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Chapter 2 - Session 11

All Hands to the Left: A Fiery Escape and a Tense Arrival

Events and Actions

The session began with the party having successfully diverted an enemy fire ship, driving it to ram the cliffs near Port Sardina rather than run aground — still afloat, still burning, but no longer a threat to the harbor. Their own vessel, the "Green Gull," lay disabled nearby, caught in irons with her sails useless and fire beginning to spread across her rigging. Most of the PCs were still aboard the burning fire ship, with sharks spotted in the waters below.

A coordinated effort, albeit fraught with peril, ensued to abandon the fire ship. Werner De Rendal, trying to climb clear of the flames below decks, was driven back when a burning beam collapsed near him, breaking one of his harpoons and leaving him staggered and badly burned, with both the stairway and the gunports beyond it cut off by fire. Knick Nab and Mani chose to swim, navigating waters where two sharks circled; Mani kept the dispatches dry by clenching them in his teeth as he went. Cosimo also braved the swim after jumping from the fire ship's stern. Noddy used a magical leap to reach the "Green Gull," while Riu, spotting Werner trapped and smoldering at the rail, tossed him the end of a rope and then leapt across himself. Werner went over the side clutching the rope, took a fresh burn to the leg in the process, and swam the rest of the way, arriving aboard the "Green Gull" gravely weakened. The party members were eventually all recovered aboard the "Green Gull." Salter and Nicolas, who had remained on the "Green Gull," successfully extinguished the fires that had spread to their ship.

Once regrouped, the PCs spotted a mysterious spellcaster on the stern of the pursuing southern vessel conjure a large, sparkling magical cloud, roughly twenty feet across, that began drifting toward the "Green Gull." Several PCs attempted musket and cannon shots at the distant figure — Salter fired one of the shots himself, since none of the PCs had a steady enough hand with a gun — but the range, several hundred feet, put the shots hopelessly out of reach. Noddy spent the intervening minute casting Protection on six of his companions, granting each a bonus to resist spells and elemental harm; Nicolas prayed aloud for the Father and Mother's protection as the cloud closed; and Riu invoked his "Staying" ability to push against it. The push split the cloud in two; the halves oozed around the party's ship and dissipated harmlessly by the time they reached the "Green Gull's" former position. With no trained sailors aboard and their rigging damaged, the party abandoned the idea of using sails and instead rowed the ship manually through the gunports in her hull, laboriously working her away from the burning wreck. As they passed beneath the fort's cannon, well within range of its guns, Werner signaled with flags that they were friendly — a prize ship of the Northern Navy — and the fort held its fire. The fire ship itself burned on but did not explode.

A small boat came out to meet the "Green Gull," and a harbor pilot climbed aboard, took the wheel himself, and began barking orders, guiding the ship deeper into Port Sardina's harbor — a long, narrow, steep-sided gash of an inlet crowded with ships moored two and three deep against the wharves. Along the wooden walkways at the base of the cliffs, people were already hauling handcarts of barrels and buckets, bracing for a fire that in the end never reached them. As the pilot took them in, Riu drew on a ritual technique that let him channel power points contributed by his companions to work magical healing on Werner's burns, casting it twice in succession, though the worst of them would still need days to mend. A cheer went up from the shore as they passed. With the danger seemingly behind them, Noddy sent his familiar Pocket aloft to scout south along the direction the fire ship had come from, confirming there was no larger invasion fleet following behind the single vessel that had fled. The pilot brought the "Green Gull" in to a berth beside a row of warehouses, where they were met by a naval officer, a squad of soldiers, and Bertin, the Harbor Master. Werner, as acting captain, presented their prize ship and his orders. Knick Nab revealed he had dispatches for Major Hubert, the fort commander. The party was instructed to assist with unloading the "Green Gull's" cargo of rice and informed that Major Hubert would expect a report.

While Werner and Riu began drafting a report, Noddy discussed two maps he'd found in the fire ship's captain's cabin with Knick Nab: one a detailed map of a major southern port city, the other a map of a large island marked with a "Totem." Knick Nab took possession of both maps. During the unloading, Knick Nab slipped away amid the bustle of the docks to deliver his dispatches to Major Hubert at the fort.

Later, Noddy noticed Knick Nab's absence and also observed four barrels — clearly not part of the "Green Gull's" cargo — had been added to the pile of unloaded rice in the warehouse. Mani's inquiry to Bertin about the barrels was brushed off. Suspecting smuggling, the party pried open two of the four barrels by main strength and confirmed both held wine, though they found no clue as to why it had been added to their haul, beyond perhaps padding the value of their prize. A search for Knick Nab led Mani to a beggar named Pew at the edge of the market, who, for a couple of coppers, confirmed he'd seen Knick Nab heading toward the fort; Mani paid him further and asked him to keep watch over the "Green Gull" for anything else that might be added or removed. The party finished unloading and used the last of their time aboard to search the now-empty hold for anything they might have missed, finding nothing beyond the old, already-repaired damage from when they'd first seized the ship. Their own tally of rice bags came up two short of Bertin's official count of 386 — a discrepancy Werner chose not to mention when he wrote up his report.

Meanwhile, Knick Nab made his way up to the fort alone, charming his way past a young guard at the outer checkpoint by insisting Captain Barrows had ordered him to deliver the dispatches in person. At the fort's inner gate, when another guard tried to take the dispatches from him to carry in himself, Knick Nab again pressed his insistence on personal delivery, leaning on his luck to make it stick, before being left to wait under guard for some ten minutes. Hubert took the sealed dispatches, locked most of them away in his desk, and set aside one page — addressed to him and marked "to be conveyed in person by Knick Nab." He mentioned that he had known Captain Barrows since the two served together as midshipmen decades earlier, working their way up through the ranks aboard the same ships, and that an old injury had since ended his own service at sea and confined him to shore duty commanding the fort. He then questioned Knick Nab closely about his and his companions' service to Captain Barrows, pressing him on how they had come to intervene at Barrows's court martial with no evidence beyond Knick Nab's word, and on their uncanny run of "fortune." Sensing Hubert's real interest lay in something called "the Three," Knick Nab invoked his boon to press the point — causing Hubert to blurt the term aloud before catching himself. Knick Nab, seizing the opening, revealed his own physical anomaly, declaring himself no follower of "the Two" and voicing curiosity about "the Three" instead. Hubert recoiled at first, briefly calling him a mutant who should be destroyed by the strictures of the Two, then caught himself, insisting he meant no harm and that he cared nothing for the Two's rules in this matter, though he admitted he needed a wiser friend's counsel before discussing "the Three" any further. Major Hubert, intrigued and cautious, decided to detain Knick Nab at the fort for further discussion and sent a squad down to the docks to fetch the rest of the crew.

As the day wound toward evening, a squad of soldiers arrived at the dockside asking for Werner and his crew; Nicolas, who had spent the day sitting apart in quiet meditation rather than helping unload, rose without prompting and fell in alongside the others, tacitly counting himself part of the crew. The party finished unloading, gathered their belongings — including Knick Nab's sea chest and a spare length of rope, half-joking that it might be needed to keep him from disappearing again — and were escorted up through the town, across the fort's open "killing field," and inside, their foot lockers following behind on a cart. Along the way they passed Pew again; Mani tipped him another coin and introduced himself properly as Manuel, and the escorting squad, noticing the party's injuries, slowed its pace to accommodate them. Werner, Riu, Mani, and Cosimo were each interviewed individually by Major Hubert. Werner recounted spotting the theft that led him to speak up for Barrows at the court martial, and downplayed the party's role in fending off the vessel that had chased the "Advance"; excused afterward, he had a fort doctor treat his burns with salves and bandages while he waited on the others. Riu confirmed the unnatural winds that had driven the ships toward the harbor and described watching the enemy spellcaster through a spyglass, crediting Werner and Knick Nab with the initiative shown at Barrows's court martial. Mani spoke of being "Bound by Fate," recounting how he and his companions had each independently been guided into each other's paths by "strange old women" — describing how he had been thrown in jail after an illegal duel and shared a cell with Werner, the two of them escaping together in a cart driven by a mysterious old woman, the same sort of old woman, he said, who had steered another of his companions into the group as well — and asked that the group be kept together in their future Navy postings, a request Hubert said he would try to honor; shown the dispatch envelope, he also noticed three faint parallel lines scored into its back. Cosimo, shown the same envelope, likewise noticed the lines, recognized them as similar to markings on the Gildenhome Map, and urged Hubert to send ships in pursuit of the fleeing southern vessel while there was still time; Hubert brushed off his questions about the enemy's "confounding powers," hinting only that there was more at stake than a ship's boy could be told. Pressed on how he knew of such matters, Cosimo spoke of his years as an altar boy in the church and rumors of great riches beyond the western seas, marking himself in Hubert's eyes as a devout follower of the Two. Hubert questioned each of them about their "fortune" and motivations but revealed nothing further of his own suspicions in return. All were informed they would be quartered at the fort for a few days. Nicolas was also seen being escorted to Hubert's office as the others were led away to their rooms.

NPCs & Creatures

  • Allied NPCs:
    • Salter (Sailor from the "Advance")
    • Nicolas (Priest from the "Advance")
  • Encountered NPCs:
    • Harbor Pilot of Port Sardina (unnamed)
    • Naval Officer at Port Sardina (unnamed)
    • Bertin (Harbor Master of Port Sardina)
    • Major Hubert (Commander of the Fort at Port Sardina; an old friend and former shipmate of Captain Barrows from their days as midshipmen, now confined to shore duty by an old injury)
    • Major Hubert's Aide (Smithers)
    • Pew (One-legged beggar sailor at Port Sardina)
    • Fort Doctor at Port Sardina (unnamed; treated Werner's burns)
    • Various soldiers and guards at Port Sardina and its fort.
  • Mentioned NPCs:
    • Captain Barrows (Captain of the "Advance")
    • Unnamed figure on the southern enemy vessel.
    • "Strange old women" (mentioned by Mani).
  • Creatures:
    • Sharks (two, circling near the fire ship)
    • Pocket (Noddy's seagull familiar)

Locations

  • The sea near Port Sardina
  • Enemy Fire Ship (unnamed southern vessel)
  • The "Green Gull" (prize ship)
  • Port Sardina:
    • The Harbor — a long, narrow, steep-sided inlet with a dogleg near its end, crowded with a mix of merchant ships, Cutters, and a few larger military vessels (one nearly the size of the "Advance"), many moored two and three deep against the wharves; easily defended but easily blockaded, and a poor shelter from wind
    • Dockside warehouses
    • The Town — strung along the curve of the harbor like a horseshoe, with the business district and docks at its foot, rougher quarters along one arm, and finer housing along the other as it climbs toward the Fort
    • The road and open "killing field" leading up to the Fort
    • The Fort, including its guard post and dry moat, Major Hubert's office, and various rooms
  • Mentioned Locations (from maps found by Noddy):
    • A major Southern port city (unnamed)
    • Totem Island (distinct from Totem Isle near Bitterroot Isle)

Conflicts

  • The party contended with fire, the sea, and sharks while escaping the burning fire ship.
  • Werner De Rendal sustained multiple burn injuries and a broken harpoon while fighting clear of the collapsing decks, and was gravely weakened by the time he was hauled aboard the "Green Gull."
  • The party's vessel, the "Green Gull," faced a magical "sparkling cloud" attack from the southern enemy ship, which they successfully countered.
  • The party's attempts to strike back at the retreating southern vessel and its spellcaster with musket and cannon fire fell short at extreme range.
  • Knick Nab underwent a tense interrogation with Major Hubert, culminating in the revelation of his physical secret — which Hubert first met with a flash of hostility, briefly calling him a mutant who should be destroyed, before catching himself and offering reassurance.
  • Werner, Riu, Mani, and Cosimo were individually interviewed by Major Hubert.

Learnings and Discussions

  • The southern forces possess magical abilities, including wind manipulation and offensive magic (the "sparkling cloud").
  • A scouting flight by Noddy's familiar Pocket confirmed no larger southern fleet was following the single vessel that fled — this attack was not the vanguard of a bigger invasion.
  • Major Hubert served with Captain Barrows as a midshipman decades ago and rose through the ranks alongside him, before an old injury forced him into shore duty commanding the fort at Port Sardina.
  • Major Hubert is keenly interested in the PCs' string of "fortunate" successes and their connection to Captain Barrows.
  • Major Hubert is investigating a concept or group known as "the Three," and suspects the PCs might be involved or know something. Knick Nab confirmed Hubert's interest and expressed his own.
  • Major Hubert intends to consult a friend or colleague more versed in these mysteries before discussing "the Three" with the party any further.
  • Knick Nab revealed his physical anomaly to Major Hubert, distancing himself from "the Two."
  • Mani and Cosimo observed three parallel lines on the back of the dispatch envelope shown by Major Hubert. Cosimo recognized these markings as similar to those on the Gildenhome Map.
  • Four barrels of wine, not originating from the "Green Gull," were found stored with the unloaded rice in the Port Sardina warehouse. The Harbor Master, Bertin, was evasive when questioned.
  • The party's own tally of unloaded rice bags came up two short of Bertin's official count of 386; Werner's report to Major Hubert cited Bertin's figure and made no mention of the wine barrels.
  • The party (except Knick Nab, who is detained separately) is being held at the fort in Port Sardina under Major Hubert's orders for further questioning and observation.
  • Noddy, with Riu, had previously ransacked the captain's cabin on the fire ship and found two map cases. These contained:
    • A detailed map of an unnamed major southern port city.
    • A map of an island labeled "Totem."

Items Gained

  • Noddy (subsequently given to Knick Nab):
    • Two map cases from the fire ship's captain's cabin, containing:
      • 1 x Detailed map of a major southern port city.
      • 1 x Map of an island with a "Totem" marked on it.
  • Werner De Rendal:
    • 1 x Length of rope.
  • Riu:
    • 1 x Length of rope.
  • The Party (collectively):
    • Secured the "Green Gull" and its cargo of rice as a prize for the Northern Navy.
    • 1 x Additional length of rope, taken from the ship's stores in case Knick Nab needed to be tied down to prevent another disappearance.

Items Lost

  • Werner De Rendal:
    • 1 x Harpoon, broken while fighting through the burning fire ship's collapsing decks.
  • The party's sea chests and personal belongings were transported to the fort, placing them out of immediate access for some.
  • The dispatches carried by Mani got wet during the swim to the "Green Gull" but were not destroyed.