Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
3rd of Waxing Winter - 7th of Waning Winter, 2158 AE
Our ragtag band, thrust together by being given the same cabin aboard the Spring Blossom, are working together to figure out the source of a sickness that has befallen many people aboard the ship. Initially splitting up, they have now met up outside the ship's kitchens with Sillo, Jojen's cook acquaintance, where they share what they have discovered - namely that the sickness is contracted through ingestion.
Suspecting something nefarious might be happening in the kitchens, Vala and John carefully open the doors to peek inside, where they see cooks at work, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as they can tell. The group discusses possible plans, including smuggling Vala into the kitchen in a barrel to spy, but they decide to be up-front first. They knock on the door and explain to the cook that they're looking for possible sources of the illness and would like to check around the kitchen. At first, the cook is offended that they think there might be something wrong with his food, but he agrees that a search is for the best and allows them in.
They search around the kitchen a bit, asking some questions, until Sillo informs them that she's found an empty barrel that may have contained some sort of tainted food. She can't be certain without finding one that still has food in it. So, they set off for the hold - after a side-trip to find a cleric to help heal people, and encountering the elderly High Priest Grumlock who is already working to do that, accompanied by a young priest, but he expresses there's a limit to what he can do with his divine magic.
The group makes their way to the hold, picking up the quartermaster on their way so so that they can't be accused of any wrongdoing. As they head down into the hold, they hear a strange sound, and follow their ears to find a huge human in a bearskin cloak helping himself to a barrel of apples. After they establish that he isn't a threat - he just came down here to get away from all the people - he introduces himself as Conrad, and he joins them in their search of the barrels. With Sillo telling them what to look for, they begin finding crates and barrels of tainted food - and I'Un notices that all of the containers with a problem have the same merchant's mark on them.
They are concerned that someone has been poisoning the food, so they decide to set a watch. Conrad, Vala, and John hide in the hold while I'Un and Jojen accompany the quartermaster up to the captain's cabin to explain what they found and get a message sent out saying that the tainted food has been found and there won't be anymore problems - the hope being that this will lure any poisoners down to the hold. When the captain is told which merchant's barrels were tainted, she becomes frustrated because she had purchased them at a price that she knew was too good. However, she thanks them for their help, and gives permission for the announcement to be sent out.
While waiting for word to spread, I'Un and Jojen pay another visit to the High Priest and ask him about cleansing the tainted food, getting a promise from him to take care of it tomorrow. They then join the others in the hold to put all the contaminated food in one place so it can be easily accessed the next day.
Jojen and I'Un once again leave the other three to lurk in the hold while they head to the top deck. Here they keep a vigil for anything suspicious - in particular, they've heard about a dark-cloaked figure climbing around the rigging at night.
In the hold, John, Vala, and Conrad take turns keeping watch the whole night through. Though they are ready for trouble, none arrives. Up on deck, however, a little after dark, while Jojen is dozing, I'Un spots his quarry - a cloaked figure running around up in the rigging about the masts, avoiding the sailors who are working up there. I'Un quickly climbs up and calls out to the figure, who pauses to listen, but turns and runs off when I'Un expresses a wish to speak with them. I'Un tries to follow, but trips and falls - from close to 100 feet above the deck. He does manage to hook his leg through a coil of rope as he begins his fall, but it slows his descent only a little as it unwinds.
Down on the deck, Jojen awakens and sees his falling friend. In the split-second he has, he leaps to his feet and times a tackle for just before I'Un would hit the deck. Manages to break the speed a little and absorb a good chunk of the impact as the two crash to the deck. Sailors come running from all directions. I'Un is unconscious, and Jojen is barely holding on, but he has enough presence of mind to treat I'Un's wounds enough to bring him back from the edge of death. The sailors then help them back to their cabin.
In the morning, they're still the worse for wear as Vala and John return to report an absence of poisoners. After catching up a little, they find the High Priest and spend some hours getting all the food cleansed. After that is done, Vala heads back to their cabin and chats a bit with Lord Krandig, while John accompanies Jojen to report to the captain. Jojen leaves after telling the captain that the problem is taken care of, but John remains behind to ask the captain to dinner - an attempt at flirting that falls flat on its face. She barely even comments on how young he is before telling him to just get out of her cabin.
Over the next few days, John tries to find someone else to flirt with, but his disastrous meeting with the captain has eaten away at his confidence, and he returns to the cabin sulkily, worried he's turning into his cousin Will who can't keep it together around women. He tries to talk to Vala - who he thinks is a man - about his problems, but she doesn't seem too inclined to help. When she lowers her cloak's hood for the first time, Will falls out of his bunk, hardly able to believe they've been sharing a room with a woman this whole time. John still isn't entirely convinced Vala is a woman though, in spite of Wills insistence.
They also encounter Conrad again, who was kicked out of the hold in spite of him being confident that he had a perfect hiding spot where he could avoid being around people. Taking pity on him, they invite him to join them in their cabin. It's cramped in there, but at least it's better that some other places on the ship.
The 7th of Waxing Winter is I'Un's 25th birthday, but he's still feeling ashamed of his fall from the mast and can't bring himself to tell anyone.
Another month passes, with varying weather, but still no sign of land in sight. As they're waking up on the 7th of Waning Winter, there's a resounding boom as the ship trembles. Shortly afterwards they begin hearing screams. Everyone rushes out of the cabin, heading for the deck to see what's happening. I'Un and Vala grab their escape-barrels and, seeing this, Conrad pulls a door from another cabin to use as a raft - terrifying the already frightened people inside.
They reach the deck to see a massive sea creature - something part-way between a fish and a snake - has wrapped itself around the ship, with its head on one side - accompanied by clawed, fin-like appendages holding onto the ship - and the tail on the other. The group watches in horror as the tail sweeps across the deck, knocking several people overboard. The deck is crowded with people trying to fight the creature off, or flee it.
After casting an eye around the horizon and seeing that there is still no sign of land, Conrad charges in at the tail, unleashing all his pent up rage at being stuck aboard this ship with so many people crowded around him. Seeing the sweeping tail sending people into the ocean, Vala and I'Un opt to go attack the head instead, while Jojen and John stay in the middle of the ship, casting spells and shooting arrows. With astounding luck, the group manages to avoid attacks from the sea monster while landing their own. With the aid of the others on deck, they are able to drive the creature off the side of the ship. It drops back into the water and swims off, trailing blood.
And that brings and end to this game session. Check back next week to find out what happens next in Episode 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment