Runelords 26.0 - Goodbye to Turtleback Ferry

At first light, Virgil returned to the town hall to have his blindness cured by Mayor Luthra. Wanting to express his gratitude, Virgil paid the extremely-grateful mayor 200 gold for the service.
Once back at the inn, Virgil cast the Sending scroll given to them by the mermaids in the Shimmerglen in order to give a report to Pandemonium. He did not receive an immediate reply, but was not overly surprised by this: sometimes, sendings failed or were delayed across the planes.
With their affairs in order and their rooms emptied, the five adventurers returned to Fort Rannick, taking Sebastian with them. They were met at the gate by Ilsa, and were led in to meet with the Black Arrows. Jack and Vale were both present; when they asked about Kevan, Jack informed them that he had been "dishonourably discharged". The assemblage discussed what would need to be done next in order to prevent disasters from occurring across the country. Sandpoint was in immediate danger, so they had to get there straight away; however, there were still ogres nearby, and Lucretia hadn't been eliminated, meaning that the tattooed civilians in Turtleback Ferry were still threatened as well.
It was decided that the Black Arrows would stay and keep the fort secure while the other five returned to Medinipur and tried to head off the third sister in Sandpoint. If and when they succeeded in securing the area, and ascertained what happened to the lamia in Medinipur, they would come back and report to the Arrows before heading to Jorgenfist to meet Lucretia again. The Black Arrows offered the adventurers something that they had found in the commander's study, which had been ignored by the ogres: a scroll of Teleport, that would allow them to get back to Medinipur immediately and cut off the army. Before leaving, Virgil offered to give a Sending to an acquaintance of his, the Director of the Few, in order to take care of the vat of volatile ithilium at the bottom of the reservoir. The Black Arrows agreed to this, telling him to give him the password of "Lamar" to ensure their identity.
Since the scroll gave them some time, the adventurers decided to take a few hours to raid the sunken pleasure ship Paradise to get much-needed funds to help equip them and the Arrows. Aldern, Eamon and Sebastian stayed at the fort to help clean and reorganize, while Ilsa joined Luna, Khyr and Virgil in investigating the boat. 
Equipped with infusions of Water Breathing from Luna, the group took a ferry to the middle of the lake and swam to the site of the wreckage. Luna only pretended to make and drink a potion like the rest of them to keep up appearances, but it seemed that Ilsa noticed something amiss. Whether she did or not, she made no comment on the matter.
Diving to the lakebed towards the wreck, the four found their way in through a hole torn in the side. Based on what they could see, it seemed like the damage had occurred from inside out, supporting their guess that Lucretia had the boat sunk on purpose. As they picked their way through ruined gambling halls and drowned corpses, they found very little of value, besides the few remaining coin purses of the dead.
Finding a vault in a rear room, Luna proceeded to open it. Though she managed to unlock the door, there was nothing inside: the boat had been thoroughly emptied, likely prior to its sinking. As they made to explore further, something caught Ilsa's attention. A huge predatory fish had came up behind them; before it had a chance to lunge, they sealed the door behind them. Though it stopped the fish, who banged uselessly into the door, it also served to lock them in the vault room.
Fleeing to the adjacent room in hopes of finding an escape, the group instead found a lush boudoir, decorated with fine armaments and adult novelties, where a mermaid lounged on a fine bed. She was piqued by their arrival, and signed that they needed to show their proof of entry. Virgil showed her his ring emblazoned with the seven-pointed star; she accepted this and began to make suggestive motions. Playing along immediately, Virgil proceeded to seduce her with extreme skill, considering they were underwater. He distracted her more than well enough for a nimble and shifty Khyr to steal everything from the walls, and for Luna to pry open a porthole in the other room. Ilsa, though put off by Virgil's willingness to have sex with a fish-woman, was begrudgingly impressed with their level of teamwork.
The others escaped and returned to the ferry while Virgil continued to enjoy himself. When they were done, the mermaid noticed that she had been robbed. As she was about to lash out at Virgil, he used an empowered Suggestion to calm her, and she shrugged and let the items go. When Virgil made his exit, the huge fish, who had swum back outside again, caught sight of him and made to take chase. Virgil swam as fast as he could, but he sustained several nasty bites before the others managed to drag him up onto the boat.
After Virgil made some strong disparaging remarks about having stolen a lady's things, particularly her sex toys, Khyr separated the weapons from the novelties and returned the latter by throwing them in a bag overboard above the wreck (after keeping some of the choice ones for himself). The group returned to Fort Rannick with their spoils and, after saying their farewells, the five adventurers used the Scroll of Teleport to return to Medinipur, leaving Sebastian in the care of the Arrows for the time being.
Aiming themselves directly in Aldern's house, the group quickly went their own ways. Virgil and Eamon hustled to see a barber before they closed, as Virgil demanded that it was necessary, while Khyr took a nap, Luna returned to her studies, and Aldern began to take stock of what had been happening in Medinipur his absence.
Category:Rise of the Runelords