Maia giggles and whispers to Lilly, ”It should, it’s taken... I don’t know if you ever saw my mom without her hat—she has a magic hat that lets her turn into all manner of man or woman, and she used to wear it whenever we went to visit your family—but without it she has these big, beautiful, black-feathered wings that grow from her back, and she can really fly with them. On the pirate council she’s called ‘Valeria Blackwing’ and ever since she retired from the Siren she’s been ‘Captain Blackwing’ of the Stuffed Scabbard... but I guess if she didn’t want a second Captain Blackwing she shouldn’t have named me after herself.”
Straightening up, she declares more loudly, ”that smoke could be other people... maybe survivors of an earlier wreck. We should investigate there first and see if we can help each other.”
When Maia accepts the nomination and no one else calls out a different name Bukis drops to one knee. With his right hand clenched into a fist he places it over his heart as he holds his weapon in his other hand. He looks up at Maia, holding her eyes with his gaze. "My weapon you command. You lead I follow. You command I obey." Having said his piece Bukis stands and moves to stand next to Lilly whispering to her as he does. "You I protect."
"Me? Why? I'm nothing special. Just loud and stubborn." she grins up at the half-orc.
He grins back at her, not a comforting sight, and sighs at her question. "Keep self from trouble? No. So, my job." With that Bukis audibly clamps his mouth shut, the poor man had said more already this morning than he had the entire previous day.
With the captain appointed the group leaves the ship in Brelkar's capable hand. He and Jeren seem like a match made in heaven, with identical roaring voices getting the crew to work at top speed!
The going across the driftwood islands is slow and although the distance is not great as the crow flies it takes nearly three hours of slow travel to reach a large hill of driftwood from which a thin trail of smoke spews, surrounded by a crude palisade of outwards jutting stakes.
A low voice calls from inside the hill. "Who are you?” The voice is soft but perfectly clear, as though the wind itself carries the sound. “Why are you here? How did you pass through Gozreh's Eye?”
Estian tries to convince whoever he can that electing Maia as captain is the right thing to do, but perhaps Estian's tense relationship with Maia is making it a bit of a hard sell. Lackadaisically, he does what he can.
Whatever there is to notice, Estian does not notice it. Well, he does notice the voice, but since he ain't captain, he doesn't feel particularly pressed to answer the question. The answer, however, is on his lips. With luck.
Considering how things went, the answer seems to be altogether unreasonable yet somehow truthful.
Bukis hears the voice and instantly starts looking around for the source, as soon as he spots the gap and the movement within it he points it out to Maia. "There. Someone's inside."
Perception:
Maia approaches a couple of the armored sailors with a smile. "Gentlemen," she begins sweetly, "I'm taking a small group to investigate that smoke, and there's a good chance that it's going to be dangerous. Unfortunately, armor around here is in short supply but people on this expedition are going to need it... so... I'm going to have to ask you to choose... either to come with me to investigate, or to loan your armor to someone who is coming until we can find more of it."
"Well done," Maia whispers to Bukis as she completely fails to see whatever he's trying to point out, "keep an eye on them for those of us who's eyes aren't so keen."
Straightening herself up a little bit, the beautiful woman calls back to the mystery voice, "I'm Maia, Maia Blackwing. We came here accidentally; our ship was caught in a storm and driven here, rather violently. What about you? What's your name, and do you need help with anything?"
"I am simply a mother." The voice comes back. "I have lost my child, she often goes foraging across the island but she is lost and I can feel her fear. If you can find my Melindi then my husband and I will be willing to speak to you further. She is to the west of us. Should you find her, offer her a little salted meat - then she will not bite you. I hope I can trust you strangers - the sahuagin have tried many a ruse before but Gozreh has favored you so I trust in him."
"Simply a mother my amazing ass," Estian mutters under his breath with a thick Andoran accent. It seems that whenever he's genuinely annoyed, it comes out to play. "If you hope you can trust us, imagine what we're going to have do to put some trust in you, but alright, you didn't try to kill or eat us, so there's that."
"her child won't bite us if we give her salted meat??? What kind of child are we talking about here?" Lilly frets a bit in worried awe at the whole situation. She grasps her cutlass awkwardly and asks "Do we have any salted meat? Should we ask Mother there for some?"
West is back towards the Devils' Due and towards the large mast you saw from the ship - that might be a good place to start?
"I doubt she's a pickled herring aficionado, Lily. With the way they're hiding? Devils or demons. Yeah, definitely one of those."
Hearing the voice and Estin's opinion of what they may be facing Bukis nods his head and gives a "grff" of agreement. Looking in the direction indicated by the 'mother' he points toward the mast with his weapon. "Start there?"
”I don’t think we have any salted meat, Mother...” Maia answers reluctantly, ”is there any chance you might have some we could take with us?”
There is a long silence, and then a small piece of dried meat floats from the rubble as though held by an, unsteady, invisible hand.
"Please bring Melindi back if you can." The voice says, a note of emotion obvious.
----------------------------
Picking your way back across the island is a little bit quicker the second time, but not much. You pass by the Devils' Due and as you approach the mast itself you hear strange clacking sounds and the high pitched yelping of a frightened animal. A man sized crab squats at the base of the mast, menacing a small cat which has barely clambered its way out of reach.
Estian acts before he can think things through and surges forth. He strikes at the crab's dome, unaware of the fact this might not be the best way to deal with the crab's crustaceous outer layer.
"WAIT! Either of them could be Melindi!" Lilly yells as Estian goes to crush the crab. "And NO I'm not just thinking no one would want a cat as a pet since the one of the ship nearly killed me."
"Um... Here Melindi, Melindiy, crabby or kitty. Maia wave your salted meat around." the ginger suggests.
At the name the cat perks it head up and lets out a plaintive yowl while Estian's attack ricochets away harmlessly.
The crab meanwhile turns on Estian and attempts to nip him heartily!
Flailing about harmlessly, Estian assaults the crusty crustacean with little to no success.
"Oh... okay, sorry, you can hit it now. Thank you for holding back." Lilly says to Estian. She touches Bukis's arm and whispers a prayer. "The giant crab... do you think it could feed the entire crew?"
I could have been been singing at the Three-Horned opera...
Maia begins to softly sing a ballad about a brave hero overcoming seemingly hopeless odds for the sake of love. As she does, she crouches down and enticingly shakes the bit of salted meat for the cat.
Bukis moves up to the crab and tries to pierce through its crunchy outer shell with his scythe.
Attack:
Attack:
Piercing Damage:
Bukis pierces right through the creature's shell and it flails wildly, clearly fighting on nothing more than muscle memory.
It pinches Bukis once before you put it out of its misery.
With the crab dead and dinner available the cat comes cautiously down from the mast before sauntering over to Maia and daintily nibbling the meat out of her hands. It eats, washes its face then starts walking away, looking back once or twice as though expecting you to follow.
The mast is a mighty piece of wood in remarkably fine shape, it is worth three points of salvage towards fixing the Devils' Due. In addition the crabs lair beneath the mast is coated in sticky silk strands - with time and care you could probably make a fine rope out of it.
"Sure, fine, we'll follow. Now, where are you taking us, Melindi?", Estian asks as he puts away the saber and focuses on not falling into the water that surrounds them.
"A mast! We will need that." Lilly taps the thing with a smile. "Let's get the horrible cat back to her mother."
"Ohh..." Maia answers Lilly, "I think she's a pretty kitty... come on, Melindi, let's go back to your mommy..." If the cat while stay still enough, she picks it up to carry it back to the smoke.
The cat allows itself to be petted, but yowls loudly when Maia tries to pick up her up and seems much happier on her own four feet. As you repass the ship Captain Maia dispatches the crew to the crab's lair under the mast. It's midafternoon by now and really muggy as you slug back across the island for the third time. Melindi keeps pace, although her impatience is obvious.
When you finally return to the mound of debris the palisade swings open almost at once and Melindi lets out delighted mewls as she rushes ahead and jumps into the arms of a tall, thin blue woman with long white hair.
“Thank you for returning my child to me." She says in the same voice you heard earlier. "Enter then our home and be welcome in the name of the Wind and Waves. I am the Mother of Winds.” She adds, with the same soft voice. “My husband, the Father of Waves, and I greet you.”
She leads you through a short passage that opens into a surprisingly light and airy space full of objects of every sort. Crates, anchors, a carved wooden hat stand and what appears to be the stage scenery from a Chelish opera are only some of the treasures contained in this junk-filled wonderland.
A man, as thin as the woman but pale skinned and with no hair at all sits amongst the treasures, carefully removing the strings from a violin. As you all enter he looks up before reaching out an affectionate hand to his wife.
"Welcome strangers. I am the Father of Waves. How come you to be in our home?"
Mother of Winds and Father of Waves... aren't those both titles for Gozreh... if they're not, they sound an awful lot like whatever the real titles are... what is this place...
"Thank you for your welcome, ma'am and sir," Maia answers with a curtsy. "We arrived here quite be accident, I think. We four, along with several others, had been imprisoned on a slaving ship which was then caught in a storm... we escaped our cages and helped to rally the other prisoners, and what remained of the crew, to keep the ship afloat. When we cleared the storm, we found ourselves here..."
Never having much interest in the Gods the reference almost goes right past Bukis, but something about what the woman says hits a memory of the red-skinned cleric who helped raise him. "Gozreh?" He asks Lilly trying to be quiet in case not being sure upsets the woman.
Lilly wonders about the titles "Your names are lovely as well as your hospitality, Mother of Winds." the priestess is in a bit of awe at the blue woman for some reason.
"They storm was like nothing I've ever even heard of. You called it the Eye before?"
Are these two actors pretending to be in a play? Or is the divine truly just theater but with actual authority over reality? Estian can't quite put his finger on it for now and so, listens intently. "It is as Maia and Lillebeth say, the storm we witnessed and somehow lived through was like no storm I've ever seen or heard of before."
"Your kind calls it the Eye of Abendego, but to us it is the Eye of Gozreh - where he makes his might and power manifest so that the world may see it." The Father replies. "Now strangers, we owe you our thanks for returning the Mother's daughter to her. Please, take these as a token of our thanks. The Stormlord has blessed us with his bounty and we have some small skill in crafting that we might offer you."
The Mother holds out a handful of vials, one for each of you. "If your ship is damaged than perhaps we might offer you some other help." She adds, leading you to a section which is heaped high with tools. "Please, take what you need."
It is getting late and the Father and Mother lay out a simple supper of pure water and seaweed cakes. "We have little to season our food with." The Father says in apology. "There is little that grows upon these islands, apart from the violence of the sahuagin." The two share a grim look. "Still, you must have questions. Please ask them, it is the least we can do for you."
Lilly recognizes the mother and father for what they are, how could she not since she has a sylph as a mother and a bossy LEARN your lessons one at that.
Unsure of what to do or how to act Bukis looks around nervously to see if they have any weapons. "If I'm wrong" he thinks to himself "and these two are who they claim to be then I need to reconsider things. But if they're just two oldsters playing around they could be dangerous." Yes, inside Bukis is quite the conversationalist out loud his only response is to look at Maia and ask. "Do what?"
Unsure what taste to expect, the Andoran is quite squeamish and takes his sweet time before finally sinking his teeth into one of the seaweed cakes. "Delicious!", sounds the unconvincing lie, but he continues to play his part and eats dutifully.
"So, you like us? Hapless travelers, sucked into nature's take on the Abyss? Or, eh, were you blessed and brought to be here by this Goes-ray?"
"Much like you we were shipwrecked here, many years ago." The Father says slowly. "We were much younger but the manifestation of Gozreh's will was too plain to miss, even to our younger selves. We have lived here ever since and mostly in peace, until the sahuagin came."
"It was perhaps eight moons ago." The Mother takes up the tale. "From one day to the next they were simply there. They allied with the devil in the deep and attacked us but we were able to drive them from our home. Ever since then there has been peace - the kind that comes when the Stormlord marshals his forces for the next and even greater storm."
"Do you want to leave?" Lilly asks "We plan to fix up the ship and you are welcome to come with us."
Maia eats with gratitude and waits patiently for Lilly's question to be answered before she asks, "Were you called the Mother of Wind and the Father of Waves before you arrived here, or did those become your new names here?"
"We have no desire to leave." The Mother replies, "This is our home, we desire no other."
"We had other names once," The Father continues. "But there is little need for them now. We are the Father and the Mother and we are content. But come, let us tell you of the island on which you stand - there are many places you may find supplies."
The Mother begins. “There used to be a hermit living on the edge of our island, an old sailor who survived here and devoted himself to the worship of Gozreh. The sahuagin killed him soon after they arrived. If you go to his home you may find things of use to you. To the north of his hut you will find the wreck of the ship that brought him here - there may supplies there as well.”
The Father's face darkens at the mention of the sahuagin. [b]“A year or two ago a sea witch named Cekerite braved the Eye, believing that she would find a source of great power here. She brought with her a small group of sahuagin and their pet sharks. Praise to the Storm Father they have not attempted to overrun us entirely, for we are well fortified, but they roam the islands causing mischief and attacking anyone or anything they can find. If you have any others in your party you must be wary for they eat the flesh of mortals and do not care if they are alive or dead.”
"Cekerite does not sound like someone we could deal with. Two of her sahuagin almost killed us. We could gather up the other survivors and get that mast, so they can be working on it while we go look at this hermit's house for more supplies?"
”That sounds like a good plan, Lilly,” Maia answers with a smile. Turning to their hosts she asks, ”do Cekerite and the sahuagin always stay together or is there a chance that we might be able kill some of them off one or two at a time?”
Thinking back to their last encounter she quietly reflects, ”preferably just one...”
"The witch has claimed a lesser island to the north and rarely leaves it." The Mother explains. "Her sahuagin roam the islands at her bidding, you may find them alone or in small packs. Although you must beware of her ally - the devilfish claims the reef between the islands and the sahuagin appease it with sacrifices."
The Father spits, his disdain for the creature clear.
"Mast, Sahuagin, hermit?" Bukis asks Maia as he finally sits and takes a seaweed cake, unconsciously mimicing Estian.
"And avoid the devilfish. Anything named devilfish needs to be avoided."
Maia frowns slightly at the new information. ”Yes, Bukis, for the most part. I fear we may need to assume we’re going to run into trouble... the hermit’s cave is on the end of the island closest to this witch, and the wreck of his ship is in the water where the devilfish lives...”
Turning once again to their hosts she offers, ”Thank you very much for your hospitality, and for these tools, and the information. If there’s ever anything else we can do for you please come to our ship and let us know. Oh, also, do you have any interest in crab meat? We have some that we could trade...”
"You are kind." The Father replies, "We have crab meat of our own often enough. We do enjoy variety when we can get it though. If you ever come across anything we would be happy to trade for it. You are welcome to stay here tonight." Indeed the small circle of sky above is darkening rapidly. "You could set out for the hut in the morning, or the wreck if you wish."