The Fireball Gazette

The Wizard at the Door
Selah scouted ahead and found a lone figure hooded in wizard robes banging on the door of the fort. Approaching carefully, she climbed atop the fort and whispered to him from above.
The man looked up, revealing a towering, muscular frame. “I’m Merlin,” he said. Despite the robes, Tiyana felt his magic was weak and erratic.
Teaming up, they searched for another way inside and found a tower door. Merlin set down the ballista he was carrying around, took a step back, and headbutted the door. It cracked. Tiyana finished the job with fire.
From inside, hurried footsteps.
Selah darted onto the roof, while Tiyana and Merlin hid behind an illusion. A dark-skinned man in fine clothes appeared, checking the mechanical clock on his wrist. He called out: “I know you’re there!”

The Inventor and Flux
The illusion dropped, and the three stepped forward. The man introduced himself as Clarence, an inventor, scientist, and former engineer for the Kenver army. He had abandoned war for a quiet life, but trouble had found him anyway.
Barrels of Flux had washed ashore - unstable, and seemingly valuable. Then came the attacks. Mysterious figures from the sea, hunting for something.
Tiyana offered a theory. Maybe the barrels belonged to them? Clarence had never considered it. He grinned. “You’ll go far, kid.”
He had been experimenting with Flux, hoping to turn it into fuel or even crystallise it. The crew struck a deal: help defend the island, and Clarence would build them a Flux Stirling Engine for their ship.
While Clarence and Tiyana marvelled at his inventions, Selah and Merlin dragged cannons from the ship to the fort. That’s when Mad Matt woke up.
Stumbling onto the deck, he found a strange, hulking wizard carrying their cannons away. He considered stopping him. He considered going back to bed. He shrugged.

The First Attack
Hours passed. Then – bubbles in the water.
Matt fearlessly walked into the sea to investigate.
He found a man walking along the seafloor, looking shockingly well-composed. The man stopped, stunned. Then, he blew a whistle.
Before Matt could react, the man lunged with a sword. Wounded, Matt bolted back to shore.
Selah and Tiyana fired the cannons, but missed the attacker’s slender frame.

Merlin, hearing Matt’s alarm, picked up his own cannon and ran over, leaving his post. The enemy tried to attack the cannon itself, but his blade was useless against iron.
Matt, bleeding, turned. Dark tentacles erupted from his hands, crushing the intruder. To Matt’s surprise, the man popped in a very human way – not demonic.
Merlin, disappointed he didn’t get to fire his cannon, sprinted back to his post, because more were coming.

The Battle for the Island
Selah’s next shot landed, instantly killing another intruder in the water.
Tiyana launched Magic Missiles and a cheeky Fireball, while Matt slipped in and out of danger, fighting the intruders head-on. Merlin defended the southern gate alone.
As he fought in his rage, something changed. His chest hair began glowing and a bolt of $of$ light shot from it, blinding an attacker. Roaring, he jumped from the walls and crushed another with his greatclub.
Selah struggled with the cannons but had other skills. When an enemy slipped past her defences, she rushed in and struck his pressure points. He collapsed, and she chained him up.
Matt, still wounded, got on the ground and his skin and clothes began shimmering in the hue of the ground below. Now almost invisible, he hid inside a barrel.
Merlin bravely held the gate and crushed an attacker against a rock. Tiyana helped out with Magic Missiles and she hit a pink glowing gem embedded into the necklace of one of the attackers – and something horrifying happened: The enemy’s clothes rotted. His skin sagged. His eyes fell out. His sword rusted to dust. It seems like in mere seconds, centuries passed, and he was a zombie.
From inside his barrel, Matt lined up a shot and the zombie’s head exploded.
Merlin crushed the last enemy with a single swing.

The Prisoner and the Truth
The crew regrouped. One enemy still lived – bound and unconscious.
Now, it was time for answers.