Tough As Dirt #31

Arriving back in the Ropeway, Tough as Dirt found the small town almost completely empty, save for a single ship in the harbor

They rode the lift down with a talking horse, which they soon discovered was a courier from the Halfway There Inn who hit on Ricco and offered to buy him a drink if they came his way sometime soon

Before departing aboard the Gateway Clipper, the group was approached by a Shark kindred who simply stared them down. They later learned from Gideon's ability to read lips that he was looking for "oars" and that his master thought a group in this area might have one. 

Back on the ship, Yella, Lillium, and Babbit were unsuccessfully attempting to perform an arcane ritual to get the chef the crew picked up in Othrund to speak. The chef seemed more responsive, and after the Winslow  shared some potatoes from his below decks garden, the chef seemed to become a little more of himself, though he still did not speak.

The group spent the next week sailing through Griffon's Gulf to the Halfway There Inn in order to return to Crooked Post to pick up a sword for Ricco.

• Along the way, Gideon cast Legend Lore on the Divinaxiom and discovered it was not as sentient as he believed. In fact, most of its communication and ability to influence was purely a product of its directive to get back to a being known as Talus. It had no will beyond that, despite its desire to destroy gods.

  • Gideon discovered the Divinaxiom was from another world and arrived on Vault along with a being known as Talus.

  • He also learned it could steal, store, and distribute divine power.

  • Since arriving on Vault is had belonged to a person known as Mr. Yellow, Quincy Quinn, Gore, Middalah, and now Gideon.

  • He learned that without placing it in one's chest, the Divinaxiom could not manipulate divine power, but could still speak.

At the Inn, Winslow participated in a game of Cockatrice, as is tradition, but the group met with a clever woman named Omnia, who seemed to be waiting for something.

• Omnia politely asked that the group not take the sword Gideon was carrying, the blade he took from Middalah upon her death, to Crooked Post. When the group asked why, she simply said it wasn't a good idea.

Eventually a small elven girl came and took Omnia downstairs into the basement of the Inn, and the group got a rest, ready to travel to Crooked Post the next day.