The Eighth Session

After departing from the Dragon's Wing, the group, joined by Vissella, Bashak, Lyn, Haldes, and Ragnar, set out for the town of Reth. Shortly after night fell, they were surrounded by a group of sea creatures, with Haldes using her motion sensing capabilities to read their movements. Initially taking a quieter approach, with Aoth even attempting to stop Nul from jumping in (though accidentally pushed in when Halrek tried to help and slipped), they were discovered, prompting Aoth to enchant his mace to light up and hold it in the water. This revealed a group of merfolk, who all dispersed when hit by the light, but continued circling the boat. When the group started rowing, Haldes sensed the merfolk closing in, and Aoth attempted to use Thaumaturgy to make his voice boom loud enough to scare them away, but was struck by a trident across the face when he submerged his head. Halrek had better reflexes when he also submerged his head, pulling it out in time to not get hit. When one of the merfolk jumped out of the water to attack, he saw they were travelling with children and stopped, looking confused, and retreated to the water. A group of 4 merfolk, one human-appearing man (the one who attacked Aoth), one sea-creature appearing man, and 2 human appearing women, breached the surface near the boat. Attempting to communicate, Nul outstretched his hand, and Yief picked him up to extend his reach, causing Nul's pose to resemble the Creation of Adam. One of the women, with bright red hair in a terribly cliche trope, reached out and touched Nul's hand, allowing him to understand her. After a labored interaction, she understood that they were trying to sail to Reth, and accidentally crossed into their territory, and agreed to help them pass since they didn't attack and were traveling with children. Boosting the boat's speed significantly, the merfolk got them to Reth with plenty of the night to spare. Departing, the woman said her name was Alma, and they wouldn't attack if the group crossed their territory again. Nul was enamored by her as the merfolk swam back to sea, prompting Aoth to say "Don't worry bud, there's plenty of fish in the sea," which Nul somehow understood the implication of and began to judge Aoth's use of puns.

Arriving at the docks, they met a half asleep old dock worker who was originally supposed to remain nameless, but after seeing he had a cool hat and having a surprisingly long interaction regarding it, resulting in them buying it, him putting on another hat from out of nowhere, and Halrek paying him for both hats but subsequently giving them back, he introduced himself as Phil, a former adventurer who had taken an arrow to the knee 60 years ago, and since he had a name he would likely be recurring. Yief joked about him sounding like Bill Clinton, and then called him Phil Clinton, and Phil asked how Yief knew his last name, mumbling about wishing he had a cool last name like "Goldenaxe."

Entering the town, they went to the Urchin Barrel, a local tavern, where they drew attention with how much like anime protagonists they all looked like compared to the fishermen in the bar, who all had beanies on, prompting that it was a hipster fisher town. The barkeep seemed very confused after seeing Halrek kick in the doors, and then seeing Yief walk in behind him. He introduced himself as Mark, prompting everyone to go "Oh, hi Mark." After prodding and causing Yief to respond very suspiciously about their motives, he said that if the group was looking for battle, that there was rumor of some creatures in the Akanapeak Mountains. He then offered the rooms in the inn, which the group split into. Nul bunked with Darkwind and Applaudicus, Shag bunked with Halrek, Yief bunked with Bashak and actually got her to share the bed with him (she was the big spoon), Aoth bunked with Vissella, Haldes bunked with Lyn, and Ragnar got one of the girls in the bar to come to bed with him.

The following morning, they visited the local Traveling Khajiit's Wares, Nul learned some new spells, and Aoth bought horses and a wagon. Setting out, they reached the path into the mountains, with dusk falling early as they began their way up. After hearing a screech from off in the distance, Yief tried to show off by telling the pirates to stay with the boys, and that the motley crew would be fine checking it out on their own. The further into the woods on the mountain they went, the mistier it got, until they noticed a silhouette of a woman off in the distance, who appeared to be moving erratically, as well as strange movements in the mist around her.

Halrek snuck up close, discovering it was a Banshee. Relaying that info, Yief yeeted Nul for the first time in a surprisingly long time, catching the Banshee off guard and allowing the group to get a surprise attack in, stunning it. However, they were all attacked by a force in the mist, which stunned Shag and Halrek, but immediately Aoth decided to actually be a cleric for once instead of a human shield and he healed both of them in the same turn in fantastic move. Defeating the banshee, Nul sensed that the magic was still active in the mist, and that the caster was likely taking a mist form among it. Stunning Halrek again, Aoth picked him up and ran as he healed him, allowing Shag and Nul to unleash magic attacks that caused the cloud to flee, dispersing the mist.

With a clearer line of sight, they could see smoke coming from tree tops a short way out. Approaching the origin, they saw a ragged and very tall young man camping next to a small stream, with a makeshift fireproof device that directed the smoke. After a strange interaction, he introduced himself as Fish Quickwheel, and commented on there being more ghosts and undead on the mountain, and said that clearing it out would be best so he could fish in peace (unclear whether he meant the act of fishing in a stream or if he had turned him name into a verb). He then showed them a prototype of a mix of a fork and a spoon, which he and Shag simultaneously said should be called a Foon, but then when Yief said the word Spork he thought that was a revelation. He volunteered to join them back to the campsite before setting out monster hunting.