Chapter 7: Bones in the Brush

Well, the law firm of Sausalito, Jaana and Tubbs hasn't made much progress. After 45 minutes of hunting and selling Orc Scout Cookies, I had enough dough to resurrect and heal Jaana and Tubbs. Their gratitude for being brought back from death was tempered by their suspicion that it wouldn't be the first time.

(On edit: Erm, that should have read "it wouldn't be the last time." Don't drink and write, kids.)

The scoreboard sorcerer said that my Humility and Spirituality levels were elevated, so I decided to seek out the shrines for those virtues. The respective towns were Magincia (where Sausalito's adventures had inauspiciously begun) and Skara Brae. Both destinations demanded sea travel. Magincia was farther out to sea, but closer to where I was, so I chose to go there first. I headed toward where I had anchored the S.S. Rainz, making a pit stop in Trinsic.

In the town of honor, I came across an odd site: a skeleton skulking in the bushes! He told me his name was Skitle, and that he was from a dungeon named "Shame." That was all he had to say, so I left him to his boning. A creepy, unshaven magician hanging out in back of a shop told me that I could find out about mandrake root, a powerful reagent, at the Folley Tavern. That place was in Paws, so I went there. At the tavern, an embarrassingly large tip revealed that a magician named Calumny could sell me mandrake root. The name rang a bell, but not the place where I met him. I'm sure to come across him again in my travels.

With three people in my party, food supplies were dwindling and would be a challenge to maintain. At the market, I purchased some microwaveable shepherd's pies and Philly cheesesteaks, trying not to notice that they all carried the LB Snacks™ brand. My guilt for supporting Lord Bilgepan's avarice would have to take a backseat to my companions' hunger.

Heading south (and keeping an eye out for 'Orse, my neglected steed), I located the Rainz and boarded her. On my way to Magincia, I quickly realized how ill-equipped I was as a ship's captain...

 

After three such daunting battles and a ship-to-ship skirmish in which the enemy nearly rammed me before capsizing, we sped back to the mainland and ran, hearts still pounding, to Trinsic. There, I will collect my thoughts. Magincia will have to wait until I have a stronger crew, or until they have a stouter captain. Skara Brae, while farther away, requires much less time out on the deadly seas; I will go there next.