50 - Tropical Thunder

In the middle of this cemetery of ships, stands our powerless ship, drifting, and soon-to-join the other ones. Luckily for us, Sabine mentions that she has a solution to restore the power to the Spelljammer.

She looks at Axel then at her fresh scar.

Sabine walks away to prepare her plan.

Nesvalyn leans his hand over to Dieterich.

He points Dottie.

Then we kept discuss more about Dieterich, trying to learn more about him and answering some his questions. Time passes, and as there's no light or energy, the Astral Sea feels dark, as we tried to keep the place warm with our lively talks.
After a while, Sabine calls the group. We see a structure built with her ribbons, as it seems they have an infinite length and they go straight to the Spelljammer Helm.

She picks her cane and starts to jiggle.

Axel goes there and let themselves do it, as Sabine prepares them.

She ties even more, then she gets back, gesture to move back, flips a glass thing, looks at Axel

And she hits the button before their answer. It's quiet for a moment, and then the crackling of the lighting is in the air. It's only blue at the beginning, then it has all the rainbow colors from the Astral Sea, suddenly, as we hear a crack of thunder, and so feels Axel.
[CON Save - Pass ✔] It paralyzes Axel, as being fully shocked and takes 7 lightning dmg from the initial shock.

As we see the lightning going through Axel, it's going as Sabine holds on, and a couple of seconds passes.
[CON Save] Axel takes 28 lightning dmg
[Perception check - Pass ✔] Axel notices the slowest smile going through Sabine's face.

More and more lightning goes through Axel, and Sabine keeps it going, a few more seconds passes.

[CON Save] Axel takes 42 lightning dmg
[Insight - Pass ✔] Axel realizes along Nesvalyn that Sabine tries to kill them.

Nesvalyn goes to her, who notices a creepy and deadest smile on Sabine's face.

She presses a button and everything stops, all at once.
The Spelljammer Helm is fully functional, and snaps her fingers and the ribbons unwraps around her. She shoves the controller to Nesvalyn.

And she goes to their room, and Nesvalyn rushes to Axel, while Dottie Lombardo casts [Hideous Laughter] on Sabine and laughs.

Axel gets up, and casts [Beacon of Hope], then uses their ki to heal themselves.

Dieterich wonders if this situation is normal, but before asking more, he notices this tangled red and gold thread. Thinking it was part of the experiment, and starts to gather it up. It seems to go into a corner of the ship, and it ends abruptly within in the wall. He keeps pulling for a bit, and when trying to pull harder, it begins to glow slightly.

Dieterich keeps pulling the thread, and he notices that some linger of silver light expands. It seems to be proportional to how he pulled.

After going to pull a bit, this glowy tear seems to sip into the thread, and the base gets a thread, like almost a lamp, like a yellowish glow. Dieterich is still pulling the thread.
The thickness continues upwards, and Dieterich feels a hand made from this light wrapping into his hands.

The hole grows exponentially, then a fully 6'3" humanoid figure stumbles out of the corner, and the hole is gone.

As we make our way...
[Insight - Pass ✔] We realize that the place is filled with criminals as we stick out, and we're being eyed out. It seems to be a shady city.

Eklima is a pocket dimension as a hiding place for criminals from the authorities, this is the perfect place.

Dottie Lombardo summons an Ignatius.

The Ignatius shrugs has it has no idea where to go, and the credit crystal Dottie has on her is empty.

[INT Check - Fail ❌] Dottie Lombardo recalls a gentlemen who curbed their shoes... actually no, can't remember.

[Investigation] After asking around, Dieterich's bag got snatched
[Perception - Pass ✔] Taurus and Nesvalyn notices a kobold tail running down the street

Nesvalyn goes right after it with Taurus going on a different way to corner them.
Axel enables the Embolding Balm on the group (expect them)
Axel follows Taurus, Dieterich follows Nesvalyn.
Dottie Lombardo reaches a tall position using [Misty Step].

[Athletics or Acrobatics] By tracking the Kobolds, Axel and Nesvalyn can attempt to grab the Kobold.
[Perception - Pass ✔] Dieterich notices a third kobold with a heavy backpack
[Grapple check] Axel turns a corner and grapples the Kobold, no backpack in his hands.
Nesvalyn is suspended in time after activating the Heart of Gold unable to move, and hears steps with the face of Or, except their face is upside down (as they're walking in the air),

And Nesvalyn grabs the kobold, but there's no backpack.
Dieterich swoops down on another kobold, and pin it to the ground.
The party regroups and Nesvalyn has a déjà-vu feeling.

Dieterich stares down at Occhi and the other kobolds while cracking his knuckles.

[Intimidation - Pass ✔] They back up to the wall.

They turn and whispers to each other for a while, then they turn back to us.

Taurus notices there is another pack of cigarettes in her pockets.
Dottie Lombardo starts to cast [Vicious Mockery] at the group.

They talk about how to get to Sabir's compound, and it will take a few hours.

Nesvalyn let go a smile.

We're going through the jungle, except the animals look weird and strange: monkeys are too long, snake with feet (but no leg).

We're stopping as we're near the settlement, and we sense the smell of incense we smelled back at the ship.
Axel replicates the incense smell, and casts [Pass without Trace] on the group.
[Stealth] We stealth until we reach a sandstone wall surrounding the place. There doesn't seem to be a gate anywhere. The tops of the building can be seen before.

We banter about the plan and what to do.
We decide to climb up the wall and we position ourselves on the lip of the arch wall, and when looking inside, the tall building chimers away and we fall, and shrinks in the ground.
[Acrobatics] Dottie Lombardo and Ignatius takes 16 fall dmg (Dieterich takes the damage), the rest lands safely.
We're all in a pit with its classic decorations, with a bunch of holes, a big circular pit of a radius of 40ft.
On the other side of this pit and up is Samir inclined on a throne, with the Rakshasa gang around him, Ludwig is seated on the floor next to the throne and has been shaved fully.
Standing on the other side is a shorter figure, wearing a black hood which obscurs their figure.

[WIS Save] Axel senses magic around, but nothing happens.

The black hooded figure steps forwards and leans in and whispers to Samir, and looks back.

From below the ground, we hear a deep throaty growling, and erupting from the hole, this creature.

Samir stands up.

He kicks Ludwig.

The door opens, and heavy footsteps gets in, is a 20ft tall giant, covered in tattoos, that Dieterich recognizes her as part the Auruch clan.

Next session: 51 - The Boys are back in town