July 17th, 2020 The party continued to fight off the harpies as they made their way up the narrow, switchbacking trail leading to the lighthouse. The group managed to take one of the harpies out and that took all the fight out of the other two. The harpies retrieved their fallen aerie mate from the churning ocean and flew off to the east. This gave Cormac the perfect opportunity to extoll the party with a story about the origins of harpies from the huge tome of lore he has been lugging around. And everyone said a Liberal Arts degree would be good for nothing on the outside...shya right. Atop the rocky precipice, Travyn channeled his inner Matthias and had a pleasant conversation with a seagull, wherein he learned there was some bad guy living inside the lighthouse. The seagull was rewarded with some delicious hard tack. Yum. Then, the party turned their attention to searching the lighthouse and its associated outbuildings. Inside, the party discovered an altar to Talos fitted with a lightning rod. Simplejack could not overcome his curiosity and searched the altar for hidden secrets. The Paladin of Selune was positively charged with enegry as the raw power of Talos flowed through him. His eyes began to crackle with lightning, but no harm came of him (that he knows) and he was rewarded for his efforts with a Charm of the Storm. Later, the party searched an adjoining deck, and the harpies bone, filth, and seaweed-ridden aerie. Yes, they sifted through the detritus and unearthed a potion of waterbreathing (which would later be used to great effect!). Atop the roof, the party encountered Moesko, the half-orc Anchorite of Talos, whom was in the middle of calling down the raw, destructive power of Talos. Rain pounded down from the skies and thunder and lightning descended from the heavens. At the half-orc's feet, a slain sea elf. Around his neck, the banshee's conch. Moesko demanded the party leave--they failed to comply. A battle ensued. The party unleashed all their might against the cultist. And there were fireworks galore! Entangling seaweed, radiant Moonbeams,Scorching Rays, blasts of Lightning Bolts, punishing Magic Missiles, and one Thunderwave that knocked Simplejack over the railing, plummeting to his near-doom, some 80 feet below, into shark-infested waters beneath the Cliffs of Semi-Insanity. Were it not for his relentless endurance, Simplejack would have surely met his end there. Or in the parlance of a certain forest gnome, "it would have been his time". But, it was not to be. Simplejack grasped to a rock for dear life, as waves pummeled him, while his companions topside finished off the cultist. The party eventually fished Simplejack out of the water and there was much rejoicing. Later, the party ascended the staircase and discovered and destroyed the blindingly bright green heart that had been luring ships into the surrounding reef. Incidentally, on this day, the celebrated party game of Smashata was also created. Their tasks complete, the party placed the sea elf's body on a litter and carried her, and the conch, to the banshee's cave. There, they freed Miraela from her curse, releasing her from this mortal coil. There, they also learned Sebastian the Crab had also been cursed, and was in fact a handsome human sailor and Miraela's paramour. Releasing Miraela and Sebastian from their curse, the two lovers' spirits drifted off into the sea, the sound of the waves a reminder of the undying love. Here, Matthias earned his very own hat--a sailor's cap. Finally, Matthias conversed with Antonio the Hunter Shark, and learned of treasures within the seawrecks. Antonio told him that if they chummed the water with the delicious giant crab, they might have time to retrieve two treasures, but they needed to be quick about it. Apparently, his companions, Guido and Luigi, were a little aggressive. So Cormac chugged the potion, dived down into the seawrecks, and retrieved a +1 weapon and a delicate, 9-inch tall, blue quartz statuette of a mermaid.. Not wanting to risk further exploration, Cormac was fished out of the water just as the hunter sharks came swimming into the area, not quite fully sated by the delicious crabmeat appetizer. PCs present: Cormac, Matthias, Simplejack, Travyn Items gained: mermaid statuette (75 gp), +1 weapon, Moesko's leather thong & pooka shell necklace, sailor's cap, and a claw gauntlet of unknown origin