Starring:

Blaghs aka Blaghman the tough Glaive who masters weaponry,

Elandar Kintan aka Popdart5 the foolish Nano who controls gravity,

Scrappa aka Tech_knight the mechanical Jack who talks to machines, and

Storyteller aka Redartifice the awesome GM who weaves tales.

The Deschn was piloted to float alongside the Jaekel raider ship so that the Redfleets and the party could scavenge as many valuables as they could. Blaghs, Scrappa, Zippa, and Elandar boarded the Jaekel ship while Captain Ieza coordinated his crew to strip the ship of any important components and replacements parts. Scrappa attempted to repair the control mechanisms for the ship however the fight with the Jaekels and the Arashka had severely damaged the power conduit and it was not going to last long until it needed to be replaced. The Redfleet crew began carving out metal planks and engine parts while the party proceeded to rifle through the small collection of valuables that the Jaekels had hoarded.

Blaghs sifted through the bundles of components and circuitry that the Jaekels had collected and managed to come across thirty shins which he evenly divided amongst the rest of the party. As he went back to the pile, he spotted a small metal cube that he discovered to be a container of thin, clear grease. He dabbed his finger in it and sniffed at the grease however it appeared to be odourless. When Blaghs pulled his finger back to try and rub the grease between his hands, he was surprised to find that his finger had been rendered invisible. He wiggled his fingers and felt the solidity of his finger still connected to his hand but he couldn’t see it. Elandar stood up from where he had been rummaging and observed Blaghs as he was mesmerised by his invisible finger. He explained that the grease was something called Cloaking Gel and that it didn’t reflect any colour when looked upon, meaning that something that was coated in the gel was effectively invisible for a few minutes. However, Elandar warned that the gel was known to harden and constrict full movement so it wasn’t perfect. He also mentioned that it wasn’t waterproof and Elandar joked that Blaghs shouldn’t go swimming again after applying the gel. Blaghs grumbled and went back to sifting through the jumble of Numenera that the Jaekels had gathered.

Scrappa dug through the detritus and his fingers clasped around a short, metal staff that appeared to have a long glass cylinder running through the length of it. The glass ended in a small cube on the end of the staff which, when Scrappa peered at it, seemed to swim with a variety of colours and faint wisps of smoke. He turned the staff over in his hands and traced the markings that were engraved on the glass cube. Scrappa clicked his fingers when he realised what he had in his hands. It was a Summoning Staff, a device that created a temporary portal into an alternate dimension. Through this portal, the Staff would attract an ultra-terrestrial creature and conjure it in this reality for a period of time. Scrappa had heard tales of similar devices being used by Numenera users, only for the summoned creatures to violently attack the conjurers and any surrounding bystanders. Scrappa made certain that he would always treated such an object carefully and he strapped the device to his back while he began to collect some spare parts to repair the damage that Zippa had suffered during the raid.

Elandar was toying with a small metal disk by the time the rest of the party had finished scouring through the valuables that the Jaekels had gathered. He held it up to the rest of them and asked if anyone wanted to try out this Pleasure Centre that he had found. Scrappa and Blaghs looked at each other and said that they were not interested. Elandar hopped back to the Deschn and offered the Pleasure Centre to Stauchy or Captain Ieza as they had both been injured in the fight against the Jaekels and the Arashka. Ieza and Stauchy shook their heads and declined and Elandar merely shrugged his shoulders as he slapped the metal disk to his forehead. The disk stuck to his skin and Elandar sat down and reclined against the cool metal of the Deschn’s conning tower. Minuscule wires and cables began to spread out from the disk and easily implanted themselves into Elandar’s skin, coiling and spreading out inside his head. The wires began to tap into his brain and triggered a release of endorphins and other neurochemicals that made Elandar quietly begin to giggle to himself. He floated on a cloud of good feelings while the rest of the party and the Deschn crew made their way back on board and the Deschn began to sail away from the Jaekel ship.

The Deschn continued on their course westwards across the water as the party and crew kept themselves occupied. Scrappa tended to Zippa’s injuries and replaced the damaged circuitry with the bits and pieces that he had collected from the Jaekel ship. Blaghs resumed his exercises both above and below deck and he strove to ensure that he kept well clear of the edges of the ship. Elandar cooled down after the Pleasure Centre had run out of power and served to help the Redfleet crew with anything that they needed. Captain Ieza had his wounds treated and bandaged and he kept a close eye on the map that Scrappa had provided. The day after the encounter with the Jaekels, Cagyn Rild’s ring began to glow slightly as one of the red jewels lit up. Scrappa showed it to the crew and the party and said that they must be nearing their destination. Stauchy climbed to the top of the conning tower and proclaimed that he was certainly right as they were nearing the edge of the storm that lashed the sea.

The ocean waves began crashing into the side of Deschn as the submergine continued westwards, ever deeper into the rising swell of the storm. Blaghs determinedly continued his exercises above deck and he was about to call it a day when he thought he spotted something in the distance. The dark clouds and lashing rain to the west appeared to ease slightly and Blaghs peered into the distance to double-check if he had been seeing an illusion. His eyes had not betrayed him and there did indeed appear to be a town floating on a boat in the centre of the storm. He called out his discovery to the rest of the crew and Ieza almost didn’t believe him until he saw it with his own eyes. However, the storm was worsening overhead and everyone decided to take shelter as the rain began lashing the submergine.

As the storm continued on outside, the crew of the Deschn and the party of adventurers discussed their options. Stauchy and some of the Redfleets said that the storm was one of the fiercest that they’d ever seen and the Deschn was not equipped for such rough seas. Elandar asked if they could go sail underwater to avoid the worst parts of the storm. Ieza said that it was probably their best bet if they wanted to reach the town boat that Blaghs had spotted. He barked at the crew to prepare to dive and the crewmembers sealed the hatches and pressurised the cabins. Ieza guided the Deschn down below the water’s surface and the submergine smoothly slipped below the waves. The turmoil of the storm raged above them however the Deschn continued on, gently rocking from side to side as the sea churned from the rain and wind. After a while of quiet nervousness, the Deschn steadied itself in the water and Ieza ordered the engines to cease. Stauchy raised the periscope from the submergine and surveyed the situation above them. He paused and wiped down the lenses as he checked what he was seeing. Stauchy stepped back from the periscope and declared that they were practically underneath the floating town and the creature on which it was borne. Ieza merely raised an eyebrow and he ordered the crew to surface the Deschn to go and investigate this seaborne town.

Once they were above water and peering out of the portholes, the party and the crew saw exactly what Stauchy meant. A fairly ordinary looking town, made from a combination of different types of timber with a smattering of aquatic materials like coral, was constructed on the back of a huge sea creature that was twice as long as the Deschn itself. One of the Redfleets whistled and admired the size of the whaleboat that was carrying the town. The creature had been bound with an interlocking series of knotted rope and twine as the buildings seemed to have been strapped onto the whaleboat’s back to prevent them sliding off. A series of nets trailed off from the back of the creature and they moved slightly as the whaleboat’s tail broke the surface of the water every once in a while. The sea around the whaleboat was calm and serene, which stood in stark contrast to the rough seas and pouring rain that was evident a few hundred metres away. There was a clear circle around the whaleboat where the storm seemed to suddenly stop. Captain Ieza guided the Deschn towards the left side of the whaleboat where a wooden pier jutted from the main body of the creature.

As the Deschn approached the pier, Blaghs shook his head as he felt something begin to press against his thoughts. Suddenly a flood of enemies poured through his mind and the sound of a crowd of people talking assailed his senses. A single, feminine voice cut through the din and welcomed him. Blaghs called out hello to the mysterious voice and the rest of the party just looked at him strangely. Ieza looked at him curiously as he manoeuvred the Deschn against the pier and clamped on to it. Residents of the whaleboat town began to gather at the end of the pier and they looked rather odd. Scrappa was reminded of the people of Barrow Town as the faces of these locals seemed far too familiar to be natural. Everyone in this town had reddish-brown skin, smooth red hair, short legs, and an elongated torso that made them tower at approximately two metres tall. They all wore grey tunics that were adorned with seashells and fish bones and some of the crowd wore harder chitin armour and had thick, protective gloves on.

The party and the crew of the Deschn stood on deck as some of the local residents approached the submergine. Captain Ieza stepped forward and introduced himself to the gathered crowd. The residents nodded eagerly and responded in a very clipped and strange language. One of them though, a slightly taller man than the rest of them, began to talk in very broken sentences. He invited the crew of the Deschn to come aboard the whaleboat town and speak with someone. Ieza glanced around at his crew and called out for Stauchy and two Redfleets to head ashore while he and the rest of the crew stayed behind. The party volunteered to go with Stauchy onto the whaleboat and Ieza nodded in agreement.

The crowd of locals led the way deeper into the floating town, passing through the jumble of buildings and houses. The majority of the buildings were made of timber, although every so often the party would spot stone archways or synth wall panels. As the group passed through an elaborate town square, complete with an ornate fountain showing a replica of the whaleboat town, the locals gestured towards a tower close to the front of the whaleboat. They all spoke in unison that the crew and the party should speak to their leader up in the tower. Blaghs rubbed his temple as the voices reverberated through his mind again and that single, lone voice beckoned him onwards. The party and the Redfleets began to climb the steps of the tower as they began to rise over the rest of the town.

By the time that they had reached the top of the tower, the smell of the sea had been replaced with the smell of parchment, ink, chemicals, and a little bit of smoke. They arrived to find that a small laboratory and personal study was at the top of the tower and it was filled with a variety of half-opened tomes, bubbling beakers and test tubes, and grinded up metal shards and herb leaves. A single bookshelf stood beside a large synth glass window, its shelves straining under the weight of the scrolls and tomes that it carried. At the far end of the circular room was a heavy wooden desk, behind which sat a tall and thin looking woman. The party tried to get a good look at her but her facial features kept realigning themselves on her face and her skin colour traversed the spectrum from pale blue to deep black and back to bright pink. The woman placed the tome she had been reading on the desk and stood up to welcome her visitors to her study.

The Redfleets and the party cautiously moved deeper into the study and the woman assured them that she meant no harm. She introduced herself as Shonai, a researcher from a faraway land called Sebata. Shonai said that the whaleboat had been constructed and launched from Sebata several months ago on an expedition. As Shonai turned to gesture at her combined research, Scrappa noticed that she seemed to move without any regard to the limitations of her spine. He guessed that she might have been mechanically enhanced and he made a note to ask her about it later. Shonai twisted back around and said that they were tracking a creature known as the Moiag, a creature that they believed to be a fierce and terrible god of the sea. She explained that when they had first sailed into these waters, the seas were calm and peaceful. However, approximately ten days ago, the storm suddenly appeared and trapped their whaleboat in its midst. The eye of the storm was a projection of a nanosphere from this town that sheltered the whaleboat. Shonai began to speak quietly and said that the sphere was beginning to run out of power and the storm would soon envelop them. She asked if the Redfleets and the party would help them solve this problem and Scrappa said that they would see what they could do.

Scrappa explained that, while the issue with the storm was a problem for the town, the Deschn had sailed to this part of the ocean to find the Gharolan that grew on the seafloor. Shonai nodded quietly and said that she believed that some of that substance was located directly underneath them. There was also something else that they had discovered in their time marooned in the centre of this storm. Shonai said that they had been studying the storm itself and found that it seemed to stem from a source under the water rather than in the atmosphere. Stauchy interjected and said that didn’t make any sense at all and Shonai agreed that she had never seen anything like it before. However, she began to scan areas beneath the waves and found a curious phenomenon: a fortress constructed out of water itself had formed on the bottom of the sea. The maelstrom apparently was generated by this fortress and there was no sign of this underwater castle when the whaleboat first arrived here. Shonai believed that the storm, the fortress, the Moiag, and possibly even the Gharolan might be all connected. Scrappa pulled out his copy of Cagyn Rild’s map to ask if the thermal vents were around the underwater castle and Shonai confirmed that they were. Elandar threw up his hands and asked how this could possibly get any worse. He received a few concerned looks from Stauchy and the Redfleets.

Shonai asked the combined group how they planned to reach the bottom of the sea and Scrappa said that the Deschn was a well-equipped submergine. She nodded and asked if she would be able to accompany them down into the depths if they were going to explore the underwater fortress. Scrappa said that they could take her down in the submergine but they didn’t have any way for her to survive the intense deep sea pressure or the lack of oxygen. Shonai said that it wouldn’t be an issue and said that she only needed to wear someone for her to be able to experience the underwater fortress. The party looked at each other confusedly and Scrappa asked what she meant by that. Shonai rolled her shoulders and said that she would demonstrate. She called out to Blaghs and told him to stay still. Her body sagged slightly as her eyes glazed over and her face settled on a permanent configuration. A faint gas began to coil out of her mouth and encompassed Blaghs’ body, resting on his skin. Shonai’s features began to assert themselves and overlap Blaghs’ own physical aspects while her face overlaid over Blaghs’ eyes, nose, and mouth. Her voice rang out from Blaghs’ body and explained that she could be worn like a second skin. Blaghs noticed that his sight and hearing seemed to be magnified by Shonai’s presence and that his skin seemed a little tighter than usual. He shook his head and tried to cast off the feeling of Shonai on his skin and he told her that he didn’t want to wear her. Shonai sighed and the gas drifted off Blaghs’ skin and poured back into her original body.

Blaghs began to pat his skin and he shivered as he felt as though Shonai had left a part of her behind. Shonai raised an eyebrow at him before turning to face the rest of the group and asked if they had a deal. Scrappa glanced at Blaghs before nodding and said that he would take her along on their underwater trek. Shonai walked back to the desk and opened one of the drawers as she pulled out a small satchel. She passed it to Scrappa before she began to walk towards the stairs. Shonai explained that she could help Scrappa see the underwater fortress however the other items would help anyone else see the castle made of water. The group, Shonai, and the Redfleets began heading back to the Deschn as Scrappa perused the satchel’s contents. There were a few capsules inside that contained several tiny contact lenses as well as six automatic syringes that contained a healing cypher. Scrappa thanked Shonai for her aid and said that it would greatly assist in their exploration of the seafloor.

Once everyone was back aboard the Deschn, Captain Ieza queried Shonai’s presence but Scrappa vouched for her knowledge and expertise. Ieza shrugged and made preparations to begin their descent. He said that scanners indicated that the maelstrom would make things very rough in certain sections however the Deschn would be able to drop anyone off about fifty metres above the bottom of the sea. Scrappa said that would have to do and Ieza activated the controls and began the Deschn’s dive.

As the submergine descended down through the sea, the party began their preparations for venturing out into the water. Scrappa managed to rig up a few of the auto-syringes inside the iron diving suit and Blaghs began fitting on all of his gear. After several minutes of preparation, Blaghs resembled an iron titan of the deep, his hydro-axe ready in hand, and his power and oxygen supplies checking well. Scrappa fine-tuned Zippa and made sure that the robotics would survive the intense underwater environment that they were about to enter. He considered the bubble wrap that he had acquired back in Harmuth and carefully applied it to his companion. As he turned around to prepare himself for the journey, Shonai walked up to him and assured him that her presence would protect him from the intense pressure and heat. Shonai also told him that she would connect with the rest of the group once they were ready. Scrappa nodded that he understood her and began fitting the breathing spray around his neck and the harpoon launcher to his right arm. He stripped down all of his unnecessary clothes until he was reduced to a simple cloth singlet and pair of shorts. When he was ready, he told Shonai to begin her work and he felt the gas prickle his skin as Shonai took on his form. She settled over the top of him and he felt her voice inside his head as she said she was ready.

Blaghs, Scrappa, and Zippa were already in the launch room when Elandar arrived. Elandar had stripped his clothing off until he was left in only his underwear. His skin was slick with the whaleboat blubber that he had gotten from Frund and he certainly smelled like it too. He had one more concoction to use before he was ready to journey into the water. He clasped the jar filled with the transformative elixir and he pinched his nose as he began to drink the liquid. It tasted like something Elandar could describe as seafood however the foul mixture seemed to have taken on a taste that only Frund could have enjoyed. As he drained the last of the mixture, Elandar’s body was wracked with pain and he grabbed at his stomach. He tried to breathe and found that he couldn’t. He felt something prickle on his neck and he wiped at it, feeling his gills clear as the blubber was wiped away. His arms grew scaly and he had small suckers form on the tips of his fingers. His legs collapsed under him and Elandar watched as his legs twisted, the bones melting down and reshaping into several different tentacles. Scrappa and Blaghs were slightly disgusted with the spectacle however Elandar proclaimed that he should thank Frund properly if they ever made it back in one piece.

There was a knock on the hatch door as Stauchy looked through the synth glass pane. He asked if everyone was ready and the party checked their equipment one last time. Scrappa strapped the two glass jars securely to his belt that would be used to carry the Gharolan once they found it. He checked his backup blades and weapons as Blaghs tested the heft on his hydro-axe. Elandar lay on the floor as standing was not really possible. He still had his cudgel ready in his hands, although he pondered if it could be used in one of his tentacles. Scrappa gave the thumbs up to Stauchy who shouted that the Deschn could only hold this position for a few minutes until they had to move out of the way. He held up one of the communicators that Scrappa had given him and Scrappa waved the other communicator in recognition. Stauchy told the party to call them when they needed to be collected and they would try and pick them up. Everyone nodded as Stauchy said that they were about to open the outside hatch.

Water immediately began pouring in as the cabin was opened to the sea. Blaghs was the first one out, his suit powering through the gushing water as he clamped on to the side of the Deschn. Scrappa and Zippa followed close behind and, after a moment of getting used to his tentacles, Elandar joined them. Scrappa looked out across the seafloor and witnessed the distinct strangeness of the underwater fortress that Shonai had described and he telepathically told the other two to activate their lenses. Shonai told them that they had to make it past the barrier that surrounded the fortress and that they had to dive straight through the swirling maelstrom. Blaghs chuckled and said that it would be no problem. He began to run across the Deschn’s surface, his iron feet clanging loudly as he built up momentum. Once he reached the edge, he jumped and he guided the propulsion jets in his feet towards the gap that Shonai had mentioned. He sailed through smoothly, landing solidly upon a water platform that formed part of the outer edge of the fortress.

Scrappa, Zippa, and Shonai followed Blaghs in, swimming their way through the swirling water and gently coming to rest beside Blaghs. Elandar propelled himself forward, not swimming as an ordinary person would but splashing out with his tentacles to keep himself going. He aimed for the gap that the rest of the party had entered and powered on, however one of his tentacles caught the edge of the churning water. Elandar struggled to pull himself free and he rather unceremoniously flailed through the gap, turning end over end until he steadied himself next to the rest of the group.

The party stared at the expanse of the water fortress before them. Battlements and towers cut a defiant shape in the water as luminescent fish swam between them. Scrappa consulted his electronic copy of Cagyn’s map and noted that the screen had cracked from the extreme pressure. Still, the sensor indicated that the Gharolan was close. What will our brave adventurers discover in the fortress under the sea? What of Moiag and its reputedly terrible power? Will this spell the end of these adventurers? Tune in next time for more Numenera: Tales of the Ninth World.