Hélène: Unwitting accomplices

The Captain had decided against confronting the man who had talked him into that contract, and taking possession of the contract itself. So we had to find another solution. It has to be said, though, that regardless of how this whole story would turn out in the end, there were great metaphysical insights to be gained. If only the stakes weren't as high as they were.

The plan that had gained most traction was the usual one among non-academics: Stabbing the problem to death. While no one knew how to stab a shadow, or if that would even accomplish anything in the long run, it was suspected that a mundane weapon would not suffice. Two candidate weapons we knew of; One was the Conquistador's blade, suspected to be in a pirate cache on this very island. To this treasure we had owned a map once, but it had been taken from us by the pirate ladies, and without it, we doubted our chances to find that cache. The other was the magic sword from the sunken ruin we had recovered earlier, but were forced to give up to the captain of the Dawn Raider, as reparations for a murderous rampage Master Krastus had fallen into.

To recover that sword, we would have to go to Brigandy Bay, which was our destination anyway, since three of our holds were still occupied by these ominous wine casks. So the Captain gave order to leave port and stay anchored overnight, while we set up guards to watch his shadow closely, lest it slip away again into the night for another heinous deed.

Thus, in the light of several strategically placed lanterns, the Captain and his watch spent an exhausting night. The shadow, however, stayed where it belonged. Whether we were too far out at sea, or Shark Bay didn't provide a suitable victim for the phantom, we could not tell.

We sailed on, past Bluth's Crown, and after a short, uneventful voyage, stopped by in Azy Cay. Here we dropped off our tattoo artist and his dear daughter. We assumed that after the ordeal she had been through, Azy's offer of refuge would surely extend to her, and she wouldn't turn her elderly father away either. Also, while the settlement was small, it was idyllic, and some of the inhabitants certainly had a liking to artful tattoos.

Our next target was Brigandy Bay itself, which we approached after some days of travel. Just before reaching the island, our outlook spotted a pirate ship heading in the same direction, and we decided to keep our distance. Eventually, we reached the town and docked in the harbour. Some of us were still skeptical what to do with the wine, but the Captain intended to follow through with his agreement and instructed Sira and me to find a buyer. While we could possibly fetch a higher price, in a town with more demand than supply, I recalled that our client wanted the wine sold at a favourable price, so we did just that, selling the whole batch to a wholesaler and specifically emphasising where it came from.

In the meantime, the others had found out that the Dawn Raider was rumoured to be on her way here, and expected to arrive in a couple of days. However, they did not enquire from what direction she would come, so we had to resort to educated guesses. Carlton, in turn, had been on the lookout for mystical weapons, and a shady character had offered him to meet us after nightfall, in an alleyway, where he and his contacts would purportedly sell us a magical sword for ten thousand pieces of eight. This had all the hallmarks of a setup, and the less gullible among us concluded that we would not meet these persons, especially not on their terms.

Apart from piracy, Brigandy Bay was home to no industry worth mentioning, so we prepared to cast off with empty holds the next day, before noon. In the morning, Carlton and Sira wanted to gather more details about the Dawn Raider's itinerary, and went off to frequent the local taverns. Before they could come back however, misfortune came to visit. Our pier was apparently blockaded by local militiamen. We prepared for flight or combat while they occupied the dock, and after a while, a delegation approached our ship, led by the Sanguine himself, the infamous pirate, member of the local Council, Captain of the Nightmare Ascendant, and embarrassingly, also a fellow countryman of mine.

He stated that about a dozen pirates had perished over the course of the night, after partaking of a certain wine that had newly been delivered to town. I was mortified to hear that this had been a setup after all, and one that had cost lives, no less. We tried to explain that we were the unwilling victims of a diabolic scheme, but he was out for retribution regardless. Our Captain boldly offered to settle this dispute with a duel, to the death, and stalwartly walked down the gangplank.

And so we watched the dance of blades that presented itself on the pier. Early on, we were paralysed in shock as the Captain blundered and dropped his sword, which almost slid off the planks, into the water. His opponent relented and waited calmly for him to pick it up again; He wanted a proper challenge. The combat resumed, intense, and in the beginning, nobody had clearly the upper hand. Master Krastus whispered to me that I should be ready to intervene with my magic, in case fortune would turn against the Captain. I was unsure if it was the right thing to break the rules, but I didn't want to see our Captain die, who had been willing to sacrifice his life and his very soul for the well-being of his crew, and so I hoped that an intervention wasn't necessary.

Sadly, my hopes were not fulfilled, as it became increasingly evident that the Sanguine was the more capable, or more fortunate, swordsman. And when our Captain suffered a first, grazing hit that drew a trace of blood, I started weaving magic to subtly hinder and exhaust his opponent. This went well for a while, and the Captain could stand his ground again, but finally his opponent perceived that something was amiss. He blamed it on Master Krastus, however, who took this accusation as an opportunity to feign indignation, and as if by magic, darted from our ship and glid through the air towards the pier. This set the militiamen in motion, and as the Captain retreated on deck, we rushed to remove the gangplank before being boarded.

The duel was over.

Carlton Grey, and the Case of the Pirate Killing Wine

In the end, the captain decided not to attack the shadow-men, and to try and do something else about the shadow instead. We first went to Azy Cay, where we said goodbye to the tattoo guy and his daughter, and then to Brigandy Bay, another pirate town. I thought this was a good time to do some of that privateering stuff, but apparently not. Privateering seems to be a really complex business.
The last time we were here, the captain traded his magic sword for Krastuses pincer, and he wanted it back now for free. The pirates that got it weren’t here yet, so we sold a bunch of stuff first, including the wine that the weird peacemaker guy gave us.
I also found out, that there was a sword on sale, which could kill shadows. The sellers got it from Blackbeard, and it was almost as magical as it was expensive. I got really excited about it, but all the others were against it. Krastus wanted to have Blackbeard’s pisspot instead, but I think it’s just because Blackbeard is another of his weird love interests, and not because he wanted to help the captain.
Anyway, we did not go to the deal, and left port instead, to avoid the murder-shadow getting loose in the city. 

We came back the next day, to find out more about the sword-pirates, but we found out something else instead. We were in a pub with Sira, when we heard that someone died the day before. He was blond, but not a child, so we first thought that the shadow-ghost just altered its preferences, but later we found out, that it was the wine that was making people sick. It's a good thing we did not buy the sword yesterday, it might have been great against the murder ghost, but probably useless against the wine.
We left quickly, to warn the others. Some men wanted to arrest us, but I fooled them with my amazing twin brother story. Sira suggested, that we commandeer a small boat, and we started to paddle towards the Grandpa’s Revenge.
We do not need to hurry though, because it seems that the captain is currently dueling someone on the pier. I’m pretty sure, they already know, that something went wrong.

Krastus - Why will no-one listen to the crab

We headed to Brigandy Bay - I was unsure if we should, as they seemed very un-piratey pirates but still we had cargo for there. This wine. So it seemed like a good idea and the captain said he wanted to chase down his magic sword - and it would be nice to get it back for him.

It was a fairly uneventful trip (rare as that is for us) and we settled into dock easily, with no dues to pay. I mostly stayed back - I didn't want to go out into the town too much after our last visit there and the very reasonable self defense I had to undertake. You really have to wonder at pirates who seem to eschew violence and try to be all rules-y.

We managed to find out that the fellows with the magic sword were due in soon - this was great. Except when we came back into port the next day, having gone out to sea to avoid Captain's Molesty Shadow causing any harm, people were dying. And it seemed to be the wine. Or so we were told by the french fellow when he surrounded the boat. Carlton and Sira were off the ship, so I discreetly had our port-side cannons loaded with grapeshot in case we wanted to be very civil minded and engage in a degree of crowd thinning.

As it was the captain just decided to provoke the frenchman into a duel. It was quite clever really, but had its flaw. Like the fact the captain isn't a great fighter. I did offer to second for him, but he refused - honorable but a trifle foolish as it turned out. After some time and the captain looked quite dead, the frenchman insulted me and gave me all the excuse I needed to intervene.

I leapt off the railings and engaged him, buffetting him with magic and my pincer long enough for the captain to escape. I managed to get up the gang plank myself before the mob got to us, and the frenchman moved to escape.

He had besmirched me, so I threw several balls of fire after him as we readied to leave - I saw him stumble as one hit him, so with luck it will give him a nasty burn to think of when he realises he should never try to best Krastus, the mighty shipwright.

Though we are still missing Carlton and Sira, and I'm really not sure how we will pick them up. Oh, and there is a ship covering the entrance to the bay. So. Yes. Trouble. Still, I rescued the captain - he is a bit of a pain at times, but he is our captain and we are fond of him.

Cortez: Whoops

My crew has a tendency to be a bit lippy with me when I make mistakes. Though they like to hem and haw when I make the initial decision, they like to be adamant that they warned me when the crap falls. But they're still my crew. So when we poisoned a bunch of pirates in Brigandy Bay, and got caught, it was an accident. But my crew deserves better. And we've finally come into some money and I'm tired of letting people push us around. The frenchman who likes to pretend he leads a bunch of Pirates got lippy and he's NOT crew, so I insulted him. The fight didn't go very well for me, but I made a respectable showing...

If only I knew where Carlton and Sira were... but we have to go now, and come back later for them. Or something. This is going to be a real test of my sailing skills.

Krastus - Flying Crab. Kind of

We rescued the girl! Huzzah!

I had to run across the room, but we did it. We got the girl.

The magic wielder they had was clearly inferior to me, but we duelled to a degree - her magic was quite effective in buffeting around my crew mates. I really must teach them a few things - one day I won't be there to help them. She said the girl was there to draw away the evil presence though. Could they mean the captain's soul?

Regardless, we were in too deep. The captain made us an escape route via the window, and I bravely tested the line and went down onto the wall to hold off guards while everyone escaped. Scurillians are so brave.

We got back to the ship - it turns out the Captain's shadow returned. So we thought we had better flee before some young boy turned up. We headed south to see a man in Shark Bay about that problem - that dark and cruel problem. Oh, poor captain - though it is rather funny.

We docked, and I helped remind the fellows on the dock that if they stole the ship there would be trouble. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I'll use magic to make you regret such a foolish life choice.

Hélène: A daring escape

While the Captain tried to break the prisoner's chain, the rest of us were defending against the inhabitants' onslaught. From the different rooms, two young men, obviously just out of bed, rushed into the main hall with weapons in hand, but Master Krastus and the others quickly overcame them. From the far side of the room, however, a woman emerged and, keeping her distance, assaulted us with magics of wind and fire. Finally, just as the Captain had freed the girl and rejoined us, carrying her in both arms, an older man, presumably the landlord, joined the fray. This one was a very skilled combatant, as far as I could tell. We quickly retreated into one of the adjacent rooms, one with an unbarred window directly overlooking the outer wall.

The Captain set down his charge onto the bed and threw the grappling hook across the outer wall, pulling it taut and having me tie it to the furniture. Then we slid down onto the wall, one by one, with Carlton heroically covering our retreat. By now, half a dozen of the manor guards had ascended the wall and were closing on us from both sides, but they did not reach us in time, for when we were all safely out of the house and on the wall, we deftly jumped from the wall and slipped away into the tangle of alleyways, towards the ship.

On the way, in the light of the occasional lantern, we noticed that the Captain was still missing his shadow. Who knew what this evil phantom was perpetrating at this very instant?

As we reached the ship, there was a bit of happiness at last. Our elderly passenger was overjoyed to see his daughter safe and sound. We prepared to cast off before dawn, and quickly left the port unchallenged. We set a course for Shark Bay, where the Captain intended to confront the man that had talked him into this nefarious pact. Indeed, as the new day dawned, we observed that the Shadow was back; It had returned sometime during the early hours.

During the day, our passenger approached us and wanted to bestow the promised reward upon us. He had promised each of us a unique, mystical tattoo, and it was up to us to pick a design. This choice was difficult for most of my comrades, but not so much for me, as I preferred a floral motif. This, of course, meant that I went first, and I was feeling a bit uneasy at this perspective. I was assured, however, that Master Krastus had the winds well under control, and the ship was expected to be calm and stable for the time being, and our elderly artist went to work.

The process, however, was every bit as painful as I had envisioned it, and it took me considerable effort to keep still. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the work was done, and after ample rinsing with clear water, the pain subsided. The result was most pleasing to look at, an artfully crafted design of a lotus blossom adorning my ankle. I would probably not go through such an ordeal willingly again, though.

After three days of uneventful travel, and the occasional yelp from a tattooee below deck, we approached Shark Bay and the eponymous town. Going alongside, we found that the local harbourmaster/extortionist, who had recently replaced his late predecessor, was still in office, and we paid a moderate fee to be left undisturbed.

Now that we were in town, the Captain immediately sought out his former business contact. In the mean time, our crew went about their business on their ship or elsewhere, and I looked for a purchaser who would take our cargo of lumber. When we met again on board after some house, the Captain was dejected. He reported that his man was indeed still in town, and they had talked. Apparently, there was an additional clause in the contract he had signed, written in so small a type that it could easily be taken for a mere smudge. And by the words in this clause, the Captain had forfeited his very soul to the holder of the document.

As expected, the other party was unwilling to terminate the agreement outright. They demanded another soul as a replacement, that of the leader of the New Madrid church, which the Captain would have to abduct. This, of course, was totally out of the question, and we had to find another means of stopping the Phantom and saving our Captain from a fate worse than death.

Sira Saran: How to get out and about

The fighting in the upper floor got rough and dangerous so our capt'n Cortez decided to retreat out of a window.
Jumping out of the second or third floor is quiet a feat. Getting away out of the harbor unchallenged more then pure luck. Nanking was in an uproar!
With flying sails and colors we sailed south towards Shark Bay with the rescued girl and her thankful father on board. Feels good to do something nice.
As a reward I got a really nice tattoo of a crane catching some fish. This man is a master of this craft.
Still this doesn't solve our murderous ghost problem!
Capt'n Cortez seemed to have an idea and so we tired the original cloaked man in Shark Bay for a change and as it seems they want him to get the head of the church in exchange for the contract.

The plot thickens, we'll see what we can do about these ghostly figures without getting deeper into murder and assassination.

Cortez: A Rescue Mission and Some Bad News

So, turns out we aren't too bad at this breaking and entering business. My plan to exit via the window worked quite well and we were able to make a great escape. Daiking is in a bit of an uproar, however, and so we made haste out. Very rapid haste, if you understand me.

The father and daughter reunited to much happiness and I didn't bother mentioning to the man that she was supposed to be some sort of vessel for dark spirits. I imagine it'd be easier to take if he only thinks her body was violated and not also her soul. Or nearly her soul. Anyway, the man was good on his word and gave us some tattoos that also have some sort of magical properties.

I went with the carp. Fish are always a safe bet. Though I was tempted to go with the Octopus. A captain of a ship should be suitably aquatic in his bearing, I've always thought.

The bad news, however, was when we got to Shark's Bay. I met with the man in black and talked about the shadow and whatnot. I'm not sure if it's related, but my shadow has been killing people and the people apparently own my soul. I'm not sure if that means my soul is my shadow and is just a real bastard, or what. I really need to read the fine print.

Carlton Grey and the Though Choice of Tattoos

We continued our mission into the scorpion-house, and went upstairs looking for the girl. At first we only found some boring jewels and potted plants, but the captain finally spotted a trap by stepping on it. This was more interesting, but we could not see what it does since we did not want to wake up the guards.
Finally we found the girl upstairs, with members of the scorpion family. None of them resembled scorpions though, and there was no giant scorpion either, so I felt somewhat cheated. The captain freed the girl, and we started to leave, but the family also woke up, and we had to fight. There was a man with a sword, and a mage lady, and some others but those were quickly disabled.

We found out that they wanted to use the girl to trap the captain’s murder ghost. These guys were even worse at this stuff than us. At least we know that, you would need blond boys for that.
Anyway, we escaped through the window, although I got a bit hurt by the old sword guy. Nothing serious though, and everything went well after that. We jumped out of the window, slid down on the rope and disappeared into the city.

We left Daiking after that, and I was a bit disappointed that we could not stay longer. It seems that we run into some trouble wherever we go, and that makes it kind of hard to do sightseeing or just have a good time with the locals. The murder ghost thing is not helping much either.
On the other hand, we finally got our magic tattoos. I wanted something really amazing, like a monkey or a camel, but the guy was all out of those. He must have sold all of them, because they were the best. I could not decide what to get, so I asked Serene, and she suggested a dragon, so I got that one.

We traveled to Shark Bay again, but fortunately the ship did not get stolen yet. The captain wanted to talk with the guy who he made a contract with, so he left. Apparently, the guys did not want to help him with the murder ghost thing unless we also get them the pope. That would be quite a bad thing to do, so we agreed not to do it. Instead we are going to attack the evil shadow people to get the contract back. I hope we won’t all get murderous shadows from doing this.  

Sira Saran: Sneaking about

The palace we tried to get into was a rather complicated and fortified place.

A lot of guards and some traps. Endless stairwells and corridors, even more guards and a rather elaborate throne room. After searching room after room and corridor after corridor we managed to get to the upmost level.
We found the girl and at last faced the owner himself and as it seems his mother! What a fury! Time to get out!

Hélène: Further onward

Looking around on the first floor, we found an opulent reception room of sorts, with a throne in the far centre of the room, and space for supplicants in front. Looking around, Master Krastus founds a small compartment under the throne, where a small bag with valuables was stashed. There appeared to be no other exits to thir soom, however, but we rightfully suspected that the host would not enter the same way his guests do. Searching the panelling on the far wall, the Captain found a hidden sliding door, leading further into the building.

As he moved through however, one of the floor tiles he stepped on conspicuously depressed with an audible click, and he froze in his movement. If this was an alarm of sorts, we would now be undone, but if this was another trap, nothing had happened yet, but that might change as he shifted his weight off that tile. Sira and I hustled to find a large vase in the reception room, carried it over rather awkwardly, and proceeded to slowly set it down on the tile, while the captain moved off. It seemed our effort was well spent, as nothing further happened, and we moved on.

We found another set of stairs leading upwards, and I scouted ahead on tiptoe. There were another two guards on the upper landing, but they did not become aware of me. I decided to signal my friends to stop, and then prepared to stun them with a spell. This time, this worked perfectly, and my friends rushed up to subdue them, more violently than I'd hoped, but nobody wanted to hold back now as we had come this far.

The centre door opened into a large living area, with further openings to the sides, which we silently inspected, one by one. These appeared to be the sleeping quarters of several members of the Lieutenant's household. We could see the shapes of persons lying and one of the rooms had obviously barred windows, and the Captain found a girl chained to the bed.

At this time, however, we were finally undone, and the inhabitants awoke, became aware of our intrusion, and soon there was a fight at hand.

Krastus: New Tricks, Old Problems

Well, we managed to make our way up the building. The first thing we found on the second floor was a throne room, it was very nice - wasted on a silly human. While poking around for hidden doors, I thought the throne itself would be a good place to check. I mean, I would want some kind of lever or some such on my chair to operate these things. As it was, I found no such thing - but I did manage to swing the throne itself back and reveal gold, jewels and a vial of some liquid. I quickly stashed them in my satchel for later dispersement. The captain, meanwhile, had found the secret entrance. And stepped on a trap.

There are times I do worry about our captain's inability to look before he leaps, so to speak. But ah, thankfully Sira was there with a large vase to help him off. He didn't seem as keen to be tackled off the trap by myself.

Avoiding more guards we went upstairs and Helene knocked the upper floor guards unconscious. Alas not quite unconscious enough so they came around and tried to attack - we dutifully put an end to them however. Sira is quite handy with that sword.

The top floor was a series of rooms, many of them sleeping quarters. Unfortunately the subjects woke up before we could quite come up with a plan so I charged one of the woken up guards and cut him down, while the captain went to rescue the girl. I then ran towards the stairs to try and set them on fire and stop any reinforcements coming. Alas my spell just fizzled - not a very good start to this new power. Now? They have a mage and others and....well. Let's just hope we get out of this and can make our way down.

Cortez: A climb to salvation

We are getting a bit more adept at sneaking around... or perhaps we are just lucky. I hope this doesn't have anything to do with my new shadowy passenger. I don't know what to make of that. The crew seems upset, but they aren't blaming me, at least not to my face. I imagine they have their reservations. But maybe they are simply being practical. No sense getting upset over something out of our control?

The guards in this lieutenant's house are outmatched by us, but I shouldn't be surprised to find that they have magic users in the family, or close friends. I discovered the kidnapped girl chained to her bed and after a couple of swings of my sword broke her bonds. But now we are engaged in... well, a mess. But if there is one thing we do very well it's get in and out of messes. Time to go out the window.

Carlton Grey and the Many Employment Opportunities of Daiking

Daiking is a really busy place. We just arrived, and paid the docking fee, but already there were people who wanted to give us jobs. I already suspected, that we won’t be able to explore the city properly, since we needed to find some solution to the murder-ghost problem, but not that we are going to be hindered by potential employers.
As it turns out, stuff like this is quite common here, since everyone has a favorite animal that they put on their clothes, and they don’t like all the animals the others put on their clothes, and they fight about it all the time.
This whole problem could be solved, if they just found an animal that everyone likes, like a narwhal or a vulture, but maybe they haven’t thought about this. We should mention it to the king if we meet him.

Our first job offer was setting fire to a place, which we declined. I was glad. I mean, we just arrived, and I wanted to see the city before it burns down. Also somebody might have gotten hurt in the fire.
After that, we stumbled upon some tattoo artist, who wanted us to save his daughter from some evil guy who kidnapped her.  This we accepted, and we will get magical tattoos if we can do it. Maybe the captain can just get one, that lets you stop murderous pedophile-ghosts, and then we could kill two birds with one stone as they say.

We did not abandon our original plan however, and found a wise old woman, who said, that she could help us with our ghost problem. She also wanted to have Krastuses eyestalk, but he did not want to give it to her. I don’t know why, as he is always going on about how they grow back.
Anyway, we got the old lady to come to our boat to search for the murder-ghost, and we also lit some weird smelling sticks for some reason. Supposedly it helps her finding the ghost, but I don’t remember ever hearing about ghosts being bothered by smells. Maybe it was to help her find the boat, or she just liked it.

In the end, it did not matter either way, because she took one look at the captain, and ran away. She must have discovered that she is afraid of ghosts after all, but the timing sure was inconvenient. Luckily I spotted the captains shadow running away to the shore, but it was quite quick so we could not give chase, and decided to save the girl instead.

We went to the house of the man who took her. It was well guarded, first there was a wall, then some guards on that wall, then even more guards at the door, and everyone was wearing scorpion-themed things. I hope that we will see some giant scorpion at the end of this adventure, although we did not find any giant bloodpools yet, so I won’t keep my hopes up.