Roleplaying table top games make for great stories! The Envoys of Spark is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign created by Elyse T. Join hilarious and entertaining player characters on their voyage in an unknown world, as they try to accomplish an enigmatic mission.
The Envoys of Spark Chronicles are published every Monday! Check back for new adventures!
Check Out Part I of The Envoys of Spark
Check Out Part II of The Envoys of Spark
The WaveWeaver
The small stairwell the heroes had just used folded up and disappeared behind them. Looking more closely, they found no evidence that the stairs had been there at all.
They were in the inner-hull of a large naval ship, perhaps they had been in it all along? Kohmai finally dropped his large crate covered in spider-dung.
The group climbed to the second level of the ship and discovered a kitchen, dining area, sitting area and sleeping areas with hammocks. Up on deck, they observed the ship leave the enclosure of the cave and pull out to sea. It steered itself! The wheel within the pilot’s office moved on it’s own!
They approached a console similar to the one they had previously used. A large blue orb released beams of light in which a sand-like substance danced coordinately.
“WaveWeaver downloaded to Permanent Control”
“Wha? Download?!”, Regor III the Hynerian exclaimed, as the only being aboard who understood the meaning of this word.
“State your Commands, Envoys,” it said.
“It seems this ship requires orders from us,” Kohmai analysed.
“Where are we?” Beatrice, the Hobbit, had the sense to ask.
“The WaveWeaver was gifted by Spark with the Etching of the Path, which permits knowledge of our immediate area. We are in the vicinity of Spark’s Island. To the South-East is a large cluster of objects, most submerged. To the West is a large and fertile island that breathes.”
“By Hezmana! We need food and supplies,” the Hynerian’s stomach influenced him to say.
“To the North slight East of our location is Miapolafa Lighthouse, ahead of Miapolafa Trading Post.”
“Mia-po-la-fa?” The group struggled to pronounce.
“Miapolafa is the Goddess of Successful Financial Ventures and the Watcher of Merchants”
“This might sound closer to what we are looking for,” said Virgil.
“WeaveWeaver setting course for Miapolafa Lighthouse”
The wizard had said nothing until now. “Wait, what is the WeaverWeaver?”
“The WaveWeaver was constructed by Spark for the transportation of his Envoys.”
“So who are you?” The wizard asked, confused.
“I”, it used the first-person pronoun for the first time, “am the WaveWeaver”
“Ooooh”
Miapolafa Lighthouse
Luckily, their overnight voyage was uneventful. They kept in their hold a stock of blue babanas, a rare exotic fruit, that the WaveWeaver had suggested they harvest from Spark’s Island to use as trading chips later on.
The Miapolafa Lighthouse, a wooden structure built on a large rock rising from the sea, looked rickety and old from a distance. The heroes boarded a small boat and left their ship in order to approach it. Fortunately, the boat had been built with Kohmai’s inhumanly large weight in mind and barely rocked when he jumped on-board.
A beautiful statue of a female holding a large platter, smiling, greeted them in front of the lighthouse. It seemed very well maintained, polished regularly. While the entire area was covered with sea and construction debris from the lighthouse, the area surrounding the statue was clear and even decorated. In the platter was a very fresh, untouched loaf of bread. Probably an offering, or a symbol for prosperity, the group guessed.
Beatrice, Virgil and Medea went to the lighthouse’s door, which was left ajar. They heard inside a woman’s voice:
“What are you doing! Get away!”
Alerted, they went inside and uncovered the circular stairwell climbing the light tower. The place looked messy, under repair, or rather, disrepair. Two mature LizardFolk, humanoid reptilians, one holding a club and another a sword, along with three younger ones that still walked on four legs, hissed at them in anger.
Beatrice activated the Etching of Wilderness, the ability to talk with animals and speak animal-tongues.
The LizardFolk were saying:
“Leave! Important business. No humans interfere. We don’t need to hurt you.”
The Hobbit did her best to convince them that they just wanted to investigate, having heard someone who might need help. She wanted to avoid violence at all cost.
Meanwhile outside, Regor III regarded the statue of Miapolafa with great respect and left an offering on her plate. On second thought, gods weren’t real and statues couldn’t see, so he took his offering back. Him and Kohmai followed the others inside.
The discussion between Beatrice and the LizardFolk didn’t seem to be going well.
“Humans deceive. Human robbed us. Led us along and said fortunes were to be had. Left us with nothing. Took days to return. Humans deceive. Leave now. Important business. Revenge.” The sword-carrying reptilian said, as him and the younger creatures approached the group to intimidate them.
Kohmai climbed the stairs to where the club-wielding LizardMan guarded the way. Kohmai was very curious. The reptilian hissed at him, Kohmai imitated his pose and hissed back.
It became clear that the LizardFolk would not stand down and we following orders.
“Go away! Help!” was heard inside.
Virgil tried to ignore the presence of the LizardFolk around him and made for the door, where the woman’s voice was coming from. The sword-wielding LizardMan attack with his sword, slashed him rather badly.
Kohmai attempted to walk upstairs by simply side-stepping the reptilian blocking him. The LizardMan hit him in the face with his very heavy club, but Kohmai was completely undisturbed by it. The club might as well been made out of straw. The LizardMan inspected his club, wondering if it was defective.
From the stairs below them, Beatrice and Medea attacked the LizardFolk surrounding Virgil, trying to fight back those who tried to climb up to them. Virgil was taking the blunt of the attack, even if Regor III did heal him repeatedly. Though Beatrice was insistent on not dealing any finishing blows to their LizardFolk, Medea had no problem killing.
Kohmai was finally hit, triggering his defense instincts. Sunlight bathed the group, healing temporarily the injuries of his comrades. He was hurt when a blade suddenly emerged from his arm, tearing his skin open. Using it as a weapon, he struck the club wielding reptilian, stunning him. The creature was thrown off the stairwell and landed on a table, effectively breaking it.
When most LizardFolk had been rendered unconscious, with two among them dead, Virgil attempted to take a last surviving small reptile prisoner and question it. Beatrice obliged, with her special ability.
The small lizard repeated that it was under strict orders, along with his group, to guard the entrance of the lighthouse. Inside, their leader was dealing with important business that had nothing to do with other humans, something completely justified that required vengeance. This involved the LizardFolk getting tricked and robbed by humans.
The heroes allowed the small reptilian to escape and go announce their arrival inside the lighthouse’s first floor.
Trades and Dances
In the kitchen of the home, a greater group of LizardFolk surrounded two helpless lighthouse keepers, one male and one female. The woman seemed to be speaking for them. The LizardFolk leader, contrary to most of his group, spoke the common tongue. She was defending herself and her co-inhabitant:
“We were paid by Geomo Lif to come live here, he picked us for our love of the goddess Miapolafa! Our job, in exchange for payment, provisions and repair supplies for this old place, is to tell people for the glory of the goddess and give visitors information about the trading post and shrine further north. We have nothing to do with you being attacked on your way to the shrine!”
The leader was arguing calmly:
“You led us into an ambush. There was no one by the name of Geomo Lif at the Miapolafa trading post. You are lying to cover up your misdeeds. We were robbed of everything and require reparation. Give up your wealth, tell us where you hide it.”
It seemed obvious that the lighthouse keepers had nothing that could possibly satisfy the LizardFolk, and that they might be suffering the repercussions of something they were not the cause of. Medea, Wizard of the First Order, decided to intervene with some colourful bluffs:
“This is precisely why your men allowed us to enter, good sir! We were sent by the highest authority!”
“What can you possibly mean?” The LizardFolk Leader was intrigued, but skeptical.
“The right thing to do here would be to hand over your prisoners to us and let us handle the matter. As per LizardFolk and Human meeting traditions. I am a Wizard of the First Order and quite the correct person to deal with this problem.”
The Leader looked confused, he had never heard of such traditions.
“Very well,” he conceded with a smirk. “If this is true, then you will have no problem performing the Jacuttu Dance in honor of the exchange?”
Medea felt a cold sweat.
“This would prove you have the authority to perform this important exchange”
The wizard wasn’t very good at dancing:
“Is this ugly and broken place truly worthy of such an honorable dance? I think this is not the right time.”
The LizardFolk Leader thought about it.
“Yes…I suppose you are correct. Very well. What do you offer in exchange?”
“Erh, exchange?” Medea patted her very empty pockets.
“Yes, for the prisoners, what do you offer me as gift?”
Medea used her magical abilities to summon a gorgeous looking ruby from thin air and gave it to the Leader. He admired it for a while, leaving the group of heroes in suspense… and finally accepted. The lighthouse keepers were released and the LizardFolk went to leave. They were so impressed with the jewel that they even forgave the fact some of their comrades had been killed, as they found them at the entrance. They picked up their wounded and dead and set sail.
“Let’s get the heck out of here,” Medea said once they were gone. “That jewel only exists temporarily. They’ll be real mad when they figure out it was fake!”
Panic struck the group when they learned this important fact. With permission of the lighthouse keepers, they quickly grabbed whatever materials and supplies they had available. Kohmai was specially commissioned with the task of taking the loved statue of Miapolafa aboard the WaveWeaver. Taking the lighthouse keepers with them, the group of heroes left quickly, knowing their new enemies were sure to return.
