Ocean DnD Session 23 Report: Angus Adventure 4
Angus would need a new shell soon. He could feel himself growing bigger after every adventure. The shell of the fallen nautilus could hold him for now but soon he would outgrow it. He talked among creatures of the reef in his time between romps and they let him know about the Triton Snails that lived quite near. He was warned of their heavy jabbing feet and their ability to induce paralysis. He also wrangled with the idea that he would be forced to end the creature for its shell. They were not friends of the reef, but they bore it no animosity.
He pushed that discussion to the back of his mind when he was approached by Jimmy the Polyp and his collection of clownfish friends. They had set their sights on a giant structure to the northwest. It was made of the same mysterious material that the Haxolotl’s home was made of. Angus was happy to accompany them feeling valued for his strength.
They were joined as well by an axolotl new to Angus. Mantle of Cloud had adventured before Angus’ time away from the reef and boasted magic power. Angus was happy to have him as well.
The currents disagreed with their stated direction - moving almost opposite to how they wanted to travel they were either stuck in the reef or were going to hunt for Triton Snail.
They headed out to the sand flats, Angus still with some naivete about how he could acquire a shell without combat and saw two stingrays burrowing into the sand unnoticed. Fearing their poison and lacking any way to communicate with them the clownfish sprung upon them and quickly dealt with them.
Shortly after there saw a Triton snail slowly amble towards them. Angus ran forward hoping to find some way to parlay. He was immediately flattened by the giant creature’s foot. The force of the blow staggered him, his shell doing very little to absorb the impact, he rolled away feeling the triton snail’s slime bind his muscles.
Angus was rid of the thoughts of guilt, and sprung at the snail trying as best he could to crush the foot that walloped him. He was aided by the feverish attacks of the clownfish, they darted around the slower creature biting where they could. Out of his periphery he saw one fall to the ocean floor caught by the paralysing ooze that coated the creature.
The next swing Angus was ready for. He dug his claw into the sand and braced his shell for the impact. The snail whacked into him and he held strong. Another flurry of clownfish bites and the creature collapsed.
They dragged it back to the reef, shell and all, they were welcomed by fish grateful for the food. They had done a good deed so Angus slept well. His earlier moment of conscience long forgotten.
After a short respite the currents changed to point due northwest and the brave sortie set out toward their original destination.
Travel was relatively uneventful and Angus was grateful for the clownfish they seemed content to have him along as they bounced and played together. They brought a similar energy to the Axolotls, if not a little more friendly in their lack of ambition, Angus had noticed the Axolotls had a seemingly unending desire to discover and gain knowledge which at times contrasted with their joviality.
The current was swift and true and it pushed them quickly away to new waters for Angus. They came across a curious sight, giant turtle shells arranged in a circle, and chose this as a place to rest. As they began to settle down they were suddenly surprised by a group of Sawfish. Angus remembered the ferocity with which they had ripped apart the carcass of the whale and shuddered. They did not have a meal to offer them this time.
Mantle of Cloud quickly sprung to life and as best he could wiggled and shook to try and communicate. The sawfish could not understand his speech but saw in his eyes that he could hear them and so they spoke.
They were to rest here tonight but not before they fed. They had not yet hunted their dinner.
They swirled around speaking of their love to cut apart bony fish and waved their saws threateningly. Angus stayed close within his shell feeling hopeless.
It was then that Jimmy the Polyp spoke: In exchange for the lives of us he would offer them a clownfish from his family.
The collective that had been so playful and eager to join this journey now looked mortified, each of them thrashing with one another so as not to be the one in front.
With a sudden scream they all tried to bolt, each of them in separate directions hoping desperately to preserve themselves. Each of them met the same fate, cut to ribbons and then devoured by the sawfish whose eyes lit up at the prospect of a meal that ran.
Jimmy the Polyp could not even open his eyes. Angus could read the guilt on his face. The ocean was a cruel place, but that did not make the pain of loss sting any less.
The sawfish, now satiated in both their hunger and desire for violence, settled into a rest. The party rested as well although sleep did not find them easily. Mantle of Cloud who could understand the words of the sawfish seemed particularly haunted by their display and their attitude around it.
Perhaps it was good that rest did not come to the reef dwellers as they were suddenly set upon by new foes. Reef sharks, equal in length to the sawfish but with many more teeth in their mouth, suddenly sprung around the sleeping creatures. Their eyes glowed a vibrant red-purple and their mouths emitted a faint wispy energy, and they had arrived to kill.
Roused from their slumber the sawfish reacted eagerly, each of them eager for more opportunity to saw and eat! The 8 of them each dashed towards their own shark grinning!
Sensing an opportunity to both get closer and position himself away from the jaws of the shark Angus jumped atop a Sawfish’s back and sped towards the action. Mantle of Cloud hid beneath a turtle shell and readied a spell, Jimmy the Polyp swum frantically working on another.
Suddenly two Anemones sprung out from beneath the sand and caught the sharks in their limbs. The sharks stuck instantly despite their strength and were almost helpless to fight back against the Sawfish that closed in on them.
A furious melee ensued. The reef sharks lunged and bit trying to clip something vital to the sawfish. The sawfish countered the hooked teeth on their nose-bone flicking in and out of the shark's path providing little room. The ocean water began to turn a sickening salty red as they ripped each other apart.
Angus lept off of his sawfish as the shark drew in and landed on the back of the reef shark slamming his crusher claw into the animal’s dorsal fin. Stuck in the anemone and disoriented from Angus’ blow the reef shark was helpless as the sawfish tore into its fleshy middle and began to bite.
It was over so soon, 8 sharks lay dead in various stages of evisceration. The sawfish remained seven strong. They did not mourn their lost comrade in the slightest, instead they celebrated their victory and began their feast.
Angus was sickened and he had no doubt his companions were too.
Amongst the party there was a brief discussion of whether or not to bring the sawfish with them to the structure. The security in deep water was hard to take to look off, but ultimately the group decided that persisting without the murderous creatures would be much better. Both to avoid the psychic damage of hearing more stories of their “goriest kills” and to not risk the immediately death of potential new allies.
The sawfish behind them, they arrived at the structure. It stood monstrously tall in front of them, seeming to almost break the surface of the water.
After a short walk through a dense stand of seaweed Angus rejoined his companions at the base. It sat on rather unremarkable ground, its tall pillars made of criss-crossing Xs of a substance that was not of the ocean. Bits of the surface maintained a small sheen but it was largely overgrown and turning orange and brittle.
They swam upward a great deal and arrived on a central platform. It was covered in giant boxes and long cylindrical objects. Angus’ legs and shell made a plinking sound every time he touched the ground.
The air around the surface of the structure appeared dirty - like a film swirled around it blending the normal clear water into odd waves. It was iridescent and yet blackened the water. It felt like a new sort of filth.
Without an octopod they could make little progress on the larger doors within the structure. But they chose to scout out a little farther. On the back half there was a collection of smaller doors. Some of them were bound shut, others swung open and shut lazily as the current passed through. The whole of the tunnel of doors bore the same marks of time under the water; it was covered in algae and barnacles, its surface beginning to turn the same muddy orange as the pillars.
Curiosity prompted them to poke inside the first open door. They were greeted by two foreign objects. One looked almost like a shell, but was a striking unnatural yellow, in it there seemed to be padding. Angus happily placed it on top of his current Nautilus shell, not yet big enough to wear it but happy to finally have an artefact of his own. The other object despite the sea filth that hovered on top of it remained startlingly bright. As they pulled it from the locker they all saw the light from the surface reflected back at them through the silvery strips on its surface. Not having an immediate use Angus placed it within his shell for later.
Suddenly they heard a wriggling above them and watched 6 red squids propeller their way down to them. These squids were unlike the tentacled creatures that the reef-dwellers knew. On their tentacles were sharp looking claws and the surface of their bodies was covered in a thick film of black ooze. As they swam and spun the oil seemed to flit off them and then reattach itself. The effect was terrifying.
Not knowing any tentacle language and fearing an abrupt end to their expedition Angus simply threw up the shiny fabric. Hoping they would be distracted by the light that struck it.
His gambit paid off, the squids immediately lost interest in the party and instead snatched at the cloth and departed apparently content with their find.
Despite the close encounter they decided to check one more door before leaving.
As the door swung open to reveal a cloud of Krill, they swirled around a large glowing silver lump chittering amongst themselves, when the party first entered they began to cower fearing squids, but quickly quieted.
Within a stride of entering the container the water became clearer, it was clear that whatever the chunk was in the middle was purifying it in some way, either repelling or destroying the black goo.
The Krill swirled proudly around their artefact as the party drew nearer. Jimmy, who spoke shrimp, was able to discern that this had become their home because it protected them against the ooze and the squids who loved to play in it. When prompted to provide an explanation on how it worked or why the squids love the ooze the Krill were not helpful. This was unsurprising.
Krill only have so much space in their tiny body for brains.
Both Mantle of Cloud and Jimmy the Polyp tried in earnest to investigate the glittering lump hoping to figure out its properties. Neither of them were willing to touch it, fearing mysterious nanite powers.
Angus stared curiously at the object. He had been largely disconnected from nanites, during the fall of the whale he did not touch the loot. When they found the cache on the ocean floor the axolotl was quick to grab it. While he had maybe witnessed magic, he had not put together the link between what glimmered and it. In his mind he chalked it up to an obsession with their shine. Seeing his companions hesitance, the brave warrior reached out confidently and pressed his crusher claw onto it.
It seemed to wriggle up and coat the surface of Angus’ claw and he could feel it penetrate below the shell and into the meat underneath. He flailed wildly, shaking his claw to try and separate it from the nanites.
The others saw the nanite travel into Angus’ claw and heard him begin to yell in his thick accent. As he began to flaw they saw his swings make large arcs in the water as if they possessed unearthly strength. His shaking claw crashed into the walls and left monstrous dents in the metal surface. He shook the entire container when he hit the ground.
The frightening sensation in his arm began to subside and Angus realized the damage he had dealt to the container. He flexed the muscles of his claw and felt their greatly expanded sinew. The snap of his claw was stronger and more forceful. It felt incredible!
“I would still trade it for a couple new legs!” he joked.
The krill expressed their displeasure quite readily, yelling at Angus to return the nanite. Angus, not speaking krill, made no effort to do so. Jimmy the Polyp, the shrimp translator, heard the displeasure but saw the fear with which they now regarded the party and figured it best just simply to leave.
The trip home was simple. When they returned Angus began outfitting the triton snail shell that he no longer needed to be a home for other creatures. He hopes to bring it to the northern reef soon.