Post in the Unique Ship Challenge thread.
A few years ago, this swan ship was a simple trader in service of the Spiral royal family. However, when the Scro attacked and butchered the royal house of Spiral, this ship took on a different mission. During the last day of the house's existence, Princess Beljuil (named for the Realms' gemstone Beljuril) was entrusted with spiriting the children of the house to safety. The trip was long and very dangerous, but the princess proved up to the task and managed to make it to Numeliador. The elves of that world hid the children away in a safehouse and offered similar safety to Princess Beljuil. That offered was denied.
Princess Beljuil knew that there was little to be done by hiding out. Instead, she renounced her title and began her career as a smuggler. She uses the Mercy to slip past the scro blockade and down to the surface of Spiral. There, she drops off weapons bought with her personal riches to rebels. Once the weapons are offloaded, she takes women, children, the wounded, and the infirm aboard and smuggles them to safety. She has made more than two dozen trips, and has saved the lives of over 800 elves, dwarves, and humans. These people are taken either to Numeliador or the Rock of Bral. Beljuil has established quite a network of safehouses throughout the sphere to save her people from the scro genocide.
The stats of the Mercy are as follows:
For the most part, the Mercy is unchanged from the standard swan-ship configuration. However, it has been largely stripped of any valuable fittings (golden lighting fixtures, magical lamps, etc), which were pawned off to buy weapons for Spiral rebels and pay for safehouses for refugees.
Captain Beljuil (F6 ef N I 16, Ch 16)
This former princess is constantly fighting bouts with depression. After witnessing her world die, she has lost almost all hope that it will ever be free. The only thing keeping her going at this point is her duty to save what people she can. Between trips to Spiral, Beljuil secretly meets with people she deeps likely to help her reclaim Spiral. She has met with several dwarvish kings, the leaders of every free elvish settlement, and even a halfling mayor or two. She has had little success in her dealings, however. Many are receptive to her pleas, but they can't spare her the ships she needs. Some have secretly provided her with supplies and money to keep her operation going, and it is thanks to that steady flow of money that she has managed to keep it going this long.
The only magical item that Beljuil has is her gemsword, which is a family heirloom. Beljuil is quite beautiful, but her health as of late has been very fragile. Much of this is due to the mental anguish over the loss of her family and world.
Chief Mage Corzar (T6/W8 hm CN)
Many people are surprised to learn that the chief spelljammer and mage of the Mercy is a human, much less a former pirate! Yet he remains the most loyal follower of Beljuil. Several years before the fall of Spiral, his ship tried to raid that world. It failed and was destroyed. Corzar survived, but was taken prisoner. During his stay as prisoner, he had a crisis of faith and eventually convinced the elves to grant him his freedom. Since then, he has served loyally and would never consider betraying Bejuil. If he has a fault, it is the fact that Corzar will use underhanded methods to acquire money for the cause. Bejuil has too many problems of her own, and doesn't truly care where the extra cash comes from. She simply doesn't ask where he gets his money.
DM's Note: Corzar will use gambling, pick pocketing, and even burglery to get more money. If caught, he won't reveal his employer. Unfortunately, that information can be gained fairly easily, which would pose an interesting moral delama: expose this man's crimes, or let him go because he serves a greater good?
The remainder of the crew are elvish, human, and dwarvish marines and sailors. At one time they were simple sailors and merchants. The many fights they've had with the scro have harden them into expert marines. They are all fighters of levels 3-5, and have at least 4 hp per dice. There are also three other minor mages and a priest of levels 4-6. The priest worships Celestrian, and is in charge of keeping the crew healthy. Beljuil's fragile health has her most concern. She worries that the former princess is burning herself out, and needs something more to keep her from sinking into full depression.
