World of Embrel: Knights of Magic - Episode 4

== 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 was attacked by assassins, took on disguises, and was captured by pirates.
== Assassins Attack ==
Having come to Záchálas to find a ship that can break through the shallow coral, the Knights were forced by the Valk family—Lugo’s uncles, Titus and Klace—to steal blueprints from a vault. In exchange, the Valk family would intercept the prisoner Face, who had information on the Coral Breaker.
The party met with Face at the home of Titus and Klace. Lugo the Forceborn rogue had just been fully accepted into the Valk family, granted an arcane hand cannon as his inheritance. He had blue skin and white hair, and he wore gemmed rings on his fingers, a red buccaneer coat, tall black boots, and the hand cannon at his hip. He exited the inner areas of the home to meet the rest of the party in an outer room.
Kartuk, the Seafolk ranger, was wearing riding pants and a loose-fitting top to make up for the breeze. She had overheard Lugo being accepted into the family and now sat at a couch holding a cup of wine and flipping a coin. The Wood Elf monk named Ferrah was standing to greet Face, holding out a hand. She wore a padded shirt and loose pants. Uno, the Human paladin with massive wings, had been lurking in a corner of the room, but came closer after Face’s arrival.
Xochiquetzal, a Drow druid with purple skin covered in faint constellation patterns, was out on the wraparound terrace, tending the plants. Linus the Goblin wizard meanwhile was just exiting the kitchen, saying, “Hope you like biscuits.” He lifted his hat to reveal Toad, his tree frog familiar, who vomited up biscuits onto the table. Saliva dripped from the food.
The group got down to business. Face wanted to find his captain, Lucia Bonebeard, who was in the bonds of the Sea Witch on the Lonely Coin. Bonebeard was the last person to know where the Coral Breaker was.
As the party agreed to aid Face in rescuing Bonebeard, assassins attacked the house. One with whips came in through the hallway and attacked Tuk; a Loxodon in full armor plowed through the wall to strike Uno; a four-armed person shot four bolts and Xochi; and a gelatinous ooze rippled off the wall to attack Ferrah. All but the ooze wore skull-shaped masks.
The Knights, Face, and the Uncles fought their best. Xochi summoned a Flaming Sphere, Linus shot out a Witch Bolt, Tuk cast Produce Flame, Ferrah fought with flaming fists, Lugo instinctively used his crossbow, and Uno wielded his flail to smite his foes. Face meanwhile plowed into the four-armed person and pushed them off the cliff, then helped Xochi to her feet. She was instantly smitten. Titus shot a bullet at the woman with whips, which seemed to banish half of her out of existence. Klace shot a water bullet at the Loxodon, which surrounded his head to drown him. In the span of a few seconds, the ooze had run away, the Loxodon was unconscious and in critical condition, and the other two were dead.
Linus stabilized the Loxodon. They tied him up and interrogated him. At first, the Uncles dismissed the party, thinking that the assassins had been after them; but they quickly discovered that it was the Vanguard who drew the fight. The Uncles shot an extremely slow-moving bullet at the Loxodon to ensure a constant pressure of near-death.
The assassin was with the Second Moon, having been hired by the Gilded River Syndicate to steal the Knights’ map. The Syndicate had a location in Záchálas which was run by the Immortal Man. The Loxodon did not know where it was, however.
The Uncles wanted to know what the map was for. While the party knew that the map would lead to Efrelyn’s shrine in the south, Linus insisted on keeping the information hidden, since they were not supposed to tell anyone about the map. The Uncles didn’t take kindly to being left out of the loop and told Lugo to leave the Vanguard since he was in the crosshairs of the Gilded River Syndicate. Linus and Lugo fought about trusting the Uncles, but reached an impasse and eventually the group decided to spend the night at the Uncles’ house. Linus asked for private quarters, which had recently been granted to Anara Silverclaw, a new hire of the Valk family. Anara was kicked out and forced to sleep in the group quarters with the others, including Face, who was asked to watch over the party as they slept.
Before going to bed, Ferrah had drinks with Anara. Anara said he was there following the money. Ferrah said that she hoped they could get to know each other better.
Linus attempted to contact Lovich Chrem with the communing bowl, but realized that it was past midnight, which meant they could no longer make contact. Linus cried into his pillow until he fell asleep.
== Searching for the Lonely Coin ==
=== False Start ===
The next day, Anara was assigned as a bodyguard for the Vanguard and joined them on their quest to find the location of the Lonely Coin and a ship that would take them to it. Lugo greeted his Uncles with a lazy bow of Záchálas, a dab. Xochi, Uno, Anara, and Face drank coffee, though because Face couldn’t drink, he let it drip down his face. The Uncles engaged Tuk with questions about racing and approved of Ferrah’s morning yoga routine. The group asked for their scribe, Hope Lowti, to be picked up from an inn and brought to the Uncles’ house.
Before the party left, the Uncles stated that they would attempt to work out an arrangement with the Gilded River Syndicate to get them to stop hunting the party.
The party left. Hope arrived soon after, surprised to find an empty house.
At the harbor, Face immediately declared that a ship was his and pushed the deckhand attending it into the water. The Vanguard told him that he can’t do that. Xochi told him to put on his patient face and to act patient, and Linus told him that they weren’t bullies, so Face couldn’t act like a bully while with them.
While getting to know Face more, the Forged mentioned that his crew had been mostly killed by a Dragon. The party asked him to clarify, since Dragons were legends. At a place called Tidesbane, the crew had faced an undead dragon, which had been revived through a genie wish made by Quetzal, a Kobold who was part of a cult of Krolevadrek. The Knights had experience with Quetzal and said that he was dead. Face found that to be an agreeable thing.
Xochi asked for Face’s birthday, but he did not remember it. He had lived for over 700 years, but only remembered the last eighteen.
The party first went to First Chance Last Chance, but were recognized as Vanguard and swarmed by people. They blessed someone’s goat before deciding that they needed a more incognito approach. They followed Anara to a Valk family safehouse, then planned their next move. Anara stated that he could get them into a place where pirates congregated. There, they might easily find the location of the Lonely Coin. In exchange, he asked for 100 ounces of gold, which was a fortune. The Knights agreed immediately, though added to the deal that Anara would bring Hope to the safehouse along with disguises.
As they waited for Anara to return, Linus, Ferrah, Xochi, Tuk, and Uno created fake maps with random locations marked. Ferrah helped with the lettering, Tuk punched them to make them look weathered, and Uno supervised. Xochi mentally marked the constellations on her body so that she herself was the correct map, and then they destroyed the actual map so that no one else could have it. Linus passed a fake map to each member of the Vanguard, Anara, and Face. When he suggested giving a fake map to the Uncles as well, Lugo resisted the idea. They didn’t have to tell the Uncles everything, but they weren’t going to lie, either.
Face grew impatient the longer they waited, though Xochi tried to keep him distracted.
After some time, Lugo leaned down to Linus and said, “Do what you want with the map. I don’t want to hear about it.”
=== The Drunken Harpy ===
Anara and Hope arrived, along with three guards carrying suitcases for Hope. The party all dressed in disguises. Xochi gained platform shoes and a fancy suit, along with prosthetic makeup to become a Firbolg.
Uno tied his wings back and wore a cap and vest, looking like a newsie.
Linus got a toupee, glasses, and ear clips to make his ears look more Elven. He also got Orc teeth and contacts to change his eye color. Finally, he removed his beard so that he looked like a Half-Elf Half-Orc youth.
Tuk got a fake mustache, along with a long wig that she curled with Produce Flame. Her clothes consisted of a matador outfit.
Lugo got another long wig, this one already curly, as well as high heels, stockings, and a short coat. It was a dandy outfit, including an ascot that doubled as a handkerchief.
Ferrah got an outfit supplied by Hope, who dressed her as a fancy well-to-do woman of wealth with peg legs for days. Ferrah struggled with the number of skirts she had to wear.
Face took out a flesh-colored mask from his set of masks and pulled up his hood as a disguise. Not thinking this was enough, the group dressed him. Lugo gave him a gem-encrusted eyepatch, Tuk supplied a purple skirt, and Ferrah recommended a ruffled shirt made of satin that clashed with the skirt. Linus gave him sneakers, Uno gave an asymmetrical bob wig. To complete the outfit, Xochi made him wear a ruff collar.
Uno made a rude quip about Lugo's outfit, but Hope chastised him and said that if he didn’t throw out that bad attitude, he would be the rude boy in the reports she wrote up.
Hope also decided to come with the party. She pulled out a parasol, passed it in front of her, and in an instant had changed outfits and made her voice deep and smoky.
Anara rented a dinghy and took the group to the Drunken Harpy, which was built on the top of rock spires in the ocean. As a cover, the party decided to state that they were a travelling theater group who planned to perform a play at the Lonely Coin.
The Drunken Harpy stank and was hot and loud. The furniture looked like it was made to be destroyed. Five notable groups of pirates were at the tavern. The Tempest, whose symbol was of two waves crashing against each other, were storm clerics. The Wicked Tide, known for ships completely outfitted with weapons, had members with sunburnt, leathery skin. The Rowdy Hundred fought as much as they drank, and the Howlers were werewolves. Finally, there were the Sea Rats, all of whom had gills, no matter their race.
Face immediately went to the Rowdy Hundred, challenging someone to an arm wrestling competition. If he won, he would receive their boat. Tuk joined him and tried to keep him in check, though Face quickly began to beat up his opponent. This pleased the pirate, who embraced Face and invited the two to drink.
Lugo and Uno joined two Howlers who were playing a drinking game called Drink and Flex. The pirates said Lugo—who was in disguise—looked too old to keep up with them, but Lugo and Uno ripped off their shirts and joined the game, Uno sitting on Lugo’s lap as they drank and flexed. Lugo made sure to keep his ascot on.
Xochi went to the Wicked Tide. The captain, a purple Tiefling with a pompadour hairstyle and a tattoo running down one arm, sat with a foot up on a barrel as she told a story. Xochi offered a round to the group, but the captain said Xochi wasn’t her type. Xochi said that she was simply looking for “some social … thing.”
Linus and Ferrah joined the Sea Rats. Ferrah introduced herself as Harref and directly asked for the location of the Lonely Coin, stating their cover as a theater group. A pirate named Kierian Hillholly asked for a performance, something with drama and comedy. Linus—whose cover name was Single—performed illusions as a magic act that appeared to blow the minds of the pirates. Kierian eventually took Ferrah aside and offered to take the troupe on his ship, and also asked if they might have dinner together. Ferrah agreed, saying that brunch was her favourite meal.
While drinking with the Rowdy Hundred, Tuk overheard which constellation the Lonely Coin was currently trailing. When Ferrah approached to tell her that Kierian had offered a trip and brunch, Tuk convinced Ferrah that they had enough information and didn’t need to join Kierian on such a trip, especially since the meal would not be what Ferrah planned. Ferrah took this to mean that the Sea Rats practiced cannibalism and was glad for the warning.
However, before the party can leave, a pirate stands, and all eyes focused on the party. Kierian approached Ferrah and said, “Listen Ferrah, you don’t have to keep up appearances anymore.” Werewolves began to transform and the storm clerics stepped forward with manacles, saying that the Sea Witch wanted to meet them. They knew that most of the party were members of the Vanguard. It was a trap set by Anara, who apologized, was paid a sack of coins, and departed.
The party did not resist being taken captive, figuring that it was at the least a free ride to the destination. Hope, however, had disguised herself as a pirate and let Tuk know.
The group was loaded on dinghies and taken to a ship. In the brig, Face looked at the others and said, “We did it. Now, let’s save the captain.” He broke all of their manacles, and when a pirate came down to put them in shackles once more, Tuk persuaded them that it was a useless gesture. The party had no plan to leave. The pirate accepted the logic and left them alone.
The group was headed to ports unknown, but back at the Drunken Harpy, Anara watched with a tinge of regret.
Someone came up behind him and said, “Are you ready to meet the Immortal man?”
Anara nodded, and the two departed.
== Unknowns ==
=== Current ===
* What gives the Coral Breaker the ability to break through coral?
* What does the Sea Witch want with the party?
* Why was Lucia Bonebeard imprisoned?
* How does the Lonely Coin move around?
* Where is the ancient Blue Dragon?
=== Completed or Removed ===
* Complete: Is the Coral Breaker a real ship?
* Complete: Why doesn’t the Second Moon want magic to return?
* Complete: What is Anara Silverclaw doing in Záchálas?
* Removed: What is the goal of the Serpent Queen’s cult?
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Knights of Magic - 04