Chapter Five: Bapdis Orjo's Gift of Reconciliation

Do we need anything like tents? Vorch sounds...rustic. I'm also wondering about maybe grabbing some caltrops or ball bearings.

Quote:

Mordred can buy bundles of 20 flammable arrows for 5 GP.

COLOR ME INTRIGUED

How does one go about setting flame to these arrows, mechanics-wise?

Fire arrows.

Oooooh...

Just making sure I understand the rules correctly; I could use a bonus action to light the arrow with a tinderbox without using up any of my other actions, but I couldn't use another bonus action that turn? And does extra attack count as a bonus action?

Yeah...if you have an action + bonus action, you could use them both to light and shoot the arrow.

I'd deeeefinitely want to pick up a bundle of those bad boys then. I'd have to dip into party funds to do it, though... I have no personal funds hahaha

Mordred licks his finger and carefully counts 5 GP out of the cash drawer.

I'm thinking they will come in super handy if we get into any ship-to-ship battles.

After saying their goodbyes to Zora and finishing up their last-minute shopping, the party heads to the boat launch of the west side of town as night falls. There they are met by a short, stout man with curly gray hair waiting by a barge.

"You the mercs headed to Vorch? Hope they're paying you more than they're paying me, heh. I'm Bagu. This is my boat. We should make Utwar in three days, if the river god is kind. I'll gather my rowers."

The barge soon sets off with Bagu at the bow with his barge-pole, eight rowers propelling you forward with the current, and six adventurers crammed into a very small canopy, drawing sullen looks from the rowers.

The journey downriver is uneventful. Every few miles you pass a village; most are small and unassuming, some have people who wave at you from the bank or their fishing rafts, others pointedly ignore your passage. There's a towpath on the south side of the river, where the geography permits it, and in the daylight hours you pass a few laden boats being dragged upstream by oxen.

As the river meanders south, you find yourselves surrounded by forests of tall copperwood pines on either side. Here the weather turns rainy and foggy, the villages fewer and further between.

But after three days, the forest gives way and you come to the low hills surrounding the marshlands of Utwar. Upon a steep, shale-covered hill, the castle of the Utwarish monarchy looms over the bay, a pointed tower stretching toward the sky from each of its four corners. A palisade of copperwood trunks surrounds the city; Bagu moors his barge in the suburbs outside the wall.

"Not paying the bloody fee to bring her in," he explains. "Alright, then, I'll find you passage to Vorch. Can't say as how long that'll take, as we'll need to find a captain who's not too salted in the brain to understand that a letter of credit from the 'Roph of Hazard is a more secure payment than a sack of gold...have a look around the city if you like. Right. I'm off."

You have an indeterminate amount of time to kill in Utwar. You are currently stationed just outside the city walls. What will you do while you're waiting for Bagu to find you a ship to Vorch?

That will require a Stealth to follow him to the city gate, an Investigation to find him again once you get through the gate yourself, and then another Stealth to track him to his destination unseen.

Edit: Mordred casually slips off to follow Bagu, tailing him to the city gate next to the broad wooden arch over the river. He talks briefly to the guards stationed there -- a blue-cloaked pair with floppy, broad-brimmed hats and tridents -- and they usher him through. He does not seem to notice Mordred following him.

The rowers quickly set their own schedule of who is to sleep, who is to guard the barge, and who is free to see to their own personal interests, but the ones keeping watch over the barge are happy to play cards with Zangua.

"Why do you go to Vorch?" asks one of them after a few rounds. "It is a forbidden place. The gods did not make it for men. They made it for monsters."

"Devilkin," one of the guards mutters to her partner as she waves Mordred through the gate. He nods knowingly.

Inside, Mordred finds a city starkly underdeveloped in contrast to Sthombo and Hazard. The streets are unpaved, the buildings crude. A gaggle of geese wander past him almost as soon as he enters. But the towering, sleek-sided castle is quite something to behold, as are the skeletons of ships being assembled on the beaches in the near distance. Cogs and galleys float at anchor in the quiet bay. To the south, on the other side of the river outflow, the massive stone façade of the Temple of Dagon is carved right into the cliffs overlooking the beach.

Mordred spots Bagu after a few moments of scouting around, finding him following a dirt path to a neighborhood near the north side of the bay. Trailing him at a safe distance, Mordred watches him head into a tavern, loud even from this distance and hour with chatter and song. The only sign above the door is a monstrous head carved of wood with a tattered sail clenched in its teeth.

~meanwhile~

Zangua finds these players hard to read; their technique is not much like anything he learned, and their faces -- most of these men seem to come from foreign stock -- inscrutable.

"Good luck to you, seeking fortune and glory on Vorch. I think you will not find it. They say the old king haunts the island still. They say he cannot die, that the monsters make obeisance to him. Can you kill that which cannot die? I think you can not." The rower punctuates his statement by laying down a winning hand.

Refreshing portent rolls

Mordred waits a few moments, pulls his hood up slightly, and heads into the tavern. He knows he will likely attract attention once he enters, and he's not worried about Bagu spotting him at this point - if he sees Mordred and asks any questions, Mordred is prepared to tell him that he asked one of the city guards where he might have a drink without being too conspicuous, and he was sent here. He'll offer to buy Bagu a round or two, if needed.

Mordred hopes to see who Bagu is talking to, and possibly ensure that he is on the up and up.

Aaand, once again, Mordred does badly at seeing.

Vhezyen makes his way toward the Temple of Dagon, taking in the sights of the city as he goes. Nothing particularly strikes him as being out of the ordinary, although his owl's keen observation of a small company of liveried guards with polished bill-hooks escorting a young woman around the ships being constructed suggests that a royal inspection may be taking place today. In the bay, he sees ships flying Mezian colors, vessels from Utwar's own navy, and various other ships whose origin and purpose Vhezyen cannot identify.

In the marshy area near the outflow, several private ferry operators offer to take Vhezyen across. "Cross you for four copper!" cries one. "Cross you for three!" counters another.

~meanwhile~

Fending off offers for compensated nighttime companionship from several women who swarm him the moment he steps through the door, Mordred finds himself in a noisy, crowded seafarer's tavern. A band consisting of hand-drums, a bone flute, a lyre, and a singer fills the common room with bawdy music as Mordred scans the crowd for Bagu. He sees him at the bar, tankard in hand, talking to a barrel-chested man with a thick black beard and a billowing blue shirt.