Wait for it...
Kythorn 4, Skullport
The last few days fairly flew by, but they weren’t fast enough! At first, Seren and I were waving to get the ship’s attention. But, then we got a good look at that ship, and the crew— Githyanki! Evil creatures that hate most other species— I didn’t want to risk that we were part of the list of “other species.” We decided to get out of their way as quickly as possible. Seren, flying creature that she is, had a good idea, and we took advantage of the ability to move in three dimensions and moved our makeshift raft under the ship. We caught another glimpse of the people on board and noticed a halfling, a gnome, and what looked like a very small upright dragon. We decided to risk showing ourselves and were invited on board.
When we boarded, we were greeted by a very exuberant halfling and the more easy-going “dragonborn” (he said he was born an elf and became a dragon by choice!). We also met a 12’ tall blue man— a mercane! He introduced himself (telepathically, that was weird!) as a merchant who had hired the ship Gaath and its crew; and asked if we needed assistance. Upon saying we needed passage to (we hoped) Waterdeep, we were amazed to learn that the mercane, who called himself Jrun, would be headed that way after he picked up a shipment of goods, and would hire us as “guards” for the trip. The only drawback was that we would be stopping in Tu’narath, a githyanki town used as a trading port, before the last leg of the trip back home.
But back to our new companions, all of whom apparently had arrived in the astral plane from our area of Toril by similarly weird means. The dragon-elf, called “Soveliss” is very focused on fighting the spawn of Tiamat and wants to get back to it as soon as possible. The halfling, well, it was hard to say if he was just a bit more eccentric than other halflings I’ve met, or if the strain of being sucked into the astral plane did something to his mind. I heard him call himself “Flin” all of one time; after that, everyone was simply “Bob.” We were using the very patient Soveliss as a means of practicing magic— I assumed. Flin would levitate the dragon-elf, so I added some pretty lights, which seemed to please the halfling. He determined he could levitate himself due to the nature of the plane, and began to spin around and do fancy maneuvers, eventually appearing on my shoulders. All the while, he kept whispering to Seren “They’re trying to kill me!” and “I’m going to wake up soon!” and “Bob.”
I guess the gnome didn’t take too kindly to Flin’s overly-friendly nature— he shot him in the back of the head with an arrow! Seren healed Flin quickly, but the very law-loving githyanki had seen the encounter and took both the attacker and victim away in chains. The mercane whispered that they would get a “fair trial before their execution”! I begged audience with the captain of the ship, but he was unwavering on the matter. I still had hope that we could convince the judge at the “trial” that no real harm had been done.
We arrived in Tu’narath in a day, and were each provided with a green armband to signify our “legal” guest status. It was a horrible town though, and we chose not to wander.
The trial was a brief affair— Flin simply didn’t say anything intelligible (he seemed to be firmly convinced that he was dreaming), and the whisper gnome was characteristically quiet. We had no chance to speak on their behalf, and the last time we saw them, they were being led away in shackles, though Flin was spinning in his chains— for amusement, or to test the strength of them, I was unsure. I can tell that Seren feels the same way I do about the whole affair. Actually, Soveliss probably does too, but he’s unnervingly practical about the matter, and suggested we keep a low profile while in town.
It was difficult to continue ignoring the mounting injustices we saw in this “lawful” city! Jrun took us to a warehouse next, where he was to obtain his cargo for the trip to Waterdeep. We arrived and met with a winged female with red eyes, through which he obtained three crates of wares— as he inspected them, I couldn’t help but notice that the crates contained weapons, all made of a green metal. I had not seen such weapons before, but had heard of the metal: Baatorian Green steel. That gave me a bad feeling! Seeing about twenty chained slaves be escorted in by some githyanki as “payment,” and subsequently be escorted through a portal with the female devil, well, let’s say it’s a good thing that Soveliss had said to keep a low profile, or I probably would have gotten myself killed. Instead, the three of us stood by meekly until the mercane was done with his negotiations, at which point we returned to the Gaath.
The three-day trip was uneventful, for which I was grateful. The few times I slept I had the weird flying dream again, and woke each time feeling like I had forgotten something. Eventually we came to a large gray portal hanging in the astral plane. The ship passed through, and we were home, or at least, in the right neighborhood. We were in an area near Waterdeep called Skullport, part of the seedy underbelly of the city that I’ve never actually spent time in. We followed Jrun to a squalid tavern called the Iron Tankard and were let in through a back door. He delivered his merchandise, and handed us each 100 gold coins— our business with him was, mercifully, complete. We headed out through the bar, gave a few coins to the barkeep, and were provided with information for the safest route back to the City of Splendors. Right before we were about to step through a portal that was to take us to the city, a fruit bat flapped up in front of me and squeaked that was about time I showed up.
Now I find myself in chains about to face execution and trying to put together the pieces of what happened. Now let me see… I remember coming through the portal after the wizard. Once I realized I was through, I tried to gather my senses just to find I could not put my feet down, nor could I even figure what side was up. I thought I saw a ship leaving in the distance; this only convinced me I was under water. I tried to swim, just to realize that my desperate movements where getting me nowhere, and that I was not drowning.
I tried to figure things out, this was all a bit much for me, then the body floated by. It appeared to be some large form of Orc, and it looked quite dead. I was lucky enough to grab hold of it, and I found myself being pulled along with it. I thought this good, until I saw the small creatures, half the size of Totem. I was trying to push them away from me when one of them spoke. It begged me not to kill it, and stated that they found the rock fair and square, and had full rights to build upon it. I asked the little fellow his name and where in the nine hells I was. He explained his name was Bob, and he was their leader.
I greeted Bob with the best bow I could create in this environment. In response the entire lot of them responded hello. Bob then explained that they are all named Bob. He then brought forth a few dozen and introduced them to me. And informed me that they are building the city of Bob. I watched them closely for a while and discovered that they could all talk to each other by name, (Bob) and they all knew who was talking to who.
I was very impressed until I heard a voice say “Help they are trying to kill me!” The Orc’s voice was weak and I still could see no life in his eyes, but there is no doubt it was from him. The Bobs just kept building. I pushed myself away from the rock-Orc-Bob, and floated in another direction.
In my endless floating I witnessed a ship that seemed to be on fire, as did its crew, yet they seemed not to be effected by it. I witnessed dozens and dozens of other strange sites, and the Bob’s again. And again the Orc cried for help. It was then that I realized that this was all a dream. So rather then stress out, I decided to enjoy the ride.
At one point a ship came near me and I yelled out hello to them. They took me aboard and asked where I was going. I let them know I was after a powerful wizard that killed my friends, and that the Bobs really made me laugh. After some strange looks I was welcomed aboard.
I do not know how long I was with them, but I did discover that I did not need to walk on the ship, I could fly. And not just that, my dream gave me the power to move objects with my mind. This was fun. Then someone shot me and I got put in chains. I didn’t mind, it was a dream.
Then I was informed that because someone attacked me, I was going to be put to death. Since I could still fly, while chained up, I realized it was still a dream. So I continued to have fun within the dream. Eventually I was taken from the ship and went to court. This was great fun. When I was informed that I could make a statement in my defense, I let them know that I had fun, and when I wake up in the tall grass of near my home, they won’t exist anymore.
As the people of the court continued to talk in a language I didn’t understand, I did hear something I could understand. A voice whispered in my ear. The voice said that a small black rock had been placed in my backpack, and that I should never loose it. I was also given a name, Tillian Greenmeadow. This is the name of a Halfling in Waterdeep that I need to report to. I told the voice that he was not real. It was then that a sharp pain in the palm of my hand startled me. I was bleeding, I could feel the blood.
Then the guards picked me up and my fellow prisoner and they began taking us away. I asked where we where going, one of the guards that I had named Bob, informed me that I was being taken to my execution. The voice was by my side again, and it informed me that death will not be an excuse, and it laughed.