Roster
Present
Tides of Diplomacy and Storms
Date: May 6, 2026 — Session 6
Summary
The party left the warlock’s retreat carrying a mystery. Before they departed, someone had noticed fresh wet ink appearing on the interior wall — “It wasn’t supposed to come back” — and then watched it pull upward and vanish without a trace. Brynnan ran a detection sweep and found only the expected residual warlock magic. The message was copied into a journal. No one could explain it. They packed their things and left.
Bimmie summoned the folding boat and set a course south — except the sea had its own ideas. First, an unnatural stillness settled over the water. No fish responded to anything thrown overboard. Then a debris field appeared: wreckage, salt-grey timber, and a torn blue-and-gold flag bearing a kraken and a lightning bolt. One party member recognised the symbol from their earlier journey toward Eastguard. Bimmie fished during the lull, caught enough for a proper meal, and prayed to Mishakal for better winds. She answered.
The winds didn’t stay gentle. A full storm built on the horizon and hit them hard — rigging broke loose, water poured in, and the party bailed and fought the wheel while the cliffs pressed close. When the squall finally passed, it left them with a strong tailwind and the small coastal port of Nettleton ahead. They resupplied, spent the night, and Bimmie put out a fire on the dock caused by a brawl before anyone woke up.
Back at sea the next morning, a ship appeared on the horizon and changed course toward them. The flag: blue and gold, kraken and lightning bolt — the same one from the wreck. Bimmie furled the sail and waited. When the ship pulled alongside, he hailed the captain respectfully, held up the torn flag, and explained where it had come from. The captain, Barrish Stormwrap, sent a crewman and a kender named Pip aboard to check for weapons. Finding none, he came over himself.
Bimmie cooked. Stormwrap’s crew ate. By the end of the meal both ships had parted on good terms, each wishing the other fair winds.
Short
A mysterious vanishing message in the warlock’s retreat, a wreck field carrying a familiar flag, a violent storm survived by the skin of their teeth, and a pirate captain won over with a hot meal and the return of his torn colours. The party resupplied at Nettleton, Bimmie put out a dockside fire in the middle of the night, and Pip the kender cheerfully returned a gear component he’d somehow acquired from Vonmese’s pocket. They parted as friends. The sea remained unpredictable.
Classic
Last we left off, the party sailed out of the warlock’s retreat and straight into three consecutive problems: an eerie dead calm that preceded the wreck of someone’s ship, a storm that nearly took the boat with it, and a pirate vessel that turned out to be the previous problem’s owner.
Bimmie’s solution to all three: pray, bail, and cook a good meal. It worked. Barrish Stormwrap departed having eaten their shark steaks and returned their flag, and the party sailed on knowing the sea between here and Itzan Klertal is both watched and complicated.
Snarky
The wall wrote them a cryptic message and then ate it. Brynnan scanned for magic. Found none. Everyone agreed this was fine and sailed away.
Then they found a wrecked ship, survived a storm that had no business being that dramatic, resupplied at a town small enough to have only one fire per night, and accidentally made friends with a pirate captain because Bimmie cooked him dinner. Pip the kender handed back a gear he’d lifted from Vonmese’s coat pocket as though this were a perfectly normal thing to do at a weapons inspection. Nobody asked follow-up questions.
Limerick
The wall wrote a message and ate it back whole, A warning, a riddle, or both — who can know. They sailed through the wreck, Got storm on the deck, Then fed a pirate and let the whole matter go!
Old Pip pulled a gear from his pocket with glee, “I think this belongs to you — something I see!” The pirates ate well, Had stories to tell, And two ships parted friendly on the New Sea!
Memorable Moments
Wet ink appears on the wall of the warlock’s retreat, reads “It wasn’t supposed to come back,” then pulls upward and vanishes.
No magical signature. No physical residue. Just the copied line in a journal and a lot of unanswered questions.
Pip the kender produces a mechanical gear from his pocket during the weapons inspection and hands it back to Vonmese as though returning borrowed property is the most natural thing in the world.
It was a component from Vonmese’s frog project. Nobody had reported it missing.
“I think this is yours. And this too.” — Pip
Bimmie defuses a potential pirate confrontation by inviting the crew aboard for dinner.
Barrish Stormwrap’s ship was armed, had cannons, and flew the same flag as a wrecked vessel. Bimmie furled his sail and started cooking.
Scenes
The Message on the Wall
Something left a warning in the warlock’s retreat before the party departed.
- Wet ink appeared on an interior wall: “It wasn’t supposed to come back.”
- The party watched it pull upward and disappear.
- Brynnan ran a magical detection. Only ordinary warlock residue.
- The message was copied. No explanation was found.
- Vonmese collected salvaged machinery from the basement workshop.
Dead Calm and Wreckage
The sea went silent before revealing what had been lost.
- An unnatural stillness fell over the water. No fish. No wind.
- The party entered a debris field — broken timber, scattered cargo, a torn flag.
- The flag: blue-and-gold, kraken and lightning bolt.
- A party member recognised it from a prior journey toward Eastguard.
- Bimmie fished. Prayed to Mishakal. The winds returned.
The Storm
What came next was not subtle.
- A storm built fast on the horizon and struck without mercy.
- Rigging tore loose. Water came over the sides.
- The party bailed and fought the steering oar while the cliffs got close.
- The squall passed. A strong tailwind remained. Nettleton appeared ahead.
Nettleton
A night in port. Supplies. A small fire.
- The party docked and split to resupply — herbs, meat, vegetables, rations.
- Vonmese looked for underworld contacts. Found none. Told a dramatic story about the storm in a rough tavern instead.
- The party ate a proper dinner at a nicer establishment.
- During the night watch, a dockside brawl knocked over a lantern.
- Bimmie put the fire out before it spread.
The Pirate Vessel
The flag from the wreck belonged to someone still sailing.
- A ship appeared on the horizon flying the blue-and-gold kraken flag.
- It changed course toward the party’s boat.
- Bimmie furled the sail and waited with the torn flag in hand.
- When hailed, he showed the flag and explained where it had come from.
- Barrish Stormwrap sent Pip and a crewman named Gorvache Tidebreaker aboard to check for weapons.
Dinner with a Pirate
Bimmie cooked. Diplomacy was achieved.
- The inspection found no threat.
- Barrish Stormwrap came aboard.
- Bimmie served a meal.
- Pip produced a mechanical gear from his pocket and returned it to Vonmese.
- Stormwrap’s crew ate, shared the table, and departed on good terms.
- Both ships parted with fair winds wished on both sides.
NPCs
Barrish Stormwrap
Captain of a blue-and-gold kraken-flagged pirate vessel. Cautious, professional, and unexpectedly reasonable over a hot meal. He warned the party about a massive thirty-foot shark near the southern ruins and confirmed the mounted sea riders generally leave ships alone unless provoked.
Pip
A kender crewman aboard Stormwrap’s ship. Sent over to inspect for weapons during the boarding. Returned a gear component from Vonmese’s coat and a second small personal item, both acquired in the way kender tend to acquire things.
Locations
Abandoned Warlock House
The party’s temporary base north of Eastguard. Departing note: a message appeared on the wall and erased itself.
Nettleton
A small coastal port used for resupply. Unremarkable except for the dockside fire Bimmie quietly extinguished before dawn.
The New Sea
Debris fields, storms, and pirate ships. The route south is not a safe one.
Items
Torn Blue-and-Gold Flag
Recovered from the wreck field. Kraken and lightning bolt on a blue field. Returned to Barrish Stormwrap during the encounter and used to establish trust.
Geared Metal Part
A component from Vonmese’s frog project. Found in Pip’s pocket. Returned without incident.