[8/28/2026, 5:07:04 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Animal Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:07:09 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Beast Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:07:10 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Dragon Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:07:11 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Aberration Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:07:12 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Fungus/Plant Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:07:14 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame takes Ooze Bane Ammunition (Moderate) from Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:08:09 PM] Gul Banana
death to all of those types of guy!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:10:20 PM] Nicolae
once each!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:10:47 PM] Dammitwho
yes, be sure to increment the quantities to the actual amount you have
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:09 PM] Nicolae
hm, i should probably put a few back in the party loot
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:26 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Ooze Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:27 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Aberration Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:28 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Beast Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:30 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Dragon Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:32 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Fungus/Plant Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:38 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak Ironflame deposits Animal Bane Ammunition (Moderate) in Party Loot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:11:48 PM] Dammitwho
how come
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:13:15 PM] Nicolae
well, this way whenever i make some, i have access to the specific Type
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:08 PM] Nicolae
since the ammo exists but there's no crafting recipes for the specific ammo types yet, so when i go to create my Daily Ammos i can only make the generic kind, so this way i can just make the generic kind and replace it with stuff from the party loot
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:11 PM] Party Loot
ah! i'll just put them in the party stash then
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:24 PM] Tak Ironflame
d-^_^
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:32 PM] Nicolae
not ooc tak made that face irl
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:32 PM] Dammitwho
along with the moderate healing potion
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:14:55 PM] Nicolae
gotcha
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:23:02 PM] Crion
oim ready
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:23:07 PM] CBN
the brief terrifying second before the spells and skills bar loaded in up top
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:24:25 PM] Gul Banana
the perils of Texturing
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:25:20 PM] Dammitwho
If CBN will kindly note: the Actions tab of his character sheet now has a checkbox indicating whether he is dealing with a city official. If he checks it and makes a [[/act request]], he will get the appropriate +1 circumstance bonus to diplomacy. Also he has a Reaction available to use the medallion's power to reduce the Frightened condition (1/day)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:25:57 PM] Crion
the gm has employed Would You Kindly mandate control...sugoi...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:27:22 PM] CBN
So Noted. bleeheehee
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:27:45 PM] Gul Banana
do city officials respect dubnoom the wise... *more* than other people??
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:27:56 PM] CBN
i also finally looked up the rules for Preparing a Staff and understood them, so i'm gonna need to start using the staff of elemental power soon as well.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:28:34 PM] Dammitwho
They respect people who have earned medals for public service.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:28:42 PM] CBN
on account of having 4(?) free charges a day!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:29:00 PM] CBN
banana: Yes. the short answer is Yes. Self-esteem comes from esteemable acts.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:31:00 PM] Nicolae
dubnoom already has a prepared Staff. it's the rest of the party
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:31:02 PM] Nicolae
folks,
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:31:07 PM] Gul Banana
lol
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:31:13 PM] Dammitwho
whats the rank of dubnoom's highest spell slot?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:32:20 PM] CBN
4th!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:33:18 PM] Dammitwho
then he does indeed get 4 charges free per day for that staff, if he Prepares it. damn... 4th level spells already... lil boy growin up
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:33:21 PM] Dammitwho
Alright!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:35:21 PM] Dammitwho
When last we left our heroes, they were searching the wreck of the Windfall, looking for hidden treasure or hidden secrets! Why did this vessel crash into the rock, with its captain refusing to hire a local pilot, as is usual for getting through the Flotsam Graveyard? Why did its owners close up shop and vanish the moment news of its running aground reached the city?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:35:55 PM] CBN
and perhaps, the most important question of all: what can we loot from this under the umbrella of salvage rights/finderskeepers
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:36:22 PM] Crion
dwho did the log for last week get cut right, i don't see it uploaded
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:36:30 PM] Crion
just wanna say that now if you need to chop it
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:37:00 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Investigating the cargo hold hasn't turned up answers, oddly. Maybe whatever is or isn't aboard this ship is small, easily-concealed...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:37:33 PM] Dammitwho
oh, let me see
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:39:14 PM] Crion
excellent. now i, dishonestly and scurrilously, can look up what precisely imran was doing in the captain's quarters at the end of last session
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:39:35 PM] Dammitwho
whew! you were right, AND the link in the wddp thread's logs went to the wrong one. how embarrassing.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:39:50 PM] Crion
ok got the papers, now onto the strongbox for imran
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:41:14 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak and Lindal had discovered a dead first mate in the hold, with a healing potion (moderate) and a brass key with a sigil.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:42:32 PM] Dammitwho
Yes! You'd noticed about five distinct areas worth looking into:
The rigging
The captain's cabin
The crew berths
The flooded waist
The orlop deck or carpenter's walk
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:42:55 PM] Dammitwho
Imran was ransacking the captain's cabin, Lindal and Tak had gone to the hold, and Dubnoom was searching the carpenter's walk
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:43:14 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom had discovered a lot of scuffing! On the orlops! Because of something heavy (I bet it's treasure...)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:43:22 PM] Imran Traveler
Well, "ransacking" is a bit judgmental.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:43:30 PM] Imran Traveler
Not entirely wrong. What's in that strongbox?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:46:28 PM] Nicolae
til that "ransack" is not etymologically related to "sack" but the back half is distantly related to "seek"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:47:47 PM] Nicolae
once we get to the etymology puzzles part of the campaign i'm going to be useful
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:48:05 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"We should probably look into what killed this man," Lindal muses. "The sea, in some sense, or the gods, but you know what I mean?"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:48:09 PM] CBN
we are 'rentseeking' actually, in the sense that we are seeking to find what has rent this ship asunder
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:48:12 PM] Dammitwho
Okay, everyone indicate what you're intending now. Imran's going for the strongbox. Are Tak and Lindal searching the hold? Last time they were surprised to find a corpse - maybe there's more to that?
And what of Dubnoom? With his goblin knowledge he's realized this squeezespace has seen unusual use...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:48:31 PM] Crion
goblin knowledge...gobledge
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:49:59 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom wishes to investigate the squeezespace further. Knowing that he's got basically a day of water-breathing on him, emboldens him with the kind of confidence goblins usually only have when they have no idea what they're in for, and things are especially quiet. Wait a sec-
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:50:01 PM] Dammitwho
"Put it in H!" --goblin carsmith
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:51:43 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Due to the nature of the world and the life he's led, Lindal is never all *that* surprised to discover a corpse. But he does think it's worth investigating. Maybe we could even figure out who some of these people were and tell their people (...if the ship's owners hadn't so thoroughly vanished.)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:52:05 PM] Tak Ironflame
"He looks pretty drowned to me," Tak responds to Lindal. We've already looked at the corpse enough to take some stuff off of him -- is there any indication that this man met with some misadventure before he drowned?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:53:44 PM] Dammitwho
Asking for information before taking the action that would give you information, eh? Guards! Seize this player!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:55:21 PM] Dammitwho
Imran: Strongbox:
The Underwater Boys: Hold/Corpse
Dubnoom: Carpenter's Walk
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:55:31 PM] Nicolae
it has already been established that the underwater boys looked at the corpse!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:55:39 PM] Nicolae
"On his person, he carried a healing potion (moderate), thankfully still stoppered... and a bronze key with a protective sigil scratched into it." gm's words right there
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:56:32 PM] Crion
correct vis a vis (legal language) imran
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:56:42 PM] Dammitwho
Yeah, but I'm also giving you the rest of the hold, you've got twenty minutes or so.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:57:32 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Corpse and corpse-related locations. It's like how when there's a murder, the guards cordon everything off.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:57:42 PM] Nicolae
oh all RIGHT
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 5:58:01 PM] CBN
would Survival be applicable here, for rolling to both Further Investigate, but not do it in a way where dubnoom wriggles into like, a part of the hold where he's going to get sucked out by currents and eaten by e.g. a kraken?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:00:23 PM] Crion
reaching the strongbox feels like it might be an athletics roll...you know, we should put a big hook on the end of one of these 10 foot poles at some point
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:01:06 PM] Dammitwho
Imran: @Check[perception|dc:23|name:Search the strongbox]
Lindal/Tak: DC 23 Athletics, Crafting, or Perception
Dubnoom: If that were going to happen to you I'd have you roll something to avoid it, choosing your investigation roll is different. So- Engineering Lore/Crafting DC23, Survival DC23, or Perception DC26
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:01:41 PM] Dammitwho
Nah you can reach the strongbox fine, the floor's tilted but only by like fifteen degrees or so
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:01:46 PM] Imran Traveler
24
1d20 + 13 = 11 + 13 = 24
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:01:48 PM] Gul Banana
let's... athlet. hurl crates and things around the place, see what's underneath (water)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:01:55 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
26
1d20 + 10 = 16 + 10 = 26
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:02:11 PM] Crion
phew
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:02:14 PM] Tak Ironflame
26
1d20 + 17 = 9 + 17 = 26
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:05:28 PM] Dammitwho
Young master Dubnoom considers his options with the eye of wisdom and experience...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:06:24 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
27
1d20 + 13 = 14 + 13 = 27
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:06:31 PM] CBN
wisdom.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:06:47 PM] Nicolae
My god. This man is full of wisdoms.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:08:21 PM] Ram Banaram
Ram Banaram isn't a fan of the salt water. He hops from shoulder to crate to ship-spar, trying to stay out of the brine.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:10:00 PM] Dammitwho
Imran carefully searches the strongbox. Nothing interesting, nothing interesting, a few personal effects and old clothes... but wait, what's this? He feels around the base and pulls out a false bottom, revealing the hidden cache beneath!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:10:03 PM] CBN
we should really get ram banaram a little bubble of fresh water and/or air to levitate in. seems like something you should beseech your gods about
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:12:11 PM] Gul Banana
lindal has a @UUID[Actor.na4BvYZuIm8Bnbpr.Item.HzA4IJSrH24jY7TH]{Pet Cache} for emergencies!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:12:32 PM] Dammitwho
Inside, he finds 180gp in coins from an assortment of countries, and a partially written ledger in the same hand as the suspicious manifest - recording three prior 'dark runs' with payment recorded from a buyer identified only by a crude sigil.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:15:52 PM] Dammitwho
Dubnoom paces the carpenter's walk, musing about sneaking and slinking and stabbing and arson. Counting his steps, he notices something quite odd - the ship is eight feet shorter inside than out, and the bulkhead for the 'bread room' is new oak in an old ship. They've done some rebuilding, and some space has gone missing.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:17:09 PM] Nicolae
It's a good thing it was shorter inside rather than longer. The first one indicates a secret compartment. The second one indicates a very serious problem.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:17:36 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
The Ship of Some Stuff Leaves....Dubnoom is intrigued. Also this means secret treasure room, obviously.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:18:28 PM] Imran Traveler
Interesting. The coins are good loot, but the sigil is the real get.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:18:55 PM] Imran Traveler
Easiest way to preserve all of the findings here is to take the strongbox, throw it all in there, and take it under his arm.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:19:00 PM] Dammitwho
Tak and Lindal: Make reflex saves! @Check[reflex|dc:20|name:Avoid shifting crates]
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:20:11 PM] Tak Ironflame
29
1d20 + 15 = 14 + 15 = 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:22:12 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
29
1d20 + 13 = 16 + 13 = 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:22:35 PM] CBN
well well well, if it isn't the good job bros
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:22:44 PM] Gul Banana
surprised? alarmed? simply 29 it
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:23:29 PM] Nicolae
i'm worried we're using up all the good rolls... "that's not how statistics works" i know but also we're going to use up the good rolls
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:24:45 PM] Dammitwho
The vessel creaks and shifts, and things that were wedged together come free - shattered crates and loose debris move like a slow avalanche across the hold. Thankfully, Dubnoom's waterbreathing spell and Tak and Lindal's underwater-cat-like reflexes means they can easily avoid getting pinned.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:25:21 PM] Gul Banana
nicolae, roll-consumption is worth it to have a short guy and a tall guy spring comically apart on opposite sides of a cratelanche
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:26:16 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran will head to the crew berths next.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:26:31 PM] Nicolae
hm. true
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:26:32 PM] Imran Traveler
Structure permitting.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:26:59 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"Wao" says Lindal if you can lip-read (otherwise it's more like blub-blub-blub). He'll take advantage of the shift and the spell, paddling agilely around the crashing crates to see what new garbage their disarrangement may have revealed...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:29:57 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Is the ship small enough that if Dubnoom started yelling for someone, they could hear him?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:30:10 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Because "this very choppable wall" seems like a classic Imran Problem.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:30:46 PM] Dammitwho
And that skill means they can continue searching the hold: Lindal is interested in this dead man, and it pays off. Initially he appeared drowned, but a more careful examination reveals that he was first stabbed to death and left for the waters - the cold and the time since death have reduced his stab wound to little more than a thin slice in the flesh of his back, but Lindal spots it.
Tak finds small items left over by the crew and a few bits of cargo not ruined by the sea - an additional 34 gold.
Having communicated with Dubnoom and learned about the missing eight feet of space, they've helped narrow down where it *isn't*. The hold is swept clean, for now.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:30:52 PM] Imran Traveler
It does.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:31:38 PM] Dammitwho
Everything said in a ship this size is in the nature of a public statement. You're all within Hollering Distance, (as long as you're above water - I'm assuming Tak and Lindal pop in and out to coordinate with their boys)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:33:41 PM] Imran Traveler
Well then. You need a man to smash a wall, Dubnoom?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:33:49 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
19
1d20 + 10 = 9 + 10 = 19
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:01 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"FRIEND IMRAN!" Dubnoom hollers. "THERE IS A WALL, TO CHOP! IT CRIES OUT FOR YOUR BLADE" Dubnoom gestures for his phantasmal minion to fetch him a drink, he's thirsty from all this yelling good ideas.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:07 PM] Dammitwho
The shifting of the cargo in the hold, however, worsens the condition of the ship! Everyone: @Check[reflex|dc:20|wrack]
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:19 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran is there--
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:21 PM] Imran Traveler
24
1d20 + 11 = 13 + 11 = 24
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:29 PM] Imran Traveler
--right quick.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:40 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Lindal pops out indeed... hauling a dead body!! He probably wouldn't have been able to lift it this far if not for the flooding. "Look! Murder! Calumny! Maybe barratry!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:34:46 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
20
1d20 + 13 = 7 + 13 = 20
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:35:26 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
29
1d20 + 11 = 18 + 11 = 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:36:25 PM] Tak Ironflame
1d20 + 15
1d20 4 4
19
1d20 + 15
1d20 11 11
26
1d20 + 15 = 11 + 15 = 26
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:36:31 PM] Nicolae
there we go
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:36:35 PM] Nicolae
there's the bad roll
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:38:51 PM] Dammitwho
The vessel shifts, the tilt worsens, and loose pieces of rigging come falling to the deck! But you're professionals, here defined as someone who gets paid, and you don't get clonked that easily.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:39:19 PM] Dammitwho
Imran's heading to help Dubnoom chop through a bulkhead, what're Tak and Lindal up to next?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:41:51 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Showing off this stab wound to inspire his friends' imagination. After that, maybe take a look at the rigging?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:41:52 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
He could use some fresh air to dry all this fur.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:42:11 PM] Tak Ironflame
What are the other parts of the ship that haven't been looked at yet?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:42:29 PM] Crion
crew berths i think
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:42:37 PM] Crion
imran was headed there until Secret Room
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:44:04 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak will hit up the crew berths, then, as his skill set is less inclined towards Chopping Walls.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:44:33 PM] Dammitwho
Imran, Dubnoom: Carpenter's Walk
Lindal: Rigging
Tak: Crew Berths
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:45:01 PM] Imran Traveler
"Dubnoom! You hollered."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:45:34 PM] Nicolae
or crooberts for short
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:46:10 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
He's drinking from a jar of not-THAT cloudy water he had tucked away for chuggin'. Holding up a finger. "Mm." Done. Points to the incongruous wall. "It's too short here for what it should be. Treasure behind that wall probably."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:46:37 PM] Imran Traveler
"Ah." He nods to the minion. "Minion."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:46:42 PM] Imran Traveler
Then he sizes up the wall.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:46:52 PM] Crion
do you want ath roll here or actual attacks
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:47:35 PM] Dammitwho
Lindal: DC20 Perception or Sailing Lore, or DC23 Crafting
Tak: DC23 Underworld Lore or Thievery, or DC23 Perception
Imran: DC23 Athletics
Dubnoom: DC26 Goblin Lore
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:18 PM] Crion
eyeroll. either let me make attack rolls or i will hero point
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:21 PM] Tak Ironflame
29
1d20 + 17 = 12 + 17 = 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:28 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
22
1d20 + 12 = 10 + 12 = 22
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:34 PM] Dammitwho
All of you have 1 hero point except for Tak, who used his
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:40 PM] Imran Traveler
1d20 + 14
1d20 6 6
20
1d20 + 14
1d20 9 9
33
1d20 + 14 + 10 = 9 + 14 + 10 = 33
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:48:48 PM] CBN
:/
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:49:49 PM] Dammitwho
Does Dubnoom assert his goblinhood by greedily hogging his hero point, or by knowing a lot about being a goblin? playing both sides
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:49:51 PM] Gul Banana
i wish i could swap the Warfare Lore lindal'll probably never use for Sailing Lore, but that's what the monks taught/were obsessed with...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:50:07 PM] Gul Banana
he'll have to become the Noticer instead
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:50:54 PM] CBN
he hoards the point, for now. for now...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:50:56 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
1d20 + 9
1d20 10 10
19
1d20 + 9
1d20 7 7
26
1d20 + 9 + 10 = 7 + 9 + 10 = 26
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:53:30 PM] Dammitwho
Very well! Tak rummages through the crew berths. Most of the crew's sea chests are gone - they packed in haste, but they had time to do so. They must have left in good order. He sees house scrip and a tally-board notch system - he might not know enough about underworld dealings to understand details, but it appears many of these men were paid in settled debts rather than coin.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:55:01 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Lindal climbs the masts, the ropes, or what remains of them... let's see how much of the crash's history is writ thereamong.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:55:16 PM] Gul Banana
(thereamong is a real word in Common)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:56:08 PM] Dammitwho
Lindal inspects the ropes and clambers about the rigging (it's quite fun, actually. He can see why sailors do this.), and discovers that much of the lashings that would have kept cargo on the weather deck secured were *cut*, not torn away by the elements. This corroborates what Tak learned - these men left in good order, and tried to salvage some of what they had by loading things into their lifeboats before escaping. And after one of them stabbed the mate to death.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:57:38 PM] Dammitwho
Imran isn't familiar with moving bulkheads around, and it takes him a bit of heaving - it's stuck... it's stuck-- oh, you push like that-- he's able to pull boards loose and hack away at those that are too stubborn, and he and Dubnoom find themselves in...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:58:22 PM] Dammitwho
The salt storage room? That can't be right. Dubnoom knows that people carried something along the carpenter's walk twice daily this way. Nobody needs that much salt on a ship, and not by the most cramped way!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:58:52 PM] Imran Traveler
Huh.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:58:54 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"Secret salt..."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:59:22 PM] Dammitwho
Dubnoom and Imran are onto something, Dubnoom can feel it. They're close to uncovering the secret.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 6:59:45 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"Maybe secrets...IN the salt?" Or magic salt, he keeps to himself. If he eats some later. More for him.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:01:46 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
All in all, it's good news that most of the crew evacuated safely. Pity they managed to take so many valuables with them, though.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:01:52 PM] Imran Traveler
Well we can't carry it all out.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:02:11 PM] Imran Traveler
And it will dissolve in the water when this wreck meets the waves.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:03:38 PM] Dammitwho
As Tak passes by the hold in his efforts to search the crew berths, he feels three slow, cold heartbeats nearby him! In the water, a giant octopus glares up at him for a moment before its arms pulse and it swims deeper... had it made its lair in the hold? If so, it was only his and Lindal's skill that kept the creature from catching them off-guard...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:03:55 PM] Dammitwho
What next for our heroes? Do Imran and Dubnoom alert the other two to their discovery?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:04:17 PM] Tak Ironflame
!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:04:22 PM] Imran Traveler
One of us should. Dubnoom has the lungs. Imran will investigate the find further.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:05:04 PM] Tak Ironflame
There was nothing much in the crew berths besides the evidence of Not Actually Getting Paid With Real Money, right?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:05:07 PM] Gul Banana
octo :3
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:05:21 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"FRIENDS TAK AND LINDAL WE HAVE A SALT MYSTERY HELP" He hollers. 'nother drink.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:05:59 PM] Crion
investigating this feels like an alchemy and a nature roll? imran can do crafting alchemy but tak is better at it; his nature is only +9
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:06:17 PM] Crion
but if the dm wants to give us better, different checks,
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:07:08 PM] Dammitwho
I'm open to your proposals! If you've got a hypothesis... are Tak and Lindal getting salty?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:07:57 PM] CBN
my pet theory is that they're smuggling something in the salt barrels, and that the drag marks are from having to move heavier-than-just-salt barrels back and forth
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:08:09 PM] Tak Ironflame
If there's nothing better to do, Tak will head to the Secret Salt Storage.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:09:18 PM] Crion
my proposal i suppose is that a secret room implies secret knowledge and deeds. esoteric, alien; the sea is an unknowable thing and conjures up secret civilizations and secret monsters. a big one just went by outside. so perhaps an occultism roll on the salt secret room
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:09:52 PM] CBN
dubnoom would probably be rolling Stealth to try to find a Hidden Thing, using the logic of Hiding. and because his thievery skill is for absolute ass
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:09:53 PM] Crion
and tak can do alchemy
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:10:05 PM] CBN
stealth or perception, both are fair
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:10:09 PM] Dammitwho
So, the salt room itself is not particularly secret. There's a door out to the main passageways. What's interesting is that the people Dubnoom noticed as having come in and out of here twice daily went in through a *back* way, one accessed by moving some bulkhead planks.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:10:28 PM] Dammitwho
It's not clear to you - yet - why they'd bother to do this.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:11:11 PM] Tak Ironflame
What's in the back next to the planks?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:11:17 PM] CBN
maybe they were skimming off the top / stealing something / smuggling something without the captain knowing...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:11:42 PM] Dammitwho
Once Tak enters the salt storage, his bloodsense, which I literally remembered just now and that's why he sensed that octopus, alerts him to the queasily enticing scent of human fear. Nine hearts beating just below you.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:11:55 PM] Crion
alright well i don't have good rolls for mundane dipshit dirtbag behavior.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:12:18 PM] Crion
thievery +9 is where that taps out
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:13:11 PM] Crion
pathfinder is pretty strict about not letting you use deception to do the reverse of deception in an investigation, iirc
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:13:37 PM] CBN
that's too many hearts!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:13:53 PM] Dammitwho
Tak: Roll Crafting, DC21!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:14:06 PM] Tak Ironflame
29
1d20 + 11 = 18 + 11 = 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:14:36 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
High above, Lindal is blisslessly unaware of the hidden hearts.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:14:49 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak is still getting used to the effects of having been close to that bizarre Skinsaw ritual... but sometimes it can be handy.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:15:38 PM] Tak Ironflame
"I think there's something beneath the salt room," he calls out.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:15:47 PM] Imran Traveler
"Something how?"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:18:45 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran walks over, through the salt.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:19:30 PM] Dammitwho
Tak's crafting skill and his bloodsense come in clutch! You avoid having to do another round of searching, as Tak drops to the floor and begins carefully searching the area - if this room is as important as Dubnoom insists, there must be a connection between this room and the living human blood he can feel below them. He searches... and finds a keyhole hidden under a salt sack at the bottom of one of the shelves!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:20:20 PM] Tak Ironflame
Does the brass key we found on the first mate fit the keyhole? I bet it does...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:21:19 PM] Imran Traveler
Let's give it a shot.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:21:58 PM] Imran Traveler
If not, then we resort to the Dexterous Arts.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:25:22 PM] Dammitwho
It does. Turning the key unlocks a hatch cunningly worked into the timbers of the floor, and as Tak and Lindal work together to lift it, they can peer down into an eight foot space hidden by the ship's beams: lightless, foul, and occupied.
Nine ragged, fatigued captives look back at you - water has leaked into their oubliette and is splashing around their ankles. The one nearest Imran, an older man with a beard made wild by days of confinement, gasps "Help us, please!"
They are chained by their ankles to a ringbolt run along the keelson.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:26:33 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"Nyeah! Living people in a sinking boat! That's bad! For the people!" And we will be hailed as heroes for saving them from salty death....
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:27:26 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak utters an oath in Dwarven. He takes a quick look into the chamber to see if there's a good place to jump down to, and then if there is, he does.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:27:35 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
And people, of course, are not salvage. Though if Fairwind Traders thought otherwise, that might explain their behaviour.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:28:50 PM] Imran Traveler
"GET EM OUT!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:29:18 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran hands the strongbox to Dubnoom. He will see to it. It's time to lift.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:30:34 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom takes the strongbox, because that's about his speed, in terms of helping. He's more an exploding or obfuscating kind of goblin, skills-wise.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:30:35 PM] Dammitwho
The key you found fits the chains securing them in the hidden hold - they're freed in a moment, and able to (with some assistance) taste fresh air for the first time in many days.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:31:30 PM] Dammitwho
As the ragged captives tearfully thank you for their rescue, Imran notices in the rear of the hidden hold a stack of four small crates, easily carried.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:32:53 PM] Imran Traveler
Let's get 'em out too.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:33:06 PM] Imran Traveler
"WE ARE LEAVING!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:34:02 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Lindal hears Imran's bellows as he descends the mizzen(?)mast. "We are? Why?" Let's see what's going on below decks...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:35:05 PM] Dammitwho
As Lindal goes below, he can see quite a few more people there than when he left! Most of them crying, embracing, being surprised by Dubnoom, etc
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:35:32 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"We found alive living people! And crates!" He hollers at Lindal, as Dubnoom marches past him with a strongbox under one arm and a crate under the other.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:35:52 PM] Tak Ironflame
How hard is it going to be to get these people back onto the boat we took to get here?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:00 PM] Crion
i forget, did dubnoom conjure a golden staircase down to the boat
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:07 PM] Crion
if not that was in his purview right
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:09 PM] CBN
once we get back to the boat, dubnoom can also spam rousing splash cantrips on every one of these folks once a piece to give them a little boost
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:14 PM] Crion
i remember discussing it at least
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:34 PM] CBN
yeah i don't know if we ruled he had for certain yet, but that was the plan
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:36:47 PM] CBN
but it lasts 10 minutes so i think he hadn't yet
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:37:12 PM] Crion
then he should get up to deck and conjure that shit for em
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:38:19 PM] CBN
sounds like a plan! using spells...for good...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:38:53 PM] Dammitwho
yes, there was a spiral staircase conjured straightwise, so you can just all walk down to the boat
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:39:51 PM] Dammitwho
Tak! Roll Stealth!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:39:55 PM] Imran Traveler
If the boat is too small to take us back with the survivors, then we can find some point on the wreckage of this sound to sit while the ferry works. Get them out first.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:39:59 PM] Dammitwho
1
1d4 = 1 = 1
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:40:04 PM] Dammitwho
3
1d4 = 3 = 3
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:40:37 PM] Tak Ironflame
31
1d20 + 18 = 13 + 18 = 31
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:41:46 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Yeah, making several trips seems like the way to go. Just make sure not to leave the rescuee who eats orbs in the boat at the same time as the one who has an orb-shaped head, etc.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:42:53 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Lindalsivran's baffled by the turn of events, but it appears we've done a good deed somehow..? He'll help conduct people to the rowboat, and indeed help row it if that's how things shake out. "Here, allow the spirits of light to refresh you."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:42:56 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Life Boost 1 Focus 4 Divine Focus Healing Hex Manipulate Vitality Witch Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature Duration 4 rounds Life force from your patron floods into the target, ensuring they can continue doing your patron's will for just a little longer. The target gains fast healing 2. Spell Effect: Life Boost Heightened (+1) The fast healing increases by 2.
Faith's Flamekeeper Familiar of Restored Spirit When you Cast or Sustain a hex, one willing creature within 15 feet of your familiar gains temporary Hit Points equal to 2 + half your level, which last until the start of your next turn. Effect: Familiar of Restored Spirit
Base: 1st Heightened: +3
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:05 PM] Imran Traveler
Should probably figure out who these people are, too. Difficult to come up with any formulation where you put them back in chains, but we should understand why these idiots left them in the hold to die and skipped town.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:21 PM] Imran Traveler
Well now that Imran thinks about it like that, he understands why the traffickers skipped town.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:22 PM] Dammitwho
Tak, being the most highly-trained in noticing odd noises (squeaking floorboards, rusty hinges, etc), is the first to notice that several of the mainstays are beginning to sing under the strain of the wind and sea! They'll break soon!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:38 PM] Dammitwho
Nominate a character with Crafting to ease their tension!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:46 PM] Crion
imran has crafting
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:54 PM] Dammitwho
(while the rest of you get everything on board the boat, I assume)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:45:57 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Once we've had time to put the pieces together, Lindal will speculate that the murdered mate may have attempted to chivvy the crew into maintaining control of their captives rather than just saving their own skins...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:46:08 PM] Crion
it's either him or tak here i think
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:46:15 PM] Tak Ironflame
27
1d20 + 11 = 16 + 11 = 27
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:46:22 PM] Nicolae
i know what i'm here for
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:46:27 PM] Crion
yeah let's go with that,
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:47:23 PM] Dammitwho
Tak is able to haul on one or two ropes and strategically cut a few others, and the huge lines humming with tension go slack. A good thing too - if they'd broken, they'd have whipped across the deck and could well have hurt one or more of you quite badly!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:48:26 PM] Dammitwho
You all safely reach the magical stairway, at the bottom of which Ionnia has been carefully holding station in the Butterfly's launch. "Besmara's backside!" She cries in astonishment as you and the former captives make your way down.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:48:50 PM] Imran Traveler
"Trafficking!" Imran snarls. "Take them before us!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:55:51 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak sure is glad for the experience on the ship ride to Absalom.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:56:36 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Technically, rather than slaves, the rescuees could be political prisoners or cult sacrifices or extremely disgruntled sailors. Imran's probably right, though.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:56:44 PM] Dammitwho
Thankfully, since the Butterfly only has the one launch, it's a large one and you're all able to fit aboard (barely!) without needing to make a second trip. "You've done Iomedae's own work today," Ionnia growls as she turns the rudder and points you to the oars.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:57:16 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran rolls his shoulders and heads to the oars. "HOOH!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:58:13 PM] Tak Ironflame
It seems a bit rude to make the captives row the boat. Tak grabs an oar and puts that gangle leverage to work.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:59:39 PM] Dammitwho
https://wddp.org/index.php?/topic/581-pathfinder-whalefall/&do=findComment&comment=2299531
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 7:59:57 PM] CBN
silks.....
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:00:46 PM] Crion
now that's money.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:01:22 PM] CBN
we SHOULD be able to use those silks for a discount on our fine quarters upgrade, imho
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:01:56 PM] Crion
perhaps 1 for 1 gp-wise,
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:01:56 PM] Dammitwho
"Smuggling's one thing, but this?" Ionnia continues. "Any man of this crew still alive had best be on a ship already, or it's The Brine for them."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:02:13 PM] Crion
use crates 1 and 3 for that, crate 2 to tak, and crate 4 imran can use
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:02:28 PM] Dammitwho
an intriguing idea, CBN (i didn't just add the gold value to your party loot because i figured you might want to do something with this stuff)
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:02:43 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom, for his part, stands bravely (and Glamorize-ed-ish-ly) at the front of the boat after passing around some Rousing Splashes on the former-captives to raise morale and keep anyone from dying while they're his responsibility. "Dubnoom's Petite Pick-me-up. And Dubnoom's Petite Pick-me-up to you as well." As he goes.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:03:08 PM] Tak Ironflame
"We only found one member of the crew on board, and he had been thoroughly dealt with."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:04:36 PM] Dammitwho
god DAMN it
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:04:41 PM] Dammitwho
am i a mimic????
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:04:42 PM] Dammitwho
"Sirs," says the older man who spoke first when you opened the hatch. "I'm sure we can never repay you for what you've done for us. We all feared-- well."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:05:21 PM] Gul Banana
peppercorn! we could use that to pay rent!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:06:55 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak shakes his head. "You'll never have to."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:07:11 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"No! You owe Dubnoom and crew nothing."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:07:29 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"This is the life of adventurers. Sometimes there is treasure. Sometimes the treasure is people being alive along the way." He's so wise...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:08:47 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran: "You have given us a story. We are square."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:09:31 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"Where did you come from though? We are going to Absalom."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:09:52 PM] Dammitwho
"I don't know what they were planning to do to us, but their captain (may he rot in the depths!) said that we were to be given to the Silent Skull..."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:10:46 PM] Imran Traveler
Mental note of that name.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:10:59 PM] Dammitwho
"As were we!" he says to Dubnoom. "We had all bought our passage, coming east! Can it be that those filth took us there?"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:11:12 PM] Dammitwho
A woman at the end of the boat sobs with relief.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:14:05 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"Inadvertently, yes. What do you know about your captors? Those of 'em not yet rotting, we'll want to track down. Or maybe the harbour authorities will want to."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:15:35 PM] Dammitwho
"We saw only the mate, after we were beaten and chained below... I think they didn't want the other sailors to know of us, or at least not to be certain."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:17:52 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"Hm. Well, the crew's shanked that very mate, so the detail of their culpability... is yet to be determined." Unless the octopus did it.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:19:34 PM] Imran Traveler
Do we have any knowledge of the Silent Skull?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:19:41 PM] Crion
roll request~
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:19:44 PM] Dammitwho
"The captain's name... Ordric Thale. A huge man with a large black beard and fierce eyes..."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:19:59 PM] Dammitwho
Let's see here
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:20:46 PM] Gul Banana
sounds almost related to the silent skeleton invasion of absalom ages past...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:21:55 PM] Dammitwho
Lindal can roll Lore: Warfare at DC28
Dubnoom can roll Lore: Underworld at DC26
Anyone can roll Occultism at DC25
Or y'all can suggest a roll
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:23:11 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
1d20 + 10
1d20 2 2
12
1d20 + 10
1d20 8 8
28
1d20 + 10 + 10 = 8 + 10 + 10 = 28
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:23:15 PM] Imran Traveler
28
1d20 + 13 = 15 + 13 = 28
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:23:23 PM] Tak Ironflame
21
1d20 + 2 = 19 + 2 = 21
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:23:26 PM] Crion
that's paper.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:24:19 PM] Gul Banana
the sudden and surprising relevance of War...
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:24:22 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
28
1d20 + 13 = 15 + 13 = 28
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:24:35 PM] Gul Banana
i see that 28 is the new 29
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:25:47 PM] Dammitwho
You all, except Tak, come to the same conclusions. While you've never heard of a 'Silent Skull' as a person or an organization, there is something with alarmingly similar iconography: the Whispering Way, a secret society dedicated to necromancy and attaining lichdom, ruled even in defeat (it is said) by the Whispering Tyrant!
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:26:56 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran sets his face. "Well. This all seems like it's actually very important."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:27:54 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom nods. "And gross."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:27:53 PM] Dammitwho
The older man looks back at Imran, confused. "It certainly is to us!"
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:28:03 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
"Absalom has too many weird skull guys in places."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:28:35 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"It's an aesthetic." An evil one though yes. Hmmmm.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:32:24 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran blinks, then his face softens. "My apologies. Sometimes an atrocity is just an atrocity. We do what we can to save and protect, and then we move on. But sometimes, an atrocity is important. Sometimes, someone wanted an atrocity to happen. You were destined, more like than not, for a political atrocity. And since you never made your way there, people will care. Your lives, as lives, will matter."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:32:36 PM] Imran Traveler
"You need to be aware that living now, for you, is a political act."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:32:50 PM] Imran Traveler
"There are forces who oppose even that."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:34:15 PM] Dammitwho
The captives don't seem to understand what Imran is getting at, but they do cling tighter to one another with a certain stern resolve.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:35:54 PM] Dammitwho
The launch pulls up to the repair dock where the Butterfly sits at anchor. The captives haul themselves out onto the docks, cheering with relief - one of them, a teenager barely older than a girl, hugs Dubnoom.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:36:23 PM] Dammitwho
Where will you go next? To speak to the Underclerk of Berths, or somewhere else?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:36:39 PM] Imran Traveler
We should escort these survivors to some place of succor.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:36:41 PM] Dammitwho
Or, I suppose, what will you *do* next, if you don't want to go anywhere right now.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:37:16 PM] Imran Traveler
And, concomitantly, see if someone(s) turn up to close the loop on them.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:37:59 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
We could split up, sending some person or persons to liase with the clerks and escorting-to-succor with our remaining forces?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:38:01 PM] Imran Traveler
Then, if they're safely squared away in a place where they won't walk coincidentally into 20 consecutive knives, we can collect our due.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:38:15 PM] Imran Traveler
Indeed, that tracks.
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:39:07 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom freezes up until the weird human being-nice-ritual has concluded. The wind Glamorously buffets his beard nonetheless. "Ahemyes. Of course."
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:39:41 PM] Dammitwho
If you take them ashore, it's likely the district guard will want to debrief them - they said they were intending to come to Absalom in the first place, so they should have families, etc?
---------------------------
[8/28/2026, 8:39:43 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Yeah let's at the very least get AN official eye or two on them in a capacity that makes it slightly harder for them to get ferried out of one unmarked hold and into another.
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[8/28/2026, 8:40:20 PM] Imran Traveler
Sure. And let's sit in with the guard; Imran and perhaps Lindal, while Tak and Dubnoom go get our money.
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[8/28/2026, 8:40:33 PM] Imran Traveler
Grading out by height across the party split.
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[8/28/2026, 8:40:40 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom LOVES getting paid.
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[8/28/2026, 8:45:18 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Fine by Lindal and Ram. Sitting around being Virtuous just by being present is nice.
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[8/28/2026, 8:45:40 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak will head with Dubnoom to talk to the harbormaster and get paid. He will swagger cowboyly as much as possible while still being dripping wet.
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[8/28/2026, 8:45:44 PM] Dammitwho
Very well! The party splits, with Imran and Lindal headed for Crestwatch Precinct, a squat stone building with a 100 foot tall minaret that houses not just the Harbor Guard but is also the place where the Dock Council takes its meetings.
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[8/28/2026, 8:46:25 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
If they get a moment to talk without scaring the rescuees, Lindal does want to ask Imran why he thinks these lichlikers would be interested in silencing their erstwhile purchases... seems unnecessary? But he seemed to have something political in mind.
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[8/28/2026, 8:46:26 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran dries off the best he can and readies sword and shield across his back and belt. Just in case.
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[8/28/2026, 8:48:38 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
A holy witch is always prepared to hex.
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[8/28/2026, 8:48:40 PM] Imran Traveler
Politics is the main bent. We'll learn about what they thought their life in Absalom would be during the debrief, but they were brought in through a locked hold and left to die by traffickers who fled the city rather than do recovery. The Whispering Tyrant being the godhead behind the cult that bought them is, well, incredibly concerning, but also good news because everyone here actually thinks that piece of shit is evil.
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[8/28/2026, 8:49:52 PM] Imran Traveler
The important thing in this exercise is both showing the guard that we're excellent heroes who do good work, first order effect, and second order effect, learning anything we can about the fucking Whispering Tyrant getting roots in this city. They might not know what they know.
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[8/28/2026, 8:50:11 PM] Dammitwho
Tak and Dubnoom head to the Harbormaster's Grange out in the bay - it takes a bit of doing to get heard, they have to drop Lindal's name - but eventually they're in front of Onnick Vaile, the elderly adenoidal Underclerk of Berths.
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[8/28/2026, 8:50:22 PM] Imran Traveler
He'll convey that to Lindal as he's able and as much that Lindal cares to hear it.
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[8/28/2026, 8:51:08 PM] Dammitwho
"Hrmm, mmrm... somewhat irregular, but if you're all part of Lindal's crew... were you able to learn more about the wreck?"
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[8/28/2026, 8:52:02 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak nods. "Yes. They appear to have been trafficking people. Nine of them."
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[8/28/2026, 8:52:21 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Lindal certainly cares! He also suspects paranoia: "Paranoia, Traveller. But let's act as though you're right just in case. Delivering the Crestwachers a hassle like this should buy us a few questions."
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[8/28/2026, 8:52:34 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
*Crestwatchers
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[8/28/2026, 8:53:35 PM] Imran Traveler
"That's true. I also think that people doomed to die in water shakled in the bottom of a pirate hold are, perhaps, due some paranoia."
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[8/28/2026, 8:53:50 PM] Dammitwho
Imran and Lindal are first received with disinterest, until it becomes clear that the scraggly folk behind you were the rescuded victims of trafficking and not just kind of poor. Smuggling and trafficking are serious business (or at least, Elmoira 'Tackle Queen' Taggart, Captain of the Harbour Guard, thinks so), and soon sympathetic guards are leading the captives away, giving them blankets to warm up, etc.
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[8/28/2026, 8:53:57 PM] Imran Traveler
"Their world has become one of incredible emotional violence."
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[8/28/2026, 8:55:20 PM] Imran Traveler
Disinterest on the pledge doesn't bother Imran. Disinterest on the prestige is something else. The turn was very obvious.
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[8/28/2026, 8:55:49 PM] Imran Traveler
Do we get to sit in on the interviews or do we have to do more convincing?
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[8/28/2026, 8:56:56 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Less-diligent salvagers could've failed to save the day here! Frankly, it'd be reasonable to put our names in another newspaper.
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[8/28/2026, 8:57:15 PM] Dammitwho
Onnick Vaile's long, bushy eyebrows shoot up. "Mmrm, is that so? That explains their foolish attempts to avoid a pilot! Too much, hrmrm, danger of being noticed? Were you able to recover any of their bodies?"
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[8/28/2026, 8:58:07 PM] Dammitwho
Lindal and Imran can make diplomatic rolls to try and sit in - you're being kept out mainly due to Cop Obstructionism
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[8/28/2026, 8:58:26 PM] Tak Ironflame
"If you mean the captives, they're all alive. If you mean the crew, they all absconded, with the exception of the first mate, who was stabbed and left to drown in the cargo hold."
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[8/28/2026, 8:58:31 PM] Crion
hero point plz.
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[8/28/2026, 8:59:06 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
13
1d20 + 11 = 2 + 11 = 13
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[8/28/2026, 8:59:32 PM] Imran Traveler
1d20 + 11
1d20 3 3
14
1d20 + 11
1d20 7 7
28
1d20 + 11 + 10 = 7 + 11 + 10 = 28
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[8/28/2026, 8:59:42 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Oh dear. It turns out that a sodden vanara beaming at you and rattling off something about ship-halves sinking into the foam isn't persuasive.
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[8/28/2026, 8:59:42 PM] Dammitwho
I am, frankly, too generous to you all. But you did just complete a quest...
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[8/28/2026, 9:01:14 PM] Dammitwho
Fortunately, Imran is a big sullen guy good at dealing out violence. That he has intelligence and the softer virtues is to his credit - but a policeman will feel sympathetic to him.
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[8/28/2026, 9:01:15 PM] Crion
you are too generous to us. but i hit that fucking occultism roll,
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[8/28/2026, 9:02:39 PM] Imran Traveler
He's also not completely sopping wet. He made sure of that.
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[8/28/2026, 9:04:13 PM] Dammitwho
"Alive?!" Vaile shouts with astonishment. "They must, mrmrm, have Besmara's own luck! What good news." He records your names alongside Lindal's, stamps a piece of paper several times with a loud thump, and files it away carefully.
"Your service to the Lady Harbormaster and to the city of Absalom has been gratefully recorded. Was there anything else?"
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[8/28/2026, 9:04:56 PM] Tak Ironflame
Tak glances at Dubnoom. "I believe our associate Lindal mentioned... a certain amount of remuneration."
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[8/28/2026, 9:05:32 PM] Dubnoom "The Wise"
Dubnoom, idly fiddling with his medal. "Yes. The greatest recording of service of all. Coin, perhaps?"
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[8/28/2026, 9:07:42 PM] Dammitwho
Imran and Lindal are able to sit in on the debriefing. They don't learn much, because the captives don't know much. They were kept carefully away in their wooden oubliette for as much of the voyage as possible. They get the name and description of the captain again, and a description of the mate (now dead), and confirm that the Windfall was owned by Fairwind & Sons.
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[8/28/2026, 9:08:18 PM] Imran Traveler
Imran's paying attention to the guardsmen.
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[8/28/2026, 9:08:19 PM] Dammitwho
In a pause to allow for food and drink to be brought in, one of the older guardswomen takes Lindal and Imran aside.
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[8/28/2026, 9:08:34 PM] Imran Traveler
Sure.
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[8/28/2026, 9:11:59 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Our expertise on the situation: we're prepared to render it.
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[8/28/2026, 9:14:19 PM] Dammitwho
"Rough times, especially since this case is likely to go cold. Fairwind & Sons, whoever they are, already skipped town. Their offices 're emptier than a wizard's hat. And the worst part is, they've got a warehouse space -- Red Drake Warehouses, Bay 9C -- that we won't be able to get into for a few days at the earliest! Warrants, red tape, you know how it is. The shipping concerns take their privileges very seriously."
She claps Imran on the back. "You ever think about joining the Guard? You seem like decent folk. I read about you in the paper. 9C." She leaves to find some coffee.
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[8/28/2026, 9:14:39 PM] Imran Traveler
"Huh."
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[8/28/2026, 9:15:04 PM] Imran Traveler
"Well, Lindal, I do believe we have what these cityfolk down here call a lead."
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[8/28/2026, 9:16:27 PM] Dammitwho
Onnick Vaile peers down at Dubnoom. "I believe, sir, that the remuneration expected was of the traditional sort - cargo forfeited to the primarch, and thus to the salvagers. With the exception of the people, of course, who are not legally cargo in any case."
It looks like he doesn't want to give you extra money after you already got some money! How rude!
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[8/28/2026, 9:16:36 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
Oh man. "Imran, I've objected in the past to seeking permission from guardspeople before seeking some kinda justice. But the thing a rogue guard makes it clear something SHOULD be done, if only a brave pathfinder was available, at a very specific place and time... I like that one."
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[8/28/2026, 9:16:35 PM] Dammitwho
Unless, of course, Dubnoom were to make a Request of him...
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[8/28/2026, 9:17:35 PM] Dammitwho
Which he might... NEXT WEEK!
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[8/28/2026, 9:17:43 PM] Prabesh Pranavikram Lindalsivranragdya
"You know, we're really lucky. Bad luck sometimes, orbs and so on. But being able to go after people who'd do something like this, in the reasonable expectation that we will help ourselves to enough of their ritual implements and tangential spice shipments to make a living off it... some of the gods are good."
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[8/28/2026, 9:18:15 PM] Ram Banaram
*ribbit*