"It should come as no surprise that I shall be departing Sasserine as soon as it can be managed," he announces, as he starts rowing. "However, I can hardly show my face at the taxidermy shop, given that I was last seen leaving with you lot. Which of course puts me in something of a quandary..."
"Nobody saw you! Uro considerately stuffed you into a crate."
"Yes, well, um."
It's clear that Roblach already considers himself marked for death. Whether or not there's any reason for that is the question.
Elebrin nods after Jym's sagely words but shrugs at the apparent lack of enthusiasm on the part of Roblach, I suggest in the future you do business with the sort that will give you the benefit of the doubt if you are kidnapped and subjected to torture. The elf offers an almost pleasant smile to the man as though to communicate her earnest concern that when Roblach engineers his next criminal enterprise he does it with nicer people.
Remind me of your email addy and I'll send all the most recent ones tonight. Barring that, THESE are somewhat serviceable, if a trifle out of date.
"Roblach!" Jym stops the taxidermist as he starts to go his own way.
"Don't go telling people where we're headed!" Jym wags his finger at the man, while sporting a wide, genuine grin. "I have lots of friends who may need a taxidermist, and I'd love to be able to tell them how trustworthy you are! A lot of friends!"
Jym turns back to the others. "Actually, I don't know anybody who would need a taxidermist!" he whispers, tittering with excitement from his lie. "Anyway, we should go tell Lady V that we're headed to Kraken's Cove along Blood Bay. She might have some advice!"
Uro nods. "Good thinking. We should probably buy some provisions as well."
Lady Vanderboren is very glad to see you! She'd been in the midst of selling draperies to scrounge some extra money, but instantly dismisses the would-be buyer when you are announced.
"Thank the gods you survived -- whatever you were about," she says. "Did you find Vanthus, then?"
"So, Gwlybr here found where the cult is hiding out! We went down there, we had to kill even MORE people in self defense, and then a cowardly taxidermist with a heart of gold told us that Vanthus and his companion named Brissa Santos had already left to Kraken's Cove along Blood Bay.
"It's about 60 miles away. They call it Pirate's Cove!"
Lavinia stares at you, somewhat coolly, you think. "Presumably he didn't go there with the entire family fortune? Were you able to recover any of the money? Vanthus can flee town with some hussy if he likes -- it's the money that this house now needs above all else."
She sighs and looks around the room, then back at the party. "I appreciate your efforts, although I fear that Vanthus currently has your wages. I suppose that bringing him back here to stand trial for theft would count for something, reputation-wise -- and if he happens to have some of the money with him, you can collect from him directly."
Musingly, she adds, "I am disturbed to speculate what an organization like the Lotus Dragons will do with all that gold -- it probably means ill for the city."
Jym experiences one of his rare moments of speechlessness when he realizes that Lady Vanderboren is anything less than amazed (and slightly appalled) at the group's life-risking exploits. After a moment, he tries to put his thoughts together.
"So... you're speculating that Vanthus stole all of that money, gave it to a cult, and then left it behind to go talk to pirates. Would... you rather we go back to the Lotus' underground lair and try to find it?"
Jym looks to the others for help.
It seems we need Vanthus to know for sure. Even if he transferred funds to the Lotus Dragon perhaps he knows the location its being kept? Perhaps he hid elsewhere and plans to return for it? Elebrin offers the ideas enthusiastically, as she still felt the new thrill of "adventuring" and found this conversation reminiscent of some type of bard tale or adventure story she rarely found the time to consume before leaving home...
Caught up in Elebrin's enthusiasm, Jym's earlier uncertainty vanishes.
"Okay! We're going to do it! My Lady, do you have any means to get us there, or have you sold them all off?"
Uro remains skeptical. "Is there any reason that you think this guild has your treasure? Why wouldn't we assume that the man how stole it, still has it?"
Uro looks back to Elebrin and Jym. "I still think tracking Vanthus down is the best course of action, but if Lady Vanderboren is so sure that her treasure lies below the taxidermists shop, I think we should hear why." The orc turns back to the noblewoman, looking for a good explanation of why she was so dismissive of their efforts and plan.
She stops for a moment, slightly shocked, and then re-assesses Uro's statement and nods to herself. "You are smarter than you look, Sir Uro," she says. "Possibly smarter than I am, on this topic. It was an assumption on my part -- possibly an inaccurate one, as you point out. I was subconsciously comparing the size of the vault to the amount a person can carry, and assumed he'd had it hauled somewhere else. But that somewhere could be a cart or a ship just as easily as another vault, couldn't it?"
She sighs. "I still want to look here, but the Jade Ravens can do that. If you feel it's smarter to look for Vanthus, then I agree that's what you should do. As far as transportation, hiring a private boat is probably the fastest and easiest course, but if you're expert sailors, you're welcome to borrow the Blue Nixie -- you are the ones who managed to get it out of hock at the harbor, after all."
"As convenient as it would be to have our own ship waiting to pick us up and bring us home, I don't think we want Vanthus getting word that the Blue Nixie is moored right around the bend. I think I know who can sail us down that way."
"Well, I don't think any of us are equipped to sail a ship." "Though if any of your contacts in the Jade Ravens happen to be smugglers or adventurous captains, I'd sooner give them our transportation gold than trying to find one in the city that could have connections with the Lotus."
Jym holds his palm out, indicating that Uro's concerns are misplaced. "Didn't I tell you I knew a guy? I know a guy." And after a moment's quick reflection he realizes that he does, in fact, know a guy.
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I've never sailed before. Is it as unpleasant an affair as I have been led to believe?
Uro shrugs. "The only ship I've ever been on had a giant bug on it.."
"I killed it."
"Then by your leave, my lady, we'll leave to acquire the services of a vessel free of giant bugs!"
And then they leave to find Captain Van Harden!
Finding Harden is easy for Jym -- and with luck, he's at the pier. The old man is lean, with very short gray hair and eyes the color of spit. Seeing Jym he nods slightly, and solemnly shakes the halfling's hand. "Who these?" he asks -- glancing especially nervously at what shows of Gwl's face under the hood.
Finding Harden is easy for Jym -- and with luck, he's at the pier. The old man is lean, with very short gray hair and eyes the color of spit. Seeing Jym he nods slightly, and solemnly shakes the halfling's hand. "Who these?" he asks -- glancing especially nervously at what shows of Gwl's face under the hood.
"Hi, Captain! These are my colleagues, and dare I say," Jym pauses awkwardly as he shyly smiles up at the others, "my friends! We need to hire a boat to take us to Kraken's Cove, wait for us nearby out of sight for a bit, and then bring us and maybe one passenger back to Sasserine!"
At the word "friends," Harden pits down the gaff hook he was holding, as if wondering how it got into his hand, and nods brusquely to the others.
In Jym's acquaintance with Harden, he's never actually seen the man smile. The same holds true now, although the old man's tone lightens as he says, "Tide's good for Kraken's Cove. Water's rushing out past the reefs, and I know the way through there -- out to sea a bit and back in, instead of hugging the coast and fighting the mud and the choppies the whole way. If we leave soon I can cut a half-day's sail off your time."
Considering the rest of Jym's request, he adds, "Out of sight is easy to do around there; I know a good spot... when you say 'one passenger,' do I understand aright that this passenger might not be totally willing?"
"Maaaaaybe. But I assure you that any conflict that arises from our passenger is because he is of the criminal element (who doesn't know who we are), while we are on the side of truth, justice, and an established noble house who is looking after their financial interests and understands that those in their service should not be supported and respected for what they do!"
Harden nods understandingly, then hawks loudly and spits an enormous gob of phlegm into the harbor, which you can't help but feel sort of ruins the effect. "Noble houses can all hang themselves," he remarks, then sighs. "But criminals need to be brought in for sure. And for all you act kinda slippery sometime, I know you ain't one a them. So, yes, I'm in."
Solemnly, he extends his hand again, this time to each member of the group.
"Ha! Yeah, noble houses, amirite? Did I ever tell you about Felton Lidu? He's the absolute worst!" Jym continues to prattle on as he boards the ship, assuming that nobody else in the party has anything better to do, while at the same time, giving them all insight into his quickly thrown together backstory.
Uro looks around for any large bugs as he steps on the ship behind Jym. "Alright, Kraken's cove it is."
Elebrin nods knowingly at the conversation in a complete attempt of portraying a knowing she does not actually possess, Yes, let's go.
Cap'n Harden takes the helm, immediately becoming uncommunicative, answering conversational gambits with monosyllables. Although seemingly absent-minded, he's got a sure hand on the tiller, and always seems to steer exactly correctly to catch a breeze or avoid a rock.
You're vaguely aware that the coast along that stretch is a mire of rocks, mud, and hostile bullywugs, but you see little of that -- Harden's route, although seemingly nonsensically indirect, gets you to Kraken's Cove in half the time you would normally expect.
Ahead is a series of reefs and cliffs. "Inside there is Blood Bay," says Harden. "I'll anchor just outside -- the mast will show if we go in, and the reefs are tricky. You can take the rowboat into the harbor, or I can let you off at the beach to the north there -- looks to be a short hike to the top of the cliffs from there, and you can follow the ridge-line south."
Above the tops of the cliffs, you see smoke rising from inside the harbor.
Jym notices that Gwl is looking even more fishy than usual.
"Gwlybwr, can you swim into the cove without being seen and get the lay of the land?"
Gwl's fishier-than-normal appearance wasn't even gradual. As you were en route, a wave of nausea and irrational anger swept through you briefly, and then was gone. There were no apparent ill effects on anyone else in its wake, but Gwl is suddenly far more fish-like -- with wide, seemingly lidless eyes, pronounced gill slits, scales, a hunched posture, webbed feet. He is now palpably inhuman; with a croak of dismay, he reaches for a mirror.
Now, as Jym's question registers, Gwl realizes he's pretty sure he can breathe underwater.
Gwl is suddenly far more fish-like -- with wide, seemingly lidless eyes, pronounced gill slits, scales, a hunched posture, webbed feet.
"Hideous, but fortuitous!"
Elebrin, herself going through a transition of sorts though not so extreme, nods at Gwl, It seems that water will be the least of our challenges.
With a convulsive nod - like a sailor trying to hold down a belly full of seawater on a bet - Gwl dives over the side and disappears under the waves.
He swims for the shoals, holding his breath out of habit, until the sensation of water on his gills entices him to try his first underwater breath. Relishing in his new capabilities, he spends a while just swimming before recalling what he came to do and getting back to work.
Uro puts the head of his axe to the ground and leans heavily on the haft while looking ponderously out to sea. "This is a very strange group, isn't it?" He seems to ask no one at all.
Elebrin, herself going through a transition of sorts though not so extreme
Elabrin's sensation as the wave passed has left her very disquieted.
Uro
Jym
Gwlybwr, now a being of the deeps, easily swims into the cove.
Inside the cove, you can see that the smoke is coming from a number of anchored seagoing vessels, now on fire. They are varied in type and appearance, but the few flags that haven't burned are all identical. On the beach are some ship-to-shore boats, now charred and wrecked, and a large number of wooden cages, all broken open. There is some amount of havoc on the beach -- a large bug like the one on the Blue Nixie is being swarmed by a pack of hideous monkey-like monsters; it's frantically trying to sting them to death, but is ultimately pulled down. There are a large number of other animal and human corpses in the cove, all of them weirdly mutated and savagely mauled.
Elebrin perks up at Uro,Is it? This being my first I assumed all adventuring parties had such diversity...
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Uro takes a moment to compose himself after his episode. He's wondering what happened, when he is snapped back to reality by Elebrin.
"Well, I've never seen another orc in Sasserine. So I guess I'm already an oddity. I'm not even sure what Gwl is anymore. He didn't always look that way and he seems to have gotten more aggressive in his new form." The big orc shrugs. "I have no idea if all halfling are like Jym or not. Can you imagine a whole race like that? All of the chatter.. when would anything get done? Who would make all of the pastries that they would need to eat?"
Elebrin
Elebrin thinks about the sensation; it was like a taste of pure, unbridled passion, and the power and freedom to pursue and indulge it infinitely. It was almost like a taste of what she imagines a fey creature must feel like. But it was too far in that direction... the passion so unbridled that it turns to glorying in wanton destruction, exercising power for its own sake. It's the difference between breathing the air of Faerieland, and of breathing the fetor of the Abyss. She remembers reading that fey, without their ties to the natural world, often end up twisted and destructive. She also recalls hints that the Abyss existed before the rest of the universe stabilized.
Finally, she guesses that someone maybe opened a gate to the Abyss nearby, or a demon passed by, or something. And she's aware she needs to be careful, in her own quest for transformation, not to stray too far in that direction.
Gwlybwr:
Gwl's reverie is rudely interrupted as he swims into the cove. Surveying the many and varied forms of carnage on display, his excitement turns to disgust and he kicks himself out of the water.
Splashing back down, he draws a deep breath and dives. His newfound delights seem tainted now, and he holds his breath on the way back.
"The sea has gone mad. It's all Dagon and Ryleh down in the depths. Ship's burning on the shore, all burning, and the Nixie bug-beast was devoured by the monkeys. Whatever happened here, Vanthus has traded in his criminal chums for some real sinister scum. Best we find him soon."