Trip to Slant Rock Isle [Past]

[Darby]

Darby unnecessarily shined his blade, facing towards the water.

"Nah, someone will have to come back and deal with these dragons if this island or any of the surrounding sea will be safe again. That sounds like good paying merc work, so I suppose I'll be back for that - after this is done."

[Magikeeper]

Scyto continued to chat with Dalton, the duo hard at work ironing out everything and anything related to the dragon.

Kathy, meanwhile, did not look well. Her hand continued to cover her mouth, but now out of pain rather than embarrassment; the adrenaline had worn off, replaced with the revelation that it was actually possible for pain to increase. A look at Wally about to gruffly speak, however, brought back just enough of a rush to plow through one more conversation.

"A.. a few days. Couldn't get off. You were sent to find pirates? Why? I-if you had proof we were there would that be enough?"

Dalton overheard enough to spare a nod towards Kathy. "It would, yes."

The pirate fumbled around her vest with her good arm and pulled out a ring.

"I h-have.. have rings from the fallen. Mapwood! They're mapwood."

Wally motioned for Kathy to stop with a concerned expression as he takes over. "Mapwood's from Cartographer's brush, it only grows on Orl Island. Those rings better not end up in a stuff drawer somewhere, each one of them is given to a pirate once they're a full-fledged member of one of the outgoing crews. Got their names on 'em!"

Scyto chimed in as well. "By focusing some of your magic into the ring you can sense the distance and direction between yourself and the last spot it was used. It takes a lot of skill to read the feeling, but I've heard map-makers can get it down to the millimeter. Anyway, most of these rings were last set to Orl, so their next use will reveal where it was before we set off for the recent battle. A couple of those would be tied to slant rock instead. I.. THINK there's a way to tell how long ago it was last used but you'd need an expert."

Kathy tosses the rings to Castor before huddling back into her limb-supporting-and-scream-suppressing position "Will that work?" she asks while looking around the ship. "I could also mark the exact spot the ship went down on a map?"

[Lilly Mato]

"So, since you've played nice... where are we dropping you lot off?" Lilly said as she drew slightly nearer the group. She wanted to make it clear that they weren't going to turn around and murder them now they had what they were after.

[Magikeeper]

"Um.."

Dalten motioned toward the mainland in the distance. "There's rumors of a fey ring in the woods past the first mainland village. If you wanted to disappear for an arbitrary period of time, that'd do it."

"If we survived!" Remarked Wally as he almost but didn't actually spit into the water. Not really the time to be putting parts of himself into the sea an' all.

"That works! That works, We'll do it, just drop us off."

"What do you mean we'll-"

Scyto nodded vigorously towards the group. "We'll strongly consider it, no need for folk to check in on us afterward. Just drop us off nearby."

"Kathy needs a healer, we can't just jump into blasted fairy territory. You shouldn't do that at all! You know the stories! What's gotten into you two?!"

[Kage]

"Well, you gave us what we would need to get paid. Thus, to me, it doesnt matter if you keep your parts attached to yourself. And since it's easier for me to not fight you, I'll help you stay alive until you get off our boat and out of my life.

I can help you splint your arm until you can get to a real healer. If you would like."

[Castor Phecda]

Castor took the rings and looked at them intently. Not only could they locate Orl Island but they could identify the wearer as a member. He looked closely at the carved name on one and an idea began to form in his mind. He put them in his pocket to make sure he didn't drop them.

It seemed the others had what they needed to finish the mission and were going to let the Pirates go. If they had the rings themselves, then they would be able to find the island and get back. Castor could occasionally sense where the island was with his own technique, but never for long enough to actually make the voyage. He needed to follow them back.

He then walked to Dalton and reached into his pocket again, retrieving all but one of the rings, and handed them to Dalton. "Here. I'd rather not be responsible for these." He said with a smile. Turning back to the others he said, "Why not just drop them off at the next convenient spot then? The sooner the better."

[Darby]

Darby smiled in a suspicious way.

"Have no fear, Kathy and others. The fairies won't harm you. I'll be there to stop them. Or, more likely, buy some drugs from them because Fairies are among the least harmful things on the mainland, you crybaby."

[Magikeeper]

Wally looked at Darby with a bit of a confused look. "My ma always warned me about fey rings, said the vadtunder could spirit you away and leave ya in the middle of nowhere wondering what exactly you just spent the past few years doing. Dealing wi-"

"That'd certainly lose a trail! Also, thank you Kage. Please do that." Kathy sort of moved her arm towards Kage, but not too much given the pain.

Unless the group had anything else to say to the pirates, the rest of the journey proceeded in an uneventful fashion. The pirates went off towards the town to get medical help and then disappear - into a fey ring or in the more metaphorical sense - and the group then returned to Tiburon for the all important step of getting paid.

It was dusk when the group finally returned to Tiburon. If Kage had maintained his eye for the entire day.. well, he might just have seen something interesting.

OOC: Sort of a last call for "If you had any end-of-adventure plans please share!"

[Castor Phecda]

As the Pirates were preparing to disembark, Castor knew that his time to act was now. He had what he needed to track the Pirates wherever they went. While holding Kathy he had created a mental image of her and could now find her anywhere. She was now the second woman stored in his mind. It felt wrong but it needed to be done.

There was something he was missing though. Something he had purposed to accomplish on the trip but wasn’t sure that he had: find some trustworthy friends willing to come with him.

He turned to the others as soon as the Pirates were off the boat. ”I’m going after them. I need to find a way to get to Orl Island and this may be my only chance. They stole someone precious from me and I need to get her back. I...” He hesitated but continued. ”I ask any of you who are willing, to come with me. I don’t expect you to do this simply out of the goodness of your hearts or as a favor to me. Just, think about this. Those Pirates have been based on that island for decades. How much treasure must they have at that location? And how secure do you supposed it is? Security must be rather lax on an unfindable island.” He paused, letting what he hoped to be truth to sink in. ”All I ask is to help me get to the island and find what I’m looking for and you are welcome to the treasure. Ive tried before to get to Orl Island. I could tell you where it is right now but I assure you it’s impossible to get there. The only way is to follow that group as they make their way back.” He finished, preparing to leave the ship himself. ”I’m tracking them as we speak but I’m not letting them get too far.

He then walked off the ship onto the land. No matter what the others decided to do, he was going to find his wife.

[Lilly Mato]

"Having just narrowly avoided a dragon attack, I'll wish you the best of luck on your suicide mission." Lily said with a smile. "After I get paid I'm going to find some easy work and I don't expect I'll see any of you for a while." she added.