"I fear I may be suffering from extended bloodloss," Enizver said slowly. "First visions of a God, and now voices in my head. Did I take a blow to the head? I don't remember one but it was a little bit hectic..."
Wireline looks over to Enizver, "You heard that too? Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was going insane."
Horat tries to explain:
"Myself, Halgrin, Katra, and Captain Gram all had powerful dreams - no, visions - that led us to face cultists. It seems similar figures are speaking to all of us, or one figure with different guises-"
And then the figure speaks.
"-like so. I strongly suggest that we leave immediately to secure the person of Alain Turick. I would have been happy to do so even if he was not likely a lynchpin in keeping our world from the clutches of demons."
As Wrinil calms down his scared face is replaced by one of extreme curiosity. "Well, then. I may have overreacted." He clears his throats abashedly, "Ahem, I am Wrinil son of Pel of Waterdeep. I am a librarian like my mother and father before me. I can only hope that I will be of use, as it seems I will be accompanying because our vocal overlord has deemed it so. This is all part of my first escapade outside of Waterdeep, please forgive my previous demeanor. These lodestones sounds absolutely fascinating and I look forward to applying my academic pursuits to this team. Though I still have some trepidation, I can only assume that this endeavor will provide a phenomenal amount field study opportunity."
"On the plus side, I've never heard of group insanity like this, so some kind of divine direction seems more likely." Enizver commented cheerfully. "It would seem that finding this gentleman is wise. Maybe he'll know where the Temple is. Without more information we don't really have enough information to find it." Lost Temples were, unfortuately, not as uncommon as one might think.
"I'm still not ruling out the possibility that there's some wizard out there screwing with us."
A piece of parchment floats down to between you without warning or announcement. "Here is a map to guide you. Beware, the temple lies within the wild jungles of Chult. It is guarded by traps and strange creatures. But you will find the amulet." The parchment shows a path through the jungles of Chult to a remote location in the wilderness.
"I can see why might think that," Enizver agreed, picking up the parchment and giving it a closer look to make sure it didn't have hidden messages or clearer warnings about the traps mentioned.
No one liked traps.
Olivia quickly pales as she realizes she spoke aloud and that everyone heard her. Just play it cool. Play it cool, and it'll all be fine.
As the others debate about the source of the vision, she quietly murmurs. "No, it is divine. It must be!" She sounds more like she's trying to convince herself rather than anyone else. Louder she adds, "Do we...need to warn this man before we get this amulet? Or is it better to retrieve it as quickly as possible?"
"Then well met Wrinil, son of Pel of Waterdeep. You were a part of our victory here and you should remember that. Especially when we next face cultists."
Horat muses over the possibilities, but only briefly.
"To my mind, whomever is behind these visions is intent on the defeat of a demonic plot and has guided us towards that end, as best as I can fathom it. I suggest that whether or not we warn the Champion, that we find a fast ship to Chult and make good time to this temple."
"Now, wait just a minute. I have no idea where this Chult is, but it sounds like it's pretty far from Waterdeep, given how we're suddenly talking about boats. Assuming I were actually considering this lunacy, I have a life, a job, not to mention a crappy apartment I'm definitely overpaying for. It ain't much, but it's mine. I got a job to do here, first. And that means we finish exploring this place to make sure there are no other survivors, and then we need to get help for Captain Gram and Katra."
After searching carefully, you are certain there are no other prisoners. You do, however, find the grisly remains of some of the other captives. Some seem to have been fed to the hyenas and trolls while others were sacrificed ritually and then fed to the horde. Together, you limp out of the cave and back to the nearby town. There, you find a healer for Gram and Katra. He explains "They will make a full recovery but it will take some time. It seems the demonic power assaulted their minds with incredible force. They should rest for at least two weeks."
"Oh, I think it sounds quite interesting, whether it's divine or a powered maddened wizard." Enizver shrugged. "Once we've gotten the others into care, I have no problem either visiting this gentleman or going on a quest."
"I am displeased with the idea of a delay, but I can understand your reticence. In that case, let us inform the Champion of the watch that his life is in danger."
Halgrin is very uncomfortable at the thought of leaving Katra and Captain Gram behind, but he doesn't see much of a choice. He pens them each a letter, informing them of what happened on the mission, and the need to protect Alain Turick. He also tells them that the voice instructed them to go to Chult...wherever in the hells that is.
He seals the letters with a wax seal, which he hands over to a local priest along with 50 gold dragons.
"Keep them safe."
When he is done, he finds the others. And he specifically tells Horat, "Alain indeed needs to be warned first. Beyond that--I don't know. I'm still dubious about all of this, but I need answers. And I suppose Chult is where we'll find them.
"Besides, if you're actually serious about getting a ship, Waterdeep's where'd you'd wanna go, anyway."
To the others, he says, "The rest of you are free to go, if you wish. I won't think any less of you. None of you volunteered for this insanity."
Wrinil shakes his head, "The disembodied voice declared it so I feel I must acquiesce." He then sets his pack down and begins fishing around inside. "As for Chult, I'm sure I have a book on that somewhere here."
No! I need to redeem myself! I must! If I am ever to be free of this demon! Hurridly, in a state of near panic, Olivia says "No! I will go! This is important." Please don't turn me away. Please don't turn me away. Please don't turn me away.
Somewhere in the back of her head, unheard by anyone, Liv groans. This girl is going to get us both killed...
Horat steps up behind Halgrin and replaces him as he moves from the priest.
"In case of additional problems.", handing them another fifty gold.
"They were worthy allies, I would see them well."
"Alain and then a ship for five?", he asks the group.
Enizver glanced over at Liz's almost desperate need to join this expedition, but flicked his eyes back to Horat. "No. We'll need to visit the gentleman, of course, but then we'll need supplies. Food, camping equipment, ropes...a little research into the dangers of the area would be wise, if we had time, but I have no idea if we do. I know it seems like it's burning our time, but I assure you, preparing now will avoid delays later." The Gnome considered. "And also possible death. Which causes a lot of delays, I must say."
You head into Waterdeep to stock up and do a little research. You also decide you should visit Alain Turick.
Searching out what scholastic materials you could on the subject, you find the following:
Chult is part of southwest Faerun known for its wild jungles and tribes. There are, however, several major cities there. The one most likely to be helpful for you, is Port Nyanzaru:
A harbor port settled by Amnians, Port Nyanzaru is also a mighty fortress, built to withstand pirate attacks and the threats of the jungle itself. Controlled by Amn, a tremendously wealthy country in west Faerun, Nyanzaru is a booming, densely populated community that brings in much wealth for its parent state.
Searching out what scholastic materials you could on the subject, you find the following:
Chult has always been remote and isolated, forming a mountainous jungle of savage beasts, hulking dinosaurs, and disease-ridden swamps. Human tribes, goblins, and even stranger monstrous folk haunt the thick jungles.
Talking to some sailors in the bar, you find out that two ships are leaving for Port Nyanzaru in the next month. The journey is dangerous and long as one must trace nearly the entire Swordcoast to reach the Port. One ship is leaving in a week. The Lion's Mane. Another is leaving at the end of the month. The Maiden's Fortune.
By changing your accent slightly and buying a few rounds, you learn that the Lion's Mane brings in a little extra, suspicious income. There are rumors its captain indulges in a little piracy here and there.
Halgrin is impressed that the newcomers seemed eager to join in despite his warnings. At the city gates he presents his badge, and uses that to have the Watch let Enizver pass with his smoke powder weapon, assuring them that he would be sure to help him acquire a writ that would allow him to carry it within the city.
He then splits the gold with them evenly. "Good luck with your research. There's a famous tavern called The Yawning Portal. If you get lost, wait there, or leave a message there."
Halgrin finds some old contacts he knew who worked at the docks. They tell him that two ships are leaving for Port Nyanzaru within the month.
Enizver did the boring bit, and hit the books to see what could be learned. Knowledge was power, and it was useful, and it would keep you alive. It was just a lot more fun to go and get it first hand rather than relying on someone else's account. But it was less fun to make their mistakes again, so...
"Oh I know the precise location," Wrinil says to no one in particular when they enter Waterdeep. He then walks away from the group down a alleyway without any other preamble.
*******
Wrinil arrives at the Yawning Portal carrying several books. By carrying I mean he is reading one and has the others under his other arm. Without even looking up, he walks over to a corner table and sets his books down, well all but the one he is reading. After setting the books down, he sluffs off his pack and pushes it to the corner. He then sits down and raises a hand, all the while reading away.
Thinking secrecy to be of the utmost importance, Halgrin has a message sent to Alain Turick.
The mission to Helm was a success, but there were casualties. Your life may be in grave danger. It is best we speak away from prying eyes. I shall rent a room at the Yawning Portal and await you there. Signed, Halgrin of Waterdeep,
Sword of the Watch
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Olivia nervously follows the rest of the group back to Waterdeep. Once in the city, she does her best to keep up with everyone, but the place is much more crowded than she's used to, and she's jostled around a lot. She's almost constantly muttering a strings of "Excuse me. Pardon me. Sorry." to everybody around her even as more often than not, it's them bumping into her.
As the group splits up for research, Olivia does her best to find out about getting passage. The gnome and the human boy seemed educated well enough that she wasn't sure she could help either of them. But it turns out trying to talk to people for information was...not one of her strong points. She kept getting ignored or waved off. Feeling dejected and useless, she heads to The Yawning Portal to wait for the others. If she were this useless, maybe they'd change their minds about taking her along. Nervously, she pulled out a healing kit and began fiddling with it. But...she had done well healing them, hadn't she? And that was useful. And -- her stomach turned at the mere thought -- her demon had apparently been useful during that massive battle. Maybe they would overlook this one thing?
"Olivia!" Wrinil shouts when she walks in as he waves a hand.
Horat seeks other Untherites, at least those who hold no truck with the demonic, and their counsel.
They mention the Lion's Mane and the Maiden's Fortune as vessels that will be traversing the length of the Sword Coast to Chult within the month.
Olivia is started and even more cowed to realize that not only had she failed to find anything out, but also Wrinil had managed to (probably) find out whatever he had been looking up and beat her here.
"H-hi Wrinil."
She orders a small salad and starts picking at it while waiting for the others to show up. It didn't really make sense to ask what Wrinil had found as he'd only have to repeat himself to everybody else.
Halgrin balked at the costs of travel by sea when he discovered them. A silver piece per mile--per person! Unless the Watch agreed to fund this expedition, they were going to have to get hired on as deck hands.
Which meant he needed to look the part.
Halgrin made his way to a tailor and purchased a new hood, belt, sash, leather breeches, several open-collared shirts, and a pair of boots he was assured were good for "deck work". He was pretty sure the salesman was taking him for a stroll on that, but they fit nice, and gave him full range of movement, so he decided not to care.
Next he picked up some additional supplies, including an extra healing kit for the sorceress. Magical healing was nice and all, but he wasn't completely sure he trusted it to keep his insides from falling out in a pinch. At one point he stopped in front of an Armorer's Shop and stared longingly at a Breastplate for a bit. But he shook himself out of it. He didn't have that kind of coin.
Halgrin then arrived at his tiny apartment to find he was being evicted. When he loudly contested the unfair action, his Landlord scoffed and told him to, "Tell it to a magistrate, you green bastard!" Halgrin briefly entertained the thought of throwing him off the roof to see if he'd bounce, but otherwise he just left it at that. He didn't have time for this. And who knew if he'd even be in the city by the end of the week.
So he gathered up his meager belongings and ended up donating most of it to a Temple of Ilmater that had been kind enough to tend to him when he'd been in a rough way.
And just like that, he was homeless. His entire life reduced to the contents of one backpack.
With an angry snort, he dismissed his woes. He could pity himself later. For the moment, he had a mission. And by the time he walked into the Yawning Portal, he was mostly just looking forward to sampling some of its finest ale.
• Caltrops (bag of 20), 1 gp, (x3)
• Clothes, traveler's, 2 gp
• Grappling hook, 2 gp
• Healer's kit, 5 gp
• Tent, two-person, 2 gp
Halgrin noticed Wrinil and Olivia sitting at a table nearly covered in books. He spoke to the Tavernkeeper, and paid for a room.
Once that was done, he took a seat next to his new companions. "I managed to hear about a couple of ships headed for Point Nyanzaru. That's this Chult place. One is leaving this week. Unless you have a hoard of gold dragons somewhere around here, my guess is we'll probably need to be hired as deck hands. Rat-catchers--I mean, adventurers--do it all the time, from what I hear."
He signaled to a barmaid to bring him an ale.
"By the way, what in the nine hells is a dee-now-sour? Heard some of the sailors mention them."
"Oh, do you know how far away Chult is by sea? I've never been on a ship before." It sounded kind of exciting. Though she wasn't sure about the 'deck hand' stuff. She wasn't very strong, so she wouldn't be able to carry heavy things like Halgrin and Horat probably could.
She cocks her head to one side at the unfamiliar word (or perhaps just the unfamiliar pronunciation). "Do you mean a 'denouncer'? Or is it some other word?"
Wandering up to the table, Enizver waved to the others. "Denouncers? I haven't been denounced for a while. I think the last time was when I accidentally fire a round off at a temple meet. It turns out that there was part of a Thunder Cannon that acts as a safety switch - some crossbows have them too - that I hadn't quite gotten right. All fixed now, of course. Probably."
Popping down the book of relevance he'd found, he added, "So it would seem that we're heading to the fortress ports of Port Nyanzaru. It's apparently quite large, quite bustling, and under the control of Amn. We should be able to pick up anything we can't find there, including more information about the lost temple we're heading to I'd imagine."
Halgrin nodded along with Enizver's take. That all roughly corresponded with what he had dug up as well.
"Well, here's the part you're not gonna like. The ships heading toward Point Nyanzaru will head south along the Sword Coast. And that route is over eleven-hundred miles. Meaning if we tried to book passage we'd be spending in the neighborhood of about 110 gold dragons, each. Maybe more. And I don't know about you, but I don't quite have that kind of money. So like I said, we'll need to get hired on as deck hands and work our way down."
At that point his ale arrived and Halgrin thanked the barmaid. He took a long draught.
"Or, I don't know, maybe I can convince the Watch to partially fund this trip--which seems unlikely. Or given how the rest of my week is going, maybe we'll stumble over a dragon we can slay."
After shouting at Olivia, Wrinil seemed completely absorbed in the books he had placed on the table.
Then he suddenly erupts in words, "Chult is remote and isolated. It is a mountainous jungle that contains savage beasts, hulking dinosaurs, and disease-ridden swamps. There are also human tribes, goblins, and even stranger monstrous folk that, quote 'haunt' the thick jungles. That sounds like such an interesting place right!? It's all in these books here! Have at them!"
Horat arrives in the Yawning Portal.
"My apologies for any delay. I found of ships going south..."
Horat catches up with the others swiftly.
"I have no objection to working for passage, perhaps offering martial skill. But we can and should certainly explore other options. I suggest the Lion's Mane first."
Olivia blinks as she gets an onslaught of information, none of which actually matched her original question of how long the trip would take. Deciding not to push it, she stands up, ready to head out to the dock. Maybe the ship would need a healer? She might be able to pass as an okay cook depending on how picky they were. At the very least, she could see if they'd let her on as a cooking assistant. It wasn't glamorous, but she could certainly peel potatoes and chop vegetables and the like.
Looking down at himself, Enizver considered. "110 gold is rather...pricy, it's true. I don't suppose they'd give me a discount since I only take up half the space? I fear I wouldn't be much use as a deckhand. Unless the boat breaks. I could probably fix it."
You decide to take a look at your options for yourselves. You walk through the busy streets of Waterdeep winding through streets led by he local, Halgrin. You catch sight of tall masts dominating part of the skyline before you see the ocean and natural harbor. The deep blue speaks volumes of the depth of the water in this harbor. After inquiring at the harbormaster's office, you walk down one of the long, sturdy docks toward a brigantine with several ballistae mounted fore and aft. A grizzled old fellow, apparently the captain, stands by the side shouting orders.
"Jenkins! Careful with that cask! You drop it and I'll let you go thirsty when it leaks! Higgins hurry with those fish or they'll go bad before we can sell them! I'll take the loss out of you!"
"Good sir, my companions and I have heard that you are headed toward Port Nyanzaru. And we would like to hire on to your ship, and earn our passage. None of us have any experience on a ship. But we have strong backs, and we learn quickly. And we can offer other skills. My friends can cast various magics that can prove quite helpful in a bind. And we're all handy in a fight, should it come to it."
Horat stands as a soldier would, his halberd held upright.
"It is as my companion has said. We would work for passage."
Wrinil peaks from behind the larger members, "I've read about boating!"
"Although only some of us are what you might think of as traditional deckhands, most of us have other skills. Several of us can cast magic, for example, allowing your crew to remain in tip-top shape the whole journey. I can work a forge, create maps and a number of other tasks, too. I assure you, we can be useful." Enizver paused. "Also, I don't take up much space."
Olivia remained silent as the others talked. It was pretty clear from her earlier interactions that she lacked proper social skills. Probably as a side effect of essentially growing up in a forest with only an old hermit for company. They had never really talked a whole lot even though they had spent years together. She hoped where his soul went in the afterlife that he was happy.
...though listening to Wrinil's terminologically questionable response, she supposed should couldn't do too much more damage to the captain's impression of them.
"W-what my companions say is true. Horat and Halgrin are magnificent fighters; strong of arm if you wish for simply hard work and skilled of blade sh-should you require guards for additional defense. A-as for myself, I am a healer by trade, knowledgable in the value of herbs or spices, should you find yourself in need of a cook or culinary helper." Enizver had already given his pitch, and she wasn't sure what skills Wrinil could truly offer the captain with his knowledge of "boating". She kind of suspected that he may not enjoy the trip, as books and water tended not to mix. Plus if they were to work for passage, it's not like he'd have the free time to sit in a cabin and read the entire journey.
The captain crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow as he surveys the lot of you. "You're useful, eh? Let's see it. You two, bring those water casks aboard." He points to two large casks on the dock. Then he turns to the other three. "Useful magic, eh? Prove it!"
"Certainly, Captain.", Horat replies as he turns and steadily approaches the nearest cask, stowing his halberd on his back.
He seizes the cask and hoists.
The Untherite approaches the ship with his steady pace.
"Where would you like me to place this, Captain?"