07/25/2025 – Geeks & Games – The Shipwreckers

Summary

In the last session, the Shipwreckers took a boat from Vishrun to hunt the albino dracolisk, Usog. The journey was driven by both the promise of a bounty and Valtor’s desperate infatuation with a rival adventurer, Ajish the Honey Mage, who had gone missing while seeking the same prize. After navigating up the coast, they disembarked into a cold, swampy mangrove forest.

Trekking through the muck, the party discovered an abandoned camp littered with humanoid boot prints alongside the tracks of bipedal lizard creatures. Their search led them to Usog’s lair: a colossal, hollowed-out tree. Inside, they found a chamber filled with an unnerving collection of lifelike statues. Their worst fears were confirmed when they realized these were not sculptures, but the petrified remains of the beast’s victims. Suddenly, Usog itself ambushed them, its gaze instantly turning Orantha to solid stone.

A desperate battle erupted in the dark, foul-smelling cavern. The party learned that the dracolisk’s blood could reverse its petrifying gaze, turning the fight into a frantic struggle to wound the creature. Gremdar fell victim to its power next, becoming another stone sentinel in the grim gallery. The tide turned when Strell, charging forward, cleaved deep into the monster, becoming coated in its protective blood. Moments later, he struck the final blow, decapitating the dracolisk. In the dracolisk’s gut, Strell discovered a mysterious blue artifact: a Cog of Kython, part of an ancient, reality-warping machine.

Using the creature’s blood, they restored their petrified companions. Among the other statues, they found Ajish and her surviving crew. Their rescue was met not with gratitude, but with fury, as Ajish accused them of stealing her bounty. Valtor’s attempts to woo her were met with scorn, creating a tense standoff that nearly erupted into another fight. The confrontation almost escalated into violence when Jeffrey, the mage, threatened to use Usog’s head as a weapon against Ajish and her company. Eventually, the party left Ajish and her crew to walk back, but not before Ajish exploited Valtor’s love-struck mind to learn the location of their boat.

The party sailed to River Run, where they traded Usog’s head to have Nathair’s cursed fey armor set cleansed. The ritual transformed it into a powerful suit of +2 Crystalline Plate Mail, which Gremdar claimed. Upon returning to Vishrun, they found Ajish spreading a false tale of her victory. Strell publicly refuted her story, revealing the truth and incurring Ajish a massive debt of 1,700 gold with local bookies, setting the stage for future conflict.

OUTLINE:

Journey to the Dracolisk’s Lair

• The party took a boat from Vishrun to hunt Usog and find the missing Ajish the Honey Mage.
• They traveled through a cold, swampy forest, finding an abandoned campsite with both humanoid and lizard-like tracks.
• They discovered the lair was a massive, hollowed-out tree that smelled of death.

Ambush and a Battle of Stone

• Inside, they found a room filled with the petrified statues of the dracolisk’s victims.
• Usog, an albino dracolisk, ambushed them from the darkness.
• Orantha was instantly turned to stone, and Gremdar suffered the same fate moments later.
• The party realized the dracolisk’s blood was the antidote to its petrifying gaze.

The Fall of Usog

• Strell charged the beast and became coated in its blood after landing a solid hit, granting him immunity.
• Strell dealt the final blow, decapitating the dracolisk.
• The party used the monster’s blood to cure Orantha and Gremdar.
• Pavek sliced open the dracolisk’s stomach and found a strange, magical blue cog.

A Contentious Rescue

• The party revived Ajish and her crew, who were also among the petrified.
• Ajish immediately became hostile, accusing them of stealing her bounty.
• Valtor’s attempts to profess his love for Ajish were cruelly rejected, escalating the conflict.
• After a tense standoff, the party departed, leaving Ajish’s group to find their own way back.

Rewards and Repercussions

• In Riverrun, the party exchanged Usog’s head to have a cursed fey armor set cleansed.
• The ritual transformed the gear into +2 Crystalline Plate Mail and a +1 Crystalline Longsword.
• Returning to Vishrun, they found Ajish had spread a false story of her victory.
• Strell corrected the narrative, which resulted in Ajish owing 1,700 gold to local bookies.

NPCs:

• Ajish the Honey Mage: A human mage and rival adventurer who speaks of herself in the third person. She has a gambling problem and is the object of Valtor’s unrequited affection.
• Ajish’s Crew: A motley group of adventurers allied with Ajish, including two fighters and a halfling. Her cleric, an orc, was left petrified in the lair.
• River Run Elves: A community of ‘modern’ elves living in Riverrun who embrace logging and working the land. They performed the ritual to cleanse the party’s fey-cursed armor.
• The Ship’s Crew: A group of six elite, reliable sailors hired from the Harbormaster, paid handsomely to ensure their loyalty.
• Usog: An albino dracolisk, a hybrid of a dragon and a basilisk. It had a petrifying gaze and could breathe a cone of frost. Now deceased.

LOCATIONS:

• Riverrun: A village inhabited by industrious elves. The party traveled here to claim their bounty for killing Usog.
• The Scorched Troll Tavern: A tavern in Vishrun known for a large hole in its floor that descends into a dungeon. The site of Valtor’s disastrous date with Ajish.
• The Stygian Library: A mythical library that exists between space and time, which can be powered by the Cogs of Kython to alter reality.
• Usog’s Lair: A massive, hollowed-out tree in the center of a cold, swampy bog. The inside was a foul-smelling cavern littered with debris and petrified victims.
• Vishrun: A major coastal town where the adventure began and concluded. It’s a hub for sailors, merchants, and adventurers.

ITEMS:

• +1 Crystalline Longsword: A magical longsword with a crystalline appearance. Formerly a cursed fey weapon, it was cleansed alongside the plate mail.
• +2 Crystalline Plate Mail: A full suit of magical plate armor that looks like it’s made of crystal. It was created when a cursed fey armor set was cleansed in a ritual.
• Cog of Kython: A large, blue metal gear etched with Celestial symbols, found in Usog‘s belly. It is one part of a mechanism in the Stygian Library that can undo one event from existence.
• Dracolisk Blood: The potent blood of Usog, which can reverse the effects of its petrifying gaze. The party saved a vial of it.
• Robe of Yaloss: Jeffrey’s pitch-black robe that grants him an advantage on stealth checks, allowing him to seemingly disappear.
• Usog’s Head: The severed head of the dracolisk, which the party turned in as proof of their kill to claim the bounty in River Run.