Assistants to Lady Sonya of House Drogo

Dryali bought a glass of ice wine from the bartender in Freelancers Tavern and returned to where Tahu was sitting.  Even sitting down, Tahu, who was obviously of dragonborn stock despite being a Wind sagani, towered over the diminutive dark elf.

Dryali pointed out the Black dragonborn sitting stiffly at another table.  He had a shield with a crest, but was otherwise unarmoured.  "He's as tall as you are," Dryali told Tahu, who was amused Dryali cared.

They introduced themselves to find the Black dragonborn was Meurig, recently joined Freelancers.  Some of the scales on his chest were white.  He told them he was learning sorcery.  They decided to see if Arnari had any employment which would be entertaining and gainful.

Arnari was strumming a small harp when they entered; she set it aside and reached for her ice wine, studying Meurig intently.  Seeing that, Dryali said "Cheers!"  She smiled briefly at him, clinked glasses, and looked back at Meurig.

Arnari proposed, "Gillian… Typhoon Waiola of the Church of Storms would like you to find Gillian of the Daystar cult."  Dryali tensed and she frowned at him.  "It might be better to locate her, and not let her see you," she suggested.

She continued, "Escort Lady Sonya Drogo, who wishes to go to and from Stormhaven."

Stormhaven is why Dryali travelled to Duquesne from Nadezdha in the first place.  "How long are we supposed to stay in Stormhaven?" he asked.

Arnari explained, "Lady Drogo… House Drogo specializes in agriculture and shipping…. She's human, and has retainers, a maid and bodyguard; but wants a bodyguard for this journey."

Meurig asked, "Could we ride?"  Arnari told him, "Sonya will want a carriage to take people."  Meurig was confused.  "If they own airships, why go across the land?"  Arnari explained that tying up an airship for such travel was not worth the cost and risk.

Dryali's voice was vicious.  "We could go kill/I mean find Gillian."  Tahu laughed.  Meurig did not understand Dryali's venom, not having been a Freelancer long enough.  He offered, "Escort seems better."

None of this answered his original question, so Dryali repeated it: "How long are we to be in Stormhaven?"  Arnari replied, "Maybe a few days.  Once there, she will need your assistance to help with her business there."

Dryali would really like to live in Stormhaven, where all the artificer action is.  "Is there a Freelancers in Stormhaven?" he asked.  Arnari explained, "No, they send here if they need."

Thus they decided to take the job of helping Lady Sonya, each for different reasons:  Meurig would be happier with that task, Dryali wanted to go to Stormhaven in the first place, and Tahu hadn't been to that part of Duquesne.

[Retcon:  Before heading out, Dryali, Tahu, and Meurig stop by Nyls Arendi, the Bookkeeper from Elephantine Archives embedded with Freelancers.]  <narrator voice:  really, Shari, Casey, and Yann wanted more information from the GM, and we need Nyls as an NPC.>

Nyls told them, "House Drogo is in the northwest part of Cliffshadow; quite a grand mansion really.  The Lord of the House is Rolf, and the eldest son is Tor.  He handles more of the agricultural side of the business.  Sonya is the second child, and handles more of the shipping."

Armed with this information, they headed out to House Drogo.  Tahu and Dryali were surprised to find Meurig had his own hippogryph, named JollyHopper!

Upon arriving at the fancy mansion, they went up to the door and used the fancy knocker.  The door was answered promptly by a short female human, with brown hair and bronze skin.  She was in livery with a plough-and-airship logo.  Seeing the two tall Freelancers and little Dark elf in goggles on her step, with a hippogryph behind, she frowned slightly and asked, "How can I help you?"

Tahu explained, "We're from Freelancers!  We heard Lady Sonya needed an escort."

The servant clapped her hands in delight.  "Thank you for arriving promptly!  Lady Sonya will be able to leave shortly."  She gestured for them to follow, hustling them into a parlour.  "ARON!  Come sit with these people, while I get Lady Sonya!"

A moment later, a tall male human with olive skin, in plate armour and a greatsword on his back came in the parlour and stood at parade rest to one side of the door.  He was lacking a helm; his hair was black.  He had a tabard with the plough-and-airship logo.

Meurig flashed him some sort of salute which Dryali presumed had to do with respect for knights or warriors.  Aron nodded back.

The three Freelancers looked around the room.  It was well-appointed: two couches, several armchairs, a fireplace.  The floor had a nice carpet.  A sideboard held a variety of spirits; when Dryali checked the books on the shelves they were various histories.  There was a second door in addition to the one by which they'd entered.

Dryali wandered over to the window and looked out.  It overlooked the street, and since mid-day was approaching, lots of people were wandering about.  He wondered about this house, his experience of the wealthy were that they'd be set back from the hustle & bustle.

After roughly 15 minutes, the second door burst open, and a 5'4" female human with pale skin and red hair swanned into the room.  "I'm so happy to see you!  This will be so good for the family ships in Stormhaven, we need a new shipbuilder for repair!"

Meurig bowed.  "We are at your service!"  Dryali, annoyed, also bowed, from his position at the window.  Tahu did his best.  It was not a proper bow, but somehow jaunty and pleasant.

Lady Sonya exclaimed at Meurig and Tahu.  "You are both so tall!"  She turned to the servant who had answered the door, and who had entered quietly behind her.  "Lue, take a note, to get long beds."

Meurig was bemused.  "May I ask a question?  It seems to be a long travel by land, and you seem to have lots of ships…" He trailed off at her sharp look.

"The ship we'd take, is in repair," the lady explained.  "Land is more secure, with the gold we need."  From his position next to the door, Aron nodded.

Tahu became curious.  "Why change builders?"

The lady told him, "We need a rush job.  Our preferred shipbuilder is occupied with one ship, but two more were damaged by recent storms."

Lue inserted herself into the conversation.  "Please, my lady, let us go sometime today."

Lady Sonya protested.  "I just like talking to people!"

Tahu said easily, "There will be plenty of time, to talk en route."

Sonya brightened immediately.  "Such a good idea!"  But before she could say more, Lue dragged her out.  The Freelancers hesitated, then Aron grunted at them and jerked his head.  All four followed.

The carriage was rather proper, drawn by two horses, with a driver up front and a place in back for a footman.  The carriage driver was holding the door for Lady Sonya, who burbled happily, "Oh, Marty, I'm so happy you're along for this trip!"

The Freelancers decided to array themselves:

• Meurig would pace the carriage aloft on Jolly Hopper
• Dryali would ride on the roof, with crossbow ready
• Tahu would walk alongside carriage if the horses were walking, and ride with the ladies if they were going faster
• Aron would sit next to Marty

The trip would take six days total:  two to get to Cliffgate, two days to reach Haven, and then two more days to Stormhaven, although they would arrive earlier in the day then.

The trip by carriage was uneventful and fast, and they made Haven in good time, although Dryali did get rained on every so often.  In Haven, they stayed at The Local Flavour, and Dryali introduced their charges to its excellent cider.

They left the next morning, heading southward, and the road soon plunged into a forest.  The horses slowed to a walk, and Tahu got out to stride alongside, occasionally contributing while Lue and the Lady Sonya gossiped about the Cliffshadow social scene.  Meurig continued flying overhead, although his ability to see dangers was much restricted.  Dryali, much happier to be out of the daylight, saw the wolves first.  Two were ahead on the left, and four ahead on the right.

He shouted a warning.  "Wolves!"  He shot at one with his hand crossbow, but it went entirely wide, and twinged his wrist too.  <narrator voice:  Shari rolled a 1, but Dryali was already not standing up so he couldn't lose his balance>

Tahu said, "Excuse me ladies, while we earn our pay."  He strode up to the closest wolf on the left and slashed it with his short sword, injuring it grievously.  Lady Sonya called out to him, "I believe in you, you can do it!"

Without a word, Aron rose, drew his greatsword, jumped off the carriage, and clove the nearest wolf on the right – the one Dryali had tried to shoot – in two.  He moved on to the next one and did the same thing again.  Watching him, Dryali wondered why the lady needed Freelancers.  Aron moved towards the wolves on the other side.

Muerig landed beyond the furthest wolf.  The wolves on the left had managed to be aligned, and he spat acid along the line of wolves.  They were not very happy about this change in circumstance.  The one nearest Meurig bit him.  The one nearest Aron bit him, but to no avail, because of Aron's plate.  The other two wolves attacked Tahu, who managed to dodge one, but took a nasty bite from the other.

Dryali, seeing Meurig hurt, shot at the wolf who'd bit him, but missed.  Tahu pulled out his second short sword, and landed strikes from both swords, killing the wolf who'd bit him.  He moved to a position between the remaining wolves and the horses.

Aron clove the wolf who'd tried to bite him in two.  He moved to the wolf attacking Meurig, but it saw him coming and his sword whiffed past it.  Meurig pulled out his lance and lanced the wolf, muttering about how it was not a proper charge.

The remaining wolf, seeing Tahu move between it and the horses, bit Tahu, who by this time was looking a bit worse for wear.  The lanced wolf tried to bite Meurig, but he blocked it with his shield.  Dryali shot the wolf biting Tahu, and then Tahu finished it off with his short sword.  Tahu moved to attack the remaining wolf, but missed.

Aron clove it in two.

Dryali stood up and looked around, but saw nothing else, just dead wolves and the stain from Meurig's acid breath.  He stretched.

Meurig approached the carriage, and queried, "Would it be alright if I rest in the carriage?  Also, if the Lady Sonya is fine?"  The Lady Sonya was fine, but seeing Meurig's injuries, she fussed over him and made him lie in the carriage.  He tied JollyHopper to follow in the back, first.

Tahu climbed up to the carriage roof with Dryali, and lay there to recover from his injuries.  Dryali continued watching as the carriage resumed its journey.

The rest of the trip to Stormhaven was also uneventful, although a bit slower than the trip to Haven had been.

They emerged from the forest in the early afternoon, to see what looked like a small town nestled in the hills.  None of the visible buildings were taller than two stories, and the layout seemed spaced out and irregular.  Beyond the town was nothing; they were at the edge of the skylith.  It was fairly windy, with clouds scudding above… and in front of them.

Marty guided the carriage past a one-storey building proclaiming itself an inn, The Safe Harbour.   The building appeared quite small, but had a large stable attached.  They came to another inn, The Gallant Gryphon.  Marty and Lue went inside to negotiate for rooms and stabling.

Lady Sonya explained to the Freelancers that most of Stormhaven was underground, in delved and natural caverns, to take advantage of the cliff formation on the side of the skylith, protecting the airships from the storms.  Over time, a vast industry of ship repair had built up.  Oddly enough, most of the shipbuilders here did not create new hulls from scratch; the Duquesne skylith lacked most of the raw materials.  They did repairs, and also outfitted some ships for harvesting thalassae.

Dryali knew some of this information, but others did not.  They looked around at the low buildings and realized these were just rooftop storefronts, as the bulk of their business was below.   At this time Lue came back out and announced the rooms, and they went inside.

Once within the rooms, the Lady Sonya told the Freelancers she'd like them to assist her in determining a new shipbuilder to use.  She explained she already had Adam Biddle, a Maker gnome shipbuilder, working on repairs.  "Please," she requested, "Investigate a couple other shipbuilders and find out … what there is to find out!"

Tahu, ever curious about the airships, asked, "What kind of ship are you trying to get repaired?"  The lady told him, "The one in repairs is mechanical; the others… one is a windsail, and one is mechanical, also."

Meurig was less concerned with the ships and more concerned with the primary task of bodyguarding,  "Will the gold stay safe?   ...and Lady Sonya."  Aron looked at him and kind of grunted in a way to indicate he would take care of it.  Aron was a man of few words.

The Freelancers left on Lady Sonya's errand.  Once out of the rooms, Dryali let some of his excitement show.  Of course since they were underground it was easier in general to read his expressions, as he was not wearing the dark goggles.  "We should check with the artificer's enclave here!  Surely they will know."  The others agreed, so they headed to the Stormhaven enclave of The Great Workshop of Eternal Refinements, which is where Dryali had been heading to since he'd decided to move outward from Nadezhda to Duquesne.

The Stormhaven enclave was in a big cave, with forges lined up on one wall, woodworking on the other wall.  The shop appeared to have much to do with shipbuilding: it did not have the setup for the bones and ribs of an airship, but artificers were engaged in the delicate work for elemental cages, and also the various gears and such for the mechanical ships, and other clever joins and pivots/hinges in wood, the use of which was not immediately obvious.

The enclave's master artificer was Gilthur, a Rocklit dwarf, who was more than happy to provide an honest assessment of the top three shipbuilders they should go visit:

• Eleonora Peleonor, an older female human, who smokes a pipe. She rules her shop, Shipmonger, with a firm hand; she specializes in mechanical airships.
• Oswalt Tallfellow, a male Djogeon halfling.  He specializes in windsail airships, and his shop name is Portly Mast Ships.
• Samantha Dalanthan, female Cloud elf (but with copper hair!), runs a shop specializing in repairing windsail ships. She loves the windsail ships, so her shipbuilding kin on Coldstream are confused by her.  Her shop, Misty Mooring, is mostly crewed by Maker gnomes and some Rocklit dwarves.

The Freelancers naturally wanted counterpoints.  Dryali asked him, "What about Adam Biddle?"  Gilthur's answer was forthright: "He does quality work, does Adam; not terribly speedy, but not slow either."  Tahu was a bit more contrarian, and asked if there was anyone to avoid.  After hemming and hawing some, Gilthur replied, "While I don't want to speak ill of anyone, you get what you pay for; and Weston Doty – he's a Rock sagani – is very inexpensive."

Dryali, looking around at the work going forth, asked Gilthur, "The repairs… are these generic shops?" Gilthur's face was indecipherable; maybe it was his beard.  "Most specialize," he said.  "Generic repairs… you want specialized."

The Freelancers took their leave, much as Dryali wanted to check out the woodworking.

Stormhaven Underground was much like Stormview, fairly roomy tunnels as interconnecting thoroughfares between larger caverns in the side of the skylith.  Occasionally there were lifts to go to different levels.  All was lit with continual flame street lamps, or the perpetual twilight of the cavern openings that pointed to the system south and thus never saw the Daystar.

They got to doors opening to one of the south-facing caves.  Above the doors, worked in metal, was a mechanical ship with crossed spanners and the word SHIPMONGER arching over it.  Peering in, they saw two mechanical airships, wings closed; and people bustling around.  One airship, in the cave, was partially disassembled, with a team working on one of its giant propellers, which had been removed from its enclosure.  The other airship was moored just outside the cave, seeming to float next to the skylith; it appeared mostly ready.  Far beyond, perhaps a mile away, the afternoon light of the Daystar, peeking in between the scudding clouds, illuminated the mighty cliff providing the shelter for which Stormhaven was famous.

Among the workers, a female human with steel-grey hair in a very big bun was striding around, course-correcting the work from time to time.  

Fascinated, all three Freelancers entered, looking around at all the activity.  As the human came near, Meurig commented, "Nice ship you are building, here."

She stopped, looking at the tall Black dragonborn, and nodded.  Meurig, emboldened, introduced everyone, then said they were there, "...on behalf of Lady Sonya, to find out if you were willing to repair one of her ships."

Eleonora, for such she must be, pulled out a pipe from an unnoticed pocket, and started packing it with tobacco.  "Depending on the size of ship, we can fit it now; otherwise in two days."  Satisfied with her pipe, she lit it up and took a puff.

Meurig hesitated.  "We're not sure, the size of repairs."  Tahu, alarmed Meurig might overpromise, asked quickly, "Can we get an assessment?"  Puff, puff.  "If Lady Sonya authorizes it," she explained, "I can send someone to assess."

Meurig regained his confidence.  "Can do it now?"  Eleonora shook her head.  "Not without Lady Sonya's approval.  We do not wish to anger House Drogo."

The Freelancers nodded, and promised to convey this information to Lady Sonya; Eleonara bade them good day and strode off, calling to the crew on the propeller.   It was time to check out other shipbuilders.  They decided to try Oswalt Tallfellow next.

After some wandering, and going up a couple levels, they realised they were curvind around the inner part of the harbour, and came to a smaller shop, with a sign proclaiming itself The Portly Mast.  At first they thought it was a tavern, as it showed a windsail airship with two clinking glasses of port, but not so; peering through the open doors, they saw Djogeon halflings and Wild elves looking at a ship under repair.  Some were clambering all over it, applying caulking to the hull; others were working on a rather thick-looking mast, testing it for smoothness to fold against the hull.  Still others were working on some gear that looked like small boats, and attaching that to the hull.

They stepped inside, with Tahu and Meurig having to duck through the doorway.  Dryali was distracted by watching the artificers.  He told the others this was a retrofit so an airship could land on a thalassa, which Tahu found fascinating.  The name of the ship was clear:  the Wysner.

In the back of the cave, to their left, the wooden bones of a smaller airship were taking shape.

After watching a few minutes, with the workers continuing to ignore them, the Freelancers decided to try out the other shipbuilder, Samantha Dalanthan.  They wandered back in the direction they came, but down a couple levels in the tunnels.

They arrived at tall doors, with a sign over them in elegant script:  Misty Mooring Shipbuilder.  The letters seemed to rise from the bottom of the sign, as if from a mist.  Entering the cave, they saw it was very large, and appeared to have an actual shelf jutting out, as a dock.  It was large enough to hold two windsail airships, lower mast removed, but otherwise undergoing minor repairs.

The cave itself held nearest to them, a rather large airship under construction, and further out, a ship clearly in need of serious repairs.  Near them, next to the walls, artificers were working on blocks.  Some were assembling them, some infusing.  Dryali watched, fascinated.  A male Maker gnome saw him staring, and came over to greet the Freelancers.  "Hi!  How can I help you?"

Tahu said courteously, "We're looking for a place for repairs."  The gnome exclaimed, "No finer place!"

Tahu gestured expansively.  "You have a lot going on!"  The gnome told him, "It's that time of year!"  He paused.  "Tumultuous."  The way he paused made Dryali glance more closely at the ships.  One of the ships on the shelf was actually sky raider damage, its stern scarred by ballista strikes.  He elbowed Meurig and nodded towards it.

Meurig had no filter on his curiosity.  "Who owned the ship?"  He gestured to the damaged ship, named Mitani.

The gnome's reply was diffident.  "We do our best to only support reputable ships," he told the Freelancers, "That one, her captain is Emeny Dragongust."

Meurig asked, "Was that a recent attack?"  He realized that was a little more intense than warranted, and explained, he was trying to find out if there had been any unusual activity.  The gnome told him, "The damage was in the last 2-3 primes." <narrator voice: that's 22-33 days, to you.>

Meurig returned to the purpose of his visit.  "We are looking on behalf of Lady Sonya Drogo – is this a good shop for that?"

The Maker gnome's demeanor instantly changed.  "I am Decalos," he proclaimed, "and we would be quite happy to have House Drogo business!"

Meurig asked for estimates or price ranges, but Decalos demurred, not wishing to assess a ship for repairs without the express authorization of Lady Sonya.  The Freelancers promised to convey this information to Lady Sonya, and took their leave.

As they walked back towards the area they were staying, they decided to avoid The Gallant Gryphon and instead have food and a drink or two at The Safe Harbour taproom.  While there, enjoying the quite serviceable food, they saw it was frequented by quite a few of the various crews at the shipbuilders' caves.

Tahu, ever fascinated by the different ships, struck up conversations with a few of them.  <narrator voice:  Casey rolled a nat 20 investigation>  The gossip was aswirl with rumours about a mechanical shipbuilder, Ozias Cloudslicer, a rather talented Rocklit dwarf just getting started.  Two ships had emerged from his shop in record time.  The Linny had already sailed off, but the Istria might still be in port, repaired but a couple days ago. 

Almost reluctantly – Lady Sonya really did like to talk – they headed back to The Gallant Gryphon.  As they entered the taproom, they saw she and her retainers were eating and drinking, as well; she waved them over.

"Did you find anything good?" she asked.  Her eyes widened. "Did you find anything bad?"

Taking turns, the Freelancers relayed the information they'd gathered on five separate shipbuilders: Eleonara Peleonor, Weston Doty, Oswalt Tallfellow, Samantha Dalanthan, and Ozias Tallfellow.  Lady Sonya had not heard of Ozias, and was delighted to discover this up-and-coming shipbuilder.

However, Ozias was up-and-coming, and she needed House Drogo ships on trustworthy builders.  She had already been considering Shipmonger and Misty Mooring, and felt that the information the Freelancers brought back to her validated her inclinations.  She would save Ozias for later, she decided.

They didn't miss how swiftly and no-nonsense Lady Sonya was in arriving at a decision.

After two more days of running errands for Lady Sonya (mostly to handle the back-and-forth of the two ships she wanted repaired), they left Stormhaven for Cliffshadow, with considerably less gold to guard on the way back.

Dryali was pleased he'd been able to spend time at The Great Workshop of Eternal Refinements, and determined to return when he had more time.  He thought about it while riding on top of the carriage back to Cliffshadow, in mostly stormy weather.

Once back in Cliffshadow, the Lady Sonya declared again that she was super pleased about the Ozias Cloudslicer tip, and paid 150gp each to the Freelancers.