Winds of Vesperia
Chapter 2! It’s 80 years later and this time, we’re turning the tables and coming in as the human invaders. I mean, expeditionary force. Of course that’s what I meant.
The new characters are:
- Lieutenant Vanessa “Nessa” Thünderclød, walker pilot (played by Tony)
- Specialist Tamerin “Tam” Tempest, scout (played by Pat)
- Captain Amber Stormweaver, magus (played by Julie)
- Kyn the GM
[We introduce our new characters, some more favorably than others.]
Kyn the GM: “Tam was… well, they called him a disappointment.”
[To prepare for our mission into the egg, we go through a series of simulations in the magical equivalent of a holodeck. Today’s task: cross a 40-km expanse of forest. With us are 20 foot soldiers, a doctor and her apprentice, Amber and her apprentice, and three magitech Walkers and their pilots]
Kyn the GM: “It is physically impossible to be stealthy with a Walker.”
[As we cross the landscape, we come to a fairly wide river, where we discover aquatic elves lying in wait for us. Elves, and other things.]
Kyn the GM: “An elder water elemental emerges from the river.”
Julie: “Well, now I have a target.”
[It takes us about an hour and a half real-time to play out the combat. But eventually, we do!]
Kyn the GM: “Congratulations, you have crossed a bridge.”
[Now that we are past the river, we are skirting the forest proper.]
Tam: “Don’t worry, I think we’ve got the element of surpr-” *is shot*
[We are ambushed by elves in the middle of the night.]
Soldier: “How do we fight them?”
Nessa: “With intelligence, with tactics, and with cunning. Or with words.”
Soldier: “Yeah, the word is ‘execute.’”
[The simulations over, it’s time to start our mission for real. First step: reach the crack in the egg that happens to be occupied by Tiamat herself.]
Pat: “I’ve got an idea!”
Tony: “I’m not rolling pilot. I don’t do that anymore.”
[We enter the crack to find ourselves, not in Vesperia, but in a strange demiplane. Where things are sorta… wonky.]
Julie: “Oh, the wild magic chart. I don’t know it well, but I know I don’t like it.”
[More wonky elements of the demiplane.]
Kyn the GM: “Gravity is subjective.”
Tony: “I decide I don’t want it anymore.”
Kyn the GM: “No, it may decide it doesn’t want you.”
[Ultimately we realize the demiplane is the shell of the egg itself, part of the ethereal plane. We also discover that there are plenty of githyanki. We decide to capture and question one. Of course, this involves combat.]
Pat: “I have dimensional anchors. I’m sure he wants to teleport.”
Kyn the GM: “He does, but he has the same problem as you.”
Julie: “He teleports to his exact current location!”
[We capture a githyanki lieutenant.]
Githyanki: “We have an army - do you not think they’ll come for me?”
Amber: “Good - you’re about to tell me all about them.”
[The gith reveals that beyond their fortress is a rift into the elemental plane of water, which leads through to Vesperia. Our plan is a simple one: ram our one and only ship into the githyanki defense tower, steal their ships, and fly through. The captain of our ship, Jason Keeneye, has a few things to say about this.]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Permission to speak freely?”
Nessa: “Please do.”
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Are you an idiot?!”
Nessa: “Yes.”
[The ship’s engineer, a gnome called Toughnut Wrenchbender, has a different attitude.]
Toughnut Wrenchbender: (excitedly) “Wait, wait, wait… I can turn into a giant exploding thing?!”
[We pile into our ship. It’s somewhat… cramped.]
Tam: “Who’s grabbing my ass?”
Nessa: “…Sorry.”
Soldier: “Wait, if you’re grabbing his ass, who’s grabbing my ass?”
Nessa: “…Sorry.”
[Senior Sergeant Vinh, commander of the ground-pounders, gives an abbreviated pep talk.]
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “If we survive, we’ve attained our objective. And if we fail, no one will know of our embarrassing death.”
[We prepare to ram the defense tower.]
Kyn the GM: “The gnome’s sitting there, caressing a ball.”
[At the last minute, Amber detects a flaw in our flawless plan.]
Amber: “Engineer Toughnut, is this a magical explosion?”
Toughnut Wrenchbender: “Of course!”
Amber: “We are in a wild magic field.”
Toughnut Wrenchbender: “Too late now!”
[We crash our ship into the tower. There is a mighty explosion. Due to the wild magic, there is also a huge sphere of darkness and silence that engulfs the area. The only one who can sense anything at all is Tam, through his tremorsense magic items.]
Kyn the GM: (to Pat) “The plan succeeded, but you have no way of telling anyone.”
[We manage to not only secure a githyanki ship but also free 84 slaves. Of course, we still have the issue of getting to the rift. Barbara Astralwind, ship’s navigator, is on the job!]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Barbara, have you figured out the navigation?”
Barbara Astralwind: “I think this crystal is supposed to point us to… something.”
Tam: (deadpan) “Very helpful.”
[We manage to lift off. So do the other seven gith ships.]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Why didn’t anyone destroy the other ships?!”
Tam: “…Right. That’s my job.”
[We emerge through the rift to the Elemental Plane of Water, pass the great kraken, and emerge into the egg.]
Kyn the GM: (as soldiers) “Oh, shit, we did it! …Wait a sec. Shit, we did it! We’re behind enemy lines!”
[We take stock of the situation.]
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “There’s good news and bad news.”
Nessa: “What’s the bad news?”
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “We have 84 prisoners.”
Nessa: “What’s the good news?”
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “We freed 84 slaves.”
[With the help of our doctor and Amber’s apprentice Mika Silverskin, we remove the mind-control collars from the prisoners. One is a particularly attractive elf who asks us to call her Ray.]
Kyn the GM: “Mika’s developing a crush.”
Julie: “I think this is one of those times he will learn the consequences of his actions on his own.”
[It becomes clear that in order to get anywhere, we will need charts. And to get charts, we will need to go into the nearby catfolk city. Kyn the GM lays out our first impressions.]
Kyn the GM: “The colors! Catfolk don’t understand… well, catfolk are colorblind.”
[Catfolk are also passionate, quick to anger and love. It doesn’t help that we’re disguised as them.]
Tam: “I don’t want a catwoman!”
Catfolk Female: “What, we’re not good enough for you?!”
Tam: “I want five!”
Kyn the GM: “…Well played.”
[As we’re walking through the city, there’s an explosion of the same geyser we came through. It launches all manner of debris and creatures over the city streets. The guards quickly rush in to make sure everything’s all right.]
Guard: “Safe… safe… whoa, dangerous!”
[We arrive at the map shop.]
Nessa: “We need the most up-to-date charts.”
Shopkeep: “What’s your official route?”
Nessa: “South by southwest.”
Shopkeep: “You work for the Abadonis?”
Nessa: “…Yes.”
[We realize we can’t get charts without a commission from a merchant family. It seems unlikely we’ll get that today, but it would be a shame to waste a spell with a duration of several hours.]
Nessa: “You may disperse within a 4-block radius.”
Kyn the GM : “Funny you should use the term ‘block’…”
[Tam, Nessa, and Ray approach a rich-looking catfolk woman using the expedient of buying her a bottle of expensive wine, which she offers in small part to share with them.]
Tam: *drinks the elven wine*
Pat: “What does it taste like?”
Kyn the GM: “Honestly? You’ve been drinking moonshine. This doesn’t taste like it’s turning your insides to liquid!”
[There are immediately a few problems.]
Rich Catfolk: “What’s your name? I didn’t even bother asking.”
Nessa: “…”
Rich Catfolk: “You forgot your name?”
[Yes, because Tony forgot the cover name Nessa was using, we decided to bring that hesitation in-game.]
Rich Catfolk: “If you’re stuttering already, you’re not making a good impression.”
Nessa: “That’s what the bottle’s for.”
[The rich catfolk’s name is Ubuhle. She is the daughter of a noble merchant family. Nessa asks for a commission.]
Ubuhle: “What kind of ship do you fly?”
Nessa: “Medium-class.”
Ubuhle: (unimpressed) “Well, that narrows it down to 500.”
[Did I mention that Ray is Jass’ mother? Because she is. It leads to some ‘think-fast’ moments like this.]
Ray: “Our ship is the Sovereign Will.”
Ubuhle: “Another one?! Ever since the king died, it’s all ‘wings’ this and ‘freedom’ that!”
[It’s good to know where you stand.]
Ubuhle: “I like you. But I don’t like you enough to offer you a contract right off the fly.”
[Tam is having a bit of trouble keeping up.]
Ubuhle: “And you? What do you do on the ship?”
Tam: “I’m a scout.”
Ubuhle: “…”
Nessa: “She’s my bosun.”
Tam: “I’m the bosun.”
Ubuhle: “…You’re not very bright, are you?”
Julie: (as Nessa) “My father made me take her. We had to find something for her to do.”
[The end result is that we are invited to the estate of her father, a merchant with commissions, to a party to prove our worth.]
Nessa: “That was terrible.”
Tam: “It could have been worse.”
Ray: “I can’t see how.”
[Meanwhile, the NPCs with us have had their own problems with the fool’s gold we are using for currency.]
Amber: “Let’s go. Now. What did we all learn about illusory money today?”
Barbara Astralwind: “Only give it to idiots.”
Amber: “That’s right.”
[We go to the party. We all, naturally, have false names.]
Ubuhle: “And who’s this?”
Amber: “I’m Cerridwyn.”
Ubuhle: “Odd name. Are you one of the Ubu clan?”
Amber: “I’m Valeria’s caster.”
Ubuhle: “That doesn’t answer the question. But the evasiveness means you’re definitely part of the Ubu clan.”
[There is a Falan delegation at the party.]
Ubuhle: “The thing about Falan is that if you’ve spent a thousand years fighting everyone, you learn to expect two things: first, a dagger in your back, and second, not to be very liked.”
[The spells we’re using to disguise ourselves have the peculiarity of making us appear to be the same species and gender as the people we’re interacting with. So when we’re talking with Ubuhle, she sees us as female. Which Tam keeps forgetting.]
Ubuhle: “Oh, find yourself a proper tomcat and get yourself run through. Properly.”
Kyn the GM: (to Pat) “Remember, you’re female.”
Tam: “…Right!”
[Ubuhle has realized we’re not legitimate sailors. She assumes that we’re pirates or treasure hunters.]
Ubuhle: (to Amber) “And you follow her, why?”
Amber: “It’s exciting.”
Ubuhle: “Well, at least there some catfolk in you.”
Amber: *shrugs*
Ubuhle: (to Tam) “And clearly you were dropped on your head once or twice as a child.”
[Nessa has slipped up several times and referred to Tam as ‘he,’ despite the disguise.]
Ubuhle: “He? That’s the third time you’ve said that.”
Amber: (softly) “Cursed. She was originally a boy.”
Ubuhle: *guffaws* “Oh, poor dear!”
[A little chit-chat.]
Ubuhle: “You know, I always thought we would conquer the world. If we only had one-tenth of the patience of the elves. That, and a shiny ball tends to distract us.” *throws ball into gathering of catfolk*
Tam: “Shiny!”
Ubuhle: “…”
[Nessa informs Ubuhle that we have captured an Athos ship.]
Ubuhle: “I have to admit, when you lie, you lie big!”
[Ubuhle insists on seeing our ship before she gives us her patronage. With certain precautions, naturally.]
Ubuhle: “Obviously, if you ever think of kidnapping me, my father would hunt you down, skin you alive, and wear your furs.”
[Later that evening, the consequences of what we’ve agreed to become clear.]
Amber: “We’re going to have to hide… everyone.”
[The next day, Amber teleports Ubuhle to our ship. She is quite excited.]
Ubuhle: “What’s this? And what’s this? Ooh, what’s this?”
Nessa: “Shiny, isn’t it?”
Ubuhle: “…Touché.”
[A small flaw in our flawless plan: we forgot to move out the warstriders, and Ubuhle rolled remarkably well to know what they are.]
Kyn the GM: “She recognizes them.”
Nessa: “Spoils of war.”
Ubuhle: “Do you even know what you have? The Elven Alliance would give you an island for one of these.”
[More of the same.]
Ubuhle: “Have you been in one of these?”
Nessa: “I honestly don’t know what they do.”
Kyn the GM: “Roll bluff.”
Julie: “The correct answer was, ‘I’ve sat in the cockpit.’”
[Ubuhle agrees to give us charts, a signet ring, and access to her fueling stations in exchange for schematics of the githyanki ship. Also, she wants to know when we find new lands.]
Nessa: “You want freedom.”
Ubuhle: “I want to rule. I want to start my own city, run my own guilds, crush my father, skin him, and wear his hide to bed.”
[They prepare to sign the contract.]
Ubuhle: “Call on your crew - might as well let them see this historic moment.”
[A little post-signing posturing.]
Ubuhle: “Naturally, I don’t need to tell you that if you double-cross me, I will hunt you down, skin you, cut you, etc. etc.”
Amber: “And the other way around, naturally.”
Ubuhle: “I would call your bluff, but I don’t think you’re bluffing.”
[Of course, even with the charts, we can’t leave immediately. We still need to figure out how to navigate through the streams. Tam takes the opportunity to learn how to speak elven, which he learns from the dwarven prisoners. Naturally, they team him all the curse words first.]
Kyn the GM: “Ah, swearing in elven - like wiping your ass with silk.”
[We finally figure out how to read the charts. Time for our first test run!]
Ship: *enters the stream five seconds late and shudders a bit*
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Okay, we need to take into account that these streams wiggle a bit.”
Sailor: “’Wiggle’?! That’s a technical term?”
The new characters are:
- Lieutenant Vanessa “Nessa” Thünderclød, walker pilot (played by Tony)
- Specialist Tamerin “Tam” Tempest, scout (played by Pat)
- Captain Amber Stormweaver, magus (played by Julie)
- Kyn the GM
[We introduce our new characters, some more favorably than others.]
Kyn the GM: “Tam was… well, they called him a disappointment.”
[To prepare for our mission into the egg, we go through a series of simulations in the magical equivalent of a holodeck. Today’s task: cross a 40-km expanse of forest. With us are 20 foot soldiers, a doctor and her apprentice, Amber and her apprentice, and three magitech Walkers and their pilots]
Kyn the GM: “It is physically impossible to be stealthy with a Walker.”
[As we cross the landscape, we come to a fairly wide river, where we discover aquatic elves lying in wait for us. Elves, and other things.]
Kyn the GM: “An elder water elemental emerges from the river.”
Julie: “Well, now I have a target.”
[It takes us about an hour and a half real-time to play out the combat. But eventually, we do!]
Kyn the GM: “Congratulations, you have crossed a bridge.”
[Now that we are past the river, we are skirting the forest proper.]
Tam: “Don’t worry, I think we’ve got the element of surpr-” *is shot*
[We are ambushed by elves in the middle of the night.]
Soldier: “How do we fight them?”
Nessa: “With intelligence, with tactics, and with cunning. Or with words.”
Soldier: “Yeah, the word is ‘execute.’”
[The simulations over, it’s time to start our mission for real. First step: reach the crack in the egg that happens to be occupied by Tiamat herself.]
Pat: “I’ve got an idea!”
Tony: “I’m not rolling pilot. I don’t do that anymore.”
[We enter the crack to find ourselves, not in Vesperia, but in a strange demiplane. Where things are sorta… wonky.]
Julie: “Oh, the wild magic chart. I don’t know it well, but I know I don’t like it.”
[More wonky elements of the demiplane.]
Kyn the GM: “Gravity is subjective.”
Tony: “I decide I don’t want it anymore.”
Kyn the GM: “No, it may decide it doesn’t want you.”
[Ultimately we realize the demiplane is the shell of the egg itself, part of the ethereal plane. We also discover that there are plenty of githyanki. We decide to capture and question one. Of course, this involves combat.]
Pat: “I have dimensional anchors. I’m sure he wants to teleport.”
Kyn the GM: “He does, but he has the same problem as you.”
Julie: “He teleports to his exact current location!”
[We capture a githyanki lieutenant.]
Githyanki: “We have an army - do you not think they’ll come for me?”
Amber: “Good - you’re about to tell me all about them.”
[The gith reveals that beyond their fortress is a rift into the elemental plane of water, which leads through to Vesperia. Our plan is a simple one: ram our one and only ship into the githyanki defense tower, steal their ships, and fly through. The captain of our ship, Jason Keeneye, has a few things to say about this.]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Permission to speak freely?”
Nessa: “Please do.”
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Are you an idiot?!”
Nessa: “Yes.”
[The ship’s engineer, a gnome called Toughnut Wrenchbender, has a different attitude.]
Toughnut Wrenchbender: (excitedly) “Wait, wait, wait… I can turn into a giant exploding thing?!”
[We pile into our ship. It’s somewhat… cramped.]
Tam: “Who’s grabbing my ass?”
Nessa: “…Sorry.”
Soldier: “Wait, if you’re grabbing his ass, who’s grabbing my ass?”
Nessa: “…Sorry.”
[Senior Sergeant Vinh, commander of the ground-pounders, gives an abbreviated pep talk.]
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “If we survive, we’ve attained our objective. And if we fail, no one will know of our embarrassing death.”
[We prepare to ram the defense tower.]
Kyn the GM: “The gnome’s sitting there, caressing a ball.”
[At the last minute, Amber detects a flaw in our flawless plan.]
Amber: “Engineer Toughnut, is this a magical explosion?”
Toughnut Wrenchbender: “Of course!”
Amber: “We are in a wild magic field.”
Toughnut Wrenchbender: “Too late now!”
[We crash our ship into the tower. There is a mighty explosion. Due to the wild magic, there is also a huge sphere of darkness and silence that engulfs the area. The only one who can sense anything at all is Tam, through his tremorsense magic items.]
Kyn the GM: (to Pat) “The plan succeeded, but you have no way of telling anyone.”
[We manage to not only secure a githyanki ship but also free 84 slaves. Of course, we still have the issue of getting to the rift. Barbara Astralwind, ship’s navigator, is on the job!]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Barbara, have you figured out the navigation?”
Barbara Astralwind: “I think this crystal is supposed to point us to… something.”
Tam: (deadpan) “Very helpful.”
[We manage to lift off. So do the other seven gith ships.]
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Why didn’t anyone destroy the other ships?!”
Tam: “…Right. That’s my job.”
[We emerge through the rift to the Elemental Plane of Water, pass the great kraken, and emerge into the egg.]
Kyn the GM: (as soldiers) “Oh, shit, we did it! …Wait a sec. Shit, we did it! We’re behind enemy lines!”
[We take stock of the situation.]
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “There’s good news and bad news.”
Nessa: “What’s the bad news?”
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “We have 84 prisoners.”
Nessa: “What’s the good news?”
Senior Sergeant Vinh: “We freed 84 slaves.”
[With the help of our doctor and Amber’s apprentice Mika Silverskin, we remove the mind-control collars from the prisoners. One is a particularly attractive elf who asks us to call her Ray.]
Kyn the GM: “Mika’s developing a crush.”
Julie: “I think this is one of those times he will learn the consequences of his actions on his own.”
[It becomes clear that in order to get anywhere, we will need charts. And to get charts, we will need to go into the nearby catfolk city. Kyn the GM lays out our first impressions.]
Kyn the GM: “The colors! Catfolk don’t understand… well, catfolk are colorblind.”
[Catfolk are also passionate, quick to anger and love. It doesn’t help that we’re disguised as them.]
Tam: “I don’t want a catwoman!”
Catfolk Female: “What, we’re not good enough for you?!”
Tam: “I want five!”
Kyn the GM: “…Well played.”
[As we’re walking through the city, there’s an explosion of the same geyser we came through. It launches all manner of debris and creatures over the city streets. The guards quickly rush in to make sure everything’s all right.]
Guard: “Safe… safe… whoa, dangerous!”
[We arrive at the map shop.]
Nessa: “We need the most up-to-date charts.”
Shopkeep: “What’s your official route?”
Nessa: “South by southwest.”
Shopkeep: “You work for the Abadonis?”
Nessa: “…Yes.”
[We realize we can’t get charts without a commission from a merchant family. It seems unlikely we’ll get that today, but it would be a shame to waste a spell with a duration of several hours.]
Nessa: “You may disperse within a 4-block radius.”
Kyn the GM : “Funny you should use the term ‘block’…”
[Tam, Nessa, and Ray approach a rich-looking catfolk woman using the expedient of buying her a bottle of expensive wine, which she offers in small part to share with them.]
Tam: *drinks the elven wine*
Pat: “What does it taste like?”
Kyn the GM: “Honestly? You’ve been drinking moonshine. This doesn’t taste like it’s turning your insides to liquid!”
[There are immediately a few problems.]
Rich Catfolk: “What’s your name? I didn’t even bother asking.”
Nessa: “…”
Rich Catfolk: “You forgot your name?”
[Yes, because Tony forgot the cover name Nessa was using, we decided to bring that hesitation in-game.]
Rich Catfolk: “If you’re stuttering already, you’re not making a good impression.”
Nessa: “That’s what the bottle’s for.”
[The rich catfolk’s name is Ubuhle. She is the daughter of a noble merchant family. Nessa asks for a commission.]
Ubuhle: “What kind of ship do you fly?”
Nessa: “Medium-class.”
Ubuhle: (unimpressed) “Well, that narrows it down to 500.”
[Did I mention that Ray is Jass’ mother? Because she is. It leads to some ‘think-fast’ moments like this.]
Ray: “Our ship is the Sovereign Will.”
Ubuhle: “Another one?! Ever since the king died, it’s all ‘wings’ this and ‘freedom’ that!”
[It’s good to know where you stand.]
Ubuhle: “I like you. But I don’t like you enough to offer you a contract right off the fly.”
[Tam is having a bit of trouble keeping up.]
Ubuhle: “And you? What do you do on the ship?”
Tam: “I’m a scout.”
Ubuhle: “…”
Nessa: “She’s my bosun.”
Tam: “I’m the bosun.”
Ubuhle: “…You’re not very bright, are you?”
Julie: (as Nessa) “My father made me take her. We had to find something for her to do.”
[The end result is that we are invited to the estate of her father, a merchant with commissions, to a party to prove our worth.]
Nessa: “That was terrible.”
Tam: “It could have been worse.”
Ray: “I can’t see how.”
[Meanwhile, the NPCs with us have had their own problems with the fool’s gold we are using for currency.]
Amber: “Let’s go. Now. What did we all learn about illusory money today?”
Barbara Astralwind: “Only give it to idiots.”
Amber: “That’s right.”
[We go to the party. We all, naturally, have false names.]
Ubuhle: “And who’s this?”
Amber: “I’m Cerridwyn.”
Ubuhle: “Odd name. Are you one of the Ubu clan?”
Amber: “I’m Valeria’s caster.”
Ubuhle: “That doesn’t answer the question. But the evasiveness means you’re definitely part of the Ubu clan.”
[There is a Falan delegation at the party.]
Ubuhle: “The thing about Falan is that if you’ve spent a thousand years fighting everyone, you learn to expect two things: first, a dagger in your back, and second, not to be very liked.”
[The spells we’re using to disguise ourselves have the peculiarity of making us appear to be the same species and gender as the people we’re interacting with. So when we’re talking with Ubuhle, she sees us as female. Which Tam keeps forgetting.]
Ubuhle: “Oh, find yourself a proper tomcat and get yourself run through. Properly.”
Kyn the GM: (to Pat) “Remember, you’re female.”
Tam: “…Right!”
[Ubuhle has realized we’re not legitimate sailors. She assumes that we’re pirates or treasure hunters.]
Ubuhle: (to Amber) “And you follow her, why?”
Amber: “It’s exciting.”
Ubuhle: “Well, at least there some catfolk in you.”
Amber: *shrugs*
Ubuhle: (to Tam) “And clearly you were dropped on your head once or twice as a child.”
[Nessa has slipped up several times and referred to Tam as ‘he,’ despite the disguise.]
Ubuhle: “He? That’s the third time you’ve said that.”
Amber: (softly) “Cursed. She was originally a boy.”
Ubuhle: *guffaws* “Oh, poor dear!”
[A little chit-chat.]
Ubuhle: “You know, I always thought we would conquer the world. If we only had one-tenth of the patience of the elves. That, and a shiny ball tends to distract us.” *throws ball into gathering of catfolk*
Tam: “Shiny!”
Ubuhle: “…”
[Nessa informs Ubuhle that we have captured an Athos ship.]
Ubuhle: “I have to admit, when you lie, you lie big!”
[Ubuhle insists on seeing our ship before she gives us her patronage. With certain precautions, naturally.]
Ubuhle: “Obviously, if you ever think of kidnapping me, my father would hunt you down, skin you alive, and wear your furs.”
[Later that evening, the consequences of what we’ve agreed to become clear.]
Amber: “We’re going to have to hide… everyone.”
[The next day, Amber teleports Ubuhle to our ship. She is quite excited.]
Ubuhle: “What’s this? And what’s this? Ooh, what’s this?”
Nessa: “Shiny, isn’t it?”
Ubuhle: “…Touché.”
[A small flaw in our flawless plan: we forgot to move out the warstriders, and Ubuhle rolled remarkably well to know what they are.]
Kyn the GM: “She recognizes them.”
Nessa: “Spoils of war.”
Ubuhle: “Do you even know what you have? The Elven Alliance would give you an island for one of these.”
[More of the same.]
Ubuhle: “Have you been in one of these?”
Nessa: “I honestly don’t know what they do.”
Kyn the GM: “Roll bluff.”
Julie: “The correct answer was, ‘I’ve sat in the cockpit.’”
[Ubuhle agrees to give us charts, a signet ring, and access to her fueling stations in exchange for schematics of the githyanki ship. Also, she wants to know when we find new lands.]
Nessa: “You want freedom.”
Ubuhle: “I want to rule. I want to start my own city, run my own guilds, crush my father, skin him, and wear his hide to bed.”
[They prepare to sign the contract.]
Ubuhle: “Call on your crew - might as well let them see this historic moment.”
[A little post-signing posturing.]
Ubuhle: “Naturally, I don’t need to tell you that if you double-cross me, I will hunt you down, skin you, cut you, etc. etc.”
Amber: “And the other way around, naturally.”
Ubuhle: “I would call your bluff, but I don’t think you’re bluffing.”
[Of course, even with the charts, we can’t leave immediately. We still need to figure out how to navigate through the streams. Tam takes the opportunity to learn how to speak elven, which he learns from the dwarven prisoners. Naturally, they team him all the curse words first.]
Kyn the GM: “Ah, swearing in elven - like wiping your ass with silk.”
[We finally figure out how to read the charts. Time for our first test run!]
Ship: *enters the stream five seconds late and shudders a bit*
Captain Jason Keeneye: “Okay, we need to take into account that these streams wiggle a bit.”
Sailor: “’Wiggle’?! That’s a technical term?”