Imareon 20, 3127, late night, at sea
I didn't expect to have time at sea again so soon, and there's something very exhilarating about sailing a pinnace after having spent several months aboard larger ships. I'd forgotten how agile and responsive these small craft can be. Unfortunately, now that I've set our course and gotten us underway, Hogun and Tanowen insist that Pelori and I rest and recover our magical strength after the battles we faced yesterday, so they're not letting me handle the sails. So much for being captain.
I suppose I should back up a bit and record the events that led us to steal a pinnace and set out to find the gnome fleet that's headed toward Xandros at this moment.
When we went to seek out Father Atrius yesterday, we discovered that the Temple of Jahntar was closed down when the Hellknights and Itani Xandros took over the city. We managed to track down one of the former deacons of the temple, and she told us some very disturbing things. Father Atrius had gone into hiding with Loronil after that, but they were discovered by one of the snake-assassin things that have been plaguing us lately. It killed Father Atrius and used a disguise to assume his identity. Fortunately, Loronil was able to escape without attracting its attention. She gave us two scrolls to restore our life energy in exchange for our promise to kill the creature that was pretending to be Father Atrius. Hells, I'd have done that even if she hadn't offered us any help at all. I don't know what those snake things are or why they've been trying to kill us, but I'm beginning to loathe them beyond all reason.
When we arrived at the location Loronil had given us for the underground 'clinic' she and Father Atrius had set up, we decided to try to find out what the assassin was up to, so we went in under our own identities and asked 'Father Atrius' for help. Given the fact that it attacked us at the first opportunity, and completely ruined its cover in doing so, I'm assuming now that what it was up to was setting a trap for us. It's dead now, though killing the thing nearly cost Hogun his life. I should have insisted that we just attack immediately instead of trying to be all subtle and get information from the thing. Letting it get in the first blow was a huge mistake.
What concerns me is how the snake-assassin knew Father Atrius had aided us in the first place. Loronil didn't mention him questioning Father Atrius when he assassinated him, so I doubt he got the information that way. And other than Father Atrius, Pelori, myself, and my crew (and some of my former crew, now), I don't think anyone else knew Father Atrius had aided us or that we'd given him information about the undead infestation in the leg of the Irespan. The snake assassin knew about both of those things when we sought him out. So if Father Atrius didn't give that information to the snake assassin, who did? I don't want to think that someone who is or was a member of my crew would have betrayed my confidence, but I suppose I should have foreseen the possibility.
In the course of finding Loronil yesterday morning, we heard some very disquieting rumors about what's been going on with the gnome and halfling slaves. There were heralds in the streets yesterday proclaiming that a curfew has been put into effect due to the expectation of an imminent attack on the city. We also heard some relatively incongrous rumors about heavy foot traffic into Ordelia, and rumors of large trade caravans being assembled there to go to Azira and Laas, but apparently there's been very little outgoing traffic through the city gate on the west side of Ordelia. Tremina also contacted me magically to say that the Castaway had recently encountered a gnome fleet headed toward Brindisgloch. Something about all of that information made me uneasy, and since since it was getting on toward evening by the time we defeated the snake assassin, we decided to investigate a warehouse in the Marches that's been seeing heavy traffic to and from the slave camps in Ordelia. (I'm NOT stupid enough to deliberately go after a bunch of vampires in the middle of the night, after all.)
When we arrived at the warehouse, we discovered that it was guarded by a group of the Gray Maidens, Itani's personal guard. While Tanowen and I were discussing options for eliminating a few of the guards and getting a look inside the building, Pelori got impatient and just summoned a couple of giant owls to carry all the exterior guards away. So then we all went to the roof and Tanowen pulled up some of the roofing to let us have a look inside. The warehouse was easily large enough to fit all 1400 of the slaves we'd heard were at Ordelia, and every bit of it that we could see was full.
Suddenly everything fell into place-- it felt a bit like being hit between the eyes with a hammer. The Hellknight fleet never went north, and all the foot traffic into Ordelia has been soldiers sent there to lay a trap for the gnome fleet. The gnomes would attack Ordelia to free their people, and be trapped between the Hellknight fleet and the soldiers who have been garrisoned in Ordelia.
I was a little hesitant about acting, since it seemed awfully risky to try to save the gnomes from ambush, and as much as I want to free every slave I can, we do have a larger purpose here. Pelori was pretty adamant about it, though, and she and Tanowen came up with a plan that seemed reasonable. Had I known more about what we were going to face, I probably would have insisted on a more subtle plan, but we decided to eliminate all the guards and slavers in the warehouse and take a couple of slaves with us, then steal a pinnace and go out to meet the gnome fleet. Taking out the Gray Maidens was easy enough, but the slavers turned out to be vampires. By the time we took out the last of them, I was severely weakened by their energy draining attacks. We searched the warehouse, and found their account books, and their payment-- which took the form of diamonds. I've never seen so many beautiful gems in one place. Then Pelori dispelled the mesmerization effect on a couple of the gnomes, and we made our way to the docks to steal a pinnace.
I suppose I should back up a bit and record the events that led us to steal a pinnace and set out to find the gnome fleet that's headed toward Xandros at this moment.
When we went to seek out Father Atrius yesterday, we discovered that the Temple of Jahntar was closed down when the Hellknights and Itani Xandros took over the city. We managed to track down one of the former deacons of the temple, and she told us some very disturbing things. Father Atrius had gone into hiding with Loronil after that, but they were discovered by one of the snake-assassin things that have been plaguing us lately. It killed Father Atrius and used a disguise to assume his identity. Fortunately, Loronil was able to escape without attracting its attention. She gave us two scrolls to restore our life energy in exchange for our promise to kill the creature that was pretending to be Father Atrius. Hells, I'd have done that even if she hadn't offered us any help at all. I don't know what those snake things are or why they've been trying to kill us, but I'm beginning to loathe them beyond all reason.
When we arrived at the location Loronil had given us for the underground 'clinic' she and Father Atrius had set up, we decided to try to find out what the assassin was up to, so we went in under our own identities and asked 'Father Atrius' for help. Given the fact that it attacked us at the first opportunity, and completely ruined its cover in doing so, I'm assuming now that what it was up to was setting a trap for us. It's dead now, though killing the thing nearly cost Hogun his life. I should have insisted that we just attack immediately instead of trying to be all subtle and get information from the thing. Letting it get in the first blow was a huge mistake.
What concerns me is how the snake-assassin knew Father Atrius had aided us in the first place. Loronil didn't mention him questioning Father Atrius when he assassinated him, so I doubt he got the information that way. And other than Father Atrius, Pelori, myself, and my crew (and some of my former crew, now), I don't think anyone else knew Father Atrius had aided us or that we'd given him information about the undead infestation in the leg of the Irespan. The snake assassin knew about both of those things when we sought him out. So if Father Atrius didn't give that information to the snake assassin, who did? I don't want to think that someone who is or was a member of my crew would have betrayed my confidence, but I suppose I should have foreseen the possibility.
In the course of finding Loronil yesterday morning, we heard some very disquieting rumors about what's been going on with the gnome and halfling slaves. There were heralds in the streets yesterday proclaiming that a curfew has been put into effect due to the expectation of an imminent attack on the city. We also heard some relatively incongrous rumors about heavy foot traffic into Ordelia, and rumors of large trade caravans being assembled there to go to Azira and Laas, but apparently there's been very little outgoing traffic through the city gate on the west side of Ordelia. Tremina also contacted me magically to say that the Castaway had recently encountered a gnome fleet headed toward Brindisgloch. Something about all of that information made me uneasy, and since since it was getting on toward evening by the time we defeated the snake assassin, we decided to investigate a warehouse in the Marches that's been seeing heavy traffic to and from the slave camps in Ordelia. (I'm NOT stupid enough to deliberately go after a bunch of vampires in the middle of the night, after all.)
When we arrived at the warehouse, we discovered that it was guarded by a group of the Gray Maidens, Itani's personal guard. While Tanowen and I were discussing options for eliminating a few of the guards and getting a look inside the building, Pelori got impatient and just summoned a couple of giant owls to carry all the exterior guards away. So then we all went to the roof and Tanowen pulled up some of the roofing to let us have a look inside. The warehouse was easily large enough to fit all 1400 of the slaves we'd heard were at Ordelia, and every bit of it that we could see was full.
Suddenly everything fell into place-- it felt a bit like being hit between the eyes with a hammer. The Hellknight fleet never went north, and all the foot traffic into Ordelia has been soldiers sent there to lay a trap for the gnome fleet. The gnomes would attack Ordelia to free their people, and be trapped between the Hellknight fleet and the soldiers who have been garrisoned in Ordelia.
I was a little hesitant about acting, since it seemed awfully risky to try to save the gnomes from ambush, and as much as I want to free every slave I can, we do have a larger purpose here. Pelori was pretty adamant about it, though, and she and Tanowen came up with a plan that seemed reasonable. Had I known more about what we were going to face, I probably would have insisted on a more subtle plan, but we decided to eliminate all the guards and slavers in the warehouse and take a couple of slaves with us, then steal a pinnace and go out to meet the gnome fleet. Taking out the Gray Maidens was easy enough, but the slavers turned out to be vampires. By the time we took out the last of them, I was severely weakened by their energy draining attacks. We searched the warehouse, and found their account books, and their payment-- which took the form of diamonds. I've never seen so many beautiful gems in one place. Then Pelori dispelled the mesmerization effect on a couple of the gnomes, and we made our way to the docks to steal a pinnace.