Uro sighs. He had quickly grown tired of the temperamental woman. "Let's just go. She doesn't want our help and if she goes down with the ship, it will save us the trouble of putting her down as a demon zombie."
The trio heads back to the beach, flagging down Gwl along the way. Then they head back to Captain Whatsisname, so that they can go back to Sasserine. They need to warn Lady Vandorboren that these pirates are targeting her because of Vanthus' betraying them.
"Maybe we can catch one of these pirates and he can lead us to Vanthus," Jym muses.
Cap'n Harden is as good as his word, waiting just around the bend of the cliffs with his fast ship. The tide came in while you were in the caves and aboard the pirate ship, and Harden remarks, "Let's cast off now, as the tide turns out, unless you want to wait another two watches."
"No, we need to get back in a hurry."
Jym explains everything that they just found out to Captain Harden.
Harden nods and spits over the side. "Saw no other ship sail out since we've been here," he says, "so the mate must've gone by foot. Even with a head start, we'll beat him back to Sasserine by going the way we came, unless we get a freak wind or current. That said, if you want I can try and shave off even more time by cutting sou'west earlier, but if it don't work, we may get caught off the Sunshine Point and lose a watch there."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! When I said 'hurry,' I didn't mean dangerously so. I mean, really."
He nods, squints into the breeze, and adjusts the wheel minutely. The trip back ends up taking about the same amount of time as the trip there, which means you have time to rest before arriving at the docks.
Gwl opts to swim back to the ship, waving the others on the boat ahead of him.
Gwl:
Gwl points his claw at the crumpled paper, staying at the doorway.
"A poisoned heart cannot prosper. This madness will claim you, as it has the others. Zuoken has given me the will to resist, though I struggle still. Abandon your hatred and seek justice, not vengeance. I will help you, but no harm must come to Lady Vanderboren. She is not the cause of her brother's wickedness."
She slides forward very, very quickly for someone in her condition, rapier flickering like the head of a serpent.
If wins:
Gwl begins to retort when the serpent's fang punctures the roof of his mouth and lances into his brain. An incoherent garble escapes his lips and he collapses bonelessly to the floor.
Ouch.
For everyone else: Gwlybwr motioned you on board Cap'n Harden's ship, as if he would catch up in a second. You discuss the trip options with Harden and convince him to Take 10, but there's still no sign of Gwl. What's everyone doing?
On the journey to the cove from Sasserine, Gwl kept mostly below decks, staying out of the sun and wind as was his wont. Its entirely plausible that he slipped onboard ahead of the others, as he swims faster than most rowboats travel. A cursory inspection of the bilge should locate him, though his absence topside isn't conspicuous. If he doesn't show up for supper - "fresh fish!" - then that would be noteworthy.
As the group sails back to Sasserine, a sinking feeling sets in that something has happened to Gwlybwr. By the time dinner time has come and gone, Jym is certain that the fish-man has run into trouble. There is debate over whether to turn back, but the concern to stop further bloodshed in Sasserine wins out.
"He is a hideous monstrosity, after all," Jym reasons, a single, dramatic tear rolling down his cheek.
"Oh, hey! I packed some rhubarb pastries in my pants, this morning!" he continues, passing an after dinner treat to Uro, Elebrin, and Captain McGrumps.
Harden docks where he picked you up. "Can't go up the canal. Draft's too deep." Without another word he ties off and lowers the gangplank for you, waving away any offer of payment anyone might make.
It's early in the morning when you arrive, and the docks seem slow. There's a bizarrely-dressed person looking around -- apparently an elf in getup reminiscent of an Amedio Jungle tribesman -- maybe he's going to a costume party?
Elebrin, unsure of what to say of Gwylbyr and his absence continues on in relative silence. Once the morning comes and the ship arrives Elebrin considers the elf and offers a, Can I help you? in what is surely (unbeknownst to her) an exceptionally aristocratic and idiosyncratic version of the language of her people...
Ixotl waits patiently on the dockside, blending easily with the other porters after a few days of observing their customs. He watches impassively as the well-dressed elf approaches another tribesman, one who is seeking travel upriver and sticks out like a sore thumb, though his focus never leaves his quarry.
As Uro descends the gangplank, Ixotl removes his headband and suddenly slings a ceramic sphere directly at him The stone blurs past Uro's head, striking the plank with a sharp crack and ricocheting off into the harbor, where it skips across the bay before sinking beneath the waves. A whitish-grey gouge mars the wood where it struck, and the entire plank thrums from the impact.
"I didn't have to miss."
The words are spoken softly but carry easily across the quiet dock.
"I seek that which was stolen from us, and that path leads to you. Your reputation has sheltered you from Xolotl's gaze, but I must have the truth from you."
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"Oh! Oh! Oh! This reminds me of how my parents met back in Greenfields! Not each other, but other people before they met each other! See, Mutter was at the market searching for a bunch of long-todds for Liar's Day Dinner, when she tripped over a medium-sized shimple, while meanwhile Vater was taking a weighted sack of unwanted kittens to live with a family who lived down by the river. So, Mutter's shimple was owned by Lambofa Grandgibbs, who had a glass eye. The thing is, Mx. Grandgibbs was afraid that people would steal the glass eye, not because it was valuable, but because of an emotional connection to it. And when Vater got to the river, he met this guy named Vuknir who was on a boat... on the river. Vuknir wanted to buy the kittens and raise them as his own breeding grounds for a flea circus. Back to the glass eye, old Lambofa decided to cover the eye socket with an eyepatch... but only as a distraction! The actual glass eye was in a safe back at home hidden behind a rock in the hearth, and the rock was shaped remarkably similarly to Mutter's birthmark that she received in a letter from the mayor, one time.
"...
"Oh! So, that sphere that just flew past your head reminded me of the shimple and..." Jym hooks his thumb at Captain Harden's ship, "you know, boat."
Uro brandishes his axe in front of him. "I don't have to miss either. Tell me what you want and do so clearly."
"The Quetzalcoatl. Stolen from her glade and brought down the Crab River, to Sasserine."
Ixotl motions with his hands, waving his sling and conjuring an image of a dazzling winged serpent with rainbow sales.
"Some here saw her recently, on the Blue Nixie, but she is there no longer. I have seen the other animal slavers, and from each learned another. The last spoke of you, Uro Taraka."
Again he points along the harbor, his finger darting from place to place, finally resting at Uro.
"Some here saw you recently, on the Blue Nixie, but you are no longer there. Where have you taken the Sacred Serpent?"
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"Was that bird one of the rare creatures you slaughtered on the Blue Nixie, Uro? I can't remember."
Uro shakes his head. "Never seen a winged snake before. The thing that I killed on the ship was a giant bug. In my defense though, it tried to eat us first."
"I believe you, both from your words and your choice of companions."
He acknowledges Jym and Elebrin, the latter getting a deferential nod.
"A dawn pygmy and one of the daoine sidhe would not willingly travel with such a thief. Tell me, then. Who else upon the Blue Nixie profits from the shackles of our spirit brethren? I have come far, and no blade or bar shall keep me from that which I seek."
"His name was Vark I think, right?" Uro looks to Jym to verify.
"Last We heard he was heavily indebted to the harbor master here. I would guess that he is still working it off."
"Vark."
Ixotl repeats the name carefully, checking it against his memory.
"I have heard that name in connection with the slaughter aboard the Blue Nixie. Those same stories also led to you. You are what I had hoped for, but not what I had prepared for. Thank you for the truth."
With that, he ties his headband back in place and turns to leave.
"Hmm. Do you think Vark was hired by Vanthus?" Jym asks Elebrin and Uro. "To secure the ship for him until Vanthus could come claim that signet ring?"
Uro nods. "That would make sense. We didn't know about Vanthus's involvement at that point, so we couldn't have known to ask." The orc turns to Ixotl as he is leaving. "Hey, um.. elf guy. What's your name anyway?"
"Call me Ixotl."
"Alright Ixotl. We think that Vark was a hireling of a man that we are looking for right now. His name is Vanthus. He may be responsible for capturing your sacred serpent, but can't swear to it."
Elebrin nods after Uro as he responds to Jym and nods again as Uro lays out the situation to Ixotl, This Vanthus fellow seems up to all sorts of no good. It seems passingly probable that he or someone he knows...knows...something... Elebrin drifts in considering the weird verbal tangle she has placed herself in using the common tongue but after a moment of contemplation nods assuredly, Yes. It doesn't hurt to come with us and see.
"Vanthus. Another name to seek. Perhaps Vark will also know this name. If, as you say, he was in his employ, then he definitely will. At the least, Vark will speak of the Quetzalcoatl."
Ixotl considers Elebrin's offer as she talks herself into a tangle.
"I often hunt alone. Such is the life of a Seeker. If you have been hunting Vanthus, then it would be foolish to ignore what you have learned. Where should I find you when I have finished with Vark?"
Elebrin looks to Jym and Uro, Ah...where will...we be?
"If we're not at Lady Vandorboren's estate rescuing her from pirates with murderous intent, then we'll be at ."
"If we're not at Lady Vandorboren's estate rescuing her from pirates with murderous intent..."
So, uh, about that...
"Murderous pirates. That is something I am capable of assisting with. I shall come with you now and seek Vark once this matter is resolved. Tell me of the scum you hunt, and let us be on our way."
Unless you made a concentrated effort to stay awake for like a day and half straight (on top of all your activity at the cove), I'm taking that as a given.
Your hired cart or rickshaw or whatever encounters massive delays as you approach the quarter of the city where Vanderboren Manor sits; evidently there is a huge festival underway, with many of the streets closed for parades, and massive crowds making other routes clogged. Anyone who makes a DC 10 Streetwise check is aware that
"Drunken louts. They will celebrate any momentous event with deviance and debauchery. And they call us savages. *sigh*. It will take ages to get a cart through this crowd. A mob is like a jungle, though; there is always a path if you know where to look."
Ixotl will hop down off the cart, taking directions from the others to their intended destination, but leading the way through the surging throng of revelers. He will occasionally pause and close his eyes, gaining an excellent vantage of the way forward from the wood owl winging silently overhead.
Ixotl moves through the seething crowds like an eel through heavy weeds, somehow always knowing where the crowds will be thinnest. Even Jym, who has grown accustomed to having a corner on the party market for Streetwise, is left somewhat in awe.
In truth, Ixotl is somewhat glad for the crowds, because he knows from experience they make it nearly impossible for others to follow him.
Cutting down an alley, you turn another corner and find the mansion in sight ahead of you. The parades have passed by, leaving only a few stragglers in their wake; ahead of you are a quartet of celebrants on stilts, three dressed in garish plumage as exotic birds, and the leader attired in the even more fabulous costume of a couatl.
You are under attack before it occurs to you that, although it's nearly impossible to follow you under these conditions, it's easy to stake out a fixed location, blend in with the crowd, and then wait for you to walk up...
The leader opens up with a ridiculous-looking but deceptively effective stilt-kick, following up with an overhand right; the others hang back and throw what look like small Molotov cocktails (those are touch attacks; if hit, DC 11 Reflex to avoid catching on fire).
Even despite his usual caution, Ixotl practically walks into the stilt, which knocks the wind out of him and puts him in perfect position for that downward blow, which crashes against his jaw and sends him to the pavement.
Jym, reaching for a cake or something, sees a flask with a fiery wick in it sail over his head; shrugging, he takes a bite just as the flask smashes against a nearby open bar, engulfing a number of shot-drinkers' drinks into flame. Lots of screaming begins, and people start running in all directions.
Uro almost sneers as a firebomb intended for him instead hits an overhead banner and stops short, dropping to the pavement where it bursts and causes no real damage.
Luckless Elebrin is hit dead-on
, but thankfully does not catch on fire.
Ixotl's knockout punch dropped him so quickly that he strikes his head on the pavement, putting him in immediate risk of death.
Uro grows furiously as he pulls his axe and charges at the stilt man.