bloodfist”.

The crowd stays to watch, because this is Bral and Penumbra is something new. While we are hanging out, I also see several Merchant Lords from the Council – I make sure to write down who and point it out to Fen. Tavist will want to know. Maybe if I come up with some good gossip he will overlook my trading on his name? I see the Dragon Lady there too and trade bows. Kenari works the crowd a little but doesn’t come up with much.

Waiting for Luigi to return to the bar, we have a long discussion about the ship’s potential name. It takes a bit but we eventually settle on “Penumbra.” Vedis spends some time investigating the ship controls and realizes that they are psionically active. So the controls shift based on the needs at the moment. We get some shipments – which need inspecting. The House of 7 Stars kit included a still and some very detailed instructions.

After some more settling in and organizing of deliveries and a lengthy conversation about baths – we all head to Luigi’s. Kenari: “Hey Luigi, stop if you heard this one – what do a drow, a mindflayer and an beholder all have in common?” Luigi: “That’s easy – they are all from the Underdark.” Ef Utan: Come on. The underdark? That’s it? We’re going to Greyhawk. Luigi: Commodore – control your crew – they need to calm down. Captain Vedis invites Luigi for a private tour on Penumbra. He agrees and we take off to get away from Bral (and the spying).
Luigi to Vedis: I must admit a small amount of pride that one of mine made it through. Luigi goes on to explain that the Rule of Three has been satisfied. We have the ship, the others made it to the loop, the circle has been closed. “Now the real work begins.”

To you Anya, I am happy we’re just NOW getting serious about saving the multiverse. That’s inspiring.

Luigi goes on to explain that the weak spot where they are working will set off a domino effect. The linch pin from our side is Oerth – specifically Greyhawk. We have to get there and cause chaos. [Done.] We can’t let Greyhawk fall. Fen thinks to ask who our best point of contact there might be. Luigi tells us we will have to head into the Deeper Dark and talk to Eclavdra. He also tells us to talk to Taj Pach & Tavist about the Wizard Illithid we’ve seen in so many visions. The Spelljoined with tattoos are “disassociated from the webs of fate”. Also that the Illithid are avoiding the fates by using chronomancers and using (and breeding) fate-eaters to clean up loose threads. Also, this ship is hard for them to see. He lets slip that there is an Elder Brain on Oerth – so we will have to deal with that.

When Lenata asks about getting the Drow to work with us – Luigi says “the young man from Dis will have to prove his worth.” [Your uncle’s gift of speech vs. the drow? This will be entertaining to watch.] Luigi tells us also that “the ship knows where you need to go and what you need on the way.” But that “you’re it. The speed at which the fall is happening is accelerating.” So no pressure. After some more conversation (drow etiquette) and vague reassurances “you will get the weapons you need” – The Captain views the flames Luigi has set to dancing in the cargo bay. Us on the deck of this ship, the chronomancer and her group surrounded by a web of threads that lead to looms, the crew from the future standing on their starship talking to a ghost.

Not just any ghost Anya. Captain Theridon.

A ghostly semi-translucent figure of a Drow in weird sci-fi armor suddenly appears on the ship. Etsuriko acknowledges it with a half bow. It doesn’t seem to notice as it turns on its heels and walks through her and fades out.
Kenari jumps down from the tail and does a hero landing as Ef transforms into an air elemental and floats down to the deck to ask Etsuriko what’s up with the ghost. We see more evidence of a larger battle before we
make it out of the Boneyard. We see the hightech Elve ship again as it blows away dozens of Scro ships. Between Ef and Kenari we pick out details of parts of ships, helms, etc and letters of their Orc god. The wreckage is real
but images of the battles are ghostly.

As we approach the Tears of Selune we head towards The Hive. There is a sizeable disruption as Lenata navigates the shockwaves from a massive explosion on the main laboratory asteroid. KA-DOOSH!

As the shockwave settles down something doesn’t feel right. There’s something off. It’s almost like a pulsing sort of feeling. Lenata asks the ship and gets an impression of confusion. Melchior rolls out of bed
and heads up on deck to see a chunk out of the asteriods where the main labs were. Kenari wonders if it’s a pulsing feeling if we can figure out where it’s pulsing from? She asks Lenata and Ef and between them
they figure out it’s coming out from beyond the nest towards us. Could the Pulse have caused the explosion?

Off beyond the rocks and moving towards us quickly is something vaguely round not with a purple effect like the Illithids, but more of a cold silver burst and an odd Enterprise/Defiant looking ship comes towards us.
It’s FAST. Lenata does evasive manuvers with the Penumbra – the other ship is a 1/4 size of our ship.

Meanwhile… Melisande (Queen of Swords) pilots their ship through the wave full speed and just manages to avoid crashing into the asteroids as the Penumbra dodges. The planet below is vaguely Gollarion like as their ship comes to a
screeching halt. Internal comms are out and 3 survivors out of the 5 skeleton crew. She attempts her telepathic bonds and cannot detect the rest of her mates. She checks internal coms to see if she can get them online.
“Members of the Artful Driftdodger, please respond!” “Radar Love, talk to me!” No response. Some lower level crew respond. Patra (MerHiss), Ella and Five are survivors. She checks with ship sensors to see if there’s
anything recognizable around about the manta ray ship or the asteroids around. This matches the place where KaChak stayed behind…

Kenari and Etsuriko look at the ship as we pull aside and Kenari elbows Etsuriko. “Hey, you wanna? It’s right there…”

Melisande believes she recognizes some people on deck and tells her people to stand down. “Figures, you know everybody…” “That’s why I’m the Captain! We’re in a lower tech situation so we might have to finagle this.”

Kenari, Etsuriko and Ef Utan appear on the bridge as “Asshole Alert!” blares across the bridge and Melisande pushes the button to shut it off. “Hi I’m Captain Melisande. It’s Kenari, right? How’s the gun?”

“LOVE IT! I’ve even got a plasma weapon now! So what are you doing here?”

We rode out a phasmic anomaly and my crew and I with our multiple ships were shot off into different realms. Can you tell me the date?" She discovers that her ship can’t orient to the date as it’s Pre-Gap. No injuries here other than
bumps and bruises. We didn’t blow up the lab, we’re just riding the wave. How can I help? We need to get this ship into dock before Taj and her family try to attack you.

Lenata messages Taj to let her know that the Penumbra is us. Kenari hops over to their ship and grabs some flags to wave to let the incoming ships know we’re ok.

Melisande messages the Hive about KaChak but doesn’t get a response… she does get a ping from his communicator though.

Taj’s big fluffed up insect buddy pops up on the Penumbra. “Are they with you, Finn? Do you vouch for them on this ship?” (Claws are full, sent Katar)

Melisande grovels as Katar appears on her bridge. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend!”

“Is this with you?” Kenari says “Yes, we’re friends and all good here.” Katar ports back as the two ships pull into the docking bay of the asteroid to find chaos of dust and foul smells. Whatever it was it took out one of the major research labs.

Melisande takes Five and MerHiss to come with her. “Woaah! Another Catfolk! Where you from? I’m from the High Mountain Clan. Me I’m from Mulhorand. Nice to see another Catfolk out and about.”

“The bugs are in a bad place right now but otherwise you’re not welcome. Please stay put or keep within your ship radiuses. "

We check out Melisande’s ship as we talk. Ooo you’ve got an Armory? Vedis does Detect Psionics and Melisande lights up like an Xmas Tree. Vedis notices that Melisande is an Aasimar as well and is most likely a
descendent of Lenata. We share stories of the most vicious attacks we’ve done over drinks. Melisande asks to run some genetic test on Lenata in the Med Bay and Lenata agrees.

Melisande notices suddenly appearing two more emotional presences approx 35 ft outside the ship. Those are Mindflayers… “TENTACLE FACES! 5 O’CLOCK!” as she points to the port window behind her. She steps over to the
viewport and sees a pair of them and one is the bigger one like an Illithid Lord. “Illitharid.”

Finn left the ship and went to the bar past the sentries.

Vedis uses a Mind Thrust at the smaller Illithid but it made its save. WILL SAVES. it mind blasts us for a moment then levitates across from us outside the window. Etsuriko pops behind the Illithard and thumps it with a Quivering Palm that kills it dead. KADOOSH!

Lenata hits the Illithid with Holy Smite and blinds him for one round. Kenari flicker steps on top of the ship and snipes the Illithid with a Dragon Pistol. Melchior moves out and shoots it with his guns. Ef moves into
position with a wand of Magic Missile.

Melisande creates a Polar Vortex 20×40 cylinder of ice and calamari in a blender in the air around it. She releases it and it goes SPLAT on the ground.

Finn shows up with some liquor wholesalers. “Am I the only one doing my job around here?” as he waits for someone to cover it up.

Kenari tells Mel as we cart the bodies away that we need plenty of skin samples for the Detect Abomination spell. Maybe some vials of blood too? The correct measurement is “trash bags.” How many trash bags of illithid guts does it take to affect a Scry spell?

We go into the Med Bay as Mel lays down the corpse to do the analysis as it lights up. They are bigger, stronger, more evolved, more like network nodes between regular Illithids and the Illithid Brain.

Kenari gets her skin and blood samples as Mel gleefully dissects the Illithid.

Lenata wonders if the “network node” could be used against the Illithid to detect where the Brain is, to misdirect the Illithids, etc.

Melisands offers to psionically link us all (Vedis, Lenata, Kenari agree)

We could put Melisande’s Ship into the Harrowing to dock there as a secure place that we can access if we need. Can the ship go through the Flow safely?

Mel’s ship has an AI but isn’t alive like ours. The Nomad is here. The Serenity is expected to arrive within a week or two.

Word comes through the bug guard that Melchior has been summoned. We need help in the Disaster Zone. Melchior has been deputized to help Taj’s clan as law enforcement.

Up to Level 8 surgeries on Melisande’s Ship. 1 hour or so.