CAMPAIGN: Queen Arkwyn's Crown (D&D5e)

During the brief intermission where he is dropping off things a memory flashes in Hyne's mind.

Climbing the temple into the rafters. Clinging to the boarding that lined the interior of the dome as a scorpion below hunts the hunter. He had barely heard of her, but at that moment his mind fixated on how he would escape. He could tell that this was somebody hired, somebody who had made it business to seek him in the temple and all over the city; she had a simple goal. He could trust that her intentions would mean a fight should he allow himself to be noticed and caught.

It was one of the few moments in the last few days where felt truly in his element. Where there was finally somebody other than himself he could trust: the enemy -- for his enemy then was predictable and reliable to count on to do what he expected even it meant danger to him. This had not been true for a lot of the players in the politics and war that called themselves his ally. Even Oxnar, a Paladin of Pelor that had seemingly just been a hired sword outside the trappings that defined Srappa's political interests, had ratted him and his order out to the Duke's people.

It is a horrible feeling to constantly acknowledge such a persistent loneliness in the field like this. A gem of wisdom passed down from Liontribe's history of military rings personally: Nobody has lived the worst of war until they know their enemy better than they know their allies

Then a memory of a desperate voice, one that is like innocence lost replays in his mind: But that's just what Marglov told me...he had some great plan.. some secret trick to save me



Perhaps Oxnar will soon realize as well.

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

When he emerges back to the deck, Hyne can see that the wind has calmed just slightly. The crew is still busy with the sails, but the wind seems less dangerous that it had a few minutes before.

Pondering deeply, Hyne goes looking for his room.



Down the stairs, under the deck, he finds more stairs that continue down to a storage deck. The front half of this middle deck seems to be a dining room, a kitchen, and an armory.

The back half of the middle deck is crew quarters. There are 12 doors, 6 on each side of a narrow hall. Nobody ever told Hyne which one was his.

The doors are sliding doors, all but one currently latched into the fully open position, so Hyne can see into the rooms.

Hyne can see into the rooms. The first 10 rooms each contain 2 bunks each. The rooms are very small. Some of them are full of personal items, some have clothes hanging up in them, and some seem empty. No people are in any of the bunk rooms at the moment.

The last two doors at the very back of the hall, up against the back of the ship are different. They are obviously middens. The one on the left is open and empty. The wash-basin is gleaming clean, and there is a pile of thick almanacs in a box next to the toilette. The one on the right is occupied. The door is not properly latched, and slides halfway open each time the ship rocks. From inside, Hyne can hear the sound of someone wretching.

The smell in the back of the hallway is unusually pleasant, like a garden of fresh flowers, and the usual unpleasant smells one might expect from a ship's midden are conspicuously absent.

Hyne looks around.. he never laid claim to any of these rooms. He decides to lay his camping supplies that have the sword and axe with it against the hallway wall for the time being while still keeping the bow and quiver with him including the magical arrows he purchased. If somebody were to decide to take the sword and try to murder anyone, he'll simply shoot them.

He sniffs at the peculiar smell before hearing the strange noises coming from the lavatory room. He decides to leave the man in peace before making his return to the deck with a lighter load and with fewer objects that are likely to catch the lightning.

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Over the next few hours there is much work to be done on deck.

Finally, well past midnight, the rain stops. Not long after that the wind begins to calm, and patches of stars begin to become visible through gaps in the clouds. There will probably be at least 3 or 4 more hours before sunrise.

Captain Wizard Crawford announces; "Good work, Lads and Lasses! I believe the worst is behind us, and we have smooth sailing ahead!"

The exhausted crew seems very relieved.

Hyne can see that not counting the Captain and Himself, there seem to be 19 crew members on deck. 9 of them are merfolk.

"I need 7 volunteers to stay on deck with me for the rest of the night." continues Crawford. "The rest of you can go below deck and rest. That's an order. Tip, you are now the acting quartermaster. Make sure our new recruits all get a bunk"

"Aye-Aye, Captain!" Tip replies, smiling and Saluting.

Some of the most exhausted pirates head directly for the stairs. A couple of them approach the captain to volunteer for the long shift. Five of the mer-folk just stand there, while one of the younger ones appears to be translating the captain's words to their native tongue.

Hyne scrapes the deck with a broom, forcing the bristles to meet between where the wall meets the floor as he does. He looks up when it's reported that some volunteers are needed. He raises an arm, "Aye, I'll stick around a bit t'make up some lost time."

If there's going to be any surprises it would be tonight. It'll be a chance to keep a look out for anything alarming.

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Hyne, three crewmembers, and two merfolk volunteer. That makes 6.

After a moment, Tip re-emerges from the stairs, dragging a human with messy long black hair and a very pale face. His eyes are bloodshot. He looks badly hung-over.

"Dirk volunteers too!" Tip announces cheerily before going back below deck. Dirk's shoulders slump, but he seems to trying be standing up straight in front of the captain.

As the night goes on, the Captain is proved right. The sailing is smooth.

Hyne keeps a look out for anything alarming, but does not spot anything of concern.

The clouds continue to clear, and soon there is a spectacular array of beautiful stars filling the cold night sky.

Meleander emerges from the aft cabin, and takes a position near the front of the ship, making sightings on stars with a small brass optical instrument and writing down notes on a small tablet.

As the sky begins to redden just before sunrise, Captain Crawford approaches Hyne, and says; "Stormeel! I have been watching you work, and I am glad my instincts about you were right, you are a fine sailor, and I can tell you are a top notch look-out. I'll bet you've got eyes like a hawk!"

"Say, were you able to learn anything interesting from that sorry-looking dwarf who's sleeping like a baby on the floor of my cabin?"

The first light of the sun breaks in the east.

The coastline is faintly visible to the south and the south-west.

A tiny island breaks the line of the horizon to the south-east

A few sails are visible far away to the west and south-west. All of them are much too far away to make out what flags they might be flying

Hyne smiles at the praise given, "Not my first time on a ship." But the question about the state of the depressed dwarf unnerves him. He wraps both of his hands around the broom as if keeping himself braced for impact. He gives a bit of a sigh and explains, lowering his voice, "I don't want to be so open about a fellow's problems when he's down, but I guess seeing someone on that 'suicide ship' owes anyone an explanation. I'm just hazarding a guess but there might be something wrong with those Pelors back in the city to want to put him on that ship."

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Captain Crawford nods, and scratches his chin. "Very strange. I know those one-way funeral voayages are not so strange among the Umbarlee worshipers" He glances around to see if any of the merfolk are in earshot, "Worship drowning, they do" he whispers with a little shiver. "But I don't understand what the Pelor angle is. I don't know that much about them."

The sun continues to rise. The remains of the storm are visible to the south over the land, but out here the air is crisp and clear and fresh smelling, and it looks to be a sunny day with favorable winds.

The Yanorin is getting closer to the small island. It seems to have high cliffs, and is a bright white color.

A few more sails are visible back in the direction of Srappa, perhaps those that left the harbor in the early morning.

The hung-over man that Tip called "Dirk" had seemed to try to work hard in spite of his state for much of the night, but now he is leaning against a mast with one arm wrapped around a rope, as if he was pretending to work, but fell asleep standing up. The Captain hasn't said anything yet.

The two mer-folk who worked the night shift have been occasionally jumping into the sea, swimming under the boat, and climbing up the opposite side. This seems to re-invigorate them a bit.

He sighs, "Should be that we won't have to bother with it anymore once we're on land." He looks past the captain and nods to the island set against the vivid backdrop of the waking sun, trying to pick words he thinks a pirate might say to describe it, "Ey, that's a pretty painting morning brought, don't you think?"

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

The captain smiles. "A pretty painting indeed!" That's called 'Slime Rock'. We'll be waiting there for the Flying Eye Goddess to catch up to us.

Meleander is looking at the island with a compact pair of binoculars. He turns when he hears the name. "My charts have this outcropping labelled as 'Two Bird Island'"

The Yanorin steadily approaches the island, which looks taller, and rockier, and whiter as they get closer.

A few more crew members come up from below decks. The mood on the ship is good. The crew largely seems to be away from the storm, away from the troubles of the city, and out on the open sea.

Dirk is now actually snoring, still semi-upright against the mast. A couple crewmembers are debating what to do with him.

Hyne reels at the name 'Slime Rock'. His expression is particularly troubled, "Who's the fellow that gave the island such a vulgar name?" Of all of the curse words that angered or drunken mouths have muttered, 'slime' is the worst of them. They say that it even means all of the curse words all at once.

He looks over, back, then juts his thumb back at Meleander, "I like Two Bird Island."

Finally, he asks, "Has the Flying Eye Goddess made it through okay after that bad run-in with the suicide vessel?"

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

The captain nods, and says "I'm sure Mr Skoth will bring her through safely now that the storm is past." There is a bit of forced cheerfulness in his voice.

The Yanorin continues closer to Two Bird Rock. There is no obvious harbor of any kind, and in fact the waters close to the island look choppy and dangerous, as if there are sharp rocks just under the surface. The small island has sheer cliffs, straight up out of the waves, to a rough and uneven tabletop-mesa thickly coated with white guano. Flocks of birds are now visible all around it.

"I shall fetch a hat." declares Meleander, folding up his binoculars and stowing them in an inner pocket of his fine coat.

The debate over what to do with Dirk seems to be settling with dunking him in the sea before sending him below to sleep. One of the merfolk is already in the water to make sure the prank doesn't end in a drowning.

Captain Crawford finally takes notice, and tugs on his beard as if deciding, whether and how to intervene.

As the island quickly approaches view, Hyne shakes his head with a swift yet gentle motion and a pause in his mopping effort, "Slime Island seems more accurate upon further study."

He moves closer to the railing to get a better view of the rocks protruding from the sea. He figures that the ship will come to a stop soon as there is increasingly very little it can go continuing in this direction. He turns when debate grows stronger about the fate of a lazing crew member, but assumes the captain will settle it quickly.

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"That's enough" says Crawford sternly. "Put him in a bunk, and do it without soaking the bunk with saltwater. Discipline is my job, and I'll see to it he works his fair share when he wakes up."

By the time Hyne can get a good look at the rocks, the call of the flocks of birds can be heard, some screeching, some cawing, and some singing.

The rocks do indeed seem to be as sharp and dangerous as they are numerous.

"Stormeel!" calls the captain. "Take lookout over the front bow. Call out when you see blue starfish on the rocks!"

Many more crew members are now on deck. The captain orders them to drop the oars and shorten the sail for a slower and more controlled approach.

Hyne walks up onto the front of the ship as directed. He gazes to the rocks to try to spot any spongy blue creatures as described. He isn't sure why he is looking for starfish in particular. Maybe they plan on catching some?

---

<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb