Articles of Service
I, the undersigned, hereby pledge my service in the name of Dol Arrah, Dol Dorn, and all the Sovereign Host, under the command of Prince Lorrister, to the Heavenly Fleet.
My service is to commence aboard the Spear of Dawn and will last for a period until the Prince or Captain should discharge me, or one year from this date, whichever should come first.
My pay is to be in shares of profit realized, prizes taken, and bounties earned, along with regular meals and a wine ration of 1 liter per day. Extra shares shall be awarded as the Prince, Captain, or other officers deem fitting.
With this pledge I swear the following:
1. I am not secretly serving the interests of any other power, benign or malevolent though their intent may be.
2. I am agreeing to these articles under my own free will and not under the compulsion of any force or person, magical or mundane.
3. That I will serve steadfastly and truly and obey all lawful orders rendered to me by superior officers.
4. I will keep my weapons, armor, and accoutrements clean and fit for an engagement at all times.
5. I will not show cowardice in the face of the enemy nor shirk any duty given me.
6. I will not attempt to hoard plunder, treasure, food or drink that does not rightfully belong to me.
7. That while on watch I shall remain vigilant and aware.
8. That I will not be drunk nor engaged in games of chance or dalliance while on duty.
9. That I shall not engage in duel of arms or magic against any of my crew-mates.
10. That I shall not attempt to interfere with or coerce any prudent woman I encounter, upon pain of death.
11. That if I possess the ability to grant healing either magical or mundane I shall not withhold it from any member of the crew in dire need.
12. That if I violate any of the above articles I shall be subject to the justice of the Captain’s Mast and that my punishment may include, but is not limited to; reduced rations, imprisonment, the lash, being put off the ship, or death.
At the satisfactory conclusion of my service I shall be presented with a purse of gold in an amount to be decided upon by the Prince, Captain, or other officers, and will be offered legal citizenship in the Lhazar Principalities, complete with traveling papers.
Designate next of kin or heirs to be notified in the event of death:
Signed:
Reporting to the Spear of Dawn, the party made certain Lorrister understood just why they were joining the crew and setting out, giving him all the pertinent details about statues, Daask, House Tharashk, House Orien, etc etc. Lorrister seemed fairly willing to believe them, but had more pressing matters; he wanted them to go find his pilot, Averam Helon. As Lorrister put it, Averam Helon, his pilot, was a troubled man in need of a second chance. An excoriate of House Lyrandar, an inveterate drunk and drug addict, Averam was hired for one reason; when you need a Mark of Storm to pilot your airship, you take what you can get. The Chain of Command chart for the Spear of Dawn noted that Averam was not allowed to give orders to anyone unless they directly involved the immediate safety and air-worthiness of the ship. Furthermore, Lorrister introduced them to the new member of their squad; a Sovereign Host Priestess named Amira d'Medani; yes, another member of a Dragonmarked House (a new player! a cleric! no more nearly dying in every combat). She would accompany them to find Averam, and be integrated into their squad for all future action.
According to his most recent information, Averam was in a skeezy tavern in the Cogs known as "The Bloody Mug." Also, Lorrister issued them their livery; sky-blue tabards with the Spear of Dawn symbol (basically the Sunrise for Dol Arrah crossed by a spear) on them. They'd be expected to wear them in the future, but not just yet.
Off to the "Bloody Mug." Averam was not there, but he did leave a sizable tab behind, and maybe if that got paid the bartender might have an idea where he went next.
Fifty gold later, the bartender said Averam was making a point of hitting all his favorite haunts in his last two days in port, and was headed for a place called the "Broken Jaw." Where was it?
The dazzling multiplicity of responses to that innocuous question incited a barfight. Punches were thrown. Chairs broken. The bartender was stabbed with a broken bottle. It got ugly.
Adan did the only sensible thing, turned invisible, and left. Eventually the party followed him, after more or less breaking up the fight.
Thence to the "Broken Jaw." A ratty looking, drunken half-elf was face-down in a puddle of drool, rotgut, and perhaps a little bit of vomit on his table. The party settled his bill, told him they were leaving and to pack his stuff; Averam hefted his bottle and said, "This is my stuff," then off they went. Adan explained that they were shipping out tomorrow, to which Averam replied, with a pained groan, "Have you ever tried talking to an elemental with a hangover?"
As they walked back, Averam kept pulling at his bottle and asking if they could stop so he could score; it was going to be a long trip and he was going to need some stuff to get through it. As he said, "Have you ever tried talking to an elemental clean?" And so on. Averam's basic response to every situation was to imply that talking to the elemental that way was worse than if he had lots of drugs and booze in his system.
As the party wandered towards a dark corner of the street, they were accosted....by 5 men in red cloaks. They seemed familiar; in fact, they seemed exactly like the Redcloaks who had met them previously and been bribed. The reason for this meeting was quickly made clear; the Redcloaks were there to take care of what the Dolgaunt hadn't accomplished.
Cue the swords.
The Redcloaks were no fools, with solid tacticals; no grouping together to get hit by an area effect, ganging up, using spells to best effect, etc. Amira and Kaloei quickly got lightning-bolted by a spellcaster and things looked grim. Averam did the only sensible thing, and hunkered down in a defensive huddle (read: the fetal position) and sucked on his bottle.
Eventually, though, our heroes won the day and the Redcloaks were dispatched. It seemed, curiously, as though some of them didn't fight like Redcloaks ought to fight; instead they were incompetent, including one axe-man who was clearly not proficient with his weapon. Two definitely knew what they were about; one was captured, the other (the spellcaster, who had thrown out lightning bolt, burning hands, ray of enfeeblement, and cure spells...curious) was overwhelmed by Celestial Fire Beetles summoned by Amira. The incompetent axe-man was also taken into custody. The corpses were quickly stripped and rolled into the gutter.
Averam's bottle was empty and had to be discarded; he asked, once more, if Adan had anything, exclaiming, "You have no idea what it's like trying to talk to an elemental sober."
The party was left with questions; why were Redcloaks attacking them? Why didn't they all fight like real Redcloaks? If it had been a real Redcloak squad, the party would likely be dead. What would they do with the prisoners? What would Lorrister think of them taking prisoners? And last but not least...just how was Averam going to be capable of flying the ship?
Note: I still have two posts to catch up with the party's exploits. I will try to knock those out this week. In the meantime, read the toy blog.
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