Session Thirteen: Watch out for that Skyberg

General Summary

Updating Tatalla     George is happy to see everyone. Nesza hugs him back tightly and George goes to hug the others too. Mia gives his butt a “friendly” squeeze.   The group go below deck to Captain Tatalla‘s quarters. She asks for a report on what happened and some clarification. She heard that she was taking her ship to an island once they’ve completed business in Fairhaven, which was not part of the agreement.   The group recap the events and that the next steps entail finding either Jenny or another druid who would be able to bind the demon known as Comedor Infantil to the island. But the group first need to report back to Prince Wrogar and Captain Conrad regarding the initial mission to Windshire.   The Captain explains that she’d rather not put the airship in danger, especially after Silmer jogs her memory about his stories about going there in the past. But she says she’ll keep an open mind if they are unable to find another solution. She is sad to learn there is no wine.     … About George   The group are then dismissed. Vence lags behind and asks Nesza to remain as well. He asks Tatalla how committed she is to keep George as part of the crew. She explains he’s been an asset and her family are known to help those who are in need of a home.   Vence then explains to both her and Nesza that he had worked with Captain Conrad shortly before they left for Windshire. During that task, he found out George, being a Goliath, is VERY special.   Goliaths are actually thought to be extinct. Vence found out that it’s because they were used as components for the creation of Warforged. He explains that House Cannith would be after George if they found out there was still a Goliath around.   Concerned for George’s well being, Nesza suggests Tatalla write up a contract between her and the Goliath, where it explains George will work on her ship for a pension, food, water and protection.   Tatalla feels a bit cheated by this suggestion. Of course she would have paid George, but no one mentioned that she will be putting House Lyrandar’s necks on the line against House Cannith. Writing up such a contract puts her at a great disadvantage, which she’s not sure whether she’s up for. She agrees with Nesza to keep George on the ship for now and keep him hidden from House Cannith. But he would need to come back to her once he’s spoken with Prince Wrogar to plot down exactly what they should do.     Above Deck, Part 1   After this conversation, Vence heads to the ship’s deck and Nesza wonders around a bit below deck.   Above deck, Malak and Mia are enjoying the breeze and afternoon sun. Mia is doing a Titanic pose with a buff half-elf at the front of the ship while Malak is sitting on a crate, taking in a happier moment of quiet.   Vence joins him. He confronts Malak about the moment where he threatened Vence the night before. Vence explains that he used Suggestion against Nesza to calm him down. But he also did so openly so that the group SAW him casting it to avoid misunderstandings. Malak explains he does not approve of manipulating the group or harming others who are defenseless.   This sets Vence off. He points out that Malak’s logic isn’t always sound and sometimes his temper clouds his judgement. He also points out that Malak is a hypocrite as he constantly defends Corvus when he has consistently hurts defenseless people. Like hitting a man when he was down or when he heat metal-tortured someone to death. (The last point Malak was actually not there for so he was pretty shocked to hear about it).   Malak agrees his temper is something he needs to work on. It has been the cause of a lot of his own conflict. He has been working on it.   Malak then asked for more detail about the torture. Vence elaborates the time that Corvus accidentally killed a soldier during a torture session using heat metal. Malak does not excuse the behaviour but does explain that Corvus always does things for a reason. This needs to be addressed though.   Vence also mentions he did not understand why Malak was so against helping April and Silmer to save Windshire initially. Malak explains it’s not that he doesn’t want to help people. It’s more that there are SO MANY people that he needed to help in the past that he needed to be cautious about who he should help and who could get assistance elsewhere. At the time, he didn’t know Silmer and April and thought they were in good hands. However, as he got to know them, it even came to the point where he pledged to Juliona Godfried that he would protect April with his life.   Malak then goes on to explain that his main focus has always been the Sickness. That was because Myranna is actually sick too. He was able to delay the death but she’s living on borrowed time. So sometimes he’s one track minded. Malak asks Vence if he has manipulated other party members with magic. Vence convinces him that he has not.   The conversation shifts to them acknowledging each other and realizing they could be great allies, if not friends.   Vence then gets up and walks off, with a throwaway line that he was the one that revived Malak. Malak casts Bless on him in response.   About Redemption April is in the mess hall, pouring over one of her mother’s equations. She’s not completely able to decipher it but she seems to understand that it regards something cold.   She finds that George has been sitting with her for a while, eating (obviously). She decides to try to strike up a conversation, without much luck. But she did get a lot of hugs.   She heads to the cabin where she bumps into Nesza along the way. She suggests they sit together for a bit as she wasn’t present for the whole arrow incident. She knows that everyone is mad at him but she doesn’t quite understand what happened. So they head to the cabin together, where Corvus is sitting and staring intently at a pebble.   Nesza is uneasy about talking openly about stuff around Corvus, who occasionally throws jabs at him without looking up from the pebble. At one point, Corvus gets up and leaves.   Nezsa feels more comfortable opening up to April now, muttering that the “real murderer has now left”. He explains to April that he was not happy with Corvus’ heat metal torture. He finds it unfair that everyone is angry at him but not really talking to Corvus about what he did. Nesza knows what he did was wrong and he does regret that Mia got hurt as a result.   April was outside the tavern when this all happened. She had heard Corvus’ voice convince the Sicklemen to lay down their arms and she saw Nesza’s arrow shoot one of these men down.   She tells Nesza that she understands that he’s going through a hard time right now. April also had killed someone in Windshire and she can’t stop thinking about it.   However, something her father told her the night before resonated with her: Take Responsibility.   She explained that she and her father agreed to find the remains of the one she killed and they’ll return them to their family. If needed, give an explanation, perhaps an apology. She told him that, after all this is done, she will go back to Windshire and help rebuild it.   Nesza explains that this won’t bring the dead back. April agrees. But at least it will build a future for those that were left behind. She asks Nesza if he’s willing to help her. Nesza says he’ll think about it.     Meditation   April stays in the cabin and Nesza goes to find Silmer, who is training with some crew members in his dojo.   Nesza knocks on the door, which confuses Silmer as his door is always open. Nesza asks if he could join for a meditation session and Silmer gladly obliges.   After the training session (which Nesza joined in too), Silmer and Nesza sit together. Silmer suggests Nesza focus on his breathing and envision a flickering candle. That he should try to breathe in a way that prevents the candle from flickering.   At first Nesza struggles. But as he starts to focus more, he sees a flame. But it’s not a flickering candle. It’s a pulsing flame. A blueish-silverish flame. His concentration breaks again but now he’s intrigued to keep trying.     Above Deck, Part 2   Meanwhile, Corvus goes above deck, passing Vence on his way up. He sits with Malak and they observe Mia still acting out the scene from Titanic. Corvus muses that it seems to make her happy. Perhaps they should try it too.   Before they go and join her, they discuss the mission. They agree that they’ve achieved what they set out to do (liberate Windshire) but the cost was much higher than what they expected. Corvus mentions that he wished they were able to have prevented all those lives lost and the capture of Jenny.   Malak then asks him about the torture. Corvus explains, at the beginning of the mission that four Sicklemen were tied together (one Captain Jonathan Greywater, three soldiers). He was trying to get the Captain to respect Mia.   Jonathon refused bow to Mia. So Corvus started casting Heat Metal, and kept ordering him to bow. Captain Jonathan refused. Unfortunately, he and his soldiers were all wearing metal armour. And one was quite hurt from the battle they just had. The heat from the spell conducted between the different armour. The hurt soldier perished as a result. It was at that point the Captain gave in.   Corvus explained that he did not mean to kill the soldier. He had expected either Nesza or Vence to step in and revive the man if he went too far. But he had to keep up a facade that he was a pirate. As they had assigned him to be a Sky Pirate Captain’s Vassal, he would do everything to ensure they respect her. Which is exactly what he would have done for his Duchess.   Malak explains that Corvus’ reasoning is understandable. However, his extreme was completely unnecessary. For instance, Jurian would never ask Corvus to do something like this. Corvus agrees. This is one of the reasons why he offered to bring Melissa Greywater along to Fairhaven.   On the subject of Vence (whom Malak mentions as being the one who informed him about the torture), Corvus brings up the Message prank. He verifies if Malak has Message (he does) and knows what it sounds like when someone uses Sending (he also does).   Corvus then asks Malak if Cissa ever mentioned a Puppy to him when she contacted him via Sending. Malak says no (and, upon realising that she’s referring to Jurian, says it’s kind of rude).   Corvus then asks Malak if he’s able to mimic Cissa. Malak tries to. He is able to pull off a convincing girlish voice but sounds nothing like her (he did include finger guns though).   With these details in mind, Corvus mentions why he suspects Vence is more than he is letting on. The fact that a Message was used instead of Sending, the mimicry and the information given was recent. It was also very personal information only Cissa knew. So she had to have shared it with someone she trusted. The only person who was unaccounted for on the day of preparation was Vence.   Malak mentions that Cissa didn’t recognise Vence when they met in the tavern the first time and she keeps forgetting his name. So he’s not sure. But it could be that Vence was listening in to the conversation.     Sunset   The two then join Mia at the front of the ship. Their long hair majestically sweep in the wind. The contrast of Corvus’ long black hair and Malak’s golden hair is too much for Mia. She starts to take pictures with her crystal. The two are totally posing for her pictures too.   In that moment, Malak chooses to tell Corvus the truth about Myranna’s health. Corvus says he has suspected something like that for some time. And, with his hand on Malak’s shoulder, promises to be there with Malak till the end.   Corvus also tried to get Mia to open up about the contents of her letter. She said she needs a drink before doing so and suggests they go out for cocktails once in Fairhaven (seeing as she can’t drink the wine anymore as it is in short supply).     Final Discussion and Sleep   The whole group have a chat before bedtime to agree on what they should tell Wrogar. Mia does not want to be solely responsible for speaking seeing as it blew up in her face in Windshire. It’s agreed that Malak will talk for the group, but everyone is entitled to chime in.   After that, everyone goes to bed. Except Vence, who had a few drinks in the mess hall first.   In his meditative state, Corvus analyses moments from the day before to see is he had missed something important. He realises April had mentioned in the forest: “Wouldn’t Cherry Pie have seen something?” .The comment had been brushed off by the group.   Morning When he wakes up, Corvus contacts Jossac to find Cherry Pie’s owner as they might be in cahoots with whomever captured Jenny. He then contacts another person and asks them to watch over “Princess Corinne”.   Nesza tries to meditate by himself. This time, the flame burns silver and he hears inaudible whispers. He goes to Silmer’s dojo to discuss this vision (there is now a “no knocking” sign on the door… so Nesza SAYS “knock knock”). Silmer explains that whatever he’s seeing is meaningful to just him. So he’ll need to dig deeper.   With that, they arrive in Fairhaven. Nesza bids George goodbye for now and tells him to not mess with Gnomes.   Mia approaches Vence about a possible music deal. She writes the lyrics, he composes the song and they can hand it to Cissa to perform. Vence is surprised and amused by this request and is completely onboard.   With that, the group get ready to disembark.