Session 52 The Brush-Off
When Firien offers to assist with Durzus’ investigation, the triton recommends they hitch a ride aboard the Marley, a Free Trade Navy ship due to return from Runnelstone with refugees. Guy, listening at the door, gulps. Watching the crew of the Marley disembark, Guy begins rehearsing his long-awaited reunion with Captain Elyse Trelawney. Focused on corralling the refugees, Elyse doesn’t notice Guy until he calls her name. Training her large brown eyes on her wayward husband, Elyse marches toward Guy.
Without hesitation, Elyse slaps Guy across the face, berating him for his macabre and enigmatic letter. Guy hangs his head in resignation before delivering his most sincere explanation. The Six of Steel support Guy, commending his performance and valour aboard the Verity. Elyse flutters her lashes in disbelief. Not only had her husband helped change the world, but he had finally found an honest job! Eventually, Elyse relents and invites the Six of Steel aboard the Marley to discuss the situation.
The Marley
In her typical efficient fashion, Elyse presents her timeline of events. She had met with Rose Merryn, the Marley’s freelance quartermaster, on Inceptum 13th to ask for her assistance in tracking down a supply of basilisk venom. Elyse believed that if Rose could contact the smugglers, she might uncover a CSCA plot to expand into Mallia. To her surprise, Firien interjects, claiming the Church requested the venom in reaction to a potential Mallian threat. Arti admits they sent Subira to track the venom they procured.
Elyse tugs at her elven ears. Why would pirates destroy the venom if it was not meant for the CSCA? On Inceptum 23rd, a fleet of seven ships led by the Umberlee’s Wrath, executed a surprise attack on Runnelstone, heavily obscured by fog. An indiscriminate bombardment of heated cannonballs set the town ablaze while Bhaldrom Anchorheart paid Rose an unwelcome visit to destroy the venom. Fortunately, while Rose’s Merryn’s Pre-Loved Goods was reduced to cinders, no bodies were found inside. Rose must have been captured along with Subira.
On deck, Guy and Elyse become reacquainted as they set course for Runnelstone. Elyse’s discipline lapses momentarily into a wistful gaze. It was clear she felt guilty about endangering Rose. She snaps back to attention when Guy confides that Anchorheart sent him to steal a gemlock rifle. Elyse scrunches Guy’s collar in an attempt to interrogate him, but her husband can only theorise. Given Anchorheart’s interest in Project Abyss, he may have intended to steal the submarine and equip it with gemlock weaponry. Unfortunately for him, the Crosscut Circle beat him to it.
“The crew are always in my thoughts, Elyse… As are you.”
Guy to Elyse.
Runnelstone
While Elyse leads Blythe, Guy and Firien to Rose’s shop, Arti, Bantonio and Gomruss assist with the chapel’s reconstruction. Arti attempts to lift a stone block when an unfamiliar shock of pain exhausts their new fibrous muscles. Fortunately, Gomruss is able to help with some expert graviturgy. Ingratiating himself with the locals, Bantonio hears several eyewitness accounts of the attack. According to a talkative fisherman, the fog that concealed the pirate fleet was not forecast. Could it have been magical in nature?
Guy removes his hat in respect as Blythe examines the charred remains of Rose’s Merryn’s Pre-Loved Goods. Stepping carefully through ash and rubble, she spies a trap door beneath a fallen joist. Elyse and Firien heave the brittle timber aside and the four enter the cellar. Faint footprints muddy the foundation. Blythe can make out four sets of boots, one notably feline in shape. Firien examines the shelves. Among trinkets, materials and ingredients, they find a book entitled ‘How to Build a Secret Door’.
Tilting the book unlocks the bookcase. It swings open to reveal a hidden pantry from which the stench of death issues forth. Inside, a splintered crate contains glass shards slick with congealed basilisk venom. On the shelf above, Guy discovers a box of brand new sending stones. Curiously, one bears an unfamiliar sigil. Thumbing the sigil echoes the voices of Subira, Rose and Anchorheart. Rose had recorded the entire encounter! After destroying the venom, Anchorheart had taken Rose and Subira prisoner.
“What are you doing? We’re under attack! We need to go!”
“Just trust me.”
“ROSE MERRYN! I should have known. Where is it?”
Subira questions Rose as Anchorheart enters.
The Marley
Reconvening in the captain’s quarters, the Six of Steel debate their next move. Guy’s instincts tell him that Anchorheart is after the submarine. Seeking corroboration, Firien contacts Agnes, who has secured a position aboard the Wavemother’s Fortune, a ship in Anchorheart’s fleet. However, her rendezvous with Anchorheart was delayed when the Umberlee’s Wrath changed course south-west. Guy examines his map. If he wanted to hide a submarine, he’d travel west to the Farwest archipelago.
Furrowing his brow, Gomruss declares the submarine unseaworthy in its current state; the Crosscut Circle would need to procure specialised materials to complete its construction—not to mention capable engineers. Elyse summons her first officer, Julian. She requests he send contacts to Zennor, Ishmaelham and Poldice and Gwennap Mine to study their yield of materials. Firien rubs their temples. Tracking materials may lead them to the submarine, but there was no guarantee it would lead them to Anchorheart. Concerned for their imprisoned friends, Firien storms out.
On deck, Bantonio approaches Elyse. Sensing the captain’s remorse, he asks why she and Guy parted ways. She explains how four years ago she participated in a civilian blockade of Anchora to prevent the CSCA’s expansion into Eastern Gwerdowra. When she captured Guy, he revealed that disguised CSCA ships would fly civilian flags at half-mast to signal their peers. Together they exposed the CSCA’s illegal plot, leading to their marriage and the formation of the Free Trade Navy the following year. However, their time together would prove fleeting as Anchorheart quickly learned of the CSCA’s disguise.
As newly commissioned naval officers, Elyse and her father Uther, commanding the Marley and Aubrey respectively, set out to detain a flotilla of disguised CSCA ships. The pirate flotilla mounted a surprise attack before revealing their true colours. Anchorheart’s ruse won him the Navy’s flagship which he renamed Umberlee’s Wrath. When Uther threatened to warn the Navy, Anchorheart executed him on the spot. Though they escaped with their lives, Elyse could never forgive Guy for the death of her father.
“Sometimes talking about it makes it real, and that can be scary. But often, speaking about your pain out loud—having a commitment to the truth, to reality—can do you a lot of good.”
Bantonio to Elyse.