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Chapter 5 - Session 5

A Tale of Spies and Statues

Events and Actions

The party wraps up its opening haggle with Shipwright Master Borin over The Father's Fury, having opened at 1,000 gold and argued that only they can manage the ship's curse, making it worthless to anyone else; Borin says he must consult others before he can commit to a price and excuses himself. A soldier then comes running into the shipyard, badly winded, asking whether anyone saw what happened out in the harbor — he's been sent to find and report on whoever was responsible. When the party admits it was them, he panics, trips over some baskets scrambling to get away, and bolts off towards the fort regardless. The party decides to seek out the local "crazy priest" before dealing with the authorities, reasoning that if the fort's business really concerns them, it will come looking regardless. They learn from the sailor Johan that the priest lives in the hills but sometimes preaches in the market. Before leaving, Mani turns his charm on Johan directly, pitching him a berth aboard their future ship with the promise that facing one's fears means living dangerously at sea; Johan, having just watched them face down the ship's curse, is won over and agrees to consider sailing with them — and to see who else he can bring.

In the marketplace, they find the soldier telling a confused, disjointed story about the battle with the ship's figurehead to a gathering crowd. Before Knick Nab takes over — bareheaded, having left off his usual headband for the performance — the party quickly agrees on how to frame themselves: the ship's animated figurehead as a monstrous antagonist and their own role as its slayers, with the fog and the stranger magic left deliberately vague. Knick Nab steps up, gently eases the soldier off his soapbox, and retells the tale with far more drama and coherence, subtly enhanced by Cosimo's illusions — a touch of extra volume and a nimbus of light rather than anything overt. During his tale, he attributes the fight's stranger effects to "the three," implying powers beyond the Mother and Father worshipped by the Two, and the crowd's chatter about wind gods, water gods, and family analogies eventually settles into a connection between his description of a flying golden man and a pre-existing figure in their beliefs known as "the brother." While Knick Nab performs, the rest of the party quietly watches the crowd for anyone reacting badly or suspiciously; they find only fascination, disbelief, and a few people insisting they'd seen it with their own eyes — no sign of hostility.

Their performance is interrupted when a mountain of a man shoulders through the crowd carrying an oversized boat hook — Captain Garth 'The Gaff' Morgan, enforcer of the town's ruling body, who "invites" them to speak with the council. Mani, Knick Nab, Werner, and Cosimo go with him, while Noddy and Riu stay behind; Noddy uses attunement to keep a general sense of the others' direction and follows at a discreet distance, while Riu rows out into the bay to salvage debris from the shattered figurehead, confirming with a quick casting that the wood no longer carries any trace of the magic that once animated it. The other four are led to a cluster of tents and driftwood buildings — the council's meeting hall, built around a large, ramshackle round table of driftwood and carved timber — and brought before "The Drowned Council," five pirate captains who govern the town: Captain Silas 'Blackheart' Kane, Isla 'The Weaver' Vargo, Garth 'The Gaff' Morgan, 'Rattlebone' Jones, and Corbin 'Turncoat' Vance. Kane presses them on their origins; the party recounts sailing first under Captain Barrows and later Captain De Guzman, being put ashore to investigate the "Stone Isle," and losing their rendezvous with the ship. Kane recognizes both names "from the war" but has no news of either captain's whereabouts, and Isla Vargo — the council's information broker — admits she doesn't know either, though she recalls a Major Hubert may be among those the Church has executed as heretics. Werner introduces himself in full, as the third son of Kasimir De Rendal, Duke of the North, and Kane recognizes the family name at once; Mani, more guarded, gives the council a name that isn't his own, and receives no such courtesy. The conversation turns tense when the council notices Knick Nab's ears, uncovered since his performance in the market, and brands him a "misborn" — a term he bristles at, nearly demanding satisfaction before the rest of the party talks the moment down. Kane rises and circles him afterward on a peg leg of curved, pale bone — whale, perhaps, or something larger — studying him from both sides, and offers only a cryptic "I think I know you" before returning to business. Satisfied, the council offers a deal: they will help the party acquire The Father's Fury and grant them safe harbor if the party investigates potential spies watching the town from the nearby hills.

The party agrees to the terms, framing it as a chance to earn a permanent home for the whole crew, not just themselves. They settle the outline of the ship exchange — the Bull, sound but for a cracked spar from an old cannon shot, fully restocked and outfitted apart from a crew, for the cursed ship repaired to a comparable standard — with Rattlebone doing a bone-casting to seal the arrangement and facilitate it with Master Borin; they deliberately hold off on commissioning a new figurehead until they're sure the old one won't animate again. Kane confirms there are no regular patrols into the hills, no known threat from the local islanders (several of whom live and work peacefully in the port), and that the sense of being watched is recent and strongest during the day. The council also notes, when asked, that the port has no slave market and no slavery of its own — a point of pride, in contrast to some other ports the party has seen. Before they leave, Vance provides a note granting the party access to the fort's battlements and a second letter authorizing townsfolk to render them aid.

The party regroups and heads to the fort — built into the cliff overlooking the harbor and still under construction — to survey the surrounding hills. From the ramparts, Noddy spots a strangely shaped, artificial-looking hill in the distance, and the party also makes out wisps of smoke rising along the coast to the north, hinting at another settlement further up the shore. Werner also feels a disturbing sense that the cursed ship in the harbor is watching him — not for the first time, he recalls, since the skulls carved into its hull turned to watch him once before, when he first tried to sense the ship's magic.

That evening, the party returns to the hospital, where Mistress Clara allows them one more night's lodging. They ask to speak with the islander who works there and question her about the third hill and the wildlife of the interior; she describes deer, goats, and dangerous bears and wolves, but nothing resembling pygmies or witch doctors, and confirms that the priest's shrine lies close by, in the ravine. Down in the town's lower quarter, Knick Nab buys a pair of grenades and finds the tavern crowd already talking of nothing but the harbor commotion; a few recognize him from his performance and buy him drinks, and word is quietly spreading that the cursed ship's crew might soon be looking for hands. Mani, for his part, tries his charm on Mistress Clara directly, falling just short — a near miss rather than a disaster — before climbing up to leave a flower and a signed haiku on her windowsill: "Island beauty comes / Healer of my heart and soul / Lost and now returned." It seems to have little apparent effect.

Werner spends that night cleaning and re-oiling his firearms, as is his habit before heading into the field. The following morning, the party provisions heavily — several days of food and water, rope, and an away-team kit of torches and oil — but opts for a tarp over a proper tent to keep moving quickly. They set out, with Leela and Batu Batu in tow and Salter left behind both to mind the ship and to keep their personal gear off the books before the trade with the council goes through, along the path into the ravine where the priest is said to live, bandying about possible names for their still-unofficial crew along the way ("the fated" and "the blessed men" among the contenders) without settling on one. Partway in they come across a life-size wooden carving of Handsome Gulliver Gold standing in a niche in the rock, painted and exquisitely detailed — though this one, unlike earlier sightings, has no wings. It faces a second, matching niche cut into the rock across the passage, clearly prepared but left empty. Cosimo swears the carving isn't one of his illusions, and Werner's examination of the wood — expert work in a single piece, at most a year or two old — turns up an odd, unbidden association with the individually carved and tapered skulls on the Father's Fury. Deeper in, the ravine opens into a small clearing tidied into a rough shrine: log seating, a hewn table, and a second carving of Handsome Gulliver Gold, sword drawn, built up from many joined pieces rather than one, facing another empty space clearly left for a third. A door of rough-hewn timber seals a cave at the back of the clearing; the party knocks and calls out, but gets no answer beyond the sound of someone sleeping deeply within, and the door resists both force and magic. They leave word that they'll return, and press on into the hills.

The trek to the strange hill Noddy spotted takes a full two days, foraging as they go — Werner manages only a single rabbit with his harpoon, while Leela and Batu Batu bring in several more by the campfire — before they reach its base and confirm, with a careful climb and a wide perimeter check, that it is in fact a large, man-made pyramid of fitted, man-portable local stone, roughly thirty feet on a side and thirty feet high. The stonework shows real skill but no exotic materials or tools, and its style tells them nothing — though Noddy recalls tales from his childhood in the Highlands of similar stacks of stone out in the wastelands beyond the hills to the east. The capstone, they determine, was recently replaced; lifting it and the layer beneath turns up nothing but more stone, no chamber, no markings, and no trace of magic anywhere on the structure — nor any sign of a path leading to or from it, leaving no clue how its builders reached the summit. An item feel spell reveals its purpose as "calm and familial success" — a phrase that echoes the kind of blessing the Church of the Two might offer — but who built the pyramid, and why, remains a mystery.

NPCs & Creatures

  • Master Borin (Shipwright)
  • Johan (sailor)
  • The Drowned Council:
    • Captain Silas 'Blackheart' Kane
    • Isla 'The Weaver' Vargo
    • Garth 'The Gaff' Morgan
    • 'Rattlebone' Jones
    • Corbin 'Turncoat' Vance
  • Nicolas (the "crazy priest", heard snoring but not seen)
  • Leela (accompanies party)
  • Batu Batu (accompanies party)
  • Salter (left behind to mind the ship)
  • Mistress Clara (at the hospital)
  • An islander who works at the hospital

Locations

  • Drowned Man's Port
    • Shipyard
    • Marketplace
    • The Fort, built into the cliff overlooking the harbor and still under construction
    • The Drowned Council's meeting hall, a cluster of tents and driftwood buildings
    • The Hospital
    • The lower town (taverns frequented by sailors and crew)
  • The Hills outside the port
  • Coastal communities where islanders live and trade with the port
  • Nicolas's Shrine of the Brother, a cave in a ravine with carvings of Handsome Gulliver Gold
  • A hill topped with a man-made stone pyramid
  • A possible further settlement up the coast to the north, marked only by distant smoke

Conflicts

  • There were no physical conflicts in this session.
  • The primary conflict was the tense negotiation with The Drowned Council, where the party's future in the port was decided.
  • A sharper moment of tension came when the council publicly called out Knick Nab's concealed nature as "misborn"; he nearly demanded satisfaction before the rest of the party talked the moment down.

Learnings and Discussions

  • The town is governed by a council of five pirate captains known as The Drowned Council. They are concerned about being spied upon and have tasked the party with investigating. The party learned the following about its members:
    • Captain Silas 'Blackheart' Kane: The apparent leader, who has a bone peg leg. He is deeply concerned about spies watching the port from the hills. Though no one has seen them, he suspects their presence based on a persistent feeling and observing unusual animal behavior (goats, birds, a bear). He wants to know who the spies report to. He recognized Werner's noble family name on sight, and studied Knick Nab with unsettling familiarity after the council challenged his hidden nature.
    • Isla 'The Weaver' Vargo: The sole female member, she is an information broker whose business is "knowing where people are." She had no current knowledge of Captain Barrows or Captain De Guzman's whereabouts, though she recalled that a Major Hubert may be among those the Church has executed as heretics.
    • Garth 'The Gaff' Morgan: A massive man who acts as the council's enforcer, wielding a giant boat hook (a gaff).
    • 'Rattlebone' Jones: A gaunt, superstitious man who uses bone-casting for divination and agreed to facilitate the party's acquisition of the ship after a reading.
    • Corbin 'Turncoat' Vance: A disgraced former Northern Navy officer who still wears his uniform and provided the party with written permission to access the fort, along with a separate letter authorizing townsfolk to render them aid.
  • The "crazy priest" is almost certainly Nicolas, the former priest from the "Advance," who now worships Handsome Gulliver Gold as "the brother." He has established a shrine in a cave.
  • The people of the port seem to have a pre-existing belief in "the brother," which aligns with Cosimo's illusions of Handsome Gulliver Gold.
  • Werner learns that the skulls on the Father's Fury have an unsettling awareness of him, having turned to watch him on a previous occasion.
  • Examining the shrine's carving of Handsome Gulliver Gold, Werner found himself recalling — without knowing why — that the individual skulls on the Father's Fury were each tapered pieces of expertly joined white oak. The unbidden memory suggests some connection between the ship's carver and whoever carved the shrine's statues, though neither its meaning nor its source is clear.
  • There is a large, man-made stone pyramid on a hilltop, built within the last 40 years. Its purpose is unknown but seems to be related to "familial success." Noddy associates it with similar structures rumored to exist in the eastern wastelands.
  • While debating whether the port's watchers might be using animals as spies, the party confirms the limits of Noddy's bond with Pocket: it lets him sense the presence of other sentient, thinking beings, not ordinary animals — an actual bird or mouse wouldn't register as anything unusual. Cosimo, for his part, insists there's no such thing as "animal magic" in the eyes of the Two.

Items Gained

  • A note from Corbin Vance granting access to the fort's battlements.
  • A second note from Vance authorizing townsfolk to render the party aid.
  • Riu recovered his javelin from the bay while collecting pieces of the destroyed figurehead, now inert and ordinary wood.
  • Knick Nab purchased two grenades in the lower part of town.
  • Werner bought a "dolphin" harpoon — the closest thing available to a proper whaling harpoon in port — though it's in poor shape and will need repair.

Items Lost

  • None.