Session 0044 - Rachi River

Roster

List of characters who's player was in attendance

Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

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Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

Session Log

After the fight in the alley with the Bodak Surthain they drag the body into a portion of the road they think will get the most sunlight the next day. Alicia believes that bright light will hasten the destruction of the body, and she does not think this type of undead will regenerate and come back after being destroyed.
They return to the Open Palm Inn the Respite quarter and pack it in for the night after patching themselves up.
Early the next morning it is a warm but very windy day. They make haste to the Harbor quarter and find Captain Chinxero and a crew of 10 sailors at the riverboat waiting for them. After they get on board it does not take long for them to set sail and head up the Rachi river.
The first day passes without incident. The travel is quiet and relatively pleasant. Under the environmentally powered vessel, the Marlow, they cover about 80 miles before weighing anchor the the night.
The second day is much like the first, and most of the day passes without incident. However, in the early evening they pass along a narrow stretch of the river that is covered by large trees and vines draped over the water. As they pass underneath they spot several large creatures swinging in the branches. Three large gorillas drop down onto the ship, heavily rocking the ship.
Two of the primates land on the riverboat buildings on deck, and one lands on the main deck. Most of the party are also on the deck, with the exception of Ferdinand and Hrovard who are below decks resting. Captain Chinxero is in the main building along with a few sailors, and about half a dozen other sailors are also on the deck.
Everyone quickly ready weapons to deal with the gorillas. Eriana is quick to react, running in to the nearest gorilla on deck. She tries to push it overboard, but she fails critically, bouncing back from its massive frame and landing prone on the deck. She redeems herself by kicking at it while on the ground, critically hitting it.
Below decks, Ferdinand hears the commotion on deck and is quick to run up the hatchway onto the deck, readying his rapier and main main-gauche once on deck.
One of the gorillas on the building lets out a terrifying roar while beating its chest, making a few party members and many of the sailors fearful. It then moves off the building onto the deck, right in front of Ferdinand.
The second gorilla similarly lets out a roar and leaps onto the middle of the deck.
Captain Chinxero runs out and finds himself between two of the gorillas on deck, and not long afterwards Hrovard grabs his shield and axe and rushes up the ladder from the hold onto the deck in the midst of all three primates.
Combat only lasts for a few rounds. All of the sailors run to the opposite side of the deck to let the adventurers and captain deal with the threat. One of the sailors is attacked before running away, but the gorilla critically misses him.
A few mighty blows from the gorillas are landed on several party members and the captain during the fight, but they are not terrible durable and get cut down fairly quickly. All of the primates seem enraged and fight to the death.

After the fight the party patch themselves up and push the bodies overboard before resuming their journey. The rest of that day passes without incident.
During these first couple of days and the nights stay in Stormreach at the Open Palm Inn, Alicia has been slowly recovering from her encounter with the Bodak. She is steadily improving, but still feels like she needs a few more days to fully recover.
At this point the party has covered some 160 or so miles up river. It has been quite windy each day, but the boat is elemental powered and the general weather conditions do not seem to have any impact on its progress.
The third day is quiet and it passes without any encounters.
It looks like the fourth day will be similar, as the party makes a full day of progress before weighing anchor near the west bank of the river. They expect to be able to see the landmark of stone hands during the day tomorrow, and the captain assures them they have covered a little over 300 miles up river.
As the sun is setting and the party are relaxing on deck they hear a grunt from off in the distance moments before a large rock hits one of the sailors on deck and knocks him out cold.
This time both Muroni and Ferdinand are below deck. Half a dozen sailors are on the main deck, but three of them are in the buildings along with captain Chinxero. Harbek happens to be right next to the sailor who took the rock. He spots a very large being a little under 200 feet away peeking up behind a rocky outcropping. Upon seeing this he calls out in alert that he thinks there is a giant off the starboard (right) side of the ship, pointing in the direction where he saw the being.
Everyone scrambles on deck, with captain Chinxero rushing out to ask what the hell hit his ship. Upon hearing there is a giant nearby he barks orders to the sailors to weigh anchor, before he rushes back to the steering room.
The giant grabs rocks and lobs three more shots at the people on deck. It nails Hrovard but misses on the other two shots. While the rocks fly at the ship, three sailors rush over to the port side of the ship and begin to haul up the anchor.
Meanwhile, the three party members below decks rush up to see what is going on. Alicia manages to get out her crossbow and fire off two shots at the giant, but she misses. Eriana grabs her bow and takes a long short in the dim light, fumbling on her first shot but landing a critical hit on the second. The blow knocks the giant back and it stumbles and falls prone. This makes subsequent ranges shots difficult, so everyone holds off.
There is a flurry of activity on deck as the anchor is drawn up and the party all use the ship railing for cover. The giant quickly stands up and grabs so more rocks to throw at the party. This time he manages to hit Muroni, almost lifting her up off her feet. Shots are returned and the giant is hit once more, but it is hard to tell if the missile weapons are doing much damage to it.
The lighting is poor, but from this distance it is clearly a giant. The creature is massive - standing perhaps 12 feet tall, but dressed in crude furs.
Before it can grab another set of rocks the crew have the anchor up and the order is given to move the ship. The elemental coils being to hum and light up as the bound water elemental begins to power the ship. It lurches forward and begins to move up river.
The giant lets out another volley of rocks. At this point the party figure they are moving too far away to get a good shot at the giant, so everyone seeks as much cover as they can behind the ship railing. Despite this, the giant manages to land a solid blow on Harbek, sending a rock through the railing and into the dwarf oracle. The other shots fail to hit anyone.
Fortunately the captain quickly moves the boat around a bend and out of sight of the giant, so no more rocks get hurled at the ship. Captain Chinxero spends the next half an hour or so moving up river to find a better place to anchor for the night.

The rest of the night passes without an encounter.
On the fifth day they fully expect to spot the landmark they are looking for on the west bank of the river. Everyone is on deck keeping their eyes peeled. The captain is moving the ship at a slightly slower pace as they move up river.
At some point around mid day a sailor on deck near the port side railing yells out. Several party members turn to see him get pulled overboard as he yells out. His calls for help are cut short when the party hear a loud splash from the sailor hitting the water...