The party walked outside of Topolah’s Tower and began discussing how they would hunt the void scavver Big Momma. While they were trying to figure out their best plan of attack, they heard the screams of an autognome in duress on the other side of the tower. Topolah came out to check on Orwyck 3 when she spotted Big Momma and two brown scavvers. She alerted the party to the scavvers arrival.
Acting quickly, Idakath boarded the nightspider and ordered the crew to prepare for combat. Krux hopped on a jolly boat to return to the Second Wind. Kevin ran back into the tower to find a shielded position to cast spells from. The rest of the party engaged the scavvers head on.
The fight was perilous, especially for Inrim who nearly died in the teeth of Big Momma. Despite the danger, the party turned the battle to their favor when the scavvers missed targets much more quick in their reactions than the birds they usually eat around Topolah’s Tower. With the crew on the nightspider and its stacked ships firing everything they had at the scavvers, the battle ended.
With Inrim revived, the party regrouped with Topolah. She offered to pay them for the scavvers with intent to sell them as rations to the ships that come through. She also had managed to unlock the bronze sphere and showed the party how to use it. She told them there were six maps stored in the device. She made good on her promise of giving the party her wildspace orrery to help them navigate Doomspace.
Finally, she had one more idea. She knew someone in the region with a fleet who also had a bone to pick with the Xaryxians. Captain Gargenhale, whom she was once involved with, owed her a favor. Eager to learn more about the science and magic that were afflicting Toril, she insisted on boarding the Nightspider with the party to take them to Gargenhale’s usual haunts.
As they made their way to Gargenhale’s last known location, they came upon massive wreckage for a recent conflict. Star moths and ships Topolah recognized as part of Gargenhale’s fleet were there. The party decided to poke through the wreckage for loot. During which, they acquired every ship’s spelljamming helm, ten and all. They also picked up a pair of survivors, vampirates from Gargenhale’s crew.
Krux took great exception to their presence even from his ship. The vampirates in turn took exception to Inrim’s presence given his aasimar traits and paladin aura. Ultimately, a deal was made to tow the vampirates behind the nightspider as they made their way to Gargenhale. The presence of undead led to concerns from the crew that Gargenhale was also a vampirate. Topolah confirmed this was the case but insisted that the party know he wasn’t a vampirate back when they were involved.
Pressing on, the party made it to Gargenhale’s location. His ship, the Last Breath, appeared out of a cosmic storm. The ship was in bad shape. Gargenhale, the vampirate captain, questioned the party until he saw Topolah on the nightspider. Seeing her, he quickly requested permission to board, and joined the party for further discussion.
They began to talk through the situation on Toril and what they were hoping to achieve in going to Doomspace. Gargenhale found this agreeable, ready to take the fight to Xaryxispace after they destroyed all of his fleet except for the Last Breath. He told the party he had a secret weapon.
As they were getting ready to strike out for Doomspace, the crew of the Last Breath threw someone overboard and shouted “We’re done with your crusade! This is so precious to you, take it! We’re out!” The Last Breath immediately took off as quickly as it could, having already taken the towed survivors onboard.
“The weapon!” cried Gargenhale, and the party quickly moved up to bring the unconscious person aboard. With the astral elf on deck, Gargenhale demanded the party retake the Last Breath, but warned them not to fire on it. It was loaded with enough explosives, and already beat up enough, that a hit could cause it to blow up.
The party gave chase, but the Last Breath was getting away. Nearing the extreme range, Gargenhale told the party to fire on it. “Damn it to the nine hells! It’s my ship, but I’ll sooner have it destroyed than taken by these mutineers. Fire on it!” The party began to fire on the ship. As they managed to regain distance, Charlie followed through on Gargenhale’s request and hit it with a fireball. The fireball ignited the load of alchemist’s fire and gunpowder, incinerating the ship and everything aboard.
Gargenhale was very upset with the outcome and cursed the Xaryxians and his twice-dead crew for it. Amidst the chaos, Altura, the former spelljammer of the star moth, came out on deck to see the commotion. She gasped when she saw Gargenhale’s weapon, now regaining consciousness, for she was none other than the heir to the Xaryxian throne, Princess Xedalli.
Altura told Xedalli that Prince Xeleth told the Xaryxians that Xedalli was murdered by people of Toril, which is why he chose it as the world to steal life from. Xedalli believes Toril was chosen precisely because Spelljammer Academy could churn out enough officers to be a threat to his naval superiority and his ambitions along with it. Xeleth sent Xedalli away to die on Toril “so her life might mean something to the Empire.”. His ambition had no room for her to be present when their dying father, Emperor Xavan, would soon pass.
It’s in light of this, and believing Xedalli to be the true and worthy heir, that Altura turns her loyalty to Xedalli and is willing to fully join the party as long as their ends align with restoring Xedalli to her rightful place. Xedalli told the party that what was being done to Toril could be undone before it was too late, and that she could do that once she was ruler of the Xaryxian Empire.
Next chapter: Spelljammer 2022 – Interlude (Session 12b)