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"Caves? If you would be in Highhelm or any other Sky Citadel, you would never call it a cave." she shakes her head
"Long time ago we used to live underground, but even there the caves were full of light and splendor. We had special chambers full of glowing warms that would make a sight equal to one of the stars. Now we have great fortresses, beautiful and plenty of lights."
Returning to shore, the Hippocampus accepts Avonathalanthalasa's petting and nuzzles her in response before diving back underwater.
Quickblade takes the time to check the wound on Makai's neck. His immediate effort doesn't work, so maybe he wants to take his time to Treat Wounds.
"Look dad, the big lobster is learning how to swim!" Taffrit points at the carcass floating across the sea. Maffree jumps and laughs. "Taffrit didn't look away! I WON I WON!" The two siblings begin arguing over who won and when did the game technically end. Tellith sighs and keeps them turned towards the sands while you recover.
Astrid finishes scanning the sea. "I guess this was their hunting ground? Hopefully, that's all we have to deal with."
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"Hopefully it is clear. Let us bring Astrid and Themolin." Says Makai wounded
She looks at the loosely hanging bandages and spirit spilled on the wrong leg by Quickblade
"Quickblade you need to focus more, those patches are no good. Look..."
She begins to pull on the bandages and cleans the wound with a few quick movements. The dwarf pats the human on his shoulder and goes back to the raft.
Makai patches herself up a bit and closes her wounds even further. She suggests bringing 2 more persons on the raft, but that would leave only 1 Pathfinder remaining to guard the raft.
Jacknife quickly spots another submerged shard. "Whoa, careful!"
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Ysoldt keeps watching the kids to make sure they won't fall off the raft. When Makai tries to grab her attantion, she snaps, looks at the shards ahead.
"Holy mackerell! Get busy dodging or get busy swimming, people!"
She grabs a stick to stop the shard's approach, and pushes her whole weight against the shard with the oar, and almost slams the thing into her larynx.
Jacknife uses his warhammer to nudge the raft away from the jagged spire before you crash into it. You manage to reach the Rolanna’s Prayer safely.
"Alright kids, come on. Time to play Up the Monkey Vine!" The kids quickly clamber up the rope, doing their best pirate impression. "Alright kids, help me up." Tellith turns to you. "Thank you all. Can't wait for Daffrid. Take care of her."
Now that you know where the shards are, your return trip is quick and painless. Themolin practically clutches onto Astrid, who stoically supports him. "Maybe you should have bought a life preserver."
She climbs up first onto the deck, despite Themolin's protest. "Oh please, like you could climb up this rope by yourself." He finally releases Astrid and she chuckles. "Don't worry, I'll take of him. I bet your employer expects him to pay up the most."
Once Astrid is up, Themolin grabs the rope. "Ah, yes. Well, exemplary j-job. Good luck and good journey!" He yelps as Astrid begins pulling up the rope. He kicks his way up onto the deck.
With the ship at capacity, the Rolanna’s Prayer sails away from the cove. Soon it's no more than a blip on the horizon.
"So, uhh... as for the rest of us. How do we get out of here?"
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"That sounds like a plan. If all goes well, we will all be out of here tomorrow. ", Ysoldt nods, then thinks a bit, and adds : "Out of now? Back to the future?"
Back in the inn, Ysoldt wants to make sure everything is ready for the checkpoints. "We need a backup plan. Yuleg, do you have a cart we can use? And how many barrels do you have stashed here? We will need some of those to hide you inside."
"I have a wagon, it can hold up to a thousand pounds easy." He points at a few unused barrels. "I have about six barrels. We can, er, hide there." Yuleg heads towards the back to get more.
Vurna chats up Flitch, amazed over his bravery and wit as he directed the crew. Flitch is much more humble, saying he just watched it happen. "Oh, you are so modest Flitch!" She drags him down to kiss his cheek.
Seddothrum tolerates Daffrid's rambling about what lessons she will teach. Physics! Evocation! Causality! Most of this goes right over Seddothrum's towering head, but he's glad to rest.
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Jac looks at the barrels, 'Solid enough from the looks of it. Hmmm.. Now let's think, if I put this rubber pipe into the barrel, and make it look like a natural hole, where there's knot in the wood .... well someone could breath for a while...' He looks into his crafters book for instructions and using his kit attempts to disguise the knot hole with a pipe. He looks at it, "Tell me what do ya think, would it be easy to spot or nay?"
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Makai looks at The Barrel that Jacks Built and grabs her tools
"I think your idea is right. Look my clan owns a brewery I spend a big part of my childhood, carrying, repairing, and emptying barrels of different sizes. Regular barrels are sealed to not pass liquids, and you can't breathe within one. So we need to make enough of holes to make sure that one can."
She makes few holes in the barrel and tries to make them not visible. She also works on the second bottom and to make sure that fish do not fall on the person below.
Finally, they do a test when they put people into the barrels and let them in for 10 minutes to check if they can breathe normally.
As the bells ring signalling the start of curfew, Jacknife and Makai prepare the barrels to smuggle. By the time they finish, all looks well. Daffrid volunteers to test the barrel. "I can breathe, although everything smells like fish. I'll have to get used to this."
Avonathalanthalasa spends the night forging many documents. The pen spills green ink across the pages as she forges the needed travel papers.
With Yuleg's signature the Pathfinders purchases several barrels from him for free.
The Merry Mayfly lies in the town docks. Once the crew lifts the anchor, you’re home free.
Of course you have to deal with the many many guards and the checkpoint at the end of the dock. Seddothrum carries the cart full of barrels towards the checkpoint and keeps his mouth shut.
You move past the checkpoints, The guards nod and pass you along to the next, unaware of your special guests. Two more guards stand at the final checkpoint, one senior and one junior. ”Greetings. I’m Ellvard.” The elder human man smiles. ”Don’t worry, don’t worry. Rookie and I will take one last look through your goods, and then it’s off to the open seas.” He begins to inspect your cargo. "It's Rookie's first day. Garrla wrote a letter and said she was sick. Must have drank too much during the Emerald March, hehe."
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As the designated fall guy, Ysold hands over the necessary paperwork, and tries to distract the guards with small talk. "Here you go gentlemen. Documents required. We have papers for this stone giant slave and the barrels of fish from the Rockfish Inn."
She continues talking while they inspect the cart, althought a bit more careful after being shut down last time. She keeps a confident fascade througuhout - "Did you participate in the Marsh? I saw some parades. They looked very coordinated and efficient. Although someone might have spilled some wine at me while I was holding those papers, so if there are smudges, I hope it's no trouble. I'd hate to go back to have them filled out and signed again. We'd probably miss our ship, and our permits end today."
The Rookie takes the travel papers and inspects them, carefully. "All seems to be in order, go on ahead." The forgeries are perfect!
Whoosh!
A strong wind picks up and you start to lose your grip on the travel papers. The Rookie seems to be distracted, too- you gotta hold onto those papers!
Are we there yet?
As Seddothrum passes Ellvard, the guard raises his hand and the stone giant stops. "Huh. Look at you, Rocky. Pretty easy day for you, huh? Just carry some fish, drop it on the ship and sail across with your new owners." Seddothrum doesn't answer. "What's wrong? Rock fell on your head and you're too dumb to speak? They must have bought you for cheap!" Seddothrum grunts but holds his ground, but he's irritated.
Blech!
Vurna crosses the pier, her arm wrapped around Flitch. Maybe it's the man of her dreams. Maybe it's the rollicking waves. Maybe it's the pressure of gaining freedom. But she's turning a shade of green and getting a bit woozy.
"Uh, ma'am?" Rookie can't help but glance in her direction. "Are you alright? Maybe you should delay leaving until you feel better. You don't want to spread the cold to your crewmates."
"Oh, nah, I'll be fine- I'll be..." She burps and tries to hold her composure, but she's losing it.
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Oh. Speak of the devil... Um. For comical purposes, I will leave this one to you.
Ysoldt steps in when the guard talks down to Seddothrum. She pulls out a piece of jerky from her backpack, and intervenes. "Excuse me sir, I am sorry, but this specimen has a little temper.", she hands the jerky to the giant and taps him on the forearm. The healthy one. "Can we talk?”, she leans towards Ellvard and speaks with a hushed voice. "I'm sorry, but big guy over here was cheap for a reason. Apparently he broke some equipment ina fit of rage, and the owner is trying to get rid of him. Which helps us, because our client wants an angry fighting machine for their arena. Something to pit against other slaves, you know... Still, better not antagonise him. While I am sure we could take him down collectively, it would probably mean a lot of paperwork for both of us..."
As for Vurna, when she sees her complexion, she calmly walks up to the rookie and drops her paperwork 'by accident' as she brushes shoulders with him. "Oh no! Sir, is the order important? They might have reshuffled when they fell down...", she kneels down to pick up the permits just as the wind beats her to it. "Uh oh...", Ysoldt realises what is happening as her paperwork now flies around the pier as she tries to gather them up left and right.
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When the guard introduce himself Makai moves closer to Avonatha and wispers to her
"Do you think that this is this Ellvard that Themolins documents were speaking of?"
As the wind begins to blow Makai seems to miss it completely. She does not anticipate the wind, nor does she get a good hold on the documents.
When she finds Ellvard picking up on Seddothrum she comes closer and puts a hand on Seddothrum arm "Is there any particular reason why are you irritating this one? We hired him to carry our load and he does that without complaint. How about you let him do his job and we all go our ways."
When Makai sees Vurna looking ill she quickly approaches and gives her a root
"Chew on this, it should calm your stomach. You need to keep it together, we can't catch attention!"
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Despite the tiredness that shows under Jac's eyes, the man is still needle sharp. Seeing the sails of the ships nearby start to fill, he is ready for anything that hinder their escape. The papers in his hand take a lurch, and he quickly finds himself sprinting a couple of yards as the papers get stuck on a nearby barrel of fish. His hands dart out and catch them, before they can fly further off down the docks.
......
As Jac reaches the guard and Seddothrum, the Kellish fighter hits Seddothrum in the stomach and says "Oi dumb ass, get those things on the ship, what you stopped for?" before he turns to the guard, "Oh, Sorry didn't see you there. Bet you're glad to be getting rid of this stupid great oaf. We have better carts for carrying goods back in Katapesh. Oh well, might find a buyer for him. Sorry, what were you saying, can I help...." he waits a second before pressing his papers under the eyes of Ellvard. "All in order, OK?"
........
Jac passes a small bottle to Vurna, "Drink this, it has calming herbs, just a little, it might help."
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Quickblade quickly puts himself between Seddothrum and the guard, pushing (or trying to) the giant back before anything unpleasant happens.
"Bullying the help won't make our leaving any quicker. As my colleague said, we got him cheap because he has a temper issue." To Seddothrum, he says quietly "Stay calm, my friend, this will be over soon."
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Ysoldt's papers swirl far, far away from her before Quickblade quickly catches up and snatches them before they get too far.
Quickblade's ginger and Jacknife's seltzer make a potent drink. Vurna takes a sip, and then chugs it all down in one gulp. Yuleg raises a curious eyebrow, and then looks at Flitch. Flitch shrugs nonchalantly. "That could use some mint next time. Come on, let's get on the ship and maybe we'll find something else tasty." Vurna nods and follows him onto the ship.
Seddothrum is about to face Ellvard when Jacknife keeps him under control. The giant grips the wagon even tighter, almost snapping the handle before he moves toward the ship. Ysoldt explains the situation and Ellvard nods. "Ah, I see, you bought a fighter! I hadn't heard of fighting pits in Magnimar, but that's the first rule, right? You don't talk about it. My lips are sealed."
Rookie waves you ahead. "Thanks for visiting, everyone. Enjoy the Emerald March finale from the coast, I've heard it's beautiful." The guards stand aside and you have clear access to the ship.
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Jac puts his arm on Quickblade's shoulder, "You know, glad I'm outta here." as the sea breeze ruffles his black hair. He walks briskly up the gang-plank onto the ship, looking up at the rigging as the sails are slowly put in place.
Above a seagull wheels in the sky, it's white plumage vivid against the blue sky. "You know call me paranoid, but I don't even trust them gulls not trying to take our secrets back to its master. Its good to be going home, let's hope we don't have long before we sail." he winks at Makai acknowledging a job well done.
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Quickblade agrees with Jac. "I am unaccustomed to the city and cannot wait to get back to the woods around Absalom. I do hope the Society will be satisfied, though I cannot wait to see the look on Guaril's oily face when he sees we brought out more than what he wanted!" Quickblade's face splits into an evil grin as he imagines Guaril seeing the number of people who got out.
You all board the Merry Mayfly and the captain quickly raises the anchor. ”Let’s get out of this place before they find a reason to board us.” She yells at her crew, and they quickly begin rowing out of the docks.
Xin-Edasseril coast looks beautiful as you sail from it. Bright magical lights shoot up from the city scape as brass horns blare in unison. The blue-green sky slowly takes over your vision until the Runelord’s territory is but a speck. Magnimar never looked so good.
Sheila Heidmarch and Valais Durant are ready for you, but Guaril is the first to speak up. ”Did you get everyone back? Good, good!” He rubs his hands. ”You did collect the payment, right? We’re not exactly a charity here- OW!” Heidmarch walks up to him, apparently stepping on his foot in the process. On purpose? Probably. Valais stifles a laugh.
”Ahem. Pathfinders. Thank you for your help in freeing these people from the Runelord’s shackles.” Valais smiles. ”It will be difficult for us to help more people as the Runelord watches, but you have done well today.”
Seddothrum is already in the garden, observing the soil and tending to the plants nearby.
Yuleg smiles. ”Yes, thank all of you for me and my daughter. I’ll help you Pathfinders in any way that I can.”
Daffrid is already reading the history books in the manor. ”I’ve lost so much time…" She grabs a book on war history. "Wait, that war ended? When?”
Astrid keeps her mouth shut, but she’s looking out the window and smiling.
”Uncle. Thanks. Guess I owe ya.” Flitch sheepishly scratches his neck. ”I would have made it out on my own eventually… somehow.” Vurna squeezes his hand and he blushes.
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Makai keeps her shield in her hand until they get off the ship. Only then she feels how her hands are shaking, the constant stress, and worrying about how to bring all those people out made her exhausted.
She had to visit a dwarven forge to give thanks to Torag for helping her. He would not approve of that deception, lying, and sneaking are not the way of the Forge father, and he did not approve it in his clerics.
Makai spends the most time speaking with Seddothrum, she is glad that they saved the stone giant. For some reason, she both felt sorry for him and was interested in his future.
One of the following days she receives the letter from the Pathfinder Society with her next mission...
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If Ysoldt is tense, she doesn't show it. At least not too much. She looks over her shoulder every now and then until Xin Edasseril is only a distant. She climbs up into the crow's nest to make sure the Mayfly is not being trailed, and once she feels secure, she descends back unto the deck.
"Well, nobody is after us. At least nobody I saw."
She looks at Daffrid's kids. And bends over to touch her knees with her hands. "We did it, little guys, you can grow up now!", she tries to keep the kids entertained by showing them how to walk a tightrope, but only on deck.
She spends the voyage being surprisingly merry, and being much less cynical than her usual self. "Must be the sea air... I should have been a sailor, not an acrobat.", she says when questioned.
However, once she sees Guaril, she returns to her former self almost immediately. "We got a few more than initially planned. I hope it cuts deep into your budget."
With their business finished, she states she doesn't need to talk to the Sczarni anymore, politely greets everyone, and announces that she'll be waiting outside if anyone wants to talk. She eyes Astrid curiously and starts to approach, but decides to leave her to enjoy the sight and instead, just sits down in a chair.
She wishes all refugees a good fortune, and states that she looks forward to working the agents in the future, though preferably for a different client.
Seddothrum is glad to have someone to talk to that doesn't treat him like a bag of rocks. "Thank you." He wraps his hand around Makai's forearm and shakes slowly and carefully. "There are people like you who considered people like me... people."
Flitch begins working for a local newspaper. His underworld ties and willingness to get dirty lead him to the life of a mild-mannered investigative journalist.
Yuleg reopens the Rockfish Inn at Magnimar, and business does well. He does need to make some room for Vurna's maps of the city's alleyways and sewers, earning a steady pay. She later converts it into the kids rooms and a bedroom for herself and Flitch.
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Working on behalf of both the unscrupulous Guaril Karela and the noble Valais Durant was unusual to say the least, but at least your work has benefited a few of the unfortunate souls suffering in Belimarius’s cruel grasp. The Runelord of Envy may have been beyond you this time around, but perhaps you’ll find a reason to return to Xin-Edasseril in the future.