The Harvest Moon Consortium

[Winterhawk99]

Mingzhu heads to the market. Plenty of goods for sale there. Zsikhou keeps looking for snuggles and head pats a wary watch. Zsikhou keeps silent, letting Mingzhu take the lead in the market. Mingzhu buys a small bust, incense, candles, offering bowls, stone incense holders. It's difficult finding anything that is iconography of the Celestial Emperor, or anything too religious, but it is there, at least. She starts the trek to the shrine. walking slowly and thinking. Zsikhou follows along, still watching warily.

Zsikhou continues to keep watch as Mingzhu walks slowly up the hill and to the outskirts of the city. No one notices them. They walk to the shrine unhindered; it's a steady trek back, eventually the city grows sparser, Zsikhou does seem to keep a watch behind them. As they get to the more rural part of the island, nearer the farms, Zsikhou looks back sharply, then looks to Mingzhu. "We're being followed."

She looks back. “By who Zsikhou?"

"Just looks like a normal city-dweller. Saw him at the market but didn't notice it until this one saw the same person at several places we walked through." Zsikhou quietly comments aside.

Mingzhu nods solemnly and continues on to the shrine. "If you think I need to use magic let me know."

Zsikhou nods. "Right now, they're just watching. Doing nothing other than that yet." Though he continues to follow Mingzhu's lead.

Once she gets to the shrine she looks to see if it's in the same shape, she left it in. Seeing it is in the same shape, and no one has touched it. She does some cleaning. As she does, she casts Shield of Faith and Protection from evil on Zsikhou. Once done with that she sets the bust into place and one by one. As she finishes, she sets a prayer mat down. She quietly says, "if you think I should throw Obscuring Mist give me a sign."

She sets about the work. Zsikhou just keeps watching, he looks aside, shaking his head. "They're just watching us for now."

Mingzhu sits down in full lotus and bows with her hips before the bust of the celestial emperor. "I call upon the immortal Chih Shih: Lord of Sages, God of History, lore and tradition.

I call upon the immortal Fa Kwan. One who walks in righteousness, The lawgiver, God of Justice.

I call upon the immortal Kwan Ying. Goddess of compassion, Mercy, and joy.

Immortals I have been torn from my center. My soul is in disarray. I come beseeching you grant me wisdom and mercy. I have been sundered from my tether to the heavens and cannot do my job nor find my place. I beg your wisdom, and compassion. Your justice.”

Zsikhou raises and eye ridge at this prayer. But for now, he raises no interference.

“This place full of strife and unease has affected me greatly. I thought I could change things however small and thought I was doing well then all collapsed in a single battle. A battle I tried to stop with mercy and compassion. It did not go well. Now, now I feel I am a ship with ripped sails subject to the wind and tide forever lost. I beg forgiveness. I bed wisdom. I beg that justice can show through in whatever small way I may now. I wish to go home to tell truth lords and lady but know tis my fate to see out this venture. I thank you for listening.

Fa Kwan

"May my mind settle like a still lake, reflecting clarity without disturbance. May each breath I take carry serenity into every corner of my being. May I remain centered even amidst life’s chaos. Teach me to find calm within, no matter what surrounds me. Through this prayer, I invite peace to stay with me throughout the day. Let it influence my actions and interactions, making every step more mindful. May I be happy, healthy, and safe in body and mind. May I experience joy in every simple moment of life. May all beings everywhere be free from suffering and filled with loving-kindness. May their hearts feel warmth, comfort, and hope. Help me release anger, resentment, and judgment from my own heart. Let compassion grow so that it flows naturally to family, friends, strangers, and even those I find difficult. May this loving-kindness ripple outward, touching the world in small yet meaningful ways. Let every action I take reflect care, understanding, and peace. Help me release everything that weighs down my spirit. May I let go of fear, regret, and pain that no longer serve me."

Chih Shih

May I find peace even in difficult moments.
May my heart remain steady when challenges arise.
May wisdom help me understand the lessons within hardship.
May patience guide my responses to struggle.
May compassion help me treat myself gently during pain.
May I trust that difficult times will pass.
May calmness replace fear and anxiety.
May courage grow within my heart.
May I learn from every challenge I face.
May peace remain present within me.

Kwan Ying

Kwang Ying, I turn to you for emotional healing. Help me release the pain and sorrow that burdens my heart. Fill my mind with your wisdom and compassion, so that I may find inner peace and joy. Guide me to the path of mindfulness and loving-kindness, allowing me to heal from within. May I extend this healing energy to all beings, fostering harmony and understanding. Amen.”

She raises her head and goes into a meditative state. Zsikhou watches but just keeps quiet.

She sits for an hour meditating before standing and rolling up the prayer mat. "Did you want to pray Zsikhou?"

"I usually do so at night, but..." Zsikhou looks around "Am focused on keeping an eye out for trouble." He looks over at Mingzhu, then steps closer. "Although, I was listening. Did you... want to talk about what happened with Renkao? This one can tell it's affected you greatly."

"What can I say Zsikhou. I failed. I failed so badly that I lost my ability to negotiate as a community shaman. I... since then every time I do it’s been a disaster." She looks away to the nearest body of water.

Zsikhou motions for her to sit by the shrine, then does so as well. "Maybe. But the Celestial court is still pleased enough with what you do, that you can still channel their blessings. Maybe... we should take this from the beginning. From the moment we decided to rush over there and why. Perhaps another perspective might help. Even if we can't change what happened, it can help us understand it."

"We rushed over so to save the judge and to stop the battle, so no more souls became lost. We saw so much death. We have burned so many people. It was a chance to get ahead before disaster struck, yet again and again we were too late. Tzukine, Soljura I wanted to stop another of those.”

Zsikhou sighs, considering. "Do you believe our approach to that situation was flawed? The one in Renkao, that is?"

"I... just don't know anymore. I did what I knew was right. The only way I thought to save everyone from fighting each other. The only way I could come up with. It failed and the trail of death continued...... Maybe it’s these lands and these savage people. There seems no comprise to either side. and no quarter given no matter what I do. I couldn't even stop Minamoto and Fwangzhu from fighting."

Zsikhou sighs, a nod... "It is likely the problems here have been stirring for far longer than we have been here." A pause. "Minamoto, Fwangzhu, well, those two have loyalties external to us... is what happened with them bothering you?"

"Minamoto turned out to be an arrogant ass that betrayed the group at first opportunity and now we are left with Fwangzhu, who was part of the biggest problem, and why we failed to keep the armies apart. That and we just didn’t get there in time." She shakes her head, "And now hundreds more souls have been given in death. 2 entire islands were decimated and now a third is... who knows how many are dead or hung or crippled because there is no compromise on either side."

Zsikhou huffs, considering. "Minamoto was always loyal to his Daimyo, as you are to the Celestial Court. He of course was going to side with his own, should a conflict arise. Even after he still resolved to try and... explain our case to the Daimyo. I'm not optimistic, but I do believe he will make the attempt." He pauses, considering "I do admit, I think our approach was flawed, but it was also a situation that was likely well beyond our control."

"It doesn’t matter now we are most likely outlaws. No one would listen to me anymore. I worked so hard for peace between the people and the lords of Kaluso." She looks away. "All that has turned to ashes now."

"From his perspective we likely betrayed him." Zsikhou considers.

“He wouldn’t listen just as Fwangzhu will never listen.”

Zsikhou huffs. "You know my perspective on this matter; we need to remove the agitators first from this land.... but let’s go back to Renkao." A pause. "If you had to do it again, what approach would you take? In how we attempted things there?"

She purses her lips, "Most likely would send a team directly to the judge and immediately confront the commander of the soldiers to negotiate a settlement before any fighting started. but we were too late for that."

Zsikhou nods aside "Attempting diplomacy in the middle of a battle was not effective or wise. Has to be stopped before then. And yes... I do agree. We should have went for the magistrate with more force. That was our objective there." He shakes his head "That's what I would have done there. And not interjected between the opposing forces outside." He looks to Mingzhu, hard to say if he's scolding or sympathetic, or both. "Sometimes you need to pick and choose your battles."

"I couldn’t stay out now after seeing what happened to Tzukine and Soljura. I couldn't just sit there and watch."

"Was there anything you could have done there that would have actually helped stop it?" Zsikhou looks: His voice sharper.

"I tried to use every ability and spell I could to calm the situation. I even used my status as a shamaness. I knew no one would want to attack me if I could hold the middle of the field." She shakes her head. "I lost my status now. everything I built up unto that point. I also lost something else. something inside of me. My will maybe. I do not know. And after Minamoto was so damn arrogant on the ship. That was a breaking point for me."

Zsikhou furrows his brow, looking over. "How do you mean? I didn't find him particularly arrogant."

"He was practically sneering at us Zsikhou. At least that is what I saw. It doesn't matter anymore. What happened, happened. There is no going back."

"There is no going back. But if this problem is bothering you, you need to assess why and resolve it. That or push it aside and keep going. You still have your blessings, so you haven't lost your status. Though what else do you feel you've lost?" Zsikhou asks.

He then pauses, a huff "As for Minamoto, he behaved in an expected manner. He's loyal to his Daimyo above us. He couldn't be expected to go against him. From his perspective we attempted to thwart someone he is duty bound to serve. A Samurai outranks a man-at-arms."

"Neither he nor Fwangzhu saw that both sides were wrong in Soljura and both sides were right. They were just so harden against the other; both sides failed. and Minamoto and Fwangzhu could not even see that. It gave me much thought that indeed this kingdom is completely corrupt I'm trying to negotiate with savages that will not see any other thing but their side of an argument. I am so tired of this. I also know that I failed I don’t know who could succeed given the situation."

Mingzhu stops a moment and asks, "Is our intruder still with us?"

Zsikhou looks over. "Watching from a distance. If we speak quietly enough, he won't hear us."

She stands up. "WE KNOW YOU FOLLOWED US FROM THE CITY. DO YOU COME TO PRAY? JUST TO SPY ON US? OR DO YOU SEEK US OUT FOR SOME OTHER REASON?"

Zsikhou then narrows his eyes as Mingzhu says that. "He's moved away now."

She quiets down, "So a spy then."

"Probably." Zsikhou nods aside

“Well, we are doing nothing but worship. So, he doesn't have anything.” She sighs and turns back to the alter. "I guess next is plant some flowers." Zsikhou nods... She continues, “"I at least feel useful tending the shrine."

"Do you believe that you could have stopped what happened at Renkao if you changed your tactics? We definitely could have improved, but it was a difficult situation." Zsikhou says.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe. Perhaps used control water as soon as I stepped off the dock to give the soldiers something to think about.

"Possibly. Could have provoked them into hostility." Zsikhou shrugs.

Mingzhu nods, "yes that’s what I was thinking at the time at least. But that doesn't matter now. What is done is done. We failed and many people died because of it."

"What we do know is that we still have a duty, and it's real. And these problems aren't going to go away on their own. Gross correction is still needed." Zsikhou mentions. Mingzhu simply nods while looking out to sea.

Zsikhou looks over at the rest of the group approaching. "Guess we'll have to table this discussion then."

[Winterhawk99]

Balan and the rest of the party find their way to the city hall. It looks like this section of the town is nicer at least. Better maintained. More expensive architecture, the city hall itself seems functional and well kept. Probably a nicer neighborhood in this port town. The City Hall has a pair of guards on the outside, and more on the inside. There's a desk with a row of secretaries who are handling various petitioners. It takes some time waiting in line, but Balan and Silgara are eventually able to speak with one of them. The furniture in the city hall looks expensive, with decorations, paintings, and adornments on the walls. The secretary looks up, “Hello there, can I help you sir?

“We wish to speak with the minister if possible.”

"Hrm, name? And do you have an appointment, sir? Also, which minister?" The Secretary shuffles through some paperwork.

“Apologies, I am Balan and minister Quinn.”

"Hrm, one moment." She checks the paperwork...

“I do not have an appointment though, but me and my companion were hoping to have a conversation with him.”

She looks back to Balan, annoyed. "I see. Well, you will need an appointment to see him. Do you wish to schedule one? I will need to..." Meanwhile, someone goes up to the secretary, whispering to her, looks like another clerk. She nods "Right, I see. Well, you and your companion apparently do have an appointment. Why did you say you didn't have one?"

Silgara interjects. "Pardon, he simply forgot. But yes, we do have one."

The secretary sighs. "Right, well, follow inside to room 51." She makes a motion. "Better yet, the Clerk here will show you the way."

The same man who whispered to her nods, then looks to Balan. "Please come with me sir."

Balan slaps his forehead, “Apologies, to much going on as of late. He follows the clerk.

The man leads him to a small, but well filled room. Papers and paperwork everywhere. There's a small room with one man. He wears well-made but rather nondescript clothes, definitely not a person who makes himself look flashy or noteworthy. But he does have a short, well-trimmed beard and goatee. He appears to be penning something. He sits at a rather large desk with many shelves in it, there's two chairs in front. He looks up. "Right, thank you for joining me here. Come in, sit." He doesn't seem to mean it, given his terse tone, but he motions to the chairs all the same. Minister Quin looks up to Balan. "Right, so, you wish to discuss something, then. Well, go ahead." He twirls a pen in his hand. Silgara seems nervous just being here but keeps her cool.

Balan looks to Silgara for help but seeing her face, he turns back to the minister. “We were hoping to get some information from you on the going ons in this port. We have some information but specifically we wish to know of corsair involvement.”

Minister Quin looks over at Balan, looking somewhat annoyed. "Really? Well, I hope you know how this works. Well, go ahead. What information do you have for me, then?"

“We have found that they are most likely working with a trade company that is in this port but there are many other things that we have been informed of on their...dealings.”

Minister Quin twirls his pen, flexing his hand. "Well, continue on then. I assume you're going to tell me which trading company in this port, and their other dealings."

“Aye... The Fated Winds though I am sure a man of your nature had some ideas on that.”

"I might. So, what else? And I'd like to hear proof if you have it." Minister Quin looks at Balan squarely.

“Search their warehouse and you will see proof I am sure along with stolen goods from other trade companies that the corsairs have taken for them to resell. We do know there is an envoy making deals with the corsairs from daimyo Zuodong’s lands...Perhaps you know something about that as well?”

"Hrm.... you know, interesting that you bring that up." Minister Quin twirls his pen, then pulls out a note, unfolding it, reading it. "I had heard that there was a robbery at Warehouse 19. I had also heard a complaint that was regarding some stolen goods by the Golden Sails. And I know it was a member of the Golden Sails who had arranged for this appointment here. It's an interesting set of coincidences." Quin seems to muse on it, looking to Balan to see how he responds.

“Aye that is interesting indeed however we were owed a favor by the sails from previous endeavors on another island. We are friends of their captains after all.”

Minister Quin looks over, considering. Perhaps as if trying to assess if he knows something to dispute that, or something else. He considers. "I see. So, what gave you the idea that there is an envoy of Zuodong's Court that is involved in making deals with the Corsairs?"

“A woman who is well respected as a protector of another island on the way here had shall we say obtained that information and not in a peaceful manor I am sure of that.”

Minister Quin regards Balan, narrowing his eyes, musing, considering. "Which island? And I assume that this woman has a name and can presumably be trusted."

“Perhaps trusted as much as anyone who tortures and devours for information though the location is not important is it. She had also informed us on a specific raid on a specific holdings that may have been influenced by this person that has made deals with the corsairs.” Balan leans back in the chair carefully watching his expression after looking back at Silgara for a moment. Minister Quin narrows his eyes some, considering. Silgara looks to Balan but seems to be content to let him handle this.

Minister Quin then looks over. "I see. Now, that is quite the reveal." He clearly doesn't mean it, but he seems more guarded now. "So, I suppose we'd better get on to the part where you tell me what it is you're looking for out of this little... exchange of ours."

“There is an island we are looking for as well as further information on stopping the corsairs’ trades and thefts if you would give it. The island is that of midnight and not seen unless you know where to look.”

Quin raises an eyebrow. "Now that's a new one. Island of Midnight. What exactly is this island of Midnight?"

“The last one we located held...Some unsavory people along with creatures that should not be on the lands here. Needless to say,… They are dispatched and no longer around.”

Quin flexes a hand, a smirk. "You're not giving me a lot to go off of, here. But I suppose that's expected. Of course, now there is the part where you think you can stop the Corsairs with my help, and what you can offer that is actually actionable and valuable."

“We have taken down One of their ships and many of their men already...An exchange of information may be valuable to you unless you are working with them then that would put a target on our back if it hasn’t already. Though we do know there is a demon that leads their fleet...So perhaps that is of value.”

The minister considers. "And what can you tell me about this... demon?"

Silgara decides to chime in. "A Glabrezu. A wish-granter that appeals to the darkest desires of men. This one has been supporting the Corsairs in their endeavors."

The Minister looks to Silgara, considering. "I see. A Yokai being involved can make things more... complicated than is necessary." Then he looks to Balan. "Of course, how do I know that you might be able to deal with this... yokai?"

“We have dealt with one already on the island we found...One that rode a nightmare horse.”

The minister muses. "So, you do have some competence in combat." Though leaves the rest unsaid. "Unfortunately, I don't have any information regarding a Yokai prior to this, so what are you looking for, and why is it to my advantage to disclose?"

“If we were to remove the corsairs or dwindle their numbers enough so they are not operational it would allow better prosper and more negotiations with trades companies that are already here less the fated winds of course. And since they are already destroying Daimyo ships that have soldiers on them...And destroying entire populations on islands...It is the best option.”

The Minister muses, "Destroying whole entire populations on islands where?"

“Near Kizamine they killed or enslaved all they could.”

Minister Quin considers for a time. "Ah, that island is under Kaluso's domain. Of course it's a tragedy hearing that." He clearly doesn't seem moved by it. "Of course, what happens in Daimyo Kaluso's domain is not something I really have jurisdiction over. Unless there's some reason it should concern me."

“If they do it in one domain they could easily, do it here. Unless you know something, I do not.”

"Oh, I am sure I know many things you do not." Minister Quin smirks.

“Aye your position of course notes that spymaster.”

"I'm responsible for ensuring my fellows here in the city hall are duly informed so they can make proper decisions." Minister Quin shrugs "But fine. If you want to be more direct, and crass, perhaps you should convince me then. Why should I help you with sharing."

“Is there a task you need done that could convince you or should I just give you a blatant reasoning on why evil and pirates should be removed when they are in the amount of force they are...or perhaps having shady traders selling stolen goods can cause a whole domains influence to tank into the bottom of the sea.”

Minister Quin pauses, considering, he huffs "What have you heard regarding this... deal with the Corsairs someone under Zuodong allegedly has?"

Silgara presses the advantage. "That someone under his employ is paying them. I'm sure you don't need that additional expense." She tries to give a sweet smile but just comes off as condescending.

Minister Quin seems to consider. "Tell me what you know then. I'll fill in the blanks."

“From some of what I had overheard it is one of three people...You were named as a potential though with the way you hold yourself, I am unsure.”

Quin waves a hand off "Alright, I'll fill in the blanks then. I'm sure you've heard of the term 'an offer you can't refuse', right? I'll tell you this, the Corsairs logistical structure doesn't make any sense. None that we can track anyways. We know they have a port somewhere, but their ships just seem to... disappear. So, patrol boats rarely find them." Quin sighs, "Now I assume this... Island of Midnight you mentioned may be involved, but what else can you tell me about them?"

“First, I need to know if you are the ones that made deals with them or not.” Quin gives Balan a hard look...

Quin grimaces "It's not an ideal situation. We're essentially paying them off until we can find their hidden port for a strike. Playing them along, for now. If we went to open hostility now, they'd cut us off and vanish without us being able to stop them. It's a 'protection' scheme, not a partnership." Silgara looks at Quin, unsure if she trusts that, but she says nothing. Quin continues. "Which is why I need to know about this... Island of Midnight, and how to deal with it."

“Do you have a location of where their ships have...Disappeared near.” Balan asks.

"Off to the west, somewhere. There's three islands out in that direction, one is an unimportant fishing village, one is barren, and another is a jungle so full of monsters that it's of no worth to anyone." Quin huffs "We had the Barren one checked. It's not that. Isn't the monster infested one either. As far as we can tell they just vanish out at sea, but our ships haven't found anything."

“Where they vanish exactly is of the highest importance.”

"Scattered places, on the map. But I haven't gotten any kind of clear reading on that." Quin shakes his head.

Silgara looks over. "It might require a portal key like the last one."

“Do you have a map to referance...And yes, I was thinking that as well Silgara. Without the key you would sail through the area and never know it was there.”

Minister Quin pulls out a large, complicated map. "As mentioned, it's somewhere around that monster-infested island to the west. A large one, but that one doesn't have ports. Usually, the vanishings happen to the north-east of there." He then looks over to Balan and Silgara, narrowing his eyes, considering something. "Hrm, and what would this... 'key' be?"

Silgara steps in. "Magical in nature, the last was a set of four symbols. Barely noticeable unless you know exactly what to look for. Fortunately, I do." She does give off that mildly condescending tone.

Minister Quin looks at Silgara, narrowing his eyes, then looks at Balan. "Alright, you want direction, you want direction. And if your work on Warehouse 19 is anything to go by, I expect you know how to be discrete, or at least plausibly deniable enough here. Are you listening?"

“What warehouse?” Balan smirks.

"Exactly." Minister Quin waves Balan off. "Now, here's what you need to know. There is a Corsair I know. Captain Gantu Grimslade, captain of the Crimson Tide. He's probably going to depart soon. If he and his crew have an accident out at sea, well it's not something that can really be traced back to me. Just don't be an idiot about it. Oh, and in case you throw a lot of magic around, I need the logbook intact. So don't scuttle their ship before you get what you need from it."

“We have others who can...Travel in the water freely so even if their ship is....well you get the idea.” Balan smirks.

"Just not in port where the guards will get involved or anything that tips them off that I told you that." Minister Quin says, sounding deadly serious about that.

“Aye that would be foolish.” Balan nods.

"It would be. So, is that all then?" Minister Quin has stopped twirling his pen, leaning forward, looking far more serious.

Balan looks at Silgara, “Am I missing anything?”

"I believe we have covered what was needed. I'm sure we can let the secretary know if we have that... logbook." Silgara says.

"Just say you have a Logbook for me to look through. I'll make sure they know what to look for." Quin replies.

Balan nods, “Aye then that is all until our next meeting then.” He nods, Silgara goes to depart.

They leave the City Hall without further incident. Silgara looks over. "I have a feeling we shouldn't discuss this out in the open. Let’s reconvene."

He nods to Silgara, “We need to be careful where we speak about this and who is anywhere nearby.”

"Where should we go then? Back to the Inn Room? Or to the shrine where Mingzhu and Zsikhou went?" Silgara looks over.

“Perhaps to the shrine to collect them so we can inform all parties in private.”

Silgara nods "Let’s get moving then." They and the rest of the companions start their journey to the shrine.

[Winterhawk99]

Eventually, the party finds its way back to Mingzhu and Zsikhou. Silgara looks around, then looks to Mingzhu "Everything alright here?"

Mingzhu looks at the group, "Theres a spy behind some bushes if you haven’t noticed already."

Balan grins, “Would you like it lit on fire?”

"And we are relatively fine yes............ Ummm no. We were just praying and tending to the shrine. There is no need. And the only prayers I used was to reinforce Zsikhou here."

Nor'vee looks over "Might be a bit excessive."

Silgara looks over. "I should probably get the boat ready for us."

“Aye that would be best...We need to talk.” Balan says.

She nods, slipping off, finding a quiet place, then casts invisibility, then fly. Going to fly off, deploy the boat out at sea, then come back to where the group had initially docked. They board the ship. Silgara casts off to sea, though keeps the island in sight. She dismisses her invisibility spell. Silgara breathes out a huff "Right, Balan, go ahead on how our... meeting with the minister went?"

“In a moment I want to make sure no one slipped on that is unwelcome.” he sits on the front of the ship looking backwards as he uses Detect Evil. He only feels Zsikhou’s presence.

Mingzhu casts trance and commune with spirits. "Ocean spirits come to me." A spirit is called to her.

"Spirit is there anyone aboard this ship that does not belong to the group?"

"No."

"Spirit are any of our people or the ship being divined?"

"No"

"Spirit the man who followed us to the shrine was he hired or a member of one of the trading companies?"

"Hired."

Balan stands and walks back to the group rubbing Zsikhou’s head. “Just you buddy.” Zsikhou loves it and can't get enough looks somewhat annoyed.

"Was the man hired by the fated winds?"

"No." The spirit fades.

Mingzhu turns to the group. “We have no stowaways, and we are not being divined. The man that followed me and Zsikhou was hired but not by the Fated winds. The spirit got confused by my words or I would have narrowed it down further.

Silgara looks over to Balan. "I was hoping to discuss how much we could trust Minister Quin, but..."

Zsikhou looks at Balan. "Let’s start with the bad news."

“Trust...not at all but he has given us information at least. and he is willing to betray the corsairs. Bad news, we need to take out a corsair ship that is ported here without sinking it.” Balan shrugs.

Fwangzhu huffs, looking over. "Why not at port? Because the shitbag guards would defend them I'm guessing?"

Balan replies, “It is more that we would most likely be arrested for causing issues...”

"Yeah, that shit." Fwangzhu huffs.

"Let us hope that the ship does not sail out of port till tomorrow. I will re arrange my prayers for a ship." Mingzhu says.

Nor'vee looks over to Balan. "So, what is good news then?"

“We have an idea where the midnight island may be located.” Balan takes the time to explain what happened during the meeting and how towards the end Quinn seemed to want to help with their plot

Mingzhu frowns, “That’s the good news?”

Silgara nods, "I'll put it on our map. At least the suspected locations. But it may be good to assume that this next midnight island is using a different portal key."

“Aye...That may not be an issue if we can take out the crew of that ship...Their captain may have a key.” Balan insists.

Silgara nods aside to Mingzhu "And we apparently need the captain's logbook. That means we can't sink their ship until we get it."

"I could always swim down and get it." The shamaness replies.

"If it gets ruined by water damage, then..." Silgara shakes her head.

“Aye best not to risk it getting wet.” Balan reinforces Silgara’s statement.

Mingzhu shakes her head. “Well, that takes away me creating a maelstrom.”

“Less you remove the water from under their ship completely and let it drop to the ocean floor?” Balan suggests and asks at the same time.”

"I can’t do that Balan. The most I can do is sink it 35 feet into the bottom of the maelstrom and release the spell instantly sinking it if the ship is small enough." Mingzhu says while she is thinking about it.

Balan nods, “Then I believe that would not work.”

"If the ship is too big it would be violently thrown back up and bob on the surface of the water. I could call up a giant great white shark Jaws and try to fowl the rudder."

“That...That may cause massive issues to any living creature on board...” Balan almost seems delighted.

"It would certainly disrupt any spell casting for a few minutes.” Mingzhu responds.

Balan muses trying to do the math in his head. “That may launch them 15 feet above the water and slam them back into the surface with enough force to break legs.”

"Would it risk tipping the ship?" Silgara looks over.

“That may depend on how the ship is built.” Balan says.

Mingzhu nods, "It would."

"And could compromise the cargo we're looking for..." Silgara sighs.

"Like I said the other avenue is call a big enough shark to foul the rudder." Mingzhu says again.

“It is unfortunate and not worth the risk with maelstrom... however the shark would leave them dead in the water.... And perhaps they would be dumb enough to jump in and try to fix it.” Balan almost laughs thinking about it.

"If that happens, I may have to call another spell to call multiple smaller sharks. Perhaps I could start a feeding frenzy with enough blood in the water it will attract even more. Though if that happens, I want out of the water as soon as possible." Mingzhu shudders.

“Aye I could imagine so. We do know they will be departing port soon but not how soon.” Balan informs.

Mingzhu thinks a moment then says, “The horizon is 2 miles off the coast we can hold there and wait. Or wait for them to depart and follow them. We do need to hit them further along in case other traffic sees us. At least 5 miles off the coast I would guess."

Silgara nods. Balan smiles, “Aye, farther is better.”

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr address Silgara after her return to the ship, “Mind filling me in on how meeting with Quin went?"

Silgara looks over to T'Kharr "It... wasn't exactly smooth, but the basics are that he claimed that the pirates were extorting them, and they don't know where they are based. He gave up one name, Gantu Grimslade and his ship, and wanted us to get his logbook."

"That sounds...manageable at least, do we have any information about what the ship and captain are capable of, or do we have to gather that ourselves?"

"He's the captain of a ship called the Crimson Tide." Silgara sighs... "That said, I wouldn't trust that man farther than I can throw him. He seems to have figured out we were responsible for that heist but can't prove it. But a lot of the conversation was dancing around words, saying a lot with implications and saying nothing." Silgara shakes her head. "Still in dock but due to leave soon, from what Quin said."

"Hm. Maybe Zsikhou can get some eyes on them?" T’kharr asks.

Silgara nods ... "Could be, at least to get an idea for what ship they're working with. Quin said that he didn't want us attacking them while they're docked though. The guards would come after us if we did that."

"Aye, that'd be too loud in any case, draw attention from their friends."

Silgara nods. "And if we want Grimslade's logbook, that will mean if we ambush them at sea, we need to take their ship intact."

"Aye, or at least get someone on there to sneak off with it while they're fighting"

Silgara nods aside. "Besides that, well, Quin claimed that whatever 'deal' they have is more like a protection scheme that the Corsairs are giving them, and Quin claimed that he was working to turn the tables. I don't know if I fully believe him, though."

"That's definitely plausible, although I'm not sure how one'd verify the veracity of such."

Silgara shakes her head. "I don't know either. I expect someone like him might try to play to both sides."
Then she looks at the gnoll in the eyes. "Well, if we are to track and ambush them at sea, what's the plan?"

T’kharr purses her lips and says, “Send Zsikhou out to get eyes on the ship, see what they're carrying for weapons and if he can hear anything of its crew's capabilities as well."

Silgara nods, "Right, I guess we can come up with a plan to find them at sea and deal with them after."

T’kharr asks, "Have you learned how to scry, yet?" Silgara shakes her head no. "Hm. I could use Locate Object to track it, but I'd need to lay my own eyes on the ship at some point to do so."

"Hrm, we may have time for that. If all we need is to approach it at the docks, you could get close enough before anyone on watch tells you to get lose. How close do you need for that spell to work?" Silgara asks.

"Just a good look at the thing, to my understanding. From the docks probably should be fine?" T’kharr responds.

"Yes, it should be. For the actual casting though, is there an effective maximum range on this spell?" Silgara looks over.

"Ah. Never mind then" T’kharr sighs, rubs her forehead.

"What do you mean?" Silgara looks over.

"Don't think I'd be able to get the spell to stretch out for work at sea."

"Ah..." Silgara nods.

"May have to rely instead on Mingzhu being able to swim stealthily."

Silgara looks at Mingzhu who has just come up on deck. "How quickly can you swim? And there is the matter of her meeting up with us again."

"Aye." T’kharr replies.

Mingzhu doesn’t even have to think to respond. “I can swim as fast as most can run. much faster than a human can.”

Silgara nods, "The question is how do we find them when we're at sea, and how do we handle them when we've gone to close." She looks over. "We can send Zsikhou and Nor'vee to scope them out at the docks while we plan, unless anyone wants to check on them

Mingzhu used to life living in a fishing village says, “Best way I think is sit out at sea about 3 miles. There we can see what ships leave port when they come into view. The horizon is roughly two miles from shore.”

"That could work too, the local guard seems to concern themselves only with the town, no?" T’kharr seems delighted at that idea.

Zsikhou nods, "That tracks."

"Alright, should I move the boat first? Or should we wait for the scouting? If Quin was right though they may be leaving the docks soon." Silgara says.

"I think we wait for the scouting." T’kharr says.

Zsikhou nods "I'll try to be fast then." He heads off the ship.

Silgara looks over. "Should we send Nor'vee too?"

Mingzhu shrugs, "I think it depends on if he wants to go or not."

Nor'vee shrugs. Zsikhou heads out, after some time spent, he comes back. "Okay, we'll need to move quickly. The Crimson Tide left port, I only got a brief look at it but can tell you this: The ship they have is larger than ours. There's also a Ballista mount on each of its sides."

"But not the front and back? We will be hitting them from underneath and behind.” Mingzhu explains.

"We're looking for a Carrack, and, yes, they would need to turn broadside to fire their Ballistae at us." Zsikhou nods.

"Unless they have no rudder. how much do you think the ship weighs?" Mingzhu asks.

"Am not a ship expert." Zsikhou shrugs.

"Well, the rudder will not be over a ton the shark will be." Mingzhu smiles.

"Yeah, de-ruddering them will put them in a very, very bad way, especially if there's seas or weather about." T’kharr replies.

"We'll need to find them first..." Zsikhou mentions.

Silgara goes to get the boat ready to sail. She looks to T'Kharr and Mingzhu. "Course?"

"Look for ships going out to sea. cut your winds at an angle to them if we can keep up." Mingzhu says.

"Right, taking us back to the port direction." Silgara steers the ship.

“Take us out about a mile Silgara so we have a wide field of view outside port.” Mingzhu again orders.

"On it." Silgara sails out towards the docks, and some off to the coast. Looking over the horizon, it does look like the ship they are looking for has already left port.

Zsikhou sharply looks over before you make it to the port. "There. But we're still visible off the coast from here." The Crimson Tide seems to have left the port, and it's heading in a south-easterly direction.

"Looks like the chase is on then, we cut across their track from behind and loop back towards them, so we don't make ourselves obvious to folks in port." T’kharr says.

Mingzhu smiles, “Now it’s a game of getting close enough to go into action while staying far enough away that those Ballista do not hit us.”

Setting a course, captain." Silgara says as she starts to turn the boat, trying to get a bit of distance from the Crimson Tide but keep them in sight, eventually turning around to tail them. It looks like your ships have roughly an equal speed.

[Winterhawk99]

As the companions track behind the Crimson Tide, T’kharr asks Mingzhu, “Reckon the shark can catch up to them?"

Mingzhu looks at the distance and tries to gage it. She estimates about 4,000 feet out. “Another 1,000 feet T’kharr. Watch their sails they may try to turn to meet us.”

"Right..." Silgara moves to intercept speed, trying to catch up with the ship.

“Yeah, we'll need to keep them from trying to turn for a broadside setup.” T’kharr begins helping with the sails.

For now, the Crimson Tide seems to be sailing directly onwards, still on their southeast heading. After some time though, the ship makes a turn to its left, moving northeast. Silgara turns, moving east closing the gap some, but they are on the opposing ship's 235-degree mark, somewhat closer to its side.

Mingzhu comments, “Its turning into us. They are making ready for a fight then.”

"Aye, probably picked up on our presence and trying to close for a broadside, we'll have to cut back in behind them when we send the shark." T’kharr declares. Mingzhu counts and tracks the distance as the two ships begin to fence.

"If my trajectory is right, they are either sailing towards Port Ginji or Zalusu..." Silgara mentions.

Mingzhu states, “When I jump, turn away from their ballista.”

“Got it!” T’kharr shouts.

"We've gotten a bit closer but they're still quite far away." Silgara says.

Mingzhu again gages speed and distance. “We need to get closer.”

"Got it..." Silgara turns the boat to the left, trying to angle the boat where she thinks it is going to go after the turn, rather than trying to follow it strictly from behind. They suddenly get to within 1655 feet away from the Crimson Tide. The bad news: they have a broadside turned to the companions’ ship.

Mingzhu casts Summon Nature’s Ally 4 calling a giant white shark and when it swims up to the ship she jumps on it and casts Speak with Animals. T’kharr directs the ship to cut back behind the Crimson Tide’s track. Mingzhu orders the shark, “We will dive and charge the back of that other ship. In the back is a big wooden board we are going to hit it as hard as we can. You are much bigger than the board. We need to dislodge it completely. Now dive! and we hit it at an upward angle.” She shows the shark with her hand a 30 degree or so angle upward. She keeps her hand on the dorsal fin as they charge the rudder from below. The shark goes along with the plan.

The Crimson Tide turns and appears to be moving towards your ship now, seems they've noticed and are going to engage, but they're keeping their broadside on their ship. Silgara sees the Crimson Tide straight ahead, keeps moving forward, though awaits orders from T'Kharr. The gnoll keeps directing the ship to cut behind the Crimson Tide in a continuous turn of their own. Silgara nods, "Right, I'll try it." She turns the ship right to try and get behind them. The Crimson Tide seems to notice this and changes angle, they turn left, sharper then Silgara has, they keep the broadside fixated on the companions' ship.

Mingzhu adjusts the shark’s movements to compensate for the positioning battle going on up above. She tells it, “You can eat all the snacks that fall off. There may be many when we hit the board." Meanwhile T’kharr directs a turn the opposite way to try to throw the Crimson Tide off.

Silgara makes a sharp turn left, changing course. They are getting closer to the pirate ship. The Crimson Tide stays mostly on course, turning slightly right. It looks like the two ships are almost due to intersect in a perpendicular fashion, though the Crimson Tide will meet the intersection first, they still have their almost broad side on them. As the distance closes to 1000 feet, the Crimson Tide hoists a Jolly Roger.

T’kharr directs Silgara to make a sharp starboard turn. Silgara shouts, “They’re getting closer, captain.” After their turn they are sailing perpendicularly and still about 1000 feet away, but they're not gaining on the companions anymore and are out of range of the ballista. They still have the broadside on the ship though. Their ship turns, veering left. They turn at about a 45-degree angle, now heading south, slightly east. It seems like they're trying to keep their broadside on where the companions’ ship is going to be.

As Mingzhu and the shark make their approach, Mingzhu says, “Give it all you have my friend there will be many snacks to feed upon. Meanwhile, T’kharr directs Silgara to make another hard right to keep them from gaining range. Mingzhu steers straight into the rudder having the shark charge it. Just before it hits, she releases the fin. The shark hits the rudder but only does minor damage to it. Mingzhu screams, “AGAIN!” The second hit is much harder. The Crimson Tide rocks counter to the tide. “AGAIN!” The shark hits it again this time less hard but there is a crunch this time. The rudder shreds under the continued assault.

Up above while all this is going on the Crimson Tide turns a sharp left as the companions’ ship appears to flee. Broadside is off the companions’ ship. T’kharr orders a hard left. As the Rudder sheds apart and the ship stalls. T’kharr orders Silgara to cut across their track as the pirate ship finds out what being rudderless is like. "They've stopped turning, Mingzhu must have been successful in destroying their rudder." Silgara says to T'Kharr.

"Aye, reckon we can get behind them now and get close enough to fireball their decks?" T’kharr says. They are about 800 feet now. The Crimson Tide is still moving ahead east towards the companions’ position, but now it is subject to the ocean tides and winds. "Or ahead of them." Cutting ahead with a fairly shallow right turn, T’kharr takes the wheel from Silgara to free her up for spellcasting.

"Right. Head on, straight ahead at them, then? As long as we keep off their broadside, they won't be able to use those Ballistae on us." Silgara says.

"Aye, pretty much a head-on approach." T’kharr shouts. "They'll probably think it's a ramming attempt if anything but won't be expecting fireball."

“I could use my bow to attempt lighting their sails on fire as well.” Balan suggests.

"Aye, that'd be good work indeed." T’kharr shouts back.

Mingzhu hears something going on above but because she is underwater. She doesn’t see anything and they do not see her either. She swims back to the pirate ship and starts to climb up the back enough to see the deck. She gets just below the gunwale. She hears the captain shouting orders to the crew and back and forth with the helmsman. They seem to realize their rudder’s been shredded. She then hears the captain say, “Chaplain get yer Make Whole spell ready on my command! Helmsmen keep us on course, an..."

A lion appears on the Crimson Tides deck as Mingzhu casts Summon Nature’s Ally 3. The lion pounces on the priest. It bites down on his chest armor while raking his face and groin with its paws. The armor and half the man’s ribs are ripped off his body. He is dead before he hits the ground. Meanwhile Mingzhu immediately casts Castigate. A deafening sound rings out. Several of the pirates’ eardrums burst. Captain Grimslade starts singing a shanty of inspiring Courage on the crew. Mingzhu dives off the ship, a crossbow bolt sailing past her ear as she does.

T’kharr keeps on at full speed ahead, going straight for a nose-to-nose engagement with the Crimson Tide. Nor’vee readies his crossbow. Fwangzhu gets his axe ready. Silgara looks over. “Right, fireball when I'm in range?" She casts Mage Armor on herself, one on T’kharr and one on Zsikhou.

"Aye, fireball when you're in range." Then T’kharr turns to Balan "Ready a fire arrow, loose it at their sails as soon as we get in range for that."

Silgara’s fireball is quite a lot longer than a crossbow bolt. She loosens a fireball at the pirate ship. As the fireball explodes 5 off the crew drop dead burned to a crisp on the spot. The captain and 4 others are burned. More men come up on deck as reinforcements. Grimslade seems to be making some preparations. He casts a Cure Moderate Wounds on himself. Some of his crew drink Cure Light Wounds potions.

Nor'vee loads his crossbow "They're about to be in shooting range." Squeak.

“Got Another?” T’kharr asks.

"I only prepared one." The elf replies.

“Ah.”

They come within 480 ft of the Crimson Tide. T’kharr flings a fireball from her own necklace at them as soon as she’s within range for her own source of the spell. "Got anything else you want to throw into the pot?" She asks Silgara.

The next fireball explodes on their deck. 3 more crew go down. The captain takes minor burns. More reinforcements make their way up from the pirate’s midships. Balan takes a shot at the mainsail. Even at this distance it’s not that hard of a target and it helps Balan as the arrow has slowed down hitting the sail. The canvas smolders and goes up in flames. The fire rages as it seems the sail has been coated by some form of oil or catalyst. It quickly burns to uselessness. The pirate ship stalls completely. They come to within 420 ft.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr shouts out, “See if you can press the captain with arrows as we get closer" to Balan and Silgara "Not that we're trying to go for a boarding action, though....thinking we can tag Zsikhou with invisibility and fly and have him slink aboard to snag the log, works better if the captain's toast though."

"Got it." Silgara casts Fly on Zsikhou.

"Understood, I'll go for the logbook." Zsikhou replies.

Balan aims at the captain and fires his longbow but misses. Fwangzhu takes a shot with his crossbow also missing. Balan takes another shot at the captain but misses again. Zsikhou waits for the invisibility. Nor’vee also misses with his crossbow. The crew of the Crimson Tide return fire. They hit both Nor’vee and Silgara once but the two only sustain flesh wounds. Fwangzhu returns fire but misses again. Silgara is able to cast invisibility on the kobold.

T’kharr casts Magic Vestment upon herself still holding course. Grimslade continues his song of courage. Silgara falls as two bolts hit her in the chest and shoulder. The ships come within 300 ft. of each other. Balan rushes over to the stricken mage. He pulls the bolts out and performs a Lay on Hands. She stands back up wobblily on her feet. He puts his body in front of her as a shield. Zsikhou flies off as Nor’vee manages to hit one of the crew members of the other ship with a bolt.

Mingzhu manages to swim back to the Crimson Tide. She scrambles up the side again. She swings up on deck and casts Prayer to debuff the pirates. As she speaks the last word, she is hit by 3 crossbow bolts that knock her back to the gunwale. She falls off the ship unconscious.

Fwangzhu tries shooting the captain again and misses. Silgara huffs, looking through her spell options, she rubs her face, pulls out a scroll, then casts a fireball at the ship. “Good thing I made that scroll.” She sighs… Though the fireball does some damage to both ship and crew. It did not put any of the pirates down.

T’kharr comments as she holds the wheel steady, "Well, damn. That wasn't in the plan." The crew of the Tide turns back to the other ship and continue their fire. One of the bolts manages to hit Silgara again even using Balan as a shield. Another hits Nor’vee. Another narrowly misses Fwangzhu. The ships come within 240ft. At this distant Balan is pretty good with a longbow. He downs one of the crew. Nor’vee takes three shots but misses all three. Fwangzhu again is narrowly missed by a bolt. T’kharr takes a bolt to the thigh.

Fwangzhu shoots back. He downs a crew member of the other ship. Silgara now takes up her bow and fires. She misses both of her shots. T’kharr takes her last bead out from her fireball necklace and throws it. As the fireball strafes the deck of the Crimson Tide 6 more of its crew go down.

Of the pirate crew left they aim at T’kharr, but all miss the mark. Captain Grimslade casts Cure Light Wounds on one of his crew and continues singing. She shouts out, "Silgara, I'll need to jump overboard to recover Mingzhu, can you take the helm when I do?"

"Aye, aye, captain." Silgara says while Balan downs another of the pirate crew.

T’kharr orders, “Just turn back towards their track some when you pass the Crimson Tide." More of the pirate crew start to emerge from below decks. The two ships come to within 180 feet of each other.

Nor’vee shots crewman down and hits another. A bolt flies past Silgara’s arm just missing her. Fwangzhu puts down another crewman with his crossbow. Silgara tries to shoot but misses both her shots as she’s trying to pilot the ship while shooting. T’kharr rushes to the side Mingzhu fell off. Grimslade orders his last man back inside and goes to head below deck. The ships are now only 120 feet away. Nor’vee kills the last crewmember on deck with a quick shot.

T’kharr casts Water Breathing upon herself then jumps in after Mingzhu floating in the water. It doesn’t take long for the ships to come side by side. Fwangzhu throws a rope and gets a boarding plank ready. T’kharr finds Mingzhu’s body. She throws Cure Serious Wounds upon the shamaness. As Mingzhu recovers she casts Cure Critical Wounds upon herself. T'kharr begins to lead Mingzhu to the surface now that she's in decent shape

Balan slings his shield out front and draws his sword boarding the boat. The rest of the companions not in the water follow. He turns to everyone, “Looks like we face them below unless anyone has a better idea.” He lifts his shield up to make a wall and takes his place in the front.

"Captain headed below, they're still dangerous. Stay sharp." Silgara replies.

“Aye that is why I will stay in front.” Balan smiles.

Squeak, "Nor'vee hears fighting below. Think the Kami must have run into the captain."

Fwangzhu snarls, "Better get a move on then."

Balan and company go down and run through the ship. Nor'vee tries to direct you to where they think the captain is, “It sounds like they're fighting Zsikhou.”

The group finds the captains quarters. A hasted Captain Grimslade and his last men are fighting Zsikhou there. It looks like the captain has the advantage here. Balan charges into the room taking two swings at Grimslade. He wounds the man badly. Zsikhou attacks now that he has someone to flank on. Putting his weapon into the captain’s foot. Nor’vee shoots him at point blank range over and over with his repeating crossbow. The captain slumps and falls over a table.

Zsikhou pants, huffing, looks like he took some pretty heavy hits while fighting the captain solo. Balan immediately starts riffling through the captain’s body looking for a key and anything else. He finds a key along with +1 Mithril Chain shirt, +1 Sonic Rapier, +1 Mithril Small Shield, +2 Ring of Protection, +2 Amulet of CON, +2 Bracers of DEX, +2 Cloak of Resistance. He stuffs the items into a nearby bag and holds up the key. “I would think this will unlock where the ledger is kept.”

Zsikhou looks over "Think it goes to the captain's quarters, but this one already picked the lock. As for the ledger..." He moves over, going through a desk in the captain's quarters, then grabs a logbook. "Didn't have time to look through it, but... think this is it. Also found that chest there..." He goes to pick the lock, opening it up …. "Quite a lot of gold in here... Thanks for your help... the captain was stronger than this one anticipated when he caught me here..." Zsikhou huffs... clearly wanting a hug and pat after that battle.

Balan pats Zsikhou on the head, “Glad we got here when we did then.”

Zsikhou clearly loves it closes his eyes, breathing out a sigh, nodding "Yip..."

Mingzhu and T’kharr walk into the room. Mingzhu surveys the situation and goes to the captain. She casts Speak with the Dead. Grimslade's corpse manages to resist the spell. She frowns, “His will was strong. I cannot discern the key to the twilight island.”

"Hm. Hopefully the logs tell the tale, then." T’kharr comments.

Silgara looks over "If I may? …"

“Sure.” T’kharr says.

Silgara casts Detect Magic. She looks the captain over. She then takes up his captain’s hat and focuses on something inside the folds. "A token hidden in his captain's hat, it would seem. I …" She examines it. "Curious enchantment."

Mingzhu nods. T’kharr comments. “Interesting, so perhaps that's the key we're after? Or one of them at least?"

“Maybe there is only one master key for this place unless the logs speak of more?” Balan theorizes.

Mingzhu counts out the gold. "We now have 4,700 gold. Find out if this ship was one of the ships that took the people away from Tzukine.”

Silgara nods, looking over the Logbook. Zsikhou goes to rest on the chair, clearly quite wounded from the battle. "I …." Silgara looks the book over, frowning. T'kharr goes to heal Zsikhou at this point. "Okay... we have a new problem..." Silgara frowns... "I don't know what I'm reading here." She considers, looking the logbook over.

Zsikhou jolts, then gives a nod to T'Kharr, "This one's thanks..."

"That was a rough fight, aye." She nods.

"Well, I think we found what we're looking for with this book, but I'm not sure." Silgara looks it over, frowning. "I'm pretty sure it's encoded. I don't know how to decrypt it."

Mingzhu looks around at everyone. "When we disembark. I can try to sink the ship so no one will know it was us."

Zsikhou nods "Let’s make sure we get everything we can from this place before we do that then."

Balan looks around. “There may be a cypher somewhere around his quarters.”

"Aye, a cipher key or codebook." T’kharr affirms. Zsikhou and Nor’vee go looking about. Balan looks for a barrel or two of gunpowder but doesn’t find any and comes back. They do find 350 gold worth of gems gold and other goods. Mingzhu notes everything down in her ledger. Noting to them the new tally: 5,050 in coin for the group.

The shamaness then asks, “Balan, break the doors leading to this deck. He shrugs and rips the door off its hinges.

Silgara sighs... "I think we might need to take this to someone with some expertise on this kind of... thing. I expect Quin could crack it. Though maybe we want to go to Manishpral instead."

Balan asks, “Would there be a blank page at the beginning of the log book?”

Silgara looks it over. "Hrm, there is."

He grabs a candle and lights it. “Bring that page over the fire without burning it.” As she does letters reveal themselves.

"Ahah! Good catch." Silgara looks it over, considering "Hrm...."

"Any sort of key material?" T’kharr muses.

“Thieves in my homeland tend to use that method to hide information...Educated guess.” Balan chuckles.

Silgara recites:
"Wanting for plunder and booty,
In traversing far across the sea,
Swords held gleaming and shiny,
Here be a pirate's life for me."
She considers. "Maybe something in that shanty...? Mantra? Is the key?"

"Let’s get what we came for and smash all the doors we can so I can better sink the ship when it’s all done." Mingzhu frowns.

"That could very well be the case" T’kharr says to Silgara "Anyway, let’s get the stuff gathered up." She starts to gather up the things from the captain and any valuable loot from the chaplain and crew for that matter, taking the chance to search the dead in the process. The crew mostly has mundane stuff, leather armor, crossbow bolts, regular swords. Their crew quarters has a mix of trade goods and stuff. Although there are some hammocks and other amenities, tables, chairs.

Balan is still looking at the words. “A shanty but not finished?”

"I have a feeling there's... some kind of keyword that's important for decrypting the logbook. Maybe it's something in this passage?" Silgara considers.

Mingzhu looks at the two of them. “Try Wish.”

Silgara looks the logbook over, considering... seeming to make some notes... " Ah-ha... that does it. Yes... I think I can decrypt this."

Balan looks over the page and smirks. “Aye makes sense with the demon that oversees them.”

"I'd better take this back to our ship so I can translate it. I think... Hrm... it does look like some kind of ship notation, but... I think it does make sense, and it points to where we need to navigate across the sea to go to the next Midnight Isle." She considers. "It does look like our captain will have to wear the hat. That's the entry key." Silgara mentions, as she continues translating the logbook. "But... apparently only the high captain has the exit key and can grant it." She takes a deep breath. "Meaning that when we go there, we're in for the long haul until we finish our business there." Silgara considers "I … if there's any preparation we need to do before commencing this operation, or anything else to see to, we might want to be sure we're ready before heading there."

“We will need supplies and I have items we can sort between us on who would need what.” Balan insists.

Silgara nods, "We'd best prepare well, then." Zsikhou and Fwangzhu look over with a steely look of reserved dread. Even Nor'vee seems nervous.

Balan asks, “Shall I light the ship on fire to save Mingzhu’s spell?”

"Let’s retreat to our own first. After taking what we need." Silgara says.

"I'm taking the captain's bunk with me." Fwangzhu huffs. Balan shrugs and starts accumulating burnable materials on the ships deck. “Should we take their ballistae?”

Fwangzhu grins "Might as well."

"Well, once we have what we need from the Crimson Tide, where to next?" Zsikhou looks over.

T’kharr drops off all the enchanted stuff on the deck of the party’s own ship.

Nor’vee takes the mithril chain shirt. Mingzhu takes the +2 ring of protection and gives her +1 to Silgara. Balan takes the +2 cloak of resistance. Fwangzhu grabs up the bracers of Dexterity and the amulet of constitution. He also takes the +1 cloak from Balan. Silgara takes the ring, considering. She then opts to pass it to Zsikhou who currently has no magic rings.

As the ship burns down. Mingzhu watches as it becomes a flaming torrent. She casts Lower Water making a maelstrom at the back of it. She holds the ship in the maelstrom for as long as she can then let the water crash back upon it sinking it for good. “Now the only witnesses, alas, are us… and the sea.”

[Winterhawk99]

Fwangzhu grumbles. He, Silgara, and Zsikhou gather at the top of the ship. They seem restless and tense. There is a pause before Fwangzhu grumbles, “So, we’re going back to one of those horrible islands. Can’t fucking believe it. With you lot too…” He huffs, snarling, then looks out to the sea.

Zsikhou sighs, looking out with him. “I was not looking forward to going back to such a place, but duty calls. A duty I need to answer. Besides, we know these problems will not be resolved unless we do venture there.”

Silgara shudders, “It will be a considerably dangerous venture. I very much hope we are prepared, but I don’t know if any amount of preparation will be enough. Odds are if the reports of the Glabrezu are anything to go by it will likely be full of Tanar’ri as well." She considers, “Though last time there were plenty of Yulgoloth as well.”

Nor'vee looks on, confused, but Fwangzhu, Zsikhou, and Silgara are all musing on the next step of this journey. Meanwhile, the ship is still at sea... "Aye, we'll need to prepare thoroughly for such a venture, for sure. Hopefully we can find some scrolls in town, a good selection of those could be quite helpful." T’kharr intones to them all.

Silgara looks over. "Well, to which town then?"

“We have to go back to give that spymaster the logbook.” Mingzhu reminds them.

Silgara looks over. "If you want, sure. Though I've already decoded what we need from it."

The shamaness looks back over to her, “Wasn’t it he who sent us on this mission?”

"He was, yes. He's also someone who I wouldn't trust farther than I can throw him." Silgara mentions.

Mingzhu frowns, “It is because of him that we have the information we need. We must keep up on our part of the bargain.”

T’kharr looks over to the mage. “Did you find anything else interesting in there?”

"Hrm, according to these, we'll need to have someone wearing the captain's hat, at the head of the ship, singing a shanty while we cross the border." Silgara says.

“Right.” T’kharr comments.

Silgara shrugs, “Alright, well, if you want to do that, fair enough. I'll make sure to copy down what we need from it for my own notes in the meantime. Setting a course to Kurozhan, then. I guess we can pick up what supplies we need while there." Silgara goes to direct the ship.

Mingzhu looks at her ledgers. “We have after selling at fair market… 5,005 in coin.

Balan asks, “Who is going to wear the hat and sing?”

“Depends upon who our best singer is I would imagine.” Mingzhu responds.

"Well, how much do you think Minister Quin can be trusted?" Silgara asks Balan.

“We have what we need copied from the book, yes?” Balan asks.

"We have what we need from the Logbook, yes." Silgara nods.

“Then we have no further use of it.” Balan replies, “I will leave the decision amongst all of us to return the book or not though.”

Silgara takes the ship to Kurozhan. "I'll dock where we did before. Maybe a bit closer to town. We can make our purchases and well, Balan and I can go give the logbook to Minister Quin. Well, Balan, you met him as well, do you think we should do so? I already decoded it and got the information we need from Grimslade's logbook."

Mingzhu huffs, "We need to return the book in good faith. We used the spymaster to get what we want just as much as he used us. We all know he isn’t to be trusted but we had a job to do, and we did it. Just do not say anything about our own group. I would not even tell him how we got it.”

"Aye, let us return the book in good faith and say no more." T’kharr agrees.

Balan nods, “Perhaps this is a step in the right direction of mutual trust.”

"Right then, as you wish then. Taking us in." Silgara goes to pilot the ship. "And one of you decide who gets the hat and sings, I guess."

Mingzhu thinks a moment then says, “While Balan is giving the book to Quinn and the rest are shopping I'll check on the shrine and take a walk about the back side of the island around the fishing villages. If anyone would like to come, they are welcome. I think it should be Balan that sings. He has the best voice I think.”

The ship docks. Silgara mentions that someone should guard the ship. She goes with Balan to meet Minister Quin. Mingzhu gives the party coin to T’kharr. “I'm heading for the shrine take care not to spend too much it’s all we have." She then asks again if anyone wants to come with her. Zsikhou opts to follow her.

Fwangzhu and Nor’vee stay to guard the ship. Silgara looks over "We may be up against tanar’ri... I don't know if they'll have anything that helps with that, but... it may help to check."

“Right.” T’kharr says absently.

Mingzhu and Zsikhou head to the shrine. Once again, it seems abandoned. Nor’vee and Fwangzhu stay on the ship. Silgara and Balan go to the City Hall. This time they’re able to get past the secretaries pretty quickly and are sent to Minister Quin’s office. T'kharr heads for the Azure Winds shop.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr give the shopkeeper a nod, “Ah, hello there.” while she peruses what they have out.

"Salam, honored customer. Please, tell me what you'd like."

"Say, do you have any scrolls for enchanting weapons? Also....elemental resistances, negative energy protection, and wards against death magic." He shows her over to where there is a large scroll case set up with slotted holes with each type marked. Beside the case there are potions on a counter top each marked. She finds she can buy a plethora of 1rst and 2nd scrolls along with a variety of potions. "Hm." she frowns softly, "How much for a half-a-dozen or so scrolls of ultravision, at least?" She also sees blank scrolls that she can buy cheaply. She buys a ½ dozen Ultravision scrolls for 900 in coin.

She looks around. "Hm...you have anything else that'd be good if one was to wind up facing tanar'ri in the future...?"

"Fighting Demons? For those you would want Cold Iron weapons, no?" The merchant considers "We do have some in stock." He shows her a place near a corner where she can find several weapons, arrows, bolts and balls for slings.

"Hm. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future then, thanks." She also sees Cold Iron-sheen along with silver-sheen for 250 coin per bottle. It makes a weapon temporarily treated as cold iron for 1 hour.

Next, she takes a look to see if they have any magical weapons hanging around. She finds they do have several +1 magic weapons but nothing beyond that. She then moves on with a dip of her head. "Thank you, and burdens be eased." She heads over to the Golden Sails' shop to see if they have a better selection. Theirs is unfortunately much the same. Seems they don't have anything +2 grade alas. Not for weapons anyways.

She dips her head "Hello there. What do you stock for spell scrolls, if I may ask?" They show their scrolls. Seems like they have a variety of stuff, but mostly for up to 2nd level spells once again. She smiles and shakes her head. "Thank you, but I do not need any of that at this time. Burdens be eased." and returns to the Azure Winds to pick up a few Resist Elements scrolls and a handful of blanks as well. She looks at the scrolls disappointed and moves on without buying anything.

Meanwhile After the usual bureaucratic nonsense, Balan and Silgara find themselves in Minister Quin's office again. He looks up from pushing his papers. "So, do you have what I need? And hopefully you didn't make too much noise doing it."

Balan laughs, “Noise is just...Optional isn’t it. But no, we made sure they were far enough out, that no one should have seen what happened.”

"I really, really wouldn't if I were you. But good. Now for what I need, do you have it?" Minister Quin looks up. "Well, do you have it?"

Balan gives a nod to Silgara. “We do. May we ask what you needed it for?” Silgara reluctantly handles the logbook over.

Minister Quin takes it, looking it over. "Pirate operations like this, advanced, they have to have a logistics, organization, setup. What I need it for is to find out more about them. Their supply chain. And a way to apply leverage. It always helps to have leverage in a relationship."

He then looks over at Balan and continues. "For example, I know that the Shamaness with your group likes to tend to an abandoned shrine. Alone. Leaving herself vulnerable. That kind of knowledge is leverage, understand?" Minister Quin just states it matter-of-factly, though the implications are clear.
He then goes about looking through the logbook.

Balan frowns, “Leverage yes. I understand this well enough. Now where does this put our relationship between our group and you?”

"You're still useful to me, so make sure your group continues to be that." Minister Quin replies as he continues reading and decoding the logbook. Silgara just watches, making no tell or trying not to that she already knows its contents.

Balan asks, “Any more information you can give us?”

"Give me some time to decode this." Minister Quin says. He keeps looking over that logbook intently.

“Aye, Take your time.” Balan responds.

Time passes, it seems like an hour or two, before Minister Quin finally looks up. "Right, I think I found what information you're going to need." Balan chuckles again and looks at Silgara.

Quinn makes some scribbles on a piece of paper and hands it over. "Nautical notes, a location. Empty sea apparently, but apparently, it's some kind of portal. You need to have one of their captain’s hats. I don't know if I believe this, but there's also a password of sorts. The captain needs to be at the head of the ship, singing a sea-shanty, while near the threshold. Sing it there and you should find your way to the island." Quin broods a time... "Potent magic they have, if this log book is all true. But I do have your next job. I do hope you kept the captain's hat when you looted their boat. You did, didn't you? Otherwise, you'll need to make another ship disappear."

“We did yes. But now we know we can trust you as well, at least at this time.” Balan replies.

"Humph. Well, that will do. There's other information in here, but it's not relevant for you, and we don't have all day. You have the location to investigate. Go ahead and look into it. And try not to get killed." Though Quin's tone seems to indicate he doesn't care much if you do. "Now, is there anything else?"

“What’s is the job you spoke of?” Balan asks.

"I gave you a location. And you have the means to enter the Corsairs hidden port. Investigate it or put it out of business. Just be sure to report back if you have anything useful." Minister Quinn says.

“Right, of course...Your dealings with the corsairs are to resume or will they stop once this is done?”
Balan looks toward Silgara. “Any questions from yourself?”

Silgara shakes her head "No, not at the moment."

"I suppose what I do in the future, partly, depends on how good of a job you do." Minister Quin waves Balan off.

Balan nods, “Then we regroup and see what the others have done.” Thank you Quinn.

"Of course. Do have a good day." Quin waves you off, seemingly going about his paperwork. Balan leaves with Silgara.

As Balan and Silgara go to City Hall, Mingzhu and Zsikhou go to the shrine. It is quiet, ever. No one but the pair are there. Mingzhu tends to the shrine for an hour then prays. Afterward they take a walk to the backside of the island. Mingzhu is in her Path robes. Zsikhou in his usual attire.

As they take a tour through the local areas, Mingzhu notes the conditions. No one comes to her seeking guidance, so she just observes. Once they have a good idea of the territory. Most of the villages look pretty well off though utilitarian and not overly elaborate. Nearly all of them look like rice farming and fishing villages, more rice farms.

They return to the ship. Along the way she picks up a child’s captain’s hat for Snout and some paint. When she gets to the ship she marks in on both sides of the bow, ‘Snout’s Magic Carpet Ride.’

Nor’vee and Fwangzhu are waiting on the ship. So far, they don’t appear to really be doing much.

T'kharr returns to the ship as well, handing Mingzhu back her purse as well as the six ultravision scrolls and passing the blanks to Silgara. "Unfortunately, they didn't have much selection."

Silgara nods in turn, a sigh, "Not surprising, I'm afraid. Magic is heavily restricted here. And with Corsairs making shipments difficult..." She shakes her head. "Are we ready to head out then?" She looks to the Ultravision scrolls. "I'll study this and add it to my spell book. Hopefully that should work for piercing the unnatural darkness of that place."

Mingzhu says, “Don’t worry about me Silgara I have a ring of darkvision.”

Balan leans against a rail. “So...I am the one to sing and wear the hat then?”

"Well, if you're volunteering, go for it." Silgara says, though her mirth is suppressed by the grim reality of what they're about to face. "Right, I can set a course. But if we have anything else to do before we set sail there, now's the time. Otherwise... gods have mercy on us..." She looks off, troubled.

Balan smiles, “Then I should practice the song.”

T’kharr says, “Probably for the best.” Balan steps away and practices. It’s not horrendous but not the greatest either.

"Hm. I trust that nobody wants anything else for supplies? Only was able to find consumables up to the second rank." T’kharr says somewhat concerned.

Silgara sighs "I doubt they have holy or demon slaying weapons in bulk... Though they don't have cold iron ammunition?”

"That said, they did have cold iron if you think that'd be useful." T’kharr responds.

Silgara looks at her. "Well, I expect my arrows and Nor'vee's bolts won't hurt them at all otherwise. So yes, that would be a good purchase."

T’kharr sighs, “Aye, fair enough, it's the Azure Winds who have them."

Nor'vee does perk up. "Best to be prepared if hunting Yokai."

Silgara looks over, awaiting direction. "I also expect Fwangzhu's current armaments are good against devils, but not demons. Though that Halberd is a potent weapon. It may be more useful than his axe against tanar’ri."

Fwangzhu just snorts, "Fuck, different kinds of Yokai? Well, whatever."

"I reckon that it's best to spend coin on the cold iron bolts and arrows, unless anyone here has a melee weapon they suspect won't be useful at all against yokai?" T’kharr sighs.

Nor'vee nods, "Nor'vee would appreciate it."

Mingzhu is counting coins and writing in her ledger. “We now have 3,550 in coin.”

T’kharr nods to Silgara and Nor’vee after hearing that. “I can go back down and fetch them if you wish.”

"Please." Silgara nods.

When she comes back with the ammunition Balan mentions, “My weapon is holy… I believe that is enough, no?”

"Probably our best weapon." Silgara nods, "It's a pity we lost T’kharr’s staff, that would have been most helpful here."

"Come to think of it, does anyone else want to restock on healing supplies? I don't know why I didn't think of that initially." T’kharr asks the group.

“Kits of healing would not be a bad idea to purchase.” Balan insists.

"I will inquire about bandage-kits, yes." T’kharr answers. The dragonborn gives a nod to her. T’kharr goes back to the merchants. She acquires six Cure Moderate Wounds potions, six Cure Light Wounds potions and a Lesser Restoration Potion. She passes the potions out save for the Lesser Restoration which she keeps.

Mingzhu counts the money out, “We have 1,450 in coin left.” Then she asks, “Did Quinn pay us for getting the log book back?”

"Quin told us the location of the island of Midnight, and how to get past the wards." Silgara mentions. "We already knew but, well, he just confirmed it."

Balan says in a soft voice, “Payment in trust…”

Mingzhu looks between them. “So, in other words, Silgara, we got nothing for all the work we did?”

"Pretty much." She notes dryly. "Well, I suppose if we hadn't cracked the code ourselves, we'd have needed him for it." Mingzhu frowns and closes her ledger.

“Perhaps we should have just told him...But then we would not know we could trust.” Balan states flatly.

"We know we can't trust him." Silgara says "He mentioned knowing about your visits to the shrine, Mingzhu."

Mingzhu swivels her head around. “What did he say?”

Balan clears his throat. His hand goes to the collar of his breastplate. “I feel it may have been an empty threat.”

"That that knowledge gave him leverage over us. And that he wanted that logbook for leverage over the Corsairs. I know enough about that kind of read in between the lines bit his type do to know it was a veiled threat that we'd best stay in his good books." Silgara nods.

Balan shrugs, “He is paranoid of any around him in a way. It would seem so. He has a need to keep his eyes on every movement. It is his job.”

Mingzhu huffs, “I will not be a slave to anyone. I think we should cut off contact with this Quinn either that or start throwing ships from the harbor into his city.”

“I do not believe he wishes us to be slaves.” Balan states rather meekly.

Mingzhu looks more than a bit incensed. “He just made us slaves, Balan we sunk a ship and got a log book from him for nothing in return.”

"We have what we need from him." Silgara nods, then she sighs. "We didn't tell him that we cracked it ourselves. As far as he knows he gave us vital information we could not have gotten on our own."

Mingzhu still looks quite incensed. “Well, if this continues, we'll have to start eating raw fish. I can do that. Can all of you?”

T’kharr chuckles, “That’s the easy part.”

Silgara raises an eyebrow. "I was contemplating not giving him the logbook for a reason. But what's done is done."

“We know what he knows before he knew it...That is an advantage.” Balan insists.

"I suspect we could go back to him if we need to do an information trade again. His type bargains and barters with secrets." Silgara says. "Regardless, we have what we need from him now."

Mingzhu crosses her arms in front of her. “I thought at least we would be getting paid for doing a job. I guess I assumed too much.”

"Paid in information that we happened to already have." Silgara mentions. Mingzhu throws up her hands and just sits down quietly.

"Right, what's our next destination? Are we ready? Or... is there anything else we should do before we go back to that miserable island?" Silgara asks.

"I reckon we're as ready as I can think we'll ever be." T’kharr sighs softly.

"Setting a course to the island of Midnight then. Confirm course, captain?" Silgara looks over at T'Kharr, though there's a shake in her voice. Snout moves over beside the mage stands on his hind legs and gives off a few good barks.

T’kharr nods slowly to her. "We'll want to not take a direct route there lest someone tail us."

Balan shouts out, “I agree with this.”

Silgara nods, "setting a course. It will likely take a day to reach there. So, we'll have time for another good night of rest." They sail for the open sea.

[Winterhawk99]

As they get to the border of where the mysterious island of midnight should be, Silgara looks over to Balan, “We’re nearing the sight… Hat on and start singing I guess.”

Balan nods and places the hat on his head moving to the bow. He begins to sing. As he does Snout bounds up beside him and sings too in barks, whistles and clicks.

“Oh, gather ‘round ye barnacled crew,
And hear what cursed Ned went through,
He kissed a squid in the pouring rain,
And now he sneezes ink again!

Heave-ho! Don’t ring the bell!
The cook fell overboard in a crab-filled well!
The moon’s got teeth and the gulls all swear,
And something’s knitting in the captain’s chair!

Old Maggie lost her wooden leg,
In a poker game with a ghostly keg,
She won it back at half past three,
But now it walks around at sea.

Heave-ho! Don’t trim the sail!
The ship’s cat drank the captain’s ale!
Now every night by lantern light,
He predicts which crewmen die by bite!

The cabin boy found buried gold,
Inside a cod that smelled quite old,
He spent it all on cursed pie,
And floated upward through the sky.

Heave-ho! Don’t say her name!
The mermaid queen cheats cards for shame!
She’ll steal your boots and sink your mast,
Then ask if you had fun at last!

So, if ye sail the blackened tide,
Keep garlic cloves and soup beside,
And if ye hear Ned cough below—
Abandon ship. Don’t ask. Just go.”

Silgara and Fwangzhu actually seem to enjoy the song, though their intense nervousness offsets it some. Nor'vee listens along, intently. Only Zsikhou seems off put by it, keeping wary and shaky... But as the shanty comes to a close, what was once clear daylight and sky, rapidly turns to night sky, and not just any night, the perhaps familiar starless night. No stars. No moon. No light. Nothing. Black like the void. Clear water, empty and cold. A shiver down their spines... And the all too familiar realization and familiarity of once again, being trapped in an Island of Midnight.

Nor'vee squeaks in panic. Fwangzhu, Silgara, and Zsikhou at least seem composed, but still nervous
"What!? What in the Eight Million is this?! One moment clear skies and open sun and where did the sun go?! Nor'vee can't see anything!!" He moves around quickly in a panic, eyes wildly going around.

Mingzhu answers him while looking out over the water, “There is no sun here, Nor’vee.”

"Where did you take Nor'vee??!?" Nor'vee squeaks in a panic.

"Back to this horrible fucking place. Let’s maul the bastards who we need to mess up, find a way out of here, and get the fuck out." Fwangzhu snarls.

Silgara looks over. "Nor'vee, Fwangzhu, hold still. I prepared some Ultravision spells." She goes over and casts an Ultravision on herself, Nor'vee, and Fwangzhu. "There, though unfortunately the range on our vision is still quite limited." She says, "That said, orders, captain? We need to be careful here, and cohesive."

Balan comments, “I am able to see fine for a distance.”

Currently, the ship is just surrounded by darkness, and the pitch-black water around...., no land yet, they keep sailing on for a bit. Mingzhu keeps her eyes out for land. Balan stays to the front of the ship watching for the island. They sail on for an hour, then, they find a familiar rocky outcrop of land ahead. It looks like barren rock. "Urgh, I never get used to how quickly land comes up on you here. Disembark?" Silgara asks.

Balan looks thoughtful then says, “Should we circle first and see if there is a port like the last?”

"I think Balan's plan is for the best." T’kharr intones. Silgara nods.

"Circle on the ship or on foot? Though, given the limits of darkvision, we cannot see far out on the boat." Silgara mentions.

“If our enemy can see at a distance, it would not be good for us to get caught out in the water.” Mingzhu mentions.

Balan thinks then nods, “If they have a port they will have torches at it like last time.”

"Or if there are aquatic fiends patrolling." Silgara mentions. "I'd expect our foes are likely better guarded here, if we're at the center of the Corsair's operations."

Mingzhu looks around and says, “Then we need to sail at the furthest distance that we can see the shore.”

Balan comes up with an idea. “Our ship came from the last island...It should be recognized as a safe vessel, right?

"I can only see to about sixty feet" Silgara mentions. "Unless the Khan was directly in contact with the Corsairs... I don't know." She considers "Plus only two of us could pass for being a normal human. The rest of us would stand out very much. I do think making landfall is the better option."

“I would tend to agree.” Mingzhu says backing Silgara’s opinion.

"That is a fair point, being caught out at distance would spoil any edge of surprise we might have." T’kharr says.

"What's the call then?" Silgara looks over.

Mingzhu orders, “I say we land.”

Balan agrees, “Aye probably best.”

Silgara nods. The party lands. Once everyone lands, Silgara shrinks the boat. Fwangzhu keeps his halberd at the ready. Nor'vee has his crossbow ready. They all look on edge. The rocky outcrop, it goes in several directions.

Mingzhu looks down at Snout. "You need to stay out of the way. Momma doesn't want you to get hurt." Snout is absolutely terrified. He clings to Mingzhu tightly.

T’kharr asks, "Did you want to circle the shore, or try to proceed straight across?" looking to Silgara and Balan.

Silgara shrugs, "I don't know... I expect any direction's as good as any."

"I reckon we circle, keep the shore on our left consistently." T’kharr says.

Silgara nods, "Right then, after you." They follow along with the shoreline to the left. It starts to curve around some. They walk for about an hour T’kharr leading them on a left-hand circling search of the island’s shore.

Nor'vee looks sharply over to the right. "Nor'vee sees some strange plants, over that way."

Silgara and Zsikhou pan their heads after Nor'vee points it out "Okay... that is strange. Without any sunlight there shouldn't be any vegetation that can grow here at all." Silgara states. Mingzhu doesn't see it until it's pointed out. When it is. She approaches the plants.

T'kharr is able to spot them. “They're plants, look like... some kind of strange grass? Reed like in a way? Definitely doesn't look normal. But the ground definitely has vegetation here. That is strange indeed. Probably best not to get too wrapped up investigating them though."

"Should we take a look or proceed on the shoreline?" Silgara looks over. "It may be worthwhile seeing what's going on though, this is not something that was present on the other island."

"If we don't find anything more overt on the shoreline, we can return to these." T’kharr suggests.

When Mingzhu gets within ten feet of the begging of the reeds, she kneels down looking for a small stone. As she studies the reeds, grass and ferns she finds them sickly, malnourished, like how a plant would be if it was starved of sunlight, but it's also stubbornly clinging to life. Barely. It also looks slightly twisted compared to regular plant life, subtly, but it's hard to say. Getting closer however, it looks like there's more dense plant life further inland. There are outcrops where she is now, but if she proceeds in her direction, it will even seem like there's grassland, if that grass were dry, raspy, and looked like it would turn to dust with a touch.

She underhand tosses the stone into the reeds. The plants crumble when hit with the stone. It thankfully doesn’t release anything nasty. It just reacts like extremely brittle, unhealthy grass. T'kharr keeps her head on a swivel while Mingzhu is investigating the plant...life. Mingzhu says, “It looks like just reeds, very dry reeds but there’s more vegetation beyond something like a grass lands. Though it seems sickly and just clinging to life."

"Whatever magic is keeping it in that state...must be failing perhaps?" T’kharr theorizes.

"With no sunlight, none of these plants should be able to live at all, and the soil is dry and barren..." Silgara looks around.

T'kharr paws at the soil with a clawed foot. It's mostly just dry, barren rock. It's not even soil. It shouldn't be able to support plant life. Not even dirt. She comments more than asks, “How are the plants even… rooted. Or perhaps this is all illusionary?”

Mingzhu checks the roots of the closest plants she finds they are directly rooted into the barren ground. “Perhaps, some form of corrupted nature magic.”

Silgara casts a Detect Magic. She looks it over. "It's not an illusion; I can tell you that much." She considers, looking around.

T’kharr looks around. “Fair enough then.”

"Let’s keep looking...?" Silgara asks "Forward or back to the shoreline?"

"I reckon we return to the shoreline and keep circling, head in once we find these plants again, no?" T’kharr insists.

Mingzhu looks into the distance. “If the pirates supply here there must be a port. We should take out the port first Well at least that’s what I think.”

Zsikhou considers... "Corrupted nature magic? Hrm... I do think we ought to investigate that possibility further. But it's your call."

"Definitely worth putting a pin in for later follow-up." T’kharr nods.

Mingzhu looks over. “I’m just making a somewhat educated guess, Zsikhou.”

Silgara looks to Mingzhu "Do you have any way of finding out more?"...

"I could call a spirit but here it’s more likely to be obscure in its answers."

"Well, your call." Silgara looks at T'Kharr. The gnoll leads the party along the shore once more.

[Winterhawk99]

The group heads back to the shore to continue their left-hand search of the coastline. They walk along the barren rock for about an hour finding only rocky shoreline. They keep moving along. The shoreline continues on. Mingzhu comments while they walk, “It seems a much bigger island than the last.” They spend another hour walking. Still nothing. Mingzhu says, “Stop a moment please. I just thought of something.”

T’kharr stops and turns around. “Hm?”

Balan also stops. “Aye?”

Mingzhu sits down in full lotus position and starts to relax, “If anyone has any questions, speak them now. I will have at least one question for a spirit.”

The companions all look around. Balan says, “I am not sure the spirits will talk to you much here… you should save your spells.”

The shamaness replies, “I have the spell Balan and now a reason to use it. So, if you have a question say it.”

Curious Zsikhou asks, “What do you plan on asking?”

Balan sighs, “Mingzhu… The last night island we visited the spirits did not give us anything.”

Mingzhu nods, “I know. I may have to fence with it, but this is important.”

Zsikhou nods... "Tell us what you're thinking of, first, then?"

Balan gruffly says, “I feel the use of the spell is in fact, useless, but do as you wish.”

Mingzhu focuses on Zsikhou. “I plan to ask if the guardian spirit of Tzukine was taken to this place, Zsikhou.”

Zsikhou nods... considering. "That... if they were, it would account for how plant life is able to live here. Which means following the vegetation might lead us to them." He nods. Mingzhu slowly nods back.

"Go ahead, but if it is a spirit of the condemned, it will likely try to mislead us. Be ready." Zsikhou says.

"I know Zsikhou let us see how my skill with spirits is today." She replies. Zsikhou nods in turn.

Balan seeing she is almost ready casts Zone of Truth. Mingzhu then casts trance and commune with spirits. Silgara looks over "That... should force them to tell the truth, clever." Balan nods and focuses. A spirit appears... as perhaps expected though, it's a condemned spirit. But it waits for her questions...

Mingzhu looks closely at the spirit. "Do not try to lie or mislead me spirit my 4 questions are direct and require short answers. The first question: Was the guardian spirit of Tzukine taken to this island?"

“Yes.” The spirit wavers, it’s trying desperately to lie as it struggles in the zone of truth.

Mingzhu again focuses on the spirit. “Is the spirit of Tzukine still alive?”

The spirit says, “Depends.” Deliberately trying to be evasive here, but it’s not an outright lie.

Mingzhu asks her next question. “Is the pirates port closer in the direction we walk than behind?”

The spirit replies, “Yes.” Seemingly without struggle this time.

“Can the guardian spirit of Tzukine be saved?”

“No.”

Mingzhu repeats and looks at Balan He senses that the spirit doesn’t know if it can or not. That it might believe it can’t be saved but he is pretty sure it is not being fully honest. He replies to her, “I sense they are not sure on that.”

The spirit fades. Balan says, “That spirit was evasive but couldn't lie directly.”

Silgara nods, looking at Mingzhu. "What do you think, from the answers we have received then?"

“The spirit was here and may still be here. It is still alive in a spirit sense, but it is unknown whether we can save it or not. and the pirate port is closer to the direction we are walking than behind us.” Mingzhu answers.

Zsikhou nods "I noticed it really did not want to share the answer to your first question. Also makes me wonder if any of the people taken from Tzukine are here as well. Probably not though, I don't see how they'd survive..." he looks around.

"If the spirit is here, it may well be that they are also here. but we do not know as of yet." Mingzhu states.

Balan looks at Zsikhou. “How do you feel about head pats?” aware that he didn’t resist the spell.”

Zsikhou looks over, he's clearly loving head pats seething with annoyance at that question. "I love them, please give me more head pats. Focus, paladin!" Balan chuckles.

"Still, we do at least know the spirit from Tzukine is here. Should we adjust our strategy, then?" Silgara asks.

T’kharr rubs her muzzle. "We could try for the spirit if you think that would be a better priority, although that might draw the attention of the rest of the isle's inhabitants, and we haven't a clue who we might be up against..."

“I would assume with the size of the island it may be their main outpost...” Balan says while he thinks about the situation.

T’kharr frowns, "Probably best we continue to scout then instead of going after the spirit."

Balan frowns and says, “Aye… I would agree.” He casts Detect Evil and moves with it, focusing on what he thinks is the center of the island. The only thing he senses, is Zsikhou.

The shamaness frowns and shakes her head. “Much as I would rather free the spirit and take her back to her island, I think the first priority should be the pirates. They may even be using the people of Tzukine as slaves.”

"Well, what's the plan then?" Silgara looks at T'Kharr.

"Continue the left-hand search. Does seem that we'll find a port that way." T’kharr replies.

Silgara nods; Though also is sure to get a mage armor for herself, Zsikhou, and T'Kharr, and a greater magic weapon up for her bow. They spend another hour walking the barren rock.