Bablo had said the fishmen would attack at midnight, but the weather over Chardo Port had changed dramatically ever since nine thirty that evening. Sudden shifts in weather were common in harbor cities, but going from a sky reflected in the waters like a river of stars to a torrential downpour heralding a storm in just twenty minutes was still proof that something was wrong.
The psions among the players had all sensed that the rain was unnatural, but their current spellcasting abilities weren't enough to counter it. They could only hold their assigned positions in the rain. At least they could be glad that their first battle in a city had given them somewhere to shelter from the wind and rain.
But before they could finish feeling relieved, an even more outrageous storm engulfed the entire port district.
The terrifying winds drove the rain so fiercely that the conditions became too harsh for even vampires to take to the sky and fight. Meanwhile, the tide outside the harbor rose rapidly, submerging the piers in just over ten minutes.
No warning was needed. Every player and every halfling city guard at their post knew: the Dagon fishmen were here.
The first wave of these deep-sea barbarians attacked amid sweeping lightning storms. The oddly dressed abyss walkers of the Dagon cult strode atop the waves like some warped, extradimensional Tidecaller, calling out in fishmanese as they summoned psionic power.
Blinding lightning crashed down through the wind and rain, taking out several walkers the halflings had deployed at the front line in a single strike.
The brightly lit docks plunged into darkness. With the gas lamps out, halfling morale plummeted, and the city's coastal cannons could no longer aim in the driving rain.
Cannons boomed in the distance, but their scattered shots