Dark Paths and Wandered Roads: Mysterious Tides #5

2023-09-04

Mysterious Tides #5 - Nilas

A retelling of Bay of Spirits #5 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 005 - Nilas

Meeting with Master Taber Sinann

230821

The events over the past day were starting to catch up to young Nilas Orkan. The young priest, just around 21 years of age, had never encountered situations like this before. A fight with zombified people turned monsters, and then an assassin trying to take his life. The thrill and rush of it all energized the young Callast, and he wasn't sure if he should be excited while fighting for his life, but the thrill of adventure was something he was finding that he enjoyed.

Nilas was fortunate enough to take out the assailant that was in Callast Zale's abode. He had healed her with his powers gifted from Calla and the Laird's son, Taber Sinann and his guards took her into custody. Nilas was furious, for not only did the attacker, who was a woman, violate the Shrine of the Sea, but she was blatantly lying and sneering while in captivity. She also had poison upon her person, and in Nilas's eyes, you can't get much lower than that.

Two other assailants attacked his friends on Jens Marko's ship, the Kittiwake, but they had managed to escape. After grabbing a meal and a brief discussion, the companions all agreed that they should stick together at least in pairs until this matter was resolved. Jens and Brother Bob would stay on the Kittiwake and Ragnar would join Nilas at the Shrine to the Sea.

Thankfully the evening passed quietly and the group congregated at the Shrine in the morning. The companions all agreed that they would talk to the young priestess of Enibria, Carmel, who works at the Inn about joining them in their next adventure when they leave Piper's Quay.

Nilas explained to the group that he has difficulty lying to people, and that was drilled into him by both his father and Callast Xern in his training. This was mainly because Brother Robert expressed distrust of the Lords and Nobles, and that he did not want their only item or clue, the token coin, to be taken from them. Brother Bob and Nilas came to an agreement, so long as Nilas didn't know where it was, he couldn not tell anyone, and thus avoid lying. He did intend to describe the token to the Taber Sinann, as Nilas has no reason to not trust him and he is also a follower of Calla.

Having resolved the issue with the token, the group again agreed unanimously that they would extend the invitation to young Carmel to join them in their trip once they leave Piper's Quay. After morning rituals and prayers to Calla, Nilas and his friends made their way back to the Breakwater Inn for breakfast.

The place was abuzz and the smell of smoked fish and bread and coffee filled the air. Of course Brother Bob was first to the table, lest anyone receive a good 'fonging' if he didn't fill his belly first thing in the morning. This made Nilas chuckle a bit. He was really starting to take to this new band of fellows he had met. All of them were in their own way, on their own like himself.

While at the Inn they had inquired about Maddie the pirate/privateer woman that had told Nilas of the sunken treasure story with Liam. No one knew where she had been since Nilas last spoke with her, and possibly she may have left port. Nilas was just concerned if Maddie was tied in with the assassins or the tokens or the murder of Ragnar's father. So far signs were showing that she was not involved, which made Nilas a little more at ease. Carmel was giddy at the offer to join NIlas and his companions, so that also was a boon, since they would have another capable person with them who also possessed powers of healing.

Finishing up at the Inn, Nilas and his friends made their way to the Laird's cottage, which was easy to find as it was the largest building in Piper's Quay. Nilas was a bit put off at first however, when they approached the Lodge, the guards held them back at spear point and demanded that they disarm their weapons. Nilas felt offended, as if they were brigands or prisoners. Why, just the night before he had helped save the town and Master Taber was praising him on the shore line. How did things change so much?

Nilas compiled but was not happy to lay down his spear and weapons. He tried to get some information from the guards but they said that they were just following orders and that 'something' had happened. Ragnar, Jens and Brother Bob followed suit and the group was led inside where Master Taber Sinann was waiting for them.

It was not the greeting that Nilas had expected. Taber Sinann was belligerent and clearly upset. He questioned Nilas and his companions as if they were prisoners themselves. There was also an attractive woman in another room who made comments about Nilas and his friends' answers, and it quickly dawned on Nilas that she must have been some type of Diviner who was using magic to detect lies from them. Thankfully, Nilas and his friends were all truthful.

Taber was grilling Nilas and his friends about their whereabouts this past evening, as it seems that the assassin that Nilas captured had died overnight in captivity. Nilas was suspect that it was poison on the prisoner's person, but it could be one of their companions killed her off too, but who knows for sure. Either way about it, Master Taber Sinann was furious about the whole matter.

The woman had made a comment about "wasting her time with these, these, people". Between Taber Sinann's accusations and the woman's comments, it was enough to set Nilas's temper off. First the Lord was accusing them of wrongdoing, and then this woman was talking down upon Nilas and his friends. Lord Sinann grew more upset and challenged Nilas, yelling to him about disrespecting his sister. Well this caught the young Callast off guard and he instantly stepped back in fear, realizing his breach of etiquette.

Nilas apologized and the woman, Lady Sabeen Sinann, stood up from the table and then walked over to Nilas and put her hand upon his chest and leaned into him and smiled. She smelled like flowers and oils he had never smelled before, it was entrancing. She whispered to Nilas, "Keep riling him up, this is actually amusing and I might stick around for a bit"

Nilas looked back at the woman with a side glance. She winked at him and he smiled. A wave of energy and confidence grew in him and the woman put her arm around his neck. Well, he figured, let's rile the Lord up, it is the Lady's wishes.

Nilas fired back comments to Lord Sinann about treating them like prisoners and attempting to arrest them. His bravado was not enough to fire up the lord, as he seemed upset and confused and realized that Nilas and his friends were a good lot of folk. Lady Sabeen grew bored and then kissed Nilas on the cheek before pushing past the guards and leaving her brother. Nilas blushed. This made him feel even more confident, but he turned to watch the lady Sabeen leave, like a saddened child. Nilas shook his head and tried to get himself back into the discussion at hand about the death of the prisoner.

The group shared their information with Taber Sinann and his guards. Nilas told them about the token and described it quite well, but no one could figure out what it meant. Lord Sinann agreed that the death of two men named Rogan was too coincidental for this to be by accident. Lord Sinann was informed that two cloaked figures were seen rowing away in a small boat away from shore. Jens Marko said that they may be able to catch up to them. Nilas and Ragnar Agreed. Brother Bob was busy examining the body of the assassin, make notes of any markings and tattoos and trying to determine how she died. After all of this, Nilas asked Taber Sinann for some supplies for their crew as they would head out and try to capture the fleeing assailants.

Taber agreed to send supplies with them. Their next moves are to get ready to load up the Kittiwake and pick up Carmel and make their way after these assassins.

Session Notes

Here is an in-character retelling of the events from our 5th session of the campaign. I offer players bonus points for writing up in-character session logs and Nilas' player, Mike, takes advantage of this. I definitely enjoy the retelling from the point of view of the players! Thanks Mike!