The party encounters another storm less than a day out from Gundaland, and Kazz spots a small vessel being tossed about in the waves, a bundle that could be a small person huddling in the middle. As the ship approaches, they are set upon by a vicious band of sahaugin, wielding spears, nets, and glowing orbs. A fight occurs and the PCs are humbled by the sea devils’ intimate knowledge of the 5th edition combat rules, being shoved prone, grappled, poisoned, and more! Dobon tells one to “sahaugin deez nuts”, Yor does some really crazy acrobatics to throw the glowing orbs off the ship, and Kazz entangles several sahaugin as they try to climb onto the ship. Eldrin shoves evil fish monsters off the ship repeatedly, and Dwayne “the deckhand” Johnson meets an untimely fate and is devoured by sharks. Eldrin telekinetically recovers Dwayne’s family’s heirloom fanny pack and presents it to the captain so it can be returned to his family.
Once the sahaugin are defeated, the crew rescues the faltering sloop and discovers a traumatized young child and a coral encrusted chest. The chest is unlocked by a coral key possessed by one of the sahaugin, and contains assorted valuable corals, a healing potion, and a scarred and pitted red shark statuette. After being tended to by Shandri Dundragon and scratching Kazz’s fuzzy ears, the child reveals his name to be Bern Rhimewave.
The ship navigates the storm safely and the rest of the morning passes without incident until The Voyage arrives at Gundaland at last. They are greeted by the brusque and businesslike Kari, who promptly orders Stor Hornraven to return to his post. The party receives a brief overview of the situation and is told that they have lodgings provided at the Dragon Turtle Inn.
At the inn, the party is greeted by the twin proprietors, Horthan and Mancet Leed. They learn that the ship the party is meant to investigate crashed near Fiskabock, and the Jarl is quite upset at the delayed response from the Lord’s Alliance, as well as the loss of numerous fishermen. Dobon presents the corrupted shark idol, and we learn that it may be an idol of the shark god Sekunah. As Mancet picks it up, his face goes slack and he begins babbling gibberish as he is driven mad by whatever vision was planted in his brain by the idol. After Horthan tends to his brother, the party is also able to learn that young Bern has family in Fiskabock, that work can typically be found at the Saltwood Trading Company, and that Granny Saltwood herself is currently in Gundaland.
After the party takes a short time to freshen up, Yor departs on his own to visit The Crow’s Nest, a tavern of ill repute, and avoids a scrap with their rude barman, One-Eye Bill. The rest of the party visits the Saltwood Trading Company, where they sell their assorted treasure and masterwork sling to Toni the clerk (with a Texas accent) for 480 gold pieces. Kazz asks if Granny Saltwood might be able to magically enhance Chewie the hamster, and the party is led back through a narrow maze of twisting passages to her chamber, a small room filled with bubbling liquids and inhabited by several fish kitten things. Kazz agrees to trade a dubious favor at some point in the future to Granny Saltwood in exchange for her services in performing horrific experiments on Chewie to augment him into a frightening yet still adorable monster. Kurd asks for a title, and is promised a reading by Granny Saltwood when the party next returns. On the way out of the building, Toni leads the party through a twisting maze of narrow passages. Kurd asks to buy a stake in the trading company, which Toni declines to sell for the 96 gold currently in Kurd’s possession, stating that such a thing would cost 10,000 gold pieces.
While waiting for some coral armor to be retailored, the party goes their separate ways for a time. Eldrin returns to The Voyage where he thanks Captain Graysail and her crew for their protection on the journey, giving 20 gold to distribute to the crew when she releases them for shore leave. He returns to the Dragon Turtle where he regales the other patrons with tales of the party’s exploits during the trip, such as Kurd Stormblessed receiving the boon of Talos, Kazz Deadeye slaying one of Captain Callous’s crew with an arrow through the eye from the crow’s nest, witnessing Yor move with blinding speed to punch several goblins’ jaws clear off their faces, Dobon’s biting remarks that caused one of the sea devils to flee in terror, and of course Errol’s mighty blow that cleaved Captain Callous’s head from his shoulders. Eldrin returns to Saltwood later in the day to collect the armor, and inquires about potions of water breathing. Toni takes him back to Granny, who tells him that she will make some for a discount in exchange for gathering seaweed from Hanged Man’s Cave, where it is guarded by Betsy the fearsome sea lion. He almost sets out on his own but thinks better of it, and returns to the inn.
Dobon heads to The Crow’s Nest, where he plops the idol of Seknuah onto the counter and tells One-Eye Bill that he killed a lot of folks that look like him to get this, and what can Bill tell him about it? Bill and the patrons of the tavern are not amused by Dobon’s casual racism, and one comes up behind him and bludgeons him within an inch of his life with a ship’s wheel (20 damage vs. Dobon’s 21 hitpoints). The tavern erupts into a brawl and Dobon flees for his life. Yor rescues a burning sailor from the brawl, and the two depart to avoid further trouble.
Kazz and Kurd have learned of a fight club happening somewhere in town, and Kazz decides to ask one of the local rats for information. It refuses unless she brings it some cheese, so she returns to the inn and procures an entire wheel. As she makes her way back to the alley where she met the rat, she sees that it has invited all of its friends to share in the bounty of cheese. As she reveals the wheel, they attack en masse! She fights them off and cries for help, and Yor and Kurd rush to her rescue. They finish off most of the rats before one, Gonzalez, begs for mercy and agrees to reveal where the fight club is located. The three return to the inn to collect Eldrin, then collectively make their way to a warehouse where the fight is located.
The story continues next time!