A woman comes in followed by a white fox of many tails, the creature looks at the assembled and walks betwen the legs of the woman
"My name is Feiya, nice to meet you"
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As you all get to know each other, you hear a hearty voice call from the dock "Permission to come aboard?!" Shortly thereafter, Calisro Bennary comes on board and you set sail.
As a splash of salt crashes over the bow of the Glorious Payoff, 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."
"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."
"It’s 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. Now if there isn't anything else, you can all jump overboard and swim to the sandbar."
Feiya looks at the patch of sand and then at Calisro "eee, why don't you wait here with us, we can stay on the ship and change boats when the other comes?"
Feiya looks daggers at Calisro "Keep in mind captain, The distance would not protect you from my curse if we die on this patch of sand"
She grabs her fox and jumps over the board
She cuts through the air, with her hair floating on the wind, she lands softly in the water, making it look efortless for her. She puts the fox on her shoulder
"So I guess now we wait..."
She sees disaproving look from Daji
"What? I am a Witch, I need to hold to my reputation, and she was simply rude!"
"Who would leave here a box" asks Feiya
"Come on, I know that no one can see you, but try it like you mean it! Maybe there would be a bottle of finest wine that we could drink as we wait!"
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Norbwald manages to pry the box open. Inside you see several cracked flasks, save for two. One you recognize as a Lesser Bravo's Brew. The other is a bottle of liquor with a stylized dragon turtle logo on it.
Feyia shakes her head and takes offered bottle from Norbwald and takes a swig. "Good and strong, but I am afraid it might not be enough"
She looks around for any patch of dry land, but as he doesn't see any, she puts the box on the side and tries to put cup on it
"You wonder if this is spicy? We can open it and find out" Feyia says smiling wickedly and then cackles
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About an hour later, a small boat appears, sailed by an elderly dwarven woman. She anchors the boat at the sandbar and begins moving around sacks of shellfish and crab traps to make room in the cramped vessel. She looks over at you.
"So you younguns are jus' gonna watch an old woman move all this without helping? I figgered you younglings would at least help out an old lady. If you wanna get going to Port Peril now, get over here and help move this stuff around to make some room! Hlar's the name, by the way."
"Y'know, Calisro Benarry made me come out here earlier than normal so you might as well help me row!"
You all help move around the nets and traps and soon you're on your way. Hlar sails her boat in a meandering path to shore along the submerged rock formations. Occasionally, she would suddenly jump overboard and dive to the bottom of the ocean and returns with an oyster, sea urchin, or squid.
Hlar’s boat arrives in Port Peril around sunset. As you drift into Crescent Harbor, sailors disembarking for shore leave remain clearly visible, singing rowdily as they work. Hlar soon lands at a smaller dock to unload her catch and gestures at Fane’s ship in one of the docks—the Risen Albatross.
"Stella has a penchant for riotous nights on the town once she’s returned to port are well known. But I don't know where the kids go these days. You can talk to the harbormaster, Tsojmin Kreidoros. He might have a better idea of where Fane disappeared to."
Tsojmin, a dwarf, is close by, checking off tasks written in a ledger. Hlar points him out to you and sends you on your way.
Feyia walks after Obelix and smiles towards the Harbormaster. What for her might be a cherful smiles looks more like a witch smiling from her curse to have effect, the only thing missing is mad laughter...
"I think I need another sip of that magical nectar that you had Norbwald. She says looking at gnome, say any links to Aslynn? You have something in your eyes...."