Niobe accompanies the officers and seems unbothered by the Calistrian temple. "Information flows both ways," she says. "We're trying to get information out of them, but they'll be trying to get information from us, too. There's no guarantee they'll talk just for business - we may be professional pirates, but they're professional courtesans; getting information from clients in the throes of ecstasy is their job. So... be careful what you say, I guess?"
Following Tessa’s lead, you have traveled to the lively seaport of Quent on the northern coast of Motaku Isle, making your way to the House of Stolen Kisses, both a holy temple to Calistria and a brothel.
When you present Tessa’s note, scantily clad acolytes escort you through sensually decorated corridors to the chambers of the temple’s high
priestess, Dindreann.
Dindreann pleasantly greets you, offering you comfortable seating and stimulating refreshment.
When you are seated and refreshed, she asks what service she can render to associates of her “dearest friend Tessa.”
Spies: If you mention that you’re seeking spies in the Shackles, Dindreann confirms that the House of Stolen Kisses has leads on such information, as many people share their secrets with the temple’s sacred prostitutes in the heat of passion.
But these secrets are shared in confidence, and the temple cannot simply give them away for free. If you were to perform a service for the temple, however, you could expect such knowledge as payment.
Dindreann tells the PCs that a ship owned by the temple, The Lady’s Sting, recently went missing.
Divinations have revealed that the ship was attacked by a group of pirates who deliberately lure ships into danger so that they can salvage the cargoes of the resulting wrecked ships.
Piracy is a fact of life in the Shackles, of course, but the Lady’s Sting was carrying a relic sacred to the faith—a gold-plated wasp statue known as the Golden Vespal.
The temple seeks revenge on these wreckers who would dare attack one
the faith’s holy vessels, as well as the return of the Golden Vespal, but they have so far been unable to locate the wreckers that attacked the Lady’s Sting.
If you can find the wreckers, enact the goddess’s revenge upon them, and recover the Golden Vespal, Dindreann will give you a lead on the spies you are seeking.
A DC 10 Knowledge (local) check is enough to realize that wreckers are a not uncommon hazard in the Shackles, and finding the specific crew that attacked the Lady’s Sting will be a difficult task.
However, it’s possible that the Temple of the Hidden Name in Beachcomber might have some information that could lead to the wreckers.
Jane knows nothing of the crocks in the sewer... She didn't see them while she was looking around the city and she is differently not a spy sneaking around.
Marnir's neck is on a swivel as Dindreann escorts the officers through the temple, his eyes drawn to exotic beverages as much as bared flesh. He listens carefully to her request, trying his best to keep his eyes on hers as she talks.
"Sounds like we can be of help to each other," Marnir says, doing everything he can to keep his mind on his work, and not the noises of pleasure he can hear filtering into the room. "I don't know much about any wreckers in these parts, but I'm sure we can track them down."
Markizio kept mostly to himself as he was ushered through the temple-brothel but he was too keen on local knowledge, "I know where we can find more info on these wreckers. Another temple, the Temple of the Hidden Name in Beachcomber may have some answers that will lead us to your stolen relic."
No stranger to a Calistrian temple, Kung smiles and nods at the perfumed ladies as they walk through to the inner chambers. Markizio quiet. Not normal. Remember ask him why, later.
Kung nods at Markizio's words. "He right. Kung hear of same temple. Think it good place to look."
As the group is led into the temple by the leggy priestess, Niobe stays close to the other officers and glances about wonderingly. The sound of a whip cracking in a nearby room causes her to literally jump and she grabs Markizio's arm. "What was that? I thought this was supposed to be a house of pleasure!" she whispers to him.
Following Tessa’s second lead, you voyage to Bag Island, home to the largest population of halflings in the Shackles.
Beachcomber: The town of Beachcomber is made up of mostly halflings, but it is also known for its Lurker District, which boasts a surprising number of liberated half-orcs. Despite its inviting name, Beachcomber is the rowdiest town on Bag Island, and shady characters
eventually find their way to this port.
Openly asking about a hidden temple to Norgorber would likely meet
with failure, if not outright hostility. a DC 15 Bluff check is needed to get your meaning across with innuendo.
As the group is led into the temple by the leggy priestess, Niobe stays close to the other officers and glances about wonderingly. The sound of a whip cracking in a nearby room causes her to literally jump and she grabs Markizio's arm. "What was that? I thought this was supposed to be a house of pleasure!" she whispers to him.
Markizio, clearly uneasy in the brothel, "Well, my lady I would say that this is a place were people come to be stimulated, to feel alive. And there are different ways of doing that. What is pleasurable to people varies from individual to individual."
He added, "I have heard that Calistra caters to all tastes."
"Have you seen the inside of a brothel before?"
Now in the island of Beachcomber, Markizio commented, "It's not a good idea to openly ask about this temple. We should use some sort of innuendo to get our message across without raising the locals' heckles."
He turned to his captain, "Do you want to do the information gathering?"
Kung seems distracted when talk of the ship turns to Beachcomber's Lurker District. Why Kung go Drenchport, if town just for half-orc be here? Why nobody say in Drenchport. Kung think Kung make clear Kung not happy about rough half-orc life.
As he ponders this potential paradise, he catches a glimpse of Markizio instructing the sailor PIRATE! about to take a shift up in the crow's nest. Marnir working hard at the wheel, in easy command of the ship. He smiles to see Niobe taking a lap around this ship in her other form. Then sees Niobe practicing some magic at the prow, and realizes that the first Niobe must just be a dolphin. Even Jane, working her weirdness with smokes and powders belowdecks.
Maybe not need half-orc paradise. Maybe this even better.
Once they dock the ship and head into the city, Kung easily agrees with Markizio's assessment. "Nobody talk about Norgorber. Even Norgorber people know not talk about Norgorber. Want be careful. Yes, very careful."
As the group is led into the temple by the leggy priestess, Niobe stays close to the other officers and glances about wonderingly. The sound of a whip cracking in a nearby room causes her to literally jump and she grabs Markizio's arm. "What was that? I thought this was supposed to be a house of pleasure!" she whispers to him.
Markizio, clearly uneasy in the brothel, "Well, my lady I would say that this is a place were people come to be stimulated, to feel alive. And there are different ways of doing that. What is pleasurable to people varies from individual to individual."
He added, "I have heard that Calistra caters to all tastes."
"Have you seen the inside of a brothel before?"
"Noooo... not exactly 'a thing' where I'm from. I get the concept, I know about Calistria, just um... caught me off guard?"
Jane smiles. "Yeah. These places are lowly places. Also, a good location to gather information.
Bag Island. Temple of Norgorber.
You are directed to a nondescript warehouse in the town’s Lurker District.
Inside the warehouse, you are met by a halfling dressed in the black
clothing of an indentured servant of an aristocratic household and wearing a cherubic mask.
As long as you enter peacefully, the obsequious halfling guides them to a discreet soundproofed room in the back of the warehouse.
The halfling introduces himself simply as “Slip” and asks how
the Temple of the Hidden Name may be of service?
Spies:
If you explain that you’re searching for spies in the Shackles, Slip nods and states that the Reaper of Reputation knows much that is hidden, but that secrets always have a price.
He goes on to explain that the Temple of the Hidden Name deals in information, using secrets as currency.
To learn one of the temple’s secrets, you must pay with another secret of equal value.
Fortunately, there is information that the temple wants.
Slip tells you that a famous ship called the Brine Banshee mysteriously disappeared several months ago.
The Brine Banshee was said to have been one of the fastest ships
in the Shackles, with unparalleled handling for a vessel its size, which many believed were the result of several potent spells woven into the ship.
If you can find what happened to the Brine Banshee, and discover the secret of its unprecedented speed and maneuverability, you can trade
this knowledge for the information you seek.
A successful check is enough to recall tales of the ill-fated Brine Banshee, which disappeared west of Shark Island after leaving the port of Ollo. What happened after remains a mystery, but the ship did visit
Quent on its way to Ollo, so perhaps the House of Stolen Kisses has a lead on the Brine Banshee’s fate?
Wreckers/Lady’s Sting:
If you ask Slip about wreckers operating in the Shackles or the fate of the Lady’s Sting, Slip says that it is no secret that many such groups operate in the Shackles, but he has knowledge of one crew that claimed to have successfully attacked a Calistrian vessel.
In exhange for this information, he demands another secret from the
you in exchange.
The exact nature of what sort of secret Slip accepts as payment is up to you. Possible examples include the true identity of your ship and how they acquired it, or the location of Mancatcher Cove.
Alternatively, Slip accepts the promise of a future secret as payment.
Unused to doublespeak and underhandedness, Marnir just about manages to get across his desire to speak to the Norgorberites.
The meeting is strange and uncomfortable to one used to directness and clarity like Marnir, and using secrets as currency is downright bizarre. Nonetheless, he has no choice but to accept the halfling's offer.
"We will look for your ship Slip, and we will find out it's secrets. As to our secrets..." he pauses contemplatively. "I can give you the location of Mancatcher Cove and the secrets of the famous treasure hidden within. Will that be sufficient payment?"
Niobe watches quietly as the transaction with Norgorber's followers takes place, and she folds her arms protectively. She says nothing and her eyes flicker from point to point as if anticipating an ambush at any moment.
The masked Halfing nods calmly. "That will do nicely thank you Captain Saltvig. A secret long held, and sought by many. Word of your finding the cove and taking the treasure has spread quickly, as such things do. The fact that you haven't disclosed the location has only added to the mystique of the tale."
He tells you that the wreckers you seek are led by a half-orc wizard named Vakarla, and operate from a hidden island base southeast of the Rampore Isles.
So, summing up.
1. The spies. To get information on the spies he wants information on the Brine Banshee and it's enchantments. The Banshee's last known port of call was Quent.
2. You can go back to Quent and ask further at the temple of Stolen kisses, or recover the stolen relic first. You now know where the wreckers operate from. Returning with the stolen Golden vespel may get information for free from Dindreann.
3. Looking at your charts an island SE of the Rampore isles is NW from Bag island, and very close. A coincidence I'm sure.
Back on the Drake, as Jane points out the probable location of the wrecker's base, Kung grows excited. "Base close; island close" he says, his finger on Jane's charts, pointing out the obvious. "Kung think we go here first. Smash wreckers and take famous wasp statue that Calistria lady want so bad."
Glad to be out of the weird environment of the Norgorberite enclave, Marnir's pace is noticeably quicker as their return to the Drake. He joins Jane in perusing the charts gifted to them by Captain Fairwind, and concurs with Kung's plan.
"Aye, if we find the relic for Dindreann she might then help us with locating the Brine Banshee. Seems everyone wants favours and secrets around here. It's not normal," he says, with a befuddled shake of the head.
"These are wicked people," says Niobe in response to Marnir's puzzled comment. "I mean, I know that the Shackles are supposed to be a haven of grotty pirates and grungy criminals, but these people are downright evil. They revel in the suffering that they cause."
Jane shrugs, "I'm sure we can do it easily."
Markizio had little else to say as the obvious course of action was charted, "Yes, I agree. We should pay this half-orc wizard and these wreckers a visit."
He quickly added, "Seeing the issue we almost had with that last ship which we wanted to sink, I want to learn a spell that will help us a lot if we are ever in that situation."
With everyone's attention, he continued, "It's a little fire pea that I can shoot from pretty far away and it will explode in a ball of fire. Not to be used if we want to recover anything but useful otherwise."
--------------
--------------
It's late afternoon on your third day out of Beachcomber when the lookout gives the now familiar call. "Sail on the Starboard bow!"
Ahead you can make out a Rahadoumi merchant ship scrambling to pile on the sails and get up speed.
Will save from Marnir please.
Following Jane's course, their progress out of Beachcomber is going well until the lookout calls out. Marnir looks over the starboard gunwale and sees the merchantman trying to make it's escape.
Around Marnir were the familiar yells and noises of his crew hustling into position for action. His hands rested lightly on the wheel as he studied the other ship. Eyes narrowed as small things began to nag him. Something was wrong with the other ship? Too low in the water for it's rate of speed. Too few crew for how fast the sails were being set?
As Marnir looked it over with more and more disbelief the ship wavered and vanished. The illusion broken by the mind of a better sailor.
What are you doing now?
A few small inconsistencies nag at Marnir's mind, before he spots that the merchantman just isn't sailing right. Suddenly the ship shimmers and disappears.
"It's an illusion!" he calls out, his voice carrying loudly across the deck and up into the rigging. "Reef the sails! Full stop! There's someone out here trying to trick us!"
He turns to the officers on the quarterdeck. "Feels like a wrecker ploy to me."
A few small inconsistencies nag at Marnir's mind, before he spots that the merchantman just isn't sailing right. Suddenly the ship shimmers and disappears.
"It's an illusion!" he calls out, his voice carrying loudly across the deck and up into the rigging. "Reef the sails! Full stop! There's someone out here trying to trick us!"
He turns to the officers on the quarterdeck. "Feels like a wrecker ploy to me."
"Good eye captain and everyone beware of tricks."
He smiled, "We're up against one of them people that use magic."
He looked out shielding his eyes from the sun, "We should we lower a longboat and go to the island."
Kung looks out over the water, trying to make sense of what he sees. "Fancy trick! Wreckers smart."
___________
With Marnir's bellowed orders the crew spring into well drilled action, the sails come down and anchors are thrown over. The Unbound Drake slows rapidly. There is a rending crash, and you are all jarred as the ship smashes into a Wall of force cast ahead of it. What could have been a dangerous collision is averted by the quick stop.
Ahead of the Drake and 40' up above her a Half-orc woman appears, her Invisibility gone once she cast her spell. On the starboard side two longboats also appear as their Invisibility sphere has expired.
What are your actions?
Jane doesn't even make it out of her laboratory before the alert has been called off. But, since she was already heading up, why not. "What's all this noise about?" she complaints.
"Bastards," Marnir mutters under his breath as the extent and sophistication of the wreckers' operation becomes apparent. "All hands on deck! Prepare to repel boarders!" he yells, striding down to the main deck and drawing his axe.
He then weaves his magic into his body and spirit, strengthening him for the fight to come.
Boarders? Not under my watch!"
Now was a good time to try out his new spell, the magus gestured until a little spark appeared in front of him which he sent towards the longboats and away from the Drake.
The little spark blossomed into a fireball, a deafening fireball.
The magus then energized his blade and waited for any boarders, "C'mon you dogs!"
--------------
, reflex save DC 16 for 1/2 damage
HP 59/59
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19
Conditions: shocking burst
Melee (+1 keen falcata): +9 = +1(magical) +5(base) +3(STR)
Melee Damage (+1 keen falcata): 1d8+4 = +1(weapon) +3 (str), 17-20, x3
+2 dam if arcane strike, -2/+4 if 1H power attack
5/6 arcane pool
Spell used: fireball
Markizio gestures elegantly and fire blossoms around the Half-orc boarders, who scream in pain.
Two managed to duck low enough to only catch the edge of the fireball, the other two look near to death.
Kung eyes the woman in the sky, shaking his head. Somebody else have to, Kung can't reach. He pulls his greatsword from its scabbard, and approaches the gunwale, ready to fight off any who attempt to board.
"This why Drake drills! Use practice now, defend Drake!"
Jane... Now alert to the real threat... tosses a bomb at the orange guy in the yellow boat.
5 damage splash, DC 14 Reflex
Niobe looks up at the flying half-orc and squints at the bright sky, then murmurs the same spell that she used on Caulky in the bar.
The Orange Wrecker howls as the hissing fluids eat into him. Yellow flinches as a drop or two catch him, while Purple yelps as a large splatter scars him.
Vakarla's eyes narrow as Niobe's spell hits her but is shrugged off. Ignoring her for now she casts a spell at Markizio who she sees as the bigger threat.
Phantasmal Killer. You create a phantasmal image of the most fearsome creature imaginable to the subject simply by forming the fears of the subject's subconscious mind into something that its conscious mind can visualize: this most horrible beast. Only the spell's subject can see the phantasmal killer. You see only a vague shape. The target first gets a Will save to recognize the image as unreal. If that save fails, the phantasm touches the subject, and the subject must succeed on a Fortitude save or die from fear. Even if the Fortitude save is successful, the subject takes 3d6 points of damage.
Will save DC19, followed by Fort save DC19 please
The two longboats slam against the side Drake. A rope from each flies up and ties it's self around the railingings. The Wreckers begin clambering up as fast as they ca.
Party actions now.
"DRAKES! HOLD THEM OFF!" Marnir roars, emboldening the crew as the boarders begin to scale the ship. He then sends out his magic in a wave of energy towards his officers and crew, sharpening their reactions. His voice echoes around the deck as he grips his axe tightly and prepares to fight.
Markizio recognized the illusion weaver for what she was. Her reputation preceded her. The fact that one of her illusions was shown for what it was by Marnir bolstered his confidence.
The woman wove her magic again and the magus was ready; he would know that it was an illusion. But he didn't recognize the spell and doubt, heavy doubt weighed on him.
Was she also a summoner?
The monster she conjured up seemed very real. The magus had little time to ponder on the possibility when the thing flew towards him...
-----------
To Markizio the thing that appeared in front of him was his worst nightmare made real. He froze, unable to resist as it's clawed hand reached into his chest and crushed his heart.
Despite the pain he fought it off, still standing as the beast faded away leaving him hurt but alive.
Shaken up by the whole ordeal, the magus looked at the floating wizard and prepared to cast a spell but he waited... waited until the b&+!& tried to cast again.
"Kung, captain, keep the boarders off of me. I'm going to try and shut down the half-orc b#$@%."
He quickly added, "No offense, Kung."
--------------
HP 51/59
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19
Conditions: shocking burst
Melee (+1 keen falcata): +9 = +1(magical) +5(base) +3(STR)
Melee Damage (+1 keen falcata): 1d8+4 = +1(weapon) +3 (str), 17-20, x3
+2 dam if arcane strike, -2/+4 if 1H power attack
5/6 arcane pool
Spell used: fireball, magic missile?
Kung's face screws up at Markizio's comment. Why offense? he thinks, not really understanding why his friend hating a different half-orc could mean anything for him.
He readies his greatsword, waiting to strike the first boarder that climbs up.
The first of the Wreckers start climbing the ropes onto the Drake.
Kung & Marnir get attacks as they reach the railing.
Markizio The mage drifts closer to you, but is still up 30'. She is casting at you, so your readied action goes first.
Niobe & Jane can have actions now.
Niobe rolls her eyes at the mage and makes a gesture that turns into some kind of thumbs-down of disapproval.
Markizio The mage drifts closer to you, but is still up 30'. She is casting at you, so your readied action goes first.
The mage's attempts to cast are interrupted when Markizio's spell smashes into her mid-casting.