Sigrid's Journal 15 - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 8

I had the strangest dream of my life last night, as clear as anything I've experienced in real life. Perhaps even clearer.

***

I found myself standing in a courtyard at the Pental chapterhouse. It was obviously springtime; there were flowers everywhere. There were more flowers than I remembered, actually, and they seemed much more colourful than they should. They possessed an oversaturated hue that seemed unnatural. It was both beautiful and very strange. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.

“Sigrid?”

I turned around to face the speaker and found Lord Morek. I sighed, “You need to get out of my dreams. It's starting to creep me out.”

Lord Morek laughed. “Last time I was in one of your dreams, you were in an existential quandary and required my help.”

I looked at him and narrowed my eyes, “You're not actually Lord Morek.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“Lord Morek doesn't say stuff like 'existential quandary.'”

He looked at me and smiled. “Well, I knew the guise wouldn't work forever,” he said. The next thing I knew, I wasn't looking at Lord Morek anymore, but instead a much younger and taller man. “I do apologize for the trickery, Sigrid.”

“Who are you, and why have you been disguising yourself as Lord Morek?” I reached to my hip for my blade, but found nothing.

“If a weapon would make you feel more comfortable, then by all means...” the man waved his hand towards me and the Aur Xica appeared in my hand. “I have no intention of hurting you however. I only tricked you into thinking I was Lord Morek so I wouldn't have to spend time building up a rapport with you, seeing as I know almost everything about you, I didn't feel that would be an entirely necessary use of my time.”

I gripped the hilt of the Aur Xica. “You know me? Prove it.”

“You were born in De-Shamod on the 1^st of Firstmonth 1734. Your mother's name is Elysa Korriban. You have no idea where your surname comes from. Your mother had no other children and was killed by a guard in 1748. You then lived with a blacksmith named Loghan Gorrison for three years, before joining the Order of the Axe and training on White Shoal Island. You were told numerous times that you were one of the best Squires in your year, but you refused to believe it. In your third year of Squiring, your horse frightened your friend Rolan's horse while you were out riding together. Rolan was thrown from the saddle and killed. You blamed yourself, even though it was a tragic accident and not your fault. It was at that moment that you decided that you valued life greatly and chose to Champion it,” he paused.

“Go on.”

“For your last two years of Squiring, you traveled with Dame Leram, a Litorian Champion of Justice. You admired her honour and tireless devotion to Justice, so you decided to become a Champion of Justice as well. Your Knighting happened to be on your 24^th birthday, which was the 1^st of Firstmonth 1758. After you were Knighted, you were sent to Pental. For about a year, you were mainly on field duty, running errands and doing simple missions for Lord Morek. Over the past few months, however, your life has gotten very complicated,” he looked at me, “Is that good enough proof that I know you, Kesaarane?”

I shivered as he spoke my Truename. “We're inside my dream. How do I know you didn't just, I don't know, pry into my mind and find all that?”

“You don't.” the man said, looking a little forlorn. “You see, this is why I disguised myself. You're so distrusting of strangers.”

“With good reason,” I looked up and him and he grinned at me. “You didn't really answer my questions, you know.”

“Which questions?”

“Who are you and why were you pretending to be Lord Morek?” I was growing more annoyed with this man by the moment.

“You're too concerned with names and titles, sweetheart.”

“Don't call me that.”

“Sorry. If you must have a name by which to label me, then you may call me Alastor,” the man said while reaching out to touch a rosebud. The rosebud bloomed as he cupped it in his hand, and he leaned in to smell it, “I chose Lord Morek's form because it seemed appropriate to your vision quest. He is a man you greatly respect.”

“Why are your here? Are you even real?”

“I believe I'm real. I can't prove to you that I'm real though, so whether you believe I'm real is your call.”

“So, you could just be a manifestation of some odd psychosis?”

“I suppose I could be. What is it you're really trying to ask me, Sigrid? You're avoiding the question that's really on your mind.”

I frowned. “I'm not avoiding anything. I just want to know whether you're real or not before I worry too much about your significance.”

“I already told you, I cannot prove my existence to you. You'll just have to trust yourself and your own judgment. I must ask, is it really my significance that concerns you, or is it your own?” Alastor looked me straight in the eye. “Just ask me what you really want to.”

“Why are you here? What do you want from me?”

“I'm here to give you a gift. That is all.”

“A gift? You're going to give me something?” I asked, wondering what sort of gift a crazy man in my head might give me. “Let me guess, you're going to tell me I'm the Chosen One or something and that I have to save the world or some clichéd thing like that,” I said, rather sarcastically.

“Would you like me to tell you that you're the Chosen One and are going to save the world?”

“Not really.”

“Good, because that would be a lie, and I don't really want to lie to you, little guardian.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Guardian. It's one of your purposes in life.”

I sighed and sat down on a stone bench. “You've got the wrong person. I'm terrible at guarding anything. I failed my mother, I failed Rolan, and now I've failed Gannen not just once, but twice. Twice. Damnit.” I hit my fist on the bench. “If I didn't care so damn much, I wouldn't be hurting this badly.”

“It's good that you're passionate and you care. Your passion gives you strength, Sigrid.”

“Strength to what? Strength to fail? Strength to hurt so much because of that failure that I go crazy and become a horrible person?” I blinked away the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I wasn't going to cry. I didn't want to cry.

Alastor sat down next to me. “I helped you avoid that path. You can find constructive ways to use your passion, and besides, you haven't failed Gannen.”

I looked up at him. “He's gone. He's been taken by someone I should have known was a threat. If I had been more vigilant, this would have never happened. Now he's gone.”

“Gone. You make it sound so permanent. You can find him again. You will find him again. Monala has plans for him. She hasn't killed him. He's alive.”

I couldn't help myself. I started crying. “I'm so sorry, Gannen. I'm so sorry.” Alastor plucked a rose off of the bush and sat down me, rolling the stem between his fingers.

“Channel that passion into something positive. Use your passion to find him, my Runechild.”

I blinked and looked over at him, still crying “Runechild?”

Alastor reached his empty hand towards my face. I thought to move away from him, but his voice filled my mind. “Be still, Kesaarane, I will not hurt you.” I sat there a little dazed as he ran his finger across my left cheek in some sort of pattern. “A guardian rune. It is certainly not the most conventional, but it will suit you and your path. Take care of yourself, Sigrid Halstead. I don't know when I will see you again.”

And with that, Alastor kissed me on the forehead and tucked the rose he was holding behind my ear.

***

I woke up then. I immediately brought my hand to my face but couldn't feel anything unusual. My left cheek felt hot though, though not painfully. I ran my hand back behind my ear and found a rose. Was the dream real? I tucked the rose into my pack and looked around below deck for a mirror. I didn't find one, so I climbed up above deck and went into Commodore Blank's cabin. He followed me in from the deck and seemed none-too-pleased about my intrusion of his personal space. I turned to speak with him and he stopped talking. All he said was, “Woah. What happened to you?” I asked him for a mirror and he pulled one of out his desk. I looked at my face and indeed found a rune. I suppose I'm a Runechild now. Soern seemed pretty impressed with the whole situation. I do hope this helps me help others, espeically Gannen.

We're going back into Ao-Manasa for a while today. We have a few orders of business we must attend to before we venture off to find Gannen. I would rather just go find Gannen now and worry about the city later, but I suppose (and hope) that a few more hours won't hurt anything.

~~~~~

Sigrid's Journal 14 - Failure Felt

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 7

I feel completely devastated tonight, but I will write anyway.

When I woke up this morning, I looked over at Gannen's hammock and noticed he was gone. This was not entirely unusual; there are some days when he is awake before me. I was about to close my eyes and go back to sleep for a little while when I noticed his gear was also missing. This concerned me, as he doesn't generally walk around the ship in his armour.

I got up and went above deck. Commodore Blank was at the helm. When I asked him if he had seen Gannen, he told me that he hadn't. We both searched the ship but could find no sign of him. Illiam was still safely tucked away in the bow storeroom and the rest of the crew was accounted for, but we could find no sign of Gannen. We went back above ship and signaled to Captain Soern that there was a problem. He steered the Fearful Lightning up close to the Ocean's Blade and both ships dropped anchor. When we told Soern about Gannen's disappearance, he seemed concerned and went to check on our Magister prisoner. When he returned, he informed us that she too had vanished.

This was just great. It appeared that she had escaped, somehow kidnapped Gannen off of the other boat, and vanished. I hate mages. I did a quick check of both ship's storerooms and noted that we were missing some silver dust (as well as some rum, but that was normal) I told Soern about the missing silver dust and he went off to his cabin. I suppose he wanted to research its magical properties or something.

Captain Blank and I decided to interrogate Illiam. We talked to Illiam for a little while, but he seemed to know little else than the magister's name and a theory of how she escaped (which involved Dar-Shada freeing her). By this point, I was extremely stressed, panicky, and angry. I took out my frustration on Illiam and punched him in the face. Captain Blank then said, “That was most satisfying to witness, however, I think perhaps you should back off a little.” Which I did. I went out to the deck to cool off a bit and then reboarded the Fearful Lightning to talk to Dar-Shada. He admitted to freeing Monala, but claimed he was not sure of what he was doing at the time. I suspect she magicked him, but I do not fully trust him. I wanted to hit him too, but I know better than to directly attack a Diamond Throne guard without a good reason.

I stormed off and ran into Soern as he was exiting his cabin. He informed me that silver dust was used in Faen magics and that it was used to make enchantments harder to resist. Enchantment magic is used to charm and compel. I suppose it would be easier to kidnap a Champion of Death if he was under a charm spell. I hate magic.

I reboarded the Ocean's Blade and spent the rest of the journey standing at the bow of the ship, watching the front of the boat cut through the water.

We arrived in Ao-Manasa before noon. Blank, Soern, Dar-Shada and I walked up to the castle. I started off dragging Illiam, being rougher with him than I really needed to be. Eventually Dar-Shada just picked him up and carried him over his shoulder. When we arrived, we visited with Ea-Shamar. We turned Illiam over to her. Blank made up a story about also finding Gannen at the pirate cave and then told her about Monala and Gannen's escape and Dar-Shada's magicked involvement in it. I didn't say much. She informed us that there was a bounty on Illiam, as he was wanted for breaking Gannen out of jail. She also expressed regret that Gannen had “escaped” and asked us to help apprehend him and bring him back for trial. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

We went back to the ship and talked to Rellik. He expressed interest in returning to the Nightingale's Mane, so we went down there in the early evening. When we walked in, I noticed this amazing amulet. It was a Torque of Heroic Sacrifice. I had seen one once before. A former Knight Mistress of mine owned one. They were one of the ultimate protection items. I had to have it. I traded in my Periapt of Natural Armour and purchased the Torque. Soern, Blank and I then returned to the ship. Rellik said he had some business to attend to tonight and he would meet us back at the ship sometime later.

When Rellik returned to the ship, it was nearly midnight. He had that smug, 'I just killed someone' look on his face, so I didn't ask any questions. I really didn't want to know. I'd had a hard enough day as it was without my crewmates murdering people.

My biggest fear is that Monala has taken Gannen against his will and is going to do something terrible to him, but I'm also a little scared that he may have left of his own free will. I mean, we knew him for a while before his arrest, and now he's been with us for more than a week. I just thought there might have been something there. Well, between him and the crew. A rapport. Cohesion. With the crew. He wouldn't just leave... us. Would he?

I failed Gannen. I didn't mean to, but I did. I'm taking this failure a lot more than is prudent to. I wish I could claim that it's just a matter of honour and destiny, but I know it's not. It's personal too. I care about him more than I really should. Damn it. I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight.

~~~~~

Session 15 Quotes

“Let’s just put the kids in charge. If something bad happens we’ll probably wake up, because it’ll involve fire.” – Rellik
“Or a kraken.” – Sigrid

“I threw James and the two people into the brig.” – Soern
“Why?” – GM
“Because they might be illusions.” – Soern

“Don’t we need someone who’s not completely on the wrong side of the law?” – Sigrid
“No!” – Blank

“Hey, Ea-Shamar! Look what I caught! A pirate! Ha ha ha ha ha!” – Blank

“Hey, look what I caught you! A male prostitute! Ha ha ha ha ha!” – Blank

“I would very much like to collect any bounty available, instead of killing him and turning his flesh into gold.” – Blank

“Gannen! I knew him. He was that weird guy my daughter was hitting on until she killed me.” – Blank, doing a Kedlar Mevarin impression

Session 15: Gannen Does a Magic Trick

Fourthmonth 6th -- Fourthmonth 8th

Commodore Blank's fleet set sail that night. They'd decided to get help from Ea-Shamar in interrogating their prisoners, and wanted to get back to the city as soon as possible. The senior crew went to sleep, having had a long day, filled with much pirating, and they left Blank's henchman to run the ships.

When they awoke, both the magister and Gannen were gone. They searched the ship, up and down, and found neither of them. They did discover, however, that 30 gp worth of silver dust was missing from the hold. Soern immediately began to study the spells and methods he knew of, to try to discover if there was any magical significance to that fact.

Meanwhile, Sigrid and Blank tried to interrogate Illiam. They tried to play good cop/bad cop, which didn't work too well. (Blank ended up playing both good cop and bad cop, exiting and coming back in again to switch roles.) Finally, Blank remembered that he could use magic, and compelled Illiam to tell him how Monala (the magister, whose name Illiam had revealed) would have escaped. He told them that she would, "get Dar-Shada to untie her, then teleport away."

So they moved over to the Fearful Lightning to talk to Dar-Shada. Soern reported that the silver dust was a component in Faen spells -- it allows the caster to make an enchantment harder to resist. Dar-Shada said that he had, indeed, let Monala go, but didn't know quite why. They decided to keep an eye on him.

They docked the boats, and Sigrid, Blank, and Soern took Illiam up to Ea-Shamar. She thanked them for apprehending the criminal--who she said the guard suspected had been involved in Gannen's escape--and gave them a reward. She also asked them if they would consider offering assistance in apprehending Gannen.

Rellik decided that he ought to also kill Kindli, just to make sure he had gotten the right person. They all went back down to the Nightingale's Mane, to check the place out, and Sigrid sold the periapt of natural armor she had bought on her last trip there and purchased a torque of heroic sacrifice in its stead.

That night, Rellik followed her back to her house. (She locked up the store with some kind of magical ward.) Then he dropped a dire moose head on her, and went back to the ship.

They decided they should go to the Island of the Jeweled trees, because they needed something from there, and Monala probably did too, so it was the place she was most likely to be.

Sigrid's Journal 13 - Fire and Fears

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 3

I spent most of the day stitching up the Ocean Blade's spare sails, a task I had been long neglecting. I don't like sewing. If I had wanted to sew, I would have become a seamstress. I became a Knight. Obviously, this should imply that I do not want to sew. I did some stitch work as a child, and had to do some sewing as a Squire as well. A Knight is expected to maintain and repair her own gear, including linens. I asked Blank why he didn't sew his own sails. He simply reminded me that I was the Quartermaster. He also mentioned that if he needed to repair his sails, he would simply steal new ones. Not buy, mind you, but steal. What an interesting life I have nowadays.

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 4

One of the kids accidentally dropped a crate of rum bottles she was carrying up to the deck. The bottles, of course, shattered and the rum spilled all over the deck. Commodore Blank rushed to the scene of the accident, but there was nothing he could do. The rum was gone. He kneeled and looked over the remains, sputtering, “My precious...,” and “I never even got to drink you.” I pulled him away and berated him for being an idiot, but it didn't seem to help. He went back to work, but he was very subdued for the rest of the day. At one point, I could swear I saw a tear run down his cheek.

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 5

There was quite a lot of blood in the water this morning. While I was looking at it, Mark joined me. He looked at the water and grinned. “Mmmmh... fish blood,” he muttered, “Must have been some very hungry sharks this morning.” Then he looked at me and grinned. I don't think he meant any threat, but he really creeped me out.

I spent the rest of the day in the crow's nest.

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 6

We got into Ao-Manasa very early this morning. When we docked, I went over to the Fearful Lightning to see what had been done with Gannen. I was greeted by a rather gruff-looking sailor. It took me a second, but I eventually realized that he was indeed Gannen. Those kids really did a good job on him. He decided to stay at the boat, to minimize any contact he may have with the Ao-Manasa guards.

Blank went off to visit with Taevin Brightfind while Soern, Rellik,and I hung out at the docks. Rellik revealed to us the name of his next mark, which was Kandla. I knew I had heard the name before, but I couldn't put my finger on where. Blank soon returned and told us that Taevin's client had become very interested in swords. Blank had informed Taevin that we had a possible lead pertaining to a sword. Taevin told him he would try to set up a meeting directly between Blank and the client.

We then headed down to the Black Angle. We socialized for a while. I asked Tilienne if she knew anyone by the name of Kandla. She said that Kandla co-owned The Nightingale's Mane with her twin sister Kindli. Of course. I had walked passed there several times while in the market district. It was a mgical items shop.

We decided to pay a visit to The Nightingale's Mane. One of the twins was there, but we didn't know which one. We did a little shopping while we were there. I acquired a minor amulet of natural armour. I spoke with the shopkeeper and discovered that she was Kindli. Kandla was apparently at sea and would return within several days.

The day was still young, so we decided to pay a visit to Illiam's alleged pirate base. We sailed up the coast and entered the magical fog that had so ungraciously trapped us before. This time, however, we emerged into a cove. There wasn't much in the cove except one cave. There were some orangish flickering lights coming from inside the cave. We decided to investigate and left the kids with the boats.

As we entered the cave, we were beset by a group of fire elementals, which promptly lit me and Gannen on fire. With some liberal use of Blank's ice power, as well as some pretty exceptional fighting on Gannen's part, we managed to kill them.

We continued on into the cave, a little singed, but all in all, not in bad shape. I noticed this very acrid smell that made me cough a couple times. Mark, Rellik, and Gannen also seemed mildly bothered, but Soern and Blank went into absolute coughing fits. When they finally stopped, they did not look very well. They both said they didn't feel very well either. We kept going and ended up in a small antechamber, which was adorned by tables. The tables were covered in papers, which I immediately began rummaging through. Most of it was pretty useless. Some of the papers appeared to be the rantings of a madman. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Reasons why the great Commodore Illiam is better than the puny Blank:

• Commodore Illiam is a great and mighty Commodore. Blank is a foolish man.

• Commodore Illiam has a great fleet and wonderful crew. Blank has one little rowboat and is followed by incompetent fools.

• Commodore Illiam has a great and mighty plan. Blank is so foolish, he is incapable of great and mighty plans.

Note to self: You can never add too much fire. If a plan is failing, add more fire. If something is boring, add more fire.

Of actual note, there were two papers. One was a map of the region, which had the Island of the Jeweled Trees, as well as another unbeknownst location, which the Aur Xica identified as the capital of the Hor Quan Empire. The second paper was a list of names and things. Some items were crossed out. I will transcribe this into my journal so I do not forget it.

Heir
Key
Seed
Temple
Aur-Xica

Sa-Follen
Kedlar Mevarin
Dialle Westing
Uthar Kalenil
Raviye Baron

Dar-Shada
Mischa Mevarin
Gannen Tazhiren
Parrel
Hellas
Ratham
Iu-Malan

I saw the name Tazhiren and just about freaked out. I had suspected that Gannen was a descendant of Dyeza Tazhiren, but he had never told me his surname before. I was also concerned about the particular names that were crossed out. They were all dead (or at least taken care of in one way or another). Gannen didn't seemed too pleased either.

We heard some voices, so Rellik decided to sneak up the stairway at the other end of the room, and within moments, I heard a scream as a battle commenced. I raced up the stairs and charged into the fray. There were two human women, who appeared to be magisters, and a man who was more over-the-top piratey than even Blank. I assumed he was Illiam. I also recognized one of the women as Kindli, who I had just seen earlier this day. Then I realized this was probably Kandla. The battle was relatively short. Blank and Illiam yelled at eachother the whole time. Illiam's more of a crazy egomaniac than Blank, that's for sure. At one point, Gannen and I had flanked Illiam. I hit him with the Aur Xica, and he drew his attention to me. He laughed and said I was foolish to bring the Aur Xica and Gannen Tazhiren to him. He even insinuated that I was more foolish than even Blank. Gannen then knocked him out.

I turned my attention back to the rest of the battle. Kandla lay on the floor dead. The other magister woman was on the floor as well, but she was breathing. We tied up Illiam and the Magister woman. Gannen and Mark decided to stay and watch them, to make sure they didn't wake up and escape. The rest of us went exploring. We found a few storerooms with various goods. We dragged it out to the main room to be loaded onto the ships. We then found a ladder which lead up to another room. In the room, we found a Giant tied to a chair, gagged. I removed the gag and he told us his name was Dar-Shada, and that he was a guard from Ao-Manasa. On the other side of the room, I noticed Ao-Manasa guard equipment, so his story checked out. He said he had been captured by the pirates here. I asked Blank, Rellik, and Soern to untie Dar-Shada and help him gather his gear while I slipped down the ladder and back into the main room. I warned Gannen that there was a guard upstairs and he would do well to go hide on the Ocean's Blade, which he did.

A few minutes later, Rellik, Blank, Dar-Shada, and Soern emerged. We gathered up our ill-begotten goods and loaded the ships. By this time, the sun was setting and we decided to head back to Ao-Manasa right away. Ea-Shamar will want her lost Guard back.

We're near the coast, so the kids can handle the boat for the night.

The list concerns me. I don't want to have to worry about something happening to Gannen again. I've been trying to keep him in my sight as much as possible since we got him from the prison, but I can't protect him all the time. He doesn't necessarily even need my protection. He's just as strong as I am, if not stronger. Why do I worry about other people all the time? Why do I worry that I just won't be good enough to protect people? Why do I even feel I must protect people all the time? I just don't want anything bad to happen to people.

I always want a cause. I'm never just content doing something for myself, or doing something for no reason. I need a reason. I need a cause. I like to look at the big picture. I am but one person. One person, alone, rarely changes the world. Sure, one person's ideas can change the world, but not usually one person by action alone. They need helpers. They need followers. They need people behind them in their grand quest. History may not always remember the army, but they were always there.

I don't want to be important myself. I want to be a part of something important. I want to be involved with something larger than myself. I don't want history to remember me as a leader of some great cause. But perhaps I will follow such a leader. Perhaps I will be some leader's right-hand-man. Perhaps I will protect such a leader with my life. That's what I really want, I think.

Maybe it's my destiny to help others achieve their destinies.

Sigrid's Journal 12 - Ships, Hydras, and Letters

~~~~~

Thirdmonth 27

A most pleasant day at sea. Gannen and I talked about Ao-Manasa for awhile. We also talked about my Order. He seems to believe we're some sort of terrorist organization. I told him that his perception of us is wrong, for the most part. I mean, there are some who choose to follow “Lord” Harsted on his barbaric guerrilla ambushing of any Diamond Throne agents he happens to come across. Most of us would much prefer solutions that involve less bloodshed. Sure, sometimes drastic measures are needed, but I would like to believe that we're a civilized Order.

Eventually, Captain Blank came below deck, followed by two of his child crewmen. He told me to find something for them to do, and then went back above deck. Methinks these children are wearing on Captain Blank's nerves a little. I had them inventory our supplies, even though I had just done so a week or so ago. That took quite a few hours, and when they had finished, I had to go over their work with them. I was a little annoyed to find we were two entire crates short of rum. When I confronted Captain Blank about the missing rum, he said that “sometimes these things happen,” and “perhaps my counting skills are lacking.” Twenty-four bottles of rum don't just disappear though. I suppose I will have to raise the estimated rate of consumption of rum for purposes of inventorying. I've always been accurate at predicting how quickly we'll go through our other stores, but the rum always seems to disappear faster than I expect.

All in all, it was a pretty typical day at sea.

~~~~~

Thirdmonth 28

I slept most of the morning. When I awoke, I found one of the children sitting on the floor next to my hammock, playing with the Aur Xica. I grabbed the sword away from the kid and informed her she was never to touch my things again. Is that so much to ask? It's not as though I have that much stuff. Especially compared to Soern. He has books and paper everywhere down here, as well as various magical trinkets. Captain Blank's pretty bad too. His quarters are filled with random, pointless junk (including quite a few empty rum bottles). Rellik's a bit more... efficient with his belongings. Then again, Rellik's efficient with pretty much everything he does.

I had evening watch duty, which was uneventful.

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 1

Today should have been Gannen's trial date. Unfortunately for the Ao-Manasa Guards and Magistrates, he will regretfully be unable to attend. I do apologize for that, Ea-Shamar, I really do. It could not be helped though.

Gannen and I sparred today, hand to hand. It was rather fun, even though I got bruised up pretty badly. I admit it, he is better than I am.

Other than that, it was a boring day. Captain Blank says we will arrive at Pental tomorrow.

~~~~~

Fourthmonth 2

I am NOT happy with this “Commodore Illiam.” NOT AT ALL. As we were approaching Pental, I noticed that the docks were on fire, which was probably because of the two hydra rampaging around. Probably. There was a ship fleeing the scene, flying black and red sails. It was the boat we had seen leaving Ao-Manasa some weeks ago (the ship Blank believed to be Illiam's).

I wanted to continue on immediately to Pental to help my Order kinsmen and the villagers I had sworn to protect, but Captain Blank had another plan. A plan which, for some reason, involved James jumping off the boat. After much protesting from me, we turned to chase the pirate boat. We were at full speed, but they were still getting farther away from us. They seemed to be getting away, when all of a sudden, there was this loud fwooshing sound, and Soern threw green magic at the other ship. It hit and exploded. Several figures on the deck collapsed, and the boat stopped moving. Now that it was dead in the water, the ship was quite easy to approach.

As we boarded the ship, we encountered no resistance. All the crewmen on deck were dead, except for the Captain. I approached him and asked, “Are you Illiam?”, to which he responded, “Are you an idiot?” Captain Blank confirmed that this man was not Illiam. After a little questioning, we found out his name was Captain Parrel, and that he worked for Commodore Illiam. I honestly didn't care who he was. He was now an enemy of my Order. I could have killed him then, but I decided to bring him back to Lord Morek for... questioning. I had Rellik tie him up, and then I dragged him over to the Ocean's Blade. Blank and Soern searched the ship and Gannen “took care” of the surving crewmen below deck (with the Aur Xica).

Blank decided we should take this ship to create a fleet. I argued that two ships isn't really a fleet, but he assured me that “Two is more than one, so that means it is a fleet.” He now insists on being called Commodore Blank, and has delegated the role of Captain on the new ship (The Fearful Lightning) to Soern. I am to remain Quartermaster of both vessels because I'm “the only one who gives a damn about supplies.” I'm sure the others would start “giving a damn” if we ran out of stuff.

We got a pretty good haul off of the Fearful Lightning and decided it would be a good time to go to Pental. As we approached Pental, the fires seemed to be staying contained to the dock buildings. Several knights were keeping the hydras from charging up the hill to the village, but they didn't seem to be making much progress in killing them. We docked (a difficult task as everything was on fire) and stormed the hydras. Gannen's lack of equipment wasn't a problem (he IS a Champion after all). He called quite an... interesting shield (which seemed to be made of of skulls), and a sword. It was a pretty scary battle. I nearly got lit on fire a couple times. We eventually took the hydras down and then Blank, Gannen, and I (dragging Parrel) made our way up the hill. About halfway to town, we ran into Lord Morek, who seemed pleased to see us, particularly after I introduced Gannen and turned over Parrel to him. We talked for a little while, when he asked me if I knew a man named Blank. I was about to introduce Blank to Morek, when Blank interrupted me and gave a short speech about how amazing, dashing, and incredible this Captain Blank fellow was. Honestly, his ego is borderline idiotic at time. Lord Morek took the hint that this man was Blank and handed over the letter. It was from Taevin Brightfind. Apparently his client wanted to know if any of the freelancers sent to the Tomb of Ozymandius had recovered a sword. We shall have to discover who this client is.

We were about to leave when Lord Morek asked me if we had recovered a map on Parrel's ship. When I told him he had not, he explained that it was a map to the “Island of the Jeweled Trees,” and that the pirates had stolen it. I turned my attention to Parrel and asked him about the map. He initially refused to betray Illiam, but I found with a little... gentle persuasion he was more than willing to be helpful. He told us about Illiam's secret pirate base. It's apparently magical and can only be found if one already knows its exact location, which he so kindly divulged to us. We then bid adieu to Lord Morek, leaving Parrel with him, and went back to the docks. Soern had identified the magical items we had taken from the Fearful Lightning. Of particular note was a veil. It was part of a set, and the next piece was in a secret pirate base on the Ao-Manasa island. I do believe in Gods, I just generally ignore them, as they do not personally affect me. However, I can't help but think some greater power, whether a God, the Green itself, or perhaps just some ancestral spirit is leading us to this pirate base. We should be careful.

I took the crew up to town to sell some of the items we had commandeered from the Fearful Lightning. I got a cut, as always, though I really don't have much need for gold. Soern, Blank, and Rellik spent a while in the village shopping while I took Gannen up to the Chapterhouse armory and got him equipped with a set of plate armour and a sword.

We left Pental midafternoon and set sail for Ao-Manasa. Commodore Blank wanted to talk to Taevin Brightfind, and Rellik was getting impatient about finding his mark. I suppose we'll have to figure out what to do with Gannen as we get closer to the city.

~~~~~

Session 14 Quotes

“Well I wouldn’t, but I’m not a pompous bastard who eats puppies.” – Captain Blank

“So I’m just sitting here, chatting with Mark.” – Sigrid
[Laughter. Hilarious laughter.]

“You seem really bitter about this.” – Sigrid
“He eats puppies. He ate my puppy.” – Blank

“Hey Cer-Athene, look at these birth certificates I definitely did not forge.” – Blank

“Science: Leave it in a box and see what happens.” – Blank

Session 14: He Eats Puppies

Fourthmonth 16th

They ventured further into the cave, and Captain Blank and Soern got poisoned by a mysterious mist. In the room beyond that, they found a table covered with papers. The papers included three lists:

Heir
Key
Seed
Temple
Aur-Xica

Sa-Follen
Kedlar Mevarin
Dialle Westing
Uthar Kalenil
Raviye Baron

Dar-Shada
Mischa Mevarin
Gannen Tazhiren
Parrel
Hellas
Ratham
Iu-Malan

Which was very mysterious, and they worried about it. Gannen, particularly, didn't seem to think it was a good thing that his name was crossed off a list.

Then they heard some voices coming from the next room, and Rellik snuck over to investigate. He saw a pirate-y guy with fancy hair, and two magister-y women, one tall with long black hair, and one carrying a number of magic items who looked just like the Kindli, the proprieter of The Nightingale's Mane. The fancy-hair guy said something about being ready to leave, so, naturally, Rellik attacked them, by firing his an acidic arrow.

The rest of the group joined the melee shortly. Blank promptly recognized the pirate guy as Illiam, the scourge of his existence, who responded by peppering them with snappy patter and general arrogance. Then Blank blinded him with mud, Soern trapped him in chains of fire, and Sigrid knocked him out.

Meanwhile, Mark and Gannen (mostly Gannen) basically obliterated the woman whom they assumed was Kandla, and then the two teamed up with Rellik to knock out the other magister, because Blank wanted to take her alive. He thought she might prove useful in extracting intelligence from Illiam.

They tied up their two prisoners, then left Gannen and Rellik to guard them while everyone else explored the rest of the complex. They found a number of storage rooms, with spices and magic items, and Dar-Shada, a giant guard from Ao-Manasa, who said he had been captured by the pirates. They freed him, and offered to give him a ride back to the city.

At some point during all this, Captain Blank decided that he was now "Commodore Blank," and Soern was now "Captain Soern," on account of the new ship they had semi-jointly acquired.

Notes on Session 14

This is, I know, incredibly late. I was procrastinating, and then I lost my laptop cord. (Hooray for science!) Actual session happened on the 12th.

I think Rellik's player was missing, but I can't quite confirm it, because I suspect the memory may be out of habit. Anyone care to confirm this way or that?

Pental

The Order of the Axe Chapterhouse located near Ao-Manasa is known as Pental, which was the former, pre-Diamond Throne name for Ao-Manasa. Pental is not just a Chapterhouse, but a small, self-sufficient town of about 650, including the inhabitants of the Chapterhouse itself. Though the town is literally focused around the Chapterhouse, there are quite a few residents in town that are not Order members. There is also a small minority of Order-sympathetic giants who call Pental home.

The Chapterhouse itself is a castle. It houses about 100 Squires at any given time, at various stages of training. Only about 3-4 of every ten Squires will become Knights; the rest will either remain Squires until their deaths, or will choose to leave the Order. It takes a minimum of seven years as a Squire before a Lord or Lady can bestow Knighthood. Most Knights spend an average of nine years as a Squire. Some spend many more. Squires who have had at least five years of training at the Chapterhouse are often assigned to individual Knights for more specific, in depth training.

At the current time, there are 27 Knights based on Pental, though up to half of them are away on field work all or most of the time. The number of Knights fluctuates from year to year, but it has remained between 15 and 30 for the past decade. There are also 5 Knight Masters living at the Pental Chapterhouse. One of them, Knight Master Sylsevyn, is Lord Morek's right hand man, the other four are primarily responsible for the training of the Squires. They enlist the help of the other Knights in the Chapterhouse to accomplish this.

The Pental Chapterhouse is currently run Lord Morek Gorran. He has been the Lord of Pental for nearly ten years and is very well liked and respected, by both Order members and civilian citzens of Pental. He once served under Lord Aniton Golhia and is a follower of his ideas for a peaceful resolution with the Diamond Throne. Though his ultimate goal is self-rule for all races, as it is for all Order members, his main focus has been at improving the life of non-giants (and giants for that matter) in the Ao-Manasa area. There have even been rumours of he and Gri-Taresh occasionally working together to solve local problems for the common good, but they are simply rumours. One thing is known: Gri-Taresh tolerates Pental and the Order's presence, so long as they do not directly interfere with his affairs in Ao-Manasa.

Pental itself is very well fortified. Approach by boat is difficult in most places; the waters around the island are shallow and filled with rocks, and most of the shores are high cliffs. This made it an ideal place to build a Chapterhouse and a town, as the seas in these parts are filled with pirates. The docks are at the south point of the island, where the land slopes down to meet the sea. The water around the docks has been deepened, and the rocks have been cleared. There are several buildings around the docks, but the town itself and the Chapterhouse are uphill.

The island is small; it has an area of about three and a half square miles and a circumference of about eight miles. The town itself takes up about one quarter of the island's land, though there are some homes and other buildings scattered across the island outside of the town. The island is mostly flat, with grasses, flowers and scattered trees. The soil itself was pretty rocky at one point, but through Greenbond attention, it has become fertile enough to support agriculture.

Session 13 Quotes

“Oh no! It’s the dreaded pie thief! The only man in the world, known to have green hair!” – Blank

“She might not search the ship at all. She might . . . trust us.” – Sigrid
[Laughter. Hilarious laughter.]

“If Gannen was a girl we could call him Lava Girl, because of the volcano. Why does Gannen have to be a man?” – Sigrid

“Why would he take levels in human? He’s a shark.” – Commodore Blank

“Well if she’s been asking questions recently I can guarantee she’s not Mischa.” – Sigrid

“Blank, tell your Akashics to start digging around.” – Captain Soern
“Yo Akashic. Start digging around. Ja.” – Commodore Blank (as Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Session 13: Ice Ice Baby

Fourthmonth 3rd – Fourthmonth 6th

On the way to Ao-Manasa, there was some discussion of what they should do with Gannen. Particularly, whose ship he should be on, because while Blank had told Tar-Namor that his name was Illiam, no one was sure that he had passed this information on to the rest of the guard, or even that he would consider it credible once the various magics (and alcohol) involved wore off. If the guard did think that Illiam had been involved in Gannen’s escape, they would be more likely to search the Fearful Lightning, seeing as it had been until very recently one of Illiam’s ships. On the other hand, the Ocean’s Blade had left mysteriously in the middle of the night Gannen escape.

Eventually, they decided that he should stay on the Fearful Lightning, disguised as a “generic sailor dude.”

On the 5th, they saw blood in the water, which Mark said was from a recent mass feed. Of some kind.

When they got to Ao-Manasa, Captain Blank went to talk to Taevin Brightfind about the letter, at the House of Glass tavern. When he returned, he reported that Taevin’s client had suddenly become interested in any sword’s Taevin’s freelancers had found. He had told Taevin that they had some kind of lead, and Taevin was going to talk to the client about possibly setting up a meeting.

Meanwhile, Rellik had reported what he knew of his mark—that she was a human magister named Kandla. Sigrid remembered that name as belonging to a local merchant. They asked around at the Black Angle, and found out the merchant in question ran a magical oddities shop called The Nightingale’s Mane, with her twin Kindli. They visited the store, and discovered that Kandla was out “at sea,” and would be back in about a week.

Also, Captain Blank acquired gauntlets of frozen magnificence, Soern a set of bracers of armor, and Sigrid an amulet of natural armor.

So, while they were waiting, they decided to check out the secret pirate base that Parrel had spoken of. Of which Parrel had spoken. That Parrel had mentioned.

They approached it, all mysterious-like, and entered the hidden coven with great stealth. Therein, they discovered it to be oddly abandoned, and a cave with flickering lights. They entered the cave, and discovered it to be infested in fire elemental. Which they dispatched. With righteous thacking. And ice.

Lots of ice.

Session 13 Notes

Rellik's player wasn't here.

Sigrid's Journal 11 - Jailbreak!

~~~~~

Thirdmonth 24

This morning, I remembered why I dislike barrack life. The Knight-Masters get their own quarters. All us plain, ordinary knights have to all sleep together. I'm not a very heavy sleeper, so I got woken up a couple times in the night by clumsy idiots stomping around and dropping stuff. Then there's the snoring. At least the Knight barracks are better than the Squire barracks. Talk about stupid clumsy idiots...

Getting woken up before dawn by a screaming Knight-Master is not among my favourite activities either. Maybe one day, I'll get to be a Knight-Mistress. Or maybe I'll even get to be in charge of a chapterhouse. Lady Sigrid... it does have a nice ring to it. Usually Lordship and Ladyship is reserved for those with a more... prominent lineage than I have, but there have been many cases of lowborns becoming nobles within the Order. I'm certainly stronger than most of those incompetent fools Lord Morek has to deal with. I suppose such a contempt for my peers isn't a very good quality for a leader to have. Maybe Lord Morek is right: I have the potential for greatness, but I squander it with my own negativity. I'll try to work on that.

Lord Morek found me at breakfast and brought me to his office. He gave me a scribed copy of all the documentation he had received from the Eye of the Axe. Of note was a riddle, which went as follows:

Free the fire,
From icy fist,
Meet seed with flame of earth,
With storm and stare,
With will of heir,
Of right blood and right worth.

It seems to be a set of instructions. I'll keep them in mind.

Lord Morek also gave me the names of a couple guards whom I may be able to... influence to get Gannen out of jail. One is Tar-Namor, who guards the jail. Morek warned me that he has Nightwalker connections. I don't really want to cross paths with the Nightwalkers. The other guard he told me about is Oa-Tesanil. She doesn't seem to be connected to the Nightwalkers, or any other organized crime ring. She just takes bribes from random thugs mostly.

After our business was finished, my Lord informed me that since I was here, I would be assisting Knight-Master Dontann with squire blade training. This displeased me. I don't like the squires. I think they are a flock of uncouth morons. I never liked Master Dontann much either. He always seemed a bit self-righteous and holier-than-thou. Despite my differences with Knight-Master Dontann, training started off very well. Master Dontann and I demonstrated some sword techniques. I hadn't done any mock-combat in awhile, and it was a nice change from being mauled by velociraptors or eels. Everything was going great until I misinterpreted a feint by Dontann and stepped into a rather powerful swing. His training blade, while dull, was still quite hard and heavy, and as it hit my shoulder, I felt my collarbone snap with an audible crack. My left arm went numb and I was suddenly barely able to hold my shield, let alone properly use it. Master Dontann stopped and asked if I was okay,and when I insisted I was, we continued. Every blow I took to my shield for the rest of the session was agonizing, and I was relieved when Master Dontann decided it was time for the squires to practice while we supervised.

I walked around the field, correcting the Squires' technique and form, changing their stance, and giving them advice. All the while my shoulder is throbbing like mad. By the time training was over for the afternoon, I couldn't move my left arm at all. The Squires wandered off to their other lessons while Dontann and I headed back up to the chapterhouse. We had a relatively pleasant conversation about Lord Harsted's latest escapades and the backlash from the Diamond Throne that our order was receiving because of him. I didn't mention my collarbone to him at all, and tried to keep my arm moving naturally as we walked. Once we parted ways at the chapterhouse, I began clutching my arm protectively to my chest to try to keep my shoulder from moving. It hurt very badly by this time, so I went to see an Order healer. When asked what had happened, I just told her I didn't want to talk about it. She healed me up and I could finally use my arm again properly. I was still a little sore and stiff, but that was nothing a day or two wouldn't fix. I guess the whole ordeal showcases how proud and stubborn I am.

After supper, Ulray became quite insistent that we return to Ao-Manasa, “as we had been here too long already.” We teleported back to Ulray's house. The combination of healing magic and a teleport has taken it's toll on me, and I have scarce energy to do much else than write. Seeing how shaky and exhausted I was when we got back, Ulray gave me quarter for the night. I think I shall sleep now.

~~~~~

Thirdmonth 25

Woke up feeling much improved this morning. I left Ulray's relatively early and enjoyed a nice, downhill walk to the market where I spent the morning browsing various wares. During the afternoon, I paid a visit to a bathhouse for a long overdue wash. Afterwards, I headed off to the Black Angle and socialized for a while with Tillienne. I asked her about Tar-Namor and Oa-Tesanil. She didn't know much about Tar-Namor, but she had heard of Oa-Tesanil, as she had accepted arena bribes in the past. As it was getting late, I headed up to the Twisted Fish. I rented a room, but didn't go up to bed immediately. I stayed down in the tavern for awhile, socializing, drinking, and even dancing a bit. It was nearly dawn when I finally went upstairs to relax and sleep.

~~~~~

Thirdmonth 26

I was most unpleasantly woken up midmorning by the crew. They had gotten into port this morning and had come to the Twisted Fish to find me. The innkeeper told them I had rented a room, so they decided to let themselves in and wake me up. Some people have no manners. I got out of bed and rather groggily joined them downstairs for breakfast. I wasn't terribly hungry, but Captain Blank insisted I “at least have some rum.”

I told them about my plan. Soern seemed indifferent about the whole thing, Rellik didn't really want to get involved, but Blank thought it would be an excellent use of “his charm.” As a group, we decided that we should bribe Tar-Namor. I suppose it could be interesting if we piss off the Nightwalkers. We asked around in the Twisted Fish about the guards, and heard that most of them hang out in a tavern called the Wicker Goat. Captain Blank went off to the Wicker Goat to find Tar-Namor, while the rest of us wandered down to the Black Angle.

Blank returned a couple hours later. He informed us that he had been successful. Tar-Namor was to meet Blank at a back entrance to the castle at midnight. Blank also seemed quite pleased with himself. When asked why, he smugly told us he had told Tar-Namor that his name was Illiam. How very, very clever. Blank then went to talk to Cer-Athane. When he came back to the table, he wore a rather over-the-top looking cape. It suited him, as Captain Blank's entire look and personality is quite over-the-top. He seemed to be a bit more personable as well. I suppose the cape is magic.

We dedided that the early evening would be a good time to pay a visit to the Mevarin butler, Ratham. On the way, I decided to make a quick stop at the market to purchase some cheese as a gift for Ratham. I paid for my cheese, and twenty seconds later, I heard a familiar voice. And you know what it said? I'll tell you what it said. It said, “Captain Blank! Captain Blank! Captain Blank!”

I turned around and saw a very excited James running towards us. Blank turned and tried to disappear behind a market stall, but it was too late. James had already seen him. His fate was sealed. James approached us, smelling worse than normal. He rambled on for awhile about how he had been captured by Illiam, but then for some reason, he had been released (I have no idea why... no idea at all...). Then there was something about some people following him trying to kill him. He also told us how he had lost said attackers in the sewers. That would explain the smell. Captain Blank cast a hygiene spell on him, and for some masochistic reason, invited him to join the crew. James commented that he had some friends that would love to serve such a prestigious Captain as Blank. I seem to recall Blank's reply was something along the lines of ,“Well, I wouldn't want to deny them the honor of working for me.” That's not his exact wording. I believe he sounded more pirate-like. And more arrogant. It is difficult to transcribe Captain Blank's extreme arrogance onto paper. James ran off, either to find his friends or go to the ship. The rest of us continued on our way to the Mevarin house.

We walked up to the Mevarin house and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Ratham opened the door. He glared at us and announced that we were “lousy pirates.” I tried to offer him the cheese as a peace offering, but he would have none of it and tried to close the door in our faces. I decided to invite myself in and pushed the door open and strolled inside. The others followed. Ratham said something about “lousy pirates having no manners,” but I didn't particularly care.

After we were inside and the door was closed, I asked Ratham why he had told Ea-Shamar that he had seen Gannen kill Mischa. I offered him the cheese again, but he refused to take it, as it was "poisoned with lousy pirate poison." Soern and Blank slipped away while I was talking to him, presumably to try and pillage and steal whatever we hadn't taken last time. Rellik still stood in the foyer with me. As soon as I realized that being nice was going to get me nowhere, I started being a little harsher with Ratham. Rellik seemed to take this as a hint and got a dagger out and began sharpening it. I didn't stop him from being threatening. If he had actually tried to kill the old man, I may have stopped him. Then again, I might not have either. I don't really know.

I reminded Ratham that our agreement was that he was to tell the guards he had seen nothing. The only thing he would say is that Gannen was a "lousy pirate." He wouldn't say anything else. I even stooped so low as to threaten his beloved rats. He told me I was a cruel, heartless pirate, to threaten to take away "the last thing in this world that a man cares about." I sighed and let it go. I wasn't a mean person. Rellik seemed a bit disappointed, as did Blank (who had found no rum), and Soern (who had found no magical trinkets). I encouraged the rest of the group that we should leave, before someone in this house ended up dead. (Again. Again.) We told Ratham that "we had never been here," and left.

We spent the evening in the Black Angle, enjoying ourselves while not getting entirely smashed. At about an hour or so to midnight, we inconspicuously slipped outside and headed towards the castle. Captain Blank lead us to a back entrance near the dungeon and directed us to hide. Blank stood in a shadow near the door, while the rest of us sought refuge kneeling in a nearby bush. Well, actually, I was the only one kneeling. Soern's small enough he didn't have to duck at all, and Rellik was in this squatting position, as if he was ready to jump up and pounce someone at a moment's notice. He really creeps me out. We had to wait for a while. My calves and feet were getting to be all numb and tingly. Note to self: Do not kneel for long periods of time in full plate mail. Also, Soern kept whispering to me and complaining that he couldn't see anything. I finally asked him if he would like me to describe the scene to him, or if it would just be easier to find him a box to stand on. He was not amused, though he did finally shut up, which had been my intention all along.

Finally, the back door opened, and out walked a giant, followed closely by Gannen. The giant (who I assume was Tar-Namor) spoke very briefly to Captain Blank and then disappeared back through the door, leaving Gannen. As soon as he was gone, the rest of us emerged from behind the bush, with me on wobbly legs. Gannen stared at me and simply said “You...” His tone was not entirely appreciative, but he was probably under a lot of stress.

Captain Blank lead us all to an entrance to the city sewers, making me regret my bath I had paid for two days ago. We spent a while wandering around under the streets. I think we were lost and going in circles, but Blank insisted he knew the way. We should have brought James. Eventually, we emerged at the docks and snuck back onto our ship. Mark, along with James and some very young looking new crewmen, had prepared the ship to set sail while we were gone, and we set sail immediately. Captain Blank cast hygiene on everyone as well, much to my happiness.

After we were safely at sea, Gannen beset me. He seemed a little aggravated. He questioned what my thought process had been, though his language was a little harsher than that. He also reminded me that I was going to be between midnight and death with the guards, if they ever found out I had done this. To that, I reminded him that he would have been between midnight and death himself if I had not done this. Captain Blank then decided to correct our argument, making sure that we both remembered that it had not been I, Sigrid, that had done anything, it had been him, Blank, Pirate Captain Extraor... ah, who cares what he calls himself anyway. Anyway, Gannen then declared that we were all witch-brained. This statement seemed to displease Blank, who announced that he, himself, was the only one on this boat who was witch-brained. I whole-heartedly agreed with him, under both meanings of the term. The three of us kept up with our “heated discussion” for a little while longer, before Soern came above deck and yelled at us for making too much noise.

Gannen and I retreated below deck to sleep, and Captain Blank went to his quarters. I've spent a while writing tonight and think that it may be time to actually sleep now.

~~~~~

Session 12 Quotes

“Do you happen to know a man named Blank?” – Lord Morrek
“Don’t you mean Captain Blank, dashing pirate extraordinaire? I believe I may have heard of him.” – Blank

“Mah leather coat, mah bloodshot eyes.” – Sigrid

“Why don’t you like this Illiam person? He seems much more competent than you.” – Sigrid
“He eats puppies.” – Captain Blank

Session 12: Everything Is On Fire

Fourthmonth 2nd – Fourthmonth 3rd

On the captured ship, they found a great quantity of interesting items.

Leather coat (+1 leather coat)
Light shield (+1 light shield)
Silky red veil, laced with garnets (burning veil)
Sea green crystal that feels slightly wet (crystal of aquatic action)
Redwood arrow that smells acrid and feels damp (fountainhead arrow)
A ruby, cut into a torus—beveled on top, flat below (rubicund frenzy, least)
Scroll (scroll of water breathing)

Incense, 300 gp
Silver dust, 420 gp
15 bloodstone, 20 gp each, 300 gp
5 lapis lazuli, 100 gp each, 500 gp
Large sack of lemon balm, 320 gp
Small crate of coriander, 575 gp
Barrel of almond oil, 160 gp

Chest of gold, 4600 gp
Chest of silver, 3000 sp

There was a moment of discussion about what they should do with Parrel’s ship. Soern was in favor of sinking it, but Captain Blank took it under his captaincy and delegated direct command to Soern. Then they sailed to the Order of the Axe stronghold and fought the hydras.

After their victory, Sigrid dragged Parrel up the hill, to talk to Lord Morrek. Captain Blank (after ordering Mark and his henchman to take care of the boats) and Gannen also came with her. Soern stayed on the ship, identifying those items they had determined to be magical, and Rellik stayed on or around the ship because he hates talking to people.

The conversation with Morrek went fairly well. He was pleased with the success of Sigrid’s plan to rescue Gannen from prison, and with their capture of ex-Captain Parrel. He asked her whether she knew a “man named Blank,” and when she said she did he produced a letter addressed to said individual, who he said he had been told would be arriving on the island soon. The letter, Captain Blank discovered, was from Taevin Brightfind, and said that the client who had originally sent them to the Tomb of Ozymandius had been asking Taevin if any of his freelancers had recovered “a sword.”

Lord Morrek also asked Sigrid if they had recovered a map, which the Island had recently unearthed, and contained the location of the Island of the Jeweled Trees, but had been stolen by the pirates when they attacked the stronghold.

Sigrid interrogated Parrel in regards to this map, who was initially reluctant to “betray his Captain,” but was shortly convinced to reveal that it had been removed from his ship and taken to the “secret pirate base,” which was what they had encountered when they’d followed Illiam’s ship into the fog bank. He then divulged the exact location of this base, and the fact that it is impossible to find if you don’t already know where it is.

Sigrid left Parrel to Lord Morrek and the Order dungeons, and returned with Gannen and Blank to the docks. There, Soern told them that one of the items was the burning veil, part of a set, and that the second part of the set was in a the aforementioned “secret pirate base.” He also told them what all of the other things were, and they divided the treasure amongst themselves. They also purchased a few items from the island armory, after Sigrid vouched for everyone’s character. (Sort of.)

Then they renamed the ship they had captured (from Fearful Lightning of the West to, simply, Fearful Lightning) and set sail for Ao-Manasa.