6-26-24, 8th/9th of Eleasis

8th of Eleasis, Late Night

Atalaya, Nevil, Boz return to the ship after finishing their meal with Captain Hawk, 

Those who had remained on board the Hond Ebrarth were having a game night.  (Cirilli, Inman, Sorrow.  Ivar also joins in.)  They are teaching Cirilli to play Chess.

As they settle down the topic of books comes up and suddenly the black book that the raven had delivered to them was remembered and Atalaya dug it out of her pack.  

Sorrow expresses interest in the book and where it came from and we tell about how the raven dropped it in the doorway of the bookstore (Stumpy’s Fallen Leaves) we were at the day we realized that Sorrow had been taken. (7th of Eleasis?)  We discuss whether there are any magic traps on the book and Inman reminds us that he had checked for magic and not found any.  Nevil wasn’t sure about that then or now.  Nevil asked Inman, “Why don’t you open it?”

Inman, “Where do you want to do this?”
Nevil, “On the open deck.”

Inman uses his mage hand cantrip to take the book out to the deck and opens it there. The mage hand opens the book, turning over the cover.   No explosions or releases of angry monsters.  The pages ruffle a bit, as if a breeze blew over the book.  

Inman examines the book and says, “It’s all handwritten.  It’s a journal.  Nevil asks which language the journal is written in and Inman responds, “In Common.”  His eyes follow the waverly brown script across the pages reading bits outloud to those gathered around him.   We start to read the book.  It is a journal written by an unnamed female author who is taken in by a band of Gurs after breaking her leg. It contains information about daily life with the Gurs and information about the Gurs that was unknown to Boz.  He is very interested in the book. Boz is standing right behind him, trying to read over his shoulder.

The writer of the journal seems to believe all the information she writes in the journal about the Gurs.  The band of Gurs she is traveling with are called the Vistuni.  

As he turns the pages, a folded piece of paper falls out of the journal.  It is a map.  They look at it, not sure what it represents and wary of the large script at the top that says “Evil Beware”.   We are not sure where the land represented in the map is and decide that tomorrow we need to stop at a cartography shop to see if we can acquire a map of the region and a more detailed map of the land between here and Baldar’s Gate. 

We eventually decide to turn in after setting up watches.  (We had given the crew the night off, in appreciation of the extra watches/babysitting of the prisoner they had needed to do since we were “graced” with Skarne’s presence.)  Atalaya says that she will take over the watch after she gets her 4 hours of trancing in.  Nevil agrees to take the first watch.  There is some going and coming along the docks, guards are patrolling the area.  The sounds of people laughing and making their way to and from the ships around us are heard.  Nothing unusual  happens.

When Atalaya comes back to consciousness and makes her way to the upper decks to relieve the watch she is surprised to find Nevil still on guard.   She sends Nevil to bed and takes over.  Intermittent strolls around the decks help her keep her attention on the ship and what was happening around her.  It is a quiet night with little stirring but the town guards along the docks. 

A couple of hours later Boz joins Atalaya to finish out her watch.  They talk quietly as they make their way around the decks or stand along the ships side watching the dock area.  

 

Copy from game handouts:

Book Description

This thin book bears no title inside or out, though the keepers of Candlekeep cataloged it as the Book of the Raven based on how it was received. Its covers are cracked, unvarnished thin sheets of black oak covered with bird scratches and little indentations made by pecking beaks. Bound with black wire between these covers are thirty-three pages that have yellowed with age and wrinkled from moisture. Each page bears tiny, blotchy brown script written in an unsteady hand by an unidentified author.

If the book is left open and unattended, its pages flutter and rustle as though stirred by a silent wind.

Tale of Vistani Kindness

The Book of the Raven is the firsthand account (written in Common) of an anonymous author who, after falling off her horse and breaking her leg, was rescued and befriended by Vistani travelers who graciously nursed her back to health. The author and her horse traveled with the Vistani for three months, during which the author spent most of her time laid up in a Vistani covered wagon, where she took to writing this book to pass the time. Although a dozen Vistani are colorfully described in the tome, only two are mentioned by name: Drasha, a teenaged girl who applied bandages and poultices to the author’s wounded leg, and Darzin, a one-armed boy with a terrible fear of wolves who sang beautiful songs to help the author take her mind off the pain.

The book provides a detailed account of the Vistani way of life, with emphasis on their food and music. Their overland journey is also discussed, albeit from the viewpoint of one who spent most of it inside a covered wagon. The author describes rough roads, days of travel through impenetrable mist and thick forest, crackling fires on cold nights, wolves howling in the dead of night, and ravens pecking at the roof of the wagon in the wee hours of the morning.

Late in the book, the author writes of being able to hobble about on crutches. She describes the cheery mood of her benefactors as the Vistani caravan traveled a winding mountain road to the gates of a tall, dark castle. The book ends with a description of the castle’s dreadful countenance. The writing abruptly stops on the third-to-last page, suggesting that the book was snatched from the author in midsentence. The last two pages are blank.

Vistani Lore

Characters who read the Book of the Raven learn the following information about the Vistani:

• The Vistani are planar travelers often encountered in the Shadowfell, and they seem to be immune to the despair that besets all other visitors to that plane. They travel in horse-drawn, barrel-shaped wagons and have no permanent home.

• The Vistani display their wealth openly as a sign of prosperity, sharing their good fortune with friends and strangers alike. Vistani resolve disagreements through contests that end with reconciliatory singing, dancing, and storytelling.

• Vistani families can be big or small, but each family is a gerontocracy, with the oldest member ruling the roost. This elder has most of the responsibility for enforcing traditions, settling disputes, setting the course for the group’s travels, and preserving the Vistani way of life.

• The Vistani have the power—some say gift—to travel through the mists that lead to forlorn realms within the Shadowfell known as the Domains of Dread, where creatures born in darkness dwell. This “gift” was thrust upon them by mysterious entities called the Dark Powers as a boon for their kindness toward strangers.

• The Vistani believe that ravens carry lost souls within them. Hence, killing a raven is considered bad luck in Vistani culture.

Map from the Journal

Morning 9th of Eleasis

We make and eat breakfast, including coffee and bacon.   

After eating and cleaning up, they get themselves ready to go into town and then out to the ruined manor.  

The Cartography Shoppe

We find our way to a shop called Wander’s Way.  A sign hangs above the door with the shop’s name and footprints making their way across the bottom of the sign and off the edge.  To the right of the shops name is a stylized compass with a quill superimposed over it.  Going in we are met by a grey haired halfling who is wearing spectacles.  He introduces himself as Oderic Wanderfoot.

He greets us and Atalaya asks for a map of the coast, showing the towns inland from the coast.  The halfling starts pulling out map scrolls and lays one out for them to look at.  

Nevil asks about Wytchway, saying that she has a bet with a wizard regarding its location.  He says that it is an old abandoned town.  They banter about it as he finds another map that shows the local area including Wytchway.  He says that Wytchway is north and east of Blue Haven.  The map that he shows us is similar to the one that we have.  We see a new name on his map though, Chalet Brantifax in the area where the building with the bats flying around it.  He proceeds to tell us information about that place when asked.  His words echo those we have already heard, that is, the Chalet had belonged to a kind lord who had a wife and two children.  The children died.  The lord wasn’t the same after his wife died.  He passed away sometime ago. 

We buy the two maps for 2 silvers.  When asked about the seemingly low price, he says that his apprentices make them and that he has a lot of them.  Nevil continues to banter with him about her bet with the wizard.  We are sure that the map with Chalet

 Brantifax and the one from the journal match. 

The Chauntean Temple

We start to head out to the Chauntean temple, but realize that we should get our horses before we leave town.  We find the livery stable                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       and talk to the proprietor about renting horses for the day.  We ask for 4 riding horses.  Cirilli will be riding on Nevil’s Shep (spell horse) and Sorrow says that he can now summon a spell horse to ride.  We rent four horses for the day for 9 gp each but also have to give collateral of 60 gp per horse to ensure their return.  We lead the horses while in town. We make our way to the Chauntean temple and ask for Mother Bettewhyte.  She greets us and asks what she can do for us.  We say that we are here to make donations for the “inspections” she did the previous day for the men and Cirilli and also for the ritual to purify the demon’s head.  Atalaya give her 40 gp for the inspections and after a bit of give and take with Nevil, Nevil makes a donation of 40 gp for the ritual and healing home visits.

When Mother Bette asks what else she can do for us, we remind her that we were going to pick up the books (if any) that she had found for us in the temple’s library.  She gives us a satchel with 6 books in it.  We thank her for the books and Atalaya gives her another donation of  60 gp.  Mother Bette expresses her appreciation of the donation as she adds it to the box for the poor.  

We leave and when out of sight of the temple Sorrow will call his steed, Virgil.  Virgil is kind of see-through.  We can see his bones and he glows.  Boz makes a comment about this and Sorrow does something that makes the bones seem to be on fire and asks if that is better.   Sorrow mounts up.  

Nevil then calls Shep and introduces Cirilli to him. Cirilli says that Shep is “beautiful.”  She immediately falls in love with Shep, and Shep seems taken with her.  He is much more standoffish with Inman.  

On the Way to the Manor Ruins

The party heads out following the Countess’ directions to the manor ruins.  We ride off, frequently trotting, but at times Nevil will “race” with Shep moving into an easy canter so that Cirilli can experience the fast movement and the wind in her hair.  The rest of us keep up with them, though staying slightly behind.  Eventually we see an abandoned village that we think might be Wytchway. The village seems overgrown and with the home thatched roofs falling in.  The fields have some trees growing in them and the dirt seems to be disturbed.  Looking at it, it seems that perhaps someone was digging here.  

The Boar Fight

Nevil tells Shep to watch the horses as we prepare to get down and look around the village.  When we dismount we feel a vibration through the ground and then several huge giant boars are sighted coming around the corners of some of the homes.  The boar is big enough that it could be ridden.  

The boars snort and sniff as they round the corners.  They move quickly and when they become aware of us, make their way very quickly towards us.  

Watching the boars approaching, Boz and Atalaya turn to Cirilli and get her hoisted into the nearby tree for safety and she works her way into a spot where she is able to shoot without being too impeded by the branches..

Vaz:  then turns and takes a shot at the boar that is approaching the closest to us.  He misses his shot.

Cirilli:  also tries to get a quick shot off.  She also misses.

Petunia (Boar): dashes towards the trees.

Boss (Boar):  dashes towards Boz.  

Sorrow:  

Atalaya:  moves towards the other tree to get a better angle on Boss and shoots two arrows towards him.  Both hit, causing 13 and 11 points of damage.

Napoleon (Boar):   moves towards the tree that Atalaya is near.

Nevil:  Runs around the tree to reach Boss and “smacks” him with her morningstar.  The first hit causes 7 points of damage.  She fumbles the second blow, loosing her balance and falls down face first (prone) and quickly pulls her shield over her and hides under it.  

Porky (Boar):  Dashes towards the fighting area.

Inman:  Casts Scorching Ray:  1st ray misses,  2nd ray hits Boss and he falls down (killed).  3rd ray hits Napoleon doing 5 points of damage.

[End]

 

6-13-24; 7th/8th of Eleasis

 Game Notes 6-13-24

Continuation of 7th of Eleasis

Leaving the 2nd Floor of Frost’s Place

We are huddled down in the public sitting room for one of the rooms Inman obtained for us on the second floor.  Last session we had done what we could to heal Sorrow, but he is really weak.  We move Sorrow into the bedroom with Nevil and Inman planning to keep guard over him while Atalaya and Boz plan to head back upstairs and remove the dead bodies.    

Before Atalaya can leave, we hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.  Sounds like maybe the orc bouncers from the bar below.  Nevil nods to Inman and gestures to the blood splatter on her clothes and that of the others.

Inman quickly performs several prestidigitation cantrips to clean up their clothing and weapons from any blood splatter. 

With a gruff, “What was all that noise up here?” The orc bouncer investigation is confirmed.  Short on options for a cover, Atalaya starts “pawing” and kissing Vaz while Nevil slams Inman up against the wall and starts a heavy and overly rough make out session.  Their efforts bang walls and slide furniture.  

When an orc pokes his head into the room and asks “What’s going on?” 

“Wait your turn”  Nevil giggled as Inman nibbled her neck.

With a suspicious look, “What was all that noise?”  barked the orc.

“What noise?  What did it sound like?” Nevil played dumb.

“Like a big fight.” the orc replied carefully looking over the shockingly well armored but spotless group.

“We assumed it was an early brawl down at the bar or in the street. But as long as it stays out there we don't care.” grinned Nevil.

The orc turns back into the hallway as a few more begin checking the other rooms.  The group exchanged glances and listened carefully.  Inman leans his head into Nevil’s neck as Nevil enjoys continuing to provide cover.  He enters a trance to enter his familiar’s sight to see what is happening outside the room.  Inman whispers to Nevil and the others what he sees. The orcs search each room on the floor, banging on doors and talking to whoever else they find.

Boz is clearly enjoying teasing Atalaya as she continues to fawn over him while considering the plan with Nevil.  Nigil sees one of the orcs head back downstairs.  He also sees a male dressed in red armor.

Inman comes out of his trance and laughs at Nevil and the general scene as the group flounders to look convincing. Nevil says quietly to Inman, “Quit laughing, I’m doing my best here.”

Then after exclamations from orcs discovering the bloody mess up stairs, a male in red armor enters the doorway and looks hard at the group still floundering to appear convincing.  

The assumed Thayian asks, “How long have you been here and what have you been doing up here?”

Doubling down on their cover story, Atalaya remains focused on Boz, who is clearly continuing to enjoy Atalaya’s “acting” as he closely watches Nevil’s interactions with a sly grin.  Inman stops and looks annoyed, as Nevil takes offense.  “Good lord man, what does it look like? We are on shore leave.  Do you question every visiting sailor coming through here like this?  This is ridiculous.  Let's go to that other tavern.” Nevil begins to lead the group downstairs feigning ignorance.

Atalaya and Boz support Sorrow who is trying his best to look drunk.  Supporting him as the group begins to attempt to make their way out of the room.  

One of the orcs comes down the hall.  The Thayian stops them and points with authority back into the room, saying, “I think we have some questions for you.  There has been an “incident” upstairs.”

“What kind of incident? I guess that noise was from upstairs.” replies Nevil.

“There are several dead Thayians and blood everywhere and no one knows your faces around here.”

Nevil looks shocked and grows even more exacerbated, “Dead Thayians!  Nope. Nope. We want nothing to do with them. We are out of here.”  She looks at Inman, “I told you not the cheapest shit hole tonight. No, we are going to that other place.  Having wasted half our leave already.” He looks miffed at the situation, carrying a long stare at the guards, as Nevil moves past the Interrogator with a convincing bluff. 

With no protest from the guards, but still being followed closely, the group makes their way down stairs and behind the bar.

Frost glares at us from beside an over-sized orc and says, “I didn’t want any trouble.  What did you do?”

Nevil says that “We are out of here.  What the hell kind of place do you run here?”

Another orc comes down and says that “the whole third floor is a blood bath.” The armored thayian blocks the exit, “several of us are dead. And we have questions.”

Noting that Nevil is clean but a bit battle worn, Inman gets a little rough with Nevil with his feigned amorous intentions. both play the part attempting to pass it off again. Frost walks over and inspects us for blood stains or other signs of a fight on us.  

Then Frost recognizes Sorrow and says, “Oh, I see.” He turns to the orcs, “This is them.”  He turns to us and says, “I think you all should take a seat.”

Nevil, “F*** that!”

Frost, “I think I know what happened.”

Orc, “I think you should listen to what Mr. Frost says.”

The Bar Fight with the Thayians

The large Thayian comes down the stairs into the area behind the bar.  (Tash).  Blocking the exit.  “Oh it was you.”  

Nevil and Inman's demeanor immediately change and turn cold and direct as the group postures for battle.

Frost glared at the Thayian, “I told you to stay out of trouble.”

Nevil turns to Frost, “This guy has been a real pain in our ass.  You want us to kill this guy and clean this little problem up?”

Frost and the Thayian exchange tense glances.  Frost gestures to his bouncers to stand down, “I see nothing.  Make sure nothing happens to my bar. And clean it up.”

Battle begins.

Those nearest to Sorrow push him towards the door out of the bar.  

Atalaya takes two shots at the Thayian, but misses both.  She places her Hunters mark (6) on him and moves to get a better shot at him on her next turn.

Tash (the Thayian) pulls out his longsword and swings at Nevil.  He misses her but connects with her on the second swing for 6 points of damage to her.

Boz:  Draws his sword and lunges at Tash, but falls down and drops his sword.

(At the bar, Frost shakes his head and takes a drink.)

Inman:  Casts Scorching Ray at 3rd level.  The first 3 rays all hit, with the last a critical hit, causing a total of 29 points of damage.  The last ray slides across the bar and fizzles out.  Inman activates his Blade song. The Thayian rolls back on his heels and swears.

Nevil:  Using her mace, takes two swings at Tash.  They both hit, with the first being a critical hit for a total of 20 points of damage.

Aiya:  A female Thayian warrior makes her way up the stairs from the basement below.  Atalaya hears and turns to see her burst into the bar and hurl 2 javelins at Nevil.  The first misses, but the second hits Nevil causing 9 points of damage.

Sorrow: remains standing near the doorway out of the bar.

Atalaya:  Shoots her longbow hitting Aiya with both arrows for a total of 18 points of damage.

Tash: Disengages and heads to the door where Sorrow is.

Boz:  Stands up, picking up his sword as he does so, pushes past Inman and shoots at Tash, hitting and killing him.  Tash’s body is pinned to the doorframe. 

Inman casts Scorching Ray again, at 3rd level at Aiya.  Only one ray actually hits her causing 10 points of damage. 

Seeing the rays shooting across the area Frost and 2 orcs start yelling, “Hey, hey, hey!”  Frost adds, “If you come back here I’m going to get Bumper to nail your heads to the wall.”

Nevil:  cooly walks past Frost, gripping her mace preparing to strike Aiya near the basement stairs (30 feet movement). Both swings miss.

Aiya:  Uses another javelin as a melee weapon.  Her first strike hits causing 5 points of damage.  The second misses.  

Sorrow:  Checks on Tash, making sure that he is dead.

Atalaya:  Takes two more shots at Aiya, both hitting her in the chest as she is attempting to dodge Nevil’s swings and she falls to the floor, dead.

Nevil casually grabs a bottle of alcohol from behind the bar, tosses 5 gold on the bar near Frost, takes a swig, and starts to loot the dead Thayian (Aiya).  Taking her javelins, and holy symbol.

Frost yells “The deal was you'd clean up.”

The group stuffs the bodies from the bar area and the third floor into Atalaya's bag of holding.   Inman uses his prestidigitation cantrips to remove any blood splatters in both the bar area and on the third floor. 

We leave, Atalaya and Boz supporting Sorrow on either side as we head back to the ship.  

Evening Talk with Mother Bettewhyte on the Hond Ebrath 

We make it back to the Hond Ebrath and make our way to the common room below deck.  Cirilli, watching for our return, flies to Sorrow, very concerned about him.  When we get below deck, Mother Bettewhyte is there waiting on our return.  As we assist Sorrow to his hammock, she asks if we need any help. 

Nevil says, “Yes.  It’s not a curse. Our healing is not working. She did this odd ‘kissy thing.’

Mother Bettewhyte openly speculates, “a kiss of death?” She looks him over closely, “I think he just needs a good rest.” She puts her hands on his head and a warm glow descends upon Sorrow. Afterwards she says, “He is just exhausted.” 

Nevil asks her, “We defeated the demon and only have her head.  Should we do anything else to prevent her return?”

Mother Bettewhyte thinks for a moment and then says, “Some salt perhaps?  We can do a purification rite.”  She turns back to Sorrow and places her hands over his eyes and whispers something.  Sorrow goes into a deep sleep.

Mother then turns to the rest of us.  “Do any of the rest of you need any healing?”  Nevil admits that she needs help and the priestess performs a healing spell, granting her 12 points of healing.  She then adds, “It looks like you all need some rest.”

Nevil, remembering that she was supposed to meet the Harpers at the Wind Rose, quickly pens a note to Shen and finds a dock runner to take the note to him.  She promises the ‘boy’ (she believes it is really a young girl) a gold piece on his return with a response from Shen. 

Mother Bettewhyte, after looking all of us over, decides more healing is needed and performs a group healing invocation that grants up to 22 points of healing for those in need of it.  

Nevil and the Mother talk some more briefly, with Mother Bettewhyte saying that she hopes that Sorrow is able to sleep through the night.

Nevil tries to convince her to spend the night onboard the ship, but Mother says that she needs to get back to the temple.  The other priestesses/priests will worry if she doesn’t come back and send out searchers.  The Mother promises to return in the morning to check on Sorrow.  

Boz and Atalaya sit with Sorrow as Cirilli makes herself look busy making tea and fussing with everyone, hoping that Atalaya will forget to send her to bed.  

Sipping her tea, Nevil asks Cirilli if anything happened on the ship while we were gone.  Cirilli says that nothing really happened.  She and Ivar paced a lot and kept watch.  

Nevil decides to talk briefly with Skarne (with Inman there as back up).  She wants to let him know that we have killed Pencheska.  Skarne says that he is not sad to hear that she is dead and then asks if she will be able to return.  Nevil says that we hope not.

Skarne asks, “Now what?”

Nevil says that “tomorrow morning we will talk with the Harpers about his “retirement.”  

The urchin eventually returns with a response from Shen and Nevil pays the dock runner his/her gold piece.  The note says that he will be waiting for her in the morning.

Boz and Atalaya take the first watch until Boz gets sleepy.  Atalaya sends him to bed and continues watching until Nevil or Inman come to take over the watch.  Before midnight she makes 10 more Goodberries (see roll in Pillars) (She then heads to her cabin and goes into trance for the next 4 hours)

The night passes uneventfully.

8th of Eleasis

Early morning on board the Hond Ebrath

The day dawns.  It is windy with intermittent rain.  The boat is bobbing around a bit in its moorings.

Upon awakening Sorrow looks better.  He is still a little bleary eyed, but overall is much better.  When Boz and Atalaya make their way out, Nevil excuses herself and allows the three (longer term friends) private time.

Sorrow wants coffee.  Lots of coffee, almost begging Atalaya to ask someone to make him some.  

Atalaya replies, “Yes, all you want.”  

Sorrow carefully gets up.  “I feel a lot better.”  He makes his way to the table and his coffee.  “I remember some of it,” he says, meaning what happened to him.  He also adds, “I don’t know why she is so insistent,” and also, “Maybe because I have no defense against her.”  

“She gets in your mind like I do and uses your weaknesses against you.” He explained.

“If you ever need to talk to bolster your mind, I'm sure any of us wouldn't mind.” Nevil offered.  

We continue to talk about what happened to him.  

Sorrow adds, “I really miss Joan a lot.  We’ve been together since we were  teenagers.  I was really happy to think that she had caught up to us.”

We discuss breakfast plans.  Nevil needs to go to the Wind Rose to meet with the Harpers.  Atalaya alone will accompany her.  The others decide to remain on the Hond Ebrath.  

Breakfast at the Wind Rose

Nevil and Atalaya  make their way to the Wind Rose.  There are not many people in the tavern when we arrive.  We sit down at a smaller table near a wall and wait for our order to be taken.  When the waitress arrives we order a hearty breakfast and “lots of coffee.”  She leaves to take our order to the kitchen.  

Shortly after that Shen comes to the table and greets Nevil.  “You will be having the special today?”

Nevil , “Yes please. It's been a hell of a night.”

Shen says that they will be serving the special in the side room.  We move to the side room and see an old man (of indeterminate age) sitting at a table.  He has a long beard.  Nevil is relieved that she does not know him.

Shen addressed the old man saying, “Grandfather, these are my friends that wanted to meet you.  I think that you will have some things in common to talk about.”  Shen leaves to prepare the breakfast.

The old man and Nevil exchange courtesies and work in the Harper’s codes and gestures confirming each other's association with the Harpers.  Nevil noticeably relaxes once they complete the identification process.  

The old man introduces himself as Li Zhao.  Nevil gets by without having to reveal her name and especially not having to use the name of Magrim.  

Nevil explains to Li Zhao, “we need help with two things.  We need to run a message down the whole line.  Cultists are attempting to awaken Vecna.  The Red Wizards are aiding them by working with the Sea Princes’ to destabilize and distract the crown. We have killed the demon that was attempting to influence the duke but there are no doubt other compromised officials placed strategically.”

“Do you have evidence?”

Atalaya reaches into the bag and shows him. “We found correspondence between the Red Wizards and the Sea Princes’ describing their activities.”

He examines the letter as Nevil continues. “We captured the pirate captain Skarne and need the Harpers to take him into their custody.  He has provided us with vital information to aid our attempts to stop the cult in exchange for a new identity so that he can “retire” from a pirate’s life.”

Li Zhao asks “is he any worse than others?”

Nevil shakes her head, “No, no worse but no better. He understands that he is to be transparent with all that he knows about the Red Wizards, the Sea Princes, and smuggling and slaving routes in this area.  That he will be watched for the rest of his life and if he fails to live up to his promises then he may be killed or given over to the constabulary or the War Wizards.”

Li Zhao nods, “And why did he choose this?”  

“Because he is a marked man having been knowingly captured.  It is not at all altruistic.  It is entirely an attempt of an aging pirate to live another day.” 

Li Zhao nods considering.  “Yes, this can be done.”

Nevil asks, "Do you have any recent information regarding cultist or Red Wizard activity?”  

“No, you seem to be aware of all the information we have.”

Nevil asks, “can you please see the information goes most expediently to Poppy?” 

Li Zhao's eyes brighten with familiarity. “the halfling woman? She is a good agent. Very tricky.”  

“Yes, we are fond of her too.”

“We will get word out through the Entertainer’s Guild. Thank you for stopping by to share this information.  You are welcome here if you need to stop in again.”

Nevil says “it is good to see that the old signals are still working.”

He smiles and Atalaya finally speaks up.  “How and when do you want to transfer Skarne?”

Li Zhao says “ We can make the trade off at The Joal.”  At Atalaya's quizzical look, he adds “It is a pirate bar in town.”

Nevil, “Really?  He’s a pirate.”

Li Zhao rethinks the meeting place “Perhaps the corner near Snook’s Books?  I will send a group to meet you. The code word is ‘shark’.”

Food is brought out and Atalaya eats while Nevil and Li Zhao reminisce.  Both the tea and coffee are very good. 

Nevil asks Shen “Do we owe you anything?  He replies “no, this is a business expense.”

“Are there many Harpers in town?” Nevil asks.

“A few.”

“We were lucky to find you on our first pass then.”

“Well, eventually everybody comes through the Wind Rose.”   

“We paid Frost a little visit last night and bloodied his place to rescue our friend from that demon.” Nevil added. “if that place burned it wouldn't be a tragedy. I would have considered it last night but he turned an eye.”

He nodded with a chuckle. “That Frost is a very unsavory character. One thing that you can count on, is that he is always self-serving, and that you can use that to your advantage.”

Nevil says, “That Mother Bettewhyte, she’s feisty. we have a meeting with her this morning and need to go.”

“Yes.”  He adds, “we will talk again soon.”

“When should we meet for our trade?” Atalaya adds, “The sooner you can get him off our ship the better.”

“We can have a team by mid-afternoon.”

Nevil asked while standing up to leave, “we are heading to see if we can recover any useful books from that abandoned estate outside of town. Know anything about it?”

He explains some of the history of the place.  That there were daughters that died there.  He also warns us to be wary of the wolves.  When he is questioned about wolves being so close to the town, he replies that the manor is about a day’s walk from here.  We decided to get horses to make the trip.

Once both Li Zhao and Shen leave, Nevil relaxes more and says that she is glad that she did not need to use our names.  

We head back to the ship.

After breakfast on the Hond Ebrath

Once we are safely aboard the Hond Ebrath Nevil and Atalaya discuss where and when to meet with Captain Hawk.  We eventually decide that going back to the Bistro where we met before will be an appropriate meeting place for both parties.  Eight o’clock is decided as a good time to meet, allowing us to either remove Skarne before or after our meeting with Hawk.  Atalaya writes a note to Captain Hawk and Nevil finds the runner from the other night to deliver the message to Captain Hawk.  The plan is for Atalaya, Nevil, Boz and Sorrow to meet with Captain Hawk.  The rest of us will stay on the ship.

(Sometime mid morning)  Mother Bettewhyte returns to the ship to check on Sorrow.  She feels that he is much better.  She explains that sometimes demons will drain the life force from someone.  It takes rest to recover from that and it appears that this is what had happened to Sorrow.  She tells Sorrow that he is much better.  

Nevil asks Mother Bettewhyte to check the guys for curses and other nasty effects as she did for Atalaya and her.  She agrees to do this.  She gets out her chalk, draws markings on the deck, sprinkles holy water and a golden glow is seen.  She says that she does not find anything unexpected on either Boz or Sorrow.  Inman is under a light binding of some sort (he says that is probably the result of his oath to the War Wizards).  Cirilli seems to have some weird darkness on her that is tied to her bloodline, but not an active curse on her.  She thinks that they are all right. 

We ask Bettewhyte if she is able to perform the ritual of purification on the demon’s head.  And whether she can do it here or if we need to go to the temple.  Bettewhyte says that there is no reason not to do it right here.  She consecrates some salt, draws a circle with her chalk and performs the one hour ritual.  During which we burn the head in the burn barrel.  

Nevil asks Mother Bettewhyte if it would be alright if we come tomorrow instead of today to pick up the books from the temple.  She says that is not a problem.  

Notes come to us from both Captain Hawk and Shen.  

Early Evening: Dropping off Skarne

Atalaya, Nevil and Boz take Skarne to the pick up place.  

Skarne:  “I want to thank you.  I know that you find me disgustful.  I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”

Nevil:  “If it goes well, I’ll never know.  I will not even know your new name.  May you have a glorious death.”

Skarne acknowledges that Atalaya showed him mercy when she attended to his wounds in Pelagia.  Atalaya replies that she hopes he learned something from that and will do the same for others in the future.  He says that he has and will.

We escort him to the area near the bookstore.  When we get there we see 3 big guys.  They look like thugs.  They come up to us.  Nevil goes through the recognition protocol with them and brings them over to where Atalaya, Boz and Skarne are waiting.  

They say to Skarne, “We are not going to f*** around. You understand?”

Skarne acknowledges that and says, “I won’t make you sorry.”

Nevil replies, “I won’t know unless you do something stupid.”

Nevil then decides that she wants Skarne to write a note to Hawk saying that we upheld our promises to him.  Skarne agrees and takes some time to pen an appropriate note which he hands to Nevil.  The “thugs” take Skarne off.  

Once he is out of sight Atalaya lets out a sigh of relief.

We head back to the Hond Ebrath.

Dinner with Captain Hawk

Once back at the Hond Ebrath we update Inman about the hand off of Skarne and then when it is approaching eight o’clock, we head back to the Bistro (Atalaya, Boz, Nevil and Sorrow).  Sorrow is very glad that Skarne is off the ship.  

At the cafe we meet up with Captain Hawk.  She has brought Butcher Boy and Acosta (sp) with her to the meal.  We sit down at one of the larger outdoor tables, Atalaya acting as a hostess, encouraging Hawk to sit and order dinner for herself.  Hawk seems bemused by the atmosphere of the Bistro, saying that it is “wholesome” and “It’s a nice change.”

Nevil asks her if she doesn’t ever do anything nice for herself.  Hawk doesn’t seem to know what to take that, or how to answer her.

Once there is drink and the server has left with our order, we encourage Hawk to tell us where the artifact has been hidden.  There is a lot of give and take about this.  Hawk is very uncertain about divulging the location to us.  She is worried about what will happen to her if she gets caught by the Red Wizards.  Nevil lets her look into our bag of holding to see all the dead Thayians we have temporarily stored in there.  We discuss how we are ready to take the heat for having the artifact and that we will start rumors that Hawk is no longer in possession of it.  

At one point during the discussion we note movement in Hawk’s doublet.  Hawk just ignores it.  Nevil can’t ignore it and asks Hawk about it.  Hawk sticks her hand in and pulls out a snake, shows it off and then puts it back into the doublet.

Nevil, “That’s a weird underwire.”

Hawk, “I like snakes.”

We mention that we had assumed that due to all the snakes we found on the Hond Ebrath.  Hawk looks delighted that there might still be snakes onboard.  

Hawk finally agrees to tell us where the artifact is.  We discuss how to best let us know where to go.  She says that it is not on any of the mapped islands.  That the place is actually underwater at high tide.  She does give us a ballpark position.  We decided that since it is only a couple of hours away, that after we complete our tasks tomorrow, we can meet her in the area and lead us to the correct spot on the next day.  Then Hawk can return here and we can go on our way.  

As we discuss what rumors to start, we get Hawk to say that she was last in Waterdeep a couple of months ago.  

We finish the dinner and each group heads to their own ships.

GAME ENDS