The Spectre, a cold, dark, desolate disk-shaped planet in the Greyspace system. It isn't very popular. It certainly isn't a vacation resort or something you'd want to take the kids on holiday. It's a haven for pirates, thugs, mercenaries, and other businessmen of Wildspace. It's a known haven for Illithid slave traders, Neogi press gangs and the occasional Beholder war.
It's mostly taverns, storehouses, seedy hostels, and docking facilities. Taxes aren't high, but the cost of living there is. One never travells the streets alone: there are too many ways to disappear here and never be seen from again.
Perhaps that's why Zebart the Tinker Gnome was sent out to go shopping.
Blaise Pascal, acting captain of the hammership Eternal Wanderer stood at a dock of Grellnor, a minor trading city on Spectre. It was nighttime when they arrived, not the best time of day to be strolling around in Grellnor, but Onestar was insistent that Zebart be "sent" on a shopping trip as soon as they arrived.
Blaise knew that the samurai had no love of Tinker Gnomes. Hall had told the Arcane that Onestar would never reveal his reasons for this 'dislike.' If anyone ever mentioned it, or asked him why, the samurai might avoid the subject, or you might see his the business end of his katana.
Zebart was sent to Smuggler's Corner, a little cove set on the other side of the city, to bring back some minor potions. They weren't needed, but it was the best thing Blaise could come up with. He didn't like the thought of what would happen to Zebart, but then he rememberd all the 'improvements' he tried to put into the ship.
The ends, so he once heard, do justify the means.
It would be several hours before the faint light of Liga would appear in the sky, bringing about the day. Extra guard crews were posted to make certain nothing would happen to the ship. Blaise yawned, deciding that he might try and get some sleep and not let his conscious bother him.
Daytime on The Spectre could almost be considered an oxymoron. The sky is still filled with starlight and mostly darkness, but there is one star brighter than all the rest. Liga, the primary sun of Greyspace, did it's very best to light this little world, but it's efforts were in vain. Being so far away, it could only act as a brighter diamond aganist a stygian blanket full of them.
Blaise, Phantom and Ville were at the gangway of the ship, leaving last minute instructions for Meridian, the Kenku Navigator.
"Remember, when we get back, then we'll allow shore leave," Pascal said. "When shore leave starts, no one will be allowed to travel alone. There must be groups of at least three. No one adhiring to this will be confined to quarters for the remainder of planetfall."
"Understood," Meridian replied. It was unusual for everyone to see one of the race of humanoid birds speak: their usual method of communication was a combination of squaks and psionics. Meridian was unique however. He was mutated by an evil wizard at birth, losing his psionic abilities but gaining standard speech. The Kenku, at a young age, rebelled aganist his evil master. Upon the wizard's death, Meridian gained his freedom.
"Anything else?" Meridian asked, a slight breeze blowing the feathers of his wings which hung around him like a cloak.
"If anyone approaches the ship, unless they're friend or tax collector, ask them to refrain from coming any closer. Have Karamon post watch until we return."
"Aren't you being just a little paranoid, Pascal?" Ville asked.
"I've been here before," Pascal replied, "and I've had a...bad experience which I won't soon forget."
"Ah."
"Until you return," Meridian said with a slight bow.
Once in the city of Grellmor proper, the trio split up. Blaise said he would contact the party who wanted the Vallenwood, while Ville and Phantom went on a recruting drive. They agreed to meet at the Bleeding Parrot at BreakFeast to check up on each other.
Ville and Phantom walked calmly through the streets of Grellmor, checking out tavern and storefront names for The Narrashan Towing Service, a Lizard Man-owned towing operation who were known to tow anything anywhere with no questions asked, if the price was right. They had their main offices on Spectre, but no one was sure where. It seemed they moved constantly, always on the run from one party or another. Usually, the Imperial Elven Navy were on their tails for "illegal towing of Armadas, Men-o-war, and Flitters still operational."
The Second Unhuman War left many of these ships attacked by Scro battlewagons, their crews maimed or killed. The Narrashan Towing Service had a standing agreement with the Scro and other unnamed parties to retrieve any such Elven craft. They agreed, and were paid well for it.
It was almost by luck that the pair found the current headquarters of Narrashan. The storefront was dark, with only a sigil in the shape of a Lizardman's tail holding a dirk. The Narrashan symbol, it was rumored to cause great pain for any elf to touch it. Ville reached for the door and opened it. The pair entered silently.
The antechamber was empty. In the center of the room was a dark hailing crystal, cracked and seemingly useless. No other doors could be seen, no windows other than the rather dirty one facing the front street. Phantom placed one hand reflexively on his sword. Ville walked over to the crystal and examined it.
"It's useless," he said a few seconds later. "Let's get out of here. It looks like they haven't been here..."
Without warning, the crystal flared to life. The door slammed shut as the light intensified. Ville covered his eyes while Phantom squinted, trying to check for intruders.
Suddenly, normal light returned to the room. Once the glow faded and the pair of humans could see again, the room had changed. There were a dozen lizard men surrounding them, holding swords, crossbows, and polearms. From behind the circle, a hissing voice called out.
"Who are you and why do you ssseek the Narrassshan Towing Sssservice?"
Straining to see the figure speaking, Ville blinked several times. "I am Ville Lavonius, Acting First Officer of the Hammership Eternal Wanderer. We seek the Narrashan Towing Company to hire them."
"Eeeternal Wandererrr," the voice trailed off. Phantom could see clearly now and was able to make out the figure in the rear. It was a Lizard Man allright, but he held no weapon. He carried a wooden staff and wore multi-colored robes. It appeared to Phantom, and now to Ville also, he was a Shaman.
"I have heard of the Eternal Wanderer, captained by the sssamurai Onesssstar. Did you know the acsursssed Imperial Elven Navy issss looking for your captain?"
Both humans looked shocked.
"Obviousssly not. Welcome. Any human hunted by the Imperial Navy issss an ally of the Narrassshan Towing Ssservice. I am Holinor, leader of thisss ssserviccccs. How may we help you?"
The guards parted and Holinor motioned for the pair to follow them. The seemingly empty room suddenly became quite full and bustling with activity. Those Lizard Men that were surrounding Ville and Phantom went back to other duties: some checking accounting books, others checking stellar maps, and the like. One Lizard Man in particular went over to the damaged crystal and muttered a few words over it. It blinked for a few seconds.
"It wasss a gift from a grateful Human Wizzzard," Holinor commented, noticing the pair's reaction to the crystal. "What it doesss isss cassst an illusssion. Impresssive, no?"
"Quite," Phantom added. "It affects all the senses, doesn't it?"
"Acrosssss the ssspectrum," Holinor replied. "No one hasss been able to sssee through it yet."
Holinor led Phantom and Ville to a side office. Once inside, Holinor leaned his staff beside a desk and sat on a backless chair. He motioned for the pair to sit down.
"Where isss the ssship you wisssh usss to tow?"
"We have a map prepared by Captain Onestar," Ville said, reaching for an ivory map case within his bag. "The ship is protected by magical spells and wards. We would like to send a representitive from our crew along with you to deactivate them, if that is no problem."
"Ssss. Normally, that would cossst extra, but given the ssship in quessstion, we ssshall forgo the fee. I sssuppossse it isss the Illithid Dreadnought?"
Ville's jaw dropped slightly while Phantom remained expressionless.
"Don't act sssurprised," Holinor said. "We know many thingsss about Wildssspace, both forgotten and remembered. The Eternal Wanderer found the ssship; they are welcome to her. We will merely tow her whereever you wissssh."
"Very well," Phantom said. "We are willing to pay you a modest towing fee."
"We will dissscuss feesss later," Holinor motioned. He then yelled out to a passing Lizard Woman some instructions in their native tounge. The female bowed, and hurried off. "For now, we ssshall feassst. I hope your captain can join ussss?"
"He is...unavailable at this time," Ville apoligized. "He is currently..."
"You need tell me no more," Holinor stopped Ville with a raise of his hand. "The Narrassshan Towing Company ressspectsss the privacy of our cussstomersss. Hopefully, before you leave Sssspectre, he will pay usss a visssit."
"I'm certain we can arrange that, Holinor," Phantom answered. "But first, we have to meet our companion and tell him that the plans are set. He is expecting us at the Bleeding Parrot for BreakFeast."
"I ssshall ssssend ssssomeone to fetch him and bring him here. What isss hisss name and ssspecies."
"Blaise Pascal, an Arcane."
"Very well," Holinor commented. "For now, let usss feassst and cement the deal!"
Several Lizard Men and Women entered the room, carrying trays of fruits, meats, breads and cheeses. It would appear that they decided to have a party, which pleased Ville and Phantom to no end.
Blaise exited from the storehouse where the merchant had arranged for them to meet to discuss the Vallenwood delivery. The Merchant, a human trader from elsewhere in the sphere, was pleased with the Eternal Wanderer's prompt delivery and offered a bonus.
Beginning the journey back to the Bleeding Parrot, Blaise felt a sense of accomplisment. Perhaps it was because he was an arcane that the merchant offered more than was agreed, he thought. I might have intimitated him, but he didn't seem intimitated.
"Better to leave such thoughts alone, Blaise. You're a scholar, a master of the Art, not of the Deal." He commented to himself while passing a Halfling encampment. Making a sharp left, he walked without thinking and, minutes later, ended up in a blind alley.
Pascal was near the wall at the far end when he realized he made a wrong turn. Turning around, he noticed a tall man in full Plate Armor, with spikes sticking out from many places, and a ten-foot long halberd in his left hand.
The creature's face was covered in a full helm. It looked over Blaise for a minute. At the other end of the alley, Blaise Pascal's eyes widened in shock and horror. He knew what the creature was that loomed before him, and he suddenly felt very afraid.
"Arcane pig!" the armored humanoid said in a deep, forceful voice, "I am Pilanter! I am your death!"
"By the stars," Pascal breathed, "a Dizantar."
Tiegorus of Maplegrove stood on the forecastle of her squidship, the Calla Maraine. Her ship had landed two moors away from the Eternal Wanderer, and she found herself glancing at the hammership more and more. The arcane who she had spoken with earlier had arranged to meet her on the docks once the two ships had landed. They had landed several hours before, and so far there had been no sign of the arcane or anyone else. She could see people moving about the deck of the hammership, however. One was clearly a giff, another was a winged being that resembled an aarocakra, and the rest were the usual mix of humans, elves and dwarves.
Perhaps they are being detained by customs, she said to herself. Her own ship had been hassled all night by people looking for 'illegal cargo.' Fortunately, all she was carrying was exotic wines and beers from Realmspace. The real treasure on the squidship was Tiegorus's personal spell library.
She glanced around the harbor at the other ships, and noticed a set of pontoon equipped tradesmen bobbing at a nearby pier. They all bore the company symbol of the Narrashan Towing service. She herd footsteps behind her and a heafty man with a thin beard emerged. He was dressed in the robes apporpriate to his calling: that of a druid. He walked up to Tiegorus, who was a good foot shorter than he, and kissed her gently.
"Good morning" he said to her. "Any luck?"
"No," Tiegorus said, looking back at the harbor. "But look at those," she said, pointing to the tradesmen.
"It stands to reason that they would hire them, in light of their quarry," Bagath the druid said.
"Hmm," Tiegorus added. "True, but I'm more worried about those." She was pointing at a hammership with a strange set of symbols, a set associeted with a race called the Dizantar.
"And that," she added, pointing to a stone courtyard. A frilitary-class man-o-war was resting on its six mitheral legs, while elven soldiers marched around it. Tiegorus turned and looked at her husband.
"I'm very much afraid that we arrived too late. Hall and his captain could be flying head long into a trap. I just hope we can get to them first. We have to warn them somehow."
Bagath stood next to her. "Trouble like this tends to arrive in droves doesn't it? First the mess in Solaris, and then the trouble in Omnispace, and now..."
"Now they have the Writs of Tranax," she said heavily.
"I'm sure they know about the map by now," Bagath commented.
"Yes, I'm sure. But what they don't know is how many people may be after it! I don't know if these troublemakers are after the Writs, Onestar's magical armor, or something entirely different. There are too many co-incidences here for me."
The wizard and the druid continued to debate their problem when one of the cremembers alerted them of something on the docks. Tiegorus ran to the other side of the ship where her helmsman—a humanoid female with bronze skin, white eyes, and black hair with a white stripe down the center—was pointing to a still form on the dock. Bagath quickly ran to the form and carried it to the deck of the squidship.
"It's a halfling, and he's badly wounded," the druid explaimed, as he bagan to prepare a healing spell.
Tiegorus looked at the halfling: "What happened to you?"
"I disobeyed orders," he said. "Mr. Pascal said not to leave the ship until he arrived... All I needed was some spices, so I headed for the market... I figured I could slip out and back without being noticed..."
The halfling's breathing became more normal as the healing magic began to take effect. Tiegorus waited a minute before continuing.
"You're safe now," she said calmly. "What's your name?"
"Brein Fleetfoot, I'm a chef." He caughed for a moment. "I work on the Eternal Wanderer." he said.
Tiegorus looked up at the hammership, suddenly alarmed. "Something is very wrong," she said to herself, "and I can't just sit back and do nothing."
"Cherry!" Bagath called, "Look at this!"
The halfling had a strange weapon in his bloodied hand. It looked vaguely like a dagger, with a perfectly triangular blade. Instead of a hilt, it had a handle, like those found on a carpenter's saw. Only one race was know to use a weapon of this design: the neogi.
"Problems like this only come in droves," Tiegorus sighed heavely. After a few minutes she stood up and turned to one of her deck crew.
"Skot, go over to the Eternal Wanderer and get the last known trajectory of Captain Onestar and Mr. Dargess." She then turned to her healmsman. "Tempest, go below, warm up the helm, and engage the cloaker. We are making an unexpected takeoff."
"Aye m'am," the humanoid said.
Tiegorus turned to her husband. "If Onestar and Hall try to land a little skiff in among these vipers they won't last ten minutes. We're going up after them."
