On The Sea 2

Still Day 6 [Salamander 10]

The party debates how to divide the group of 8 or 9, including three cataurs, between two boats, and also what to do with the cataurs more generally.

Nesh appears, which is somewhat startling to cataurs. They comment in cataur, which none of us understand. Vidan tries to sum up to Nesh. Diomarche thinks if we let them go they’d probably go back towards Jabar rather than to Red, unless they don’t think they can sail at all. Three cataurs on the boat might not be able to sail very well.

Diomarche offers to Rashkar that we’ll let them go with their boat if they agree to answer a bunch of questions and swear a Purple-bound vow not to hunt our friend for any reason. He agrees.

What did they know of Middlesea? They’d heard everyone was trapped but not too much else.

When did they get the mission? A little over a month ago. (possibly around Promises Promises)

What do they know about the Oasis’ plans? Well, the cataurs know the Oasis has plans. What about at Middlesea? They probably had a shaman and a yellow mage and some guys.

There’s been some grumblings from some of the shamans about goblins, being greedy, or something. And there was definitely a report of an orc attack that turned the whole thing into a fight rather than a kidnapping mission. But he has no details about either of those; he doesn’t think they were coordinated with the cataur/Oasis plan. The kidnapping was clearly the same Saurien the cataurs on the boat were after, but who he/she was is unclear. Nesh wants to know why, WHY?!? Because they’re the only one who can get into the cave? vault? something.

Are there any other crews after the Saurien? There will be soon; the Oasis will likely know its shaman is dead soon, if not already.

Anything else you think we should know? Rashkar hears Diomarche’s cousin had kids, he doesn’t know if they’re still in contact. He hadn’t heard.

Scout wonders if the powerful Yellow mages among the Prides would just be able to swat the Vow away? Probably, but Vidan would likely notice if the spell gets dispelled.

They don't think that they can sail all the way back, they make a vow to not hunt Nesh,

Back on the Sea, Day 6

The party divides up– Vidan will captain the New Boat, with Diomarche, Stella, and three cataurs. Nesh and Scout will stay with Gale on the Kittiwake.

Nesh rolls a 5!

Scout notices someone swimming under the boat, and alerts the cap’n. Detect Enemies thinks maybe something unfriendly is down there. Rashkar thinks it's kind of octopus-ish. Person sized, rather than The K Word sized.

Scout thinks Gale should do some prep for battle. 4 Hours/speed of underwater breathing, 3 hours/speed of free action.

Nesh talks to the octopo-mer, in Slith, which they both have about 4 ranks.

Where slith, mer? Slith north, mer many places. How big his waters? About a day’s swim. Name? Name not for trade. Who do we give tribute to? Althazar.

What does it want? Boat. No. Eyes spirit. No. Gale offers a purse of gold. It seems to roll its eyes, but says “Gold”. We drop it the bag; it floats down to its hand. Huh, okay.

Day 7

Stella rolls an 8, which we already had. Nothing happens!

Day 8

Scout rolls an 11. Nothing happens.

Day 9: “Good” Pirates

Gale rolls a 14. We see a boat sailing in our direction on the horizon. Nesh uses the spyglass and says they’re pirates. It’s the boat that Gale was once a cabin boy on! The captain vaguely recognizes Gale. “Abbie?” “Yes!” “Oh, all right. I thought you were in the Inland Sea now?” “I am, but we’re headed to Melmane.” “Ah, fine. And you claim this boat as yours?” “This is my prize boat!” “Well done!” There is some relatively polite dissing of each other.

Anything they have encountered lately? There are other pirates that Gale may not know (if we rolled a 7). Any news out of Melmane? They’re definitely fighting the slith. We warn them about Althazar, three days west. Oh, the sea witch? Is that what it is.

Day 10: “Bad” Pirates

Gale wilds up some fog. Nesh coordinates the boats, using his Natural Leader schtick. (Who knew?) Vidan is sailing okay, but not following Gale any more, so she starts following himself instead.

Everyone on Vidan’s boat make Per rolls. Rashkar mentions there’s a ship up ahead. Vidan tries to sail around it– Mind with Stealth.

Day 11

Diomarche rolls a 9. We sail into a storm! Oops. Vidan sails for 7 successes, Gale for 6. No one’s in danger of foundering, but we’re drifting apart, which makes us uncomfortable. With the wind at our back, we get through the storm but haven’t made much progress today.

Day 12

Vidan rolls a 10; nothing happens.

Day 13

Nesh rolls a 12: good winds at our back! We make two days’ progress.

Day 14

Stella rolls an 8 (the third 8). There’s a large boulder up ahead. Covered in… kelp? moss? green stuff.

Scout identifies it as the back of a giant's head. Giant! Giant! Giant what? Giant!

We kibitz. Giants are the Blue Elder race (Dragons are Orange; Unicorns are Red)– they’re usually in the clouds rather than the Water. They’re not generally bad, but Broken giants are also giants.

Team Goof decides to go talk to it.

“Hello, Little Ones.” “Hello, Great and Wondrous giant!” “Will you do me a favor?” “Yes!” “If we can!” “I have dropped my spectacles, and I am afraid of moving, for I might step on them.”

We reconfigure– Vidan and the cataurs are on the Kittywake, and the prize boat is empty. The rest of us swim down to the ocean floor. It’s about 60 hexes, but still fairly light (Thanks, Tam!) There are coral trees. We scout, and Scout tracks the glasses, they’re about 40 hexes away. Diomarche sees if they’re movable; Stella looks to see if they need any repairs. They’re in good shape; maybe slightly out of line. They’re clearly waterproof. They need about 10 successes to move.

“So how about that Middlesea?” asks Vidan. “I am unaware.” Vidan explains a bit about the Breaker’s attack on Middlesea. “Ah, yes, the Comet is in the air.” He asks if we’re the Heroes of the Comet. “Well, don’t tell anyone, but we think so.” “I suppose it is still early, you might not know yet.”

(The elder races are giants (Blue), dragons (Orange), unicorns (Red), ents (Green), phantasms (Yellow), and xions (talking geometrical things; Purple).

With Stella’s mechanics, we’re able to all make Strength rolls, which helps us get them off the ground, and with some currents and swimming we get them up to the surface. The giant is grateful. We ask him where he’s headed; he’s going to visit a friend (he was walking South). He asks us our destination? Melmane. All right, get in your boats. He wishes us well, and BLOWS.

After some desperate sailing rolls, we are probably several days closer to Melmane now.

The prize ship is a bit battered, but Stella is able to help it out. What was their ship’s name? Rashkar says it translates to “Night Cactus”. Scout thinks that’s a terrible name, but doesn’t have great suggestion. It might translate to “Boaty McBoatFace”.

Day 15

Scout rolls a 13.

There’s a ship with a Melmani flag (the Diving Hawk). Diomarche sends the cataurs below decks. It’s larger than our ships; looks to be a trading ship rather than a Naval vessel.

We ahoy them! (Scout tries to remember not to Arr.) They acknowledge us. “Good day.” “We’ve hit a few storms; how many days out is Melmane?” “About three to the north port; another day to south port.” “What news?” “The navy is looking for men and vessels; you might be able to sell that extra one of yours. It’s not really naval quality yet, but they do need supply ships.” We warn them of the difficulties.

“What’s your trade?” Scout asks. “Coral and silver, we’re looking for weapons.”

Day 16

Gale rolls a 12; nothing happens.

Day 17

Diomarche rolls and adds his Karma… and gets 14. (It would have been the third 12, which means…)

We sail along, there’s a seagull that comes flying down to the Night Cactus (?) and says “Finally, there you are.” in Jabaran. An illusion of a woman dressed in Jabaran garb (Not Lisitera) appears and says “Lore is going to make a move soon; you should get here fast if we’re going to keep that under control. Her Majesty is distracted by the Slith invasion and not paying as much attention to Church politics as I fear she needs to. Send me a message if you’re not going to make it within a few weeks. Suvatra out.”

(There is much muttering about how long it would take us to get to Jabar.)

She was definitely dressed as Priest caste; she could be a Mage though, or someone else highly educated.

Vidan thinks about it, and he’s pretty clear that the illusion was talking to him. Stella thinks it was talking to her, too. Diomarche is a little less clear, though he (and the cataurs) were the ones that understood.

Day 17

Vidan rolls… 22! (19+3)

We’re sailing along and the wind just stops dead. A woman flies down out of the sky. “State your business!” “We are the Conclave Free Rangers of Middlesea! We go to Melmane with

“Give me the briefing.” She reads the briefing. “Yes, you do have a Marek spell on you.” “Might we know your name?” “Mage Dea Oro.”

“Is that all your business?” “Berana also hopes to coordinate with Melmane.” “Well good luck to them. I suppose Phillipa might be interested in talking to you about that. "Nice boat.” “Thank you. We also hope to coordinate with the Mer.”

Phillipa (the admiral) is the best chance; she supposes the Sauriens might be worth talking to.

“Is there anything we can help you with?” “Yes, you can tell me why there are three cataurs on that ship.” Diomarche explains that they are his prisoners and he accepted their surrender. Ah, priest of Rush. Fine. Dea Oro says if they cause trouble, she will find him.

(Vidan was not expecting mages on defense patrol. That really isn't likely. Maybe she lost a bet.)

Day 18

Nesh rolls a 12, bumps it up to a 13 with Karma. He gets the option of arriving safely or having an encounter. We decide on an encounter.

We can see the island off in the distance, but there's another boat, about our size. A saurien uses some kind of speaking tube calls out to us, first in Melmani, then in Common. “Sail around.” “Is there a hazard?” we inquire, as we start to sail around. “You should be fine.”

“I don’t believe in Saurien pirates.” – Gale
“Hey!”

We look under the water; they have some Suppress up, so Scout’s DI buff doesn’t help, but Nesh sees a big metal globe being lowered. Maybe a bathysphere? A sea mine? Hard to say.

Having snooped as much as we dared, we arrive in port!

We take stock of our plots: We need to make alliances between Berana, Melmane, and the Mer. Middlesea. Prisoners. Jabar? Stop the Swords. Scout bemoans the lack of phones to call Green and tell His Majesty what he has learned.

We think talking to Philippa might be first. Maybe Nesh wants to talk to the Sauriens?

Stella thinks that in Orange, the Sauriens are part of the citizenry, but there is definitely an extent to which they’re probably not treated as well as the humans are. And there are some cultural things which unite them as a race, but there’s no Saurien formal anything. It’s quite rare for Sauriens to become Masters, rather than Journeyman.

Before we sleep, Stella asks what needs fixing with the situation with the feather. Suvatra’s not a priest, so she gets a briefing. Suvatra was sending a message to a priest of the Cult of Al’an, and they had a long discussion about how Love Life and Lore felt they were all the most important face. But Suvatra works for the Maharani, and the Maharani needs them all working together to fight the slith. The priest from the Cult of Al’an wanted to smooth it out. (Scout's theory is that we are the closest thing to Luigi that the spell could find).

The Goddess isn’t giving her opinion on what needs fixing here. She knows what Stella’s opinion is, which is that the Church should be evened out like it is in Orange, but the Goddess is not giving directions to work against any of Her Priests.

Errands on Melmane

We go to the Naval base, and look for Admiral Phillipa. (We decide to make an appearance en masse, as the first appearance of Team Conclave Free Rangers.)

Admiral Phillipa is not actually in town, but a Captain will get the evidence packet to her quickly.

Vidan also notes that we're trying to coordinate between Berana and Melmane against the slith. The captain is not impressed by Olinson being likely to do that, but we point out that Olinson was just murdered by slith, so Berana being anti-slith is actually a lot more likely than it used to be.

We ask around for His Majesty’s embassy, but the local elves don’t seem to know much about the politics, but they think there is one… somewhere?

Nesh chats up some Sauriens– there’s definitely a military outpost near the Admiralty’s office, if he wants to sign up. He gets invited to a ball game if he wants. Does he need a job? No, but he’s interested in family histories? Oh, there’s a librarian, that might help?

He goes to see the Librarian, and mentions having been born in the Rainbow Isles, not knowing his parents, but something about the line of the Oldest? If the Librarian had eyebrows, they would have been raised.

“The line of the Oldest? That’s interesting. The Oldest died some time ago. How much history do you know?” “None.” Ah.

For most of 20,000 years, sauriens couldn’t have children. For that time, the ones left were under enchantment from the Goddess and the Nameless to never die of old age. The 100 or so left 4 comets ago died off, except for The Oldest, who made it another two comets. The Oldest was Nikolai. (DUN DUN DUN.) But as far as she knows, he didn’t leave a line. She has access to Northport birth and death records. Does the name Ilyana mean anything to her? It’s not an uncommon name, but she doesn’t know anything specific.

Loot

• A feather from Suvatra's seagull with a red/yellow spell on it.
• +8 EPs
• +8 SPs