Where Lothar Sees the Ocean, and Sings a Chanty

by Floyd Fiftynames, Licensed Bard

After Lothar and his friends killed the werewolf lord in the back of Jonas the Gnome's Oddities Shop, they learned a few new lessons:

1. Werewolf Lords are hard to kill, even for five highly trained evil dispatchers
2. Walls are thinner than doors
3. Killing a monster who reverts back to a man upon death means it's time to go for everyone involved

And so it was that Jonas came to stop having a shop in Aaron's Port, but that seemed like a small part of the larger overall story (only time will tell), especially when compared to the party's first boat ride.

Lothar had seen plenty of magic in his life by this point. He had stood on the edge of a mountain, overlooking forever, and he had seen the great chasm, which seemingly had no bottom, but as he looked out over the water, truly for the first time that morning (their previous trip to the docks had been after sunset, when the true majesty of the sea could not be fully appreciated), he felt, for the very first time, that he was seeing something infinite.

What it is about the mysteries of the great water which draw men in, this bard cannot say. He comes from a long line of earth dwellers, of proud gnomes who came from beneath the hills and lived among the rocks and soil. The ocean is not in his blood, but for men, it's different. For humans, the sea is somehow their mother, and it's terrible wrath is a small price to pay for the sound of it's song, and the embrace of the waves.

Lothar took well to being on a boat. After a few days in, he could see an alternate life for himself, had he not become a hero, wherein he could have been a sailor, and plied his tanner trade aboard a mighty sailing vessel. He celebrated nightly with the ship's crew and the other passengers, finding a solace and relief he had not known for some time.

In the meantime, Lioto and Salem were making friends - members of Lioto's order, who were undertaking a pilgrimage. One admired Lioto very much. The other took himself very seriously. Ajanni became a seagull to learn more about the high ship walls that came up every night, and discovered the ship was being driven by water elementals at night to make it go faster. Riordan took the party to see the captain, and let him know they were wise to him, but had no issues with this practice. In fact, the party offered their heroic services to him, should the need arise. The captain thanked the boys, and assured them he would call on them if trouble found their voyage.

Sure enough, trouble found them.

FF

Boys Becoming Men, Men Becoming Wolves

by Floyd Fiftynames, Licensed Bard

Riordan could've resorted to violence, but he didn't. It was, as the storytellers say, a sign of character growth. The burgeoning bard was directed by the unscrupulous captain to retrieve his money from the boatswain, a clear misdirect that would lead to violence, but by employing a bit of arcane trickery - though we like to think of it as "the 'ole charm" - Riordan co-erced an admission of truth out of the boatswain, and subsequently, the captain, and walked away with the refund he sought.

-----

"Lothar," Salem asked, later that night, as the gang went out to celebrate with a shopping trip and some drinks in the big city, "we need to get on the boat in the morning. Make SURE they don't get into trouble."

Lothar wanted to do right by Salem. Sometimes he felt bad for the young cleric. Lothar and Ajanni had processed the deaths of their families through their anger (or so at least Lothar suspected of Ajanni before this very night, but he would soon discover there was deep-seated emotional scarring that would direct his dark friend towards the path of self-destruction), but Salem, while ostensibly an orphan, had a father figure whom he'd lost - Fhaerris. The loss of Oakshadow's religious patriarch had imbued Salem with a deep sense of purpose, which Salem had been subjecting on the others by requiring the regular observation of church services. Lothar had long been patient about church, but the peer pressure of 150 was somehow more tolerable than being part of a congregation of half a dozen. There was a lot more eye contact from the pulpit. Our large hero hoped that the group's trip to the Regian center would satisfy his need for religious inclusion, and bring about some sort of catharsis regarding the death of his mentor.

At this point, I should probably clarify that Lothar didn't really grasp such thoughts in quite as much depth as I've illustrated here - his capacity for understanding his own feelings was limited enough, and such an insightful analysis of the emotional needs of his companions was outside of the locus of his faculties. I, on the other hand, have enough respect for you, my audience, to give you the facts of the case, and not talk down to you. Incidentally, that hat at the front of the stage - you might as well just treat that like a tip jar. Happy Yule to all!

Anyway, Salem stayed behind while the others took off for a few drinks. Afterwards, at Ajanni's urging, the group visited an oddities shop, where the druid sought out an ingredient for the voluntary transformation into lycanthropy. This revelation raised red flags among those assembled, including the gnomish shopkeep, who reluctantly agreed to pursue a lead he knew of, and invited the group back later that night.

At another bar, Lothar found himself approached by a city guard, who escorted him to a private office where he and his companions were relocated with Elfred. The reunion was very emotional for Lothar and his uncle, who had not yet communicated with Corwin Janus, and until now did not know that the group had survived the burning of Oakshadow. Riordan caught Elfred up on what they had been up to, and confirmed Elfred's worst fears about the other members of the town. In addition, Elfred assuaged the fears of the boys concerning Sir Bardin's involvement in the atrocity, though he could not do the same regarding EVERYONE who may have wished ill of the town. The messenger shared what information he knew about the beaked men, and after a time, Elfred had to go on his way, and the Band of the Red Oak had to go theirs.

The hour was growing late, so the gang returned to the shop, and the gnome confirmed he had spoken to his source - a fellow named Vargas*, and that Vargas was very interested in meeting with the boys after the gnome had described the group to him. Upon learning this, Riordan told the gnome the truth about Vargas, and the shopkeep nervously informed him that one of Vargas' compatriots was in the shop, waiting in the back, at this very moment. The group gave the gnome a chance to beat a hasty exit, and then steeled themselves for a showdown. Lothar grabbed his axe, and silently apologized to Salem for breaking his promise.

FF

*Vargas was the Abbott of the Monastery where the monks were a secret coven of werewolves.

In Which Lothar Has Someone for Dinner

by Floyd Fiftynames,

Lisenced Bard

Soljus helped Lothar & Co. return to the cavern from which they came, and the party decided to head up and check on Mick, Gahiji, the wolves, and the wagon before getting some rest and heading back to continue searching for baddies. However, their plans were deterred when they resurfaced and discovered that a mighty squall had blown through the area, and Mick and the canines were nowhere to be found. Ajanni tracked their path to a nearby farmhouse, where they found the party's standardbearer, along with the dogs, safe and sound. The house's owner was nowhere to be found, which Mick explained was the way he found the homestead. Mick then shared the dinner he'd prepared with the gang. 

Something was clearly suspicious in all of this, so the party did some investigating, and discovered that the meat they were eating was the home's owner, whom Mick had killed and prepared for eating. A wave of revulsion and horror overtook our heroes, and Riordan, being the one who hired Mick, took it upon himself to interrogate (Mick had been introduced to cannibalism out of necessity in his youth, and turned to it now and then when food became scarce), and summarily execute his charge. The experience did not sit well with any of the assembled, but the party found themselves at a loss to come up with a better solution in retrospect. 

The group lit out from the farmhouse and continued on their way towards Sea Salem. Along the way, they passed through a poorer duchy known as Errond's Port, and were accosted by guards of the local lord, acting independently, with the intent of capturing the group and taking their wealth. The party, however, was able to quickly dispatch the ruffians, and Lothar chased down and caught the final assailant, who tried to flee when it became clear they were fighting a losing effort.

The party took the would-be thief to his lord, and reported him, where they discovered the decrepit state of affairs in the land. The lord, an elderly dwarf named Eliphilet, and the party agreed to call it square (the party had returned all the goods of their assailants to the dwarf), and negotiated for safe passage to Aaron's Port en route to Sea Salem. They were escorted by a guard named Ross, whom Riordan hired after having the chance to get to know the young man. Ross was proscribed to head for the Stein & Shield, where he would wait for the party's return from Sea Salem in a few months' time. 

The party proceeded on to Aaron's Port, and got their first taste of a true metropolis. The group marveled at the number of shops, and the sheer city-ness of it all. Along the way, they made the acquaintance of a man who sold spell components under the auspice of oddities, and met a retired druid who ran a stable in the city. This druid agreed to care for the dire wolves while the party was in Sea Salem (where their presence could have caused the group trouble), in exchange for Ajanni taking the druid's (Simon) son, Simon the lesser, on as an apprentice. 

The party also visited the cathedral, where Salem introduced himself to the clergy and told them of his intentions to be made a full priest of Regius. Riordan confessed his murder of Mick, and sought absolution, and the priest who heard his confession told him to forgive the next man who wronged him.

The party made their way to the docks to book passage on a ship. While en route to the docks, they saw King Halfred on his way from his castle to a carriage, accompanied by Lothar's Uncle Elfred. Lothar elected not to disturb his uncle, as he was in the company of the King, and Lothar did not wish to interrupt, and run the risk of displeasing the regent.

At the docks, Riordan negotiated for passage on a ship, which he did with some difficulty. Shortly afterwards, he discovered that he was being severely overcharged, and he attempted to get a refund on his purchase, but this did not go well.

FF