From the journal of Kenari Sanura
As we return to the ship we find that we've got another visitor… but this guy looks a bit more official. He introduces himself as a "Courier" before slipping into a trance-like state. Before I can ask Lenata what the heck is going on, he speaks again in the voice of Lady Tarillia Moune as he (she…whatever) informs us that our contract with House Moune has been purchased, and that details will be forthcoming.
"What? Why would she do that?" Lenata asks in surprise as we all look shocked. "Please return with this message: This news is unexpected. Please tell us who has bought our contract, why, and what our options are if we find difficulties with the new arrangement."
"I don't know about this," I mutter as I cross my arms and frown. "If that Morgan Kullek bought it, I say we get out of the shipping business… or find a way to earn some money quick."
"In the meantime, it looks like we're staying until we get the details," Ef Utan sighs as he grips his book and heads up the plank to his quarters.
As I walk to my room I can't help but notice the smell of alcohol coming from Vedis' room. I take a peek in and rear back in disgust at the smell of stale alcohol and stuffy air.
"I'm worried about her," Lenata says from behind me as she gnaws her bottom lip with her teeth. "I'm afraid it's getting to the point where we need to do something."
"Well, if we can get her out of there, perhaps I can take a look through to see what, if anything, she's been hiding from us. Being a Maenad and all, I'm afraid it's probably going to take some help."
After a few minutes Lenata returns with Ef Utan and Kelson. Thankfully Vedis drunken stupor was strong enough to keep her passed out as the three of them carefully placed her in the hold for safekeeping. Don't ask me whose though… after she wakes up, we may all be on the run for our lives.
I take a deep breath and venture my way through the piles of veils and empty tanglefoot bags to eventually tote out nine bottles of Elven Absinthe. "No wonder she's having issues… that's quite an expensive addiction she's got going," I mutter as Ef Utan and Lenata come up the stairs. "Where the heck did she get 9,000 gold, anyway? These bottles are worth at least that much on the market…"
Ef Utan frowns at the thought as he looks at the bottles in disdain. "Good a time as any to see if they are still worth that much," he mutters darkly. "Get this stuff off the ship."
"You got it, chief," I say as I stuff the bottles in my handy-dandy pack. If I recall, Hastain is here on Bral… I'll bet he'd have a field day with this stuff."
"Ah Vedis… what did you get yourself into?" Lenata sighs as she turns from the room to follow the rest of us outside. She almost runs into the rest of us, however, as we notice that we've got yet another new visitor waiting for us.
"Greetings, Spelljoined crew," the man greets us with a bow. "I am pleased to inform you that the great Tain the Reigar was so entranced by the tales of your 'Hold of Holding' that he has purchased your ship and contract. Your hold will serve quite well as Tain's new spare wardrobe… and in trade he offers the Hammership Nomad, which should serve you well. Delivery will be conducted in the next few days." He hands a parchment over to Lenata with a flourish and then leaves.
"Heh… well isn't that something," I chuckle as I shake my head in amazement. "I guess I better go disable those traps I left on the ship, then…"
"A hammership, eh… " Ef Utan mutters to himself. You can almost see the wheels spinning behind his eyes. "We're going to need some new crew!"
"Wait a minute," Lenata says as she finishes going over the scroll a second time. "The Nomad… isn't that ship… haunted?"
Well, it took some "creative" writing, but I think I've come up with a proper recruitment poster to start spreading around Bral. So we've got a haunted ship and numerous organizations are out to kill us… but hey, who cares when you're crewing with a bunch of sexy conquering bitches, right? Am I right? Heh… don't need to be if I can make this poster good enough. Of course, if we're lucky, we may just manage to get some experienced crew who have seen enough that they just don't care that it's haunted.
I'm sprinkling some sand on my finished parchment when Lenata joins me on the bridge and stretches to greet the morning. "What do you think?" I ask as I shake off the excess sand and stand beside her.
Lenata raises an eyebrow and snickers as she finishes reading. "I'm sure that's bound to get people lined up… just not sure what kind of people."
I grin and place a hand on my hip. "You just let me worry about that. In the meantime…" I say quickly as I make my way towards the gangplank, "How about you go check on Vedis? I'm going to go put up the notices and set up the table. Bye!"
"Thanks…" I hear her mutter as I make my way outside and breathe a sigh of relief. Vedis after a bender is bad enough… but Vedis after a bender finding out she's been locked in a hold and all her alcohol has been sold… I say let the cleric explain how it was for her own good, because I value my hide.
By the time I've changed into my more frilly outfit and set up the table Ef Utan is walking down the gangplank with a low whistle and roll of his eyes.
"Yeah… I think it's going to be safer out here for a bit," I say as the ship suddenly rattles with the force of a frustrated scream from inside. "Care to join me?" I say as I pull out a chair.
As it gets nearer to 2 bells, I am amazed to see a mobile Vedis and a still-living Lenata dressed up and walking down the gangplank. See… I knew that cleric would be able to talk her down better than the rest of us. I already had to give up some of my own treasures "for the good of the ship," so needless to say… I wouldn't have been the most sympathetic to her plight.
No more time for pondering about grumpy Maenads, though… it looks like people are finally starting to show up.
From the journal of Vedis Valentine
They sold my booze, and I can't even stay mad about it.
Even as Lenata explained how they were worried about me (snort) and how they though that they were going to have to buy out the contract for the Fool's Earand in case somebody really nasty bought it (not realizing our good friend Tain the Reigar had marvelously upended our lives once again) and sold the booze for 'the cause,' I kept thinking: I had no idea any of this was happening. So, for all the reasons I started drinking the stuff (I was supposed to be MORE observant, not less!) instead I ended up not even being there.
I was all ready to tear her a new one and get righteously indignant, but every argument she made made sense and I realized how easily I could have gotten snatched up by the tenth pit while I was out of my head. They had no idea where I had gotten off to and I was a useless lump the other half the time. So, yeah. They were worried and I let my ship mates down over some smelly green alcohol. Not something I would want to do again.
What made me feel even worse was that after Lenata bribed me with grandiose ideas of being 'the captain,' Ef brought in the chest of gold coins to my new digs on the hammer ship and told me "Buy it back if that's what it'll take to get you to quit sulking!"
I am…. such an ass. Sweet, slumberous Morpheus do I feel stupid.
Kenari has surprisingly refrained from commenting and she's been avoiding me since they sold the booze.
You want to know the screwed up thing? Despite all this, I want that nasty, smelly green liquor with every fiber of my being. MY HAIR can taste the stuff. So, after I finish loading the rest of the furniture from my apartment into the master cabin, I'm begging Kenari for some of that hobbit weed, laying supplies, and locking myself in there until I can't taste the stuff any more. White-knuckled, cold-turkey. Whatever it takes, I will get past this.
From the journal of Kenari Sanura
Hmmph… well that was a bit of a waste. We spent all day at the table and interviewed over 25 people, but none of them really stood out to me. Well… other than the 4 that were obviously spies from the various groups out to kill us, but who needs that kind of stress in the workplace?
As we're about to call it a day, however, a most interesting character comes up to our table. How do I explain him… let's just say that I won't be calling Simi a "space monkey" anymore after seeing this guy. Heh… considering he's at least 6 ft. tall and covered with muscle and fur, I doubt I'll be calling him that, either.
"It's your lucky day, berks!" he exclaims as he sets down his duffle bag with a "THUMP" and shakes each of our hands vigorously.
"I highly doubt that," Vedis mutters from under the wide-brimmed hat she's wearing to block the sun.
"Do tell," I say with a smile as I shake his hand. "The name's Kenari, and this here is Ef Utan, Lenata and Vedis…" Lenata nudges me and whispers in my ear.
"I'm sorry… Captain Vedis," I say as I plaster the grin on my face. Ok… I guess it took bribes instead of smooth talk to get Vedis to calm down.
"The name's Hatuk," he replies. "It's your lucky day because I've got 6 years' experience with an EIN Oath Pact and nothing better to do with my time right now than to whip this ship into shape. Heck… I didn't even know the Nomad still existed till today."
"Work with the EIN, eh? Sounds impressive," Lenata says with a smile as the others nod. "Why don't we talk further at the Laughing Beholder while we go through the rest of the applications?"
"Feel free to cross 5 others off that list," Hatuk grins as he gives a whistle over his shoulder and 5 others of his kind show up. "Meet the rest of the family."
"And they're all trained space hands, I take it?" Ef Utan with a raised brow.
Hatuk grins even wider and gives another whistle. Before we can even ask what he's doing, he's barking orders to the rest of his family that have climbed aboard deck to manage the rigging sails.
"Impressive," Ef Utan mutters.
"As I said, mate… your lucky day." Hatuk slaps Ef Utan on the back and chuckles.
Well, now that we've got everything moved over and the beginnings of a new crew to help us along with our Hammership, it looks like we're ready to take off. The other applicants here on Bral just weren't that impressive… so it looks like we'll see what we can find on Sigil and Spiral. Besides… Vedis needs to consult her temple about that Queen of Thistles once she's done being grumpy, and we've got a few sages to ply for information.
Well frak… I was hoping Theron would be able to give us some information on the events going on with that Orc and the EIN these days… but it looks like his lips are sealed. Ah well… there's always Gezria The Sage over in Sigil.
Sigil… it might be a good place to pick up a Planar type for our crew. Now that we've got those neat sails, it wouldn't hurt to have somebody with some experience. You know, I almost forgot, but we need to check out the Portaljammer Bar there too. Wasn't that Spelljammer Tapestry supposed to be there? Maybe we can check it out while I post some edited flyers there for new crew.
First things first, though. Gezria is a…what was it… a Githyanki, and they're from another plane, right? Maybe he'd have some knowledge about how we would get around in the Ethereal Plane. Worth a try, anyway.
And thankfully, it was a decent try at that. Gezria was at least able to give us a name or two to go on: The Freehold City on the Border Ethereal, and the Ether Farers Guild. And once you've got a name of a place… who better than Lissandra The Gatekeeper to tell you how to get there?
On the way to Lissandra's we can't help but notice that something odd is going on in Sigil. Go ahead, laugh… but seriously, something seems to be up around here. Things are a bit more…tense. There definitely seems to be a lot more fights going on than the usual, too. I slip off to ask around a bit and manage to pick up that a Rowan Darkwood is stirring up trouble as some "Fated" faction leader. You've got me who that is, though, other than a sign that we need to get out of here sooner than later.
I wonder if the Seekers are involved in these faction fights? I'd ask… but I don't want to get wrapped up in somebody else's fight. We've got enough of our own going on these days.
Anyway… we leave the usual card request at Lissandra's and head over to the Portaljammer Bar to take a load off of our feet and check out the tapestries.
"Aw come on… I just want to look at it!" I moan to the bartender.
"And that's just what you're doing right now," the bartender says dryly. "Patrons aren't allowed behind the bar."
"Then I'll stop buying anything and won't be a patron anymore!" I declare with a slightly inebriated smile. "Just give me a few minutes to look at it closely… please?"
The bartender looks at us closely then scoffs, "You're looking for the Spelljammer, aren't you?"
"Isn't everybody?" I say with a shrug of my shoulders.
The bartender snorts. "Fine, you've got 5 minutes."
I grin and leap from my stool to behind the bar and carefully peer at the tapestry for any hidden marks or writing. The only thing interesting I can find, though, is the pattern of the stars in the sky behind the Spelljammer in the picture. They seem familiar… like I've seen these constellations before. In fact, after spotting the constellation for Anubis, I am sure that this is Realmspace.
We are pondering what this could mean for our search for the fabled ship when Lenata is tapped on the shoulder by someone who looks like they are just oozing "bright and cheerful."
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but notice your flyer. My name is Nerak, and I would be interested in joining your expedition."
"Hey, name's Kenari," I say as I shake his hand. "Please don't take this the wrong way… but we're specifically looking for planar types today. May I ask your background?"
"Certainly," Nerak says with a calm smile. "I am a Positai."
"As opposed to a Negatai, I take it," I say with a snort as I take another sip of my ale.
"Exactly!"
I try not to cough up my drink. "Honestly, I was just joking… what's a Positai?"
"We are of the Positive Energy Plane, just as Aasimar are Celestial, and Tieflings well… aren't."
"Outstanding!" I say as I clap Nerak on the shoulder. "Hey, our last mage took off on a walkabout on Bral… by any chance, can you…"
Nerak smiles knowingly and steps back as his natural glow starts to increase. Lenata does her best to hide a chuckle as some of the more inebriated barflies complain about the excess light.
"I think you'll fit in just fine, Nerak. Join us for a drink as we go over a few things, though," Ef Utan announces as he tosses a few gold to the bartender and we all get up from the bar to move to a more comfortable table in the back.
"By the way…" I say with a grin as I throw an arm around his shoulder. "Do you have any allergies to fur dander?"
Once we got Nerak settled on the ship with Hartuk and his family, we followed the instructions set by Lissandra and found the portal to Freehold City, one of the few fixed points on the Ethereal Plane. On the way we couldn't help but notice that things are definitely heating up in Sigil as groups of Hardheads roam the streets to beat up the unsuspecting In-Deps. I don't know what's going on… but after seeing the way the Lady of Pain handled unrest in her city, I had a sinking feeling that we didn't want to be there to find out. We quickened our steps, kept our hoods up and our heads down until we were able to step through the portal.
We walk out onto the docks of a floating city amongst the gray with a large spired building smack in the middle of it. Now one could assume that building belongs to this Ether-Farer Society, but you never know these days; best to ask before you find that you've intruded on someone with a bad attitude. So… we make our way to what we assume is the Harbormaster's office to gain our bearings. Once we've managed to pull Vedis away from looking at the Ethereal ships with their shiny gold sails we take the main path into the city to the First House to "declare our intentions with Jarvey." Just as well, as he seems to be the leader of the guild we need.
"I'm sorry… you want to go where?" asks Jarvey in amazement.
"We need to travel through the Deep Ethereal to reach Aionius on the Edge of Time," Lenata explains patiently.
"You do realize that the Deep Ethereal is dangerous, turbulent and unmapped? You will need a guide if you want any chance of survival. Let me consult with a few people, and I will have more information for you in an hour."
"Great!" exclaims Vedis as we walk out of his chambers. "I wanted to take a closer look at some of those ships anyway. Do you think it would be better to travel in one of those than our ship?"
"I don't know… they looked kind of small…" Ef Utan muttered in reply as we walked the docks and "window-shopped."
After what seemed like long enough we returned to find a grey-skinned Athri male standing next to Jarvey. "The divinations have been positive… and Mercrucio here is one of our best guides."
"Indeed," Mercrucio says with a smile as he steps forward to shake our hands. "Shall we discuss my terms?"
"As long as you don't mind doing it while we head back to the ship," Ef Utan says as he gestures with his thumb over his shoulder. "Figured you'd want to see what we'll be travelling in, and we still need to pick up a few crew while we're at it."
Long and short of it, we come to an agreement with Mercrucio that is satisfactory on both our parts. He's a bit pricey… but hey, we're not exactly going on vacation here. While Ef Utan discusses the contract, the rest of us pop over to Greyhawk and Spiral to pick up the rest of our gunnery crew: 4 Elves, and 4 Humans. Everything seems to be going smoothly until we make it back to Sigil… and on our way back to the docks the streets are rocked with an explosion.
"What in the 9 Hells was THAT?" Lenata exclaims as we turn and see a plume of smoke and fire rise in the distance. I'm about to reply that I have no idea when I catch a whiff of something more than smoke in the air… it's almost like sulfur combined with the powder we use for our guns. Before I can take a guess, though… we begin to hear the screams.
"They took the Armory!"
"We need to get out of here!" I hiss to the others as we hurry back to the ship as fast as we can with our new crew. Welcome to the Spelljoined, fellas… you're knee-deep in it now.