When last we dropped in our our band of adventurers they had just obtained a small arcane device that granted them access to a plane they have dubbed “The Gray Plane”, a 1/6 replica of the world they live in with no buildings or plant life within it.
Next day they set forth to fulfill their contract with Turi Yvette, a researcher who has chartered a renowned fighting ship, The Cetus, to take her into the northern sea to search for whatever has been killing Killer Whales. A voyage of 6 days or so takes place during which the gang learn that Turi has constructed a diving bell of her own, being an artificer in her own right she has incorporated both scientific and arcane principles into the construction of her bell.
Each day she has the ship’s crew lower her and 3 companions over the side of the Cetus and into the watery depths to make observations. The Curios Company mostly take turns going down with her, with the exception of Torrik who insists he go down in every dive. Gax typically uses Alter Self to brave the depths with his friends clinging to the outside of the Bell.
During one of these dives they encounter a pair of Killer Whales who Gax uses his Speak With Animals ability to question. He learns that they think an occurrence they describe as “The Churning” is somehow to blame for the damage being dealt to their king, and other denizens of the depths. They show Gax what direction The Churning lies in and go about their own travels.
Following the Killer Whale’s guidance Turi has the captain of The Cetus make sail for The Churning. A few days later as the darkness of night wraps around the ship thunder is heard, flashes of lighting seen from up ahead. The Captain shares his concerns for just how very odd this is. Gax uses his Druid Craft to predict the weather coming up, taking a pull from his trusty pipe he blows smoke into the palm of his hand which forms into a globe depicting the weather ahead of him, but as the smoke reaches the edge of the smoke-globe in the direction of the lighting, the smoke there roils and dissipates giving no information.
The next day they continue to sail towards this mystery weather phenomena. Soon they find themselves looking into a large circular cloud formation multi-colored flashes of lighting deep within it’s dark from, torrential rains pour from it’s mass. As they stare up into it for a moment they swear they see a shape, like a giant winged serpent made of cloud itself writhe through the clouds. Beneath the storm the ocean itself is a disc of turbulence, the waters rolling and heaving. An eerie light can be seen shining from the ocean beneath The Churning.
After a quick meeting Turi asks the party if they will go under with her to see if they can deduce what’s making the light, after which they will head homeward. The party agrees after haggling for some extra hazard pay and Sidron, Magnus, and Torrik load into the diving bell with Turi, Gax strips down to his underwear and dives into the icy sea casting Alter Self on himself again, becoming aquatic.
The Bell is lowered into the ocean, about 100′ down they can see a massive rift is open in the fabric of the Material Plane. It comes from within The Churning, which extends deep below the surface. Where the rift exits The Churning a sort of underwater waterfall pours into the ocean, pouring out at an upward angle into the icy sea. This massive rift comes back together into a mere line near the diving bell where it re-opens but opens onto another plane altogether. This part of the rift opens into a realm of mist and cloud, purplish clouds flow forth into the sea as if it was air and not water. Turi, Sidron, and Magnus all begin to rapidly take notes on what they are seeing. As they are making sketches and reocording their observations the rift closest to them tears further open, as it does so a massive chitinous claw bursts through the rift, it clamps shut a few feet above Gax’s head, severing the rope that is connected to the diving bell… The bell immediately begins to sink into the inky depths…
On the deck of The Cetus Wolrf and Zattera are anxiously watching as the crews work the crane that lowers and raises the bell. Suddenly, without any warning the rope twangs as all the weight as been released from it!
And that was where we left the gang at the end of that session!
TOTMrpg 