Ixrul's monsters and the crew scour the base.
It is untrapped, and entirely unoccupied.
Throughout the base entire, you find a great deal of timber, leather, and exotic spices that could be sold to buyers at a premium.
There is a small hut with two longboats and an alchemy lab.
There is a more opulent hut that you can deduce used to be Vakarla's quarters. The bed is thrown against the wall, and there is a conspicuous treasure chest shaped hole in the sand beneath where it would have lay.
Odan, perceptive bugger that he is, notices one of the barrels your men are loading onto the ship has an inconspicuous label on the bottom reading "Hot Booty".
Inside is the Golden Vespal you were sent to find.
"Now that we wrecked the wreckers, I guess we should head back, and continue on this fetch quest. But keep in mind that there is now one more baddie after us...." Ace remarks.
Now, what to do with these two? Jrahk asks, gesturing toward the prisoner and the monkey.
Leave them on an island to fend for themselves?
Press-gang the wrecker?
Jrahk drags the half-orc to his feet.
"How would you like to join a new crew?"
"Of course, you don't have to. Jrahk would be happy to drop you off on the nearest deserted island, with Vakarla's monkey."
"Hehehe yeah, um, I like that first one better."
"Yes, most people do. Now go swab the decks."
"And don't try anything stupid. Tougher men than you tried to betray us, and failed miserably."
As for the monkey...could Vakarla find someone else to scry on it? Jrahk thinks we should just kill it now and throw it in the sea.
I concur, Captain.
Does anyone know if monkey soup is good eatin?
"Monkey brains taste all right."
"I know a good recipe for monkey stew, if ye want me to cook it up. Won't be enough to feed the whole crew, but as a special officer's dinner it'd serve well enough."
"There are primate-humanoid transmissible - never mind. You all do as you please."
"Whatever, Sandra can probably cure whatever it gives us."
So what is our next plan?
You begin sailing back to the Calistrians, everyone but Ixrul dining on a delicious, if simple monkey stew the first night that Ambrose whips up.
Upon arrival, you are taken back to Dindreanne.
"Do you have it?" she asks, trying to hide her excitement.
"Do you have what we need ready?"
"The information you need has been 'ready' since you arrived the first time."
Jrahk gives her the Vespal.
"Excellent! Now, as per our arrangement, the information you requested."
"A man named Jaymiss Creft patronized our temple less than a week before you first arrived. After some wine and much...frolicking, he mentioned that he knew something about spies from Cheliax. He lives in Drenchport, and works as a scrimshander. He shouldn't be too hard to find, he's well known in those parts as being an excellent carver and the town rumormonger."
"Good."
Jrahk heads back to the ship.
"Now we're going to Drenchport. A scrim-shander there will tell us about the spies, whether he wants to or not."
You sail, not too far, to Drenchport, on the island of Tempest Cay.
It becomes clear where the name originates as your arrive. The city is dark and gloomy, rainclouds hanging over it almost constantly.
The rain is coming down steadily when you arrive, the streets running with water, though the residents seem resigned to this being the norm, with heavy coats and wide brimmed hats being the prevailing fashion of the city.
It takes little effort to root out where Jaymiss is located.
On the direction of the residents, you end up at Carver's Hall, a sort of scrimshanders "guild", though more like a loose collection of independent scrimshanders who sometimes collaborate on larger projects. Wares are displayed on tables and stalls inside, and at one such stall you find Jaymiss Creft.
"Hello my fine gentlemen! What can I do you for? Can I interest you in some of my pieces? I have some particularly nice ones here today, if I do say so myself."
Ixrul will buy an average-priced one.
"These are quite well-crafted. Are all of these your work?"
"Yep, every single one made with my own two hands! Admittedly I buy the ivory from some more...adventurous fellows, but the artwork is all me." he says, beaming.
Ixrul slides 20 gold across the table as payment.
As he turns the piece over in his hands, he will continue speaking, smooth as snake-scales. "Fascinating. A family tradition?"
"Naw. My family were fishermen. Started off as a hobby, I'd carve bits of shell and driftwood as a kid, and when I grew up I said hell with it and kept on doing it. It's made me a decent enough life, so Ican't say it was a bad choice."
"Fascinating, fascinating."
"I understand you are also quite the sharp-eared fellow. Pray tell," Ixrul says, as he leans in conspiratorially, "What have you heard of a certain group of ah, diabolical spies?"
Ace also slides some coins across the desk, and chooses one he likes.
Jrahk doesn't care much for decorative trinkets unless they were plucked from one of his victims, so he just waits quietly while Ixrul does the talking.
Ace has expensive tastes, his trinket is worth 12 gold.
Seeing everyone else joining in on the fun, Odan will purchase one as well.
Odan's is worth 13 gold.
Odan picked a small piece of ivory looped with a leather tong to be worn around the neck. Carved into the ivory is a detailed depiction of two ant species engaged in battle.
Jaymiss scratches the side of his nose and leans in close.
"Well, I don't like to spread rumors," he says, a twinkle in his eye making it clear this is an obvious lie "But I have my suspicions about a man named Haddon Pike. He's a fisherman by trade, and a beachcomber, but most importantly for our purposes he's a smuggler. 'Cept a lot of the runs he makes don't involve actual GOODS. I know some people in Drenchport, involved in the black market around here, and he almost never buys or sells ANYTHING before he goes off on those 'smuggling' trips of his. So whatever he's doing, it ain't smuggling."
"Where can we find him?"
"He's got a little shack on the coast just outside town."
Jrahk nods.
We're done here...unless you all want to pick out some nice doilies to go with your new table decorations. Jrahk sneers mentally.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
They have doilies?! Odan looks around excitedly.