Dark Paths and Wandered Roads: Mysterious Tides #2

A retelling of Bay of Spirits #2 from Callast Nilas Orkan's point of view. On-going GURPS adventures set in the beautiful and evocative Bay of Spirits setting by Randy M. at Roan Studios.

GURPS: Mysterious Tides
Session 002 - Nilas

From Nilas' Point of View

June 26, 2023

Callast Nilas had bid his friends farewell after an evening of food and drink and a very interesting evening with Mattie, the vagabond seawoman with the tattoo upon her neck. Mattie shared stories of lore of the Bay Area with Nilas as well as telling her that she is trying to put together a crew to join this guy "Liam" in a hunt for sunken treasure.

Nilas enjoyed catching up with Jens Marko. Being older now, he can see why his brother was close friends with Jens. It was nice to have a connection to his past and to his brother through Jens. Nilas was still unsure of Jens's other two companions, the rugged wild man Ragnar and the elusive Brother Bob. Nilas figured though if Jens were friends with them, that should be good enough for him.

Looking to save some of his money, Callst Nilas decided it best for him to stay in the vacant Shrine to Calla. Afterall, being a visiting Callast he had that right to use the Shrine, and the current occupying Callast was away.

The sailor woman Mattie made an advance to Nilas, but he wasn't sure how to react. He was excited but scared at the same time. He did not know much on how to deal with women on that level, especially one so brazen as Mattie. He bedded down for the night at the Shrine, worrying a bit at night, but after an hour or so, he realized that she probably fell asleep somewhere after her night of drinking.

Storms passed through in the morning and Callast Nilas was excited. He loved the roll of thunder and the crash of lightning. The fury of the storm invigorated him and he sat up and went outside to enjoy Calla's gift to him. After a bit, Nilas worked on cleaning up the shrine, trying to organize it and stash away all of the empty bottles of rum from Callast Zale.

Once his morning chores were done to his content, Nilas decided to make his way back to the Windbreak Inn for some breakfast. The smell of fish and smoked meats permeated the air and made his mouth water. To his contentment he saw Jens Marko and his two friends, Ragnar and Brother Bob with him. Jens waved for Nilas to join them and he sat down.

They talked for a bit. Ragnar was wet, dirty and cold. He must have slept outside and got caught in the storm. Bob was a local and stayed with his family. Nilas shared his tales from Mattie with his newfound companions and about Liam's tale of sunken treasure. As Ragnar was talking about not finding any clues to the death of his father Rogan, the Bar maid Maricia overheard and talked about the death of Rogan, but it was another Rogan, a barrel-maker on the outskirts of the village. To Nilas, it sounded like this Rogan was also murdered. The companions decided to pay the man's widow Eleacia, a visit. The bar keep sent some food along with Jens for them to give to the widow.

The group traveled to the home of the widow of Ragnar Naaj. Ragnar first attempted to make contact with the woman, but his mannerisms and appearance startled her and things got off to a rough start. Nilas jumped in, recalling how he had seen Callast Xern handle some disputes back in Gawl Hole. Using a calmer tone and some diplomacy, and his faith, Nilas was able to win the woman over, who also was a follower of Calla.

Nilas spoke to the woman and convinced her to share her story about how she went to town to purchase goods and came home to find her home ransacked and her husband killed. Nilas spent a good amount of time talking to Eleacia and calming her spirits. He even called upon a power-prayer (spell) for her from Calla, a spell of warmth, and hoped that this action would serve as a sign to the woman that Calla shares in her grief and hopes to warm her spirit and give her some peace. Nilas also shared with the widow his own story of tragedy and how he has offered to help his friend find justice for his father's death.

While Nilas kept the widow Eleacia comforted, his friends searched the home. After some work, Brother Bob discovered some special coin or token wedged in between some barrels back in the work shed. Jens made contact with a woman and her daughters. One of the daughters told him that some men dressed in black that were here at Rogan's house and may be the killers. Nilas thinks that the death of both Rogan's is not a coincidence. He also thinks that he heard Jens comment that the men in black went back off ot the highlands.

The group now plans to work together on this mystery and see what they can divine about it. Brother Bob plans to go to the Abbey of Enibria for guidance and maybe a clue as to what the special coin/token means. Nilas wants to help but knows that they need more information. Nilas also doesn't want to forget about the tale of the sunken treasure he heard about. So much to do, Nilas and his friends now have some work and planning to do.

Session Notes

Here is an in-character retelling of the events from our 2nd session of the campaign. I offer players bonus points for writing up in-character session logs, and here is the first one of the campaign! Thanks Mike!