40. The Jack Abides

* Aerendyl, Clwyd, and Wilfred continue to party with Mennick and the rum-runners. Meanwhile, under the light of a phasing moon, Pyt talks with the Jack of Bones in the streets of Freetown.
	+ The Jack's a strange man who speaks in riddles. He suddenly professes his maddening love for Pyt, then immediately calms down, saying, 'at least that's what I think, which is odd.'
	+ He'd gone to speak with his friend Mary and the moment she'd mentioned meeting Pyt in the day, the Jack had found his heart beating faster. And so he'd come to speak with Pyt.
	+ Halfway through one of Pyt's responses, the Jack lifts the rat corpse on the end of his cane to his ear, making like it's talking to him. 'Rasty did touch you earlier, didn't he?' the Jack asks. Pyt agrees that he was booped on the nose and as he does he's suddenly turned into a newt.
	+ The Jack starts trotting away. He shouts come along to newt-Pyt, who climbs onto his trouser leg. They go to the end of one of Freetown's docks. The Jack sits and watches the moon until the polymorphy on Pyt has ran its course after an hour. He apparently has a couple chats with Ratsy during this time, holding the corpse to his ear and moving the cane a little, then looking at it to respond.
	+ When at last Pyt is himself once more, the duo continue their conversation. The Jack suspects that Pyt knows a little of 'gallows humour' because he believes these new feelings of his aren't his own - they're likely someone's idea of a funny joke.
	+ Pyt thinks he knows the true nature of the Jack, and so he's able to peer through the illusion the creature is wearing, revealing him to be a grim jester - an undead creature comprised of bones and black comedy, just as Pyt's old friend is.
	+ The Jack tells Pyt that he and his ilk are always sharing jokes, but whether they laugh or not remains up to their own sensibilities. In other words, the Jack had inherited some memories another grim jester had towards Pyt - their idea of a joke - but the Jack was free to decide how he currently felt about all that. He'd recently concluded that he didn't much like it.
	+ At the end of their chat, the Jack tossed a platinum piece at Pyt's feet, 'for your trouble.' When Pyt picked it up, a voice squeaked out from the coin saying 'put me down!' making Pyt jump. The Jack rolled with laughter, almost falling into the sea. Pyt pocketed the coin with a smile and walked away.
	+ The bard returned to the group and they slept in the cellars of the rum-runners' place, among the bathtubs of distilling booze.
	+ Once again, Clwyd couldn't sleep. In the early hours before the others awoke, she and Aerendyl spoke briefly: she didn't seem too worried about not being able to sleep these days, figuring it will work itself out; she wasn't sure if she even had a soul any more or if they were a thing in the first place; and they briefly discuss how there might be so many half-elves around when there are so few elves - Clwyd puts it down to one elf having many children in their long lives.
* The next morning, the group bid farewell to Mennick and his smuggler friends. They go out into Freetown, find a place that'll sell them food, and discuss what their plan of action should be from here.
	+ Pyt tells the group about his interaction with the Jack, saying he's a very powerful creature but doesn't appear to be hostile.
	+ They take in the daily life of Freetown. Everyone went about with weapons and looked pretty handy in a fight, but there were no open hostilities. Some guy was rolling a wheelbarrow from one end of town to the other, shouting that he was selling bread and buns. Workers were carrying lumber over to the docks where Pyt and the Jack had spoken the night before, where Mary had said some maintenance work was going on. Wilfred used a couple of levitate spells to secretly ease the burdens of the people carrying lumber.
	+ The party opt to pitch in with the dock repairs for a few hours. Clwyd uses her mending cantrip liberally and Aerendyl openly takes the form of a giant elk to drag heavy things around. The repairs are done in an amicable manner by the people of Freetown - if a little boisterous, and involving a lot of swearing.
* By the early afternoon, the group have been working for hours, have made a good show of some of their magical abilities, and there's still a bunch more work to be done on the docks.
	+ Pyt gathers the group around to ask them what the fuck they are doing with their lives?! Why were they spending their day fixing a dock?! He begged them to think about what they actually wanted to do here in the Pirate Republic.
	+ Clwyd sees some of Rascal's argument a little more clearly now - the pirates had all put roots down here. Sure they might go on raids every so often, but this was how they lived their lives: they fixed docks and bought bread from a wheelbarrow. She could see how someone like Rascal might call that stagnation. She might even agree.
	+ Wilfred, for his part, quite likes the vibe, and is trying to help people.
	+ Aerendyl notices a half-elf watching the group from across the way - dark skin, ashen hair, a lazy expression on a well-worn face, sat in a chair flanked by a wolf and a panther. It was Hot Eye, a man Pyt recognised from the brief time the party had spent on Tortuga a year and a half ago.
* The party of four cross the street, deciding to go talk to Hot Eye.
	+ He'd been watching the group because Aerendyl had demonstrated his wild shaping ability. Hot Eye called it a rare gift.
	+ Aerendyl responded in kind, taking note that the two animals on either side of the half-elf had been *awakened* - they spoke with humanoid voices and would have minds as keen as them. The wolf, Waya, mostly just laughed a lot. The panther, Wesa, was kind of a stick in the mud.
	+ They exchange intros, with the group telling him they once worked for Driscoll and they saw Hot Eye going to Badger's parley.
	+ In turn, the half-elf introduces himself fully, saying his name is Glint of the Hot Sun in His Eye. When asked, Hot Eye says in Sylvan that any plan the party divulge to him will not be shared with others, though he can't agree to anything without knowing what he's agreeing to.
	+ They proceed to tell Hot Eye that they're thinking about killing the witches of Sawtooth Basin, and wondered if maybe he wanted to help. They try to word it in such a way as to suggest they still want to fight Shandy and this would be a means to that end - knowing that Hot Eye has his own quarrel with the Pirate Lord.
	+ Hot Eye doesn't agree to help. More to the point, he doesn't think he'd be much help against the witches - he doesn't know a great deal about them. But he can tell the group one thing: those witches mean a lot of different things to different people; some see them as a symbol of oppression, others as the means for freedom. Whoever's right or wrong, if the witches are killed, things will undoubtedly change for the Pirate Republic. The group would be wise to play their cards close to their chests until they understand the extent of that.
	+ As they leave, the group have another brief discussion: 'are we the bad guys?' Wilfred explains that he *needs* to find out what happened to his parents - it's the whole reason he left Rumidia. He doesn't have any other leads than this course of action, much as he seems to like the Republic. Clwyd, while mentioning Rascal's argument again, also says that Madog's in the Republic now - 'he is poison. Even if we leave the Republic as is, he will ruin it eventually anyway. So we might as well get something while it gets ruined.'
* They make a snap decision to seek out the Jack of Bones and float the idea of witch-killing to him, thinking more people on their side on the Council of Nine would be a good move, with Pyt hopeful that he could swing the Jack to their side.
	+ The Jack proves to be incredibly hard to find, with the tough folk of the Republic reticent to even talk about him, and creeped out that the party would be doing so as freely as they were. They all appear to be scared of the man.
	+ A combination of Wilfred's keen intellect, Clwyd's assistance, and Pyt's inspiration allows the group to track him down in the shadows of a huge rain barrel on a rooftop, looking out at seagulls above the waves. (DC 30 investigation check: Wilfred rolled with advantage and a d8 bardic inspiration - got exactly 30)
	+ Pyt and the group have an esoteric conversation with the Grim Jester. Wilfred, having been tipped off by Pyt, is also easily able to see through the illusions he wears to the bony truth beneath.
	+ The Jack confides that Mary is his humanity. It's been a long time since . . . *this* (gesturing all over his body as he said it), and it gets harder and harder to remember things that used to be important, like community, certain emotions, hopes, dreams. He takes his ques for all those things off his friend, who hasn't been called 'Bloody Mary' for a long time now.
	+ They tell the Jack that they're thinking about killing the witches. He share a look of shock with Ratsy, but it's pantomime - in truth, he doesn't seem all that bothered.
	+ Pyt says that he thinks it would be funny if the Republic and its enemies were so sure it was being defended by the witches, only for them to be long dead. (Rolls a 30 on the persuasion check.) The Jack has a private chat with Ratsy, eventually saying that Ratsy agrees that would be quite funny.
	+ He agrees to talk to Mary while the party go and try killing the witches.
	+ Before they leave, Pyt asks the Jack what happened to him, to turn him into - then he gestures all over his body. The Jack deadpans the following story:
		- I shat myself. I was to be hung, you see, and I was quite scared. The hangman put the noose around my neck and my bowels turned to pudding. It ran down my leg and I slipped on it, snapping my neck before the gallows' floor even dropped.
	+ This leaves the group roaring with laughter - the Jack doesn't seem upset. Pyt says his friend just died to a bad rhyming couplet.
	+ As they go, Pyt flicks the platinum piece on the floor at the Jack's feet, saying 'for your troubles.' The Jack picks it up, it squeaks 'put me down!' and he grins, shouting 'I do love you!'
* The group takes stock of their situation.
	+ Pyt points out that they've now agreed to kill the witches openly for Rascal and discreetly for the Jack. Clwyd argues that if the witch killing is known to the Council of Nine and hidden from the rest of the Republic then that should be enough to satisfy both obligations.
	+ They have another quick debate about whether Rascal is allied with Rumidia. Wilfred also points out that mage hunters exist chiefly to track down necromancers. If they knew of Feverfletch, they'd probably have come for her already. Several argue that Rascal could just be playing a long con.
	+ Their conclusion is that it doesn't actually affect their current situation. They agree to take the River King's offer, to learn what they can of the witches from him, and to spend the next 17 days until the full moon week preparing themselves for conflict.
* They sail back to Many Apples, settle into the dock, and begin putting their plans into motion.
	+ That night, the fifth night of the phasing moon, Aerendyl communes with the River King, bringing the rest of the party too. Pyt, Wilfred, and Aerendyl give their Sylvan oaths to the fey: that they'd do their best to kill the witches under the coming full moon cycle, and that if they are successful in doing so, each body will be presented as soon as possible for the River King's harvesting.
	+ Aerendyl also promises to do his best to kill those not swearing the oaths if they shouldn't uphold them.
	+ Their word freely given in the binding tongue, the trio feel the geas-like effect click into place.
	+ The River King's face - Aerendyl's reflected face - takes a look of pure ecstasy as they agree to the plan. When he calms down, he tells Aerendyl that he shall fall with the rain and learn what he can, and he also warns that under the light of the moon, while he's busy disrupting the coven's connection, he shan't be free to commune with the group.
	+ The next night, storm clouds gather in the sky - belying the seasonal weather of the sub-tropical republic.
	+ The heavy rain falls the night after, on the last night of the phasing moon. Wilfred takes a moment to confirm that it's magical as heck.
* The following week has moonless nights, so Aerendyl knows the River King will not be able to communicate anything he's learned for at least 7 days. The group spend their time getting ready for the coming conflict.
	+ Wilfred studies more with Feverfletch, putting in 24 hours of extra study time, learning another necromancy spell: *gentle repose*. He can also be seen teetering in the air above Many Apples quite often, as he practices walking on a new spell he's working on, *wall of force*. He also has some fun pretending to be Pyt's conscience through the use of his new *telepathic bond* spell.
	+ Aerendyl spends a lot of time procuring expensive magical focuses by bartering with the people of Freetown and Lovely Gallows. He's able to gather some choice incense, herbs, unguents, and candles, as well as another wineskin-esque decanter like the one containing his Faerie water - this one housing a reflective liquid metal.
	+ Pyt ditties and experiments, eventually figuring something out. He goes to Clwyd one day, who's looking a little worse for wear, and then he strips naked, does a weird little dance, and then modifies her memory so she doesn't remember him doing it.
	+ Pyt also starts writing a ten-part special for Mennick's Real News. He dubs it 'the Truth Behind the Tantrum,' an epic poem detailing the final days of Driscoll's war against Shandy, picking up from the moment Pyt joined in - and highlighting all the deeds Pyt did. He has Jolene slip that manuscript for the first part under the door of where Mennick and the rum-runners are staying.
	+ Through all this, Clwyd has perpetually been unable to sleep, even though she's getting more and more exhausted by the day. Still, she keeps waiving away the concern of the others. By the end, she's gone 11 nights in a row without sleep, the final day spent completely bed-bound. On the night of that 12th day, she's delirious, probably dying, and the rest of the party are elsewhere. She closes her eyes and thinks she might get to rest for a moment, then finds herself before the Lady Telphousila in her estate's throne room. Clwyd doesn't even know if what she's seeing is real, but the lady asks her if she's come to give her promised payment or if she's going to get back to work. Clwyd awakes from the ultimatum and finds she can move. She's still tired, exhausted even, but now it doesn't take sleep to let her rest. She spends the remainder of the night outside, awake, but feeling better. And she no longer requires sleep at all.
* On each of the seven nights of the next phasing moon, Aerendyl converses with the River King, learning of the witches.
	+ On the first night, he's warned about Weird Magic - another branch of magic like arcane or faith magic, but exclusive to witches. Indeed, it's often known as witchcraft. It's hard to predict - making it hard to counterspell, but witches are often reluctant to use it too much, since it can be hard for them to gather the necessary components. All the same, alongside the potential of them using it in any eventual confrontation, the witches' three lairs are protected by Weird Magic:
		- Mackerel's island cannot be sailed to. Anything moved by the wind will not reach its shores.
		- The Night Mother's islands are permanently in the ethereal, though the light of the full moon lets them be accessed from this plane as well.
		- June's lair is underwater and can only be reached by those who know where it is. The River King happily provides its location.
	+ On the second night, the River King tells Aerendyl that each of the witches keeps a quickling to run letters between the coven. They are some of the fastest creatures in existence, and the group would be well advised to deal with them soundly - they are hard to pin down and hit, but the sleep spell should be effective if they get the chance. What's more, the River King thinks they'd make excellent servants for Aerendyl after the right re-education, should he be able to capture them and deposit them in the River King's domain without killing the little things. He shows them on the surface of the water, three in total - one with turquoise hair, one with blue, and one with light purple. They're so fast and small, they can run across the surface of the ocean without sinking. June's quickling hangs out on the glassy island near her lair, since it's underwater. The other two quicklings are kept on their respective witch's island.
	+ For the next three nights, the River King speaks specifically of each lair:
		- June's lair was hard for him to learn about, since his rain and power dispersed so much when it hit the water. Still, he could tell it's a large warren of tunnels and she appears to have filled it with a lot of snakes, including what he suspects to be quite a powerful servant deep within.
		- The Night Mother has three islands, and many gloaming court servants on each. But each island also has something like an alpha, a creature that rules over the others. The Night Mother herself remains hidden in shadow on her central island, but the alphas among her servants can visit her by using the pieces of shadow they possess - one piece of shadow per island. They'll need to take the pieces of shadow from the leaders among the Night Mother's servants before they can confront her.
		- Old Mackerel's island appears to be lush with growth, but mostly uninhabited, with a farm and cottage nestled in the shade of some island mountains. He couldn't detect much other life there than the plants and a Weird goat (as in Weird Magic).
	+ On the sixth night, he answers Aerendyl's question about the relative strength of the witches. The River King knows witches well enough to know that they gather strength with age. The party could be confident in knowing that their power would ascend with their position: maiden, mother, crone.
	+ Finally, on the last night, having conferred to the party, Aerendyl asked the River King if the witches will have any means of escape they should be wary of.
		- The fey advised him that alongside their Weird Magic, they'd likely command other spells too - including, potentially, teleportation magic. Aerendyl would be wise to tell his wizard friend to keep a counterspell ready for such a manoeuvre at the end of a fight.
		- Be wary of the Night Mother's phasing. He's known witches with a connection to the ethereal - if her islands can do it, it's likely she can as well. There shouldn't be a problem if they confront her on the island itself under the full moon, since they'll already be in the ethereal with her. But should she manage to flee off the island, she could probably phase away from them with impunity.
		- Finally, there is likely a fey crossing on Old Mackerel's island.
* In the final days leading up to the full moon, Clwyd, through her ever-growing prowess with her Pact Magic, casts a *hallow* spell on *the Drunken Dragon*. She excludes fiends from the effect, and opts for fire resistance for 'Clwyd's allies' while they're aboard the ship as the additional effect.
* On the first day of the new full moon, the party is ready as they'll ever be. They opt for the Night Mother first - since June is underwater and that seems like a hassle, and Old Mackerel is the strongest, so best put that off. They sail up the Bay of Glass, seeing that a lot of the glassy isles are inhabited by sea cats like the two that live near the Cherries. Evening comes and the party are on Glassy Four, looking out at the open water nearby where the Moonlit Isles will appear once night is upon them and the full moon is in the sky.