(G558 27/04/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AL) YI24
[Back on Yag Island, these journal entries focus on Corhim, Fenrir and Dak.]
DAY 629 (22nd Uktar) (November) cont ...
While Corhim was in Sasserine, Fenrir and Giselle were taking it easy. When
the gnome wizard got back he joined them at a table outside Felia's shop where
she served tea.
While they were doing that Jonathan the Seagull came to tell them;
'Hey, I think there is a goblin in the bushes over there watching the gate!'
Corhim went invisible and flew up in the air. Fenrir scanned the bushes with
Detect Magic but found nothing.
He then crossed the stream and called out that he was willing to be peaceful.
Eventually the goblin came out to talk.
It was none other than Kelech, from way back in the Sea Wyvern days. He had
asked for me initially, but then Lavinia was summoned. She remembered him.
He had been a regular human sailor on the Sea Wyvern but then had been killed
in an attack on the ship. I had reincarnated him (as a dwarf I think) but he
had got killed again and this time unfortunately came back as a goblin!
After that he had gone off with Eres and some of the others on an adventure
in Chult.
Here he was, back again. He had come in on a ship and had heard about the Barrow
and had come to take a look. He had maybe heard from Nobby about me being here
I am not sure.
Not related to that, in the evening Lavinia had a bit of an upset with her
pregnancy. She only had 1 month to go at this stage, so she and Sylvia teleported
back to Sasserine so she could be at her own home close to doctors and midwives.
Sylvia let me know what was going on via a Sending Spell.
DAY 630 (23rd Uktar) (November)
Arrangements had been made and Veddic was put in charge of the Barrow Area while
me and Lavinia were away. He was considered the most sensible and the one with
the most authority out of those available.
The Ember (formerly the Black Mirror) arrived today. It was expected and anchored
not far from the others. The other three were the Black Cat, Sister and Reveng.
All four were xebec vessels with magical speed and invisibility.
Also today the Dwarves of the Fortress built a single room dwarf sized house not
far from the Fortress entrance. It had a rock table, bed slab and fireplace. Much
better made than my crude "druid houses".
Corhim was not happy with its location though, thinking it was a bit too close to
where he planned to have his tower built and that it might spoil his view! Nobody
else seemed to care.
Fenrir talked to Veddic about getting his house "fully warded" with Hallow, Aid,
Invisibility Purge and Dimension Anchor. They also discussed potential replacements
for Veddic as he was busy as the Barrow chief. Allyoop's name came up, but in the
end she was not approached. Sasserine was closer and there would be plenty there.
Anyway, the general consensus around the table at lunchtime that day was that
the vampires on the Dementor should be the next issue to deal with.
Towards that end Sparkledingle, Dak and Fenrir teleported to Sasserine to find a
cleric that would be willing to go with them. Firstly they popped in to see Lavinia
and see how she was and asked if she knew any.
'Oh, I think Levmeia would be good for you. She's a tiefling and always up for
adventure. I'll give you the address of the tavern she drinks in.'
They found her easily enough. She was a cleric of Sehanine Moonbow, which is Death
domain, but that's not always bad. She was dressed in worn armour, with a vestment emblazoned
with a moon with a crescent over it. She was about 40 years old, with frizzy blonde hair and
green eyes. She had tan coloured skin, curved horns and pointed teeth.
Despite her fearsome appearance she was very friendly and said she would happily
come with them as long as they would play Gnome Cards with her during down time.
They went back to the Manor and Corhim skryed Baroness Partick later that night.
You may remember that she was the lady that took care of the vampires' arrangements
onboard the Dementor.
She was in bed, snoring how a lady snores. Her bed was indoor, and the stone floor
suggested she was on dry land.
DAY 631 (24th Uktar) (November)
The fellows were quite at ease in my wife's house I must say, and they ate all the
Waterdeep bacon I had recently bought for their breakfast.
At noon Sparkledingle skryed Baroness Partick again. She appeared to be eating alone
in a dining room in a pleasant villa. He watched as she ate. He noted that she ate
some fruit that were local to the Shining Sea region.
He reckoned it was worth a try to teleport to her based on the room he had
seen. They ate a hearty lunch (and finished off all my jam) and prepared for their
incursion.
The teleport didn't work though. Somehow it was blocked.
At three o'clock Corhim skryed again. He saw her in another room, having a nap on
a sofa.
Then he skryed her several more times in the evening and saw her out on a balcony
in the shade of some vines. There were no city noises. Later he saw Mr and Mrs
Baleworth as they served some vampires glasses of blood.
He noted that all the shutters in the building were now firmly shut.
They were all rather stumped by not being able to teleport to where the vampires
were - their whole plan having rather relied on it. They talked into the night,
while polishing off a good part of my Kryptgarden Pale Ale collection and concocted
wild and expensive schemes for finding their quarry.
Lavinia was listening in and said, 'Or you could just go and ask at the docks if
anyone saw where the Dementor went.'
That seemed sensible so they spent a couple of hours going around the dockside
taverns asking questions and found a drunk, but informative, sailor who told
them;
''
Arr! I have just come from Calimport and know that you want to set your course for
Hueso Island. There be rumours aplenty that a boat load of vampires have gone there.
But take heed! It is not a safe place to go to. I head that not one, but two bands
of adventurers have gone there and not come back these last few weeks. Hueso is
a dangerous place - tis under a curse and full of undead they say!
''
As they brought the old chap drinks he told them more. The island was 150 miles
south west of Calimport and was in the shape of a bone, i.e. it was in two main
parts with a thinner strip in the middle. It was about ten miles end to end.
They also learned from other sailors that Sharkchum has been seen in the Lake of
Steam. He was hard to miss as he was in a flying ship! That was an adventure for
another day though.
DAY 632 (25th Uktar) (November)
After finding and eating five packets of my special Pie Shop sausage rolls and
the last of my beer the fellows teleported back to Yag Island.
They then arranged to borrow The Reveng (formerly The Reaper) and the Captain's
Pinnace (the boat from the Dementor) and set off.
From Yag Island Hueso was about 250 miles away.
The set off at noon and sailed through the night.
DAY 633 (26th Uktar) (November)
The Reveng arrived in the area of the island in the early evening. The Captain
consulted the map and told them 'this is where you said to go.'
They looked about, but there were no island anywhere. A trading vessel went
past and they called over for directions. One of the crew pointed to the
west and a large bank of clouds.
Hueso (or Bone) Island is shrouded by a wall of mist. From the air it
looks like a dark area of sea fog, even in summer.
They sailed towards it, the wall of mist rising high above them. It was getting
towards nightfall though, so it was decided to wait until the morning before
doing anything else.
DAY 634 (27th Uktar) (November)
In the morning, Dak, Fenrir, Levmeia and Sparkledingle climbed down into the
Captain's Pinnace, along with two brave sailors.
They sailed into the wall of fog, keeping going north as directly into it as
they could. After about a mile, the fog lifted and in a more pleasant light
they saw a rocky shore line. The sailors told them if they tried to land the
boat there they would foul its bottom, so they sailed along the coast for a
bit and spied a house a bit higher up on the hillside.
They had the boat drop them off and they waded ashore. The Pinnace waited
for them as they walked up to the house. It appeared to be a pleasant villa,
the type of place a rich farmer or vintner might live in.
As they approached the stone wall surrounding the villa, a dog spotted them
and started barking. A man came out of the house and looked them over. Fenrir
waved and the man waved back. 'Hello,' he said.
'We were warned this place was dangerous,' said Fenrir.
'No. It's all fine here,' came the reply.
He told them his name was Raffi. He was just having his breakfast so he
invited them in for some Patatas Bravas. The others hesitated, but Lev hopped
over the wall and went inside and soon the others followed.
Raffi introduced them to his wife and children as they ate. The kids were very
interested in Dak and Lev, who must have looked like monsters to them.
They talked and he asked about what they were doing on the island. He told
them they were on the east part of the island. The main port - Port Mentera - was
on the western shore. The easiest way to get there would be to sail around the
coast as there were no easy roads and much of the east side of the island was
private property of the local lord.
It was easy enough to sail around to Port Mentera, and they pulled up at the small
dock and left the sailors with the Pinnace. They noticed the Dementor, drawn up on
a beach south of the dock. It looked abandoned, but at least they knew they were
on the right track.
They asked an old nautical looking chap who was sat at the dockside but he only
said, 'I don't know how that go there!'
Fenrir thought the old fellow was lying and started probing.
'Haha you and all your questions!' declared the old man. 'Why don't I buy you a drink?'
As he ambled towards a tavern he waved at another old chap at the dock and
with an odd hand gesture said 'Be seeing you!'
The other man made the same gesture (thumb and forefinger put together followed by
a throwing motion) and repeated the phrase. 'Be seeing you, Pavel'.
The tavern was pleasant and everyone inside was friendly. It was morning so it appeared
that most of the customers were old timers, having a coffee or a sneaky sherry before
starting their day.
'Will you be staying long?' asked Pavel.
Sparkledingle was really worried about the place, despite its appearance and went to
the restroom to cast Magic Circle against Evil. Something blocked it though and he
was overcome with a tremendous feeling of fear and dread!
He asked Lev about it. As a test she cast Guidance and it was fine.
'I am a cleric of a death god though,' she informed him.
She got her Gnome Cards out and started dealing out hands. More beer was called for.
'We are looking for a friend, maybe she came through here?' asked Fenrir. 'Her name
is Baroness Partick.'
Pavel said he didn't know anything about her, but Fenrir was sure he was lying.
While Pavel was at the bar they talked among themselves. Were these people all
Dominated by vampires? Fenrir didn't think so, they were behaving too naturally.
The heroes talked about finding the mayor of the town, but then forgot about it.
Sparkledingle cast Detect Thoughts and focused on Pavel, but he was just thinking
about what to have for lunch. He tried two old geezers playing cards, but they
were just thinking about the game.
Fenrir went towards them and loudly asked, 'Hey fellas! Heard about any vampires?'
They looked confused and mumbled that they had not.
Sparkledingle picked up one of them thinking:
"Oh no, here we go. Another band of adventurers asking about bloody vampires!"
Are we adventurers? wondered Corhim.
'Have you heard of Baroness Partick?' tried Fenrir.
One of the old men mused, 'didn't someone ask me about her last week? Ah well,
people come people go you know.'
The other one said, 'I've not heard of her, is she a friend of yours?'
The old chaps liked to talk to our heroes stayed and chatted for a while. When
asked about the east side of the island they were told;
'It's all private property over there. The ruler of the island lives there, Lord
Badr. He really doesn't like people trespassing either!'