Sailing the Silver Void

The amethyst sands of the Shattered Shore were stained with the cost of victory. As the Watch caught their breath, tending to deep wounds, Elder Drax—himself bloodied—attempted to reassert his authority over the chaos. Amidst the looting, Veyer claimed the shimmering aether-silk cloak from the corpse of the Gith lieutenant, while Pea wrestled with the controls of the captured raiding skiff. The bone-and-bronze vessel felt cold, resisting his will like a living, spiteful thing.

In the shadow of the cliffs, a grim bargain was struck. The Watch would keep the skiff and, in exchange, remain silent about Drax’s secret dealings with the Githyanki. Drax offered no apology, claiming this was only way to navigate Oakhaven away from the approaching psychic storm to safer waters.

The peace was shattered when Tink pried open the rune inscribed crate. He narrowly dodged a hiss of poison spray to find an astral compass and chart, only to be thrown backward as two heavy crossbow bolts buried themselves deep in his chest causing him to slump to the ground unconscious. Two Gith snipers, who had been sent to ambush Drax earlier but arrived late, finally opened fire from the cliffs. They were stopped only by the arrival of Kaymos and his drake spirit, Fizz, having missed the morning rendezvous because Fizz refused to leave his bed without an extraordinary amount of ear scratches. Kaymos had tracked the Gith through the brush. With a roar, the ranger and his spirit seized the snipers and hurled them over the cliffside.

Once the remaining Gith were defeated, Drax limped back toward the village supported by the cleric Helios, leaving the rest of the Watch to clean up the beach and recover the spell jammer skiff. After the Gunslinger’s failed attempts to master the spell jammer, Tink, with effort, tamed the helm. The first venture into the Silver void was an uncontrolled and roller coster ride, barely stopping before Oakhaven was completely lost from view. During this brief flight, a faint moan was heard from below causing Veyer and Lindon to open the deck hatch and find an unconscious and tortured man, his body grafted to the ship by a network of pulsing pipes and rune covered cables.

Wrestling the skiff back toward the safety of Moonlit Cove, they passed Merchant Captain Kezreth’s spell jammer, the Warp Spite. Along its rail, twelve motionless figures in blue velvet jackets and regency wigs stood like statues. As the skiff passed, the crew of the Warp Spite turned their porcelain-masked faces as one, tracking the Watch with silent, haunting precision.

While the village celebrated the Festival of the First Budding, Kaymos infiltrated the Warp Spite. In Kezreth’s cabin, he found the preserved skin of a young woman draped over a stand; in a macabre attempt at a disguise, he tried to wear it, but the fit was ghastly. Descending into the hold, he found rows of cages, some filled with huddled humanoids others lost in the gloom. Towards the stern sat a large black iron furnace, its viewing portals glowing a deep flickering red. When Kaymos peered inside, a psychic howl of pure agony filled his mind, sent him staggering back, clutching his temples.

Ashore, Kezreth handed out ice grapes and conch shells, playing the jovial merchant while surreptitiously licking his fingers after every greeting. Lindon, the druid, suffered through Marna’s nectar cake-eating contest, ending the day with a numb, drooling face. Beneath the cheers, Veyer overheard Drax refuse Kezreth’s demand for Wayfarer wood in exchange for navigational aids for Oakhaven.

The evening ended with the hoisting of Kezreth’s gift: the Shadow Lantern. As Nana Fogbreath pressed an eerie corn doll into the hands of Marna’s daughter, Chloe, the lantern flickered to life. It cast a magnificent shadow play of the Great Hunt across the leaves of the Heart-Tree, mesmerising the village. The people cheered, but Pea watched the shifting shadows with a hand on his revolver, certain that a trap had just been set.