1.4: Not-your-ordinary-murder-rape-and-pillage-just-the-pillage Sky Pirates

((It has been some time, and I'm not even sure which of these next 2 quest notes I was actually responsible for since somebody else also missed one apparently, so bear with me as I struggle to remember what I can for this and the next one. As always, feel free to add further bullet points as I SURELY will miss some things)).

* We'd surrounded the enemy campsites in the Coriander Woods, where the Dragon Wings were then holding the Maharaja.
* The next morning, the party, both ours and Storan's, split up, though their rogue, Mor, as well as Storan himself, stay to travel with our forward group. Basically everyone in both parties goes ahead into enemy territory except for Sajaina, Timmeron, Baygrith and Sal, who volunteer to stay behind and keep watch. Sajaina puts up a fight, wanting to go ahead with the others but Grukk is the only one who supports that idea and Perlapae insists she "stay safe" so stay she does.
* The forward party enters enemy territory and tries to be discreet about it, but they end up setting one of the tents on fire which causes quite a ruckus, and get separated as Storan & co. fight off people attracted to the flames and the main party peeps forge ahead.
* They are further separated when Mor leaves to scout ahead and Perlapae goes to the aid of an old man, compelled by her deity to accept the first thing asked of her from a non-enemy, and is forced to follow him to his home and listen to him tell a long story. Travize, unwilling to send a group member off alone with a strange old man, accompanies her. His story is about keys and doors and ends up being really important to the plot because this old man is actually Bagel.
* Meanwhile, Grukk and Storan ignore the fire and fight some pirates, trying unsuccessfully to get information on the whereabouts of the Maharaja. At some point Grukk challenges a leader among their ranks to a duel and destroys him just barely, but is also lit on fire in the process, and then surrounded by a bunch of other mean Orcs. Things are looking in a bad way...
* During all this, the group left behind doesn't stay that way for long. Sajaina gets bored and comes up with a hundred reasons why it would be better for everyone if their group were to get a little closer to actually be able to watch everyone else's backs. Timmeron is resistant to this idea but Sal and Baygrith are amenable so Sajaina scouts ahead, climbing through treetops, during which she finds what looks like a wounded camp of...non-Dragon Wing...bandits? Who also have an airship? She overhears them talking about a fight AGAINST the Dragon Wings they had recently been routed from and about how they're trying to get the Maharaja BACK from said Dragon Wings...which is of course confusing to her.
* Needless to say Sajaina returns to her sub-group, relays this information and brings them back in that direction. They bump into a member of the bandits and everyone hides in time but Baygrith, who is forced to awkwardly interrogate the lone bandit while Sajaina steals some herbs from the bandit's pack because why not? Baygrith doesn't get much out of him, and then the party gets distracted when they see fire in the distance (the tent), and head that way.
* They find Grukk and Storan struggling to stay on their feet against some archers, and Sajaina leaps into the fray once she notices how poorly it's going, sneaks up behind the Orc attacking Grukk and slits his throat. Sal does his best to patch up Grukk and Storan with his healing magic.
* Timmeron freaks out, freezes the whole scene with his time magic, and starts yelling at her about not interfering and staying back like they had agreed...it gets messy. But he and Baygrith join the battle and together the reunited (mostly) group fights off the remaining Orcs.
* Then they meet back up with Perlapae, Travize and her new friend Bagel, although they've lost Storan & co. who went on ahead, and hear what Bagel has to say. He suggests that the Dragon Wings are after some ultimate weapon that his key and door password he was prattling on to Perlapae about can unleash. He says they need to get to it before the pirates do and also they're not a match for the pirates so maybe they should go see if those bandits who were already fighting the pirates want to KEEP fighting them but like with the party this time.
* And while all of this is happening, our poor friend Caireann had just escaped from where she'd been held captive by the Dragon Wings since the rest of the party fled the temple of Astor in quest 1.1! She had discovered a magic ring in the Hall of Prophecy, among the High Priest's abandoned clothing. Interestingly, it made the wearer look like the High Priest of Astor, prompting the Dragon wings to imprison her rather than kill her Running from the same camp the party was raiding into the woods, she met one of the aforementioned bandits. He was severely wounded and Caireann offered to escort him back to his camp because she's a nice person. She bound his wounds the best she could and hobbled with him to the rest of his fellow bandits but it was too late. He didn't make it, but he thanked her sincerely with some of his last words and was at least able to die in the company of his companions.
* The rest of the party entered into this emotional scene--poor Caireann was quite shaken up at this point. But everyone was ecstatic to see each other and learn that she was still alive.
* The "Captain" of these men, a charming Half-Orc called Veller, came over to see what all the commotion was. He introduced himself as the Captain of this group of sky pirates...but they are totally unaffiliated with the Dragon Wings. In fact, they hate the Dragon Wings, who go around murdering and raping and making things harder for gold old fashioned pirates who just want to pillage and steal.
* He thanked Caireann genuinely for returning the dying "member of his crew and family" to him, and then went on to boast that **his** men had kidnapped the Maharaja, but the Dragon Wings had managed to take him from them. Veller apparently only wanted to ransom the leader, and he and his crew had kept him quite entertained before he was taken by the less savory pirates. Veller was willing to return the Maharaja safe and sound to Mura'kesz as a recompense for all the unintended suffering the Dragon Wings must be inflicting upon him, if they could only get him back.
* The party and the "less bad" pirates agreed to work together and plan a sort of negotiation. Captain Veller was to "trade" Grukk for the Maharaja. This should work because Grukk would be wearing the magic ring Caireann found, thereby allowing him to pretend to be the escaped High Priest of Astor(\*cough\* Caireann \*cough\*), which the Dragon Wings sorely needed to recapture.
* Travize secreted himself on Grukk's person as a mouse, melding Grukk's sword into his animal form so they would be ready for a fight.
* Everyone prepared for the stand-off. Veller gave the group some of his men's spare mismatched pirate garb to blend in, and they hovered around Veller as he approached a great temple in the woods that the Dragon Wings had turned into a temporary base and flung Grukk theatrically into the stairs, calling out to his rival Captain, Lukragg.
* An Orc cronie sneered at Veller but Veller held his ground and the cronie sent for a superior. Lukragg himself would not come, but a high-ranking pirate came in his stead to oversee the situation.
* Grukk played the docile captive part surprisingly well, and when he was told about the password Grukk was 'offering' in exchange for the Maharaja, the pirate officer went and brought forth the Maharaj who was a little worse for wear but okay.
* Sajaina put herself into a good position to run to her leader's aid if necessary, because breaking the law or not, she felt responsible to defend him.
* The Maharaja seemed to know what Veller and the officer were insinuating, and the group speculated that perhaps the reason the Dragon Wings were interested in him at all was because he held a key and password himself.
* Of course, they started to make the trade and the Dragon Wings played dirty, taking Grukk and refusing to give back the Maharaja, but Grukk responded to this by slugging the completely unprepared officer in the back of the head, reclaiming his sword from Travize, and starting a huge brawl.
* It turned out the Maharaja could fend for himself, maneuvering himself with perfect master of unarmed combat and taking down dozens of Orcs himself, trying to clear a path back towards Grukk. He was outnumbered though, so Sajaina tailed him, staying out of sight until one Orc snuck up behind the Maharaja and she was forced to reveal herself in order to protect him. Their eyes met, and fire ignited in the Maharaja's, but he just ordered her to duck as another blow narrowly missed her head. The Maharaja only managed to grunt out a question as to what she was doing out here, and Sajaina a meek apology, before they needed to focus entirely on the fight again.
* The entire group became involved in the chaos, but the odds turned even farther against them when two of the Dragon Wings' airships darkened the skies. Luckily, nearly as soon as they appeared, a third, sleeker airship swooped in--the Will O' the Wisp, piloted by Captain Veller alone. He tossed a rope over the side and called out to the party to give him a hand. First on board was Baygrith, who, with his vast Artificer experience, easily rigged the canons and prepared to fire them at the enemy ships. Next was Sajaina, who leapt into the air and deftly snatched the rope, shimmying up onto the ship once she was sure that the Maharaja had rejoined Grukk and Travize, fighting side by side.
* Perlapae used her control over the winds to help Caireann aboard, but failed to do so for herself, mustering just enough of a gust to clutch the edge of the ship. Caireann scrambled to help her but struggled to lift her stone body, so Veller abandoned the wheel to aid them, instructing Sajaina to steer it. Startled, but with little choice, Sajaina took over.
* With Perlapae safely on board, Veller came up behind Sajaina and began instructing her, rather than taking back the wheel. Panicked at first, Sajaina quickly gave in to the thrill of piloting an airship, and wasn't half-bad at it! Veller directed her to do a "drive-by" to pick up Grukk and Travize, which she managed though it was a little shaky. Grukk managed to scramble onto the ship and Travize took the form of a bird rather than waiting for another fly by.
* Sajaina then directed the airship to pass near one of the Dragon Wings' vessels, just barely managed to do so, and Caireann was the first to bravely board. She caught sight of one of the Orcs wielding her signature weapon--her dueling blade--which she had been unable to retrieve during her initial escape from the Dragon Wings. Travize flew after her, landing on the cannons and shifting to bear form to pry them off one by one, really, really taking the pirates (er, the bad ones) by surprise. Baygrith remained on Veller's deck to direct the canons, and Sajaina to pilot the ship, while Perlapae continued to scan below for any who needed her healing powers.
* Back on the ground, Sal and Timmeron welcomed the Maharaja into the group of 'good pirates' and prepared to lead a flanking maneuver. Timmeron was forced to use his magic to cancel out some of the incoming blasts from the sky-pirate cannons in order to spare the lives of his comrades, while Sal looked after some of the injured.
* Abandoning the cannons of the ship, Travize flew up to the front deck and shifted into a stone-form, crashing into the wheel house of the ship, disabling the steering.
* Caireann managed to grab her sword just as the enemy airship she and Travize were attacking began to finally go down, and Veller urged Sajaina to quickly come up underneath them to scoop up their companions. Baygrith was able to take out the second ship with the canons, just as an army of Laputi soldiers suddenly swarmed onto the battlefield below, cleaning up the remaining Orcs that had yet to retreat alongside Timmeron, Sal, Grukk and the Maharaja.
* There was much whooping aboard the Will o' the Wisp, and Veller took the controls from Sajaina to safely land, praising her first attempt at piloting. Sajaina had a moment where she stared off into the open horizon and really understood what it was she left home for in the first place. She accidentally blurted this out loud and Veller, steering the ship beside her, heard her. The two bonded over the sentiment briefly before the Will o' the Wisp hit the ground.
* The Maharaja was finally safe. He strode easily through the crowd of Laputi to their High Tender, who had decided to come himself to ensure his political ally and good friend's safety.
* Veller quietly withdrew into the woods with his crew, in order to prepare to take the Maharaja back home.
* Old man Bagel approached the party before they could decide whether or not to interact with the Laputi (Perlapae was reluctant to do so) or the Maharaja (Sajaina obviously shouldn't), and reminded them that there was still the matter of the key and the ultimate weapon locked inside that temple, at risk of falling into Lukragg's hands.
* Exhausted, but hyped up on adrenaline, all the party looked towards the entrance to the temple.