Hi dudes,
The Captain directed The Shadow away from the Bay as dusk fell. At first the seas and winds were calm, but after a couple of hours a freak storm boiled over the cliffs to the south, bringing with it foul, foetid odours and flies. But Ahappi nimbly piloted his ship away from this small but violent storm, and soon was sailing safely again into the night.
There was a strange incident much later, near the edge of the Fosnoir, where the ship's crew felt suddenly nauseated as if there was a rapid motion. Later it became evident to Ahappi that the ship had moved back many miles, as if time had rolled backwards. This impression came from speaking with The Shadow, which knew of an “illness” in the seas. The crew had grown unsettled, muttering superstitiously, and one of them had gone almost catatonic with fear. A strong, rousing speech from the Captain reminded them of their duties and the ship's and Captain's strength, and so morale rose and even the young crewman returned to his station. That sailor told of how he'd seen some sort of phantom face, an old, wild-haired and bearded Pithdaran, in the waves near the ship, which had so deeply disturbed him. The Captain deduced that there must be some sort of enemy sorcerer/ghost haunting the seas here, but could see no way yet to challenge him if that was the case. Soon enough, though, the Shadow anchored at St Thosos.
Back at Elder Useless's shack, the old Girnaois retired for the night, writing that you must sleep outside, and so you did. The mosasaurs kept to themselves as night fell, but many reptilian eyes remained on you in the darkness. In the middle of the night, an uncouth, putrid gale blew down upon you, and Boamund + the Baronet woke as they sensed presences nearby. Out of the night came three crouched, snarling spectral forms of dead Giranois, scintillating with motes of starlight that hit them. They could wield ghostly daggers that passed through anything physical but rent nasty necrotic wounds. Boamund and Miguel suffered from these, but with your experience in spirit-binding and the Baronet's magical sword (which did not glow but did harm them severely), they soon were all sent back to Hell. Miguel, though, was shaken by this first encounter of his with angry spirits like these- one had even clamped its clammy hand over his mouth as he slept, leaving him weakened. But they were gone, and soon the gale died down and you rested again, awakening safely at dawn to watch the mosasaurs rise and shift their bulk about the beaches.
In St Thosos, the Captain set his disciplined crew (acting far different now to when Ciddar was about) to either rest, tend the ship or foray ashore to get modest amounts of drink, and so they did. Meanwhile, he and Bobard and Jim the sailors went ashore into the Vadeli ghetto, seeking chocolatl. At one disreputable, brightly lit hovel they found an old, decrepit Brown Vadeli shopkeeper trying to sell surely unhealthy drinks to the locals. He related (for the price of a blasphemy, which Ahappi directed at the Rokari Church) that Skrimton Nodeal had not been about for some time, yet there was a new Vadeli ship in the harbour that you might try– The Sacrosanct, captained by Leddicc, a figure of some repute to this old Vadeli.
The harbourmaster related that these Vadeli were under close watch. You found The Sacrosanct at the docks. It was an odd Pamaltelan (Afadjanni) merchant ship, with a huge hold but only a dozen or so crew and no match in durability for The Shadow, the Captain reckoned, although its fore and aft arbalests were menacing enough. The crew acknowledged you gruffly and soon a hulking brute was silhouetted on deck- it gruffly spoke to you in halting Seshnegi, then brought Captain Leddic to the gunwhale. He was tall and thin but still dwarfed by this odd brutish guardian. Soon enough, Leddicc welcomed Ahappi aboard the ship and into his richly accoutred cabin. Ahappi scrutinized the Vadeli, who stood in the cabin proudly displaying himself and his finest goods.
This Vadeli was everything others were not- well-groomed and cultured. He very quickly spotted Ahappi's magic spear and noted its old nature, and had much to say about his riches and what fantastic pleasures he could grant to the Captain if he'd be willing to set sail with the Sacrosanct for a “short voyage.” But Ahappi persisted in denying any temptations, and asked for some chocolatl, which brought a big smile from the Sacrosanct's captain. Leddicc laughed, showing the lipless, sharp-toothed mouth hidden behind his outrageously long, thin moustache. With that mouth and the blood-dripping sword scabbarded at his side (worms/leeches crawled about the cabin lapping its drippings up), Ahappi was sure it was a Red Vadeli in disguise. Queried about those Vadeli, Leddicc calmly admitted they were back in the world and would bring the Vadeli's foes to ruin on a “tide of blood”, but did not confirm or deny his own caste as Red rather than (as his clothes and dark brown skin hinted) Brown. He also would not say anything about the Red Vadeli's origin or location, but happily provided the chocolatl as three lozenges inside a clamshell, which Ahappi took and soon departed with, after some blunt threats to the Vadeli's mortality and expressed interest in owning the head of the ship's brutish enforcer (a Giant Slarg, from the far southern continent too, and with an ornate Great Axe on his back).
Ahappi woke up the local Ship of Life priest and asked about the strange events on the Fosnoir- the reply was that he'd heard of similar things but there was no clue what their nature was, or who any old grey Pithdaran might be. Alas, another mystery.
The crew returned to the Shadow and soon were crossing the Fosnoir, when another disturbing occurrence struck: time seemed to stand still all around you, and you were frozen helpless, only able to watch the horror that transpired. Mainly Ahappi saw it: some sort of armoured/mechanical tentacle rose from the seas and snapped a pincerful of flesh from the foot of the young sailor who had freaked out earlier. Then it retracted and you lurched back into normal time-passage, with the crew again in a panic and Ahappi calming them down with another soliloquy.
Now this was a real puzzler… how much of these time-slipping events were caused by whatever lurked under the waves (and was it just confined to the Fosnoir? Maybe not, as you'd had similar incidents elsewhere?) or instead a way that the Shadow was avoiding something worse? This was a topic Ahappi ruminated on in anticipation of discussing with others. The poor young sailor (we'll name him Chemiserouge, a Seshnegi) was bandaged from terrible bleeding and given a break while you sailed back to the Bay of Teeth, and anchored there.
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