71. A Gnome in Need

* The party and their crew sail from Sawtooth Basin to the arrow-shaped archipelago that is the Rumidian Western Margraviate.
	+ For the first time, they all get to enjoy the new deck cabin properly. Poe cooks for them using the small galley, their crew man the ship in teams of two, and everyone gets to enjoy meals round the table even as they sail.
	+ Pyt and Mennick have a few jamming sessions. Mennick has started to get a little bit more sleep and has begun to grow less irritable and jumpy, returning somewhat to his old, mellow self.
	+ The party decide to island hop down the Arrow-Inland Sea, where the sailing is much easier. On Mennick's advice, they avoid the settlement of Rooks Nook, which, he explains, is something of a naval military base - Mennick once spent some time in a prison cell there for soliciting a large crowd towards anti-imperial sentiment.
	+ They island hop down to the island of Charity, then Chastity the next day - getting a glimpse of the fortress that is Rooks Nook, complete with its deep water port filled with Rumidian navy ships - and then on to the island of Wit.
	+ The island of Wit takes their fancy, in no small part because its patron saint, Rodrigo the Aspirant, is depicted as a bit of a shit. A real working man's saint, Rodrigo is often depicted gambling, making deals with his fingers crossed, drinking well, laughing, or sporting a cocksure grin. Also the island's name had become a bit of a running joke in Pyt's ribbing of Wilfred.
	+ Mennick warned Pyt not to trust any nuns he meets before the party left with the twins. From there, Pyt asked around, gave the 'dockmaster' a handsome tip, and learned that if he goes to the island's church and asks for 'Sister Nancy,' she'll show them all a good time. All this Pyt did without Wilfred in earshot.
	+ At the church, with the request made for Sister Nancy, the group find themselves round the back of the building, quietly being ushered into a hidden backroom. Down some stairs, through a set of velvet curtains, and they were in a brothel run by nuns. This all came as a bit of a surprise for Wilfred, who really just wanted a drink. Some drugs start getting passed around, Poppy and Pyt enjoy the company of the brothel's entertainers, and the rest of them indulge in some very expensive, ok-tasting drinks. In the early hours of the morning when they're kicked out, they've racked up a 150 gold tab, which Clwyd pays after a bit of group debate.
	+ From Wit, they sail to New Baronae. Mennick presents the group with a map of the city's canals and many islet districts.

* They sneak into the city under cover of darkness then make their way around to the Hops district where Mennick says Halcyon Cill lives and works, arriving by the midday of Sunwane 10.
	+ They head to the third islet of the district, sailing along some narrow canals until the reach an area of town called the Penny Wharves. Wide bridges run overhead, the topside area packed with factories, warehouses, and the odd artisan shop. Some of the buildings also have canal-side entrances below, but the area by the water is dominated mostly by animal pens of varying sorts.
	+ Mennick leads them up to the topside area and to Cill's shop. A sign out the front advertises his bespoke services in all matters of *locology*, gemwork, and artifice.
	+ But when the group make to go in the shop, they find that the place has been trashed. The signs of a fight are everywhere, with deep scratch marks in the floor, smashed furniture everywhere, and Cill nowhere to be seen.
	+ Looking around a bit, Wilfred concludes from the signs of struggle that Cill and another fled below, down a warded manhole cover - a perfect ring around the manhole shows the signs of a warding spell having already detonated before. Meanwhile, Aerendyl finds some strands of course, brown fur, which he decides to hold onto.
	+ Mennick says that Cill has another workshop, one that he conducts his illegal business from. The entrance is back down by the waterside, hidden away past some pig pens and down a few alleys. Mennick leads them there.
* They knock on the door to Cill's second workshop. It eventually opens a crack, but nothing more than swirling mist and darkness are visible in the doorway where the view of the room should be. A thick-necked, gruff-looking human man's head emerges from the mist. He looks at Mennick, then at the rest of the group, confirming they're all friends of Mennick's, before quickly ushering them all inside and closing the door shut behind them all.
* Inside, the party see an elaborate artificer's workshop, a great many tools, pieces of equipment, and half-finished projects dotted about. On the other side of the room, a small, incredibly old, dark-skinned, long armed gnome waits, having interrupted an elaborate sorting and packing operation to take stock of the new group. This was Cormorant's old friend, the artificer Halcyon Cill.
	+ Cill and his friend introduce themselves - the friend revealing that they aren't a large human man but rather a changeling by the name of Lockjaw, though they don't show their true form to the group.
	+ Cill and Lockjaw had been packing up to try and get the fuck away from New Baronae, though they weren't quite sure how they were going to pull it off. When Mennick arrived at the door, they thought it a stroke of good fortune since he so often travels with smugglers. As such, the party were something of an initial disappointment until they said they might themselves be able to help.
	+ But first things being first, Wilfred returned Cormorants two guns and the arcane magazine to Cill, as per the old pirate's will. Cill and Lockjaw were saddened to hear that Cormorant had died, but now wasn't the time for mourning or remembrance - though they took solace in the fact that dying while fighting a witch is kind of a cool way to go. Cill then appeared very happy to have the guns in hand. He remarked that Cormorant's craftsmanship, while a little rough around the edges, was overall quite good. And now Cill had a number of ideas for improvements!
	+ Next, Cill and Lockjaw explained their own situation. For the past month or so, various goblins had been asking around town about Cill. This wasn't too far from ordinary, since the artificer conducts a fair amount of business, both above and below board. As such, Lockjaw, more the customer facing side of the duo's operation, didn't think much of it. Then, two days ago, a number of goblins entered the shop and started questioning the pair on matters of guns and gunpowder. Soon after that, and quite suddenly to boot, they all shifted into the forms of large canine beasts and attacked. Lockjaw and Cill were able to flee into the secret workshop thanks to the many wards in place, but they barely escaped with their lives. They didn't really understand the situation outside, but could only assume the canine-goblins would be waiting for them again, and they had nobody they could go to for help without their illegal activities all coming front and centre during the process. Thus, they wanted the services of smugglers, and with Mennick among this group, combined with them being Cormorant's friends, they were well ready to flee wherever the party were heading if they'd have them.
	+ The group then asked Cill if he knew how to get to the island of Oleantis. Cill told them that he didn't, but as a fine practitioner of locology - the art of making log pins - he might be able to get them there all the same. In the magical satchel Lockjaw had slung over his shoulder, they had a reed hat Cormorant had left with them. It came from Oleantis, and so Cill said it might serve to make a log pin to the island.
	+ Lockjaw and Cill pack up the rest of the notes and items they could, depositing them either in the *bag of holding* Lockjaw had or the *handy haversack* Cill was wearing. Before they leave, they have a brief discussion about 'the glue' before Cill decides they should take it. He finds a vial of viscous white liquid in a small, ornate box and deposits it in the haversack.
	+ By now it must have been about dusk. After a bit of discussion, the group decide to leave through the use of Cill's magic. The old gnome passed around a pointy tooth that he'd been wearing as a necklace, and with it in hand, each of the party were able to cast the *invisibility* spell. Cill, Lockjaw, and Mennick did the same, and with the 7 of them invisible, they headed out.
* On their way up the canal, as they headed to where the Drunken Dragon and their crew waited, despite their invisibility and the cover of darkness, they were all attacked by 11 large fiendish canines - Clwyd had long since concluded them to be part of the new force in Madog's retinue following his deals with the Hells, the Four and Forty.
	+ The creatures harassed the group with *darkness* and *suggestion* spells, before mobbing where they could and attacking with vicious bites.
	+ They were gunning for Cill, but the old gnome activated the boots he was wearing and a set of thin, metallic wings emerged and began to beat with blinding speed, letting him fly away from the attackers. During the fight, he showed himself to be a fairly capable battle mage, slinging out a *fireball* spell. He also briefly showed off his own take on guns, a more arcane-focused thing than Cormorant's had been. He gave off a couple shots before chucking the sleek gun to blow up like a magical grenade.
	+ Mennick was almost killed. He survived one bad bite at the back of the convoy travelling up the canal path. But when another came for him, it was only thanks to Pyt's *cutting words* that he lived to chase truths another day.
	+ The canines proved themselves to be very hardy and resilient, and the fight looked bad when they'd landed *suggestions* on Wilfred and Clwyd, sending them both swimming away from the action.
	+ Then Aerendyl started cutting through the darkness the enemy had cast and smiting them at the same time through use of the powerful spell they'd seen Rangrim use against Alekto: *midnight radiance*. Beams of vicious moonlight beat back the fiends and allowed the party to regroup.
	+ Eventually, the Drunken Dragon came screaming down the dark and narrow canal, the crew having turned it around and let down the sail. They were shouting for everyone to get aboard while it flew past and they all complied.
	+ A few more blasts of magic here and there and the fight ended with five of the canines slain, the other six compelled to run away thanks to Pyt's *mass suggestion* spell.
	+ At that, the party and their crew sailed away into the night, planning to leave New Baronae in a hurry. If Clwyd was right and they really were part of the Four and Forty, well, there should logically be thirty-three more of them somewhere. And neither the party, nor Cill, nor anyone else with them was keen for that.
* They all sailed away and Cill and Lockjaw were acquainted with the Drunken Dragon's incredible, bigger-on-the-inside deck cabin. Cill agreed to get to work on the log pin for Oleantis, with Clwyd saying he could use her room to set his equipment up. In the meantime, he instructed them to just head for the Reefbeard's lake, wherein the island was located. At that moment, Cill realises he never asked the group their names. When Wilfred says he's also known as La Targa Azure, Cill realises that these are the people that started the separatist war in the Northern Margraviate. He pulls Lockjaw aside and whispers that he thinks they're in good hands now. Everyone can still hear him as he says it.