Blood, Plunder and D&D

  Ricmo carefully checked his pistols, one by one. You could never be too careful with your powder. He normally carried four in the bandolier across his chest, good quality but nothing special.  It was the bandolier that was the true prize.  He had found it, along with some other treasures, when he and his companions had taken possession of the Lady Jezebel , their ship. The bandolier was of Annish make and had to be at least five hundred years old, though you'd never know by looking at it. It was magic, any pistol drawn from the bandolier would inherit the magic, for a short period of time, and would be more accurate and deadly as a result.  The bandolier would give him a small advantage in the contest he was about to take part in, but only a small one.  The Solstice Festival had turned out to offer more then just the extensive marketplace and the upcoming auctions. The pirates of the pirate haven had taken the large gathering as an opportunity to demonstrate ...

  The entrance to  The Pirate Market  was packed with all manner of festival goers, so much so that getting through the narrow chokepoint was difficult. Hundreds of attendees tried to cram through the relatively narrow space between the   Cathedral of Mithras the Risen  and the  Port Authority   . The crush was not helped by a circus procession, complete with jugglers, fire breathers, musicians, and other performers that seems intent on making use of the same entrance. After navigating the entrance, the party was relieved to see that the fairgrounds opened up somewhat as the crowd spilled out into the larger space. The smell was overpowering, the pungent scent of unwashed creatures of several races mixed with the flowering palm trees, tropical fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sour wine from that permeated the fairground. The din was even more overpowering then the smells, as hundreds of voices conversed, yelling and swearing at one another, competing to b...

The suite that Bella Bell had given them was pretty nice, Ozraeline had to admit. It consisted of the entire second floor of one of the interconnected complex of buildings that made up Bella Bell's establishment . Like most buildings in The Thousand Isle's it was designed with privacy in mind, but also to let the wind and air in, rather then to keep them out. Wide louvred window screens provided seclusion without blocking the breeze. No winter here really, the enemy was heat, not cold. And the rain. Ozraeline hadn't lived through one of the rainy seasons yet, but she had heard of them and they sounded pretty extreme. The floor had a central common room with a staircase leading up to a small lightwell chamber that opened onto the flat roof. Individual sleeping chamber radiated off the common room, The design allowed a near constant breeze throughout the chambers, a breeze that smelling of oranges and jasmine. The roof especially was a great place to cool off after the sun ha...

  Fiddlesticks Joe was a young, pretty man, lanky, with a ready smile. However his smile quickly abandoned him and he noticeably paled as he looked at the three Tarot cards Vangeline presented to him. He sat back heavily in his chair at the Lucky Kraken Inn. The  pittura infamante  on the Hanged Man card clearly had his face, and if you looked carefully, his fiddle was hanging next to him. "You say you got these from old Mother Dim?" he asked? "Yes" said Vangeline. "And what did she have to say about it?" "She said I should come see you. She said she reckoned someone was calling in a favor. I don't understand that part." Fiddlesticks Joe got even paler. "I reckon I understand that part, me" he said softly. "Mais". Fiddlestick's looked at the other two cards. He picked up the one marked "The Tower, that looked like a tall island in a swamp" "This one be in the Deep Mangrove I reckon, gives me the freezawn...