Session 2018/06/03

Journal

• The party has spent some in Gridania and come across some information:
  • Kyria has learned from saying hi to the townspeople where the ship is (drinking at the Roost, near the Airship’s landing).
  • Koto and Goldyna learn from Botanists that they’ve recently been unable to make as many research trips out to Ishgard because of increasingly stricts on flora/fauna. There were hints of a disease that wipes out crops, that the Botanist’s Guild think has originated in Ishgard. A few of their researchers are there investigating the issue.
  • Skippy: Hears about a thief that’s been spotted in town that isn’t him. Some girls try to hit on him.
  • Kikko: Sees L’fey servants walking about town, questioning townspeople.
• The party returns to share information and decides to head to The Roost together.

• You enter through the open door into The Roost, the most famous of all Gridania's hostelries. With an airship landing, one can reliably find all manner of people under its roof—from adventurers to travelers to merchants. The inside is lined with a cozy wooden floor and carved pillars, with stained glass windows of green and blue making up the wall of one side. It is evening now, and the tavern is bustling with both travellers and locals as they take meals and drink happily.
• Looking around the tavern, a few things catch your eye -- to one side is a group of people that seem to be loudly arguing about something, standing around an older bearded man who has his hat in one hand and a bottle of a drink in the other, and sad look on his face. Nearby at another table sits a cloaked man who is drinking out of a tin flask and eating meager meal of bread.

• The party first moves closer to the arguing group under the guise of getting a drink at the bar. They find that the arguing group is an airship crew trying to placate angry passengers that are stuck in Gridania.
• Skippy at first tries to Thieves' Cant at the bartender, saying "I WANT TO GO TO ISHGARD" in secret, but the bartender just stares at him. So instead, Skippy looks around for signs around the bar, and he sees several older signs left behind by thieves that have travelled through in the past, but nothing fresh. However, he spots an older woman in the group of arguing passengers looking at the same signs he is.
• He walks up next to her and asks if she's a thief in Thieves' Cant, while he loudly starts complaining. She smiles, a little surprised.
• Upon hearing Skippy's complaints, Saydon, one of the airship crewmembers, walks over to confirm that he is indeed a passenger since he isn't registered, and Skippy convinces him that he was overlooked in registration and manages to get on the airship for free. Skippy first introduces himself as "Alfred L'fey", Elsie's fiance. Saydon takes it as a joke and asks him what his real name is. Skippy replies with "Alfred Carbonara". Saydon apologizes for the oversight and walks back to the captain.
• Godiva, the fellow thief, looks over and asks what his real name is. Skippy says, "Penne Arrabiata".

• Kyria walks up to the group of passengers and tries to help. The captain explains that the Ceruleum-powered engine has broken down and they don’t have the means to fix it. “If we were near the Ceruleum plans in Thanalan or near the Garlond Ironworks in Ishgard, this would be another story…”
• Goldyna is familiar with this type of technology, as it's similar to the technology that makes mammets work. She heads down with two of the crewmembers to take a look at the engine.
• Kyria then tries to calm the passenger down by buying everyone a round of drink, on the goodwill and authority of the L'fey family. The passengers are a little calmer, and each of them -- a buff Roegadyn man, a young Elezen noblewoman, an Elezen scholar, and a rough-and-tumble traveller -- explain that they need to get to Ishgard.

• Koto walks over to the cloaked man and tries to make friendly conversation, and is greeted with rough words and a request to leave him alone.
• He finds that this man, Shadow, is on the run from the L'fey family and is trying to get to Ishgard as well.
• At this time J'pash and two L'fey servants enter the tavern. Shadow immediately moves away from the door and joins the arguing group in an attempt to blend in.
• Kyria sees her swordmaster and flips out, startling Shadow. It's quickly revealed that he doesn't remember who she is. Kyria is stunned.
• J'pash begins making small talk with Izuna and Kikko, who are still at the bar. Oblivious to the situation, Izuna whispers to J'pash to point out the suspicious cloaked man. J'pash begins to walk over, and Shadow says to Kyria that if she wants answers, she can have them, as long as he's able to stay out of sight of the L'feys.
• Kyria moves towards J'pash and tries to make small talk as well. Izuna joins in, realizing that Kyria is trying to protect the guy for some reason.
• Kikko uses her suggestion spell to get J'pash to flirt with a woman at the bar. J'pash decides to start flirting with Kikko, to his servants' surprise.
• Shadow attempts to leave the tavern while J'pash is distracted. Kyria convinces him to sneak across the tavern to the airship landing out of sight.
• Koto creates a distraction by using a cantrip to make a loud noise and announces that thieves were running off. The L'fey servants are duped by the ruse, and run off to catch a criminal. Katalina and Izuna are both also convinced and nearly run off after the fake thief as well.
• Kikko manages to convince J'pash that she finds dutiful men very attractive, so he runs off to do his duty as well.
• During all of this, Goldyna flirts with attractive crewmember Miles while she's supposed to be working on the ship engine. The other crewmember, Jack isn't attractive, so Goldyna manages to send him away. She manages to secure a promise of a dinner date while on their trip.

• Hearing that the ship is nearly done with their repairs, the crew and passengers begin readying for departure. As thanks for their work, Goldyna and fellow party members are allowed to ride on the ship for free.
• Saydon asks them to declare all of their items, per inter-city-state customs laws. All party members are truthful, except for Izuna (who doesn't mention the tablet) and Kikko (who doesn't mention a secret item she has). He notes their declarations and names on his clipboard and allows them on the ship.
• Saydon also asks if anyone wants to store anything in the secure cargo room. Saydon explains that the secure cargo room is a magically enchanted room that can only be opened by the captain through prolonged contact with a hand (no physical key or locking mechanism). All party members decline. The other passengers give Saydon a few items.

• Finally, the ship is able to take off to Ishgard! The journey will take 5 days.
• Skippy goes to check out the secure cargo room, and is caught by Saydon who has been keeping an eye on it. Finding that the cargo room is not easy to get into, Skippy manages to draw Saydon's suspicion.
• Goldyna seeks out Miles. Koto seeks out Goldyna for help looking over the railing. He enjoys the view of the pretty sky and landscape very much.
• Kyria tries to see if she can get Shadow to remember her. She shows in the encrypted book, and her pendant, both of which used to be his. She explains they used to travel and train together. He apologizes for not remembering.
• Izuna asks Shadow why he's going to Ishgard. He mentions that he's looking for the place where his memory starts -- a place that a Sharlayan couple helped him escape from. They asked him to go to Thanalan to find someone for them, but he was unable to do so and decided to try to come back and rescue them instead. Unfortunately he can't remember where this place is or why he was there. Izuna mentions that they're looking for a key to the Sharlayan cipher and suggests that they travel together. He says he'll think about it.
• Izuna goes to the passenger lounge and chats a little with the Elezen scholar, who introduces himself as Giles. Giles says that he's a druid who studies elementals and is heading to Ishgard to look for a long-lost friend. Izuna asks if he knows anything about dragons, and Giles does not. Ruddy Walrus interrupts and mentions that he likes to climb mountains and that's where dragons are. Izuna suggests that dragons are kind of like moving mountains, which blows Ruddy Walrus' mind.
• Kikko spends the time on the airship mostly in her room.

• On Day 3, the party is awakened by distressed and angry screams from the noblewoman passenger. Apparently, Saydon had heard something in the night and was convinced a thief was on board. The captain opened the vault to humor him, but it turned out that the noblewoman's item had indeed been stolen from the secure cargo vault.
• At the same time, the ship lurches with force and everyone is thrown against the wall, and the lighting inside turns dark, indicating that the ship’s power has gone out.
• Everyone makes a Dexterity check -- Koto and Kyria lose their footing and are thrown against the wall, losing 2 HP each.
• Through the confused cries, the party hears from outside the flapping of wings and what are undeniably the sound of dragon's screeches.