The Autumn sets sail, and the captain looks a little more closely at the new crew he’s hired.

As the Autumn sets off, Captain Grayskyn calls for Justinia and Aradyn to come to his quarters. There, he interrogates Justinia, learning that she is from Normalburg cough Abscondus cough. He reveals that he has similar, more developed powers than Justinia’s delving into her mind once he realizes that it is impossible to get her to give information in a straightforward fashion. Grayskyn also explains that he too is from a sphere like Justinia’s, but that his was found by outsiders to cataclysmic effects for the rest of the Astral plane. Though he believes that there might be some connection between Abscon—Normalburg and Captain Bones, he also intimates that he is trying to prevent a repeat of the destruction caused by the last discovery of a hidden sphere.

After interrogating Justinia, the Captain turns to Aradyn and begins explaining that the Autumn functions a bit differently than other ships, introducing him to Lae’Navana, a small white and gold she dragon that has twisted itself around a oval-shaped object. As Aradyn is to help him with the navigation of the ship, he explains that the ship is headed to Cluster Space, an area where most who enter can never leave. There are several factions, including a dangerous faction called the Antilans. As a test of the party’s abilities, the Captain tells Aradyn that they will have to head out as a strike-force of sorts to find something for him. However, the only further information he gives is that they will “know it when they see it” and to keep an eye out for the primal xenophobic lizards who live near the cavern in the marshlands where the party is headed. Meanwhile, the rest of the party begins to settle in a bit. In hopes of recruiting another plasmoid to fight the heretics, Blorp goes looking for the pink plasmoid. As he walks down the stairs to look for them in the kitchen, he hears the quiet murmuring of a few voices. Hearing his footsteps, they quickly change the subject, and Blorp pokes his head into the kitchen to find Rythe, the thri-kreen the party has seen on the deck in the evenings, and the pink plasmoid. Unfortunately, when Blorp tries to explain his quest against the heretics, the pink plasmoid only morphs itself to look like him and mocks his movement and voice. Bewildered, Blorp wanders back up to the deck.

Once the Captain has finished talking to Justinia, she makes a beeline for Melvin. Upon finding him asleep, she attempts to manifest a power she has not had ever? at least not since leaving her sphere, in an attempt to wipe the memory of the name Abscondus from his mind. It goes terribly wrong, leaving Justinia wrecked and exhausted. Having spent some time talking to her about the crystal holding his consciousness, MADS also tries to manifest and wipe those memories, but again, it does not work. This time MADS is left sparking and malfunctioning, and Justinia’s nose starts to bleed. Bren quickly calls out for the other party members to come and help them get back on their feet before Aradyn shows up and tells them they need to hurry to get to the bottom of the ship for a special assignment. Below deck, Tigren waits for the party beside two sloops. She explains that they will have to take one to reach the “surface” below. When the party looks down through the open hull of the ship, they see a sea seemingly suspended in space with small bits of land and submerged structures. Though Lucia turns out to have some proficiency with seafaring vessels, the party struggles to get the sloop under control once they drop out of the Autumn. When they do manage to get the sails down and secured, Mace slams a hand on the ignition, shooting the small ship forward and sending Justinia falling off the side! Thankfully Aradyn managed to warp her back onto the ship before she dropped too far, but it’s definitely a less than auspicious start to their first quest aboard the Autumn…