Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 24
February 2, 2013
Come Sail Away
Session Summary
The damage to the wharf district is horrible. Aragon, Bodi and Snargash spend the rest of the afternoon helping folks. Many shops, piers and boats were severely damaged. In a strange turn of events, the normally self centered citizens of Riddleport all come together to help clean up the mess. Dead bodies litter the harbor where many unsuspecting folk were violently washed out to sea and drown. A large contingent of wounded have descended upon the Gold Goblin looking for help as promised from Snargash.
Those giving a helping hand do what they can then retire for the night after the Gold Goblin is secured. In the morning, there is an even larger crowd of wounded citizens in the Goblin's courtyard, having heard that there would be food and healing available there. Hulger, the gruff Halfling cook whips up pot upon pot of Bunyip stew and as much Reefclaw as he can boil. Fortunately there was a bountiful catch from the previous days flooding.
Snargash unofficially heads up the cleanup and emergency services on the docks. Aethel, Aragon and Kwava puzzle over the Dark Elf and her cryptic journal, eventually deciding to go to a local enchanter looking for a Scroll of Gift of Letters. Bodi and Guy work stick around the Goblin, cleaning up and taking turns guarding the prisoner.
Some of the book seems to be a ledger of sorts kept by someone whos name is Depora that lists all of the money Saul had been funneling to her, along with several notes of what that money was spent on (mostly alchemical supplies, spell components, and exotic food to be shipped to a place called Devil’s Elbow—these shipments were always made at night and by different sailors from whom Depora was careful to hide her true nature).
Most of the book seems to be a list of all of the strange and exotic weather effects and other unusual phenomena that have occurred in Riddleport over the past several months. All of these, including the Blot itself, are indicated in the journal as “strange and eldritch side effects from the charging of the glyphs on Devil’s Elbow,” and that “It would do to further refine the glyphs to minimize such blatant displays lest the enemy receive further warning of the impending apocalypse than we wish to reveal.”
The journal goes on to theorize that as soon as the “glyphs are activated and the star is plucked,” the strange side effects such as the shadow in the sky should vanish immediately. The last journal entry indicates that Depora suspects that this event could occur as soon as "tonight"
Bodi and Guy take notice of the Elves translation of the journal and add that they have heard of Devil's Elbow before. Devil's Elbow is an island not far from Riddleport, near the mainland along the shipping lanes but just enough outside of it to not be a problem. There was a failed settlement there years ago called Witchlight and occasionally pirates are known to use it as a temporary base. The group discusses the potential meaning of the new information brought to light. Kwava wants to go back to his camp so he can send a magical message back to his superiors.
Indeed, it was the effects of the relatively small (but still destructive) tsunami that hit Riddleport after the star crashed that have been on the minds of the city’s denizens recently. When the wave surged ashore, dozens of ships were beached, with several washed inland and left stranded as far as Wharf Street. Many of Riddleport’s piers were ruined, and several of the smaller buildings along the waterfront were damaged. Over the days following the event, the crimelords and overlord of Riddleport mobilized in a way rarely seen in the lawless city, working together to put out fires, save citizens who were swept out into the harbor, and kill angry and disoriented reefclaws, sharks, bunyips, and other dangerous sea creatures that suddenly found themselves stranded in the city streets.
In the aftermath, the cost of the damage to buildings and structures rises into the tens of thousands of gold, and the total number slain or swept out to sea by the wave may never be known (thanks to the city’s inefficient census practices), although the more conservative estimates place the total number of victims between 150 to 200. Yet despite the disaster, Riddleport is quick to forget the trauma. Those who weren’t directly harmed by the wave have little compassion for those who do, while those who were affected are universally quick to turn the event from disaster into opportunity. In the days and weeks to follow, the chaos on the waterfront makes for ripe grounds for smugglers, looters, and other violent criminals. Ships that were further out to sea return to find many of their competitors no longer in a position to work against them, and the balance of power among the various pirate captains has shifted dramatically (not that many outside of that violent subculture would notice much difference).
The next day, when Kwava returns, he says he is to head to Devil's Elbow to search for more Drow and see what they were actually up to. He relays that he believes that his superiors may have known it was Drow he was tracking but had not shared that information with him before. The Crew agrees to join him on his trip to the nearby island. Shayla agrees to stay at the Gold Goblin and look after it and try to get it reopened.
It seems that the new day brings a new greed to Riddleport. This new greed continues to grow among Riddleport’s citizens—a greed for skymetal. After the initial shock of the falling star and its impact subsided, the implications of the event sunk in. Skymetal, in any of its seven known varieties, is a valued and much sought-after commodity in any society, but with Riddleport’s Gas Forges being one of Varisia’s only public operations capable of smelting such difficult metals, the convenience of the fallen star has many of Riddleport’s groups eager for a chance at the easy money.
Yet the damage done to Riddleport’s waterfront and to many of the ships owned by prominent locals has retarded the burgeoning Skymetal Rush. As the days drag on, the race to be the first to reach Devil’s Elbow slowly takes the city by storm, with those who don’t have access to ships scrambling to secure deals with those who do.
Several days have passed since the star fell from the sky, as the locals have been referring to it as,a nd no ships have presented themeslves for the Crew to book passage on.
Bodi finds an old contact, Axelrod Gunnarson, who is first mate on a ship called the Flying Cloud. The ship was not in port when the tsunami hit and should be arriving back in Riddlport in about a weeks time. He makes a deal to transport the Crew and their gear out to the island once the ship arrives. Axel tells the Crew the tales he knows of the island, referring to the abandoned settlement of years past and the Siren that was known to live there, now thought dead.
"Yaris, the man who led the settlement there, supposedly fell in love with the Siren. Fallen under her evil spell no doubt. The others on the island eventually found out and killed the Siren. Yaris then jumped from one of the lighthouses, killing himself. Both of their ghosts are still said to haunt the island to this day, which is why no further settlement was made there. There's also supposed to be giant centipedes there as well. Yuck!"
The thought of giant centipedes makes Aragon shudder.
Continuing Story Summary
The group spends the next several days preparing supplies for the trip. They plan to purchase enough supplies to camp on the island for at least a weeks time. News quickly spreads through town that Avery Sleyg, one of the more prominent crimelords has just had one of his ships return to port. He had a crew and supplies ready and hidden near the docks so no sooner had the ship tied its mooring lines, they had loaded and set sail again, being the first group to head off to Devil's Elbow.
Slyeg's departure gets the docks buzzing and work on repairing the other ships kicks into high gear. Clegg Zincher makes a public statement saying that he will pay handsomely for the use of the next available ship and will even beat any previous offers the captain's may have had. It is even rumored that Overlord Cormarcky has thrown his (pirate) hat into the ring and is attempting to make arrangements to send a crew to the island.
Talk of possible sabotague is passed around the Gold Goblin crew, but quickly dismissed as it becomes clear that the protection on the ships being repaired is quite serious and probably not worth the effort. Overlord Cromarcky decrees that the next available sailing ship is to be surrendered to the City of Riddleport for official City business.
The following morning there is rumor on the streets that a pirate ship, the Dark Pearl, had arrived during the night. The crew never came ashore though some said they heard the sounds of a struggle on board right after making landfall. Shortly thereafter, some supplies were seen being loaded onto the ship and it quickly set sail under the early morning sky, several hours before sunup.
