westwhere | storm at sea

storm at sea | part ii

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

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Wrath would prefer knowing instead of having those questions that remain. They are already at a loss within this world. Their knowledge is always lacking, and without knowing enough about this world and the players in it, they are always at a disadvantage. It is difficult for someone who has crawled his way up on to a throne of his own making and done all in his power to keep it.

"I doubt such an artefact would be easy to come by. They may look for it. We can hope they assume it was lost to the sea or destroyed in all of this, but if the destruction of the item would result in some... magical effect," Like with the destruction of the mirror, "they may not be so easily misled."

Their best hope is to ward it, to hide it, and to keep this knowledge to the few who need to know it.

"Perhaps the Merchant would be interested in it as he is with the heart."

Five assumes the tongue is at least part of what the Concord was after, but they never called it out specifically. So maybe they still only have a vague idea of some powerful weapon they wanted their hands on. Unfortunately, Five wasn't alone when he broke into the captain's cabin. And plenty of the crew saw Vane on the deck when he gave his speech. Word could get around that he has what they were looking for.

If he'd known what it was when he first started searching the ship, he could have taken it before anyone else knew it was gone. It was a missed opportunity. What he does with it now deserves careful consideration, so Five fights against his exhaustion as he listens to Wrath. Thankfully they seem to agree so he doesn't have to waste his energy arguing as he nods along.

The Merchant. Yeah, he was probably hoping for this to happen all along.

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't. Leverage like that is hard to come by, and we've got two." Which would mean the heart must do something else, and nobody has bothered checking the wards on it. He squints at Wrath, trying to guess his strategy. Either they keep it from everyone, or they use it to negotiate with the man who has only told them what they needed to know.

"You want him to know that we have it?"

Wrath would be interested to see the heart as well - to see if there are any similarities to the tongue at all. Clearly, nothing specifically has been summoned, but it was already kept in a box. Perhaps that box is warded. There's little time to wonder about the body parts at the moment, however, with a ship to run.

He has never done so before, but it is unlikely to be more difficult than having his own House of demons to command and keep in line.

"Presently? No. But as you said leverage is difficult to come by especially given our status within this world. Often the odds are stacked against us."

It's nice to have two pieces the Merchant may be interested if the time comes for that. He'd like to learn more about both body parts first though.

It's reassuring, talking to someone who doesn't make him feel crazy for thinking about leverage. Wrath always seems to get what kind of position they're in, and he's not wrong. After all this time, it would be nice to have something substantial to hold over the man they've willingly handed control over their fate to. This could potentially change things.

"You'd think that'd be easy to understand." He doesn't have to guess the way everyone else might vote, and that's exactly why he doesn't want to give them the chance. "I'd be curious what he knew before we set off. He could have warned us about the artefact even if he didn't know what it was. Karsa claimed no other ship would take us, days after we were being celebrated in the village. It doesn't add up."

He's rambling, and this isn't the time for it, but it's still worth saying. There were other routes to take that might have cost them some days while sparing the risk to their lives.

"I could barely convince one person not to destroy it. Word might get to him if we want it to or not."

"Mortals are not accustomed to living in such an environment," Wrath says after a moment, but that is the truth of it. They live in communities. They live in families who care about one another and want the best for one another. This is not what Wrath is accustomed to. It is not what Five is accustomed to. This is why they are the ones to think of what no one else would.

He nods in quiet agreement to the further words Five has. The Merchant could have done many things. He has no trust for either the Merchant or Karsa which is part of why they need to keep hold of leverage against both.

His dark gaze lifts to Five, and his expression is serious.

"It may, but that does not mean he will be able to access it. He can hear about it, know about it, but he won't be able to find it."

Not with the kind of magic Wrath can do to protect and hide it.

That's one way to put it, and Five hates to admit that his reasoning makes sense. Five spent his entire life separated from society, so his first instinct isn't to get a consensus on every decision that impacts the group. Why would he? Most of them don't agree with him, and they've made the wrong choice more times than he can count. They're not able to see the bigger picture. Ignoring whatever it says about him, he can't deny that he's able to relate more to the demon.

He obviously trusts one more than he does any of them since he's here talking about what their next steps are. That doesn't stop him from suddenly feeling wary about leaving it to Wrath to hide, where he might not have any say in what happens with it.

He tilts his head as he tries to read into what he's implying.

"You sound like you have something in mind." Something that goes beyond warding the box and giving it back. "Him or anyone else?"

"It can be warded in a set area as well - one that only certain specified people can see or access. For instance, I can place it in a closet and specify that only you or I are able to enter into the closet. Anyone else who attempted to reach it would be met with an invisible wall. Their hand could not pass."

It would keep the tongue safe regardless of what the rest of the group thought or if they wished to take it away. They would not be able to do so.

Five would prefer to keep the item out of the hands of those who do not understand magical artefacts or who are not able to consult with someone who knows more about magical artefacts before making any rash decisions. The problem comes, of course, when no one truly knows how these particular magical artefacts work because they're in a different world from their own.

Five would have no way of testing a ward like that. If Wrath told him that nobody but the two of them could access it, he'd have to trust an outsider getting close to see if really works. Still, because it's Wrath, he believes him. Or maybe he's just too tired and it's making him agreeable to the one solution available to him.

"I have something." He nods to Wrath, but makes no motion to get what he dragged on board during his last mad dash. "A box with an extension charm on it. I've been using it since Sa-Hareth. If it could be locked in there, I could keep it safe until we get to land."

A box in a box. Five hasn't let anyone else use it, because mentioning it would only encourage them to look inside, so it's far from full. Lily overcharged him for it, but considering what he's been able to drag around, he can't say it wasn't worth the coin.

"I might owe an explanation to the man I bargained with. As long as things calm down, that should be proof enough that it's been taken care of." He left Wrathion without much of an explanation of where he was taking it, so he'll give him one just to avoid him teleporting over and demanding it back. He'll just hope it can wait until his powers to recover.

"It's safe as long as it's in there, right? You can seal it so no magic leaks out?"

Wrath meets his gaze and then nods.

"That can be done," Wrath says, and it may be better that it is placed in a bag that is mobile so it doesn't have to be removed at all through whatever occurs next. He has no doubts the pirates would want their 'treasure' back even after the clear mess the tongue made when it was removed from its box.

There's a pause as he surveys the box again.

"I believe so. There are differences to magic in this world compared to my own." But his magic is powerful. "And it does appear closing the box is all it took to quiet down the sea, I would hope the man would clearly see so. I do wonder if it needed to be opened in a specific spot within the Crossing itself or if any would have the dead rising and the beast attacking."

He doesn't wonder enough to take a chance, but sets the box down on top of the deck, waving a hand to magic items into his palm as he sets about warding the box.

Five keeps his eye on the box when Wrath sets it down, remaining just as tense, but making no move to stop him. This isn't his forte. Wrath knows that he doesn't have any natural defenses against magic, so the best he can do is to make sure no one else knows where it is.

"I'd rather not try and find out." He'd hate to prove anyone right after he insisted on keeping it intact. He knows he's inviting a headache later on, or something far worse if the wards don't hold, but he doesn't see a way around it. Not if he wants to keep it from exploding in his face again.

"Closing it wasn't all. The man I was with knew about wards. He supposedly reinforced it, but it took so long before things calmed down, I wondered how much it did." In case Wrath notices them. Five is curious if they did anything, or if they had some other purpose. "Whatever you can do will have to be good enough for now."

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storm at sea | part ii

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