VS feels very loved, but also tied down, so she leaves Orion quickly in the morning. We note she's basically a Folk Hero now, with her...marauding...ways.
We wake up in the castle, in our own rooms. Balcony, garden, painting...the works. Z is impressed by his painting of a lion battling a hydra. Quinn considers stealing her painting of a banquet of seafood.
LK looks morosely out the window and wonders if he's gotten too urbanised. BB practises her viol, in the meantime.
...there's no good way of stealing this painting.
Z opens his door and calls for breakfast; the passing servant indicates the brunch downstairs.
Z wakes us up to tell us about brunch and that he learnt Fly overnight. We wonder if he spent the night throwing himself off the balcony testing it.
No, he says, and Flies off to brunch.
Various kinds of milk on tap? LK gets a glass in DW's honour. BB gets a milk flight. VS stumbles back into the room.
VS thinks griffins have been dead for thousands of years, it'll be fine. This vision is bogus.
BB thinks we should rez the coatl.
Quinn picks up some silverware, checks its balance, bites it, and is disappointed by how it is not actually silver. She chucks it back on the table.
BB demands an audience with the King. A paladin escort brings us to the chamber on the strict condition that we don't overstimulate him.
The King rests under a fur blanket, with a lion head on the wall, and a roaring fireplace. He's nervous about the coming doom...probably from the Storm Lords.
He doesn't quite know what the griffins mean, but there's six of them, and six of us...
VS offers to help in any - any! - way we can. He asks for another blanket.
Z asks why VS must be so sexy all the time, but VS is coy about this.
Quinn remarks that a turkey leg is probably not the best food tobe eating while sick. Welton is pleased that it just brings him sooner to Lathander.
Why is the Shrimp attacking, anyway? Dunno. Just likes raiding, I guess.
BB says it's, you know, seems like you're not in good shape to be rendering military aid of any kind.
The room gets....awkward. The moment has passed. He very much wants us to leave.
Off to Dairion to raise the coatl.
At the chapel he asks how he may service us.
...phrasing?
We're going through with the book for coatl transaction. BB reverentially hands over a wrapped package with the scale? fang? we don't know much about coatl anatomy.
The coatl fades in from glowing motes, coalesces, looks about in confusion, caws, and takes off through the hole in the wall.
LK wants to applaud but isn't sure if he should.
Z asks about extending life; Dairion is offended by this. It is forbidden! Z demands how he was to know, he's only two years old.
This leaves Dairion somewhat perplexed.
We ask if we can get rezzed if we die from the Shrimp. He's happy to, but he's never met anyone good enough to defeat the Shrimp.
You've never met us! Z says. Well, you have. You just did. But...yeah.
everybody is perplexed.
Quinn thanks Dairion, who replies that we're always welcome in the light of Lathander. Who is...canonically...everywhere? Quinn questions. Yes, but denser here, you see.
VS tries to seduce him, who says, uh, okay, maybe if you...beat the Shrimp.
Off to the docks. There's military ships, fisherman ships, and a saucy wench selling clams. LK buys a clam from her at the profligate price of 1 gold piece.
Z asks for a "super clam". She says she hasn't got any...wait, no, here's one, for...10 gp.
They both down their clams, despite that not being how clams are eaten since they are not oysters. LK does not pass a CON check. He's now ill.
We ask about the Shrimp. She doesn't sell shrimp, she replies. Not A shrimp, THE Shrimp.
Ah, yes. The big fish are out in the Dead Zone, where nobody has ever returned from.
Quinn asks if anyone is a good sailor of renown, since that means they may have returned from the DZ. One guy, in shambles. VS spends some time asking if the wench regrets her life as a clam seller, her father's boat, regrets...that kind of thing.
We find the guy. He tells us about the DZ, fishing with his boys...and iron ship came out of the water, a very large man with a bat bashed in the skull of one of the boys, and marooned him.
7 feet tall, with a pork chop moustache, lots of leather straps on him.
VS gives him a comforting hug, but he's not particularly interested in her boobs. LK asks for more info on the ships. He doesn't have any.
Quinn introduces himself to Simon; she says he seems lacklustre and timid, and what he lacks is fire.
The fire of vengeance!
He's not much of a fighter, Simon says. You don't have to be, Quinn replies. You can be an instrument. Bring us to the DZ. We'll kill the Shrimp for you. The way I see it, he owes you 3.5 lives.
Simon says he'll take us there if we have a vessel. In about 4 hours, we reply. Takes time to Mend the boat we have.
VS and LK go to a military ship to ask about borrowing it. VS seduces her way onboard and attempts to get the most attractive sailor to give us the use of the boat for sex.
She bonks him for it, he's very pleased, but despite being the best looking, he's not actually in command of the ship. The hottest, not hte most competent.
...after hours of this Quinn suddenly remembers, wait, hang on, why don't we just ask the King? She sends K off to deliver the request to the king, but K forestalls this by hopping over to a guard, and handing over the note.
Six hours later, LK is throwing up over the pier. The King sends back a permission slip. Quinn hands it over to BB and asks her to "do that thing you do, sweep in imperiously and all that".
BB strides imperiously onto the ship and asserts command to the bewildered sailors. Nothing. Stultus claims he's in command now. The soldiers remain bewildered.
Quinn cracks the literal whip - drill sergeant time - and VS joins in, haranguing the maggots for being asleep on watch, six strangers just came onboard your ship without being challenged, is this how you greet incoming command, let's see some parade review, get me your captain, what is this, boot camp?!
The captain stumbles blearily out of his wardroom. LK talks to him, and Captain Asher is impressed with his sailing experience, but asks us to lay off the whips and the shouting.
LK explains to to us, and VS putsh er whip away, but...you don't know where, since she's not got much on.
Quinn thinks about it, coils up her whip, and...gives it to LK. O...kay, LK says, and puts it away on his back, since he clearly doesn't know what to do with it.
Z flies off to recruit Simon, who doesn't want to go, since Z flubbed a Persuasion. So he recruits Brunhilde the clam wench instead. No idea why.
And we're off. LK gains Proficiency in sea vehicles.
The DZ... Asher exhales. Why are you whispering? VS asks. I wasn't talking to you, he replies.
VS tries to calm him by putting a hand on his back...and sliding down.