Chapter 2 - The Last Fishermen
The inside of the section of the nautiloid that they crept into was huge. Fire damage could be seen everywhere. The smell of smoke and sulfur nearly choked the life out of them. The amount of damage the place had sustained was staggering. There was debris everywhere.
Towards the center of the chamber, however, there was life. Three fishermen were frantically clawing away at the ruin. They were the only living souls that anyone could detect. Even Vexir, with her superior darkvision, could see no other movement.
One of the fishermen was a human. He looked exhausted and thus was hovering over the other two. He had a cropping of brown hair on his head and a full beard and mustache on his face. He kept these trimmed so that they weren't too shaggy. He was, in fact, a relatively good looking commoner, strong and lean. "Come on, dig! Faster! Get her out of there! Don't die. Don't die. Don't die..." he said as the group moved close enough to see what it was they were digging out.
Everyone made an Investigation roll against a DC of 15. Kaedyn rolled a 6+2=8, Vexir a 5, Ryth-Shan a 15, Shadowheart a 9-1=8, and Astarion a 5+1=6. Only Ryth-Shan succeeded.
Much to the surprise of everyone except Ryth-Shan, a young girl lay amidst the debris. It looked as if the fishermen had been digging her out for some time, and all that remained was to free her lower half. She was broken and weak and whimpering for her papa to save her.
But Ryth-Shan saw what she really was. He saw past the illusion spell the creature was maintaining. There was no mistaking what it was. Its fiery orange eyes still glowed with inner fire. "That's the creature from the ship!" he hissed at the others. "The one who infected us. It's clouding your minds. Really look at what's in front of you."
Then, he made a Persuasion roll. The difficulty was 10. He rolled a 4 with no bonuses. Failure.
His voice cut through the air like a sharp knife. All three fishermen stopped what they were doing and looked at the heroes. There was a male dwarf with a cap on his head and a female Halfling with a curly carrot-top. They all regarded the adventurers with fear and uncertainty as they picked up their weapons.
Ryth-Shan's own companions regarded him strangely. "What are you talking about?" asked Kaedyn. "It's a young girl.
"Stay back!" the human fisherman snapped. "Stay away from m'daughter! I'm warning you."
"Papa! Please save me! Protect me from them. They're bad people! Please, Papa!"
The three fishermen looked down at her and then back at the heroes. "She's right. They're here to kill her! We have to protect m'daughter!"
"Take it easy," said Kaedyn. "We're here to help."
But Ryth-Shan had decided to take matters into his own hands. He lifted his bow to shoot the Mind Flayer laying within the debris; the very monster who had committed the atrocity of putting that parasite in his skull. As he did this, the fishermen cried out in alarm and attacked.
Initiative. Kaedyn rolled a 10+2=12, Vexir a 4+2+6, Ryth-Shan an 8+2=10, Shadowheart an 11+2=13, and Astarion a 20+3=23. The three fishermen rolled a 9+1=10, 14+1=15 and 18+1=19. So the order was Astarion, Halfling Fisherman, Dwarf Fisherman, Shadowheart, Kaedyn, Ryth-Shan, Human Fisherman and then Vexir last. The animals would go on Ryth-Shan's turn.
Round 1. It was Astarion's turn. He really didn't care what was happening. Weapons were drawn and enemies were about to attack them. Was it important that they were mere fishermen? Not to him. He rushed forward with rapier in hand and struck the dwarf. He rolled a 2+5=7. "Blast it!" he cried. "Missed."
The Halfling Fisherman then rushed Astarion to attack him. She gained advantage because he was now being flanked. She rolled a 2 and a 4, so 4+2=6, and missed. Next was the Dwarf Fisherman. He attacked Astarion as well and rolled a 17 and 18+2=20. Hit. He was wielding a shortsword, so he did 1d6+1 damage and rolled a 3+1=4. Astarion lost 4 HP and was down to 17.
"Bah! Bloody beasts! I'll rend you all asunder!" he spat viciously.
Then it was Shadowheart's turn. She decided to use her cantrip, Word of Radiance. She uttered a divine word, and burning radiance erupted from her. Each creature of her choice that she could see within range needed to succeed in a Constitution savings throw or take 1d6 radiant damage. She chose the three fishermen who then rolled their savings throw. The Human Fisherman rolled a 1, the Dwarf rolled a 19, and the Halfling rolled a 9. They needed 12, so the Human and Halfling suffered 1d6 damage. She rolled a 5 and a 1, so the Human took 5 HP and the Halfling took 1.
Now, it was Kaedyn's turn. He really didn't want to fight them. "Please stop!" he cried, and he made a Persuasion roll of 5+3=8. "We're not your enemies. We want to help you. My friend is just."
"Liars!" cried the Human Fisherman. His roll had failed.
Ryth-Shan's turn. He cast Hunter's Mark on the Mind Flayer, ran up to point blank range, within 5 feet, pulled out his shortsword and took a swing. Because he was within 5 feet, he did not get a disadvantage against it. Since it was prone, he normally would have gotten disadvantage with a ranged shot. He rolled a 17+4=21. Hit. Because of Hunter's Mark, he did 2d6 damage and rolled 10+2=12 damage. The Mind Flayer only had 15 HP left, so now it had 3 HP. It then rolled to see if it could maintain its concentration. It rolled a 7+1=8. It needed a 10. Failure.
The battle ended as everyone stared at the Githyanki in horror. He'd just slashed a little girl with his blade. The fishermen were beside themselves. And then, the creature's hold on them wavered and died. The illusion collapsed, and a Mind Flayer replaced it. As its influence waned, they clutched their heads, blinking in confusion.
"Wha...What happened?" asked the Human Fisherman. "Where's m'daughter?" Then he blinked rapidly. "Wait a minute. First, there was... fire in the sky, and then... the voice. Oh gods, the voice."
"This monster was using you like a puppet," Ryth-Shan informed them with disdain as he held his blade to the creature's face.
"Gods, I... I think you're right," said the Human Fisherman. "It called out from the wreckage. Sounded just like my daughter. But... she's been dead for years. That thing got into our heads; drove us mad. We wrecked our boat just trying to get close to it. What do we do now?"
"Your boat," said Shadowheart. "Can it be repaired?"
"Not a chance," said the Human Fisherman. "It's bloody driftwood. And we are in the middle of nowhere, even. Wait! You... I can feel you. Just like one of those things. You're one of them!" He said this as he pointed his finger first at Ryth-Shan and then at all of them.
"Calm down," advised Kaedyn. He was trying to be the picture of calm. "They abducted us, but we escaped."
"There's something in your heads!" said the Human Fisherman. "Please. We'll take our chances out here. Just... just leave us be!"
"Seriously?" said Kaedyn in frustration, but before he could say another word, the three darted away through the ship, racing off into the darkness towards the south.
Astarion sneered. "Useless wretches," he muttered, nursing his injury.
Vexir could see further than the rest of them in the dark. She saw which way they went. They were head back towards the southwest edge of the beach where they'd found the food supplies in the crate. "We could go after them."
"What's the point of that?" asked Kaedyn. "I'd rather just get out of this thing and move on. Wouldn't you?"
"Agreed," said Shadowheart.
"The sooner we get away from this thing, the better," said Astarion.
Ryth-Shan ignored them all. He was focused on the dying Ghaik. The foul thing was at his mercy, and he would have its head. He could end its life right then and there, if only he didn't feel... Compassion. Compassion?
No. He should be furious... shouldn't he? Yes, he felt hate. And he deserved to be punished for it. He should be whipped; made to bow before the creature in shame! It was possessing his mind, forcing him to love it. He rolled a Wisdom savings throw and rolled a Natural 20!
But then, the feeling slipped. The creature's mind seemed to focus elsewhere. Ryth-Shan concentrated on its thoughts. His mind fused with it. He was lusting for something that was... gone. But then its grip clawed back with a vengeance: a vice locking his mind into obedience. It needed sustenance to survive, and with Ryth-Shan's very body, he could provide. He resisted the intrusion with everything he had.
And he won. The monster lay exhausted, defeated. Its eyes were wet, orange pearls that radiated malice. Ryth-Shan sneered in disgust. "Die! Ghaik!" Then he closed its eyes forever with a jab in the face with both of his shortswords.
