Rising Waters: Season 2.5, Session 2!

So we last left our fellows seasick and concerned as they pulled themselves out of the bay in front of Fells Point. The sidewalks were littered with the bodies of dead seagulls and the storm clouds above were threatening, with wind and rain spattering down on the streets. Over the scent of the bay and the storm, they could all smell rotted meat and old, dead blood, letting them know that the ghouls they had been seeking were nearby.

Eldi was the first to spot one, lurking in a narrow alleyway, waiting to ambush the characters. She used her glamour to set off a sort of flare above it, notifying the others (and getting oohs and aahs from the barhoppers nearby, who thought it was fireworks). Victor and Uno moved to take it on, Uno with his sword, and Victor using his fists and his kinetic bracelet focus to pack a bit of extra punch. Dylan decided to see where there might be others and went ahead and pinged the diving bell, using the sonar idea he'd been using below water to sense if there were any others anywhere around. He located two others hiding not far away around the corner of a building, waiting to spring out and catch Adia off guard. Eldi tries using light again as Dylan yells out a warning, but she misjudges and ends up sending off the flare off too close to Adia, temporarily blinding her.

Adia tries to duck and roll, as she's quite the Ninja-Wallflower, but she misjudges and ends up back in the water rather than closer to the buildings, where she'd intended to go. That being said, the ghouls can't reach her, so she turns out to be in a very safe place. Zeke takes a shot at the ghoul, doing some damage, but his internal "gotta save them all" instinct kicks in and so he dives over and helps pull Adia out of the water, giving up a chance to attack the ghouls. Meantime, a weird sort of garbage golem (demonic construct) pulls itself out of a dumpster behind Victor and starts in on him to the exclusion of everything else (He Is THAT Asshole, after all), and he'd caught the attention of the constructs in the bay.

When it looks like the team was going to be overwhelmed, Dylan decides to call on the power of the energy in the storm and bring down lightning, frying the ghouls. Zeke says a prayer for him, calling on Sauriel, and that charges Dylan's efforts with Soulfire, giving Dylan a taste of rightness and certainty as he calls down the magic that he's never experienced before. The lightning follows as Eldi runs for the safety of Adia's purse, since he forgot to warn her, and the ghouls and the construct are all zorched. Zeke uses soulfire to enhance his bullets, finishing off two remaining ghouls, while Victor and Uno take out a ghoul and the trash demon respectively. There's a strange, echoing laughter that comes in off the water, and the skies start to clear as the ghouls dissolve into the street puddles, and the group starts to wonder just what it's gotten itself into.

Tune in next time!