Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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(OOC: Been busy. Catching up...)
Xanrym feels a little better after hearing that Darci might have quarters for The Company and thanks her. He felt that they practically stowed away with their last-minute boarding. He assumes that they have enough gold to pay for their passage across Nyr Dyv, and he is confident that he and Coriana can come to some reasonable arrangement with the captain. But he was worried that there might not be any rooms, and The Company would be forced to pitch a tent in the corner of the deck!
Xanrym was thinking that the Malachite Hierarch was a hired ship, like when Aubrek paid the Soul of Winter to take The Company to salvage his contracts from the Emperor of the Waves. That is, he expected that the only passengers would be Vanguard of Sertrous members (or whatever alternate cult Fadheela gave the Forgotten King's bones to) and that the captain, at least, would be fully aware of the mission. Now, seeing the variety of people aboard, he realizes that the cultist must have brought the bones aboard secretly as cargo or luggage. It's likely that the ship's captain and other passengers have no idea that the ship is transporting legendary relics, probably for a demon-worshipping cult!
Xanrym nods back to Theldrin, glancing at the people who are clearly "horned society" members. To the last comment, he says pleasantly, "I don't want to be accused of stowing away, but I'd dearly like to rest for a while after...um...everything that happened today. I'd also prefer to clean up a bit before we speak with the captain, if there's time." While Xanrym wasn't too close to the action in Fadheela's chamber, it's difficult to avoid being spattered with blood in such a fight. And after a full day in the Necromancer's Spike, he feels like he must smell like dust and mold and death. "I'm going to take a quick look around, but then maybe we can rest for a bit. It seems like we'll have a voyage of at least a few days to get to know our fellow passengers!"
Xanrym walks around the deck, not talking to the other passengers yet other than to respond or "hello" or make brief small talk that doesn't encourage a longer conversation, like, "The start of a voyage is always thrilling." He just pretends like he's taking a bit of tour of the deck, trying to stay out of the way of the sailors as the ship get underway, and looking around the deck. Then he goes below deck just to check how many cabins there are (and hoping to find the green-clad humans who went below).
In reality, Xanrym is trying to get close enough to get a better look at some of the other passengers and try to hear anything they're saying (especially if they're not speaking in Common). He considers what he's heard or read about the peoples and kingdoms of the Flanaess. Is there anything about the clothing, mannerisms, or language of the people in wolf skins that would indicate where they're from?
History: 23
Does he see or hear the green-clad humans below-deck?
Perception: 9
I might get a Performance check for Khessa here. Just to see how well she comes across to this noble.
Xanrym can absolutely place the wolf skin people. They are the Wegwier, or Wolf Nomads. Their people are constantly raiding the lands of Iuz, part of the reason he can’t make a full attack on Furyondy.
Khessa 's Performance: 18
By the way, I now realize that interpreting the conversation with the noble in detail could slow down the game too much (potentially boring the other players), so, if you prefer, we can summarize the entire interaction.
What Khessa is trying to do is simply get to know the noble better, understand both his business (and assess whether it might have something to do with the bones) and what kind of person he is (to assess whether he could be a potential ally or even a friend).
The blonde arcane warrior won't speak of the current mission or the bones, but aside from that, she'll try to be honest if the other asks about her past.
Coriana will spend the time Khessa is speaking with the noble getting her bearings on the layout of the deck of the ship, generally kibbitzing and being a mild annoyance of the crew who have jobs to do.
[[If there is information to glean, here are relevant skill checks.
Investigation: 11
Perception: 24
Insight: 4(Mood of the crew)]]
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
(OOC: @drumdigby - Was Xanrym able to go below deck? If so, what does he see there? Are the green-clad humans in sight? Or, if he doesn't see them, and there are just a bunch of closed doors, he'll walk quietly through the hallway and try to listen at the doors to figure out which cabin they're in.)
Stealth: 22 (advantage from Cloak of Elvenkind)
Khessa ingratiates herself to the nobleman, who seems to appreciate her common charm, and the fact she isn’t with The Broken Crown. He’ll tell you his name is Lord Alaric Thandrel, and he styles himself a diplomat of great cunning. He suggests that it was himself that brought together many previously warring nobles in The Shield Lands, and now works to broker a peace between the lands around Greyhawk City and Furyondy with the lands of Iuz. He’ll admit, however, that those negotiations aren’t going very well.
Coriana gets a good layout of the ship, (I’ll post later when I get a chance) which on the surface seems fairly standard in terms of a sailing ship, apart from those flaks in the side Theldrin noticed before. In terms of the crew, Coriana notices that they tend to keep to themselves and The Broken Crown seem to be the ones dealing with the guests. They do talk of the captian in a strange hushed
Xanrym could follow the green robes men, who he will notice head into a small room on the next deck, then lock the door behind them. They don’t seem to notice him following them.
(OOC: IIRC, it's late evening but not yet sunset as the ship gets under way.)
For now, Xanrym is satisfied and decides to stop snooping around. He returns up to the deck and tries to find an out-of-the-way corner where he can gather The Company's gear and settle down while the sailors get the ship out of port. He remembers from their job for Aubrek that it takes a while for a ship to make it up the Selintan River and out of Midbay before reaching the open waters of Nyr Dyv. Breathing the fresh air feels good after the stale air of the Necromancer's Spike and the burning poison of the Mezzoloth's spell, and he's content to rest until then.
Once the ship is finally on the open waters, he'll ask Coriana to check with Darci about the quarters she mentioned. And then, maybe they can finally meet with the captain to negotiate payment for their passage across Nyr Dyv.
(OOC: @drumdigby - If nothing else urgent is going on, Xanrym thinks that it's a perfect time to finally take a Short Rest!)
Khessa, as she bids farewell to the nobleman, doesn't hide her impression: "What you're trying to accomplish is truly important, Alaric..." there's sincere admiration in her blue eyes. "Making peace is like winning a war... but without anyone needing to die in the process! There's truly a need for more peace in this world... Don't give up—as you said, it's something you're good at... I'm confident you'll find a way. I too," she briefly reflects on the family members she's managed to find, while absentmindedly brushing aside a lock of blonde hair that the breeze has blown into her face "by persisting with tenacity and dedication, I've recently achieved results that would have seemed very difficult... You've got this!"
"I wish you a good journey!" the blonde arcane warrior laughs heartily as she pats him on the shoulder. "It will certainly be a more pleasant journey for me now that I've made your acquaintance!" After which, she rejoins the Company.
The tall adventuress shares with the others what she has learned and generally agrees with Xanrym's plan.
When Lord Alaric sees Khessa’s companions, his eyes widen for a second, then close as a smile comes over his face. “Madam Khessa, perhaps we could talk further later. I may have work for you and your friends, but it would be better discussed in my chambers, below deck.”
(OOC: @drumdigby - Let us know whether The Company can mark a Short Rest. If no one has anything else that they want to do right away, it sounds like we're all settling down to rest on the deck, patch up wounds from the fight with Fadheela and Orinielle, share what we've seen since boarding the ship, and talk about next steps.)
Xanrym asks Coriana about how long she thinks it will take for the ship to sail from Greyhawk to Critwall, assuming good weather and no disasters. He's not sure whether Critwall is their first destination, but since they heard that the ship was headed to the lands of Iuz, he assumes that it's headed straight across Nyr Dyv to the mouth of the Veng River, which connects Nyr Dyv to the Whyestil Lake. As far as he knows, there's no other water route to get to the Empire of Iuz.
Xanrym confirms that none of the crew or other passengers are close enough to hear before discussing their mission and what they know. The length of the journey matters because, as he says, "We need to figure out who has the bones before anyone disembarks from the ship, possibly taking those relics with them."
As The Company shares what they learned, Xanrym expresses his hope that "the bones" are aboard the Malachite Hierarch. He asks to see the letters Theldrin found in Fadheela's chamber. He admits to some confusion about how Iuz is involved: "Orinielle was sent by Iuz, and she made it sound like Iuz either leads the Vanguard. Or maybe he's just in an alliance with them? The letter from Iuz made it sound like Fadheela had defied the Vanguard and kept the bones from them. But then someone took the bones through the portal and brought them to this ship. That person may still be on the ship, or maybe they delivered them to someone here. But I don't know whether we're looking for a splinter-faction of the Vanguard. Some cult that follows the strange gods of the Yuan-Ti, perhaps? Or maybe Fadheela was truly mercenary and just sold the bones to the highest bidder? But then it could be anyone."
Xanrym is very interested to hear about Khessa's conversation with Lord Alaric. He shares anything he knows about the people from his study of history and any recent rumors he picked up in the City of Greyhawk in the months before they took on their current quest. He takes out a sheet of paper and, shielding it from the breeze, sketches a rough, freehand map of the lands north of Nyr Dyv from memory to help provide some context for what they've learned about the passengers:
A company of mercenaries, including Coriana's associate Darci, who are the guards and marines for the ship. "It sounds like the group came out of the so-called Bandit Kingdoms, north and west of the Shield Lands."
He's headed to Critwall, capital city of the Shield lands, and wants to broker peace between Iuz and the lands around Greyhawk City and Furyondy.
Xanrym tells Theldrin that he followed them below. He didn't learn anything about them yet, but he knows which cabin they're in.
Xanrym says that the group dressed in furs are clearly, "Wolf Nomads -- as they're commonly called in the Free City. They're from Wegwiur. Tribes of horsemen united under a tarkhan in the lands north of the Vesve Forest. I think that they border the Empire of Iuz on its west, assuming Iuz's armies have not already conquered them."
They're apparently priests of Hextor, whom Xanrym refers to as the "Scourge of Battle."
Xanrym mentions that the theocracy of the Horned Society rules the lands north of the Kingdom of Furyondy and the Shield Lands. Looking to Syllen for confirmation, he says, "I believe that the elves still hold the Vesve Forest in the west? I have not heard that Iuz has a navy large enough to transport a great army across Whyestil Lake. To attack Furyondy and the Shield Lands, Iuz's armies must have first conquered the lands ruled by the Horned Society. Either that, or the Horned Society have allied with Iuz."
(OOC: Xanrym's map covers the area from Nyr Dyv and to the north of Whyestil Lake. See this regional map from the Maps of Greyhawk blog.
Of course, Xanrym's map would just have a lot less detail. I imagine that it looks more like the top-left quarter of Clyde Caldwell's map, from Anna B. Myer's Published Flanaess Maps page:
)
Avery listens, when he hears of the Wolf Nomads, he nods. "Aye, I have heard of them ranging up there, as you have said, I am surprised that the empire has not yet fully dealt with them."
Upon hearing Alaric's offer, Khessa asks for his cabin below deck so she can find it easily. She also discusses this with the Company, adding: "Perhaps speaking to Alaric could be our first move... He was on board before us, so since he wants to offer us something secret, perhaps we could also ask him in confidence if he's seen any of the groups of passengers stealthily loading anything."
Regarding the various groups, the blonde arcane warrior reasons: "In my opinion, the 'dark greens' are our best bet, mysterious and secretive as they are. I don't see what the worshippers of Hextor would do with bones, and neither would the Wolf Nomads."
The tall adventuress nevertheless widens her eyes in admiration at the bard's improvised map: "By the way, I've never seen so many lands at once... How could you draw them all, Xanrym? Have you visited them all during your travels?"
"Nice work my friend," Theldrin nods with approval as he studies Xanrym's map.
His frown deepens as he ponders the situation, "The greens may indeed be our prime suspects, though initially I must admit I suspected the horned priests. Yet we must keep an open mind and not give in to bias... it could be anyone on the ship really. He continues, seemingly lost in thought, rubbing his beard as he looks out at the water. "This reminds me somewhat of the "murder mystery" parlor games the noble families of Gradsul would sometimes play..."
You can all take a Short Rest on deck, then work on your next move. I reckon you’ve analysed your options pretty well, so you just need to decide which group to interact with. And whether you plan to split up or stay together.
Khessa advises against splitting up.
At the end of the Short Rest, she uses Arcane Recovery to restore one 2nd-level spell slot and spends HDs to recover HPs.
Fighter's HD: 9
[[ OOC: Great! She is back to full health now ]]
As often happens, rest works wonders on Khessa's young and vigorous body: she's soon as good as new—and she even finds time to briefly review a few spells in her spellbook, whose cover is decorated with spider-web-like motifs.
"So?" the blonde arcane warrior seems eager to begin. "Shall we start with Alaric, as I suggested before?"
Syllen takes in the fresh air happy to be able to see the sky again. When Xanrym looks to him for confirmation, Syllen will try to think of any information useful to the situation (History Check: 23).
“To the best of my knowledge the Elves of Vesve Forest have not been displaced. I am quite happy with starting our search with Alaric.”
During the short rest Syllen will resummon Nav and give everyone 11 Temp HP.