117th Day, 500 Ship Time, Aboard the Swoose

Twenty seconds later, the Swoose is 60 feet in the air, slowly ascending. The crew has pulled aboard the nets, and cut Brand loose of his bonds. He and Ceran are smiling from ear to ear, and laughing about their good fortune. Gardner is at the helm with his blunderbuss reloaded, and both Clovis and Blendin have reloaded their weapons and are scanning the top of the ruin for signs of the priest; they see nothing. Moira is chatting with her shipmates, sitting atop the bags of flowers.

117th Day, 0430 Ship Time, Uncharted Island

With the Grandee adrift, and weapons at the ready, the Swoose makes its way towards the rock formation.

The forest breaks open abruptly, giving way to the dark grey stone of the tower. The rock tower is some 50 meters high, assuming the trees here are roughly 20m tall. Although it is obscured by the forest, the tower has a rough 20-meter square base that tapers and twists a quarter turn clockwise to end in a flat top, 15 meters on a side. In theory, the Swoose would have plenty of room to come to rest atop it; Gardner notes however the winds here near the edge of the island are rougher than those at the center. He is concerned that maneuvering may be more difficult, but sees few other landing sites.

117th Day, 0300 Ship Time, Uncharted Island

Battle for the Grandee

Tooly has finished his two “stun sacks”, and Moira and Blendin gather the flowers into large bundles of sailcloth, ready to be tossed and scattered overboard if needed.

The anchors are raised, and the Swoose moves toward the edge of the treeline at a good speed. Moira and Jay leap aboard the Grandee as Gardner stalls the ship, climbing abruptly. Tooly, not seeing available targets for his stun cannon, follows across on the rope ladder, which he ties loosely to the aft rail of the Grandee. Gardner has lowered a heavy tow cable, ready to be tied. Blendin stands ready near the cannon, with his rifle at ease on the rail.

As you look for danger, the hatch flies open, and two voider pirates climb on top of the ship. One has an axe, buckler and a coin shirt, while the other has cocked a javelin ready to throw. At the same time you see the portside gun port open, and a pirate leans out with a crossbow aimed at the “boarders.” You also see two pairs of glowing eyes below the ship on the ground; they are looking up, and you feel a chill down your back.

Timber, Noon, 104th Day.

The past few days flew by without incident. Jay fell back into his usual routine, hanging from the ship’s painted envelope while doing his morning exercises and chatting to his plants. He has also become a regular at the logger’s tables in the evening and seems to get along well with a few of them, but always returns to the ship afterwards. Blendin spent much of his freetime beyond the treeline. A few of the loggers pointed him towards nearby wildling encampments, but each time he arrives at one, the location is vacated, probably only moments before his arrival. Tooly has finished repairs on the drive rod and now is well underway repairing the gear locking mechanism its on schedule, but he has some plans to help the final alignment process go faster. Gardner and Renault have struck a deal to cover these repairs. He will take 1000 off your cash payment of 15000, in exchange for sealing the swoose and three altitude suits, all paid in advance. The swoose’s hull smells like honey and pine, but otherwise looks as it always did – the orcish runes are still visible beneath the coating.