False Faces

The crew is dangerous. The work that we do is dangerous. However, for this particular mission we agreed to escort a whole family to a place called Mimic Land. The Captain was pretty transparent when accepting the mission that we were only doing it for the money, and while I enjoy having the money and the prospects of being able to upgrade our ship as much as the next person, I couldn't help but worry that this family would not make it to their desired destination. Upon meeting the family for myself when they met up with our ship, it was clear that they were the type of people that I hated from society. At the time of accepting the mission I refused to enter the High City due to my lack of appropriate attire, but had I known these people were the ones we were going to see I wouldn't have minded treading a bit of dirt on their entryway, even though their servants would have to clean it up. Being around them for the short time I was also reminded me of home, and how I would take any opportunity to escape the never-ending parties and politically charged balls in order to read. Seeing their complete “better than thou” attitudes also explained why they thought having a scavenger ship escort them would be a good idea, they didn't mind the idea of some “excitement”. People like that think they are too rich to die, I thought perhaps this trip would teach them better, I didn't realize how right I would be.
 
The trip to Benzinspace ended up being more dangerous than even I anticipated. The trip started simply enough, we ran into a few undead sharks in the astral sea and took care of them rather easily. We were visited by a group of Devas of Palor who told us of a white dragon that was murdering its own kind and offered a reward if we were to kill it. We took note of the details, but we all looked at each other wearily, we doubted we'd be able to actually kill the Dragon if we came face to face with the creature. It wasn't until we were almost to our destination that things took a real turn for the worst. Rai noticed a large tentacle outside of her dome coming up from underneath the ship. After she re-oriented her dome she communicated to us that a Kraken was on our tail. A kraken in the astral sea is not usual and I was immediately confused and worried. There's no way we could defeat the beast, the only way to survive would be to get it to leave us alone, I however had no idea how to accomplish this. At first Valtish attempted to psychically link with the Kraken to try to convince it that we meant it no harm and that, seeing how he was so far away from water, we'd be willing to lead it to the nearest water planet. The Kraken was not receptive to bargaining and began attacking our ship while we thought of other ways we could avoid death. In the end the Captain asked that Laylin attempt to communicate with the beast and try to convince it instead of Valtish. I don't know how she accomplished this but she managed to get the Kraken to agree to being lead to the water planet. I can understand how she could get humanoids to do what she wants, she uses her body in ways I didn't even think was possible, but convincing this Kraken to allow us to help him shouldn't have been possible and makes me think that there's something more to her persuasive personality than simply flaunting her body around.
 
When we arrive at Mimic Land the family we were escorting offers to pay for our entrances as well as a thank you gift. The entire time the man of the family opened his mouth, it was somehow insulting to the mother of his child. It was disgusting to listen to and we asked the woman if she was alright, she appeared as though she was used to how she was treated and was giving a hollow smile and non-committal answers as they walked toward the park entrance. I hated seeing her treated that way, but if she wasn't receptive to help I wasn't going to force it onto her. I genuinely debated going into the theme park, but ultimately decided to suck it up and go for the experience of being there. The person taking tickets at the front window was missing the majority of his fingers and seemed to hate everything about his job, he even had a scripted response when one of the crew asked him if he was a mimic. I truly did not envy this man or indeed any of the workers that we saw within the park. He told us that adventurers were able to find mimics and kill them and turn their uvulas in for rewards in the adventurer gift shop. The party immediately split up. We lost sight of Valtish, Lottie, and Punkin upon entering the park. The rest of us watched as the child of the family we escorted here walked to a trash can to throw something away and got his arm bit off. Valtish ran over to try to kill the mimic but not before it bit the child's head off. This was how we learned that each ticket comes with one free resurrection, after that there is a hefty charge. I was scared of this place. It appeared bright and cheerful on the surface, only showing the danger when poked by curious patrons. I didn't want to die even if I had a guaranteed resurrection and I did something that I haven't done since I was a child, I took the hand of the person who currently is the best constant in my life, the Captain. I am aware that as a gnome I am small and people do mistake me for a child, I am also aware that I am the youngest person in the crew and as such I may be perceived as helpless, and usually I hate that, but in this moment the need to feel grounded overpowered the need to be viewed as an adult. Luckily the Captain did not seem to mind and let me behave as a scared child as we looked at the rewards in the Adventurer shop, we also discovered there were two shops, one for new timers and one for returning patrons. I made the promise to myself then that I would not be coming back, next time I would simply stay on the ship. There was a couple of items that did draw my attention in the gift shop, a stone speaker crystal, and a painting labeled Constintori's Portrait. The portrait seemed a bit sharp witted and asked Rhui to stop staring while she was investigating it, this meant that I would of course ask it some questions. It turns out that he was painted by an expert artsmith who dabbled in magic and was a gift for a crimelord. He enjoys learning and seeing new things and we decide that if nothing else, we would kill enough mimics to get the painting. We mange to enjoy a few rides and experiences while killing a few mimics without major injury or loss of limb in our party. While I didn't directly kill any of the mimics my crew was still generous enough to buy me the stone speaker crystal before leaving. The Captain took the painting and decided to hang it in the bridge of the ship. At the end of the day we all met up and started toward the parking area when we see Livian, the matriarch of the family we escorted here. She hands us a large bag of coin and tells us we don't need to wait for her family to be revived and that she will make her way back herself. We all take note that she looks notably happier now than she did upon arrival and that in itself made me feel a bit better.
 
We load back onto the ship and notice that Punkin does not make an appearance. We decide to continue onto Nulborn for my mission for Kaiber and we can come back to get Punkin after she's had her fun, she was looking forward to this trip for a long time. It was also around this time that I reminded the Captain that we still needed to send a message to the Unknowable one about whether we would allow them to continue their plan without trying to stop them. It was decided that we would not interrupt the Unknowable One's plans for now, allowing him to get rid of the corruption in the city in his way and that when our goals stopped aligning down the road, we would reassess our agreement. The Captain was hesitant to allow the Unknowable One to do as he pleased, but I made sure to play devil's advocate and remind him that the corruption would still be there and if we were to go against the Unknowable One, not only would we have to defeat him, but then we would also have to purge the corruption ourselves. He reluctantly agreed to a temporary agreement.
 
In our relatively short trip over to Nulborn we unexpectedly see a ship flying a flag that resembles a genie lamp. It appears as if the Captain was curious about the ship and ends up hailing them. When we pull alongside them we see...well...not much. A floating bicorn hat and mustache are waiting on the ship and moves as they answer the questions the Captain asks. They are flying under Mysteon the Mighty, the Captain later would tell us that he thought that ship had been flying for hundreds of years. Stanley the Stalker was the invisible man's name and while he seemed friendly enough, I know that invisible stalkers can be very deadly. I stay on the ship while Captain, Rhui, and Helion travel over to greet the other captain. I am anxious while they are gone and try to busy myself with taking notes on our journey so that this entry would be easier to write and making small talk with Constintori's Portrait. After a while the scouting party comes back and the crew is updated with information that Mysteon the Mighty's ship is entirely crewed by Rhui's kind and that one of them Rhui knew! This was very exciting and when asked if I would go on board to detect thoughts and see if there were any magical reasons that Rhui's friend wouldn't recognize her. It turns out that Mysteon offered to sell the aarakocra to us for the amount that she owes him and this “Valkyrie” was actually Rhui's love from her home who she has been looking for since becoming a member of this crew. Going with Captain and Rhui to speak to Valkyrie was rather enlightening and it became very clear very quickly that she did not remember Rhui and that Rhui was extremely hurt and disheartened by this fact. I casted detect thoughts and determined there was no reason to dig deeper upon her initial thoughts being about hating being on the ship and then wondering why Rhui and Captain would want to talk to her. I would be lying if I wasn't a little annoyed that she was so startled when I spoke, I was standing here the entire time, but I wanted to make sure there was no magical reason she couldn't remember and asked if I could touch her for a moment in order to cast “Identify”. She agreed and asked if she could also pat my head, while I was a bit put out at the idea of another crew member treating me like a child, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy headpats, I agreed and determined that there was no magic at play. We paid for Valkyrie after asking if she'd be willing to travel with us for a while instead, and then made our way back to our ship where her and Rhui went somewhere to talk about the past.
 
I'm not sure what's going to happen with Rhui and Valkyrie, but I hope whatever happens brings them both peace and happiness. I can't imagine not remembering where I came from, and I'm sure it's hard for Rhui knowing the person she was searching for so diligently isn't really the same person anymore. For now Valkyrie is our crewmate and I hope that everyone gets along well, she seems nice enough though a bit standoffish, though after what she's been through perhaps it would be more strange if she wasn't. However, there is no doubt in my mind that Valkyrie will be a great asset in our line of work and I hope she sticks around for a while. Our mission for Kaiber starts tomorrow, we are approaching Nulborn and I'm excited to be a part of some real ground breaking research for a change!