On the 151st day of the campaign, Chester told Dabwick what had happened during the 67 days that they slept during their visit to the Mad Poet’s Oasis:
Stazi came up on deck the next morning (16 Abadius, Campaign Day 85) in a state that had everyone on edge. There were two problems:
The first was that not only had Barnabus fallen asleep with the party when they completed the Dreamlands Excursion ritual, but when he woke up that next morning he was blank and empty. And not only that: all of his equipment had been completely drained of magic. Stazi told Chester about how Dora, Grip, and Vik had had their memories erased several months earlier and they assumed the same had happened to Barnabus. Stazi said she was fairly certain they all had eventually just woken up out of it, so they assumed the same would happen to Barnabus.
It didn’t.
And then, of course, there was the Big problem: which was that Dabwick Dora, Grip, and Vik didn’t wake up. Nothing the folks on the Sellen Starling did to try to wake them worked. Chester grew very fearful by the end of the day, given what he had experienced. But at least he had some suggestions to make. He told the others about how Hadranna and the Stardust Augurs had kept him alive for 13 years with Goodberries, and one nice thing about being in the area of the Verduran Forest is that there were always druids to be found if one knew where to look.
They pushed and managed to reach Bellis after nightfall on 16 Abadius. The crew of the Starling knew some folks there and they got enough berries to cover a few days. That was also the night that Har-Lar left the ship. Chester didn’t know the whole story about that, but said that Skywin let everyone know that Har-Lar had taken his leave.
They continued on, but routines were quite disrupted, as they were three crew members down at that point. Chester noted that Stanhope stepped up admirably, and that he (Chester) did his best to fill in as cook, with Gossa and Wreben’s assistance. Chester also noted that he got to know the two of them quite well during that stretch of time.
They hit the Isle of Arenway five days later (22 Abadius, Campaign Day 91). It is the headquarters of the Wildwood Lodge, and they were holding out hope that some of the master druids there might have answers or advice. No such luck. The ship stayed for a few days, but there was nothing they could do. Skywin was in a bad way. It took Joshua and Veldie and Katsin stepping up and insisting that they finish the voyage to get Skywin moving again. They took another supply of Goodberries and continued on.
The last stretch of time, the whole ship was out of sorts. All the routines were discombobulated. Everyone was concerned. And Stanhope chose that moment in time to learn how to play the violin, of all things. Stazi had been working with Katsin on documenting an inventory of the party’s equipment, just so there was a record of what was there, and during that process they’d found an old violin among Dora’s belongings (the one containing the mysterious note), and since no one on the ship had ever heard Dora play it or pay any attention to it, Stanhope claimed it for the time being. He had bought a bow off someone on the Isle, and was diligently working away at trying to play it. Which set many people on edge.
At a certain point, Stazi sat Skywin, Katsin, Veldie, and Chester down and sought their advice. She was in an impossible position. She had been on the fringes of what the party was up to for months at that point, but still knew very little about the key details. She said she understood that to be a reflection of their care and concern for her well-being, but she suddenly found herself basically In Charge Of Their Mission and she didn’t have all the information. She knew they were trying to stop Count Lowls from doing something. She knew his friend Mun, who lived in Cassomir, was also a target on their list. She felt so torn: she believed her goddess had placed two incompatible responsibilities at her feet: care for and protect the party OR carry on their mission. The group talked it through, and Chester made the offer Stazi expected he would make: he would watch over the sleepers, as he had been watched over. So they all agreed that as crazy as it was, Stazi would carry on with the mission. Alone, if she had to.
They finally reached Cassomir on 30 Abadius (Campaign Day 99). It was the day after a huge storm had hit the coastline there (the Starling had had to anchor and seal up for the entire day on the 29th, in fact). And before the ship was even tied-off, Stazi was off and running down the pier, questioning everyone she could find.
It turned out that Lowls’ ship, the Aurora, had gotten there just four or five days before the Starling. And there was some weirdness.
First, Lowls came ashore alone. No servants. No luggage.
Then, no one else left the Aurora for over a day.
Eventually, some of the crew were seen slipping down the docks late one night, as whoever was left aboard the Aurora took the ship out. Then it apparently just sat anchored out among the Dog's Teeth, for a few days. But after the storm hit on the 29th, the ship was not to be seen.
Stazi grabbed Stanhope and went out to investigate. Chester wasn’t certain of what happened next, but Stazi and Stanhope came back later that day with an odd elven fellow. And Stazi was in a state. Distracted and rambling. Even weirder, Stanhope was completely silent. And the elf was sweating. Chester had never seen such a thing in his life.
Stazi sat Chester and Jaydove down and said she was taking one of the party’s Bags of Holding, that she had booked passage on a vessel to Absalom that was leaving that evening—apparently Mun and Lowls had already set sail for there—and that Chester was to go to the harbormaster and tell him that the Aurora had been scuttled and looted and to close the books on it. “Pirates had already gotten to it,” was what Chester was instructed to say. “Total loss. Nothing to salvage.” But Stazi stressed that Chester was not to make a big deal out of it. To not pique anyone’s curiosity.
But Stazi would not tell Chester anything more about the Aurora. “They’re all dead,” she said. “And no one must ever go down there. When the others wake, tell them where I’m going and that I won’t let the trail go cold. I trust that they’ll be able to find me. Or contact me.”
And then they left: Stazi, Stanhope, and the elf.
And then… the party never woke up.
After a few weeks of Skywin never leaving Dabwick’s side, the crew of the Starling had to come in and talk privately with her. The bulk of their cargo was due somewhere in Andoran and the ship had to leave. The crew members were depending on Skywin for their livelihoods, so Chester and Jaydove assured Skywin that they would take care of Barnabus, Dabwick, Dora, Grip, and Vik for as long as it took.
And so the Starling set sail once again.
First Reference: Chapter 151
Other Notable References: —