In Whitewall, Xenofos went to thank Jaldis in person for her help, and she gave him a letter to carry to the Chief Priest of the Temple of Lhankor Mhy. The party left Whitewall relatively early, to make their way to the river, intending to seek passage downstream. This neatly dodged the purported trouble that was going to hit Berra if they stayed.¹Berra’s player, in GM voice: HAHAHAHAHA.

Along the road, they intercepted a wagon between Whitewall and the river. Berra confronted the wagoneers because they looked at her feather funny. They claimed to be trading fish, but when confronted, they attempted to flee. This resulted in a confrontation leaving the surprise crossbowman dead, and Berra and Rajar with two captives. Beneath the rotting fish, the crates had secret compartments full of hazia. Once captured, the criminals talked nervously about a mastermind known only as ‘The Duck’, or sometimes ‘Mallardyr’. Despite Berra’s attempts to get rumours of Devolin’s whereabouts from them, they would not tell anything more about him, saying that he worked through middlemen.

During the conflict, Dormal kept Yamia calm, eventually resorting to creating loud bird noises to cover the sound of the fight. The party burned the hazia and hung the dead drug dealer/crossbowman alongside the road. Dormal and Berra had a short argument over whether Berra had been ‘looking for a fight’.

The party rafted down river to Karse. No one fell in, not even Billy. Rajar and Berra obtained ransom for their captives, which they shared. Irillo arranged passage for the party on a ship to Nochet.

During the sailing, the ship was briefly pursued by pirates until Varanis set fire to their deck with lightning. Venlar listened in on them via Wind Words, and heard mention of the name Harrek, which made it likely they were Wolf Pirates. Yamia came up to see what the fuss was about, and Dormal told her that it was a ritual and everything was fine. Berra was too amazed to blurt out that it was not. After that, the trip to Nochet was mostly uneventful.

In Nochet, Grandmother invited all of the Saiciae party members to visit with her. The meeting was peaceful, though the Saiciae Wyter snake did give Varanis a rather cosy hug. Rooms in the Saiciae compound were arranged for all who wanted them. Most of the party took advantage of the baths, with Rajar emulating the falling of the Block on the Devil, jumping into the bath with a loud RARRR! Dormal had a secret meeting with Grandmother, with some more reporting in.

Berra went to visit the Temple of Humakt, to arrange for Yamia to visit and have someone look at her.

Xenofos visited the Library. En route to the library, someone attempted to follow the scholar, but got caught up in a tavern brawl when he dodged through a narrow wine shop, allowing Xenofos to make his way to the library alone. At the library, he was greeted by a pompous sage with an inflated sense of self-importance and was unable to deliver the letter entrusted to him by High Healer Jaldis.

“RAJAR! I AM HUNG OVER!” – Berra
“Ah, we have a traditional remedy for this among my people!” – Rajar
“Give me- ” – Berra
“BEER!” – Both

“Oh, to your Chief Priest at the library.” – Jaldis
@@*@@eyebrows@@*@@ – Xenofos

“BEEEEEER!!!! It’s proof against plague” – Rajar
“Obviously this is why Berra is OK.” – Berra

“Dead people are good!” – Berra
“Right?” – Berra

“I live in that house! Not anymore, quarantine….” – Xenofos

“Firebreak! Burn it!” – Berra
“So you are going for a more Scandinavian, open plan design for the village, Rajar?” – GM
“Smash it all!” – Rajar

“The Russian Multi-tool of Humakt…” – Varanis

“The next day dawns bright and early…” – GM
“RAJAR! I am not hung over any more!” – Berra
“Excellent! We should work on that!” – Rajar

“Rajar, you on the left flank.” – Berra
“Excellent!” – Rajar
“Other left!” – Dormal

Dormal Scan: “I am in a covered wagon!”
Xenofos: “Trees.”

“Berra lets people know quickly, and then walks back up towards the wagon.” – Berra
“Rajar shoulders his lance, stretches carefully and rolls his neck.” – Rajar
“Just inspect javelin nonchalantly.” – Xenofos

“Sniff. The fish.” – Rajar
“CON roll, Rajar!” – Berra
“YOU INHALED.” – Berra

“In the wagon: sound of face hitting palm” – Berra
“Disease? Are they… alright? Is anyone hurt?” – Yamia

“Rajar, would you like to give me a dodge?” – GM
“I’d like to give it a very good try.” – Rajar

“You have just been shot.” – GM”
“Ouch.” – Rajar
“A heavy crossbow does how much?” – GM
“Ouch damage. It does ouch damage.” – Rajar

“I wasn’t expecting to fight today.” – Varanis Player

“It’s fine – he doesn’t get to fire once a round anyhow unless the Mostali REALLY love him.” – Berra
“Of course, if the Mostali really loved him, the crossbow would have made this loud ‘bang’ noise.” – GM

“He takes a slash at you as you go past.” – GM
“The colloquialism of ‘slash’ gives me a bad image there.” – Berra

“I get to make a parry tick roll. That’s the first time in the entire campaign.” – Rajar

“Tally-ho! Oh!” – Xenofos

“He shouts Ransom!” – GM
“Throw down your…” – Rajar
“Mellia can glue that arm back on, meaning you get the full ransom for him.” – Berra

“THIS ONE’S ARMLESS!” – Rajar
“I’m contemplating walking over there and calmly stabbing them all in the kidney.” – Dormal

“WHY WERE YOU AFRAID OF A DUCK?” – Berra
“You’ve given us ransom. You have to protect us, right?” – Carter

“People who upset him wake up to find… feathers in their bed.” – Carter
“…………………………..” – Rajar

“(some people call him thje Duck of Luuuuve)” – Rajar
“(Carter sleeps with the ducks?)” – Xenofos

“Only one Duck is Berra’s hobby.” – Berra
“(Hobby?)” – Xenofos
“Hunting Devolin is a hobby.” – Berra
“It’s a euphemism.” – Varanis
“IT IS.” – Berra

“Can we get Yamia some waxy earplugs?” – Berra
“Waxy earplugs, nice scarf for face, maybe a nice shirt with extended sleeves?” – Xenofos

“Eurmal: Pre-emptive maritime Salvage Engineer” – GM
“Eurmal: Smoother over of Bureaucratic Import/Export Red tape.” – GM

“Rajar hasn’t invoked the holy rage of Urox in AGES.” – Rajar

“So, it has been about a day’s sailing.” – GM
“Oooh, Freezeday!” – Berra

“OK, I fumbled insight.” – Dormal
“So, you know you’ve been spending all this time with Yamia. And she dotes on your every word.” – GM
“I’m having a hard time reconciling this with reality, but alright.” – Dormal

“I’m both intrigued and slightly worried, because she is going to go back to her usual murderous self at some point.” – Dormal
“In ten, nine, eight…” – Berra
“GOOD NEWS, I CURED YAMIA! GOT TO GO! SPLASH!” – Dormal

“LOUD NOISE WAKES YAMIA?!” – Berra
“halping?” – Xenofos
“HALPING!” – Berra

“You are brought ewers of water for hand-washing.” – GM
“Exceelent I was thirsty” – Rajar
“There are herbs in the water.” – Berra
“POSH! With added snack!” – Rajar

“Xenofos. Do you want to make me a scan roll?” – GM
“Unbelievable. I made it!” – Xenofos

“Xenofos Saiciae. Well, he might be able to fit you in next season…” – Scribe
“Oh, that would make the High Healer of Whitewall very unhappy. What was your name, friend Scribe?” – Xenofos
“I just can’t justify taking up His Excellency’s time for a mail man.” – Scribe
“Well, I can understand that, but you tell him, or I tell him next season.” – Xenofos

“SPLOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!” – Rajar

“Is anyone else doing anything before I call it for the night?” – GM
“Yes! It is very important to Rajar that he jumps into the bath properly!” – Rajar