Chapter 26: Magic can make your problems go away!

After the rather traumatic events of the cursed armor, we all decided to go over what we had to make sure nothing was putting us in danger. We all gathered in the ladies cabin, and sat together in awkward silence for a few minutes. I myself was trying to think of anyway this trinket I have may have altered my life. I guess I had significantly less boats in my life before I got this trinket, but I don't think that those are strictly connected.
I think the main problem was that we even had magic items to begin with. Magic was the stuff of the divine, and no lowly soldier would have an item to carry around, let alone a blacksmith!
While we all agreed to share what we had, we still wanted to keep things secret. Of course I had already used the magic item I had in front of everyone several times. With this trip we have also seen many thing that would not have been seen had we stayed in the city. Or at least I had hoped we wouldn't have seen them. As we all gather our thoughts, Marda starts pulling more objects out of her haversack. I once again tell them all what I have, the trinket that can seemingly slow down time when I swing, letting me hit things easier. Melfina of course has a brand new super gross apron, which she is now wearing as if it were a cloak. Rorin reveals a pendant that looks much like a barley leaf, which supposedly he could drink alcohol if he was hurt, and it would heal him, and Aurane has some sort of death defying ring, however that would work.
Now that we know what we already had, we look down at the collection of odds and ends that Marda has displayed on the deck for us. Glass containers of plant samples and flowers, a single rune on black stone, small bottles and vials of liquid and some very nice looking alcohol. Teeth, scales, and even two claws of a dragon. The scales and claws were black in color, but upon closer examination, they may have been from something else. Stories tell of dragons who have stayed too long in dark planes, and have been corrupted by those places. I'm wondering if the author of the journals found these in the shadowfell. Other items displayed on the deck include a bundle of clothing, a shard of stone that causes the hand to tingle when it is touched, several kits of tools needed while exploring, and three items I found very interesting.
A set of scale mail, incredibly fine work wrought out of blue dragon scales is on display. Next to it is a beautifully crafted recurve bow. The string, stored on one end of the unstrung bow, gives off a silver glint to it. The color of the wood is a deep purple or red, and unusual color for a bow, but it is obviously not just a normal bow. A simple leather grip wraps around the middle of the bow, and enhances the elegance of the weapon. And finally sitting to one side, is a huge axe, which if I didn't know better, would have never fit into the haversack. My mind briefly boggled at the thought of trying to fit it back inside. I dare not touch it yet, as Aurane wants to make sure nothing is going to hurt us like the Armor did yesterday. While he casts his spells, I look at the axe as best as I can without touching it.
With an obsidian black axe head, the blade seems to also give off a silver shine to it, but the shine seems to come from within the blade itself. With a very ornate handle made of moonstone and wood, the whole weapon gives off a distinguished air. As far as I can tell, the craftsmanship is flawless, and even with the different materials in the handle, it seems solid. I dare not even guess when it was made. Once Aurane clears us to pick up the items, I grab the axe.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of some motion, and I see Spike crawling towards the opening of the bag. The little turtle seems rather adamant about getting into the bag. Looking at all the stuff which could not have possibly fit into a normal bag, and knowing precisely what is kept inside the turtle, I decide the bag and turtle should not be together. Using my foot, I gently nudge the wayward turtle back to the fruit he had been chasing around the slightly rocking deck. After a quick smile to Melfina, I go back to examining the axe in my hands.
We spend some time nearly an hour examining all the things Marda has pulled out of her bag, and after that time I feel that while the axe in my hands is perfect, there are some ways I would have changed it to suit my needs. I can feel the weight and balance of the axe head, and with my style, it would need a counter weight to the blade. I have noticed a dull glow from the blade, like pale moonlight. That would have to change too, but just slightly. I slowly form it into what I saw in my dreams, and when I am satisfied, the whole axe suddenly vanishes from my grasp. I can feel it though, like putting a pair of tongs in the same place for decades. I should be able to just reach out and grab it....
The ship suddenly jolts as if the helm was being jerked from side to side. A single cry for alarm comes from above, and brief chaos takes a hold of the group. As Marda starts pushing things back into her bag, Aurane bends down to help her, and Melfina tries to untangle from everyone, unwrapping the chain so her knife swings free. She goes to the door of the cabin to listen, then moves to the bottom of the stairs, starting the chant of a spell. I am right behind her, battle axe off my back, and I charge up the stairs. A swarm of creatures are clambering over the deck. Appearing to be frogs, they stand just like humanoids, and have crude yet effective weapons. I can only see two of the ships crew still standing, and before I can search more, I am swarmed. Five of the little bastards surround me, and try to attack me with knives. When the first one misses, I take the opening to bury my battle axe into it's chest. Worried that the axe head would be stuck in the rubbery flesh, I simply let the axe go, and the body falls to the ground, axe still buried in the torso. The riposted attack allows me to stay out of harms way for the most part, but I do earn a small scratch on my arm. Now, temporarily without a weapon, standing at the top of the stairs, I face four more foes, but I know what is behind me. Rorin bounds up the stairs, and jumps the last few to land silently beside me. With a swift punch, he cleanly kills another next to me. Marda slides up the stairs and past my legs to kill two more, hooked blades easily fitting around long limbs and removing them. Ember, the Fire genasi, and the captain are still up, and are fighting for their lives, Even while fighting and getting hit, the captain is still controlling the ship. Melfina blurs up past me, knife swinging around on the chain, viciously cutting into frog men, and she brings her Spectral Scythe into play.
I guess now is as good a time as any to try, so I think about the the Tool I would need for the job. With a growl, I utter one word. “Narzedzic!” Reaching down, as if pulling something from a quenching barrel, I grab onto the handle. Now decorated with Moon stone inlay, and rings of ash wood, the core of the haft is solid metal. I pull it up and out, four feet of grip that ends in a single great bearded axe on one side, and a sledge hammer head on the other. The axe head has a brass inlay in the shape of a flame that dances down the black blade. The flame itself gives off a slightly pale glow, even in the middle of the day. The hammer head opposite the blade has a simple decorative stamp of crossed hammers over an anvil on two the the octagonal sides. As I pull the axe into existence, small pools of pale fire fall off, to disappear into nothing before coming close to the deck. With my new tool, I set to work.
Wading into the fray, I quickly cut through three opponents. Smashed and sliced bodies lay behind me as I work up the deck. I can see one of the crew members, maybe Garleth, on the stairs up to the back of the ship. I point to her, pumping some divine power into the gesture, hoping to heal her if I can. Thankfully, she isn't dead, and I breath a small sigh of relief when she gets up. I can hear ember's whip behind me, cracking into the attackers even as Garleth grabs her crossbow up to fire. As Aurane comes up out of the lower deck, he cries out the crescendoing end of a spell, and a great shining Creature comes into existence next to captain Velma, A blue white corona of light emanating from it. The new being, possibly celestial in nature guessing from the originator, immediately swings a massive mace into the nearest frog, obliterating it from the face of this world.
We quickly deal with the rest of the assailants, and the deck is slick with blood when we are done. Our weapons dripping with blood and icor, we try to catch our breath and look for the other crew members. We find both the sea elf and the halfling down, and as we try to get them back, Melfina starts to pray. Wings sprout from her back, fully feathered. Standing there, her new “cape” oozing blood, knife caked in red and black gore, beautiful brown feathers sprout from her back. Like large eagle or hawk feathers, they contrast the stark colors of her outfit and her pale skin. It is a sight to behold. Even as I marvel at it, the feathers start to change. Some simply crumbling, others turning to a bloodied parody of what they used to be. Some simply blacken and fall. A red haze wafts out from her, and with her skeletal wings showing, the prayer comes to a climax, and the horrible haze knits together wounds and cuts. I can feel my scales Crawling back together as I stand aghast at the sight. The other crew members stand, and I can guess everyone has been healed now.
With the attack over, and everyone awake again, we clean the ship up, throwing limbs and bodies overboard. While it seemed polite in hindsight to return them to the depths, it was mostly to get the stink off of the ship. Even with us effectively saving their lives, the crew says nothing to us. Having dismissed my new axe, I gather up my battle axe, and go below again, to make sure all of Marda's new items were kept safe.
After another day of smooth sailing, one of Rorin's messenger hawks finds us. Two letters are delivered to us, one from Rorin's betrothed, and the other from Garfield. Looking over his shoulder, I can't make heads or tails of what Garfield is talking about, apparently they use some sort of code. As Rorin reads the one from Garfield, a myriad of emotions flood through me. Martial law is in effect, as we knew, and the bards guild has been disbanded. Garnet is safe in the sanctum, which is locked down. Any persons coming into the city with unknown religious symbols or magical items are detained at the gates. Rorin's estate has been locked down, and my shop is under constant watch. Leona has been taken in multiple times for questioning, with nothing coming of it, and really the only safe place is Aurane's workshop oddly enough.
The fact that they are taking my apprentice in, and badgering her about anything doesn't set right with me at all, and a thought of slowly cutting my way to help her comes to thought, but then another idea starts to come to fruition. I just need to apply some pressure to the right place, maybe a bit of elbow grease will be needed. Either way, it may be time to move the shop. Speaking of which, I am expecting someone else there, and with a slow, horrific realization, I just now realize who I may have invited into a potentially bad situation. Oh boy.
Another storm comes in the next day. Not wanting to be swept overboard again, and not wanting to dwell on the bad situation in Cherwood, I try to occupy myself once again with Mittens. It seems to work rather well. The creaking of the ship and the sound of the storm outside is quite loud, even down in the bottom of the ship. I can feel the ship stop and I start to wonder if the captain decided the storm was too bad, and has pulled us in somewhere. Curious, I start to walk up from the very bowels of the ship. As I get up to the next deck, I can hear two of the crew members running to the top deck in alarm. I start to move faster, casting a magical armor on my self. While the armor is cool to the touch, steam rises of of me from the effect. I can hear a battle above me, and I start to move faster, pulling the piece of coal from one of my pouches. Running though several scenarios in my head, I burst up onto the main deck, pelted with rain, the boat tossing below me, I see everyone standing, weapons drawn, looking at nothing. OK then. Some damage to the ship has been caused, but otherwise we are still in a storm, and the boat is moving again.
Apparently there was a Kraken, a horrifically fearsome denizens of the deep, and one of the Crew members Banished it from this plane of existence. Putting that on a side bar, we all jump into action to try to ready the ship in case it comes back, and to get away as fast as possible. As we keep sailing through the storm, we are informed when the spell ends, and the creature should be back in this world. We wait with bated breath, and as the minutes pass by nothing comes to attack the ship. It seems that we have avoided the massive creature, to live another day.
Over the next few days we are blessed with smooth sailing, and no more attacks. Odd creatures start following the ship, as we start to befriend some of them, each of the little creatures gets attached to some of us. An odd, green creature with a face like a octopus, starts to take food from me, only to try to hypnotize me later on. I have to chase it off to make sure it doesn't harm any of us.
When we finally come into sight of Cherwood again, we can see Warships in the bay instead of merchant ships. Instead of commerce and new people coming in, the Military is keeping everything in the port, and checking everything that comes in. Not really the happy homecoming we had hoped for when we set out. I remind myself to try and not cause any trouble when we will obviously be inspected, and try to figure out what to do when we get into the city.