#5 - Melee Amidships (Part 2)

The struggle to take the Sky Talon on the upper deck was brutal. Both Halbazar and Magnus were knocked out early in the fight, both done in with the thrashing tentacles of the pale eyeless horror known as a dolgaunt. Efforts to simply shove the creature over the side, to plummet into the darkness, proved fruitless—it was much too nimble and had an advantageous number of limbs.

The bald cult leader, with his scabrous armor and disturbing necklace of tongues, appeared and used magic to keep his enemies from attacking him—a trick that seriously irked Rendar d'Tharashk. Calling blessings upon his allies, and even healing the dolgaunt at one point, he proved to be a nuisance. Meanwhile, two crossbow-wielding cult warriors continued to harry the PCs.

With the constant help of Xoma, the drow making good use of his Xen'drik boomerang, they eventually outlasted their foes. Cypher occupied one warrior, while Doongul allowed his armor (and sometimes his flesh) to be pin-cushioned with crossbow bolts. Rendar, Cyzicus, and Doongul stormed into the wheelhouse to take out the cult leader once and for all. The half-elf from the Bookmark Inn was there, at the helm, but he soon fled and left the Dragon Below priest to fend for himself.

In short order, (1) the cultist was slain, (2) the PCs' weapons were recovered, (3) some new treasure was found, (4) Doongul revived his two fallen comrades, and (5) the Lyrandar half-elf pilot, after initially escaping elsewhere on the ship, was found dead with his throat stabbed. Evidently, there was yet one more enemy lurking about the ship. Or perhaps not. There was evidence that something had been removed from a storage room and this missing crewman had managed to free one of the displacer beasts in the hold.

But the PCs now had "control," such as it was, of the Sky Talon. Their captors were slain. But weren't there supposed to be more of them? Xoma was fairly sure he'd seen more soldiers than this handful when the airship first descended from the docking tower in Korranberg.

Meanwhile, Cyzicus attempted to communicate with the bound fire elemental by taking the wheel, seeing if he could direct the ship in a more favorable direction (it was still northbound). He managed some minimal success—but only enough to ensure the airship wouldn't crash into the mountain before morning.

Regardless, it was time to rest up and see about dealing with the displacer beasts, which the gnome captives managed to barricade into the cargo.