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Since so many of their potential leads were leading towards the underworld of the Gullet, Grim felt that should be their next destination. The Prince wanted it investigated. The smugglers Aeldys had “requested” they assist were hidden somewhere in the area as well. So they began poking around the Gullet, asking surreptitious questions and trying to get a lead. But residents were reluctant to talk. Apparently there had been a food shortage of late, making them even more distrustful than usual.

As they were poking around, a shadowy messenger approached them with a letter. It seems a local “benefactor” named Dereo the Lean was interested in their services. The number of thugs discretely patrolling his residence left little doubt as to Dereo’s true profession.

Dereo was a thin older man, with a leg wrapped in a cumbersome brace. He claimed to be a former Principi sailor, retired after his leg was crushed in an accident at sea. He knitted and weaved as he spoke – a seeming incongruity with the many ruffians standing guard. He addressed them politely, saying he had heard they were people who could be relied upon to “accomplish things”. He had an interest in an ancient artifact, called the “Cornett of Waves”. It was currently in the possession of a Huana noble named Takano, and he wished to acquire it. By whatever means proved necessary. His own people would not be welcome in the upper city, and Takano would not deign to speak with them. But he believed Grim could work out a “satisfactory arrangement”. He was willing to pay well – in both coin and information. And they desperately needed both.

Their recent exposure at court made them welcome at Takano’s estate. He was very reluctant to part with the Coronett, as it had been a gift from the Queen. But Ace noticed a conspicuous amount of religious imagery in the estate, and leveraged what he knew. He reminded Takano that the Coronett belonged to the Sea Goddess Ondra. And that in addition to being the Queen of the Sea Ondra was also the goddess of Loss and the Forgotten. He insinuated that she might not look kindly on holding on too tightly to her treasures… and Takano relented.

On their way back to the Gullet, they were accosted by a group of ruffians. Their leader demanded that they turn over the Coronett – as the job had originally been hers Grim stared at her, glared down at each of her henchmen in turn, and then asked pointedly if this was *really* a fight that they wanted… They took a good long look back, and then slunk away into the shadows.

Dereo was pleased with their success, but surprisingly told them to keep the Coronett. He wanted them to take it to a place called “the Undercroft” – a smuggling operation under Delver’s Row – and meet with a lieutenant of his there. A woman named Gwenfin. She would give further instructions. Grim did *not* like jobs with concealed twists, but Dereo refused to explain further. He did, however, offer a much larger advance. He also told them exactly how to find both Delver’s Row and the Undercroft – making it much easier to meet their other obligations.

The way to both led through the Narrows – a particularly dangerous part of the Gullet. They found a badly beaten body discarded in the street. There was not much left to identify him, but he had a note hidden in his shirt. From Captain Morena – informing him that another shipment for his “Roparu friends” was waiting. They weren’t sure what that was about, but as Captain Morena was the smuggler that Aeldys wanted them to help it seemed worthy of note.

Delver’s Row was every bit the “wretched hive of scum and villany” that you might expect. It also, however, appeared to be the Gullet’s primary source for otherwise unobtainable medicines and other supplies. They took note that a wide variety of clandestine supplies were obtainable there, for the right price.

Access to the Undercroft was an old mining lift, guarded by Dereo’s lackeys. Below they found what appeared to be a thriving smuggling operation within a hidden sea cave dock. As well as something rather more surprising. Watershapers!

Watershaping was a secret of the Huana state religion – worshipers of Ondra the Sea Queen. They were also the heart of the Huana’s ability to resist complete takeover by the RDC and VTC – as their control of wind and wave was a decisive advantage in naval combat. They had a very high status in Huana society. So what were Watershapers doing *here* assisting black market Smugglers? Curious…

Captain “Mad” Morena turned out to be a serious dwarven woman. And when Grim informed her of Aeldys’ request that the assist with smuggling unrefined Adra she nodded. She told them that they could steal it from a VTC refining plant in the port district. But Grim was not keen on the idea of making an enemy of the VTC just yet. Morena told them she didn’t care *where* it came from, as long as they found her three crates worth. Grim resolved to consider his options.

When he showed her the note, however, and told her about the body, her expression turned very grim. “Ulog didn’t deserve to go out like that. He was a good kid.” It turns out Ulog had been the middle-man involved in smuggling food to the Gullet. Smuggling, because the Huana considered feeding the Roparu to be an internal Huana concern. It was traditionally charity in their native villages, but that had proven insufficient as Neketaka had grown into a true city. Morena was sure that no Roparu or Gullet native would have beaten the boy – as they would have know he was “hers”. She believed it had been Mataru – the Huana warrior caste. Who resented their interference and were sending a message. She was not willing to put any more of her people in that position to resume the trade.

Star was very unhappy with this news, and Grim could tell she would insist they get involved at some point. But for now there did not seem to be much they could do at the moment.

Morena pointed them to an older section of the cave to find Dereo’s lieutenant, Gwenfin , who was waiting in what appeared to be an ancient entrance hall. With a large statue near large stone doors. She informed them that Dereo’s actual interest was finding a particular mosaic in a long lost temple to Ondra. This seemed an odd goal for a glorified crime lord, but she refused to elaborate. She then said that the Coronett that they had retrieved should open the doors and allow them into the temple. Somehow. Then she sat back and waited.

Star and Sapphire studied the statue, doors, and markings for a while, and quickly concluded that they simply needed to place the Coronett in the statue’s waiting hands. When they did so the doors slowly opened to reveal… crumbled ruins leading into a dark unknown.

Gwenfin cursed, and then told them this was *not* the temple Dereo sought. It must be hidden further in the Old City. The other shoe had just dropped.

The Old City was the nightmarish area from which they had rescued Star on their first visit to the Gullet. And now they were being asked to conduct a fishing expedition who knows how deeply there chasing a legend?!? This was going to require a *significant* increase in pay. Gwenfin quickly agreed – making Grim even more suspicious. She told them that they should take the Coronett with them to access the temple when they found it.

They returned to Delver’s Row for supplies. Grim was *not* going to venture into the Old City a second time unprepared. He glanced at Star, but she seemed to have steeled herself. So off they ventured.

They met a variety of nasty inhabitants exploring the ancient ruins. Screeching bat-like Skuldraks.

More of Star’s tormentors – the hideous Rotghasts.

Vicious incorporeal wraiths threatening to suck the life from their very bodies.

And lots of Blur’s new “favorite”… giant Cave Grubs.

Until finally they came to a strangely calm flooded area, surrounded by scattered bones. Sapphire indicated the writing hinted that something related to the Coronett was supposed to be located here. And Star was certain she could hear something calling – and the Coronett quietly answering. When Grim held it up and listened, he could clearly see a glow down in the depths under the water. And hear the whispered sound of a conch horn in the distance.

It was quite a ways down, and Grim was by far the strongest swimmer, so he dove down – until deep under the dark waters he found what he sought. A second Coronett.

But when he returned to the surface he barely had time to recover his breath before something stirred. The bones were coming to life. And they soon found themselves beseiged by skeletal combatants.

Afterwards Grim wanted to press on, but Star insisted they were in no shape to keep going. And he reluctantly agreed. They were too far in to fight their way back to the Undercroft, so they would have to find shelter here.

Grim didn’t trust any of the old buildings. And many of the tunnels showed signs of habitation – by Skuldraks or who knows what other subterranean monstrosities. But they eventually found a secluded cave that seemed promising. It had a small, concealed, defensible entrance, and the remains of what appeared to have once been an encampment inside.

After they made camp, Grim explored a bit – making sure there were no hidden back entrances, strange tombs, or other such things hidden in the cave. In a pile of refuse he found a well made sword – that faintly glowed as he approached. And when he picked it up… it *spoke* to him! The sword demanded to be taken to someone named “Yngfrith” – apparently its owner/creator. Grim had no idea who that might be or where he/she might be located. The sword cursed like a sailor, but gave its name as “Modwyr”. It offered a deal. It would allow Grim – and *only* Grim – to use it on a temporary basis as long as he *swore* to find Yngfrith as soon as possible. And it claimed it grew stronger with use, and was desperate for “exercise”… Grim decided he should have the thing examined as soon as practical. He’d seen one too many cursed weapons in his time.

When they were properly rested and healed they set out once again in search of the temple. It was somewhat quieter this time – although Grim wasn’t sure if that was because they had learned what to avoid or because they had simply already blundered through a sizeable portion of the local inhabitants.

Eventually they caught sight of a large building in the distance, with statues of Ondra nearby.

But there was one more foe waiting to block their path. A monstrous ‘thing” of stitched together flesh, accompanied by wraiths and skeletal warriors!

When they fought their way past, they found another entrance antechamber – with a similar statue of Ondra to that they had seen in the Undercroft.

As before, placing a Coronett in the hands of a statue opened the doors to the temple. Unlike before, this time something was waiting on the other side… the ugliest, nastiest, biggest cave grub any of them had ever seen!

Fortunately, for Star even a monster of a grub like this was still, at its heart, just a bug. She short-circuited its nervous system…

And the others let loose with everything in the arsenal. Before long it was simply a very, very large mess on the once beautiful tiled floor.

Inside they found what had to be Dereo’s mosaic. It depicted the fabled lost Huana Island of Ukaizo. The same island that the Prince was looking for.. Grim rather suspected there was a reason beyond cultural history that had such diverse types hunting. It might be wise to do some digging themselves.

Some more exploring led to a wall mosaic with two familiar indentations – both matching one of the two Coronett shells they had recovered. Placing both in their niches led to the wall sliding aside to reveal… the mother of all treasure lodes. Since Dereo had mentioned nothing of this – nor even the existence of a second Coronett, Grim suspected that he hadn’t known. So they looted what they could, and then re-sealed the chamber. What Dereo continued to not know couldn’t engender friction later. And what they had already taken – together with Dereo’s payment – would definitely get them properly equipped with a new ship.

After making a map for Dereo and claiming their payment, they were prepared to leave, when Star noticed a small church clinic. She asked inside about the food shortages, and was told that the Dawnstars had food to spare – but the church hierarchy did not want to oppose the Huana nobility over it. That did it for Star. Having no source of food was one thing. Corrupt nobility was one thing. But the Church of the God of Healing and Light not feeding the poor… for politics? That was too much.

She insisted they go straight to the Church in the Sacred Stair (the temple district). There she persuaded the Dawnstars that they had to help – Huana approval or not. The head priestess hemmed and hawed about overt reprisals, but Grim cut in. The Principi smugglers would help get the food to the city, as long as the Dawnstars distributed it in the Gullet. While the Mataru were willing to assault criminals to enforce their embargo, they wouldn’t be so quick to do the same with priests. The priestess wasn’t happy about working with criminals, but Star asked her bluntly which was more important – feeding the starving or being prim and proper. And the woman had no argument.

With that settled, finally Grim could arrange for their new ship. Once he had it properly equipped and outfitted they could be on their way.

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Author’s Notes:

One of the reasons I come back to Deadfire often – despite the factions being so “different shades of gray” – is how well supported that faction system actually is. Case in point – the note above about arranging a source of food for the Roparu in the Gullet. With most of my “traditional hero” sorts of characters, this involves a lot of careful diplomacy getting the Huana nobility – especially the Prince – to agree to both allowing the Dawnstars to openly donate food to the Gullet and getting other factions – like the Underworld and the Huana warrior caste – to back off and let it happen. But that’s just one approach. Once Star makes clear she won’t tolerate doing nothing, Grim just starts with: “If the Queen/Prince wanted to do something about this they would have already done so”. And so takes the tack of convincing the Dawnstars to work with the “criminal element” under-the-table so that the food gets where it needs to go. And then cracks a few heads and glares meaningfully in the right places to get the point across that interference won’t go well. And many quest-lines in the game are like that – branching and with four-six different ways to go about things. All the way up through the endgame. Including specific support for “to hell with you all I’m going it alone”.