Ports' Gambit Session 0
General Summary
Xolos
The year is 1414. The city is Embermire, the capital of the Truris Kingdom. The sounds of cawing seabirds to the east can still be heard over the frantic tolling of the city bells. As your focus slowly returns you to the world, you can hear the pained screams of your mother filling the room. Your attention is drawn to her, much the same way that the blood from your twin brother is now being drawn up her pale yellow dress. The baron looks you in the eye, fully intent on doing the same to you. He pounces toward you and in an instant you freeze. But just then you’re saved by the furious swinging of the door opening. A guard, clad in blue and yellow livery rushes into the room, placing himself between you and the noble, his eyes hellbent on your destruction. “The bastard can not be allowed to live!” he yells, struggling with the much younger and stronger man. The guard wrestles the crazed baron out of the room as another one joins him, and together they vanish into the hallways of the manor house. Your mother, distraught with grief and anguish at the murder of her boy, clutches you in her arms. You can feel the warmth of her embrace, but you’re not sure if it’s her or your brother’s blood. Weeping, she lifts you up by your shoulders and hurries you off into the night. The next several years are spent keeping a low profile, moving from town to town, scraping by on whatever meager existence you could. By the spring of 1429, you find yourself on the southern coast of the Truris Kingdom. Once again, the sound of sea birds fills the skies and the scent of the ocean and fish dance all around you…Kregsmum and Chupa Saltamontes
The waves lap up and over the bow of the small ship you find yourself on. A dense fog rolls over the waves, punctuated by a tinge of orange from the rising sun. Soon you’ll be in the mainland, on the way to bigger and better things. It’s been several years since you’ve been to Arrowport, and you’re looking forward to it. As you turn to head back to the hold, hoping to obtain some breakfast before it’s all gone, you catch something strange. Almost as if there were something else in the water. Just then, you hear it: a horrible hissing, followed up by a “fwassshhh!” and the sudden eruption into flames of your vessel’s mainsail. A second later, you see the massive silhouette and imposing black sail of a vessel easily twice the size of your own bear down on your ship. The comparatively small ship lurches and reels from the impact, and you can hear the screams of the passengers. The captain barks an order to the crew: “hard to starboard! Get the fire out!” It’s too late. You can hear the creaking of your ship’s hull as it starts to surrender to the much larger attacker. For a brief moment, you can see the face of your attacker: a red, scaly visage with razor sharp teeth and two large, leathery wings outstretched. A sword in either hand, a menacing scowl seemingly directed right at you, and an impeccably kept sailor’s coat. He quickly turns away and you can feel the deck underneath your feet start to give way as the black-sailed ship passes through, almost unfettered by your resistance. The water is cold and the current strong, but your will to survive is stronger. Spruce Springstream You wake up once you hear the other guests at the Smiling Crab Tavern start to shuffle around. It was a late night yesterday, but you enjoyed playing to the crowd. Your gift with music and song have been good to you, and you’ve enjoyed your stay here in Beachdenn. But, as with all things, you feel your time is coming to an end in this town. It’s been several weeks, and you’re looking to continue your exploration of the region. Despite the fun you’ve had, you miss your best friend, Wisteria, and the trappings of court life, even if it was just the periphery. The baron was particularly kind to you and your siblings. It has now been several years since you left Embermire behind, and fewer still since it was sacked by the dwarves of Grim Knurl. You were happy to hear that your family escaped, and that Wisteria and her family made it to safety as well.Penguin
As you tie your small fishing boat to the pier and begin to haul out your catch for the day, you reflect on the difficulty of safely fishing in the mist. Nevertheless, the work is done and you’ve got your haul. While you’re throwing your haul over your shoulder, you notice that the usual flock of seagulls at the pier is absent. Looking out, you see a growing swarm of them on the southern end of town near the blacksmith…Our story begins on the Wellington shore, on the south side of Beachdenn. Kregsmum and Chupa Saltamontes have just washed up, the lone survivors of the attack on The Canso passenger ship. Kobril Dersk, the young Sergeant of the Guards for Beachdenn found the survivors on the beach and, after ensuring they were alright and getting some basic information from them, escorted them to the nearby Smiling Crab Tavern. After being introduced to the tavern owner, a human named Helius Lamoth, he informed them that he had rooms to spare, but that they're not free. He suggested that they consult the jobs board out front. As Kregsmum and Chupa went to investigate, a pale and gaunt half-elf named Saemuel Fletcher could be seen posting a notice. The two struck up a conversation with the young man, who asked them to return a mysterious dagger to the place where he found it. He informed them that he had been exploring in the woods when he came to the Veleta Stone Circle and accidentally found an entrance to an underground crypt. He found the dagger in a crypt, but was scared off at the sound of rustling in the darkness. That was about a week ago. The lot were joined by Penguin, who overheard the chatter and came to investigate, as well as Spruce Springstream and Xolos, all who felt the call to adventure. They agreed to take on the deed, and as the sun set, they headed out. Before they got very far, however, the group stopped and had a discussion on whether or not to actually do the quest. They debated the merits of actually doing it, or whether or not they should just drop the blade in a bush somewhere, or even take it to a dealer in a larger town. Spruce examined the artifact and recognized its make as belonging to a group generally known as the Veletians, who lived in the region centuries earlier. The group went back on forth on several courses of action before deciding that it would be best to make the final decision the next day...
Rewards Granted
- 1gp
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
18 Nov 2021
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