RPG Campaigns

Giraine Summaries

Good morning,

All but Boamund entered the Evening Mist, finding a small group of reclusive townsfolk there in the single small hall, and a welcoming young Pithdaran at the middle/back table by the bar, which held a big keg of beer and a single Seshnelan proprietor. The young man introduced himself as Fancy Tomnal (Swaggers was his surname, he claimed); he was well-dressed and talked big about his business dealings in town and how you seemed to be active in “high risk” business, but he didn't really have much to say. He said he was involved in trading (hints of illicit stuff/smuggling) and invited you to play some dice game, but before you had time to do that or have much more than a few sips of the weak beer, the door slammed open and the hall was bathed in a nasty red glow.

In strode Wahhab the Peeler, Red Vadeli warrior-adept, awash in crimson magics and brandishing his falchion and kite shield. He roared a challenge: “That's enough of your meddling, Ahappi the Unmanned. Earlier I said it wasn't the time to put you in your place but my blood is up and your time is up. Face me if you dare! Your blood will be my ocean to swim in.” Ahappi started a response but Wahhab sped across the tiny room (Hasted to speed 15!) and combat began, as six lackeys with swords and axes filed in behind him!

Wahhab tried to hack Ahappi down while he was still seated but Ahappi adroitly tripped him. A heavily-magicked sailor-warrior (pirate?) with a poleaxe rushed Fraud and held his own for a little while, and another one with a battle-axe charged Miguel but was blinded with a mugful of beer chucked in his face. Boamund had seen the Vadeli's gang pursuing Ahappi and company, so rather than rest he had followed them from behind, and soon he rushed in to engage the two rearmost saiilors, whom he swifly hewed down. Two others that had been in the middle/doorway made their way in to double-team Fraud and Miguel, so it looked tense.

But Ahappi impaled Wahhab in the left arm, crippling him and leaving him barely able to act at all. The Red Vadeli did manage to loose a Boiling Blood conjuration at him first, however, but Ahappi withstood that deadly wracking spell. Then it was soon over- Ahappi drew his scimitar and stabbed Wahhab in the arm again, mortally wounding him. Wahhab tried burbling forth a final curse but only bled. The poleaxe-sailor got an open blow at Fraud but only managed to overswing and graze his comrade. Two sailor/pirates that were left alive (Miguel ensured at least one of his died) dropped their weapons and tried surrendering, claiming that they only followed Wahhab's orders to kill you. But none of you felt merciful. Their excuse that this was Hard Bay and it was the hard way here only made you feel colder. These scum hadn't even given you a chance to stand up or finish drinking before attacking, so you brutally dispatched them; they'd had given you no mercy either. There wasn't much to loot from them but Miguel took the Vadeli's scarlet half-plate and weapons to mold onto bronze ingots to drop into the sea, and Boamund pulled the bodies out to burn. The inn's proprietor calmly began mopping up the blood without a word, as if this was an everyday event. The locals, though, quickly emptied the place in fear.

A crowd was gathering around the edges and interstices of buildings, and they were not a happy crowd- as you left the scene, deciding that you needed to teach the remaining Vadeli a lesson at their ship, the residents of Hard Bay were calling out to you and each other, that you were murderers and criminals and should be arrested by the guardsmen-where were the guards; how did these three families maintain any order here? You were not sure who was a guard or just a local fisher, sailor or merchant. They all seemed very unfriendly. Ahappi, though, bellowed a threat to them, that he had brought judgement to the Vadeli who were in league with sea trolls and Yaknath, and any who defied him would face a similar fate. This quieted them, and they sullenly watched from the shadows as you went down to the docks.

At the Mythspeaker galley of the Vadeli, no one stood guard and Ahappi simply strode up on deck, followed by the rest of you. Four Vadeli could be seen, and one in red foppy clothes, swinging a foul-scented brazier, presented himself and asked why you intruded; claiming that they were only simple merchants and Wahhab was not under their control. Ahappi asked if the Vadeli would depart now, and the sorcerer said that this was not a good arrangement for them— he seemed to hope to continue the discussion. Ahappi, however, was not feeling up for more chit-chat with Vadeli. He hurled his harpoon and horribly impaled the Vadeli in the chest, dropping him to the deck with a surprised squeal. Battle was on!

The tall brown-robed Vadeli with a forked staff raised it and unleashed a shockingly quick and powerful combined sorcery spell-all your magics vanished, and a Dominate Human enslavement magic overcame Miguel (who was blinded by his immediate lack of darksight, but heard a mental command to kill Ahappi); the others resisted its power. Boamund rushed one obese Vadeli in gem-encrusted “armour” and Fraud rushed the other (its twin) who wore little but a few gems and some tattoos. Those two Vadeli tried some minor spells to no effect, and soon they were knocked out; trying but failing to roll aside from your blows. Ahappi struck the staff-wielding Vadeli and interrupted his spell concentration, giving Miguel (who had re-enacted his darksight) time to fire his Adamant arrow at the Vadeli, dropping him! Ahappi dealt the killing blow, and Miguel was fully freed from domination. The first, red-clothed Vadeli sputtered a cry for clemency, and Ahappi intimidated him so much that he caved in and told you that he had summoned Yaknath, a demon of the Chaos monster Gloomshark, to come here to Hard Bay and serve them. Now that this Vadeli was leaving (or so he thought), he said that Yaknath would “run amok”, out of control; and that he had no weaknesses.

You threw all but one of the Vadeli overboard to the sharks that Ahappi called. Hmm those sharks did not look normal; misshapen and with parts out of place… The last Vadeli, the fat one in gem-clothes (Fraud first-aided him back to consciousness), you noticed wore some soft grey-brown pelts from his belt-Ouori pup hides, surely! Ahappi blazed with anger and demanded to know more. Gibbering, the hapless Vadeli said (surely lying in some way, as always, even to the last, for his kind) that they didn't know much, that they had obtained these pelts from others and were just trading what they thought were sea otter hides, but that some tiny port you surely would not know of is where they met the other Brown Vadeli that traded in them. He said that these Vadeli were not of his “family”, the Orange Guild of Jrustela, but rather of the more local (and infamous to you) Wonder-Loving Rainbow Chums. Skrimton Nodeal's group. Aha. That port he mentioned was Kennutwaki. You did know it- it's your final destination on the quest! Ahappi pushed the blubbering infant-like Vadeli off the deck to the sharks, where he too died horribly.

It was easy to grab keys off the Vadeli before you chucked them into the sea, and Miguel had begun setting the 55 slaves free-they came from all over the world, some even non-human, and most not speaking Seshnegi. Ahappi called out that any could join his crew, and 12 found that choice to be very compelling so they were welcomed onto the Shadow by Amur. The rest either looked in too poor shape to be up for anything (clinging to life, or will to live), or wanted to take a chance at escaping back home via another route. You looted the ship- there was a lot to go over, including documents and maps, but Miguel found a great big chest that he unlocked with a Vadeli key and-oh no! A terrible cloud of brown fumes smacked him in the face, and he caught a lungful! His guts twisting in agony, and his mind spinning in torment, he ran howling in terror about “No! It could not be! The thing in the box!” as the chest's lid snapped back shut like a clamshell.

Miguel made it off the decks onto the dock before Fraud spotted him and joined pursuit. At first, Miguel's speed gave him the edge, and he tore through town unopposed, eventually heading for Maritime Hill. Fraud, however, made some progress as Miguel lagged and stumbled at the base of the hill, and began to get winded. Some halfway up the hill, Fraud caught up to Miguel and tackled and subdued him. No coaxing words, though, could bring the insane Miguel back to his wits- he was terribly disturbed by what he'd seen and felt. And now, Fraud was surprised to see that figures quietly danced amidst the standing stones atop the hill, amidst a sickly green glow. It was not yet the night of Wildday, so what was going on? He had stopped Miguel before he reached that place, but looking down the hill there was a dark throng of townspeople gathered. With just two of you separated from the others, and one acting crazy, you probably looked weak to them, and Hard Bay is hard on the weak…

Ahappi had taken things back to the Shadow; Boamund had finished helping with escaping slaves and looting; and now the two of them tried to pursue Fraud and Miguel, but moving more carefully through town. They saw plenty of people elbowing each other and pointing, knives or cudgels or bows at the ready, but as the two of them approached the hill they met no resistance. Not yet…

(well done with the Vadeli! Wahhab was a reckless killer who couldn't wait any longer to try to stop Ahappi's quest; and once he and his Sharkrazor pirate buddies were dealt with, the Brown Vadeli were fairly defenseless and didn't really anticipate to be attacked-they didn't know you and their kind tends to expect to be able to talk their way out of problems, not being the fighting sort. So now you've had a good taste of dealing justice to Vadeli, at last!)

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