Log7th Sea: The Search for Salvation-2011/09/29-Jason-1

Game log for the 2011/09/29 session of 7th Sea: The Search for Salvation, as taken by Jason

When we last saw our intrepid band of heroes, they were drinking and dicing, and they don't want to quit while they're ahead/drunk. Most of the group go home at a sensible hour, but Nikolai and Felix decide to close the place down.

Benito and Léon, returning to the villa, notice an open door where none should be. Benito, indifferent to any possible risk attached to this door, starts to walk in. Claude Duchamps moves to go in first, but does not get ambushed or otherwise attacked. As they enter the villa, they begin to hear sounds of sailors having a good time. They go to investigate, and realize that the party is in Luna's bedroom, or rather, just outside the closed door to Luna's bedroom. Inside the bedroom, Luna is swearing a blue streak. Olabi slurs out something about it all being a big misunderstanding. Léon's accent becomes more ridiculous as he tries to encourage them to leave, and the sailors draw knives. Our Heroes draw swords.

They charge and reach Claude first. Claude advances into the sailors to keep them away from Léon, which works but will swiftly land him in difficulty. Benito tries to join in but can't manage to hit anyone. Léon is a little later getting into it but skewers his man - and then another in rapid succession. Claude, meanwhile, takes a knife slash for his pains. That's why it pays to be a noble - your minions get stabbed for you so you can hack away with impunity. After a couple more sailors get injured, the last one drops his knife and signals an intent to disengage. Léon offers to let them go, and sure enough, Olabi turns and runs. However, since he doesn't run straight for the door, Benito and Léon decide to chase him down while Claude evicts the rest. Olabi gets a good head start and Léon loses ground, but Benito hangs in there. Léon decides to give up and check on Luna, as he is in fact a lover, not a fighter. Olabi gets held up by a locked door and Benito catches up to him. The tired sailor throws his hands up (again) and gasps for breath, so Benito decides to escort him out rather than stabinating him.

Back in (or outside of) Luna's bedchamber, Léon discovers that Captain Salo was in the house... and since we haven't see him, that might be a problem. Once Léon gets the door open, he finds the lady of the house looking pretty frazzled. Benito checks Daria's room and finds it empty. Hrm... perhaps the situation is not so under control as we had hoped! Time to find Daria. They stop off at the bar to fetch the thugs, and then we all head down to the docks.

We find Salo's ship, and Olabi looks sad when we turn up, but Salo's not around. Olabi assures us that the Captain isn't around, so we go to check. Sure enough, we find nobody in the Captain's quarters. Nikolai tells Olabi to come ashore and show us the Captain's various villas. The first mate tries to refuse... and then realizes that doing what Nikolai wants is always easier for everyone.

We go to Salo's usual house, where the guards answer all our questions with "no" or other refusals to provide information. Nikolai loses his patience and KOs both guards. He then goes inside and hears a woman shouting insults. The party heads in that direction and finds Salo, with Daria on his lap. Daria's in a nightgown, with her hands bound in front of her. Oh man. That's not going to work out well for someone. Salo has six men with him, and they all produce weapons. Nikolai quickly takes two out with his axe, one of whom probably won't wake up. Salo reaches in to a bundle under the table and pulls out a big ol' sword. Nikolai takes a small dagger wound from the nearest brute. Salo advances. Felix takes out a couple, using his zweihander like a big ol' spear. Benito engages Salo, quite possibly scarring him, but certainly not putting him out of the fight. Felix tries to eliminate the third, but the zweihander is a little cumbersome indoors, and he misses. Léon tries to back Felix up, and has no better luck. Salo knocks Benito to the ground and does him no small injury with a sweeping sword blow at knee level. Felix takes out the last henchman, leaving Salo to fight all four of us.

Salo headbutts Nikolai, then tries to beat his defenses down, but fails. Salo's next attack just does a flesh wound. Felix darts in with his forward stance and does Salo some injury. Benito delivers a brilliantly timed rapier attack and stabs Salo good and proper. Felix switches to back stance, thinking to administer the coup, but then Benito lands another telling blow that ends the fight before the Drexeleer can show off his other stance. Nikolai spits on Salo's unconscious body, then steals the boots from a smaller sailor and gives them to Daria, so that she can cover her dainty little ankles.

We walk out, meeting Claude and Olabi outside the house. Olabi seems to think all's well that ends well, so wanders off, to snarky parting comments from the PCs.

Daria tells us that Salo showed up at the villa and wouldn't take no for an answer. Léon responds with tremendous gallantry. The tale of how Salo came to Luna's villa leads to a discussion of Nikolai's search for Evelina. Luna suggests that we consult a Fate Witch. Then we all turn in, after a long night.

Veldi, Septimus 2, 1668

It's a beautiful day to risk your soul consulting with Fate Witches. Evelina's mother is a Fate Witch, so she'd presumably help us. Then again, if she had anything useful to say, you'd expect she'd have told us already. On the gripping hand, even if she has nothing to contribute, she might be able to give us an introduction to a Fate Witch who can do better. It's just a short boat trip to Sigillo to visit her.

We find our way to Casa Venzini, arriving shortly after lunch. Serafina Venzini is in. She's in her sixties, wearing the black garments of a Fate Witch, and seems willing enough to receive Nikolai. Nikolai explains that Evelina may have been seen on the docks of Dionna, and that Serafina's skills may now be of use. Serafina puts her hand to her chest in surprise, and we see that what we took to be a ring on her finger is actually a spider. Yikes. Fate Witches, man. Serafina decides to contact her older daughter, Mercede (who is also a Fate Witch), and see if the two of them together can't manage something. We bid her farewell and head back to Dionna.

We spend the rest of Veldi futtering around town.

Amordia, Septimus 3, 1668

There's a party at La Villa Calabretta, and a Montaigne gentleman shows up. He and Léon discuss the state of affairs back home. This new guy is a big fan of L'empereur.

Guerdi, Septimus 5, 1668

Luna knows a Fate Witch named Lucia Vecchio, who will do a reading for Nikolai. We take a boat trip to the island where she lives. Her villa sits atop a hill, off the beaten path. Nikolai and Benito go in to her study for the reading; the rest of us wait in a sitting room. Her study is quite dark and has only two chairs, with a Tarot deck on the table. She asks Nikolai to cut, then shuffles the cards, and asks Nikolai what he seeks. He tells her, and she finds a weak connection. Evelina lives, and is somewhere in the islands, but she's still some ways off. She would expect Nikolai to find her in less time than he's been looking so far. She asks if Nikolai has more questions, and asks if Benito has questions, but the Castille wimps out. Then Nikolai remembers! The mom! Why can't Serafina find Evelina? Lucia explains that a Fate Witch could have severed the thread that connected them. Oh crap. She also warns Nikolai that something dreadful lies ahead of him. Benito asks what it would take to convince someone to sever a thread. It's a lot. They leave. Benito then goes to church.

Nikolai tells Luna what he learned.