Rook responds to Carolinas regarding what they were up to in town and his transformation during the ogre zombie encounter.  "Well, like I said, we got to walk around and see the docks and all of the people and the market.  I bought A LOT of fruit.  It's SO good!  It should really help prevent scurvy, or that's what I've heard.  That's true, right?  It must be, because Father said so, and I've heard others say it, too!  You are a nice friend, Carolinas, and I don't want you to get sick, so you should take as much fruit from my bunk as you want, ok?  Be careful though, all of my stuff swings about in my net like crazy and the shield might just hit you right in the head!  I heard it is going to be cold where we're going?  I was thinking maybe I should buy a warmer jacket or some furs.  What do you think?  Maybe one of you all would want to go shopping with me tomorrow?  I don't have much coin, though.  Hmmm . Actually, speaking of that, when do we get paid?"   It is likely that Carolinas cannot be positive Rook has taken in any oxygen in the last sixty seconds or so.  He does stop and let Carolinas speak, however, before moving on the answer the other, more serious matter.

"So, like I was telling Sal today, I CAN explain what happened, which is really kind of creepy to me.  I think I'm still me, see, and Sal says I am, so that's good, I think.  I still want to be me, and just do my job and learn about the ship and see the sea and all of the different ports!  I can definitely do other things now, though, and maybe that's good because I can help fight when nice people like you and Sal and Bruz and the rest of the crew are in trouble.  Maybe we can help other people, too!  That's the good side, I suppose.  You see, I can feel the touch of the Raven Queen AND Chauntea.  They don't really conflict, though, luckily, as they both want me to help keep the balance of life and death in this world.  Undead aren't natural, you see, they break the order of things, as can some untimely deaths.  I'm still me, I think, but when I transform I'm kind of like some sort of angel, I guess?  I don't know what you call it, but that seems to be what it is.  I know, that sounds crazy, but I know it's true because I can feel their will and I can see and feel the power they can give me.  It's like a huge ocean, Carolinas, and I can see it but I'm just on the beach, ankle deep in it.  If I do a good job, I can go deeper.  I already know how to use the magic being ankle deep gives me, it's clear as day.  It's like they put half of a wizard's brain in me or something crazy!  I've been thinking that it's not bad, like a curse, really, as long as I stay strong and only do good things.  I might be able to have the life I wanted, help and protect Mother and Father, and help protect everyone here at sea, too.  Do you think it's a good thing, Carolinas?"

Once everyone has finished ashore, we can continue. The first day of three has passed. You may sleep on board or find accommodations, as you wish. 

Bruz spends the next two days at the Low Quarter, carousing in the various taverns and fighting in the arena matches. In the taverns he drinks and tells stories of his travels, oft exaggerated, and attempts to gather passengers for the Keel. At the arena he performs his drunken antics, intent more on entertaining the crowd than winning. He still bets 5 gold on himself for both fights, in hopes of earning a bit of coin.

Persuasion 1: 12

Qty 1: 0

Persuasion 2: 22

Qty 2: 1

OOC: Not trying to rush anything, Bruz is just away from the other PCs this time. As long as we stay here, I'll post a kind of montage of what he does during his fights and/or at the taverns.

Sal will spend some time looking around the town, seeing the sights, and asking around about any local news, as well as people's opinions on our next destination.

S'ika already has what she needs. So she will spend her day in the taverns, trying to make some more coin. Of course she will be using he favorite lute. In between songs, she will be asking people about any rumors regarding Snowdown. She wants to make sure there are no surprises when she get there. At night she will sleep inside of her cabin.

Performance: 27

Carolinas starts to appear as if he may start to nod off while Rook is talking, a lot. He closes his eyes for a brief moment if Rook looks away. A full 8hrs of studying appearing to exhaust him mentally and his old age not making it easy for him.

Archimedes turns his head to Carolinas, cocking his owl head side to side.

"Um...why yes Rook that all sounds great." he says after his first pause. Not sure exactly what the young man has said.

He does perk up a bit when he hears him speak about his personal transformation, however.

"Yes, that is a good thing. Just always be true to those you care for and yourself, and all will fall into place. As I suspected, you appear to hold a balance of both within you, as you said. With time, you'll learn how to swim in the ocean you stand in. Perhaps even free dive to the deepest depths. I thought it looked amazing during the fight, truly a wonder. In fact, if you agree, I would like to add to you to my notebook here."

The spectral Mage Hand turns to an empty page, places the book in Carolinas's lap, then hands (pun intended) him a quill with some ink on it. 

"Your transformation and everything about your abilities can potentially be read by tens of thousands of people for generations. Not to mention an illustration of you flying with your angelic wings. What do ya say?"

If Rook agrees, then Carolinas spends a little time writing down relevant information about Rook's transformation, abilities, and what he knows about his situation with the Raven Queen and Chauntea, as well as his sword. (He leaves some space to potentially add more at a later date) He also makes an artist illustration of Rook flying in the air below the deck of the ship during the ogre fight, wings spread and sword in hand, slashing into one of the undead ogres. He makes the illustration fairly jazzed up, he needs to get it published by someone eventually, after all.

(At the end of the 1st evening, as mentioned, Carolinas will stay on the ship and sleep in his bunk.)

"Thousands?  Generations?  Ah, um, wow.  If you think so, Carolinas.  Is it, um, is it dangerous to put my real name in something like that?  I don't want anyone to come looking for trouble or to give Mother and Father any trouble because of the name and all, you know?"

Carolinas says, "No, no relax. Your name will not be in it. It will be like the Water Weird page. Just a picture with some academic information, no personal details. Your face will even be different, or blank if you wish. There could be others like yourself, or you could be one of a kind, maybe we'll find out! Anyway, let's get settled in for the evening. Another big day tomorrow."

"Ok, great!  Thanks Carolinas.  Nice of you to ask.  Can I see it when you're done?"

"Hey, did you see that new Bard lady on the ship?  I haven't heard her play yet.  Maybe we can learn some new songs!  I think I should go say hello!"

Carolinas says, "Certainly, I'll illustrate it tomorrow if there is time. And no, I wasn't aware there was a new member of the crew. Maybe she will have some interesting information to record. I must have missed her when coming aboard, but I think I shall wait until tomorrow to introduce myself. If she's in her quarters for the evening then I want to be respectful of her privacy. Speaking of which, this old man needs a rest. See you in the morning Rook."

"Oh, yeah, good point.  Maybe I'll meet her in the morning, too.  Thanks Carolinas!  Thanks Archimedes!  Goodnight!"

The next morning Rook is up bright and early.  He was so excited to get up that he bumped his head on the shield suspend above his bed in the net.  Quickly recovering, he pulls on his trousers and rushes out.  He brings an apple and tries to snag a hard boiled egg and some bread on his way up to the main deck.  There he sits on the rail, feet dangling over the side of the ship, right next to the plank used to come and go from the Keel.  There he sits, perfectly content, humming one of the tunes he learned on their first voyage, watching all of the early morning goings about on the docks and aboard the other docked ships.  He waves at anyone that looks at him where he's perched, and awaits any of his own shipmates as they wake for the morning, especially the new bard.

Bruz's antics become a significant attraction each night he 'performs' in the arena, stirring up more than a little crowd to observe, awe, gasp and bet as his abilities play themselves out in combat after combat. His own investments certainly pay out, granting him 15 gp gain. His attempts at coercing passengers aboard meets with some success, netting 3 people who wish to travel, but none who wish to leave at Snowdown. Except one. The last day in port he finds a bright penny - a Cleric of Gond who has intentions to raise a resistance in Snowdown against the Lady there, hoping to throw her down in time. He seems to have no subtlety about him, telling in bold, loud tones of his great prowess at defeating undead, and his surety that his God will see him through to throw down the tyrant Vampire! 

On the third day, a ship is towed into port, badly damaged by fire and having lost too many crew to make port. Yet another mysterious incident out of Baldur's Gate. The Captain, once the crew is on board, enlists all of you to thoroughly search the remaining cargo from Baldur's Gate and the rest of the ship, with eyes to find if there is another of these red scorching magic objects lying in wait. Nothing is found, and the ship then departs late that evening on the high tide. The Bard S'ika is put to work with steady chanteys, keeping the crew to task with the needed activities aboard for a solid 6 hours (with pauses), leaving her voice tired, but undamaged. Bruz is also requested to make sure that all the meals for the next few days contain traces of garlic and onion, "Just in case".

OOC - Regarding pay, everyone who was hired in Baldur's Gate will receive their pay in the port before debarking. If you don't have a record of your rate, I will look back on my notes (or make it up from pure cloth).

If Sal is given a chance to have a look at the searched for marks, she'll use Detect Magic to see if there is any particular school of magic linked to the marks (or at least, any magic remaining on the marks). She's also like to try and work out what these marks are.

Arcana: 7
History: 5
Religion: 13

As for pay, I have record of how much I receive per day of work. Could you confirm how many days this will total up to? Not sure if time "in port" counts towards those.

Sal's efforts and magic have given clues that the magic creating these marks is of the abjuration school. The marks seem to be a side effect of the magic finishing it's programmed task, much like a Glyph of Warding. Normally, such things leave the marks used to anchor the spell such as runes or the like, not scorch marks.  

OOC - Pay would have been for 6 days of work. Time in port is not paid time. 

After the ship leaves the port, it spends the next three days in varied weather. Nothing extreme but certainly shows the change in climate as you approach Snowdown. No unusual encounters happen to disturb the boring trip. Under overcast skies, the Silken Keel arrives off the coast of the gloomy Isle, near the shore but not close enough to easily be seen from it. The ship is anchored and land-facing lights are kept off. Anyone who is on deck at this time will see Master Glass signal to shore at mid-morn, with a response flashed soon after. An hour later, a small skiff docks alongside, and goods and a passenger is debarked. The loud Cleric is subdued for once, quiet and watching fearfully, perhaps not quite as confident as he was in dock.

*NOTE* This is the illicit goods transfer - if you want to do anything during this event, let me know and I'll rewrite results. 

After this exchange is completed, The ship raises anchor and sails into port proper. Once docked, two officials prevent any offloading of goods past the dock until they examine all of it in various ways. One official stays at the dock's edge and casts spells, scanning the goods piled on the dock for illegal objects. The other physically goes through all the cargo visually and touches many items, confirming that no illusions are in place with random checks. After about an hour of this, offloading is allowed and funds are exchanged appropriately. Master Ripple informs the crew loudly that the ship will be departed as soon as cargo is loaded, and no one should take shore leave for longer than a couple of hours before checking back for a departure time. 

*NOTE* Sal will not be allowed to leave the ship under normal methods. 

(Added my pay for the 6 days)

Sal looks to Rook and Carolinas. "Since these lands are not particularly welcoming to my kind, they probably will not allow me ashore. Would you two be dears and see if the wares can be sold for me? I brought fresh fruit and vegetables since this place has harsher climate and the agriculture will be a little more difficult."

(OOC: Ref, can my wares still be sold alongside other cargo shipments, or is the shipment change too quick for that?)

OOC  Anyone have the pay rates handy?  Apparently the search functions on DnD-B don't work very well yet.

"This place is kind of creepy, huh?  Is anyone going ashore?  Sal, you can't go?  Should I not go?  It's cold, that's for sure!" 

(OOC: I believe pay rates were sent to people via PM when their characters were OK'd by the DM)

The meals are kept simple during the short trip and Bruz sympathizes with those who have sensitive noses, garlic and onions are the bane of vampires and conversations every where. Bruz watches the illicit trade indifferently and makes sure the cleric is quiet when they are in part. Bruz has learned many things during his years as a physical and oral performer, including when to keep your mouth shut. He catches Master Ripple away from the inspectors and asks, "How is our Snowdown passenger getting off the ship? Seems like this place wouldn't agree with his...ideas."

OOC: We never went over pay for Bruz; technically, he was never actually recognized as the ship's cook. We started the contest and only one other crew member (an NPC) tried their hand at cooking and Bruz wrecked him so I assumed I was good to keep cooking until told otherwise. 

S'ika was having the time of her life and it showed in the music she played. She loved performing, it was how she made it through life.  During her performances on the ship, she was very careful in not showing how exhausted she was. After the last song, she walked back to her cabin for a quick nap, but before she laid down, she looked over all of the items that she brought with her. Knowing that she brought too much stuff, S'ika decided the best way to get rid of it, was to sell it. So during her down time, she will go ashore to see if there was any interest in fruits, vegetables or textiles. After gathering her stuff from her cabin, she was ready to disembark. As she walked across the deck, she overheard two of her crew mates talking. One of them asked if anyone was going going ashore. She was a little hesitant at first, but she decided to speak up. "I am"  She said in a low tone.

"Oh, hi!  Are you the new bard?  I'm Rook!  I'm just a midshipman, but I'm doing my best!  Really sorry, I've been wanting to meet you but I have to do my work, you see, and I keep missing getting to meet you and then the other day I tried to sit next to you for dinner but it was taken so I was at the other end of the table and couldn't talk to you and then you were talking to the others after and I didn't want to interrupt...."  Rook stops and just blinks at her briefly, catching his breath.  "Oh, and I really like your music, too!"