Super Art Fantasy

Dear Diary,

Welp, I’m just waiting here in line to receive my winnings from the Axebeak Race (y’know, the one we took part in to support the Wuirs – the family whose inn we’re staying at and whose stable of axebeaks might really help us in the near future?). I’m worried I might have aggravated Marty’s ulcer by casting Enhance Ability on us before the race – but there is NOTHING we need to feel guilty about! I don’t think we broke any Rules as Written, and the Wuirs DID say that their rivals the Struthios couldn’t win at all costs. Thankfully the riders from Levi Traders were good sports about the outcome – Sprinkle is a really talented rider and Rowdi really… did their best.

Look, Diary, it’s not like I cast something that gave Marty an ability he didn’t already have. I just nudged it a bit. And I didn’t actually do magic DURING the race. So I did nothing against the rules. And speaking of against the rules, where were they posted? Hmmm? No where I saw. I don’t feel guilty about it. I’m not guilty of anything except winning. And it helped beat the Struthios, so we did what we were asked to.

Again, Diary, there weren’t any super specific rules about BEFORE the race. And I didn’t really use magic against another team. So yeah, I didn’t break any rules, so I’m not guilty. I don’t feel guilty at all. At all, Diary, AT ALL!

Hmm. There seems to be some kind of commotion coming from the edges of this post-race party… I wonder what’s going on. And what’s that clanging sound?

Dear Diary,

Our first full day in Chult introduced to a variety of new people and places – we met a handful of Cadiz and Akhan’s Black Network contacts, who are using their various talents to research Manshoon, while we look into some leads as to how he might have first landed on the island.

But first, we needed to get settled into a more long-term place to stay while we’re in Port Nyanzaru, so Akhan suggested we meet up with one of the local Axebeak stableowners, Trevathan Wuir, who owes him a favor and could maybe get us discounted rooms through the inn his sister runs. We definitely are renting rooms there, but we didn’t force their hand on the favor front, so maybe we can get discounts on… Axebeaks later or something? PS: Axebeaks are every bit as cool and intimidating (but also kinda cute) as you may have been imagining!

After we established our rooms at the Wuir House, we scoped out a few other locations in the Anchorage that had been pointed out on our map. We know to be wary of the back alleys that house the local gang called the Vine Snakes; we know where the huge sailor’s tavern The Crithemar is; and we also took a peek at the walled compound of the Mannich Company – a private trading port that is rumored to be involved in smuggling (maybe they smuggled Manshoon in???)

Oh, by the way, we’ve also been warned to always be inside when nighttime rolls around – either inside the walls of the main city, or inside our boarding house. Apparently, all sorts of dangerous things come out at night – including raids of undead, so that’s… great. We also have to be mindful of getting to safety if we ever hear the city alarms, but fortunately that hasn’t come up yet. Maybe our luck will hold out the whole time we’re here! Wish us luck, Diary!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

We made it to Chult! And all it took was us giving up a ridiculous amount of our gold and possessions to a greedy turtle dragon who waylaid us on the way. 😭

The city we landed at, Port Nyanzaru, is beautiful and bustling and run by Merchant Princes. We had been provided a nice map of the town, though Rave drew all kinds of misleading naughty bits on it. Speaking of naughty bits, we’re also temporarily staying at a local bathhouse called the Astral Mist, since our Black Network contacts operate out of it: the bishounen half-orc Cadiz and his husband the ‘tabaxi who will treat you right’ Akhan.

After thoroughly cleaning up from our past weeks of ‘life at sea’ (during which we met a cool colosseum fighter lady named Shanta), we caught Cadiz and Akhan up-to-date on what we knew of Manshoon’s clones and discussed where he might be hiding. Our consensus is that he’s away from Port Nyanzaru, building some kind of foothold of power in the wilds of Chult, and to find him we’ll likely have to make excursions ourself.

Every rumor we hear about the uncharted jungles – ancient cities lost to time, whole settlements of people recently vanished, hoards of undead – sounds more dangerous than the next. Fortunately, Akhan has offered to escort us – as he is a ranger by trade – and he thinks we could expedite our searches either by using river transport or by riding the local Chocobos called Axebeaks. I think we have plans to visit the Axebeak stables tomorrow, after a solid night’s rest, so it’s off to bed for me! Night, night, Diary!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

Be with you in just a moment, I gotta finish putting away my winnings from the Whodunnit bet… Therrrre we go. Turns out Everard Duthbert III IS the type of evil dude who would kill poor Charlotte MacDarrin. But lemme tell ya, all the folks that loved and appreciated Charlotte on the island of Nemesser sure got their revenge – even with extra stone golems, Everard was no match for the combined might of Cap’n Molly and her crew, Ken Bo and his daughter Pom, Captain Anboe and his Rum Runners, and the kobold fists of Bif, Bof, and Brent.

Super Art Fight didn’t, er… contribute too much to that fight, given that Everard had finagled us all into the cavern system under the island (due to help from his working Magic Eight Ball which is now ours) and we spent all our time just getting out of there. If I never see another giant frog or nope-er, it’ll be too soon.

But! We made it out in time for the party that was held in Charlotte’s honor. We also became official crewmembers of The Storm Maiden’s Revenge and got cool tattoos! Now we’re back on our way to Chult and most of us have been learning some cool new tricks along the way. Can’t wait to try them out in the mystery jungle ahead!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

So, I wouldn’t want to build a summer home here or anything, but Nemesser is actually quite lovely! Or at least, we’ve met a number of people who are lovely – friends and acquaintances of dear departed Charlotte. We’ve been having chats with a number of folks, to get a better understanding of what was happening in Charlotte’s life just before her untimely end, as we now have 2 main suspects in her murder.

One: Everard Duthbert III, a gross creep who was possibly obsessed with Charlotte and seems to have hurriedly vacated his room at the Bellerophon. We now have a spy on the inside, the barmaid Naoimh, who will let us know if she sees him again.

Two: Laurel Dagwood, captain of The Night Hag and childhood rival of the MacDarrins. Rumor has it she’s been angry with Charlotte and Dimity for how long it was taking them to complete her magical ‘shocking net’ commission – but maybe the sour grapes run deeper than that? We haven’t had a chance to speak with her directly yet, but Shinobi and I have a bet going on just how involved she may be – so we’ll have to see for ourselves soon.

The folks we DID speak with have been: the kobolds in the Market (who run a surprisingly good seafood jelly stand); the local smithy Ken Bo (who also stocked us up with some sweet new gear); and Madame Gigi (who runs the most reputable house of ill repute I’ve ever been in)!

Before we track down Captain Dagwood, though, I think Shinobi also wanted to get a bead on Captain Nathaniel Anboe – a close friend of Charlotte’s (written in the margins: possibly a more serious love interest???) No matter what, though, we are closing in Charlotte’s killer! Justice for Mad Molly!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

Dimity Dagle is alive! And as far as we can tell, not involved with Charlotte’s death! Yaaaaaay! I’m writing from her subterranean workshop beneath Nemesser’s graveyard, but I should probably cover how we ended up there…

There were no leads that we could find at Dimity’s house, so we attempted Charlotte’s sending stone after all, and sent a message off that was mostly an advertisement for Super Art Fight. Fortunately, it was Dimity who responded and she asked us to meet her in the graveyard at midnight.

We had a few hours to pass until then, so we split up to check out different venues… Shinobi went to the graveyard early to inspect the meeting site, Rave stopped by The Sea Dandelion and got a canteen full of ‘calming’ tea, Marty and DIETANIUM hung out at the Bloody Kelpie, while I performed a stakeout at the top of the church next to the graveyard – with the permission of the kindly Doomguide there named Grint.

As midnight drew near, I saw some sneaky pirate types loitering beyond the Bloody Kelpie. I was able to make it back to the Kelpie to warn the others, and Rave joined us (turning into a giant centipede to escape the pirates’ notice) – but as we tried to make our way to the church, the gang of thugs began to follow us.

Feeling the need to keep them away from Dimity, we engaged them outside the church – where DIETANIUM delighted Grint by singing a metal death threat to the pirates. We were able to dispatch them, but one of them got a strong shot in against DIETANIUM. Fortunately, I had my healer’s kit on me!

As we hurried through to the graveyard, Rave used her centipede form’s blindsight to realize that one of the graves near our meeting site seemed strangely hollow. Just as we planned to investigate, out popped Dimity from a secret passage! Recognizing Molly, she allowed us entry into her underground den and explained more about what had occurred on the island before our arrival.

Of particular interest in her tale was the fact that she and Charlotte had been working on three prototype magical items in recent weeks – and that one ‘Everard Duthbert III,’ who had been a product tester for their wares for some time, had been acting particularly creepily toward Charlotte. As we continue to track down Charlotte’s killer, we will likely pay a visit to this Everard! cue Law & Order dun dun

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

Remember how we were tasked with tracking down Captain Molly’s sister Charlotte, because she had sent word that she feared for her life? Wellll, we found her… body. We had started our investigation at her apartment, after docking at Nemesser – above the magic item shop she ran with her good friend and business partner (Dimity Daigle) – and she was slumped over the desk in her personal office. It looks like she had been stabbed after an intrusion – her store had been cleaned out and her entire apartment ransacked.

Molly is… barely managing to keep herself together, and all of us from the Storm Maiden’s Revenge are committed to catching the perpetrators. We did find some intriguing clues in her apartment – Charlotte herself had scrawled a note in her final moments that said, “D took it.” We also found some references to a mysterious person ‘E.D. III’, and a scrap of paper hidden along a bedpost that read, in Halfling, “Use the sending stones.”

We’re not sure who wrote that note, or what exactly to say if we DO attempt to use Molly’s sending stone – but we do know that her partner Dimity is a halfling… so maybe she knows something about the note?

After visiting a couple of pubs in Dimity’s general neighborhood (with wildly different clientele and décor), we managed to learn which specific house was hers – and Marty let us in with his ‘key’. Now that we’re inside, what will we learn about this artificer – or the nefarious ne’er-do-wells who knifed Charlotte and nicked her nifty novelties?
THAT’S for another entry!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

I am happy to report that we’ve had a lovely couple days at sea! After all the excitement with the shipwreck and the fog and rescuing Captain Mouette, I was worried something else would come up – like a battle of some kind, on the deck. I can picture it now – something menacing, like, oh, I dunno, harpies or something – and then those up on the deck, like Rave, Wisteria and DIETANIUM – would take them on. And it would devolve into a contest to see who could harm the harpies the most, and of course Rave would polymorph into some frightening creature… but I didn’t hear any sort of ruckus like that from the sick bay, so… it’s been completely uneventful!

Well, at least up until just a little while ago. I heard a strange thump directly above the sick bay that was concerning (since the captain’s quarters are right up there), so I went to investigate. I guess Captain Molly had accidentally harmed herself, so I gave wound a quick heal – but then she also had me to go and collect the others, because she had urgent news.

Turns out Captain Molly had received a letter from her sister, Charlotte, who claimed she was being targeted by someone intent on murdering her! Even worse, there was no communication through the sending stones the sisters shared, either.

Due to these worrying events, Captain Molly is declaring an emergency stop at the island Nemesser, where Charlotte should be residing. It’s like a fantasy Madripoor – you know, that city that was featured on that Falcon & Winder Soldier show that came out 2 and a half years ago?

Anyway, getting to Chult may be a delayed for a little while – but it’ll be a satisfying reward to see Captain Molly reunited with her sister! I’m sure Nemesser can’t be as bad as Captain Mouette seems to think it is. That’s all for now, good night, sweet diary!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

Somehow, it feels like I haven’t written in you in 6 weeks – though we both know it’s only been a couple days since my last entry… haha, weird! Anyway, I recently came across someone else’s journal, so that’s what reminded me to jot down in my own. I feel kind of bad about invading their privacy; I can’t imagine what it would be like if everyone knew what I was writing in my own diary! But I get the feeling the chaplain who owned this other journal isn’t around to worry about it anymore… because his ship is currently overrun by the UNDEAD. Dun duN DUUUN!

See, we were continuing our voyage to Chult, minding our own beeswax, when a terrible storm blew up (‘storms on a ship’ has risen up to, like, #5 on my Topmost Things I Don’t Like list). We made it through decently enough, but then afterwards there was spooky mist. Like, horror movie level mist.

We all split up with other members of the ship, in order to keep watch and not run aground on the nearby islands (I’ll write more about Clew another time; he has a delightful mustache) – but we soon found another ship that was not so fortunate. Apparently, the lighthouse of a nearby island had ceased working and this ship – the Toronto (isn’t it funny how there something named ‘Toronto’ here in Faerûn?) – crashed right into the rocks!

After some discussion, the members of our own ship decided to check for survivors and repair the lighthouse – Super Art Fight is on survivors duty! But so far, all we’ve found are creepy waterlogged undead…

Which brings us back to the journal we found! The chaplain was convinced the calamity that happened here was because the crew managed to anger Umberlee, the sea goddess. Hopefully we can complete our mission here and be on our way before we also incur the wrath of any vengeful deities…

Dramatic XOXOXO,
Red Erin

Dear Diary,

So, turns out it’s PIRATES that you’re not supposed to kill on Pandira. Which is good, because we met a pirate and we DIDN’T kill him! (Though we did kill a variety of evil fish people called sahuagin. I only tied mine up, just to be on the safe side – but Shinobi cast a fireball that took, like, half of them out before anybody could blink, so… a fight was unavoidable).

Rave got some solid scares in on a couple of ‘em, and Marty randomly stabbed them quite a lot. Once they were dispatched, we had a chat with that one pirate I mentioned, Art – sadly all of his friends had already been taken out by the fish people. When I say chat, I mostly mean everyone trying to take off all his clothes while threatening to kill him – but eventually he got in his dinghy and rowed off to his ship, the Bamburgundian.

Now that that’s all sorted (as my dear Renair would say), I think we can finally breathe a bit more easily in this dang house – which we’re still exploring. We’re now checking out the upper floor, where DIETANIUM did a sweet swing over this big hole in the corridor (and Rave, like, BAMFED us over there too). But now I’m hearing Wisteria yelling at something on the other side of the hole, so maybe I spoke too soon…
More laters, love you, Diary!

XOXOXO,
Red Erin