The Sea Wasp
It wasn’t long before Edwyn and his companions, Fennen and Storm, reached Wildstone Reef. The shop owner, Bertle Greenleaf had sent them here to find his son. By the gods that is exactly what Edwyn was going to do. They didn’t have much to go on other than the fact that Bertle’s son Danny was aboard the Sea Wasp when it disappeared and he was wearing a very particular tri-horn hat that was black with green trim.
“His mother gave that hat to him, rest her soul” Bertle had said.
Edwyn knew in that moment that it was his destiny to find Danny, and return him safely to his father. Fate, and Lorali’s boat, had dropped anchor merely half a mile west of what looked like an old boat that had run aground. This had to be the Sea Wasp.
When our trio arrived at the ship it looked as if it had been ravaged by years of decay. This was, however, the Sea Wasp which had not been missing for nearly that long. Something was wrong here. There was enough rope and netting hanging down that Edwyn had no trouble climbing to the top deck of the ship. He immediately regretted getting there first.
Out from the shadows emerged 5 figures. All of them shambling, decayed and unholy memories of their former selves. Edwyn had heard of zombies of course. Paladins of the Order of the Phoenix are the hammers of justice against such foul creatures. But there was something odd about these that was not in his school books. Their eyes and other cracks in their bodies were teaming with a sparking energy. They all seemed to have tiny thunderstorms raging in their chests that were clawing their way out of any weaknesses they could find in the bodies’ flesh.
This could have easily been the end of Edwyn’s adventures were it not for Storm and Fennen. In his haste to discover Danny’s fate, Edwyn didn’t realize that Storm and Fennen didn’t climb up with him. He was surrounded. They came leaping over the railing of the ship just in time and fought back the monsters. With each strike into the zombies flesh, Edwyn and Storm could feel the energy surge into their own bodies, dealing damage. Fennen seemed fine, though, as he did his fighting bare handed in the tradition of the other monks of his temple.
With one unholy creature remaining it became clear what had happened to Danny. The hat still attached to the abomination’s head was faded black with green trim. Bertle’s son would not be coming home.
The adventure to the Sea Wasp wasn’t a total loss. The party did find Bertle’s missing cargo, so there were some positive results! Crates of polished marble and iron tools meant for the island seemed to be in decent shape and could be loaded onto Lorali’s ship for transport.
“Danny turned into an unholy beast but the goods have been recovered, and that must count for something. Bertle will be thrilled!” Edwyn thought. “Perhaps my destiny is to return the goods! Not Danny.”
Satisfied with his new quest, Edwyn happily left the boat and headed back to Lorali and the crew who were setting up camp.
Storm and Fennen did a little more digging around the ship. They found some beautifully drawn maps with a golden boar sigil in the bottom right corner of each one. They weren’t sure exactly who had made these but they seemed important so they decided to keep them for now.
Aiados
Storm and Fennen returned to the small camp to see Lorali and Edwyn speaking to an elf. She looked pretty ragged as if she had been on this island for a long time. Her name was Arista. She explained that the reason the storms have been so frequent and powerful was due to the demi-god who resided on this island. His name was Aiados and he was angry.
She told them that the alter built to Aiados in his temple had been destroyed when goblins raided the island, and a key piece to that alter was stolen. It was the triangle the party had found on the goblin ship!
“We must have caught the little shits as they sailed away from here. They got greedy and attacked us.” Storm said.
“But I handled them” Edwyn added, earning a few eye rolls which he did not notice.
Arista continued with her tale. There was something about other islands and trials but, Edwyn heard that she needed help and they had the means to do it. He had heard plenty. The triangle in their possession was the key to rebuilding the offering on Aiados’ alter. Arista could rebuild it but the party would need to keep the storm god “distracted”.
“What, like with magic tricks?” Fennen asked sarcastically.
Arista lead the group to the inner chamber of Aiados’ temple. The massive storm demi-god was not interested in magic tricks, despite Edwyn’s efforts who thought Fennen was serious. Our three heroes just had to battle the raging elemental long enough, without dying, so Arista had time to put the alter back together.
By the end of it, Fennen was out cold with Storm and Edwyn close to going down as well. Once the altar was rebuilt, Aiados immediately recoiled, and the fight stopped as quickly as it had begun. Singed and sore, the group left the temple of Aiados in desperate need of rest and recovery.
The heroes returned to shore triumphant, hungry, hurt and tired. Storm and Fennen were afraid Lorali would have left them now that she had all the cargo but Edwyn had no doubt she would be there. He was correct. The cargo had been loaded and they were patiently waiting for their return so they could all get back to the island. It turns out this captain Lorali was quite reliable after all.
There is some debate over whether or not Storm and Fennen should show the maps to Lorali but they decide not to. They chose to keep them a secret until they know exactly who made these maps and where they are leading.
Now that the temple to Aiados was restored and the elemental appeased, the weather was back to normal and the trip home was uneventful. Edwyn was excited to return the goods to Bertle but less excited to let him how he had to stab his son in the face.
-End
Your Turn, Dad 