Session 31 – The Hijacking of the Salamander

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

The orc scouting party, along with Glitterstem, Miletus, and Theobald, break camp at a farmstead east of town, where months ago, Enkidu and Glitterstem cornered Bester the Younger. Hursag is satisfied with the day’s accomplishments, but is obviously itching for more. She and Rahab ask Theobald what the most impressive thing in the town is. She wants to exploit the absence of a gate, and to gain some glory. However, Theobald informs her that it will be difficult to sneak everyone into town undetected, and without great risk. In any event, the money has been removed from the town, there is nothing at the arsenal that the Brotherhood doesn’t already have, and there are no impressive idols or relics in the austere shrines of Pelor. Glitterstem had been watching the comings and goings of vessels all day, and pursuant to discussing naval matters, it dawns on Theobald that a worthwhile prize, which would impress the orcs without unduly endangering Claymore, may be one of the vessels. With her imagination thus fired by plans for the morrow, Hursag’s attention is directed away from making a direct assault on the town…
Enkidu awakens in a dark, wooden room, sweaty, but feeling better. His bedding and bandages are clean, and his broken right arm feels like it’s mending well. Agni and Dafna sit at the foot of his bed. When they see he’s come to, they inquire as to how he is feeling, and tell him they really feared for his life as his fever raged. A few times, as he raved and screamed out, they thought he might be dying. The previous day, before his companions left for a mission to Claymore, Enmul came to aid Glitterstem in a ritual though finally removed the tattoo. Enkidu lifts the blankets. His crotch is still bandaged, though there is no evidence of any fresh blood. And truly, there is no tattoo on his chest, or anywhere else on his body. Enkidu asks his family how they have been treated. On the whole, as they tell it, no one has threatened to enslave them, and aside from some disrespectful comments made at a distance, they have been mostly left alone to treat their relative, though they are under close surveillance. Many of the orcs have gone off to their fort, or to recruit, or to raid. Humbaba himself seems to be absent at present. Enmul, however, has been consistently well-disposed, and is somewhere nearby.
Suddenly, Amando bursts into the room, and asks to speak to Enkidu privately. The ranger reassures his family that this is OK, though he quietly warns them not to trust Amando, who earlier tried to kill him. Agni steps out, while Dafna goes down to fix her son some broth. When they have left, Amando informs Enkidu that his companions have gone off on a mission to rendezvous with Theobald, who has just escaped from captivity in Claymore. In so doing, he has burned down the city gate, but now, Amando is worried that Hursag, who is the leader of the mission, will frontally assault the town, or worse, return to rouse the fraction of the Brotherhood still in the area to do so. Amando feels like this is a trap. There is little of value in town at the moment, and even if the Brotherhood is successful in taking it, the cost to its future endeavors would be too high. He would like Enkidu to meet with them at their campsite, to dissuade them from doing anything rash, and to direct their energy to something useful (like raiding). Enkidu agrees, though he has to get himself into shape, and to round up Goltur. The boar is rutting in the farmyard, in the midst of a weird pentagonal fairy ring, which Enkidu figures is Glitterstem’s handiwork. He collects the boar, focuses his mental energy to fortify himself, and dons his (still to be fixed) scale armor. Dafna tries to get him to eat something, and worries about him going off so soon, but Enkidu reassures her, and heads off into the night.
Tracking the scouting party to what turns out to be a familiar spot is not a challenge, even in his weakened state. The companions greet their comrade (“the King”, as Glitterstem has it), while Hursag expresses surprise about his unexpectedly early recovery. The members of the Company of the Horse Pelican provide further aid to Enkidu, catch up in Common, and inform the ranger of their plans for the next day. The party turns in, and the night passes, though the orcs, being nocturnal, actually turn in only toward morning.
At dawn, Enkidu and Glitterstem head off to spy on the town harbor. There are four ships anchored at the dock – two caravels, and two smaller riverine vessels. The smaller ones don’t seem impressive enough trophies for the orcs, but the bigger ones seem too difficult to operate with a skeleton crew having no nautical experience. However, as the morning wears on, a small war galley pulls in from the direction of Neverwinter. Soldiers disembark at the dock, and head into Claymore. They are probably emergency reinforcements. This ship, though of reasonable size (roughly 60 feet) looks like a genuine prize, and it comes with a ready-made crew of rowers that will make hijacking it significantly easier. Glitterstem sends an animal messenger to Balint in Claymore, informing him of the scheduled hijacking at dusk, and asking him to arrange the presence of the crew. Meanwhile, back at the camp, while looking for tools, Theobald is attacked by a flying, rainbow-colored serpent in the woodshed. Though he makes short work of it before Miletus is able to join him, he is surprised by the creature, and takes its dead body for his collection. Miletus attempts to remove any poison the creature may have injected into his companion with its bite.
At dusk, the group makes its move. The ship, called the Salamander, is manned by two soldiers on deck. A strong wind blows westward, and though there are a few people out on the docks, the authorities appear to be unprepared for an assault on the harbor. Theobald enters the water in the shape of a humanoid with gills, and puts the guards on the deck to sleep, while the rest of the group, cloaked and hooded, swiftly moves to the gangplank. Once on deck, another soldier appears, though Miletus and Glitterstem force him to surrender, while Enkidu helps dispose of the sleepers, after leaving Goltur to guard the end of the gangplank. Miletus aids Theobald in climbing up on deck, while Glitterstem creates a cloud of fog to obscure the ship. The orcs go below deck to deal with the remainder of the soldiers said to be in the cabin. After the bodies of the sleeping soldiers are thrown into the water, the people on the docks finally respond with missile fire. Some are lighting arrows on fire, but they are also put to sleep by Theobald, who then proceeds to help Miletus pull up the anchor. Enkidu goes below, to watch the orcs make short work of five soldiers in the cabin, and gets a few licks at the leader, who then surrenders. With his help, he and the orcs go to the hold to command the tasloi slave oarsmen to begin to row away from the dock. As the ship begins to move away, the defenders on the walls finally act, and launch bolts from the two ballistae mounted atop the battlements. Though the ship is obscured, two of them come uncomfortably close to nailing Theobald to the deck. Miletus stands at the wheel, turning it sharply leftward in preparation for the escape.
Once the ship has moved far enough from the dock, the cloud lifts, and Glitterstem blasts the sails with a strong wind. The defenders fire off another ballista round, but it is too late to catch the pirates, and with a burst of speed, the Salamander breaks upstream. Miletus turns the wheel toward the starboard, but overcompensates, and as the Salamander comes around the bend in the river, he has to readjust by tacking left again… Too much, as the ship tilts on its star board side, and everyone on deck begins to lose their footing…

Report Date

03 Jun 2016