16/06/2020 - Group Goodbyes, Hellfire Histories and Shipwreck Skirmishes

## TL:DR

* After some rowing-troubles, the group eventually collected the Halfling's weapon shipment from some Prismatic Pirates .
* Khrom , Kelda and Elyan  stayed behind to transport the weapons from the shore to the in-land meeting place agreed with Finnian.
* The rest of the group sailed back to Ilbidor , where they gave Dr T the findy-stick and found out more about the history of the hellfire weapon they found.
* The next day, on the instruction of Dr T , the group set off to locate the guilds stolen loot using the findy-stick. Eventually located it at a strange half-shipwreck, and after fighting off some hybrid-Capricorns recovered the loot and transported it back to Ilbidor .

## To the meeting place

With a plan of action decided, and Wilbur back on the Wildmane , Trimaeus  set sail out of Branxom. In an effort to mislead any prying ATC  eyes, Trimaeus  initially headed directly out of the port, but after a few hours doubled back towards the weapon-drop meeting place at the south of Cypropa . To aid Trimaeus’s  trickery, Scribbulus  rather optimistically cast pass-without-a-trace on the Wildmane , making its stern unnaturally shady.

As Trimaeus  and his crew sailed boldly through the night, the rest of the group enjoyed a good if not choppy rest. By the following morning they had arrived at their destination, a small rocky island south of Cypropa , but saw no sign of the ship they were due to meet. As they waited, Trimaeus  voiced his concerns that this particular portion of the coast was a tad bumpy for a goods transfer. Blagden  suggested that they should just sail further from the coastline then, but the others pointed out that this would place them nearer to the main shipping lanes, and thus potentially into eyesight of any passing ATC  vessels.

As noon approached, Kelda spotted another ship approaching through Merric’s  spyglass. She described the ship as having a red-sail adorned with a sigil that was a series of multicoloured rays coming out the forehead of a scull-and-crossbones. As the group realised this vessel was affiliated with the Prismatic Pirates , Scribbulus  wisely suggested that Elyan  should hide the Hellfire weapon, as its previous owner, Orn the Red, had been a Prismatic  Captain. After determining that the sword wouldn’t fit in Blagden’s  wrist pocket dimension, Elyan  decided to put it in the bag of holding, and after some confusion as to whether Narko  or Scribbulus  had the bag, it was hidden away.

## Boating bedlam

By this time, the pirates had loaded the weapons onto a small boat and were rowing across to the rocky island. The group decided that Khrom  should row their boat, with Blagden  acting as cox and Elyan  and Tamsin  as passengers. As Khrom  began rowing, Scribbulus  and Kelda transformed into a giant seahorse and reef shark respectively. However, just after he transformed, Scribbulus  realised he was meant to imbue Khrom  with bull-strength, so quickly hopped back into human form to do this before transforming back to the seahorse. This would prove to be the least useful double-use of wildshape in his career.

As the group’s rowboat cast off from the Wildmane, Khrom  began majestically heaving at the oars. Initially he made good progress, but after a few minutes the boat became caught in a strong current and even with his bull-strength he began to struggle. Realising the cause of the problem, cox-Blagden  began yelling at Khrom  to move out of the current. This went well, until Khrom  directed the boat too far to the left and into a portion of the sea that was so choppy water began pouring into the boat. As Blagden  wailed unhelpful directions at the tiring Khrom , Elyan  and Tamsin  were able to bail out enough water to keep them afloat. Seeing the boat struggling, shark-Kelda swam up to push the boat out of the choppiness and into calmer waters. This gave Khrom  a chance to catch his breath and remember the importance of their cause, and with renewed vigour he guided the boat safely to the rocky island.

## Tabaxi talk: Part 1

The Prismatic Pirate rowboat had already arrived, and two menacing-looking warforged and a Tabaxi were in the process of unloading several large crates.  As 5/6ths of the group walked ashore, Scribbulus  suddenly realised that if he changed back to a halfling he’d be unable to swim back, so just awkwardly shoved his seahorse head out of the water to watch the proceedings. Seeing them approach, the Tabaxi stopped unloading crates and with a stern voice called out:

*“You don’t look like halflings?”*

Tamsin , gesturing to seahorse-Scribbulus : *“yeah, our halflings a seahorse”*

As the Tabaxi stared at seahorse-Scribbulus  with a mixture of amusement and confusion, Khrom  stepped forward to explain that they were representatives of the halflings.

The Tabaxi, looking more relaxed: *“Ahh, so you also hate the ATC ?”*

Khrom , forcefully: *“Yes. They are massive dickbags”*

The Tabaxi, laughing: *“Well I just hope these weapons are put to good use, this is good steel"*

At this point, Blagden  skipped over and slightly rudely asked what the Tabaxi’s name was:

*“My name is Careless Whisper”*

As Blagden  looked bewildered by this strange name, Khrom  went over to inspect the weapons, giving one a few practice swings to check the balance. Tamsin  then asked the Tabaxi why the pirates hated the ATC  so much:

*“Well, the Captain holds a personal grudge, and as a group we very much want to see the ATCs  power on the sea reduced”*

Blagden : *“So who exactly are you lot then?”*

The Tabaxi, after a careful pause: *“We are merchants, negotiators, tradespeople”*

Blagden , with a knowing smirk: *“Ahh so just good honest businesspeople…”*

## Group goodbyes

Clearly unkeen to continue in conversation about the Pirates business endeavours, and with the weapons now unloaded, the Tabaxi and her warforged helpers made a swift exit back to their main ship. After transferring the weapons back to the Wildmane, Trimaeus  set sail for a sandier portion of the Cypropa shoreline where they could more safely unload the weapons.

On arrival, discussion turned to how they would get the weapons overland to the meeting place with Finnian, and whether all of the group should stay to do this. Khrom  pointed out that he had a donkey and a wagon, so it would only take a few of them to make the delivery. As such, just Khrom , Kelda and Elyan  opted to remain, with Khrom  planning to help train the halflings, Kelda keen to set up a field-hospital, and Elyan  just there for the bantz. After spending waaaaaay to long discussing how to get everyone and everything from the Wildmane to the shore without loosing the rowboat (which Blagden  had inexplicitly decided he really wanted to keep), the three revolutionaries and their supplies were ready to set off to meet Finnian.

As everyone stood about awkwardly, Blagden  started off the group goodbyes:

*“Well Mr Khrom , I realise I never said thanks for getting me out of prison. Here is my smoothest rock, it’s just to borrow, so you better not die as you have to give it back to me!”*

Looking somewhat taken aback by Blagden’s  suspicious show of politeness, Khrom  apologised for being harsh to Blagden  when they first met, saying it had been impolite of him to judge someone before knowing them properly. He then asked Blagden  to tell Kunai  that he was a massive dick for bribing the captain. Blagden  was very keen to pass on this message, promising to make it even ruder. After rebuking Blagden  for saying he would be ruder, Tamsin  also turned to say goodbye:

*“Khrom , I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but thanks for keeping Blagden  safe”*

Khrom : *“No worries, he’s a good, well, sometimes good, Goblin really”.*

Tamsin , turning to Kelda: *“We’ll compare magic notes when you get back yeah?”*

Scribbulus  then went around giving everyone big hugs, whilst Blagden  turned and yelled to Elyan :

*“Byyyeeeee, if you see that priest kill him for me!”*

Elyan , chuckling: *“I’ll do my best. And I’ll try and bring back that sceptre for you!”*

With the group goodbyes done, the weapon-delivery crew set off for their meeting place and the rest returned to the Wildmane to set sail for Ilbidor .

## Journey conversations

With the Wildmane  set on its 8-day journey to Ilbidor , the group had a bit of time to relax. On the second evening, Narko  headed into the mess room, picked up a barrel of ale, and with a glare daring any of the crew to challenge him, took it to Bayul’s  room. Once there, Narko  explained that having spent a week of weapons training with Bayul , he was keen to learn more about Bayul’s  people and culture. As Bayul  used his trunk to suck up pints of ale and Narko  imbued much weed the two conversed. Bayul  explained that he knew almost nothing of the Loxodon culture. He had been stolen away from his people at a young age and forced to work as a slave-soldier in the Iysgarthian  military. At the mention of Iysgarth  Narko  spat angrily and told how his herd hated Iysgarth  as long ago they had tried to take the Wastelands from them. Thankfully the centaurs and other Wasteland  inhabitants had fought them off, but there continued to be huge mistrust towards the Empire. Bayul  then outlined how he had eventually freed himself of the Empire, but had ran into further failure since then so was at the guild to regain his strength and leadership, whilst looking into general military tactics and histories. Bayul  then asked Narko  of his history and what had brought him to the guild. Narko  told how many of his herd, the Skiltgrav, who were thought to be descended from giants, had the ability to carve and invoke runes. Those herd members who showed particular intelligence and proficiency with runes could train to become rune maesters, who were responsible for teaching runic magic, holding the herds knowledge, and interpreting the herds laws. Narko  explained how he was training to be a rune maester, and as part of this training was required to spend several months or years away from the herd, seeking out new knowledge and expertise to bring back. If the herd elders considered the knowledge he had found worthy, he could progress to the next stage of his training.  He also explained that his main interest was also military tactics and history; and with this common interest established the two held up a barrel and splint to their joint success.

Tamsin  also spent time on the journey in conversation, seeking out Scribbulus  to ask him more about Halfling lore. Scribbulus  told her what he knew of the halfling God, Yondalla, but explained that he had never heard of the Turtle-island thing before.

Ash  spent the journey preparing and writing the letters he wished to send to various politicians and persons of power regarding the situation on Cypropa .

## New faces

After 8-days the Wildmane arrived back on Ilbidor  and the group headed straight to Dr T’s office to give her the findy-stick. Dr T was relieved to see them. She outlined that they were now sure Krieg Venusto was the culprit of the vault theft and asked the group to use the divining rod to seek out the stolen goods asap. However, to do this they would need people who had actually seen the vaults contents. With a flourish, she then introduced two guild members who would accompany them: 7-PK3F and Caitlin. 7-PK3F was a warforged who proudly stated that he pierces defences whilst Caitlin, a sharpshooter, pierces faces. Dr T went on to explain that the two newcomers were members of the Guilds guard, at which point Blagden  looked a tad nervous. Seeing this, 7-PK3F told the “little flesh bag” not to worry as they had no interest in his little misdemeanours. As Caitlin surveyed the group with cold indifference, Scribbulus  engaged 7-PK3F in conversation, establishing that due to his uncharismatic nature he would have gotten on well with Kunai  if he wasn’t off on a hump. After explaining to 7-PK3F that Kunai  wasn’t on a camel (with Scribbulus  turning into a camel to somehow aid his point), Dr T brought the conversation to a close by telling the group they were to leave with Trimaeus  to find the loot the following morning.

## Tabaxi talk: Part 2

As the group exited Dr T’s office, Blagden  remembered the Hellfire sword and asked Dr T to look at it. Realising this item was beyond her expertise she led the group to an elderly Tabaxi guild member named Dr Ethereal Page. Dr Page explained that he was a scholar specialising in Baator (the nine hells) and all those who resided within. After carefully investigating the sword, Dr Page outlined to the group that as they had already realised this blade sent the souls of those killed to the Styx, whereupon they would be resurrected as a Lemure. He went on to describe how the Styx was an intra-planar river, often referred to as the river of blood, that linked all nine planes of Baator. However, a soul killed and resurrected by a Hellfire weapon was not simply free to roam Baator. Instead, the soul would be automatically enslaved to the specific archfiend or deity that had created the weapon – a most horrific way to spend eternity. In this case, as indicated by the hard-to-miss pentagram inscribed on the hilt, the being to which a soul would be enslaved was Asmodeus. Dr Page explained that this was significant as Asmodeus, also commonly known as the Lord of Nessus and the Lord of the Ninth, was a greater evil deity who ruled the entirety of Baator. Thankfully, Asmodeus could not leave Baator (as he was imprisoned there), but still attempted to manipulate the material plane via his cultists.  However, as far as Dr Page was aware, all the cultists of Asmodeus in the region had been wiped out by the Iysgarthian Empire , who were fervently opposed to any such fiendish organisations. Dr Page seemed concerned that such a weapon had resurfaced, but was relieved that the Hag from whom it had been stolen was probably unaware of its significance. Dr Page wrapped up his history lesson by adding that the weapon was also incredibly old – almost certainly pre-breaking in age, and thus worth a fair amount of dolla. He finished by asking the group to leave the weapon with the guild for further study, for the usual finder’s fee of course!

As the group bid farewell to Dr Page, Scribbulus  suddenly remembered the old book Kunai  had found in the Hag’s lair and asked Dr T to look at that too. The book was very defiled and damaged, but Dr T  gathered that it was the journal or diary of an Iysgarthian  general who had become fixated on finding some artefact. Intrigued as to what this artefact might be, she took the book to see if it could be restored to a more readable state.

## Locating the loot

The next day, Scribbulus , Azurial , Caitlin, 7-PK3F, Narko , Tamsin  and Ash  set off with Captain Trimaeus  to locate the loot, with Caitlin directing them using the divining rod. After 5 days of sailing east in the general direction of Merchendale, the rod began to point downwards into the ocean. However, strangely, above the rough area to which the rod pointed there were several weird black jumpy creatures with long tails and an unnerving gait.

As Caitlin and Narko  kept a close eye on the jumpy creatures, Scirbbulus transformed into a seahorse and swam down to look at the area the rod pointed towards. As he got closer, he saw the outline of a shipwreck, weirdly cut in half with light sabre like precision, in which the jumpy creatures were diving and swimming. As Scribbulus  relayed this information back to the boat using Ash’s  psionic abilities, the group decided the best way forward was for a few of them to try and draw the weird creatures, now identified as hybrid Capricorns, away from the boat so the others could swim down unmolested and get the loot. This sounded great in theory, but as soon as Narko  shot a speculative arrow towards the Capricorns they dove down angrily into the wreckage.

Realising an under-water skirmish was inevitable, Ash , 7-PK3F and Azurial  jumped into the water and began swimming towards the shipwreck. Less keen for wetness, Narko  and Caitlin opted to push in the rowboat and try to be useful from there. As the swimmers neared the shipwreck the Capricorns became aggressive and surged forward to attack whilst singing haunting yet soporific tunes that Azurial  became enchanted by. As Azurial  calmly swam down to embrace his enchantress, Ash  and 7-PK3F met the Capricorns head-on in a violent exchange of punches. At the same time, Narko  and Caitlin fired arrows into the water from the boat, managing to kill one despite the tricksy wave-refractions that affected their aim. Horrified by the violence, seahorse-Scribbulus  swam over and tried to defuse the situation with some prance-manoeuvres. Unfortunately, this did not go well, and the Capricorns proceeded to attack him too. Thankfully, at this point Azurial  shook himself free of the charmy magics and struck a Bahamut-inspired smite of death into one of the Capricorns. Back above water, Narko  optimistically attempted to lean into the water to fire unimpeded by the wave-refractions. This also did not go well, as his hefty weight immediately caused the rowboat to capsize. As Caitlin glared at Narko  furiously for getting her wet, the two capsizees were suddenly hit with more of the soporific music that had enchanted Azurial  earlier. Narko  managed to shake off the charm, but Caitlin succumbed and spent the rest of the skirmish swimming cheerfully towards one of the Capricorns. Realising that his seahorse form wasn’t particularly robust, Scribbulus  transformed into a much tougher reef shark. This was wise, as the Capricorns began laying into him whilst Ash , 7-PK3F and Azurial  retaliated with fists and smites. As Narko  continued to fire down arrows from near the surface, Scribbulus  realised that the few remaining Capricorns were surely going to be killed by the group. Feeling guilty about this, he transformed back to his halfling form to plead with them to leave while they could. Unfortunately this did not go as planned, and Scribbulus  soon found himself being dragged down into the depths by one of the Capricorns. Thankfully, Scribbulus  was just about able to heal himself enough to avoid unconsciousness before Azurial  finished the fight with a mighty strike from his Warhammer.

With the pesky Capricorns defeated, Narko  and Caitlin made haste for the Wildmane , whilst the others explored the shipwreck. They found several bodies, but no sign of Krieg Venusto . They also found what was later estimated to be a good 2/3rds of the Guilds stolen loot. With the mission a success, they then headed back to Ilbidor  to give Dr T the good news.