(GoS) Adventure log

The session opened with the Sea Ghost and the Spirit of Keoland staring into a fog-bank, potentially hostile ships moving through it in their direction. Treating these ships as enemies, the party decided to manoeuvre their own ships in such as way as to enable an escape through the right flank of the enemy line while bringing their meagre armaments to bear, just in case they were needed. The largest of the  unknown ships advanced on the Sea Ghost, while others made to take up attack positions against the Spirit of Keoland. Our heroes, such as they are, were outnumbered 3-to-1.

From her position hiding among the seagulls, Aki tries to sneak up close to the largest ship. Noticing it's name was the "Mermaid's Laugh" and seeing the crew on-board armed and ready for ship-to-ship fighting, Aki looked for colours to identify the ship. Seeing no identifying flags or symbology, Aki surmised from the sailor's outfits that this may be a Sea Princes vessel but before she could get much information, sailors onboard the huge vessel spotted her, causing her to hide under the prow-mounted ram of the ship.

Back on the Sea Ghost, the party prepared to fight or run. With a small fleet between them and the Sea Elf kingdom of Mannan, there was little hope of avoiding this encounter. The Spirit of Keoland broke with the Sea Ghost, heading starboard to avoid the big ship's ram and to gain a better position to use it's cannons or ballista. River decided to steer the Sea Ghost into a following position to keep pace with, and support, the other ship.

Gathering pace, the enemy ships advanced on the Sea Ghost, readying cannons and ballista. Another, cannon-laiden ship came out of the mist and made to intercept the Spirit of Keoland. With 4 ships now advancing on the party and their allies, it was clear that a fight was on. The enemy ships were to get a shock, however, as the party did what the party do best - the unexpected.

The naval battle turned chaotic quickly. Instead of the positioning, firing, re-positioning, pursuit encounter I expected, the party threw a wrench into the plan. Opal (Dan) suggested using the Sea Ghosts harpoon-slingers to attach to the large ship bearing down on them and use it's mass an momentum to reposition themselves and avoid the harsh edge of the ram while Pheobe (Dee) decided that the ENLARGE/REDUCE spell was called for. Harpoons struck, Sea Ghost was tethered and then, suddenly, MUCH bigger than before, rivalling the size of the approching ship. Seeing the trick, Ake (Denney) cast the same spell on the Mermaid's laugh, making it much smaller and causing the gunners below decks severe trouble in operating their guns, causing men and equipment to fall off the now, suddenly much smaller, ship. 

Mass and momentum was now in the Sea Ghost's favour and the warship, Mermaid's Laugh, was dragged along to be between the Sea Ghost and a smaller ship, shielding the Ghost from harm. This smaller ship, captain and helmsman caught unawares by the sudden size shifting of the two vessels ahead of them, failed to react in time and piloted their vessel directly into the, now similarly sized, warship. With both enemy ships damaged heavily in the collision and sailors falling into the Sea, the party communicated this trick to the Magi aboard the Spirit of Keoland, who prepared to make their own smaller weaponry large enough to compete with their maritime assailants. 

The cannon-fight that followed damaged so much of the Spirit's weapons and underwater equipment that the Magi had only one option left for their prepared spell. Enlarging their remaining cannon and turning the ship so that the cannon could be brought to bear, the Wizards, Maestrom Relf and Allan Drew, cast enlarge on the cannon, then again, to make a cannon so large that the Spirit listed dangerously as they set it ready to fire. Setting off the massive cannon almost capsized the ship, but the damage to an enemy ship was catastrophic enough to damage or destroy much of it's weapons. With three enemy ships heavily damaged, it was looking like the party may survive the encounter if they could find a way to use the chaos to their advantage.

Seeking to break through the enemy line and take the fight to the vessels threatening the Spirit of Keoland before they took any more damage, the Sea Ghost cut one of it's harpoon lines tethering it to the Mermaid's laugh and had Aki drop her reduce spell, making the warship much larger and lifting the smaller attacking vessel out of the ocean for a moment, damaging both it and the Mermaid's laugh from the strain of the unusual movements caused by the sudden growth and the collision.  Now the Sea Ghost was tethered to a ship larger than it was, the mass difference allowed the Sea Ghost to spin much faster than it's enlarged frame should have allowed, preparing the Ghost for a rear flanking move. As this daring manoeuvre was attempted, a 5th ship was spotted coming in from behind the fight flying the Sea Prince colours. The party, getting increasing worried about the odds stacking against them, hurriedly formulated an escape plan.

In response to the incoming ship, the other attacking vessels hoisted Sea Prince flags to identify themselves. Now knowing the identity of all enemy ships, the party looked for their own Sea Prince flags until they remembered that they had ditched them so they wouldn't be accidentally identified as pirates or enemies of Keoland. Phoebe looked out at the incoming enemy wondering what spell to cast next. As she pondered, she found that she recognised the incoming, new ship - it was the Ocean Duke! Was Captain Thero Kerynaegis aboard? HAd the Shield of the Waves come to their aid?

We'll find out next time!

The party briefed the Governor's house staff to have them look after Telmay while they headed to the Sea Ghost and set out to the Kingdom of Mannan. After warning the staff about Maude coming and going  (and leaving instructions for them to NOT let Maude take Telmay away), the party realised that the Governor had arrived home in the morning and had instructed staff to prepare for an important small, but important,  meeting. Ignoring the urge to ask questions (or spy) on this meeting, the party made haste toward the docks and to their waiting ship, the Sea Ghost. 

On the way out of the mansion, the group had an opportunity to see the Governor's special visitor, who was talking to the guards outside of the mansion. An olive-skinned, waxed moustached noble of sorts, dressed in a traveller's cloak under which he was wearing high-class clothes of foreign design, was talking to one of the guards at the base of the Governor's stairs. Looking up the front stairs at the emerging party, the stranger beamed a wide smile and greeted the party in a variety of languages, hoping that they'd recognise at least one. In response, the party used Draconic, Primordial and Thieves' Cant, getting no response from the stranger other than a slight confusion. After a brief and pleasant exchange, with the group, the party moved on, keen to get at their ship. The stranger finished his conversation with the guard with the words, "thank you, cousin..." This grabbed the attention of Opal, who attempted to gain recognition from the guard by flashing her stolen icons from the Skylark while asking questions of 'her cousin', the guard.

Not entirely convinced by Opal's turn of phase or flashed icons, the guard tersely told Opal that he wasn't her family and his conversation with the visitor was none of her business. Opal continued the bluff by asking about 'uncle' and by telling the guard that things weren't always as they seemed, leaving the guard shaken that he may have misjudged the little Kobold in some way. 

Now free of the Governor's mansion, the party made their way to the Sea Ghost and made to board but a group of heavily armed guards surrounded their pier while a purple robed figure agitatedly paced among them, muttering out loud about personnel and logistics. Ignoring this group, the party tried to board but were stopped by the Captain of the guard, who demanded their identity. Once they had explained themselves to the Captain, he proceeded to give them a tour of preparations  aboard the Sea Ghost, explaining that the ship had been manned with staff from the Spirit of Keoland, the beautiful ship next door that has odd equipment bolted on to it. 

The party asked for the Captain's name. "Jones", he replied. 

The party asked what's your first name. "Jones" he replied again. 

"Ah, sorry, can we have your first name then", the party asked. 

"Jones" came the reply again.

Pheobe asked, "So, you're JJ, then"

"Only when I'm in trouble" said Jones with a grin. 

The pleasant conversation with the Captain was cut short with a cough. The purple-robed man from outside had followed them on-board and was impatiently waiting to be acknowledged. This was High Wizard Maestrom Relf, acting Captain of the Spirit of Keoland and apparent leader of the Seaton side of this mission. Maestrom was rude, demanding and arrogant, but the party cut him down to size quite quickly, especially when they pointed out that the special emissary he was waiting for was the little Kobold he'd just been extremely rude to. Maestrom took off in a panic, offering lunch before they set sail as an apology. The party weren't going to let this little man live down his social faux pas.

After inspection, it was clear that both ships were short of crew. The Spirit had loaned sailors to the Sea Ghost to fill the gaps and was filling it's ranks with guards instead. After a little investigation, the party found out that a recent spate of beatings, fires and stabbings had taken it's toll on key personnel for the Spirit's crew. Finding out that some were in the infirmary after a fire claimed the life of their Captain, and hoping to find Saltmarsh sailors they came to Seaton with, the party set out to recruit.

While Opal used the local law enforcement to find their own sailors, the others visited the infirmary to heal the Spirit's sailors and return them to duty so the mission could get under way. Upon reaching the infirmary and telling the Nurses of their plan, they were initially prevented from entering before Aki tried to sneak in and do the deed regardless. When grabbed by the Nurses at the door as they argued with Phoebe about her plan (a plan that Phoebe was being blunt about the reasons for, up to and including the phrase "I don't care about the other sick people, I'm here for the sailors"),  Aki slipped out of her cloak, made her way to the sick who were in life-threatening condition and healed them first, simply telling the nurses, "There, we've done what you wanted now we're taking the sailors". 

Pheobe laid down the conditions of her healing to the three sailors in the infirmary. 2 were happy to return to duty but one wasn't so sure, wanting to head back to his family. Drawing a magical symbol on that sailor's head, Pheobe coldly said "If you aren't on that ship by midday, this mark will kill you". Frightened for his life by this chilling warning, the recalcitrant Sailor made haste to his family while the other two, now frightened by the callousness and apparent power of the little green gnome, agreed to follow directly to the Spirit. Before leaving, the party noticed a cordoned off bed in the ward and the smell of decay and blood in the air. The party spoke to the Nurses and offered to heal this other sick person, only to be told that there was nothing to be done as that patient was dead. Inspecting the body, Pheobe noticed the 20 shallow stab wound over the person's chest before the party returned the 2 sailors to the Spirit of Keoland. Speculating about the cause of death and the potential for lethality in these wounds, the party took their sailors back to the pier to bring both ships up to at least minimum sailing standards. 

After some personnel changes, and encounter with Maestrom's (seemingly bullied) Wizard assistant, it was time for the apology lunch with the High-Wizard. The meal went as well as you might imagine with the arrogant Maestrom rubbing both Opal and Phoebe up the wrong way enough that Opal stole his precious wizards hat and Pheobe pretended to disintegrate it as Maestron retrieved his garment. Much fun was had at Maestrom's expense and demands to see Seaton's negotiator and the Wizard's put-upon assistant were made. Reluctantly, the High-Wizard complied, complaining to himself the entire time. 

Their kindness and competence was appreciated by both the brown-robed assistant, Wizard Allen Drew, and the negotiator Tellus Maar. A productive conversation about tactics and communication was had while the red-faced and angry Maestrom was away from the dinner table. Encouraging Allen to eat Maestrom's lunch and sharing improtant intel with Tellus, the party made a pair of allys who seemed to both suffer under Maestrom's tyranny aboard the Spirit of Keoland. 

Eventually, both ships were manned and made ready to sail and as the Sea Ghost and the Spirit left the safety of Seaton's harbour, the party noticed an unusually huge flock of seagulls congregating and fighting around the cliffs just outside of Seaton. Paying it little attention, the group sailed on, with a couple of smaller flocks of gulls following their boats hungrily, hoping to catch cast offs or fish in the wake of their vessels.

 After a day's sailing, most of the gulls had headed back for shore but a few steadfastly remained with the two ships. At mid-morning, the party encountered an unusual fog-bank on the sea. The party suspected foul play, having seen magical fog used by Sea Prince or smuggling vessels before so Aki flew out to investigate, finding a ship languishing with no crew on-deck inside the fog and discovering that the fog radiated strongly of magic. Investigating the 'empty' ship at Maestrom's command, Aki noticed that there were two other, much larger ships slowly bearing down on the empty vessel in the fog. Looking at the small ship and seeking to prevent a crash, Aki noticed that the helm of the smaller vessel had been tied and that the sails were held almost ready by semi-tight lines heading into a pair of large boxes on-deck. Seeking to set the helm loose, Aki landed on the empty ship only to find it not so empty - she had flown into an ambush!

After being cut by one attacker, and being shot at with crossbows by two other sailors (the result of which attack was that they accidentally shot their own man as he tried to stab Aki!), the fairy retreated to the sky. The larger vessels started to raise sail for full speed as an alarm bell was rang on the small, previously empty, vessel, sailors pouring onto the deck from the cabins below. Pulling one sailor overboard as she left, Aki began her journey back to her friends, using the sending spell to raise the alarm on the Sea Ghost.      

 Now facing three potentially hostile ships, the Sea Ghost and the Spirit of Keoland prepare to defend themselves. With pointed fins cutting through the water and bold gulls at their back, are these unidentified ships the only problem the party have to face?

DM's reminder: 2nd half of the infiltration. Putting captors to sleep. Using accelerant to set the ship on fire. Fog cloud attack. Extraction of Telmay and Maude. Return to the Governor's mansion to debrief. Deciding to not help Maude find the remaining children. 

DM's reminder: Helping the guards investigate Fipp's death. Finding out the Sergeant has recognised the claw marks and has information on other "large bird attacks" in the area. using the crows to track Telmay to a ship anchored in port. Stealthily boarding to investigate. Fight. using Lizardmen disguises to attack and imtimidate the sailors. Maude getting knocked out cold when entering the 'interrogation' room below decks.

DM's reminder: Investigation of Fipp's warehouse lair and the heartless corpse that used to be a 10-year-old boy.