• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Storm King's Thunder [CLOSED]

I: The Snapdragon
  • Baba Luga

    Vestige
    I. The Snapdragon
    Luskan, City of Sails. Flamerule 15, 1491

    Luskan map small.jpgLuskan, the City of Sails, a noisy, raucous port city just south of the mountains dividing the Savage Frontier from the frozen lands of the Far North. Life in Luskan is dominated by five "ships," large ganglike organizations, each headed up by a "captain" who is essentially a glorified pirate king or queen. The secretive Arcane Brotherhood also has its home here; the twisted branching spires of the Brotherhood's Hosttower of the Aracane loom over the harbor from the mouth of the Mirar River.

    Traveling north from Port Llast, Doctor Lurr has brought his circus, and you along with it, to Luskan, where you have been in residence for most of the past tenday. The crowd has been appreciative, if a bit wilder than what you're used to. Fights have broken out among audience members from rival "ships" and the patrons have been overly bold in their challenges to Kulanukate the goliath strongman and the perceived unfairness of the games of chance and skill.

    Now it is time to move on to the next town. With the midsummer weather making the Far North as accessible as it ever will be, Doctor Lurr plans to take the circus to Mirabar, four to six days northeast of here on the Blackford Road. The Doctor has sent most of the circus ahead, while staying behind himself with just a smattering of his entourage:
    • Raven of the Forests, last of his tribe, the amazing mancat from across the Trackless Sea
    • Snikket, aka Draconicus Junior, puny kobold master of flames
    • Lecuis, the Demon Musician
    • Aseir Chernin, daredevil aerialist and envoy from the elemental realms
    • Angelica, Mistress of Serpents, the Charmer from Chult
    • Kulanukate the Goliath Strongman
    • Von Anvil, the mountain dwarf who sees to the wagons and inventory and prepares Doctor Lurr's meals
    This morning, the Doctor announced with glee his reason for sticking is Luskan a bit longer: He's made arrangements for an exclusive performance this very evening, to take place on the deck of the Snapdragon, one of the greatships belonging to Dagmaer Suljack, Captain of Ship Suljack. Lurr is vague on the financial details, but suggests the added revenue will patch up some deficits remaining from the poor showing the circus had way back at Leilon. "Maybe if they hadn't built that town so damned close to the Mere of Dead Men, they'd have a more welcoming disposition!"

    "Let's just make it Snikket, Lecuis and Aseir for tonight," Doctor Lurr proposes about the show on the Snapdragon. "What do you say, boys? Oh, and I think Raven too. Give them a taste of far-off Maztica! I have it on good authority that Captain Suljack is fêting some big shots from Neverwinter—nobles, merchants, a priest of Waukeen or two. I really should come along myself. I have a feeling Neverwinter will be booming again any day now, and I intend to sow some seeds with these dignitaries."

    "Of course, we won't be putting on the whole show, just an act or two to wow them—your best stuff. Let's see what you come up with. I have every confidence, as usual. I imagine when we come back through Luskan in the Fall, all the Captains will want command performances. They'll have to compete for our attention."

    "Well, unless you have any questions, I'll leave you to work out the details of your bravura performance."



     
    Last edited:
    II: Papers & Ponies
  • II. Papers and Ponies
    Luskan, City of Sails. Flamerule 16, 1491
    rathas.jpg"You should have a seat. We're having a meeting, so forget pride and sit down, why don't you," says Rathas Fellwell from behind his massive, disordered desk. He addresses an auburn-haired dwarf and kenku who just entered his second-floor office. Even if they were hesitant to sit, there's been no time for the man to take note of it.

    He sets down the sticky bun he's been eating, wipes his fingers against each other, and gives them a final scrubbing in the coarse hairs of his beard. "It's madness. This day has gone off already a bheur hag's tit. Have you been to the beach even? Those wizards. They roasted a ship full of giants last night. It's common spectacle now. Do you understand what I'm telling you? What it means for sea trade, these notorious seafaring giants, toasted or not, once the talk begins? From where I sit it's all papers and ponies, opportunities and offal." He gestures to the open door behind him, which leads to a large room where assorted Zhentarim amanuenses sit at desks scribbling furiously on reams of parchment. "Already I've got snakes asking about reopening the old Northern Means overland route to Fireshear. Scared of the nautical way. All on account of some what, a ship of dead giants?"

    "You two don't know each other at all, do you?"
    he asks suddenly. "You and me, Bell, we go way back, but Ms. Ironfist, We're mutually new faces, though I've read your Gauntlgrym reports. Good stuff. Welcome to Luskan. Bell, she was at Gauntlgrym since Bruenor Battlehammer took it back from the dark elves."

    Lost for a moment in thoughts of the ancient dwarven city, Fellwell soon shifts back to his initial subject. "All of this giantism has me shuffling people around. What I need is flexibility. Can you do that? And, with hands spread thin, how do you feel about working with some amateurs, not even Fangs yet? I ask you that because, well, let me tell it: Before that giant ship plowed the dunes, she tangled with Captain Suljack's sloop Snapdragon. I won't ask you to truck with Suljack rowdies, but there were apparently some traveling mummers on board who saved the Snapdragon. Strange world. I've got no feeling for circus folk, but it's a good story, exotic entertainers who faced down the giants themselves, to tell the fearsome tale to clients? If people tremble at giants and find solace going by wagon instead of ship, why not encourage them they're making the right decision? What do you say?"
     
    III. A Traveler to Mirabar

  • III. A Traveler to Mirabar
    Nightstone. Flamerule 18, 1491
    In the shared bunk room, the guards say prayers to Torm and Ilmater before retiring. The days are about as long as they're going to get, this far north and in the middle of the summer, and the sun is still on the horizon outside when everyone dozes off.

    Come morning, Torem, Alara, Kaelen and the Captain are up early to begin burying their dead. Once you newcomers have performed your ablutions and are up and about, you seem to have free run of the small settlement. Shara Breakwood apparently woke hours ago and is speaking with Captain Evenmorven up in the keep's great hall when you find them.

    "This woman has agreed to leave for Mirabar today," says the captain, "with word of the tragedy that has befallen us here. I do not know your circumstances, but if you are willing to give her one of your horses, I will compensate you with coin from the keep's treasury."

    Taking Ruthenia aside, Captain Evenmorven says, "It's very troubling that none of the people of Nightstone have returned. Did you mean what you said about going out on the moor to look for them? Torem has some ideas of where they might have sought shelter, and he has volunteered to go with you. Whatever equipment you require from the armory would be at your disposal. Of course, there is no compulsion. You came here as travelers and owe us nothing."
     
    Last edited:
    Back
    Top