38. Popping the Cherries

* Having learned from the turncoat boy Moonie that the cannibals had a sneaky surprise attack on the way, the party and Rascal's forces both scramble to prepare a counter-ambush.
	+ Pyt sends Jolene to invisibly scout the waters. Through her eyes, he sees 14 rowboats coming towards the deep bay of Many Apples. Two are occupied by ogres, and the rest seat 6 pirates apiece.
	+ Wilfred and Aerendyl get themselves to the end of the long jetties, ready to unleash a magical assault when the rowboats round the corner of the bay's wave break.
	+ Pyt becomes a hulking crab and shimmies into the water. Jolene rides on his back, looking unhappy.
	+ Cormorant and Clwyd sail *the Drunken Dragon* out onto the water.
	+ Rascal's lot set the dead ogre's ballista up on the shore, using Bloody Bones's corpse as a stand for it. They're also ready in formation for a fight on land.
	+ Rascal and some of his griffon riders have been woken. They're busy getting their mounts ready for a night fight, which involves them getting all their barding on - a fairly lengthy process.
* The fight begins as the rowboats round into the bay.
	+ Aerendyl conjures a tidal wave in the waters, smashing the unlucky vanguard of boats into one another, capsizing a few, and dashing them 300ft away.
	+ Wilfred, still near death with exhaustion, ignites the eight unlucky rowboats caught by Aerendyl's spell as they're swept away. He then turns his firebolts on the six ships that are scrambling towards them on the jetties - the closest place they can land.
	+ *The Drunken Dragon* zips past Crab-Pyt in the water and he catches a ride, gripping the side of the boat with a hulking claw. They're be-lining for the burning ships and scattered crew that fell victim to Aerendyl and Wilfred's spells.
	+ *The Dragon* cut through the middle of the scattered boats and flailing bodies, and the trio went to work.
	+ Clwyd sends two bolts of hellfire from her blasting rod, igniting both in great gouts of green flame. In an instant, four rowboats and 24 cannibals were as ash.
	+ Cormorant tied off the steering oar to free his hands, then unloaded his flintlock into one of the hulking ogres he could see in the firelight. Four shots rang out, and Curmudgeon the ogre's chest was a bloody mess of pulp.
	+ Crab-Pyt released his hold on the boat and scurried through the water to the other ogre. He dragged the big creature into the water with a meaty claw, and the four halflings - the littleuns - that were sequestered in Shed the Ogre's backpack fort plunged into the water with them. Crab-Pyt made quick work of the group, ripping Shed in two with his claws, then killing all but one of the littleuns - the last he left to swim away, to tell the tale or some such.
* The boats that hadn't been swept up by Aerendyl's spell landed on the jetties. He and Wilfred scrambled back towards land, unleashing magic as they went. Cormorant and Clwyd were heading to them now, quick as they could. Crab-Pyt was heading there too, but he was slower and also busy cleaning his mandibles.
	+ After the devastation of the party's counter-ambush, only four rowboats made it to the jetties. The first to land on the empty jettie rushed towards the land, unable to regroup or reform a plan in the chaos. They would soon be dealt with by Rascal's waiting soldiers.
	+ The two captains the party had been expecting stepped up to face Aerendyl and Wilfred. Snake-Eye Jake was an old human man, but spry as someone a third his age. His left eye was made of glass, bright yellow, with a pupil like a slit down the middle. Bolt was a bald, hefty half-orc with a cleft pallet that resembled a lightning streak if you squinted. Where Jake was fast and wily, Bolt was strong and bull-headed.
	+ Aerendyl gives much of himself to protect Wilfred in this fight. He takes the form of a giant spider to shield the gnome from the first volley of crossbow bolts that the landing pirates fire at him. When he's shunted back to his elf-form, he uses his *fey step* to push Wilfred through space and time, sending him further down the jettie than the gnome's exhausted legs can carry him.
	+ Clwyd and Cormorant come screaming in on *the Drunken Dragon*.
	+ On her approach, Clwyd blows the first rowboat she sees to pieces, sending the pirates inside scrambling. She then calls up a *wall of fire*, killing four pirates on the jettie before Aerendyl, sending the rest jumping into the water to escape. The jettie too starts to smoke and burn at the presence of the magical flames.
	+ Still, Wilfred has fallen under the blows of Captain Bolt. Cormorant jumps between the two, brandishing his burning sabre and challenging the cannibal.
	+ Aerendyl brings Wilfred back from the brink with healing magic, then assumes the form of a giant toad.
	+ All this time, Snake-Eye Jake has been jumping around, stabbing viciously where he can, shouting incomprehensible cannibal promises when he'll be heard. Toad-Aerendyl bites him, clamping down and keeping him in place long enough to force him into Clwyd's *wall of fire*.
	+ Bolt sees a trick and seizes both Cormorant and Wilfred in his meaty hands. Then he drags them to the flames and forces them both in, setting their skin to smoke and singe. Wilfred's body lolls in the half-orc's hand, the gnome nearly burned to death in an instant.
	+ Clwyd ends the spell and the wall disappears.
	+ Crab-Pyt arrives on the scene and starts killing the pirates Clwyd had sent scurrying into the water. His claws both crush and snip.
	+ Snake-Eye Jake has wriggled free from Toad-Aerendyl, dashing down the narrow jettie to harry Clwyd a little.
	+ Toad-Aerendyl puts his all into seizing Bolt in his amphibian maw, loosening the half-orc's grip on his allies. Toad-Aerendyl then hops into the water, carrying Bolt with him.
	+ Cormorant uses the knowledge he gained from a year spent studying medicine, and is able to bring Wilfred back from the brink.
	+ Crab-Pyt keeps killing.
	+ Snake-Eye Jake takes a liking to Clwyd and decides to leave her alone, promising not to kill her. He instead turns his blade back towards what he perceives as the weak link: the exhausted Wilfred.
	+ In the water, Captain Bolt smashes Toad-Aerendyl with his morningstar until the elf drops his animal form and falls limp in the waves. The half-orc judges his situation to be dire, so he prepares to leverage Aerendyl's life for his own.
	+ Cormorant squares up to Snake-Eye Jake, old man to old man. He draws the cannibal's attention away from Wilfred, but loses track of the spry fucker when he plunges under the jettie into the water. Out of nowhere, a vicious slash of Jake's shortsword catches Cormorant just above his ankle, severing muscle and tendon both.
	+ Then Crab-Pyt comes. He grabs Jake in his right claw, hauling the cannibal away from Cormorant. He swims under the jettie and grabs Bolt in his left, wrenching the unsuspecting half-orc free of the dying Aerendyl and pulling him under.
	+ The pair of captains flail against Crab-Pyt. Jake slips his way out of the crab claw, but he's hurt. He tries to slink away but the crab is not to be fooled. Crab-Pyt snips him in two.
	+ Bolt managed to force his way out the claw, but dropped his weapon in the process. He surfaces, and is summarily executed by a firebolt from Wilfred, who had nearly died to the half-orc's hand twice in the preceding few minutes.
	+ Cormorant's first instinct is to help Aerendyl. It's only after he's dragged the elf out the water and got him patched up that the old man takes full notice of just how much blood and pain are coming from his leg wound. He collapses soon after.
	+ And in all the confusion of the fighting, a rowboat with the single survivor of Clwyd's *wall of fire* and Crab-Pyt's massacre took flight. He stopped to pick up the pirates that had been scattered after Clwyd blew up their boat on her arrival at the jetties, and Wilfred took the opportunity to try and kill him - near ending the man's life with a well-placed *firebolt*. All the same, he and the six swimmers got away into the night.
* That marked the end of the fighting for the party. On the shore, Rascal's soldiers, under command of Diego, easily dealt with all those who approached in near single-file on the jetties. Those in the deep bay were even slower coming, and were quickly gutted on arrival. Any who stayed out on the waters with their burning boats were swiftly dealt with when the griffons joined the fight. By the end of the long night, three of Rascal's soldiers were dead, and three more had injuries to rival Cormorant's. Minimal loss of life, all things considered.
* The Cannibal Cabal had been broken and destroyed. The party, having fought alongside these military men and being instrumental in the easy win over the cannibals, were welcomed into Fort Cider as Rascal's new friends and allies. Word of this would already be spreading around the Republic as his soldiers hopped to other islands and watering holes during their leave.
	+ The party took four full days to rest and recover.
	+ Rascal was happy to feed and shelter them, but only if they worked the fort like all others there. They took to this readily.
	+ Pyt busied his days in the stables and paddock, helping Alonso tend to the griffons. His evenings were spent making music for the garrison and livening up the mess hall that doubled as Rascal's meeting room.
	+ Aerendyl met the other pirate residents of Many Apples, those referred to as Orchard Pirates. Mostly they seemed to be retired, content to just grow apples and chill out. But they still all carried weapons and conducted themselves as 'Roger's People,' as all the residents of the Republic were. The elf helped them with the groves, quickly realising that nature magic ran strong on Many Apples - not dissimilar to how Bisquay's vineyards were so bountiful.
	+ Clwyd took to helping maintain the fort through both magical and mundane means. She also found the cider vats that filled the basement of Fort Cider's tower and began to plan some alcoholic plans.
	+ Cormorant's leg wasn't an easy fix. The internal damage wasn't so small that a *healing word* or two could just knit it back together. Further, it was in too awkward a place for him to tend to it on his own. The fort's quartermaster, Johanna, saw to the wound and gave him a crutch to move around with until it had healed enough naturally that magic could do the rest. Once he was up and hobbling about, Diego approached the old pirate and asked if he wouldn't lend his aid in drilling the soldiers. He'd seen Cormorant fight on the beaches, and didn't doubt that when it came to duelling skill, none on Many Apples matched the guy. Cormorant was happy to assist, and took well to correcting young men's poor stances and footwork.
	+ Wilfred had been in the most need of rest. When a few days had passed, he was at least able to offer the aid of his mind. Rascal knew now that Wilfred was a wizard - the gnome had not wished to hide this information. Wilfred was asked if he wouldn't mind trying to teach a little magic to Johanna the quartermaster. She was Circle trained, but not nearly as proficient as a full wizard such as Wilfred. No, she was what's referred to as a Spellsmith, capable of using a few cantrips and, occasionally, tiered spells cast as rituals. Cantrips she already had some grasp of. It was the latter that she wished to learn from Wilfred if possible. The pair made a good start towards her learning the *identify* spell.
	+ When at last Wilfred was fully rested and recovered, he also joined Rascal for games of dragonchess. The Griffon Knight was very fond of the game, and of strategy in general. Wilfred trounced him all the same, using the ancient knowledge of the game that had been imprinted on his mind through Hidenori's chess piece.
	+ As they played, Wilfred and Rascal conversed. The gnome learned that Rascal's father had favoured his older brother enough to drive a wedge between them. Rascal and his entourage had left their home and struck out into the world. They hadn't planned on being pirates at first, and they still weren't the best on the waves, but their military training and aerial superiority had consistently served them well. Before he knew it, he was on the Council of Nine, living a comfortable life on Many Apples, and things in the Republic were rapidly getting boring and samey.
	+ While the party were resting, Rascal's lot tidied up the business on the Cherries. They robbed the place of all its trade goods and food, and brought the three galleons resting there to Many Apples. The party begin floating the idea of starting their own crew with one of the ships.
	+ At Wilfred's request, Clwyd used the span of days to ask Nix if there was any success with Greenbeard becoming his ward. Nix replied that Wilfred didn't mention the man was a genasi. The cambion said that since their kind have the potential to use *dying wishes* to wiggle their way out of contractual obligations at the last minute, they tend to make for poor investments. Nix had no interest in taking a genasi as a ward, he told her.
* Once rested, the party join Rascal for dinner, where they discuss both the Council of Nine and the witch coven of Sawtooth Basin.
	+ Rascal gives them the basics on the Council of Nine:
		- Base of Operations:
			* Mary: Freetown
			* The Jack of Bones: Freetown
			* Gaia Gold-Eater: The Republic's Sea Floor
			* The Blind Butcher: Ashen Wake
			* Feverfletch: Lovely Gallows
			* Shortshanks: Big Billy
			* The Dark Doctor: Muddy Shores
			* The Inferno: *currently unknown*
		- Relations:
			* Mary and the Jack always side together on major issues.
			* Feverfletch and the Butcher have a major rivalry. They'll often oppose the stance of the other just on principle.
			* Rascal and Feverfletch have something akin to a non-aggression pact, having reached common ground as former Rumidians.
		- Witch Tribute:
			* Those who deliver the tributes have secure positions on the Council, since the job needs to be done but none of the others are keen to do it.
			* Gaia Gold-Eater delivers the tribute to June the Maiden.
			* The Jack delivers the tribute to the Night Mother - by extension shoring up Mary's position on the Council because of their alliance.
			* The new guy, the Inferno, has made it clear he is fine with delivering tribute to Old Mackerel.
		- Vintage:
			* The Wetwar ended in the spring of 6237PS (41 years ago). The Council that rules over the Republic was founded shortly after that.
			* Mary, the Jack, Gaia Gold-Eater, and the Blind Butcher have all been on the Council since its founding.
			* Feverfletch is a long-standing member also, having been around for a couple decades at this point.
			* The other four seats have always had a relatively high turnover.
			* Shortshanks, the Dark Doctor, and Rascal are all of roughly the same generation - less than a decade on the Council.
			* The Inferno is a very recent addition.
	+ Through asking questions, the party also learns some specifics from Rascal:
		- Feverfletch is a former Rumidian mage, and she's apparently looking for an apprentice.
		- Even if they side with Feverfletch, they might still win over the Blind Butcher by winning the Butcher's Regatta, a lethal race around all of Sawtooth Basin, in and out of the rocks. The party unanimously decide it would be suicide to attempt under the best of conditions, let alone in their little boat.
		- Mary runs Freetown as her little pirate utopia. People arrive on the island and give her part of their haul. She then distributes it out to the island. She's never cruel with how much she takes and she's fairly easy to get along with. If you ain't got much, just tell her and she'll probably let it slide.
	+ Since they've just missed the full moon, they won't be able to launch any real attack on the Night Mother until the next one at the earliest. That means at least three weeks with which the party could busy themselves with the Council if that's their ambition. For his part, Rascal supports the idea of the party trying to win a seat. More friends on the council is always a good thing.
* At the end of the evening, under the growing light of a phasing moon, Aerendyl's Faerie water starts glowing the familiar moonlight glow of a summons from the River King. When the night reached its zenith, the elf would again talk to his patron.

* When it was time for the party to leave Many Apples, Cormorant informed them that he couldn't go with them for the time being. His leg makes him a liability on deck and in a fight. He'd stay at Fort Cider for the time being, where he was useful.
	+ They leave him with one of the sending stones, so they can remain in contact.
	+ He asks Aerendyl to keep his eyes out for the Makers of Eden and the Court of Midnight if he can.
	+ He gives Clwyd some gunpowder on her request - she notes that it's darker than the residue she found at the site of her family's massacre.
	+ Cormorant tells Wilfred to listen to himself, tells Clwyd to listen to Wilfred, and tells Pyt to sail straight off the end of the world should he find it.
	+ Then they part ways.