The day after returning home to Spelljammer Academy from their trouble-filled adventure to H’Catha, the party was assigned to cleaning and repair duties on the Flighty Foundling. There was much complaining to Officer Tarto about deserving a break after their outing, but they continued work anyway.
Their duties were interrupted when pirates appeared in a Damselfly ship overhead. A pair of giff slid down a rope to the Flighty Foundling. Most of the party was ready to give into their demands of surrendering the traitorous cadet Miken Haverstance. Officer Tarto would not allow this, so the party engaged in combat.
At one point in the battle, one of the giff shoved Inrim over the side of the boat. 400 feet above the surface, this would have been fatal for Inrim. Idakath was quick to respond and slowed his descent with a feather fall spell. Idakath then rushed the pirate and sent him overboard with another spell.
As the pirate giff fell to his inevitable doom, he took a swing at Inrim and missed. Inrim met his attack with a counter attack, injuring the giff one last time before his impact. Inrim then caught hold of something along the outside of Spelljammer Academy and redirected his falling path to land on a patio of the cadet quarters, alarming the other cadets.
As the rest of the party thought they were going to catch their breath, an explosion rocked the Academy tower from near the cadet quarters. There was a further splitting of the party at this point as some of the party reasoned that the pirates couldn’t leave with Miken if their ship was overtaken. Defying the orders of Tarto, Idakath, Kiboko, and Xerek climbed up the ropes the giff pirates used earlier to drop down to the Flighty Foundling. Meanwhile, Tarto and Charlie headed toward the explosion.
Climbing aboard the pirate Damselfly, the party realized the rope challenge from their orientation training actually did have a use. Once aboard the Damselfly, the party faced down a pair of githyanki pirates. Though the githyanki were stronger than the party, their collaboration and luck saw them through without casualties. Kiboko attuned to the ship after the battle finished.
Meanwhile, Inrim headed toward the explosion. He caught up to another pair of githyanki pirates just as Tarto and Charlie approached them from the other end of the hallway. In the midst of the fight, the githyanki tried to terminate Miken when they realized they may not get out alive. Charlie’s quick actions pulled Miken back from the brink of death. The battle finished when Inrim and Tarto killed the pirates.
Just as the battle finished, Kiboko brought the Damselfly down to where the battle had taken place. They had planned to assist in the fight, but the only fight left for them was Tarto’s promise to write them up for insubordination. This didn’t stop them from asking if they could keep the captured ship for themselves.
———-
A couple of weeks after this event, the cadets’ graduation ceremony had finally come. Headmaster Mirt had few words of congratulation for the party, insisting that what they’ve done so far isn’t worth commending. Instead, he said that it’s their lives ahead as officers that need to earn commendation.
Despite the speech being brief and abrasive, the party was still given their graduation gifts: Officer status and insignias and a bag of holding for each.
Curiosity overcame Kiboko and Inrim, and they put one bag inside another despite Tarto’s attempt to stop them. Immediately, a portal opened and pulled the nearby party into the astral plane.
The party found themselves floating weightlessly in space, silvery clouds and stars in all directions. They felt warm and well. They realized they could will themselves in any direction much as spelljammers direct spelljammer ships.
The party took note of a vaguely humanoid-shaped giant rock in the distance and started moving that way. Inrim couldn’t help his instincts to swim, and made swimming motions along the way.
Before long, another portal opened. Through it came deer-like creatures, then a sleigh, with a large, red-wearing humanoid riding aboard. “Ho ho ho,” he chuckled as he saw the group.
He told them that he noticed them pop out of the physical plane of Toril and into the astral plane. He came to retrieve them and take them home.
He noted that their naughty action would mean he’d have to check his list twice next year, but that he considered them largely nice. He said that he expected much from them in the coming year, and offered them gifts as an advance of next year’s deliveries, including replacement bags of holding for Inrim and Kiboko.
Before opening a portal home, he answered their question about the stone feature in the distance. He told them that what they saw was a dead god whose patrons abandoned it, then was forgotten by all in the passage of time. He warned that some pirates and other unseemly types sometimes make bases of operation on such dead gods in the astral sea.
Finally opening the portal home, he took the party back to Toril and left them at a boat that they could row back to the Academy; he said it wouldn’t do for the gathered assembly.
The party rowed back, where they were met by Officer Tarto, who once again threatened that they should lose their just-earned officer status.
———-
Oh, and Kevin was out with a bad case of space flu that hit as soon as they made it back to the Academy and persisted until after the graduation ceremony. The mysterious figure in red sent a gift back for him with the rest of the party.
Next chapter: Spelljammer 2022 – Session 07, 2023-02-01