- This session was originally run on 6th September 2018 but I’m running behind in the writeups. Again, I’m going to keep the session writeup short.
Major Characters
- Macavity, Isabelle
* Image by jas-tham on DeviantART
Adversaries
- None
Adventure Hook
- Continuation from previous session. A ghostly cannonball has exploded and killed many in Harbourtown.
Adventure Summary
- In Boraelis, the population is still in shock. There is a lot of talk in the poor quarter that ‘the rats’ are very active. It is not immediately obvious that they are talking about ‘the Rats’ as an organised group of people but this becomes apparent later on.
- Ethan contacts Drake via Icon and asks if he knows of any ghostly artefacts that Bastiano had. Drake remembers a ring but that was a long time ago.
- Ethan then contacts Isabelle and explains he has a ‘shiny thing’ which might be of interest to her (he retained one of the ghostly cannonballs). He wonders about whether Abbie would disapprove of him inviting Isabelle to join him. Macavity seems to sense what Ethan is doing - he purrs and curls up, saying nothing. It is not long before Isabelle contacts Ethan back. She joins him and they greet each other affectionately. Ethan shows her the ball and she is intrigued. After studying it for a while, Ethan suggests that they find a snack. Without thinking, he adds a bottle of wine to the order and they have a nice meal together.
- Isabelle studies the cannonball. She looks at it through a pair of spectacles which have many lenses. She suggests that some of the ball is here in this realm and some of it is ‘elsewhere’, on some other layer. She appreciates Ethan sharing such an interesting thing with her. They chat, and Ethan enjoys her company a great deal. At last, Isabelle says that she’d like to study it further. She secures it carefully with some thin hair ribbons made of blue fabric and then she uses an Icon to leave. Ethan assumes that she has contacted Lucien.
- Ethan decides to go for a stroll to see what else he can find. Macavity refuses to join him - his belly is too full of fish. Ethan wanders alone. He looks at some of the different warehouses by the waterfront. Hours pass. He contacts Abbie via Icon which makes him feel a little less guilty about enjoying Isabelle’s company. He contacts Grant via Icon. Grant is only briefly available to talk. He looks battle-worn and tired. Grant asks about the poker game and Ethan admits that he had forgotten all about it. Grant reminds him that it is coming up soon. The conversation is brief.
- Bored, Ethan wonders where the previous night’s market merchandise may have shifted to. He spots some illicit trade but nothing out of the ordinary. It is late when he finally sees a group of laden barges leaving the dock area and heading for a boat in the harbour. It is a fairly nondescript sailing vessel which isn’t made of saltwood. With his keen eyesight, he spies some of the individuals that he put to sleep in the warehouse. The boat is a few hundred yards from shore and he decides to head back to the inn to get Macavity.
- On the way he briefly contacts Abbie to tell her that he intends to stowaway on a ship and that he may not be easily contactable for a while.
- Arriving back at the inn, he asks Macavity about whether he would be willing to travel on a boat. Surprisingly, Macavity seems strangely interested in the experience.
- Returning to the waterfront, Ethan feels that he is being followed. The boat that he was watching has left port and is making its way slowly out to sea.
- Ethan confronts his pursuer and the young boy offers to take him to see the ‘Master of Rats’. In a nearby pub, Ethan meets the same fellow who was at the fountain the previous day. He appears to be Bastiano but a much older Bastiano. This man ‘Old Sam’ wanted to meet Ethan and asks if he brings news from Bastiano. Old Sam isn’t surprised to hear that Bastiano is dead. They knew something was up given that he hasn’t been here in some time. Ethan asks why Bastiano would care about this place and Old Sam says that he was found of Tess (the girl from the warehouse). Ethan surmises that Tess is one of Bastiano’s descendants.
- Ethan asks about the ghost artefacts and Old Sam explains politely that they aren’t made here but they are traded in exchange for good, fresh food and rum. If the exchange is not made, the cannonballs are fired on Harbourtown (as has happened before). So the people here quietly make the exchange and send the ghost cannonballs elsewhere. Old Sam describes a process which sounds like an Icon mural which is only activated when the pieces are put together.
- Old Sam describes a theft of some of the cannonballs which has never happened before. He seems very tired. Ethan is intrigued by this and asks to see the exchange - he wants to know where these come from. Old Sam agrees to this. Ethan gets the impression that Old Sam knows that he’s dealing with a Lord of Gossamer and it’s best to do what Ethan wants rather than object.
- Old Sam heads to a small skiff with a tarpaulin over it. Removing the tarpaulin, they board and head off at a rapid speed. The skiff is unnaturally fast and it quickly catches up to the departing vessel.
- The ship is heading for a bank of clouds which extends down to the water. There is the occasional flash of lightning. A rope ladder is lowered and Ethan boards, carrying Macavity. Old Sam climbs up last and the skiff is tethered. Most people onboard here are armed. Ethan sits down, stays out of the way and observes.
- The crew is professional. They don’t say much. There is a tension here as they enter the clouds and the storm. After a time, the storm dies down - then there is a bubbling in the water as something large and heavy rises up from the deep. It is an enormous sailing ship, covered in seaweed and barnacles. In the moonlight, Ethan sees rigging, sails and people walking around the deck. It is a galleon with rows of cannons with a tattered jolly roger flag. The crew are all rags and bones, except in moonlight.
- The ghostly pirate ship glides over and gangplanks are lowered. The exchange is conducted in almost total silence, directed by Tess. Even though she is clearly not the captain, she appears in charge of this critical activity.
* Image by AizelKon on DeviantART
- Barrels of apple, beer and other foodstuffs are handed over to the ghostly pirates. The pirates rejoice in silence as they chew on the tobacco, eat the foodstuffs and cheer soundlessly. Then the pirates hand over chests of cannonballs. (Ethan notes that Macavity slips as quietly as a four legged shadow onto the pirate ship for a look around) There is a clear ritual to be followed here as part of the exchange.
- Once the cannonballs are onboard, the crew from Harbourtown look visibly relieved. The ghostly pirates depart and their ship sinks beneath the waves. Ethan studies Tess - there is some likeness of Bastiano in her face and some features common to her and Lady Sophia. She is definitely a descendent. Perhaps a granddaughter.
- At last Ethan is told more about what is going on. There are rules to the exchange and they were not permitted to talk to Ethan about it until he had participated. There would have also been consequences for them if Ethan had interrupted the exchange. Dire consequences for Harbourtown.
- Ethan talks to Macavity about what he saw on the ship. Macavity found it all very interesting. Ethan wonders how often this happens. Tess confirms that the exchange happens every full moon and this exchange has been going on ‘for generations’. Ethan does the math - that means that there is a very large number of these weapons of mass destruction.
- The vessel returns to Harbourtown much later that night. Ethan and Macavity disembark with Old Sam. Old Sam says good night and heads off to bed. On the way back to the inn, Ethan sees a strange ghostly woman in the streets who has some resemblance to Tess. She waves to Ethan and vanishes. This could be why the people of Harbourtown use rooftop cross-walks after dark.
- They make their way back to the inn, wondering what could practically be done with these ghostly cannonballs. He also wonders what to tell Drake, if anything.
Other Impacts
- Introduction of Tess, Bastiano’s granddaughter (?)
