Chilling Adventures in the North

(OOC: Glad you're back, Shad!)

"Need us to help with the sailing stuff, Captain?" Arogna asks Captain Silvermane. "I ain't been on a lot of boats, but I can hold a rope like, if you show me which one."

(OCC: Thank you! Very glad to be here.)

Overhearing Arogna, Shad says, "Aye, aye, captain! Me too! This is my first boat, but I'm willing to try and help. Especially," he looks at the bodies of the crew members, "if it helps keep us safe." 

Shad will approach the bodies. He isn't aware of any Tabaxi crew members but if there are any and any of them were slain, he will perform the appropriate rites of the Cat Lord.

"Nah," says Captain Silvermane. "We lost a couple of good men today but will manage to get the Icebreaker back to Fireshear. It's better if you lost rest up, assuming your parcel master lets you. If we get attacked again, we will need you at full strength.

As for that Griggle fella, I believe he departed back at the Ice Peak. I didn't happen to see board the ship again though."

Captain Silvermane shrugs his shoulders before walking away to deal with his crew.

Qinfaren nods as he hears Captain Silvermane speak to Shad.

"A good rest would be welcome," he says. "The life of a delivery person is eventful. I wonder why more children don't dream about this line of work. They always want to be great warriors fighting monsters. Well, we've faced mephits, a wererat, and now this great abomination, and we've been on the job a week."

He starts towards the cabins.

"I'll take the captain's advice and put my feet up."

"You wouldnt'a seen him, would you," mutters Arogna as the captain walks away. "If he's any sense at all, though, he'd stay put there."

She grins at Qinfaren, "Yeah, it's been a pretty interesting week all told. Lot of new experiences. Think we oughta be getting danger money."

Muharg clenches his jaw. "Everything else we encountered, I can cope with. Undead? That's a no-go. I hope we get to finish off this necromancer." He then makes way down to the cabin, too.

"Probably more danger this week than I have seen in my life!" Shad says. "Nothing like this before for me." He takes a piece of dried fish out of a pocket and blows the lint off of it before tossing it in his mouth.

Shad will look at the crew members he can see and find the least busy looking one. "I know this is a hard time," he will say to that crew member, "but might you take some solace in teaching me to fish, by chance? It's almost certainly something one of your passed colleagues liked to do."

"A rest would be most welcome after all of that. I do hope that we won't encounter another disturbance of any kind again at least for awhile," Bjorn would look out across the horizon

As you stay out on deck of the Icebreaker you watch as the remaining crew start to pull themselves together and resume their duties. Whilst a couple of members take the bodies of their former crew below deck.

@TheBritGeek

@marbosp

If Shad is able to learn to fish and manages to catch one, he will eat it immediately, offering to share, especially with the crew member who taught him.

If the grief of the crew is too great, he will mourn with them as appropriate, but eventually thoughts of his warm hammock with distract him down to sleep.

Arogna flops into her hammock, muttering "Captain's orders". She is soon snoring.

As you all decide to retire for the rest of the day, the Icebreaker continues to sail east back towards Fireshear.

The Icebreaker, wounded after she was attacked in the icy seas of the Sword Coast North, arrives in Fireshear harbour by morning. Captain Silvermane barks orders from the helm, commanding the vessel to be docked at a shipyard on the far side of the harbour. As the ship pulls into the shipyard, you see a familiar face, the human Kalannai Grayfur, who you met a few days ago. She raises her hand to you in greeting as you walk down the gangplank.

"Hail, friends of Fireshear," Kalannai says. "The people of this town are pleased to see your return. Or I am, at any rate.

However, it seems that Griggle Duskloch has gone missing. Seemingly around the time you departed on the Icebreaker. Do you know anything about his whereabouts?"

Arogna folds her arms, cocks an eyebrow, smirks, and glances meaningfully and quite smugly around the rest of the party. She doesn't say anything out loud, but her posture and face are definitely those of a person who considers they have told you so, and who bears no responsibility for the upcoming exchange. 

Qinfaren smiles down at Kalannai, wondering for the first time in his life about how much honesty is too much honesty.

"Hello again," Qinfaren booms, offering his large hand in greeting when he reaches Kalannai. "Our understanding is that Griggle is now in Aurilssbarg. He did end up traveling on this ship when it left port."

He nods quietly for a moment.

"Perhaps his leaving seems like he escaped justice, but it also means the people of this town do not have to deal with what comes after killing someone."

He begins fishing around in his pouch until he finds the two onyx gems that were the eyes of the skeletal sea monster. He holds them for a moment and looks back at the rest of the party.

"Are you okay if we give these to the town to help with the costs of their rebuilding?" he asks them.

If there's no objection, he will offer them to Kalanni, with the words "We hope these will assist in your rebuilding efforts. I believe they are fairly valuable."

To Qinfaren, Shad says, "I don't object to sharing our good fortune with the town. In fact," he turns toward Kalannai, "if there are people who need healing, I would be happy to help." He will pull his coats tight around himself. "Frostbite, for example, can be cured," he says. 

"I can lend my muscle with the rebuilding where it is needed. If you need help with finding some food I should be able to help with that as well." Bjorn would offer being familiar with the region.

Kalannai raises an eyebrow at Qinfaren, "Kill him? I don't think the town were looking to kill Griggle. They might have gotten violent, but I think they were looking to remove him from town. That is until I managed to calm them down. No, it was agreed that his punishment for his part in the partial destruction of this town was to help in the rebuilding."

Her she takes a moment, takes a deep breath, and relaxes her face.

"However, I will happily take these two stones off you. They should help in the costs of rebuilding the town, and we will take that for your part in taking Griggle to Aurilssbarg. I will then convince the rest of the town to consider the matter settled. There is no point in continuing to hold grudges. It does not do a town or its people any good.

With that settled, you are welcome to stay in Fireshear as long as you wish, I recommend staying at the Dancing Bear Lodge on the west side of town."

At that moment you hear footsteps coming down the gangplank behind you, as Captain Silvermane and the parcelmaster disembark the Icebreaker.

Arogna opens her mouth to disclaim any part in the matter of keeping Griggle from justice, but closes it again as she realises that it would involve putting blame on her team-mates, and in any case, Kalannai would not be able to break up the stones in order to give out any change.

Instead she turns to the Captain and the Parcelmaster. "What we gotta do here, Mr. Bassk? Any more deliveries in Fireshear? Or we heading out? If we ain't gotta do nothing today, well, we finally know where the tavern's at."