Something’s Fishy: The Lost Jewels of Alcanse #2

(What's this? I'm chronicling my current D&D group's adventures for posterity).

Ryland told us that he booked us passage on a merchant ship going upriver, owned by Marken Silk. Quigley, however, said he didn’t want to be on a boat, so his brother Zyro would take his place. Hmmm. We loaded up on supplies and smokable herbs (ahem, Bardalph), then boarded the ship and met the captain and crew, who all seemed like dependable dudes. Silk said there was really nothing to worry about enroute, other than the rare river bandits, and they had a watch for that. So after dinner, we turned in, because surely this would be an uneventful voyage!

Nope.

In the nighttime, Rolfe was woken up by a shout and a splash. He hurried up on deck to discover one watchman gone and creepy fishy hands a’crawling over the rail. So he shouted an alarm and got to work. Four fishmen boarded the ship, and appeared ready to take over. Rolfe started defending the ship, while the rest of us rolled out of bed and started heading towards the fray. The captain and crew did too (a bell alerted everyone), but they did not look eager to fight. No matter! Svela started making fish kebobs of the creatures with her arrows. Zyro summoned clouds of poison and then charmed the leader (until Bardalph uncharmed him with a thwack to the head). Rolfe “axed” a few questions of the visitors. It was a surprisingly nasty fight, but luck was with us (thanks to a spear flying overboard and some poor decision-making by the fish (i.e. leaving the water at all). At the end, we had four fish fillets and the gratitude of the captain and crew. We received a very nice 50’ length of silk rope as a door prize, and got to sleep the rest of the night.

In the morning, the crew ferried us to our landing spot, where a path leading east should take us to the ruins where the lost jewels were last seen. The ship will return in four days to pick us up. We started down the nearly-grown-over path. It looks like no one’s been this way in a long time. Great! More treasure for us!