Our ship arrived in port late in the day. So Captain sara offered to allow us to stay on board until morning. This seemed wisest to all three of us passengers. In the morning, Vod and I headed to the gates to register for permission to gain access to the city proper. Apparently, no one is allowed into the city proper without providing evidence of what business they have there and with whom. Tifa joined us in this endeavor as she wished to explore the shops in the main part of the city. Initially, Tifa attempted to register to visit the Temple of Peony on the strength of her friendship with the Bishop of Thay, but the guard dismissed the idea of her being friends to such a personage out of hand (I later discovered that Tifa was indeed a friend of the Bishop). Upon observing this, I added Vod and Tifa to my request to visit the Temple of save-K’Nor. I was confident that my superiors in the church would extend their provenance to anyone for whom I requested. We were informed that it would be several hours before our paperwork would be processed
.Since neither Vod nor I had any business until the paperwork was produced and the docks appeared to be inhabited by many unsavory sorts, we agreed to accompany Tifa, whose message was directed to someone near the docks. However, it turned out that the message was intended for the Prelate of the Temple of Peony here in Chirapher. So, Tifa was given papers to enter the city and go to that Temple. She convinced her contact to include Vod and myself on her paperwork. When we presented these papers at the gate, we were provided an escort to guide us to the Temple (and apparently to ensure that we did not wonder elsewhere). When we got to the temple of Peony, our escort remained outside the gate until an acolyte came out and spoke to him. As soon as he left, Vod and I departed the Temple of Peony to pursue our missions. Vod to seek information regarding the artifact he is seeking and I to go to the Temple of Save-K’Nor. I felt bad about leaving without saying farewell to Tifa, but felt I must take the opportunity which presented itself.
When Vod and I separated at the entrance to the Temple, I told him that, should he have reason, he could seek me out there. I, also, informed the door wardens that my traveling companions should be made welcome if they came inquiring after me. They showed me in to see the head of my order, who wasted no time informing me that they wished me to investigate some unsanctioned arcane activity in the southeastern regions of the island. Since I am uninterested in whether or not the Church sanctions arcane activity, I inquired for more detail (which I would need anyway). It turns out that people had been disappearing in that region and a preliminary investigation revealed the misuse of magic was involved. The prelate promised me a full briefing with a packet containing all of their information shortly and dismissed me. When I left his office, the acolyte informed me that my companions were waiting for me in the antechamber.
Vod had made a contact who was going to find information which might further his quest and Tifa was now at loose ends. All three of us were in need of lodging and Tifa had obtained a recommendation for such. Tifa even offered to pay for our lodging. Having shared quarters with both of them on the ship, I had found them agreeable companions. So, I was not loathe to continue our relationship. Once we had secured lodging, the three of us visited the merchants and craftsmen in the city. I found a nice set of clothes, but for the most part the proprietors of the shops were unfriendly and rude. Well, tomorrow will be another day.
Category Archives: The Adventures of Surac
This is the story of the adventures of a D&D character based on our game sessions. The story is told from the perspective of a Hexblade Warlock of the Pact of the Blade. That last sentence is for those of you who play D&D, but, if I have written each episode correctly, you should not need to understand what that means to follow the story.
The Adventures of Surac — Going Sailing
I was in Tolamay when I received word of someone abusing their knowledge of the arcane in Chirapher. I booked passage with Captain Sara aboard her ship, the Silver Slipper. Two other individuals also booked passage. Upon boarding the Silver Slipper, I met Vod. Vod is a human monk carrying a great-sword. I am sure there is quite a story behind that combination. Shortly, we were joined by Tifa (Teefa? I am unsure of how she spells it). She is a well dressed Elvish woman (something about her suggests that perhaps she is only Half-elven, but she definitely looks Elvish). While her clothes are of the finest craftsmanship and cut, they nevertheless appear quite practical.
Shortly after the three of us had made acquaintance with each other, the crew loaded a large, heavy object into the hold. Fabric draped over the object completely obscuring it, but I suspected that it was a statue of some sort. As soon as the crew had the object secured in the hold, the captain set sail.
Once the captain had things settled, I approached her and began asking her some questions about the tools she uses to navigate. We spoke about her various travels. She primarily makes the Tolamay to Chirapher run, but occasionally takes a load to Golotha and even the mainland. I was surprised to learn that she had changed her mind about stopping in the Elvish port **Look up and include name**. However, it made sense when she revealed that party shipping the statue paid close to twice her normal rate for her to take the statue to Chirapher for trans-shipment to the mainland.
On the first night out of port, Tifa revealed that she is a courier, while Vod revealed that he is seeking an artifact in order to gain vengeance against the Red Shadows of Agrek. Vod rose early the following morning and began working with the crew. This strikes me as a bit of a bonus for the captain as Vod had paid full fare for the trip, but wishes to learn how to run a ship.
On the second night, Vod joined the crew in a drinking game, while Tifa and I played some friendly hands of cards. Tifa got out a very fine set of Tarot cards and offered to do readings for the crew, but the crew was adverse to such activity.
Just as we settled into a routine, one of the crew got up in the middle of the night and danced energetically, and noisily, on the deck until he collapsed. The following morning he had no recollection of doing so. The following day, the captain yelled orders for one of the crew, who could not initially be found. After a short search of the ship, we found him in the hold staring at the statue, from which he had removed the shrouding fabric. Once again, the crewman could not, or would not, explain his actions, claiming to have no recollection of what had happened. The captain was out of sorts after these two events. When I checked with the crew, they expressed the thought that this was atypical for the captain, even considering the strange actions of the two crewmen.
On the next day at about midday, I spotted a dark blot on the horizon which was not a cloud. When the captain looked at it through her spyglass (I should get myself one of those) she declared that it was six separate flocks of seagulls. After watching them for a few minutes, it became obvious that they were heading straight for the ship. The captain ordered the crew to let out the anchor and then take cover.
When the birds reached range, I summoned my weapon (a longbow this time) and began firing. Vod retrieved his short-bow, as did the captain. Tifa initially sheltered in our cabin, but when she realized that the crew was having trouble getting the anchor to set she went down into the hold and examined the statue. I agree with her thought that there was likely a link between the birds and the statue although we were unable to determine what that link was. After concentrating our fire on one of the flocks at a time we were able to eliminate two of them before they reached the ship. Before the remaining birds reached the ship I cast darkness in the path of three of the flocks. The captain, Vod, and myself were able to eliminate the remaining flock. When the birds completely closed the distance, Vod was able to strike at them with fire from his fingers that appeared almost as claws of fire. When the final three flocks emerged from my darkness (fortunately, two of the flocks were disoriented in the darkness and thus even further delayed) Tifa stood by the crewmen attempting to get the anchor to set and defended them. She used a shortbow at range and a rapier up close. Vod and the captain took some injury before we were able to dispatch all of the birds, but no real harm came to any of us.
That night and the following day were uneventful. However, a fog rose up late in the day and remained into the night. Fortunately, Tifa had taken to spending nights on the deck and thus was on deck when pirates attempted to take the ship. Tifa woke Vod and myself. This time I summoned my weapon as a rapier. The pirates consisted of some kind of fish humanoid, another powerful humanoid of some sort and three human thugs. The thugs were able to incapacitate the crew, killing three of them, while we fought off the other two. The pirate’s second in command was able to incapacitate, almost killing, the captain before Vod, Tifa, and myself were able to defeat their commander, the fish humanoid. Even that was touch and go. I was almost convinced that we were done for when their commander finally went down. Once we took out the two officers we made short work of the thugs. Strangely enough, the pirates’ ship disappeared as soon as the second in command was killed.
The captain wished to toss the statue overboard immediately, but we convinced her that we should wait until everyone had recovered from the combat. After tossing the statue overboard we were able to complete our trip to Chirapher with no further incidents.
For our aid in protecting her ship, Captain Sara refunded our cost of passage and offered us one free ride any time we seek passage to a port she is heading to.
The Adventures of Surac–Introduction
Ever since I started this blog it has been my intention to write entries other than my daily Bible Study, but I never got around to doing so for various reasons. However, I play Dungeons & Dragons and have wanted to keep a log, in story form, of the campaigns I play in in order to keep track of what is going on in the campaign (and because I think it might be fun). This also has never happened until now for various reasons. So, now I am introducing “The Adventures of Surac”.
The characters involved are: Vod, a human 3rd level Barbarian/3rd level Monk (conceived by the player as being from an order of monks who harness their rage), Tifa (I am unsure of the spelling), a half-elven/fey 6th level Rogue, and Surac, a human 6th level Warlock. The adventures will be told from the perspective of Surac (my character). I have not yet told those I am playing with of my intention to post my summaries of our gaming sessions here, but they certainly deserve partial credit for the stories which result.