Kay's Journal - 7/9 - Reaper Errant

• 150 gp in various coins and gems
• 50 gp worth of navigation tools (Pujol)

We get back to the Mud Crab in the morning. There are a couple clerics of Apara (good deity) out front talking. We don’t exactly mean to listen in, but we totally listen in. They are talking about some kind of ruckus happening out at the docks – a ship found a derelict vessel out on the water, but when they went aboard, something bad happened. They towed the ship in, but the sailors are scared of it.

We go to offer our services, and Abran does the talking. At first, they don’t seem keen on us helping, but after Abran mentions how we rescued Aubrey, another cleric of Apara, a couple towns back, they warm up to the idea. Apparently that news travelled fast. They ask us to meet them at the he docks; we will take a longboat from the Rat Tail out to the derelict.

Gooseneck asks for more details. Part of the reason to go out there is to find out for sure, but they think the ship has been overtaken by evil creatures. Of the sailors who went out, many did not return. Some of those who did cannot remember what happened to them out on the water. The ship is out in the deep anchorage. Pujol thinks he has heard of sea creatures that can charm with a song.

We get breakfast first, and then on the way to the docks get some wax and cotton for our ears.

We get down to the docks. There’s a representative of the church waiting there. We ask to speak to the survivors, and they bring us one of the sailors. His name in Marty, and he says he didn’t see any creatures on the ship, good, bad, or indifferent. They circled the ship once in their small boat, then went aboard. He was the last one aboard. As he set foot on the deck, the others were fleeing. Some were staring at the deck, like they were trying to look into the hold below. He heard a persistent humming.

The ship itself is in good shape, except for a torn sail. It had been adrift for a week or so. Marty describes the hummin as being a ‘melancholy hymn’. He grabbed a friend and ran for the boat. It seems like he lost some time between when he remembers stepping on to the ship and when he fled back to the longboat.

After that, they towed the ship in to port. Some of the sailors were bleeding, some looked like they hurt themselves fleeing, but one looked like he’d been clawed from hip to armpit.

We get to the ship. Someone has dropped anchor, so it sits more or less immobile in the water. We do not see any bodies or blood, even though we know some sailors were left behind.

CornCob in his magic water-walking boots walks around the ship to look it over. Gooseneck swims around the ship, looking it over under the water line. There’s no damage to it under the water, except for one gash in the wood that doesn’t go all the way through. It looks relatively new, and is a good two, two and a half feet long.

Abran, Gooseneck, and CornCob go on board. Something feels off, but they don’t know what. It’s oddly silent, but maybe that’s just the earplugs. Abran pulls out one of his earplugs, but still hears nothing. He looks for doors and hatches. There’s a grate that looks down into the hold amidships, and a door toward the back that probably also goes down to the hold. Abran tries looking down through the grate. He thinks he seems some movement, but still no sound.

Fathom casts Protection from Evil on Abran and Pujol casts invisibility on him so that he can go into the hold and scout. Fathom asks if Gooseneck, as a lizardfolk, might be immune to a mammal’s song, but Pujol doesn’t think so.

Abran goes down into the hold, and for a few moments feels like he is back with the Mushroom Queen. He realizes it’s fake, though. He hears a discordant song and see a hunched, feathery figure in the shadows. He plugs his ears, and then shoots the feathery shape twice. No longer invisible, he runs up the stairs.

Even with earplugs, the rest of us hear screeching, along with the song the feathered things are singing. Everyone else goes on board the ship, and most manage to resist the song. I, however, and stuck in a moment of my past.

The creatures come up from below. Abran shoots the one he shot before again. CornCob hits one with his stick, and it falls to the deck. When that happens, we get the sense that there is something…bigger…starting to take notice.

The second harpy goes at CornCob and hits him. Gooseneck jumps into the water to swing at whatever is down there – it’s some very large crab thing. Gooseneck whacks it.

Pujol plays his harp, which helps me shake off the memories. Fathom casts a blast at the harpy. It falls, calling for mother to avenge her. That can’t be good. Fathom gets on the boat.

Abran and CornCob shift to attacking the crab thing. Abran shoots it, and CornCob jumps on to the water and casts a word of radiance at it.

The crab grabs Gooseneck and hits him multiple times. Gooseneck hits it with his axe. Pujol shoots it with his crossbow. Everybody takes turns unloading on the crab, while it attacks Gooseneck and CornCob. Eventually, though, it is killed.

I keep an eye on the horizon. There’s a strange storm forming up.

Fathom searches the harpies while Abran and Gooseneck go into the hold. The harpies aren’t carrying anything of value, nor are any of their body parts worth much. Maybe the feathers. The remains of the sailors are in the hold, but nothing of value. However, in the captain’s cabin, there’s a chest with coins, gems, and some fancy navigation equipment.

Our best guess is that the crab was just following the ship to get the dead sailor bits that the harpies were throwing overboard.

Pujol searches the dead sailors. Based on their clothing, they likely came from a colder area. He checks the charts, and based on that, he thinks the ship was coming back from somewhere after making a run. There should have been whale oil on board, though. This ship is called the Snow Slipper, and was owned by an individual, likely the captain.

CornCob pulls the ship into port. The storm does not follow us in.

Pujol asks where to register the ship as salvage. The cleric will send some people to clean up the dead. The harbormaster wants to know what we want to do with the ship – he will sell it for us, if we like. It’s probably worth 700gp.

We eat the crab for dinner, and save the shell for Gooseneck to work with. Somehow, the giant crab dinner party seems to cheer the whole town.

Kay's Journal - 6/25 - Reaper Errant

Kay’s Journal, 6/25

• 340 XP
•  25GP
• Gem of Elemental Water Control (CornCob)

We are waiting in line to go through the city gates. As the line moves forward, there’s a beggar who’s making his way down the line away from the gate, asking for money. Pujol gives him a gold, and learns that he certainly smells like a legit beggar. Gooseneck gives the guy a silver. I use the distraction to move to the front of the line.

There are a couple of guards along with a guy wearing glasses who’s giving everybody a once-over. I claim my bow and rapier. Mr. Glasses takes a really close look; I think those glasses let him spot externally visible magic items. He seems to take note of my cloak, but not my backup cloak that’s in my pack.

CornCob goes next, and tells the gate minders that he’s looking for work, and also for food. He says he expects to be here for a week or two, and goes through. This set of events is largely repeated by everyone. Pujol and Fathom not only have to register their crossbows, but have to pay a copper for them. Abran has to come up with a story for his weird space rifle, and tells them it’s a cane his grandfather made. The guards buy it. As we all go through, we get the idea that this is a new process, and neither the guys manning the gate nor the people travelling through are used to it yet.

We go to the port to see if the Silver Swan is here. It isn’t, but is expected sometime in the next couple weeks. The port is very busy; there are lots of boats of various sizes, but very much more small ships than very large ones.

We go check out the Mud Worm. It’s on a side of the bay that is all mud flats; the tavern itself is right on the edge of the high tide line, and up on a large rock. It still stinks. There’s a large red dragon head hung over the door, but it’s probably not real.

We head in. It seems to be mostly working folk here. We’re told it’s a silver for a meal and a drink. The food is set up buffet style – go through the line, fill your plate, then go find someplace to sit. Gooseneck asks about rooms, and learns they are 5 silver/night for a room and a meal. The rooms are free standing bungalows at the high tide line. We rent 2 bungalows for a total of 1 gp/night.

We head out on to the deck to eat. There are a couple of guys already at a table here, apparently having a private conversation in this public space, given how quickly they shut up and the looks they give us when we come out. Gooseneck asks if we are interrupting and they say no, they’ll just talk quieter. They are not sporting funky tattoos on their forearms, so that’s good. Abran and I listen, trying to overhear whatever they’re on about. They are talking about roughing up some dude down by the docks. They may have been hired to do this, or they may be doing it on their own. It sounds like their target is some kind of business man. They leave shortly after we sit down.

We discuss, and decide to try watching them tonight and seeing what they get up to, and decide then whether or not to interfere.

We head to The Tiny Pearl, a jewelry store, for Pujol, so he can get his dragon rock set into a necklace. It’s a wee building, maybe not quite completely straight and plumb. Shells tinkle when we go through the door. There’s a gnome in there, wearing glasses. He asks if we all have business there, and CornCob says no, we’re just co-dependent.

Pujol negotiates for what he wants. The cost is 15 gold, 7 to be paid up front, and it will be ready for Pujol to come back and have the stone set in 2 days. Pujol gives the gnome 10 gold instead of 7 and tells him to do an extra good job.

We mosey our way to the docks. On the way, we come across a bounty board. There are many ‘capture alive’ contracts posted, almost all sponsored by the temple of Ronda. There are a few other temples that have put up bounties as well, including a Lawful Evil one. Even the bounties that are sponsored by other churches are approved by the temple of Ronda.

There are a few good paying contracts. The best two are sponsored by the temple of Layeel, a lawful evil goddess. The targets are all inside the city, and will be aware there is a bounty out for them. There are no otter poachers, but there are a few small contracts for people who’ve been stealing crab pots or such.

There is a contract for someone who has been encroaching on someone else’s abalone grounds. It sounds like the guys who were going to beat the business man were hired to discourage the guy who put out this contract.

We get to the docks after dark. This are a is not well-lit, which turns out is a good thing because Gooseneck is not wearing any pants. I’m not sure why this is suddenly important.

The businessman who’s the target is named Jin, and he’s a crabber. A passer-by points us to where he is bringing in his day’s catch. We warn him that a couple guys are coming for him. CornCob and Fathom go into his office to make sure they aren’t already there (they’re not).

We set a trap. Pujol casts an illusion to make himself look like Jin. Abran and CornCob hang out by the corner of the building, pretending to be drunk. Fathom, Gooseneck, and I get up on the roof.

I hear the would-be attackers approaching; whoever hired them gave them a stone that might help them, whatever that means. One of them wants to use it right away; the other says it’s not necessary. Both seem a little afraid of it. They head toward Pujol-as-Jin, who jumps into the boat and becomes invisible. Abran and CornCob ‘drunkenly’ come up behind the two men, cutting off their escape.

The two attackers jump into the boat and look around for ‘Jin’. Gooseneck tries to jump down from the roof to go after them, but lands badly and can’t make it any farther right away. CornCob rushes the boat and swings at one of them with his quarterstaff. That guy draws a rapier. Abran jumps in the boat and kicks one right into the water. He points his sword at the other one, and then Pujol levitates the second attacker who Abran just threatened into the air.

Levitating Guy pulls the magic stone out of his pocket and activates it. It summons a very large water elemental.

Gooseneck dives into the water to catch the one Abran kicked off the boat. Fathom calls forth a gust of wind, which shoves both the elemental and the levitating guy back away from the boat. CornCob casts a bolt at the elemental, and seems to hit it pretty well. From what we can tell anyway, given that the thing is…well…water.

Abran gets out of the boat, takes out his bow, and shoots at the elemental. Pujol moves the levitating guy into the body of the elemental. The elemental comes back to the boat and attacks CornCob, pulling him into the water. Gooseneck comes back to try to get CornCob out of the water and back into the boat.Fathom, CornCob, and Pujol all cast spells at the elemental, and between them manage to make it dissipate. Abran goes to the next down over to fish the swimming guy out of the water. CornCob walks out on the water to get the levitating guy, who has since fallen in. CornCob takes the elemental summoning stone from him.

We question them. They do not want to name who hired them, but when Jin mentions the name ‘Seth’, that gets a reaction. We ask Jin about Seth – he’s a guy who makes his business by stealing other people’s business.

After Jin notes that these two would not be missed if they were to disappear, they become more cooperative. One of them admits that it was Seth who hired them. They’d have met him at the Mud Crab to get paid when the complaint against Seth is rescinded.

We turn these two in in the morning to get paid for the contract.