Blackrun River Cruise to Mantol-Derith (Recap from 5-19-23)

 Blackrun River Cruise to Mantol-Derith (Recap from 5-19-23) 

The party had a festive night of celebration with the lovely Lassryn Bronzepride serenading them and spreading bardic cheer with her ballads on the underdark. The party had a nice night and restful sleep, boarding the Theurgeme for the nine day journey down the Blackrun River to Darklake then Mantol-Derith. The captain put in a month's provisions and a 1000 gp for bribing the sea hags of Darklake. Albert Sládek a Cobalt Soul Expositor came along to represent the Dwendalian Empire, and Rindar sent the newest member of the Kryn Dynasty Chardalyn Priestess of Den Hythenos (formerly House Hunzrin) As a representative from the Bright Queen's Emissary. The group boarded the Thuergeme and set sail for the underdark.

(Whelson the 7th of Duscar) As the Theurgeme set off into the dark waters the crew and passengers tried to settle in for the long dangerous trip. The excitement of the departure soon gave way to a type of routine very familiar to the heroes, the Underdark was as oppressive as ever but with Lassryn playing soft ballads and flirting with the heroes and crew things seemed almost festive the group had no encounters that day. That night the group came to the narrowing of the passage but the crew was already prepared and prepped the ship for passage down the narrows. The passage is very tight; the ship has but one foot clearance on each side and two foot clearance under the keel. To achieve this the engineer took on ballast water into the tanks so the ship sat lower in the water then the smokestacks lowered to gain clearance. The crew worked swiftly and skillfully with no problems navigating the passage.

(Conthsen the 8th of Duscar) Day two of the trip the routine continues, with Lassryn playing softly and helping the crew sleep at night. The nightmares the group encountered on previous trips were all but a distant memory. As the ship continued, the group spotted some wreckage floating down the river in a cargo net and managed to snag it and pull it aboard. The net contained:

• A 17 pound keg of salt worth 2 gp. (*20 gp in the underdark)

• A 126 pound wooden tub of wheat wrapped in oil cloth and brown cord worth 3 gp. (*26 gp in the underdark)

• A 11 pound drum of almonds worth 11 gp. (*110 gp in the underdark)

• A 19 pound barrel of expensive red wine worth 220 gp (*2200 gp in the underdark)

That night there were no real encounters. The crew slept in shifts and kept the passage watch rotation.

(Folsen the 9th of Duscar) The next day the vessel encountered another place along the subterranean river where the ceiling lowered, and caused the crew to lower the smokestacks to clear the low ceiling. Once passed this the cavern opened into a large gallery and the ship continued into the night without any encounters.

(Yulisen the 10th of Duscar) The fourth day the Ship reached the small crystal grotto lake where the group previously encountered a group of Ropers trapping ships passing on the river. This time they found the aftermath of a demon battle with the corpses of 23 dead drow soldiers and 14 dead giant lizard mounts, 5 dead Vrock demons. Ten carrion crawlers have encroached on the site and are in the process of eating the dead. The group investigated the battle scene but one of the carrion crawlers advanced on the party and a short battle happened. After which the group, victorious, found three, +2 short swords, three +2 Hand Crossbows, two +1 Short Swords, and two +2 breast plates (a male and female drow design that will degrade in sunlight). Also there was 45 sp, 5 gp, and 7 vials of drow poison. The party collected 10 vials of carrion crawler poison worth 200 gp each, 240 gp in coins and  14 Lizard skins worth 6 gp each. The party dragged the drow bodies into a row and Chardalyn performed a burial ritual then burned the bodies, in an attempt to give the dead some peace. That night as the journey continued there were no further encounters.

(Da’Leysen the 11th of Duscar) Day five was an easy day. The crew worked their watch schedule, the cook had collected giant lizard meat and made a lizard stew. (which wasn't all that bad). That night the ship passed through the cavern where previously they encountered the oozes and jellies as well as the green slimes, though most had been burned away by arcane cannon fire. This time there were no encounters.

(Miresen the 12th of Duscar) The next day the ship encountered a group of four ixitxachitls curious about the ship but soon they moved on losing interest. The night watch had no encounters.

(Grissen the 13th of Duscar) After a week underway, the ship encounters the Crystal Cavern where the party had once encountered the Duergar/Drow ambush, there they encountered two Dire Trolls who attacked the ship, after a long battle the hero's won and harvested two pouches of Dire Troll Skin Strips worth 50 gp per pouch, ten vials of Dire Troll Blood worth 200 gp each, two Dire Troll Hearts worth 500 gp each. On finding their lair an additional. 8055gp, 1917pp, eleven gems worth 1000 gp each [1 Emerald, 3 Star sapphire, 1 Opal, 1 Black opal, 2 Fire opal, 2 Blue sapphire, 1 Yellow sapphire], as well as some

magic items: one Potion of Healing (2d4 + 2), one Bag of Holding, one Cloak of the Manta Ray

No further encounters that night but the cook managed to make steaks from the trolls and some chili.

(Whelson the 14th of Duscar) Another day of uneventful travel, while the ship made good progress along the river, with no encounters. That night the ship enters the waters of the Darklake, leaving behind the river cavern system. 

(Conthsen the 15th of Duscar) The passage on the Darklake was smooth and the Captain thought he might have slipped by the Hags who always seemed to demand tribute from passing ships.  Near the end of the day's travel, the ship again encounters the three sea hags demanding tribute 1000 gp to allow the ship to pass. After a negotiation the Captain managed, with the help of the heroes, to talk the hags into accepting 500 gp rather than the 1000 gp they had wanted. The hags had 6 sea spawn with them circling the ship, but once they had the gold, as they had agreed, they let the ship pass. Into the night the ship continued on and encountered an area of the lake with very rough current. The waters were especially turbulent with the captain and crew struggling to maintain control. As the ship passed the turbulent area no one fell overboard thanks to the skill of the crew. 

(Folsen the 16th of Duscar) As the Journey across the Darklake continues, in the late morning, some loose rocks fell from the ceiling above, but missed the ship. It still caused the crew to be on high alert the rest of the day. That night the ship arrived at Mantol-Derith. Anchoring off the coast where the entrance was, the crew prepared for the night's rest before unloading the cargo in the morning and venturing into Mantol-Derith.