6th of March, 2022

The Party meets their new Orc friend.

Azrael the the rest search the boat. On the lower deck they find supplies and a large cage. Beneath a crate, they find a hidden hatch to the bilge. Opening the hatch, they are hit by a wave of stench, an overpowering odor of filth. The chamber has chains, manacles, and leg irons to hold about fifty captives. The iron pieces are taken to shore and added to the pyre where Javeed and Snow have been piling slavers’ bodies and other rubbish to burn.

On the upper deck is a cabin with a warded door. Azrael takes fire damage when the trap goes off. She and Demitari enter the cabin, which stinks of sulfur. Therein is a table covered in dirty implements. Under a desiccated corpse hanging from the ceiling, the floor has an infernal sigil that resembles the sign of Azrael’s patron. Demitari examines the charred corpse and finds its throat had been cut deeply, almost to the spine. On a desk they find a large bowl caked with dried blood, a bag of sulfur, and a journal written in Infernal. Kazimir examines the journal, merely commenting, “Interesting.” The implication is that the minotaur was a fiendish creature, a demon or devil or similar sort. He surely had taken captives for his own horrible purposes.

On deck, efforts are underway to repair the helm and other parts of the ship damaged in the battle.

After some hours of travel, Keth and Onox catch up to some Tabaxi. They return to the ship to collect the bodies of their slain kin.

Azrael and Onox, with their powers combined, ignite the pyre to consume the instruments of torture and slavery and the bodies of the dead slavers.

As the sun sets, activities wind down. Demitari goes aboard to fix an evening meal in the ship’s tiny galley. Briar attempts to talk with her sword hilt, but it is silent. Javeed takes time to identify the ring and collar that the minotaur Arkebos had left. The collar or torc is the size to fit over a humanoid’s neck. His initial thought — and having seen the torc in action — is that the collar could only be put onto a restrained creature, and that the creature had to be dead to remove the torc, unless perhaps by the one who was attuned to the ring. This appears to be a false notion. Risking a possible curse from an item that belonged to what was clearly a fiend of some kind, Javeed decides to attune to the ring. He hides the torc in his handy haversack.

The party takes a well-deserved long rest.

In the morning, with repairs completed, and with Briar at the helm, they set sail downstream toward Torevir Deep.

After an uneventful voyage, they approach the city, coming to a drawbridge.

The month is Quen’pillar, when the Festival of the Allhammer is celebrated. Celebrants imbibe dragon’s-breath brew.