Interlude - Dubious Deals

On the journey back, we decided to purchase a replacement for the Golden Hein, stopping by to visit Lynra of House Lyrandar to see what kind of deal we could get. She gave us a deal in exchange for a job taking down another pirate haunting the local seas, Mazery. According to her, Mazery has been wreaking havok upon the seas as a thrill seeking adventurer raiding all merchant ships indiscriminately and she would see him removed in any manner we can manage. During this hiatus, we went shopping again, M. Justine helped me haggle down a Karnathi Bone Shield from Herman and we visited Mama Mae's Tattoo parlor, where M. Darren got a magical tat and we all got matching Mystery Inc symbols. We also got started on building the airship, to which I could only contribute a meager 500gp bc I spent the rest of that time perfecting my hammer technique.
 
Between training sessions, I took some time to see if I could make any headway with the otherwise despondent Red. With Jeanette's permission and an escort, I took him for a grand tour of our town, after which he finally spoke. He asked why I let people use me, particularly M. Justine due to her noble background with the high houses that have historically treated our kind as mere weapons, tools, and servants. While it's true M. Justine might've seen me as such when we first met, we've spent considerable time adventuring since then. Through the many trials I've come to discover and be more my own person and I'm confident M. Justine has at least begun to realize the same. By the time we returned Red to his chambers, I came to the conclusion that we must give ourselves a chance to discover who we are without owners and masters and give others the chance, who want it, to get to know that person if we wish to be seen as more than tools or servants. M. Jeeng also asked me for tips on approaching Red, I could only recommend treating him as we would any other person. Although we hope that he will help us when he regains his will to live, it is ultimately his decision as to how to lead his life from here.

Went to visit the zombie queen Maria for additional advice in dealing with RT undead army. She told us a little more about the Children of Vol and after looking over our notes, she offered to equip us with a sort of counter which could possibly completely negate the devices RT uses to channel darkness from Mabar by channeling opposing radiant energy from another realm. In order to do so, we must first locate a manifest zone at the correct time of day. She also offered advice for M. Jeeng to help bolster his life force to counter the draining. She then gave us a bell to summon 3 ghost servants to aid us in putting together our airship in progress but warned us against approaching the other regional tribes. She also told of Arien, leader of the Cloud Tribe giants returned recently from an expedition to his homeland and not long after, a piercing scream echoed through the mountains. Subsequently no one has been able to contact them. The Cliff Tribe's cyclops leader, Clay, was also overthrown in a violent coup by Trolls led by Turk and have also closed communications with others.
 
Together we managed to get a midtier ship which floats on water and in the air eventually when we tame a fire elemental. We contacted Mazery and arranged a meeting at New Vegas and discussed what it would take for him to complete the mission of finding and apprehending Carmen, while Lynra listened in. He explained he would need to collect some heavy ammunition to help us take down the RT and of course he would implement his favorite tactics of pirating. Needless to say Lynra was not pleased to hear this and thus we needed to reconvene to convince her. Eventually we settled on a plan to chaperone Mazery on his piracy and guide him towards other shady targets that Lynra would help provide. She also swore us to secrecy after agreeing to this plan. In order to convince Mazery to pursue the targets provided, we invented an alias and rumors to feed the information in a believable manner. Our next course will take us to M. Darren's acquaintance Lyse Dain.