Fighting the Shark Clan!
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| Weresharks on a sinking ship. |
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| 11. Kirikuka 15. Jawalass 16. Morbor Bay |
The Narrative:
On 12 Reaping during the feast and meeting of all the village mothers, the expedition's leaders agreed to travel to Jawalass, destroy the village of the cannibal Shark Clan, and survey the island as a possible site for a fort and base.
Then two newcomers were introduced, Verity, an elven druid, and Gnarl, a half-orc barbarian. They were the sole survivors of a shipwreck, the Pale Countess. This galleon had been sailing from the city of Greyhawk for Gradsul, but was struck by a storm after rounding the Pomarj. After days on the storm-tossed sea, the ship had been driven far to the south. The Pale Countess' captain was making for the north again, attempting to return to the well-travelled sea routes when they spotted the Isle of Dread to the west, off the port bow.
Then disaster struck a great bird of truly gigantic size, which Verity recognized as a roc, attacked the ship, grabbing it and carrying it high into the air and winging to the northwest and across the island. The passengers and crew were terrified, holding on for dear life as the vast wings swept up and down, caring them through the air. They were above the central plateau of the island, staring down at an immense, bizarre geoglyph, when a red dragon suddenly attacked the roc!
The dragon swooped and spat fire, and the roc shrieked and dropped the Pale Countess. As the two great aerial apex predators clashed, the ship fell hundreds of feet to the earth below, while its passengers and crew scream in terror. The ship crashed into the ground, splintering timbers and shattering masts. When the dust settled, Verity and Gnarl found they were the only two of the passengers and crew who had survived. The dragon and roc still fought in the sky above them, so they gather what they could of their possessions and fled onto the plateau's plains.
The two avoided contact with any creatures on the plateau, they found the plateau edge after walking a few miles from the wreck. The began walking around the edge, looking for a way to clamber down. After two days of hiking the edge and hiding from any creatures, they found a rope bridge that led off the plateau. They crossed the bridge and followed a trail down to a river that cascaded from the plateau in a spectacular waterfall. They bult a small raft and floated down the river, observing the great thunder lizards but successfully avoiding them. After several days on the river, they reached the ocean and began trying to circle the island on their raft. Fortunately, they encountered natives fishing in their canoes and were brought back to Kauhale. They had arrived only a few days before and were happy to join the expedition in exchange for a trip back to the mainland.
The next day the expedition set sail for Jawalass. Winds were light so it took two days to reach Kirikuka, the closest village to Jawalass. In fact, the Mother of Kirikuka, Sanar, and her war leader Masawa, sailed with the expedition to their village.
The expedition arrived at Jawalass and found the village right away. They observed for several hours. The village was small, fewer than a dozen huts on stilts in a shallow harbor inside the reef with three poles for sacrifices to their shark god. But no people could be seen. Benedict and the priests cast Water Walk on over a dozen of the leaders and party members. They walked across the reef to the village and were attacked by a score of reef sharks.
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| Wereshark leaders... |
After slaughtering the sharks, the village was found to be abandoned, they villagers had fled into the interior of the island. The three sacrifice poles were knocked down and the huts all destroyed, then shore party returned to the Sea Ghost and the Sea Lion. The ships were then sailed a couple hours around the island until a small bay was found.
The squadron anchored in the small bay for the night, and a watch was set. For hours all was quiet as the ships rocked sleepily under the tropic skies. Above, the Great Moon was waning gibbous phase, while the Handmaiden was waxing crescent. It was warm but not unpleasantly so. Then, seven weresharks stealthily climbed the stern and fore castles of the Sea Ghost and began attacking the sailors and adventurers on watch.
The stealthy approach was more successful than any yet made against the expedition. Weresharks grabbed sailors and soldiers and pulled or threw them overt the sides. As the full strength of the ship boiled up from the below and immediately began fighting back. Slashed and burned by the spells and blades of the defenders, the weresharks who survived quickly fled back into the sea.
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| While the weresharks attacked the fore and stern castles the soldiers and sailors of the Sea Ghost moved from below decks to the fight above. |
Morbor wasn't having any of that. The dwarven rune knight leapt into the sea after a great hammerhead wereshark, using his cloak of the manta to swim and breath, he chased the were shark a short way from the Sea Ghost then, suspecting he was being lured to an ambush, he swam back to the ship.
In the morning the adventurers named the harbor 'Morbor Bay' then the expedition set sail back to Kauhale, having determined that Jawalass was not the place to build their fortifications.
This played out in two sessions - 4 & 18 January 2026.
Disclaimer: This blog recounts the fictional events of a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Views expressed by characters within the blog are those of the characters, not the players, dungeon master, nor the blog's author. All other views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.
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