A Tower of Traps, and an unexpected reunion!

1456 Date Unknown...
 
After rousing from a deep drunken sleep, I awoke to the smell of a fine breakfast. The tables were covered in freshly baked loves, salted meats and fine cheeses. I wasted no time plating up some food and finding a comfy chair to rest in. Across the room sat the Tortle we briefly met yesterday, to be honest I wasn't sure if I'd imagined him in my drunken state. He was stroking and petting an asleep Ilemahg. He seemed a bit meek, confused and bewildered by his surroundings and the food laid out on the table. After watching him for a while I decided to approach and find out why he was here. He told me he didn't know where he was or how he got here, and made mention of a tower nearby that had appeared out of nowhere. After the rest of our motley rabble had roused and finished eating we decided to explore this tower the Tortle had spoke of.
 
We headed out of the inn and in the direction of the tower. Not long after spotting it I realised I'd seen this tower before, it was the one we came across in the desert on our way to Arno-Mot. Ilemahg was the first to enter, taking more caution this time. Despite his caution, he still managed to activate the traps, triggering an explosion. To make things worse the senile Tortle kept opening all the barrels in the tower, triggering spike and sword traps within. We reached the second floor and found a large glass bowl with some type of pipe attached to it. Albert determined that it was some type of sacrificial device where by an individual is boiled alive and the fumes smoked through the pipe. He then proceeded to boil his homunculus servant in the pipe and smoke the fumes. Very little seemed to happen, so Tortle took a drag of the pipe and seemed to get some type of benefit from it.
 
After they finished messing with the pipe, we headed to the next floor. There was inane scribblings on covering the walls and several barrels and a chest in the corner. There was also a partially covered painting on the wall. Ilemahg stepped forward once again triggering a trap, this time summoning multiple demons. During the fight with the demons I glanced at the painting on the wall, finding the design and frame to be hilarious. After we finished killing the demons we tried to open the chest. As soon as the Tortle touched it, teeth appeared and it's maw opened wide, a mimic! It latched onto the Tortle biting his arm. We cut down the mimic and set about looting the tower. We grabbed the portrait and the large glass pipe and headed back to the inn. Bombastus was very keen to purchase the items we found and we began bartering our own deals. I secured an exclusive trading contract for the next two years.
 
After finishing our business Bombastus informed us the ship he's hired should be at the underground river by now. We packed up the portrait and the pipe and headed to the tunnel entrance. To my shock and quickly following anger, I discovered the ship Bombastus hired was none other than The Meridian, MY OWN SHIP! That bastard Timothy Silvers had mutinied again! Declaring himself Captain! I should have finished him the first time he attempted to mutiny. He's always been sour since loosing the ship to me in that card game! Bombastus, disinterested in the munity, declared he, Albert and Ilemahg will be going to get the cargo, and suggested I settle this matter before he returns. I wasted no time boarding the ship and challenging Timothy! He went on with his usual excuse of the ship really being his, I wasted no time in attacking, drawing my rapier and slashing across his chest. He surprised me by throwing his sword at me, I thought him a fool until it moved on it's own. The skirmish barely lasted a few minutes, I easily overpowered him once I got rid of that pesky sword. The coward ran, retreating into the ship's hold. I followed, quickly noticing that he'd set up some caltrops and had downed a healing potion.
 
Rather than playing into his hands and trying to fight in the confined space, I decided to instead lock him in the hold. The move clearly caught him off guard as he started spluttering about burning the ship down. This was clearly a bluff as the coward isn't brave enough to risk burning alive locked in a ships hold. With Timothy secured, I next started on the crew. I had no intention to fight them on my own, instead choosing to show the wealth I'd gained in a mere week since leaving Kormul. A flash of platinum and their allegiance was changed, they're simple men after all. Now it was clear who the Captain of the ship was I had the crew set about loading the cargo whilst I inspected the ship. It was clear the ship had been involved in a battle at some point, likely piracy. Once the cargo was loaded I ordered the crew to make the ship ready to sail.
 
An hour or so later, Bombastus and the others returned, empty handed. Apparently Ilemahg had screwed up and lost the cargo, though I noticed he'd somehow procured a bloody blink dog and a new greatsword. We're forming a right menagerie of strange creatures, first a pixie, now a blink dog. I notified Bombastus of our captive in the hold and had him send that echo of his in to finish off Timothy. For the next 10 minutes there was scuffling and the sound of steel clashing but Timothy's fate was sealed. Once dead I headed down into the hold and searched his person. I took back the Captains spyglass and a nice hat Timothy had aquired. The crew finished loading the cargo and we set about getting ready to make sail down the river. It'll about a day to reach Lake Lhesper, hopefully it'll be a peaceful trip.
 
JH