Skull River Bay

 

"Well you have to admit, this town lives up to expectations." said Dakhir. "There is a skull. There is a river. There is a bay. And there certainly seem to be pirates."

The remainder of the voyage to the Northern Reaches had been pleasantly uneventful. 

There had been a brief moment of terror when a pair of pirate ships had appeared over the horizon, on an intercept course, and it had looked like a battle was imminent. Fortunately the commander of the squadron,  a halfling by the name of "Diamond Joe" was actually hunting pirates of his own. 

"Strange that such an anarchist profession supports any rules at all" Whisperleaf commented, staring in fascination at the two pirate ships escorting the convoy into the port. "Evidentially they are serious when they say "Don't shit where you live", especially with regards to their Pirate Havens.

"Difficult to be a pirate if there is nowhere to sell your loot" Ricmo commented. "If certain ports aren't relatively safe for both pirates and merchants, the gold can't change hands. And that means everyone is poorer. "

"Makes sense" said Dakhir, "Still can't believe we now have a pirate escort into a pirate port to protect us from a rogue pirate." 

"The world is stranger then we comprehend. The Reaches doubly so. As the old saying goes 'All rules change in the Reaches'"  remarked Tello. 

"Well this ' Diamond Joe' is supposedly one of the more reasonable and trustworthy pirates. Esmerelda said he generally doesn't kill anyone if they surrender immediately, and if they don't he only kills the officers."

"Never trust a Halfling" said Ricmo darkly. "He's just lazy. And smart. If people know he will reward a prompt surrender, he has to fight less and the prize is less damaged."

"This is quite a town" remarked Freddy changing the subject. "I can hear the music and the revelry from here. Can't wait to explore it."

"Just you keep your little explorer in it's pants this time Fred" interjected Ozraeline sharply. "No Governor's wives, daughters or mistresses or so help me I will cut it off. I'm serious"

Freddy just smiled.

Mr Davies, the agent of the Governor of Haven Towne had been pretty quiet during the trip, keeping a low profile, staying out of the way and rarely joining in conversation. However as the Lady Jezebel eased into the Bay, he walked into the Great Cabin and up to the heroes.

"We have arrived, I thank you for my escort up until now. As you remember, Governor Davilla alluded to the possibility of you continuing your services to himself and his house during my stay at Skull River Bay. Services for which you would of course be handsomely rewarded"

"And what services would be required exactly?" asked Dakhir cautiously.

"Nothing too onerous." replied Davies. "We need to acquire a place to stay, somewhere where it will be easy for us to remain unnoticed. I will need to privately converse with various residents of this town, some of whom have...questionable reputations. Having your party accompany me to deter the possibility of violence would be very useful. That's the basics of it, though other services may arise as we proceed"

"So basic bodyguard duty" said Dakhir thoughtful., "And the reward?"

Davies mentioned a large number. Haggling commenced.

And on that note, drenched by the last light of a setting sun, with a fair and balmy wind filling her sails, and wafting the heady scent of the tropics across her deck, the Lady Jezebel crossed the bar and entered the protected waters of Skull River Bay.

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Fantastic Freddy was back in his native element. He liked sailing and the sea, he didn't mind traveling the wilderness, but cities and towns, that was were Freddy felt the most at home. The people, the energy, the music, the crowds. The attention. The women. As the party disembarked from the ships boat and stepped on to the wooden fishermen's dock, Freddy couldn't help beaming his excitement at the rest of his companions. 

Tello the Tortle matched Freddy's huge smile. "It is good to be back onshore after a long journey" he agreed.

The wind hits the sea,

The waves drive the boat ashore,

The footprints appear

Freddy nodded. "Exactly".

They had chosen to dock at the edge of town, past the stone docks where a small sandy beach met the sea. No reason to pay the astronomical prices of the deep stone piers given the ship's boat had such a shallow draft. One of Ali's Buccaneers who had been to Skull River Bay before had approved that choice. "Drunkards Beach is excellent, and you will really enjoy Sally Brown's!" with a wink toward Freddy.

They could see the reasons for the sailor's enthusiasm. The beach was a full on pirate party. Drinking and carousing, music and dance, the smell of food being roasting on the bonfires on the sand. All of the buildings facing it seemed to be devoted to entertaining the large crowd of sailors that had no other objective then to have fun. Freddy was in heaven. 

As the group walked down the rickety dock, a tall dusky woman dressed in sailors garb noticed them, and make her way through the revelers to meet them.

"Ah, new arrivals,  fresh from a long voyage I can see. Welcome to Sally Brown's, I'm Sally. This here is my place. How can we serve ye?" 

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"I can't believe we finally got Freddy out of that first cathouse only to lose him in another one" groused Dakhir. "

"Well this one is playing more his style of music" pointed out Ozraeline. "And these places are like catnip to him."

Ricmo nodded, nursing his mug of ale. If there was a tavern, bar, or music hall anywhere within twenty miles. Freddy would find it. He had an instinct. 

"I think it's not just the place that's like catnip" Ricmo commented, nodding to where Freddy was getting along famously with the proprietor, a certainly lady of negotiable affections by the name of "Bella Bell". I'm surprised Ozraeline isn't trying to save her from Freddy."

"Oh I think if anyone will need saving it'll be Freddy" remarked Ozraeline darkly. "He may be in over his head with THAT one. It does happen to him. Occasionally."

"This place is fascinating" remarked Whisperleaf. " other then the docks the town seems to be almost exclusively taverns." 

"Well two big ones really" corrected Dakhir. "Sally Brown's and this place, Bella Bell's. And from what that drunken dwarf said those two ladies don't waste a lotta love on each other."

Ozraeline laughed. "I think calling them 'taverns' probably gives them too much credit. They seem to be remarkably.... full service establishments. But I think it's really only the dockside that is this extreme, The Rumbala they call it"

"What you ought to call them is gold mines" replied Ricmo. "Have you noticed how much money is changing hands? It's insane. I am gonna go join a game, these guys have no clue." The Halfling walked over to nearby card table and joined in.

"Freddy is on stage again." remarked Dakhir. "How exactly does that keep happening. 

"I'm not surprised, this Bella' Bell's is really right up his alley” said Whisperleaf. 

Davies  had been following along patiently as the party walked up and down the Rumbala, checking out the various inn's and lodging houses that lined it. Now, he interrupted the banter. "You know, from a low profile perspective this place has it's advantages. Not exactly what I was imagining admittedly but still..."

"There is so much going on here, no one would ever notice anyone who was just staying quiet and in the shadows" agreed Dakhir.

"I didn't' exactly imagine making a cathouse our base of operations" said Ozraline.

"Why not?" countered Whisperleaf.

Why not indeed. 

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A little while later, after lodgings were arranged and Ricmo had counted his winnings, the party considered their next move. 

"According to Blackjack, the Church of Mithras here has a library filled with ancient books that might be helpful" Whisperleaf recapped. 

"The Books of the River" added Radiant Lightbringer. "Supposedly a first hand account of Mithra's famous Journey Into Darkness, from which he emerged as our Lord and Risen Saviour. The Orthodox church adamantly rejects it as holy scripture, but the Reformed Church is more unsure of that. While we consider much of the text to be allegorical many of our scholars do consider there to be a seed of truth in the narrative. Interestingly enough, disagreement on the Books was one of the leading causes of the Great Schism of 1121...."

"Thank you Radiant, that was quite helpful" interrupted Dakhir firmly.

"So why do we care?" said Ricmo

"The books supposedly have something to do with Black Alice." said Dakhir.

"Ahh. got it."

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As Ozraeline had predicted as soon as they left the main dockside strip, the town became more respectable. The great Cathedral of Mithras Risen was not hard to spot, the only other large street in the town led directly to it.

 "Call me suspicious but after our last experience with Mithran Temples, I'd rather not just stride on up there in full sight of everyone" said Dakhir.

"Brother". Radiant Lightbringer said reproachfully. "You have nothing to fear from the clergy of Mithra. Mithra loves all his children." 

"The last lot loved us so much they tried to kill us." Ricmo argued. "I think Dakhir is right lets approach less obviously. Unseen"

"To move unseen by others is an art. To move unseen by self, that is enlightenment" said Tello

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Several alleys also led toward the Cathedral, it was a simple matter to sneak out the back of Bella Bell's and make their way through them. This area of town contained mostly smaller, less prestigious inns and flophouses, combined with private residences. 

Whisperleaf, who had taken point since Merus had stayed back to guard the Lady Jezebel, suddenly raised his hand in the sign to halt.

"Something is happening up ahead, some kind of confrontation."

"Those are some pissed off Dragonborn" said Ricmo admiringly. "That gold one is in for a kicking."

"Aren't the gold ones the righteous dragons?" asked Radiant Lightbringer. 

"Yes, generally gold dragons are good" said Whisperleaf before Dakhir could get a chance to explain that all Dragonborn were pretty much the same and they should all just move along now and not get involved.

"And the blue and red?" asked Radiant Lightbringer.

"Generally evil" said Dakhir reluctantly.

"Mithras be praised, I do like it when these things are straightforward" said Radiant Lightbringer, swinging his shield around and readying his mace.

"Bloody hell, here we go again" murmured Dakhir to himself.

The Sturg, taking his cue from Radiant, had also readied his sword and shield as the party moved toward the standoff. Privately he agreed with Lightbringer, it WAS nice when things were simple. All enemies should be color coded."  As he moved into his standard point position, he noticed The Turtle mumbling something behind him. In general the Sturg approved of Tello. Shells were good, he didn't understand why so many people didn't realize that but Tello clearly did. The only thing he couldn't figure out about Tello is why he ever bothered to come out of his.

Speaking of shells, something was skittering up the back of his armor, he could hear the claws  scratching along the metal. The Sturg shrugged violently to try to dislodge it, and twisted his head to try to see what it was, but his great helm only turned so far, and he couldn't quite catch sight of it. Whatever it was it was climbing up his back toward his shoulder. The Sturg sent a mental command to the Sword of Andronicus which promptly shortened to dagger length, and he prepared to strike as whatever it was came up over his shoulder. "Probably going for my eyes" The Sturg thought. The eye-slits were the one weakness in his full plate.

The skittering creature turned out be a small animated cannon. With legs. As the Sturg stared, dumbfounded, it settled in on his left shoulder griping it tightly. "Fear not friend Sturg" he heard Tello call out gently. "That is a creation of mine. It will not hurt you. It is most effective from a high vantage point so I hope you do not mind."

The Strurg looked at the Tortle. Then he shrugged, reset his sword to it's normal size and turned toward the Dragonborn. "Say hello to my little friend" he thought to himself evilly.

"You. Will. Fear. Me." thundered Dakhir. Flames and shadow suddenly wreathed his body, his voice boomed louder then any mortal could possibly achieve, the screams of all the damned souls of hell singing harmony to his words. His eyes glowed a baleful red and he seemed larger somehow.

The two blue dragonborn, who had already been looking uncertain as the heroes rolled up on their rear, turned and ran. The red one was made of sterner stuff, he turned toward the party baring his teeth and brandishing his sword. Whisperleaf muttered some words and two gigantic pythons appeared on either side of the red dragonborn, seizing it in their coils..

    

At the same time, Ricmo, who had slipped in behind the Red while it was occupied, drew both his daggers and neatly dispatched it .

The action was over so quickly it barely drew a crowd.

The Golden Dragonborn, who turned out to be the Bard Kanaka was full of praise and gratitude. 

"My friends!  My saviours! Your kindness to one such as me, a poor traveler in this land is exceeded only by your might and pussiance. I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Surely the gods did send you to my rescue!"

"Surely, Mithra did look upon you kindly this day. It is to him, you owe your gratitude" replied Lightbringer sternly.

"Surely, all praise to Great Mithra" amended Kanaka quickly. "I do believe you are right my friend. I do believe the Lord of Light HAS sent you to me, to my aid and the aid of my queen."

"Certainly." said Radiant. "Who is your Queen and what can we do to aid her?"
--------------------------

"So you were driven from your kingdom by your half brother and you came here looking for mercenaries to retake your throne, is that the gist of it?" asked Ricmo

"Yes." The big woman with the glave did the majority of the talking, but the Queen was clearly the one with the golden headdress. They were the toughest set of women Ricmo had ever seen, scarred, well trained, disciplined and in top notch physical condition. But the big one was flat out terrifying. She was just as big as The Sturg, maybe bigger, she moved like some kind of large jungle cat, and the way she handled that glaive it was like it was part of her.

"And this kingdom is in Mbo? Fascinating" said Whisperleaf. "No strangers are allowed in Mbo, they are very strict, the entire continent is a huge mystery."

"And what exactly were you planning on using to hire these mercenaries?" asked Ricmo, the ever practical. 

"When my Queen comes back into her own, she will be in a position to richly reward any who help her. Gold, rubies, whatever you desire."

"And what exactly were you planning on paying UP FRONT to hire these mercenaries" asked Ricmo.

For the first time the Queen interrupted. "Why do you speak little one, when there is a Sage present. Should not the Sage speak?"

"Sage?" asked Dakhir.

"Yes, my Queen is correct it is not proper." The large amazon turned to Tello.

"Impart upon us your wisdom, Sage" she entoned and all the amazons bowed their head in reverence.

Tello looked surprised. Dakhir quickly changed languages to Tortle, once again mentally thanking Red Alice for her Gift of Tongues.

"They seem to hold you in some reverence." he said. "They call you 'Sage'. Any idea what that is all about?"

"None whatsoever." said Tello. "I come from the Southern Reach as do most of my people. We know nothing of Mbo. Though there are rumors that Tortle-kind live in those lands. Ask them what they want of me?"

"We have neither gold nor silver to pay for an army to return my throne." the Queen spoke softly but there was a hint of desperation in her voice. "It was only by the skill and prowess of my loyal bodyguard and my good friend Kanaka that we escaped at all, we have nothing but the clothes on our backs and our weapons, My half brother is already sending assassins to kill me, Please, grace us with your council of wise Sage of the Sands. How can we escape this fate?"

"We don't really need to be distracted with some kingmaking trip to Mbo." said Dakhir, still in Tortle so they could speak privately. "Red Alice is still out there, she is still watching us, she probably won't be pleased if we get sidetracked."

At that moment each of the heroes heard an amused woman's voice whisper in their ear. "You're right, kiddos. I wouldn't". They each shivered. 

"Their cause is just." argued Lightbringer. "Mithra has led us to them. We cannot just abandon them to their fate."

"They look like a pretty tough bunch and we are still short on crew" said Ricmo. "Maybe we could convince them to join us? Complete our quest and then we can help them with theirs. I like the sound of all that gold and rubies. Mbo is suppose to contain fabulous riches. "

"The halfling speaks sense" agreed Radiant.

"I'd love a chance to explore the continent of mystery" agreed Whisperleaf.

"Sage?" grinned Dakhir. "Would you like to suggest that plan of action"

"We are willing to help you regain your throne." said Tello gravely in common. "However, I and my companions have been tasked with a most arduous and important quest, to seek out the witch Black Alice. If you assist us in our undertaking, once it is completed, we will assist you in regaining your throne. However I warn you, we know not the location of the witch and it may be a long voyage.  I, Tello, the Sage of the Green Waves have spoken, Choose, but choose wisely"

"Sage of the Green Waves?" asked Whisperleaf.

"I thought it had a nice ring to it" replied Tello with a twinkle in his eye. "You have to be a Sage of something after all. A Sage of nothing is just another word for an idiot. "

The Amazons spoke among themselves, but only briefly. Then the Exile Queen stepped forward, bowed, took the Tortle's hand and pledged herself and her guard to the service of the Sage of the Green Waves."

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After sending the Exiles back to the ship, the party continued their way to the Cathedral. A long canal separated the southern part of the town from the dockside, with only a narrow wooden bridge crossing it.

Three imposing buildings, one of which was the Cathedral, framed the town square. A square that at first glance appeared to be on fire.

"Sword down Sturg, they are just performers" hissed Dakhir. The Sturg somehow radiated stubbornness for a moment and then shrugged and complied.

It was quite a performance. The four tieflings were masters of fire-play, none of the heroes had ever seen anything like the way they conjured and molded flame   

The small crowd that had gathered seemed equally impressed, applause and coin flowed freely.

Taking advantage of a lull, Dakhir walked over and greeted the quartet in Infernal.

"Greeting brothers and sisters. I applaud your skill."

"Thanks." said the larger of the two men. "My name is David. This is Star, Lydia and Johnny. We are the Fire People. Haven't seen you in town before, not many of us in these parts"

"Indeed we are newly arrived."

The youngest of the fire people, who could not have been out of her teens, tugged on her brothers elbow

"What is it, Lydia?"

"They're from Valoria. I know because THATS FABULOUS FREDDY"

Dakhir groaned.,