The adventures of the Whistling Wanderess - public RP thread

[Valefort]

The ship's name was the Golden Wheat, an Aglaraondian trading ship that usually sailed from Aglarond to the western shores of the sea of Fallen Stars where wheat was cheap and abundant.

As riddled with pirates as can be, the sea of FallenStars also provided some days of leisure and calm to the crew. Sometimes everything was simply working fine and the evenings of the younger Mealir were rythmed by sailor's tales.

Tonight it was Alric's turn, one of those rash blond humans hailing from the north of the Sword Coast. He was a good tale teller, a bit more than thirty years old he already sailed for twenty years or so and that's with wide arm movements, shades magnified by the small lamps that he was capturing everyone's gaze and attention.

"It all started in the Moonshae islands and it's a bard's tale I'll tell you. His name was Elroer and the poor lad was completely blind, blind since his birth !

He was lucky, in a way, his family was rich enough to give him a proper education and he learned to play the flute under one of the best bards of the Moonshae at that time. His blindness wasn't a problem then and his fingers fly over the flute faster than the seagulls can snatch leftover fishes.

Elroer was very talented and eventually became a reknown bard, celebreated wherever he went. Blind he was but he loved to wander and change places, hearing new sounds, taste new voices and that was a blesing and a curse.

He was respected but ... he was still blind. Some people are greedy enough to steal from bards, curse them, and he was often as poor as can be. Sometimes people also stole his flute, his way to earn money and his every breath.

But Elroer wasn't just a very talented flutist, magic were some of the songs he learned from other bards and he wandered so very much that he knew a lot of them. One day he was robbed of everything he had and he thought of something.

A wooden flute, looking unfinished. You see the flutes he was using were precious ones, gifts most of them, the things that nobles give after listening to a brilliant tune. And that's also why they always were stolen he thought.

Nobody would ever steal a wooden flute however ? Perhaps the most shameless of the villains would though ... let's make it look like it's not even finished, no hole at all. Not one, just a simple rod with a rough hole, like the kids do.

And by the magic of his songs that is how he made the flute look like. He didn't stop there though ... Elroer liked rings and he had a couple on his hands, how many ? The legend doesn't say. Copper, wood, bone .. they weren't worth much, they didn't look pretty either, but Elroer liked touching them.

He enchanted them too. How ? No one knows ... but the fact is that when he put his rings on the flute they adjusted to it and he could play the flute as if it was a normal one. The rings were revealing the holes !

He was extremely careful when putting the rings on the flute and few found out the truth for he was always traveling to new places. The trick worked and he could live the life of a bard as he wished to .. his voice was charming, and while blind he was still attractive.

He had a couple of children, one here ... one there .. another one elsewhere. Not something you lads can understand, right ?

Anyway ! Elroer had a nice life and he couldn't ask for much more. When he felt that death was approaching he settled down and asked for all his children to come and visit him. To each one of them he gave one of the rings of the flute and these were no small gifts.

Worthless they may have been at the beginning but Elroer enchanted them as well and all of them were imbued with powerful magic over the years... but the tale doesn't state what they do.

As soon as he gave a ring he asked them to leave and enjoy life, that he was being taken care of anyway. One by one the children visited him until all the rings were scattered and the flute fell silent.

Upon his death he gave the flute to a departing young sailor, as a gift for having watch over him.

The rings are scattered, the flute is incomplete but she longs to be whole, she longs to be played. In the last centuries it is said that odd rings were found by sailors, the flute made whole and then lost again. Its tune is so pure that the winds stop by to listen and marvels appear. Lads, this is the Flute of many, the Flute of Many Holes."

[Valefort]

Mealir fingered the ring again, idly pressing that tiny dot which triggered the opening of the ring. A lucky finding that ring ! It looked like a plain iron band and yet it was both heavily enchanted and mysterious.

Its properties were easy to pick up for anyone versed enough in magic and that's what what drove him to pick it up in the midst of the baubles sold by that old lad in Baldur's Gate docks.

The ring made its wearer much more resilient and that in itself was a wonder but it was also a mystery.. Mealir pressed the dot again, opening the ring.

What could be the purpose of that device ? His life had taken many twists and turns ever since he used to listen to tales on ship's decks and the possibility was so tiny ... However the Black Orcs were routed and running and he felt free to do as he pleased him for now. He had a bit of time ahead of him before worries came back, enough to look for some clues, maybe the shelf of many books ?

Why not.

It was rather easy to find in the end, the librarian sure gave him some odd looks when he said he wanted books for children, tales. They weren't numerous yet it still took some time for many of these books were not written in common. Ultimately a small and, judging by his cover, relatively recent book made his way in Mealir's hands. Clues it delivered and there was that new band of adventurers in Baldur's Gate, the Mirari .. perfect fit ! Mealir closed the book, stormed out of the library and went to seek those people.

What is in a Gnome...And, the Flute of Many...Plus: What did you say...a Hydra?!?

The Mirari gather once again in the open plaza of the East District of Baldur's Gate. To their surprise, the two gnomes return. It seems a line of friendship has been forged...and the gnomes do seek the greatest of mysteries in league with the Mirari.

The Mirari are approached by a one named Mealir Ostirel, sailor of some renown. He seeks an artifact, and has come to the Eastern District looking to employ the Mirari, specifically, to unravel the secret that surrounds it. He speaks to them in a straightforward honesty about a magical flute, and with some clues left to the Mirari, he bids them godspeed on a successful quest.

Mealir did suggest outright that the Mirari seek the original text that is kept at the Shelf of Many Books that describes the magical flute, which is spoke as being named The Flute of Many. The Mirari acquire the text...and learn of further secrets, leading them onward in their quest.

The Mirari make way via ferry to the famed town of Ulgoth's Beard, for they seek the flute amongst the possession of pirates...if that is to be their understanding, at the moment. It seems speaking with the Town Crier pays off for the Mirari tenfold.

Let it be known that any interactions with pirates is a recipe for danger, and the Mirari learn as much in a short time. The pirates that do inhabit the cove of Ulgoth's Beard defend their lair with a ruthlessness never before encountered by the Mirari, and many slip into a near death coma, during a most fierce battle between the group and a set of eight cursed pirates [yes, it was eight and the spawn engine had it in for us, i tell ya!!!]. But the Mirari are not weak, no, they survive via reason and the deeper knowledge of the arcane defenses, as does show when Nikos and Aetius walk out the cave with their compatriots' bodies. In a great act of selflessness, Aetius does unfurl a set of ancient scrolls from which he utilizes to bring breath and life back into his friends.

What was learned in the pirates cave—via a Diary of one pirate discovered amongst the treasure kept within—is that the Flute of Many was buried on an island, near a magnificent waterfall. Through a certain amount of trial and error, the Mirari do land on Bilberry Island, having remembered of a great waterfall there, from previous quests for the Sister Juna of Baldur's Gate.

After much combat with the Saugins, the gnome Quintan the Quick does find the flute amongst buried treasure, and presents it to Aetius, with pride.

Returning to the Gate was a moment of peace for the five Mirari...a quiet night upon the waters that separate the Island and the Gate. Or so they thought....

A great rocking of the Seaspirit did occur, and what seemed like initially rough waters turned into a scene of shock and awe—a bloody large Agua Hydra did attack the ship, causing momentary panic to all that were aboard.

The Mirari did not flee from what could have been instant doom...no, lead by the cleric Elery and the warrior Nikos, they held a fierce line of defense, punishing the heads of the Hydra with blows of divine inspired might. With concentrated effort and a certain strategy to defend the Captain as he maintained a true course to the Gate, the Mirari gained the upper hand and wounded the sea beast to such an extent it dove back to the depths from whence it came.

Eventual land, and the docks at the great city of Baldur's Gate never seemed so appealing as they did this day. It was there that the Mirari found Mealir—now known to the Mirari as Captain Mealir of the Whistling Wandress—waiting for them. With great fanfare, the Mirari did offer the Flute of Many to the Captain, showing great pride in not only proving of it's existence, but discovering it's location and bringing it to Mealir's possession.

The Mirari had succeeded where others might fail, and this left an impression on Captain Mealir, it seems, for he invited the group upon his ship, the Whistling Wanderess, for a celebration in drink...as well as to test the capabilities of this magic flute.

Food and wine was shared by all, who discussed the what the true nature of the Flute of Many, what will happen once all the rings that are required to operate it—and have been lost to time—are found. The Mirari leave with a understanding with Captain Mealir that, should such rings be found or heard about in the future, a new deal for acquiring them will be negotiated.


///A very big thank you to Valefort for initiating a player-created quest for the Mirari. Good stuff. And, a shout out to DM Ogorgon for hijacking the Mirari at the very end and subjecting the gnomes to sea sickness. Well done.

[Valefort]

And except of Mealir's diary

That second ring was incredibly far away and definetely not in good hands. Snakes, yuan-ti, wicked beings.

The Flute gave us a direction, south-west, straight in the sea of Swords and that's where we landed yesterday. A barren and fairly isolated island in the Nelanthere Archipelago, barren but guarded. As soon as we landed we met yuan-tis, swords and spells were hurled and we prevailed but we were warned.

We made our way through ancient ruins and discovered the remains of colossal dragons, as well as one very agressive black dragon who was guarding his lair. Backing off was impossible and together with Misara, Leo, Rain, Max, Hoihe, Snobbles we put it down. He was unable to face off so many threats at once and we bleed him to death, piercing his scales over and over while jumping away from his claws and fangs.

The exploration of this cave didn't yield any clue about the location of the ring though, there was no trace of it in the dragon's hoard and we went out to search the rest of the island.

We met more and more yuan-ti and ultimately found a path leading to a temple, the doors were closed however and only thanks to Hoihe did we manage to go forward. There was an inscription written in draconic on the front wall of the temple, it explained how to open the doors. Basically we had to pull two levers at the same time, one was in front of us and the other in the cave we just explored !

Through the use of a spell I recently leanred, whispering wind, we were able to coordinate our efforts and successfully opened the doors. Gathering again in the temple we went forward and fought fiercely against the abominations while being both impressed and envious by their realizations ...

The Flute helping us, still providing a direction, we eventually stumbled onto a mage in his study. Surprised and unprepared we got rid of him before things could get nasty and stole what he was studying : a buckler.

A quick inspection of the buckler lead us to find the ring we were looking for, it was attached in the inside part of the shield and strenghtened it greatly. Running off to one of the portals we spotted beforehand we made our way back to the shore and quickly embarked back on the Whistling Wanderess.

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

[Valefort]

The meeting was centered about the flute of many once again, though the peaceful banter was troubled by nothing less than an agressive Kraken who was heavily wounded by Hoihe.

The blood and agitation attracted sharks from everywhere and soon enough some sahuagins tried to board the ship that they no doubt considered an easy prey. The chief Lorrain Lackland was busy for hours after that, apparently Sahuagin meat is excellent.

Ultimately the flute was played with the first two rings that were found, now in possession of Max and Mealir, and the following sentences were heard.

"eye teaehesteaede epharreesehtch brim teaehtcheen uueentea ehellohengee se bewerian

teaoh ende up in elleharrgeeearr ehtchehendees hwaer ic ehemm seaohenepheyeenede

epharrohemm first wen first se esyouen, ehellellohuues emme wen teauueyeenkayelle"

The language was identified as being Thorass, Max and Hoihe decided to find a scroll of a particular spell to understand the sentences while Mealir decided to study Thorass to try to translate.

[Valefort]

A message is adressed to each crew member, a letter left where they usually dwell.

Greetings,

As you may know the last meeting about the poem in Thorass left us with more questions than answers. The search of a cave in Thundar's Ride along a river, our best bet, didn't yield any result.

I went to Candlekeep to have the Flute studied more thoroughly and I was pleased with the outcome. The Guide analyzed magically the Flute while I was playing it and it appears that the third ring lies north-east of Baldur's Gate, inland and possibly as far as Soubar.

This leaves a considerable area to explore but together with the poem it more or less narrows the possibilties to the eastern part of the troll hills. I'm counting on your presence in a few days, we'll depart from Baldur's Gate and explore the place. Perhaps the locals, such as the dwarves of Kraak Helzak, will be able to provide some insight.

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

[Valefort]

And except of Mealir's diary

The search for that third ring was much harder than the previous one. First that riddle, with so many possibilities it's hard to know where it is then the need for Laitae's help to figure out where the ring may be and then ... that fiend.

It was odd and frightening, after Laitae's indications "Not too far from Soubar I think." we went to Boareskyr brdige and started to explore each noticeable hole along the Winding Water river.

We couldn't find anything in the stronghold that was guarded by ogres so we went to next most likely location that we could thought of : the stone giants fortress.

Elvorfiwien offered to accompany us and her help was wlecome to open that huge door and explore the underground complex. However we stumbled onto something that was really unexpected : a fiend, and definetely a she.
That temptress was separated from us by some forcefield and she spoke to us ... for much too long. She wanted to be freed and she could offer us plenty of things .. By Valkur she said that the crew would suffer terribly and that only she had a solution ! A tenday is what she said, tenday .. I dismissed her words as lies and refused to free her. We went forward, trying to know who summoned her there and if the ring was in the complex. We found nothing and she toyed with my mind for a few too long moments, may she burn.

I was shaken, we found no ring and as soons as we went outside we went back to Baldur's Gate thanks to Hoihe. There were many opinions on how to deal with her within the crew, a cacophony, yet I was the target. Why ?!

Leo displayed a very weird beahviour during that encounter as well, enjoining me to speak with the fiend and find out the "truth" ! I don't think I would have been able to make out the truth from the lies while talking with such a wicked creature. Then Leo disobeyed some orders as well .. it's worrying me a lot, people will have to survey her even more.

I tried hard to know if the words of that being could hold any truth but couldn't find out for sure. Max thinks it was a demon and from the little I gathered it seems it wasn't a Erinye, from what I was told those have feathery wings, a demon. So it should be only lies. Should be... yet that sand-eater of Kalma was mentioned and I know that one warlock, Kasham recently joined the ranks of his crew. Could it be ?

A few things need to be done before taking care of that. I'll just give the crew a free day in town and have the ship anchored and surveyed attentively. The search for the rings can't be done if such a threat

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

[Valefort]

Following this letter Zachariah was welcomed back in the crew, days after a letter is sent to each adventuring member of the Whistling Wanderess.

Enough days have passed since our last attempt to find the third ring in the Troll hills and nothing happened so it was likely a bunch of lies. We'll resume our exploration in a few days, I count on your presence in the town of Soubar in two days from now unless someone found more information on his own.

P.S. : for those who weren't there, we encountered a feminine demon in one of the caves we explored. She cajoled, tempted, threatened us and predicted disaster in less than 10 days if she wasn't freed.

It was more than 10 days ago.

Fair winds to you all and come ready, Soubar can be dangerous.

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

[Valefort]

The travel to Soubar

Meeting up in Baldur's Gate before going to Soubar Rain, Hoihe and Mealir departed for Thundar's Ride accompanied by the ranger named Vendor, one that accompanied them during their last trip to Waterdeep.

Despite the news about the Black Orcs in the region none was found, only a few bugbears tried their luck on the travelers and swiftly met their end. Vendor advised the group to go to Soubar through Triel, despite the longer travel, because it was safer.

The road between Soubar was long and eerie, they met a kind of mage accompanied by what was in fact a druid ..who apparently enjoyed eating goblins, the group left them promptly to reach Soubar and wait for the other crew members.

The search in the Troll Hills

After a rather long wait it was obvious that none would come so the little group departed for the Troll Hills, without Rain who had to remain in Soubar unexpectedly. Boareskyr brdige was avoided and they crossed the Winding water in front of the Ogre fortress but no one was there to stop them and ultimately they began searching the Troll Hills.

First was a cavern of importance, home of ogres again, with a second set of deeper caves where an underground river ran, bathed locally by sunlight who came through the cracks made by a tree, possibly. Alas, no trace of the ring there, despite the fact that all seem to correspond with the hints given by the Flute of Many.

The last cave of importance was the on near the Troll Claw Fjord, Vendor's skills and the boons granted by Mielikki made short work of the trolls that stood in between them and the cave and the group began exploring the cave itself.

There were numerous ponds, all bathed by some light, but nothing was found here either. Out of frustration Mealir decided to listen to the Flute's melody again only to find out that it changed.

I left this place wielded high
So dangerous is my fiery temper
That my finder went to defy his master
He fell
I am cherished, I am hidden
Where none would come, least his brethren

The last cave

After some thinking it was agreed that the "fire" and "brethren" parts were pointing that the ring had to do with fire and that it was found by a troll.

From this point on the rest seemed clear, a troll found the ring, which granted him some mastery of fire and went away with it, to defy "his master". The only trolls who could best those the group just fought dwelled in the south of the High Moor to their knowledge.

The group backtracked to Boareskyr bridge and crossed it freely .. only to be stopped once they reached the other side by bandits who fell to their blades.

Ultimately the group reached the cavern where those strong trolls live and fought their way through shades, elementals, and then trolls. Here they found an altar with a pile of skulls that was engulfed in a magical fire. There lied a kukri whose blade was bathed in his own magical fire.

Unable to approach the white hot fire for lack of magical protection the group set out to hunt the mage who cast the spell and found him in the most remote part of the caverns.

The beast could cast arcane spells of the highest circle, the ninth, and even managed to summon a clone of Mealir, made out of living shadows. Hopefully the troll mage was struck down before that shadow joined the fray.

Nothing was found on the troll so they quickly went back to the altar, fought off some trolls who were trying to get ahold of the kukri and finally managed to seize it, a ring was encrusted on its hilt.

[Valefort]

A note is left for all to see in the Whistling Wanderess great cabin, a kukri whose blade is embedded in fire is nearby.

The third ring was found, yet I was not able to play the Flute with it, the ring is encrusted on the hilt of a kukri, serrated by force or magic I cannot say, maybe both.

The ring's enchantment has to do with fire I think but the magic was too intricate for me. If one of you manages to put your hands on Charraj or Hoihe, show them that kukri and try to know how to retrieve the ring from the weapon. Incidentally or not it is a very powerful weapon that can blind an opponent.

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

[Valefort]

Charraj and Mealir ended up meeting in the inn in Ulgoth's Beard. Alebit the fact that the small town was raided twice recently the inn was still opened and some mediocre mead could even still be found.

The atmoshpere of the tavern was more smoky than ever, Mealir presented the blazing kukri bearing the third ring of Elroer to Charraj and they begun to speak about it. It was a brass ring bearing an E on the side, serrated on the hilt of the kukri. And that was all that could be seen with bare eyes.

Mealir's basic magical study of the weapon revealed that at least two enchantments were involved but they were so entwined that he couldn't puzzle out anything else. After a bit of research in his spell book the mage performed a more in-depth study of the kukri as the way the Weave was used around the kukri was revealed to him.

More than two enchantments were at hand, one was the commonly known "magic weapon" spell, easily seen on the edge of the blade but the two others were much less common. The ring was enchanted indeed and it was the source of the magical fire that fueled the weapon.
As a matter of fact the third enchantment was placed between the blade and the ring, it was a magical circuit transfering parts of Elroer's enchantment from the ring to the blade.

Charraj proposed several solutions to get the ring, from removing it manually, which would cause an explosion to separating the kukri from the ring when one of them was in the etheral plane to casting a Mordenkainen's Disjunction on the weapon.

In the end this last solution was preferred, the other ones judged too risky. To lessen the risk of destroying every enchantment on the weapon and the ring Charraj advised to find a druid able to lenghten the wooden hilt with a Tree Shape spell, thus allowing the mage who will perform the Mordenkainen's Disjunction some room and hopefully enough precision to simply cut the magical circuit.


// forgive my paintshop skills

[Valefort]

The third ring is free from the kukri !

I spoke with Beregost's smith, the famous Thunderhammer, and he was confident that he could separate the ring from the kukri with his hammer.

I choosed to take the risk and in exchange of a service in the future he performed the task admirably ! Some small explosions occured when he did it and the blade itself can't be used anymore but the ring is intact.

We'll go after the fourth ring as soon as possible. The ship is ready to sail at a moment's notice so all we need is to understand where to go. I need you all in the ship to talk about it, try to be there in six days !

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

P.S. : The ring itself actually offers a measure of protection against fire, when it was removed the kukri blade went aflame and is still blazing hot. I think it could be used for a weapon again, if any of you is interested in such a thing.

[Valefort]

With the third ring found and freed from the kukri the flute could be played again, the crew met in the captain's quarters, all around the table, lying on the sofa with Lorrain preparing another peculiar meal.

After a quick presentation of Soora to the older members of the crew Mealir produced all the rings that were gathered so far as well as the flute. Everyone was listening intently, Soora was ready to write what the Flute could say and Hoihe was magic-ready.

Mealir played and .. nothing happened for a short moment, the captain then suddenly jumped off his chair, dropping the flute on the table and put his hands on his ears, much to the bewilderment of all the others. Visibly in pain Mealir managed to write what was happening : he could hear the faintest sound with terrible acuity. So much that it hurt him, hopefully after a moment the effect ceased.

All agreed that the Flute was probably trying to make hear us something and everyone remained as silent as possible while Mealir played it a second time. Alas, nothing but pain, the harbour and the ship were far too noisy.

A silent area ? The sea can be as silent as one can hope and thus the Whistling Wanderess left Baldur's Gate harbour in the direction of the Sea of Swords. The Chionthar was calm and nothing happened on the way, except sea shanties by Hoihe and Mealir and rhum drinking. Soon enough the ship reached the Sea of Swords and once the last bit of earth was out of view the Whistling Wanderess stopped. It was time to play the flute again. On the deck ? Wind and waves, nothing but pain again.

Inside the ship on the other hand, on the most silent place, in the ship's hold .. there was something. A faint .. melody ? Song ? In any case the source seemed to lie in the depths of the sea. Hoihe voluntereed and plunged into the sea to know more while the whole crew was encouraging him, if in a sarcastic way.

Hoihe soon resurfaced, battling with a sea monster and everyone took his crossbows and bows to fire on the beast ! Hoihe made it back but the monster was still roaming around. Hoihe couldn't hear anything in the sea so he was sent to the hold to try and see if he could hear anything there. Soora accompanied him while the rest of the crew tried to circumvent the sea monster, only his huge tentacles were visible and after some magical attempts it seemed he was ... simply hungry.

Soora and Hoihe came back from the hold, Soora could hear somethign while Hoihe couldn't and we concluded that one had to have keen ears to be able to hear the melody from the depths.

Meanwhile Tildong managed to soothe .. or rather, to hypnotize the sea monster with a song. Him and Rain stayed on the ship while Zachariah, Hoihe, Maximilien, Misara, Soora and Mealir decided to jump in the sea and see what was behind the melody of the depths, thanks to a spell of breath water cast by Misara.

The melody was easier to hear in the water and the direction clear enough, all swam towards the melody .. and ultimately reached ruins, underwater.

Following the melody in that eerie place the Whistling Wanderess crew walked on the sand of the depths and fought his way though both water elementals and .. drowned sailors ? Undeads were not unheard of in the depths but it was peculiar to find some exactly there.

The fights were slow in the water, the strength of the blows halved if not more but nothing too serious happened until Zachariah was attacked by several water elementals ! Zach wasn't wearing any armor and couldn't protect himself as well as he could nor could the crew reach him in time, he fell while the last water elemenyal was dispersed. Unable to help him in the depths Hoihe carried Zach all the way up to the Whistling Wanderess before coming back. Zach was safe, as safe as possible.

Reassured the crew pressed on, finding some powerful magical wares on the way as well as other elementlas and undeads who were thwarted mercilessly. Eventually they reached the center of the ruins, a huge dome. As they approached they noticed that the surface was covered with .. rust ?

Hoihe, Soora and Mealir tried to puzzle out what it could mean, communicating only with hand motions wasn't very effective but it was clear that this rust was both dangerous and magical. Unusure of its effects on weapons Soora, Misara and Mealir left their weapons at the entrance of the dome before swimming inside.

Hindered by the narrow passage and her dress Misara brushed the walls and the rust, getting harmed in the process. Inside the dome the crew discovered ... an arena ?! They were surrounded by terraces and more importantly in the center of the circular shaped area was an unmoving iron golem, the melody issuing from inside the golem.

It didn't react to their approach, Mealir tried to touch it only to burn himself, the golem was covered with the same magical rust they observed earlier. There was no touching the golem and the melody was a mystery. Guided by his intuition Max tried to hum the same melody than the golem, joined by Mealir afterwards but .. nothing. Humming the melody while wearing all the rings made no difference, ultimately Misara had the idea to play the melody on the Flute of Many.

Communication was hard and after some misunderstanding and incomprehension Max asked the flute and the rings from Mealir and played the melody.

Move. The golem was moving and ..charging at them ! The iron golem attacked while three of them had no weapons. Thankfully Max and Hoihe managed to do more than denting it with their bare fists and the golem collapsed on the sand. Only one thing inside. A ring.

A few congratulations later Mealir picked up the ring and the crew made their way out of the dome, the weapons were still there as well as more uninvited guests. Many elemntals and undeads had gathered while they were inside and the crew fought his way through them before being able to swim towards the surface.

Under them the rust was spreading ... on everything. They made it back to the Whistling Wanderess.

[Valefort]

Mealir can be seen on the Whistling Wanderess lately, playing with the Flute of Many and simply playing for the crew's enjoyment, explaining what is known on the Flute of Many and what they discovered lately. A paper left in the crew quarters summarizes the thoughts.

Sailors, like you all know by now we're after the famed Flute of Many, or rather after its rings. You need all the rings to play it correctly and they're scattered throughout Faerun. We found four rings thus far, and riches alongside the findings. Once all rings are gathered we'll be able to hear its unbelievable tune !

However they're hard to find, lately while experimenting with the rings we have and the help of Lorrain the Chief we found a few things. First, the number of rings, judging from the size of the first we have there are probably 8 rings in total.

Secondly we think each of those rings has a particular purpose, so far we found a ring that makes you sturdier, one that protects you from fire, one that was found in water and one that enhances bardic performances. Thanks to Lorrain and after some thinking and also a little adventure we came up with that explanation on the rings.

There's one ring for each element : fire, water, earth and air. One ring makes its bearer sturdier, healthier. We believe that another ring strenghten one's mind and a last one makes you quicker. That makes seven rings, the 8th would be one of the rings we own already, the one that enhances bardic performances.

Now onto something Soora noticed: the rings vibrate when the Flute is played, depending on where you put them they move in one direction or another so there's likely only one way to put all the rings in their right places !

A last and important thing, the place where the Flute is played matters a lot, at least for what we should name the "elemental rings". The last ring was found in the depths of the sea of swords and we could hear a melody only when we actually dived and were in the water.

Since most of the adventurers of the crew were busy elsewhere, or sleeping shamlessly, Soora and I went to the nearest cave, a place deep in the earth, in the island next to Ulgoth's Beard, where I played the flute with the four rings we found.

At the first try we heard no echo at all, which seemed weird. We went deeper and at the second try the earth shaked enough that stalactites came crashing on us even though we heard nothing from the Flute.

We went a bit deeper in the cave and Soora noticed some Earth elementals ahead of us, unmoving. Uncertain but with a clear way out I played a little jig on the flute at their intention but it only resulted in more earth shaking and no reaction from them. In fact it was getting dangerous and we rushed to the exit, but they were blocking something ... and we both thought it was worth having a closer look.

We'll go back there with everyone and see what they're guarding, I picked that cave at random and it's unlikely a ring is there but there might be a clue as well as something unexpected ?

Mealir Ostirel, capitain of the Whistling Wanderess

PS : If anyone has an idea, wants to talk about the Flute or is willing to experiment with the Flute, do tell. I have each of the rings on me for now.

[Valefort]

Months already since the death of Rain and the destruction of the Flute of Many, the Wanderess was repaired, a new mast adjusted, its crew respslenished .. only to be hit by the plague like all others.

The plague receeded, the winds were still blowing, an occasion presented itself ! Even with the dissapearance of the star sapphire on the Wanderess' figurehead it was a good time to sail, and a good thing to do. Pirates...

---

The Whistling Wanderess oscillates smoothly at the pier, nothing but a few lanterns can be seen in the misty harbour as fishermen depart. The ferrous scent of blood is strong in the air though no fish was gutted yet, a reminder for a day, yesterday's massacre was not washed away by the offshore wind during the night. As dawn rises and melts the mist a large patch of freshly moved earth can be seen in a field next to town, a wooden plank marks the spot, therein lie the Scorpion pirates. Tyrants for a day and soon to be lords of dendelions' roots.

Falchions are not fit for tailors, fingering the new cuts in his doublet Mealir remembers the one added to Vendor's leather armor, not a proper way to cut leather at all, you don't cut through the wearer for Valkur's sake ! It was a bloody and close affair, no quarters asked or given swords and spells did the talking, fortunately the knights of the Silver Rose were no pushovers at all and the plan went as smoothly as one could hope. Bless Soora, Vendor and that kid !

Looking between pavoise shields is tedious for small people, with an amused sigh Mealir climbs in the crow nest to get a better view of the island : Mintarn ! Replacing water and food will take one or two days, some time to walk on its shores, some time to help the locals should they demand it and then they'll head for Waterdeep and bring back goods to Baldur's Gate, as well as news... though some will have to be told quicker than that.

The wind is reinvigorating they say but stomachs usually have their own opinions and voice it. Chuckling for himself after a loud belly protest Mealir climbs down quickly and breaks the silence for good :

"Lorrain ! Is there any porridge left for breakfast or did these good knights throw it all up during the trip ?"[/i]

[Hoihe]

After his return, and receiving the letters... Hoihe proceeds to work hard on setting up the Wanderess for evacuation purposes, removing the pavise shielding that makes the decks so cramped, and generally trying to make as much free space as possible.