SKT Session 25 (8/12/23): King Hekaton

The party watched in awe as the ship they rode in on fell to pieces in the water. The sending stone perked up once again.

"Ettin, what are you doing? Ride the giants back to the ship!"

Joren, doing their best impersonation of the figure they had killed and taken this stone from, explained that the giants weren't quite mobile in their current state. They were dead. So, the ship sent some merrow working for them to retrieve the group.

Once everyone was onboard, the party was able to examine the crew. There were a few crew members who looked similar to the people the adventurers had killed in the water. The captain of the ship stood at the wheel. The other crew called this man "Captain Daggerdark" and while he had a rugged appearance about him, nothing really made him stand out from the rest of the crew. His first mate was a half-orc named Rool, dressed in dark leather with long, razor-sharp blades at his hips. The ship had an open, sunken middle. In this sunken area were two more crew mates: a merfolk and a tabaxi. Both had a look about them, a similar look to what the adventurers saw earlier in the storm giants; these two crew members were entranced, being forced to work on this ship against their will. Taking up the majority of the space in the ship was a massive storm giant, restrained in glowing chains and staring off into the distance, unaware of his surroundings. The adventurers decided that this must be the storm king.

Captain Daggerdark ordered "Ettin" (Joren in disguise) to throw one of the prisoners overboard, since there wasn't enough room. Joren picked Seamus, and after the fairy was in the water, the boat began to move away from the Red Rocks.

Seamus was caught before hitting the water by an octopus sitting on one of the fins of the ship. This octopus was actually Calemor, wild shaped into an octopus and stowing away on the ship. With Seamus secured, the party waited for the right time to strike.

However, Rool began talking to "Ettin," asking questions about the prisoners, questions about the trap, and analyzing the situation. Eventually, he pulled out small fish-like worm creatures, similar to what Dhrys had implanted in his mind, and Joren attempted to stall.

"Oh, you're going to feed them a snack?"

Rool realized the Ettin in front of him was not really his crew mate and attacked. The party fended off the attacks from the crew and merrow in the water while also attempting to break the chains binding the storm giant. As chain after chain was cut through, the sky began to grow dark and stormy. With a successful slice to the last chain holding the storm giant down, a lightning bolt struck the giant and he was on his feet. Standing before the party was King Hekaton, ruler of the storm giants.

With his wake came a great fury. He looked immediately to Rool, grabbed the half-orc, and threw him into the water. The ship began to rock as the water grew disagreeable. King Hekaton moved to attack the party members, assuming they were among his captors, but once he saw the conches of teleportation, he trusted them.

It was at this moment that orange tentacles rose up from the sea once again and began to capsize the ship. The party promised they would bring the king up to speed once they were all back in Maelstrom. They used the conches and a whirlpool began to drag them into the deep. Before leaving the ship entirely, the party witnessed a set of purple tentacles come up to fight the orange, and the two massive sea creatures interlocked in a battle that fell into the depths of the ocean.

Once back in Maelstrom, the party quickly explained the treachery that had befell the storm giant court. They explained Iymrith, her motivations, and her intentions for the future. King Hekaton decided quick action was necessary, and urged the party to return with him to the amphitheater.

Inside the throne room, everyone arrived just in time to see Iymrith (in dragon form) slash Serissa (unfreezing her) off of the throne. Uthor lie on the ground, stabbed with a trident, and storm giant guards, slashed to ribbons, littered the floor of the amphitheater.

As Serissa recovered from paralysis on the floor, the battered Iymrith looked to the storm king in shock and fear. She handled most of Maelstrom already, but she knew she could not best King Hekaton in her current state. In draconic, she cursed the party.

"The throne can wait."

The ancient blue dragon disappeared from sight.