Deeper Underdark

"No food or drink!" Just passage.."

He whispers to his friends "Don't take anything from them in the boat. I have.. a feeling"

He takes a moment to rub the hidden chess piece as comfort

Grin copies Brewner by touching his own pocket, but doesn’t feel anything special. He’s just as hungry as he was a second ago.

Thinking to himself, Ok, Brewner seems to know what he is doing. That is probably something I should listen to. So don't take anything! And don't eat or drink anything. Got it! Hope it's not a long trip, that's not going to be easy. Ealdwig notices all the pocket touching, wrinkles his brow and also touches his pocket. Why is everyone touching their pockets? When in Hells is going on? He shakes his head and stops, silliness.

Grin seems to eat anything and everything. He even drank this water. Ealdwig wrinkles his nose. This might be a bad idea getting on this boat.

To Brewner Ealdwig quietly replies Ok, thanks for the heads up. I'll follow your lead.

Accepting the offer and terms, the group enters the row boat one by one, each one handing over a single gp each. As you board the boat, you finally notice that each of the two crewmen appear to be soaking, with drips occasionally falling from them onto the ground. However, after landing, the moisture seems to evaporate quickly leaving the surface it landed on no wetter than it was before. The speaker helps anyone who seems to be unstable, his touch cold and clammy. "Take a seat so we may proceed."

The row boat quickly moves away from the pier and towards the ship. The water's surface is smooth, except for the movement of the oars. The boat itself makes a small wake, but that quickly smooths out much faster than it should. It makes the group wonder whether it is just the crew and ship that is unusual, or if it is the entire lake. Once they make it to the ship, two lines are lowered to the row boat, attached to either end, and the row boat is lifted out of the water and up to the ship's deck. The occupants all board the ship and the row boat is stowed. The group turns around to see the captain walk up to them.

The captain is an impressive figure. She was once beautiful human, and that beauty still shines through, however it obscured by the patches of lichen on her skin and the seaweed entangled in her wet hair. Her black eyes glisten as her piercing gaze passes over you. "It has been a long time since we have entertained passengers. Welcome aboard. We will take you to the far side. You may make yourselves comfortable on deck, but stay out of the crew's way."

"Good to meet who keeps this fine crew working so well.. Captain what can we expect on the other side? and what's your name madam captain?"
Brewner his still very suspicious but he tries to be friendly

Felix followed everyone onto the rowboat. He looked back to the pier as it shrunk into the distance. Whelp, I hope we cross paths again, Sir Pier

The sailors were exceptionally creepy, unnaturally wet and dripping. Seeing them up close made Brewner's warning a no-brainer. Yeah, I don't think I'll be accepting any "death soup" from these fellows.

Up on the ship everything seemed functional, straight forward - even the "stay out of the crews way" was familiar.

Thank you captain. No need for entertainment, I have some dice, that'll keep me busy.

Grinfletch raises a hand. Uhhh, Captain? I have a question! We like to stay warm and dry, but everyone here seems wet and cold. How do we keep from getting wet and cold?

Ealdwig, smiles, giggles and shakes his head at grin. Putting his arm around Grin, Grin, let's not waste the Captain's time. She an important person with important things to do. We should be able to keep ourselves dry. Put on a jacket. He looks back and up at the Captain. Thanks for your time and hospitality Captain. We'll look after each other.

To Grin, I think I have some dice as well. He rummages through his pack. Common, I'll take all your money.

Grin has been successfully distracted.

He whispers to Ealdwig: I’m just saying: maybe if they weren’t so cold and wet, they’d have more passengers… He trails off and gets caught up in the gaming.

Oliver decided to heed Brewner's warning just in case, but how could such hospitable lads be a danger to them?

"We are honored at your hospitality, Captain. If we may, what is it that makes you wander these great underdark waters?"

Out of sheer curiosity, Oliver checked which direction pointed to the closest alcoholic beverage. He sure wasn't going to accept anything, but he just wanted to know where it was held. He repeated the old otterfolk proverb to himself: What good is a warning if it stops you from playing with fire.

On similar lines, the proverb about otterfolk was much simpler: Curiosity killed the otter. But Oliver chose to ignore that one.

___

The captain answers a few of your questions. "The crew knows their duties. We have not have new recruits in ages. So, I have time to explain whatever you might ask.

"I am the incomparable Captain Celeste Bloodbane!" Her name is not one any of you remember hearing before. She waits for a few seconds to see if she got a reaction, and when she doesn't, she continues, "There was a time when hearing that name sent people into a panic, even before I died! Unfortunately, that time has apparently long since passed.

"Since we are stuck on this lake, we do what we can to keep busy. It is a large lake, but not nearly large enough for our true needs. There used to be more needing passage, but with the wars going on down deeper, no one has need for our services, anymore. I wonder if they even remember we exist." She looks a bit wistful with that last part, though you can't tell for sure.

"The other side is another landing with a pier we will let you off onto. Nothing special. No town or settlement or anything. Just a pier for our use and that's it. No one bothers with this lake except to try and cross it. There are only two entrances to the lake, and both are rocky and narrow, as you saw on the side you came from. When you get off, you'll have to travel a while to find anything organized. I have no idea of anything specific, just what we have heard said in the past. There is no way for us to check it out.

"Water is a hazard of being on a ship. You learn to deal with it.

"As for why we are even here and wander, that's a longer story. We are supposed to be on the open seas, but with the Cataclysm, we ended up trapped down here. Fortunately, the lake is big, but it isn't the vast expanses of the seas, and so it still feels confining. Oh for the day we can be free of this limited space!"

You can now get a better look at the crew, and you can kinda see why the two that came to get you were the ones chosen. As you look around the crew, you see a wide array of animated corpses. A few are just skeletons at this point, with nothing else left of what used to be their bodies. Others are in various states of decay, and couple with something missing, but most intact enough to keep operating. There are even two ghosts who wander about. All of them are dressed as you would expect from a pirate in old stories, including tricorns, flouncy shirts, eye patches, and the whole lot. You even realize that a parrot you thought was just stuffed is actually a zombie parrot, once it finally moves and makes an incomprehensible sound.

Hearing the squawk from the parrot, the captain picks it up and puts it on her shoulder. "She can't fly anymore, but she's still part of the crew!"

Oliver's use of his circlet only points to below-deck. It overrides any other possibilities.

Captain Bloodbane, I’m sorry that we did not recognize your name and that you died, and that you’re trapped down here on a lake. If you tell me one of your most memorable stories, I will do my best to share it far and wide.

Grin hums a sea shanty and the sounds of a cannon battle while using his Belt of Trickery to project a little scene of a sea battle in front of him.

Perhaps more people will come to see you and hear about your exploits that way!

The Captain brightens up at the suggestion and says, "Meet me in an hour up in the captain's quarters and I will regale you with a marvelous exploit!" With that she turns around to have the meeting prepared for them, and to continue her duties until then.

The group wanders about the ship, diligently keeping out of the crew's way, taking in the sights. During the hour, they notice two things. First is that the ship is not taking a straight route. It is making lots of turns and twists, sometimes even doubling back on its own path. It seems rather odd and means the journey will take much longer than it should have. Of course, since they don't know how long it should take, they don't have a baseline to judge against. Second is that not much before it is time to meet the Captain, Ealdwig notices that they are close to the walls, and that there is a fairly large shore area the opens up. The shore is about 300 feet wide and opens into a fairly deep cavern. When Ealdwig motions to the others to join him, they all take in the view. The echo amulet detects how far away the opening is (which matches what they see), but it isn't able to penetrate past that. Likewise, Oliver's circlet is still overwhelmed by the stores contained on the ship. At their closest approach, they see what looks like a small pier, similar to the one they used to board the rowboat. It could just be a rock outcropping, but they are pretty sure it is a pier.

As they watch the shore recede into the distance, a skeletal crewman informs them that it is time for them to meet Captain Bloodbane.

Grin taps on Felix’s arm and points - Isn’t that a pier? I thought they said there were only two entrances to the lake?

Sure that looks like a pier to me. But maybe if it doesn't lead out of this cavern, lake, area then it doesn't count as an entrance? What if it's just like a private cove?

Felix shrugged his shoulders at Grin - an expression of uncertainty.

With all the zig-zagging we've been doing, on top of this very strange and dead crew, I wouldn't believe everything I saw or was told. I'm used to dealing with the dead - in ghost or spirit form. These walking, rotting, sailors are something else and harder for me to judge.

Felix had one hand one his sword blade, as it hung from his back, just for comfort.
Florial, I wish you could lend a hand, but since you don't have one that would be rather difficult.

Brewner his surprised by Felix observation
" You are used to deal with the undead!? quite remarkable...ancestors protect me, i couldn't do it, cant help to be nervous just sitting here. What did you do dear Felix before the life of adventurer? And forgive my lack of atention if you already told your tale" Brewner talks in a low tone, avoiding to be heard by the ship crew