Tales of Grindylows in the Fever Sea

Threats to ships that sail among the isles of The Shackles are not limited to pirate vessels and the navies of Cheliax and Rahadoum. Tales in the evenings on board The Wormwood turn to legends of the various creatures that inhabit the sea.

 Grindylows

The latest evening, just before gambling on the game of Heave began, Crimson Cogward told a short and disturbing tale of a race of small aquatic humanoids that live under the seas and pull sailors to their deaths: Grindylows. These small, cruel creatures have incredibly strong grips and like to torment and drown their victims.

The Brinebrood Queen

Crimson Cogward told the tale of finding a bottle floating with a note inside, which had the tale of a castaway stranded on an island. The man's ship--a Chelaxian warship called The Infernus--had been sunk off the southwest side of a tiny island. The castaway made it to the island, and penned the sad strange note which Cogward said he found. It told of him arriving on the island after swimming from the wreck, fearing the "dangerous cargo" the ship had been transporting and the savage grindylows that were attacking the crew as the ship sank. He swam into a lagoon which led to some sea caves. Inside, he spied a horrific duo. The first, an octopus-crossed Grindylow who seemed to be a mother of the tribe that was raiding his lost ship.

The "Whale"

And an utterly massive and swollen grindylow which he managed to describe as a "Whale". The sailor managed to escape, and get onto the land of the island--sending the message in a bottle hoping that someone might find and rescue him. However, the sea water had ruined much of the note's details, including where the small island was located. 

Druna and her shillelagh mop clean the deck 

(Dan's newest illustration of his character!)

Druna made a joke after the story concluded about not being afraid of Grindylows as long as she had her mop. It eased the tension somewhat, and continued her campaign of intimidating Fipps Chumlett and the other swabs who assaulted the heroes below deck the prior day. Yet the eerie words that Cogward had uttered continued to haunt the heroes, and their dreams that night featured tiny strong hands and drownings under the waves.