Ciddar, jealous and curious of all the seafaring excitement apparently aboard the Churner, came over to join his comrades (narrowly missing the spicy clam stew ritual) and soon they were off aboard the sturdy skiff, heading into Serpent Harbour. The fog was variable in its extent, and beams of sunshine burst through it here and there, enhancing the patchy, varied appearance of this complex archipelago.
You headed down one main channel, with Ciddar straining alone at the oars and maneuvering the skiff to dodge jagged rocks (grumbling about “hmph, some adventure”), Lord Shaven trying to map the place, Ahappi scanning at the prow, and Boamund looking fidgety in his shiny, heavy plate armour. Soon enough, amidst some fog, Ciddar felt water dripping on him and looked upwards to see a purplish, scaly plesiosaur looking down at him! It turned out to be calm, curious and even playful, although it took a slightly dangerous interest in one of the oars and Ciddar eventually had to draw the oars in. Soon another one showed up ahead, and was sniffing around the boat. Ciddar stroked one of them, and Boamund soon joined him in a soothing lullaby, which relaxed them further and they swam off in a stupor, leaving you free to continue into the Harbour.
Later, you were swept by a strong current in a narrow channel underneath a natural bridge, but Ciddar continued to be an able pilot and guided the skiff in a perfect middle spot, although you still had to hit the deck to avoid getting crushed or knocked overboard, but the skiff emerged with only some scratches. Past a calm lagoon and deep in another fogbank, Ciddar invoked his Sense Danger at Sea sorcery, which didn't seem to warn him of anything. You spotted a large sea-cave nearby and Ahappi's keen eyes saw a large, greenish reptilian head inspecting you before it dove underwater– it darted for the skiff, ran under it and jostled the boat, causing Ahappi to fall in! Ahappi spotted it and cast his Dark Foreboding spell, which drove it off, and then he spotted an extended oar from Ciddar and amazed the others by striding nonchalantly up the oar and back on board!
You wandered around the Harbour's islands and channels for a while before passing through a narrow cleft in some rocks into another lagoon. This one had no passages out, and plenty of sunshine, presenting an idyllic scene of surrounding palm trees, white sand beaches and a waterfall. Ahappi dove underwater to search for other exits/passages, and found a kelp forest where a green-skinned, long black-haired slender humanoid watched him. He approached the shy being and used his Breathe Water magic to speak to her. She turned out to be an ocean nymph; nereid; of this Harbour and was named Ouwashilombiss. And she liked Ahappi, and invited him to embrace her and “mingle life forces” together. This was immensely pleasurable and abstract for the Captain, but took a bit long for the worried crew, so Boamund and Ciddar dove in to investigate; using another Waterbreathing spell. A tense confrontation ensued, in which Ciddar tried to penetrate the kelp forest, which the nymph whipped into a frenzied defense, and Boamund shouted exhortations to set the Captain free.
Just as the confrontation seemed to be reaching a stalemate but was poised to possibly erupt in violence, the nymph changed tones and pleaded for you to stop your cruelty and anger. She agreed to speak to you on the surface, promising to let Ahappi go soon. She finished her caressing of the kelp-bound Captain and brought him to the surface on a fountainous pillar of water, then spoke more about your quest and needs for a “sea princess”, which she swore did not exist in these waters. She did not match Bar'ran's description, either, so you decided to bring her to the Churner to see if the matter might be illuminated- clearly, Bar'ran had got it wrong. She mounted the prow of the skiff in a figurehead-like pose, holding onto her precious Captain, while her magic sped you back along the channels toward the Churner.
But in the last lagoon, a sinister black fin broke the water's surface. It belonged to a darkly mottled shark, matching Bar'an's description of the Spotted Shark (Gloomshark?) that haunted this area and must be avoided. You loosed the undine, as he'd directed, and fled, as the monster roared in Seaspeech (the nereid said it was growling about Bar'ran and wondering who you were). You raced it through the remaining passages, keeping ahead for most of the way, but getting an uncomfortably good look at the massive, enraged, toothsome sea-beast, which outsized even your boat. And soon you burst out of the fog-veiled isles and came within sight of the Churner, rushing for its protection as the massive shark splashed and leapt and roared in its pursuit…
Until Friday! John
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