Rainbowland Chronicles: The Burning Gaze

The captain and crew of the Costly Greasecaft were impressed and dismayed by our rebuke of the elder deep thing. They had been greeting their doom with chants of "ph'nglui mglaw' nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah nagl fhtagn". The seemed pacified however by the grant of their continued existence, though we certainly encountered more grateful rescuers before.

The last days of our voyage passed event-less, with the hushed murmurs of the crew becoming ever more eerie. On a bright afternoon we finally spotted the 100 cyclopses guarding the Redland District. Even with their backs turned these huge statues radiated arcane power. A chill crept across my spine considering the over land approach though the glassy gazelands, facing the burning gaze of these monsters. With that foreboding thought we docked in the busy harbor. A group of men in white robes, their faces hidden by pointy hats, watched as we docked the Costly Greasecaft. They bode us to follow them for an audience with Izundra, the Azure Lady.

Boring, Grungar and Thulsa followed the hooded henchmen. Dougal insisted on reporting the Kraken to the local harbour authority.

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Dougal hurried to the harbour authority driven to save as many as he could from falling into the hungry maw of the Kraken. He fast talked his way through the queue and found himself face to face with an implacable bureaucrat. So he retrieved the appropriate forms, and filled them out in triplicate. When Dougal returned to the buerocratic lady he also noted a logical inconsistency in the structure of the forms. This triggered a reaction in her impassive face and she took him directly to see the harbormaster.

The Harbormaster Three of the Waterguild by our merciless DM, Luka

Intrigued by the vessel holding the harbormaster he tried to see what lay in this magical enclosure. Her voice boomed through the audience chamber, commanding him to cease his scrying. So, without knowing whom he was addressing, Dougal reported the the Kraken and departed thanking the harbormaster for her time.

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Booring, Grungar and Thulsa followed the hooded gentlemen in white through the busy harbour. They ushered the group onto a canal barge and so they floated gently through the canals of the Redland District until they reached the blue quarter. The hooded barge men guided the group down indistinct canal followed by indistinct canal finally turning down what seemed like a sewer pipe. Emerging on the other side they found themselves in a courtyard. The water here was crystal clear, only showing the blue shade of unfathomable depth. Here the hooded fellowship disembarked them. They were led to through the building to a rooftop garden. Here our bleached custodians turned us over to two female guards, dressed in practical leathers and capable of human communication.

Our new guards flanked us and ushered us to the centre of the garden. A pale woman stood in a pool here to greet us. She was Izondra, and she knew Benjamin, the hated pretender, personally. They had worked together opposing the machine gods, so she promised us a great bounty to return him to her, alive. Thulsa liked her 30,000gp reward and their religious employers seemed as fool just wanting the man executed. Did they fear he would overthrow their gods? That would be fun to see.

Izondra also knew Mephistos the demon-sorcerer from the dwarves mines. It had opposed them back during the machine war. She was dismayed that we had unleashed him upon the world. Overall she seemed a better ally than the crazy paladins of the Rainbow gods. However the mindless minions that had ushered them into the place unnerved Thulsa, so he chose to ask one of the female guards out for a drink. Freya "Old Easy" was happy to meet him at the Oyster Garden mermaid bar. Over dinner she turned out to be an honest and happy young woman who enjoyed her life and work. This further solidified Thulsa 's opinion of Izondra.

After Freya departed Thulsa rejoined the group at another table. They were planning the attack on Otto Ask and the headquarters of the green hexad. While we were arguing about how to get into the serpentine tower, a troll slammed his meaty hands on the table. "Someone better stop looking for the green hexad." He argued, followed by a threatening " That is an unheated activity." All the while spilling Ulf's beer.

In defiance Ulf demanded "Well are ye going to buy me a new beer?" The troll refused  and Ulf started a barfight. Here we learned that we had been arguing with a pixy wearing a troll suit. We were also kiked out of the Oyster Garden for thoroughly wrecking the place. We found a alternative venue in a halfling orc carberet. Here we decided to attack the Villa Adrian,  Otto Ask's home. We also met an odd fellow called Pal 600. He seemed very closed off and awkward. To get him to relax a bit Thulsa led him out to dance on the stage. First this terrified Pal, then he came to enjoy the applause. This seemed to instill some trust for the party in Pal and he entrusted him with his misson: to deliver a message to Zeeta Ask. This message was a gold brick inlay ed with a unique pattern. The party accepted the mission, presuming they could find Zeeta in the Villa Adriana.  Because of his odd behaviour they braught Pal to Izondra: She only said this senseless phrase: "Ohh neat, a positron brain. Still functional."

With that they turned in for a nights rest, to head out to the green quarter the next morning.

Rainbowland Chronicles: Enter the Haxads

After a few days to recover from our barbecue we returned to Pueblo di Mesas. The journey went uneventful and we decided to celebrate our recent and local fame by having a few drinks. In a gentleman's club Dougal met fine fellow with his teeth coloured yellow. His name was Paul and he instructed Dougal in the more subtle aspects of the local wine production. Enjoying their drinks and conversation they were surprised by the group of men in tight black leathers that had strode up to their table. The leader of the group pointed at Paul and speaking with a slight lisp that seemed accentuated by his hard accent commanded "Paul Goldtooth, you will come with us."

Dougal dislikes displays of dominance and felt that a set of leather clad nihilists were nothing to be afraid of. So, for once he stood up to confront the strange man. "Who are you and what is your quarrel with this man?" Dougal asked trying to cover the charm and illusion he was weaving to put the men at ease.

"I am Van Hell Sink" the lead leather replied, as they dragged off Paul. These nihilists indeed did not believe in civil behaviour and rewarded Dougals magical efforts with a dagger through the right hand.
With one last effort Dougal tried to save his drinking buddy by trapping the abductors in a web, but failed to weave the spell with his right hand disabled. So he slunk off to ask Molly for healing and vowed vengeance.

The next morning we secured a boat for the travel downriver to Saffrange. A group of boats floated down the river each other, all having set off at a similar time. One such boat flew a flag of a landlocked city in the blue lands. Boring recalled that this flag belongs with a pirate group that hires out their boats for clandestine operations. At this Dougal perked up feeling the time for his vengeance approaching. The others, feeling from his telling of the tale and having seen his injured hand, were happy to help. So under the cover of night we attacked. Dougal used his magic to conceal himself and flew over to the pirate ship. To no surprise Van Hell Sink was on board, so Dougal slunk to the waters edge. He selected a piece of the hull large enough for Grungar to fit through and turned it into salt. Then returned to fetch the rest of the group. They coordinated an attack with Grungar and Molly breaking through the salt, and Smart David and Dougal casting down a confusing array of fire from above the ship. Thulsa was, much like he spend every day the past few weeks, tripping on some new substance he had acquired from the barge crew.

Grungar managed to find and retrieve Paul Goldtooth who was tied up in the hold of the ship together with a Beatrice, a halfling Van Hell Sink was recovering for his master "Otto". During the escape he and Molly finally attracted the attention of the leather clad assassins. A set of poisoned darts hit Grungar, and a less determined person would have fallen into the water. Grungar however pulled his whits together and made it to the riverside before passing out. More distractions by David and Dougal saw Grungar safe back aboard the barge, and they managed to avoid further notice on the travel to Saffrange. There Paul was happy to host them in his establishment in thanks for saving him. The Beatrice, happy to escape her family in Pueblo di Mesas decided to stay and take the job Paul offered her at the bar.

Once settled in at Paul's club he revealed to us that he was a wine vampire, and the hexads were angry at him skimping on his protection money. Van Hell Sink, in particular, also had a problem with his kind and therefor came after him. Otto Ask the leader of the green hexad, Van Hell Sink's boss is also his nephew. Paul also suggested that we talk to the ambassador of the Redland District here in Saffrange, she may have some more information for us. The ambassador loathed Otto Ask for the rumours surrounding his hedonistic home and how he treated women. She told us to get in touch with Asaundra, the Azure Mistress, in the Red Land District. She may be able to help us out. And together with her plot to overthrow Otto and place ourselves in control of the green hexad.

After an evening of scheming we find the next fast ship to the Red Land District, the Costly Greasecraft is about to disembark and happy to take us. Their mysterious captain only nods as we come aboard and that is the last time we seem him. The crew works efficiently and quietly as the craft sets out. We make easy progress for the first three days of our five day journey. In the twilight hours of the fourth day we looking the ocean, and the ocean looks back at us!

A huge tentacle emerges from the depths and hammers the boat. Thulsa and Sir Boring are thrown into the abyss while the rest of the party defend the hapless Greasecraft. In the depths Thulsa feel like he is in a strange dream, descending he sees the massive tentacles descending down. Following them he comes eye to eye with the Kraken. The beast stirs and Thulsa understands the invitation to battle. He draws his axe, but swings at the best ineffectually. Then the Kraken opens its beak and the water draws Thulsa in. At first he tries to resist, then he goes with his intuition. Thulsa swims into the maw of the Kraken, and as he does so like a light in the darkness he find his anger. As he is stabbed by the beasts steely tongue he flies into a rage. With the rage his magic returns to him with a deep thrumming the water quakes around him and the beast spits him out. Thulsa arcs up into the air and lands on the deck in the rigging. The beast disappears into the depths.