Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

Eighteenth Day of Elnu-Hamba (Elnu Descendent), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

"That is not a bargain I can make," you say after but a moment's thought. It's clear the old man means no harm in asking and by his lights it might be fair enough, but not by yours. You will not bind Ripper to the ship, nor take from him the freedom of the open sea when he is not yet grown, not for this. You had fought well enough in 'common steel' and you will fight in it again. Half the fleet doesn't believe it isn't wizard's work anyway.

"Well enough..." the words sound almost like praise, as though you had passed some test, but you pay it no mind. You have heard more than enough of riddles over the last few days to last you a lifetime. More like a week is what you are like to get. For now you are content for the chance to spend some time with Ripper in the water when he is not regally sunning himself on deck, away from the intrigues of kings and wizards both.

Tis so with seawater still in your hair that you say your farewells to the lady Aina of Korman and wish her well in all the says to come. Strange to do so not knowing if you are to return or not and strange perhaps for her also to judge from the uneasy silence that stretches between you there at the shore, but wind and tide wait for none who walk on two legs, be they man or woman, knight or queen of the land.

Thus the Marcella makes it out of harbor one windy day towards the middle of the first moon-turn of spring amid the white capped waves and the distant song of wales. Luc even claims to have seem a mermaid in the waters, a claim that is perhaps more credible in these waters than they might have been at home... though less so from the account of the celebratory drinking that had gone on the night before.

According to Zaia the most clear headed folk on the whole ship are Swift Pebble and her kindred to whom the 'juice of spoiled fruit' is not that much of a temptation. They have instead chosen to celebrate the victory against the foes of the company in a very odd way, what they call the Green Stone Games, a tradition among their kin passed down through the seasons it involves the stone for which it is named being hidden somewhere...


You wince at the loudness of the verse, you certainly had not entirely avoided drinking last night either. Still you have to say it is certainly more entertaining that most of the routine of life aboard the ship to watch the otter-kin play the game all though the ringing and into the hold. The sailors had certainly taken it in good sport, taking 'gifts' from some of the teams to hide them among their things... which in turn lead to the nimble fingered otters quickly learning how to find the stone among even the most well guarded of stashes and then take it away without alerting the owner.

"It's a lot more fun with more kinds of folk about!" Swift Pebble had admitted to you even as you had warned her against taking anything that is not the stone, even just a trifle. So far it seems to you that none of the men who had been playing the game realized that the tiny balls of run and darting paws could make frightfully skillful thieves if they put their mind to, but you know all too well how ugly things can turn with such accusations.

Thankfully your fears had turned out to be unfunded and the games had gone on for days... as had the betting on the outcome. You had to step in on that a few times since some of the younger men had never had quite so much gold to hand with nothing to spend it on and good judgement was not always in evidence.

---

Triumphs
++Defeated the Lesser Daemons
++Unraveled the fates of the Princes of Korman
+Summoned and conversed with the spirits of the palace
+Survived assassination attempt
++Slew Unke's Shadow
+A Hint of Dragons
+Discovered the Silver Sarcophagus of the Gods

Total XP Gained 2,000

What have been the lessons of this war for you and yours?

[] More skills in peace and war
Cost 0 XP

[] Wanderer has learned and grown in the battles unlike any that he has faced before (Wanderer Level Up)
-[] Write in level up (Applicable as template to all future veteran Barbarian recruits)
Cost: 1,000 XP

[] The otter-kin have learned to watch and wait, to see the face of battle and in earnest play (1d3 otter-kin become rogues)
-[] Write in plan
Cost 1,500 XP

OOC: And here we are, end of the arc, once more of a decent size and not a giant one like the last one. I know I said before that you would need a trainer for the otters, but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like it would be lessening the impact of what they would learn in the field and their own agency.