With the kraken defeated and the Twain’s Folly anchored, all attention turned to the rescue mission at hand. The other ship, just recently crushed and dragged to the bottom of the river, had dozens on board who might still be alive! Alandal rowed quickly, the longboat loaded with ropes, steering them to the position above the sunken ship.

The water was deeper than it should be at this point, but they could still clearly see the ship from their position. Leaning over, Duanne pointed out a spot that would be safe to set down and then proceeded to instruct everyone on simple rope instructions for sea-diving.

“These ropes with the tarred ends, they’re for cargo” he began, speaking quickly so as not to delay the rescue. “A tug on one of these means to haul up. Three sharp tugs on the coloured ones, you best be reeling in faster than you ever have before!”

Thora nodded along, tying a rope around the waist while slipping multiple ropes over a shoulder. Zearach helped out with getting one of the air bubble helmets on the soldier’s head, readying Thora for the dive. The helmets that Captain Trevin had given them were intended to help with the mission, but every time the dwarf tried to look around, the bubble-shaped helmet kept turning and blocking the view. As Duanne dove in effortlessly, the tortle holding his breath with natural ease, Thora wished there was a way to grow gills temporarily.

With a quick hop, Thora jumped into the water and began the descent downwards.

The river’s bottom was a sight unlike anything Thora had seen before. Though it was quite dark, the dwarf’s vision was still able to pick up quite a lot of detail. Strange vegetation grew here that reminded the dwarf of some of the odd things that grew under the mountain. Fish swam in schools, avoiding the pair of strangers swimming towards the wreck. The riverboat before them was snapped in two, one half flat on the river bed floor and the other hanging precariously, beginning to drift into the open portal. From out here, it was impossible to tell where the crew was. Thora followed the tortle’s smoothly moving form toward the wreck, trying to keep all the ropes from getting tangled. Somewhere above them, Alandal and Zearach were keeping watch, ready to pull them out at the first sign of danger. Thora hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

As they arrived on the aft deck of the ship, three shapes began moving at them from the darkness. Thora never saw them coming, but noticed Duanne pointing frantically to his left, a look of fear in his eyes. Looking around, Thora tried to see what was there, but the air helmet kept getting in the way. Frustrated, the dwarf realigned it to see more clearly only to find three gray shapes with fins circling around them. Thora didn’t know what they were, but they seemed more curious than anything else. Even Duanne seemed to have relaxed, realizing they were not his hated shark nemesis. Thora reached out a gloved hand, running it along the back of one of the creatures. The sleek gray skin passed under the dwarf’s fingers smoothly, almost as if the finned fish was rubbing against Thora’s outstretched hand. The bottle-nosed arrivals nudged Thora’s helmet and then swam off, leaving the dwarf to wonder at the exchange.

Coming back to the reality of the current situation, the dwarf looked around the wreck to find Duanne searching the deck. The tortle was a great swimmer but couldn’t see very far. Thora, however, noticed the bloated bodies at various points on the deck, their faces bulging, clearly well past any help. Thora was not exactly an expert on these things, but didn’t it usually take a few days before this type of bloating would happen? It couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes since the kraken had pulled the ship to the bottom of the river. What had happened to these sailors?

The rescue

Working with Duanne, Thora found the anchors and began carrying them to the sides and throwing them onto the riverbed, hoping to keep the ship from being pulled into the closing portal below. It was difficult to maneuver them underwater, but with the tortle’s help they were able to secure the boat for the moment without causing the ship to sink any further.

From below, a series of bubbles rose up through the planks, escaping from one of the lower decks. There might still be survivors! Duanne began tapping some sort of rhythm on the planks and, after waiting a moment, heard a rhythmic tapping in response. Somebody was still down there, but they likely wouldn’t have long. The tortle dove for the split in the ship to quickly move to the lower deck while Thora swam down the stairwell to take a different route, hoping the path wouldn’t be blocked.

Unfortunately for the dwarf, there was a door in the way. Things seemed quiet, and dark, until a strange scream warbled through the water. Slowly opening the door blocking the way, Thora was surprised to find several strange creatures moving through the water. Their scaled bodies reflected Duanne’s light as they moved effortlessly through the water, a long tail trailing back from their mostly humanoid form. One of them seemed to be holding some sort of staff, or scepter, which glowed with bright energy. By the looks of it, these were not the crew they were looking for, and they did not seem happy to see Duanne.

Pushing off as best as possible, the dwarf lunged forward, blades piercing through the water at the creatures. Surrounded by these strange underwater beasts, the dwarf parried and thrusted, the magical flame of his blade eerily lighting the immediate surroundings. Spears, teeth, and claws ripped at the dwarf as Thora attempted to keep them distracted from his companion at the other end of the deck.

Suddenly, the staff-wielding creature’s face froze in shock, its entire head turning into a block of ice before falling off its body and sinking to the deck of the ship. Turning, Thora found his elven friend swimming gracefully in the water, another magical arrow already knocked for his next attack. Arrows were also flying through the water from above, where undoubtedly Alandal was still keeping watch. Duanne was also charging forward through the water, his large shell approaching rapidly. The dwarf had only a moment to push off out of the way before the tortle slammed into the sea monster, knocking the creature’s head clean off with his peg leg. Apparently, these creatures had very weak necks!

Now outnumbered, the sea creatures panicked, but it was too late. The threat was soon over and they could all take a moment to try to focus on the rescue. There were still tapping sounds coming from further back on this deck, close to the position where Duanne had noticed the bubbles earlier. The dwarf tried to calm down to conserve air and swam carefully back, past more of the dead crew that were floating in their quarters. Trying to push through a doorway into another room, Thora found it closed shut and tried repeating the tapping rhythm Duanne had used earlier. When the door was opened, the dwarf found three of the crew struggling to keep their mouths in an air pocket above a bed. There wasn’t much time!

Tying off the sailors, Thora carefully transferred the air helmet to one of the crewmen and tugged on the ropes, signaling to Alandal that it was time to haul them out. It was a rough, but quick, ride to the surface where they could all breathe easier and take a rest in the longboat. Duanne wasn’t with them, though. He had stayed below!

Moments later, one of the ropes that was still hanging over the edge of the boat pulled taught, sharply, indicating another rescue was needed. The crew worked together to pull hard to bring up the last rope, expecting Duanne to surface, but finding the ship’s captain instead, holding a strange box. After they had caught their breath, the captain explained that Duanne was still searching the ship below, insistent to find any other survivors.

Eventually, the tortle surfaced empty-handed, but with confirmation that the entire wreck had been saved. The magical creature that had been the emergency cargo of the ship was, unfortunately, no longer alive. Alandal began rowing slowly, sending the longboat back toward the Twain’s Folly. It was time for a rest!

A curious cargo

After drying off, Thora found a not entirely uncomfortable bed to rest on. Swimming in full gear certainly took its toll, and the many gashes from the underwater creatures needed some treatment before they infected. The dwarf was just starting to drift off when the sound of rhythmic thumping and dancing began echoing through the cabin. Groaning, Thora rolled off the bunk and wandered up to the deck to find out what was going on, sword at the ready, only to find a party underway! Sailors were singing, drinks were being poured, and even the elf was dancing along to the music, albeit not very well. The mood was light, a celebration of survival and a send off to those that had been lost to the sea. The dwarf’s body was not ready for the dancing yet, but Thora happily settled in to watch and listen.

During a break in drumming, Thora’s dragonborn companion approached Captain Trevin with several questions that needed answering. After the storm and then the kraken, they needed to know more about the cargo. Trevin was reluctant, but given the heroic actions that had saved his ship he shared what he could.

“It was a rush job” Trevin began reluctantly. “Deliver a cargo of rugs to Embassy by morning. It seemed simple enough and the pay was good.”

“Somebody didn’t want those rugs getting to Embassy, Cap’n” commented Duanne. “We’ll take a look at what you’ve been carrying.”

In the cargo hold, the captain showed them the pile of rugs that had been the subject of the rushed delivery to Embassy. Thora didn’t see anything particularly special about them, but Duanne seemed much more intrigued by one of the older rugs featuring an eye pattern. As the wizard closely inspected the intricate design, the tortle noticed that the eyes seemed to be magical and were looking back at him through the weave of the carpet.

“Carpet’s haunted” stated the wizard, with a laugh. “If I had to guess, I’d say a djinn? Maybe. That would explain the interest in it.”

When they returned back to the deck, Thora noticed something different about Duanne since he had surfaced. He was joking around more, laughing more, and even the tortle’s appearance seemed rejuvenated. Perhaps because of the time spent in the wreck? Or perhaps it was something about the water that helped him?

“Duanne, have you ever thought about taking salt water baths?” the dwarf suggested, trying to help his companion. Unfortunately, the tortle took this suggestion the wrong way and glared at him.

“Mammals over there, reptiles over here” he stated firmly with an edge in his voice and a claw pointing across the deck. “It’s mammals over there time.”

Shrugging, Thora backed away with a smile. Sometimes it didn’t pay to be helpful! Leaving the others to their revelry and song, Thora retired to get a much needed full night’s rest. Tomorrow, with any luck, they would dock and hopefully learn more.

The wondrously magical city of Embassy

The night passed without incident and Thora was feeling refreshed and stronger. By mid-morning, excited rushing began above decks as the rising towers of Embassy appeared in the distance. While helping the crew with readying the ship for docking, Thora wondered what this fabled city would hold. Everyone had heard the tall tales of the Enkerian Empire, and Thora had certain read some of them in the Tales of Enker book, but to see some of it in person would be something else.

When they pulled into the dock, the dwarf was surprised by the sheer immensity of the place. It was the largest city any of them had ever seen. There were people from all over Rhime moving about, filling the docks and the streets. Encampments were set up on the outskirts of the city for visitors, like themselves, to stay while they were here. Strange mechanical workings seemed to be all over the city, a place where both magic and science seemed to live together.

At the dock, the cargo master greeted Captain Trevin and accepted the special deliveries that had caused so much mayhem on their trip. Upon hearing of the attacks upon their ships, the cargo master seemed surprised, but gritted his teeth a little as if this had happened before. Thora wanted to know more, but it didn’t seem like the cargo master actually knew anything, but the dwarf had some guesses. They needed more information, though, to find out what was behind all this.

When one of the dock hands was called over to help deliver the cargo to its destination, the soldier decided it was time to find out where these shipments were going. Staying back a short distance, Thora blended in with the crowds, keeping an eye on the delivery man. Trailing in an urban setting was not usually that difficult, assuming your target wasn’t expecting to be followed, but the dwarf’s stature sometimes did make it a little more difficult to keep a line of sight on the target. The upside of that was that it was much easier to remain out of sight when the crowd towered over you!

Glancing back, Thora noticed that the rest of the crew was walking casually some distance behind, doing their best to follow the dwarf. They weren’t trying to be sneaky about it either, so hopefully it wouldn’t seem out of place to Thora’s target. After several turns and crossing through many strange streets and divisions, they passed into an area that seemed unlike the others. Posted signage seemed to indicate that Thora had entered an area known as the “Sciences Annex”, but the words didn’t mean anything in particular to the dwarf. This area seemed to be the shipments destination, though, as the delivery was brought to a small, squat building with strange mechanical things that watched the delivery man as he walked. Thora couldn’t even begin to imagine what those machines were, or what would happen if they approached unexpected.

When the others arrived, Thora pointed at the building where the delivery was made, highlighting the strange mechanical watchers that rotated back and forth, scanning the area. Short of a distraction to grab the attention of these… things… Thora couldn’t think of a way to get close without being seen. What was going on here in this “science” district? Why would they need these items? And why was somebody so desperate to stop them from having it?

Credits

• Cover image: “Sahuagin”, by Emmanuel Bou Roldan, sourced from Art Station