Tides of Death: Episode 46

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==Recap==
===Day 3 on Alba Island, 1515===
After their arrival to October, the town of atop Alba Island, our pirate friends finds themselves bedding down for the evening. 
In the middle of the night, John wakes up to the sound of his door opening. He is met with a mysterious gentleman, one who notably sheds no life energy. Immune to his vampiric charms, John confronts the man who introduces himself as Lord Burwick. He follows him out to the rest of his crew, who all stand unresponsive, seemingly entranced. The four pirates, lord Burwick and an unnamed vampire head in the direction of a stone keep, during which the lord inquires about Johns “condition”. Soon they find themselves in the middle of the hall of the keep, in the audience a larger vampire, presumably Baron Krimbald.
After some awkward banter, John explains his transformation from living pirate to well-spoken zombie. He talks about his predicament, how he yearns for something more, and asks if the vampires can grant it. Intrigued by his story, the vampires agree to run some experiments on him. The image fades as Lord Burwick leads Winters down to the basement, and the rest of the crew being led back to their inn.
=== Day 4 on Alba Island, 1515 ===
Archie, Nilrem and Saol wake up the following morning, after a restless slumber. After conferring during breakfast, they think to wake John, but find him missing, his bag resting on the bed. The party takes this opportunity help themselves to it’s contents. After they ransack his knapsack, they think it weird that John didn’t leave any sort of note explaining why he’s gone. Assuming he left of his own accord, they decide to search for him, while exploring the town.
In town, certain things in town stand out: Livestock seems to be entirely absent, the main food source being crickets. No guards are seen walking around. Saol inquires the villagers about their practices, but finds nothing especially suspicious. Nilrem proposes they wait a few days, but Archie, worried about the lack of a note from John, insists they continue their search.
The villagers of October seem uncannily friendly, which worries Saol. Thinking they may be brainwashed, he confers with his crewmates. The others are not so convinced, but hail down a young woman, and get her to give them a tour of the town. Showing interest in a barn, they ask if they can see what is inside.. The woman tries to direct them elsewhere, but Nilrem Knocks the door open, and they all head inside, taking the woman with them. 
At a first glance it appears to be an ordinary cricket farm but Nilrem, now suspicious, pokes around inside. Saol feigns interest in cricket-rearing practices as a distraction. Nilrem searches around the place, opening a door to what he thought to be an office. To his surprise, however, he finds a row of beds with sick, unconscious people in them. The woman, visibly upset, tries to intercept, but Saol stops her. Upon further inspections, Nilrem notices puncture marks indicative of vampiric feeding. They decide to leave and let the woman go. She quickly disappears into the barn, locking it behind her. Noticing similarities between the hidden room and their fragmented memories of Alba island, the crew is more worried than before. 
They head for the keep, where they assume John must be. They are intercepted by a guard, who they promptly ignore, pressing on towards the dilapidated castle. They find the door unlocked, and head inside the courtyard. They are once again stopped, this time by an elderly servant. Sensing the slightest bit of hesitation, Nilrem uses his Wand of fear on him, sending him into a desperate flight into the manor. They walk around the keep, looking for a stairway down. They find an audience hall, once again getting an eerie feeling of déjà vu. After Nilrem instructs Archie to punch anything that appears threatening, they continue their exploration. They eventually find the staircase down, and they descend.
They walk into a dungeon, locked from the outside, when Archie spots a figure moving in his direction. Remembering his instructions, Archie heroically rushes in and knocks the elderly woman’s teeth out, dropping her to the ground. Deciding she might be worth interrogating, Saol stabilizes her, and using Captain Winter’s healing salves they bring her back from the brink of death.
In the meantime, Nilrem finds a hallway in the dungeon, and calls the rest of the party over. Empty cells line the halls of the hallway, which ends in a heavy metal door. Nilrem tries the door handle, feeling a surge of energy coursing through his hand, shocking him. Assuming the spell has now resolved, he tries the handle again, only to be paralyzed, magically held to the door.
After a brief discussion of how to open the door themselves, Saol and Archie head back to the unconscious woman, tying her up. As she wakes up, they start asking her about the dungeon and the keep, and if there is a way to help Nilrem. After only giving vague answers they lead her towards the hallway, where she becomes increasingly panicked, insisting they should leave. Deciding she is brainwashed, they turn towards the door yet again. 
Saol comes up with the idea of using Nilrem as a door handle, rotating him and the doorknob simultaneously. The door finally opens, leading into a wide, dark room. Inside they find John, chained to a stone slab. It is revealed he was chained up left there as part of the vampires’ experiments, to see if he could survive without food. Surprised (and not entirely happy) to see them there, he explains why he disappeared without warning. They undo his chains, and discuss his current predicament. John, determined to stay where he is, starts say his final goodbyes to Archie and the crew. Offering to follow them back out, they head for the door, once again turning their attention to the frozen Nilrem. Using a combination of lantern oil and leg shaving they manage to free the wizard. 
Upon regaining his ability to act, he insists on speaking to John in private. In what may be his only selfless act so far, Nilrem tries to convince the captain to come with them. He berates John for being selfish, saying that his suicidal attempts to find answers only serve to cause his own downfall, leaving Archie without someone to care for him. Upon hearing the wizard’s plea John, previously determined to stay locked up in the dungeon, starts to have second thoughts. He starts pacing around the room, running through his options in his head. 
Finally, he looks to Archie. A man of great strength, but also a man of great innocence. John feels a pang of guilt. He realizes maybe all is not lost, and makes his decision. He heads back to the party, informs them that he’ll come with. The crew is relieved, and united they make their way out of the keep, and back to town. 
Deciding that they should make a swift departure from October, they find and promptly steal a wagon. Stopped by a guard, John jumps off the cart, and skewers the man in a single thrust. Reinforcements show up, Archie instantly dropping one, while Saol casts Soften Earth and Stone to incapacitate the second guard.
John opens the city gate, and jumps back on the cart. Archie, determined to test out the power of his magical fists, heads towards the incapacitated guard. Taking of his brass knuckles, he realizes that a regular punch seems to strike equally hard into the poor, defenseless guard. Content with this discovery, he heads back to the party, who take off down the mountain. 
An hour out of town, Nilrem decides to enact revenge upon Alba island by starting a forest fire. Once the wildfire has been successfully started, they continue down, as the woods start to smolder. Once down, the whole forest has started to burn, and villagers look in on in shock. Upon being questions by the townsfolk, Nilrem proudly claims responsibility for the fire, citing his disdain for Alba island and its people as motive. The Crimson Fist jump in their longship, headed for Nightcrawler. The party has once again escaped Alba Island.
==Experience==
4% to Saol for pirate quotes
3750 xp before 10% bonus (4125 for everyone except John Winters).
Category:Tides of Death Episodes