WIL Episode 14: A Winter's Return

## A Winter's Return

*The Subterfuge*

Natasha

Yzma

Captain Damien Graves

The Soul of the Moon Wisp

Theodore

Unknown #4

Jailer Prison Escapee

Preston Grunden

Rurik

Triss Darkenwell

Umberlee

Unknown #5

## Scenes

* While sailing in the sea of monsters, the crew of the Moon Wisp has breakfast on the morning of Feb 10
	+ A strange disturbance in the water has followed them and matched their pace for the last few days
	+ Pit turns Lora into a seahorse so that she can investigate
	+ Hamlet holds onto Pit as he looks through Lora's eyes in the water
	+ Behind them, he sees the same ship that attacked them on the first blue moon: *The Tempest.* It sails under the water, and quick.
	+ Below the ship, Pit also spots a kraken; he informs the others

* Evelyn rushes to gather Preston, Graves, and Triss
	+ They all deliberate what to do about the situation and wonder why they haven't already been attacked
	+ Hamlet detects a great deal of undead creatures about *The Tempest*
	+ Evelyn mentions she's only talked to one person on that ship, her captain

* Pittacus offers his compass to Evelyn
	+ Hamlet asks for clarification on how the Talian Wayfinder works, remembering when they held it
	+ Evelyn uses the compass and see the image of a ship sail across the moon
	+ Evelyn reaches for her necklace and speaks with *the Moon Wisp*. The wisp asks why she's unable to sense whatever is following them. She can sense the creature underneath it but not the ship. This was also the case the first time they were attacked.
	+ Tealo detects necromantic magic and a spell like that given from a God across *The Tempest*.

* Evelyn prays to Umberlee for frantic aid
	+ The wind picks up and speeds the ship, but *The Tempest* speeds ahead as well
	+ Evelyn instructs Anya to help with the sails

* They travel for another few days, *The Tempest* still trailing behind them
	+ A storm emerges on the 15th and centers on the two ships. A maelstrom swirls below and the two ships are trapped together by a wall of water
	+ *The Tempest* sports a white flag, seemingly asking for peace and parlay
	+ Hamlet get rum for Evelyn; Tealo sings a song to inspire Evelyn; Pit casts Fortune's Favor on Evelyn
	+ Hamlet offers to join her on *The Tempest* as her counsel

* Aboard *The Tempest*, they see The Abyssal Jailer. He has the head of an octopus, a lobster claw, and is covered in various sea creatures and features.
	+ He orders the Kraken to position herself in front of The Moon Wisp's canons for fair leverage and sportsmanship in parlay; in return, the parlay will occur on *The Tempest* and she can bring aboard her counsel. Lora comes along as well.
	+ Tealo watches from the rigging

* The go to *The Tempest*'s Captain's Quarters, avoiding the debris and broken parts along the way. The ship is in perpetual disarray as though it had been attacked moments ago.
	+ He tells them the name of the ship; he explains that he is tasked with punishing and imprisoning anyone, especially pirates, that commit crimes against the sea. His master, Umberlee, works with pirates and it's she who set him to the task. Now that pirates are being hunted, "something has to be done."
	+ While Evelyn has not specifically committed a crime against the sea, he tells her she is continuing the crime that was committed by her former Captain
	+ The former Captain of *The Moon Wisp* stole a chest from Umberlee; he says he cannot speak what is inside the chest but suffice to say it contains the power to rule the seas.
	+ He wants the chest returned to the abyss where he will keep it hidden and from where it was taken by the previous Captain of *The Moon Wisp*
	+ He'd been informed by Umberlee that Evelyn intends to gather the keys to open the chest; In return for the chest and keys, he's willing to award Evelyn a pardon; he expresses interest that Fortune Ships Trading Company not get their hands on what's in the chest
	+ Through contractual agreement, he offers to protect Evelyn while she gathers the keys
	+ The contract: "I, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, agree to gather the 3 keys in service of Umberlee. I will gather the 3 keys to the best of my ability, as quick as I can, and will not disclose the location of the keys to anyone but the Jailer himself, the only exception being the crew members of *The Moon Wisp*. If there is reasonable evidence, to the Jailer's discretion, that the above signed is turning on Umberlee, committing a new crime of the sea, and/or breaking any element of the contract, then the soul of the above signed is forfeited to the Jailer."
* Hamlet and Evelyn discuss the benefits of the contract.
	+ Evelyn asks Hamlet for a moment alone with the Jailer; Hamlet waits in a nearby room with Lora.

* Evelyn asks the Jailer what happened to her former Captain
	+ He explains that there is a prison for those that commit a crime against the sea. She's not dead, her soul will never go beyond "the bottom of the sea."
	+ When asked if there's any chance her former Captain could be freed, he tells her in all his many years of service as the Jailer there has only been one instance of a court being held to discuss the release a soul. Only one person has ever been free from his jail: the person who owned the item in the Moonwisp Chest.
	+ Finally, he asks how the ship is faring; he expresses satisfaction that she fares well.
	+ She weighs with him the benefits and disadvantages of which name to sign
	+ When expressing that he does not know the name of her, Evelyn, or the name of her former Captain, Evelyn opens up about not knowing either
* Evelyn signs the contract with her true name: "Evelyn Rhodes".
* Pit sees Jeth head down the mast and speak in Preston's ear that he needs to get something prepared from the Captain's quarters because there is another ship beneath the water.
	+ Pit informs Evelyn through sending
	+ Evelyn informs the Jailer that the Subterfuge has come near; the Jailer expresses astonishment at them getting past Umberlee's walls and that Fortune Ships must be more powerful than they suspected
	+ Evelyn, Hamlet, and Lora quickly return to *The Moon Wisp*
* The Moon Wisp flees as the other two ships battle beneath the water
	+ A localized whirlpool appears and disappears near the site of the underwater battle; Pit and Evelyn recognize that a graviturgical weapon had been used and hit something
	+ Pit reaches out to make sure the Jailer is safe; he receives a message back from what seems to be the Jailer keeping back his wrath on what just occurred (probably a result of the kraken being harmed). Pit relays this.
* Evelyn has Pit send a message to Captain Bloodweaver bringing him up to speed on it all that is in play
	+ Response back that says that he's already working on putting together an army and that he'll see her on Vulton waters
* That evening, during the blue moon
	+ Evelyn conducts the ritual for Selûne
	+ When finding another rose, she has another vision:
		- On what looks like the border edge of Kurcoza and the Vulton Empire, the same half-orc woman is arguing with an orc man, presumably her father. She declares that she will not stay, she wanders into the night away.
		- Swords are drawn and she is surrounded by 8 older Reavers in the darkness, wearing wigs and face paint to appear even more wild and strange. They intend to rob her.
		- 3 gun shots fire into the night, 3 Reavers fall. Someone runs into the darkness with them and fights them with a blade.
		- A man, the same from the previous vision, emerges from the dark and offers to bring her back home to the village with her father.
		- They return to the village together.
* Hamlet and Graves play another game of chess while Pittacus watches on
	+ Graves starts out ahead, he suggests Hamlet trust their instincts
	+ Hamlet takes the advice and starts pulling out ahead
	+ Graves still manages to win the game
	+ They trade grievances and commiserate over their perceived failures
	+ Hamlet lets slip that the former Captain stole a chest, stirring Graves' interest
	+ Pittacus cuts Hamlet off and suggests there is a reason Graves does not know
	+ Graves seems to agree; Pittacus asks him for a game, Pittacus wins

* Tealo goes to talk to Jeth; Jeth, surprisingly, invites him into the crow's nest
	+ Tealo asks Jeth to help him figure out how to make friends and to ask him to be friends with him
	+ Jeth admits that they are already friends, causing Tealo to tear up and Jeth to become uncomfortable
	+ Tealo departs and Jeth considers the horrifying prospect of being known
* As everyone prepares for the evening, Pittacus contacts Theodore, warning him not to get in the way
	+ Theodore entreats Pit to take the chest in order to stop the madness
	+ Pit refuses; Theodore does not respond
* They navigate to Kurcoza, navigating through the ice
	+ Looking at the imposing frozen mountains, Anastasia thinks of when she left when she was younger
	+ Many Kurcozans around her are in an exodus, singing a dirge, mourning their need to leave their beloved homeland
* The crew sets out on their journey into the frozen wilds towards Skrevich on foot
	+ Hamlet struggles to acclimate to the cold weather
	+ Anastasia warns that the best course of action for many encounters is to flee
		- She requests they avoid overt magic, the Capital, or mentioning her name in most places around Kurcoza outside Skrevich
		- While Hamlet offers to find a steed in the wild using magic, Anya admits she has a horse in Skrevich that she had to leave behind
		- Evelyn instructs the crew that will stay behind on the ship to keep a low profile and not interfere with Kurcozan pirates; she also brings supplies along to be ready for the upcoming Blood Moon

* Anya leads the crew through a precarious ledge on the cliffs
	+ Hamlet leads a nervous Ophelia; Tealo speaks to her and calms her, to Hamlet's confusion
	+ Pittacus looks to the Wayfinder and sees a portal and a Kurcozan person in an ushanka hat magically pulling strands of magic from the time anomaly and skeletons begin to emerge from the ground
	+ Tealo asks Pit if they can speak together at some point in the future; Pit agrees
* Arriving at a bridge, they find it, their only way to Skrevich, broken
	+ Tealo fells a tree, with Hamlet's attempted help
	+ They lay the tree across the gorge; all cross
	+ Evelyn nearly falls, but Pittacus rewinds time to give her a chance to try again; she succeeds in crossing
* The crew arrives on Feb 29th at a gloomy and somewhat empty Skrevich
	+ They see a child blacksmith, Krof, working tirelessly
	+ Many people are missing; many avoid the crew
* Yzma greets Anya and the crew
	+ She tells how the Magistrates came and stole many from the town starting 2 years ago
	+ The Magistrates' numbers and gumption have grown to acts of authoritarianism
	+ They seem to travel instantaneously and have immense power
	+ Rurik the blacksmith was killed defending his wife, seemingly crushed by the air around him; Pittacus becomes uncomfortable hearing this
	+ Galina is in a hidden room in Yzma's house; they would like to move her to a room below the garden
	+ The Magistrates seem not to be able to sense magic in such deep soil and frost
	+ Pit requests to ask Yzma a few questions, Anya presses for later
* Yzma brings Anya to Galina while Natasha leads the crew to wait in a nearby building
	+ Anya sees in the room an elderly woman laying in a bed with a silvery braid, Galina
	+ Galina speaks on how all must meet their "final journey"
	+ She admits she had kept a secret from Anya all these years
		- Alcinder asked her not to reveal it until the right time
		- Before Alcinder met Anya, he had a wife and son, Ivan
		- When he was very young, Ivan was taken by the Magistrates to the Capital
		- Ivan managed to escape, seemingly being the only one to do that
		- Galina asks if Anya has heard of "The Uprising"
		- Anya admits that she met a Reaver who told her a little bit
		- Galina speaks about how those who rose up called themselves "The Resistánce"
		- Ivan, trained as a Magistrate, became leader of The Resistánce in order to fight and overthrow the Czar
		- Galina asks her to do the impossible: find Ivan, her nephew, let him know who his father is and aid him in making the right decision
		- She believes The Resistánce is somewhere near the Capital
	+ Anya tells of her travels as Galina nods off back to sleep
	+ Anya holds Galina as she falls asleep
* A man runs into the town, out of breath, yelling, panicked
	+ "They're early!"
	+ A portal appears, and the Magistrates step through