Winedark, Chapter Two
General Summary
Wherein the survivors of the Eelsnap are rewarded with riches from The Vast, defend their new "plunder," and hurriedly devise an action plan, steeped in necessity and promise.
New acquaintance Maltina Bigmoon, happy to have been saved from a creeping kind of drowning, has advised her rescuers that the time to make haste from this dreaded island is upon them. Despite some initial misgivings, the erstwhile Eelsnap passenger and crew, along with Maltina, piled into one of the beached rowboats and made for the strange looking sloop/brig/schooner hybrid anchored offshore.
It turned out that listening to the panic in the halfling's voice was a good thing, as the beached from which they rowed was swoon swarming with pirates. Quite a few shoved themselves into the other beached rowboat, apparently intent on pursuit. Throughout this frantic chaos, one lone figure stared at them from the sand, alarmingly at ease.
Despite a vigorous chase, our heroes managed to reach the side of the vessel they mean to commandeer for their own extrication. What they found, upon treading on the decks for the first time, a disaster of a ship, seemingly held together by chance and pleading. There was no time to lose, so the crew of this new enterprise set about getting it underway. Surprisingly, our explorers found themselves working quite well together. With the ship safely--if that is even the right word to use to describe this vessel's whole thing--navigating to Bleak Gardens, for refitting and resupply at the very least, Maltina decided to fill the others in on what transpired to result in her neck deep in unpleasantness. The crew of Maltina's previous whaler, The Teacup, mutinied against the stern by lucky Althsore, removing him from command (and, his life, as they hanged him from the yardarm). Under the direction of new Captain Firkus, the mutinneers decided to make an example of Maltina--principledly opposed to mutiny--and sacrifice her to The Vast in a most painful way. To do so, another pirate vessel was deployed. Several sailors moved to a new ship, the bedragged Brookseed & Oil, and set out for a uninhabited island, both to execute Maltina and to meet up with some powerful figure, which very well might be the man staring at our crew from shore. Satiated with her story, our crew then set themselves about the ship business. Pitch was chosen to be the Captain of this new vessel--the aura of command and compelling presence Pitch exudes being key factors in this appointment. Irk, leaning into his role as hype-bird, felt himself naturally suited to the post of First Mate. Kasula decided, once again, that her skills best served the crew as Ship's Surgeon. Water, perhaps feeling the pull of adventure and of the sacred, volunteered to steer the vessel as Quartermaster. Kharlo Chondricht determined that his best course of action is to feed this excursion, so he fancied himself a Cook. Not a "chef," a Cook. It is disturbing that this distinction must be made. Our crew had barely settled in to these new roles before danger once again came calling. This time, it took the form of four sahuagin bent upon capturing the newly designated Vastblaster (stylized Va$tBla$ter, Va$tBlazter, V4$7Bl4$73r, or /@$+|31@$+3®). Our adventurers bested them in combat and then limped into Bleak Gardens in search of supplies and much needed repairs.
First, the Vastblaster won't be blasting any Vast without a fair deal of repair. With this in mind, Water set out to discuss this situation with the local shipwright, an elf named Rhalyf. These repairs can be done, but they won't come cheap, and since our crew doesn't really have any capital thanks to their previous ship being destroyed by a giant tentacle, Rhalyf decided that perhaps an alternate form of payment could be agreed upon. As a member of the Cooper's Council, part of Rhalyf's duties involve making sure that every merchant that sells valuable pale oak lumber pays the tax that is used to fund planting more of these trees. This "sustainability fee" ensures that the town will remain profitable for generations to come. Recently, however, the Burdreg family appears to have sold a fair amount of this lumber without any record of paying that important tax. She wants our adventurers to seek out and find proof of this financial malfeasance. And thus began our crew's secondary careers as fantasy forensic accountants. Meanwhile, there's another resource that the VastBlaster will need restocked to ensure success--its crew. In order to restore the ship to fully functioning status, our crew is going to have to add few members. To accomplish this, Irk, Kasula, Kharlo, Pitch and Maltina sought out Mended Flute Ale & Sundry to see who might be interested in hiring on. The brewery happened to be hosting an open mic comedy night and Pitch decided to take the stage. Delivering an impassioned story--with several humorous slice-of-life anedcotes (whaaaat is the deeeal with squids?)--about their recent ordeal, Pitch inspired several members of the audience to sign on. Maltina was left with the task of figuring out which of these potential crewmates is more seaworthy as the VastBlasters set about to get some receipts or die trying.
An Introduction to Disrepair
New acquaintance Maltina Bigmoon, happy to have been saved from a creeping kind of drowning, has advised her rescuers that the time to make haste from this dreaded island is upon them. Despite some initial misgivings, the erstwhile Eelsnap passenger and crew, along with Maltina, piled into one of the beached rowboats and made for the strange looking sloop/brig/schooner hybrid anchored offshore.
It turned out that listening to the panic in the halfling's voice was a good thing, as the beached from which they rowed was swoon swarming with pirates. Quite a few shoved themselves into the other beached rowboat, apparently intent on pursuit. Throughout this frantic chaos, one lone figure stared at them from the sand, alarmingly at ease.
Despite a vigorous chase, our heroes managed to reach the side of the vessel they mean to commandeer for their own extrication. What they found, upon treading on the decks for the first time, a disaster of a ship, seemingly held together by chance and pleading. There was no time to lose, so the crew of this new enterprise set about getting it underway. Surprisingly, our explorers found themselves working quite well together. With the ship safely--if that is even the right word to use to describe this vessel's whole thing--navigating to Bleak Gardens, for refitting and resupply at the very least, Maltina decided to fill the others in on what transpired to result in her neck deep in unpleasantness. The crew of Maltina's previous whaler, The Teacup, mutinied against the stern by lucky Althsore, removing him from command (and, his life, as they hanged him from the yardarm). Under the direction of new Captain Firkus, the mutinneers decided to make an example of Maltina--principledly opposed to mutiny--and sacrifice her to The Vast in a most painful way. To do so, another pirate vessel was deployed. Several sailors moved to a new ship, the bedragged Brookseed & Oil, and set out for a uninhabited island, both to execute Maltina and to meet up with some powerful figure, which very well might be the man staring at our crew from shore. Satiated with her story, our crew then set themselves about the ship business. Pitch was chosen to be the Captain of this new vessel--the aura of command and compelling presence Pitch exudes being key factors in this appointment. Irk, leaning into his role as hype-bird, felt himself naturally suited to the post of First Mate. Kasula decided, once again, that her skills best served the crew as Ship's Surgeon. Water, perhaps feeling the pull of adventure and of the sacred, volunteered to steer the vessel as Quartermaster. Kharlo Chondricht determined that his best course of action is to feed this excursion, so he fancied himself a Cook. Not a "chef," a Cook. It is disturbing that this distinction must be made. Our crew had barely settled in to these new roles before danger once again came calling. This time, it took the form of four sahuagin bent upon capturing the newly designated Vastblaster (stylized Va$tBla$ter, Va$tBlazter, V4$7Bl4$73r, or /@$+|31@$+3®). Our adventurers bested them in combat and then limped into Bleak Gardens in search of supplies and much needed repairs.
Into the Garden
Luckily, most of our crew was already familiar with the largest settlement in Kalope, so seeing about the tasks that needed doing was markedly easier.First, the Vastblaster won't be blasting any Vast without a fair deal of repair. With this in mind, Water set out to discuss this situation with the local shipwright, an elf named Rhalyf. These repairs can be done, but they won't come cheap, and since our crew doesn't really have any capital thanks to their previous ship being destroyed by a giant tentacle, Rhalyf decided that perhaps an alternate form of payment could be agreed upon. As a member of the Cooper's Council, part of Rhalyf's duties involve making sure that every merchant that sells valuable pale oak lumber pays the tax that is used to fund planting more of these trees. This "sustainability fee" ensures that the town will remain profitable for generations to come. Recently, however, the Burdreg family appears to have sold a fair amount of this lumber without any record of paying that important tax. She wants our adventurers to seek out and find proof of this financial malfeasance. And thus began our crew's secondary careers as fantasy forensic accountants. Meanwhile, there's another resource that the VastBlaster will need restocked to ensure success--its crew. In order to restore the ship to fully functioning status, our crew is going to have to add few members. To accomplish this, Irk, Kasula, Kharlo, Pitch and Maltina sought out Mended Flute Ale & Sundry to see who might be interested in hiring on. The brewery happened to be hosting an open mic comedy night and Pitch decided to take the stage. Delivering an impassioned story--with several humorous slice-of-life anedcotes (whaaaat is the deeeal with squids?)--about their recent ordeal, Pitch inspired several members of the audience to sign on. Maltina was left with the task of figuring out which of these potential crewmates is more seaworthy as the VastBlasters set about to get some receipts or die trying.
TaxBlasters
Rhalyf indicated that the most likely place to find any smuggling operation would be in a Burdreg lumber camp near the coast. So our crew headed there. Some quick thinking and persuasion enabled our adventurers to pose as potential illicit lumber buyers. The lumberjacks agreed to make a deal, escorting the crew down an illusionary well to what can only be described as a smuggler's cove. There, they met with more goddamn pirates. These ones, however, seemed more amenable to a deal, offering 50 gold worth of pale oak, delivered right to their ship. Great! Now all the VastBlasters need to do is figure out how to catch these pirates in the act without dying in the process.And That's Where We Left It
We'll see what traps are sprung (and on whom) during our next session.Rewards Granted
Level 3!
VastBlaster, a small brig in need of much repair
VastBlaster, a small brig in need of much repair
Character(s) interacted with
- Maltina Bigmoon, rescued sailor
- Rhalyf Ianwynn, shipwright, owner of Mimok Shipworks, and member of the Cooper's Council
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