Last night we played Tidal Blades and wrapped up the storyline we were in. We also saw about the worst run of dice luck I've ever seen, which considering how long I've been doing this is saying something.
Last time, our heroes rescued Bait's dads from their croc captors by defeating said crocs in the Battle Ring, and then stayed for dinner with Angler. Angler, some of the heroes realized, is a former Tidal Blade who was exiled from the Citadel of Time some 15 years ago and came to be the de facto leader and pirate king of Angler's Cove (he's someone on whom it's helpful to make a good first impression, is the point).
They talk about how they all got out here and then about the Dire Suchid, the giant hungry monster crocodile that supposedly sleeps in the water around here somewhere. They tell Angler the story, and Angler looks worried and asks whether one could consider this thing a monster or an anomaly. Faesli says it absolutely is, and Angler says that's a problem - he sold a device to the Appetite designed to attract monsters. Normally it's used to lead such creatures away from populated areas, of course...
The characters start trying to put their heads together and figure out the true location of the Suchid, so they can get ahead of any impending disaster. Trouble is...things kept happening (the players kept rolling 1s. Seriously, there were like five in a row). Bait is knowledgeable about history, but drank his jellyfish smoothie a little too fast and passed out (Angler: "Some people just can't hold their jellyfish."). Hobie is, of course, nearly expert in this particular legend because they just did an illustrated version on commission, but gets distracted by their pet mantis shrimp, Garnet, knocking over a cart of banclams. Faesli manages to pull some information together - the Suchid is an immense crocodile with a hunger big enough to swallow the world and all the seas. It got disappointed because it couldn't, according to legend, so it went to its lair to sulk. Said lair was in deep water and in a valley, because it liked to wedge itself into tight spaces ("tight" here being relative). Angler has one of his guys pull out a map:
They continue thinking on the legends (I decided they could get the info, it just took time, because while I subscribe to a general philosophy of "don't call for a roll unless you're prepared for success or failure" this was reaching a point where I was running out of good GM intrusions), and remember that the Suchid reportedly hates islands because it can't eat them. The characters figure maybe it's hide in the coves down the coast east from Angler's Cove, but then Bait (who's sobered up a little) recalls that this whole area was probably under much deeper water back when the Suchid was romping around. It could very well have wedged itself in the inlet where Angler's Cove now sits!
Presently, though, it's late, so they decide to tackle this in the morning. They head back to the docks and discover that the Lunch, the ship they stole (and renamed Lunchbox, actually) is gone - apparently The Appetite stole it back. Grumbling about this, they camp out on the beach.
Barely an hour goes back, and the ground rumbles beneath them! They all awake with a start, and see that buildings in the Cove are start to lean, the waters are getting rough, and they hear commotion from the people! Bait focuses a bit and realizes that the epicenter of the quake is come from further inland - the Suchid seems to be awakening!
Bait and Sobek spring into action to steal another boat, but utterly fail to get it under control in the rough waters and it sinks (that is, more natural 1s). They find another boat and Bait's dads help out to get it under control. Faesli uses her Far Step power to leap inland see if she can see what's going on. She tries to dive down to find the croc, maybe stare into its eyes and uses a cypher she has that allows for mental contact, but she can't swim deep enough before the water displacement forces her back up.
She surfaces as the others rock up on their stolen ship, and they pull her aboard. Bait has a brilliant idea to sing the croc a lullaby to get it back to sleep ("always worked on me!"). Hobie really puts their tentacles to the grindstone and thinks about this - a lullaby might actually work, but knowing how to produce it would require some deeper insight into the croc's mind. That mind oculus cypher that Faesli has would allow that, but someone needs to dive deep enough to look the Suchid in the eye. Also, as long as the Brotherhood of the Forgotten Hunger is using this device to wake the Suchid, it's probably not going back to sleep.
The heroes split up! Sobek and Faesli head onto the beach to find The Appetite and the device, while Bait dives down into the water to find the croc, and Hobie and Bait's dads keep the boat steady.
Faesi and Sobek find the crocs quickly enough. The Appetite stares out over the water, nodding in satisfaction, as the Suchid rumbles. His flunkies, Amuse and Bouche, are maintaining the device. Deciding that this is not a time for subtlety, Faesli leaps into the midst of them and strikes the device with her battlestaff...which promptly snaps in two (yes, another 1). Sobek charges and wangs the device with a cypher he was carrying (it's a Best Tool, which gives an asset on any task that uses a tool; we joked that in this context it's a big rock). The device sputters and shorts out, and the fight is on!
Amuse and Bouche nod at each other, leap into the air, and tail-smack both of them! Faesli tries to bonk Amuse and run away, but fails to get clear (she does activate her resonance field, however). Sobek knocks Bouche off her pins with his big ol' hook. He then grabs the device and yeets it across the river! The Appetite joins the fight and grabs Faesli in a big bear (croc?) hug, but immediately gets zapped by the resonance field.
Meanwhile, Bait dives down into the water, pushes past all the silt and mud (using biorbs to light his wait), and comes face to face with an eyeball the size of a ship. He activates the mind oculus and searches for soothing sounds, and hears the croc's "lullaby" - a medley of ocean currents, birdsong, fish...voices, and so forth.
Bait takes a deep breath (as it were) and sings...and manages to reproduce the song. Between that and the device having been destroyed, the Suchid settles back into its lair and falls asleep.
The Appetite realizes that his plans are foiled, and calls his flunkies back onto the Lunch(box). "Well see you again!" he snarls as they sail off.
The heroes reconvene and rest. Angler makes sure they have good accommodations. Hobie finishes up the telling of the Rescue of Bait's Dads and the Sleepening of the Dire Suchid, and Sobek reflects on his defeat of the Brotherhood. Faesli marvels at the worlds of possibility open here - the Droskani Desert? New Mingu? Vines? Where to next?!
Bait is having similar thoughts. On the one hand, he really wants his own ship. On the other, he's beginning to wonder who is birth parents are?
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