2017 03 15 Game notes

Dave
Dave has been researching how to construct a fleet of zeppelins and use ley lines for propulsion. He's discovered some interesting things, such as how to acquire helium, and has some strong theories about how to construct a dirigible that will resist dragon attacks. He's also made impressive headway into the concept of a ley line monorail.

Darius
Darius reveals the results of several months of research, including a connection between the elves and the demigod Kela, and that the power of the Curse of the Decline appears to have weakened after the elemental dragon, Vossaprus was destroyed.

Ships!
Through a combined effort between Paul, Lazer and Lazer’s friends in the aristocracy, seven identical racing yachts are commissioned. Crews are assembled and plans laid out to explore the world again, and try to find out more information about the elemental dragons, the ruined naga empire, and more information about Kela and the artifacts related to her.

Paul
Not long after the dragon fight, Paul handed out seven-segmented amulets of protection against scrying to the team. Now, he gathers them up again, snapping off all but one segment, which each member of the party is given to wear. The amulets make any attempt to use scrying magic on the wearer result in a blurry image.

Paul hands off a magic item that looks like a six-petaled flower to a shady-ass elf named Otto and the shady-ass dude 100% buys Paul’s carefully crafted ruse. (Paul beat him by 7 successes on a contested roll.)

Launch
After six months and some change, all seven ships set out from the western port of Jokipalo with much fanfare. The party is one one of the ships along with two crewmen (Gustaf and Markku). After heading out of port,they set a course straight south toward the South Pole.

Weeks 1-3
As you sail past the long western coast of Jumala, not much happens.

Week 4
Early in week four, you put the continental shelf behind you and were officially in deep water. Late in the week, Darius was on watch and spotted two large underwater creatures closely following the ship. He politely alerted the rest of the crew.

After tailing the ship for at least an hour, the shapes rose to the surface and revealed themselves to be a pair of dire sharks (megalodons), and their sea giant riders, who were curious about the extremely rare intrusion into their territory. The female sea giant introduced herself as Sian and the male as Hywel. They have purplish-blue skin, long, dark purple hair, and reflective silver eyes.

The giants were initially suspicious that the group are poachers, and indicate that poachers are dealt with harshly. The team convinced the giants that they’re not poachers, and outlined a brief sketch of their mission to the South Pole.

Sian and Hywel told the group that there is a cloud giant settlement somewhere on the south polar ice cap that they assume is abandoned - the last cloud giant ship that came through was around 80-110 years ago.

In gratitude and also to encourage safe passage, the crew gives the giants two magical spears from the Stink Hat that they resize to fit, and the giants make the team promise that they’ll notify the giants when they come back through. (By making a racket against the hull of the ship, apparently.) Sian says she hopes they can bring back giant-sized jewelry from the cloud giant settlement.

Weeks 5-6
Not much happened except for minor incidents, and run-ins with easily handled sea creatures.

Weeks 7-8
In the seventh week, the ship runs into the shattered keel of another ship. Dave summons a water elemental who informs them that the ship was destroyed by a humongous creature (fitting the description of a giant squid) that was sent by the 'sea people.' At Dave’s request, the elemental finds a banner from the shattered ship, and finds the symbol of the orc god, Chu’koi. The elemental remembers that about 3 months ago an orc ship was destroyed and everyone aboard was either eaten or dragged below.

The crew heads out of the area at great speed, and are glad to not see any sign of squids.

Week 9
After a few more minor incidents, including Dave blowing up a flock of sea birds that would not stop trying to attack the sails, the crew finally makes it to the coast of the antarctic polar region. The coast is fairly sheer, compose of an ice shelf that rises about 250 meters above the water.

After summoning some air spirits and sending out Zach (Paul's familiar) and Zheeley to scout, they found a spot where the giant ships of old may have docked.

A Frozen Dock
It’s a very large (30x30m) platform with a couple places to tie up a ship. The platform floats on a series of huge drums and is covered in what appears to be someone’s version of galvanized steel. It was under about a meter of ice, which Dave and Zheeley burned away after considerable effort. Two enormous chains (each link being a good quarter meter thick and 3 meters tall) connect the dock to an anchor, 150 meters inland at the top of the ice shelf. The anchor appears to be made of one solid slab of stone of indeterminate depth. Like the floating platform below, it measures 30x30m.

Top Shelf
Working together, Dave and Zheeley ferried everyone up to the top of the ice shelf. Gustaf and Markku opted to stay with the ship and keep it from getting icebound.

After consulting the dragon tooth, the explorers are convinced that the Last Bell is nowhere nearby. On the upside, there’s still several hundred thousand square kilometers of icy wastes to explore.