Through the Mists to Avarnor

Haden, Janus, and Sabrina collected their small friends from the Drunken Betty to participate in the festivities below. They outfitted themselves handsomely for their upcoming voyage, taking advantage of the aquatic and acidic specialties of the local craftsfolk.

Sabrina, responding to the dual attractions of museums and the curator, opted to stay behind. On a farewell tour, the group gazed at ancient texts, reproductions of "The Sword of Nassenac" and small, glass-enclosed terrarriums. The halfling and the gnome decided to stretch their legs and run around on the soil. They examined squirrels and hummingbirds frolicking around miniature mountains and banzai trees. The caretaker was pruning them out, so he said they could take some. Janella took a mountain and an inadvertent hummingbird, and Laseda took a small flowering tree.

Back in the coach on their way back to the inn, Laseda started poking at the tree to determine how valuable it was. Idril, the tiny druid, stepped out of the tree and asked her to stop - or be menaced by a porpoise.

The next day, the party, minus a mermaid but plus a dryad, set out for the Island of Avarnor. They sailed north for many days, following their merman guide. At once they found themselves within a mist - which they soon discovered allowed them to proceed in only one direction. Sailing along, an old ship laden with gold approached them and chased them down. The red dragon figurehead came alive and spoke to them: "Go no farther!" When the Drunken Betty failed to come about, the dragon drew in a great breath of air. The pirates sprang into action, firing corrosive arrows and hacking into the huge head. He breathed flame onto them, burning himself but burning them much more. "Be afraid and listen to me. Listen to Captain Marcer. Do not continue to the cursed island. I wished for gold, to be the terror of the seas, to never be parted from my ship. And look what happened to me!" Janella promised that they would be careful. "And I'm hungry!" Instead of springing to fight again, Laseda and Janus hurried to get a barrel of hardtack, which Marcer begrudgingly accepted. He then sailed to stern of them. A few minutes later, Marcer appeared out of the mist again, this time woodenly asleep. Janus was more successful in his navigation this time - and the next - and they eventually sailed into a tangle of ships surrounding the shores of the island.

Many cursed ships were wrecked, so the shore was barely visible. Many were half-sunk, full of treasure; others had figureheads with varying degrees of sentience; many looked fierce. One of ships warned them that all the ships they could see were the wreckage of failed wishes.

With such a bleak sight, the pirate-actors retreated to discuss the wisdom of going further. Halfway through the discussion, Idril piped up that she could hear a ship approaching. One of the wild ships had sneaked up on them and was planning to stuff its bear-formed face with their fresh flesh. They sprang into action and hurt the figurehead enough that it became wooden again, and quickly hacked it off just before it could change back, fully healed - thanks to Haden's axe and Idril's performing porpoise.

Experience:

Museum, and Leaving the Mermaid City: 200
Mists of Avarnor: 100
Many Hungry Figureheads: 800
Taking a moment to Think: 200