"Hur. I aim tae pick up some bits n' bobs fer the journey, then sink a fleet with Buster at tha Gull... Hur.
Just a hop down the waterfront you stop by the compound of the Freeport Pilots’ Guild to check on charts for the Cannibal Isles and receive a very strange look from the clerk there. ”Why the hells would you be wanting to go there? Those’re cursed shores for sure. I don’t know anyone’s survived long enough to map the damned things. We’ve certainly got nothing like that here.”
It is entering dog watch by the time you finish your errands and probably too late to visit the Freeport Institute, but you’ve got plenty of options for companionship. Rose Alley offers a quick ‘in and out’ experience, Bliss specializes in the exotic, Eddie’s is pretty standard and affordable. Of course, Dreaming Street in Scurvytown offers a whole 'nother experience and you’ll definitely be needing a little divine spell assistance afterwards at least. You've heard of fancier places uptown as well, but haven't had the priviledge or gold as of yet.
Cap'n - can you give a run down on what was in the Nav gear the Groom snaffled?
the Groom hands over the three bottles, two regular bottles and one of the god stuff. "Thanks again for the blessed rum. It set that deader to a howling, as he did not like the taste of it. But go ahead and break the seal on that black label, I am hoping to swap some stories." As he goes to drink his, the Groom's shot undergoes a transformation to something resembling sea water. He swallows the shot with a grimace. "Huh. This is then good stuff?"
the Groom will go on to tell of the fight, leaving out mention of the knife in reference to box. He will then tell the tale of the floater under the pier. "So we are looking for any history on the Sea Lord and his fate. And what exactly was the Sea Pact and what the Sea Pact Ring might look like? And not sure if this is related, but do you have any stories about a jade knife?" the Groom pours out another round of rum.
Dibbets-Usual stuff: compass, sextant, magical chronograph that always shows the sun’s position in Oppara, some charts of the Southern Arcadian Ocean… that kind of stuff.
Peg-Leg takes a healthy swallow of the rum and frowns at your question. ”Can’t ye taste the rum? Have ye done summin’ to earn Besmara’s disfavor then?”
”Mad Milt were the last Sea Lord and good riddance to him. I never cared for that Drac Succession Law that only required ye have a certain surname to rule Freeport. We certainly don’t need no kings around here. You can see what that got us; madman in the office. He threw away all the City’s money on that damned monstrosity of a lighthouse and then planned to release some unspeakable horror on the populace at the grand dedication gala. Fortunately, he was put an end to before he did more harm.”
”Aye, I heard something of a Sea Pact during my time on the Captains’ Council. I believe it were an agreement of some sort b’tween the merfolk and ourselves. Merfolk ain’t exactly what you’d call friendly. Damn secretive most of the time, but used to be a settlement just inside the reef. Can’t say I’ve heard anything of them for a couple years now. The priests over at Gozreh’s Grotto have more dealings with the merfolk if I recall. Sailors are just as likely to see them as an enemy as an ally. Dunno what a Sea Pact Ring would look like and I don’t know any tales about a jade knife either.” He shrugs. ”Funny thing your spook mentioning sharks and black nooses. I seem to recall a Scurvytown gang lynching half-orcs and other non-humans out of the old Chumhouse Bar. That’s not far from the Broken Mug. It might be related.”
Pleased as punch with his new investment Dibbets returns back to the Broken Mug to regroup with the others.
You find a well made chain shirt and the unusual arrows and dagger you seek at Urian’s Forge. The friendly dwarf blacksmith has what you need, but says you’ve cleaned him out of silver weapons. He can make more if you like, but there’s kind of been a run on them lately.
"No need, sir--the knife and the arrows should be enough for me. Any idea why they've been so popular of late?
"There's one other thing you could do for me, if it won't take more than a day. I inherited this rapier from a dead friend, and though it's a fine blade that has seen me through many a fight I find I don't much care for the way the hilts look. Could you change that without altering the balance? If so, I'll come back tomorrow and pick up everything I just bought."
Just a hop down the waterfront you stop by the compound of the Freeport Pilots’ Guild to check on charts for the Cannibal Isles and receive a very strange look from the clerk there. "Why the hells would you be wanting to go there? Those’re cursed shores for sure. I don’t know anyone’s survived long enough to map the damned things. We’ve certainly got nothing like that here."
"Eh--I was afraid of that. Managed to swing a little salvage job, and I figured it sounded too good to be true. If I make it back in one piece, are my logs going to be worth anything to you?"
It is entering dog watch by the time you finish your errands and probably too late to visit the Freeport Institute, but you’ve got plenty of options for companionship. Rose Alley offers a quick ‘in and out’ experience, Bliss specializes in the exotic, Eddie’s is pretty standard and affordable. Of course, Dreaming Street in Scurvytown offers a whole 'nother experience and you’ll definitely be needing a little divine spell assistance afterwards at least. You've heard of fancier places uptown as well, but haven't had the priviledge or gold as of yet.
Eddie's it is. Is there a trustworthy place that Jim can stash most of the coin he won't need for the night (and all his weaponry but his old rapier, if Urian's Forge can't do the modification)?
The clerk at the Pilots’ Guild nods, ”Aye, if they’re of sufficient quality we’d be glad to compensate you for the information.”
You could leave your loot with one of your mates if you’re trusting or hide it in your room. There’s not really any safe storage outside of the Vault. Give me a DC 15 Diplomacy check.
Kaul will spend most of the evening and night at the Gull, drinking, carousing and if needbe scrapping.
He entrusts Mackay with his bag o' swag while he sinks em with gusto.
Kaul has purchased a Adventurer's [read: Pirates] Sash, which now contains; 2 potions o' Cure Light Wounds, 1 potion o' Stone Fist and 1 potion o' Bull's Strength. He also bought a Heavy Boarding Axe [read: greataxe].
During the course of the evening Kaul will sound out [quiet like] both Buster and Mackay about leaving a cache of coin at the Gull to use as a bolthole should he ever need it... He'll happily drop some Sails for their trouble upfront...
After a night on the grog a heavily drunk and armed Kaul will shamble through the door of the Borken Mug around the beginning o' Morning Watch...
"Ahoy schip mayts! Any o' yooze hammuck humpers up an at em!!! Hzr. Hzr."
"Displeasure? Nah, she is just having fun with me I guess. She led me to the house where I met up with my current crew and had no clue what she had in mind there. And now we will be putting to sea soon. I think she approves or wants me to focus on this floater of a merman. Got a week till we set out on a salvage job, so I appreciate the news."
Kaul plant himself down in the Borken Mug... taps his new shiner and grins to himself... snorts when no-one seems tae appear, so he unbinds his new heavy boarding axe Mara...
"Hurzz. Marahhhh meet Besssh. Besssh meet Marrahh... hur."
Okay Kaul will drop Mackay 15gp; 10 he asked for and an extra 5 for old rogues and damages and then pops 20gp, one of his healing potions, his brass knucks and a dagger into a sack for Mackay or Buster to keep fer him.
Knife, healing, jaw-breaker and coin. Perfect bolthole fer a thug like Kaul should he ever find himself on the lam :)
Knowledge Arcana
Spellcraft
Seeing Kaul come in with a broken eye Dibbets is concerned "Are ye ok Kaul? No more faintin spells? - here have a seat n relax"
Depending on how this one goes off, I might but myself a waterproof sack, fill it with salt and jerkify some more tongues to pull out once we're on the waves :P
After a night of debauchery, each in his own individual and slightly disturbing way, the crew finally make their way back to their bunks in the wee hours and actually sleep through the inevitable commotion of the early departing fishing fleet.
Kaul doesn't sleep well despite his exhausted and inebriated state. He has a nightmare of being pursued by ‘Stumpy’ through dark rain slicked streets. He can’t seem to get away from the undead horror and looking down realizes his own legs have been sawed short. He groggily awakes to the sensation of something rough, fleshy, and damp pressed against his cheek!
To Urian: "For my part, I've run into a couple of things recently that plain steel wouldn't bite on any too well, so I'm thinking there may be virtue in silver or cold iron to harm them. If other folks are having similar experiences, why, that's a thing to remark on.
"A Taldan Marine lieutenant's sword, I think."
Jim will leave his belongings with the Groom, if he can find him. Failing that, he'll ask Dagrit to watch his things. "I'm going someplace a mite...shady, and I don't want to wind up asking the Drowner for a sharp-beaked dove or three...."
The pounding at his head now superceded by the potential that Stumpy is back to claim him, Kaul flails for the deader's tongue whilst bellowing (with a shriek throw in for good measure) a warning:
"AAARRRRGGHHHHHeeeeeeellllpp! Its back! The Deader! The FECKIN STUMPY DEADER IS HERE!!!!!"
:
Dibbets launches himself towards Kaul's bedchambers as fast as his little legs can carry him. Slamming open the door he calls on Gozreh's divine will "I gotcha covered matey" as he exhales a thick cloud of concealing fog.
-
:
:
Even in his drunk, panicked, addled state, a nagging feeling strikes Kaul that there's something that ain't right with all this..
"What tha feck!? (cough! hack!)
Kaul's hands close around the tongue and he finds that there is no weight to it.
He can't see much due to the mist filling the room, but he is pretty darn confident there ain't no deader attached to the tongue.....
Grappling fierce with the disembodied tongue, realisation seems to settle on the groggy Kaul...
His beady eyes narrow as he pulls the tongue closer for a better inspection...
As Kaul brings the tongue in it seems a bit big for a human tongue...
Seeing that the commotion has died off a bit, Dibbets speculatively ventures "Are ye alright Kaul, have ye got the deader?"
Mist drifting past his eyes, Kaul can't focus on his new grappling partner and flings it across the room, while he bolts for the door [or Dibbs - whichever he can spot with his Darkvision]
"Huh? Nae Dibb's I don' think so... whatever the hell it is..."
He rubs his neck then looks down at the halfling slightly with a furrowed brow;
"This happen to yer Uncle too..??"
Dibbets looks up as the half-orc bursts out of his room in his sleeping clothes "Oh thank the Drowner yere not choked. Issa bit diffrent from me uncle, are ye feelin faint or got a headache?" concern etched on his face. The mist starts to gradually dissipate.
You hear an angry voice from the door, ”What in all the Hells is going on here?! “ Closer inspection reveals Dagrit and a man in a nightshirt standing at the door and waving their hands to clear away the mist. ”Alright you lot, you’re disturbing paying customers. Have you taken care of our situation yet? I’ll expect a full report tonight!” With that she offers her apologies to the confused looking stranger and leaves you to plot for your day.
Kaul rubs his temple at the mecurial halflings question;
"Aye... a little... thougt it we're the grog like..."
:
"Ere... that tongue... smelt beefy like... like one o' yer arse breezes..." Kaul screws up his face and shudders visibly as he recollects the feeling of the tongue and the smell o' Dibb's emissions...
:
Kaul's paws slip from his scarred head and night cap as his beady eyes fix on Dibbs... first with concern, then as the cogs slowly turn, with an increasingly belligerent glint
...YOU little... he mutters and grabs at the dimiutive comedian...
The Groom steps in as Dagrit leaves. He gives the tongue a kick over to Kaul. "Come on. You can eat your breakfast as we go. I got a couple of leads, I hope you do too." Thinking on Kaul's choice of breakfast, and why it was raw and on the floor, gives the Groom a bit of a shiver and thinks he will pass on breakfast.
As he turns to leave, those present can't fail to see the enormous crossbow on his back. "Oh this? Finn's gift to me. The little blokes at the Klockwerks called it a BFG, a...Bilateral Fulcrumed Gearbolter, bit of a mouthful really. She's named 'The Siren'. She called to me when I saw her."
Washing quietly in his room, Dingus hears Kaul's cry of terror, and rushes out of his room, wearing nothing but a look of concern. Tearing down the hallway, he encounters Dibbets backing out of the room, and a cloud of fog.
"What is it"? "What is happening"? "Is Kaul allright"? , the skinny naked sorcerer asks in a frantic tone. Then he notices The Groom entering with some kind of mechanical golem attached to his back. "Attack! "Attack!", we are sorely pressed. He calls.
The Groom spins to see Dingus rushing forward. He puts up his hands to slow him down. "Everything is fine, except us wearing out our welcome. Kaul must've gagged on his breakfast. I know I would."
He looks further down the hall and sees no sign of Jim. "Looks like we got to pull the cloth out of his ears if he hasn't heard all this by now."
As the mist fades he sees Dibbets biting his own tongue. He motions Dingus into the room, and partially closes the door so that Jim might be heard in the hall. "Gozrah's Grotto? That ring yer watch bell? Peg-leg figures the priests there were on good terms with the Merfolk. And then he mentioned a Scurvytown lynch mob working out of an appetizing place called the Chumhouse. Kaul, I think you best go with Dibbets, as half-orc be their preference, but all non-humans are game I suppose. They might be a likely candidate for who lynched our floater. Any other ideas?"
Seeing Kaul's comprehension dawn across his scarred features, Dibbets allows his resolve to crumble and issues forth unencumbered peals of laughter. His mood does violently swing back into focus when Kaul grabs hold of his rags as lifts him clear of the floor...
"Now now Kaul, 's all in good fun innit. No point wakin tha neighbors any more'n they had already. Groomy's got a job fer us n all"
Jim comes sauntering out of his room, looking a bit tired yet but smiling more than he probably should be, under the circumstances. "Good morning, gentlemen. How are you all on this fine mor--er, Dingus--pack it away, mate, you'll frighten the ladies. I don't know about you lads, but I rather fancy a real breakfast today. Do the servers here have any notions where one might be found?"
The staff downstairs are only too happy to direct Jim to the Seaside Market where a variety of victuals can be found. Most folks grab a bowl of porridge or mush, but tea, rice, fruit, and a wide range of other edibles can be found.
Holding Dibbet's aloft Kaul's beady eyes burn into the halflings with more than a flash of violent intent...
Then just as quick they mellow, tempered further by Jim's comment to Dingus, which leaves the thug chuckling.
Still gripping Dibb's he turns with a toothy grin;
"That a bleedin' wand o' Enlarge Person Dingus... or should that be Dongus hur-hur-hur!"
He lowers Dibb's back down with a final glower... "Hur. Good un, ye little fecker... I owe's ye one. Hur."
Seeing that it looks like he'll make it through this'un unscathed Dibbs starts laughing once more "By tha skylord Kaul, ye shoulda seen yer face... an I didnae know ye could squeal in such a high pitch" launching into his best impression of a squealing piglet.
"Come on ye lummox I'll buy ye breakfast as a make-peace."
The crew depart to the Seaside Market for their breakfast and then off on their errands. Dibbets and Kaul having made their peace yet still keeping a wary eye one on the other quickly pass through the high walls of the Old City and into the crowded streets making their way to the Temple District. Across from the Temple of Knowledge squats a broad mound-like stupa with myriad colorful pennants and flags descending on lines from the zenith. A quickening breeze makes the flags crackle and dance against the scudding clouds above.
Entering the wide doorway, you find an amphitheater that opens to the south and is dominated by a large pool and a view of the harbor over the tops of the mansions and warehouses of the districts to the south. There is the scent of brackish water and mild burning incense wafting in the air that circulates the dome above you.
Worshippers gather on the benches or in the water where they make their ablutions and prayers nude or in a simple wrap. As the most popular religion in Freeport, the Grotto is always busy. You eventually find an available acolyte- a young, well formed man with flowing blonde hair and clad only in a blue-green translucent robe.
Before he enters the Grotto, Dibbets spits on the ground "Right, lets get this over with" before taking off his shirt, revealing the full back tattoo of the Skylord. He also moves the wooden holy symbol from his hip to his neck so it hangs in plain view.
Approaching the acolyte he asks "Eh boy, where mighten we find one of yer Elders, we've come fer a chat" as Dibbet's eyes scan the crowd trying to pick one out himself.
Perception take 10 for 17
Jim retrieves his gear, jots down a couple of notes on what the Groom said and heads up to the Institute after breakfast.
When presented with a stripped-to-the waist Dibbs & an acolyte clad only in a flimsy robe Kaul wonders what the hell goes on in the temple of the Skylord...
Least Besmara's female...Hur.
Warily he eyes the acolyte and follows Dibbets lead.