Conflict at Tripoint: A Rather Dreadful Business Across the Isles | Jan Teschner

Tripoint – After stumbling upon a rather dusty, long-lost map within a damp subterranean lab, the party learned of an expansive underground kingdom in the north ruled by a reclusive King Valili. The map also revealed crucial supply lines connecting the islands, with Tripoint supplying Lematoa a still-unknown resource marked only with a star (and looking suspiciously like a tea stain). Intended to politely interrupt the King's mysterious war effort, the party set sail for Tripoint. Their voyage, interrupted only by some light reading of Adventuring Basics and the occasional lukewarm cup of tea, ended in a bit of a kerfuffle.

Island One: A Beacon of Blades and Blasts
Approaching Tripoint, the crew was greeted rather rudely by Royal Second Commander Hina, perched atop a fortified lighthouse bristling with Dragonlance Cannons. Declaring the party genocidal warmongers (quite uncalled for, if you ask me), Hina opened fire.
In response, Selah dashed across the ocean’s surface, Merlin swam (a very damp endeavour), Aint took flight, and Mad Matt and Marina manned the ship’s own cannons. Despite Tiyana disabling one cannon with an explosive fireball - which was a bit much, even for us - the remaining gun tore a rather nasty hole through the ship's hull.
In the chaos, mysterious stone projectiles splashed down – later discovered to be falling boulders launched from the yet-unseen third island’s trebuchets, which really wasn't very polite at all.
Selah and Merlin stormed the lighthouse. Selah, ever the acrobat, literally walked up the wall and disarmed Hina with a bullet-catch-and-return maneuver, mockingly dubbing him “Captain Who???” Merlin, using simpler strategies, simply punched Hina into the sky, followed by a finishing dive from above with his Trident of the Deep. Hina perished, impaled, and quite suddenly irrelevant.

Island Two: The Stone That Watched
The second island revealed a fog-shrouded stone structure teeming with purple oozes - a lovely bit of gloom. When Tiyana blasted one of the runed tablets, the fog dissipated, revealing Royal Mage Lothon – a rather smug sorcerer and communications officer for King Valili.
With unnecessary flair, Lothon proclaimed his name would be remembered – before hurling a Fireball that set the ship aflame. The front mast burned; Mad Matt bled (a nuisance, certainly). More boulders rained down from the third island, which was becoming quite tiresome.
As Mad Matt summoned a demonic kraken to storm the trebuchets and conjured a storm to douse the flames - very efficient, really - Marina grew tired of her cannon misfires and swam straight for Lothon. Despite being struck by lightning - never good for the complexion - she reached the shore and, with a flash of her Greataaxe of the Deep, cleaved the mage in two. So much for his grand legacy.

Island Three: Trebuchets and Treachery
At the third island, two mighty trebuchets rained death on the party (a terribly disruptive imposition). Selah arrived stealthily, navigating the wall while the kraken terrified the defenders. One soldier attempted escape – only to be executed by a grim, black-armored knight (one does wish people would queue up more orderly).
Soon, Merlin launched himself via cannon from Island One to Three, crash-landing atop the kraken’s squishy head. Together with Selah, they battled the knight. Ainz, late to the party (as is his custom), finally summoned a minor dragon, igniting the battlefield in a rather dramatic fashion.

Selah was gravely wounded but survived long enough for Merlin to finish the knight with his trident. The black-clad knight’s dying words were a lament for King Valili – her failure, his burden. A bit of a tragedy, really.

The Spoils of Victory: A Broken Eye of the King
Among the ruins, the party discovered the damaged structure on Island Two to be an advanced kind of seeing stone – a magical surveillance hub once used to spy on their movements and supply intelligence to the King. Now broken, and with Lothon deceased, this line of communication is severed. Undoubtedly, the king must know that the Triport outpost had fallen and that the adventurers were now coming for him.
There is no hiding anymore. No subterfuge, no delay. One simply cannot hide behind a fog bank forever.

Next Stop: Lematoa With their ship patched up (with great difficulty), supplies looted, and enemies slain, the party now turns their prow northward – to Lematoa itself. King Valili awaits, and with him, perhaps, the truth behind the shadow war he commands, and the fate of the Triangle itself.

The Fireball Gazette will be watching (with a fresh pot of tea).

Editor’s Note:

We continue to receive furious letters from readers - some quite polite, others rather uncivilized - both defending and denouncing the party’s actions. To those wondering if this group is saving the Triangle – or setting it ablaze – we say: stay tuned. We don’t quite know ourselves yet, though we shall certainly let you know as soon as we have a proper update.