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[D&D 5E] Whispered Curse, Day 60- Offshore/Abbott of the Eternal
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The Gentleman is lying back, taking up a good portion of the middle of the boat. He looks…like a man who has spent a couple weeks at sea. “…yes, yes, thank you all, ever so much. My constitution had reached it’s very end, I could not have taken another group of them. Without a doubt, you have saved my life!” The Gentleman takes his hat back from Arno with a deeply satisfied, heartfelt nod. His eyes also light up as they turn to Urixes. “…and you, too are here! It’s like I’m just waking from a nightmare into the strangest dream…”
[He’s human, Jack. Mostly smells of the sea at this point, although you do get a faint whiff of peppermint]
“...no no, best not to save me too much…” The Gentleman says, pushing away extra medical extra assistance from Arno, to their confusion. His voice drops a bit, as though trying to whisper just to this group. “…Don’t break stride, keep rowing us back…keep your heads down, some people can read lips in a spyglass. I believe my life is in danger. I need your help. My name is Baron Reynard. I require your assistance to return to the ship and reunite with my assistant, Geno. I believe that it is best that whoever wishes my destruction believes it nearly succeeded.” Baron Reynard looks at each of you in turn, pleading. “For the sake of myself…of your fellow crewmen…for the sake of everything, please…help me!”
[During the row back to the ship, every character may have the chance to ask Reynard one question. He will in turn expect your answer for whether or not you choose to help him, and if he doesn’t get it before you get back to the ship, he will make his own assumptions. In addition, anyone capable of rolling a 14 or better in History, Nature, or Religion comes to a sudden discovery about the Koh Tao attack]
Geth, roll 1d20+2 for Intelligence Check
"...it would appear, sir, that we were both right about the sea," Reynard looks directly at Urixes, gives him a wink that only he sees.
He turns his head after Urixes speaks. "I'll help keep ya safe. Whatever it was that attacked, ain't something that has our best interests at heart."
Geth, roll 1d20-1 for Knowledge check
Geth roll 1d20+1
Irah keeps her silence, Alkono in the air above reporting what it sees to her. She doesn't trust this person, but loot is loot
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"Hoh hoh! You're referring to my disappearing act, I believe?...I used to dabble...was a bit of an entertainer, back before...mostly illusory sort of things...well, in any case, I haven't had the chance to use any of the old tricks for many, many years. You actually watched me use up the last of them just now. It has been...a tiring four days, it can be said."
"As to my survival on the island this long...well, that can be called yet another case of old skills coming to the fore. Despite appearances...I have survived in such situations before." He says this with a tint of awe, which immediately gives way to a loud laugh from the belly. "I was not always the man you see before you!"
IRAH
Reynard's eyes slide over to Irah. He sees her reticence, and seems to give a brief, understanding nod. Quite right, the look seems to say, *I* wouldn't trust me either.
Looking the gnetleman over in the boat, Jack only has one pertinent question, "Your fancy hat, is it magic?"
Geth, roll 1d20 for Nature
He looks back at Reynard. "What makes an adventurer become a baron? No, perhaps that's a conversation for another time. There are more pressing matters." He turns his ominous gaze toward the Curse, wondering what dangers await them there.
[Described as just an expensive hat, as far as the owner knows!]
He glances back at the island growing smaller behind them, covered in dead fishmen. His gut tells him... they were fish.
“As to the rest of you, *I give my undying thanks*…I do not know what we may find aboard, but I do know that once they recognize who I am, I will be given the VIP treatment and rushed back to Hugo *immediately*, regardless of the current circumstances. Now, I am obviously not your leader. You are all free to make your own choices here. If I were though, what I might suggest is…”
-
“…my assistant, Geno, needs to be located. He was a close friend, and my main protection so far out here. He shouldn’t be hard to find, or at least someone should know where he is…the man dressed as a Jester, for Heaven Sake! He wasn’t exactly inconspicuous!”
“…Rax the Rathful and Governor Mitchum *hate* each other. And they may hate me even more! I don’t know if they had anything to do with the Koh Tao, or any knowledge of it beforehand, but I do know those two never miss the opportunity for a trick. I want to know what they’re up to, if the attack was a cover up, or ended up being used as one...you’d have to hurry!”
“Finally…I am alone out here at the moment. I was supposed to be accompanied by Geno, and also a group who had intended to meet me on the Docks at Far Aeston that day and never arrived! I can only assume, between the Governor and Rax, they never even came aboard ship…..my knowledge is crucial to this mission. I realize I ask much, for and from strangers. But…if you can bodyguard me, help keep an eye out at all hours for treachery… if you can protect me until Villam, I believe I may be able to meet a contact there, dig me out of this dreadful hole I’ve found myself in.”
-
Reynard begins to cough and heave suddenly as you pull aside the Curse, rubbing seawater into his eyes, turning himself again into a loud, wretched wreck of a man. His acting *is* pretty impressive….The Long Boat pulls up alongside the Whispered Curse. You hear shouts and clangs from onboard; the sound of a fight! But the ropes pop down almost immediately. You secure them, and the crew immediately begins to haul you up…
On board The Curse, the crew is currently mopping up their own Koh Tao attack. Men, Swords and Fishmen cover the decks, although less Fishmen than the lot of you had to deal with per capita. It is a similarly one sided-fight…although not over yet, you can tell the crew of the Curse is winning this one very handily.
“Izzat the Baron?” the riggers who pulled you up exclaim, as they move to help the sickened man out of the boat. “Gotta get him to Hugo! You lot coming with, or staying to help us mop up these Fish?”
Then she rolls her shoulders and lets him go. "First though, let's kill some fish." And with that she bounds up the deck and makes a show of rather brutally murdering any Koh Toa who get too close to her, keeping the baron within arm's reach as she carves a bloody path through the fishmen.
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You may choose to follow one of Reynard's requested directives, join Reynard and Irah in the Surgeon's Office, or pursue a particular individual or objective of your own at this time. The fight with the Fishmen is wrapping quickly, and this *is* a time limited activity]
Other than that he carries himself with a certain air of You're Not The Boss Of Me if questioned on the way there. Well, unless that person is the captain, who is the boss of him.
((OOC: And off to bed. If the group is moving about assume Jack is following unless told otherwise))
Urixes, sure enough, finds Victor and Gary fairly quickly in the chaos, almost exactly on the other side of the ship from where he had boarded. "AY, YOU!" They both joyously greet Urixes, huck the Fishmen they'd been stripping clean and dropping overboard to clap him on the back and express their happiness at his safety. It takes a few minutes before they understand what is being asked of them.
"Geno? Nah, he jus' never decided to come aboard, don't you remember? Oh wait...you weren't there the night before, were you?"
"Nah, *he* came day before we left, remember?"
"Right, right! So, Geno was a performer! He had a, uh...a harmonica, et' played itself, a haunted mask...rocks, et' talked to each other? You know, bag of tricks? Came in as part of Baron Reynard's company, last week...we figured, entertainment, ya know?"
"Didn't see him after that last show though?"
"Nah," Victor turns to Urixes, shurgs his shoulders. "We figured he was part of the crew, but we never saw him after that last morning, when you came in. Shame too... impressive bag of tricks!" Gary nods vigorously.
After listening to the Baron:
A strange plot around mysterious map, who's key was calling a large aberration into port. Then followed by unnatural fish monsters trying to finish the job. It's clear, this is more than just a treasure hunt. And so the foe behind it all must be more than a simple politician or lizard folk. No, this must be the work of otherworldly intelligence, capable of hiding in plain sight. This was the work of...Pretty Kitty!
Amid the chaos Arno manages to whisper to the Baron "Luckily for you, I had my own suspicions, and have been keeping tabs on the mastermind every evening since leaving port. Now it's all starting to come together..."
@mrpaku I've been keeping tabs on the cat in my own animal forms for the past few nights, anything I've been able to piece together? Any odd behaviors of the child or her caretakers (the Gov would be around his daughter every evening I bet, since there is no way he would dine with crew or allow her too far from his sight)? Any nuggets of info gleaned that now have a new context? I'd only have about 2 hours a night to do so, but I imagine that wouldn't be nothing.
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"Fair, Gran was always a bit of an asshole."
Two days ago...PK and Constance woke up outside early evening, two of the Edgar brothers sat out on the deck with them. PK pissed on both on their shoes before leaving to scavenge for dinner. It came back to two of the Edgar brothers harassing Constance to eat something...PK hisses and spit at them until they left, clawing the one in the eye for his trouble. Constance pets him until he falls asleep...
Three days ago...The Governor receives a message by falcon just before dinner. It leaves it on the railing before flying off again. It's a scroll, tucked inside a conch shell. After reading the message contained inside, the Governor proceeds to destroy his cabin in a screaming rage. Constance and PK go out on the balcony of the private cabin...tell each other stories, share snacks...cuddle under blankets until the sun rises...
He sidles up to Irah and half-whispers to her, just quiet enough for any observers to miss, "You think I should try to get some information out of Rax then? I am very good at being sly." He is not very good at being sly.
Hugo greets all of you personally and politely as you arrive and deposit Reynard onto the bed. He takes an extra second with Jack: double-checking his hand, asking how he is, about soreness and keeping his bandages clean and dry (Jack has grown on Hugo). It’s only when Reynard begins to hack loudly from the bed that Hugo regains his focus; hurries over and begins to check the Baron for damage.
Oak helps the riggers deposit Reynard into the bed, and they both quickly depart after commending you all on your save. Arno quietly shares vital intelligence into Reynard’s ear. Irah, however, stands at the foot of the bed, nostrils flaring, eyes glaring, arms crossed. She stares expectantly, aggressively at Baron Reynard, as Jack whispers something into her ear. The Baron, after having his eyes and tongue checked, and Hugo having moved on to checking his pulse, finally returns her stare.
“…oh, please come on now,” Reynard huffs, the first time you’ve heard him come close to something like annoyance. “You wield that anchor, wear those tattoos, and you think I came by your identity by some sort of foul means? Your anchor, and what you did with it, marks you as much as *my hat* does, my lady. Why do you think I sought your services in the first place?”
“The same goes for all of you, in the interest of full disclosure…I sought information on every person in this room, as I became aware of their intention to serve aboard the Whispered Curse. Because you were not one of Mitchum’s puppets…you were not one of Rax’s playthings. You were, each of you, an unknown factor.”
Hugo closes his eyes and shakes his head, attempting to brush off this conversation. He is checking Reynard’s legs for proper blood flow. “…I suppose, simply continue to pretend I am not here…” he tells the room.
[MEANWHILE…ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHIP (URIXES)]
As Victor and Gary bid Urixes good luck and return to their duties, Urixes goes to make his way back to the Surgeon’s Office. He hasn’t gotten more than about five feet before a familiar Lizard man, his sword dripping fish blood, cuts across the deck and nearly bumps into him.
“Excussssse me…ah, it’ssss you! I wasss hoping I would bump into you, friend!” Rax pulls up close, into whisper distance. “You wasss one of the onesss who ssssaved the Baron, yessss? Tell me what happened out there, friend?”
He waves around you both. "Assss you can ssssee, they're already mopping clean the deck... I heard you ssssay fortunate...am I to undersssstand you were able to recover the Baron in good health?"
Then her eyes grow serious. "Now explain. I came for treasure, and this job is rapidly hitting the point in considering the wisdom of swimming back to port. A ship needs to pull together, and this one is pulling apart"
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"You want treasure?" He laughs at Irah. "Oh, there's treasure, Miss Irah. There is much treasure to be had." He looks around at the assemblage. "But...this...the power struggle occuring now...is all about nothing so simple as gold and jewels. The map is not just a map. It's part of a key...a key to the Heart of the Expanse."
"You want your treasure, Irah Hullbreaker? I will show you treasure. My own concerns are that the keys to the kingdom don't fall into the wrong hands." He looks at Irah will a sternness, mixed with sincerity, she hadn't seen there before. "Have I explained myself clearly?"
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"I have a lot of exxxxperience with mossst things out in the Expanssse. Again...the Koh Tao jussst remind me of ssssucker fissssh." He mimes the next part between his claws. "They sssslip. They sssslide. They wriggle and refussse to hold ssstill. But... eventually..." He claps his claws together. "....have a good day, Urixxxesss!" Rax smiles at you again, and departs swiftly.
Reynard sighs. He lies back in the bed and runs his fingers over his temples. Hugo takes this opportunity to depart. Reynard carefully weighs his next words.
"I believe...yes, I believe I've said quite enough for now. Quite enough. Perhaps I was wrong." He looks at Irah. "...I believe compensation was discussed, for your silence? I don't want this information to fall into the wrong hands but obviously..." He laughs sadly. "Perhaps you will fall in with Mitchum. Perhaps Rax. Perhaps not. Perhaps they will speak more plainly with you than I have."
"What may I pay you, in hopes that you keep this conversation between us?"
Irah looks more than a little irritated as she says this, some of her braids moving on their own.
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"Perhaps, in time, you will learn the truth behind my concerns for yourself. It has taken me thirty years, to learn the whole of it. But I have no time to sit here and explain myself to someone who has threatened, bullied, and forced themself upon me. I owe you nothing. And I have enough enemies without inviting my own, ma'am."
Hmm.
"50, not a 100. I'll keep your silence as long as doing so harms neither you nor me nor Jack. And probably Oak too, but he's a tough boy. And in return for the discount... Think a bit more favourably of me. You might owe me nothing, but that didn't mean we can't talk business of necessary"
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"We can consider that absolutely a deal, Irah Hullbreaker." He goes to shake your hand, signifying the unofficial arrangement. "You...you have no reason to believe this, of course. One day soon...we may talk of your "business of necessity". Until then... please understand that I don't speak of certain matters because I have friends of my own to protect."
"Oh...your money? Well, obviously I don't have it on me. I just spent the last two weeks at sea! When we reach Villam, I assure you, I will fulfill my end of the bargain."
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
Through her link to said bird, Irah peers at whoever knocking on the door
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((OOC: I'm picturing him sitting on a bedside, dangling his feet, elbows on knees and chin in hands, grinning at the two))
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