sail away

We made our way into Abel. It was quite different from Seawell—the town hall was fenced; and the half of the town on the lizardmen’s side of the island also ahd a protective fence. Odd, the people of Seawell had said the lizardmen were quite passive, but this suggested otherwise.

The mayor knew who we were, having been informed by Seawell of our mission. We received a reasonable reception (no doubt courtesy of the water that preceded us). They’d already sent birds to the other towns to notify othem of the water and to organise some means of sharing it.

The guards here didn’t look as tough as those of Seawell, and the other resources in the town were less sophisticated as well so we bought passage back to Seawell.

We checked in with the mayor and he seemed surprised that we were still willing to help once we’d fulfilled our obligation. I guess I know who not to rely on if trouble comes.

There we discovered that there had been a powerful spellcaster named Miranda that had been friendly with the lighthouse keeper. She had resided in the forest near Seawell for a while, but had left some 5 or 6 years ago. I wondered whether she might not have been exercising some vendetta following the discovery of her friend’s death, but the others told me the family in the lighthouse had been dead for several days before the gigantic waves appeared.

However that theory now begins to appeal to me again. Not to get ahead of myself, we discovered that Miranda returned to her own island that lies some 200 miles to the South—a place called Bellatune. If she had come to the island shortly after the massacre and then had to return home to work strong magics in her workshop it could well have taken a week or more.

If she isn’t the key to this whole matter she at least holds vital information so we resolved to sail to her island. Seawell has a fine cartographer that sold us maps needed for the journey there and Ren is confident that he can follow them. I’m not so practiced with his fancy toys but I’m sure I’ll be able to keep him on the right course.

We confirmed that our ship was still moored off shore. Or, at least, I confirmed it as our boats had been taken and I was the only one able to swim that far (and quite a tiring swim it was!). Then it became a question of how to get new boats and a crew for the ship without arousing suspicion and risk having the ship confiscated. There is a third town here which according to the mayor of Abel is a pit of depravity. It would seem a likely place to find such things without too many questions being asked, but would I trust a crew from such a place?

During our information gathering we discovered that the lighthouse keeper’s oldest son was still alive and not on the island, but was due to return the next morning. Thinking this was another excellent opportunity to gather some valuable information we went down to greet him, though Alluvia expressed concern about having to break the news to him that his family was dead and then ask him for help. Boy’s got to grow up sometime.

We saw The King’s Eye pull in to dock and waited for the boy to disembark. However not far behind it sailed another ship that could almost have been its twin; or more likely its ghost.

At the sight of the phantom ship most of the people on the docks froze in fear but I guess our recent experiences had toughened us somewhat because we sprang into action. The town guardsman also seemed unperturbed as he ran to get help.

The phantom ship (which we’ve dubbed The King’s Other Eye) berthed beside its twin and then the sickly joke continued as a parade of shadow versions of the passengers proceeded to disembark. Just as they were reaching the main dock area the sail came loose and began to act as if alive.

The shadow passengers weren’t too hard to dispose of, particularly since a number of guardsmen had appeared and had performed some sort of enchantment ritual on the scythes they drew.

The sail, however, was a much greater challenge. It was so massive that the damage done by our weapons amounted to small tears in a vast ocean of canvas. It was able to sweep people up and then smash them together unless they were able to wriggle free.

I came to the conclusion that we weren’t going to outfight it and that there must be some key on the ship. As I scrambled down from the vantage point I had taken at the start of the combat I saw that Valkor had reached the same conclusion and was also running for the ship.

As he approached the ship he blinked out of sight and just as I was approaching the ship it drew back from the dock using some unseen force. As I ran along the wharf it drew forward again and I was able to board. I couldn’t see Valkor anywhere so I ran into the forward cabin to see what I could find. The whole ship made me feel uneasy, and trying to search it was even more disturbing—while I could touch things and move them, they settled back into their original position as if never disturbed, even passing through my hands to do so.

I heard Valkor call for help from the rear of the ship and following the sound of his voice mounted to the helm and there found some strange board with even stranger markings on buttons. They appeared to be a means to control the ship and Valkor had been using it to swing the ship to target the sail, in the process demolishing the wharf beside us. At his command I pressed one of the buttons and felt a huge burning pain carry me into unconsciousness.

When I recovered the sail had been destroyed. Valkor explained that the button he had instructed me to press was intended to fire a blast of raw magic at the sail, but I had been overcome by the power. The blast had also fired out and destroyed the sail completely, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Ren, Leshrac, and Valkor sailed the ship out to deep water and then scuttled it so it wouldn’t trouble anyone again, but it is another massively powerful magic targetting this island.

We are being generously rewarded for our help in the battle. Some plan to take the money and sail away, but despite the strong possibility of doom I can’t help feeling compelled to understand this story.