Mowenites Unite - Episode Nine

## Summary:

Mowen had granted individuals the experience needed to hone their skills. In exchange, these people were called to begin their charge. Whether the agents attended the once secret but prestigious academy or were in service to the empire or owed them, six people were sought out and called into service to work the lines of diplomacy, sometimes within the shadows, getting done what needed to be done. Safety was not guaranteed. Mowen was working on a new defensive construction that the world had not seen since the Golden Age of Magic. The six were required to engage in skullduggery, cloak and dagger diplomacy, and questionable missions in service to the empire, all in an effort to build something important.

## Agents:

* Asher "Whiffle-Tongue" - Lizardfolk Wizard
* Gobin Glowstep - Halfling Druid
* Krixx Sharptooth - Kobold Artificer
* Merdaer - Drow Rogue
* Tar'ren r'Eehp r'Eehp - Frogfolk Warlock
* Xilon Harkus Starrati - Half-Elf Wizard

## Adventure:

Asher went room to room on the Stefarni ship, looking to see if any crew were doing things illicit. Gobin looked at the Entangled bandit and saw he was dead. Tar'ren jumped overboard to see what hit the ship. Gobin did a double-take and yelled "Frog overboard!"

Tar'ren landed on a dinghy. There were two other people on the boat. The people yelled at Tar'ren and said, "You're not one of us!"

Tar'ren shouted, "Hey, there's more guys around the ship, not just on the ship."

He heard someone curse.

"You guys really don't want to do this," Tar'ren said to the people on the boat. He then cast two Eldritch Blasts, one of them snapping the neck of a bandit. Tar'ren heard a thunk as the bandit fell overboard. There were more crunching sounds as the ship ran into coral under the water.

The remaining bandit dove off the boat, disappearing into the fog.

Krixx went to the side of the Stefarni and talked to Tar'ren. Tar'ren reported that there were more boats surrounding their ship. Krixx was ready for the fight.

The ship continued to crunch. Merdaer saw more and more damage occurring on the ship.

The captain turned the ship. The ship heaved as it scraped across whatever was in the water. Tar'ren grabbed the rope that he climbed down. The dinghey drifted away and Tar'ren dangled on the side of the ship.

Tar'ren heard a voice below him saying, "Crumpets are spoiled, time to go."

The Stefarni ship came out of the fog and could see ships in the water near them. The other ships were very large.

Xilon mended the ship. Asher tried to boost the morale of the crew, but it failed. Merdaer came up from the bottom of the boat and took lookout. Krixx took a ballista position and fired upon one of the other ships.

Gobin attempted to attach himself to a ballista bolt with a rope so that he could be launched to another boat. Krixx yelled that it would be one Gobin versus a whole ship of pirates, but Gobin said, "One Gobin's all we need."

Tar'ren scampered up the boat and went into the rigging, helping to position the ship.

Krixx's first shot missed. Gobin flew across the ocean and landed on another ship. He wildshaped into a bear, breaking free from the rope and yelling, "You guys are all screwed now!"

Krixx's second shot critically hit. The final shot missed.

The other ships shot at the Stefarni ship, but both missed.

The combat was fierce. While the crew on the ship continued to coordinate the defense against pirates, Gobin tried to throw the captain off of the ship upon which he jumped. Unfortunately, even in his bear form, Gobin could not build up the strength to shove off the person.

Xilon took over Gobin's position on guns and struck a ship with two ballistae, one a critical hit. The ship on which Gobin stood became derelict. Krixx's ballistae struck into that ship again, but the ship didn't sink.

Gobin jumped off the boat and started swimming to the other ship. Gobin got slashed on his way off.

Tar'ren shouted over his shoulder, "Hey captain, are we going to have them chase us all the way to Abishot, or fight them?" With that, he prepared the ship to come about. The ship turned and got closer to the enemy ships.

While the derelict ship repaired itself, the intact ship rammed into the Stefarni ship, doing massive damage.

Xilon launched a Fireball at the close ship, setting it aflame. Asher continued to spur the crew on.

Krixx called Tar'ren over to the ballistae and cast Faerie Fire on the enemy ship, causing it and its crew to glow purple.

Gobin cast Confusion on the deck of the boat off of which he jumped. Four crew members became confused. Gobin then swam away.

Tar'ren fired four ballistae, cracking into the enemy hull. The ship's crew meanwhile doused the fire from its hull.

Xilon returned to repairing the ship. Asher whooped and shouted that the enemy had almost been defeated.

Merdaer moved to the ballistae and fired, but missed his shots. Krixx took back his ballistae and shot twice, crashing into the hull. The enemy ship sank.

Gobin wildshaped into an octopus and swam towards the dinghy that Tar'ren had cleared of enemies.

Tar'ren went back into the rigging.

The last pirate ship started sailing away. The group decided to let them flee.

Xilon called to the others that he was going to find Gobin. He grabbed his Broom of Flying and headed to the sinking ship.

The Stefarni ship obtained the dinghy and towed it over to the sunken ship so that the survivors could use it.

Krixx teased Gobin as an octopus, saying that he would eat Gobin. Gobin climbed up the mast.

Krixx took Asher aside. He had a better stupid idea than stealing the items they were gathering for Mowen and running away. He would join the building crew for the flying ship, able to keep tabs on it. Asher said that was a brilliant idea.

In Abishot, the crew was almost immediately met by Pristina. She was standing at the edge of the dock, tapping her foot, looking agitated.

Krixx said, "You missed me that much? Couldn't wait for me to come home?"

"Welcome back," Pristina said. "We have new directives."

Pristina led the group into the Hudson casino.

Asher and Gobin had a conversation about how Gobin had no face in his true form. Gobin said all people were odd, so they shouldn't be weirded out that he was odd. Asher said that Gobin was just a little more odd than other people, but he would continue to love him.

Pristina led them into the depths of the casino and took stock of the six party members. She asked rather pressing questions, some enigmatic, some straightforward.

Then Pristina went into the thick of it. "We have a new directive. It is of the utmost importance that you complete this quickly. Many lives depend on this."

Krixx added that they had found all the items. Xilon slid the paperwork with the names of the lightwood suppliers to Pristina. She put it in her satchel.

She looked directly at Asher and said, "You're gonna need to brush up on your cold-causing spells."

She turned to the rest of the group. "The new directive is rather far away and incredibly dangerous. I'll kit you out with climbing gear. You'll need a couple trunks, and a pulley system. It will encumber you if you're not smart about how you travel."

"Are we going swimming?" Gobin asked.

"Quite the opposite. You're going to the hottest and driest place in the plane." She gave Xilon a scroll, then said, "I'll take the lightwood, but you'll need the coral and the gem."

She marked an X on a map in front of them. "You're going to fill that gem. When you come back, you're done."

"Can you define done?" Krixx asked.

"Open to interpretation," Pristina said. She stood and walked off.

Xilon looked at the scroll and saw that it was instructions for a ritual. He said it was the instructions for the ritual of binding. "I'm guessing," he added.

Krixx asked Asher if they should share their ideas about how Mowen was building a flying ship. Asher cast Unspooling Thoughts to show the others the idea of an airship powered by an elemental.

Xilon pulled out a sketchbook with sketches of a possible aircraft, with notes of using emberstone fuel. "We're going to my room," he said.

At Xilon's room, Xilon cast Private Sanctum to protect their conversation. Krixx reiterated that Mowen appeared to be building an airship. Xilon showed the notes from his time in House Stars, his plans to use emberstones. Xilon remembered, very specifically, that his cousin went to a place where a bunch of emberstones were acquired. It lined up with the X on the map. His face paled.

"I know where we're going," Xilon said. "We're going where my cousin went to rescue Oyliv the Fire Blessed. They had a run-in with a fire elemental in the midst of their rescue. We might have to go talk to Virgil for more specific information."

Asher was excited and said that was excellent information. They could get a lay of the land from those who were on the mission. Those who were still alive, anyway.

"So where are we going?" Gobin asked.

Xilon said it was a remote spot on the Iron Ridge.

Tar'ren wanted to spend time studying the ritual scroll. He wanted to know if he could make modifications to it. Xilon told him to stay in the protected area while he studied.

Krixx took out his monocle of true seeing and looked around at the group. He saw that Gobin was no longer a shadowy faceless figure. He told Asher, but thought it would be funny if he kept it secret from everyone else.

Xilon threw a thought to Krixx, saying, "I've met the king of Oldirin. A skyship would be helpful for them. I could share the knowledge of skyships to him."

Krixx said, "Let's think about that after we finish everything, and after we make sure we don't get assassinated afterwards."

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