Port Peril Pub Crawl - GM Wayfinder - Outpost III (Inactive)

Game Master Eric Collins - France

You are all members of the glorious Pathfinder Society, maybe even glorious members yourselves?

Having each, separately, received a beautiful invitation for a trip South, from wherever you were, you traveled to a harbor city and boarded Venture-captain Calisro Benarry's ship, the Glorious Payoff.

You were so very excited: a boat cruise to discover the beautiful lagoons of the South, with dark and dusky fair-haired Garundi men and women to serve you, and maybe have nude moments in the ocean waves on the beach under the midnight moon!
A great vacation!

But, your hopes are dashed to the ground, like a sandcastle come high tide.
For, upon arriving on the boat, you learn you are instead headed for a mission in the Shackles.
Nothing good ever happens in the Shackles.
This vacation does not seem like one at all.

Well, you are stuck together for at least a few days of traveling before arriving to whatever bad situation it will most probably be...

You may introduce yourself IC here.

My up to date description is always available in my profile.

Jamal Wati is a tall and slender garundi. He has dark hair and skin, and black eyes. Quite handsome, he speaks with a clear and loud voice and often makes large gestures like if he was addressing a crowd.
He wears fine desert clothes, when the weather allows it, showing his osiriani origins. Anyone knowing a bit about Society recognize him as a noble and Osirianis can say he's of a low rank.
He doesn't wear any armor, but has all the equipment you can expect from an adventurer: A solid backpack, multiple bandoliers, pouches and scroll cases and, for sole weapon, a heavy crossbow on his back. But his most visible and recognizable item is his necklace, a holy symbol showing an angel with his arms open and light coming out of his hands.

During the trip, you'll get to know Jamal a bit more. He's quite a people person, he loves to talk with everyone about many things. He always addresses people according to their perceived rank, adapting to the situation: for example, if someone is a specialist on a subject, he will clearly show respect when speaking about this subject but will speak to him normaly outside his area of expertise.

He follows a very strict daily routine. He gets to bed really early, as he wakes up an hour before sunrise: And everyday he makes his daily preparation on the light of the rising sun.
He's quite clear about his religious beliefs and tends to mention Sarenrae all the time. Still, he doesn't proselitize, but is always eager to answer questions about the Dawnflower.

You see a schoolboy uniform, with a schoolboy sized goblin in it, with a long furry tail swishing behind him. Worn over that is a thick leather "greatcoat" that's fairly small but still a bit oversize for the goblin. The result looks a lot like a kid playing pirate. Some sharp things tucked into pockets complete the look.

The school uniform appears to be an actual real one, for one of Absalom's better boys schools. And he actually studies for a couple of hours each day, opening up a pile of books and writing homework. He doesn't seem overly challenged by the material - school stuff appropriate to a fourteen year old human.

The sunrises over the sea, as seen from the Glorious Payoff, are very beautiful.

But it is hard to write one's homework as the ship lists and moves...

Jamal opens conversation with the schoolgoblinboy.

"Hello, young b... Matey! I'm Jamal Wati, Pathfinder and devoted follower of Sarenrae. Are you one of the goblin recruits that are recently joining the Pathfinder Society in great numbers?"

The "kid" jumps up and tail-grabs some pages of homework before they flutter away. "Hi! I'm Sturgeon! Yeah, I came along with King Zusgut when we all fled the Gravelands. And then I joined the Pathfinders! It's nice to meet you!"

Jamal smiles and shows the pages.

"You are reading, it's quite uncommon amongst goblins. What are you working on?"

A tall human man with gleaming armor removes his large feathered helmet and sets it aside as he lays his gleaming shield embossed with the silver sword of Iomedae on a barrel. A pre-teen boy hurries over with a cloth and a small pot of polish. Sir Reinhart takes the cloth and begins polishing the shield as the boy holds it steady.

Talking as he polishes "My apologies for not giving you my full attention but this shield isn't going to polish itself. Greetings fellow Pathfinders, my name is Sir. Reinhart and this is my squire, Merwrick Burrowfoot."

The squire lets go of the shield with one hand to doff his cap before quickly regripping the shield with both hands.

"It's my arithmetic homework. I got a pass that I'm allowed to be out of school because I'm going on a Society trip, but I still have to do homework every day. Also I'll have to write one of those 'what I did on my holidays' kind of essays." He rolls his eyes. "It's all a bit silly, I'm an adult. But a school diploma would help in Absalom. One of the Society's lawyers, kinda weird guy, smells of brimstone, found a loophole in the school charter that allowed me in because I was the right age."

Echoing up the ships stairwell from belowdecks, a reedy yet not entirely unpleasant voice bawling out a song with more enthusiasm than skill can be heard by any who care to listen, growing louder by the moment.

"Snagrak swim and Snagrak fight,
Skim the pay and drink all night.
Find the slaves and set them loose,
Stab the foes until the truce!"

With this 'introduction' leading the way another goblin finally steps out of the stairwell, his form mostly obscured by a heavy, red frock coat clearly far too large for him, a rapier at his side and a black tricorne hat set at what he likely imagines is a jaunty angle completes the look.

"Search the pockets, steal their stuff!
Snagrak never gets enough!
Captain Snagrak seeks recruits,
Be you pirates or be you loots?!"

Cackling to himself as he finishes his song the ridiculous, miniature pirate struts onto the deck, staring around at the crew and Pathfinders present. "Am Captain Snagrak. Beeg pirate boss!" he declares to no-one in particular, "You all safe in Shackles wiv Snagrak, scary tall lady look after him and friends!" One finger knowingly tapping at the carved wooden skull & crossbones which hangs around his neck.

The captain, Calisro Benarry, smiles at Snagrak:
"Fine attire, sailor! Could've used you on my ship, back in the day, when..."

@Sturgeon:

"Diplomas, the best way to increase one's social status... well, after mariage.", Jamal laughs.

"If you need help, you can ask me. I've studied a lot. More than you've lived, actually. Not sure I should brag about it, but at least I can help with arythmetics."

@Reinhart:

"Jamal Wati, fifth child of the Judge Ismal Wati, initiate member of the church of Sarenrae and recent Pathfinder on my 4th mission. From what country are you? And, what Knight order?"

Jamal also returns salutations to the squire.

"Nice to meet you, Squire Burrowfoot."

"Reminds me of the old days." remarks a tall, ruggedly handsome human with a neatly trimmed beard as he takes in a deep, lungful of the salty sea air. He closes his eyes, soaking in a memory of days past as a bright smile fills his face.

Then, he opens his eyes, spots the pair of goblins, and is suddenly reminded of his present circumstances. The smile fades.

"When I first heard tales of the glorious Pathfinder Society, even when I first contemplating becoming of its glorious members myself, I never imagined that I, Pell the Peerless, would be regularly be spending my days taking in the sights and smells of goblins." the man laments rather loudly. "It is a far cry from the adventures I'd imagine, from the discovery of beautiful, lost lagoons, to encounters with dark and dusky fair-haired Garundi men and women, to, perhaps, even precious...moments... in the ocean waves on the beach under the midnight moon! "

Pell turns his face towards the oncoming breeze, closes his eyes and once again takes a deep breath as if trying to wish himself somewhere else.

The ridiculously attired goblin exuberantly salutes Captain Benarry as she speaks to him, managing to knock the tricorne he wears even more askew, "Snagrak do you proud Captain!" he loudly exclaims, before heading further onto the deck and among the other pathfinders.

Idly wandering the deck he stops to listen to Pells lament as the mans gaze falls upon him. A few moments later as the human turns away Snagrak makes his way over to stand beside him and speaks up, "Me agree. Never imagine that me part of group like this! Go from being hit lots and empty bilge every day to Pirate Captain!" Nodding firmly to himself the goblin looks up at Pell, "Snagrak think you right, reality much better than imagination." his voice full of earnest honesty, completely misunderstanding the mans previous words.

Pell's eyes jut open as Snagrak speaks. After a deep sigh, the

"Snagrak, eh? You must be quite the philosopher among your 'crew'." he replies, half-heartedly extending a hand. "The name's Pell, though I am more often called 'Pell the Peerless' as there are few quite like me."

He glances at the goblin's attire, then that of Captain Benarry. "It seems that you and Captain Benarry have similar taste in clothing,"

"Though, I must say that it hangs in a far more flattering manner on our patron." he notes wryly, before adding, "which is not often something I find myself saying when describing a half-orc."

Locke lugs his pack across the gangplank to board the Glorious Payoff. The assignment letter stuffed under his belt for ease of access. The slim, dark-haired man smiles and seems unperturbed when he is informed the the actual mission. He asks directions to the hold to stow his gear from the crew, and then makes his way back to the deck.

"Hello, my Pathfinder colleagues," he says with a companionable smile directed at nobody in particular. "I'm Locke: swordsman, gentleman, explorer. I hope the weather remains fair. I don't relish the idea of swimming back to shore!"

@Jamal: "Well I dunno if marriage is really in the cards.. maybe if I kill a dragon first? Rules is rules right?" He sounds awfully serious but the corners of his wide mouth are curling up a bit in a grin.

As he hears a fellow goblin singing he starts to hum along but then quickly catches himself. "Right, the headmaster was very clear, no more goblin songs. Especially not teaching them to the other kids."

When all the six Pathfinders are gathered, Jamal gets in the middle of the party and addresses everyone.

"If my information is correct, we are all six supposed to handle this mission. Maybe can we talk a bit about each others specialties? To know how to organize ourselves before being in the thick of things."

He waits for a sign of approval from everyone before continuing.

"I'm Jamal Wati, by the way. I'm a faithful follower of the Dawnflower, and I can give you divine guidance and healing during our adventure. I also know how to wield this.", he says while taping his crossbow, "Even if it's a bit harder to aim quickly in the middle of battle than during my training as a Pathfinder. I'm also used to etiquette and proper manners, I can speak to officials and nobles if we need to."

Jamal takes a deep breath before continuing, as if a bit ashamed of what he says.

"But I would gladly avoid being in direct contact with enemies. I haven't been trained with armors and... well, I'm no fighter."

Sturgeon packs away his homework and gets out a dogslicer. Unlike most goblin weaponry it's spotless, might pass for surgical steel, but with some mean-looking runes on it. "I'm Sturgeon and I do" as he makes stabbing gestures "surgery."

"I'm also reasonably good at talking to people. I mean, talking isn't hard. But I mean usually they respond well to verbal treatment. Or if that doesn't work there's always duck and hide."

"I'm Sturgeon and I do" as he makes stabbing gestures "surgery."

"Sturgery?" Pell muses quietly "Sounds...fishy."

When the introductions turn to him, the handsome warrior steps forward and bows.

"The name is Pell the Peerless." replies the handsome warrior, directing his response to the Sarenite. "Swordsman extraordinaire and fighter without equal."

@Pell

The little pirate goblin seems a bit disheartened at mention of a crew, when he does respond his words are quiet. "No crew now, they all gone." A long sigh following the pronouncement. Just as quickly the moment passes and he smiles a mercurial grin full of oh so many sharp little teeth up at Pell, taking the offered hand and pumping it enthusiastically. "But me am part of Sock-eye-Itty now, is good to be Parf-Inder!" he says, sounding the longer words out in his slightly broken common.

"Captain Benarry is good Captain, yes!" he agrees with the man, beaming another smile, "She beeg boss, like scary lady, 'cept not scary." Nodding to himself as if that clears everything up.

@Jamal

Finally paying attention to the rest of the group Snagrak wanders over to them, listening intently to Jamals speech and his eloquent description of the skills be brings, followed by the others useful examples of their abilities before speaking up himself. "Am Captain Snagrak! Stab things!" He helpfully demonstrates by drawing his rather poorly maintained rapier and stabbing the deck a few times, loudly exclaiming as he does, "HA! Take stabs!"

Confident he has fully shown the array of his usefulness he falls silent, only to seemingly remember something else a moment later and speak up again in a rush. "Oh! Also am follow scary lady. She make stabs stabbier. An' sometimes make stabs go'way." He taps the wooden skull and crossbones amulet at his neck and very seriously sounds out the words, "Bees Mara. Snagrak not quite sure where Bees come from yet, but will figure out. Mara scary and strong!"

"I'm not quite sure where bees come from either," Locke comments to the goblin pirate. "The elves probably know. Anyhow, I'm Locke, as some of you heard. I can hold my own in a fair sword fight, and I'm pretty good with my hands--making things, fixing things, taking things apart--and can figure my way around a tavern and its people most of the time."

"Hmm... Elves? Snagrak have lead now, much thankings Mister Locke!" The little goblin responds happily, "Taverns is good! Me usually ignored in them, but sometimes manage to grab mugs of foamy stuff. Tastes funny, but good. Often sleep lots after, not sure why." A shrug accompanying this undoubtedly unsolvable riddle.

"Snagrak look forward to be back in Shackles." He murmurs wistfully a few moments later, "Ab-slalom is nice place, but sometimes people scream or points and laughs at Snagrak, not feel good. People much more friends in Shackles, they like all, even people who not look like people cause have claws and things sometimes!" A wide, happy, perhaps slightly unsettling, smile full of teeth on his face as the goblin stares out over the water.

We are still a few days from when Outpost III starts--
@Midnight GMT, when March 29 becomes March 30 (a bit earlier in the States)
--so I will wait till the official start to give the Venture-captain's speech.
But you may of course continue with the pre-briefing RP for you to meet and talk.

You all have seen that the ship you are sailing on, the Glorious Payoff, might have been a merchant vessel, but it has been retrofitted for much more... operative needs!

You might be curious as to what was done?

You are currently navigating down the Garundi coast, which might be a new and exotic sight for some of you.
The blue-bold text above is a link you can click.
There are several links in my first post, to give you information on the location and the people and such.
And there will probably be more later on.

"Hey, you land-lubbers! Quite dawdling! Or spilling your guts over my new ship's railing, and get your unseaworthy hinders over here!"

Venture-captain Calisro Benarry is the one calling out this formal invitation to meet her at the helm of the Glorious Payoff.

"My apologies captain! We'll be with you immediately!" the schoolboy squeaks out.

Jamal takes a piratey accent:

"On my way, cap'tain!"

Calisro nods, but you see a faint smile...

Pell glances at the nearest Pathfinder. "I think she's talking to you."

Welcome all to Outpost III - may you have fun, and roll high!

Calisro Benarry waits for all to reach the helm and gather, casting a hard look at the one who arrived last!

Then, as a splash of salt crashes over the bow of the i]Glorious Payoff[/i], Calisro Benarry deftly steers her ship through a hidden channel, carefully navigating through the barely visible rock and coral that protrude slightly from the water’s surface.

Behind the Payoff, a slightly smaller ship—the Sea Sparkle—follows, making every effort to follow Benarry’s course as closely as possible.

Off the port hull, the deep green of the Garundi coast is illuminated by the late afternoon sun.

“See those gulls?” Benarry shouts over the flapping of the sails, “that’s the sandbar we’ll be dropping you off at. Barely sticks up over the waves, but the seabirds flock over it to feast on crab.”

“As I explained earlier, Vidrian—you might have known it as Sargava not that long ago—needs explorers to chart the trade routes to the south that they couldn’t use back when it was ruled by Cheliax.
Simple enough bit of adventuring, but the new nation’s been having trouble with the Free Captains of late.
Turns out when Vidrian broke free of Cheliax, the locals stopped paying the pirates protection money, and now they’re the number-one plunder target in the Shackles. What’s more, the pirates have set up a blockade preventing our ships from making it down to Vidrian to assist.”

Benarry spins the wheel, and all of you lurch to port-side.

“Thankfully, we’ve got someone on the inside.
Stella Fane, a Free Captain with ties to the Firebrands and the Pirate Council, has been in contact with the Society.
She and members of the Society’s leadership have put together a fairly clever plan to help the Society’s ships pass through the pirate blockades unharmed.
The Wind and the Waves willing, the Payoff and the Sparkle can sail to Vidrian, no problem.
While we’re doing that, I’ve arranged transport for you to Port Peril to meet with Fane and get her to sign this contract making the whole thing official—she may be a pirate, but she’s the kind that holds to her word. You’ll need to avoid drawing too much attention until after the deal is done. Once she’s signed the contract her friends in the Pirate Council will ratify it and there won’t be much the lesser captains can do.
Be careful. Anyone looking to put a stop to this need only ensure that contract never gets signed.”

She glances at you, while spinning the wheel again, and you all lurch to starboard.

Sir Reinhart holds firmly onto the nearby rail to keep his balance as the ship lilts to the right but is otherwise unphased.

Sir Reinhart sighs as looks down in dismay at the shining sword of Iomedae emblazoned on his shield before looking over to his squire "Fetch the cover, today sounds like a bad day to be broadcasting our faith."

Looking back up to Calisro Sir Reinhart asks "Would you have a sketch of Ms. Fane we might view, I would hate to take our documents to the wrong place."

"Hey, do I look like the kind to carry sketches around with me?!
Well, I hope I do not, for I sure do not have a sketch of her.
Nor do I want one."

"No sketch?" Pell asks, his voice somewhat lamenting as his thoughts turn once again to fair-haired Garundi women. "Well, then, is there some signal or manner that we can use to identify her? Make sure that we have the right lady?"

"And what of the threats we may anticipate? Has some group or someone in particular threatened to squash the deal?" he asks.

Sir Reinhart bows and takes a half step back apologetically "Not yourself ma'ma, but your quartermaster is legendary."

”Or at least a physical descriiiiption?” Locke asks as he stumbles start board.

Or does Jamal know about her? Society or maybe Heraldry, after all, she's the equivalent of a noble for the pirates!

The Venture-Captain looks at Pell:
"Well, maybe you can say the magic words... Hello, ma'am, are Stella Fane?, and if she answers Yes you will know.
At least that is the manner I would use to identify her.
Who is going to pose as her? No one I say.
Or ask around for people to point her out if you are afraid of getting it wrong."

Glancing over to Locke, she continues:
"I've crossed the same seas and shared the same ports a time or two, that’s all, so I can't really remember what she looked like. Probably too much rhum at the time."
She smiles.
"I can tell you that she’s a recent figure on the Shackles scene, as is her ship, the Risen Albatross.
Word is, the Chelaxians bought her crew out from under her and tossed her overboard at sea."

Jamal hears this, and puts two and two together, concerning something he heard the sailors talking about.
He recalls that some say a captain, who can only be her, died, and it’s her ghost sailing the waters and sinking slaver boats and Chelaxian ships left and right.

Turning back to the Peerless: "Threats? Nothing at all to worry about. Sharks, cutthroats, Chelaxian Marines, pirates... nothing out of the ordinary."

She then grumbles something about her quartermaster better not become self important...

"Any more questions in your craw? So long as they you spit them out before we start to leave the sandbar behind!"

Jamal thinks for a second... and then decides not to tell old sailor's tales. It would not look very serious.

Well, I'll need some piratey clothes, then. If we want not to draw attention, I should keep my origins for me.

Sir. Reinhart shakes his head no and prepares to depart.

"I'm not sure this was that thought through," he says in a mock whisper, leaning towards Reinhart, stumbling a bit as the ship rocks. "We're supposed to not bring attention to ourselves but go around publicly asking for her."

He shakes his head and says to Benarry, "No. No more ques--actually, how are we supposed to get back?"

"I don't do the planning. I just drop off and-- pick up.
And I shall pick you up in the very same spot!"

He nods at Jamal "Yeah I guess this needs a bit of dressing up for me too."

To Calisro "So captain,.. how does this contract work? I wouldn't think pirates would be all that impressed by words on paper?"

"Pirates? There are all sort of pirates. Many different people become pirates. And then many pirates become different people."
She gives Sturgeon a look.

"But, this contract is a long-term trade agreement; we tell her where we’ve had reports of slavers—she hates them and it’s no skin off Society members’ backs to
let her know—and she approaches us first with any information she receives regarding archaeological sites and historical discoveries.
Our obligation requires us to make the information exchange each time one of our ships passes through the Shackles, so attacking a Pathfinder ship is the same as attacking Stella and her allies on the Pirate Council.
Smartest deal we’ve made, if you ask me.
Careful with that contract, by the way. It’s all magicked shut, so only Fane can read and sign it.
That'll help see that it was her you found!”

Sturgeon's cheeks go all red. "I meant no disrespect ma'am. That's a very igneous agreement."

"That's a good trick," Locke comments and then asks, glancing at the sandbar. "Um, we're not swimming to Port Peril, right?"

"So captain,.. how does this contract work? I wouldn't think pirates would be all that impressed by words on paper?"

"Some of the most successful 'pirates' carry out their plundering entirely through the use of words on paper.." mutters Pell knowingly.

"Swimming to Port Peril, you sure are not!
I am not a bad gal', I wouldn't put your lives in danger."

She points to a sandbar close to the ship, up ahead.
And, as she is about to reach it, she calls out:
"NOW!
Jump overboard and swim to the sandbar—the water’s too shallow for the Payoffto get closer!
JUMP!"

"How hiiiigh..." splash

Pell grabs his pack and his gear, aims for the dry portion of the bar, and then tosses them over. He then jumps into the water and (hopefully) heads to retrieve his belongings with the intent to don them once he arrives on shore.

Calisro Benarry looks at the others...