Journey’s End

7th Flocktime, 612: The Pass – Azure Sea to Vahoun Ocean

About a week from Tamoachan the ships came to the pass which would take them into the Vahoun Ocean. It was also an area known to be patrolled and controlled by the Crimson Fleet. Forewarned was forearmed then, as the Sea Wyvern and the Blue Nixie clung together for protection and they proceeded. Unfortunately, when the attack came there were two pirate ships as well. The Sea Wyvern was on its own. But with Kaywen now capable of casting fireballs, the Wyvern had little trouble toasting and roasting the boarding party before it swung across. Once it did they had but to mop up what was left of the ‘Crispy Fleet’s’ representatives. They sunk their ship, the Purity, for good measure, and took what was left of its water and food stores.

18th Flocktime, 612: Fort Greenrock

Lavinia had promised of a stopover at Fort Greenrock to rest and resupply, but that was not to be. From their ships they could see that the fort was no longer standing; it was smoldering instead. A landing party was dispatched to investigate. They found signs of a battle and the fort having been razed. Styvesandt concluded from the tracks that it had been lizard men who had done the damage. While they could follow the tracks into the dense jungle, it was decided that anything that had been taken was probably used up since the attack had occurred some months before. Lavinia knew of other places for fresh water and they did have the supplies from the pirate ships, so they sailed on.

22nd Flocktime, 612: Atikula River

The ships stopped here to get some fresh water. The scenic beauty of the 900’ wide waterfall that produced a fresh water ‘pond’ somehow attached to the ocean was captivating. Equally captivating was the many headed hydra that lurked within. But the cooler heads of the heroes prevailed. The water supply was replenished and the remains of many other ships were found well below the surface.

28th Flocktime, 612: Village of Renkrue

The long awaited promise of rest and relaxation was finally fulfilled as they dropped anchor off the coast of a small island where this native village was set. Lavinia had brought along some metal trade goods, and some minor magics were purchased from the village shaman. One other purchase, the offer by Avner to buy one of the villagers daughters, was met with less favor. Fortunately, Aely was able to put this deal on ‘hold.’ The days spent here were indeed relaxing after all.

18th Wealsun, 612: Journey’s End

To date, the ships had enjoyed reasonable weather, but that began to change as they got further south. Four days after passing the island of Ruja, one they decided to not visit, the wind kicked up, the seas grew wild, and the rain came down. Kaywen aided as best he could in holding the winds at bay while any with sailing experience helped Amella navigate through the night. They survived this storm, but morning brought two disturbing sights, or lack thereof. The skies were still angry and the Blue Nixie was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, they had agreed at the start of the journey that if either ship got separated, the other would continue hoping to meet up at Farshore in the end. The Sea Wyvern, therefore, continue on course as best it could.

Until one grey morning that is. On this day something seemed strange about the waters below. They seemed almost solid, as if the sea had formed some strange sort of skin. The air seemed dead and the sails hung limp, heavy with moisture from the receding fog. . As the mist cleared it was not the sea below and around them but a wet green field of weed. This swath of dirty green stretched flatly in all directions. “Sargasso,” declared Aely. The ship fell silent; absent were the sounds of the no existent waves against its hull.

Pooling their collective knowledge of a Sargasso, they knew that they were in deep trouble. From the sheer width of this, they concluded that this was Journey’s End, one of legendary proportions. This ‘living land’ is rumored to have its own black soul that fuels the hunger of its children rumored to live within it. They could expect visits from these ‘children’ in the coming night. With some time on their hands and the sighting of some other ships equally caught in the mass, they decided to test the ‘waters.’

The mass was sponge like but walkable for the most part, Aely, Kaywen, Kevrey, Remnil, and Styvesandt set out across it to the nearest wreck, some 600 yards away. As they neared it, they saw that it was strangled with weeds and vines almost as if immense green claws had taken hold. The ship, the RAGE, was roughly the same size as the Sea Wyvern; they could almost taste their fate as they listened . . . and heard nothing. ‘Maybe we should go aboard. . . . . . . .

18th Wealsun, 612: Journey’s End

. . . . . . Boarding the Rage they found the ship entangled in greenery, some of which was quite vicious. They also found the journal of a monk named Anhelm. It documented his final days as he and his friends tried to fight off plant like creatures which kept coming for them each night. Some who went out onto the Sargasso never returned.

That night the Sea Wyvern was attacked one wave of moving mucous green humanoids.

18th Wealsun, 612: Journey’s End

Knowing the fate that awaited them if they did nothing, and when Kaywen’s attempted to slice through the Sargasso did not work all that well, Aely, Kaywen, Kevrey, Remnil, and Styvesandt decided to search the Sargasso for the Dark Heart, knowing that it must be found and destroyed if they were ever to escape. Leaving everyone else on board they went from trapped ship to trapped ship, some of which had been there more than fifty years. As dusk was coming in they came to one ship in a part of the mass which seemed darker and more alive. The ship, the Thunderer, was in surprisingly good shape, only sunk in the morass. As they looked back over the Sargasso, they felt it was somehow closing in on them. Having little choice they boarded this ship. On the deck they found skeletal remains entangled in vines.

They began a deck to deck room to room search of the ship. Deserted and broken all that remained were remnants of what once was. It was on the second below deck that they discovered a dark hole, maybe 100’ in depth. Fortunately, Aely had sufficient rope to get them all down. It was in the depth like hell that they encountered the source of all the vines, the heart of this Sargasso, the Mother of All, a 20’ tall mass of vines from which all these horror had emerged, carrying a young. A battle of epic proportions ensued and miraculously they all survived.

No sooner had the Mother been defeated, however, than did the Sargasso began leaking and returning to the ocean that it was. Luckily the Thunderer broke apart in large sections which allowed the heroes to float until help in the form of the Sea Wyvern arrived. Captain Amella righted the course as best she could and headed for Farshore around the southern tip of the Isle of Dread once more.