Session 8: O Captain! My Captain!
General Summary
With the late departure from Aecor's Lull, the Twilight Endeavour sailed until almost the midnight hour before anchoring at a small island. A grassy plain only 45ft across, with a single elm tree and a gentle river running through the centre, Captain Stormwind declared that anyone wishing to spend a night on solid ground may do so. Seeing a crew-bonding opportunity, the ship's cook, Fellen, took some supplies ashore and started a small cookout, with the crew feasting on barbequed fish until the small hours.
Wishing to know more about the imposing Captain Vortex, Sparrow pushed Azanes further on the Quarmaster, Jerome, and his experience with pirates. Azanes confided in Sparrow that Jerome was formerly captain of his own ship, but a pirate attack saw it lost with all hands, including his first mate: his wife. She gently suggested not pursuing the subject with Jerome, telling Sparrow that he didn't have specialist knowledge of pirates, mereley a long-standing grudge.
As the majority of the crew bedded down for the night ashore, Erebus' watch was disturbed by a "HONK! from behind him in the crow's nest. He turned to see a goose pacing around, sniffing out the smell of cooked fish.
Successfully shooed away by Erebus, the goose flapped its way down to the island, where it passed on its harassment campaign to Sparrow as she woke for her watch.
With the goose acting aggressively, Sparrow used her Speak With Animals spell to attempt to talk it down, only to be met with further honking. As the noise began to gradually wake the rest of the crew, Fellen suggested killing it for the ship's food supply. Using a Thorn Whip, Sparrow snagged the bird around the neck, snapping it, and leaving it to fall limp to the ground.
As Fellen approached to recover the cadaver, it began to twitch and writhe, the head falling from the broken neck, and two more growing in its place.
Now quite thoroughly annoyed, the Honkdra emitted a thunderous honk, injuring several of the nearby crew, before taking flight and disappearing into the skies.
The night's strange events had not yet concluded, however. As Sparrow helped Azanes back to sick bay to tend to her own injuries, the body of a dwarf soldier of the Iron Bastion was suddenly noticed, slowly tumbling through the river. Recovering the body, the crew returned to the Endeavour, moving the ship away from the island for a few minutes before continuing their night's rest.
The next morning, Azanes inspected the body of the soldier. There were no external wounds, signs of internal injury, nor were there were any signs of toxins. Her conclusion was that he'd died of asphyxiation, but even that was sketchy as there were no pressure marks around the throat. She declared that "...it appears as though the air was just pulled from his body."
As Fellen served breakfast, Tedric approached Sparrow and Erebus, saying that it was time he told them more about himself. Before he could start, the doors to the captain's cabin opened, and Captain Stormwind called together the crew for an announcement.
To the surprise of everyone except for Sparrow and Marin, Stormwind announced his retirement. They would be arriving in Coral Harbour the next morning, at which point he would be departing the ship for the last time. He formally announced Marin Solis as the ship's new Lightweaver, and the succession of captaincy to the first mate, Erebus.
As the rest of the crew carried on about their business with this new information to process, Stormwind called Erebus into his cabin. As he packed his personal effects, he gave Erebus a quick run down of the ship's logs, including his crew assessments. He handed over a Sending Stone, which connected to their Guild contact, Roran Galewind, telling Erebus it was the ship's lifeline to the Guild, and not to lose it.
After imparting some final advice, Stormwind dismissed Erebus as he finished his preparations to depart.
Around the ship, the crew began to process the news of the captain's retirement in their own ways. Jerome methodically applied himself to his work, Marin attempted to settle in and make herself useful around the ship without being too upfront, Rohesia seemed to withdraw and become sullen and introspective, while Fellen and Azanes both focused more on taking care of everyone else.
During the day's journey, Sparrow paid a visit to the Tortle's Trove, having spoken to Thalun about identifying her torque and the mysterious coin. The torque was mostly just a plain arcane focus, but he drew special attention to the blue, sapphire-like gemstone set into the left side. He was unable to identify the magics imbued within the stone, but identified it as ancient, predating even the Great Sundering. His best guess was that it seemed to be an activation stone for something, but there was no way to know for what.
The coin, having already been identified by Sparrow as a Coin of Fates, was also dated as an artifact of Pax Solacium - the old society of the pre-Sundering world. Though the scratches on it were only superficial, he pointed out that whatever caused them would have had to be an energy release of incredible proportions - perhaps even the Great Sundering itself.
The evening came, and the night passed without incident, with Sparrow and Marin sharing a bonding moment as the dived for shells in the shallow reefs at which the Endeavour had anchored.
Early the next day, the ship arrived at the bustling port town of Coral Harbour. A series of built-up, interconnected islands, swarming with nautical and skyships alike, Coral Harbour was a bustle of activity as the Twilight Endeavour docked.
Saying his final farewells, Captain Stormwind departed the ship, agreeing to meet for a drink later that evening once they'd got settled.
Sparrow paid a hurried visit to the local Skyfarer's Guildhall, which was teeming with fellow Skyfarers taking new jobs and completing old ones, and with a queue of eager new recruits waiting to sign up to start their own adventures.
She spoke briefly to the desk clerk, a fire genasi/elf named Idalia, who seemed to be getting stuck on her own words and increasingly frustrated. The Guildhall Captain - a giff named Caecilius - stepped in to give her a break, explaining that the young woman had been cursed by a fey to only speak in sentences of exactly 10 words. Sparrow asked if there was anything that could be done, but it seemed that short of tracking down the fey responsible and convincing them to lift the curse, all other avenues had already been tried.
Moving onto business, Sparrow asked if Caecilius could tell her the whereabouts of the Dawnscythe - the ship of her elusive uncle Leon. Caecilius records - limited to Coral Harbour - showed it hadn't been seen there for several weeks. He offered to contact the other Guildhalls to try and get a more recent location, which Sparrow accepted, and he suggested she return the next day to see if he had any news.
Returning to the Twilight Endeavour, the crew prepared for an era under new leadership, but in the meantime, the bustling port town of Coral Harbour lay before them, ripe for exploring...
Wishing to know more about the imposing Captain Vortex, Sparrow pushed Azanes further on the Quarmaster, Jerome, and his experience with pirates. Azanes confided in Sparrow that Jerome was formerly captain of his own ship, but a pirate attack saw it lost with all hands, including his first mate: his wife. She gently suggested not pursuing the subject with Jerome, telling Sparrow that he didn't have specialist knowledge of pirates, mereley a long-standing grudge.
As the majority of the crew bedded down for the night ashore, Erebus' watch was disturbed by a "HONK! from behind him in the crow's nest. He turned to see a goose pacing around, sniffing out the smell of cooked fish.
Successfully shooed away by Erebus, the goose flapped its way down to the island, where it passed on its harassment campaign to Sparrow as she woke for her watch.
With the goose acting aggressively, Sparrow used her Speak With Animals spell to attempt to talk it down, only to be met with further honking. As the noise began to gradually wake the rest of the crew, Fellen suggested killing it for the ship's food supply. Using a Thorn Whip, Sparrow snagged the bird around the neck, snapping it, and leaving it to fall limp to the ground.
As Fellen approached to recover the cadaver, it began to twitch and writhe, the head falling from the broken neck, and two more growing in its place.
Now quite thoroughly annoyed, the Honkdra emitted a thunderous honk, injuring several of the nearby crew, before taking flight and disappearing into the skies.
The night's strange events had not yet concluded, however. As Sparrow helped Azanes back to sick bay to tend to her own injuries, the body of a dwarf soldier of the Iron Bastion was suddenly noticed, slowly tumbling through the river. Recovering the body, the crew returned to the Endeavour, moving the ship away from the island for a few minutes before continuing their night's rest.
The next morning, Azanes inspected the body of the soldier. There were no external wounds, signs of internal injury, nor were there were any signs of toxins. Her conclusion was that he'd died of asphyxiation, but even that was sketchy as there were no pressure marks around the throat. She declared that "...it appears as though the air was just pulled from his body."
As Fellen served breakfast, Tedric approached Sparrow and Erebus, saying that it was time he told them more about himself. Before he could start, the doors to the captain's cabin opened, and Captain Stormwind called together the crew for an announcement.
To the surprise of everyone except for Sparrow and Marin, Stormwind announced his retirement. They would be arriving in Coral Harbour the next morning, at which point he would be departing the ship for the last time. He formally announced Marin Solis as the ship's new Lightweaver, and the succession of captaincy to the first mate, Erebus.
As the rest of the crew carried on about their business with this new information to process, Stormwind called Erebus into his cabin. As he packed his personal effects, he gave Erebus a quick run down of the ship's logs, including his crew assessments. He handed over a Sending Stone, which connected to their Guild contact, Roran Galewind, telling Erebus it was the ship's lifeline to the Guild, and not to lose it.
After imparting some final advice, Stormwind dismissed Erebus as he finished his preparations to depart.
Around the ship, the crew began to process the news of the captain's retirement in their own ways. Jerome methodically applied himself to his work, Marin attempted to settle in and make herself useful around the ship without being too upfront, Rohesia seemed to withdraw and become sullen and introspective, while Fellen and Azanes both focused more on taking care of everyone else.
During the day's journey, Sparrow paid a visit to the Tortle's Trove, having spoken to Thalun about identifying her torque and the mysterious coin. The torque was mostly just a plain arcane focus, but he drew special attention to the blue, sapphire-like gemstone set into the left side. He was unable to identify the magics imbued within the stone, but identified it as ancient, predating even the Great Sundering. His best guess was that it seemed to be an activation stone for something, but there was no way to know for what.
The coin, having already been identified by Sparrow as a Coin of Fates, was also dated as an artifact of Pax Solacium - the old society of the pre-Sundering world. Though the scratches on it were only superficial, he pointed out that whatever caused them would have had to be an energy release of incredible proportions - perhaps even the Great Sundering itself.
The evening came, and the night passed without incident, with Sparrow and Marin sharing a bonding moment as the dived for shells in the shallow reefs at which the Endeavour had anchored.
Early the next day, the ship arrived at the bustling port town of Coral Harbour. A series of built-up, interconnected islands, swarming with nautical and skyships alike, Coral Harbour was a bustle of activity as the Twilight Endeavour docked.
Saying his final farewells, Captain Stormwind departed the ship, agreeing to meet for a drink later that evening once they'd got settled.
Sparrow paid a hurried visit to the local Skyfarer's Guildhall, which was teeming with fellow Skyfarers taking new jobs and completing old ones, and with a queue of eager new recruits waiting to sign up to start their own adventures.
She spoke briefly to the desk clerk, a fire genasi/elf named Idalia, who seemed to be getting stuck on her own words and increasingly frustrated. The Guildhall Captain - a giff named Caecilius - stepped in to give her a break, explaining that the young woman had been cursed by a fey to only speak in sentences of exactly 10 words. Sparrow asked if there was anything that could be done, but it seemed that short of tracking down the fey responsible and convincing them to lift the curse, all other avenues had already been tried.
Moving onto business, Sparrow asked if Caecilius could tell her the whereabouts of the Dawnscythe - the ship of her elusive uncle Leon. Caecilius records - limited to Coral Harbour - showed it hadn't been seen there for several weeks. He offered to contact the other Guildhalls to try and get a more recent location, which Sparrow accepted, and he suggested she return the next day to see if he had any news.
Returning to the Twilight Endeavour, the crew prepared for an era under new leadership, but in the meantime, the bustling port town of Coral Harbour lay before them, ripe for exploring...
Report Date
09 Aug 2024
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