The session began with the party deep in discussion about their dire circumstances aboard the prisoner ship. They debated whether they should check out the commotion on the top deck or use the opportunity to plan a revolt against the Magisters. While revolting seemed like a possibility, the odds were against them. Their fellow prisoners included four heavily drunk dwarves, a frightened tiefling couple, a bard, a mysterious man, and a dragonborn barmaid, none of whom inspired much confidence in a coordinated attack.
As the discussion continued, Fang filled his plate with food while Brynn discreetly stashed some away in her pockets, considering alternative ways to gather food once they reached the island.
Suddenly, Darcy Stoutfoot burst in, urging all those capable of fighting to get to the top deck immediately. The party rushed up to find Wendigo standing off against five Magisters, with Rolan unconscious at her feet.
The only other prisoner who joined the fray was the mysterious man in the cowboy hat, who took his time sauntering up while chewing on a strand of hay.
Despite being outnumbered, Wendigo remained unfazed. She placed a hand on Rolan’s shoulder, causing him to vanish instantly. Darcy attempted to attack her but failed, while Vora managed to land a hit, but Wendigo seemed unaffected.
At this moment, the group noticed a key difference between their own prisoner collars and Wendigo’s. While all the prisoners wore collars embedded with yellow gems, Wendigo’s collar had bright red gems.
Wendigo then cast Silence, muting herself and the Magisters, before beginning an incantation. A small object in front of her pulsed with a purple glow. Lirithyn attempted to interrupt her spell with a precise arrow, but one of her floating, monstrous minions intercepted it. Wendigo completed her spell, releasing a ripple of energy that spread outward from the ship, traveling through the Magisters, the prisoners, the ocean, and beyond. However, at first, nothing seemed to happen.
She then boldly declared that she no longer needed her collar, removing it with ease before vanishing into thin air.
Brynn attempted to pick at her own collar, but it remained firmly locked.
While the group tried to make sense of the situation, the ocean began to stir, the water grew darker, waves became rougher, and something massive moved beneath the surface. Suddenly, Rolan reappeared, breathing heavily and visibly shaken, though he had no memory of what had happened to him. Lirithyn peered overboard and saw a dark shadow moving beneath the water, swimming from the front of the ship toward the back.
Then, the colossal form of a Void-infused kraken emerged, shaking the ship violently. As the Magisters abandoned ship, fleeing in lifeboats without any concern for the prisoners, chaos erupted. Prisoners scrambled to escape while the party debated their next move.
Flint heard screaming below deck. He recognized Karris’s voice, crying out in pain. Though many were ready to flee, Flint insisted on helping her.
Myriany initially followed Flint, Brynn, and Lirithyn, but in a last-minute decision, she turned back and escaped with the other prisoners.
Flint, Fang, Brynn, and Lirithyn rushed below deck, where they found Karris, Vallith, and Lohse trapped behind six weak but dangerous Void Crawlers. Fighting their way through, the group struggled against the environmental hazards caused by the kraken, which continued to thrash the ship.
With time running out, Fang carried Karris out, while Vallith followed behind. The rest of the group fought through the collapsing ship to reach the top deck, escaping onto the last remaining lifeboat.
As they rowed desperately away from the doomed ship, a massive wave overturned their boat. The impact of hitting the water nearly knocked them unconscious.
At this moment, each of them heard a divine voice:
"I have plans for you, my child. Rise!"
Strangely, the voice sounded different for Lirithyn, Brynn, Flint, and Fang.
The group awoke on a sandy beach, realizing they had been unconscious for almost two days. However, Lohse, Vallith, and Karris were nowhere to be seen. Given the distance they had drifted from the wreck, they had to accept the possibility that their companions had drowned.
A young tiefling girl greeted them as she collected seashells on the shore. She introduced herself as Azura Jetterléne, and the group immediately recognized her name, she was the child of Karris and Vallith, the two people they had just failed to save. Rather than tell her the truth, they chose to withhold the information about her parents’ deaths.
Azura guided them toward a prisoner camp, where they could find food.
On the way to camp, they heard rustling in a bush. Lirithyn fired an arrow to scare off whatever was inside. Instead, out popped Sir Pip, a talking squirrel, riding atop his loyal mount, a duck named Finley Beaumont Farbridge the Third.
Sir Pip wore a magical necklace that allowed him to speak to humans and claimed that he had been searching for the party. He declared that the group, specifically Lirithyn, Brynn, Flint, and Fang, were Godwoken, chosen heroes destined to protect him from the "Great Acorn", which he insisted was a world-ending threat.
The group remained skeptical of his claims but allowed him to accompany them for now.
The group arrived at the camp, spotting two guard towers with Magisters overseeing the area, numerous small tents for prisoners, and a large tent in the back.
As they approached the camp’s chef, Jaylienne, they were shocked to see Lohse, a woman they believed had drowned two days ago. Yet here she was, alive and well, and just as surprised to see them. She believed they were the ones who had died instead.
Jaylienne welcomed them, assigned them a tent, and gave them breakfast. However, she also mentioned that food supplies were running low and asked if the group could help hunt for more.
Before they could leave, they were approached by Tazzy, a Turtlefolk, who bombarded them with questions about Source magic. She wasn’t a prisoner or a Magister, yet she was oddly interested in the nature of their abilities. She mentioned Dallis the Hammer, a Magister with the ability to see Source inside a person, despite not being a Sourceweaver herself. She also warned them about Sourcedogs, creatures trained to sniff out those with Source magic.
The group inspected their assigned tent, which contained three sleeping bags, pillows, and an empty chest for storage.
Lohse entered briefly to give Brynn an extra pillow before leaving.
As they settled in, they remarked on how strange everyone on this island seemed, except, of course, for themselves.
Azura asked to join their hunting trip, but the party deemed it too dangerous for her. They discussed whether they should hunt animals for food or capture and herd sheep instead.
Sir Pip, still eager to test his "Godwoken" protectors, insisted they prove themselves in battle. When the group asked what "Godwoken" meant, Sir Pip had no answer.
Still groggy from just waking up, their tracking attempts failed miserably. However, Flint managed to spear some fish with his rapier, assisted by Fang, though the haul wasn’t enough to feed the entire camp.
While fishing, Lirithyn noticed movement in a nearby bush and instinctively shot an arrow into it.
A small mushroom creature with a huge staff and a long white beard emerged, pulling the arrow out of its shoulder and healing itself.
The party’s repeated remarks about how "cute" the mushroom looked only fueled its growing frustration, and things began to escalate...