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A tawny-colored catfolk arrives, walking with the rolling gait of a veteran sailor. He is dressed in garish pirate’s garb, including a tricorn hat atop his dark-maned head. He wears no armor, and has no obvious weapons other than a bandolier of darts across his chest, and the rune-bearing cloths wrapped around his hands. A wayfinder hangs from a chain around his neck, and a butterfly carved from driftwood is fastened to a sash tied around his waist.
He touches a pair of fingers to the brim of his tricorn in a lazy salute, and drawls, ”Ahoy, my good Pathfinder! Coracle Jibbs, at yer service.”
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A nervous looking young man takes notes about each of you as you arrive, using what looks like a combination wizard's tome and reporter's notebook. A staff is strapped across his back.
"Erm, hello! What an interesting group. This is going to make an excellent story--details changed a bit, of course, not to worry about becoming inadvertently famous!"
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Good deeds'll get us in the Pathfinder Chronicles anyway, no? says a newly-arrived dark-scaled kobold. Or would that only make us famous amongst a small slice of archivists and fans?
The kobold checks his belt to make sure his hammer and daggers are properly secured before nodding to the others. Chirrit Vuthaner, at your service and pleased to meet you! Chirrit looks around. Quite a lot of Pathfinders around today. Did any of the captains give you a heads up as to what so many of us are doing here? Or is Heidmarch running today's gathering?
You may begin the Introduction: Into the Storm now!
Good luck, and have fun!
The briny smell of the ocean fills the air, mingling with the scents of tar, fish, and unwashed bodies. The docks teem with stevedores, sailors, pirates, and Pathfinders making their way toward a massive galleon that dwarfs the other vessels in the harbor. A carved dragon head juts defiantly from the front of the ship, and several smaller jolly boats hang from its side. A flag bearing the Glyph of the Open Road flaps in the wind, and a name painted in bold letters on the ship’s stern proclaims it the Snapdragon.
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"Sorry I'm late, boss," a gnome woman in plain sailor's clothes says, a bit out of breath as she hurries to catch up to the catfolk.
"Not quite late," Coracle replies, smirking. "Lucky for you. Again. You like living up to that nickname, don't you?"
The gnome shrugs in a what can you say to that way, then waves to the others near her employer. "Hi, I'm Lucky. I'm here to help Mr. Jibbs whenever he needs someone less threatening to make friends. And to make sure he doesn't get cheated at cards."
"Quiet down!" Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry hollers, her voice cutting through the din and drawing all eyes to the quarterdeck. She’s joined by Venture-Captain Eando Kline, who grimaces as a third figure joins them. The newcomer’s face bears a sly smile, as if she’s laughing at something only she knows.
"Welcome to Quent." Eando calls out. He gestures to the smiling aiuvarin woman at his side. "We’re here at the invitation of the Hurricane Queen, Tessa Fairwind, who brought a discovery of some interest to Calisro."
"Sure," Tessa interrupts with a grin and a glance at the Venture-Captain. "I know Callie recently left the Grinning Pixie, so I assumed she was just sitting around with nothing to do. I wanted to help a friend out with a possible adventure."
"I do just fine, thank you," Calisro shoots back, before turning her attention back to the Pathfinders on deck. "Tessa brought us a report from some of her scouts about a shipwreck in the Eye of Abendego. They didn’t stop to investigate—Tessa failed to mention why exactly they were in such a rush—but they noticed a Pathfinder flag flying from the mast."
Eando continues. "Now, we haven’t sent any missions into the hurricane recently, and happily we don’t have any reports of missing Pathfinder ships. So that led us into the archive. We think this ship might be the Whippoorwill. For those of you who haven’t been studying your Chronicles, the Whippoorwill was one of our very first ventures, from the first 10 years of the Society. Venture-Captain Kimma Atyi led her crew to investigate an island with strange architecture. Unfortunately, we lost touch with her in 4316 ar, and—"
"If Kimma was anything like Callie as a sailor, no surprise." Tessa interrupts again, leaving Eando gritting his teeth. The Hurricane Queen laughs before giving way to the Vigilant Seal’s leader once more.
"As I was saying, they were eventually given up for lost."
"She probably ran into Abendego’s Squall," Tessa says, sounding a touch more serious.
"Or some other mythical sea monster," says Calisro. "At any rate, because of the historic significance of this mission and the dangers of sailing into the Eye of Abendego, we’re marshaling all our forces. The Snapdragon here is the Society’s largest, most durable vessel. She’s not as pretty as my usual ship, but she can hold more people and will see everyone safely through the storm."
"As long as you don’t sail her into some rocks!" Tessa gibes.
Calisro takes a deep breath. "We’ll be fine. As I was saying, this will be a dangerous mission into the teeth of the storm, so we understand if anyone chooses to return to the docks right now."
"There’s no need to worry though, Pathfinders," Tessa says, pulling a pearl from her pouch. "I have duties here in Quent, but I’m sending some of my pirates with you to show Callie where to go. They can take over too if she falls overboard. I’m also loaning her my magical pearl of depths. That way, when she inevitably sinks the Snapdragon, you can breathe underwater long enough to swim to safety!" With those final mocking words, she saunters off the gangplank.
As sailors start casting off lines, Eando calls out. [b]"We’ll be underway in moments, Pathfinders, so if you have any questions, now’s the time to ask.
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Coracle bristles in indignation at Tessa Fairwind's very public and petty jabs at Calisro Benarry, who he looks up to both his faction leader and as a justly famed sailor. It's not until the Hurricane Queen departs that he gives his full attention to considering the audacity of their mission: to sail into the Eye of Abendego itself!
"Aye, they do," the catfolk says to Jig with a wink. "So be sure to say a good deal about yours truly in your story."
He then asks Kline and Benarry if they would have a use for another trained sailor on the outward voyage. He seems eager to help man a craft as large and impressive as the Snapdragon.
There seem to be a few different potential tasks that could use Pathfinders' attention. What would this team like to address first?
As there are still a few days of sailing left, the team should have plenty of time to rest between tasks.
Between you, you remember that The hurricane is known to house sea monsters, air elementals, and aquatic undead. There’s also been a recent surge in demonic forces around the Eye of Abendego. How deep these forces go, where they’re coming from, and why they’re gathering are unknown.
The Eye of Abendego is a massive hurricane that formed off the western coast of Garund following Aroden’s death. It destroyed the nations of Lirgen and Yamasa, forming the Sodden Lands. Despite the fact it can easily smash a ship to pieces, Shackles pirates use it to ambush passing merchants or flee pursuers.
Sailor overboard! rings out a cry from the lookout, pointing from his perch in the crow’s nest. The alarm provokes an immediate reaction as Calisro orders the helmsman to swing the ship in that direction, where a sodden figure clings to a piece of floating wreckage. Looking around, the venture- captain calls out. Pathfinders, we’ll get as close as we can, but we only have one chance in this storm! Save that sailor! If you have to, make some tethers and fish that flotsam out of the water!
You see Mogwenni lying on a crate of supplies, slipping in and out of consciousness. You must act quickly if you want to rescue her as she passes within 30 feet of the Snapdragon!