Winedark, Chapter Twenty-Four
General Summary
Wherein the Blasters take care of old business, begin discussions about new business, and experience a town on fire
Business Doings in Awa Harbor
With the meeting with the Sea Sibyl behind them, the Vastblasters were free to pursue their own interests in Awa Harbor. Those interests varied:- Captain Pitch, having heard rumor of an Ascendency Tabernacle blown up by Brass Lamb insurgents (cf. Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Fourteenth), decided that it was perhaps time to pay Wilreth Elvalor (sometimes called Ghosthair) a visit. So they headed over to The Burning Fiddle to seek an audience. Unsurprisingly, Elvalor's rooms were a flurry of activity, presumably responding to the latest development on Keshloam. Also unsurprisingly, his answers to Pitch's probing questions were frustratingly vague. He maintains, however, that "Envoy," Pitch's previous designation, is perfectly positioned to be part of "something big" that will remake the Alerki Ascendency and reaffirm its power. Elvalor will reveal what, exactly, that is, soon. Pitch left this meeting unsatisfied.
- Meanwhile, Irk decided to see a person about an egg. Or, rather, decided to see their "fixer," Marrowdall Twinstar about who to seek about an egg. Irk, it seems, wants to find a way to somehow "de-fossilize" his egg and is thinking that perhaps the necromantic arts are a way to do this. Offering Twinstar the briefest of explanations about this desire enabled the fixer to guide them to a cleric of Rhagtar called Designer. This cleric can be found in the House of Rhagtar, which is located deep within a cave system outside of Awa Harbor. Irk thanked the half-orc for the information.
- Kharlo, of course, went to see the Worry. First, he had to discover the whereabouts of his rival. Turns out, the former captain of Coffin Nail spends his time in a dingy tavern called The Black Meat in Spentbrine. He then subtly tracked and confronted him in his desperate hovel of a garden apartment in The Bends. After an acrimonious encounter, Skirl agreed to follow Kharlo back to the VastBlaster and share his story with the Blasters. Skirl (not his real name) saw his entire village destroyed by the DreadSquid (actually Vo'ku'a, or The End of All Things) 30 years ago and has been tracking reports of this entities activities ever since. It has been his life's work, and everything he has done (piracy, underground boxing, the Favor) has been in service of that goal. He offered his knowledge to the Blasters as he sees them as allies in this fight, and warns that the return of Vo'ku'a is imminent and could finally be the END end. Refusing an offer to serve aboard the ship, he told our heroes that they know where to find him.
- Kasula, freshly horrified by the Deep Scion incident, instituted new safety protocols. These were handled with professional grace.
- Nobody really knew what Water got up to, but there were rumors of a tortle doing sweet skateboard tricks that were both sick and rad down by the docks in Keeside
A Hamlet in Flame
It turns out, at first, to mean very little. The small settlement of Scaraval is, of course, not immune to Sahaugin attacks, but is hardly a hotbed of activity. The Waterspeaker Sardor Gliv tells them as much when he meets them at the docks. He offers them gracious hospitality while they consider what, exactly, this might portend. Also in residence at Scaraval is a fellow competitor in Otuna's Favor, Captain Bantanj and the Orntime, and the loxdon lends both his wisdom and his fine brady to the proceedings. The only thing that was decided during this initial meeting was to head in the Coldmarsh and try to track down some Sahaugin there to discover more information. With that, it was time to take advantage of the hospitality offered by Speaker Gliv and enjoy a nice rest at the Frosted Barley. Then dawn came. And with that dawn, came fire. The entire town of Scaraval was under attack by various horrific entities--all clearly somehow corrupted or in service to The End--and it was on the Blasters to fight their way back to the ship, perhaps saving whomever they could in the process. From the outset, it was clear this was to be no mean feat. First, they fought some reanimated corpses, who seemed to suck the life right out of them. Then, after that battle, came an animated poisonous breath (exuded, it turns out, from a grossly corrupted dragon). Bantaj appeared after that, fighting valiantly to save the people of the town and exhorted the Blasters to do the same. Their thoughts on the matter are split--it is hard to save the town if there's no ships to sail, right? But there is something to be said for not saving your skin when innocents are slaughtered. A tension there. Our heroes didn't have too much time to ponder that, as they came upon Sardor locked in combat with three muscly and tattooed individuals and leapt to his aid. Kharlo did a sweet move in which he extracted Gliv from their clutches only to have the (admittedly, quite martially skilled) Speaker charge right in again to help his town. His home.And That's Where We Left It
We'll see how (and with whom) the Blasters escape Scaraval during our next session.Various & Sundry Details
- Maltina found two more sailors to hire on, replacing the unfortunate Jerrie and Timper. Hopefully Vekio Goathand Kalagathai and Bylla Dramninig will not meet the same fate.
- Pitch decided to seek guidance from his patrons before setting off to Scaraval. They executed a perfect swan dive off the VastBlaster to commune in the briny deep for a while, telepathically broadcasting a wish to engage in discourse. A series of ephemeral visions and manifestations communicated to them that the hags would be in touch soon.
- In case anybody is wondering, after Skirl's departure from Coffin Nail, a half-orc named Garowar took over.
- During their encounter, Skirl did provide Kharlo with the name of his fight saboteur--Zagman the Famous.
- While Scaraval was in chaos, many Sahaugin (and other creatures) were seen orderly massing around the estate of Rothen Suncaller, a notable merchant.
- Also, the Ark of Aotl was removed from the VastBlaster and lodged in the Bari Historical Society, under the careful watch of Marvon
Character(s) interacted with
- Wilreth Elvalor, member of The Decree
- Skirl the Worry, former captain of Coffin Nail, historian of Vo'ku'a
- Marrowdall Twinstar, "fixer"
- Bantaj, monocle'd captain of Orntime
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