Sapphire:Sessions:20150815
Ahn-Lee wakes early, eats breakfast, and arrives at the baron's castle at sunrise. A guard shows him to the practice ground. Eli Berlin greets Ahn-Lee and spends the next three-quarters of an hour sparring with him in the two-sword technique. Ahn-Lee performs so well that at the end of the session Berlin states, "There's not much more I can teach you."
Ahn-Lee gladly accepts a second breakfast, and during their meal Berlin asks him about "events" on the ship. Berlin: "Malprin ship, eh? Slavers, then. Dangerous for them to be so far north, what with the patrols." Ahn-Lee: "If you talk to the ones that are still alive, they'd agree."
Barak calls Branamin down to breakfast; the eager young mage quizzes the goblin about Fire spells. Later, Branamin visits an alchemist's shop where he selects a number of items, then hits up Ahn-Lee for a loan. "I'm good for it! I'll be a hero just like you someday! By the way... who pays us?" Ahn-Lee replies, "Pick out what you need. Then whenever you find money, pay me back -- I'll remember." Branamin bargains the shopkeeper's prices down, pays him with coppers that he has slyly cast the illusion of silver upon, and remarks to Ahn-Lee, "We should leave pretty soon."
Chalker locates a seamstress, Earline, and describes the flag he wants made: a field of red with three five-pointed stars, one white, one blue, and one gold. He offers a good price for it to be finished within two hours. Ahn-Lee burns the slavers' old flag.
On the ship, Branamin picks out the cabin where he will set up his lab. Searching the cells where he and the other captive mages had been held, he locates the anti-magic artifacts, which are three-inch-long crystals, and removes them.
Chalker divides up the weapons confiscated from the ship, giving the ten 'protectors' first pick. Branamin picks up a longsword, but it's much too heavy for him. "You could teach me to use this!" he exclaims to Chalker, who kindly directs him to try a shortsword. Ahn-Lee finds a knife he likes, and takes its twin away from a guard. Chalker sells the remaining weapons to the baron for 100gp (half their appraised value) in exchange for 20gp and a letter of credit from the baroness.
Jacinto, his apprentice, Stonecrusher, Erlis, and four guards approach the ship. Jacinto hands Shawna some documents concerning Tholadin, advising her that the counts of Claymore and Hillsdale are in league with the Tower Mage. Tholadan's tower is somewhere within those two counties. The one port, Pendleton, is located in the county of Claymore.
Branamin and Stonecrusher work together to get the ship off the beach and back into the water. The merfolk harness a couple of young, strong whales to the the ship. Yasser eyes the whales longingly, commenting repeatedly what a fine feast they would make.
Earline's son delivers the finished flag to Chalker. As the ship gets underway, Chalker has the flag raised and renames the ship The Spirit of Many.
Chalker confers with First Mate Torr, who names as Second Mate a young man named Dart. Chalker establishes the crew's normal weekly pay rate as follows: First Mate, 5cp; Second Mate and 10 Protectors, 4cp; 30 sailors, 3cp. Chalker gives Torr the first week's pay to distribute.
Yasser challenges the sailors to bouts of arm-wrestling, offering five-to-one odds. When his first challenger loses badly, Yasser generously awards him a silver piece "for the entertainment."
Branamin continues his study of the wands. On one of the Air wands he finds an Air Blast spell and a dedicated powerstone. He is sure there is at least one more spell on the wand. On one of the Earth wands, he identifies three of the four spells.
As Ahn-Lee clambers about in the rigging, Jax "checks in" with him very briefly. Alarmed, Ahn-Lee tells Chalker, who replies that he hadn't noticed Jax's presence. Chalker: "Jax owes me something. I'm going to tell his mom on him." Ahn-Lee: "I don't like the way he's interfering. I want to stab him. He's getting on my nerves." Chalker: "Go for it! I'll be right behind you."
The ship arrives at Pendleton about half past noon on Feast Time 10 and drops anchor 200 yards offshore. Chalker and Shawna board a longboat skippered by a sailor named Igor and go ashore. While Chalker attends to business with the dockmaster and arranges for the horses to be brought ashore, Shawna summons two hawks and has them search the countryside. Later, one of the birds returns and she obtains a mental image of a tower either being repaired or under construction, situated atop a hill overlooking a village in northern Hillsdale county.
Yasser's iron ring feels warm, and he holds it to his forehead and feels "sharper."
Chalker instructs Torr, "If we're not back in two weeks, you are the de facto captain."
The group goes into a bar called Ted's Tavern. A man enters the tavern and stares at Yasser, who picks up his drink and strolls over. Man: "Have you been here before?" Yasser: "Never." Man: "You look like Yasser Lalo." Yasser: "Are you saying that all dwarves look alike?" The man apologizes for giving offense. It occurs to Yasser that he remembers the man from a huge bar fight many years ago.
Yasser tells Chalker that he discovered that by sticking his iron ring in his ear, he could hear Chalker clearly from another part of the ship. Chalker looks into the ring, which to his special vision is thicker than it appears and gives him a touch of vertigo from the swirls of motion and vibration.
Chalker also looks into Branamin's ring. It is of high quality, powerful, and is set with a sapphire powerstone.
The group rides off toward the tower, coming within view of it around sundown. Ahn-Lee volunteers to scout out the tower, taking Yasser and Barak with him.
Barak casts Mage Sight on himself. Yasser hears a "rustle" of bones and some unintelligible voices from the top of the hill. Ahn-Lee writes in his journey book: 200 yards. Chalker writes back, Get closer. Yasser warns, "There are skeletons patrolling the top of the wall, and maybe a wizard."
Chalker writes: Spread out and take the tower. Barak, use Apportation to throw the skeletons off the wall. [The latter is Branamin's suggestion.] Ahn-Lee: Stay where you are until I signal. Chalker mutters to Shawna and Branamin, "That means we'll keep going." Shawna: "...because Ahn-Lee is a master strategist."
Barak warns Ahn-Lee and Yasser, "I think there's an illusion on the tower."
Ahn-Lee: "You guys ready to fight?"
Yasser: "I'm not anxious to fight the armies of the undead!"
Ahn-Lee gives verbal directions to Yasser and Barak, then writes, Engaging now.
Ahn-Lee pulls himself up onto the rampart and draws two knives. Barak Apports a skeleton (S0) and flings it off the tower. A skeleton (S1) armed with a crossbow turns the corner near Yasser, who crouches in the shadows. Ten yards to Ahn-Lee's left, a skeleton (S2) comes into view and sees him.
Barak gestures, but there is no obvious effect. Ahn-Lee sprints toward S2. S1 brings up its crossbow and aims at Yasser from nine yards away. Yasser charges to within three yards of S1.
Ahn-Lee drives his shoulder into S2 but brushes against the wall first, bruising himself. S1 fires at Yasser, nicking the dwarf's left ear. Yasser moves in and grabs hold of S1's spine with one fist. Barak moves three yards and Apports another skeleton (S2) off the tower (it had just come into view of the fight).
Ahn-Lee drops his knives and tackles S2, landing solidly on top and shattering half of the skeleton's ribs (and taking slight bruising damage to himself). Yasser wraps his other fist around S1's spine and snaps the skeleton's backbone in two.
Yasser drops the lower half of S1 and smashes its skull against the wall; the skull crumbles to dust. Ahn-Lee springs to his feet away from S2, which rolls to its knees. S2 is mobile but in bad shape, its left arm detached, its right wrist broken.
Ahn-Lee kicks S2 in the face, knocking its skull off. The other skeletons (there are at least two more) are not yet in sight. Yasser hides in the shadows.
Chalker, Branamin, and Shawna reach the base of the western wall. Chalker looks through the wall into the back of a stable; the wall is unusually thick (6'). Chalker and Shawna leap up upon the rampart, and Branamin levitates himself.
Branamin believes that at least part of the tower is illusionary. Shawna disbelieves the illusion, and tells the others she sees no scaffolding; the tower is a full five stories tall and is topped with a glass pyramid.
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