The very next day just before the tide turned, the Maris Stella was
sighted at last and reported to Constanza and Melisandre, who had put out
the word they would pay handsomely for such information. But a vessel
carrying Inquisitors started scrambling to leave the wharf. Melisandre
found some "friends" with a fishing boat who were willing to carry the heroes,
racing the Inquisition and signalling the Maris Stella and Juan not
to dock. The heroes reached the Maris Stella first and headed
out of the harbour, pursued by the Inquisition sloop, but just then the Corazon
de Castille sailed in, flying a signal to heave to. On her deck,
standing next to a grim-looking Admiral Orduño, the heroes spotted
another Inquisitor. Constanza flew a quarantine flag and tried to slip
past the galleon, but it was clearly hopeless. Then the Corazon de
Castille missed her stays, something Juan and Constanza were sure had
never happened before on their uncle's tightly run ship. The Maris
Stella managed to escape the harbour of San Cristobal.
The first few days of sailing went well, but somewhere to the west of the
coast of Montaigne the winds became contrary and the heroes were unable to
progress any further. They struggled for a few days, until Lucas finally
called out to the Sea Sidhe to negotiate. Her terms were unchanged,
he had to agree to kill her mother, Queen Elaine. Lucas, in a bind,
called onto the other Fae, the Sidhe lord who had come to his aid called
him "brother" earlier. The Sidhe revealed that Lucas, or the man who
thought himself to be Lucas, was in fact a changelling! The Sea Sidhe,
Meryth, then showed him another Lucas drowning under the waves. Lucas,
as the changelling finally promised that he would, as the mortal, make an
attempt to kill Queen Elaine within a year. The changelling disappeared,
and the real Lucas was returned to the deck of the Maris Stella, wet
as a drowned rat. He had been kept under the waves for an entire
year , drowning, his only relief the air that Meryth blew in his lungs when
she kissed him from time to time.
The winds became favourable, and the Maris Stella quickly reached the
Vendel islands. They met with the Uncharted Courseand
exchanged information. Philip Gosse had learned that the Spear of the
West Wind was on an island to the northeast of Vestenmannavnjar. The
Maris Stella went into port in Kirk to resupply. Lucas and Melisandre
went ashore while Constanza, Juan and Ferdinand supervised the reprovisioning.
As they were almost done loading crates, Vesten dock workers suddenly
broke a crate open, pulled out boarding axes, killed their Vendel foreman,
and attacked Constanza. It's only thanks to Ferdinand and Juan's aid
that she survived the attack; once they sorted it out with the Vendel city
guard, they learned that the Vesten had been shouting: "Death to the false
prophet! Slay the Sword-Bearer!"
After this little incident, the Maris Stella and the Unchartered
Course promptly left in search of the Spear of the West Wind. They
spread out to cover more territory, but the Unchartered Course was
attacked by the Black Freighter. By the time the Maris Stella
arrived for assistance, most of Gosse's Gentlemen had been slain and Melinda
Gosse had been carried off by Captain de Méchant. Philip Gosse
and André Braudel had been trapped in the captain's cabin, and Father
Hernando de Ochoa had literally been nailed to the wheel to die; Torvo Espada
was found just barely alive, under a pile of bodies. Gosse was mad with
grief.
The heroes searched for the Spear of the West Wind with renewed urgency. They
could now see in the distance the silhouette of the Crimson Roger,
and behind it dark storm clouds. They finally found a small island
from which emerged a slender column of stone, reaching past the clouds. The
Black Freighter was at anchor in a small cove. Constanza ordered
cannon fire at the spire, but Robert de Méchant suddenly appeared on
the deck of the Maris Stella to taunt Philip Gosse and the heroes.
He bragged about having kept Melinda Gosse alive and captive at the
top of the spire. Furious, Constanza slapped him hard enough to knock
a few rotting teeth out, but Méchant just laughed and disappeared.
In the distance, the heroes could see the Crimson Roger approaching,
and they could now make out the Vesten Raiders'Revensj pursuing
behind.
Lucas, Melisandre, Constanza, Ferdinand, Gosse, and Braudel took a row boat
across to the island, and Constanza brought the Syrneth clockwork cannon with
her. They puzzled a bit the challenge of climbing the immense spire,
and discovered that there was a narrow invisible, presumably magical ledge
spiraling up around the rune-carved tower. After a long and perilous
climb above the clouds, the heroes approached the top of the spire.
Méchant had chained Melinda to a stake, and he ordered the heroes to throw
down their weapons. He used sorcerous winds and glowing runes to deflect
their shots and their attempts to reach him, while his undead minions guarded
the final climb.
But when he approached Melinda to hurt her again, she head-butted him and,
hoisting herself on her chains, managed to kick him off the pinnacle where
he stood. This interrupted his control on the winds and allowed the
heroes to start climbing that final stretch. Stealthy Melisandre slipped
unnoticed and reached Melinda Gosse to free her. During this time, the
other heroes fought off the undead creatures and even a sort of metallic
construct in an epic battle, and Philip Gosse faced off against Robert de
Méchant. As soon as she was freed, Melinda grabbed Melisandre's
sword and jumped to her father's assistance. Meanwhile, cannon shots
were beginning to rock the tower.
Melisandre attempted to control the Spear of the West Wind, but was overcome
by the spirit or consciousness of the ancient artefact. After a brief
rush of power with which she swatted the source of the cannon shots, she was
thrown off the spire into a long fall. When Ferdinand,agonizing, prayed
for help, he was also told by a celestial voice that he knew the price to
pay to get the help he sought. When he accepted, the Syrneth collar
he had just recently managed to remove reappeared around his neck, and he
found new strength. He dispatched his opponent and in turn reached the
summit. When he invoked Theus' name, a voice warned him away from trying
to control the Spear. He returned to the fray instead, trying to help
Philip and Melinda Gosse escape from Méchant and his undead hordes.
Constanza could barely hold her own against the metallic man, even using the
powerful Syrneth cannon. Inspiration whispered that the time to remove
the rune "Herje" had arrived, so she threw it at her opponent and got in
one last shot. As he was about to lop off her head, a head reached from
behind over her shoulder, grabbed the metal golem's heavy cutlass and snapped
it. A glowing form in a priest's vestments rushed past Constanza and
assaulted the construct, destroying it in instants. The metal man exploded,
sending shrapnel all around, and the briliant shape disappeared.
Meanwhile, Lucas faced off against an undead Aldana master swordsman who claimed
to be the true founder of the school -- no doubt Torvo Espada's father. The
man cooly demonstrated his skill, and Lucas was already far too wounded from
his previous bouts with other opponents to be at his best. At last
he promised the man to seek the truth of what wrongs lay between his grandfather
and the man.
Philip Gosse finally went down under Méchant's blows, and the villain
then seized Melinda and began to strangle her. Ferdinand dealt the undead
captain several blows which drew howls of pain and anger. But Méchant
managed to put down the brave corporal, and returned to his efforts to strangle
Melinda Gosse. Constanza, now sustained by divine help as Ferdinand
had been, dealt Méchant a few more wounds. Glaring, he drew
his blade and slashed it across Melinda's face -- something for Gosse to
remember him by, he said. He then promised Constanza that he would remember
her, and in a swift gesture twisted his head around to break his own
neck.
At the top of the spire, Melisandre reappeared, in perfect health. She
climbed down to render assistance to the numerous wounded. She found
that Méchant had not cut across Melinda Gosse's throat, but her eyes,
blinding her. While Lucas struck his deal with the undead Aldana master,
Melisandre was able to bring Ferdinand, Philip and André around enough
that everyone could run from the spire, and Constanza helped get everyone
back down safely.
The heroes managed to return to the Maris Stella. The Crimson
Roger and the Revensj were locked in a boarding action, and the
Black Freighter was nowhere to be seen. Constanza ordered cannon
fire again, and the spire was reduced to rubble while the Maris Stella
sailed away with all speed.
That night, Lucas, Constanza, and Ferdinend were visited by strange dreams;
in theirs, Lucas and Constanza met with a younger Father Hernando de Ochoa,
while Ferdinand was visited by a stern San Gregor. Father Hernando bid
Constanza bear the sword, and Lucas give up revenge and embrace justice. For his part, Ferdinand was admonished to place his faith in Theus rather than in the words of men, and received a vision of his hometown La Reina del Mar in flames.
