5e: Kraken Heads in Yartar

From: Sir Fulhoff of Clan Balderk, Knight of Hawk’s Nest, War Mage
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk

Mother and Father:

On the way to Yartar we discussed what it was we wanted to accomplish. Our main objective was to get information: find out who killed the Giant Queen (and why) and what happened to the Giant King. Amazingly this is when the rest of the party thought a night raid was the plan to go with.

A night raid… onto a casino barge… full of the rich and powerful of Yartar… I pointed out the flaws of this plan, and managed to talk them out of it. We were then rudely interrupted by some random woman who strolled into the cabin who initially introduced herself as Phyllis, then later as Laura?

One downside to having become famous is that we’ve started attracting fanbois and girls. I worry that this might be letting our enemies know what we’re up to, but thankfully the bards are getting it so mixed up that it’ll be hard for them to get coherent info out of the stories.

Another downside is that our fans are just as misinformed. Druid-girl was completely focused on burning down the barge and then swimming away with Lord Drylund that we had to sit her in the corner and tell her to shut up or we’d toss her overboard. Which is honestly not much of a threat to someone who can turn into a bird….

Arriving in Yartar with a fair amount of fanfair (flying ships tend to attract a bit of attention), we split up to see what we could see…

Aramil got in with the local musicians, and got himself booked on the Golden Goose after sharing more stories of our travels. As usual Thorin was the hero of the stories.

Joda and Hilda visited Bidet at the Winking Clam, ‘hideout’ of the Hand of Yartar. They learned a bit more info about Lord Drylund and Pau Ming, but little we hadn’t guessed already. Then they went shopping Hilda ended up the fanciest dressed Barbarian ever! Complete with expensive and gaudy jewelry.

Meanwhile I went about town in my gaudiest outfit, splashing petty magic and coin around with abandon. The best way to get someone’s attention is to be obvious about it. Especially when that person craves money and power… I also bought and used some very expensive incense to cast Legend Lore seeking info about “Lord Usland” who was Lady Italia’s contact person… and the spell provided only a single lyric, being sung by Aramil “And Thorin Slayed the Aboleth…”

….

Aramil’s stint on the boat was mostly a success. He managed to get the attention of Pau Ming, but his performance of “I’m on a boat” was an even bigger hit that “The Thorin Chronicles.” Oh, and the druid did some sneaking about, and discovered that Lord Drylund has a pet octopus named Squishy and a headache problem. Thankfully he didn’t burn the boat down while everyone was on it.

The next day I sent an embossed invitation for Lord Drylund to visit our skyship at his convenience. It wasn’t even 2 hours before he was on the pier. While providing a tour, we took flight, so as to provide the best view of Yartar. It also had the advantage of removing him from his guards and his pet wizard. We confronted him with the coin found on the Giant Queen’s corpse and made it clear that he had one chance to fess up. The druid tried to summon a thunderstorm, but I countered her interruption. She stormed out of the cabin in a huff, and summoned it anyway. She then dropped a lightning bolt next to his ship, and then one onto the mast. He explained that he was a member of the Kraken society, and they killed the queen and kidnapped the king and had him on a ship in the trackless sea named the Morkoth. Sadly that was all we got out of him, as his eyes bulged and he started to foam at the mouth. I tried to dispel whatever was affecting him, while Joda tried some healing magic. Whatever curse was upon him was beyond our magics, and he collapsed dead to the deck.

Deciding to make the best of a bad situation, Bran used the hat of disguise to make himself appear as Lord Drylund, even going so far as to don his shoes! We returned to the river and “Lord Drylund” stormed off our ship and onto the Golden Goose…. Where he was promptly stuck by a bolt of lightning that left behind only a pair of shoes!

Bran safely Thunder stepped back onto our ship, and cast Speak with Dead on the corpse. Bran asked him about the cypher for the journal we stole last time, but he was uncooperative about how to break it. We asked about Lady Italia, but he dismissed her as being of little importance. We then asked about the name “Slarkrethel” which is apparently the name of the Kraken who founded the society. Bran lops off Lord Drylund’s head, and drops it in a pickle jar, while we feed the body to the fire elemental.

I burned another several sticks of incense and cast Legend Lore, hoping for a better result than my previous attempt! It was certainly more informative. This ancient beast is also a powerful wizard, the Chosen of Umberlee (the Bitch Queen Sea Goddess herself), founder of the Kraken Society, and seeking a path to godhood, and lairs in some great ruined city somewhere under the trackless sea.

Because of course it does…

We pay our respects to the Waterbaron, and then depart Yartar, never again to return to its cursed riverbanks (until the next time we return), and set sail for Waterdeep, leaving the fangirl druid to hunt around for Lady Italia in Yartar’s sewers. 

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Current Quests
Find the Storm Giant King aboard the Morkoth on the Trackless Sea
Iymrith the Ancient
Slarkrethel & the Kraken Society

Loose Threads
Jeff the guard, abandoned in Everland
Old Gnawbone - wishes she could transform into an elf
Eraglass the Sage - Missing?
Old Snarl

Completed Quests:
Yartar (yet again) - Lord Dryland (deceased, head pickled)
Coup in the Court of the Hill Giants
Eye of the Allfather in the Valley of Kadroon
Find Harshnag
Highdale/Westfelds necromatic curse - Mountaintop Crypt
The Silver Hook adventuring party
Mt. Black
HawksNest Payroll
Zymorvan Giantslayer (Yartar…. again)
Aboleth of Yartar
Defended Goldenfields
Well of Victory
Orcs of the Ardeep Forest
Nightstone (again)
Tomb of Darshin Hammerheart
Grey Hand
Zathros Zethros, Cloud Giant
Nightstone