westwhere | storm at sea

Thar she blows — part II of the Storm at Sea travel arc, lasting until 5 August.

RELEASE THE KRAKEN

SUMMARY: as allied pirate ships Pariah and Queen Zanyra sail onwards, mad captain Quicksilver Sam uses the artefact of the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company to call out to the notorious power of the haunted Crossing seas. He craves retribution from the crew of his former, drowned ship, the Storm at Sea — which rises up along other sunken vessels, all manned by undead sailors. With them is a vicious kraken. They attack, seeking Quicksilver Sam’s relic. So should you. Some characters dragged underwater reach a deserted dimension where time behaves aberrantly. To survive the two-three-day skirmish, keep your ship afloat and moving, hijack a few other vessels, fend off the undead and kraken, capture Quicksilver’s artefact — and breathe.

SAFE AT WA(TE)R | NAIL’EM TO THE MAST | STICKY FINGERS | THE STRANDING

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SAFE AT WA(TE)R

Quicksilver Sam’s Pariah continues into the black waters of the Crossing seas, escorted by ally Caladan Kreil’s Queen Zanyra and distantly pursued by Maximilian Hawk’s Concord of the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company. Characters can cross between the Queen Zanyra and Pariah by rowboat, until great storms darken the skies. Afterwards, reckless fools can risk their necks in the growling winds and drumming rains and traverse the rattling, thick chain that binds the two ships.

Quicksilver Sam joins the deck of the Pariah with a small box he opens to reveal a cut-out, impeccably preserved and warded human tongue. Once unwarded, the artefact seems to intensify the storms, while Quicksilver shouts out:

”Two years be, when the seas, them… they… broke’n’sundered and… was then. Then, when all of you! All of… all of you dead under the briny deep, you watched, and you plotted, and you… was then! We all broke bread under the black flag, and we were brothers… brothers of the Storm at Sea. Was enough coin in the coffer for everyone, but you, you had the greed in you, thicker than blood of our covenant, or water of any womb! You turned! You put me out to die, and now, look where you are? You lily-livered scurvies, you wake up now, look around you! You put me to sea? Left me to die? Samuel Vane, you thought me, I was for drowning? You look me in the eye, and you tell me so again, because I’m here for you! I’ll be ruin for you, Storm at Sea, I’ll cleave you!”

■ The tongue artefact summons up dozens of sunken ships from the Crossing, which take under an hour to fully emerge. They are manned by reanimated sailors — many whom you may have encountered as cored bodies underwater.

■ The Storm at Sea also rises, staffed by Quicksilver Sam’s now revenant crew. The vessel spearheads the undead offensive and approaches the Pariah — leaving her within reach for infiltration. Wei Wuxian will report back after engaging undead first mate Augustus Silvering.

■ The tongue relic also calls up an immense kraken, whose tentacles can be recognised as the ‘coral’ strings that had bound the sunken ships. The kraken is neither living nor dead and composed of the coagulated dark water that characters have previously encountered. Kraken meat is comestible but not seafood. It unexpectedly tastes of succulent white fish, best paired with a Sauvignon blanc and served generously with lemon, rosemary and dill. Do not overcook on the bonfire of your sinking ship.

■ You may end up locked inside cabins or brigs, whether ‘for your safety’ or at the first sign of insubordination against the on-edge captains.

■ You’re in danger as long as you remain within the Crossing seas. To steer the boats, take occasional shifts from exhausted pirates and learn to helm your vessel with navigational help from your companions.

■ (Wisps of) agitated spirits linger in the Crossing — some maliciously seek to push you overboard, while others protect you. Most are petrified. These remaining spirits are more akin to afterthoughts of emotion, which you can calm down, exorcise or ignore.

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NAIL’EM TO THE MAST

When you can’t beat’em, try again with a torch, a harpoon and a better attitude:

■ The kraken and undead violently attempt to reach the tongue artefact and sink the Pariah, Queen Zanyra and nearby Concord. Your enemies have hardened skins that require extra hacking, but regular weapons still work. Fire is especially efficient.

■ The kraken slams and sweeps its tentacles across the deck to drag ships underwater — do use cannons and primitive explosives.

■ The undead mount rowboats or swim to climb onboard. Fortunately, the storms impede your attackers, earning you respite between fresh assaults. Assume one-two hours' rest between attacks.

■ Extensively touching the living kraken tentacles slowly depletes your stamina and/or magical strength.

■ Consider taking Viktor’s steampunk boat and setting up primitive dynamite to sink these ships before their undead crew can reach you. Beware the storms.

■ You can infiltrate undead ships at any point, but can only commandeer one if you group up to man it.

■ Use diving suits that let you breathe four hours underwater and light up white for alert, red for danger, yellow for the urgent need to return on land and green-blue otherwise.

■ Bad news for the Pariah: on top of the undead, the kraken and the mad pirate, you are dealing with the incensed Hawk and Caladan Kreil, both whom send men to stop Quicksilver Sam’s summons at all costs.

■ Magical communicators are prone to glitches or disruptions amid poor weather conditions.

■ A school of mermaids is drawn to the kraken and the Pariah — warn them off with lights or lure them away with baits of food or blood. Speaking with them reveals they want Quicksilver’s artefact.

■ Those wishing to avoid violence can head to the more distant Concord by rowboat, under a white flag. Maximilian Hawk believes you are refugees aboard the Pariah and Queen Zanyra and will offer sanctuary. The sleek, highly disciplined and martial Concord faces significantly less attack, and you can spend a more peaceful time below deck. Alternatively, pair up to persuade the crew to give up chasing the Pariah, and convince Hawk and first mate Lattimore the ‘ancient power’ pursued by the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company should arguably never be found.

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STICKY FINGERS

Moments after his speech, a rattled Quicksilver Sam retreats with the tongue relic in his heavily guarded and magically warded cabin.

■ Group up to capture the tongue with minimal damage to ship and crew. Ideally, some characters can distract the guards or attempt to lure Quicksilver out.

■ Helpful tips: despite his questionable sanity, Quicksilver Sam has shown high regard for manners, women and his ship. The pirate guards are loyal, but skittish before the supernatural.

■ During the diversion, lift the wards or forcibly infiltrate the cabin by breaking the door in. Careful, as Quicksilver appears to have purchased a Taravast special — a small caged white owl, which paralyses in place those who meet her gaze. Someone should distract the bird or cover her cage to break her trance.

■ Everyone can hunt, but Five and Wrathion get final joint custody of the tongue. They have decided to ward and box it. This will see the kraken and sinking ships gradually lose power, then submerge within two days. The tongue stays with the duo. Given Kirk’s previous reveal, the group could choose to trade the tongue in with Maximilian Hawk and the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company.

■ If the tongue is ever brought near the heart possessed by Kaneki Ken, the two artefacts will briefly thrum in synchrony.

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THE STRANDING

Some characters captured by the kraken’s tentacles and pulled underwater lose consciousness, only to mentally wake up in the dimension of a perfectly silent, deserted and seemingly interminable beach island.

■ Characters experience time differently here, shifting between younger and older states every few hours. Up to you whether these changes are mental, physical or both, and whether your character is aware this isn’t their natural form.

■ Several mute, humanoid tar figures roam aimlessly. They largely ignore newcomers, but peacefully stop them from entering the dark sea waters.

■ The island sky is despairingly grey. There are no animals or plants.

■ Characters find they lose more of their memories, the longer they linger — particularly if they start to be politely but incessantly followed by tar figures, which gradually assume their form.

■ You can occasionally find human footsteps and writing in wet beach sand. The writing spells out children’s limericks.

■ Time passes differently on the island — dealer’s choice whether faster or slower than in the real world for your character.

■ Characters can wake up into the real world, if their bodies are rescued from where they’ve sunken underwater, remaining alive for up to two days in the vicinity of the kraken.

■ Characters may initially experience light amnesia and a sense of listlessness and estrangement from their bodies, once they have left the island dimension. This dissipates within a day’s time.

■ You can only reach the island once. Characters can be brought underwater by the kraken without entering the beach dimension.

QUESTIONS

NPC CONTACT

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( a dodge that's more a dancing backward, hands still up, fingers splayed. he is a dangerous man and he is unarmed, and he doesn't plan to yet making any of that known. information, as he's asking after, is key. )

Yes, brought without word or warning concerning this key.

( which is a truth of its own, aside from the idea of a way through, and that's terrible enough, is what they've been researching, what presumably people are planning to learn in this chaos.

and he is here. )

Or the dangers of the Crossing. Now you, and yours, after you did right by him—what were you hoping to do? If he hadn't taken the key.

( Another hiss, a broken and rattled thing, part cackling — part simulation. Simply a creature relearning the biological patterns that once shaped its expressions.

Master Augustus does not step forward, does not give chase. He waits. Bides his time. And, with a cleaved mouth that might spell out a grin: )

Was just us, sailing to the heart. Where them muttered and moaned about all the treasure was there to find.

( But he sours, mildly. ) Quicksilver, he's all greed burning the coals of'is black heart. Wouldn't have shared. Cut himself a deal with merchant folk, you think we'd have seen a trickle? No. Was to keep it all'imself, thinking he was cleverer than any. Only, he wasn't. We was.

( clever, he thinks, has lead to dead faster than the man being denounced, but he simply smiles without any mirth or pleasure, ready for when he next moves. )

Which merchant folk would that be?

( light, light, so lightly asking. )

( There's a moment when he seems prone to strike, to dip in again and stab, until he contains himself once more, amused and at once still seeking advantage and the right moment for assault.

He is playing or preying or both. )

Don't... know, you? Haven't you heard...? The Dawn's Reach Trade Company. How big and fat and long like winter nights. Aye, we put Quicksilver to water. But he'n'his new friends? What would he have done to us? ( A cackle half cough. ) Sold us! Left us to rot! Penniless!

( poised to flee, more for the sake of not revealing useful hands and out of the dark curiosity of what this mind will do, why these sailors appear intact. )

So, so. I'm afraid the crafty machinations of merchants are far beyond a poor rogue cultivator such as myself, ah? Still, so you say, so it must be. What treasure did you know he aimed to keep from your hands? And I must say, it's sobering how much you remember of yourself. A man wonders why.

Ayyyyyyyeeeeee, remember. We — ( Generous, a wide sweep of his arm back, as if to encompass his waiting, rousing brothers. ) Remember. How can we forget? That he held on to his coordinates and his trinkets, and we jolly dallied in these seas, bait for that there creature?

( The same who waves and stirs its tentacles as if in friendly, ill-measured greeting. Forgive master Augustus for not taking the time to raise his sword and return its courtesies. )

We'll have him now. We'll have him good. We'll skewer'im. Thought he'd get the heart of the seas for himself, and master every water? He'll do it beneath, he'll do it drowned!

( another pause, his head canting to the side, brows lifting in delicate inquiry. he activates his pendant with a casual touch, letting it transmit now as he speaks, watching the, ah, former first mare. )

Let me see if I understand. You and this crew are seeking vengeance against Quicksilver for him leaving you to die after you left him to die. Quicksilver is seeking vengeance by attempting to kill you all directly, whom are already dead. The Dawn's Reach Trading Company is surprised that entrusting pirates with a venture posing high returns went wrong once, and now again, while our other pirate captain wants just the tangible gains, and to the hells with everything else.

Meanwhile, none of you have control over the waters, which was the treasures heart. Is that somewhat correct?

( It seems... somehow dangerously less sensible when it's spoken in summary, like a flat declaration of every one of the world's absurdities.

Even absent a fair amount of flesh, a working sense of direction and any concern for living morals and modesty, master Augustus seems... a little at a rhetorical loss, mouth gaped open, shoddy to close, open again.

Then, with a shrug echoed by half the dead of the deck, as a matter of habit: )

Aye. It be like that.

( a polite pause, and then: )

Ah. I see.

( and to various extents, he does, only none of that vision is particularly enlightening or appealing. as someone who has seen similar... situations... he's even less inclined to anything approaching pity for the sheer layered stupidity involved in this whole mess. there are some resentments he has striven to see met.

this is not going to be one of them. )

Can you even approach the heart in your present state of existence?

Be with us, beneath. Be with us all now.

( There's a toothless grin to spare the man, then another, quicker, meaner attempt to stab him, master Augustus' sword briefly thrust to splinter the wood behind Wei Wuxian.

So much, then, for peaceful rapprochement. )

But we'll clutch you tight'n'drag you in, til your heart beats with it, too!

( his smile now is bright and cutting, the glimpse of teeth and hard eyes that doesn't ask for challenge, merely informs, you will fail.

back he goes, leaping in such a way he kicks forward to flip up, one hand next to shattered railing, the wood giving in oversaturated protest it's salted tears: )

Now, now, such forward words! There's only one who I'll be beneath, with, clutched to, dragged down by, hearts beating together. As none of you are Lan Zhan, I won't be polite!

( and he pushes off with his hand, falling to the lifeboat on its restless waves, leaving behind a gift of flaring fire to deter the immediacy of their pursuit.

talismans, always on hand, and since this records still to all others, the grunt of impact, wood creaking in gravid protest, water lapping and sloshing and a dull thud as he kicks off. )

So rude, couldn't they be possessed of better manners? Certainly didn't get smarter after dying...

( the creak and stroke and exhalation as he applies himself to the oars, as the talisman for guidance flickers at his dinghy's bow, bright and familiar and back towards...

... the living pirate ships. )

storm at sea | part ii

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