FATHOM #Zero - The Boring Boar of Hyperborea

The Princess has her knights escort the brickman to the castle to be dealt with later, then she turns to our heroines.

"Another frigging betrayal. If I had a gold piece for every ambitious wizard who concocted a convoluted plan to screw me over, I'd be... poor. I'm not even sure what you can buy for 14 gold. I'll ask my handmaiden later.

"I intend to be merciful, since it seems the brick-man was forced to act against his will. But I wanted to see how you would handle him without my intervention.

"Not only were you merciful to a defeated foe, but I was moved by your prowess in battle, creative tactics, and support of your sisters-in-arms. So I have a reward waiting for you."

She gestures to the east, which doesn't have much of a view because of the trees.

...

Addy helps Suny get the goop off of the fairies, though she avoids the wings. Only Suny and the fairies possess the magic that can clean the wings without risk of permanently damaging them. ((We can assume Suny uses her water magic to clean Hanako, and Wynry can either use her own magic or accept the nymph's help.))

...

Baldy waits until everyone is ready to receive their reward, which is apparently east of the Sardis Forest.

 

Baldhart spends the better part of the next hour leading our heroines out of the forest, down the hill, to the seaside where many ships are docked. The Princess heads past the larger ships, toward one of the smaller ones which is far more finely crafted than the rest. She turns down its dock, then stops by the mermaid figurehead of said ship.



"The Maiden Voyage," she says with a hint of pride. "It was a gift, and I made good use of it. But here on Sardis is where I mean to rule, and this ship... she deserves to be sailed. Who better than those who saved my remaining knights from my betrayer? And who knows... he may even succeeded in making me his puppet if not for your intervention. It's not lost on me that you might've saved my life."

Nissa, the Princess' handmaiden, flies out from one of the ship's portholes. (She must have used a Fairy Ring to arrive way ahead of our heroines, though it is unclear how the Fairy knew her Princess was headed this way...)

"I have prepared a feast for all of you, and provisions that will last long enough for a trip to one of the nearer islands."

(...and she even knows our heroines are the new owners of her Princess' ship.)

Unfortunately, none of our heroines are princesses, which means none have any formal education, as girls who lack rich and influential parents are not allowed to go to school.

Addy seems to be well aware of this, so to save our heroines any embarrassment, she names the three nearest islands as if thinking aloud:

"Let's see if I remember me geography lessons... there's Roku-Roku to the east, Arcadia to the north, and Potato Island to the southwest. I guess if me Princess is paying ye for saving her royal butt with a ship, ye can go wherever ye please."

((Wrapping up episode #zero!

RP to your liking, but the main idea is to choose the setting for episode #1.

We'll begin our story having established that you all kicked butt as a team and a rich, powerful (and maybe a slightly insane and impulsive) Princess gave you a ship.))

 

Addy confesses, "I don't know which way Ithica is."

Nissa confidently points in a direction. Then she quickly snaps back her hand, ponders a bit, then points in another direction (less confidently).

 

((1 vote: Arcadia...
1 vote: Roku-Roku...

No problem with how your characters enjoy their victories. Without bothering to fully map out the ship, it's small enough that a small party can conceivably sail it and large enough that you all have your own room.))

 

Addy says, "I'll bet that boar was at least edible."

((2 Roku-Roku, 1 Arcadia...))

 

Nissa's chalkboard (which is bigger than she is!) shows 3 votes for Roku-Roku and 1 for Arcadia. A confused Hanako hovers by with a piece of chalk half the length of her body, STILL contemplating Defintly's vote. She finally jots "1 NOT ARCADIA" on the board.

With 3 votes definitely for Roku-Roku, and maybe a Defintly vote bringing it to 4, the majority is clear. Yet, the Princess respects Wynry's invitation to let Suny have her say. She waits patiently for the final vote.

As for Addison, she must have stealthily boarded the ship while everyone was voting. Though she will not travel with our heroines, it seems she is preparing a feast on the upper deck. (From the docks, our heroines can see Addy's red hair whenever she moves close to the portside rail, and there is the occasional clinking of goblets and silverware as she sets the table.)

 

Addy leans over the rail and explains majority rule to Suny.

"Me Princess believes all women get a voice. Not just royal ones or cap'ns o' ships and whatnot. Most o' yer hunting pack picked east as the direction to head in, but yer li'l friend—" Addy gestures toward Wynry, who is standing on Suny's palm. "—she still wants to know if ye like the sound o' Roku-Roku, or'd rather head elsewhere.

"Ye can vote different, and if the vote's close and all o' ye wanna rethink where ye're headed, that's fine. But if it helps, me fairy friend's from there. Tropical climate, a volcano, the guardsmen all have those man-buns. But what do I know about men's fashion?

"Ladies' fashion's me business. About that, I got a li'l something for ye..." Addison's eyes trace Suny's body up and down, which is currently clad in what leaves little to the imagination. "...much as I love yer look as is, I think ye'll enjoy me gift."

To the rest of our heroines, Addy says, "Looks like each o' ye got something, though what yer gift is I can't say. Only two're from me. But if ye made up yer minds about where to go, head on up. A feast, though severely lacking in boar meat, awaits along with parting gifts."

 

Xenalite is the first to board. The ship appears as if it should have cabins, but it turns out there is only storage space up front.

Addy directs the Amazon into the captain's quarters, which has a notable lack of sleeping space. There are windows along the room, and each is curiously labeled...

On the starboard side (Xenalite's left, facing aft), names are engraved in the wooden frame atop the two windows: Defintly and Einin.

The aft window is the largest, and is labeled: Spinette.

On the portside, the windows are labeled: Suny and Xenalite. And oddly, there is a porthole between the two windows, with Wynry's full name engraved in the circular frame: Wynry on the upper half, Bliestockings on the lower.

When Xenalite gazes through the window with her name on it, she can see the docks, but she also sees the transparent image of a room fit for an Amazon Queen. Not a ship's cabin, but more like a room in a castle.

When she steps closer the image becomes completely opaque, and the outside world seen through the window, the window itself, and the ship's hull from the floor to just under the name Xenalite... it fades to nothing.

Though stepping through the illusion should place Xenalite in the air, above the docks, her feet feel the solid floor of a castle. It seems she can choose to lay out on the deck, and be rocked to sleep by the sea, or she can sleep in the bedroom of an Amazon Queen.

The only exit from the 'castle' is back to the ship. But there is a bag on Xenalite's Amazon-Queen-sized bed with a note attached.

 

The ceilings in the ship are 8 feet above the floor, which is unusual—except to an Amazon. Likewise, the 80" tall doorways are normal for an Amazon ship.

What is NOT normal, is the way the window fades and exposes an 80" tall opening where the window and the wall below once were!

Einin can only activate her own entryway, and as a former magic user (still capable of casting a basic healing spell), she KNOWS the magic is not coming from her.

Judging by the interior—whoever does control the magic has stronger ties to nature magic than any human or fairy. It seems odd that a princess would give such a ship away, no matter how rich and grateful she is.

Einin's room is a lush forest, though no matter how far she travels, the trees never end, and if she looks behind her, there is always exactly one tree with a door on it. She can see the ship's interior through the door's window.

If she flies up, there is a height of about 20 ft. over the highest treetop—at which point Einin gains no altitude. When she looks down, the nearest treetop—no matter which tree—has a nest adorned with flowers. It is large enough that the harpy can sleep comfortably, and comfortable enough to satisfy her softer human half.

When she lands in the nest, there is a gift wrapped box with a note.