The Broken Garden
Aboard the Beauty
56–57 Spring, 218
Ethan and Avarian talk, where Ethan reveals that he knows Avarian was a former guard of Hein Isendel, and reveals that Alistair-Lin Isendel didn’t die in the crash.
Ethan approaches Astarael and asks for help learning to read to interpret one of the Inquisitor’s journals, then brings up his suspicions of Sav. Astarael is hesitant of his hypothesis.
Warbler and Vanja do some gardening. After dinner, Ethan asks Vanja to tell the group what happened when she was captured. She admits she told them everything. Sav is incensed and says Vanja needs to leave; Astarael is forgiving and says the danger is too great to let Vanja leave and potentially get captured. Warbler brings dessert, pear and garlic pastries.
Ethan approaches Sav and broaches the idea of him pretending to be an Inquisitor and delivering an explosive surprise shaped in the prison box, and that there was a hidden compartment in the box that held Vanja; Sav is intrigued but cautious and starts to noodle on the idea. He points out that something looks like a map amidst the papers arrayed around her, and she realizes that it looks like a star map that shows the location of where the piece of the Octurne/star fell, about a week’s trek inland and a month south. She gets incredibly excited about it, but he says he can’t bear to stop pursuing Danica for two weeks, getting ever further away, not when he’s lost almost everybody; she stops him with an impulsive hug and says she doesn’t like him, but she gets it, and she’ll go alone if need be—they’ll each do what they have to do.
The next day, they arrive at a fishing village to discover it’s been destroyed, seemingly by some extremely large creature that came from the water. It did not go too far inland. Some townsfolk were dead, it was also clear that more fled to the mountains. They found only one alive for a brief time; he gives Sav and Astarael a garbled warning about something….unnatural. The party goes back to the ship and begins to plan for what may be coming. Astarael casts waterbreathing on the entire party and most of the crew, and Sav and Warbler stay on watch.
Astarael is just about to go to sleep, but is disturbed by a banging noise. She thinks it’s Vanja, but gets up to find Vanja asleep. She sees something outside the porthole, and hurries to the stairs - only to encounter a humanoid fish person blocking her way, armed with a trident.
Ethan's Campfire Synopsis
Shortly after the crew dispose of the last Swan’s body, Warbler seeks out Vanja, leading her to his small bonsai garden on the deck of the ship. Cackling Chortling madly, the deranged Halfling proudly reveals his sinister plan to slowly destroy the ship and indeed the world itself one tree at a time, allowing the roots of his floral children to tear apart every foundation laid by the hands of man.
(Artistic liberties taken. Scene possibly exaggerated/fabricated for comedic effect)
Later that night, Ethan wakes from a bad dream and moves to the deck for fresh air. There he finds Avarian on watch and the two share a flask of whiskey. As they speak, Ethan reveals some truths about himself and their group and prompts Avarian to tell more about himself. It is revealed that Avarian was once the bodyguard of Alistair Isendel, the late Baron’s son (brother to the current Baroness), and that he was present when the young man was assassinated by his own guardsmen. Ethan tells Avarian that the Baron’s son, Alistair, survived the attempt.
The next day, Astarael has a pleasant swim where she discovers a new ability and learns a new magic trick or two. Ethan and her have a discussion; Ethan is ultimately convinced to trust her intuition over an unsettling smattering of suspicious circumstances.
Later, during dinner, Vanja speaks about her capture and interrogation. Some party members are sympathetic, others are angered. The drama was compelling; the potatoes were ok.
The next morning, the crew are awakened by the alarm bell on the ship. As the Beauty approached the harbor of its first scheduled stop, the crewmen note the town has been decimated, its inhabitants slaughtered. The captain and some of the party take a dingy ashore to investigate. They find no survivors, save one doomed soul; the man is eviscerated but miraculously still alive. He offers vague, ominous warnings before rejoining the rest of village.
The crew determine whatever attacked the port town was massive in size. They return to the ship and flee the dead town. They discuss the potential threat and make plans for a potential confrontation. Ominously, while searching the waters below for any signs of the creature, they find nothing… no aquatic life of any kind can be found in the waters beneath the ship.
That night, Astarael is awoke by a strange sound. Investigating, she sees movement outside a port window. Moving to the deck, she encounters a humanoid figure, scaled with webbed hands and carrying a trident.
From somewhere below deck, still asleep, Roux makes a fish pun.
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Learning to Breathe, and an Inquisition | 56 Spring
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