After several more hours of asking around, Kal overhears some sailors talking about an accident that occurred a few days up the coast. It seems a large cargo ship full of ivory and whale oil collided with a rocky outcropping and sank. Several groups are gathering in hopes of being the first ones there to scavenge the wreckage.
Traxde shakes the offered hand with a grimace.
"I will gather my workers and be there within three days. Please have the first half of my payment brought here sooner rather than later. A businessman can't operate on good will alone."
"You got it, Trax."
The chelaxian does a double-take.
”My name is Traxde.”
Kal hurries back to the appointed meeting spot to tell the others of his discovery, hoping they haven't left without him.
"Yea, I know. Trax."
Inside is a powerfully built half-orc sits with a beautiful varisian woman. Their hands are clasped together but there’s a palpable desperation in the air. The pair look up when the party arrives.
”These two are friends of the church. They recently fled Cheliax and in doing so woman”, she says with a gesture toward the woman, ”suffered a terrible injury that requires powerful magic to heal. The high priestess has offered to help but the spell requires a rare component. We hoped you and your companions could find the component for them.”
The big orc interrupts, standing from his seat.
”Please, it kills me to beg for help like this but I can’t stand to see her suffer like this. You’ve got to help us.”
"What is the component that you are looking for? As much as I would like to help, I can't commit to it until I know a few more details, like if we are even capable of finding the component you need and if there is a time-frame involved."
The priestess speaks up again.
”Gabrielle needs the pinion feather of a phoenix for the spell to restore this woman. We believe one to live in a volcano west of here but the trip is too dangerous for anyone save the high priestess and she is too busy to attend the trip herself.”
”We don’t have much”, the big orc says. ”But I’ll give you everything if it’ll make the woman I love whole again.”
"Uhm, which feather is a pinion feather and do you happen to have a map to the volcano?"
”Pinion feathers are the ones from the outer edge of the wing”, the priestess explains.
A moment later she returns with a map of the Shackles. She points out the island with the volcano.
Opal consults with her comrades. "Well, should I attempt a teleport or shall we head back to our boat first and then the island?"
”It’s your call Moonbeam. If you’ve got the magic to get us there and back, there’s no reason we can’t go right now. Why don’t we see what Kal’s been up to?”
”We're going to help them?” Alhazrah says in disbelief. ”You don’t even know them.”
"Sure, I can get us there and back and getting Kal first does seem like a good idea. Don't want to disappear without at least telling or getting him."
Opal turns to Alhazrah. "Well, actually I think of it more as doing a favor for the priestess of my goddess, but yes, we intend to help them.
If there are no objections, Opal sets off to find Kal and then to teleport to the volcano island.
The keleshite woman looks to Opal with newfound respect and nods.
***
It takes a while to find him but eventually Kal is reunited with Opal, Bjorkus, and Alhazrah.
"There's a rich load, recently sunk, a few days up the coast. Ivory and whale oil, they say... I think we ought to head straight there. We don't even need to wait for our ships... can you get Luthor here?"
"That would use up two more castings of my teleport spell and only leave me with one more left for the day."
Opal looks a bit undecided on what to do.
Kal frowns thoughtfully. "If you need to go somewhere else, I guess we could split up..." he offers reluctantly. "Luthor and I could head for the treasure with the Sanbalot while you and Bjorkus umm... do whatever it is you need to do? It's just that I think we need to get to the wreckage as quickly as possible."
"So that's the plan then. Take us to Luthor so Kal can show him to the treasure and then I'll go with you to get the feather."
Alhazrah beams at Opal, "I've never met a phoenix before. This is exciting."
Opal gathers the party up and teleports them back to the Isle of Empty Eyes.
Kal, Bjorkus, Opal, and Alhazrah arrive back on the Isle to find that Luthor is still away (it hasn't even been a full day) but Chubwart and about half the crew are there. Currently, they're busy cleaning up the area around the fort.
"Hmm, I don't think we should wait for Luthor. There's no telling how long he could be. Chubwart, want to take the Raging Storm and a small crew to investigate the wreckage?"
"Wreckages? What Wreckages?"
Kal explains about the large load of ivory and whale oil.
"Why didn't fishboy tell Chubwart about treasure! Chubwart loves treasure!"
"Get on the ship crew. We has treasure to find!"
"Let's go!"
Kal hurries the crew in their preparations.
With a pop, Opal, Bjorkus, and Alhazrah arrive at the small rocky isle described by the priestess from the House of Stolen Kisses.
Looming before the party is the volcano, believed to be home to a phoenix.
Bjorkus readies his trident and snorts.
"Let's get goin' Moonbeam."
A few days later, the Raging Storm with Kal and Chubwart arrive on the site of the wreck.
The remains of a large caravel lean against a rocky outcropping like a wounded soldier. It's shattered masts have fallen into the sea allowing sea life up onto what is left of the deck.
A couple days later you return to the Isle of Empty Eyes to find that the Storm and a good chunk of the crew have left. Those that are left are busy cleaning up the area near the bay. Asking around those that stayed behind, you learn that Kal left with Chubwart to scavenge some rumored treasure.
"I'm ready to head down there immediately, and scope it out. I've this scroll for you whichever crewmen you'd like to bring."
Kal holds out a scroll of water breathing to the goblin as his eyes rove the surroundings.
It appears that nature was the first to reclaim the ship's treasures as Kal spots a pair of enormous sharks circling the shattered hull beneath the water.
From within the vessel, he catches sight of a tentacle and softly glowing light.
"Hmm, we'd better watch out for those..." Kal says, pointing out the hazards. "I wonder if I can convince the sharks to leave peacefully."
With patience, intuition, and a bit of grub from the Storm’s stores, Kal is able to coax the giant sharks away from the wreckage.
"Alright! Now there's only that giant tentacled thing to deal with... shall we?"
Chubwart, Kal, and a handful of crew hop into the water and begin swimming towards the ruined shipwreck.
As the small party approaches the opening in the hull, the tentacle and its owner comes into view - a giant jellyfish glowing with sapphire bio-luminescence.
The huge jellyfish twitches and a blast of bio-electrical energy explodes among the pirates.
The crew are fried and instantly dead in the water.
Kal twitches in a minor spasm as the electricity courses through him. Reaching out to touch Chubwart on the shoulder, he inures himself and the goblin against further electrical damage.
A couple days later you return to the Isle of Empty Eyes to find that the Storm and a good chunk of the crew have left. Those that are left are busy cleaning up the area near the bay. Asking around those that stayed behind, you learn that Kal left with Chubwart to scavenge some rumored treasure.
Disappointed that Kal and Chubs left him behind, Luthor decides to see if he can get any help from the locals that the group helped out. He will visit the clearly-just-a-harpy queen.
Chubwart paddles forward and with his daggers in hand.
The goblin grunts in pain as a lashing tentacle catches him on the approach but finishes his attack anyway.
Another tentacle catches the wily goblin injecting more poison into him.