The Sahuagin was just about ready to rip into Bugsy when you intercept the creature. It goes to bite at you, but instead of sinking it's teeth into flesh, it instead tastes steel as your rapier pierces through it's soft scaly head. Blood drips down your blade as the Sahuagin vainly tries to continue fighting but remains motionless forevermore as you toss it's body aside. Now Vastly outnumbered, the lone Sauagin considers beating a retreat to fight another day, just as Sticky lands a crossbow shot right into the creature's neck. Foolishly it pulls out the crossbow bolt and proceeds to rapidly bleed to death, barely making it to the side of the boat before expiring.

By now the Sahuagins were mostly being repelled, but the captain and first mate must still contend with the sea beasts who were on board. Cracks of lightning flashed to reveal these beasts to be large octopi, covered with coral and scale armor. Vehafor looked towards you. "We go fight the monsters!" Sticky went to Buggsy's side, who was bleeding profusely. "Caeda, I'll take Buggsy down unda an make sure he stays alive! I'll be back to help ASAP!" Buggsy couldn't really muster up the energy to protest, and it was likely better for him to get some proper treatment as the ship's only medical professional. Sticky and a few other crewmen would take Buggsy back below deck for his own safety, leaving you with the Lizardman to contend with the last of the threats on the ship.

Not wanting to get in the way of the three crew members or get in the way of her crew members and simply observing how these octopi sea creatures fight, Caeda stood her ground. From her distance, she readied a eldritch blast from her gauntlet, but before she fully sheathed her rapier, the magical energy transferred from the gauntlet and into her rapier. Having a faint feeling of what to do next, Caeda looked at the weakest looking sea beast, swung the weapon back out and pointed at it. As she did, she felt a pulse from the gauntlet as it grew a bit darker but with faint light at the edges to appear almost silhouetted. After she heard a slight mutter in her mind , she repeated it under her breath, casting hex on the sea beast and then her rapier fired the eldritch blast at the creature.

As you rushed off to the next fight, your eldritch blast strikes one of the giant octopi that were fighting the captain and his first mate. Your shot lands true and does a decent amount of damage against the beast causing it to bleed, allowing the captain to take a shot at the beast. However these creatures were no mere wild animals; they were combat trained and being octopi, surprisingly capable in combat. The beast easily blocks the crossbow bolt with it's armor, and seeing that such an attack was useless for now, the captain engaged the octopus in melee, where the beast and the captain exchanged blows, neither able to bypass each other's defenses. Meanwhile Azure had just finished off a Sahuagin when one of the octopi leapt onto her back and began to crush her with it's powerful tentacles, threatening to suffocate her. In a reckless fury she slashed her sword across her back, which managed to cut into the head of the beast and doing some serious damage, though not enough to slay him.

"Come! Slay the beast before they drag the others into the ocean!" The master of arms roared as he charged the octopus strangling Azure. His blow landed squarely in the wound that Azure had created, causing even more damage and blood to spill. When he tried to follow up with his shield, he was able to land a blow but the creature's violent struggle turned what may have been a fairly effective attack into a glancing cut. There was still chaos around the ship but it seemed like for now, the sailors were holding their own against the Sahuagins. If the captain and his first mate were freed from combat, they could rally their men and drive off these beasts once and for all.

Caeda looked at how Ashbrand was holding against the octopus against him and seemed to be able to handle it for the moment. But after seeing Azure being restrained and more likely to be dragged off the ship, Caeda followed Vehafor's lead and charged ahead to prevent such a thing from there. But as she arrived, both strikes from her rapier and dagger missed the octopus as she tried to not accidentally injure Azure. Looking back to see Ashbrand seeming to have some handle, Caeda stood her ground in hopes to at least prevent the octopus from fleeing with Azure.

Ashbrand gave the octopus he was fighting two hefty slashed as the beast started to strangle him, but he otherwise seemed to be doing just fine. Meanwhile the octopus you fought was trying to pull Azure off the boat. Dropping your dagger you reached out and wound manage to brace your foot against the wet deck wood, holding your ground and preventing the octopus from getting away. This surprised the beast that you could somehow over power it, unaware of the curse placed upon it. At that same moment, Vehafor pummeled the octopus with his shield and spiked mace, while Azure raged against the beast, slashing her blade with reckless abandon even as the beast tightened its grip around her neck. The beast was on its last legs however, you can tell from how much it struggles to maintain its grip on Azure, and you’re certain a solid blow would be all that’s needed to slay the creature.

The gauntlet gripped into octopus and Caeda using her entire weight, kept the octopus in one place. With this extra time, Vehafor and Azure continued their attacks. Seeing the octopus barely able to stand, Caeda tried again to pierce into the creature, only for it to move Azure in the way, preventing Caeda from landing the blow without injuring her. But now, all Caeda knew she could do was to simply keep holding the creature in place long enough for someone to kill it. And thus, she stabbed her rapier into the wooden floor of the deck in hopes to further prevent the creature from moving any further.

But as she did, Ashbrand called out to her with a slight insult of her being weak, she raised her rapier back up and lunged it into the octopus, dealing the final blow. As the octopus fell, she now glared Ashbrand, and then to the remaining octopus. She tossed her rapier into the gauntlet and as she pointed her blade at the creature, she placed the hex onto it.

The captain smirked at your glare, skewering the octopus on his sword. But his smile went away as the beast throttled him and slammed him into the deck, stunning him for a moment. But bursting past you, Azure brought her blade down across the head of the Octopus, slicing through shell and flesh and slaying the beast once and for all. It's grip loosen on Ashbrand as he was helped up by his first mate. He looked over to you and Vehafor and was quick to give orders. "No time to celebrate just yet! Grab the wounded and hold on tight, once we sail out of this storm we'll be free of this menace!" Azure roared into the air, signalling the survival of herself and the captain. This gave the men renewed courage to fight against the Sahuagin, pushing them off to the side. However there were still many wounded left bleeding out on the deck, and a makeshift medical station was formed right next to the ship's doors, with Buggsy working fast and quickly with only two people protecting him. The lizardman looked to you. "We will grab the wounded, quick!"

Seeing the crew have a very brief celebration of pushing back the sea creatures, Caeda smiled and minizing the loss, especially Azure. As everyone prepared to leave the storm, Caeda gave a simple nod to the lizardman's request as she looked around the the deck to see if there was anyone that needed help being brought inside the the ship. Once every wounded person inside, she made a quick stop to her quarters to make sure Othie was still find and tell her that everything is now okay outside. But would leave and lock the door of her quarters, telling the pixie that she was going to see if there was anything else that she could help with while they sail out of the storm. If nothing else, she would planning to take a nice long rest in her quarters after today's encounter.

Othie was indeed safe in the room, having armed herself with a proper needle this time. She was hidden when you first entered but came out from her hiding spot when you revealed yourself. "Caeda, something doesn't feel right. It feels like there's.... There's still something here. I don't know what it is but it feels... Foul. Below us..." Othie also didn't feel comfortable staying in the room by herself, and wanted to tag along with you. "I felt this evil when the fighting started. Like a monster circling it's prey. It's still here too..." The only place below your room was the storage area, where the bulk of the cargo was held. The only access to it was locked however, as only the captain and his first mate could access it. And many of the crew members, even if wounded, still needed to work around the ship. Bugsby had his hands full trying to save the lives of those who were wounded and the Master-Of-Arms was repairing the damage to the ship itself. They were still in the rougher parts of the water as well, so there wasn't a lot of people who weren't busy.

Caeda was happy to have Othie join her as she checked on everybody on the ship and glad they were doing okay recovering. But the feeling of concern of this ominous presence in the storage simply grew. Seeing as there were a lot of people not busy, Caeda tried to find the first mate, Azure. Eventually finding Azure she approached, asking "First mate, how are you after the battle after the deck." She waited to hear Azure respond, but as soon as she finished, Caeda quickly followed with. "The storage, how often is it checked? Othie here mentioned sensing something foul in there and as I was walking through the ship, I too felt this strange presence when passing by it. And Othie only started feeling this once the battle on the deck happened. So tell me Azure, what do you think this could be?"

Azure was in rough shape, even after being tended by Buggsy. Seemed like she had broken a few bones around her ribs and shoulder when she tangled with those octopi, forcing her to bandage up her body and go without her sword to keep the weight off her broken bones. She couldn't even use her hands if she wanted to heal quickly, forcing her to do nothing but oversee the others, much to her vocal displeasure. When you came over to her and ask how she was doing, she told you as much. "Fucking shit is what. Buggsy needs to hurry up and become a proper cleric so we can bounce back from these incidents more quickly. Ship can't afford to be bogged down by the wounded in a crisis like this." Afterwards you asked your question about the storage area and explained your concerns. Azure listened but seemed confused. "Can't say I know why there would be anything in the cargo hold. All we have right now is lumber and metal from the Ferric Empire. Could be that those fish-eyed bastards managed to sneak down below deck. If I weren't halfway to dead right now I'd go down there and check myself. But who's Othie? I don't have anyone in this crew by that name." Othie herself was hidden on your person, willing to tag along but still trying to hide herself from others.

Mentally Caeda tried to think of what to say as she accidentally mentioned Othie. The worst thing that could happen is probably paying for Othie's fare on the ship as she stowed away on it. But Caeda wished to respect Othie want to stay hidden and apologize for potentially exposing her. "Othie is the name of this gauntlet. It told me, or shared a sense, of the foul presence in the storage." She was unsure how convincing she made that story, especially as she isn't used to lying on the spot, but she continued. "And The room above the storage is my cabin. So if I am going to be able to comfortably sleep tonight from today's deck encounter, then do you think you could grant me access to the storage to at least investigate?" Caeda hoped that Azure would simply grant her request and not worry to much of Othie.

Azure gave you a dull look, getting annoyed. "Look, I appreciate your help fending off the Sahuagin, but I ain't got time worry about the voices in your head when we got actual problems going on right now." As she says this, you could hear some men shout a warning as a rigging snaps and almost tears someone in half. Azure quickly turned her attention away from you and goes to try and help despite her injuries, completely ignoring you to deal with the current issue. Othie crawled out from her hiding spot and looked over at you. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you into trouble...." Azure and a few sailors managed to get control of the errant rigging and went back to work trying to repair and operate the ship. Sticky walks by and sees you just as Othie went back to hiding. "Caeda, you aight? Did ya get knicked with something from dem sea beasties?"

Once Azure was far enough, Caeda grumbled to under her breath, annoyed that she was ignored. But that soon subsided as Othie reappeared and apologized. "Don't worry, its fine, we can-" Before she could continue, she saw Othie try to hide again and that was when she noticed Sticky was approaching her. As she listened to him and mentioned Caeda's injuries from the encounter on the deck, she looked at herself and sighed "That would be correct. I suppose I still don't notice my own health when my mind is on work. With that being said, I should probably take a short rest. But before I do, by chance, do you know what is usually kept in the storage or if anything strange was stored there? I just have a strange sense when I pass by it."

"Anything strange in storage? Not really. Brought sum lumber, pretty sure da captain plans ta sell in Doros, extra canvas an ropes, the usual... Though..." Sticky rubbed his chin as he thought more about it. "Well... Nuthin really strange persay, but we're traveling awfully light. Usually when we pick up stuff from the north, we bring back stuff like lumber, silks, spices, dat sorta thing. But all we got is lumber. Or at least, dat's all da captain had me and some of da lads haul in. Might be sumthin else but if so, no one told us bout it." Sticky crossed his arms and looked at your curious. "Ya wanna go look? I can pick da lock pretty easy."

She gave a heavy sigh to Sticky's response, "No Sticky, I cannot permit you to do such a act. At least for now. I'll just take a short rest to think some things over." With that, Caeda made her way back to her cabin to try and take a short rest. But before taking a bit of rest, she looked to Othie. "Are you okay if we wait for about an hour to think about our next move? If anything, let me know of that foul presence storage changes or if it becomes familiar to something you may know."

"Well, aight. If ya be needin anything, I'll be around." Sticky nods to you before leaving, returning to work. Othie comes out from her hiding spot and nods at your suggestion. "I don't mind. I'm sure you need the rest too, Caeda. If there is something down there though... You should try and get some help. I wish I could do something but I can't even make any pixie dust..." Othie flicks her fingers outward trying to summon her magic out, but she doesn't even get a tiny spark. Aside from that, you would be able to rest in your room with only mild difficulty. Though the ship was out of the storm the waters were quite rough, causing the boat to rock back and forth in irregular patterns. Not to mention it was rather loud outside with the waves crashing against the hull of the ship and sailors shouting as they worked. Othie sought security on your person, feeling no real update on this strange energy below, but she can tell it's still there. It made her very uncomfortable and scared. "It's... It's foul Caeda. It shouldn't be here..."

After spending some time to recovery from the battle on the deck and planning her next move, Caeda stood up from her rest and looked to the pixie "Othie, if what you sense is that bad, then stay here, and stay safe.". Leaving, closing, and locking her quarters, Caeda's hand rested on the handle for a few seconds thinking of what may be within the storage. Although she may be breaking into a place didn't exactly fit well within her, knowing that Othie becoming weaker made her more committed to this investigation.

Searching the ship to find Sticky, she would eventually find him. Once no one was around or too preoccupied to pay attention, she to leaned in to whisper to ask "You still have time to help with my request earlier?" Trying to hint about him helping to unlock the storage room. Once the two were settled on the plan and made their way there tried to remember how she made that frozen armor, perhaps a special motion or state of mind? By the time they arrived at the storage, no frozen armor appeared to cover her. Once Sticky opens the door, Caeda plans to observe from the doorway of from anything suspicious to general interest before stepping in for a closer investigation.

Sticky had just finished moving some boxes to help adjust the balance of the ship. When you came to ask for his help, he made sure to make some excuses so he could go with you. The two of you would reach the storage fairly easily since all hands were busy upstairs or resting up due to their wounds. As you kept watch, you don't notice anything really, but perhaps that itself was telling: there really was no one else nearby. If anything were to happen, chances are no one will know until it's far too late to help you. Meanwhile Sticky continued to work on the lock and would soon have it opened. "Dere we go. And we in. So, wot exactly ya lookin fer? Not planning ta steal nuthin from the ship yeah?"

However once you got inside, you can immediately tell something was wrong. Even Sticky can tell, since the whole room was glowing purple. You can see growing on the ceiling, some sort of small, glowing boil. It pulsated with grotesque energy that makes you feel sickly just being around. And as you're observing the room, you hear something amiss. It was faint but it was like... Breathing. Something was here. Sticky, nervous, has his sword out. "S-S-Should we get da others?" He asks shakily.

At the immediate sight of the strange purple filled room and the sudden sickly feeling, she drew out her rapier and dagger. Without having her eyes leave the very strange purple filled storage room, she muttered to Sticky. "Yes, you go and get help. Ill watch behind us as I close the door." Waiting for Sticky to make just a short distance away, Caeda would then try to slam the storage room door closed.