The lifeboat hit the water and Kardish's men were rowing. After a brief check to make sure Ndege Greenlimb was all right Kardish assumed some leadership and directed the lifeboat north. The plan quickly became stealing a small sailboat at the dock they were passing. A small bunch of Ob-Lobs were checking these boats but because of the general conflagration from the suddenly whipped up storm and the burning flagship there weren't many.
TC Uki and Sir Rodemus Pike got the boat moving while Calebain began whipping people off the dock with the Whirlwind spell he'd been working on. As the last ones came racing down the dock to try and stop the Butchers from stealing the boat Calebain threw up a fog cloud making them mess up the leap. Splashes and gurgling ensued. Rodemus' sailing was up to snuff to get them out in these trying circumstances.
There was a discussion on this fishing boat about where to go. Heading directly back to Freeport would be a dangerous undertaking in such a small vessel. They headed for the river, thinking to steal another boat from the back dock, or possibly to head upstream and regroup in Hearth.
At the mouth of the river though they spotted and were spotted by the smallish ship that had gone after the Queen's Mercy decoy. It was heading their way and the plan quickly became "Look like fishermen everybody!" They smeared a chalky paste on their skin to lighten themselves up and got the nets ready to use as ladders to assault the ship. Xo Fan got huffy because of his dead sister and said this was a retarded plan, but Rodemus talked him down from doing anything rash.
When the boat got closer TC Uki waved at the ship saying they needed some repairs. There was a bit of friendly banter about his accent but they approached. One sailor came down a rope ladder to "assess the damage" but when he hit the floor of the fishing boat he screamed in realization. The assault was quick and bloody. A couple of people were flung into the sea and the captain was willing to talk truce.
Once they got rid of most of the crew (by trading boats with them in a show of mercy) they found out from this captain named Ipotanafo how his family's fortunes had greatly improved since the Butchers had killed off the Mitos. He was very pleased to be able to give them whatever help he could if he got to take credit for having "killed" them. He helped sail the ship back to Freeport and all was well with the world.
By this time Calebain had been awake for a ridiculously long time and had been busy all through it so he needed some sleep, as did Ndege and to a lesser extent TC Uki. So belowdecks they went, leaving Rodemus and the Obsidian Circle to look after the sailing. At one point Kardish took Ipotanafi to take a piss and came back laughing. Rodemus was a little aware that something might be up. He paid attention to who was on deck and who wasn't and figured something might be afoot, so he ran below to wake up Calebain who checked on the Rain Tiger's Claw which had gone missing, along with the Windsword and the Ironbone staff. They woke up everyone and pounced on Diruna (the Obsidian mage) who happened to be belowdeck. They demanded the weapons back and forcemarched her up on deck.
Up top Xo Fan and Kardish were waiting with Ipotanafo and the weapons were nowhere to be seen. Tense negotiations followed in which the Spirit crew talked about betrayal and Kardish talked about being lied to. Eventually terms were agreed to. Kardish would return the staff and the Windsword but keep the Rain Tiger's Claw as compensation for their help.
An uneasy night passed and both sides were genuinely relieved to get to Freeport. Coming into the Serpent's Teeth there were a number of Ob-Lob ships but they weren't in blockade formation and they gave the Silvarr Comet no trouble at all. When the Pilot boat came out to meet them, Ipotanafo suggested they head into the city on that boat so that he could head back to Port Strike with the Obsidian Circle, who wanted to be back on Heluso anyway. Handshakes and the promised goods were exchanged.
On the pilot boat trip into town, Calebain noticed some flashing light messages at the Pilot guild observation tower. He couldn't tell what they meant however. When the boat did arrive in the Warehouse district a big crowd of people was waiting for them. At the forefront was Nathan Grymes.
"Welcome back guys! Where's Tank?" The reply was sombre. "Tank fell. Most honourably." Grymes was taken aback. "My my boy…" The Spirit crew tried to tell him more and as they crowded in close to Grymes they didn't notice who was sneaking up behind them in the crowd. Grymes recollected himself, looked up, saw everything was in place and said, "At least he didn't have to see this…"
Collars and shackles were clamped on the returning heroes while a Watchman shouted out "You are herby charged with the crimes of piracy and genocide and sentenced to exile!"
