Session 9 (The Pirates of Atlas)

 

"Session 9"
The Pirates of Atlas episode
Episode no.	Episode 9
Original air date	August 13, 2023 (2023-08-13)

"Session 9" is the ninth session of the campaign The Pirates of Atlas.

Synopsis

Since the events of Session 8, Willem's Willies spent an entire year recovering and training with their newfound powers, known as haki in the eponymous village. They learned that the Dreamwell was once the center of a celestial city that became a black hole and was associated with constellations guarded by the Medjaii. Shakened by their near-death experiences with the Stormlord, Varen Hollow, and the loss of their crewmates, the surviving Willem's Willies continue their journey.

Here was what transpired during that year:

In the first week that happened after the events of Session 8, Vidro and Diana regained their strength to walk. Durgl, who spent some time in the safety of the timespace lounge, Akula's Friend emerged. Durgl notices that he hears the voice of Serena Lockwood who tells him about catgirls. Akula's Friend tells him that catgirls exist in the village. It asks Durgl what "ribbit" means and asks Durgl to explain it to him. Durgl says he doesn't want to explain how he learned of it as it is quite traumatic.

He is whisked back to the real world. Durgl conveys the word "ribbit" to Durgl telepathically. Although the crew was welcomed to Haki, the villagers still view them with some degree of weariness and have kept them partitioned off to one part of the village in the meantime. A crane swoops down and harasses Lockwood. Ren asks if he could provide any accommodations and he comes back with a platter of sushi.

Vidro sits to the corner of the guest room alone. Ren offers them alcohol. The crane who has been harassing Lockwood attempts to attack her again before she fights back. Pravuil is about to smite the crane before Ren steps in to tell him that the crane is a friend of the village. Lockwood taunts the crane and the crane taunts back. Lockwood chases after the crane, while Vidro and Durgl muse that only adults are allowed in the room and those with bounties on them.

Later, the crew makes their way down to the village during the night. They notice the beautifully lit mountainside and sakura petals floating down gently. They notice people rowing on small canoes through the river. Ren tells them that this is where his people and warriors live. Lockwood comes back, scrapped with feathers. Ren asks if she won a fight against the crane. She says they only had a draw. Ren tells her that the crane is the youngest of the flock. He tells them to fit in with the rest of the village, they could get traditional clothing, free of charge, if they would like. Durgl sends another telepathic message to Lockwood and she freaks out, making Ren question her mental state. Durgl starts writing a note about the downfall of Lockwood.

The crew notices that the villagers are preparing for a festival and gathering around shacks, tea shops, and inns. There are people playing dice and dogs running about. Ren leads them through the village until they reach an alleyway where there are various shops selling various clothes, wares, and other miscellaneous items.

Reyen gets a fisherman's outfit, Lockwood gets an orange-brown patterned kimono, Durgl gets a koi-themed kimono, and Pravuil dons on priestly robes. After everyone else chooses and receives their own clothing, Ren informs them that tomorrow that they will be assigned to individual masters.

Lockwood, Pravuil, Durgl, Reyen, and Diana go to a fortune-teller while Vidro goes by himself by the lake. Durgl and Lockwood spar with one another.

Diana sees Vidro and comes up to him and asks how he is feeling. Vidro says he feels remorse and guilt over Pravuil gave up his wings for Vidro's life. He says that because of him, all of the progress that they had done to enact vengeance for the Pravuil family was undone. Diana says that perhaps Pravuil believed that all of the progress was worth sacrificing to save his life. Vidro also says he does not know how to face Maddie because he failed his promise to protect Diana at all costs. The other four notice the two talking and they wonder why Vidro looks sorrowful. They approach him and Pravuil offers to invite him over along, telling him to "come" but Vidro turns it down, still ashamed.

The five then head over to the fortune-teller where they see a long line. They meet various patrons who display various emotions. Some are leaving excitedly and others are leaving despondently. After a while as they wait, a blue smoke forms around and it appears to be a blue flame. They see the silhouette of a woman who tells them to "Come forth". They see her face and she notices that they are not from the village. Her irises of her eyes appear like galaxies and smoke continues to come out of her hand. Pravuil appears skeptical and the fortune-teller chooses to read his fortune first. They spar, Pravuil believing her to be a quack and a charlatan, but she convinces him that she does have some fortune-telling capabilities as she is able to cold-read him about his life. She presents him a tea and he reluctantly drinks it. Surrounding around him he hears a familiar but distant voice. "You seek yourself the champion of God, yet you have never asked the most heinous question. Is your god truly worthy of worship?" It tells him that he is too focused on the past and does not even realize why he is so blindly devoted in his faith. It says that his god is not a true one. Pravuil is troubled by the revelations. Lockwood is the next to have her fortune read. She sees two paths for her: one of a fox and one of a demon, yet both working together. Durgl then has his fortune read. There is a beautiful home filled with kindness which will be consumed by either love or fire. What price is Durgl willing to offer for the Golden Ribbit and would he exchange it for his voice. The Golden Ribbit is surrounded by trees of fire, beasts with no hearts, winds with no air, plants with no life, and people with no soul. Reyen's fortune is read and says that he is a man who will one day face a choice: his daughter or his crew. Diana's fortune is read, divided between her sister and her family. Diana says that she already knows what her fortune revealed to her. After this, the fortune-teller says that fortunes cannot be read twice, not without additional price.

Lockwood tries to place her shoulder on the fortune-teller and the flames around her wrap tightly around Lockwood's arm and tells her not to touch her and releases her.

As Vidro heads back to the guest house, he notices that the doors to their house are opened and furniture are overturned. He stealthily walks in and investigates. He notices a tall man with a jug wrapped around his hand as he is looking for alcohol. Vidro recognizes him as the man who challenged Akula to a drinking contest back in Haikuno. The master is in a drunken stupor and Vidro asks how he got here. Vidro asks why he is rummaging through his house and the man shrugs it off. The man notices that Vidro appears down and says they can become drinking buddies. Vidro decides to try another swig of alcohol and surprisingly, he handles it well and does not immediately pass it out. Vidro is finally properly buzzed. The two bond. The man tells him a story of when he went to a bar with a beautiful bottle. It was aarakocran wine and he was so focused on it that he did not notice the other bottles. He loses his train of thought and decides to go to bed. Before he fall asleeps, he says that he is on a diplomatic mission here and is assigned to escort the crew to their masters tomorrow.

Vidro goes outside to meditate because of the man's loud snoring. He goes out to explore the village and practices his acrobatics. As he swings through the trees, one of the branches he latches onto is a twig and he falls into a pond. He is then met by the sight of an old turtle master. The master speaks cryptically through riddles and proverbs. He tells Vidro to see without his eyes. Vidro tries the master's methods and he eventually senses a tree from afar. Vidro questions whether the tree is actually there and he is in hit in the head by the master. He tells him that he fails. He then explains about spiritual energy and the need to be observant of such energy which radiates out of all lifeforms and inanimate objects. With proper training, Vidro can feel the song of the universe which can be used in battle. This skill is known as blade singing, which he more aptly refers to it as "observation haki". The master says that he is the first to have perfected such an art. He says he will continue training Vidro the next day if he is able to find him.

Meanwhile, the five enter the tattooist store. They notice that the patrons have tattoos which are able to move about across their bodies. The tattooist there says that he can give them tattoos that can shapeshift into any form they wish.

Lockwood wants two tattoos with a fox running up towards the crescent and an angel by the sun. Pravuil asks for winged tattoos on his back where his wings used to be. They head back and see the drunken master snoring in their house as Vidro is cleaning up the house.

Lockwood beats the master and tells him that he is sleeping in her bed. Vidro tries to explain who he is. She tells him to sleep elsewhere instead and he offers they could share the bed together. He then leaves into a portal. Lockwood cleans and sterilizes the bed. As she finishes cleaning up, the crane reappears and it relieves itself over her bed. The two engage into another fight. Everyone else tries to go to sleep.

In the morning, Ren arrives and tells them to be presentable as the masters are here now. As they go outside to feel the sunshine, they see various, diverse array of masters.

The white-haired female master pricks Vidro with a pin and heals his wound. Lockwood speaks to the large cat-master and the master says that he is acrobatic. Vidro walks out to the panda master who introduces himself as Felix. Lockwood then approaches the fox girl who specializes in laced poison. The otter master looks at Pravuil and Durgl and chirps at them in an otter language. Pravuil responds back and the otter seems offended. Lockwood then approaches the silent, brooding samurai master who shows no emotion. She reads him and notices some air of uncertainty and a glimpse of sorrow. She decides to choose him as her master.

The fox girl master asks Vidro what his firearm is. She has never seen such a weapon and he explains to her. The tabaxi cat master, with eyes closed, says he has seen such weapons in the south. The large cat-master continues to flex his abilities but he becomes quite winded. Reyen decides to choose the large cat.

Vidro chooses Zaiya. Durgl approaches the blue-haired girl, Yuki, an expert on conqueror's haki. The elder explains that she is not easy to please and she is easily angered. Durgl simply sits down with her and the elder asks if she accepts him. She does.

Pravuil speaks with the yellow-scarved master. As he does, Jué Zosteif appears and once she gets adjusted, she speaks to the white-haired female master, who tells her that she is a healer. Upon hearing this, Pravuil chooses her so that he is able to learn how to heal his crewmates more effectively, especially for Vidro. Zosteif then decides to train with the elder's daughter.

Ryul walks with Zaiya. She remarks that he moves very loudly. She shows him how to walk more quietly and effectively. She is able to walk across the snow with almost no sound. As they walk for a while, they make their way to a wintery tree and notices a fox. She takes out her dagger. She then hands it to Vidro and silently gestures him to strike the fox. As the dagger is about to strike the fox, the fox notices and lashes it away with its paws. It then runs away. She says that Vidro cannot simply throw a dagger but must fully utilize their haki. She explains all the creatures in the area have natural defenses and therefore, one must be able to learn how to use haki in order to survive. She leads him to various creatures and Vidro is unable to kill any of them.

As Durgl walks with his master, his master asks if he is just going to follow her all day. She asks why he chose her. He explains that he wants to learn how to use conqueror's haki. She says he does not seem fierce. She interrogates him and explains to him that she is constantly annoyed. She notices that he is a musician and believes he could use conqueror's haki with his instrument. She says she is willing to train him so that he can get out of her sight.

Pravuil and his master move towards the countryside. They talk and Pravuil explains why he wants to enhance his healing abilities and explains to her how he had lost his parents, had learned that his race is being hunted down, and how he gave up his wings to save a crewmate. She sympathizes with him and tells him she will do her best to train him. She leads him to a farm of injured tabaxis where he introduces himself to the father and son. The father's back is injured and the father is skeptical of Pravuil but nonetheless relents. Pravuil realizes privately that the father only has a year left to live.

Lockwood and her master climb up a large mountain and is led through a tunnel. Her hair rises as they walk through the dark tunnel. She senses almost as if someone is ready to pounce on them. At some point, they walk towards a light and they arrive at a monastery. As they approach the entrance, they are met by a group of various ninjas and assassins.

They ask who Lockwood is and Lockwood is confused as they tell her to pick one of them as her master. She thought that her escort was her master. They explain that they all specialize in either oni or kitsune magic. Lockwood chooses Anari, wanting to learn more about the fox spirit, and is led to a balcony which overlooks the continent they are on including the open sea. She is able to feel a kindred spirit of a woman. This woman has a calming spirit. A violet glow emits from her hand as fox spirits dance about. She bops Lockwood's nose. She tells Lockwood she needs to learn how to have fun. The kindred spirit only appears during the full moon she says. Lockwood explains why she chose her and why she is interested in learning kitsune magic.

Zosteif and her master walk. He asks how Ren has been. She explains that she does not talk to Ren much. He asks if Ren still looks for who is worthy of his sword. She says she does not know as she is absent half of the time. They hear arguing next door and it appears to be the master's daughter. Zosteif attempts to hug her but she backs off as she is not comfortable with physical touch. Zosteif explains that she is here for sneaking. The elder leaves and once he is out of earshot, the daughter tells her that the act is over and that she wants Zosteif to help her pickpocket and steal from her father. Zosteif explains her their strategy. The master's daughter tells her that she and Ren used to pull such pranks on her father back in the day.

Two months pass.

Vidro learns armament haki during this time. Durgl learns to translate his conqueror's haki into his own music. Pravuil learns how to start using qi to heal wounds. Lockwood learns the kitsune haki and what it means to become more trickster-like similar to the fox spirit. Zosteif and the master's daughter, Yamato.

At one point, Ren approaches to each crewmate and tells them that they must come for an armament upgrade. They are led to an armory courtyard and Ren introduces them to a mute weaponsmith. His weapons are made of astral dragon sheath. The weaponsmith inspects each of them and their weapons and silently shakes his head except for Pravuil. He takes greater interest in Vidro's gun, takes it away, and disassembles it. He then grabs the barrel of the gun and burns it up. Ren says that he is dissatisfied with everyone's weapons except for Pravuil's sword.

The group is led into a room with an arrayed collection of weapons including shurikens, kunais, and katanas. The weaponsmith wraps a cloth around Vidro's barrel and then places a large book in front of the group. There are also different pictures of dragons. Ren explains that each person must choose a type of weapon and a type of dragon's element. If there is anything missing, the master could prepare something. Durgl places his Frogger on the desk and the weaponsmith silently acknowledges it. There are options for chromatic and metallic materials for the sword.

Pravuil's sword simply requires a coating and obtains fire-based elemental. Durgl's swords is fashioned with a green-scaled material. Vidro's gun is reassembled and enhanced, returned to Vidro in a gift-wrapped box. Vidro inspects it and his weapon looks somewhat different. It has illustrious gold trimming with constant light effects. There are complimentary bullets in its sleeve. It is enhanced with lightning dragon elemental. Zosteif chooses the chromatic chain blades which are black-colored, representing acid dragon elemental. Ren explains that all of the materials are obtained from his hunts against dragons. Durgl chooses an acid-based elemental to enhance his Frogger.

Several more months pass by. They train rigorously under the tutelage of their masters. At some point, they learn the various haki. Lockwood learned from Anari that she and Honori are sisters and were both shinobi. Their parents disappeared for a long time and died. After this incident, Anari went down the kitsune path and Honori chose the oni path. She learned that Ryu was not originally from the village and was taken in after partaking in a naval expedition. He was the Second Lord of the Navy and was part of the conflict against The Blight. The Blight was something that Lockwood was skeptical of but learned that those who die from the Blight may never resurrect and those who lose their limbs from the Blight will never be able to retrieve them again. As they talk, the others try to discourage discussion of it as it is a sore subject.

Ryul learned from Zaiya that she had a brother named Ricon who was separated from him as kids. She and her brother were also orphaned. They were raised by the elder as the elder's own children. She has a dream to leave the village once she has permission and wishes to find her way to the wintery city in the distance, which is the Christmas-like town.

Zosteif learned from Yamato that she is the daughter of the elder but does not know who her mother was, except that she died at childbirth. This depressed her greatly. Yamato and her father have a comedic rivalry towards one another. Yamato always has a plan to get out of the island but her father always stops her, expecting her to lead the village as his heiress. She is envious of Ren being allowed to leave and she learned the stealth arts to be able to escape her father and island. Zosteif sees that Yamato greatly admires Ren but is unable to determine if this admiration is romantic or platonic.

Ren gives Lockwood a message from the crane saying that if it still wants to fight Lockwood before Lockwood takes on the Stormlords. The crane wallops and beats Lockwood senselessly in a best of 5. The crane wins all 5 rounds. The crane then lets her go and it bows to her as she limps in defeat. She swears one day she will defeat the crane.

Durgl learns that Yuki has the most loving parents. One time when Durgl was invited to her home with her parents, he saw that her room was filled with plushies. He realizes that she mostly puts up a face and an act.

Pravuil learns that Jade is an expert qi practitioner and learned a great deal under her. He learns that Jade's parents passed away at old age but still has her siblings. Jade loves being part of the town and helping her townspeople. He learns she wishes she would be able to speak with animals. She is a delightful, calm, collected person who tells things as it is.

One day as they were collectively relaxing in the guest house, about 11 months since they first settled in Haki, Ren came. He said that the town would throw a festival on them prior to their departure. They discuss among themselves what their plan is. Reyen warns them that the Stormlords are still more powerful than they are, even after that training, and that they require allies to help bring down the Stormlords. Reyen suggests they align themselves with the Ruby Queen.

The day of the festival arrives. The crew find themselves amid the townsfolk in jubilation and celebration. There are fireworks and festivities all abound.

Lockwood plays a wheel game at the festival which can grant powers if she wins. Zosteif declines to play the game as it costs too much. Vidro notices Diana wants to play and pays for her game. She steals gold from Vidro. Her spins win her a free night at the inn and a free perception check. Pravuil gains a one-time use for fortune to increase his armor and a one-time charge to turn invisible for one minute.

Reyen calls to their attention that there is a sumo fight going on and that there is a crane who has been beating them all up. They all rush to watch in the spectacle. The crane is surrounded by wounded sumo wrestlers. However, the crane is now fighting against El Gato Grato. The cat master is startled by the splash of water. He then readies himself as he is ready to fight the crane. Before he is able to even land a blow on the crane, the cat takes a moment to breathe but ends up being knocked off.

Lockwood argues with Reyen and Zosteif attempts to pickpocket Lockwood. She is caught red-handed in Lockwood's bag and the crane's feather falls onto her nose and she sneezes, causing everyone to stare at her for a moment. Afterwards, Durgl says he wants to challenge the crane. Durgl is able to put up a good fight against the crane but ultimately loses, but just barely. The crane then bows. Zosteif says they should wager. If one of the crewmates defeats the crane, the crane will join their crew. The crane says if he wins, the loser must become their pupil forever. After some talking, he adjust the terms to three years. Durgl takes on this bet. The match is close and tense. They spar and are evenly matched. During the final bout, the tie-breaking bout...DURGL WINS! The crane concedes and bows. He says his name is Goatsetsu and agrees to be Durgl's pupil and join Willem's Willies.

Durgl becomes the instant talk and legend of the town. The townsfolk unravel banners bearing Durgl's likeness. The whole festival has transformed into a Durgl-themed festival. Durgl gives a frog-themed hat to Yuki and she reluctantly takes it. She says there is a lot of stupid things out there but he's not that stupid.

Ryu tells Lockwood will die at some point and not to live a pointless life.

Jade hands Pravuil a set of acupuncture needles.

Zaiya tells Vidro that she doesn't like guns because they are loud but nonetheless gives him some feathers which can be used in combat.

Yamato approaches Zosteif and reminds her they have final mission to loot Yamato's father and they agree to meet the next day.

El Gato Grato licks himself and coughs up a furball.

Lockwood goes to the blacksmith on their final day in Haki. She obtains a blade.

As the crew returns to their guest house for one last time, they see the drunken master busily emptying bottles and Master Toogway standing by the cliffside. They approach Toogway and say their final, parting words. Zosteif takes some free peaches which fell from the tree.

The drunken master says he is ready to leave. He and Lockwood have one final banter. As Lockwood goes back to her bed, she notices there is a stain on it and a trace of a feather. The next day will be the start of the next chapter of their journey.

Featured characters

Player characters

• Akula (absent)
• Anradeem Pravuil
• Durgl
• Jué Zosteif
• Ryul Vidro
• Serena Lockwood
• Maren (absent)
• Willem (absent)