Secretary Atsura had requested they perform a “courier service” – delivering a “sensitive package” to the RDC port of Sayuka. They were shorthanded since the events at Hasongo, or he would task one of his own ships. They met the smuggling ship “The Goshawk” at sea, and accepted the cargo. But when the crew was unloading they heard unexpected noises from one of the barrels. Investigating, a middle-aged Valian woman popped out gasping and dizzy!
Her name was Iverra, and she was apparently a scientist of some reknown- specializing in animancy supporting undersea operations. She wouldn’t say more, but apparently *she* was the cargo – to be delivered to Sayuka supporting a secret project of some sort. Grim grunted, but pay was pay. He was mildly irritated by the deception, but didn’t care much beyond that.
As they approached Sayuka, they begin seeing oddly large shapes moving in the water. They were sure it had to be a trick of the water/light, but they saw sharks, swordfish, and others that appeared much, much larger than such animals had any right to be. And they occasionally saw glimpses of even larger… things… breaching in the distance. The closer they got to the island, the more Star could sense an odd… “buzzing” in the air… As if life-force itself was being charged and energized.
When they pulled into port, docking was treacherous. Gigantic coral formations grew straight out of the water. And fishermen could be seen at dock dressing unusually large catches.
After they docked Iverra left to meet her contacts, and they checked in with the Harbormaster – an austere Aumaua woman named Okaya. Okaya said the reason Iverra was here was that they were trying to find a way to deal with the massive coral formations interfering with access to the port. They had tried various means to clear passages through it, but it grew back faster and larger than whatever they cleared. In combination with the unusually large marine life in the area, she was certain that there was something un-natural at work. And she suspected whatever it was was located in the depths beneath an odd coral formation called Cignath Mor – not far off the coast. She wanted them to speak to her engineers, who were working on a way to enable exploration of the sea floor in the area.
The engineers showed them an odd helmet with an adra powered air converter. It literally converted sea-water to oxygen to allow breathing while underwater. Grim was rather skeptical of the device… but they were offering a princely sum to test them. And if they worked, even more to investigate whatever was under the surface at Cignath Mor.
But their discussion was interrupted by shouts from outside. A soldier rushed in giving warnings – wild animals were attacking the town! Townsfolk were on the run from rampaging bears, boars, and tigers! They did their best to meet the threat and protect the civilians.
After repelling they assault, they checked back in with the Harbormaster to find out what on earth that was all about. The Harbormaster told them that she had been having difficulty negotiating with a local druid cult for months. They were demanding the RDC abandon the port entirely, wanting to raze it to the ground for “defiling the island”. She had repeatedly attempted to reason with them. The RDC had no interest in anything on the island beyond the strategic port itself. But her negotiating teams had not returned – even when escorted by soldiers. She could still be reasonable if they could find a compromise solution, but she suspected the Druids could not be reasoned with. Either way she would pay well for a resolution to the situation.
Star was convinced they would be able to come to some agreement, but as soon as they wandered into the swamps away from the port they were attacked by giant thorny vines. Fortunately Ace had just the thing to clear a path through that.
Past the vines they came to darker swampy areas, and finally a clearing with a conclave of Druids. Unfortunately, they appeared as maddened as the animals and plants that they had met in the area. Their demands were complete surrender or death. No negotiation.
With the mad druids dealt with, they returned to the original mission, and set sail for Cignath Mor. The place did not look very inviting as they approached, and the “buzz” Star had felt ever since they came to Sayuka was so intense here she found it almost painful.
Fortunately, the helmets worked as advertised, and they were soon exploring the murky seafloor.
They found a series of obelisks outlining a path to an ancient structure.
Inside it was wet, but air-tight. And they were able to remove their helmets to explore.
Soon after entering they were ambushed, by enraged laugafeth fish men! And unlike the laugafeth they had met earlier, these appeared to be utterly berserk and beyond reasoning.
And some of the chambers they discovered were populated by sea trolls – just as berserk and unreasoning as had been the laugafeth.
In their explorations they found four chamber with strange glowing orbs. Sapphire could not entirely decipher the runes, but they appeared to be control mechanisms for… whatever the site was intended to do.
At the center, powering everything, was a large column of activated luminous adra. So full of energy that even the non-magical among them could feel its pulsing radiation. This was definitely the source of the “buzz” Star had been feeling.
They also found a series of ominous murals depicting what the ancients had been doing in this place. With descriptions that Sapphire was able to partially translate:
“ Winding Serpent … first success. Born of… barracuda, we subjected … to … machine’s … energies, … grew to immense proportions. … developed … group mentality, … hunting in packs.”
“Barbed Ravager … result of … success … Winding Serpent. We grafted poisonous barbs … bull sharks … subjected them to … machine’s energies. The creatures … quadrupled in size, assimilating … barbs into their bodies. … fearsome predator was born.“
“Leviathan was folly … purest hubris. After … Barbed Ravager, … test limits of … machine’s … capabilities. We entrapped … pod blue whales … subjected them to… machine … months …. Only few … survived, … those that did… could not be contained.”
“Kraken … like none other. … applying manipulation techniques … refined … on Leviathan, … increased size and intelligence …, …proved … ferocious hunters. … unfortunate side effect, …highly territorial.”
As they studied all they had found, Sapphire announced that she had figured out how to disable the orb devices. Whatever they were doing to/with the adra column, she could put an end to it. But before Grim could even respond to her suggestion, he found himself once again pulled into the realm of the Gods. With a far different entity awaiting him this time. Galawain. Lord of the Hunt. Father of Monsters. He told Grim that the ancient device “pleased” him. He revelled in the monstrosities it still occasionally birthed. He drew power from the enhanced size and aggression of wildlife in the area. And he would *not* take kindly to any interference in its function.
This was precisely the wrong tack to take in convincing Grim. Leaving an ancient device growing and mutating all living things nearby, purely because Galawain found it entertaining? Regardless of the effects it was having on folk like the Druids of Sayuka? He glared up at the beastial god, declaring “We mortals are not puppets for your amusement! We serve our own interests, not yours.” To which Galawain growled and ended the vision – warning that Grim would regret defying him.
Sapphire began shutting down the Orbs, but as she did so the whole area began to shake. And soon Blur pointed to a most unwelcome development. The portal windows looking out on the undersea blackness… were beginning to leak. Even with their helmets they would be crushed in the rapid collapse when the ocean came rushing back in at full pressure…
And so they began a mad dash back for the entrance pool, as the waters rose up around them…
When they made it back to the entrance they thought they were home free, but Grim signalled everyone to stop. Something didn’t feel right, and the water in front of them began to boil….
The Kraken had come home!
Eventually they beat down the mighty beast, and dove out just as the ancient structure collapsed behind them. As they lay recovering on board the Defiant Grim, had just one thought. This was *definitely* going to call for an “unforeseen difficulties” bonus.
Author’s Notes:
From a narrative setup point-of-view the final fight in this quest has to be one of the most insanely awesome moments in fantasy gaming. You’ve been fighting your way through an ancient monster lab at the bottom of the ocean, seeing glimpses of the kinds of things that were birthed there. You’ve just ticked off the God of Beasts by setting off the place’s destruction. You’ve run through flooding corridors desperate to reach the exit. You finally make it… and gigantic tentacles burst through grabbing at you. Game on! But don’t take too long… The actual difficulty doesn’t quite line up if you know what you’re doing. But the look and feel… Man! Chef’s kiss.
The Kraken fight was brought to you by OpenAI GPT 1.5.
Leave a Reply