Game summary for September 8, 2026, Chronoshift: Spelljammer campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game 1st Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Callum Spellhardt (Human Sorcerer played by Parker Harmon), Hekera Nephera Mawhesk Vyk’sebekenka (Sebek-ka Fighter played by Preston Harmon), Polaris Helmsmeade (Dwarf Templar played by Peyton Harmon), and Ursay (Mongrelfolk Slayer played by Paul Potter). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.
The team sent Vinnie to acquire cargo for the next leg of their adventure while they went and negotiated investment terms with Rathun Brangus (25,000 gp) and Neris Thalassene (5,000 gp) to buy into their enterprises.
They then boarded The Shooting Star and headed for the island of Kwalish. As their ship nosed around the island’s black-rock point, they spotted the “lab” immediately—not because it was large, but because it refused to blend in. A squat, angular structure sat above the surf on pilings and stone footings, braced with scavenged timbers and iron bands. Copper rods and weather vanes sprouted from the roof like a thorny crown, and a web of lines ran down to anchored buoys that kept the whole place steady against wind and tide.
A narrow dock jutted out into the water, fitted with a hand-cranked crane and a pair of thick chains that disappeared into the sea. The air tasted of salt and lamp oil. Something inside whined, clicked, and clunked with a steady, patient rhythm—the sound of a machine that never truly stopped working.
Inside, the space was warm and dry, lit by hooded lanterns and the pale glow of glass tubes set into the walls. Every surface was claimed: benches crowded with calipers, wire spools, and half-disassembled mechanisms; shelves stacked with jars of strange parts and carefully labeled sketches; chalkboards covered in diagrams of levers, pressure seals, and notes about “depth” written and rewritten until the chalk had worn grooves into the slate. The place smelled of hot metal, ink, and brine.
Dominating the center of the lab was the reason they had come: a massive sealed iron barrel fitted with a hatch and a row of sturdy levers, its outer shell scarred and patched as though it had been rebuilt after hard use. Even at rest, it looked heavy enough to crush a wagon—but the fittings were precise, purposeful, and unmistakably designed for the sea. Nearby, a spread of notes and cross-sections made its purpose plain: this contraption had been built to descend into the ocean depths and return with its occupants alive.
Then they noticed the other work. Odd fragments of unfamiliar metal were laid out like pieces of a puzzle, etched with markings that matched no local craft tradition. Nearby, a separate set of sketches obsessively compared their angles and fastenings to gnomish designs.
Whatever else this wizard was, he was the sort of inventor who could disappear into a problem for years—the kind who found strange technology and could not rest until he understood it, repurposed it, and made it better.
Kwalish was an elderly but spry gnome with excitable mannerisms and a flowing white beard. Compact and wiry, he had a shock of unruly hair singed at the tips and goggles that had left permanent pale rings around his eyes. His coat was a patchwork of pockets and stitched-on tool loops, bulging with calipers, chalk, and tiny brass fittings. He smelled faintly of brine, hot metal, and alchemical solvent, and gestured constantly as though turning invisible levers in the air.
Although a gnome, Kwalish was not a tinker gnome, which gave the party a bit more confidence in his engineering prowess. Their need to explore the ocean depths intrigued and excited him, and they got the impression that he was genuinely interested in helping. However, there was always a catch.
Kwalish explained that he had several wonderful machines capable of carrying them safely all the way to the ocean floor. Unfortunately, the devices required a special kind of crystal for fuel. In fact, he had built his laboratory here specifically because such crystals could be found in a cave on a nearby island. There was just one problem. A minotaur pirate crew known as the Dreadhorn Reavers had taken up residence there.
The party agreed to raid the pirate-occupied caves for the crystals they need for fuel. Kwalish will lend them the devices for their journey. They also spent much of their remaining treasure buying magical items to help them in case they have to leave the safety of the apparatuses. There is a chance the sahuagin took anything of value to one of their cities or enclaves, which may mean they have to exit and explore.
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