Ten Weeks' Rest

It has been ten weeks since we won the Odyssey and took a long-needed vacation in our new mansion in Forcalish. In that time, much has happened.
 
As the champions, we pulled our political power in Forcalish to condemn the Karakedai's attack on Tier Shannigray. This, thank the gods, called a ceasefire. fighting has stopped.
 
Brom felt changes in the Hollow Spirit as the Odyssey came to a close -- to be so close to the Karakedai, in their final showdown (of sorts), but take no action. His armor began to erode (not grow back), his quarterstaff fail during sparring. To that end, he took two steps: working with Harren, our Teregosi diplomat in Forcalish, he sent a rather large money order for armor, "from the elven druids and woodworked in the north". It took many weeks, but he received a fine set of natural elven chain[/] at the end of the wait. More importantly, Brom took time to return to the Sister Isles, to face his family and friends. He hoped it was just a few days, but the trip turned into a few weeks, though Brom returned... different. Better.
 
Cassandra, after being impatient in the political discourse around the Karakedai -- why does this take so long, and why is this simply a condemnation and not more support for the elves? The oracle spent more time withe Margarine, at the behest of Twizzer, the two spending most of their time attempted to spell-proof the mansion with nondetection. She was not alone in this, running into Eragon before corroborating to make the mansion safe for the group. In her remaining time, Cassandra looked through the library of Ioun and others to try and identify her most recent visions: cities, ships, landscapes. she was able to identify the cottage where she saw Deltavros and Phoebe, on Cytos. Of her many visions she experienced over the ten weeks (as Cassandra tried to peer into the future and discern fate), one convened with the Moonweaver, though to no avail.
 
Eragon worked hard during the ten weeks. When not magic-proofing the mansion, he was quickly traveling between town and the mansion, working on "secret projects". In between work and work, he managed to grab Brom when he could to spar. Notably, his skill has caught up to Brom and is seeming to surpass the Sister Isle champion (Brom is noticably worse in melee now).
 
Fathom decided to celebrate the way he knew best -- partying hard, drinking until he passes out, and generally celebrating life. At one point, he woke up with a tattoo on his arm: a heart with "Deltavros", though very unclear as to how he got it. At some point, he collected his wager against the Fatecarvers for the Odyssey (100gp), and somehow got tied up in a gang war in Forcalish.
 
Rohrouk finished (at the beginning of the downtime) his study of elven, finally able to call himself fluent. Gold was spent on magical items, but the lord's real focus was on politics: the Rust-Scale Clan, Dekeli, Tier Shannigray, and Forcalish in general. In terms of Karakedum, Rohrouk sought out someone to conduct covert espionage on the Karakedai (Dwona, a cunning human woman), through Sebastian.


 
Cass wanted to return to Timidaea, taking along all but Rohrouk ("far too busy") on the maiden voyage of the Sharktooth. A haunted isle, Phoebe was not on Timidaea as we had hoped, but a good "ghost of an adventure" nonetheless. There was a song that struck Cassandra, a shanty she had heard long ago, but no one in the group could remember.


 

It Started With A Letter

This is a story of wind and water, of ancient magic and forgotten places. It is a story about death, as is every story, and is about love as is every story worth telling.
 
One morning Eragon, collecting materials in the square of Forcalish temples, was called by a beggar asking for coin. Our wizard obliged, turned only to give it his full attention when the beggar revealed itself to be a raccoon, well-dressed with an instrument in its paws. With a tip of his hat ("m'lady"), Trickster stated simply, "We gotta talk:"
 

 
On his return to the mansion, Eragon met a courier at the door with some of the mail. One stood out in particular, from Lord Rickon Seront, from Loscipulus, sealed with the nobleman's crest in wax. The messenger explained only, with great haste, that it was --
 

A matter of life and death

After getting everyone, Rohrouk opened the letter. Cassandra knew Seront as one of the more influential noble houses, and regarded as "angels" of Loscupulus.
 
"Fatecarvers,
 
"I hope this letter finds you well. Time is short, so I will not extend this missive unduly:
 
"My daughter NAME has been kidnapped by orcish pirates from Drostoza. I have received a message detailing where she is held. As of yet, they have not sent demands.
 
"If possible, I would like to ask for your support in recovering her.
 
"I believe my family has been betrayed by another in Loscipulus. For that, I dare not look for help within our own city.
 
"I will personally bear any expense you make require, as well as something far more valuable: my not-insignificant support for Tier Shannigray in this war against the Karakedai."
 
Signed and sealed by Lord Rickon Seront
 
The island in question lays between Forcalish and Loscipulus.


 
Cassandra sent a sending message to Sebastian, asking about the pirates and the missing girl. He hadn't heard of any kidnappping like that, but as for the location: "I think I know of a crew smuggling out of there, the Horn Skulls."
 
(Much to Brom's delight, Fathom referred to Rohrouk as "Rory")
 
 

The Sharktooth

As this trip would be the official first voyage of the Fatecarvers aboard the Sharktooth, it was down to us to assign roles onboard:
 
Captain Rohrouk, naturally
First Mate Fathom
Bosun Eragon
Quartermaster Brom
 
...with Cassandra as a lookout and surgeon
 
(Brom sassed Cal. Brom is sad at himself)
 
We boarded the ship, made sure everything was squared away, before leaving.
 

Horn Skull

It was less than a day before we sighted land: the smuggler's cove of the Horn Skulls. The actual cove was hidden on the other side of the island, nearly between two mountains (thanks to Margarine's scouting). Cass' familiar also spotted a man in tattered clothes on the beach, nearly dead, as well as a pirate on guard but passed out drunk.
 
Thanks to clairvoyance, Cassandra was able to peer inside the smuggler's den, in a cave at the cove. A mix of humans and orcs comprised the Horn Skulls, perhaps half-a-dozen in all, as well as a minotaur pirate. Eragon and Cassandra worked in tandem, casting greater invisibility on Margarine before sending her into the pirate cove to get a good layout of the area.
 
(Gay. Pirates. Seamen, if you will) Other than the entrance inside, there are four doors that lead inward in the cove: two on a hall, one by the water, and a fourth. There was snuffling behind the first door -- more minotaurs, it seemed. The second -- a W.C.


 
It was easy getting up to the cove entrance -- with the pirate at the door passed out, at Rohrouk's behest the pirate was buried to his neck in sand (Cassandra's move earth) and gagged. We entered via the water, sneaking as best we could through the water and half-swimming.
 
Fathom hits on everyone on the battlefield, friend and foe alike. Mid-fight Rohrouk barred a door where more pirates had been seen, and not too soon after pounding and yelling in panic came through the barrier. More and more pirates spilled into the room, forcing us to spread out and then regroup.
 
With the minotaurs down, and Eragon's slow impeding the rest, the remaining pirates surrendered their weapons. "Where is the prisoner?" -- There is no prisoner. The pirate Rohrouk "interviewed" broke down and gave us nothing. Queremalis ran the crew (before we killed him). We only got that a rum-runner from Drosdoza comes every three-months or so. From what we could reason, the kidnapping may just be pinned on this (unfortunate) crew.
 
We took their coin and their rum, and left.
 

Setup...

It looks like we were given faulty information. Cassandra communicated with a sending to Rahanna, as she is the nearest to the mansion. "Is everything fine with the mansion?" Rahanna noted nothing had changed, but she would check. And after a while: "all seems well".
 
On to Loscipulus, then. Three days' travel, and more to then mystery then.
 
Cassandra was apprehensive to return to Loscipulus (insert explanation of Luce+Cassandra's backstory -- the explanation that she "charmed" Luce and the crew is gold).
 
The first of the three nights voices carried upon the wind across the sea. Whispers at first, slowly, it dawned on each of us that one could make out distinct words, phrases. A loud clang pealed out, and the anchor of our ship fell from its housing as the winds died, all at once. Together, we grouped on the deck:
 
Eragon noticed something in the water, moving just below the surface.
 
As our wizard moved to the port side to investigate, the humanoid form rose up from beneath the depths. Tattered clothes, waterlogged skin -- a corpse.
 
Then, all around the boat, corpse after corpse rose from the depths. Scores surrounded the Sharktooth, and everything was very still. Cassandra heard Thelonius: "Cassandra, he's here."
 
The head of every corpse snapped unnaturally towards us, glowing red-eyed. Then they began to climb up the ship.
 
Fast.
 
"You have no portents, Cassandra."