Dark Ship Opportunity's Strike

Posted on 20 Aug 2024 @ 4:21am by Mage Kalian Winter & Warrior Rhiannon Cadash & Warrior Katya Charbonnet (Shar-bon-ay) & Warrior Rahvin Vargar & Rogue Vasil & Mage Kithris Sabrae

2,307 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Bann Voyage
Location: Enroute from Jader to West Hill
Timeline: Bloomingtide 21st, evening

Once all seven volunteers were aboard the Raven's Claw, they pushed off from the Night's Kiss. Clouds gathered overhead, dimming the sun's evening light. Jessamir shouted down at them, "Don't take any risks. I want to be well away from that ship before the sun sets."

Barirmegrett sat in the bow, her keen gaze on the derelict ship as they rowed closer. Rhiannon and Kalian took the fore pair of oars, Katya and Kithris the middle, and Vasil and Rahvin the aft oar set.

As the adventurers brought the Raven's Claw closer to the port side of the derelict ship, Barirmegrett pointed to the ship's bow and said, "I can make out her name. Opportunity's Strike."

Rhi searched her memory for the name of the ship.

Kalian squinted at the derelict ship's bow. The letters appeared to have been covered with soot… or scorch marks. Now that he knew what it said he could only just make it out. No wonder Barirmegrett was usually assigned to the crow's nest.

The volunteers brought the Raven's Claw in close to the port side of the Opportunity's Strike, and Barirmegrett expertly tossed the grapple ladder up, securing their path onto the derelict ship. "Who's first?" she asked.

Well, somebody had to do it and wouldn't want to disturb those love birds, thought Vasil.

"I'll go. Just don't be surprised if I suddenly dive off the side of the ship if I run into big trouble up there," he gave a cheeky grin, but the words were not completely in jest.

He stood up then and took a pull on the grapple, yes, it was secure up there...least for now. No time to waste.

"Go ahead. Let us know if it's safe to come up." Katya said.

"I will," Vasil nodded but never paused.

"I'll be right behind you," said Kalian. Maferath’s balls! There was no way he would let the scrawny kid go up on that ship alone. Even if he was ship's head of security. The moment Vasil shifted his weight off the little boat and onto the rope, Kalian moved to the bow, then followed him up. Kalian hauled himself over the ship's railing and stood next to Vasil, taking it all in.

Vasil just nodded acknowledgement to Kalian, he was fine with having someone right with him.

Then Kalian called out what he saw to the crew in the boat below. "No people I can see." There were tools scattered in one area, in another area playing cards, a pipe, and a lute lay abandoned. "It doesn't look like a battle. Other than the scorch marks, it's more like the crew were in the middle of routine chores."

Vasil figured he didn't need to yell down now as Kalian was filling the others in. He decided to take a closer look at those scorch marks.

Rhi had given a nod to Vasil. She found his willingness to be the first up the ladder. He was quickly gaining her respect. What caught her off guard was when Kalian said that he was going up next. "Be careful." She called out to the two of them.

One of the burnt places was close-by where they were standing. To Vasil, Kalian said, "There's something about the shape of this burn mark…"

"Yeah, not anything like I've ever seen before," Vasil remarked but then it came to him. And it wasn't good. Others now came up.

From his position, Vasil could see that the burned section of deck was in the shape of a person. As distinct as a shadow, but the wood of the deck had definitely been burned.

Katya followed Kalian up. "Alright. What have we got?" she asked.

Kithris made her way up after Katya. She stood near Katya.

Rhi followed behind Katya and Kithris. As she made her way over the railing she noticed that those already on deck were looking at what looked to be some kind of scorch marks. "So what do we have here?"

Vasil pointed, "Look at that carefully, yes burn marks but look at the shape. Like that of a human body was lying on the deck. Burning...hopefully already dead and not burned alive. But something bad happened here."

He now drew out his weapon just in case.

Rahvin had followed Rhi up and had moved towards the quarterdeck.

"Something bad that looks like magic," Kalian agreed with Vasil. He readied his staff and concentrated on his connection to the fade. "I'm not detecting magical activity right now." He looked to Kithris for confirmation.

This gave her something else to focus on as Kithris gave a nod. Bringing her bow/staff around in front of her she closed her eyes and focused. A brief light green light seemed to come from her closed eyes. After a moment she opened them, "There is no current magical activity. That said, it does not mean that this was not caused by magical means."

"I wouldn't know about that, I do not deal in magics," Vasil admitted easily enough. He didn't really trust magic though.

Kalian leaned over the rail to give Barirmegrett, who remained on the Raven's Claw, a thumbs-up, then he addressed Rhiannon, "A ship would have something like a business ledger, right? Or maybe a log that might have clues about what happened here? Where do you think we'd find it?"

Rhiannon gave Kalian a smile. "All ships have ledgers or logs, if you prefer. Navigation, business or the quartermaster logs among others. What we want are the Captain's logs, the quartermasters log and the ship's daily logs. These will give us an idea of what might have happened here."

To Vasil, Rahvin, and Katya, Kalian said, "There might be survivors, hiding below deck. Shall we search for them?"

"Possibly. You'd think at least one or the other would have come up to see who was boarding their ship though? It's not like we were silent and sneaking on board. It's going to be dark down there, we need a lantern or a torch," Vasil gave his opinion on the matter.

"Yes we should check to see if there are any survivors. They might be injured. As always proceed with caution. Does anybody have a lantern?" asked Katya.

Rahvin had been listening to the conversation. When Kalian had suggested that there may be survivors on board and Vasil commented that if there had been survivors, someone should have shown themselves by now. He looked to Vasil then to Rhi, "I would agree, if someone was here, you would think that they would have shown themselves by now. Though, there is the possibility that they may be too weak to do so." He looks to Katya, "I can start with the crew's quarters. I could use some help?"

"Of course. I'd be happy to help!" Katya replied!

Rhi looks to Vasil, "Come with me to the Captain's quarters. Going to need your expertise."

"Sure, I'll go with ya," Vasil nodded without hesitation.

She will give Kalian a smile, "You and Kithris, see if there is any magic or magical residue on board." Turning, she started to head to the captain’s quarters

Vasil was right behind her.

Kithris looked to Katya and smiled. She seemed to be looking a bit better since she had something to focus on. Looking to Kalian, "Well. Where should we start?"

"Well…" Kalian closed his eyes and concentrated on his awareness of the fade, then glanced around as he slowly rotated where he stood. "I'm not sensing any magic. No fade-based magic, anyway. I've never used blood magic, so I'm not sure I'd recognize it." In a low voice to Kithris, he asked, "How about you?"

Kithris had done the same as Kalian and couldn't find anything as well. "I have never used blood magic either. As for recognizing it, I would say that we should try and look for what would be different in how it feels when we touch the fade. It is worth a try." She looked around for a moment then lit up the end of her bow for light. "Let us look around."

Kalian and Kithris's above-deck search didn't turn up anything new. Kalian said, "Let's check in with Rhiannon and Vasil, then head below deck and see if we can help Katya and Rahvin search.

# # #

Vasil and Rhiannon found the Captain's quarters in complete disarray. As they searched, Rhiannon discovered a safe-like strong box of the type a ships captain might use to store coin and valuables, but the lock was broken and the box was empty. Coin that might have been kept in it was scattered among the broken things littering the floor.

"Damn, now I'll never know if I could have picked it," Vasil grinned, he always did enjoy that sort of challenge.

Rhi gave a chuckle. "Well, we will have to get some locks then. To keep you in practice."

Vasil picked up, among other things, a book about half-full of numbers and other writing – the ship's ledger.

"Here ya go, lots ta read. Just don't ask me to do it, I can't read a lick," he declared.

Rhiannon came over and took the ledger. She glanced through it quickly. She grabbed a sheet from the bed and made a make shift sack. She put the ledger in it, then started to look in places where she would keep hidden things. Around the bed is where she starts. As she does she says, "Vasil, where would you put something you wanted to keep hidden?"

"Well, that depends on what it is, how big or small it is, the place I'm in, and such. There is no such thing as a definitive answer to that one. But if I wanted it safe, I'd lock it up or.........put it in a safe! I will check the floor boards, maybe there is a loose one," he answered then got down on his hands and knees to start.

Whilst Vasil makes a careful search, Rhiannon opens the ledger to the last page and finds notes likely written by the Captain or Quartermaster, indicating the extremely lucrative sale of a Grey Warden Relic – one of three - to the Bann of West Hill. The ship's next port was Kirkwall where they expected to sell one of the two remaining pieces of the set.

Tag: Rhiannon

Vasil does indeed discover a cleverly hidden cupboard beneath the floorboards, and inside is a rectangular iron lock box, with the lock intact, about one foot high, one foot wide, and two feet long.

Tag: Vasil

Inside the lockbox is another, smaller, rectangular box wrapped in leather. The box is about 4" x 4" x 12" and made of an unfamiliar metal inlaid with letters fashioned from blue crystal. Rhiannon recognizes the crystal as lyrium, and the letters as elven, but Rhi is not certain of the translation. The interior of the box is thickly padded, and contains one solid lump of lyrium carved into the shape of a griffon, about the size of a child's fist. There are two additional indentations in the padding to either side, suggesting the box once held three such carvings. Letters carved into the figure itself are just visible, but difficult to read without removing it from the padding.

Tag: Vasil, Rhiannon

Kithris and Kalian appeared at the door to the captain's cabin about the time Vasil and Rhi opened the box. Kalian said, "Kithris, can you read the elven writing on the outside of that box?"

Tag: Kithris

# # #

"Careful my love. No telling what's down there." Katya said to Kit as she departed with Rahvin.

As Katya and Rahvin start down the stairs to the next level down, they find an unlit lantern hanging from a hook. It appears to be half-full of oil, so all they need to do is light it. Both of them can hear sounds coming from further down, deep within the gloom. Katya strikes a match and lights the lantern. "There that ought to help. Now let's see what there is to see."

Rahvin followed down the ladder to the deck below. Katya spotted a lantern and lit it. As they peered around sounds could be heard. Sword in hand, Rahvin whispered to Katya. "Something is down here. Let us check it out." He will start towards where he heard the noise coming from. Moving as quickly as he can.

Katya and Rahvin find themselves in the galley of the ship, where the table is broken, chairs are broken and tossed to the sides, and broken dishes with the remnants of spoiled food litter the floor. At the edges of the flickering light of the lantern, shadows move eerily, as if thrown from glowing embers in the room beyond, and a growling voice whispers, "In Death, Sacrifice."

Tag: Katya, Rahvin



Tag: EVERYONE!


OOC(Sprite): for reference, this is a list of characters in this scene (so far): Katya, Vasil, Barirmegrett (still in the boat), Kalian, Rhiannon, Kithris, Rahvin,

On the outside of the box, written in Elvish, Kithris will be able to read and translate what it says:
"In War, Victory
In Peace, Vigilance
In Death, Sacrifice"
Being a dwarf, Rhiannon is probably the only member of the party who can safely handle a lump of lyrium with her bare hands. (Something they would all know.) The inlaid lyrium is thin and doesn't pose a serious risk.
If any of them do take the one remaining relic out of the box and examine it, the middle phrase (in Elvish) is visible: In Peace, Vigilance.

If Rahvin or Katya have encountered a Rage demon before, they may recognize that growl ;)


Ended here, story incomplete

 

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