Chapter 2: Smoke on the Water

The towering fish-men continue to menace the Kestrel. The one armed with a golden cutlass barks an order, and the two shark-men unfurl nets to capture the panicked woman and child.

Round 1: Nela

Nela's lightning stabs down and hits one of the net-wielding sharkmen dead center. The metal hook impaling its dorsal fin throws sparks, and you can almost smell the monster's flesh sizzling, but the creature remains standing. (19 lightning damage)

The merman leader also suffers a shock, but is able to dive away just in time to avoid the brunt of it, and resurfaces just a few feet away. (9 lightning damage)

Grog takes arms and finds an available cannon and starts to prep it to blast these chumps into chum!

Round 1:

Battle Music

Everything happens in the blink of an eye. As the woman pleads for help, Zale dives into the water, spurred on by an urge known only to him. Sea-monsters burst from the sea confirming the woman's warnings. Ian shoots one in the chest, Nela calls down a bolt of lighting, and Khiiral shoots one of the weresharks dead. Grog struggles with one of the cannons. The targets are too low and too close, the cannonball will surely overshoot them. Underwater, Zale evades his pursuers and makes for the survivors. As Jack arrives on deck, Valrakas' voice is heard above the din.

"Shake out th' reefs! Full sail! Fly th' spinnaker!" the captain roars. "We're runnin', dammit!" the minotaur has heard all the stories, has some idea what's coming next, but it's too late. The merrow leader raises its cutlass, and surges forward with its two lieutenants. The merrows lob seashells onto the Kestrel's deck at the base of the mast. The shells shatter, and their contents burst into flames. (3x Alchemist's Fire)

The snaggle-toothed wereshark throws a net over the woman and child, and prepares to drag them both under the waves. The wereshark temporarily serves as a body shield for the fourth merrow, which points its purple tentacle whip at the ship, and levels two spells at its minotaur captain. The sound of crashing waves washes across the deck, but instead of crying out in pain, Valrakas merely laughs, even as a floating, spectral trident materializes and takes a stab at him, missing by mere inches. (Toll the Dead & Spiritual Weapon)

To Zale's surprise, the two weresharks that charged him do not pursue. They ignore him and swim away, in the direction of the Kestrel's rudder. He sees that they carry a length of massive chain between them.

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Though the closest enemies are practically at point-blank range now, Ian's pistol shot goes wide.

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Snaggle-tooth stumbles and nearly drops the net when Khiiral's arrows slam into its side.

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