Gameplay - Chapter 1 - The River Queen

You have found yourselves on a river barge headed to Davokar forest. Your destination is an inn where you will meet with a merchant who will give you precise instructions to find an ancient ruin. He has offered good pay, although the treasures that can be found in such places has provided you will all the motivation you needed.

The River Maiden has three pairs of oars and a small sail, and is a good example of the more speedy cargo ships used on Ambrian rivers and lakes. On the slow waters of the lowland, boats like her are replaced by heavy sail barges that can carry bigger loads, but where the currents are quicker the ships must have both oars and sails to be able to travel upstream. Simply put, close to Davokar and the mountains, boats like the River Maiden are superior.

Upstream the River Maiden is driven by oars, or it can cruise where the river is wide enough. Downstream she often lies in the stream bed and the oars are only used to avoid obstacles in the water.



Map of The river maiden
1. Cargo Hold. The cargo hold runs below the whole deck, but is loaded and unloaded through an opening in the foredeck covered by wooden bars.
2. Oars. Three oar-pairs propel the River Maiden when the winds are calm.
3. Mast and Lookout. When travelling foggy lakes a watcher is needed to avoid collisions. In combat, someone sitting in the lookout has an advantage against those below. Climbing to the lookout during combat requires a successful Quick test with every movement action.
4. Main Deck. On the open deck between mast and the aftercastle, the crew-members and passengers sleep under suspended sailcloths.
5. Aftercastle. "Aftercastle" may be a too fancy word for the permanent tent where the ship’s Captain has his quarters.
6. Tiller. The River Maiden is steered by a fixed oar from a podium in the stern. The podium grants a height advantage in combat and a Quick test is needed to climb it under stress (if one does not use the stairs at the very back of the boat).

Captain: Ogval

Crew: Tamri, Arelo, Nigra

Other Passenger: Harasto

Soon after you have embarked, the ship lies bobbing outside the stream bed, far from the shore. You are wakened by Tamri calling to the river mists: "Arelo, Aaarelo!? No, not you too!" Everyone onboard gather on the deck, drowsy and armed with what weapon lay closest to their beds.

Tamri shudders, holding arms together. "The River Goddess has taken both Belda and Arelo. Ogval disrespected the river by refusing to make sacrifices."

Tamri shrugs at Darthon's query. Captain Ogval exits from his small cabin, saying, "Alright, that's enough lollygagging about." he sets the crew to looking for Arelo overboard, and asks of the PCs: "Why don't you curious lot look around for clues."

Eferneya keeps an eye out, but sees little other than the fog and the lazy water.

Fenya notices the goblin crewmember, Nigra, casting dark gazes and furtive glances at the other passenger, Harasto.

The captain sighs. "I guess I'm just not that superstitious. My mother ran this ship for years and never made sacrifices to appease some snake god or whatever."

He does tell you what he knows:

The Legend of the River Maiden
There are many tales about the rivers of Ambria and Davokar, one of them telling of the River Goddess or River Maiden. The myth is told in many different forms but has the following basic features:
One early morning, a river fisherman harvested his fish traps and found an elderly woman in one of them. She had gills and she had apparently exhausted herself trying to get free. As the fisherman helped the women she asked to be let back into the water, but the greedy human asked for something in return. The woman suggested that his family always would get as much food as they needed from the river. The fisherman wanted more and asked that he should be granted food enough to feed the whole village. With a grunt, the woman accepted his request.

The next day, the fisherman made such a huge catch that all villagers could eat their fill. The joy was slightly clouded by one of the other fishing teams vanishing without a trace – nothing but their rowboat was recovered. The day after that, the lucky fisherman caught yet another motherlode, not as big as the first one but enough for all – since a second team of fishermen had disappeared. And so it continued: a big catch and missing colleagues, day in and day out, until none but the lucky one remained. Then the families of the lost fishermen gathered and forced the man to tell his tale, after which they flung him into the water as an offering to the angered River Goddess. The catches returned to their normal size and all the lost fishermen returned to their families without remembering what had happened. Ever since then, the villagers sacrifice a part of their daily catch to appease the Maiden of the River.

To Ambrians living by the slow rivers of the lowland, the River Goddess is a vague threat, something used to make children and landlubbers sit still in the boat. But among barbarians – and the Ambrians who travel the untamed rivers of Davokar – stories are often told about what happens to crews that do not respect the tradition of making offerings to the irritable Goddess of the river; stories about lone river boats, unharmed but empty, that come floating with the current until they get caught up in the mud along the riverbanks.

The captain waves Eferneya's superstition away. "I've traveled this river my whole life and I've never seen the River Goddess act this way. You are right, however, that there are other, real threats. If you value your lives, you'll help my crew look for signs of whatever has taken him and stop jawing about legends."

Eferneya notices thay Arelo's full set of belongings remains at his bunk, indicating that he hadn't simply ran, or swam, off.

Darthon easily climbs to the lookout. Looking from above, he sees only that the ship lies bobbing outside the stream bed, far from the shore. (Care to make a Vigilant check from up there?)

Eferneya makes a cursory inspection of the area by the railing, but finds nothing before Fenya approaches her.

From the different vantage point, Darthon sees something on the railing on the opposite side to Eferneya and Fenya. From the distance, he can see only a mar or a smudge.