Chapter One: Voyage of the Perch (Team Blue)

Renya: The ship has stocked enough food and drink for about 5 days travel. If you are traveling along the standard routes, the next place to restock is rarely more than a day away so most ships go light on provisions to leave room for cargo.

The Perch stays steady on their course as dusk deepens into night. They pass by a pair of ships heading toward Elmshire and in the last light of the day they see their flags fly the crest of the Duchy of Urnst. The large, silver moon of Luna rises near full, followed by the slim blue crescent of Celene. The lake is choppy but helmsman keeps the Perch steady on its course though it is hard to tell for sure without seeing the reference points on shore.

By dawn, the Perch is in the general area of where the research indicates La Dangereuse went down. As you arrive, there is another ship in the area. It is a small vessel made of a dark wood. It appears to be anchored and circling a small area. It is flying an unfamiliar flag but a the research and magic inclined among you recognize it. It is the symbol of the Archmage Tenser.

"That ship appears to belong to the Archmage Tenser Says Finn, "If he’s here searching for the treasure then we are going have a heck of a time getting our hands on anything other than scrap"

Finn takes a peek through his familiars keen eyes trying to get a closer look at the ship and its crew.

Owl Familiar

"Then should I take to the water?"

The question, directed at the Captain, is as simple and straightforward as possible. Considering Arres is standing by the railing, it is quite clear he isn't talking about later.

"Hmm." the Kenku ponders for a second. "Two of you can go. Quietly. Just observe. Don't engage anyone. Just try to figure out what they are doing, if they've found anything. We will get closer and establish contact. It's possible they are here for a different purpose and we won't come to blows." Turning to another crewman she says, "Raise the white flag. Need to let them know we aim to talk, not fight."

Taking the helm, Grimfeather barks some orders to cut their speed and bring her ship safely alongside the new vessel.

Silven volunteers as well to pop underwater and check things out too. "I shall go with them. Safety in numbers." He pockets Sha-Ma away to take with him.

Arres gives the Captain a nod, and immediately vaults over the railing into the cold water. He angles his descent to take him closer to the ship flying Tenser's flag, but he is primarily looking for The Dangerouse... and any signs of danger.

Finn

Your owl launches itself into the air to get a closer look at the ship. About halfway there, you spot a hawk heading from the ship towards the Perch. You feel a mental nod of recognition as two familiars acknowledge each other as they pass by. The ship is much like yours but a little wider and shorter than your vessel. You see no signs of heavy armament. Where you would expect to find a catapult or ballista mounted there are stout winches with heavy chains that plunge into the water below. There are four such winches, one fore, one aft, and one on either side about the middle of the ship. The crew appears to be mostly human with a scattering of nimble halflings in the rigging. By the railing facing your ship is female elf in a blue robe cinched in the middle with a wide leather belt. Finn recognizes the focused stare of someone looking through a familiar's eyes. She looks curious more than anything else.

Grimfeather and those on the Perch

The crew snaps into action. Sails are furled and the white flag is hoisted. A similar flag is raised on the other vessel and the Perch smoothly approaches to hailing distance. The elven woman in the blue robe waves as you approach and her amplified voice calls out across the water. "Ahoy, the Perch! I am Magus Shaal, Captain of the Dyv Treader. Have you by chance seen any unusual aquatic life on your journey here?"

Sliven and Arres

You both hit the water with a quiet splash and take a moment to acclimate to the shock of the cold water. You swim downward at an angle heading for underneath the ship. A few minutes later you can see five large chains hanging down from the ship. Another couple of minutes and the bottom of the lake comes into view. The other ship appears to be directly over a point where the lake bed drops away sharply. The chains are attached to large metal cages. They remind you of crab or lobster traps but these are easily five times as large as your typical trap. They rest on the swallower part of the lake bed about 300 ft down. The lake bed then drops away into deeper water further on. Scanning the lake bed, you note a mound of dirt that is a little too regular in shape between two of the giant traps. Its too small to be the ship you are looking for, but it is about the right size and shape for a longboat.

Arres will get Sliven's attention, and point to the possible longboat before swimming downto investigate. He will also take note of which way the bow is facing, with hopes that the aft may in fact point more or less towards their target.

Silven will send a mental message back up to the Captain, "Appears they are laying traps for something big down here." as he continues to look about.

"A'hoy Treader. Grimfeather here. My apologies, captain! We are working salvage this voyage. We've sought no creature, fish or fowl, and none showed themselves to our eyes."

While walking back up to the dock, to investigate the reason behind the sudden stop of the ship the reborn overhears the conversation between her captain and someone else.... When hearing them inquire about a creature the cleric seconds Grimfeathers words...while avoiding eye-contact with the unfamiliar people, which causes her to stare at the docks...No... Unfortunately there were no sightings on the way here... The pesky mists are too thick to see anything... she huffs in faint annoyance. The n something clicks as she enthusiastically raises her head But why are you asking? Have there been any unusual sightings? New species? her dead eyes boar into the elves face as she asks the questions, though the newfound confidence dwindles as soon as the spiral of questions end.... Renya is once more staring at her feet, though this time her hands are occupied with a bit of her dress.

Grim, Renya, Basil

Shaal sighs. "Well, it was worth an ask." She comments at Grim's reply. Her face brightens at Renya's questions. Even dampened, a scholar recognizes a fellow scholar. "There actually haven't been any strange sightings and we really should have expected some by now.
Even with their propensity for the lake bed, we would have expected some surface sightings. They may have migrated farther than predicted but their imprinting at birth should have kept them relatively local." Shaal catches herself. "I'm sorry. None of that made sense did it?" It sounded like a question but Shaal forges on. "We're trying to track down a set of animals that we released here early last year. They should have completed their first maturation cycle by now so we want to see how they've grown and otherwise changed." Shaal pauses again and turns more to face Grimfeather. "Salvage did you say? So your group is prepared to go below water?"


Sliven, Arres

This style of longboat comes to a point at both ends so it is hard to say which would be bow or aft. It has landed pointing towards and away from the area of deeper water. As Arres gets closer something about the lake bed by the side of the longboat catches his attention. It looks different from the rest, like it has recently been disturbed.

"Aye. That's the plan at least. Do you have people in the water already...or perhaps we can offer our services to you while we conduct our own surveys?"

Swimming around the longboat, Arres investigates the disturbed area.

Sliven comes back up and boards the ship. Soon after resummons his She-Ma. He says to the captain and those about, "I don't see where we are going to have troubles with this ship."

PCs on the Perch

Shaal smiles at Grimfeather's offer. "I do like a captain that smells an opportunity." She chuckles. "I don't have people in the water, as it happens. You see my master has a agreement with the merfolk that live in the area. We are not to enter their waters until they respond to our request and allow us entry. Normally this is merely a formality, but we've been here three days with no answer." Shaal shakes her head. "Not sure what's going on down there but I can't wait forever. If you find any unusual sea life marked with my master's emblem, I will pay for the location. If you can capture them for me, well," she pauses, "having a mage trained by Tenser owing you one has got to be worth some time and effort."

Arres:

As Arres approaches the disturbed area of the lakebed, his vision is suddenly obscured by mud and silt as a giant crab lunges up snapping at him with his claws. Emblazoned on the back of the crab's shell is the same symbol the flies on the other's ships flag. As the crab approaches, Arres feels the water around him grow painfully cold.

Sliven would rush to aid. :)

Arres doesn't hesitate, split-second focus resulting in pale blue ethereal arms erupting outward before striking at the crab.

Finn, looks over the railing. The sea…is the sea…Looking back up at Saar he nods.

"A reliable method to keep contact with those below would be eminently useful in our line of work for sure. Please, go on. What kind of animals are these and how many? It would be helpful to at least know what we are keeping an eye out for."

The reborn stops the fidgeting at the mention of merfolk and subconciusly takes out a page and sharpened coal from the folds of her clothing to sketch down the information received...while murmuring to herself, trying to remember about the merfolk as much as she can....