4. Behold H'Catha
General Summary
Two days after Boatswain Tarto ordered the Abandoned Tyrant Ship to hold their position and wait for backup, the Flighty Foundling arrived with Tarto and Saerthe Abizjn aboard along with more supplies. Saerthe and Tarto took over the mission, with Saerthe at the helm, and the Flighty Foundling returned to Spelljammer Academy with Miken Haverstance, Pffred, and Wizpop (and the bodies of Winston Ryeback and Krik'Lit). Tarto assigned Ithryn Galaxath, Lailyn Vatumleth, and Thriss Valdiiryn to dull tasks as they continued their trek to H'Catha.
Nine days into their voyage, Tarto assigned the crew to clean and organize the ship's Hollow Deck. Lailyn noticed something strange outside heading in the opposite direction. Thriss identified it as an Imperial Star Moth. He explained that he had read about them and they belonged to the Xaryxian Empire, an empire made up of Astral Elves from Xaryxispace, and that they were most likely doing a scientific survey.
Part 1: The Spindle
They reached H'Catha the following day and the three of them climbed down to the surface to locate and retrieve the adamantine meteorite that had struck the spire several days ago.
The meteorite was missing and they found tracks belonging to an Ogre leading to a nearby cavern. Upon entering the cavern, they were greeted by two spectators, Spectators Greelob and Orlob. Greelob and Orlob were accompanied by six gazers, and an ogre was trying to sleep further in.
The spectators were arguing over who should be the sole guardian of the meteor and called for Ithryn, Lailyn, and Thriss to mediate their dispute. Ithryn and Lailyn attempted to distract Greelob and Orlob by asking questions while Thriss attempted to use his Starlight Step to grab the meteorite. However, Thriss was unable to use his Starlight Step. Lailyn suggested that the stronger of the two should guard the meteorite, but failed to persuade them to battle each other. Thriss convinced them that neither should guard the meteorite because it clearly belonged to the ogre. Greelob and Orlob were satisfied with Thriss's solution and left with the six gazers. The ogre was too tired to care about any of this, so they were able to bag the meteorite and return to the ship without issue.
Part 2: Journey Interrupted
With the meteorite in possession, Saerthe set a course for home. The days were spent playing dragonchess and cards between dull tasks. After a few days of travel, Saerthe detected an asteroid coming up on their ship. Tarto ordered the crew to head to the Hollow Deck to investigate. They spotted an extremely large asteroid about a half a mile away.
Before they could report to Tarto, a Githyanki warrior named Qitru riding a Star Lancer decloaked in front of them and demanded they hand over Miken. They tried to convince her that Miken was dead and all that remained of his body was ashes. She seemed opened to that possibility, but demanded proof. Unfortunately, the proof Thriss provided was not enough to satisfy her and she began attacking.
Qitru focused most of her attacks on Lailyn at first, as Lailyn was the one who pissed her off the most. Things seemed pretty hairy at first so Ithryn called for Tarto to help. Things started to turn in their favor and Thriss was able to use his Startlight Step to teleport onto the Star Lancer and delivered the killing blow to Qitru before teleporting back onto the ship. The star lancer fled with Qitru's body on its back. With the threat taken care of, they continued their journey back to Kal Athrys.
Part 3: Homecoming
The day after they returned to the academy, Ithryn, Lailyn, and Thriss were assigned maintenance work on the Flighty Foundling, which was currently docked on the Gymnasium level. A Damselfly Ship docked directly above them and two Giff Shipmates zipped down onto the deck of the Flighty Foundling and ordered everyone to get off "their" ship. Ithryn, Lailyn, and Thriss held their ground and killed the giff shipmates with a little help from academy guards.
Soon after the giff were defeated, they heard an explosion in the direction of the cadet quarters. They hurried in that direction and came across two githyanki warriors, one clutching a greatsword while the other held a badly wounded Miken. A battle ensued and things were not going well until Wizpop showed up to administer potions and two more academy guards showed up to help fight them off. When the githyanki had no chance of getting out of there alive, one of them chased after Miken, killed him, and cut off his head.
Once the extraction force was defeated, everyone got to work gathering bodies and cleaning up the mess. Lailyn discovered the same sigil that was on the explosive device that went off on the Sim Deck on the back of the hand of one of the dead githyanki warriors. Mirt the Merciless confirmed that it was the mark of Vocath's personal retinue and that only the mercane's most trusted operatives earn it.
Graduation
Graduation took place one week later, on 1810.3205. The three of them were brought forward and recognized for their deeds with great fanfare and were rewarded gifts for their heroism. Of the available items, Ithryn chose a Celestian Coil, Lailyn chose a bag of holding, and Thriss chose an Eldritch Coil. Each of them also received 50 platinum pieces. After graduation, they were dispatched to Dremen to wait for their ship assignment (the three of them opted to enroll in a placement program rather than join the Spelljammer ranks).
Star Date
1809.3205 to 1910.3205
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