02-15-2026
Ember quickly assessed the darkness was magical, and as the group tried to orient themselves, they tuned into music that seemed to come from everywhere at once. As the group started to push forward into the room they had entered. As they emerged into a lit hallway with a massive banquet table, they realized they were missing Noc, and had other company. The first was a disoriented Eladrin, who was clearly still under the effects of the hallucinogenic moss. The second was a wolf, sitting watching the group emerge from the darkness.
As they started to talk to one another to try to assess the situation, their noise stirred something in the far recesses of the room. Vampire spawn started to rise and climb out from piles of corpses in the far corner of the room, charging the party. Banding together, they fought back the hoard. The new Eladrin summoned a spiritual bird to aid them. The wolf climbed the walls, swiping and pouncing on the foes below. Ember drew in the hoards, while Cedris and Revon threw out spells, turning the risen corpses to ash. Drafous used his alchemical knowledge to keep the party strong, while dropping foes with his crossbow. Eventually the room fell silent once more, and the group was able to more readily take stock of their surroundings.
The wolf, now walking along the ceiling, dropped down onto the table, landing in the form of a Halfling. Introducing herself simply as Faelyn, she said she has been trapped down here for over a month, when her ship was sunk, but managed to not partake of the moss, and has been living off fish she could find in various pools. The new Eladrin, Irabin Duskblossom, has been here much longer, and was on his way to a ball, when the party ran into him in the dark, and woke him from his idyllic dream. They also realized Noc did not make it through the door, and had probably fallen to the angry mob outside.
Exploring the Ocean Palace, the waltzing music was pervasive throughout the halls and rooms. There was a room with a pond with fish, and Faelyn jumped in, turning into a dolphin, swimming around and throwing out fish for the entire group, which they quickly cooked and ate. While throwing out the fish, Faelyn also saw a tunnel in the water, which she followed, with the group in tow, and found an opening to another small storeroom. Quiet from the music, and full of dried fruit rations and a hearty ale, the party took a moment to enjoy the quiet, eat, and get to know one another.
Journeying back through the tunnel and into the main hall, the group made their way through the palace, encountering more undead as they went. Hobgoblin wights guarded the front barracks, and zombie hulks sat in the antechamber to the throne room, as the music grew louder. In the kitchen they found 2 Gelatinous cubes, slowly eating and dissolving the corpses that had been thrown into them from the nearby corpse piles. Faelyn managed to call tides to pull them back into the room, where the rest of the group quickly shut the doors, leaving the Oozes inside.
Passing back through the antechamber, the group headed to the throne room. Assaulted by the music as they opened the door, the saw several people dancing to the music. Looking like other sailors, pirates, and ship passengers, they were all completely unaware of anything but the dance with one another. At the end of the room sat a Vampire, Azemar, watching the dance with a look of extreme boredom. Surrounding him were a half dozen Hobgoblins. Entering the room, Azemar looked up at the group and said Ahh, more. Dance. The entire group, save Revon, immediately entered the room, and started to dance with one another. Oh, and leave your weapons by the door. Everyone, including Revon set their weapons down, then resumed their dancing. As Revon, clearly not enchanted, walked into the room, Azemar looked marginally less bored. Oh! Someone still awake. Ok, stop dancing. Go ahead, fight to amuse me.
The patrons that were dancing when they entered all moved to the side of the hall, while the Hobgoblins moved forward, and the party re-equipped themselves. As they started to square off, Azemar yelled “No, No, No! This will never do!” Fiddling with the music box next to him, the waltz finally stopped, and was replaced by more battle appropriate music. “Ok, resume.”
Squaring off the with the hobgoblin soldiers, the group made short work of the Hobgoblins, with Revon fey stepping past them, and laying powerful shots at Azemar. Azemar, seeing his soldiers fall, turned to his misty Gaseous Form, and retreated through a crack in the wall behind him, knocking over the music box as he flew by. Once the Hobgoblins were dispatched, the throne room was silent. Looking through the crack, the party could see Azemar sitting on his coffin, still looking bored. Unfortunately, the crack was so small there was no way to get into the room, even with teleportation. Instead, Drafous cast a ritual to make whole, and sealed the crack in the wall, entombing the Vampire within.
Exploring past the throne room, the party found the royal bedchamber, which had piles of gold, and all of their missing equipment. Taking the treasure, and exploring further into the cavern, they found a great underground lake, several weeks of rations, and a massive 3 sail yacht. Using magical controls, they were able make the boat go underwater, sealing the deck in a bubble of air, and traverse out of an underwater cave and up through the ocean, emerging topside.