World of Embrel: Knights of Magic - Episode 8

==Summary==
After playing a decisive role in the defense of Wilderest from invading giants, the party became Knights of the Vanguard, knighted by the king of Oldirin himself. The Vanguard then tasked the party with a new adventure: to find a ship that will carry them south of the Summer Sea. There, they would find an isle with a shrine to the Goddess of Magic, where they might learn why magic in Embrel was dying—and how to prevent that death.
In this episode, the party departed Záchálas after Klace Valk was assassinated. Xochiquetzal saved a whale and had a heart-to-heart with Face, who was working to preserve his memories with Linus. The group saved a ship of merchants who had exploded their Godsalt. Finally, the party reached Tidesbane, where they expected to face a blue dragon and find the Coral Breaker.
==Preparing to Depart==
Having uncovered a plot by the Valk family and the Serpent Queen’s cult to poison the water supply of Záchálas with Wellbloom, the Knights re-established Tamara Silvertouch as Merchant Lord of Záchálas and drove the Valk family into hiding. Lance Zetna was installed as the new head of the Talon, replacing Otto von Daxon, the Immortal Man working for Svsx and the Gilded River Syndicate. The Vanguard getting involved in the politics of a criminal organization like the Valk family was outside of the Vanguard's normal purview and attracted attention as a new, unexpected precedent. But the Knights couldn’t worry about that, too focused on their quest. As promised, Tamara supplied a ship to the Knights so they could reach Tidesbane, where they hoped to find the Coral Breaker that would take them south to Efrelyn’s shrine.
At midnight the night before the party was scheduled to leave for Tidesbane, the group gathered before the communing bowl with which they could contact Lovich Chrem and Hazzel. They dropped a piece of silver into the bowl of water, and in the reflection, the beautiful Tiefling Hazzel appeared. He had been busy making sure that they had the right location of the first altar of Efrelyn. Lovich was resting as Wellbloom was no longer able to sustain him.
The party explained their findings about Wellbloom and how it sped up Rotter’s Blight when it was no longer taken. The group needed to get to the shrine as soon as possible. They had tracked down the Coral Breaker’s captain, but they still needed to get to the ship, which was in a blue dragon’s lair.
Hazzel and Lovich would try to speed up their trip, but the Knights needed to get the Coral Breaker. Linus agreed to contact Hazzel the following night to report where would be the best location to meet up for the journey, whether Sunward or Záchálas. Hazzel also had a hard time believing that a blue dragon, a legendary beast that hadn’t been reported in 1500 years, was still around. Ferrah and Xochiquetzal left to fetch Lucia Bonebeard who would corroborate the tale, but Lucia had been arrested.
Ferrah and Xochi followed the guard Glen to the prison to retrieve Lucia. There, a melee had broken out between Face and the jailors, but the two Knights stopped the fight with Face having only broken a few of the guards’ bones, which Xochi mended. The two declared that they, the Vanguard, planned to take custody of Lucia and Face. The guards gave no resistance. After filling out paperwork for an hour, Lucia and Face were placed in their care.
As they left, Lucia mentioned that she was grateful for the aid. She had hoped the authorities might forget she was a wanted pirate, but apparently they remembered. Ferrah identified with Lucia’s mentality of taking what she needed, but told her to tone it down until after they had rescued magic. Lucia agreed.
Later that night, Linus had trouble sleeping, working to keep Toad from eating Cat, the constellation cat. Linus and Toad argued about it but reconciled and pledged to gather bugs the next day.
Meanwhile, Lugo worked on moving his shadowy gem from his dagger to his ring. He didn’t want to leave the keep, not feeling safe anywhere in the city, and used the socketing as busywork to eat up the time.
The next morning, Xochi spent time giving Face tips for other methods of persuasion besides intimidation and violence. She whittled Face an excellently crafted diplomatic mask and finished off the smooch mask.
Face stated that he was afraid of returning to the dragon’s lair. He lost friends there and had been betrayed by Quetzal and Isabel, people whom the Knights had encountered. Face sadly expressed that Isabel was not his friend.
Linus worked on his project of capturing memories for Face, planning to enchant a music box so that it could store and play memories. He started the work, but knew he needed another component and fifty days of effort to finish. However, he was able to start helping Face store core memories, up to a total of eight. Face for sure wanted to keep his memory of meeting the Knights, but didn’t want to keep the memories of friends he had lost. Those were too painful. In the end, he decided to take time to think about it. He smooched Linus in thanks.
Ferrah spent the morning talking with Lucia. The monk asked for aid training her dodging, but Lucia drew her arcane hand cannon and shot at Ferrah. Ferrah immediately hit the ground as a smattering of marbles pierced the air where she had a moment before been standing. The marbles froze midair before retracting back to the hand cannon.
Lucia said that Ferrah was quite talented and didn’t need training in dodging. Ferrah then said that maybe they could work out together, taking off her top and beginning to exercise.
Lucia was flattered and embarrassed by the flirtatious actions as she had a child nearly Ferrah's age. “Maybe another time,” the woman said. She left, flustered. Ferrah continued her workout.
On the way to the ship, Lugo put on a disguise and snuck to First Chance Last Chance to make sure Richie Gutcutter was okay. Richie was alive and well, recognizing Lugo in spite of his outfit. Richie gave Lugo a letter from Klace, one of Lugo’s uncles. Klace wanted to meet and talk, giving a time and place. Richie said that Klace seemed really sad when bringing the letter.
Lugo decided to go to the meet-up. He got some serpent rum from the tavern before leaving, tipping Richie five silver pieces. Richie told Lugo to come back anytime.
The warehouse mentioned in the letter didn’t seem to be in use, and no one appeared to be watching the entrances. Lugo saw Klace arrive and walk in. He followed soon after, meeting Klace on the second floor. There, Klace faced him, eyes red from tears. Klace told Lugo that things had gotten really bad, but he and Tidus loved Lugo. Klace wanted to convince Lugo to stay, to work things out with Myra, apologizing that it all had freaked Lugo out. The business, the cult of Svsx, it was all the reality of things, but they never wanted Lugo to get hurt.
Lugo was almost moved, but said that the reality was that everything he’d done for the Valks had gotten him hurt. From the start, he had been harmed, and he had no idea if he could believe anything Klace said. The Uncles had even sent Oliver Romhanyi to teach him a lesson, breaking his thumb.
Klace seemed surprised by the information, saying he would never have Oliver do that. But then blood dripped out of his mouth as an arrow pierced his back. When Klace collapsed from the sniper attack, Lugo ran over and held his dying uncle. Klace apologized for everything, then died.
Lugo checked Klace’s pockets, taking Klace’s arcane hand cannon and bullets. Then he ran back to First Chance Last Chance and left a letter for Tidus, which said, “Met with Klace, sorry if I hurt the two of you, but someone shot and killed Klace when I met up with him. I'm leaving. Let me know how I can help. Love, Lugo.” Richie took the letter and said he'd make sure it would get to Tidus. Lugo thanked him and left.
Soon after, Oliver entered the tavern. Richie told him that Lugo had a letter for Tidus, which Oliver took. As Richie remained obliviously working in the background, Oliver went to a table where he had put down his lute case, which held a crossbow. Oliver shut the case and burned the letter with magic.
With the last of their business in the city finished, the party boarded their ship and left for Tidesbane.
==The Voyage to Tidesbane==
The journey moved swiftly over days. During the trip, Linus cast Glyph of Warding on the ship to give it extra defense from intruders. While doing so, he noticed seagulls and carrion birds in the distance. As they neared the birds, the smell of death smacked him. Linus had Toad swim over there and saw through Toad’s eyes the carcass of a giant shark, bigger than a ship.
But Linus’ connection to Toad suddenly severed. When Linus brought Toad back, the frog was pallid, terrified, and angry. He hopped to the lower deck and started chasing Cat.
Lucia watched the carcass from afar with her spyglass. She said that if something was eating a giant shark, then she didn’t want to see what had killed it.
The group agreed and turned the ship around, taking a wide path around the carcass that cost them an extra day of travel.
The next day, Xochi heard a pained whale call. Without informing anyone, she Wildshaped into a dolphin and swam towards the sound, finding a whaling ship that had captured a whale. Xochi got herself wrapped up in the whaling net, then changed her form into a baby orca. As she expanded, she snapped the net apart with her growing size.
Upset that their quarry was free, the whaling ship tried to harpoon Xochi, but Xochi dove deep, shot upwards, and breached, landing on top of the ship and buckling it and causing it to sink. The damage she took from the fight reverted her back to her Drow form, but she clambered onto some detritus and waited. Sharks soon arrived from the smell of whale blood, eating the other survivors. Xochi cast Speak with Animals and promised to lead the sharks to the biggest meal of their lives if they let her ride them back to her ship. They agreed, though they asked her to keep the deal secret, as they had a pact with dolphins that stated people could only ride dolphins, not sharks.
Xochi agreed and made it back to her ship, where Face saw her and helped her climb on board. Xochi ignored the sharks, saying that she had made friends with them and had shown them the carcass of the giant shark. Face said that she hadn't shown them anything as the carcass was two days away; she hadn’t been gone long enough for that to be feasible. Xochi realized then that she hadn't actually shown them anything. Her accidental gaslighting was a shock even to her.
Meanwhile, other members of the group saw smoke coming from the ocean. Ferrah said it might be people in need of help, to which Lucia responded that there might be people who could be robbed. The group argued about whether they had time to change course, but in the end, they headed towards the smoke.
Xochi then explained to the group why sharks had begun chasing them. She said it wouldn’t be a problem and everything was fine. She discussed with Face her plan for stopping the sharks: she would cast Goodberry in combination with Plant Growth to create large berries with which she could feed the sharks.
Face took off his mask to hide his emotions and dissected the plan, a bit skeptical. Xochi tried to convince him, and Face said he hoped it would work. The druid cast her spells, creating soccer ball-sized berries. She put them in a barrel labeled, “Gross balls, don’t eat.”
Xochi cast Speak with Animals and heard the sharks cursing her. She tied a rope around herself and planned to swim with the sharks, but Face asked her to reconsider. She did.
When Linus tried to eat a berry, Face explained what was going on. The group tried to workshop a plan, but Xochi decided to cut herself and pour blood on the berries so the sharks would find them attractive. As Ferrah bandaged Xochi’s hand, Face threw the berries overboard. The sharks entered a frenzy, feasting.
Afterwards, Face told Xochi to let him know when she planned to jump off a ship and turn into a dolphin to save the whales rather than go without anyone knowing. Xochi agreed that communication would be a better course of action.
When the party reached the smoke, they found a ship with mast aflame and slowly sinking. Ferrah rowed over in a dinghy and found that they were merchants. She persuaded them to join her, rescuing all five remaining merchants.
After some pressuring, one of the merchants explained that they were selling Godsalt, an explosive, to the Lonely Coin, and their Godsalt had exploded. They had received the Godsalt from a criminal organization set in Abishot. Their contact was named Jaime.
The Knights explained that they were members of the Vanguard bound for a dangerous mission and couldn’t stop to drop off the merchants. The merchants would have to wait until the mission was over to depart. This was no issue as the merchants felt safe with the Vanguards. They also agreed to stop selling Godsalt to the Lonely Coin.
When the merchants left to take a rest, Linus remembered that he needed to ask Lucia how the Coral Breaker could break coral. Unfortunately, Lucia only knew that it had something to do with the metal with which the ship was built.
After dinner, the party met up to have a meeting with Lucia. Lucia explained she had gone to Tidesbane to find a djinn, but Quetzal found the djinn first, using all three wishes. He had wished for the dragon to be restored; for power to be imbued in himself; and to leave, which left Lucia and her crew behind to face the dragon. Lucia needed to save her daughter, who was bound to the Witch of Time. Lucia asked the party to pledge an oath with binding magic. If the party didn’t help Lucia save her daughter within a year, then their lives would be forfeit.
The group agreed without hesitation, much to Lucia’s surprise and gratitude. She cast the binding ritual on Linus specifically. The ritual allowed Linus to always know where Lucia was, and she would know where he was. Then the group toasted their pact with wine. Xochi and Linus tried to describe the taste of wine to Face.
During the night, Xochi lost her pouch of nine vomit-inducing blue termites. Linus lost a pouch of Haldi Drel and his block and tackle. Lugo lost ten tinctures of Wellbloom.
The next morning, Ferrah noticed four sharks following the ship and asked Xochi if they were her friends. They were the same sharks from the previous day, so Xochi used fish guts to try to create a speaking and listening tube. The project failed. Xochi tossed the guts into the water and said she would deal with it later, though she went to Face and workshopped plans with him.
Face asked if they were at the place where they could use violence. Xochi said that she couldn't use violence or harm another creature particularly because the problem was caused by her own mistakes. Face understood and asked if he could try talking to the sharks himself, but Xochi said that the sharks would only try to hurt Face.
“But the sharks want to hurt you and I don’t want that,” Face said.
“You know how you feel about not wanting the sharks to hurt me?” Xochi asked. “Well, that’s how I feel about not wanting them to hurt you.”
Face excused himself from the meeting and asked Linus to preserve the memory of that conversation as one of his core memories.
Lugo meanwhile noted that his stuff was missing and checked everywhere except for the merchants. Lucia gave him intimidation tips and he decided to check with the merchants. They said they hadn't taken it, and Lugo's intimidation was poor, so Lugo pulled out both his hand cannons and said that if they had the Wellbloom, they'd better give it to him. The merchants swore they didn't steal any of it. Lugo asked if they had stolen anything, to which one merchant said they had stolen another's socks. Lugo felt so bad for intimidating them that he ordered the one to return the socks to the other and left.
That night, Lucia gathered the group for a plan of action, saying they would reach Tidesbane the next day. Linus thought about what he knew of dragons and relayed that blue dragons were arrogant, quick to anger, and weren't that long-term in their decision making. Dragons had some sort of fire or ice breath and spoke an ancient language. The last record of a living dragon was from 1500 years ago. Linus said that he’d been working on a spell that could let someone understand and speak to the dragon. He proposed that Lugo could attempt to deceive the dragon with a request to serve, taking over the Coral Breaker in service of the dragon. Lucia countered that they should be very careful. Dragons could sense deception and might use binding brands of Krolevadrek to keep their followers in check.
Ferrah suggested stealing the Coral Breaker as the dragon slept. Face suggested killing the dragon, but Lucia said they were not powerful enough to accomplish that. Xochi offered an explosive distraction to keep the dragon busy as they took the Coral Breaker. Lucia also mentioned that the Coral Breaker might not have even been there any longer. If it was, it would be just inside the fortress. Lugo asked if they could forge the Krolevadrek branding in order to further any necessary deception, not particularly against the dragon, but against other followers they might find in the lair.
Unfortunately, the meeting ended with no plan ready. They would have to figure out what to do tomorrow in the moment.
Lucia then performed a ritual, conjuring a massive feast. She spent the last of her fortune on a meal that would make them fearless, a feast of heroes.
The party ate, drank, told stories, and rested. The next day they faced the fortress unafraid. Tidesbane rose in the distance, a giant pillar coming out of the ocean with a drop-off moat and a massive bridge connecting the void and the pillar. The sharks swam away as they neared the dragon’s lair.
Lucia looked at the fortress through her spyglass and stated that she saw no movement. But then everyone heard the roar of the dragon living inside Tidesbane, their ship shaking from the sound.
==Unknowns==
===Current===
*What gives the Coral Breaker the ability to break through coral?
*Why was Lucia Bonebeard imprisoned?
*Where are Lovich and Hazzel? How are they doing?
*Where is the ancient Blue Dragon?
*Where has the Immortal Man gone?
Previous Episode < - - - > Next Episode
Knights of Magic - 08