RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

Hiya,

Ahappi returned with the loot; Miguel saw no sorceries on the crystal-pendant or vial, and the bronze fish was interesting to him so he checked it out- it was a wind-up clockwork mechanism with a twisty implement at the end to make it work, he discerned. So at Ahappi's bidding he wound it up and it wiggled its tail, flared its gills and swivelled its eyes. He released it into the water and off it sped in a line-you followed, thinking it might lead you somewhere, but less than 20m away it exploded in a fountain of water! (it had a hidden switch to prevent explosions and just make it a fun toy, but Miguel missed that) You debated going to the Shadow (further) or Fraywrack and opted for the latter- Miguel and Ahappi needed rest ASAP.

Coming ashore, the harpy daughter Andumil descended and scoffed at you until Ahappi presented the vampire's head; then her tune changed and she flew off to tell the others. You went to the Got and Give “pub” (more of a shop with some barrels used as tables) and Ahappi spoke to the proprietor Herstil, who had balked at Fraud's Arkat pendant before. Herstil welcomed you and, seeing the head, admitted she had been visited in the night by that horror and now felt that its chill influence had left her. With some pressure, she pulled down her collar and showed bite marks on her neck, claiming that she now felt free. She thanked you and offered drinks; two sailors drinking there joined Miguel and Boamund (sipping water), who Herstil made some overtures toward but he politely declined. Fraud tried his Unmask Chaos spell but she strongly resisted, and was upset by the attempt; he tried to get her to submit again but she refused, and asked him to leave. Ahappi convinced her to allow Boamund to Sense Chaos on her, and he did not feel something tainted in her but did feel a vague uneasiness.

Ahappi proudly proclaimed his heroism and welcomed the sailors to join his crew to escape here, and at least one sounded interested while the other was more tentative. Fraud wandered off to visit Lukil the troll, who was hard at work through the night. She again was gruff toward him, saying that her situation had not changed; she was called by Kyger Litor to these caves, and now would do what she could to build new things to aid her Captain. Fraud gave up trying to make a connection with her and returned to the shop, where he and Ahappi were met by the harpy Shurasal and some of her kin. Shurasal was joyed to learn of Varmanda's undoing, glad that she'd held off from the vampire's entreaties to join it. She said that now a new age would come to Fraywrack, and Ahappi had doubts that her intent was purely good. Boamund came to the shop's doorway, bothered by a sense of wrongness and finding that it seemed to come from the harpies that had gathered, or maybe Shurasal herself? You wondered if they were vampire thralls, if not Herstil, or who else? Ahappi was not sure if defeating Varmanda had ended the threat.

You rested in a driftwood hut ashore, and discussed plans; having called for the Shadow to meet you in the morning. It came, and Ahappi called for the people of Fraywrack to come listen to him on the beachfront. The harpies, annoyingly, caught word of this and joined, too. Ahappi explained that he'd killed the vampire and broken Vivamort's power so now they were all free. They could join him for passage elsewhere, or stay here, but he warned that the harpies did not mean well and held a chaos taint (much outraged squawking from the harpies!), so things would likely go less well for the humans here than for the harpies. Captain Jorne Bitser listened silently amongst the crowd here, but a man stepped forward from the back and spoke out. He was an older, silver-haired and bearded man unfamiliar to you, and called boldly out in a confident voice full of presence. He asked why Ahappi would not just kill off the evil harpies now and free them all, if they were chaos and evil of intent, and had wrought the coming of the sailors in the first place? Ahappi said that was not his quest, and that this place was more their home than the sailors'. The man, whom you learned was a more recent comer named Wulhem, grumbled and walked away, with some onlookers muttering angrily about his interference. Already six of them had stepped forward to join Ahappi's crew, plus one of the drunken sailors from the night before. They did not want to head somewhere else; they were all sailors who wanted to return to travelling the seas; but Ahappi repeated that they would have the option to depart at a later port.

Shurasal spoke out that the harpies did descend from Magra the Harpy Queen in Godtime, when Ragnaglar the Mad God had rutted with her and produced a chaos taint that afflicted all harpies. That was true, but Shurasal's kin here were all Elder Harpies, who she claimed were of higher birth and able to keep the evil influence of their taint in check; they did not worship Mallia the Mistress of Disease like most of her lesser kin, but instead their ancestress Magra. Ahappi said that might be true but still the harpies could not be trusted. Boamund used his Sense Chaos again and felt that yes, these harpies were chaos-tainted in some way. Ahappi came to Jorne Bitser, wondering why that Captain had not said much to anyone but those nearby him; indeed Jorne had done little since you'd arrived. He got Jorne thinking, in terms of what would happen next here; there was the quandary that Jorne was the captain now of the Sea Spite and should stay with it, that the Shadow had little room to hold >30 people for long, and that Jorne had dedicated so much effort to building Fraywrack. He seemed tempted to leave but uncertain, so he said he'd stay but welcomed Ahappi to return, and Ahappi said he would. It was curious what was up with Captain Bitser. Was he playing some other game or was his leadership lacking? The situation was odd.

You left Fraywrack, taking 7 new crew aboard and Amur helping Ahappi to determine that the vampire's treasure was a massive hoard, worth in excess of 14,000 guilders. Half went to the ship's future and half to the crew and you (~500 each?). Ahappi kept the crystal vial and pendant, too, and got a belt for the scimitar and a new harpoon. Varmanda's head went into his stash of trophies; becoming a very worthy addition!

You thought about where to go next. Ahappi recalled that he'd long wanted to visit Hard Bay so that was his easy choice. It was a bigger port than Kennutwaki and on the mainland of Orninior/Pithdaros. It is known for fishing and pearl-coral jewelry-making. Once a smuggler's port, the local Sharkrazor pirates were crushed and now three Talar families rule it as a triad (oligarchy). Rumors persist that the pirates maintain an interest there and plague the region from time to time; and that the locals are an independent, unfriendly lot with heretical, likely non-Malkioni practices of heathen or pagan origins. Indeed, Ahappi had heard tales of some “Cult of the Deep”, a local non-sorcerous sea worship, that piqued his interest now more than ever! Kennutwaki was very obscure. It had a wide, natural harbour and excellent fishing for a small island; that is all he knew.

Onward you sailed, with Dark Season of 1623 bringing frigid gales from the north that blasted across the Fosnoir; Amur showing his seamanship skills well by using that wind to speed your travel. Yet the Fosnoir held its dangers. You hit a thick fogbank on the east side of the strait, as you passed Giraine to the south, and had to slow. Ahappi tried leading the Shadow on his mosasaur but it was growing tired in the cold and he got lost, turning back to avoid losing the Shadow altogether. It was then that frightening things happened. Miguel, watching from the prow, shouted an alarm that a huge iceberg was ahead! Amur tried to turn the Shadow away but lost control, and two crewman were tossed into the icy waters-Fraud however soon got them back aboard. However, a great icicle-spear hit a crewman in the chest, killing him! Six humanoid things made of ice; Hollri ice-demons, with ice-pike spears and jagged harpoon-like tails, danced atop the iceberg ahead, calling forth winds that blew the Shadow quickly toward a disastrous impact. Combat was on!

Ahappi swam for the iceberg to challenge them; he lept ashore and slipped, almost falling prone but gaining his footing to face two Hollri. One impaled him with its ice-spear and he was crippled for much of the ensuing fight. Fraud used the Foestopper fan to fend off the winds, buying time for Amur to get control of the Shadow wrested back so he could turn it broadside along the iceberg. Crew (including Miguel) battled the Hollri with arrows and faced demoralising magics that wrought havoc, so it was looking ill for the battle. Boamund blasted the Hollri, though, with a furious Wrack Fire spell that disabled all of them to varying degrees, turning the battle. Fraud hopped ashore nimbly, hacking as he fell and injuring one of the Hollri facing Ahappi. He eventually wore it down with head-slashes; the demons often had parts shatter once they were wounded enough, being well-armoured but brittle. Ahappi though had a harpoon-tail wrap around him and begin wearing him down with numbing cold. Boamund came ashore and slashed down one of the other Hollri then came to your aid just as Ahappi finally was able to pull the ice-spear safely from his body and continue the fight, dealing deadly harpoon blows. It was over soon enough, but it was a nasty battle against the unrelenting terrors of Himile. The recent trend of increasing cold and ice, even down in these southern reaches of Genertela, was deeply concerning-it hearkened of the legendary Ice Age of the Darkness in Godtime, and that could only be BAD!

You searched the shore of the iceberg but the demons carried nothing of value; it was a bleak wasteland. So off you soon went.

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