08.4 Here Be Serpents

[slug]

Kalans Revenge Mercenary Company
Company members:-
Taran – Half Elf Fighter/Priest of Mannanan Mac Lir, cousin to Carinne and Galvish
Carinne Rhianne Talynnart – Half Elf Ranger/Mage, Cousin to Taran and Galvish
Galvish – Half Elf Fighter/Thief, Cousin to Taran and Carinne
Krachtig – A Damp Gnome
Barrigan Stonebeak – Dwarf Fighter/Priest, Company Engineer.
Lanneus Tuard – Paladin of Manannan Mac Lir
Saeryn Ghent – Fighter – (Kalans Sister)

Encounters at Sea

Before we leave the temple, Krachtig casts a programmed illusion to make it appear haunted.  It should keep people away from the place.
We make our way back to the fishing village and see a commotion down at the dock.  We rush up and find that a sea serpent has attacked one of their fishing boats a couple of miles down the coast.  We set out down the coastal path to see if we can put an end to this beast.  Before we leave the village, Taran dimensional folds back to Jans Landing to see if Galvish has seen the doctor to get his rash treated.  He confirms that he is able to ride a horse and can travel with us again.
We set off down the coastal path on phantom steeds conjured up by the mages.  After several hours travel we are set upon by 8 legged creatures we have encountered before, these greater basilisks have a fearsome attack which can petrify and their bite and claws are poisonous.  As we have seen them a few hundred feet out, we are able to use spells and missiles to reduce their numbers before we engage them in melee.  We do not suffer any major injuries in defeating them and quickly find their lair before continuing on our way.
Soon after we spy some large creatures camped around a fire on the beach, Carinne uses her spyglass to determine they are Minotaurs and they are roasting something that would appear to be humanoid.  We creep closer under a mass invisibility spell cast by Krachtig and Taran determines that they are evil creatures.  We launch an attack on these foul beasts and emerge from the combat almost completely unscathed.  Upon investigating their barbecue area we discover a girl trussed up and likely the next to go on the spit.  When she sees the fire she lets out a wail and we surmise that the figure that is charred beyond recognition is her father.  Krachtig volunteers to take her back to the village and we sort through the rest of the camp.
We rest up for the night and the next day we survey the waters offshore, as this seems to be the general area where the sea serpent attacked the fishing boat.  It is not long before we spot the creature which is swimming towards us quite quickly.  Suddenly, a whirlwind knocks us off our feet and throws us along the beach.  We struggle to do anything in the strong wind and the two priests dimensional fold out to behind the sea dragon, Saeryn follows Barrigan but is quickly in trouble as she cannot stay up in the water.  Taran quickly casts a spell to enable her to stand on the water.  Galvish and Krachtig are getting blasted by lightning bolts cast by the sea serpent, they then teleport out to sea close to the action.  The next thing we know is a giant veil of blackness is cast over the combat by the creature.  It is unclear over the order of the combat but the eventual outcome is a dead sea dragon and a badly beat up group.  We heal up and break out the folding boat to tow the serpent back to the fishing village to let the villagers have a feast.
On the way back we spy what seems to be a floating island which is moving towards us.  We get a bad feeling about this and start hurling spells and missiles towards it.  It looks like a giant sea turtle.  Taran and Krachtig split from the boat and move to either side to minimize any area of effect damage.  The others emerge from the boat to confront the beast and it breathes a great cloud of steam on them, while a fireball erupts in the boat.  This creature seems a formidable opponent but Corinne spies an invisible spellcaster on the back of the dragon turtle.  This makes the battle immensely tougher with various members of the party dropping, being mazed and getting damaged by the fire shield on the creature, also Corinne and Barrigan seem to start attacking each other.  Finally the massive damage inflicted on the giant turtle is enough to kill it and Saeryn, Lanneus and Taran climb onto its back to tackle the invisible foe. They manage to kill the spellcaster and dispel the magic affecting Corinne and Barrigan before they kill each other.  
We hook up this floating island and tow the two fearsome creatures back to the fishing village where they will have enough food to last them for a very long time.