Journal Entry: 6/26/24

Kate and Alec stood on the deck of the ship, which was finally cleared of enemies after Taylor’s explosive intervention. However, the sounds of battle echoed from the back of the ship. Kate crept toward the source, cracking open the door and signaling to Alec. Moving in tandem, they opened the door wider, revealing Joel locked in combat with a dragonkin. The creature turned and attacked them immediately. Kate, swift and precise, shot an arrow that struck its throat. Despite the wound, it stood, gurgling but alive.

Alec stepped into the fray, cutting into the dragonkin’s side and finishing it off. He swung at another, missing as it retreated behind a frog wizard, who was pinned to a chair by arrows. The wizard pulled a wand from his pocket. As he raised it, Alec severed his arm, sending the wand spinning through the air. With a final act of defiance, the frog wizard used a magic ring, filling the room with a sickly green smoke. Alec was unaffected, but Kate’s skin began to burn, and she backed out. They heard the agonized screams of the wizard and the other dragonborn from within the cloud.

Outside, the ship began to drift erratically, green smoke billowing from it. Daniel cast Heroism on Sean as frogmen raced up the stump’s stairs towards them. Taylor, struggling on his riding drake, tried to hide from the oncoming frogs. Pip, escaping the smoke, shouted for Alec to grab the wand before leaping off the ship. Alec fumbled around, finding the wand just as a black steel ball flew past him, exploding and obliterating the back half of the ship. Water rushed in as the ship righted itself in the lake.

Back at the stump, the frogs turned to watch the crashing ship. Daniel dispatched one frogman with a blast, while Sean decapitated another, then attempted to kick a third off the edge. Though he missed, the frog fell anyway. Taylor, on his drake, incinerated the last two with a burst of flame.

Alec lay on his back inside the wrecked ship, staring at the sky, holding a sword in one hand and a frog arm clutching a wand in the other. Standing up, he pulled the wizard’s body from the chair and placed the helm on his head. The pain was immediate and excruciating, psychic damage wracking his mind. He threw the helm off, vomiting violently. Gathering his strength, he called everyone to the beach, explaining what happened. Daniel took the helm, seeing himself as the ship’s battery, his magic keeping it aloft. He maneuvered the ship to the stump’s lip, descending into its darkness.

They dropped torches, their lights disappearing into the depths until tiny pinpricks were visible at the bottom. After an hour, they reached the bottom, landing in a canopy of massive mushrooms, strands of fungus, and spiderwebs glowing dimly with blue light. The mushrooms were of various colors, everything wet and moist. Taylor had brought them there to find the heart of the world tree, hoping to bring it back to life.

Loot:

• Wand of Cone of Cold
• 200 Gold
• Wand of Crackling Lightning
• Boastful Hunter (gun for Sean)
• Lovers Gloves
• Ghast Stiletto
• Inquisitive Quill
• Unworked Turquoise (worth 4 gold)
• Piece of Lapis Lazuli
• Potion of Arcane Mark

Alchemist’s Lab Potions:

• Elixir of Life
• Invisibility Potion
• Potion of Flying
• Elixir of Dark Vision
• Greater Potion of Fighter Resistance
• Greater Elixir of the Cheetah
• Elixir of the Salamander
• 3 Potions of Water Breathing
• 3 Potions of Bark Skin
• 3 Elixirs of Lesser Dragon’s Breath

Dragonborn’s Possessions:

• Flaming Scimitar +1 (1d6 Fire damage)
• Fire Resistant Scale Mail Armor
• Spell Guard Shield
• 600 Gold from random coins
• 5 Shock Arrows
• 2 Phase Arrows
• Food
• Arrows
• Bags of Flour
• Map of a Floating Island with an X on it and the image of a horned monster
• Black Velvet Bag with 2, 3-inch Silver Nails and a Silver Hammer with eyes all over it (the holder always knows the location of the nails)
• Deafius Staff (Clairvoyance, Color Spray, Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, Fireball—one of these, once per day)
• Coat of Coins (literal coat made of coins, worth 1000 coins, can be used as plate mail armor)

Kate and Taylor now had a map and location of a full temple.