Date: 1093rd cycle of the 47th epoch of the Dominion of the Sundered Depths
Now that I’ve arrived at the surface, I think it’s safe to rest for a while and begin my chronicle. I’ll at least take the time to note down my first impression, which is of daylight filling the landscape, shadowing the clefts in the mountainside and glittering off the river. The sun isn’t as harsh as people claim. Of course, it’s too bright to look at for long, but I think it’s beautiful nevertheless.
The river should lead down to the sea. Then I’ll follow the coastline until I find a ‘port’, where I hope I can begin the journey I’ve glimpsed in dreams.
According to the books I’ve read, there may be some prejudice against our race among the surface peoples. But I expect I’ll still be able to persuade a captain to hire me as a member of her (or his, I suppose) crew. I should be useful as a lookout during night-time, and perhaps as a navigator if I can learn to read the patterns in those stars.
It’s a curious effect, how the sky in the east is brightening as the sun begins to set in the west.
Or …
I remember reading that the stars are only visible at night. Is that the sun whose light I’ve been admiring? Or the full moon?
I was definitely underestimating my overconfidence.
The sun, when it did rise, was dazzling. I travelled by night.
There was a port at the end of the river, and there were ships’ crews in town. The first group I approached backed away from me quickly. The second tried to attack me and I was forced to flee. I spent the day in hiding and practised various reassuring speeches in Common.
The following evening, I tried again and found a group of sailors who seemed more friendly. By the time I realised they were surrounding me, all the escape routes were blocked. I think one of them must have knocked me unconscious.
I woke up in fetters in a confined space below decks on a ship. I don’t know how long the journey was – I believe I was drugged for much of the time, and the days and nights blurred together. From overheard snatches of conversation, I guessed that I was being held in a slave ship, and I was receiving special treatment because I was considered to be exotic merchandise that might fetch a high price if the right buyer could be found.
When the ship docked in a port, I managed (with Desna’s aid, I suspect) to free myself, retrieve my belongings and escape under cover of darkness. I found my way into the city and hid in an alley behind a building that may have been a drinking establishment. I was waiting for the effects of the drug to wear off so that my mind would be clear enough to make some sort of plan. But there was a dazzling flare of light and then a group of people surrounded me. These ones weren’t even trying to look friendly.
I was woken by shouting and sunlight. The shouting was in Common and seemed to contain orders and insults in roughly equal proportions, but with much additional vocabulary that I’ve never encountered in any Common-to-Undercommon dictionary. I was vaguely aware of some other people crowded around me who were not shouting, and it seemed best to follow what they were doing. So I climbed blindly up to the deck of a ship. There we were briefly shouted at by Barnabas Harrigan, captain of the Wormwood. The gist of his shouting was that he didn’t want to be spoken to, and he didn’t want any of the crew to kill other members of the crew. The Wormwood sails under a red flag with the sign of a skull and crossed cutlasses.
It seems I was one of a group of new crew members, all of whom had been captured in the port and brought on board unconscious. Our captors had probably not had much opportunity to make a careful selection and instead just collected any able-bodied candidates they could. And so this group may be representative of the inhabitants of this region:
– a young human woman with a look of both rank and athleticism;
– a tanned human man with tattoos and a steady shipboard gait;
– an agile-looking male half-human in flowing clothes;
– a blue-skinned male humanoid with ears that resemble the fins of a small fish;
– a black-feathered humanoid crow with claw-like hands;
– a female gnome whose silver hair is embellished with small decorative shoes.
Or maybe not. My instincts (or perhaps the small decorative shoes) tell me that I should wait a bit longer before drawing any definite conclusions about the general population.
We were ordered to climb to the top of the rigging as quickly as possible.
I wouldn’t have expected to be any good at this. A maze of ropes above water level is hardly my natural environment. But I went steadily, and perhaps Desna (or luck, or both) was on my side.
Others were not quite as lucky. The human woman lost her footing and might have been seriously injured. I used some of my ancestral magic to slow her fall. Perhaps this was foolish – it provoked more shouting from below, this time with orders against spellcasting. They could not have known who was responsible, because this magic only needs a moment’s thought. And so I suppose I need to be reluctantly grateful once again for my ‘noble’ heritage, if it ensured that the young human wasn’t hurt.
The young human woman then tried (successfully) to help the gnome and tried (very unsuccessfully) to help the humanoid crow, who was able to glide safely to the deck. By this time, the human woman was laughing, and I feared that our captors would kill her. But instead they just shouted some more and waved whips about. We seem to have fallen into the hands of a remarkably lax, laid-back group of slave-drivers. (Although I should remember that the crew appears to be short-handed, and this may be making our captors more merciful than they would otherwise choose to be.)
I was one of the first to reach the top, along with the human man from our group of captives. Since we were out of earshot and the reach of the whips, we took the opportunity to introduce ourselves to each other. He is Jonas Pound and has some experience as a sailor. Soon afterwards, we were joined by the blue-skinned humanoid (an ‘undine’ named Dharak) and the half-human man, named Huron. Huron was particularly eager to find a way to escape, but the rest of us persuaded him that – as the nearest land was a blur on the horizon – we would have to wait, obey orders and watch until we could discover the strengths and (hopefully) weaknesses of our captors. Huron seemed disturbed by my presence. This is not surprising, since he is clearly descended from the surface elves. I tried my best to be polite to him.
The other climbers reached the top as well, and there was just enough time for the human woman (Valanthe Blackwood) and the ‘tengu’ (Tektek) to introduce themselves. Possibly, the gnome began to say her name, but there was more shouting and we were ordered to return to the deck.
I happened to overhear Valanthe talking to some of the others. “Don’t worry – there seems to be a spell on this ship that slows people down when they fall.” Fortunately, I was able to whisper a warning that the effect could only work once a day. (I’ve read that humans have a tendency to ‘jump to conclusions’, but I didn’t realise how literally that Common phrase might be taken.)
Jonas and I were sent to join the ‘riggers’, and my first task was to stand lookout in the crow’s nest. This is strangely similar to the role I imagined for myself before I left home – except that these officers wanted me to watch during daylight.
As I was about to climb all the way back up again, Jonas whispered to me that the ‘osprey’ was a friend of his, and I should try to stop anyone shooting it. I didn’t have a chance to explain that I had no idea what an osprey was. Fortunately, no one attempted to shoot anything during my watch, at least not as far as I saw.
My crewmate on lookout duty was a small humanoid – a halfling, I think – with the nickname of ‘Ratline’. I talked to him briefly and perhaps allayed a few of his doubts about me, but I needed to concentrate on my task. There were reefs in sight. It would do no one any good if this ship ran aground.
I did take the occasional downwards glance, so I saw some of the other newest crew members. Huron was working as a runner, carrying messages tirelessly. Dharak and Valanthe were mending ropes and the gnome was fishing (or, at least, she ended up in possession of two turtles in a net – I did not see how she went about catching them). Tektek was sent to work below deck. At one point, I heard what sounded like a crow attempting to sing … I hope that meant the tengu’s duties weren’t too unpleasant (and that the singing wasn’t actually a strange form of screaming).
Our captors may be lax, but they are still dangerous. After the evening meal, the crew was ordered on deck to witness the punishment of a man accused of stealing from the quartermaster’s store. He was drowned by being tied up and dragged under the hull. I have of course seen worse treatment of prisoners at home (although luckily only from a distance), but the scene still troubled me. I wanted to help him, but that would have been insanely reckless – even if I had somehow rescued him and survived, where would we have gone? Other people in the crowd appeared to be disturbed, particularly among the newer crew. I’ll need to talk to them carefully and find out whether they could become allies. I think I may have a duty to try to help the captured members of this crew free themselves.
Also, I have learned that ‘grog’ is an intense and peculiar-tasting drink, but still more pleasant than anything made from fermented violet fungus …
After I drank that concoction, talking to other crew members somehow seemed easier. I spoke to Valanthe (who was perhaps less drunk than she appeared) and explained that I had helped her earlier with magic to slow her fall. Together, we met Sandara, who is one of four people who joined the crew just a day before we did. Huron had apparently made a good impression on her earlier in the day – she said she’d persuaded the quartermaster to give her some our of equipment, which she was now returning. There were a couple of weapons and several spell component pouches, including mine. I have been fortunate once again – I had already discovered that our captors either had not noticed the holy symbol that I was keeping concealed, or had not recognised its value (it is, after all, inexpertly carved from a sarcastic description in a book containing hostile accounts of the religions of the surface dwellers).
Sandara quietly asked if anyone in our group was injured. Could she also be a cleric?
Valanthe and I invited her to choose a hammock near ours. As we were heading below deck, we noticed a humanoid chained near the entrance to the captain’s cabin, perhaps as a guard. Valanthe tried talking to him, but didn’t get much reaction even with an offer of food and water.
By then I was suffering from several competing headaches, and I decided it was time to get some sleep. The sound of some excellent singing from up on deck kept me awake for a short while, and I thought about the people I’d met on board. Why had Valanthe attracted my attention in particular? Perhaps it’s because she may be a good leader, if any of us can escape from our captors. But I also remember her from my dreams of voyages across the sea. Or someone like her. Or maybe someone not very much like her at all – I could just be deluding myself. And even if my memory is accurate, dreams can be hard to interpret.
For example: later on, I dreamed of a silver-haired, blue-skinned gnome leaping in a spectacular arc towards a nearby hammock.
Perhaps that was real. If so, it seems that reality can also be hard to interpret (at least when gnomes are involved).
In the morning, once the ship’s bell had rung, we were confronted by a group of crew members blocking the staircase. Huron was apparently already on deck, but the rest of us were trapped below unless we could find a way past. Valanthe charged in, taunting her opponents and punching them. Dharak and Tektek also quickly got involved in the fight.
However, Tektek’s attention was caught by a dire rat that appeared out of the shadows and attacked one of our opponents. The tengu started talking excitedly about breakfast. I saw the gnome-of-tiny-shoes joining the fight and Jonas dragging Dharak back out of it. Dharak had been hit several times and looked unsteady, but his singing perhaps helped raise our morale.
Valanthe had also been hit. I subtly cast some healing magic and stepped forward to help her. Then I tried intimidating our opponents by chanting in Undercommon. This didn’t have much effect (perhaps library cataloguing rules were not the best choice of text), so I joined the fist fight too.
Soon, three of our opponents had been knocked unconscious and the others had backed away. I glimpsed Tektek making what was surely a futile attempt to swallow the dire rat. But when I looked again, the dire rat had vanished. Either something strange was going on, or the tengu was particularly hungry.
So were our opponents just people who enjoy trouble and fighting, or did they have a more sinister motive? Three of our group were late for roll-call, and they have been promised punishment.
By the end of our third day on board the Wormwood, our existence seemed to have settled into a routine – a routine of hard work, oppressively clear skies and unfair punishments (mostly inflicted on our group). But I have been learning many new things.
I have learned that the name of the gnome-of-tiny-shoes is Bismatarinia Terabopple. Or something close to that. I think. She says she is happy to be known as ‘Bit’. I will watch her carefully to see if she really does seem to be content with such a drastic abbreviation. This could be some sort of gnomish test.
Sandara is a cleric of Besmara, but was able to tell me more about Desna. Desna’s worship is generally accepted on the surface, which may eventually make things easier. Tektek is a cleric as well, but I did not recognise her holy symbol (from the glimpse I had, it looks like a storm-cloud). She said she envied my ability to channel a burst of healing energies.
Gnomish cooking is colourful. And it can appear particularly strange when the cook is cruelly prevented from applying the finishing touches.
When climbing, it’s important not to look up. Not when the sun is overhead, anyway.
Some of the officers carry magical equipment, including weapons.
Valanthe is much better than I am at influencing strangers. However, when I encountered the largest and most colourful hat I have ever seen, praising it helped make its owner a little more friendly. (I don’t think anyone at home would be terribly impressed by this display of political manoeuvring and manipulative persuasion, though.)
Tektek is skilled at purifying grog while concealing the magic. But Dharak’s behaviour suggested that it’s possible for at least one type of humanoid to develop a taste for the unpurified stuff.
Also, healing magic can have drawbacks. Being properly unconscious might have made it easier to stay asleep when small excitable people hurried downstairs late at night, declaiming about violins, lucky gold pieces and the need for “good things to balance the bad things”.
On the fourth day, the routine was broken by a young human crew member, who said he’d been attacked by rats. Our group was ordered to go down and deal with the problem. We were allowed to collect weapons from the quartermaster. Most of us were instructed to return the weapons afterwards, but something about my perfectly ordinary short sword seemed to bother the quartermaster, and she told me not to bring it back.
In the bilge, we defeated dire rats and an impressively agile spider. Again, we didn’t end up with as many dire rats as we thought we’d fought. Do we have a colony of disappearing dire rats on board? I’ve never heard of any such creature.
Huron thanked me for some healing I gave him during the fight, saying it was “unexpected”.
A search through the murk revealed a few items including money, a tanglefoot bag and a buckler.
Since our group was alone, I took the opportunity to ask the others if they all wanted to try to free themselves from our captors. Everyone said yes. Valanthe covered our ensuing conversation by acting out the noise of further combat.
I suggested trying to take control of the supply of drinking water. Some of us would be able to use magic to replenish the water supply – if we’re the only ones on board with this ability, then some carefully planned damage (or additives) to the water stores may be an easy way to persuade most of the rest of the crew to join our side. We talked about what we’d observed, to work out how many other spellcasters are on board. There are at least four. Sandara would be able to cast the spell of interest, but we know less about the capabilities of the others.
Although I think my idea is elegant, there may be unknown factors that will complicate it. And I have the impression that at least some of my companions would prefer a more … direct approach. Considering the question philosophically, I believe I need to recognise their freedom to seek freedom in whichever way they choose. (As long as it doesn’t impinge too much on other people’s freedom?)
Over the next few days, the conditions on board ship changed - the winds became stronger and the grog became weaker.
On the fifth day, some of us continued to try to win over the gnome-of-large-hat. Listening with apparent rapt concentration to his stories about himself would seem to be a good approach (although it can induce a peculiar trancelike state), but it hasn’t had much effect since our first meeting. The gnome’s name is Conchobhar, but he has become known to us as "the ice-gnome” – even Bismatarinia hasn’t been able to make much of an impression.
Valanthe accepted a challenge to a fistfight with the humanoid (nicknamed “Owlbear”) who is sometimes chained to the mast at night. After a short exchange of blows, Valanthe forced Owlbear to retreat but did not knock him unconscious. This caused some disappointment (the match was technically a draw) but perhaps some relief as well (many of the onlookers had bet against Valanthe). Valanthe’s actions during the fight may have made Owlbear much more friendly towards her.
On the sixth day, I encountered rain for the first time. Of course I’ve read about it, but no amount of theory could prepare me for the actual experience of water falling in drops out of the sky. It was fascinating. I’m not sure that everyone else on board shared my view.
The sea was becoming rougher, and some crew members fell ill. Without the officers’ knowledge, Valanthe rearranged the duty roster to cover for everyone. For example, Tektek (happily) agreed to take on more rat-catching work so that someone else could do the cooking. Valanthe spent the day running messages, but she was keeping the ship running too.
On the seventh day, there was more rain and lots of exhausting sailwork. The rain was already beginning to lose its fascination for me.
On the eighth day, our ship encountered a storm. The officers’ strategy was to sail “before the storm”. I dispute the word “before”. We seemed to be very much in the middle of it.
It was not pleasant. I came to understand that my dreams of shipboard travel had been some sort of demonic trick, sent to me as punishment for my lack of devotion. I should have stayed in the role my family gave me. Libraries do not lurch.
Of course, we all had to work a double shift, no matter how ill anyone felt. Part of the way through the evening shift, Tektek noticed that Rosie (a small, friendly, violin-playing member of the crew) had fallen overboard.
Thanks! I'm definitely planning to keep this journal updated as we play.
(However, our progress is indeed likely to be slow - I don't think anyone in our group will mind if I admit that we aren't the speediest of gamers. Hopefully our voyage along this adventure path will be closer in duration to Magellan's expedition than to Odysseus's trip home, but we can't make any guarantees.)
Amid the storm winds, there were shouts of “Gnome overboard!” (from Tektek) and “Stop the ship!” (from Valanthe). Dharak dived gracefully into the waves, carrying a rope. Valanthe kept hold of the other end.
Bismatarinia made loud squeaking noises at the ocean. Jonas stood nearby, casting a spell.
Rosie was quickly being left behind, but we could still hear her when she shouted that she was being attacked. There was some sort of creature close to her in the water – I caught a glimpse of a pointed fin emerging from the waves. Dharak reached Rosie and was able to keep hold of her to stop her from drowning.
I finally made it down from the rigging to the deck, and I helped Valanthe to pull Dharak and Rosie back out of the wild dark water. Both Dharak and Rosie looked too exhausted to stand up (but there was no sign of any damage from whatever creature had been near Rosie). We couldn’t take our crewmates below deck, so we tied them to a mast to make sure they didn’t go overboard again.
During the rescue, Valanthe showed that she has become quite good at co-ordinating members of the crew. (The officers didn’t seem to appreciate it later when she continued shouting orders.)
The storm finally began to die down at dawn – the dawn of yet another day of work in the rigging.
That evening, just as I was about to collapse into my hammock, I was approached by Bismatarinia. Quietly, she asked me for some healing. She explained that she’d been hit by an arrow from a trapped chest in the quartermaster’s store (I didn’t inquire about the circumstances that led to this ‘accident’). The chest apparently had various interesting pieces of equipment in it, including a disguise kit. Bismatarinia hadn’t taken anything, but I think we should try to remember the existence of that chest. Those items may have potential …
The next day, the weather was fine. Our ship arrived at an area of clear water and coral reefs. Our group was ordered to swim out to one of the reefs and spend the day trapping crabs. This was my first experience with swimming, but the conditions were favourable and no one (except perhaps Bismatarinia) seemed to have any trouble (even though we were glancing back regularly to make sure the ship wasn’t preparing to leave without us). Dharak in particular is a very skilled and fast swimmer.
As we were setting up the traps and catching bait, some large lobster-like creatures attacked us. They were notable for their pincers and remarkable stubbornness. We were aided in this fight by ‘dolphins’ (which are marine animals with somewhat familiar-looking pointed fins). After the battle, Jonas admitted summoning one (but only one) of the dolphins. I think I saw a significant glance or two being exchanged between Jonas and Bismatarinia …
To heal some pincer injuries, Tektek channelled positive energy, apparently for the first time. (She too is perhaps relatively new to the worship of her deity.)
Since the crab-trapping seemed to be going smoothly, we thought this was a good opportunity to talk freely about our situation and possible plans for escape.
Our discussion about possible plans started slowly. Bismatarinia began explaining her point of view, which involved the bizarrely idealistic notion that leaders can be liked. I think this confused the rest of us.
Once we’d resolved this confusion, we made a few decisions. We will wait and observe our captors for a while longer, unless we’re compelled to act (for example, if they try to kill any of us). Until we do take action against the officers, we’ll keep our plans secret from the other crew members, even those we’re on good terms with.
“How do we know that we can even trust each other?” asked Tektek.
An awkward silence followed.
The answer was probably obvious to most of us, though. We don’t know and we can’t know, but we’ll have to take some risk if we’re going to have any chance of freeing ourselves. As Jonas pointed out, we’ll need to trust a large proportion of the crew if we want to keep the ship afloat and moving.
I think our plan to wait is sensible, given what we know. But I am troubled - perhaps I will be tempted to delay too long, if that begins to seem the easier path. I must remember that we, and several of the other crew members, have been enslaved. I will watch for signs from Desna that I should start performing my true duty on board this ship more actively and openly.
When we returned to the ship, the captain asked what we had caught, and Tektek told him about the ‘reef-claws’ (the large lobster-like creatures). The captain seemed pleased and gave Tektek (but not the rest of us) permission to retrieve all her possessions from the quartermaster. Speaking to the captain can have benefits (sometimes).
That evening, I listened once again to the tales of Conchobhar the ice-gnome. Finally, my attempts to befriend him seemed to work - he remembered my name and actually asked some questions about me. (When we are too focused on achieving a goal, we can sometimes forget what the consequences of success may be. What have I unleashed?)
At the same time, Valanthe was playing ‘Hoglob’, a game which at least had the advantage of making Conchobhar’s conversation seem more interesting. The eventual winner of this greased-heavy-object-throwing contest gloated about his victory, and Valanthe challenged him to a fist-fight. She won, though I think it was a near thing.
Later that evening, I remembered Bismatarinia’s description of the chest in the quartermaster’s store. It occurred to me that it might be useful if one of us could pick locks. I experimented on a crew locker, but didn’t get very far. However, I tried again the following morning (after a good night’s sleep), and opening the lock now seemed a trivial task. (I suspect this says more about the quality of the lock than any of my skills.)
A routine day of work followed. Our ship was travelling slowly through the reef-filled waters.
The day after that, our group was put through an exercise, supposedly to train us in boarding ships. We were sent to one side of the ship, where the little rowing-boat had been lowered into the water. Nearby, there was a pile of rotting fruit and vegetables, and some buckets of bilge-water.
An officer explained that a couple of us would throw grappling hooks from the boat, then climb up to the ship while the rest of us threw the fruit, vegetables and water to knock the intruders down. At this point, Tektek stopped absent-mindedly eating our ammunition.
On her turn to climb, Bismatarinia seemed to be having trouble. I quietly arranged for Valanthe to cover for me - she threw an extra tomato with her off-hand while I stood close by and used ancestral magic to help Bismatarinia climb. Once she was on deck, I whispered an explanation to her (I didn’t want her to repeat the assumption Valanthe had made about ‘enchantments on the ship’).
Unfortunately this meant there was no levitation left for me on my turn.
I can understand the officers’ logic - on board this ship, there are probably not many soft objects to spare. But I still wonder whether the inclusion of rotting food in the exercise was an attempt at humiliating us or setting us against each other (particularly if someone in the group happened to be especially skilled or enthusiastic about throwing). I’m afraid I was pleased when Tektek ‘accidentally’ (I have my suspicions) hit the officer instead. Tektek is going to be punished for this, but perhaps she thinks it will be worth it (in her place, I probably would).
I need to be careful. If this goes on for much longer, I may start imagining signs from Desna in the arrangement of unidentifiable lumps of food-like substances in our evening stew.
I'm enjoying your journal so far, Iadel. Since you are writing from the point of view of a character, am I correct in assuming that you are a player and not the GM?
Dharak had not been part of our group for the mock boarding. Instead, he was ordered to go through the same exercise later that day, with some of the other newer crew members. From the rigging, I watched his progress – he seemed to be struggling with the task of climbing the rope. Perhaps he was simply unlucky (as I had been), but some of us were wondering if there was a more sinister cause.
It’s understandable that Dharak was exhausted after swimming through storm-driven waves to rescue Rosie. But he was taking too long to recover, I thought. In the days following the storm, he was a paler shade of blue and lacked endurance.
The rest of our group had been drinking Tektek’s stealthily purified grog ever since our second day aboard this ship. But Dharak had insisted on the unpurified stuff. Tektek already suspected that Dharak was addicted and had been weakened by missing his usual dose on the night of the storm. When we talked to him, he gave a not-entirely-satisfactory description of how he seemed to “need” the grog when it was served, even though he knew it was bad for him.
So we were encouraging him to switch to Tektek’s purified grog. ‘Encouraging’ sometimes meant keeping an apparently friendly but actually quite tight grip around his wrist while moving across to the part of the deck where our group was making rowdy toasts and singing (or ‘singing’, in my case) to cover Tektek’s spell-casting. I was also counselling him in an attempt to help him overcome the craving and the withdrawal symptoms. (This was not a task I imagined for myself when I dreamed of shipboard travel. But drugs can be a tool of enslavement, just as much as whips and chains, so I suppose this is part of my duty to Desna. I’ll admit, though, that some of Dharak’s self-justifications made me briefly consider more direct approaches to treating his addiction.)
Bismatarinia and I have discussed what we should do about the rest of the grog. At least some of the other crew members have been drinking it and are presumably being damaged by it. Until now, I have been mostly scornful of the officers’ methods for controlling their crew, but perhaps their use of grog would even win some grudging admiration back home. If the crew start to seem particularly troublesome, the officers can stop serving the grog, and crew members who escape or mutiny will sooner or later have to face the withdrawal symptoms.
The grog is kept in the quartermaster’s store, which is often left unlocked. We could start watering down the grog in some way. However, I wonder if the most potent ingredients are being stored separately and added according to the officers’ instructions. Bismatarinia mentioned there were bottles in the arrow-trapped chest, and I immediately thought of poison, but a powerful drug is another possibility. We haven’t made a decision yet. But we may need to make one soon ...
That evening, we tried to win over a few other crew members. I encouraged Valanthe to talk to Syl, who was one of the group who had started that fist-fight below decks after our first night on board. I had achieved some very small success in making Syl less hostile, but I thought Valanthe’s chances would be much better than mine. I suggested that Valanthe should take a slow and cautious approach to diplomacy, avoiding contentious subjects (‘the weather’ had worked for me, even though it’s a topic I have very little expertise in).
Valanthe approached Syl. In a friendly tone, Valanthe asked why Syl and her group were so hostile to us. Syl called Valanthe a “stuck-up little princess”. Valanthe punched Syl in the face.
The fist-fight proceeded in the now-usual way – Valanthe took a number of hits but ended up knocking her opponent unconscious. This was not precisely the sort of diplomacy I had hoped for.
Later that night, Bismatarinia gave us a warning: our group should avoid being seen together.
Was she prescient or just well-informed? The following day was fairly routine, but several of the less friendly crew members now behaved in a more obviously hostile way towards us.
And the day after that, Valanthe was assigned to duty in the bilge with Syl and Maheem – two people whom Valanthe had previously challenged and beaten in fist-fights. One of the officers ordered Valanthe to return her weapon to the quartermaster before going to the bilge.
Valanthe, Syl and Maheem reappeared on deck not long afterwards. Syl and Maheem were both bruised and drenched from head to foot with bilge-water, and Maheem had to be carried up because he was unconscious. Valanthe was bleeding from multiple dagger wounds. The officers asked no questions.
It’s not too hard to guess at least some of what happened, but shipboard work has so far kept the rest of us too busy to ask Valanthe about it. An important question is: what would Syl and Maheem have done if events in the bilge had gone the way they had planned? Should we start taking action against the officers now, to prevent further attacks on our group?
We did achieve something positive that day: Dharak easily resisted the temptation of the grog and he seemed to have recovered completely from the effects of the addiction and withdrawal.
The next morning, our work was interrupted by a shout from the crow’s-nest: “Sail ahoy!”
After the officers peered at the ship on the horizon and shouted questions to each other, a hush fell over the Wormwood, and then the captain announced that we were giving chase. Despite much hard work amid the rigging and the sails, we still had not caught up by nightfall.
That evening, Jonas introduced his ‘best friend Jeremy’ to us. (Jeremy is an osprey – a seabird able to fly considerable distances.)
By the following morning, it was clear that we would soon be able to catch up and attack. Bismatarinia did her hair very carefully for the occasion, with all the tiny shoes arranged precisely.
Our group was ordered to take control of the stern and prevent anyone escaping by boat. So we grappled and boarded. The combat was somewhat confusing because one of our officers (known as ‘Peppery’) created magical fog that gradually obscured the other ship. (Also, there were more of those disappearing dire rats.) Our designated foes put up a strong fight, and Valanthe and Huron both needed healing during the conflict.
But we did get a chance to see our true foe in action – our captain also boarded the other ship. He demonstrated a flair for the dramatic (and the bloodthirsty, and the explosive), and appears to be very skilled in combat. At one point Huron shouted a warning about an opponent who was stealthily approaching our captain from behind.
I suspect that this choice of Huron’s may prove to be … controversial among our group. However, it was profitable in the short term, because once we had taken control of the other ship, we received our share of the loot with some bonuses. Tektek announced that she was now the richest tengu in history.
During the celebrations, I took the opportunity to study the Wormwood’s strange clock more closely. It appears to contain powerful magic – much more than would be needed, I believe, to mark the (usually blindingly obvious) beginning of each new day. It is an interesting puzzle, and briefly provided an effective distraction from the troubling fact that the survivors from the other ship have now been turned into new slaves on board ours …
Tektek and I helped Bismatarinia carry food down to the new prisoners. (For some reason, Bismatarinia seemed concerned about the menu for the captain’s dinner that evening. Perhaps her distaste was just a quirk of gnomish culture ...)
We were alone with the new prisoners, so I started to explain to them that many of the crew (including us) were also captives, and we had been compelled to attack their ship.
In her usual, bright, high-speed style of speech, Bismatarinia began questioning the prisoners. She asked why it had been so easy for us to defeat them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the prisoners were not enthusiastic about providing a reply to this. (It is true that our crew prevailed without many casualties. One of the officers was seriously wounded, and was taken into the officers’ quarters. And the officers did not call Sandara in to help - instead, the wounded officer was tended by the ship’s surgeon and carpenter. Do the officers have a reason to distrust Sandara or her skills?)
“And why is all of your crew human?” Bismatarinia continued. “I’m not saying it’s bad or anything, but doesn’t it get dull?”
Once Bismatarinia and Tektek had gone, I told the prisoners more about what had happened to us since our capture. I was careful not to make any promises (I don’t know what the captain’s intentions are) or hint in any way that some of us could be plotting escape (our own intentions may need to be reconsidered, after what we’ve seen of the captain’s prowess in combat). But learning about our experiences may be useful to them in the days ahead, and perhaps they’ll be willing to approach us for help (if the opportunity arises).
I could hear the sounds of celebration from the deck above, including the voices of Dharak and Conchobhar joined in harmonious song. It seems that my colleagues were continuing their attempts to befriend other members of our crew.
Now that we had been given money by our captors, some of our group took the opportunity to purchase items from the quartermaster. (As a follower of Desna, I did not feel it was right for me to profit from taking captives, so I divided my share equally among the rest of our group, with a little extra going to Valanthe since she has already spent money in her attempts to win over other crew members.)
Valanthe bought some armour and Dharak bought a better lock for his locker. Instead of buying a lock for herself, Bismatarinia talked enthusiastically (and somewhat more loudly than usual) about a recipe she knew for turning a particular type of fish into ‘contact poison’. Valanthe also gave the quartermaster a ‘gift’ of some of her newly acquired coins.
Soon afterwards, the captain informed us that the captured ship would be taken to Port Peril and sold, while the Wormwood would continue on to its planned destination (we don’t know what this is, but it seems to be important). Our group was ordered to join the crew of the Man’s Promise, which would be commanded by the two officers who seemed to have the strongest dislike of us. The Wormwood would now be crewed by the other officers, a few other members of the old crew, and the new captives (Harrigan recruited them by asking for volunteers, throwing one of the non-volunteers overboard, and asking again).
Before we left the Wormwood, we were allowed to collect all our belongings from the stores. Valanthe seemed saddened to learn that the quartermaster would not be travelling with us (this may have been due to some personal bond of affection between the two, or just possibly because Valanthe’s gift of gold may not have quite the same potential now).
When we were on board the Man’s Promise, our new captain Plugg informed us that discipline would be strict, and punishments would be applied using the ‘cat’ rather than the whip.
Once night fell, we gathered near our berths below deck. Some of the more experienced sailors among us warned that the ‘cat’ could easily be fatal, and we talked about what we would do if Plugg decided to make an example of one of us. We still don’t know the capabilities of the two officers on board, but the general mood of our group was that we would be willing to take the risk and perhaps go down fighting rather than let one of us be killed in this way.
Tektek had been able to do some quick exploration around our new ship, and had discovered from a plaque that it had previously been known as the Motley.
Sandara and Rosie are being kept away from us and were locked in a separate room overnight. It seemed to us that they were being treated very much like hostages. Captain Plugg may well be expecting trouble from us.
Bismatarinia had somehow overheard the two officers planning to disobey their captain’s orders, take the ship elsewhere, have its appearance changed and use it as their own pirate ship. I suggested a possibility – we could ask Jonas to let us send a warning to the captain of the Wormwood via Jeremy the osprey.
There were other crew members below decks with us, and our whispering was inevitably attracting attention. Some of them seem to suspect that we are conspiring.
The following day was filled with hard work on board our new ship (which was not flying any flag, I noticed). By midmorning, it became obvious to those with some knowledge of the local geography that we were no longer on course to Port Peril.
No examples were made. No punishments were ordered.
That night, below decks, we discussed the situation again. We decided against informing Captain Harrigan of this betrayal, because the results might be too unpredictable and ‘messy’. (I can’t help regretting this a little. ‘Messy’ could have been interesting.)
Dharak has been staring meaningfully up through the grate to the deck and singing quietly. Sandara and Rosie remain locked away in a separate room.
I keep wondering if one small provocation or misstep is about to lead us into disaster ...
Great stuff, you have a nice flow in your writing style, and I like how you explored in detail the troubles a drow might have at the surface. Makes the overall story more interesting when your character faces all these challenges and obstacles.
Throughout the following day, the weather worsened. Jonas predicted that a storm would reach us before the next dawn. Most of us tried to get to sleep early.
Some time in the middle of the night, the storm caught up with us, and once again our officers decided to sail ‘before’ it – this of course meant exhausting work in wind and rain that made our surroundings nearly invisible. High in the rigging, Bismatarinia was screaming (apparently in excitement rather than terror).
As day approached, we spotted reefs in the water. Our crew desperately manoeuvred the ship to avoid these hazards while the storm winds still drove us onwards.
I doubted that our ship could continue in this way for long.
It didn’t.
A crashing, splintering impact brought our ship to a halt. By then, the weather was beginning to calm, but this came too late – we were aground on a reef.
I saw an island in the distance and informed the rest of the crew (my announcement was perhaps over-enthusiastic – it seems a very long time since I’ve been on land).
Jonas went below decks. I gather that his priorities were to look for a parrot and examine the damage to our ship (in that order). He saw that the ship’s barrels of fresh water had been broken.
Above decks, some of us noticed that two of our crew (Sandara and Jack) were missing. We found a holy symbol of Besmara caught on part of the ship, near the railing. We also discovered a patch of slime nearby, which was (somehow) identified as having been left behind by a sea monster.
Although he appeared to be exhausted already, Dharak dived overboard to look for our crew-mates. He emerged more than a minute later, gasping for breath (in a not entirely convincing manner, I thought). He had not seen anyone.
Shortly after Dharak climbed back on board, Bismatarinia shouted: “Yah! Things!”
“It’s a gobtopus!” Valanthe said.
I have nothing to add to my companions’ descriptions of the creatures that slithered out of the sea and onto the deck.
Dharak said something to the creatures in a language I didn’t understand. One of them said something to the other creatures, possibly in the same language. “They’re hostile,” Dharak announced.
The fight began immediately afterwards. The creatures were armed with spears and dealt a significant amount of damage before we managed to defeat them. Bismatarinia encouraged some of the other crew members to help us instead of just watching.
After the fight was over, Valanthe asked permission to lead a rescue mission. “Leave none behind!” she said. “Isn’t that a saying?”
“What?” was the response. Our officers did not seem particularly interested in finding Sandara and Jack (the phrase “worthless swabs” was used to describe them). Instead, we were ordered to take one of the boats to the island and search for fresh water.
We looked at each other. I think we were all silently counting how many of us could use magic to fill the empty barrels with fresh water. None of us mentioned this to the officers, though. It was possible that the creatures came from that island, and they may have taken our missing crew-mates there.
Repairing the ship will take some time, and the officers have given us two and a half days to search the island for fresh water – if we’re not back by high tide on the third day, they’ll leave without us.
As we were rowing out to the island, Jeremy the osprey flew down to us and Jonas translated his report. The island apparently contains frogs “of all sizes” and a “very large nest”.
Once we were closer to the island, we watched for signs of the gobtopuses (which, according to Jonas, are really called ‘grindlylows’). We didn’t see any, but we quickly noticed white figures on the beach that turned out to be skeletal remains, perhaps set up as totems or warnings.
We dragged our boat onto the beach and briefly discussed whether we should try to hide it, but decided that this would take too long – we would need to carry it up to the jungle and conceal it there, which would made a quick escape difficult.
I resisted the temptation to hug one of the rocks.
There were some partially ruined mud-walled huts nearby. Dharak went into one and asked to be woken in an hour. Tektek and I watched while some of the others climbed up a cliff – they found the ‘nest’, which looked like wood arranged for a signal fire. Some of the timber seemed to be from a ship.
We also found some barefooted humanoid tracks leading into the jungle. We followed a path until we reached a swampy river crossing. There were remnants of what might have once been a bridge – rotting posts were all that was left. Some of our group thought there could be quicksand beneath the murky water.
Dharak volunteered to carry a rope across. He started singing and walking on the surface of the water, which seemed to be subtly reshaping itself beneath each of his footsteps. I loaded my crossbow and watched the water.
When Dharak was about halfway across, a long tongue shot out of the water, wrapped itself around Dharak and tried to drag him down. A few moments later, a second tongue briefly appeared close to the bank where we were standing, but it did not succeed in grabbing any of us.
We can’t say we weren’t warned. These were frogs of some size.
I cast a spell to help Dharak free himself, and he made it back to the bank.
I asked if anyone had something we could use as bait – if we could tie a rope to the bait, we might be able to drag the creature onto land where it would be easier for us to hit. I was thinking that someone might have found food that the frogs would like, but instead Valanthe volunteered to be the bait. She seemed confident that she would be fine.
So we tied one end of the rope around Valanthe’s waist and the other end to a tree, and Dharak, Huron, Jonas and I stood ready to pull Valanthe back.
Valanthe was duly grappled by a frog’s tongue, but the second part of my plan didn’t work out so well. We struggled to make any progress against the great strength of the frog and Valanthe struggled to keep her footing.
Then the resistance was abruptly gone and the five of us fell over backwards. I couldn’t see what had happened but I suspect Tektek was involved somehow.
Both frogs had now been dealt with, apparently. I caught a glimpse of a triangular-shaped fin disappearing from the water.
We crossed the river with no further difficulties and continued to follow the path through the jungle. Occasionally, we spotted more humanoid tracks (but none of the slithery sort of marks that we would expect the grindlylows to leave).
Some time later, we noticed a combination of two very different unpleasant smells in the air. We arrived at a clearing where there was a large tree draped with a kind of tent and hung with decomposing body parts.
Bismatarinia suggested that we wait and watch for a while. So we waited and watched.
A minute or two passed.
“Argh! Bad things!” Bismatarinia shouted, pointing at the tree hung with decomposing body parts.
This seemed hard to argue with, but also somewhat slow off the mark.
“Paralysis bad!” she added.
This also seemed hard to argue with, although the relevance wasn’t obvious. Not immediately, anyway.
About five seconds later, ghouls emerged from the tent and attacked us. We fought back with cutlasses and positive energy. And also with a pony, which appeared from nowhere to help us.
We defeated the ghouls fairly quickly. Valanthe was trying to befriend the pony when it disappeared.
Most of us now turned to look at Bismatarinia.
“I have a lot of friends,” she said.
Jonas explained that Bismatarinia has simply been summoning creatures (which Jonas can also do, but less quickly and with more obvious spell-casting). It seems Bismatarinia was responsible for all the disappearing dire rats (or “diet rats”, as Tektek calls them). But we still had questions about what had happened just before the ghouls attacked us.
So Bismatarinia introduced Slink, who is “not an animal” and also “shy”. However, when he appeared (looking somewhat mangled), he spoke to us in Common.
Slink is a small serpentine creature with black feathers that have an subtle iridescent sheen. He is very good at hiding and exploring, but the ghouls had managed to catch him.
Tektek complimented Slink on his feathers and healed him, and soon Slink was grooming that hard-to-reach spot on Tektek’s back just between her shoulders.
We searched inside the tent and found various items including a potion, some alchemist’s fire, two barrels of cheap perfume (the source of the second unpleasant smell) and a wedding dress. The tent itself looked as if it had been made from sailcloth.
The evidence suggests that some survivors of a shipwreck have had steadily decreasing luck. (Their ship may have been called the Infernus.)
We set fire to the remains and talked about what to do next.
Some of our group suggested that we could stay on the island – there are sources of food (and fresh water of course). But friends of ours are still on board the Man’s Promise, and they may die of thirst if we don’t return.
Our hopes of finding Sandara and Jack are fading, but this island is probably the only place they could be if they are still alive. So we decided to continue searching.
We reached the other side of the island, where there was a beach with palm trees. Scattered across the sand were some fallen coconuts and some shattered coconuts. Jonas has spotted tracks belonging to small crabs … and some tracks belonging to rather larger crabs.
We were not particularly surprised when we were attacked by large crabs. Soon afterwards, Bismatarinia was planning a dish with crab and coconut as the main ingredients.
As we continued to explore the island, corn was added to the menu – we found neglected fields of it. We also found more humanoid remains on stakes. These remains seemed to have been undead before becoming simply dead.
It was here that I began to realise that there is a drawback to being able to sense magical auras. We detected something magical in the cornfield, and our search for it triggered attacks from swarms of small biting (and possibly diseased) insects. I don’t recall ever reading about such swarms in descriptions of the horrors of the surface world. A serious omission. They should have been high on the list. We used a lot of our newly found alchemist’s fire as we struggled to escape from the insects. (There was also an ankheg, which ate Slink. Bismatarinia was very distressed by this loss: “I asked him to do something and he died! Until tomorrow!”)
When we eventually found the magical something, it turned out to be a bottle containing two doses of a potion of water breathing. Dharak seemed unimpressed by this latest acquisition.
The next morning, Bismatarinia was joyfully reunited with Slink. We then climbed steep slopes to reach a stockade. Enclosed by the wooden outer walls were a large tree and a small building. Tektek spotted something moving in the tree. “Come out!” Valanthe said. “We know you’re in there.” She kicked the tree and was promptly attacked by vine-like appendages.
During the subsequent fight, we were helped by riding dogs. In the tree. (I believe Bismatarinia was involved again.)
Once we’d defeated the vine-chokers, a magical aura led us to climb high in the tree to a nest where we found a wedding ring, a potion (which we have not yet identified) and some shoe buckles (which fascinated Bismatarinia for a while).
A magical aura in the small building convinced us to confront a ghast and more biting insects. This time, we shut one of Bismatarinia’s many friends (a fire elemental) into the building to deal with at least some of these problems.
We put out the ensuing fire and tracked down the magical aura. It belonged to a ring of swimming (which Dharak seemed even less impressed by). There were also spices, fancy clothes and a diary. It seemed that the inhabitant of this building had tried to kill himself before succumbing to ghoul fever.
From our current elevation, we could see down to the beach and the ocean. With the aid of a spyglass (which we had also found in the stockade), Valanthe noticed a sunken wreck in the shallows and a creature slithering across the beach. The creature was a grindlylow wearing Sandara’s hat.
We walked all the way back over the island to fetch our boat, then rowed around towards the beach where Valanthe had seen the grindlylow.
When we spotted a group of grindlylows swimming out from a cove, we rowed past and tried to look as though we hadn’t noticed them. Our hope was to lure them out of sight of any of their companions that might still be in the cove.
They did not approach, and they waved Sandara’s hat at us.
Two groups, each trying to lure the other into a trap … unsurprisingly, this created a standstill. After a while, the grindlylows started to swim back towards the cove.
We gave chase, rowing as fast as we could directly towards the group of grindlylows. This led to a fight. We managed to capture one of the grindlylows alive. (We also retrieved Sandara’s hat.)
Dharak and Bismatarinia could both speak Aquan, and they questioned our prisoner. In the meantime, Slink was scouting into the cove and found an underwater entrance to a tunnel. Bismatarinia reported Slink’s discoveries to us.
From these two sources of information, we learned that the grindlylows live in a network of tunnels beneath the island’s surface. Some of these tunnels are completely underwater, but others lead up to air-filled caverns. One of these is accessible from above, through a sinkhole in the ground. The grindlylows have captured Sandara and Jack, and may be planning to sacrifice them (although this threat could be an invention of our prisoner – we guessed that he was trying to mislead us at times). In one of the larger caverns, there is a creature known to the grindlylows as the ‘Whale’ (but we suspect this is not an actual whale, due to its (uncertain but positive) number of tentacles).
Slink wasn’t able to find Sandara and Jack, but he could not get past a large tentacled creature in one of the caverns. So we think that our crew-mates may be somewhere further into the tunnel system, beyond those large tentacles.
We decided to enter the tunnel system from above, so we dragged our boat up onto the beach, left our prisoner tied up nearby, and climbed to the area above the tunnels. It didn’t take us long to find the sinkhole.
There were stirges in the sinkhole. They took cover as soon as we started shooting crossbow bolts in their general direction.
I cast a spell to locate a distinctive item of Sandara’s clothing that was not her hat – it was within range, downwards and to the east. This was consistent with our theory. So we descended into the sinkhole. Tektek went first, gliding down with Bismatarinia on her back. They were attacked by the stirges, but we fought back effectively.
We then decided to examine Sandara’s hat. It proved to be a magical object – a tricorn of Besmara. One of its powers can only be activated by a follower of Besmara.
This prompted a discussion about religion. Tektek is a follower of Hei Feng, god of sea, sky and storms, worshipped by tengu. Valanthe was brought up in a temple of Calistria. I described the philosophies of Desna (to the best of my limited ability). Jonas is aligned with the forces of Nature. We tried to persuade Bismatarinia to pledge herself to Besmara (since Besmara may be one of the few deities who would be happy to accept people who decide to worship her for purely pragmatic and materialistic reasons). But Bismatarinia has decided she would prefer to try to deceive the hat instead.
We started to wade through the water in the base of the cavern. Jonas seemed disturbed by the seaweed, so I tried to avoid it as well (I’m paying close attention to anything that Jonas says – he did warn us that those insects could be troublesome).
We have reached a branch in the tunnel. Left or right?
Based on information from Slink, Bismatarinia recommended that we take the tunnel to the right. This led us into some underwater combat with grindlylows. Further on into the tunnel system, we discovered some aquatic ghouls (known as lacedons) beneath a grate, and we fought them too.
Just before we reached the place where we were expecting to meet a large tentacled creature, Bismatarinia speculated that it might not be real. “That would be really fun, building a big fake monster to scare people. It could have really great shoes!”
Then we met the large tentacled creature. It appeared to be real. It released nauseating red liquid into the surrounding water and crushed the first water elemental that Bismatarinia summoned. Our tactics were perhaps not the most heroic – Bismatarinia summoned another water elemental and it was aided by Tektek’s spiritual weapon.
After we defeated this creature, we followed another tunnel into a large water-filled cavern where we encountered some grindlylow dignitaries – we believe they were the queen and her rather large son. Sandara and Jack were also there. They had been tied up, suspended from the roof of the cavern and weighted with silver ingots. As soon as we arrived, the queen moved to cut a cord that was linked to the ropes holding Sandara and Jack up. I channelled energy and managed to catch Sandara and Jack in the healing effect before they hit the water.
Dharak dived beneath the surface to rescue our crew-mates while the rest of us fought the grindlylows. Some of us surrounded the grindlylow prince, and I succeeded in taking him down with a lucky strike. This did not seem to please his mother, and I learned that she could wield a harpoon with impressive (and painful) style. We defeated her as well, with the help of some of Bismatarinia’s rat friends.
Meanwhile, Dharak had rescued Sandara and Jack. However, there were more lacedons under the surface, and Jack had been bitten. He may need some ongoing care …
We noticed that the lacedons had tattoos of a star-eating whale, and we speculated briefly about whether this could have any significance (such as a connection with a certain shipboard clock).
We spent some time searching and we found various items, including a carved whale skull – Bismatarinia discovered (through practical experimentation) that she could fit inside it.
We discussed what to do next. We still have a shipwreck to explore, but we intend to leave this until tomorrow. Dharak noted that if we take all the goods we’ve found back to the Man’s Promise openly, we’ll presumably be ordered to ‘share’ them. He suggested that we could bundle the items we wanted together, and he would then swim back to our ship and attach the bundle to the hull, beneath the waterline. I suggested that we could also try exploiting some of our new possessions to create tension on board the Man’s Promise. If we present our two officers with one valuable item that can’t be divided, the results may be interesting to observe …
In the meantime, several of us were keen to get some rest.
As it turned out, we had to do a lot of rowing and planning before we could get any rest.
Sandara and Jack were both injured, and Jack’s leg was badly damaged. We took our two crew-mates out of the tunnel system to tend to them (and I was pleased to find that the grindlylow prisoner we had left tied up outside was now gone – it had made a slimy escape).
Then Valanthe announced that it was now time for us to take control of the Man’s Promise. So we rowed back around the island and discussed possible plans along the way. We camped overnight in the huts on the beach, and went to sleep early so that it would still be dark when we awoke. The Man’s Promise was in sight, and according to Jonas it was sitting properly in the water – this meant that the hull had been repaired.
As we rowed stealthily towards the ship, Slink scouted ahead and noticed the glint of something bobbing in the water. Dharak swam closer to investigate and found a bottle with a message inside it. It had been left for us by the ship’s cook, who warned that Plugg intended to kill us when we returned from the island. Apparently, most of the crew had been locked below decks.
We approached the stern of the ship. With darkness cast on our boat and silence cast on a tengu feather, we climbed up to the window and smashed our way into the captain’s cabin, where we fought Plugg while he tried to get out of his hammock. We eventually killed him and the fight moved onto the deck. One of the crew on watch woke the sleeping officers. I rushed to the officers’ quarters and as the door opened, I cast a spell to calm the emotions of those beyond – this worked surprisingly well, as the three crew members closest to Rosie were affected, which meant it was less likely that she would be harmed or used as a hostage. But several of the other crew members joined the fight, including Scourge. In the confusing battle, one crew member was somehow washed overboard, Jonas summoned a sequence of stirges, Tektek was severely wounded and Scourge tried to flee. But he was pursued, and in the confrontation of Scourge against stirge, the stirge finally prevailed. The rest of the officers surrendered to us.
Bismatarinia freed the crew members who had been locked below decks, and she hugged the ship’s cook. We then rescued the crew member who had been washed overboard.
Valanthe seems to have decided that she will now be captain, and so far no one has objected. (This may be because she is the most enthusiastically piratical of our group.) She spoke commandingly to the crew: “We will take this ship and go to ... the place where the names get changed.” Other roles aboard ship are still to be determined, but Tektek has claimed the job of bilgewater monitor.
Sandara gave her hat as a present to Bismatarinia. Bismatarinia tried to refuse, but Sandara insisted, and so Bismatarinia offered Sandara some shoes in exchange.
We went back to investigate the wreck, and we found a large eel and the ship’s nameplate: Infernus. We briefly considered using this to rename our ship, until we discovered that the Infernus was a vessel from Cheliax and had been transporting ghouls (evidently the crew of the Infernus had not been following the proper containment procedures for undead servants). The Infernus may not have a particularly good reputation. We should probably think of a different name for our ship.
A correction: Captain Valanthe wishes it to be known that "we in no way smashed our way into the cabin". Instead, the window was opened skilfully, with no damage caused.
Iadel's excuse: she was the last one out of the rowing boat, since she was watching (with feather fall ready) in case anyone's attempt at climbing didn't go so well. With silence around the window and two humans, an undine and a tengu carrying a gnome in the way, it might have been a bit difficult for Iadel to tell what was happening. So Iadel will take Valanthe's word for just how swashbucklingly panache-filled our arrival in Plugg's cabin was.
(Now that it's been mentioned, I do remember that Valanthe seemed particularly keen for some reason not to damage those windows. Those windows ... those fine, wide, glass windows offering spectacular sunset views if the ship is pointing in the right direction at evening.)
We talked about possible new names for our ship. We discussed this topic for some time. Our ship is still unnamed.
It was significantly easier to assign ourselves to new shipboard roles. Valanthe will be captain, Jonas will be navigator, Dharak will be first mate and Tektek will be second mate (with special responsibilities for below-decks management and rodent control). Huron may take on the role of master-at-arms, and Sandara has agreed to be the chaplain. I’ll attempt to be the ship’s surgeon. Bismatarinia has rejected the title of ship’s carpenter and wishes to be known as Chief Master Fixiter instead (she has begun this job by designing a revolving nameplate so that our ship can have three different names).
We spent three days resupplying from the island and another three days making a deliberately slow and circuitous journey to Rickety Squibs – we wanted to give ourselves and the rest of the (remaining) crew some time to get used to the new arrangements. Valanthe has announced that anyone who wishes to leave the ship will be allowed to do so when we reach Rickety Squibs. In the meantime, we’re trying to keep potential troublemakers separated and encouraging the crew to work together as a whole.
On the third day of travel, we encountered a drifting ship. It was named the Pelican and seemed to be a long way from home. Apparently the crew had all been killed by a couple of crystal oozes in the hold. These oozes had acidic tendencies – although we were able to defeat them, they had badly damaged the hull of the ship. We made some attempts to plug the leaks with solidified water and an earth elemental, but we soon decided we would have to abandon the Pelican. “I’ve never been on a sinking ship before!” – this excited announcement was from Bismatarinia, of course.
The following day, there was a shout of “Land ahoy!” from the crow’s nest, and the town of Rickety Squibs soon came into view. I have used some traditional magic to disguise myself as a surface elf (the daylit world does turn out to be slightly easier to interpret when the dazzling glare off the water is viewed with less acute eyesight). We are now trying to work out if anyone can remember what the combination of a yellow and red chequered flag and a blue flag could mean.
Some men rowed out from Rickety Squibs and requested permission to board our ship. Their leader was a man named Rickety Hake - the proprietor of the ‘squibbing’ business here. When Valanthe introduced herself, I noticed him giving her a significant second glance, perhaps because of her surname of ‘Blackwood’.
Bismatarinia served rum and small peculiar-looking baked objects, and we began to discuss possible changes to our ship.
Jonas was keen for us to purchase more rigging and sails, so that our ship would be able to travel more quickly. Bismatarinia wanted a second set of railings at a lower height, some secret compartments and lots (and lots) of paint (in many different colours).
Rickety asked to be shown below decks. Valanthe told him that our hold would at least be in a better state than the last ship we were on, and mentioned the crystal oozes in the Pelican.
“Crystal oozes?” said Rickety. He sounded shocked.
“They taste really bad,” Tektek informed him solemnly.
After Rickety examined the hold, he and Valanthe sat down to haggle over the cost of the changes. Valanthe eventually made a deal – we will hand over some of the price at the start, and we will return regularly to give Rickety a share of our plunder until the rest of the debt is paid. (We are still trying to decide exactly how we will be obtaining this plunder - I suggested to Valanthe that we could focus our attentions on the traders from Cheliax, freeing their slaves and taking their other trade goods, and Valanthe seemed enthusiastic about this potential career.)
The changes to our ship will be limited, and so we will still be able to pose as a merchant vessel if we wish to. Our ship will now be called The Pointy End, but it will be known as the Unfinished Business when we’re disguised as merchants (The Black Stiletto is the third name, which we will use from time to time to keep Bismatarinia happy). Unfortunately, Rickety advised us that the wide windows in the captain’s cabin were too distinctive and would have to be removed.
With the deal made, our ship was taken into dry dock and we visited the town of Rickety Squibs. It was a small place, and it seemed that all the inhabitants worked for Rickety Hake’s business. (We issued a revised offer to our crew – those who wish to leave may stay on board until we arrive at a larger port.)
We would have to wait for several days here. Jonas seemed unwilling to let our new ship out of his sight, and he spent a lot of time watching the alterations. Tektek took a bath in the dry sand. I had already bought the magical shackles of compliance (which we had found among the possessions of our former officers) from the rest of our group. I now purchased a sledgehammer and found a flat rock in a quiet location. Those shackles are going to have a bit of trouble controlling anyone now. (I also bought a slightly tarnished holy symbol of Desna, to replace my not particularly accurately carved stone symbol.)
The weather was hot and dry – unusually so, apparently. A few of our group used magic to create some temporary replacement drinking water. With further magically created water and the help of one of Bismatarinia’s summoned air elementals, we were able to cool down the tavern for a while (this seemed to be greatly appreciated by the town's inhabitants).
Since I was still disguised as a surface elf, I tried to act the part. I expressed deep concern over the plight of the local trees. I’m not sure how convincing this was.
On the third day of our visit, some of us witnessed one of the workers attempting to pull a crate of beer bottles onto land (they were being kept cool in the river). Instead, he was pulled into the water. Several of us dived in, and we eventually defeated the water naga (along with seven illusory copies of it). I tried to persuade the others in our group to offer the captured naga a place on board our ship, but for some reason Valanthe did not think that the naga would make an entirely trustworthy crew member.
We are hoping that Rickety Hake may give us a few discounts in future negotiations now that we’ve saved one of his workers (and the beer).
In the tavern that evening, we talked with Rickety about the naga. He had made a deal with the local water nagas when he first arrived in this place, and that deal has held for thirteen years. The naga who attacked the worker may have been a young troublemaker. Rickety asked us not to investigate further for the time being – if this was just an isolated incident, he will let the matter rest.
Rickety then told us something of Valanthe’s father – Captain Vernon Blackwood was a notorious pirate active in the Shackles years ago. His ship was called the Herald of Doom. Valanthe seemed interested in emulating her father in some ways (for example, by operating in more northerly waters, where Chelish ships are common) but not in others (he was known for ruthlessness – apparently he “didn’t like to leave things unfinished”).
The next day, Bismatarinia announced that she was bored. To alleviate this potentially dangerous situation, some of us went for a walk in the nearby jungle. We found a platform where a man was asleep in a hammock. He woke when we climbed up. “Uh … what?” he asked.
“I’ve been inspired!” Bismatarinia told him. She described a design for some sort of shoe with a platform sole to keep mud away from the decorative upper part. The man did not seem to follow Bismatarinia’s explanation fully.
The platform gave a view of the ocean, and evidently the man’s job was to watch for ships and signal their arrival to the town. He compensated for his drowsy habits by keeping a parrot with him. When a glimpse of white sails appeared on the horizon, the parrot said: “Ship approaching, ship approaching”. That ship continued past Rickety Squibs without stopping.
The hot, dry weather persisted. On the sixth day of our visit, we heard shouts from the dock. Unfortunately, only four of us (Valanthe, Bismatarinia, Dharak and me) were within earshot. We ran to help.
Three giant wasps were attacking the workers and trying to drag some of them away. Dharak sang, Bismatarinia summoned dogs, and Valanthe and I closed in to fight the wasps. Their sting was dangerous – Valanthe collapsed after being struck several times, and I had to kill that wasp before healing Valanthe.
Two more wasps flew onto the scene. One of them subdued a worker and tried to drag her away. I ran around to block that wasp’s escape, and I was stung twice.
It seemed to me then that I was standing near the prow of our ship at night as we sailed swiftly over a dark ocean. The reflected moonlight rose from the water, transforming into silver-winged moths, leading us towards an unknown horizon.
I awoke to see Bismatarinia standing over me, holding an empty potion bottle.
The vision I had experienced could have been a sign of divine approval for the path we have decided to follow. Or it may have been a meaningless hallucination caused by a dose of wasp venom. The tip of the wasp’s stinger had broken off, caught in my new holy symbol.
We had killed or driven off five wasps, but some of Rickety’s workers had been dragged away.
Only a few moments later, we heard more shouts of alarm. It seems that the town’s watch-parrot is not infallible – a ship of a style often used by Cheliax had arrived in the harbour, and we saw at least nine heavily armed people clambering up onto the docks.
My fear was that these people were Chelish slave-takers who had somehow stirred up the giant wasps to weaken our defences before they made their own attack on Rickety Squibs to capture survivors. I was preparing for some rather desperate negotiation. “Bit, would you look after my ring and send Slink out to take a splinter from the hull of that ship?” I asked. Bismatarinia accepted my ring of swimming. But while I was looking for a white cloth, she told me that Slink wasn’t around at the moment.
Some of us approached the newcomers, and I waved the white cloth. They moved into a defensive position and were willing to talk. It turned out that they were not Chelish, but had recently captured a Chelish ship. Their leader introduced himself as Merrill Pegsworthy, free captain of the Strix. He apologised for his inopportune arrival – they hadn’t realised that there was another ship here, because they had not seen any flags and had not been met by a longboat. I distrusted him. The timing of his arrival, so soon after the wasp attack, seemed unlikely to be a coincidence. But he said that he and his crew would go back to their ship while we were here, and they did not seem to be posing an immediate threat. At that time, we had more important things to worry about.
While Pegsworthy and his crew returned to the Strix, we hurried away to try to follow the wasps, in case any of their captives were still alive. We found two corpses before losing the trail, and it seemed unlikely that the third captive had survived. We also checked the platform and discovered that the man who was stationed there had also been killed by wasps. Jonas befriended the watch-parrot (and we learned that Jonas can turn into a parrot himself).
The next day, we paid a visit to the Strix. Captain Pegsworthy invited us on board and gave us some advice. In particular, he recommended that we don’t sail north immediately, but gain some experience in more southerly waters first.
Pegsworthy seemed friendly and honest to us, although I was still suspicious (but we warned him about the local fauna and he showed no noticeable reaction when I emphasised the wasps). After we left the Strix, Dharak stealthily swam back to it and collected some splinters from its hull.
The repairs and alterations to our own ship were completed that day. Jonas spent the evening swabbing decks (yes, we do still have lower-ranked crew who could have performed this task). The following day, we invited Captain Pegsworthy to launch The Pointy End, and we departed from Rickety Squibs beneath the full set of our new sails (which had been painted white and sky-blue by Bismatarinia).
During our travels, our ship was disguised as a merchant vessel.
The following day, we encountered a ship named the Elten Baide. It looked easy to capture … but the plunder would probably consist entirely of fish. We waved to the ship and let it pass by.
The next day, we encountered the Truewind, a barque that might have been carrying a much more appealing cargo. However, it had weaponry including a catapult, and its crew outnumbered ours. At the moment when we were closest to the other ship, Bismatarinia asked Slink to swim across, and she dismissed him to his home plane once he had collected a splinter. Then we let that ship pass by too.
On the day after that, we encountered no other ships at all. Some of our crew were beginning to mutter about the lack of action.
But on the next day, we sighted the Kurstav, a ship from the Aspis Consortium. Valanthe gave orders to switch our ship's names and flags, and then attack.
Bismatarinia summoned an air elemental to fly over and attack the Kurstav’s ballista crew.
Dharak commanded our own ballista crew and successfully targeted the Kurstav’s rigging (the Kurstav’s crew were not so skilful in their attacks against us).
Under Jonas’s instructions, our ship seemed to glide to a perfect halt next to the Kurstav.
Now that we were close enough to board, Valanthe swung nonchalantly across to the Kurstav and elegantly stabbed its captain. “Your surrender accepted at any time,” Valanthe said. “Captain Valanthe Blackwood at your service.”
Jonas followed this by casting a flaming sphere at the captain’s head. The captain collapsed and his crew promptly surrendered.
We grappled the Kurstav, and I went across to revive the captured captain.
Bismatarinia hurried below decks to search for loot. Not long afterwards, we heard a muffled shout of “Woohoo!”
Meanwhile, Valanthe negotiated with the captain of the Kurstav. His name was Aspar Tharkidor. His ship had been transporting weapons to the Chelish regular army. Valanthe asked for his word of honour not to try to cause trouble, and in return she agreed to ransom him and his most trusted crew back to the Consortium. (Later, I asked Valanthe and Dharak what a ‘word of honour’ was. Some sort of magical trigger command? The discussion was confusing, but in the end it seemed that asking for a word of honour is just a convoluted way of making a threat.)
Sixteen of the Kurstav’s crew have agreed to join our ship. We are making plans to travel on to Bloodcove to sell some of the less recognisable plunder (but we will keep the Kurstav’s ballista and catapult), while leaving the Kurstav hidden and guarded in a sheltered cove somewhere, for future squibbing and disposal.
The piratical exploits of The Pointy End seem to have had a promising beginning …
Characters are 4th level (for a short while longer)
You owe 750gp to Rickety for the squibbing, which he is happy to take as a third of your profits until paid off.
You’ve added a pre-owned ballista and catapult to “The Pointy End”.
Current plunder total: 3. (2 from the Kurstav, 2 from the Man’s Promise, less 1 paid to Rickety for squibbing). The crew will expect to be paid some of that at the next port.
Prisoners: Captain Tharkidor, 4 marines and 6 sailors.
The hold has 20 tons of plunder (2 pts) out of 150 tons capacity. The ship has a medium load and is a bit slow as a result (120ft base speed, or 20ft slower). You could take another 40 tons (4 pts) of plunder before it is heavily encumbered (80ft).
You are three days out from Rickety's Squibs and two days from Bloodcove.
Crew Roster:
Captain: Valenthe
Navigator: Jonas
Surgeon: Iadel
Chief Master Fixiter: Bismatarinia
Master Gunner: Huron
Second Mate: Tektek
Boatswain: Dharak
Chaplain: Sandara
Crew: 35
Statblock for The Pointy End:
HULL AND RIGGING
Hull Locations 7
Hull Defense AC 9, hardness 5, 150 hp each
Rigging Locations 5 (3 masts, 2/2/1 Locations per mast)
Rigging Defense AC 11, hardness 1, 75 hp each
Below the Waterline 210 hp
Some of the officers of The Pointy End discussed our plans and confirmed that we would send Sandara and a small prize crew to anchor our captured ship in a sheltered cove and watch over it. Meanwhile, Tektek and I cleaned up the space where we were keeping our prisoners. I made sure that the prisoners were supplied with food, drink and playing cards. As we journeyed towards Bloodcove, I spent much of the time with the prisoners, playing card-games with them and trying to learn more about them.
We spent two nights and one full day docked at Bloodcove, a small city built on platforms among the mangroves. Dharak urged caution during our visit: “Yes, we’re pirates. What I’d like to be one day is an older pirate.” He went into the city to sell some of our loot and perform at taverns in an attempt to boost our reputation. He also purchased a hat of disguise so that he could take on the role of ‘Derek the human’ when necessary.
Valanthe negotiated the sale of our plunder and hired some new crew.
Jonas went into the city to purchase more livestock, including a goat, pigs and chickens. “Can we get more rats?” Tektek asked. “We’re about to run out.”
Tektek then recruited some new tengu crew by offering a free rat to anyone who passed a test involving simple shipboard tasks.
Valanthe asked Bismatarinia and me to find a broker who could manage the ransom for our prisoners. We knew that some brokers would sell hostages as slaves if a ransom could not be arranged, so we visited the broker who had the best reputation. He seemed polite and professional (although occasionally confused by Bismatarinia’s questions), and he claimed that he tried to resort to selling prisoners to slave-traders as rarely as possible.
At that point, I went outside, leaving Bismatarinia to continue the negotiations. I needed time to reflect on our situation.
It took me approximately four seconds of reflection to conclude that I could not allow our prisoners to be sold to a part-time slave-trader, even if it seemed likely that the Aspis Consortium would pay for the return of its employees.
The broker offered a reduced price to Bismatarinia because of the delicate approach he would need to take, given the Consortium’s strong presence in Bloodcove.
When Bismatarinia and I returned to The Pointy End, Valanthe was ordering our prisoners to unload the plunder from our ship, despite their grumbling protests (the harbour-master’s quote for unloading fees had been exorbitant). I volunteered to help, and various other crew members joined me in the task.
Valanthe and the rest of the crew were ready to accept the offer that Bismatarinia relayed from the broker. So I made a counteroffer: I would recompense the crew with payment matching a standard going rate for each of the prisoners (at a total of one thousand two hundred gold), on condition that they would be freed rather than delivered to a broker. The crew accepted my offer.
The prisoners could not be released until we were about to leave, because the Consortium would probably try to take action against us as soon as they learned of the capture of their ship. So I spent another evening in the prisoners’ company, playing cards and drinking rum.
We knew that the Aspis Consortium sometimes dealt in slaves. The fact that I had paid a significant amount of money to liberate slave-traders seemed easier to cope with while I was drinking rum.
I had a headache the next morning when it was time to release the prisoners. They seemed surprised and somewhat (but not very) grateful to be set free rather than being delivered to a broker. It was now time for The Pointy End to make a quick departure from Bloodcove.
Fishguts found the following note on top of the sledgehammer Iadel purchased a while back:
Iadel's letter to Valanthe:
My apologies for not speaking to you in person – I did not wish to risk delaying our departure while we are still in danger from the Consortium.
It has become impossible for me to continue serving on board The Pointy End. So, with some regret, I must resign from your crew. Please pass on my farewells to the others - don’t forget Slink!
I wish you the best of luck in your future travels. If you do find yourselves in protracted conflict with slave-traders (as enemies rather than as rivals) and you wish for my aid, then send me a message and I may be able to rejoin you.
Iadel
PS - feel free to keep the sledgehammer. It seemed rather too unwieldy to take with me into hiding in Bloodcove.
When I regained consciousness, I was still on the raft I had managed to lash together from the wreckage, but I was surrounded by strangers, including a human woman, a blue-skinned humanoid man swimming in the water, and a blue-skinned gnome who was negotiating in Auran with an air elemental. The human woman used magic to heal me, and the air elemental lifted me onto a ship that had red and white striped sails.
“Meeting new people is exciting!” said the gnome and hurried below decks to fetch water for me.
We conversed in Gnome for a while. She introduced herself as Bismatarinia (or ‘Bit’ for short) and also introduced various members of her crew to me. The human woman and the blue-skinned humanoid man had gone to a different ship.
Bit asked what had happened to me, and I told her about the expedition to investigate the Eye of Abendego. “Our ship was called The Enchanted Needle,” I said. “It had special magical protections, which were supposed to keep it safe from cyclonic winds. Unfortunately...”
“You ran into an ordinary storm?” said a man named Jonas.
Bit’s two ships had managed to sail ahead of the storm after leaving Bloodcove. (I assumed that Bit was the person in charge of their expedition, since she seemed to speak for the rest of the crew. Also, she was wearing one of the most impressive hats.)
A human woman named Valanthe (who was perhaps working for Bit to command one of the expedition’s ships) then asked me if I would like to join the crew. I looked up at the arrangement of the rigging and the height of the mast, and I agreed (Valanthe may have been explaining something about the purpose of the expedition – I’m sure I’ll pick this up as I go along).
Helping out seemed the right thing to do, given that Bit’s crew had saved my life. And the expedition possessed an excellent mobile observation platform (or ‘ship’, to use the more commonplace terminology). There was a spare hammock in the officers’ quarters, and the crew graciously offered this to me.
“If it looks like we’re chasing the other ship, that’s just a ruse,” Valanthe told me.
The ships sailed south as the crew tracked down the wreck of The Enchanted Needle. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were no other survivors and nothing of value to salvage. Bit’s expedition then returned to its previous course, heading towards a place called Rickety’s Squibs.
After overhearing a discussion among the crew about ‘Tidewater Rock’, Valanthe recommended travelling there – apparently there were legends claiming that anyone who gained control of that place would have great luck. But it seemed that Bit and her other advisors were not convinced.
One night, while we were anchored, there was a commotion when it was discovered that the entire four-person watch had gone missing, leaving no trace apart from a few bloodstains. It seemed likely that the culprits were sahuagin. Bit sent her eidolon to try to follow, but the evidence suggested that the sahuagin settlement was far away. Given that most of the crew could not travel or fight easily underwater and the sahuagin would probably be aided by sharks, a rescue mission did not seem feasible. The next watches had bright lights placed around the ship and additional crew on lookout in the rigging.
The next day, I mentioned to Bit and Valanthe that I could prepare magic to help if some of the crew needed to travel or fight underwater for a few minutes. I showed my spellbook to Bit, and she showed me her shoebook. This seemed to remind her of something. “I need to design the new ship!” she said and hurried away.
We arrived at Rickety’s Squibs without further incident.
Once we were on land, we met with the proprietor of Rickety’s Squibs. We negotiated the sale of one of the ships and the purchase of improvements to the other. Jonas seemed very happy about the acquisition of silk sails.
Valanthe asked Rickety about Tidewater Rock – that place is currently in the possession of Lady Agasta Smithee, a widow who apparently knows how to throw a good party. Valanthe also learned that there are regular tribute ships travelling northwards from Sargava to the Shackles, carrying payment for protection against Cheliax. Tek Tek (a tengu officer) inquired about the availability of giant earthworms in the area.
After these discussions, I spoke to the blue-skinned humanoid man who had been travelling on the other ship. From several of his physical characteristics, I had deduced that Dharak was probably an undine, and so I introduced myself as a distant cousin in a conceptual, theoretical sense (given that sylphs and undines both have elemental heritage).
I had noticed that the area seemed dry and the plants were suffering. I spoke to a local druid, who explained that the monsoon rains had not come through that year and none of the recent storms had reached the town. I asked how unusual this was. Unfortunately, the inhabitants only had records for the past three years.
Meanwhile, Bit led a team into the jungle to search for carnivorous plants (none of the other officers seemed to have an entirely clear understanding of why Bit wanted to install carnivorous plants on our ship). However, Bit returned empty-handed.
Once the improvements to our ship were complete, we set sail for Tidewater Rock. “Excellent base for a fleet,” Valanthe said, and Jonas looked thoughtful.
After a few days of travel, we sighted another ship. Valanthe gave orders to pursue it. We approached and saw that the ship was called the Whitewater. As the two ships began exchanging ballista and catapult shots, I levitated from the crow’s-nest and glided towards the other ship to cover their catapult with frost. I dodged crossbow bolts (not entirely successfully) and swooped into the water on the other side. By then, the Whitewater had come to a near-halt because of damaged sails and over-hasty attempts at manoeuvring. An air elemental had delivered a note from Bit suggesting surrender. The air elemental was now pushing backwards against the Whitewater’s sails.
“It seems you need assistance!” Valanthe shouted. “We’re coming aboard!”
“We’re fine, thank you!” the Whitewater’s captain replied.
But by the time I swam up to the side of the Whitewater, Valanthe was already on board, accepting the captain’s surrender. The Whitewater turned out to be a ship from Cheliax, carrying grain.
(This appears to be the method that Bit and her officers use to obtain funding for their expeditions.)
Valanthe asked for volunteers from the Whitewater to join our crew. The rest of the prisoners were sent off in one of the Whitewater’s rowing-boats once we were near shore. We then continued sailing towards Tidewater Rock.
The next day, we spotted a pirate ship attacking a Sargavan vessel. Valanthe took the helm and sailed nonchalantly past the combat, which we observed - it provoked some discussion among the officers of The Pointy End about whether it was better to capture ships or just take cargo.
After another day’s travel, we arrived at Tidewater Rock. Bit, Valanthe and Dharak rowed into the bay towards the fortress, where they were greeted by sentries. They asked for one person to visit first, and Bit enthusiastically volunteered. She was taken into the fortress, and then Valanthe and Dharak were allowed to approach – they were carrying bottles of expensive wine as a gift for Lady Agasta. About an hour later, Valanthe and Dharak emerged from the fortress and stepped back into our rowing-boat. “Where’s our hostage?” Dharak demanded. “You do understand how this works, don’t you?”
One of the guards was looking stressed and confused. Perhaps somewhat reluctantly, he went back into the fortress and returned a short time later with Bit, who seemed unusually calm and quiet.
Valanthe had suggested a deal to Lady Agasta – we could establish a base on the island in exchange for some yet-to-be-determined payment. Agasta had expressed interest (it seems that Agasta and the officers of The Pointy End have a common enemy in a certain Captain Harrigan), but she would not be willing to agree until the expedition increased its reputation.
Also, Agasta had advised Valanthe to request a letter of marque from the ‘Hurricane King’ (who sounds like an intriguing personage), but the Hurricane King would need to be impressed by the actions of The Pointy End's crew.
So the expedition’s next goal is likely to be improving its reputation, perhaps by performing impressive deeds or perhaps by inventing convincing stories about impressive deeds. The second approach certainly seems more efficient...
For the record, The Pointy End was boarded by a fuath (a type of aquatic gremlin with a liking for “pranks” such as causing sailors to drown) during one of the nights covered by the previous journal entry. The fuath was spotted by Dharak, captured by Tek Tek and dealt with by Valanthe (who apparently doesn’t much appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night). Xynalta didn’t mention the incident because she was asleep at the time.
That evening, I organised a storytelling competition for the crew of The Pointy End. After observing which tales seemed to hold the audience’s attention best, I worked with Dharak to develop some wholly fictional exploits (containing suspense, humour and a memorable antagonist) for our expedition – I suggested that Dharak could relate them while visiting ports in disguise.
The next day, the weather was fine (with moderate winds from the north and then north-northwest). As we travelled, we encountered a fishing vessel that was listing and taking on water. When we boarded it to investigate, we discovered several sahuagin waiting in the hold. Tek Tek cast light on a fish and attacked. With the aid of Bit’s giant spiders and some non-lethal frost and electricity from me, Tek Tek was able to defeat the sahuagin and capture some for questioning.
Tek Tek shared her ability to speak the sahuagin’s language with Valanthe, who learned that the sahuagin had indeed planned to lure and ambush us. One of them had been wearing an elaborate and weirdly beautiful necklace of deep platinum – the sahuagin said that the owner was their chief’s (now deceased) son.
Later that day, we sighted a Rahadoumi ship. We sailed towards them to attack, and they sailed towards us. There were two furred creatures with leathery wings in cages on the deck of the Rahadoumi ship. “Dragon-lions!” Bit announced. As we approached (and ballista shots were exchanged), we saw that the ship was named Sanbalot and the creatures were manticores. The crew of the Sanbalot opened the cages. The manticores emerged, flying close to their ship.
“It seems you need assistance with manticores!” Valanthe called out. “We’re coming aboard!”
The manticores shot spines at our ballista crew once we were in range. But by then, we were close enough for Bit to send summoned eagles and archons across to attack the marines and cut down some sails. Dharak engulfed various Sanbalot crew members in spheres of water, and Jonas summoned a swarm of monkeys. As disorder and confusion spread across the deck of the Sanbalot, Valanthe boarded and offered the captain a chance to resolve the battle through single combat. The Sanbalot’s captain accepted. Tek Tek flew across to observe the duel (landing five feet away from the captain, directly opposite to Valanthe), and Valanthe prevailed very quickly.
As we continue to sail southeast towards Senghor, we will soon cross into the waters protected by the city’s laws.
Overnight, clouds began to roll in. The next morning, there was a shout of “Land ho!” The crimson sails of a Senghor patrol approached us.
“Heave to!” shouted someone from the deck of a patrol ship. “Prepare to be boarded!”
“Will do!” Valanthe replied.
“Do we need assistance?” Bit asked excitedly.
The patrol searched our ship and found no sign of slaves or slave-taking equipment, so we were allowed to dock.
Bit summoned earth elementals to unload our plunder while Tek Tek played dice with the dockhands. “Why toil here when you could join us and live a life of leisure on the open sea?” Tek Tek asked them.
The dockhands seemed impressed but not wholly convinced. One of them wondered aloud whether earth elementals ever got seasick.
Some of us went out into the city to visit the inns and the market. Jonas bought charts (which show, among other landmarks, the location of some Bekyar villages that are likely to be involved in slaving). Dharak and Valanthe sold our plunder including the captured ships, and they also told tales of our travels and hired some new crew. Bit purchased exotic leather for shoemaking and a few large and sturdy rowing-boats. I bought a journal of weather records (and also a few scrolls).
The following day, Tek Tek and Jonas visited the market and ran into a Garundi merchant named Malaku, who hired our expedition to search for an item called the ‘Wheel of Chaos’. Malaku had discovered a map inside a statuette, and it led him to believe that the Wheel of Chaos was on the Isle of Bonjo Tombo. He offered us a large sum of money to track it down. “We’ll be back within the week!” Valanthe said, then glanced at the charts Jonas had gathered. “The month!”
Valanthe sent me to learn more about this Wheel of Chaos. I found a library, and after a few hours of research, I had tracked down some legends. When attached to the helm of a ship, the Wheel of Chaos apparently increases the likelihood of unusual events on board, brings stormy weather and ‘attracts attention’ (the books weren’t explicit about whose attention). The Wheel of Chaos sounds like an interesting object to study (but we may need to acquire an otherwise identical ship with a mundane wheel for comparison purposes).
The next morning, we left Senghor and began to sail towards the Isle of Bonjo Tombo.
