... rocking the boat ...
Our cast of characters...
Dracon, human beastmaster of the Wegwier;
Kalik, halfling initiate-in-training of Avoreen;
Milik, halfling sorcerer
Kaganost, wemic apprentice shaman; <absent this week>
Flavius, half-elven warrior & initiate of Darkon;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia; <absent
this week>
Murray, human wizard; <absent this week>
Nikolai, suloise human initiate of Lendor;
and finally;
Sabian, gnome thief (Greyhawk City).
[10th of Readying, 577]
We left our intrepid band hotfooting it out of the city of Greyhawk, planning to converge on the halfling community of Fadadia several miles northwest of the city. While there, Kalik waited for the celebrations sacred to Arvoreen on the 11th of Readying, during which he planned to take the initiation test.
Though taking longer than any of the other two applicants, Kalik finally
emerged a full initiate, and was vested with two silvered shortswords,
a plain suit of chainmail, and a royal blue cloak. After spending a few
more days in the village, the group grew restless and decided that in lieu
of a better plan, they would seek passage east across the Nyr Dyv to the
Duchy of Urnst. Before they departed, however, a wandering minstrel known
to the locals as Tobias passed through town, bringing
news of his travels near Perrenland, and of a sighting of the fabled
Sword of Nogre, currently in the possession of an ogre chieftain much sought
after by the dwarves among the Yatils.
(Nogre was a halfling initiate of arvoreen who earned distinction in the Battle of Emridy Meadows, and was said to have taken the sword that bears his name from a powerful and evil foe - though untainted by evil, the sword itself possessed many mystical powers, and soon became almost as famous as Nogre himself.)
The party elected to seek passage across the Nyr Dyv by way of Dyvers, and they were soon aboard a broad lake-barge and headed east. About six days out, a storm blew across the lake, and on the morning of the seventh day, one of the infamous lake serpents surfaced and attacked the ship they were aboard, seeking to crush it and pick the crew and passengers (the party) off at it's leisure.
While most of the group were visably above decks aiding in the fight against the beast, Sabian chose to remain below and rifle through the crew's possessions, and secreted his ill-gotten goods both on his person and beneath a loose board between the deck of their quarters and the bilges below.
Meanwhile, up on deck, the crew and the rest of the party hurl weapons and spells against the scaly beast, and at one point several crew members and Kendradell are thrown overboard, but are quickly rescued by Flavius, Kalik, and several other members of the crew. Dracon eventually manages to command the beast to end its attack and return to whatever depths it usually haunts, leaving the crew to repair the damage done to the ship and resume their course east.
It quickly becomes appearant to the party, though, that the mood of the ship has changed. The crew who had been friendly in the past were suddenly cold and hostile, and the quality of food served the passengers begins to resemble something scraped from the hull. Nicholai questions the captain of the boat concerning this treatment, and is made aware of the thefts that have occurred - Nicholai quickly confronts his companions with this knowledge and demands that whoever the thief is, that the stolen goods be returned.
Seeking to direct attention away from himself, Sabian secretes one of
the larger baubles (a scrimshaw carving) in Murray's pack, barely hidden.
Murray soon detects the addition to his belongings, and returns the carving
to the captain, and submits to a search of his person and belongings. Thus
convinced of Murray's innocence, he is soon visited by Flavius, who makes
an offer of recompense for the lost belongings, but Flavius eventually
leaves to renew the plea to his companions for their return. On his way
back to the hold, he is accosted by two sailors who perform a thourough
search of his person, which they follow by tossing
the section of the hold where the party has been residing.
They soon find the loose board beneath Sabian's piled belongings, and a search of Sabian finds even more. At the captain's command, he is bound, stripped, and keelhauled, and after his bleeding body is dropped to the deck, the crew thereafter ignores his existance. Sabian rides out the bulk of the journey sharing rations with the rest of his companions. Any attempts to settle the matter of truth by means of magic are voted down among the group, though tempers flare on the subject for the rest of the journey.
Once they make landfall in the Duchy, Nicholai invites the party to take advantage of his uncle's manor outside of Seltaren, where they are warmly greeted and treated to a magnificent feast. While residing at the manor, Nicholai questions his uncle concerning the mercenary captain known as Elias, and learns that he is from the Shield Lands to the north, reputedly a follower of Hextor in years past, though rumors say he is now apostate and perhaps revering some new deity.
Also during their stay, Dracon searches out a nearby shrine to Obad Hai, and takes the vows of an inititae in that faith (mostly on the grounds of his mother's membership therein).
[5th of Coldeven, 577]
And so we leave yet another evening behind, until next week....