welcome to Stabby Town

General Summary

Our skiff landed us a ways from the pirate town, so we set off down the beach, figuring it was safer to travel the edge of the island than to walk through the jungle and get lost. Baron Santa Maria warned us if he didn’t have answers from us in a few days he was going to destroy the whole town, innocent people be damned. Sigh, Rholdamese. After walking a bit we saw some natives fishing, and as soon as they saw us they readied their spears. I thought it was because they were worried we were pirates, but they pointed them at the jungle. Lily tried to speak to them, but a cat jumped out attacking her then blinked away. We joined the villagers and stabbed, hacked, and generally tried to get rid of the beasts. After a few rounds of hitting each other they ran off. I guess, they wanted an easier meal. “You no pirates?” one asked in broken Rholdamese. “No,” Milli answered, “We here to get friends from pirates.” “Come with us,” the men said, and we followed them for about an hour to a small village of huts, maybe five or six families were there. A woman with a jade necklace came out, “Where you come from? City folk no come here.” “We came from a boat. We need to get our friends.” “No fit town,” the woman said, “You no have marks of one who serve. No noble person, no sail man.” “What can you tell us to help?” Milli asked. “Great chief is Dances with Shiny Metal. He serves mountain spirit,” as she talked the woman of the village tended to the wounded putting a poultice on them, and then they came and put the same poultice on our wounds. “Can you help us fit in?” Milli asked as a young woman smeared green goo on her. I smelled the poultice on my arm and caught hints of comfrey and another herb I couldn’t identify. “What you have to trade?” She asked looking over our packs. “You need necklaces and rings.” Milli glanced back at me, “We have some of the knives we found earlier, that could be useful here.” “We give you knife. You give us necklaces and lead us to town.” “Good,” and she waved to a young man, and said something in a birdlike language. He bowed and gestured to us. We draped necklaces on ourselves and followed him off.

A JUNGLE JOURNEY

The man kept a steady pace. I thought I was in good shape until I followed him. After a bit, Cap fell behind and I could hear the wheezing and coughing behind us. Our guide stopped and Cap trotted up. It took the rest of the afternoon, but we reached the town.
The town jutted out creating the bay where the pirate ship docked. There were a few smaller boats there, but nothing that mattered. At the edge of town a recently constructed palisade. Behind it, I saw a lumber yard, a rather shabby area that looked quite dodgy, a blacksmith, and a much smaller ziggurat. At the edge, I saw a large fortress, which is where I’d guess the pirate captain was. As we watched a group of men and women hobbled up, chains connecting their legs as they carried logs over to the lumberyard. We watched until dusk and attempted to sneak into the town, but it all went wrong for some reason. I was the height of stealth in my super stealthy cloak, but Cap and Milli kept trying to wave me down. I mean the four people who were nearby couldn’t see us, obviously. “Pst, come here!” a voice said from the lumberyard in Alorian, “You’re in danger.” They snuck us into the back room, “You stick out like a sore thumb.” We glanced at our clothes and the jewelry we’d been given. “No one has that much cloth on them. It all falls apart,” he waved his hand at us, “No one walks around like you do. You’re too proud. Too confident.” “We need to get up to the fortress,” Cap said, “We’re looking for the kids they took, and a girl they took seven years ago.” The man shuddered, “That’s not good. Those are the sacrifices, the girl is probably long gone.” He grimaced at our looks, “Every seven years, they make a sacrifice to the devil in the mountain. The sacrifices and the priest go up to the temple, and only the priest comes back.” “What about the pirate captain? How’s he fit into this?” I asked. “He came here years ago, that’s how we all got here. He went up to the temple after he challenged their leader. He came back with a glowy red gemstone and killed their leader. Now they treat him as kind of god.” “How do you get up to the fortress?” “Only way you do is if you’re part of his crew or a free man with a trade. Otherwise, there’s jungle rats and slaves. You don’t fit in. You’re not a tradesman and you’re obviously not a pirate.” “What do you mean, we’re not pirates?” Cap asked. “You don’t have the tattoos. They’re some kind of armor,” the man said glancing out the door. “I can’t keep you here. If you want more information you have to go to Reala in the slave quarter.” “Thank you,” I said, “I know even this much was a risk to you. Take this as thanks.” I rummaged in the bag and pulled out one of my extra shirts. He took it wordlessly, his eyes lighting up at the extra cloth. We crossed the street into the slave quarters.

STABBY TOWN ISN’T SO STABBY

The slave quarters reminded me of a few more unique places I’ve visited, but possibly because they were all at the bottom, it was a bit less violent than we were expecting. It wasn’t long however before we were stopped by the “local enforcement.” “Why are you here?” a particularly burly man asked. “We need to talk to Reala,” Lily said. “Okay,” he grunted looking us over, “But if you hurt her, we’ll put you down.” We held up our hands peacefully and followed him to a very old house with an even older woman. “What can I do for you strangers?” “Ma’am, we need to stop the pirate captain,” I answered “Others have tried before. Their blood ran down the shrine. Why do you think you will succeed?” Reala muttered. “We have no guarantees, but we need to get the children back,” Cap answered. “He stole my daughter! I’ve finally found him, and I’ll stop him.” “If you aim to save those children, you need to stop him now,” she answered. “They are to be sacrificed tomorrow.” “My daughter was captured last time. She had a birthmark in the shape of a wave and was about seven years old,” Cap pleaded. “I remember her. She was taken up with the sacrifices last time, but something went wrong,” her eyes darkened. “I know not what. A great raven was seen flying away from the temple with something in its claws. The Undying One has been rumbling about in the mountain for the past seven years.” “How long has this been going on?” I asked. “He came here 6 cycles ago,” she answered, many of us came then as well. “He leaves every cycle to get sacrifices. If you want to take him down, you must go to the shrine and challenge him.” “What does that mean?” Cap asked. “I do not know, those who attempt to challenge go to the shrine, and then they go up the mountain to the temple,” she looked gravely around at us, “No one has returned so far.” “Thank you, Reala,” Lily said. “We must confer and prepare.” “I’m going to challenge,” Cap said. “I must do this for Amara.” “Cap,” I said, “I don’t think you should. It sounds like to do this challenge, you are becoming an acolyte of this power. I think that would mess with your ability to serve the Creator.” Cap’s shoulders slumped. Thor stepped up, “I’ll do it. It makes the most sense for me to face this pirate.”

Report Date

23 Dec 2021