After a bit of an unintentional hiatus due to what happens when you only play once a month and then people have illness/life things happen HOW VERY DARE we're back on the high seas!
Our heroes are on the good ship Shivering Star, and things aren't going well. All of the food on the ship has spoiled and everyone is a little, well, terrified that this voyage will end with starvation or cannibalism or something. And yesterday, poor Joey-Boy, the ship's quartermaster, fell into the sea! The heroes were able to rescue him, but their compatriot Boomer Pitbull was nearly drowned/burned up by acid/eaten by sharks in the process.
So now, the heroes are trying to figure out what's going on. Gelert Sausagedog, whose jaunty exterior hides a very well-read dog, thinks on the maritime legends he's heard and recalls stories of cursed voyages. Storms coming out of nowhere, spoiled food, all of these are hallmarks of such a curse - but what, or who, could have cursed them?
Peppa Papillon goes to visit Joey-Boy in the sick bay (the magic salts of the ship's medic, Otame Archaidchilde, have healed him up pretty well, but he's still tender). They talk and Joey-Boy reveals that he felt something shove him into the water, and just before he did, he felt a strong wind, coming from a direction that he knows the wind wasn't actually coming from. That's why he whispered "the winds" when they pulled him out of the drink. He didn't see anyone before he fell, though, and afterwards he was too busy burning from acid.
Following up on this, Peppa goes and talks to Tally-ho Whoop Whoop, the first mate, and asks whether, perhaps, any of the ship's crew might have seen something, even without realizing it. Tally ties a rope round her waist and calls up to the cat in the crow's nest, and the cat leaps down as a counterweight, yanking Peppa straight up the mast ("YIPE!"). Tally meets her there, and together they check where Joey-Boy was shoved in.
It's actually in something of a blind spot - the only crew member they can see near there is Jinx Von Rex, the sailing master, standing at the helm. (Joey-Boy was on the deck on the side of the cabin, and the helm is on top of it.) Peppa also talks to Pendy, the cat lookout, and Pendy didn't see anything before Joey fell. Just Joey walking the decks as usual, then the scream and the splash.
The characters get together with Captain Otterhound and ship's magician Perda Arcaidchilde and talk over their findings. They decide that something on this ship is causing the problems, but whether that's a saboteur, a cursed object, or something else they aren't sure. They are sure that magic is involved, however, so they come up with a plan.
The Captain will have Tally call a general inspection of the crew, and Peppa will interview everyone, quickly, using her Zone of Truth spell. It's not foolproof, but it'll be a start. Boomer will stay with her in case muscle is needed. Meanwhile, Petunia Pibble, Dire Newfoundland, and Sausagedog will search the ship with a special eye (nose, really) toward magic.
Tally calls for the inspection ("FALL OUT, YOU SALT! CAPTAIN'S INSPECTION! SQUAWWWK!"), and the Captain runs down what's happening. The sailors don't seem upset - they're just as scared by all this as everyone else. Peppa casts the spell and asks everyone some yes/no questions about whether they know anything about what happened to Joey-Boy and whether they know about the food spoiling. No one does, however.
Meanwhile, Petunia, Dire, and Sausagedog search the crew's quarters and the hold and find nothing out of the ordinary. The cargo in the hold hasn't been disturbed, either. They got to sick bay and talk to Joey-Boy and Otame, and look through Otame's salts and rocks (he's happy to show them). There's magic here, but nothing they wouldn't expect to find.
Finally, they realize that they haven't talked to Jinx von Rex. Jinx is easy to miss - her job keeps her at the helm a lot of the time, and she's just generally distant. The three of them go to the helm and speak to her, and Petunia immediately smells magic. She asks about it, and Jinx' eyes narrow slightly. But then the dogs realize that a strong wind is at Jinx' back!
Dire grabs her by the throat and demands to know why he shouldn't just crush her neck. Storm clouds roll in and lightning crashes, and Petunia throws a Dispel Magic spell at Jinx. She responds by opening her mouth and letting out a horrific shriek, and a huge, bat-winged demon explodes outwards. Jinx collapses to the deck, and Sausagedog backflips off the cabin onto the deck to alert Peppa and Boomer. Boomer grabs a sailor and says "You! Go get my maul!" The sailor runs off!
They both rush up to the cabin, and Peppa calls up a Spiritual Guardian next to the demon. Its light burns the demon's clouds, and it calls up gale-force winds, throwing Peppa and Petunia off the cabin. Boomer rages, and he and Dire swing on the demon, punching it will all their might (their weapons are, unfortunately, still in their cabins). The demon conjures thunder and lightning, and the skies above start wailing. Petunia dispels the storm, and Perda arrives and throws the ol' reliable Magic Missile at the demon.
The crew, at the Captain's orders, runs around securing the ship. The demon flies upwards to the crow's nest, and unleashes acid rain onto the deck! The crew falls, clutching their burning flesh, as Sausagedog struggles to get tarps over them (Dire helps). Petunia, however, finally has her shot.
She flings lightning at the demon, and it lights up like thunderheads in a storm. Boomer roars in rage and springs across the deck, climbing up the mast (the sailor finally arrives with his maul, but Boomer isn't dumb enough to try climbing a mast with a maul in his teeth). He gets to the crow's nest and sinks his teeth into the demon, holding it still, and Petunia strikes again, flinging Magic Missiles at it. The demon dissipates into wisps of clouds and ozone, and the skies clear.
Otame and Peppa spend the rest of the day healing crew members, and then the officers meet up in the cabin and talk it over. Jinx is alive, and in the brig until Peppa can talk to her, but most of the heroes feel this is a pretty clear case of demon possession. Captain Otterhound also reveals that the ship has been sailing south, rather than north (this is what happens when your sailing master gets possessed). They right the ship and start heading for the coast. Petunia recalls stories of demons of the sea called Stormcallers, evil creatures that just want to bring ships into the open ocean and sink them.
Peppa talks with Jinx, who tells her that all she remembers is trying to guide the ship through the first storm and then suddenly she was waking up on the deck with Sausagedog shaking her. She has no memory of her time in the Stormcaller's thrall.
The crew tightens their belts and presses on, and in a couple of days they reach the coast, famished, dehydrated, but alive. Boomer leaps to the beach and digs his paws into the sand, thrilled to be alive, while Petunia steps off the boat, takes two steps, and falls on her butt because she no longer has land legs.
Next time: On to Port Matthew!
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