Grinning Pixie

Grinning Pixie

(Ship)

Class

Carrack

Keel

110 feet

Propulsion

3-mast sails

Launched

4673 AR (Ostenso, Cheliax)

Status

Serves as the Arcadian Mariner's Lodge of the Pathfinder Society

Fate

Active

Captain(s)

Eras the Needle (4719 AR—)
Previous: Calisro Benarry 4709 AR–4719 AR
Schlero Val DuMorign (??–4709 AR)
Cloud-Eye Squid (4683 AR–??)
Tal Xtimbuo (4679 AR–4683 AR✝)

Crew

40–50; about 66% contracted sailors, 33% Pathfinder initiates, field agents, legacy crew

Images of Grinning Pixie

Source: Pathfinder Society Guide, pg(s). 78–81

See also: Arcadian Mariner's Lodge

The Grinning Pixie is a merchant carrack owned by the Pathfinder Society and re-fitted as a mobile Pathfinder lodge, the Arcadian Mariner's Lodge. It undertakes missions on the Arcadian Ocean. Its captain rotates every few years, or at least it should: previous captain Calisro Benarry ignored the end of her contract for several years and ran the ship for a decade before being ordered to surrender it in 4719 AR.

As of 4724 AR, the ship had been under the command of the aiuvarin shipwright Eras the Needle since 4719 AR.

History

The Pixie began as the Golden Barb, and was built in the shipyards of Ostenso, Cheliax, in 4673 AR. The Pathfinder Society hired it in 4674 AR as part of the efforts to reopen the Pathfinder lodge of Delvehaven, but after the lodge was shuttered by Cheliax in 4676 AR, the Society claimed it as their own. It was renamed the Grinning Pixie in 4679 AR,✝ with its imp figurehead refashioned into the likeness of a pixie, and designated a Pathfinder lodge under the command of Venture-Captain Tal Xtimbuo.

Xtimbuo retired from the post in 4683 AR✝ to dedicate himself to documenting his research at the Grand Lodge in Absalom. Venture-Captain Cloud-Eye Squid was the first successor and established what became a tradition of regularly rotating venture-captaincy of the lodge, often for terms of only two years.

In 4708 AR, the Pixie was at the center of the "Fourth Norn Incident" under the command of notoriously ill-fortuned Venture-Captain Schlero Val DuMorign. The ship was smuggling items from Irrisen when it ran aground in the Ironbound Archipelago, and the vulnerable Pixie lost many of the treasures it carried either to the sea or raiders.

Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry, captain of the Grinning Pixie from 4709 AR to 4719 AR.

The ship was repaired by 4709 AR, and the Society passed the role of venture-captain to Calisro Benarry, a former pirate who had been awarded a field commission after facilitating several successful missions as a contracted ship captain. Benarry remained in the role until 4719 AR. Her tenure far exceeded her contract, the expiration of which Benarry either extended or ignored for a decade, and she exited only after being paid a large sum by the Society's Decemvirate.

During her career on the Pixie, Benarry led several expeditions across the Inner Sea region, most famously in several incursions into the haunted Gloomspires of the Shackles. The Pixie also racked up 82 formal complaints during her leadership, ranging from maritime guilds to governments, and one notable complaint from the Gardening and Beautification League of Magnimar. Bounties for the ship sprung up across the Inner Sea and forced the Society's barristers to clear the outstanding charges against it.

In 4719 AR, the Society named Eras the Needle as the Pixie's new captain after he had unsuccessfully applied for the role each year since 4713 AR. Eras had disappeared for a year in 4711 AR during a speaking tour of Varisia and emerged from the Mordant Spire with treasures of Azlant, one of the signature wooden masks of the Spiresworn, and the elves' blessing.

A former shipbuilder, Eras has made small upgrades to the Pixie over his tenure and maintained a more professional crew and operations than his predecessor, but when pressed into combat the aiuvarin dons his wooden mask and becomes a relentless defender of the ship and crew.

Crew

The Pixie carries a crew of up to 50, two-thirds of which are contracted sailors otherwise unaffiliated with the Pathfinder Society. The remaining third consists of up to five initiate Pathfinders granted special permission to complete their initiation at sea, as well as field agents and legacy crew. Only a few field agents are full-time members of the Pixie; their numbers ebb and grow as the ship is used for expeditions, but all passengers are expected to contribute to the ship's operation and upkeep.

As of 4720 AR, the ship's full-time crew under Eras the Needle included:

• Atrinsi "Godless Trin" Sehathusu, ship's counselor
• Weoru of Totra, longtime collaborator of Eras and ship's archivist
• Alkskou, ship's quartermaster and jinx eater

While not part of the ship's crew, shipwright Alva Urthosdottir has long worked with the Society on repairing the Pixie between its journeys. Her most prominent work was on the ship's restoration after the Fourth Norn Incident, a story that she enjoys embellishing.

Cargo and accomodations

The ship was designed to haul up to 650 tons of cargo, but only two-thirds of its hold remains in use after the Society converted the rest into two libraries and five special holds designed for delicate cargo. The ship carries two months of provision and an array of adventuring and seafaring equipment, divided almost equally into requisitioned and second-hand gear and including elixirs and potions, with distribution managed by the ship's quartermaster.

Passenger accomodations are generous, with a galley well-stocked with one of the widest arrays of seasonings and spices on the seas. The captain's quarters also serve as a meeting space and carry the ship's maps, centered around an oak table that still functions after taking a ballista bolt during a past adventure.

Rumors

A recently decoded carving on the Grinning Pixie has suggested that an abandoned sedacthy city is on the ocean floor off the Rahadoumi island of Nuat's western coast, but as of 4720 AR no one has investigated the rumor.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.