The Journey from Freeport To Orrojek
While hiding in his sister's safehouse, the mariner had used pen and parchment to draft two letters. The first to Gorran, which threatened him with death should the man ever set foot in the Black Pearl again. The second was addressed to Lord Hardesty, signed under the alias of Sylvan Dyr. In the letter, Callister assumed the identity of an interested assassin, and wrote that he had seen the poster for Captain Draabyn and wanted to know more information about the man. He instructed that if Hardesty had any advice he was willing to share that he could receive messages at a well-known inn in Asylum, where Callister knew they were headed. He hoped this deceit would prove successful upon arriving in Asylum, knowing that a messenger sent by Hardesty could easily beat the slow-moving Warthog there.
After leaving Freeport, the party, with Sancho at the helm, sailed with fair winds toward the eastern Isles of Seth, just south of the Coalition. As they sailed through the island chain, they came across the wreck of a ship upon a coral reef and saw a man waving to them. As they approached to rescue him, they lost sight of him. Moments later, a group of sea zombies emerged from the water, crawling up the sides of the boat to do battle with the group. The party was victorious, but lost one of the Warthog's three member crew, a young man named Fritz.
The Warthog continued westward through the Wild Sea and into the Pirate Isles. During one evening, a sea lizard of frighteningly large size sprung up from nowhere. It tried to snatch a few party members off the boat, and managed to kill another of Sancho's crew before it was finally driven off. During the battle, Callister leapt onto the neck of the creature and attempted to drive his sword through its brain. While he struggled with the giant lizard, a poorly placed shot from a fellow party member's bow pinned Callister's leg to the beast. The sea lizard then submerged with Callister helplessly stuck to it. It was fifty feet under and dropping fast before the mariner could snap off the arrow and make a break for the surface. Thanks to the gods (or perhaps in spite of them) Callister survived.
The Warthog made it to Asylum, more or less intact. In the city, Callister found a message waiting for "Sylvan" which instructed him to meet with a Lord Atraides, who could give him full disclosure on what they knew about Callister Draabyn. Callister felt that by playing at being his own would-be assassin looking for a potential merger, he could feel out this new enemy and figure out who they were and what they wanted. Unfortunately, the whole thing was a trap. Using divination magic, they were able to tell who he was and lure him in. They were part of the same group that had taken over the ruined castle on Mercia's coast (Coalition spies). Callister kept his appointment, and soon found himself trapped in Atraides' private residence facing a wizard and two armed ogre guards. He did manage to escape from this desperate situation with the aid of the Cherokzul wand, but had to sacrifice the wand to do so. The first charge generated a flamethrower like effect. The second turned Callister into insubstantial mist and he floated out of the room, however, he could not hold the wand, as it remained solid. He was forced to leave it behind.
During this time, Stryfal enjoyed the city immensely as she stayed at the Golden Phoenix, a large and luxurious inn, where she enjoyed a suite and the services of a male prostitute for several days. In between marathons between the sheets, Stryfal managed to get out and purchase several gifts for the group: a headband and several small tools for Kramtha which he would be able to use for trimming and tattooing.
After several days in Asylum, the group reunited on the docks and loaded their gear back onto the Warthog. Sancho had picked up a new crewmate. The party left Asylum and sailed onto the city of Orrojek without further incident.
Session nine: the party finds themselves in Orrojek, the technology capital of the world.