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Session 13 – Ocean Voyage

Day 7  - The Edge of the Map and the Deep Blue Sea
Callister notices - No more land birds seen. No more gulls.
The three ships officially leave the edge of Rukemian waters and head for "deep sea". This is significant. In other words, Callister reaches the edge of his maps. The ships are now heading out into unchartered waters. Dolphins seen riding the compression wave at the bow. This is a good sign. Also, an albatross is seen flying over head. Another lucky sign. Ship heads out into deep, deep sea. No encounters.

Day 8 - The Card Game
A large below deck poker game develops. Role playing and heavy gambling.

Day 9 - The Sabotage Construct
"Sir, I have a bit of bad news. Jenersen smelled a strong odor of blackfall in the forward hold. It's likely that one of our casks of blackfall has sprung a leak. Not to worry. I know how you value the dark stuff. I've ordered Jenersen, Grandel and Ontuk down their mopping up what they can with rags and sponges so that we may salvage every drop. Sir. I'll let you know how it fares". 
Later on, a horn followed by flagger. One of the other ships signals. Colored flags. They signal: "Danger! Danger! Check your... " That is interrupted by an explosion aboard the Vanguard. Vanguard is on fire. The Vanguard cleric is killed in that explosion.
As Callister starts to move over to the Vanguard for assistance, Jenersen comes up with a nasty gash on his chest and a burned hand. He is screaming : "Fire in the hold. Fire in the hold". This is followed by screams and battle below deck. Battle with the mech aboard the Third Wind.
[During the loading of supplies, a trio of Duthelm spies snuck a specially prepared barrel on board. A special kind of "iron golem" was sitting in a barrel full of ale. It's kind of like a robot or mech. It's programmed to "wake up" on Day 9 and begin destroying supplies and attacking the hull at critical points.]
The other two crew members assigned to sponging up the blackfall are dead. Each ship has one mech. When the characters go down to the main cargo hold, they find the mech blowing all the supplies to pieces. Also, a breach in the hull.
All three ships are damaged. The Vanguard is damaged the worst.
[Each mech has a special gem embedded in the frame under the chest plate. This is a failsafe. If the mech is destroyed, this gem detonates with a 20d6 fireball. The players handled this one well They managed to use a dimension door to transport it off of the ship a split second before it detonated. However, it exploded only a few meters out in the sea away from the hull. The shockwave damage the hull slightly. The Vanguard and the Titan were both damaged as well. This was a fun fight].

Day 10 - The Water Elemental
"Captain! Captain! Rogue Wave!"
Callister sees the wave coming. Thirty feet tall. An odd ripple in front of it. The sailors leap to their tasks. Most of your crew has seen rogues before and they lash things down. You've got about 15 seconds before it hits the ship. It's going to hit broad side. No time to turn the ship. It's going to hit the Third Wind first.
Beth detects an odd energy signature coming from the ripple. Possibly a life form. Possibly magical.
The Rogue Wave hits with devastating effect. It completely engulfs the ship. Reflex roll from everyone. Hand out hit points damage. Things inside fly about. Things on deck fly about. Several people have been swept clean off the deck.
The characters feel it turn the ship fully 50 degrees. You can feel the keel rolling underneath you. There is a certain point of no return for any ship. That was VERY close. Another five degrees and the ship would have rolled. With a violent lurch, the ship rights itself suddenly.
After math includes minor damage to the rigging, cleaning up and getting the people back on board. While this is going on, a mere two minutes later, a second rogue wave comes from the direct front. Two rogue waves in the space of a minute is unheard of. Mathematically 1 in a billion. Again, there is an odd ripple preceding the rogue wave.
The second wave hits and you hear the cracking of wood. You also hear the distinctive sound of taut ropes snapping. This time, everyone was braced for it. Most everything that could be swept away was by the first one.
After word, Callister hails and flags the other two ships. Moderate damage aboard the Titan. One crew member killed aboard the Vanguard.
Then the ripple enlarges and begins slamming the side of the Third Wind. What do you aim at? It's just sea water.
Then, later, the sea rises up and the elemental assumes its surface form and begins snatching people off the deck of the Third Wind and dragging them to their deaths. The water elemental attacks with "pressure spikes" on hapless victims inside. Automatic hit, severe damage, deafness, blindness, choking, gagging sensation, etc. Will stun victims.
[While the players are travelling to Aggradar, Duthelm has sent its own fleet of ships to Aggradar. Basically, it's a race]. Duthelm's ships are behind and slightly north of the player ships. Duthelm sent this Water Elemental to try to sink their ships. The players summoned their own water elemental to fight this one. They also hit it with a cannon.]

Day 11- The First Emanations
Just as she is waking up one morning, half dreaming, Beth "hears" morphian EM waves somewhere nearby. Very close by. Less than 100 feet. The emanations seem to be coming from the stern of the ship. She quickly goes aft to search. The emanations fade quickly. When she arrives at the area she thinks it was coming from, she finds four sailors working. Splicing rope, scrubbing the deck, one is carving a wooden figurine and one is lounging about. The emanations fade before she gets there. She suspects another morphian is nearby.
[That's right. There's another morphian on board. She is confused as to why she didn't "hear" him before. In truth, a skilled morphian can mask his natural emanations. She hasn't learned that trick yet. This morphian is better than she is. But masking your emanations is hard to do, especially 24 hours a day and for days on end. He let his guard slip and she felt his aura. But he quickly brought his guard up again and he vanished off her radar. This will happen a couple of times throughout the voyage – by the way, Beth and I have revisited the morphian and made some enhancements and adjustments to morphian abilities].

Day 12 - Ugida's Vision
In response to his questions and prayers, Ugida, the myrian priest (Nathan), receives a prophetic vision at night. A visit from his shadowy apparition friend.
[The apparition visits him in the night. Messenger from his god. Delivers an eerie and cryptic rhyming verse (just like the last time).]

The verse is as follows:

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After that, the shadowy apparition melted back into the shadows as was gone...