The party awoke from their rest and exited Leomund’s tiny hut. They proceeded to explore the rooms in the hold. The opened up the first door and found an immense pile of gold coins.

An enormous pile of gold coins filled this chamber. The wooden panels that covered the walls are filled with engravings of pirates digging up huge chests, a pirate king sitting atop a throne surrounded by treasure, and a skeletal undead being buried under thousands of coins. The room contains a pile of 180,000 gp, each minted with a skull on its ‘head’ and crossbones on its ‘tail’. There was a sign on the wall in an unknown language.

The party waffled on if they should take the coins and eventually settled with Evan David taking 6,000 gp, Tarin taking 25,000 gp on Tensers Floating Disc and Acanthodoris taking 1,000 gp.

The party continued on to the next room and found three treasure chests. The three large, wooden chests were inlaid with whalebone, mother of pearl, and coral. The first chest contained potions, the second gems, and the third common items. The party took all the items.

There was another sign on the wall in an unknown language and Acanthodoris deduced that if this sign was translated to ‘treasure’, the last sign was translated to ‘cursed’. All of the party returned the gold they had taken. Everyone but Evan David who kept a single gold coin.

Acanthodoris is awarded an inspiration.

The party continued exploring and found that the next room appeared to be a storeroom. Crates and barrels, piled right up to the ceiling, filled this chamber. Tools hang from the wall beside the door. The party examined the tools but finding nothing of value, continued on.

The party moved on and found the next room to be a bunkhouse with three Orcs, two Goblins, and a monkey sleeping off the prior night’s revelry. Strung up in this room are two dozen hammocks, one row atop the other. The chamber smells strongly of sweat and ale.

Tarin attempted to sneak in and steal their weapons but accidentally kicked a weapon and woke them up. Tarin thought quickly and persuaded them not to fight as they had defeated Sea King Tentrix and their masters. The Orcs and Goblins quickly agreed and shared they had no love lost for their masters.

Tarin was intrigued by the monkey but could not convince the monkey to come to him. Galo stepped up and the monkey quickly took a liking to him and jumped on his shoulder.

The party moved on and found the next room was a prison that held a female captain, a Dragonborn captain, and two human sailors. They freed them all and returned the folding boat to the female captain once they learned it was hers. The prisoners thanked them and expanded the folding boat and rowed away through the hole in the hold.

The party saw that the only room left unexplored was a throne room across from the hole in the hold that lead down to the water below. Galo flew across and lashed a rope to the throne to allow the others to easily cross.

There was little in this chamber save for a throne of melted cutlasses and woollen tapestries with strange, otherworldly motifs stretching across them. They seem at once to depict swirling masses of dark tentacles, whirlpools of raging waves, spiralling galaxies of stars, and dark, bulbous eyes.

The party moved to the last remaining door to the left of the throne and slowly opened it. The room was a small, cramped bedroom. A low, single bed takes up most of this triangular chamber, the only other furniture being a small wooden desk and chair. The wooden panels in the room have been engraved with depictions of deep sea creatures, including a kraken which takes up most of the wall.

Acanthodoris noticed papers on the desk and went in alone to investigate.

Atop the desk were numerous papers, most of which appeared to be contracts of employment, recruiting ship captains into the Black Armada. Also in the pile are the identification papers of Lady Doreena Sternquarter who they freed from the prison.

Acanthodoris searched the rest of the room and found an exquisite gold chest under the bed. Acanthodoris was able to detect and disarm the trap and safely opened the chest.

Inside the chest was 320 cp, 600 sp, and 682 gp, as well as two emeralds and a whalebone idol of a kraken.

Acanthodoris grabbed the idol and was overcome by a vision:

“Of an enormous brain sinking writhing tentacles deep into flesh of a enormous Kraken, and feel an intense throbbing in their skull and see an enormous portal opening in the sky.

Acanthodoris heard in his mind “Come my brood, come to Faerun from Clusterspace. I am Zellix’Phor, your master”

Suddenly, Acanthodoris was shocked with a psychic blast and fell to the ground.

Underneath the idol, Acanthodoris found two more notes:

• A Black Armada map of the Swordcoast with vague instructions:
  • Baldur’s Gate – Ramazith – destroy map
  • Waterdeep – Retrieve Marid Conch
  • Neverwinter – Stop Kzixxaro the aboleth – Prevent Abolethic Sovereignty from being restored. Retrieve the Planecallers codex and Hex Locus 
• “I am sending Druskis, Luzgrigaul, and Tharcereli to retrieve the Planecallers Codex and the Hex Locus.  Bring me the Marid Conch and in three days the alignment will occur. Then it will be too late for anyone to do anything. Come home to the Purple Rocks, come to Ascarle. – Zellix’Phor”

Acanthodoris heard a battle from outside the room and went outside to see the party in a battle with three Ithilids which he assumed was Druskis, Luzgrigaul, and Tharcereli.

The battle was fierce and in the middle of the battle, Luzgrigaul levitated over to the corpse of Sea King Tentrix, reached inside his coat and retrieved a book and an amulet. Then Luzgrigaul simply planeshifted away.

The battle continued on Druskis and Tharcereli trying time and time again to gain the upper had but they were no match for Evan David. Evan David moved through every attack they offered and countered with vicious strikes of his own. Four times Evaan David’s strikes had knocked them down to their knees.

Evan David is awarded an inspiration.

When victory appeared to be close, Luzgrigaul reappeared and attacked anew. Luzgrigaul used his telekinesis to pry the Marid Conch away from Tarin. This seemed to infuriate Tarin and Evan David even more and they attacked with renewed intensity finally destroying all three Ithilids.

Tarin quickly searched the body of Luzgrigaul, but the Marid Conch was nowhere to be found!

The party returned to their ship and found Captain Callous waiting for them. He shared that while they went down into the hold, he climbed the mast and went up to the Crows Nest to retrieve his compass by throwing Kharon the Merrenoloth to his death.

He thanked them and offered his helped to get them to the Purple Rocks in two and a half days.

The party graciously accepted and all seven of them sailed away – Captain Callous, Evan David, Tarin, Galo, Acanthodoris, Kaelen, and the monkey.