In preparation for our journey to Magnimar, we purchased several wands that had less than the maximum amount of of charges for a typical wand, as acquiring under-charged wands is cheaper than fully charged wands. I didn't purchase one of these myself.
Zinovia was very determined that I should be able to cast a 'fly' spell on her, and insisted that I should acquire a scroll of said spell to copy into my spellbook after I explained to her how that works. I also suggested that a 'haste' spell would be a good idea, and purchased scrolls of both.
My first attempt at copying the 'fly' spell failed, and I was afraid I might need to flee from Zinovia when I had to tell her that I would need to wait a week before trying again. But at least I was able to copy the 'haste' spell successfully.
Before our departure, Hunter did his best to ensure that Kynae Fromperton was taken care of, his father having been slain by the Horned Fangs. Though I would not say that his father was doing much to care well for his son while he lived. I wonder what will become of the boy.
But Zinovia is determined that Grumble will come with us. I don't know what benefit she derives from looking after the peculiar goblin. I also wonder what would happen to the goblin if Zinovia was not looking after it.
For our trip to Magnimar we are taking a ship captained by Audrahni's friend, Sursha Antefalle, who we learned is one of my and Audrahni's people. Captain Sursha will give us passage free of cost as a favor to her friend.
As we began to board Captain Sursha's ship, Tyalee's Whim, our attention was drawn to the arrival of a small wagon, from which disembarked a very well dressed human woman and her companion, a halfling woman who appeared far less well-dressed and wore a patch over one eye. Hunter immediately recognized the human woman as a famous entertainer. When he mentioned her name I recalled that I had heard of her before. She is Viraline Barvisai and her unusual companion is Corla. Some of the crew members appeared to know who she was and greeted her with enthusiasm.
We and the other passengers had boarded and chosen our cabins - I had to remind the others that if they want me to have more spells in my arsenal I need a cabin of my own where I can study and scribe in peace. The day wore on and the sun began to set, yet we didn't weight anchor. When asked, Captain Sursha said that she was awaiting one more passenger who had yet to arrive. Then a large dark wagon appeared, and a human man came from the wagon, asking that his large crate be transferred to the ship.
With everyone finally aboard we set off, and Captain Sursha invited all the passengers to dine with her in her cabin. Her dining table was larger than I would have expected on a small ship like Tyalee's Whim. Her cabin also seemed to be less affected by the motion of the ship than our own cabins, which are quite small. Viraline had the largest passenger cabin. It was at dinner that we were introduced to the man who had caused us to depart so late in the day. His name is Beckwood Roos, from Ustalav, setting off to explore the world and perform his research. As I was seated next to him I asked what he researches, to which he replied, "Flesh." I didn't know what to say to that, but that knowledge was useful later.
As we were all introducing ourselves to him and to Viraline, we mentioned where each of us comes from. I had already known that Hunter is from Magnimar, and Zinovia comes from somewhere in the far north, but at dinner I learned she is from the lands of the Linnorm Kings. Lonn also mentioned that he hails from Korvosa. But much of the conversation was taken up with the Captain encouraging Viraline to give an impromptu performance for us, and Viraline talking abou her preference for Taldan opera over Chelish opera. I know nothing about either. Is Chelish opera devoted to praising their demonic lords or boasting of how they'll consume the world? If so it's no surprise that she would prefer Taldan opera to that.
Viraline gave in to the Captain's request after a bit of false modesty, and to our surprise she went out onto the deck and climbed up the main mast! She sang a song that she said came from a particular opera, then startled us all by appearing to faint and fall from the mast!
Zinovia leaped toward the mast to catch the falling singer, but as she did so it became apparent that Viraline must have some magic aiding her as she was gently floating toward the deck. She managed to adjust her trajectory slightly to fall into Zinovia's arms and then kissed Zinovia on the cheek. Lonn applauded her enthusiastically. Fox was confused by what happened and I had to explain it to him.
Our first night aboard Tyalee's Whim passed uneventfully, as was the following day. Hunter demonstrated his knowledge of sailing by assisting the crew. But afterward it seemed that our very presence on the ship was drawing trouble to it.
During the second night, we were all disturbed by a scream outside our cabins. I cast my armoring spell and rushed out with everyone else to see what the matter was. I was the first to observe a fleshy mound on the deck that appeared to be in the process of consuming a sailor. I realized it was some form of ooze creature, though not of the more familiar varieties. I advised my companions to avoid being grabbed by it and that they wouldn't be able to flank it as it had no eyes and thus wasn't limited by awareness of what it could see.
Despite my warning, Hunter got too close to it and it grabbed him and infected him with a flesh-eating disease. But a combination of spells and Zinovia's and Hunter's swords slashing it to ribbons slew it fairly quickly. We had to warn Fox not to use his fire spells on a ship so he used a wand he'd purchased. Zinovia of course dealt it the final blow. While the others managed the ooze I suddenly recalled what Beckwood Roos had said about his research and ran to his cabin to wake him. He admitted that he had brought the ooze aboard, though he had though it immobilized in his crate in the hold. He was very upset that it had died. He got little sympathy from any of us or the Captain, and Fox angrily cuffed him on the back of the head while he mourned it. Captain Sursha ordered him confined to his cabin and took all of this equipment away from him. He hadn't filed the proper paperwork for carrying such a creature on her ship and of course it had also slain a sailor.
Captain Sursha gave us some of Roos's potions as a reward for eliminating the ooze. Along with a curative potion and one meant to neutralize poisons, this included three doses of something called oozeclot unguent, which can immobilize an ooze. Roos may have been using it to hold the ooze in his crate, but he had underestimated how strong the creature was.
Fortunately Lonn's skill at healing is much greater than mine and he was able to treat the disease afflicting Hunter. After that was settled Hunter went into the hold and made a horrific discovery: the ooze had eaten five more sailors who had been looking after the cargo! Captain Sursha assured us that she still had sufficient crew to manage the ship, but those of us who had any useful skills offered to assist the remaining sailors where we could.
The next evening Audrahni took us all aside and asked us what we recalled of her history as she'd told it to us the night we laid Sir Roderic's spirit to rest. She hadn't mentioned then that she had lost a dear friend and mentor and there were rumors that this person's spirit still haunted the place where they had died. She hoped that we would be willing to assist her in a ritual to lay that spirit to rest. We all of course agreed to this. As we spoke about how Audrahni had helped to slay the members of the Brotherhood of Seven who had killed her friend, Lonn commented that we didn't know the Brotherhood was entirely gone, only that those who had killed Audrahni's friend were dead. Audrahni found this thought disturbing.
At midnight that night the next of our trials arrived in the form of a powerful storm that Tyalee's Whim could not avoid. First Mate 'Elbows' Eddi gave us warning that we would have to weather the storm, and Captain Sursha gave orders to drop the storm anchor and bring down the mainsail. The storm was a mighty one and raised great waves that immediately washed four of the crew overboard. Zinovia ran to help drop the anchor, while Fox threw a life preserver to one of the sailors. Everyone was drenched by torrential rain. I thought I would surely be washed over myself, but Yuelral took pity on me and I not only kept my feet but managed to help rescue a fallen sailor and tied a rope around Fox so he wouldn't fall overboard.
On the following morning, after we had recovered from our exhausting hours of trying to keep the ship afloat and everyone safe, we learned that the storm had damaged the ship's rudder. Hunter immediately offered to get in the water to try to repair it, and Lonn, Zinovia, and Fox all offered to help. Captain Sursha warned that sharks weren't uncommon in these waters. I decided to remain on deck and keep a watch for the sharks.
It seemed at first that the repairs would go well, though Hunter and Lonn kept having to come up out of the water to breathe so the work wasn't going quickly. Then a group of sharks approached. They didn't appear to be aggressive, only exploring. I was prepared to attack them with spells and some of the crew had fetched harpoons. Then suddenly the sharks sped away. The Captain had mentioned that these waters were also known to hold a monstrous fish-creature that preyed on the sharks, which we suspected was the reason for the sharks' departure. Everyone who had been working on the rudder prepared to climb out of the water. Then a massive fish swam up and rammed the ship!
When the ship was struck everyone who was standing at the railings fell overboard, including Audrahni and I and several sailors. I am not unacquainted with swimming and was able to swim to the rope that had been let over the side and climb back up. While I was about this the monstrous fish swallowed a poor helpless sailor and bit Lonn. Hunter cast a spell that momentarily stunned the beast, allowing him to shout at another sailor to get out of the water. Audrahni also managed to clamber up to the deck. Fox had got on the ship as well and tried to burn the monster but his ray of fire went wide. I sent a bolt of lightning at the creature but it didn't seem to do it much injury. Fox tried his flames again and this time burned it, and I followed his example and burned it again.
The monstrous fish evidently didn't like being burned, as it turned around and swam away. I realized then that I had never given any thought to determining what kind of monster it was. We were concerned about resuming repairs on the rudder in case the sharks returned, but the captain and crew doubted they would come back after being frightened off by the monster. Hunter and the others resumed work on the rudder and in about an hour's time had it repaired sufficiently for the ship to sail for the nearby harbor at Sandpoint to seek better repairs by professional shipwrights.
With all of that trouble out of the way, Zinovia gathered us together and advised us to watch Viraline's companion Corla. She had observed that Corla had seemed unusually out of breath when she ran up on deck to see what was happening after the monstrous fish rammed the ship, and when Viraline had climbed the mast to sing Corla had been nowhere in sight. Lonn wondered if perhaps she and Viraline were thieves, to which Hunter objected as Viraline was a famed entertainer. But Lonn reminded him that Viraline hadn't performed during the past year after some scandal affected her popularity, and she might have taken to thievery to earn her keep, distracting her victims while Corla committed the actual thefts. He was so concerned about this that he went off to warn the first mate.
A short time later we arrived in Sandpoint, which is now infamous for the Runelords' catacombs that were found beneath the town and the skeleton of a dragon that is visible in the harbor. Hunter was eager to see a museum there. He told Fox about something called the Sandpoint Devil, which he described as a fire-breathing horse. Fox was quite excited by that until he learned that the Devil had been slain by the Sihedron Heroes. He had been hoping to see a living fire-breathing horse.
But Fox's disappointment was soothed by learning about an inn that was owned and had once been operated by an empress from Tian-Xia. We decided to stay the night there and Fox liked seeing the guards who were armored as warriors are in that part of the world he comes from.
The next morning as we prepared to board Tyalee's Whim again and sail for Magnimar, First Mate Eddi told Lonn that he hadn't seen Corla do anything unusual, but he had overheard her talking to Viraline about a "brotherhood" and expressing staunch loyalty. When Lonn shared this with Audrahni she was quite alarmed.
Before we returned to the ship, Lonn went out to the marketplace and acquired two scrolls for me to use, one of 'arcane lock' and the other of 'alarm.' After the altercation with the sea beast all of our belongings had been in disarray from the ship being rammed, but Lonn had discovered that his trunk was open and he said it looked as though someone had been interrupted while searching it. He wanted me to use these spells to protect his things, most particularly the Sword of Pride that he carries. Since then he has been keeping it in his haversack and keeping the haversack with him constantly.
We left Sandpoint behind and headed off toward Magnimar, but we were soon diverted when Captain Sursha announced that our water supply was tainted and all the water barrels would have to be poured out. She intended to visit a nearby island to get fresh water from a spring there. The sailors didn't question these orders, but Hunter was suspicious. He borrowed Beckwood Roos's alchemical equipment to test the water and found that there was nothing wrong with it. Meanwhile, Fox noticed that Captain Sursha had traces of an enchantment aura around her, which concerned him and he attempted to warn everyone. I regret that I thought he was being overly suspicious and tried to disregard his misgivings, which caused him to go and sulk at the prow of the ship. After all, enchantment isn't itself inherently bad and there are spells of enchantment that can be beneficial. But when Lonn questioned the captain her behavior hinted that she had indeed been ensorceled. Her usual cheerful demeanor was absent and she couldn't remember who had told her the water was bad. She could only recall that the person had a beautiful voice. Lonn suspected that she was under the influence of a 'suggestion' spell.
At that time Viraline and Corla came up on the main deck, and Viraline again climbed up the mast, singing loudly that she must be given the sword. She attempted to use the same magic against Lonn that she had apparently used on the captain, but because she wanted Lonn to give up the sword her spell failed to affect him since he wouldn't have considered such an action a reasonable one, though we didn't realize at first that he was unaffected. Corla climbed up the mast after her companion. Lonn pretended to be willing to hand over the sword and took out the false sword with the intention of handing it over, which frightened Zinovia and she tried to catch hold of him. But the talisman he wore prevented her grip from restraining him. Fox and I blasted Viraline with magic, though we didn't dare use fire.
Viraline cast another spell, this time binding Zinovia in place. Zinovia's face turned red and the veins in her neck stood out as she struggled to free herself. Hunter clambered up the mast after the two women. Lonn used a wand he'd brought to coat the mast in grease, hoping to impede the women. The spell didn't stop Hunter. Corla tried to stab him and he punched her, then manifested a warhammer in his hand. I felt there wasn't much I could do to help but I did pelt Viraline with missiles of force. Corla jumped down from the mast to attack Lonn and Viraline floated down as well. He took the chance to swallow a potion and both Corla and Viraline attacked him. Viraline appeared to be using a fan rather than a weapon though it wounded him all the same. Lonn drew out another potion and swallowed it then vanished from my sight.
With Corla on the ground, I climbed the steps down from the aft deck to cast a spell of 'enfeeblement' on her. She managed to stab me before she fell, as I hadn't wanted to take the time to protect myself. My spell caused Corla to collapse from weakness.
Zinovia broke free of paralysis just as Hunter leaped down from the mast behind Viraline and struck her a fearful blow with his hammer, dropping her to the deck. Lonn reappeared, kicking the fallen Corla.
During this entire altercation the crew had been gaping at us, unable to decide whether to aid the famous singer or the group of strangers who had helped to prevent their ship from falling to the monstrous fish.
Next: part 9, A Good Night's Rest
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