Log7th Sea: The Search for Salvation-2012/03/15-Jason-1

Game log for the 2012/03/15 session of 7th Sea: The Search for Salvation, as taken by Jason

Veldi, 17 Septimus

Our ship arrives in Malaca. It's known for logging, shellfish, and the independence of its inhabitants. Léon immediately demands shellfish, and since he's a noble, he gets it.

By the by, Benito officially hires Felix, promising him 10 guilders a month plus room and board.

We get a room at an inn, whence Nikolai crashes out to recover from an illness. Felix goes to deliver a message for Escobar Sanchez de Galegos del Castille. He has the biggest barbershop and physician's shop in town, which makes it easy to find. It's late afternoon by the time we get there, but the shops are open for business. Escobar asks how he can help us, and Benito comes right out: he and Léon have wounds, and would like a professional to examine the wounds. Léon asks and discovers that Escobar speaks passible Vodacce, so the switch to that tongue in order to converse with Felix. Felix hands Escobar the letter from Anna, and upon reading it, Escobar announces a willingness to treat us (as friends of Anna's) for free.

Escobar asks what we're doing here, and Benito explains that he wanders around looking for interesting stories, as a scholar of sorts. Escobar announces that he has a task he could use our help with. There may be Montaigne agents trying to spread plague, you see, and he wants them stopped. He can tell us how to find the person who gave him the information, and that person could give us more precise information to identify the agents. However, we must move with some degree of haste, as these agents are going to Rioja. We can find the informant at the nunnery of Las Hermanas de San Felipa. Léon suggests obtaining transportation, perhaps a cart and horse, or mules. Probably mules, given that we're going into the hills. Benito thinks maybe we should walk, for speed, but Léon prevails upon him to act as befits his noble station. Benito rents five mules for a few days, and also prepays our rooms for a couple weeks, along with a picnic lunch we can take with us on our journey. Benito also has our clothes laundered and obtains a second set of clothing for the non-noble members of the party, thus allowing them to occasionally change clothes and have their dirty clothes laundered. Brilliant! Léon buys himself some new clothes too, just because the other kids are doing it.

After shopping, Benito hangs around the inn, listening to stories. He hears the following:

• A top Castille admiral has been removed for not doing enough to end the blockade. The Church supposedly requested this change.

• The war in Ussura shows no signs of ceasing or slowing.

• Many in Montaigne may be weary of the war and hope for some development against it... or perhaps do more than hope.

• Nicklaus Trägue, who runs Freiburg, has been rattling his saber at the neighbors, in conjunction with Erich Sieger.

• A logger (José) says he saw blue lights in the mountains last night.

Benito plies him for more information, and hears that it might be Legion or Legion worshippers. Of course, he's only seen the lights drunk. One more sober man says he's also seen the lights, though he has no idea what they are, but also says that people don't log out so far from town that they can't ride back before darkness.

In the morning, we head to the convent. It takes most of the day to get there, though we have no difficulty arriving after dark. Escobar has given us a letter to the Canoness, ensuring a reasonably kind reception. The convent acts as a hospital and orphanage for the area. On the way we see a dismembered deer, which tells us that the local predators don't worry about avoiding the trails.

We have no trouble finding the place, because it's big, more like a keep or fortress than a more urban cathedral-style convent. We wait a bit to be let through the postulant door in the gate, but when they finally ask our business and Benito asks to speak to the Cannoness, they let us in. These nuns wear pastel blue and white, rather than black and white. There are about 55 kids running around, a few buildings inside the compound, and a main church that's effectively built into the side of the mountain. The sister who answered the gate door offers us hospitality and shows us where we can water our mules. She asks our names, and Benito introduces us. She then leads us inside. Since it's built into the mountain, it's kind of dark inside, lit only by sconces and chandeliers. She drops us off in a foyer with a small altar to the Second Prophet, with double doors through which we can see one of the main rooms of a church. Benito follows the rituals of the Castillian Théan church, as do Léon and Claude, while the mercs show rather less piety. After some minutes, Mia Fusco di Freiburg comes in, and only exchanges a few words with Benito before suddenly recognizing Felix. "You!?" "Mia?!" "What are you doing here?" Her presence reduces Felix to fidgeting and a momentary reticense, but things rapidly grow... heated. The mercenary and Canoness exchange unpleasantries, and eventually Felix turns to Benito, introduces her as "one of the authentic monsters of Eisen," and stomps out of the room. Absent Felix's disruptive influence, Mia becomes cold but less openly hostile, and leads him out of the room to discuss business elsewhere.

She leads the group, minus the token Eisen, through a passage small enough to make Nikolai decide to turn back. Perhaps he can entertain the children by playing jungle gym.

Benito, Léon, Claude, and Mia arrive in a study. She apologizes for her earlier outburst and acknowledges her history with Felix. Léon tries to make noises about resolving the dispute, while Benito and Claude try desperately to warn him off the subject before the busts out the Iron Ruler of Correction. Benito changes the subject by asking about the Montaigne agents spreading plague. Seems some travellers spent the night in the convent on their way through the mountains, and one of the sisters found a journal, written in Théan and some sort of code, describing the agents and their plot. She thinks that this party of false pilgrims number perhaps half a dozen. Throughout the conversation, Benito can see her struggling to suppress her anger, and eventually he decides to focus on a soothing tone and a quiet conversation to try to draw her into a more mellow mood. She thinks one of them is a glamour mage. However, use of sorcery in the mountains tends to draw very poor luck indeed, so they probably won't be relying on it to get them through. They intend to spread the disease using diseased goods, such as blankets and items of clothing. Some members of their party may also be sick with plague.