Sea of Death Campaign Thread

Sae waits until Yevelda and anyone else not part of the original crew are out of earshot, and makes double sure by using her helm to scan for the thoughts of any eavesdroppers.  Then she leans over to whisper to Emrys, "Think we should try and figure out a way to get word to the Admiral in secret?  He'd probably appreciate knowing Hailstorm's getting his hands on something this powerful-sounding.  Might even want to coordinate with us to see if this changes anything about timing and methods for our mission."  She goes so far as to feign a series of yawns at the same time so her hand hides the movement of her lips from any hidden observers. 

She almost bites her lip as well as her hand though, as something belatedly occurs to her.  "Norwald ... oh, aes Seldarine taranitha...  It must be the same one.  The mate that we thought was impersonating ... "

“And here I thought the other half was aquatic.” He answered Yevelda half-jokingly. “We got potions for underwater breathing and neither me nor Arleo need help for that. And thank you for getting in our crazy antics.”

Emrys nodded his head in a gesture of gratitude. When Sae spoke to him her words echoed thoughts he before. They would need to act without the newcomers taking notice. But it was possible. They had time. 

“I don’t think we would have the time to receive any answer and coordinate action, but we could pass the numbers. If nothing else we can assume Hailstorm got no connections inside the fort, otherwise he would have mentioned them when we spoke about escaping from there with his precious lamp.” Goldenleaf answered careful so no one but the close quest mates would hear his words. “We could divide the party in two with the excuse of scouting the area. One team with veterans only could go to the fort and ask for an audience with an official.” He then took the magic coin North gave him from the pouch. “With those it should be easy to get the meeting and report what we know to someone that wouldn’t leak anything to our crew. What do you think?”

Sayyida nodded, " That could work......I mean I don't like it but I guess technically we are removing a danger to the fort.....and if we clear out the dead and traps they might be able to dig down and make use of the space."

“I’m not too keen on letting Hailstorm have what he wants either. I mean, there is all kind of cataclysm inducing magic on this world.” The memory of the man in the chair, with his manic eye and parched voice, came into mind. “It wouldn’t be surprising if such power is kept in an item. It would make sense why he wants the lamp and why he spoke so little about it if that is the case. That said, he wouldn’t have lost to North if was that powerful of an artifact, right?” Unless North had a matching power of his own, but in this case wouldn’t the man have mentioned the lamp to them? “Maybe we should identify the thing after getting it and before handing to dear old captain.”

Question was, would that be worth losing the opportunity to battle Hailstorm alone? Emrys couldn’t see another way of getting the man with so little security and showing their true colours would make it far harder for anyone to infiltrate the crew.

“What you guys think of trying to make our commander sing about what his boss can do?”

His eyes darted to Sae and Sayyida in particular. The rogue was good at gauging the truth of words while the paladin was as persuasive as he could be. Together with them the warlock could feel almost confident on getting information.

"Mmmm ... a risk, maybe worth it, but ... ", Sae takes especial care to keep this last secret, "I tried to read his thoughts before, and he's just as shielded as Hailstorm is.  I won't be able to get anything of what he's really  thinking.  We'd have to do it carefully to, to avoid tipping off whatever power is using them."

(So... is the party planning to chat with Commander Richards, and if so, who will be present?)

(Sae for sure  if at least one other character goes so she can observe while they are talking to Richards and vice versa.)

"I think if we do decide to question the commander," Sae goes on, "it ought to be limited in scope.  Maybe no more than encouraging him to talk about his dear old captain over a glass of rum and see what comes up.  Maybe pretend at first that we want to know more about Hailstorm so we can avoid getting on his bad side without meaning to."

She looks a little embarrassed as she adds more slowly, "I might have to 'talk' to Norwald again at some point too, if he's the same man the Admiral told us about.  Better late than never, but I really should have picked that up quicker.  We haven't met any other pirates of that name, and North did tell us.  'Hailstorm's first mate, Norwald  Blackstone.'  The one he  thought was impersonating  Hailstorm.  We definitely need to get that word to him, and news that this Hailstorm's actually some kind of death warlock with powers like I've never heard of before."

Sayyida nodded to Sae, " If you need backup I'll come along....but I can't promise not to cut his head off if he tries to touch......"

(Okay, sounds like it's going to be Sayyida and Sae, possibly Emrys. I'll just assume that Wade and Areleo aren't going to bother the Commander).

Commander Richards can be found in his office moping around... you actually hear him before you see him. He's moaning painfully every so often. It seems that he partied just a bit too hard the previous night. He's slumped over his desk, and one of his bloodshot eyes opens slowly as he hears you approach.

"Yes, I know that the Captain wants me to get you folks somewhere," he groans as he sees you. "Just... give me another hour or two... or six... damn it, where's Tabby? I sent her to fetch me somethin' to drink almost an hour ago..."

" We can take the ship there if you'd rather kip....your still on board, still in charge...just delegating. Right?", Sayyida ventured.

Persuasion- 16

Commander's Insight (I guess...) - 14

"No... no lass... just let me rest a while... and tell that useless niece of mine to hurry up and bring me my gods-damned drink already!" the Commander says groggily.

"Oh quit being so dramatic, Uncle Rich!" Tabby giggles, having appeared behind you seemingly out of nowhere carrying a tray with a steaming tea kettle and a couple mugs on it. "It's literally only been ten minutes... maybe fifteen... that was barely enough time to get the water hot!"

She puts the tray on the table and pours the Commander some tea. He picks it up and mutters under his breathe: "You know I wanted a brandy..."

"Well, we don't always get what we want, now do we?" the girl replies with a smile. "Now drink up... this will make you feel better."

Sae gives the Commander a sympathetic look.  "Rough night, huh?  Must be hard to be second-in-command to such a big operator.  I bet there's a lot of stress and responsibility.  And the Captain doesn't seem like the kind of man who's too tolerant of anything less than a thousand percent success."  If Richards responds positively to this, she will go on in her most casual and conversational tone.  "In fact, if you still need some time to get yourself together, maybe we could chat a bit and you could tell us a bit more about the Captain.  We really don't want to get on his bad side either, and the more we know about him the easier we'll find it to give him full value and avoid his bad side."

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(ooc: idk if Richards is hung over enough to grant advantage on Sae's roll, so I'll post it both ways pending your ruling)

Deception 17

Deception (if advantage applies) 21

(I would say no on advantage... but it doesn't really matter since your first roll was plenty for the task).

The Commander does his best to sit up, taking a sip of tea. It seems to relax him a bit, but he's still looking pretty rough.

"You want to know how to stay away from the Cap'ain's bad side?" he mutters. "Pretty easy... do what he wants and do it well. But also... be a badass an' you'll earn his respect. I don't know a whole lot about the man 'imself... if ya mean what can he do, the man is incredible with the blade. I seen 'im cut a few men to ribbons meself. An he wields power over the seas like you 'aven't seen afore. Even seen 'im conjure up a vortex o' death once to sink a small fleet o' warships..."

The commander visibly shudders at the memory. He doesn't even seem to realize that he may have just said more than he should have.
 
"But... the Dark Angel told me to find him, an' that's what I did. The lady in the cave, I mean... most beautiful creature I ever laid eyes on... anyhoo, seems that she took an interest in the Cap'ain an' told me to find 'im an join 'im. So that do be what I did."

As he talks about the 'Dark Angel,' the Commander takes on a completely different expression, one of longing for this creature. He shakes his head after a moment, then realizes what a mistake that was as he lets out a groan of pain. He quickly pulls over a trash can and vomits into it.

Sae's eyes go wide at how soon the plan to talk to the Commander has started to yield results, and she artfully massages that into an expression of deep sympathy.  This is made all the easier by the fact that she does feel genuine compassion for this man, caught up in the machinations of powers far beyond his pay grade.  But she cannot deny the jubilant feeling that rises up at his final words.  Information on the power behind Richards himself was a very  nice unexpected bonus; and she has been trained almost since birth in the important art of taking advantage of chance plums dropping into one's lap.  None of this shows on the outside though, since keeping a straight face was the other foundational lesson she has long since made part of herself.  She dips a rag in cool water and offers it to Richards to wipe his mouth, then gives him another "in case you want to wrap it around your forehead.  That's helped me a couple times."  She also whispers to Tabby that "a tiny sip mixed with the tea might help, and still not be enough to ... you know ... start him back on the road to last night again.""    Inside, though, her mind is racing at full speed: filing, categorizing, analyzing.  Not to mention rapidly riffling through her 'ARCANE MAGIC / WARLOCK / ENTITIES AND POWERS" mental file to see if she has ever heard of a patron who goes by that name.  She suspects she might have to consult with Emrys, Wade or Sayyida later on the details: those three especially had far more direct experience with extraplanar powers than she.  But as a specialist in knowledge and information in general, there was a good chance she'd remember something.

"The Dark Angel?  With a name like that, she must have been beautiful indeed.  Please do tell us more about her, if you want to of course.  You say she knew of the Captain already?"

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Arcana 18

Agreed. Wade is checking out the ship and having casual conversations with the crew.

Quote from OisinmacCameron >>

"The Dark Angel?  With a name like that, she must have been beautiful indeed.  Please do tell us more about her, if you want to of course.  You say she knew of the Captain already?"

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Arcana 19

 Sae:

Tabby nods and goes to fetch a bottle of brandy. The Commander's eyes follow her for a moment, before he sighs.

"I... I really can't say much... don't know what her interest in Hailstorm is... just know that's what she told me I aught'a go find 'im, so I did," the Commander replies. "Maybe she made a deal with him back when that Admiral sunk 'im to the bottom o' the sea. Or maybe she even owes the Cap'ain a favor. Far be it from me to be privy to such things..."

He answered to the words of both Sae and Sayyida with a nod of his head and before long he was with her at Richard’s cabin. Drunk didn’t start to describe the man and fortunately so. His tongue was loose and mentioned not only the captain’s skill with the blade but with magic. Vortex of death. That brought him memories. Could it be that Hailstorm… That would be quite the coincidence. Another reason to watch the not so dead pirate.

“Can he freely conjure this vortex? I mean, I would sleep a great deal better if I knew that if the crew were ever to be attacked by the fleet of a certain Admiral the captain can solve the situation, even if an enemy or two teleports to his ship with a Counterspell ready.” He asked Richards.The answer could tell if the vortex was a spell or something more sinister. “In fact I heard yesterday that Hailstorm beat Bart in single combat. Did you watch the show?”

Emrys wanted to ask about the pirate’s combat style in more detail, but decided it would be more natural to bring forth the subject gradually. Drunk didn’t mean dumb and Tabby was there to serve as her uncle’s memory. There was no need to make the mission even harder.  

The Commander accepts Sae's offer of the second cloth with a grateful smile and presses it to his head. A moment later Tabby returns with the bottle of brandy, and she pours a small amount of the liquid into her uncle's tea. The Commander takes another sip before answering Emrys.

"Don't know, to be honest... prob'ly a spell, I'd guess, only seen 'im do it once," Richards says tiredly. "I was a bit busy commandin' me own ship at the time. As fer the Cap'ain's fight with Bart, it happened a bit 'afore I came along... I'm sure it was quite the show, but it weren't one that I was privy to."

Sayyida simply stood and watched, she'd rather be running the man through than letting him run his mouth but if his words proved ultimately useful....