Pirate's Skyhold

Had a lot more trouble finding our way onto the Pirate’s Skyhold than we’d hoped. Local magic shops were out of Levitate and Fly scrolls and none of the spellcasters we approached were willing or able to transport the four of us safely onto the earthmote. The landmass wasn’t tethered to Neverwinter like the other earthmotes in the area and there were no portals or teleportation circles we could use, for good reason. With time running out, Imoen called in several favors and secured a meeting with the sky captain Shil Yargo.
 
Shil let us know upfront that she only agreed to meet with us as a favor to one of her clients. The halfling balked at the idea of going near the Pirate’s Skyhold and demanded more gold for the services of her ship and crew than any of us could ever afford. Imoen was unfazed. Through her contacts, she discovered that Shil had not only traveled to the Pirate’s Skyhold several years ago but made off with one of the skyships on the earthmote. She also learned that a wealthy merchant named Larro Bardatto owed Shil and her crew a large sum of gold but refused to pay due to a petty dispute. The merchant went into hiding and Shil needed the money; skyship maintenance is not cheap. With this information, Imoen offered to find Larro and convince him to pay Shil her gold in exchange for a one-way trip to the Pirate’s Skyhold. By helping us, she argued, Company Yargo would improve its reputation and gain new clients in Neverwinter while bolstering their coffers for very little effort. The halfling stroked her chin and contemplated the offer. Imoen pressed on and asked Shil if she and her crew lacked confidence in surviving another trip to the infamous earthmote. Shil’s face softened into a smirk. Impressed with Imoen’s research and negotiation skills, the sky captain agreed to the deal.
 
After the meeting, Imoen filled us in on her plan. Initially, she hoped we could find a way onto the Pirate’s Skyhold using spell scrolls or one of her spellcaster contacts. When neither of those options panned out, she put her backup plan in motion. She caught wind of Shil and Company Yargo a few years ago and kept tabs on the mercenary outfit. One of the chefs at the Moonstone Mask had owed her a favor and let slip that a wealthy merchant fitting Larro’s description was staying at the inn. The final piece of her plan involved procuring special lapel pins from the Harpers quartermaster; each pin held a single charge of the spell Feather Fall which we could use to leave the earthmote. Brilliant.
 
We decided to split up in the interest of time. Imoen went to the Moonstone Mask to retrieve Shil’s gold. The rest of us returned to Harpers headquarters and paid a visit to the quartermaster. Once we obtained the lapel pins, Henwen, Todac and I made our way to the Docks District where we waited for Imoen to join us. Shortly after sunset, Imoen arrived at our meeting place with Shil’s gold and we made our way to the Buccaneer's Tear. Upon receiving payment, Shil ordered her crew to ready the skyship for flight. Destination Pirate’s Skyhold.
 
Instead of enjoying my ride on the skyship, I kept ruminating over the stories I heard about Pirate’s Skyhold. Shil and her crew performed their duties on deck like clockwork. There were no songs, laughter or banter. You could cut the tension on the ship with a butterknife. To prepare us for the dangers that lay ahead, I began casting a series of long-lasting abjuration spells on myself and the others. Imoen followed suit with magical preparations of her own. As we approached the earthmote, the wind started to pick up. The sky above Pirate’s Skyhold was dark and ominous. Shil steered the Buccaneer's Tear towards a skydock on the main landmass. Moments later, the ship was docked and we were rushed onto the earthmote.
 
We surveyed our surroundings upon stepping foot on the skydock. Though night had fallen, the moon and stars were absent in the sky above us. Strong winds whipped across the landmass. As the Buccaneer's Tear began to depart, the skyship took with it the only source of light we had in the area. Todac with his keen senses and umbral sight spotted a figure in the distance. It was Nix. She seemed to be in the middle of some sort of ritual. As we made our way towards the Storm priestess, the winds grew stronger around us. Upon reaching what appeared to be an old marketplace, we heard a screeching roar erupt from a nearby building and stopped in our tracks. Henwen cast Detect Evil & Good and we got into scouting formation. I took out my wand and readied my Fire Bolt spell. Imoen cast Protection from Evil & Good on herself and unsheathed her silvered daggers. Todac unslung his bow and notched an arrow.
 
A dog-like creature emerged from a collapsed building ahead and galloped towards us. Todac let loose the arrow from his bow and I unleashed my Fire Bolt spell. Our readied attacks found purchase and drove the creature away. Suddenly, a cacophony of nightmarish sounds erupted from the buildings around us. Imoen, with the aid of her Darkvision spell, caught glimpses of creatures moving through the walls of the buildings ahead and motioned for us to hide. We scampered behind a dilapidated wooden building nearby.
 
The winds began to die down as we plotted our next steps. Soon the area was dead silent. Did Nix complete her ritual? Where did those creatures come from? Were they denizens of the earthmote or were they summoned by the Storm priestess? A bloodcurdling roar broke the silence. Todac offered to take a look. I couldn’t see him in the darkness but heard the scales of his armor rustle lightly as he made his way towards the sound. Moments later, Henwen let out a gasp and motioned us away from the walls of the building. She must have sensed something with her divination spell as creatures began to emerge from the walls behind us.
 
Henwen, Imoen and I dashed around the building and tried to put some distance between ourselves and the creatures hunting us. While running back towards the skydock, I realized Todac hadn’t returned and flagged down Henwen and Imoen. We doubled back in search of the ranger. Thankfully, the creatures didn’t appear to have followed us.
 
By the time we reached the marketplace, the moon and stars were starting to emerge from the dark clouds in the sky. Through the faint light, I caught a glimpse of a figure in the distance. Before I could get a good look at who it was, I heard the sound of armor rustling nearby. Moments later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Through labored breaths Todac whispered the words “Nix”, “tentacles” and “run” and proceeded to run off towards the others. I looked up and saw large tentacles squirming in the sky. One of the tentacles seemed to be grasping something but I couldn’t make out what it was. Didn’t have time to get a good look as I heard the sound of a woman’s scream behind me. Trouble.
 
Upon catching up with the others, I saw Imoen sitting propped up against a wall holding her stomach with her left arm. Henwen, visibly shaken, was in the middle of casting a healing spell on her and Todac was busy fighting a large creature with his daggers. I pointed my wand at the creature and directed a mote of fire at it. Imoen was back on her feet by the time Todac and I dispatched our foe. Just as we were about to leave, three dog-like creatures appeared ahead, blocking our path. As I looked back towards the marketplace, I spotted two creatures in the distance galloping towards us. Henwen pushed Imoen out of the way as a creature emerged from the walls of the building to our right and lunged at the halfling.
 
Time seemed to slow down as I saw Todac plunge his daggers in the creature attacking Henwen. I rushed to help Imoen to her feet and saw that the creatures ahead of and behind us were closing in. Faint clock chimes rang in my head as I began to draw and mold magic within me. I pointed my wand at each of the creatures surrounding us and directed my magic towards them. When the clock chimes ceased their ringing, the movement of the creatures around us began to slow. We rushed past the creatures in front of us and made our way back to the skydock. Each of us placed a hand on the Harper pin fastened to our clothes and dove off the earthmote.