Low Tide on the Spit: Session One

The survivors of the Lost Vineyard were sailing towards The Spit, an archipelago of sub-polar islands currently experiencing a record-breaking low tide. Vraifigi had christened their ship the Satyrdance. Josian stood at the prow, peering into the fog with her newly purchased spyglass. Simon slept in the hold, waiting for an important message to come to him in his dreams. Amalia watched her hawk, Mister Feathers, fly alongside the ship, while she entertained her hounds, Behemoth and Leviathan. Aedric chatted with his retainers, four humans from Caecely, home to the infamous caecillians. Mateo the Magic-User, Theresa the Thief, Carlotta the Cleric, and Francesco the Fighter explained that they were massive worm-like beasts sometimes farmed for their milk.

strangely, the elves wore nothing but kilts and masks

They made landfall at the beaches by Iron Cup trading outpost and got the lowdown on the basic layout of the local islands. The party decided to explore the tip of the peninsula. They spotted a small group of people hauling a large grey shape. Josian looked through her spyglass and told everyone it was five elves hauling the carcass of some enormous creature on a sled. Aedric called out to ask what they were doing, hastily adding that they weren't here to pursue the bounty on elf ears. The elves laughed, expressing doubt that Aedric could catch them and told him he'd be better off hunting the elf right next to him (Vraifigi). The party wandered some more in the fog before deciding to return to the Iron Cup fort.

The fort was lit by an unusually bright oil lamp whose light pierced through the fog. When Vraifigi stepped into its light, she felt as if a massive singular eye was staring directly into her soul. She shrugged it off and went to talk to the elves who had just arrived at the fort with their catch. She spoke with the muscular elf who seemed to be the leader and learned his name was Hofwyn. The cave elf pointed at his bare midriff and asked how come he hadn't frozen to death. He laughed and demanded that Vraifigi of Fafnir tell him something about herself. She told him that her red eyes let her see in the pitch dark. Hofwyn was satisfied with this trade of information and said it would be easier to show her. He thumped his chest and grunted something in old elvish that roughly translated to "endure elements."

The rest of the party introduced themselves to Tovosia, cleric of the Knacker and head of the Iron Cup expedition. They asked if she could give them the lowdown on the archipelago geography and the details of the bounty on Saltar the Pyromancer. He was wanted dead or alive, for the crimes of: burninating the countryside, the peasants, and the officers of the law when they came to apprehend him, and then saying that part of their job to die in the line of duty. Tovosia read off his list of crimes with a bored resignation, though. Iron Cup had a trade license from the Commonwealth, and that obligated her to pay out any rewards for bounties. Vraifigi stepped in to hear the tail end of her spiel and noticed the telltale scars of surface scum, a disease common in brothels in the Depths. Though as a human, Tovosia probably knew it as "shadow pox."

The adventurers decided to sail east, which lucky for them, was also the island Saltar was camped out at. Josian surveyed the coast with her spyglass. Someone had built a campfire further inland, though it was far enough that she couldn't make out anything else in the fog. The Satyrdance sailed clockwise around the island, discovering a rocky beach and a tangled mess of wrecked ships. The ship's captain advised they drop the anchor and explore in a rowboat to avoid adding their ship to the pile. Vraifigi ignored the false lights conjured by the hags and successfully rowed the boat to safety, along with Josian, Amalia and one of her hounds, and Aedric and his retainers. After watching a jellyfish ooze swallow a crab, the party headed up the beach, further inland.

by Naf

They eventually found Saltar shivering in front of his campfire. Thanks to the fog, he hadn't noticed them. Aedric suggested going to talk to the figure. Tovosia had warned them Saltar was the real deal, not some maniac flinging flasks of alchemist's fire. This guy didn't look like a powerful sorcerer. The player characters advanced while team Caecely hung back, bows at the ready. When asked to identify himself, the pyromancer spun around, shooting sparks from his fingers.

"Fear me! I am Saltar, chosen of the Ember Lord!" He let his arms fall to his sides, "you're here to kill me for the bounty, aren't you?"

"Not...necessarily," Josian countered, "how do you feel about all those things you did? The stuff that put the price on your head."

Saltar stammered and explained that at least some of it was an accident. Fire is unpredictable and so easy to lose control of, you see. Vraifigi wasn't convinced, Amalia shrugged, and Aedric thought the eight of them could take on just one pyromancer. Josian called for a group huddle and the four adventurers backed off into the fog. She wanted to live up to the example of Mercy and give the guy another chance, but the rest of the party wasn't convinced. 

That is, until Saltar shouted out "I can give you some, or all! Of my treasure?" 

Amalia tilted her head in acknowledgement and Vraifigi asked if he could offer anything that they couldn't just kill him and take. Saltar gestured at the iron barrel sitting next to his camp. Mounted on the back was a tangle of iron that looked like a hellish astrolabe trapped in a birdcage. The party was confused until Saltar shouted an arcane phrase. The contraption burst into flame, belching smoke and slowly pushing the barrel across the ground.

"It's a lot more impressive in the water. There's less friction."

With that out of the way, the party set about faking Saltar's death. He introduced them to Drowny the hag, and asked her if she could fetch a corpse that looked like him from the shipwreck dungeon. Saltar dressed the corpse in his clothes, including his golden necklace and ring, before setting it ablaze. His nakedness didn't bother him. Saltar was proud of his body, and his inner flame kept him warm despite the icy fog. Amalia suggested he scorch their armor to really sell the illusion. Saltar set up her shield on a rock and tossed a few firebolts at it, before singing everyone's clothes with a gentle application of his burning hands. Aedric had Theresa the Thief, master of mechanisms, attach the pyromancy-engine to their rowboat. As the party sped off, Josian warned Saltar that if he ever slid back into his old ways, she would find him.

The effort paid off. Back at the Iron Cup fort, Tovosia shrugged her shoulders and forked over the reward money. A crowd had gathered to gawk at "Saltar's" corpse. Vraifigi spotted someone who seemed almost...disappointed? It looked like they was carrying a big flask under their cloak. She committed their face to memory, but wasn't able to notice anything else before the mysterious stranger slipped away.