Help Lady Sonya Hire a Shipbuilder

Arnari was still gone.  Fine Branch, Tahu, and Dryali decided to talk to Tomtom about gainful and entertaining occupation, and rose to go upstairs to his office.  As they moved towards the stairwell, one of the customers in the front of the tavern flagged them down.

The weathered fellow mentioned that the flow of rare plant and animal parts shipped across the skylith from Hindmarsh had diminished, but he had a scheme to capitalize on it:  enter the marsh from the wilder, eastern side.  He was sure if the Freelancers were to try it, they would all make a handsome profit.

Dryali asked, "How do we know you'll pay us fair?"  Fine Branch asked, "Who are you to know how to sell it?"

He explained, "I'm a carter, I know where to sell it; I've seen where people sell these goods."

That worked for Dryali, not that he wanted to go in the muck in the marsh, but Fine Branch felt the Freelancers would get the promised profit, even if the fellow planned to cheat them.  

"We'll get back to you," he said, and the three of them went upstairs to Tomtom's office.

Tomtom had added detailed maps of Stormhaven and Hindmarsh to his wall.  Dryali, instead of sitting down, looked at the Stormhaven map with interest as Tomtom told them what missions were up.

• Track the Mossey Lake pollution source back to Pirates River
• The Church of Storms wants to find and capture Mansel
• Escort Lady Sonya Drogo to and from Stormhaven

Fine Branch relayed to Tomtom the proposition from the front of the tavern, and he facepalmed.

"Please don't get killed or captured," he said wearily.  "I don't want to explain this to Arnari."  He gestured at the skylith surface map on his wall.  "Where would you be going?"

Dryali told him, "Follow the river down from Three Rivers."  He turned his head towards Tomtom.  "Have you been there [the marsh]?"

Tomtom shook his head.  "Don't like getting the yuck on my plate."

Dryali hesitated, all too vividly dreaming of mules stuck in the muck.  "Maybe, escort Sonya Drogo."  Fine Branch scoffed; he thought it was boring.  Dryali retorted, "Stormhaven is where all the artificers are!"

Fine Branch closed his eyes, and told Tomtom, "Whichever one is 2nd in your stack of papers."  Tomtom looked, and said, "That's Stormhaven."  Fine Branch sighed.

Tomtom read from the paper.  "Sonya wants to hire Ozias Cloudslicer to build a new ship for House Drogo's fleet.  She wants investigation into Ozias…" he trailed off.

Dryali ventured, "She wants … what?"

Tomtom said, reading, "I think, she wants a discreet investigation into Cloudslicer."

Tahu and Dryali shared a glance, recollecting the last time they assisted Lady Drogo, and then glanced at Fine Branch.  Without another word they got up and left.

The House Drogo butler admitted the Freelancers, and called for Lue.  He escorted them to the second-best parlour in the house to wait, but Lue arrived almost immediately.  She was a short female human, 5'2", with bronze skin, brown hair, and blue eyes.  Her clothing was not quite livery with a plough-and-airship logo.  She greeted Dryali and Tahu, and introduced herself to Fine Branch, and informed them, "Let me inform Lady Sonya you are here," and called for Aron to watch over them.

Fine Branch's eyes widened a bit.

Aron came in and positioned himself at the door.  He was 5'11", with olive skin, black hair, and brown eyes.  He didn't say anything.  He had nice scrollwork on his plate armour and a greatsword on his back, and a tabard with a plough-and-airship logo.

Lue told them all, "Lady Sonya will be here shortly," and bustled out.  Aron was very silent.

Dryali went to the window and looked out over the street, like he had the last time he was here.  Fine Branch prowled the room.

Lue returned with Lady Sonya, 5'4" human woman with pale skin and red hair whose energy seemed to fill the room.  "I'm so excited!! You are coming with me to Stormhaven!  We'll be getting a new ship added to the fleet and …" she prattled on excitedly for a while about ships and repairs and ship schedules and  wound down with "... not so good."

Fine Branch's ears had gone flat; this… personality was not what he had been expecting.  Dryali asked politely, "Why is there a problem?"

Lady Sonya's energy dropped a little. "So many pirate attacks," she said sadly. "We need so many ships repaired."

Fine Branch's ears pricked up as he asked curiously, "Are shipbuilders different than ship repairs?"

"Well, no," the Lady Sonya admitted, "But they are overwhelmed and we had to draw up charts and convince Daddy another ship was necessary.   Tor and I had to draw up so many charts!"

Fine Branch, exasperated, had nothing to say to that, but Tahu asked, "Has pirate activity gotten worse?"

"Not really?" she replied.  "It got bad before Tumultuous, and it stayed bad, since."

Tahu said somewhat wistfully, "One of these days, we can put adventurers on the ships, and  see the pirates for themselves…" he trailed off.

Lady Sonya looked thoughtful, then with a start, she sent Lue out before responding brightly to Tahu, "What an idea!"  and following that up nonstop.

Dryali went back to the window.  While she was talking, he heard but didn't see the carriage pull up.  Lue bustled in, and started trying to herd everyone out.  Lady Sonya paused in her monologue at Tahu to direct Aron to get a strongbox.

The carriage was pulled by two horses, and the driver was Marty; Lady Sonya gushed with glee that Marty would go with them to Stormhaven.  She and Lue entered the carriage, and so did Tahu.  Fine Branch climbed up next to Marty, and Dryali climbed up on top.  Aron emerged with a strongbox, and placed it inside the carriage, then climbed up on the footboard behind.  Then Marty twitched the reins, and they were off.

It took them two days to get to Cliffgate, and another two to Haven.  House Drogo funded the entire travel, so it hardly felt like an adventure to the Freelancers.  Lady Sonya's name got them the best rooms at the inns, too.

From Haven they took the road southward, and Fine Branch, up front with Marty, was paying more attention to this area of the skylith he'd never been.  The road started to climb, and by mid-afternoon, was running through wooded lands.  The Daystar was westering, when Fine Branch noticed a really big tree was unusually close to the road, and pointed that out to Marty.

Suddenly, there was an unexpected shadow over the road and carriage!  The big tree slammed its branches into the road, right in front of the horses, who reared in dismay.  Tahu cried out, "Marty, take the carriage left!" as he got out the right side.   He ran up to the tree and struck at it with his shortswords, but his offhand swing merely glanced off.

Tahu backed off by 10' from the tree, not wanting to get whomped.  Fine Branch stayed where he was, and called on The Cat, burning the tree with sacred flame.  Dryali was amazed.  "What are you," he asked, "the Daystar cultist?"  Fine Branch climbed down off the carriage and moved past the tree.  It tried to whomp him with 3 branches, but missed.

Aron swung off the footboard, pulling off his greatsword.  He strode up to the tree and swung at it.  The sword hummed as it hit.  He swung it again, but his second swing was at a bad angle and did nothing.

Dryali pulled out his pole of collapsing, collapsed and covered in the arcane firearm sigils.  He pointed it at the tree, and spoke the wrong command word for firebolt.  The expanded pole barely missed clipping Marty in the ear as Dryali swore.  Marty had his hands full trying to calm the horses.

Tahu repeated his actions, running up to the tree, attacking it, and backing off by 10'.  Fine Branch dropped a pebble on the ground, creating smoke, and poof!  Now there was a doppelgänger.  Fine Branch and the doppelgänger moved away from the tree in opposite directions.  The tree opted to whomp the doppelgänger, and crit, but critical nothing is still nothing.  The doppelgänger walked up to the tree and leaned on the trunk, totally casually.

The tree whomped at Aron, but managed to miss him as well.  It moved towards Fine Branch, and the sound of muffled thunder could be heard as the move invoked the booming blade from Aron's humming greatsword.  Aron swung again at the tree, but misestimated the distance; he crit on the backswing.

Dryali, still swearing, collapsed the pole back into an arcane firearm.  Marty was still trying to calm the horses, who were getting upset every time the tree whomped.  Tahu ran in and stabbed the tree again with his shortswords.

The doppelgänger knocked on the tree trunk, and the bell sound from toll the dead rang out, rotting damage spreading from where it knocked.  Fine Branch backed up further, and the doppelgänger moved in between him and the tree.

That didn't stop the tree from whomping at Fine Branch who avoided the branches neatly.  Aron strode back up to the tree.  Two swings of his greatsword, and the tree was dead.

Dryali, feeling useless, put his pole of collapsing away, and clambered off the carriage to start taking a few branches from the tree.  He and Tahu looked around for enemies, but saw none.

The Freelancers tried to figure out where the tree had come from.  It appeared, from marks on the ground, to have been sitting there maybe 36 hours, and had come from the woods to the west.  They returned to the tree, which had fallen across the road.  Aron and Marty, who had finally calmed the horses, joined them in the heavy work to clear the road, which took the better part of an hour.

They proceeded another two hours or so until they had to camp for the night.  The night was uneventful, and so was their travel the next day.

At first as they arrived in Stormhaven it did not look all that big or impressive.  The trees opened up onto a large space of low grassy knolls, ending rather abruptly on the skylith edge.  Long low buildings were scattered among the knolls, and narrow roadways connected them.  The two inns, The Safe Harbour and The Gallant Gryphon, seemed small, with stables far larger than the buildings would appear to justify.

The Lady Sonya wanted to stay at The Gallant Gryphon, which had the fancier sign, and Marty and Lue went in to arrange the accommodation.  The Freelancers waited outside with her and Aron, and looked askance at what was to be expected of them now they were here.

"Ozias Cloudslicer!" Sonya Drogo declared, "Is he still who I want to build a ship?  I need background checks!"  At this, her retainers came out and Lue herded them into the building, and down to their rooms, for the bulk of the inn was underground, just like the bulk of Stormhaven was.

Once in the rooms, the Freelancers spent the rest of the afternoon planning their actions.

• Check suppliers
• Ask around taverns; maybe find disgruntled workers or business partners
• Ask at the artificery workshop
• Look for the two ships, Linnie and Istria, Tahu and Dryali already knew he'd built 
• Find a bookie

At that, they went down to The Gallant Gryphon's excellent tavern, and had a meal and relaxed with their travelling companions.  Lady Sonya was convivial, and the Freelancers occasionally checked other patrons for any relevant gossip, but there was none.

The next morning, the Freelancers split up, agreeing to meet at The Safe Harbour's tavern for the noon meal.

Fine Branch visited a local bookie, and asked what was the over/under on ships from local shipbuilders getting to their destinations.  He noted he was especially looking at Cloudslicer ships.  The bookie told Fine Branch ships from "this guy" (since Cloudslicer was only newly established in Stormhaven) are about the same as other shipbuilders, and moreover they are built on time, which boded well.

Dryali visited the Great Workshop of Eternal Refinements, of course.  He managed to avoid getting entirely distracted by all the ongoing artificery and got some time with Master Gilthur.  The Rocklit dwarf lacked his eyebrows, obviously having blown them off with an artificery experiment gone awry.  Dryali asked Gilthur about Ozias Cloudslicer, and the master said he'd been dealing with the Eternal Workshop.  Dryali then asked what was the master's impression.

Gilthur itched his eyebrow, which was just starting to grow in.  "Ozias is good about getting his orders on time," he said, "And not asking for rush jobs.  And, he pays," the master said in a satisfied voice.  Clearly not all the shipbuilders were good for their word.  After a pause, he added, "He has fun ideas, for mechanical ship improvements!"

Dryali asked the master, "Are there any artificers here, working in Ozias' yard?"  Gilthur pointed out those who were, and Dryali went to talk to them.  They told Dryali Ozias was good; it was hard work, but well paid.  "Do you see him cutting any corners?" Dryali asked, and they told him no.

Then, Dryali was distracted by all the enticements of the shop.

Tahu went in search of the harbourmaster, who was hard to find.  After spending some time tracking him down, Tahu managed to get enough of his time to ask if any Cloudslicer-built airships were in the harbour now, that could be looked at, and also "What condition have you noticed them in, when they do come in?"

The harbourmaster, a cloud elf with coppery hair and gold eyes, pushed it back from his face for a moment and closed his eyes.  Then he looked at Tahu, saying, "The ships seem fine.  Also there's another new ship he built for Holder dwarves in Bandolier, named Ithaka.  It seemed okay too, but I haven't seen it since."

Tahu nodded his appreciation and turned to leave, when the harbourmaster reminded him, "Don't forget; damage isn't just attributable to shipbuilding problems!  It's dangerous out there!"  He turned to resume his duties as Tahu took his leave.

At The Safe Harbour, the Freelancers ate and drank and listened to the scuttlebutt.  Some patrons were talking about Weston Doty being "up to his tricks," and "part of the reason he does good business is location matters!"

A muttered conversation about pirate attacks caught Tahu's attention.  The patrons talking were surprised at the success rate, as well as the attack frequency.  As Tahu's attention sharpened, he noticed a halfling sitting by himself at a table next to the wall, watching them.

Tahu drew the others' attention to the halfling.  Observing him, they saw a male Mikumwes, 3'3", blondish hair and hazel eyes.  He was wearing studded leather armour and was well-armed, but at the moment the only thing he was wielding was a halfling-sized tankard.

Fine Branch called over one of the serving people, and tipping them an extra silver, asked if they knew the halfling.  The server, not impressed with a mere silver, simply told Fine Branch he was "kind of a regular, but keep to themself," and left the Freelancers at that.
 

They looked at each other, and considered the halfling.  They'd re-split up, they decided, and see who he follows.  Then they relaxed and finished their repast.  They were very obvious about leave taking and took off, but Dryali bought a glass of red wine first.

Fine Branch was confident he was not being followed, so he decided to go to the docks and check out all the airships in the harbour.  He found out there were some narrow walkways on the skylith cliffs to get from docking bay to docking bay, and started learning the commerce of Stormhaven.  Fine Branch learned transport inbound to Stormhaven was a lot of raw materials, metals and such suitable for building; outbound was machined parts, "artificeried stuff."

Dryali was fairly sure he hadn't been the one followed; after all his vision in the Stormhaven tunnels was far superior to any Mikumwes.  Glass in hand, he started asking around, if there were any taverns with "bardificery" music; he was not discreet about it.  Nobody he asked really knew of any, so Dryali took off for the Great Workshop again.  The artificers there told Dryali about The Twin Lamps tavern, and every other night there were one or two bardificers.  After getting directions, he headed there to check it out.

Tahu wasn't sure if he'd been followed or not, so he returned to The Safe Harbour.  He didn't see the halfling at all, and wasn't sure it was a good idea to lead a possible ne'er-do-well back to Lady Sonya.  He joined the darts game in the back of the tavern, and started hustling people.  After a while Tahu stealthed back to The Gallant Gryphon, putting his boots of elvenkind to good use.

Once at The Gallant Gryphon, Tahu sought out Aron, told him of the group's findings, and also that there was a halfling tailing them.  Aron grunted.  Then, he clapped Tahu on the shoulder, way too hard.  Tahu winced as Aron said, "I'll tell Sonya."

Since this night was the night of bardificer at The Twin Lamps, Dryali stayed there a while, enjoying the music and artificeriness, and later stealthed back to The Gallant Gryphon.  He felt he did a good job of being stealthy, although his ears were probably ringing too much to notice whether or not he had someone following him.

Fine Branch, having satisfied his curiosity about the workings of Stormhaven harbour, headed back to The Gallant Gryphon once the harbour was dark.  But the tunnels confused his senses, and he was convinced he was being followed by robbers that he simply could not shake.  He entered The Gallant Gryphon with some of his tail fur on end and his eyes slightly wide, but no antagonists materialized and after a while he calmed down.

The next morning, the Freelancers broke their fast with Lady Sonya, who was happy with their reports about Ozias Cloudslicer.  She asked them to serve as extra bodyguards while she negotiated the building of an airship, and the large amount of coin that entailed.  House badges were only good for so much, after all.  Those negotiations took the entire day, but in the end a deal was struck.

At no point did the halfling reappear.

That evening the Freelancers were on their own, and did even more exploring of Stormhaven's taverns.  In one tavern that was more frequented by airship crew, they heard people whispering about "Captain Starbreeze.  Watch out."  Dryali raised an eyebrow at that, but kept silent.  Later, he pointed out that "Starbreeze" was Trade for the Elvish name "Niastacia," and he was confident they were referring to the Osprey.

They left for Cliffshadow the next morning, and the travel was entirely without incident, to the delight of Lady Sonya, who paid them 150gp each for their services.  They ended up in Cliffgate for the Celebration of Apastron, and celebrated with the other travellers at The Hippogryph's Wing, disposing of accumulated clutter in a bonfire in the courtyard.  Reluctantly, Dryali burned all but a couple of the branches he'd taken from the awakened tree.  The inn also held a contest for who could hold their breath the longest.  To the Freelancers' amazement, Lady Sonya won the contest.