Session 25 - Letters from the Sea of Stars

General Summary

One in a bundle of letters found in the satchel of Tertia Verecundia

1 Aprilis, AUC MMCIII
Quintus,
My pile of letters to you grows and grows. I apologize for the stains on some of the pages - I have begun to wear them inside my armor, so that I will not lose them. Returning to the mortal world so I may see you and Primus and father and mother, and yes, even Secundus, and all my dear nieces and nephews and little cousins....nothing else matters.
Except it does. I second guess and triple guess myself to an extent that is excessive even for me.
When the exquisite Eris (oh but Domitia Secunda would faint from the ecstasy of the young and tragic love song between Eris and Hassan...it is enough to make even an old soldier like me wistful), told me the terms of our salvation would be to aid the return of dread pirates to the waters of Roma, I hesitated. What right had I to doom future merchants and fisherfolk to loss of life and livelihood, so that I could return home?
The pirates did not, at least, enslave their crew. Everyone I saw was healthy, and I did not see any signs of abusive treatment. It made it easier to like the people we were supposed to help. But a friendly thief is still a thief.
So even as I took the necessary steps and said the expected things, my mind chased strategies to destroy the AstroLabe once we were returned to familiar seas. Then raced in reverse speculating that perhaps I should steal it, so the navy could use it to rescue other lost ships. Delusions of effectiveness, as Secundus would say.
In any event, as expected, we were brought before the captain.
(How is he a captain if he is not on a ship...would that not be an admiral? No no, I did not ask him that. I have learned to keep such questions to myself. Mostly.).
The captain sat alone in a makeshift longhouse. The entire settlement was makeshift - the optimistic effort of people who, at best, knew how to build ships, not boats. Working with absurdly limited materials. Scrounging everything they had from other castaway ships or the bodies of bizarre Astral Sea creatures.
One Horn himself is a bizarre specimen...I believe they are called Minotaur. A bull-headed man. (If you want to know what that is, ask your son, as he probably knows more about every fantastical and exotic monster and race ever encountered than any member of the Imperium. Now there is a companion I could use on this trip!) One Horn was every bit as hostile as we’d been led to believe, though pragmatism won out. And to my astonishment, he gave us our own ship. A ship! He must truly be desperate, or be certain that there is no way out other than with his help.
There is not much else to tell about the settlement - I saw so little and my thoughts were bent towards our plans for the future. And I must sleep. We have a ship. We have a map of our destination from the pirate’s navigator. And we have begun to have practice in moving our boat through this strange sea. By thinking about moving. This is my first rest since we set course - we work in shifts to move it, and I should try to sleep now. (I am repeating myself, so I must truly be exhausted.)

4 Aprilis?
We have been at sea for three “days” now. It is both boring and fascinating work, this sailing by mind. Trying not to gaze into the suns that are not suns. The effort has left us little time to converse among ourselves. My inspiration and wit are wrung dry.

5 Aprilis?
Land! Pink. Land. Perturbing, but good to see. Using the eyes of Haruspex and Noctua (who Haruspex is convinced is up to no good), we have examined every stretch of rock for signs of meaningful civilization, but have only seen terrifying creatures leading incomprehensible lives. I doubt even your son could tell me what these are. There is no help to be had there.
The largest island, which we approached last (because it is almost certainly the home of the astral dragon that whose skull we are supposed to crack open), has a region that pulses with colored lights.

7 Aprilis?
We have landed in a pink and pale violet cove and wedged our ship at anchor. We are just outside the perimeter where the lights dance and ebb and flow. Looking at it my hairs stand on end and my stomach clenches. I feel like the light continues inside me, dusting my mind like ostrich feathers.
We rest one more time tonight, then we will be heading overland into the rosy mountains to what we make out to be the center of these lights. Surely there we will find our quarry. And then...do what? Laura, seeming to me as always like a wise quiet child (though I know she is much older than I), has spoken out loud what has occurred to me. This place is so strange, would it not be possible that this Pearl in the dragon’s mind can be simply taken from its mind and given to us? Is there an impossible solution?

8 Aprilis
That.
Well.
I am alive. We have come safe of life and limb from a dragon’s lair, and are soon to take ship away from this island.
We did not kill him. He did not kill us. I cannot fathom why that last, except perhaps he found the whole ordeal an amusing break from boredom. Perhaps he enjoys a surprise?
He was beautiful and terrible. At the end of a twisting subterranean passage - filled with winds of the mind and luminescent crystals - he waited like a sleepy cat watching birds pecking their way towards his reach. Not the least offended that we were there to poach his body for our convenience. He was more concerned we might steal his treasure. The stories tell true that dragons care more for their wealth than any other concern. He said he could be enticed with further treasure to tell us how we might reach home without the use of his mind’s Pearl. I was only puzzled that he did not attack us out of hand to take all that was on us, but rather let us bicker and babble and panic over whether he truly meant it. It was impossible to believe he could be treated with, and yet...we all knew that we had no true desire to destroy this magnificent being like butchers. Or to be destroyed ourselves.
And so.
Hassan and Kleeck sacrificed greatly. I hide my shame that I did not offer the only item of great value I had, but to give away the sword of our family — I could not. I will repay them somehow. After I repay Primus for losing the shipment of oil.
After I safely return home, through the nether end (I think of the end we came through as the mouth, and this one as the...other...I cannot shake this unfortunate image). After we safely navigate back through the sea to that, ahem, orifice. After we then safely navigate in a real sea where you need sailors’ skills (that none of us have) to move a boat, and manage by some stroke of impossible luck not to fall afoul of bad weather or pirates.
It is quite hopeless, I think.
And yet, my heaviest grief right now is for the crew of the Kingfish that we abandon to a fate of piracy. If we had only killed the dragon, they would be going home too.
Minerva forgive me, for I cannot forgive myself. I do not think there was any choice in this where forgiveness was possible.

Rewards Granted

3,000 Experience Points

Missions/Quests Completed

• Major Milestone: Make a deal with One-Horn
• Minor Milestone: Reach the Triad Islands
• Major Milestone: Find the Astral Dragon's Lair
• Major Milestone: Make a deal with the Dragon

Report Date

13 Feb 2021