Captain, oh Captain!

Captain, oh Captain!
Struggle between light and darkness

Medo tapped Okrin on the shoulder making the champion turn around. At once the priest realised that Mr Arrows had lost his mind as the first mate held a large dagger to his own throat. As Okrin opened his mouth about mutter a quiet "don't" the hardened seaman brought the blade across his throat and plummeted into the sea and his demise. Captain Amella was obviously lost in tears having seen her most trusted friend committing a most questionable suicide. Okrin quickly supported her by her arms and tried to calm her down. None in the travelling party were able to comprehend or explain what drove the first mate mad enough to commit such an abominable act of self destruction. Could it be ancient Netherese craft? Demonic charm? Or a disease? Okrin didn't know but decided to ask the Morninglord for prayers against diseases and protection from demonic fiends first thing in the morning.

Marching on the group faced several uneventful days. Okrin sensed the low morale especially amongst the crew and he therefore decided it was time to instil a little morale by explaining the magnificent transformation of Amaunator and how he became the greater deity of Lathander.. "It all began in the ancient Netherese times" Okrin started all excitedly. His companions all shared a silent look. They knew this story might take a while. The only one paying close attention was the hard. Okrin wasn't sure if it was courtesy or an obligation to expand his wealth of bardic tales already in
Symbol of Shar - The mistress of the Night his repertoire.
"Amaunator was the Netherese solar deity of order, the sun, law and time. He was viewed as a harsh but fair deity. Being the deity of the sun his opponents were deities of shadow and darkness such as the evil Shar. Also referrred to as the Mistress of the Night, Shar was the goddess of darkness, and the caverns of Faerûn and I support the theory of the bard that her followers may be behind the harassment we have been subjected to the past few days.". Okrin's eyes flared as he muttered: "No matter what foul beasts have it in
Symbol of Amaunator - Keeper of law and the eternal Sun for us, the light of Aumaunator shall shine bright and retribution will be swift and merciless!".
It wouldn't be long until the companions were once again under attack. Three demonic ape-like creatures, called 'Bar-lgura', attacked the group. They had massive arms capable of crushing and slamming the life out of their foes. Before the heroes could really scramble a defence the first fiend were on Medo dealing the Druid in bear form a crushing blow. In fact Okrin was certain the mighty blow would have slain most men he knew. The Druid still stood, albeit clearly shaken.
Surprisingly the bar-lgur managed to jump on Amella an teleport her away. The remaining fiends to took off so it seemed as if they were intelligent enough to plan a kidnapping or they were acting on behalf of someone potentially even more dangerous! Okrin shuddered at the thought of an unknown enemy even more powerful than the might Bar-lgura, but quickly dismissed his fears tending to the wounds of his friends and companions.
The group was left missing the captain of the ship supposed to take them home and with no clues as to who took her or why and eventually where they brought her. Okrin speculated, "If the kidnapping is linked to the harassment it is only natural that Amella is kept somewhere not far from us and if it is indeed followers of Shar it is likely to be a temple or some holy site in form of ruins, an altar or similar landmarks". Okrin pondered and turned to the druid, "Medo do you think you can track the demon apes or perhaps take the form of a falcon and scan the area to find some features or landmarks we can search for the captain? And does anyone else have other theories on how we can find and rescue our lost captain?".