Questing News From The Spiral

What a journey this has been! Kobe and I left our island home of Hamamitsu Garden and traveled aboard a cargo ship bound for Skull Island. We arrived during an uprising and the town was in the midst of being shelled. But we managed to attain an audience with the local Governor, a man named Captain Avery.

We tried to gain information from him about my birth parents in our search to discover where I initially came from. Surprisingly Avery knew my parents and shared an even bigger surprise; I have a sister! Her name is Scarlet and she too had come to Skull Island for information about her… well our, parents. I think I’m going to like her already.

By adopted brother Kobe and I left a message with Avery in hopes my long lost sister returns, he will be able to pass the note along to her. Perhaps I will be able to meet her one day. In order to solicit this favor from Avery, he has asked Kobe and I to do something for him. Of course, in Mooshu the balance of life is always important to maintain. A favor for a favor is a common action in our land, thus we had no problem taking on his quest. We took care of that little mission when he made another proposition.

It seems Avery had a jewel that was stolen and he wanted it back. If we promised to help him with this little favor, he would “give” us our very own ship to fly through the skyways! Well that seems like an unbalanced payment for such a small task, but we took him up on his offer. Balance is one thing, but we weren’t about to turn down such a great offer.

He sent us to the backside of Skull Island where we came upon some troggies to deal with. And we made a new friend, a musketeer named Bonnie Anne. With her help we discovered the entrance to Skull Cave where we believed a thief named Fin Dorsal was hiding out with Avery’s stolen treasure. The way was guarded by several Cutthroat pirates, but they were no match for Kobe and I. And with Bonnie Anne’s help we ..um..”cut” through them quiet easily.

We reached the inner sanctum and hiding place of Dorsal and his henchmen. But thanks to a Marleybone spy, Sargent Shepherd my crew and I were able to dispatch them as well. We recovered the jewel and headed back Avery’s Court. The “agreement” was not quite what we thought it would be. The ship Avery promised was a raft, not the skiff we had assumed would be turned over to us. Still, it was a sailing vessel and I know Kobe and I could trade up soon enough. We invited Bonnie to join us on our new adventures she gladly accepted.

He again asked for our help to locate Captain Gunn’s treasure. There is a specific item that he requires and if we hunt it down and acquire it for him, we can keep the remaining treasure. Again, an offer that almost seems too good to be true. But we’re taking it on.

Our first task is to discover Gunn’s map. We picked up some information that lead us to the Kracken Tavern and we came face to face with a pirate named Ratbeard. He stole the map and made off with it, while we were left to defeat his henchmen. By our side was a strangely quick sloth named Barnabus. Never seen a sloth move so fast. They are notoriously slow in general terms, but that’s not the case with Barnabus. As Ratbeard escaped, we invited him to join our crew and share the loot of Gunn’s Treasure. We’re happy he accepted.

We’re off to track down Ratbeard and that will take us out into the skyway on our first adventure on our new “ship”. We traveled to Blood Shoals and discovered some sad souls that had been poisoned by Ratbeard. If this dastardly foul pirate could do this to his own crew, imagine what he might do to those who try to end his reign of terror! This seems to be a much dangerous quest than we originally thought. No wonder Avery didn’t want to tackle this himself.

We learned more about Ratbeard and that information has led us to Jonah Town and a meeting with the Frog Father. We learned that Avery had sent my note to my sister Scarlet to him for delivery. He was able to deliver the message and she wrote a reply! I’m so excited. We’re going to meet up soon, right now she’s on a mission in Port Regal and cannot get away. But that’s ok, we’re on the hunt for our own treasure.

That quest is going to lead us to the Presidio to pick up some spice for the Frog Father. While we were there battling the Presidio Guards, we discovered a prisoner who needed our help, Jack Russell. It seems he knew my parents and could share more information with us. But first we needed to get the spice. We battled the Presidio governor and acquired the key to the prison and freed Jack. In turn he helped us face the remaining guards and load the spice onto our raft.

We headed back to Jonah Town and delivered the goods as agreed. Jack talked to the FrogFather about knowing my parents and requested to join our crew. Before I had a chance to say we don’t have room on the Grinning Shrimp, the FrogFather said he was holding a skiff that belonged to my parents and it needed to be claimed. I was ecstatic and with a bigger ship, we could take on the new crew mate.

So my crew has expanded again. Along with Kobe Yojimbo, Bonnie Anne and Barnabus, we meet up with an old family friend,
Jack Russell.

With the new addition who knows these waters better than my brother Kobe and I, Kobe suggested we make Jack as First Mate. That would also free up some time for Kobe to help me plan our missions while Jack runs the ship. I thought it was a great idea and Jack was up for the task too. I’m glad to have him along with us. Not only to learn of my parents and discover what he knows of my sister, but because he’s pretty good in a fight as well.

With our new ship we’re headed to the next stop on our Gunn Treasure quest, a place called Flotsam. Jack also informed us that Corsairs Cove would be on the way. A place we need to quickly stop off at so Bonnie can locate a special gun. I can’t wait to see how our new skiff is going to handle in the skies. We took some time to pick up new ship equipment, upgraded the guns and repaired most of the hull. We still want to have her painted. After all a ship named the Grand Garnet should be red to represent the color of that precious stone!

We’re on the move with more adventures and meetings with new and interesting folk. Until the next entry of my “real” ship’s log, this is Victoria Hawkins, Captain of The Grand Garnet!

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