session 49

Session 49 - Apocalypse, Wow¶

Emerging from the burning Deathspider into the void of space, we found ourselves witness to a scene of devastating chaos. Our sister ship Abrozennia listed helplessly, wreathed in flames, while an Illithid raider – its organic hull gleaming wetly in the starlight – hammered it with psychically-charged bolts. The Xebraxis, though intact, bore significant battle damage with its mizzenmast splintered and sails aflame.

Cursing ourselves for not having cleared the Deathspider weapons deck, we had no choice but to press through weapon fire as we guided our longboat towards the Xebraxis. However, it pulled away to put itself between the Abrozennia and the enemy raider, so we reluctantly decided to pass through the smoke-filled air envelope of the Abrozennia and determine whether there were any survivors to be saved. There we rescued several of our fellow Reavers, though one – Tormund – refused to abandon his post at the remaining functional catapult. We left him to his fate.

Finally reaching the relative safety of the Xebraxis, we joined the crew in returning fire upon the Illithid raider. Our combined assault eventually destroyed the vessel, but our victory was short-lived. A massive Nautiloid ship – its shell-like hull adorned with writhing tentacles – materialized nearby and opened fire. As we sustained heavy damage, a ring of humanoid figures materialized on our deck, surrounding a black-robed figure whose face was a mass of writhing tentacles: C’thaxis, an undead Mind Flayer, its cracked and desiccated flesh had the grey pallor of death, and its eyes burned with an alien malevolence.

The battle that followed was desperate. Though C’thaxis’s mind blast left several of us stunned, Captain Foss and the remaining Reavers managed to dispatch most of the thralls – vacant-eyed humanoids whose minds had been consumed by their master. Foss was truly a marvel to behold in action. We should think twice about crossing her. While our tactics were not particularly inspired, at least Ryalith (as always) managed to lay blows upon the Illithid creature.

With the tide of battle turned against it, C’thaxis first vanished from sight, then reappeared at a safe distance to project a single word into our minds: “Soon!” The creature then teleported back to its ship, which melted away into the void of wildspace, leaving us victorious but deeply troubled by this show of force from the mythical Illithid.

As we tended to our wounds and rescued crew, we couldn’t shake the feeling that this raid had revealed something far more sinister than mere Neogi slave operations. The presence of an undead Mind Flayer and its forces suggested darker machinations at work in the void between worlds.