A Knot of Thrones - Arming the Bugbears

Dark have been Nimbuses’ dreams of late.  A haunted triton oracle of Mitra, Nimbus has always been regarded as mad by his tribe.  He has foreseen that a great evil is coming and has become convinced that only he can stop it. That great evil is of course the PCs. Nimbus has gathered a small group of triton believers and their dolphin allies and now they move to intercept The Frosthamar.

Nimbus and the four triton warriors wait until nightfall when the ship has stopped. Before the battle begins Nimbus casts magic weapon on each of the four triton’s crossbows.  The oracle then casts sanctuary on himself. Finally they are ready to strike!

They begin the fight by summoning five small water elementals using their daily summon spell upon the deck of the ship.  The water elementals are commanded to push anyone they find on the boat into the water.  The tritons and the dolphins will deal with them there.  But lacking the proper advantage, the warriors use their crossbows to shoot anyone on deck.  As the battle progresses, Nimbus continues to summon more elementals, extends his sanctuary, and heal his warriors.  He stays back from melee, preferring his warriors to engage while he supports them.  2 of the 6 crew members fall to Nimbus' attack; Vicky discovers one sea dog hiding under a pile of blankets aft.

Nimbus is a religious fanatic and fights to the death, shouting "I'm Mister Nimbus" as he thrusts his hips performing the intricate somatic motions related to his taste of magic.   Alas, after a lengthy battle, Nimbus is slain, and the dolphins retreat in confusion.

Seal Isle

Captain Odenkirk is consumed by greed.  He took a dangerous mission because of the exorbitant payment promised him. Even that was not enough.  When he arrived at the estate to pick up the Knot he demanded more money of Adrastus Thorn. This was foolish but greed is never sated and now as Odenkirk sails north he knows that he will pass close to one of the richest fur seal harbors in all of Talingarde.  Seal Isle is rarely hunted by Talirean fishing boats because it is too far north and too dangerous. And so, the captain approaches the group... 

 “We are a little light on fresh water I think. We are passing Seal Isle and there is a stream that feeds into the bay there. We’ll take on water there. I’ll send a party to the shore." he says to Shivers. "Of course, that means we’ll spend a day in some of the richest fur seal hunting grounds all along this coast. I’m thinking of organizing a hunting expedition. Interested?”

Shivers quickly declines his offer but the Captain presses on to the rest of the crew, insisting they make way to the isle proclaiming "This is my boat! I’m the captain! I say we need water so we get it!".

This doesn't sit well with the party.  With a quick check of the water supply, which seems plentiful, Shivers intimidates the Captain into reluctantly pressing forward with the voyage.

The Whale-Hunters

At about noon, the Captain, and two of our villains on deck, spot a group of small boats hugging the coast headed towards The Frosthamar.  Closer inspection reveals this group to be three one-man kayaks and a larger open seal-skin canoe called an umiak with four men rowing. These vessels are closing towards the boat and hail it loudly in a broken common tongue.

These men are a Yutak hunting party and after a successful season they are headed south hoping to find a Talirean settlement to trade with.  The relationship between the native Yutak and the Talireans has never been cordial.  But these Yutak are led by a bold young chief who is willing to risk the dangers of the south to engage in trade. The shaman is the only member of this party who speaks common and so he serves as intermediary for trade.

The young chief has recently taken a new name and is known as White Tusk due to the impressive narwhal he slew.  The tribesmen possess the large eight foot ivory narwhal horn and are looking to trade it.  They value metal weapons above all else. They will happily trade ivory two for one. They especially value metal tipped spears and will happily trade more ivory for each such weapon.  They also do not care about the marks on Talirean weapons.   Our party gladly trades many of the weapons won in combat for several pounds of Ivory.  

Although the whale hunters do not value gold as it's soft and makes poor spear heads, White Tusk is also interested in buying fine southern clothing – the more gaudy and outlandish the better.   He wishes to wear something impressive to mark his new status as a whale slayer.   Our scoundrels see this opportunity and gladly trade him some of the finder clothing they possess.

The Laughing Storm

In the dead of night as a cold snap hits, the temperature plummets well below freezing and ice rime begins to form on the rigging.  It begins to snow – intermittent flurries at first give way to fat flakes and biting winds.  The crew lights up a few torches to provide both light and warmth in the freezing darkness.  This proves a mistake as a nearby ice spirit named Kiliketz takes offense at the mortals’ interference.

Kiliketz - Ice Mephit

Kiliketz leads a small band of four ice elementals across the face of the barely liquid water towards the intruding ship.  The mephit stealthily flies to the top of the ship’s mast while the ice elementals wait in the water.  There, from his perch, he reveals his presence with an inhuman laugh...

GM Thoughts

The battle with Mister Nimbus lasted much longer than anticipated.   It was the GM's hope that they would break through the sanctuary spell or that the elementals would throw a few more party members overboard for the dolphins to have their way with (it's known that dolphins can get rather aggressive).  

The group is showing their distain for Captain Odenkirk and will undoubtedly carry out their task of relieving of his life and his fortune.