Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Ballad of the Pigeon God #21: (Talislanta) The Blue Lotus Clan

Our heroes, travelling across Silvanus in search of the missing windship Solanus-Pon for their patron Abn Qua, and magical purifiers so Tanasian wizard Kannex can get them back home to the Kingdom of Crosedes:

Rolf Wolfsblood:  Bald-headed barbarian from the Plains of Galmar.
Alexi - Sarista gypsy native to Talislanta.  Also returning to Durne.
Darius - NPC - Sarista gypsy and agent of Abn Qua.  Going by the alias of "Yuri"
Kane - monk of eastern mysticism with an odd elemental control of water.
Babette - Urban street thief swept up with the party when they teleported to Talislanta.
Norm Dingleberry - failed mushroom farmer, separately transported to Talislanta, by unknown means

40th of Talislandre 150 N.A. - Zanfir
Continuing their  journey on Equs steeds (a pony for Norm), the party discovered a man lying in a clearing.   They discovered that he was a guard that had fallen asleep on the Solanus-Pons when the thieves struck.  Magic and Morpheus powder were certainly used... by Tanasian Wizards

(Kane: Just like Kannex!)

He had remained hidden for a number of day until the finally found him and tossed him overboard. Luckily they were flying low and the trees cushioned his fall.  Kane healed up the sleepy guard and provisions given, and they left him in the clearing.

41st of Talislandre 150 N.A. -  Silvanus Forest
They encountered a wooded marketplace and  found a merchant that dealt in powdered substances, including Morpheus powder.

While the party questioned the merchant on his recent dealing, Alexi was caught stealing from the booth.  The merchant cursed out the group, and promptly pulled his wares into his wagon  locking a swinging door down from the roof.  Alexi and Yuri then started to dance on the roof of the merchant's wagon.  Alexi crashed through the roof onto the merchant. Yuri jumped down to grab a gruffan and threw it down the hole.  The scared animal immediately bit Alexi in the junk.
Junk-Biting Gruffan
Alexi nursed his wound while he opened up the door to the wagon, releasing the gruffan.  They ransacked the wagon, finding a large satchel of diamonds.  Rolf and Babette tied up the merchant, Fardain.  Through Babette's interrogation, Fardain admitted to selling a large shipment of Morpheus powder to the Blue Lotus Clan.  They left the merchant tied up, returned to their steeds and immediately left

44th of Talislandre 150 N.A. - Werewood Forest, Silvanus
The party finally located the Blue Lotus Clan.
They were quite pushy asking questions regarding the missing windship.  The Sarista from the clan were still friendly and recommend they talk to the mother of the clan, which required an appointment... and a healthy bribe.

*100 gold lumens later*

The Clan Mother told them that Tanasian Wizards under the guise of the Erythrian Cabal had the windship in question for part of their plans to build a flying city.  She admitted that the Blue Lotus helped them steal the ship, but further they worked alongside them, the more power-hungry the wizards obviously were.

"The Tanasian camp also has the  magical purifiers I've heard you seek.  Stop the cabal, seize the purifiers, recover the ship.  Darius has kept me updated."

44th of Talislandre 150 N.A. - Werewood Forest, Silvanus
The Blue Lotus led the party to the outskirts of the Tanasian camp and left them to their devices. They quickly pounced upon the camp, slaying individual wizards and causing general chaos. Creating distractions, they were able to rummage through the scrolls and research throughout the base.   Noticing a group of wizards heading down a side path, Rolf rallied the rest of party to follow them, ultimately leading them to the Solanus-Pon trying to take off.

The group boarded the sky and fought in horrendous combat with desperate sorcerers  The Cabal's leader piloted the skyship into dangerous maneuvers just above the treeline of the Werewood, tossing all the occupants to and fro.

While Kane was using water magic to push wizards overboard, one of the "rogues" finally got a good shot at the Cabal leader and he tumbled away from the helm, sending the windship into a spiral.  In their last few seconds of life, Rolf and Kane slew the leader and braced for a horrible impact.

...that never happened.  Despite getting jostled around, bruised and battered, the windship ultimately was pulled out of the freefall and set to a level course.

Standing behind the helm was a dwarf, bedecked in a leather cap with goggles strapped over his helmet, tongue sticking out the side of mouth, trying to keep the vessel level, and not doing too bad a job of it.

Norm had found a calling greater than mushroom farming.

1st of Zur 150 N.A.  - City-State of Cymril, The Seven Kingdoms
By hidden skill or outrageous luck, Norm managed to keep the Solanus-Pon above ground for a slow journey back to Cymril.  The wizards were turned into Cymrillian authorities, Kannex got his magic purifiers, and Abn Qua worked another mission of the party's into greater fame for the merchant.

DM Notes:  Another adventure with a half-finished journal entry, I did my best to embellish it... realistically.  This is the adventure that proves Norm's usefulness to the everyone, even if it started as complete luck.  This is also where his classic headgear came from, even if it was peculiar to traditional D&D.   

This would be the last adventure with most of the party together.  Late Summer vacations messed up schedules and future scenarios rely of two or three characters to reach the goal.  

Next: #22 - The Lake of the Prismatic Lotus

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