Final preparations (part IV)

You’re absolutely right, Ryan, both about the intention of that passage and my messy use of pronouns. In other words, ‘that city’ should really say ‘that region’ (i.e. Hehkhastia). Also, I know I owe you an email or two, I’ve been falling behind on things and it’s been a busier than expected work week – what else is new, right? 🙂

Haven’t read All the Light We Cannot See – what drew you both to it? Was it recommended? It sounds familiar so I imagine it was a bestseller and/or won a literary prize? I’ve been trying to cut back on book purchases the last few years (the to-read list is getting a little out of hand again) but I failed miserably this year, I’ve lost count but I’m sure I’ve added at least 50 to the bookshelves (theoretical bookshelves, mind you, most of my books are still in boxes 14 months after our move!), and am still on the same damn book I was on last December. Falling woefully behind on that front…

It’s weird to think we were planning to have our inaugural campaign live get-together back in May (i.e. a meet-up in Toronto). It seems strange to think there was a time in March where we were debating whether to try it despite COVID. Who knows, maybe next May we’ll have more luck (although I wouldn’t count on it!). At least the Zoom campaign resulted from that cancellation, which worked out pretty well, as it turned out!

Sorry Kane, I forgot to give details on those books! Most of the books were on scientific or magical matters beyond his knowledge, but he did find a couple that piqued his interest enough to grab them (each of them could be sold for 50 g.p., let me know if you want to let any of them go):

1. Medicinal Properties of Our Floral Friends (a possible source for information involving the toxicity of some plant species)
2. The Many Types of Death (a treatise that attempts to explain how the different ways of dying lead to different ‘death states’ that can be exploited by aspiring necromancers in various ways)
3. A Map of the Humanoid Body (a textbook on the similarities of humanoid anatomy and a discussion on how they differ)

Shane, you’re right, the remaining room was supposed to go to Kai. I had her down originally and must have accidentally deleted her name when I did my final shuffle of who-goes-where. The plan is still to have Eos train in Blackwater and wait for the group to return so she can help take care of Sercate. Thanks for catching that!

Wednesday September 28th, 402 (7:28 a.m.) [14]:

     “Understood, understood,” Frowley responds [to Quinn’s confession that he may not be accompanying his friends], wiping a small juice spill nearby his plate with his bare hand. “I tell you what, if you do go with them, and they stop in the Dappled Isles*, and you find an opportunity, stop by this address.” At this point Frowley slides another folded note, this one sealed lightly all along the edge with wax, toward Quinn. On the outside is an address located within Kephi, written by a careful hand.

“There should be a friend of mine there named Phelsim. Give him the note, keep it sealed and, if he asks you to do anything for him, I’d advise you help him out if you catch my meaning well enough. If you do well by him, you do well by me.”

[Nothing needed here unless Quinn would like to say something. Presumably he’ll take the note, if not let me know…]

9:00 a.m.:

[The alchemist’s clothing was found not to be magical]

[Very sorry, Ryan! The amulet had an Identify spell, mentioned here: http://pathtoadventure.ca/ostrom/2018/07/29/men-about-town/. Since Ydoran was wearing it (as indicated on his character sheet) he should have determined from the first attack against him that it is an amulet of protection +1. I wonder how many hits would have been misses with his AC 1 better than what I thought it was? Note that this also provides +1 to saving throws – if ever we’re in a situation where you really need to make a saving throw, it might be worthwhile reminding me you have it!] 

     Ydoran and Caleb ponder over the pile of items the group has accumulated in their last adventure, sitting across from one another in Caleb’s cabin aboard ship. “Ha! Oyster farm!” Caleb laughs when Ydoran makes his suggestion, thinking it facetious, but gradually grows more serious. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s a crazy idea or not, I don’t know anything about it, other than we’d need water. We have both fresh and saltwater near Brightwater, though, which is convenient.” He thinks for a moment and then continues. “We probably can’t live on this boat forever, and once Sercate’s out of the way we can stop living in a sewer – maybe we should start thinking about acquiring property either inside or outside the city? If we could find somewhere along the river maybe an oyster farm is a possibility? Or maybe that’s too farfetched; maybe it’s better to find an existing farm and try to make a deal with them. I don’t know how realistic that is either. I’ve never heard of any farms like that in Brightwater.”

     The Identify spells yield the following information on the items Ydoran has singled out:

• The sword is of high quality and will likely provide benefits to attacks in combat [i.e. it is a sword +x]
• The ring offers general protection to the person wearing it [i.e. it’s most likely a ring of protection +x]

     “I wouldn’t mind holding onto that ring,” Caleb suggests. “Do you think anyone else would want it? I think I’m the most vulnerable to attack in the group, except maybe for Quinn, if he ever returns.”

     With that, there’s a knock at the door and Caleb gets up and walks over to answer it. “Of course, he has his magical armour, so he’s protected well enough, I think.” Opening the door, he’s startled to find Quinn standing there [uncowling himself to show his identity, presumably, since otherwise the encounter could go very poorly!]. “Quinn!” Caleb shouts, startled. “We were just talking about you. What happened to you, you look badly injured!”

     What will Quinn say here?

5:50 p.m.:

     “When are we getting this show on the road, anyway,” Kai quips, clearly feeling the effects of the wine she’s been imbibing, sitting back in her chair and smiling cozily as the colour rises in her cheeks. “I wanna go get that stuff and see some stuff and then I’m gonna…” She trails off and starts mumbling to herself, then sighs heavily, and there’s something in the way she sways in her seat that worries Konishi enough that he shuffles his chair a smidge further away in case she suddenly ill. The group [which includes all party members, including Quinn assuming he’s able to make amends, plus both Wilton (the first mate) and Drayven (the bosun)] has assembled for an officer’s meeting in the hold while the rest of the crew has one final day of leave before the Whelk sets sail. A large spread of food and drink have been laid out for all.

     “What’s the plan?” Whispin asks, “And how dangerous is it?”

     “Let me explain,” Caleb offers to Ydoran, “You haven’t even had a chance to start your dinner yet with all the paperwork you’ve been drowning in. [it’s easier this way, of course, since this is new info for everyone, including Ryan!] Okay, the plan is simple, really. We’re to sail to Lygos, four or five days on the water depending on the weather. We’ll be sailing along the coast for the first half, at least for the most part, and we’ll be sailing south of the Dappled Isles to avoid the nasty waters to the north of them, too much risk there. 

     “We’ll dock in Kephi and wait for favourable skies to make the trip across to Batima. We’re taking a risk there, that stretch is the likeliest place we’ll encounter pirates, but the choice has been made to risk it rather than take the longer route stopping in Ladras and Sartici, it’s one long day’s journey straight across rather than three via the longer route. Then from Batima straight down to Lygos. That coastline is better patrolled so we shouldn’t have any issues there.

     “Those crates that were brought aboard today, it wasn’t widely advertised but they’re packed with mithril ingots. We’re one of five ships making the trip, a half tonne of mithril in all, so we have about two hundred pounds of it right over there [gesturing to the crates stacked in the corner of the hold nearest Ydoran’s cabin]. The rest of the crew doesn’t know the contents and they should never know, for two reasons: One, it’ll reduce the chance of theft, and two, as you may know, trading mithril in large quantities with certain countries is, if not illegal, strongly discouraged, because of its use in the manufacture of arms and armour. Brightwater is on somewhat friendly terms with Rum, but considering their shared history, this sort of thing is simply not done, not normally, and if this information slipped out, it could put Omnisterra in a lot of hot water depending on the political climate, especially considering mithril is being stockpiled here for the border issues to the north, which is still a very serious threat. So this is the last time the word mithril will be used aboard ship. If you need to talk about it, call it platinum.

     “We’ll be doing a standard trade with Lygos once we’re there, that’s what the crew expects. What will be done in secret on the side is a trade discussion with some of the higher-ups in Lygos. Ydoran may or may not be involved in that, as a junior officer it’s hard to say what his role will be at this point. But the idea is that we’ll be trading half the mithril for passage to the west of Lygos. Some or all five of the ships, if those trade talks are successful, will continue west and down the coast. We won’t go at all unless we feel confident we can reach Shahre. Whether we can get beyond there, whether they’ll allow us beyond there, is anyone’s guess. The goods we’ll be picking up in Lygos, if the trade talks aren’t successful, will be standard goods, textiles, spices, that sort of thing. If they’re successful we’ll be loading up on food and provisions for continuing the journey. And we’ll have the second half of the mithril stock, a quarter tonne of it, in the hope that this will give us passage down the coast, maybe even to Hehkhastia.”

     “That’s the executive summary. Are there any questions?”

     Are there any questions from the party before we set out?

J

* The Dappled Isles are a small archipelago at the western mouth of the Bay of Tyrliad** (this is the large bay that has the Firth of Lee and, by extension, Brightwater, at its northern end), dominated by the islands of Kenchra and Kephi (these are the names of both the islands and the capital cities found on them). I’ve attached a snippet of the relevant section of the map of Ostrom showing Brightwater, the Bay of Tyrliad, and Kenchra and Kephi at its mouth. The Dappled Isles are named for their high cliffs of distinctive chalky limestone cliffs heavily spotted with dark dolomite rock and blackish sea moss patches that give it a look reminiscent of a dalmatian’s coat from a distance.

This island group is a principality of Rum, having been annexed following the Wars of the Severed Hand, and culturally it is much more closely aligned with Brightwater, having its own governing bodies and legal systems (these two islands were independent nations before the annexation and continue their autonomy to this day). The cities are affluent, being major shipping centers and acting primarily as a distribution center for food shipments and other goods between Brightwater and Lygos. 

Ships that sail between Lygos and Brightwater frequently stay close to shore due to high levels of piracy in the Medion Sea, and almost always use either Kenchra or Kephi as a port of call during their trip.

** Tyrliad is a simple portmanteau of three of the bodies of water surrounding Italy: The Tyrrhenian Sea, the Ligurian Sea and the Adriatic Sea. The body of water west of the Dappled Isles, which has Lygos at its western shore, is the Medion Sea, after the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian Sea