From the journal of Kenari Sanura
After a debriefing by the fleet on Bral and some compliments from the soldiers, we regroup to decide what to do next.
"How about I meet you guys at the Laughing Beholder in an hour?" I say as I stuff the chess set into my bag and grab the rather …um… detailed erotic painting. "I'm going to get some things identified by the Seekers, and see if I can sell this painting to one of the brothels here before it gets us ALL into trouble!"
I whistle quietly as I walk into "Angels" and do my best not to act like the total innocent I am when it comes to places like this. The practitioners at the Temple of Bast might have liked their fun… but this place with their lavish velvet curtains and gold statuettes in compromising positions is enough to make me feel as nervous as a kitten in a room full of rocking chairs. Putting on my best game face, I show the painting to the bartender and look for a seat that isn't sticky to sit on while I wait for the owner.
Goddess, I don't even want to know what the satyr and the troll are doing in the painting over the bar. Sex is supposed to be a beautiful thing… not…not… (gulp) … I wonder if they serve mead?
Thankfully Angel finally showed up to discuss the painting in hand instead of the one over the bar, and I was able to focus my attention on turning some quick gold. "It's quite the unique item we came across, and when we discovered its magical properties, we thought there wouldn't be a better place than Angel's for it to hang!"
"We'll see about that," Angel said shrewdly as she summoned one of her girls. "Hang this up during your next session and let me know the results." A rather beautiful redheaded elf woman took the painting, giggled, and flitted away in a cloud of gossamer silks and perfume.
Angel looks at me curiously and I feel uncomfortably like I'm being sized up. "So…" I say as I clear my throat nervously and stir my drink, "heard any good rumors lately?"
An hour later I'm breathing in the cold air outside in relief with my pocket heavier with gold. Not bad for such an odd magical item… especially considering what it did.
I meet up with Lenata at the Seeker's Library to see if they can tell me anything interesting about the "wizard's chess" chess set we found, and afterwards we agree to stop by the Temple of Celestian to see Kelsim because he's not feeling too good after our last adventure. Poor guy… spelljamming sickness can't feel good. It's got to feel better than a Dwarven axe to the face from an angry father, though.
…at least I hope it does.
Vedis and Ef Utan meet up with us at the temple, and tell us of the information they were able to find at the Harbormaster's Office about that Gnomish Side-wheeler. Apparently this ship (The Spiralconstructhampsterdread naughtclashbang) came out of Ironpiece (a Gnomish Discworld) and was exploring neighboring star systems. They left Bral 1 1/2 days before they were attacked. Hmmn… perhaps we should go to Ironpiece next, then? At the very least, it would be good of us to let them know what happened to their ship. At best, perhaps we can figure out why the 10th Pitt was interested in them; and get a hold of a few Gnomish inventions to boot.
Before that, however, I think it's about time we revisit that warehouse that belonged to the 10th Pit while we're here.
Once we get there the rest of the group decides to case the outside while Ayrun decides to accompany me to my usual perch on the roof. He looks pretty fit for a mage… so here's hoping he will come in useful. I undo the traps on the skylight and peek through to take a look around. Men are still there, but it seems the banner has been removed, and there's now a rug over the trapdoor. Hmmn… not what I was hoping to find, unfortunately; I think we took too long to come back here. I close the skylight and we climb back down the ropes to rejoin the rest. Maybe if we come back later in the night something interesting will be afoot.
We spend a few hours at the Drunken Octopus with Simi making his run around the kitchen and Ayrun trying to show off (I think) by burning his boots in the fireplace. Such an odd wizard… I have to give him kudos for enjoying his oddities to the fullest, though. If the Gods grant you the gifts to be unique, one shouldn't hide them; it's not only denying their favor, but who you are.
But I digress… I can get maudlin when my mind drifts. I do my best to snap out of it with a crazy idea: how about we turn Simi invisible and let him run amok inside the warehouse as a distraction?
Anyway… we head back to the warehouse to try again, but to my chagrin I discover that Ayrun's ability to be stealthy takes a nose dive when he's been drinking. I wince but continue up the roof to see their reactions inside. They notice the noise and three of the men playing cards get up to leave the building while two others remain inside. Those are better odds at least… and I'm pretty sure the others should be able to handle three thugs.
I drop down onto some stacked crates inside and feel the breeze of Simi as he glides by me to wreak havoc below. My ring of invisibility wasn't going to fit him… but thankfully Ayrun knew the spell. I can dimly hear the noises of a fight outside and draw my pistols in wait of the best moment to strike. The cards on the table fly up into the air with a sudden noise and the remaining thug on the table rears back in surprise.
Perfect.
I take aim with my Dragon Pistols and shoot the surprised thug before I leap down from the crates and take down the one by the door with my second shot. The table flips up and I lose sight of him for just a second… which is enough time for destinies to change in a gunfight. I hear a shot and a sudden squeal of pain beside me before I can react. Oh Gods… Vedis is going to kill me if I got her pet killed. I draw my gun and scan the warehouse for the shooter as I feel around the ground with my other hand. As soon as I feel the scales and feathers I grab Simi and leap behind some crates for cover.
"Let's just keep this between you and me, ok?" I whisper as I pull the wand that Lenata gave me out of my sash and use its powers to heal the unfortunate lizard. "What she doesn't know won't hurt me… and I'll make sure you get some yummy treats for this one." I cradle the invisible lizard in my left arm as I lean out from behind the crates and shoot the remaining thug in the thigh. "Have you ever tried cinnamon sticks?"
The sounds of fighting stop outside, but instead of my friends coming in the door I am faced with a group of Giff policemen with my friends in tow.
Great… I always like to end my nights being interrogated by the police.
From what I've experienced with these Giff… perhaps honesty will work best. I show the officer in charge our letters of marque and the notes I found on the Frostfire regarding 10th Pit activities here on Bral as I explain the situation as best as I can. Yes officer, I realize there's no nothing but stone where that trapdoor was… but I swear on my father's grave that there's something there. Any other officer would probably have just thrown us in jail right then and there… but thankfully this one knew the same magic these thugs did and managed to reopen the passage that was covered. I cross my fingers that the Giff going down there to investigate finds something… because if he doesn't, we're going to be finding ourselves floating in space without a rope.
The Giff comes back out of the passage and the feeling of righteous vindication I feel when he says they found something soon plummets into dread when I see the severed hand he's holding… with red nails and a tattoo that the rest of us have been doing our best to hide.
Oh Gods…Sephira…
"Grr… I don't suppose anyone knows the hieroglyph for idiot cop," I mutter to myself as I scribble on the walls of our jail cell with a piece of chalk Ayrun was kind enough to create with one of his cantrips. I had concealed my lockpicks in my headscarf just in case when they told us we were going to spend the night in jail… but was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt first.
As long as they do something before my patience runs out, anyway.
Thankfully the magistrate militia came to pick us up before my attempts at vengeful graffiti got any worse. After a trip to a manor house in High Town we (except for Vedis for some reason) were succinctly informed that the Lower Magistrate, out of the kindness of his heart, is going to mitigate the normal sentence we would all suffer for a fine. Lucky us that this fine just so happens to be a similar amount to what the Frostfire is worth. Imagine that. For their sake, I hope they take it apart and sell it for scrap… because if I ever come across it again being used to commit crimes, a lot more than words are going to be exchanged.
After we sign an agreement to hand over the Frostfire we are released (though Vedis is held for additional questioning)… and I suggest we immediately head back to the ship to see if we can figure out how Sephira went from venting in the hold to suffering in a 10th Pit hideout. The others agree, though Ef Utan says he's going to stop by House Moune to see how Wilhemina is doing first.
I search the ship fore to aft the best I can… but all I can find are traces of a purple dust in the hold. After closer examination I mutter in disgust as I wipe it off my hands, "Drow sleep poison." Just great… are we going to find that every group of the shadier variety is trying to get involved? What next… trolls?
Oh god… now I've got that image in my head again.
I am in desperate need of a smoke and a good drink after this past day. Once Ef Utan returns we all agree to head over to the Shady Rest to see if Rory can help us shine any light on the most recent events.
"You all really did a number on Murwara," Rory Quickfoot mutters around his pipe as I quickly down a pint of ale. "It seems he thinks you all are responsible for the death of his nephew, Yazir."
Lenata of Celestian gasps and the others seem to do their best "Who me?" act. Heh… this must have been when I drew the short stick and had to go to the library by myself. That story can be told later, though.
"No… waitaminute," I say with a slight slur as I set down my mug and wipe some stray ale from my chin with the back of my hand. "Those bastards were leaving daggers in my soup long before any of that happened. While that's a great cover, it's got to be more than that. Any word on the rest?"
"The 10th Pit has dealt with the Drow before, but none have been seen here on Bral. You never know, with those shady bastards, though. As to the gnomes on the…the…"
"Let's just call it 'Clashbang' for short," Ef Utan says with a wave of his hand.
Rory Quickfoot continues with a grateful sigh, "…the Clashbang, they were quite vocal about what they were doing while they were here. It seems that they discovered some kind of minor artifact while they were out there in the Flow. They called it "The Dream Stone," and it supposedly has power over other people's dreams."
"Well that gives us something to start looking into, at least," I say as I stand up with a slight sway. "I'm going to hopefully walk this off before I get to the Seeker Library to do some research on that stone."
"Sounds like a plan, I'll join you," Ayrun Sorpic says as he stands and we steady each other.
"I need to go see Lady Moune in the morning," Lenata of Celestian says quietly, and we all stop to look at her. She blushes slightly as she says, "She's my godmother."
Well, well, well… the farther we travel, the smaller this universe seems to get.
Minutes seem like hours when you're in a library… and hours feel like days. Eventually Ayrun and I were able to find that this Dream Stone reportedly allowed you to control the dreams of another… as long as you were able to conduct the ritual. I ponder how this might connect to everything else that's been happening lately while on my watch on the ship that night… when I fall asleep and begin to dream. If someone is manipulating my dreams, I hope they give me good ones at least…
I shake my head and look up in disappointment when I fail to see any scantily clad male catfolk around. Damn… one can hope, anyway. Instead I see the rest of the group standing in a circle with Sephira's hand floating in a black light.
"THE CIRCLE IS INCOMPLETE," a voice booms. "THE CIRCLE IS INCOMPLETE… BUT A REPLACEMENT HAS BEEN FOUND."
Suddenly there is a flash of purple light… when I wake up with a jolt and find myself unable to shake this nervous feeling. I check the ship to make sure nothing has changed, and peek in on my friends to see that they are all still sleeping. I sigh in relief and turn to leave the room when suddenly Sephira's hand begins to glow beside the sleeping Lenata of Celestian. With a sound like air rushing out of a room the cleric convulses as a glow of energy seems to be sucked out of her into the offending body part. Before I can reach her side, however, the energy absorbed by the hand shoots out and slams the unsuspecting Ayrun Sorpic into the wall with a thud. The hand then promptly decays and falls apart to dust.
The others wake up with the noise as I check on the cleric and mage. Thankfully Lenata of Celestian seems to be fine (if feeling a little tired), and other than a small bruise on the back of the head and a pretty new tattoo on his wrist, Ayrun Sorpic is ok too.
"Welcome to the group!" I say with a relieved smile as I throw my arm across his shoulders in a hug. "You are officially part of the insanity now."
Ef Utan Izenik shakes his head and grabs the bridge of his nose. "I could use some breakfast before we start the insanity for the day… how about the rest of you?" There are a number of groans and nods in agreement as we all stumble over to the Laughing Beholder for some much needed food.
Mmmn… I love this new drink he calls "Coff-eee." It's dark and bitter, but it seems to be just what the body needs after a long night of bad dreams.
I like it even better when it comes with information.
"The 10th Pit has a 'special prisoner,'" Luigi whispers as he checks on our table. "The rest you'll have to find out for yourselves."
My first hope is that it's our missing Tiefling… but after that stint with the dream and the tattoo transference, I'm not holding out much hope for our stoic friend. Still, that's something to think about as we check on some leads today.
Ef Utan Izenik is kind enough to do the search through city records, as he wants to see who owns the warehouse we investigated. Lenata of Celestian goes to visit House Moune, and I flip a coin because I can't decide which would be the most boring. I end up going with Lenata of Celestian and promising not to touch anything as she speaks with Cornelius, the Major Domo of House Moune instead. It turns out that Lady Moune is a busy lady.
Eventually we meet up again at the ship and go over what Ef Utan Izenik found. Apparently the warehouse is owned by House Kulleck, a house that owns several grain asteroids and is run by a vicious bastard who likes to publicly embarrass people.
"Yeah," I grumble as I remember our night in jail," that sounds like our guy."
Our leads for new information seem to be drying up, though… so out of desperation we convince Ayrun to try a Scry spell using the assassination token that Cain leaves after his kills. Alas, no luck as he seems to be magically blocked… but Ayrun decides to buy a few Scry scrolls for future possible attempts anyway.
While we're pondering what to do next, a curious white cat jumps up into the window of our ship.
"Hey there, little one," I coo to it as Ef Utan groans. "We've got enough animals on this ship already." The cat meows, jumps down and walks out into the hall as I stick my tongue out at Ef Utan and follow it out to the docking area.
The cat stops on the ramp and meows at a hooded figure in the distance.
"Identify yourself before you come any further, friend," I call out in warning, my hand straying to the holster of my Dragon Pistol.
"We only wish to talk," the figure answers as it lowers its hood to show a race that I have never seen before. Before I can ask it, however, the cat in front of me starts to change and become another of them! I jump back, but they don't seem to be trying anything funny; maybe they did just come to talk.
I put on my best "Don't mess with me" face as I reply, "Ok, come on inside where we can talk in private. No funny business, though, which includes muttering anything under your breath or strange hand movements."
"Thank," the one (I think he's male) who used to be a cat begins… "You," the one with the hood (I think she's female) finishes as they both walk into the ship and leave me looking back and forth between them.
After a disorienting talk with the two who seem to complete each other's sentences, we discover that these pale skinned and black eyed creatures are Divati, a race where one soul is shared between two bodies. I've heard of soul mates before, but this is beyond anything I've ever seen/heard of. The male is named Parvat, with the female named Parvatta. Parvatta is an 'urban druid' who has been communing with the spirits on Bral to try and find someone of her clan who is missing thanks to the 10th Pit: Melkot / Melkoth the Dreamer. It seems that he's a powerful sorcerer imbued with… for lack of a better term… 'dream stuff.'
Curiouser and curiouser… a sorcerer imbued with dream stuff and a stone that controls dreams… it's too much of a coincidence that they've both disappeared so close together like this. Could it have to do with the Spelljammer? Are our dreams being manipulated (hence that goofy Kobold and the warnings from the Dream Lord) in order to get us to find the Spelljammer for someone else? I think I need to update my chart.
After some discussion we convince Parvatt / Parvatta to join us on a trip over to Ironpiece in order to do some more research about this Dream Stone. Before we take off, though, we need to wrap up some loose ends here on Bral.
Lenata of Celestian checks on Kelson and Wilhelmina Uft, but they are both still feeling pretty out of it, unfortunately. Experience has shown that we really need a back-up pilot, though… so we hire Aspodel Quickfoot, a friendly female halfing from the Temple of Celestian too. After confirming that Quickfoot is indeed her last name, we also check in at the Shady Rest to let Rory know we'll take good care of his family for him. He's not there… but a note for us is… and it's a rather interesting one at that.
I, N, X in common? A pair of exotic slaves.
You know, usually I love it when I'm right… but somehow knowing that the Illithid, Neogi and the 10th Pit are all involved in a plot together involving the Spelljammer just makes my stomach churn.
We head back to the ship to process this new information and get ready to leave when it seems that Vedis Valentine has finally been released from her questioning.
"Wait…wait! Don't leave without me, because have I got a story to tell you!"
After getting filled in by Vedis regarding her extensive questioning about her psionic fire-starting abilities by Diadan Cartan, we gather our new compatriot Parvatt / Parvatta and leave from Bral for Ironpiece, the Gnomish discworld. The trip will take a few days, so to pass the time Ayrun Sorpic and I decide to play some chess with our newly obtained set. If Parvatt / Parvatta's city spirits say it's important, then perhaps playing a game with it will reveal something.
…worth a shot, anyway.
Time passes rather uneventfully (for once), and we arrive at Ironpiece with a rather unique greeting from a strange tower-like contraption that unfolds and shoots exploding lights into the sky. "Welcome to Ironpiece," indeed. I look around sheepishly as I realize I was the only one applauding the show. The others may not appreciate Gnomish invention… but I find a small race with such grand aspirations fascinating; I am not the only one trying to be more than people's expectations, after all.
We explain to our welcoming committee that we are here to inform any involved parties that the "Clashbang" has been lost to 10th Pit mercenaries, and are soon allowed to land. As we disembark I see my friends nudge each other as they point out some of the other odd ships docked here (a Spudnik I particularly), but I am too wrapped up in a discussion with our Gnome escort over a new boarding device I'm trying to invent involving ballista bolts, pulleys and ropes.
Eventually we are greeted by the head of security here, and I am caught by surprise as it isn't a Gnome… it's a Giff named Herphan Gomja. Well, well… I guess the Giff like these kinds of positions of authority so much that they don't care where they have to go. We inform him of the loss of the "Crashbang" and the 10th Pit's involvement, and he promptly excuses himself to start an investigation into the matter as they left port 3 months ago and hadn't been heard from since. He will meet with us later in the day, however, to let us know what he has found.
Thankfully Parvatt / Parvatta, thanks to their communion with the spirits, is familiar with the place and able to show us around as we do some window-shopping. While I was rather disappointed that Gnomish weaponry wasn't readily available, we did see some sights that I am sure I will probably never see again. This large machine that looked sort of like a catapult was in the main square, but it wasn't launching boulders… it was launching what looked like eggs. Ayrun Sorpic was particularly interested in the device that was supposedly a "breakfast launcher," and gave the lead inventor there some ideas that seemed to make him quite happy.
Hmmn… I like this wizard more and more; at the very least, he seems non-plussed when life throws chaos at you in loads.
Ayrun and I are sharing ideas for a breakfast machine of our own on the ship, when we round the corner to see something else I've never seen before: a Gnomish military parade. I hear Ef Utan Izenik trying not to snicker as we step to the side and watch the diminutive review pass, but it soon turns to gasps from all of us as something I've only seen in my dreams after a night of too much firewater comes barreling out of control down the street: a rather large, rabid…and fire-breathing hamster.
"You have got to be kidding me…" I hear from behind me as we spring into action to try and stop the carnage. Though honestly, I'm not quite sure what we should be doing… because I have no idea how one is supposed to stop something like that. I have to think that my claws and guns are only going to annoy the thing… so I scramble to the rooftops to see if I can get into a better position to try something while the rest attack it from below.
"It may be large, but it's still an animal," I say to myself as a crazy idea pops into my head and I climb up the mountain of fur to its ears. "Who's a good hamster?" I coo softly as I start scratching it behind the ear in that place that makes most animals turn into puddles of goo. Before long the creature stops focusing on the scrambling gnomes below and tilts its head as its foot starts to thump happily. Gods… I hope the others are thinking of something, because I don't know how long this will last.
A beam of green light shoots out from below into the creature that makes me feel slightly ill. I hear the creature moan in confusion and hold on for dear life as it begins to stumble… and grow. Before I know it the hamster has more than doubled in size before it stumbles over its feet one last time and falls to the ground with a "WHOMP" of dust and fur. As soon as I feel the heaving breaths of a deep sleep come over the hamster I do my best to scramble down to rejoin my friends and the remains of a grateful Gnomish military thanking us for bringing "Boo Boo" down without harm.
I find that it was Ayrun Sorpic who cast the beam, and that it definitely wasn't supposed to make the creature grow like that. Note to self: magic and space hamsters don't mix very well. They are cute, though. Maybe if we just had a small one…
After our little morning adventure we decide to head to someplace a little more quiet: The Hall of Records of Inventions. There we discover that the "Clashbang" was a research vessel investigating something called "complex thermodynamics" in the Flow, and that they were to go from here to Spiral and Bral. Well, that gives us a path to follow, at least. After here we should head to Spiral and see what we can find. Before we leave, however, we go to one of the best places for a source of information on any world: the bar.
We end the day at a bar whose name is more than a handful: "The Illustrious Sign of the Failed Experiment in the Advance of Science in Size 37 Footsteps" is about all I can remember, especially after the amount of drinking we accomplished during our impromptu wake of the ill-fated crew of "The Crashbang." Thankfully between us we were able to figure out that the Dream Stone was never the goal of the crew, and they didn't leave Ironpiece with it.
Me, all I remember is trying to get one of the Gnomes to invent a compact automatic lockpicker. He seemed to be offended at the thought of making the invention smaller than a room, until I reminded him that Gnomes were proof that great power can come in small packages. I sleep off my hangover dreaming of mechanical steam-powered wonders getting washed away in tidal waves of beer, and wake up the next morning with matted fur and a smelly reminder that the "beer wave" actually happened last night.
Don't ask… just be cautious when someone wants to show you their high-powered beer delivery system.
After a much needed bath, we meet with Herphan Gomja once again to be informed that "The Clashbang" was on a mission to test experimental phlogiston bolts. Hmmn… those could be handy if the ever get out of the experimental stage. Then again, just about every Gnomish invention is always "experimental."
We thank Gonja and prepare to depart when we receive a letter and a package with holes in it from the Gnomes. I read the note and smile as I realize what's in the box. I quickly tear into the wrapping as Lenata of Celestian reads the note to the others.
"It seems they gave us a space hamster out of gratitude," she says with a look of shock as I take the lid off the box and squeal in delight.
"Aren't you the most adorable thing?" I say as I hug the ball of fluff that's the size of a large dog and scratch it behind the ears.
"Gods, no…" I hear Ef Utan Izenik mutter.
"Hey, Vedis has her monkey, why can't I have a pet?"
"HE'S NOT A MONKEY!" Vedis says as she crosses her arms in a huff.
"So we're starting a menagerie," Ef Utan says with a defeated sigh as we load my new pet on board and head to Spiral to continue our investigations into the Dream Stone.