A Farewell To Binky

The rest of the day passed without incident, long enough for us to exit the canal and return to open water and sunlight. We stopped to resupply in the port city just outside the canal, on the coast of the inner sea. We had about a day in the port before we headed out to sea. There was nothing we could really think of that we didn't already have.

We did take the opportunity to appraise the diamond we'd picked up from Michael, now that we had sunlight. Shatain & I examined it separately, and we agreed it was probably worth 4,000 - 6,000 gold. I suspected it could be worth more to the right buyer.

The majority of our crew swapped out again. Our guard stayed; they hadn't been rattled by the demon's appearance. Shatain went into town to pick something up that she kept secret from all of us. Brennen & I took the opportunity to bathe and get our clothing cleaned.

I also sat Binky down and asked him what he wanted to do. I'd become fluent in Goblin, and so there was no need to keep him around anymore. I gave him the option of leaving, and he took it. I gave him 10 gold and sent him on his way.

The orb remained quiet throughout the day. We returned to the ship just before sunset. We also picked up 3 hooded lanterns, and I cast a spell on them that would provide a supernatural flame that would never go out. With all 3 lanterns in our cabin, it would always be bright enough to incapacitate the demons.

Once we were in our cabin, Shatain brought out her surprise - a cask of Dwarven ale. We spent a restless night with a close call, but nothing came out of the orb. At first light, Lieutenant Stanley, the head of the guard contingent, came to us and told us we'd be sailing within an hour. We went to sleep once we were underway.

We woke as the room went frosty. I tore the door open and let a flood of sunlight into the room as the demon appeared. I struck it with a burst of holy power, for 21, also blinding it. Shatain's short sword lit up, faintly purple. She struck the demon, hitting for 15. Brennen hit with his axe for 9. The demon was confused, but managed to get out of the room. It went down into the belly of the ship.

We went down with our lanterns; along the way I conjured daylight. We entered the crew main cabin to find a sailor huddled against the wall. He was white-faced, and just pointed in the direction the demon had gone. We went into a storeroom, and found nothing there. We let Lt. Stan know and he got all the crew upstairs.

We prepared for nightfall. I kept a few more spells letting me have daylight and holy energy at the ready. Shatain went below with 3 of the guards with her sword out and radiating daylight. Brennen & I went down on the other side of the ship with the 2 remaining guards, lanterns at the ready.

Shatain encountered the demon first. She was faster, feinted the demon, and struck with her short sword for 20. The demon died, staining the floor black. We'd found it quickly enough that it hadn't had a chance to recuperate.

We thought long and hard about how to contain this thing. During the day, we hoisted the pouch with the orb up to the top of the crow's nest. During the night, between Barclay & I, we could keep the daylight up long enough for the other to rest. Alternating throughout the night would be unpleasant, but it would work.

During the night, we found out that Barclay's first name was Jack. He'd drawn this assignment by getting to familiar with Ezekiel's daughter. A full week went by. We were close to the end of the cask of Dwarven ale. We'd had a few cold spells, but the continuous daylight seemed to do the trick. It seemed the demons could see the environment around the orb, so they would know if we slipped up on our guard.

We stopped at a port city. We decided the best thing we could do is make our weapons able to hit incorporeal creatures. The demons would be able to clearly see our weapons along with the daylight, and hopefully it would be enough. It would take several days to have it done, but the captain was fine with the delay.

It took all day before we found a magic user that would be able to do what we needed. We believed the diamond would cover the cost. His name was Valryd Balarist, and he was more a shaman than a priest. We explained what we wanted to have done, and he was amenable to it.

He examined the diamond carefully, and felt it was definitely a fair trade. Brennen noticed as he had the gem, his features shifted in a weird way for the briefest moment. Something was really, really wrong with this man. Valryd asked for a moment and went to his desk. He cast a spell; I couldn't tell what it was.

Cold, cloying, greasy darkness washed over us. We recognized it then as a blast of unholy energy. Shatain was sickened and took 21; Brennen & I made our saves and only took 10.

Shatain feinted, but failed. However she did hit with her longsword for 6. Brennen attacked next, hitting once for 12. The shaman attempted to make Shatain blind, but failed. I smote him with holy energy, and the shaman collapsed to the ground. He had been possessed by one of the shadow demons.

I created a magic circle against evil to prevent him being possessed again. I then healed the shaman back up. We believed a shadow demon had been very crafty, and hidden itself in the diamon. He told us he would do the enchantment for free, and we needed to get the diamond as far away from him as possible, right away.

I conjured daylight, and then attempted to dispel the diamond. It failed. Valryd cast his own dispel, and succeeded. The shadow demon appeared, disoriented from being cast back into the diamond. I brought up a hammer of force, which attacked and hit for 10. Shatain hit with his short sword for 28. Brennen attacked and hit critically for 10. The shadow demon attempted to flee. In doing so, we all took attacks of opportunity. Shatain hit for 11. Brennen hit for 3. I hit for 2. The demon died, and stained the floor black.

The shaman was happy to take the diamond, now that we'd cleansed it. In addition, he would hallow our cabin, and give it daylight for a year. We decided to have the spell done in the main hold. It would easily cover the room. The captain was not easily convinced; he was more worried about superstitious sailors than protection past the end of this mission. Together, Shatain & I convinced him we'd be able to remove the effect once we'd arrived at the island.

The shaman arrived. I convinced the captain to let him on so he could see the hold. Over the course of the next week, Valryd enchanted our weapons and hallowed the hold. During the time, one of the demons decided to test its luck.