Session 34
Fact Sheet: The gang gets a GAS-boete
Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart, Tuur and Vinnie. Dins was our GM.
Date: 20-12-23
Date in-universe: It's still Tuesday
Major developments:
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Previously: session 33 a tale of tigers and wolves, oh my
Up Next: session 35 Manners maketh Man
Notes
We return to the scene aboard the Rosarian frigate The Surya. Her personal assistant Vane has shown us into the captain’s cabin. The captain indulges in a little powerplay, where she stands with her back to us as we file in… when she finally addresses us, we understand why: she’s keen to impress upon us that as a military leader, she speaks with the full might of the Rosarian crown.
She starts: “My name is Io Halloran, captain of the Surya and commander in the Rosarian military. While you're aboard, you'll answer to me and the Rosarian crown. Confirm your identities for me, if you please”.
Fyllion is the first to respond, sweeping into a fluttering curtsey with the words “Ophelia Summersong, travelling bard”. Storm follows, attempting to weave in his züchtungsreise & the tradition of performing at the Rosarian court, but Halloran interrupts that she wants to keep the introductions brief.
Seeing how Storm’s taken aback, El doesn’t stand for Halloran’s rude interruptions: “Is this how you act ? Ordering us around? I'm El”. Hali does obey and merely states her name.
Last but not least, our young captain speaks up: “I'm not necessarily pleased, but I'm Ezra”.
Halloran proceeds without hesitation:
“I know the king of Storms & I know his child, presumably the child that was kidnapped. I haven’t yet clapped you in irons, because the child Aqueel shows some measure of affection for you all, and because I see you, Hali, are a relative… it’s around the eyes, you see, I reckon you’re one of Astarion’s offspring, right? Be that as it may, please do explain, quickly and concisely”.
Dripping with sincerity and moisture, Hali explains that we found Aqueel in the desert, and have informally adopted him. He’s travelling with us while we figure out how we could get him home.
Halloran nods that there is currently no safe way to the Sea of Storms. Not only are the war preparations causing a lot of disruption and turmoil, but ever since Aqueel’s disappearance almost 2 years ago, Hanaïn has been hostile to everyone. An enraged marid is no match for a random group of rag-tag friends like you. Currently he attacks all ships and pulls them to the abyss, but we hope he would hesitate about attacking a military vessel, since that would cause an open conflict between our realms.
Hali points out that Aqueel should get a voice in his future, while El raises the point that maybe we should just send a message to the Court of Storms that Aqueel has been found. Captain Halloran doesn’t dismiss the idea out of hand, but underscores that the message can’t admit to kidnapping.
Ezra speaks plainly: “We want to help Aqueel go home & don't want to hurt anyone, but we have no reason to trust you, captain Halloran. Can we talk this over?”.
While captain Halloran won’t force us to decide now, she does remind us that Aqueel going home to the Sea of Storms is non-negotiable. She outlines her current mission:
- Take the prisoner aboard and remind the city of their ore and wood production schedule, and why not, help with the werewolf situation if at all feasible given their deadlines
- Sail to Manduria, the aquatic city between the Sea of Storms & the Mandurian Strait
- Figure out the safest way to approach the King of Storms & return Aqueel to his home
- Sail further south all around Breheima
- Cross through the Traders’ Gate between Thalm Sashari and Thalm Samut
- Sail north again in the Breheiman Sea
- Anchor at the Bulwark to the south of Royal Rosaria and await further orders
Hali and Ophelia enquire if perhaps another route might work: should we accompany Aqueel to the Sea of Storms aboard her ship, could she then take us north from the Sea of Storms through the Mandurian Strait and all the way to the White Sea?
Captain Halloran strongly objects to bringing random civilians into such a dangerous zone. She continues that we should think of Aqueel’s safety, as well as our own. As she starts pacing, she decides to share some military intelligence that is probably not for our ears, but that she believes we should have anyway: word is that Astarion is headed north, presumably towards the lake near The Perch. She strongly feels that we should hand over Aqueel to her, and travel there, away from the coast and out of the way of the war preparations. She nods at Hali: “you could ask him about your birthmother; you clearly have his eyes and his water aspect, but aren’t you curious know what you inherited from your mother?”.
Storm insists on knowing Halloran's plan with Aqueel, so we can at least have her word that she won't hold him hostage, but she remains circumspect and neither confirms nor denies.
The discussion devolves into a babble of different scenarios:
- Storm thinks if we travel with Halloran to the Bulwark, we could ask his family for help and transport
- El is worried about their friend Madonna: the ship of the desert doesn’t typically do well aboard an actual ship on the sea
- Ophelia argues that Halloran could drop us somewhere that’s not too far out of her way, Valapur, Chakwal or Quantir maybe, or the Saltwarf if need be?
- Hali repeats that we can’t just send Aqueel away, Aqueel deserves to make a choice
Vane escorts us back to shore. El asks how Vane likes being an escort, and how much does Vane charge? He gruffs that “As second in command, I can clap you in irons for any reason I like”. Storm sighs there goes our chance of peacefully joining this crew. As soon as we step on the docks, El flips a coin towards Vane as a reward, who stoically ignores it. Ophelia contorts herself to catch the silver piece in the most alluring acrobatic way.
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Ezra looks at their crew and at the Surya's crew and despairs. They quietly comment to Hali: “If we board the Surya, we'll never be able to act straight for however long we'd need to”. Hali makes a wordless gesture, neither agreeing nor refuting our captain’s assessment…
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As we shuffle a bit aimlessly along the docks, Aqueel squeaks: “I'd prefer to travel with you, that captain seems kind of mean like my mom. But it's true that my father would just destroy the ship, he kind of does that a lot”.
We all agree we should make sure Aqueel is safe, so let's not take him further north into the warzone. As we continue our animated and heated discussion, we see a triton walking up to us. Kekoa is a handsome sea creature with dapper blue-green frills framing his face like ruffs. He is lithe and light on his feet, even on land.
Kekoa: Apologies for butting in, but I couldn't help but overhear… are you looking for a vessel? I could help out & tell you who to trust. With the whole situation going on right now, the unscrupulous captains don’t hesitate to charge an arm and a leg!
El: Would they strip us naked first, or just start amputating?
Hali: Who are you exactly?
Kekoa: I used to be a coral farmer in the Sea of Storms, using my humble druidic talents to grow and maintain the coral. Alas, king Hanaïn’s rage these past months as well as all these military ships disrupting the trade routes have made farming and selling impossible. So needs must and a triton adapts to the motion of the ocean. I’ve come on land and I'm now working as a translator and guide for the ships here in The Vale. The Surya’s captain doesn’t seem to like me & I don't like the military much, so I’d be happy to help a fellow water dweller. I can find you passage, if you tell me what you need
Ezra gives a short overview of our number and destination
El: Camels and bagpipes must be welcome
Kekoa: I don’t know what that is, but I’ll ask around & find you something. Speaking of your number, I noticed the boy is a marid, are you (indicating Hali) his handler?
Our crew explodes in outrage: Aqueel is not a circus monkey who needs a handler, nor some sort of slave who gets handled! Kekoa hurries to apologize: he meant no offence and might have used the wrong term! He’s aware that marid are usually royalty, although it’s rare to see someone this young. We get the impression he meant it the other way around: is Hali his handmaiden, some sort of enslaved nanny heeding his every command… or maybe she's in charge of finding servants for the young marid? Clearly, she's the prettiest and most attentive of our talented group...
We quickly return to the discussion of ships and passage before Aqueel or El get any ideas about nannies and servants!
Despite the fact that Kekoa's attention is focused on Hali, Ophelia swoons a little (due to a NATURAL ONE) over this handsome guy with big frills and his slightly bitter cynicism (over his situation). She makes sea cow eyes at him, but it looks like they mostly go unnoticed. Ezra notices Kekoa is nice and talkative, but also definitely interested in Aqueel. Hali also picks up on his bitterness to the whole situation and the military stuff. She asks him if he'd be interested in coming along and going back to the open sea. He smiles politely that some areas are dangerous, like his home in the Sea of Storms & the warzone in the north.
Though Kekoa doesn’t mention a commission, or a desire to travel with us, or any motivation beyond wanting to help another water dweller, Hali invites him to the Iron Oar Inn to report. He promises to find us there in a few days.
After he leaves to start his enquiries, Hali and Ezra confer and agree that Kekoa was a bit weird. Hali totally not using this conversation to keep from fretting that everyone keeps suggesting Astorian is her father.
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We discuss our options:
- ask Jacob Saree to buy us a ship if Kekoa can find one, provided we find him tonight & convince him
- steal a ship for ourselves, there’s 5 of us and Ezra has a decade of experience even with the missing memories, so how hard can sailing really be
- go with Halloran to the bulwark after returning Aqueel
- convince Halloran to take us north after returning Aqueel
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We notice the sun has passed its highest point. Noon has come and gone, so we head to the post office.
Storm hands Ezra one set of messaging paper so their mee-maw will be able to reply quickly, before Storm heads off for an errand of his own. Ezra and El continue on to the post office.
Ophelia and Hali find a spot on the bridge and start playing in order to gather some more money. Some passers-by recognize them and crowd around, it's soon creating a bottleneck. In about half an hour, they make 10 gold! In the crowd, Ophelia spots Pandolf, who's on his way back from the post office. He’s apparently received several missives and finds a bench to start reading through his correspondence.
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In the post office, a little gnome points clients to the right queue: sending or receiving? Sending? Third queue to the left, please. Receiving? Looks like the second queue on the right is advancing, you can go there…
When it’s our turn, Ezra shrugs they’re here for a bit of both. The gnome rolls his eyes in frustration: “What is it with people messing up our system? Which do you want to do first, that’s where I’ll send you to queue first!”.
After the tussle with the gnome, Ezra manages to accomplish their missions:
- an express delivery to their mee-maw in Kharkhorin. The postal workers aren’t over the moon by this request in these times. They charge 5 gold pieces and make no promises about the timeliness and the privacy of the delivery
- reception of Enza's letter from Nawa (see images). Ezra flushes delicately and decides to read it in private
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Back outside, Ezra and El notice an obstruction is forming on the central bridge over the Alwarid. From the heart of the obstruction, they hear bagpipes and a lute… you really can’t leave them alone for a minute, how did Magpie do this, Ezra sighs internally.
Naturally, that’s when our captain spots some guards are headed over, visibly to remove the obstruction. Ezra prods Ophelia to start moving but Ophelia loves the attention of the crowd too much. El creates an illusion of cracking planks in the hopes of frightening Ophelia into moving. Ophelia doesn’t really notice, but the crowd panics a little...
Some of the people of Elvish descent have noticed that it's magic, so a full-on stampede is avoided. In the commotion, Pandolf whispers that El should be more careful.
Although the crowd has dispersed, the guards still feel they better check with Ophelia and Hali.
Guards: Do you have a permit for busking in public?
Ophelia: Of course I do, let me check my left pocket, let me check my right pocket, let me check my back pocket… oh no, it looks like I lost it!
Hali *sweats*
Guards: Who had the bright idea of performing in the middle of the bridge, causing an obstruction
Hali *while sweating more*: I’m just naturally dewy, this is water genasi moisture, not sweat!
Ophelia *while dimpling*: Would we do that?
Guards: Well, I'll let you off this once, you were really good at the pub
Ophelia: Oh thank you so much! I'll hope to see you fine gentlemen again! Make sure to say hello & I'll give you a free drink
As the guards continue their patrol & Hali and Ophelia shuffle to the side of the road, out of the flow of traffic, Ophelia hisses if Hali happens to know how to forge a permit? Despairing, Hali wonders why we would forge it, when we could just ask for a real permit in the guild hall?! Ezra puts in a good word about our expected letter of recommendation, certainly Ophelia can spin that into a permit for a few days?
Ophelia sniffs: “I promised to lie less to you, but not to stop lying altogether”.
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Personal errand completed, Storm waves at the crew on the side of the bridge while he’s hurrying to the post office! With help from the little gnome, Storm wastes no time in picking up a letter from Donnertanz (see images).
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As he finishes his personal mail, Pandolf starts talking to Ophelia, with a gentle reprimand: “Lovely singing, but next time choose a more strategic place”. Ophelia smirks that her choice was very strategic and Pandolf bows his head to her expertise as busker.
Ophelia politely asks about his correspondence. Pandolf responds that his son has written him, from the city where he found some charlatan to indulge his lack of magical talent with an internship, if you can believe it. He’s been in Koh’Shar for several years, even while that newfangled city started growing like mushrooms on rotted wood.
When Ophelia blinks, wide-eyed, that she thinks she might have met him, an Eladrin called Mi'Kal, right, Pandolf waves her away: Oh, I didn't think that boy of mine is nearly remarkable enough, what a surprise that you ran into him & remember him in his grody little shop!
Pandolf continues that his son did mention a singing Fyllion, much like the person Ophelia was asking about. He goes on that he’s expecting Mi’Kal soon: he’s sent Mi’Kal a missive with the strong suggestion Mi’Kal comes home for a dinner. You see, his mentor is gone to the war and learning magic is dangerous for the moment for the same reason, and now the blockade is gone, so what’s stopping that headstrong lay-about?
Pandolf invites Ophelia to join them when Mi’Kal makes it here. He does warn her: his son is probably fibbing about how close he was to Fyllion.... but his wife Lucerne will also be delighted by your company & it’ll be good for Mi’Kal to see someone using their talents in a productive way.
As Ophelia nods that she’ll await the invitation in the next few days in the Iron Oar Inn, Pandolf heads home.
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Reunited, Ezra and Storm go to the clinic, looking for the Surya's cleric Solace. The receptionist gives the same spiel that Solace is working but relents eventually. We see it's clearly a surgeon's clinic: no one uses spells to heal, and while there are plenty of bandages, needles, salves and pomades, there are no potions, nor things like goodberries.
Solace is having a late lunch. Their eyes immediately get glued to Storm's sandals. When we introduce ourselves as friends of El an Ophelia’s, who came by earlier, they sketch the shape of El’s mask in the air around their face. They’re relieved that our little friend group combines both gods!
Solace is happy to re-affirm their focus on healing & helping all patients. They’re eager to cure whoever they can from the werewolf bite, but that takes a lot of energy, so while they recover, they also help with the other patients. They explain the difference between born and bitten werewolves again. In the end, they advise us:
- to go to the eatery The Fork & Spoon near the milling district where Grewishka the dwarf was surprised when the illusion of the island & the moon appeared
- to talk to his boss and colleagues in the mines
- silver and magic are the only things that work against werewolves
- should anyone else get bitten, or should we find Grewishka, Bella Swan can carry a message to Solace in the clinic, but better not send it to the ship where Solace sleeps at night. They’ll try to heal him, if it’s possible, but it’s best to keep out of sight of the authorities, who seem a bit trigger happy
Since we’ve confirmed that we’re more interested in healing Grewishka than just casually murdering him for an affliction that’s not his fault and which he’s apparently managed well for a long time, Solace is happy to debate religion with us for a moment: don’t we agree that cleansing with fire and paladins and fighting is not how Eluvelon was?! That’s the only celestial envoy Soliman ever sent us, so doesn’t it make sense to adhere to that tradition?! Eluvelon only ever took up weapons to protect the land he’d been sent to in war.
As our conversation ranges on, we learn that Solace grew up in Lharsam where Eluvelon preached his traditional views of healing and restorative punishment rather than aggression. Storm doesn’t miss the opportunity to ask about the Wandering Isle: we saw the illusion from far away and didn’t the spires look like Lharsam’s silhouette…? As Solace and Storm awkwardly dance around the subject, Ezra spills the beans that Storm’s familiar’s Bella Swan explored the apparition and then shared the memories with Storm.
Storm grabs Solace’s hands (see Images) when we both confirm that we think the illusion looked a lot like Lharsam, so much so that it must be intentional. Solace is a little flustered that someone touches them instead of their touching others in the course of healing. Storm remarks that their hands are very soft and Solace sighs it’s because they never do any labour. Storm is disappointed he can't borrow Solace’s cream or self-care regimen to soften his feet from his ballet training. So much for getting better foot pics for Virgil…
Despite Storm’s best attempts at optimism, Solace thinks it's a very bad omen that someone would use an illusion of Lharsam. The sick imposter who’d defile the memory of the destroyed holy city in such a way must be dangerous and evil.
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Hali, Ophelia, El and Aqueel head to the guild hall. At the information desk, there's a halfling woman Brie, who returns El’s exuberant greeting with a joyless “I prefer to be addressed as ma'am”.
Hali explains they performed in the inn & wanted to perform in the streets. The guards gave us a warning & now we want a permit to perform in the streets. After we convince her that we’re not confessing to corruption & there was no corruption involved, she points us to the music guild for a permit. Snidely, she adds that they should probably update their name to “performing guild” because they’ve recently decided to include slam poetry.
El bids Ma'am Brie a day as scrumptious as the cheese she’s named after. Ophelia wonders what happened to the sweet Eldrin who didn't understand metaphors & who was always so kind, while Hali leads the merry gang to the performing guild.
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In the guild hall’s room designated to the performing guild, someone is giving an impassioned speech about his right to speak publicly as a town crier. When he’s unable to convince the bureaucrat in charge, he storms out. Since the bureaucrat is now available, Hali starts stating their case.
The guy doesn’t need much of an explanation: he has a whole range of brochures handy, explaining all kinds of terms and conditions, for solo or group acts, for indoor or outdoor performances, for private or public venues, for a whole range of instruments (though bagpipes are forbidden indoors, both in private and public venues) or vocalists…
Since each permit costs 15 gold pieces, we decide to get
- a group permit
- for the listed instruments: flute and lute
- for a lead vocalist with a varying group of back-up artists, ranging from dancers to chorus girls
As soon as we confirm that we understand the permit is valid
- between sunrise and sunset
- both indoors and outdoors, but outdoors only on the proviso that no obstruction of traffic or of access is created, like the clinic and the mines and any high traffic areas like a bridge or a busy street
And as soon as Hali pays the 15 gold (despite Ophelia's offer to share the cost) the bureaucrat slams his stamp on the permit and we’re all set! Ophelia invites the guy to come hear them soon.
The guy goes into a spiel about ordering flyers from the printing guild to promote our shows, but we start talking about when we can next perform in the Iron Oar Inn (since tonight we have an appointment at the fishery, remember).
At El's insistent questions, Hali snidely asks the bureaucrat if there's a guild that gives out nagging permits.
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We decide to head to the smithy to enquire about getting silver on our weapons.
Walking the streets, Ophelia cosies up to any Eladrin they see, in search of a magical instrument. They all mention Sastruga as the elder Eladrin in The Vale. He has a large collection of random objects and might have an instrument, not necessarily for sale, but he might part with it to a fellow Eladrin.
At the smithy, we notice a message is posted on the double door about the place being closed for the time being. While we try to compare the oblique info we received from the innkeeper Wendy about her brother Osgar and from Maya the shopkeeper about her brother Magnus doing odd jobs around town, in order to determine when the smithy might open again, Storm rudely knocks anyway. Surprisingly, Osgar opens the doors & doesn’t seem to mind to talk shop right there in the street.
After a little negotiation about price, we order:
- 10 silvered arrows for Ezra (80 gold paid)
- a silvered scimitar for Hali (80 gold paid)
El's black sword and Storm's sandals are probably magic enough so they don't need anything else. Ophelia shrugs that Fyllion doesn't fight in melee range, so she doesn't feel the need for contact weapons with silver.
Hali and Ezra forbid Storm from buying a silvered dagger for Aqueel. With a playful pout, Storm asks if Osgar has a sturdy rope with silver platted into it, or a silver chain fit for battle, or silver manacles maybe? Alas, Osgar figures that outside of his skillset.
We agree he’ll let his sister know when our commissions are ready & we head out into the late afternoon.
Story Line
Previously: session 33 a tale of tigers and wolves, oh my
Up Next: session 35 Manners maketh Man
