Next Game: November 15th, 2009, followed by Angus’s birthday dinner!

Reminders:
No games held on November 22nd or November 29th.

Back aboard the Black Drake underway towards her next port, Zyn finishes recopying her spellbook and updates Hanos’s book as well; their contract is complete. Hanos continues to work on a new spell when not helming or sleeping.

After bringing the Drake around close to a star, Captain Tenth says a few words to commit the body of Mr. Gorus to the sky he loved. Shortly afterward, the found lifejammer helm is tossed overboard as well.

The deckhands (Mr. Mourim, Bossun Tessar, deckhand Tallek, and helmsman Drannon) have a theory about defeating the “vampires,” that Sanguine’s power permeates the ship and blesses all their weapons against the unbelieving. Tallek, very superstitious, blames Zyn for bringing bad luck upon the ship in the first place (being a female and all.) When questioned about this by Angus, Telleck takes the opportunity to explain how sailors carry on without female company in the sky through the selective use of a very special barrel (?!) The crew also feels that they should be allowed ashore first on the next port, to be fair. Tallek also seeks out Xax and ask if there’s anything he can do to make his teeth better (he’s lost a few to rot). Xax heals what he can but cannot regrow the missing teeth until his powers mature further.

Ignoring the crew, Zyn asks the captain for a turn on the helm rotation. He sends her to Xax, an act that also prompts her to ask what Xax has stashed under the helm (a portable altar?) Taking a chance, Xax leads Zyn into the chartroom and helps her achieve a meditative state. The act enables both to meet with Xax’s brothers and tell Sanguine’s story. Zyn listens, accepts, and pledges her loyalty. Xax also adds that if she ever leaves, he’ll personally rip the knowledge from her mind before she gets very far.

Zyn Hyetal

Castaway, able deckhand, half-elven mage, prodigy helmsman

Zyn was found adrift lashed to a water barrel after the ship she crewed, the Demeter, was destroyed in a fight with neogi slavers. While appearing to be human, she revealed under scrutiny her half-elven heritage. Her ears had been cut round to better pass as a human because of the reputation of the Elven Imperium and the company she keeps to survive. While elves trust elves and humans trust humans, everyone suspects a half-elf.

After finally gaining enough trust for Xax and Tenth to let Zyn helm the ship, the captain made a discovery. Zyn appears to be a “prodigy helmsman” who can not only push a helm beyond her normal limits but can take control of a helm the way puppet master takes a marionette’s strings; she could fly the ship alone if she wanted. Zyn has also proven to have a head for counting and reconciling debt, the marks of a supply officer or future merchant, as well as seems taken with the teachings of Sanguine.

Captain Tenth

Captain and owner of the Black Drake

Tenth is a tall human used to working hard and expects that his orders will be carried out. As the last of a group of captain who secretly brought goods back and forth to Kaldera, he and those before him were trusted to keep the Forlorn Valley and its inhabitants a secret from the Elven Imperium. An oath is taken before the mast of the Black Drake by each captain who has commanded her to serve the interests of Kaldera in Sanguine’s name.

Now that the prophecy of the Sanguine scroll has come to pass, Tenth has accepted the charge of taking his guests across the known spheres to a new world where Sanguine’s followers can begin anew. While Tenth expects obedience from his crew, he leaves the governing and choice-making of the Last Born to Xax and confers with him on plotting the ship’s course.

Next Game: November 8th, 2009

Reminders:
No games held on November 22nd or November 29th.

Picking up back on Moil Colony, Xax preaches the Sanguine gospel and answers questions. Xax admits during questioning that Sanguine has no home world. Zyn offers to help copy the scroll, practically memorizing it in the process. Bron, the cook and innkeep, is very interested in Sanguine’s teachings. Captain Tenth requests a plate of Bron’s finest meal before considering giving him a berth on board.

Mal and Angus spend some time exploring the local countryside (what there is of a barren, rainswept rock.) Their guide goes with them and mentions the location of a few caves. Borrowing a longboat from Captain Tenth, the three head into the flooded cave, finding only a mysterious glowing light under the water. Mal drops a pot tied to a rope into the water. Something takes the pot and drags it away from the boat, and between that and Angus trying to reel the rope in, the boat is dragged further into the cave before whatever snatched the pot bit the end of the rope off. Panicked, the guide drops an oar. Having lost the pot and one oar, Mal and Angus exit the cave and follow a couple of deck hands up to the inn in town after returning the longboat.

Here ya go, click for full size.

Next Game: November 1st, 2009

Reminders:
Tim will not be playing November 1st.
No games held on November 22nd or November 29th.

A brief note on who’s where on board. Crew assignment on the Black Drake: ship’s crew in the forward crew berth, Zyn and Mal in aft crew berthing, Xax meditates in the chart room (the geode is hidden under the ship’s helm to mask its mystic signature), Angus sleeps in the cargo deck hold area, and Hanos sleeps in the helmsman’s study on the main deck.

Zyn feels rested but still untrusted and out of sorts. Having lost her pattern book when the neogi attacked the Demeter, Hanos conditionally allows her to study his own book and barters with her to add her spells to his book of intricacies in exchange for recopying her own. Since the captain (nor Xax) will let her near the ship’s helm, she feels she has nothing better to do in the meantime.

Okay, this is ridiculously overpriced but still looks fun.

Just when you thought it couldn’t be any easier to walk into a Forgotten Realms general store and pick up a spare Wand of Wonder, at least this beverage doesn’t claim to ACTUALLY improve role-playing skills.

That said, I must have an Illithid Brain Juice! Check out the limited edition Dungeons & Dragons Spellcasting Soda.