Saturday, June 26, 2004
Major Richard Skelton's Journal, Issue 5
18th of June, 1814 A.D.
We're sailing again. No incidents today, and hopefully that trend will continue for awhile.
22nd of June
Sails spotted on the horizon. Turned out to be a pirate junk. We were wary, especially as they seemed to have a fire mage on board. However, they were much less threatening after a broadside touched off their powder magazine and they were blown to kingdom come. We managed to retrieve four sailors, plus the captain and the mage, to return them to Baltimus. The fire mage had a magic sash of some type - it had a spirit bound to it, according to Aquillikae. Quite odd. Barbaric people, to say the least.
23rd of June
We arrived in Baltimus, and delivered our prisoners. We also arranged for an audience with Edward Lasenby five days from now. We shall fill the intervening time with patrolling and trading.
24th of June
Arrived in Lanos.
25th of June
Arrived in Baltimus, dropped off cargo, and prepared to head to sea again.
26th of June
The Wicked Wanderer has been lost. We encountered a pirate Brigantine and engaged them. An extremely long battle ensued, with us trading broadsides at each other. Our ship received the absolute worst of it, however, and sank after a long fight. All would have been lost, had it not been for the courage of Aquillikae - he dove under the water, fought off Kehenna marines underwater, and then single handedly captured the pirate ship after jumping up on board from behind them. An amazing feat that took true courage! We've lost many good men, and a good boat besides, but it is only thanks to Aquillikae that we are not all now the prisoners of pirates... Amazing, those Kracken are...
27th of June
We return to Baltimus to rest and recuperate. It's good to be back ashore.
28th of June
We had our audience with Lasenby today, and he was able to give us much information. It was indeed Byron Baltimus - Bruno's father - who was there at the execution of the Sea Hags. Unfortunately, Bruno is quite the snob, and will see only nobility. Lasenby suggested several means we might gain an audience, and it is those avenues we now pursue... First, we must find a tailor...
29th of June
First, the events of the day. We've gotten myself, Aquillikae, Serenity and Blackpowder Pete dressed up for court, and we've been spending time in the cafes and salons of the city in an attempt to make contacts. Pete was approached with an interesting offer it appears, although we have yet to hear all the details. I'm sure it was quite excited.
In other news, fire has finally revealed its secrets to me. The next time I visit dear Tressa, it will be as a fellow Archmage! Of course, I still have a very great deal to learn...but it is such a comfort to finally have all the elements firmly in balance...
"And what be your name?"
"Pete....arr!"
"I like to keep my arse covered...unless I'm on my boat, I get nervous about it."
"You had me at debauchery."
We're sailing again. No incidents today, and hopefully that trend will continue for awhile.
22nd of June
Sails spotted on the horizon. Turned out to be a pirate junk. We were wary, especially as they seemed to have a fire mage on board. However, they were much less threatening after a broadside touched off their powder magazine and they were blown to kingdom come. We managed to retrieve four sailors, plus the captain and the mage, to return them to Baltimus. The fire mage had a magic sash of some type - it had a spirit bound to it, according to Aquillikae. Quite odd. Barbaric people, to say the least.
23rd of June
We arrived in Baltimus, and delivered our prisoners. We also arranged for an audience with Edward Lasenby five days from now. We shall fill the intervening time with patrolling and trading.
24th of June
Arrived in Lanos.
25th of June
Arrived in Baltimus, dropped off cargo, and prepared to head to sea again.
26th of June
The Wicked Wanderer has been lost. We encountered a pirate Brigantine and engaged them. An extremely long battle ensued, with us trading broadsides at each other. Our ship received the absolute worst of it, however, and sank after a long fight. All would have been lost, had it not been for the courage of Aquillikae - he dove under the water, fought off Kehenna marines underwater, and then single handedly captured the pirate ship after jumping up on board from behind them. An amazing feat that took true courage! We've lost many good men, and a good boat besides, but it is only thanks to Aquillikae that we are not all now the prisoners of pirates... Amazing, those Kracken are...
27th of June
We return to Baltimus to rest and recuperate. It's good to be back ashore.
28th of June
We had our audience with Lasenby today, and he was able to give us much information. It was indeed Byron Baltimus - Bruno's father - who was there at the execution of the Sea Hags. Unfortunately, Bruno is quite the snob, and will see only nobility. Lasenby suggested several means we might gain an audience, and it is those avenues we now pursue... First, we must find a tailor...
29th of June
First, the events of the day. We've gotten myself, Aquillikae, Serenity and Blackpowder Pete dressed up for court, and we've been spending time in the cafes and salons of the city in an attempt to make contacts. Pete was approached with an interesting offer it appears, although we have yet to hear all the details. I'm sure it was quite excited.
In other news, fire has finally revealed its secrets to me. The next time I visit dear Tressa, it will be as a fellow Archmage! Of course, I still have a very great deal to learn...but it is such a comfort to finally have all the elements firmly in balance...
"And what be your name?"
"Pete....arr!"
"I like to keep my arse covered...unless I'm on my boat, I get nervous about it."
"You had me at debauchery."
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Major Richard Skelton's Journal, Issue 4
6th of June, 1814 A.D.
Docked into Kiera. We are all recovering from our wounds as the ship is repaired.
7th of June
Whilst wandering about town, I ran across an old friend, Sir Thomas Rutherland. Amazingly enough, he knew of the Valiant, and was able to tell me it was last seen in Paltos. It seems he makes it his business to keep track of his fellow visitors. I thanked him with a contribution to his business, and then returned to the crew - tomorrow we set sail for Paltos!
8th of June
We set sail for Paltos today. Spotted sails on the horizon - a pair of Kieran Cutters - but evaded.
9th of June
Spotted sails again, but evaded.
10th of June
Arrived in Paltos. Due to their previous indiscretions, most of the officers stayed aboard ship. Located the Valiant in port, spoke to her Captain. It appears Thomas D'Iringo was taken by soldiers. I then trudged up to the jail, spoke with the Warden. It appears that Mr. D'Iringo had angered nobility, and was to be taken by those he had offended in a few days. I made the usual offers, as well as got a letter to Mr. D'Iringo, and in the end a number was discussed - 12,500 pieces of Eight for Mr. D'Iringo and his gear. Discussed it with the crew, and we decided that we would likely accept the offer.
11th of June
We bought Thomas' freedom today, for the price of a scant 12,500 pieces of Eight. The exchange was nervous, to say the least, but went off without a hitch, and we spirited Thomas back to our ship. In return, the grateful Thomas gave us the remaining Tear of Lis - a gemstone that, when you recite the most tragic moment of your life and shed a tear upon it, will reveal to you that which you wish to know. Aquillikae recounted his people's defeat at the hands of the Sea Hags, and then received a vision of the original execution of the Hags... He heard the sentence pronounced, say the king - and an attendant noble with a Leaping Shark crest in his livery. I believe it is this man we must next seek. We thanked Thomas, and he thanked us, and we let him return to his crew - and then we quickly set sail for the Free Towns...
13th of June
Sails spotted, a Kieran cutter which we evaded.
15th of June
Our course now takes us once again near the Floatsom Sea. As always, nerves are strung tight, and the watches more alert than usual.
17th of June
Early evening, we had a most horrid encounter. Seems a band of drowned sailors wished to claim our vessel for themselves. The band of undead was quite fearsome, but fought off handily largely due to the efforts of Aquillikae and his marines. It would have gone rather smoothly, had not that damnable frenchman, Mary Bow, managed to ignite a pot of powder near the cannon I was fighting beside... Almost blew us all to hell - thankfully, quick reflexes on my part saved me from death. He showed callous disregard for the safety of the crew and his fellow officers in the first place, firing into a pitched melee. Needless to say, we were all rather angry at that goddamn frog. We decided to decline to offer him an officer's commission afterall, and are now considering him on trial for regular crew...and if he screws that up, we kick him off the boat...if he's lucky we'll be in a port when we do...
"You're breaking my squid. Go below deck."
Docked into Kiera. We are all recovering from our wounds as the ship is repaired.
7th of June
Whilst wandering about town, I ran across an old friend, Sir Thomas Rutherland. Amazingly enough, he knew of the Valiant, and was able to tell me it was last seen in Paltos. It seems he makes it his business to keep track of his fellow visitors. I thanked him with a contribution to his business, and then returned to the crew - tomorrow we set sail for Paltos!
8th of June
We set sail for Paltos today. Spotted sails on the horizon - a pair of Kieran Cutters - but evaded.
9th of June
Spotted sails again, but evaded.
10th of June
Arrived in Paltos. Due to their previous indiscretions, most of the officers stayed aboard ship. Located the Valiant in port, spoke to her Captain. It appears Thomas D'Iringo was taken by soldiers. I then trudged up to the jail, spoke with the Warden. It appears that Mr. D'Iringo had angered nobility, and was to be taken by those he had offended in a few days. I made the usual offers, as well as got a letter to Mr. D'Iringo, and in the end a number was discussed - 12,500 pieces of Eight for Mr. D'Iringo and his gear. Discussed it with the crew, and we decided that we would likely accept the offer.
11th of June
We bought Thomas' freedom today, for the price of a scant 12,500 pieces of Eight. The exchange was nervous, to say the least, but went off without a hitch, and we spirited Thomas back to our ship. In return, the grateful Thomas gave us the remaining Tear of Lis - a gemstone that, when you recite the most tragic moment of your life and shed a tear upon it, will reveal to you that which you wish to know. Aquillikae recounted his people's defeat at the hands of the Sea Hags, and then received a vision of the original execution of the Hags... He heard the sentence pronounced, say the king - and an attendant noble with a Leaping Shark crest in his livery. I believe it is this man we must next seek. We thanked Thomas, and he thanked us, and we let him return to his crew - and then we quickly set sail for the Free Towns...
13th of June
Sails spotted, a Kieran cutter which we evaded.
15th of June
Our course now takes us once again near the Floatsom Sea. As always, nerves are strung tight, and the watches more alert than usual.
17th of June
Early evening, we had a most horrid encounter. Seems a band of drowned sailors wished to claim our vessel for themselves. The band of undead was quite fearsome, but fought off handily largely due to the efforts of Aquillikae and his marines. It would have gone rather smoothly, had not that damnable frenchman, Mary Bow, managed to ignite a pot of powder near the cannon I was fighting beside... Almost blew us all to hell - thankfully, quick reflexes on my part saved me from death. He showed callous disregard for the safety of the crew and his fellow officers in the first place, firing into a pitched melee. Needless to say, we were all rather angry at that goddamn frog. We decided to decline to offer him an officer's commission afterall, and are now considering him on trial for regular crew...and if he screws that up, we kick him off the boat...if he's lucky we'll be in a port when we do...
"You're breaking my squid. Go below deck."
