Let's see, who's standing on the beach?
- Slick: Thief
- Fred: Thief
- Fulvus: Halfling
- Jax: Barbarian
- plus various extras
The party stood on the bloody beach as the carrion birds began to circle and dusk approached. Xandra Ironhide's surviving dwarven marines dragged back to their ship, where the rowers, exhausted by Rondel's haste spell awaited. They were not moving until at least morning.
Fine. Slick had a roll-call to make with his newly pressed crew, and we might as well take advantage of the camp. Slick counted out the eight surviving sailors of his new ship. Six were normal humans, and two showed signs of mutation (scales and beast-eyes, respectively). A couple of the crew also had some useful skills, such as sketchy portside contacts and questionable surgical skills. A fine start to a seafaring life...
The camp was tossed a bit more prior to bedtime, revealing logbooks, a spellbook, and a couple of jars containing mysterious substances. Probably nothing to be concerned about, here in a Chaos mutant camp...
The party slept. As they slumbered, Jax had a vision. She found herself looking over the shoulder of an armored knight. From the surrounding fog emerged a veiled figure accompanied by three great cats. She addressed the knight, and Jax found herself a mere observer. “I see Chaos rising again. Not since I intercepted part of Medeg's comet has it been this active.” The knight nodded. “And you have a new bearer. This one's not a knight, but seems honorable... They are seeking to recover the Barrier. That is good. I feel that my followers in the north also are seeking this knowledge, but something had fogged my vision of them.
"Two things to remember. First: remember where the armies fell. That may be of aid. And when reconstructing the lenses, remember the shards. For like finds like, and some Chaos may be necessary..." With that, the vision ends. Nothing like a god to be helpfully cryptic.
The rest of the night passed quietly, except for a pair of scavenging monitor lizards. Slick was going to leave them un-accosted, but when they lost interest in the battle dead and began to enter camp, he decided murder needed to happen. Fulvus and others joined, and the two reptiles were slain (+1 head for the brewery wall).
The two ships sailed back to the dwarven island of Thaehaspho in the morning, uneventfully.
Recognizing that they needed to reinforce their ship's crew, Slick asked if Captain Albergati may be willing to part with a crewman or two. The captain agreed to lend his navigator, on the condition that he could depart anytime the gang returned to Chirath.
The party and returning dwarves were greeted, and healers provided their skills to the wounded. For all but Slick, that is. The dwarven healer sensed something, and asked to inspect Slick's fancy black-bladed scimitar. Ah, a Wraithblade... I haven't seen one of these in a couple of centuries. Word is, they steal life itself. Unfortunately, it also means that you, as its bearer, are blocked from divine healing. Have an aspirin.
The dwarves, curious, also checked out the jars recovered from the Chaos camp. One, filled with a thick, pinkish-silver fluid, appeared to have some healing qualities. May want to hold onto that. The second, although sealed, sounded to be filled with scrabbling things. When the lid was cracked, it seethed with carnivorous beetles. The lid was quickly replaced. Someone found a "remember to feed" note tacked to the bottom. Pets? Or a bitey practical joke...
The stolen ledger was returned to the Archives, and much thanks was proffered by Snorri Barrelbranch. The party shared Jax's vision with the archivist, which raised a bit of a commotion among the dwarves. Some hushed conversation, and a nervous messenger was dispatched.
(some time later...)
Drumming and heralding horns accompanied the sound of marching down the monumental corridors of Morn Kolduhr. An honor guard approached, leading an aged dwarf: Vokabena Silverbelt, Queen of the Sea Dwarves. Appropriate bows were made. The queen thanked the party for foiling the enemy's plans and returning the ledger. She was, in turn, told of the vision and its relation to the replacement of the lenses. Interesting. The ancient dwarf leaned on her staff, considered the clue. Sighed. Come with me.
The party was led by the queen and her retinue deep into the mountain's core. Past even the forges. All began to sweat profusely. Finally, a pair of massive gold-plated doors. Open it. Yes, your majesty. The queen entered into a smoky chamber, pools of lava bubbling in the floor. Took a pouch from her sash and emptied a palmful of diamonds into her hand. Tossed them into the lava.
Smoke and flame roiled and a form emerged. "Why do you call me? What task do you have?" "Do you remember helping to craft lenses long ago?" "What of it?" "Khador said they needed shards in their making." A pause. "Of course, from the comet. Don't you write anything down? Now leave me be until you have something worthy."
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Some discussion occurred. Existing broken lenses could probably be re-cast without new comet material, but those nodes missing their lenses would need resources. Well, there are those "paragons of the Comet" fanatics up in Acroria. I'll bet they have some. Or maybe the artificer that we never got to see while we were there...
You want to go back to the city you were kicked out of... Yeah.
And let's bust Brother Sigeric out while we are there...
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| And away we go... |
The party sailed north, stopping to pick up some trade goods in order to look legitimate when they pulled into port. Oh, and Slick renamed the ship the 'Chapeau Connoisseur' for obvious reasons.
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