A Siren's Song - Session Two

General Summary

Last time on A Siren’s Song…
We find our party waking for the day after an uneventful night on the water where all watches went without incident. Nabia gathers everyone belowdecks for a discussion and a breakfast prepared by Joseph who she has chosen to call Jerry going forward. She asks about his past and if he knew his birth name, but it has been so long, that Joseph/Jerry doesn’t remember it.
Nabia brings up the pressing issue that they probably need to change the appearance of the ship with Jerry confirming that Mr Wavecrest did in fact, out of extravagance, have his sails specially dyed the dark, burgundy, red that they are. They are one-of-a-kind and the ship is immediately recognizable.
Jerry informs the party that there is a sailmaker on the island of Jade Veil Reach at Obsidian Harbor who dyed Mr. Wavecrest’s sails to their current state and that she does very good work, but most importantly, she’s discreet and will turn a blind eye to the commandeered ship. It is decided that’s where they will go and conveniently it’s on their way to Coral Cove.
As the conversation ends and the party digs into their breakfast, a bright flash of light occurs and before them a creature appears, a tortle, who introduces himself as Zalphid. He seems to be in moderate distress as he asks, pointedly and continuously, what year it is and where he’s at and where he can find star charts. The party, however, is having none of it. They want to know how he’s just suddenly here.
The back and forth continues until Kodos concludes that there is a certain familiarity about Zalphid, like he’s possibly met him before, but he’s inconclusive about it. Over the course of the discussion, the boat begins to rock and sway a little more than usual. This is something that immediately affects Zalphid as he vomits several times due to not having his sea-legs yet. This intensifies his franticness as he storms away to the top deck.
A heavy gale has rolled in, but the party mans their stations with confidence and the ship survives completely unscathed. The remainder of the day goes without a hitch and the party begins preparations for divvying up watches. Kodos volunteers for first watch. For the second watch Lalrihyn will show Zalphid what taking a watch means as Zalphid has no understanding of anything of this world. And finally, the third watch will be covered by Nabia and Feeshi.
Kodos’ watch went without trouble. He did note a bright light on the horizon starboard (south) of the boat, but it never grew closer or further. Lalrihyn’s and Zalphid’s watch was a little more eventful. Kodos did inform them of the light on the horizon, but a heavy fog moved in obscuring further observation. Zalphid managed to generally annoy Lalrihyn with all his questions.
The third watch was the most eventful. In the thick of the fog a raiding party of four koalinths ambushed the ship and wounded Feeshi severely as he rang the ship’s bell to alert the sleeping members of the party below. Feeshi then took to the sail rigging to make him a harder target to hit. The party managed to down the koalinths without much further trouble. Feeshi got his retribution as he downed one of the raiders. Zalphid destroyed two and our captain, Nabia gravely injured the last sending him overboard to his death.
As the light of day began to break through the fog, our party finally sights Jade Veil Reach on the horizon. They sail into port and Nabia, Feeshi, and Zalphid disembark leaving Lalrihyn, Kodos, and Jerry behind. The disembarking trio make for what appears to be the main hut hoping to secure information. They quickly discover that this is a village of Lizard folk, although instead of their usual aggression, they’re indifferent.
Nabia, Feeshi, and Zalphid enter the hut, and without any knowledge of decorum, Zalphid word-vomits his need for star charts. Nabia quietly scolds Zalphid, letting him know that she has them and asks the chieftain, instead, for a sailmaker. He directs her down the coast a bit to Naiara Seasong, a water genasi. This flusters Nabia a bit and she asks if Naiara is beautiful, to which the chieftain says by her kind’s standards, yes. Nabia quickly excuses herself, Feeshi, and Zalphid as they make for Naiara’s shop.
Meanwhile, back at the boat, Kodos has set out a box to collect alms and bless anyone interested. He encounters another of the lizard folk who he finds is on a pilgrimage to the Heart of Jade, the sacred well at the center of the island, for which the Veilwatcher’s Solstice is about to begin. Apparently, the past two harvests have failed, and things are dire. The lizard man asks Kodos if they’re here to help, but Kodos remains non-committal but offers his blessings for a donation to which the lizard man offers a bit of silver.
Back at the shop as dusk descends, the trio enter the shadowy shop and find Naiara hard at work repairing a sail in a back corner under lamplight. Nabia is immediately taken by Naiara’s beauty as Naiara immediately comes onto Nabia. Zalphid attempts to interrupt the passionate conversation multiple times but is rebuffed each time as Nabia blasts him with a gust of wind and he is spun out of the shop.
An agreement is reached to where so long as Nabia returns and offers her time to Naiara, she’ll recolor the boat sails free of charge and work on drawing up the paperwork to have the boat renamed to Nabia’s liking.
Frustrated with Zalphid’s intrusions, Nabia retrieves him as he is stuck on his back. However, she drags him back to the boat by his foot while still on his back with Feeshi basically surfing on his belly. The party boards the boat to move it to Naiara’s shop as she’ll start on the transformation in the morning. Once docked, Nabia excuses herself to return to Naiara and whatever the night brings.
Meanwhile, safely in port, the remainder of the party go about their routine. Kodos notices two sea elves fishing nearby and goes to talk to them about receiving the blessings of Persana. Feeshi and Zalphid follow and Feeshi ends up receiving a pint of Bul from the two fishermen. Zalphid continues his incessant line of questioning about star maps. The sea elves happen to be dim-witted, surprisingly, maybe due to the Bul liquor, and dismiss Zalphid.
Kodos takes a fishing pole and casts a line as he’s given up on these two. Somehow, he manages to hook an enormous fish, which, once landed, turns out to be a shark. They gut the beast right there on the dock as Zalphid goes burrowing through its entrails.
Soon enough, morning comes, and Nabia returns to the boat with a sure skip in her step and a grin on her face, but there is business to attend to. Zalphid asks about the star maps that were discovered in her quarters. The star map, however, confuses Zalphid.
Kodos overhears Zalphid’s frustration and mentions what the lizard man had told him, so together, Zalphid and Kodos go find the lore master/historian of the village. They reach the chieftain once more and ask where the lore master can be found. The reply brings distress to Zalphid. The lore master is not in the village. He is at the sacred well preparing for the Solstice. Zalphid then asks where his home is at. The chieftain points to a hut not too far down the boardwalk.
Kodos and Zalphid go to the hut and begin searching through the belongings, although there is not much to see. There is a small desk in the corner where Zalphid finds a manuscript of what appears to be history so far as the lizard folk perceive it. What Zalphid finds in the manuscript distresses him as the only catastrophe mentioned happened much more recently than expected.
Kodos notices a map of the island on the wall. He rips it down to help them find the sacred well, but for now, the two return to the boat, noting that the rigging is beginning to be removed, and this is where we fall into our respective roles. What would you like to do?

Report Date

23 Oct 2023