The Lightning Phoenix

General Summary

Robin receives an official letter from Falinor, explaining that the kingdom is invested in expanding its presence in the Reach and so desires to establish a naval route for transporting goods. It acknowledges the difficulties involved, particularly now that the mountain pass has grown treacherous in the winter weather. The kingdom has received word of Robin’s skiff and requests that he conduct a survey of the ocean south of the Talon to determine whether there might be a passable naval route to a potential port in Shadowell.
Knowing that few ventures in the Reach are ever without incident, Robin petitions Sebastian and Shloopurr to accompany him. Knowing a new trade route would have implications for the newly established presence of Anastasia Gildenwerd and Hephaestus Armaments, Sebastian agrees. Shloopurr declines to join, being in the middle of designing what is supposedly “its biggest and best prank to date”, but agrees to remote pilot Shloop-To-Go for the journey. The group takes to the air in Robin’s skiff, coasting over the snow-ridden buildings of Last Rast, alongside the ashen slopes of the volcano, and beyond the last parapets of Honorstrand. As they fly overtop the ocean waves to the south, Robin charting and Sebastian spewing most of his breakfast over the ship’s side, the temperature grows warmer and rain begins to fall.
They soon spy an ominous gathering of thick dark clouds, roiling with heavy winds, illuminated by cracks of lightning. Knowing it is unusual for thunderstorms to form this late in the year and suspecting something not quite organic, they fly closer to determine its origin. As they approach, the storm seems to approach them in the same moment, and they are caught within it. Heavy rain falls, obscuring them in near darkness until a single, blindingly bright flash illuminates all. As their eyes adjust, they see the gargantuan form of an enormous bird. Its wings thrown wide, it lets out a cry that sounds both deep as thunder and sharp as lightning, its body crackling with veins of electrical energy. Startled, the beast attempts to attack the skiff. Sebastian steps bravely forward on the bow, playing majestically as rain and wind whip around him. The song calms the great bird, and it allows him to reach out a hand to touch its beak.
Using several magical aids, they are able to communicate with the phoenix, questioning it as to the source of this strange storm and to its own origins and motives. The phoenix tells them that the storm comes from its own power, and that it has no knowledge of how it arrived in this realm. It only remembers falling through endless sky towards an expanse of water. It is not interested in harming them. They suggest it find sanctuary within the now vacant lair of the dragon who once inhabited the volcano, and offer it a taste of the felled beast. A sudden gust of wind blows the skiff forward, and the outstretched beak of the phoenix pierces the sail of the skiff, sending it and its passengers into a dead free fall.
Robin, one hand on the helm as the other brandishes Softstroke, attempts to mend the sail as they plummet downward. Sebastian stands beside his friend and aids him with the mending. After a harrowing minute of falling, with both the adventurers losing hold of the ship several times only to once again find purchase, they find a moment of reprieve as the final spark of arcane energy returns the tattered sail to its former glory. They say their farewells to the phoenix, lightning trailing in its wake as it flies away. Robin guides the skiff downward, hoping to find their way out of the darkness of the storm. As the prow of the ship breaks through the last vestiges of the storm, a final crack of lightning hits the mast, sending a current throughout the ship. Feeling the shock, Robin momentarily lifts his hands off the helm, and the skiff is propelled in a nosedive directly into the ocean. Sebastian manages a beautiful dive off the side in the icy waters, but Robin, concerned for the wellbeing of his beloved ship, fails to respond in time and is thrown violently over the mast into the waves.
Songs of Glory +1: Robin, Sebastian

Report Date

08 Aug 2024