Chapter 6 - Session 5

Ink, Fear, and a Favorable Wind

Events and Actions

The session resumed with the party still anchored in The Shatters at the wreck of "The Divine Rite." Riu remained inside the forward hold of the sunken ship, searching in near-darkness, while Noddy waited outside the dive cage after the sharks from the previous session had dispersed.

Not long after, the corpse of one of the sharks Noddy had fatally wounded in the previous dive drifted into view near the cage — confirmation that at least one casualty of that earlier fight hadn't survived. The giant octopus, having earlier retreated deeper into the wreck, came slithering back over the coral toward it; when Noddy prodded at it with his rope, it settled on the dead shark instead, a beak disproportionately large for its body tearing into the carcass just yards from him. Unsettled by the sight, he pulled his rope back and let it feed.

A large lobster then emerged from the gloom beyond the cage and advanced steadily through the water; nearby clams sensed it coming and skittered out of its path, giving it a wide berth as though they knew something Noddy didn't. As its claws began probing through the air wall, Noddy cast Fear on it. The lobster retreated at a speed that was, in his words, disturbingly fast, and the fear spell's area of effect spread underwater in all directions, sending smaller nearby sea life scattering as well.

Shortly after, the giant octopus that had retreated in earlier dives returned, one tentacle probing through the mesh of the cage toward Noddy. He cast Fear on it as well. The octopus shot backward and released a vast cloud of black ink that blotted out the surrounding water entirely. Noddy's knowledge of cephalopods told him this was a flight reflex, not an attack — the ink a smokescreen for escape — but it left him temporarily blind in a dark cloud that his water-sight could not penetrate. He used his clear desalinate liquid spell — its effect confined to roughly a cubic foot — to scrub the worst of the ink from the water around his face, then dropped his existing air wall and cast a fresh one inside the cage.

While the commotion above continued, Riu pressed on with his methodical search of the hold. He recovered a small flat box — roughly the dimensions of a pistol case, apparently sealed — and placed it in his sack without opening it, uncertain whether breaking the seal might compromise its watertight integrity. He continued searching and ultimately found, buried under a layer of silt and debris, an object he recognised on sight as a Diad — not because it was one of a kind, but because he had seen others like it displayed at church ceremonies in his former life. He put it in his sack. With the sack now heavy and unwieldy, his air running low, and no way to speak to Noddy underwater beyond taps on the dive rope, he thumped on the hatch. Noddy heard the knocking and relayed the signal to the surface, and the crew began turning the capstan.

Above, the captain, Knick Nab, had been keeping watch from the crow's nest. As the cage was being winched up, he spotted the tip of a mast on the horizon — a large ship, sails furled, being slowly towed or pulled through the calm. He sent for the ship's boy, Tolly, who brought up the sextant; with the mast just cresting the horizon on flat, calm seas, the geometry gave a fixed and reliable range, and the captain called it out: six caliber-cams. He ordered all hands to bring the boats and cage aboard at speed and called for Cosimo. Cosimo, who had been preparing for exactly this possibility, cast a large-scale illusion — the ocean background behind the ship, covering a radius far wider than "The Medallion" herself — effectively making the ship invisible to any observer from that direction for as long as the spell held.

The divers were pulled to the surface and extracted from the cage and jolly boats. Sharks had returned to circle during the ascent but did not attack. As the crew worked, the ship's bell rang of its own accord: "Danger."

With both divers safely aboard, Riu took the Diad and attempted to attune to it in the jolly boat on the short row to Grantos's island. He succeeded. The Diad is a holy relic of the Divinity of Two — among the most powerful the party has encountered — and what it allows its wielder to do is unmistakable: it enables the direct imposition of a divine geas upon another person, backed not by priestly authority but by the literal will of the Two gods themselves. A task so commanded cannot be resisted, and any failure to obey invites the wrath of the gods directly. Riu also felt, with certainty, that he himself could not use it. Since being declared a heretic by an avatar of the Father in an earlier encounter, he is cut off from any direct conduit to the Two.

The party landed on the rock and climbed to where Grantos kept his post among the remains of "The Divine Rite." When shown the Diad, Grantos confirmed it was the relic — and that despite the party now holding it, he still felt no change in his compulsion. He remained bound to guard the wreck. Having the Diad in hand was not sufficient to free him; the binding would only end if a qualified follower of the Two used the Diad to issue a new command releasing him.

The party returned to "The Medallion." Mani, mindful that magic has never taken hold of him the way it does others, wondered aloud whether simply holding the Diad might weaken or negate its hold over Grantos where attunement could not — no one could say for certain, so he decided to find out directly. He held the Diad and attempted to attune to it. He gained a sense of its nature broadly consistent with what Riu had described — immense power, a direct link to the Two — but he too could not operate it. His resistance to magic proved no help here; using the Diad requires full commitment to the Two, not merely proximity to its power, and Mani had never committed himself fully as a follower of the Two. The Diad made that plainly felt.

The captain had meanwhile rowed out past the edge of Cosimo's illusion in the jolly boat, spyglass in hand, to observe the ship on the horizon. Its sails remained furled; it was definitely being towed. He assessed it as days away, not hours. On returning to the ship, Keyes — the able seaman the party had rescued from Tortoise Rock, formerly of "The Fortnum" — confirmed what many already suspected: the ship was "The Fortnum" herself, under Captain Mason. Keyes knew the ship well. She carried at least two priests.

What followed was a long and heated deliberation about whether to run, hide, or fight. Cosimo's illusion, cast at full strength, could mask "The Medallion" for roughly an hour at a time and cover far more than enough radius to hide the whole ship, but sustaining it through daylight hours would cost him twice what he could recover overnight — nowhere near enough to hide the ship for the days it would take "The Fortnum" to arrive. Grantos could provide favorable wind, create fog, and make the passage difficult for any pursuing ship, but he could not guarantee "The Fortnum" carried no wind mage of her own to contest him. The party could not free Grantos without a qualified priest of the Two to wield the Diad, and Nicolas, the priest from "The Advance" who might have served this purpose, had not been brought on this voyage.

One proposal was to fight: with at least two priests known to be aboard, capture one and either persuade or compel them into using the Diad to free Grantos. Suggestions ranged from talking the priest around to using magic to sway them to duping them under a false pretext. The idea was set aside — "The Fortnum" was reckoned a three-decked frigate carrying some two hundred men, far beyond what the party believed it could take and hold cleanly, and handing the Diad to any priest, willing or not, risked losing it to the enemy outright.

Cosimo proposed spending an hour or two attempting a ritual to break Grantos's binding directly, channelling the crew's faith through himself to petition the Two. The idea foundered on the same problem as attuning the Diad: whoever performed the ritual would still be the one asking, and none of them believed themselves a clean enough vessel for it. Cosimo admitted he did not believe strongly enough to serve as a conduit himself — gathering the crew's faith through him would not change whose intention the gods were judging. Mani, pressed on whether he was willing to fully commit himself as a follower of the Two, admitted he was not, unwilling to give up his other loyalties. Riu suggested Noddy might have the standing to try, since he had not been declared a heretic, but Noddy — no ardent follower of the Two himself — declined the charge. Without anyone both able and willing to serve as a true conduit to the Two, the ritual was abandoned in favor of the plan to return for Nicolas.

The party visited Grantos a final time to ask directly what he needed. He confirmed that being forced from the island against his geas — whether by the party rescuing him or by "The Fortnum" capturing him — would itself risk the wrath of the gods, so neither side could simply carry him off. He judged that if "The Fortnum" did take him, he would likely not survive; his captors would have little reason to keep him alive once the Diad was beyond their reach. He told the party: give him wind, and they could escape. He would keep "The Fortnum" at bay with storms and unfavorable currents as long as he could. He acknowledged that if they fled with the Diad, the worst that could happen — the enemy seizing the Diad and giving him a new, hostile command — was prevented. He urged them to leave.

The vote was unanimous. They would run.

Cosimo offered Grantos a cake of rum and a loaded pistol with shot and powder — a gesture Grantos accepted with the wry observation that he had not had rum in thirty years. The party promised to return with a means to free him. Grantos told them to make their course and tell him what he needed to do.

They chose to sail southwest, reasoning that "The Medallion" was the faster ship and would have a head start regardless of the route "The Fortnum" took. Grantos warned there was still a chance "The Fortnum" could tack and give chase in the same direction, but agreed the head start would be theirs regardless. He sent a strong west wind ahead of them, carrying "The Medallion" out from The Shatters in the opposite direction from "The Fortnum." Cosimo created a vast cloud bank to cover their departure, obscuring the ship's movement from any observer looking toward The Shatters. "The Medallion" slipped away under full sail into the open sea.

NPCs & Creatures

Grantos: The ancient Islander wind mage bound to the wreck of "The Divine Rite." He confirmed that possessing the Diad is not sufficient to break his binding — a new command must be issued through it by a qualified follower of the Two — and warned that forcing him from the island against his geas, by either side, would itself invite the wrath of the gods. He believed he would not survive if "The Fortnum" captured him. He provided strong westerly winds to cover the party's escape and accepted their promise to return. He was left behind, still bound, but no longer at risk of the Diad falling into enemy hands.
Giant Octopus: The same octopus that had been lurking at the dive site in previous sessions. It first returned to feed on the corpse of a shark Noddy had killed in the previous dive, then later advanced on the cage and began probing it with a tentacle before being driven off by Noddy's Fear spell. It released a large cloud of black ink as it fled.
Giant Lobster: A very large crustacean that emerged from the gloom and advanced steadily on the cage until its claws came through the air wall. It was repelled by Noddy's Fear spell and retreated at speed.
Keyes: Able seaman aboard "The Medallion," formerly of "The Fortnum." He identified the ship on the horizon as his old vessel, confirmed Captain Mason's command, and noted she carried at least two priests.

Locations

The Shatters: The entire session took place within this field of shattered rock, the former site of Spider Island. The party remained anchored near the rock spire at its centre throughout.
The wreck of "The Divine Rite": The forward hold of the sunken ship, approximately 100 feet below the surface, was the site of Riu's final search. The Diad was found here.
Grantos's post: The remains of "The Divine Rite" perched atop the central rock spire, where Grantos keeps watch. The party visited twice this session.

Conflicts

The giant octopus was repelled by Noddy's Fear spell. It inked the surrounding water before fleeing, temporarily blinding Noddy to anything outside the air wall.
The giant lobster was repelled by Noddy's Fear spell. It retreated rapidly without making contact.
No combat with sharks occurred. They circled during the ascent but did not attack.
A plan to capture a priest from "The Fortnum" and compel or dupe them into using the Diad to free Grantos was proposed and rejected, on the grounds that the frigate's crew was too large to take and hold safely, and that surrendering the Diad to anyone aboard risked losing it to the enemy.

Learnings and Discussions

The Diad recovered from the hold of "The Divine Rite" is the holy relic that created and sustains Grantos's binding. It allows its wielder to impose a divine geas upon another person, backed by the direct power of the Two gods. The compelled individual has no choice but to obey, and any defiance would invite the wrath of the gods themselves.
Holding the Diad does not break an existing binding. The binding will only end when a qualified follower of the Two uses the Diad to issue a new command superseding the old one. Grantos's compulsion remains in force until this is done.
Riu is unable to use the Diad. His declaration as a heretic by an avatar of the Father has cut him off from any direct conduit to the Two. He felt this directly when he attuned to the relic.
Mani also cannot use the Diad in its present form. Using it requires full commitment to the Two, not merely acknowledgment of their existence. Cosimo and Noddy, pressed on the same question, likewise proved unwilling or unable to serve as a true conduit to the Two.
Nicolas — the priest of the Two known to the party — was not brought on this voyage. His absence is the critical obstacle to freeing Grantos.
Grantos can provide favorable winds and create weather adverse to other ships, but he cannot guarantee he would prevail against another wind mage. He did not know whether "The Fortnum" carried one, though he noted that her furled sails and slow, towed approach through dead-calm water suggested no such contest was underway yet — either she had no wind mage aboard, or one was being held in reserve.
Wind witches are native to the south, where Grantos believes they serve the church as willing partners. The north has none of its own — Grantos, taken captive decades ago, is the exception, held prisoner rather than serving as a partner.
"The Fortnum" under Captain Mason carries at least two priests of the Divinity of Two, and is a three-decked frigate with an estimated crew of some two hundred men — too large a force for the party to fight and control cleanly.
"The Medallion" is assumed to be the faster ship, giving the party a head start once they broke away from The Shatters.
A fourth magic item remains uncollected in a cave beneath a giant tortoise near the seafloor. It was not retrieved this session. While keeping watch, the captain turned the divers' reports over in his mind — the octopus, the lobster — and grew increasingly convinced that whatever lurked in that heat-vented cave was a giant sea serpent. Half tempted to dive down and see for himself, he was pulled back to his duties only when the ship on the horizon was sighted.

Items Gained

The Diad: The holy relic of the Divinity of Two recovered from the hold of the sunken "Divine Rite." This is the specific Diad used to bind Grantos. It allows its wielder to impose a divine geas on another person. Currently held by the party.
A sealed flat box: A low, flat box roughly the dimensions of a pistol case, recovered from the hold of the "Divine Rite." Its contents are unknown. It may be watertight.
A small collection of pouches recovered from the hold, including one of wax-sealed leather that had somehow kept the water out despite years submerged. Contents and value not yet assessed.

Items Lost

A cake of rum (given to Grantos).
A loaded pistol with shot and powder (given to Grantos).