Catalogue of Adventure!

I'm going to try and keep a weekly tally of our adventures. Not only does it force me to write creatively, but hopefully we'll be able to use it to refer back to it and make our overall DnD experience richer.

I'm going to be posting it here. I'll try to make the storytelling as impartial as possible. Any edits or additions are welcome.

Hi guys! Here's the intro, essentially how we all met on the boat. It a very rough draft, and some of the characters may not be as you like them--it's open to editing from any and everyone interested. More to follow! NB--don't know the name of Dan's character, so just bracketed it.
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Session 1, 2/7/2013 Intro
[Dan], the newly anointed cleric of Dehur, shakily wiped is hands across as mouth and looked ruefully down at the waves below. His native land, the Shattered Isles, was famous for its might and prowess at sea. Given this, [Dan] thought it was slightly ironic that even after several weeks at sea, he still hadn’t improved at all in gaining his sea legs. Feeling minutely better after ridding himself of his breakfast, [Dan] slid down to sit cross-legged on the deck of the ship. Despite the unpleasantness of the journey so far, [Dan] took the discomfort in stride. His patron Warden was the Lord of the Record of All Things, and valued knowledge. This was a new experience for him. He was to visit the Confederacy of Free Peoples in Kilgaden and help with the establishment of a new branch of the Holy Church of Anhador and the Wardens. While [Dan] was grateful for the opportunity presented, he much hoped that the return journey would not be any time soon. Burping fitfully, he took stock of those on deck, intending to keep his mind occupied with thoughts besides the unease of his stomach.
There was a normal allotment of crew, going about their duties in the rigging or on deck with the casual ease of lifelong hands. They were mostly human, though an occasional elf could be seen and [Dan] knew for a fact that the master of the crow’s nest was a Halfling. Their voices were as constant as the sound of the ocean around them, a chorus of “Ho’s!” and “Away!” punctuated with expert whistles. Although the scene was new to [Dan], it seemed remarkably familiar, echoing the tales of the daring captains of his homeland sailing for gold and glory and fearlessly facing dread privateers. Yet his strange comfort with the crew did not echo for all of his traveling companions.
Laying on its back and soaking up the sunlight, all the world like an Esgallian holidayer, laid a kobold. Its scales gleamed a bright green in the sunlight as it stretched, contentedly as a cat. It looked like a thin, bony crocodile that had decided to walk upright. [Dan] had asked the captain earlier about the unusual passenger. The captain, a fairly gruff man and a season sailor, had a hidden weakness for gossip, and had filled [Dan] in on some details several days ago while [Dan] spent the evening hanging over the rail.
Captain: “The lizard? Can’t pronounce the name he told me when he got on, so me an the crew have takin to callin ‘im ‘Squeaks.’ He’s some sort of head-honcho dragon-botherer from Anaon. Dunno what he was doing in the Kingdom. Anyway, he’s heading home through Kilgaden. It’s another month at least going south, but the northway past the Caliphate is dangerous year round. Don’t blame the little bugger,” he said as he spat on the ground, “I wouldn’t want to deal with those damn fanatics either.”
[Dan] could still hardly believe it. The Kingdom at Sea welcomed all types, but dragon worshipers! That seemed a stretch. But if the kobold was content where he was, [Dan] wasn’t going to start any trouble. However, as he turned his head to look around further, someone else seemed to have a more difficult time maintaining such composure.
The man wore his armor on deck, which glinted with the holy sigils of Peniel. Obviously he was some sort of templar or knight for the Order of the Sword. He had a kind face with features more suited to laughing, but at the moment he seemed to be disguising a particularly nasty taste in his mouth whenever he looked at the kobold. [Dan] chuckled. This one was full of righteousness and fire, probably still trying to reconcile the Love of the Warden’s with their Wrath. Also probably polishing his armor every night, though likely past sleeping in it. [Dan] winced--that had gotten uncomfortable quickly for him. His armor was tucked safely in the captain’s quarters. Even if pirates did attack, he’d rather die from the blow of a sword than clawing off bits of his armor as he sank like a stone into the depths. Again shifting his eyes, [Dan] regarded someone who had like thoughts to the templar in regards to proper sailing attire, but likely little else.
Now this one truly was a puzzle. It was a huge brute of a man, reaching likely seven feet, with a grim, mangy wolf lying next to him. He wore mismatched bands and buckles of heavy armor, and although he carried no weapon, in truth it looked like he needed none. Every day he sat in a corner on deck, never speaking to anyone and growling deeply, together with his wolf, when anyone got too close. [Dan] had talked to the captain earlier about him, though he merely shrugged and said, “The man just walked up to me a few days a’for launch and gave me a purse with the standard fare for one passenger and a ‘pet’. Can’t get a word outta him sideways. Didn’t try too hard though.” [Dan] admitted that in the captain’s situation he would have been loathe to press the subject with the giant barbarian, but there was something…off about the situation. The man looked too perfect. Not in the sense that he was attractive, by no means. Too perfect in the sense that if one was asked to envision “dangerous barbarian warrior,” the image would match this man perfectly. His motions seemed just slightly exaggerated. Most strangely of all, he seemed to spend his time also examining the other passengers. He didn’t have the crass boldness of a warrior, but rather seemed wary and suspicious of everyone. Scanning around, the giant man locked eyes with [Dan], and the cleric quickly looked away.
Next was an elven entourage. [Dan] scowled briefly before stopping himself. He wasn’t a speciest—no one who lived in the Shattered Isles could really afford to be, given how many different races lived there. But from their livery and placid arrogance, he could tell they were Hindarion elves. Unlike some others, [Dan] had never held the War of Peace against them—every race and nation was guilty of the sin of war. It was their unflinching self-righteousness, the surety that they had been right. They hadn’t ‘lost’ the war—they had graciously allowed some of the lesser races to continue their folly without interference. There was a young one with them, mantled in a cloak of green, symbolizing his acceptance into the Woodland Guard. Maybe there was some hope for this one, though [Dan] thought he could see the beginnings of distain curling his flawless features.
[I know little about Yi Fei. I’m doing this from my basic impression I got from the session. I have added details, mainly basing Yi’s appearance on that of traditional samurai. Any differences are my fault, and I will happily correct them or allow editing.]
The last odd sojourner that remained on deck was a strange looking warrior in an insectoid type suit of armor. Rather than the thick, solid plates of regular knights, his seemed similar to the banded mail suits of poorer infantrymen. Yet where theirs’ looked cobbled together, his demonstrated a uniform segmentation that seemed too well crafted for a mere mercenary. It also was painted a bright blue, and well taken care of. The man himself was fairly young, and had a slightly darker complexion with almond-shaped eyes. “He’s probably from Eyeleir,” [Dan] thought. “Probably his first time on a boat, too. He seems to be handling it better than I though…”
[Dan’s] thoughts gradually muddled together until he feel into a torpor, induced by the soothing sound of the waves rushing combined with their wretched, rolling motion. After what felt like hours, he woke up to the sound of a piercing shriek.
The sight that greeted [Dan’s] eyes was so ridiculous as to make him doubt his wakefulness. From over the bow of the ship, a huge, barnacle encrusted tentacle had arisen and was blindly clutching its way along the deck. That, while unexpected, was not the ridiculous event. What was, however, was the giant of a barbarian stomping up and down on it frantically while cradling his supposedly ferocious wolf, now whimpering, in his arms, all the while shrieking like a little girl.
[Dan], thinking the sun and his sickness had finally gotten to him, slowly pulled himself up and made his way below decks to his bunk. No more boats for him, ever. Enough was enough. However, as the shouts of the crew joined the barbarian’s and the ship began to move in a most unusual way, [Dan] began to reconsider his course of action. Before he was able to turn around though, he felt a strange “tugging” motion, as if someone had tied a string around his waist and was pulling him backwards. [Dan] felt a moment of disorientation, and saw he was on deck again. He wondered briefly how he had gotten back here, then noticed another tentacle, much like the one he had seen early, crashing down towards him.
That was the last thing [Dan] noticed for some time.

Think Guan Yu and Zhang Liao from the Three Kingdoms/ Dynasty Warriors combined.