Session Ten - Recap

Session Ten - Recap

Questioning their newly-pressed crewman, the Motaku islander N'dahno, he tells of "the Lava that Walks as Man" on the island, but also an enormous lost pearl that could be recovered. The crew of The Broken Promise proves to be somewhat wary of this, and decides to seek their fortune instead around the large stretch of open sea south of the large island.

Soon enough, the crew came upon a lugger riding low as it made its way southward. The ship was flying colors of the Aspis Consortium, which Scolvus knew the name of but little information about--other than basing their operations in Azir, a port north of the perpetual hurricane Eye of Abendego. Deciding to pursue the prey, The Broken Promise closed the distance to the smaller craft quickly.

When they got close, Druna's aerial reconnaissance and Jax's telescope revealed the ship to be a slaver--with a deck packed with cages and enchained slaves baking in the hot sun. Unable to return fire, for fear of harming the miserable enslaved captives on the ship, the crew of The Broken Promise had to weather crossbow volleys before swinging across to the deck of the smaller ship.

Unfortunately, this played right into the trap of the Aspis Consortium ship. The crew landing on the deck fought the Aspis sailors, and found them fighting strangely--very defensively and using delaying tactics. Also, they noticed that the slaves on the ship proved to be dummies; they were wooden carvings dressed in tattered clothes, enhanced with a powerful illusion spell to make them seem more real. The attacking crew were left wondering why the ruse--and were quickly answered.

In the form of an Aspis Consortium Fire Mistress Mage

The Aspis Consortium Captain and First Mate suddenly emerged from invisibility on the aft deck of The Broken Promise. Sadie the Goat, who was piloting the ship, was laid into by the Aspis Captain, while the First Mate used the same fly spell that enabled their sneak attack to fly up to the rigging and set it ablaze with a fireball spell. As dead and dying crew of The Broken Promise fell to the deck, and the rigging burned, Sadie the Goat was cut down and lay bleeding on the deck. Captain Sullivan, Jax, and Druna rushed back to their own ship to try and stabilize the situation. Meanwhile, Scolvus turned his arcane energy to stop the enemy Captain's attacks. Finally the crew closed upon the Captain, slaying her. The First Mate fled, using the remaining time on her spell to try and make land--her white cloaks streaming behind her as she flew through the air.

Checking through the damage, the officers found that four of their crew had died to the gouts of flame from the Aspis First Mate: two more of those pressed when Portia D'Angelique's ship was captured, and two of those they hired/pressed at Senghor. Searching the captured ship, they found it laden with treasure. The Captain's quarters contained a log of attacks, seeming like this ship has purposefully been preying on pirate vessels--drawing them into traps and slaying their command, then taking their goods for the Consortium. In the hold, they found plunder of spices, salt, and copper bars.

With the Consortium lugger fit with a prize crew, the two ships made their way toward Bloodcove, with the intention of selling their plunder and the captured ship. In the two week journey, the crew worked hard at their respective tasks. Portia set herself to work with Scolvus appraising the captured ship as well as the plunder. Jax approached her one afternoon in the Quartermaster's office, and informed her that if she wished, she could try going on shore leave this time at Bloodcove, provided she remain with him--as she still had to pay off her ransom. Plus, the pair had been flirting considerably since her arrival on the ship. N'danho, the self-poisoned Motaku islander proved to be rather weak and accident-prone, but he tried hard--and he quickly mastered the Common tongue thanks to work with Captain Sullivan and Shivikah. Turd meanwhile found a friend in the galley, with his anger problem and resentment about authority resonating with Galfire. Finally, the crew decided to use one idea from their encounter with the Aspis Consortium, deciding to take two of the carved mannequins and setting them up adjacent to the wheel to confound foes attacking their pilot at range.

Finally they got close to Bloodcove. As they drew near, they spied another vessel leaving-also flying a pirate flag. As is frequent with rival pirate captains, the two ships eyed each other closely. The other ship was identified as The Limestone, a ship captained by the bloodthirsty Captain Rockhyde. Captain Sullivan recognized his massive form strolling the deck as they passed, and told the crew stories of the huge Stone Giant captain. He was once a member of the Shackles Council in Port Peril, and attempted an unsuccessful attempt at forcefully gaining Council Captaincy. His attack was repulsed by the sitting Hurricane King, Captain Kerdak Bonefist, and Captain Rockhyde was banished from the council and from good standing amongst the Free Captains. While technically not a Free Captain himself after his coup attempt, Captain Rockhyde is simply physically powerful enough, and his crew nasty enough, to still hang around the edges of the Shackles.

Captain Rockhyde, former Free Captain and scourge of the southern edge of the Shackles

At Bloodcove, the crew are released in three waves for leave--keeping the ship well-manned as Bloodcove is one of the more notorious ports besides Port Peril itself. On the first day in the port, Captain Sullivan, Scolvus, and Portia set themselves to selling the captured prize ship. Seeking out potential buyers in various taverns, they finally get some interest with Free Captain Daquaa--a broad-set woman with a slightly piggish nose, who commands the schooner The Child O'Mine. While she seemed interested at first, things changed when they brought her to view the ship. When she set eyes on it, her prior friendly demeanor suddenly changed. "Oh no, no no," she said, glancing around as if worried about even being seen looking at the ship. She ended with the cryptic comment "take a minute to get a few extra water barrels for your ship," as she walked away.

At the same time, Jax took Sandara Quinn to seek out a prosthesis for the arm she lost to the giant crab. They went to Master Lilliput's sawbones, a shop that specialized in various replacements for lost limbs. The shop carried a range of different products, spanning some very fancy detailed porcelain options all the way to utilitarian pieces good for work on a ship. Jax buys her a fancy hand, as well as a couple of utilitarian options. They traveled to a tavern for a few drinks, then retired to an inn room together. Lying together naked and recovering, Sandara said to Jax: "So, have you thought of any names?" Taken by surprise, Jax spat out a mouthful of the cheap port wine he was drinking from the glass on the nightstand. He inquired about what she meant, and learned that she was pregnant. He expressed disbelief, to which she responded: "But you knew the rituals, you know what we did?" Jax said no, and tried to express that he was taken unaware by the situation. Sandara seems to almost not hear what he's saying, and keeps talking about the fated rituals of Besmara, and that Jax was chosen in his role of fathering the fated child of the deep mistress--words which drove Jax deeper into the jug of wine by the bedside.

The next morning, the crew chose to squibb their captured Aspis Consortium ship themselves, tearing off the symbols and adjusting the lines of the ship. Captain Sullivan and Scolvus turn to selling their plunder, while Sadie took the shell of the the giant crab to an armorsmith to get a suit of banded armor made from the creature's sturdy shell. Jax took Portia on her promised day of leave, sharing a day exploring the port and an evening drinking in the Burly Bear Tavern. 

On day three in the port, Scolvus finished selling the remaining plunder while the rest of the crew endeavored to sell their newly-squibbed prize. They found a rather rough character in Captain Ile, a sailor who was the sole survivor of a recent wreck. He agrees to take the boat at night, knowing that while the ship is changed in look that everyone in town knows exactly who owned the ship before they did. He agreed to sail it off in the middle of the night, and leave the second half of the payment hidden on the dock near their ship. The rest of the day was spent repairing The Broken Promise and purchasing replacement sails. That evening, again Jax went with Portia out drinking--this time at The Westward Nun Inn--which involved much flirting, but didn't end with anything more.

The fourth morning, the crew awoke to their prize ship being gone and a payment hidden in a rope coil near their ship. Deciding a fourth day in town was needed, the crew continued to relax and plan their next moves. Captain Gilbert regaled the crowd at The Westward Nun with tales of the battle with the giant crab and his raging cook. Word spread of this tale, increasing the crew's Infamy in Bloodcove. In discussing their situation and reputation that evening in the Captain's cabin, Sandara suggested to Captain Gilbert that he select some sort of gimmick to to help him become more memorable as a Captain. And meanwhile, Jax took Portia on a picnic dinner to the wooded hill above Bloodcove, finally moving from flirting to sex, as the Pirate's moon yet again hung low and red in the horizon above.

Nope. No ominous foreshadowing here.

Infamy and Disrepute Tracker

Infamy Score: 6
Disrepute: 6

Port Infamy list:
Rickety's Squibbs: 2
Bloodcove: 1

Session Nine - Recap

Session Nine - Recap

Making haste to put the Chelish Pirate Hunter The Dominator in their wake, the crew of The Broken Promise cut up into the southern portion of the Shackles, spending a week cutting near island shores outside of general shipping paths that Chelish might patrol. This enabled them to continue their search for signs of Mancatcher Cove. After that week, they spied sails and closed on the ship. Recognizing the sign of the Three Birds on the mainsail, the crew relaxed slightly--it was a ship in Captain Merrill Pegsworthy's fleet. Hailing at distance, they met the ship on friendly terms. The Captain, a lanky elf man named Hibiscus Drue, was cordial and friendly, saying his crew had received word that the symbol of the broken pierced heart was that of Captain Gilbert Sullivan, a friend of their Fleet Lord. They retired to a nearby shore, and shared a sumptuous meal of roast pig and fine alcohol from Captain Drue's personal stock. Drue told them more about Isabella "Inkskin" Locke's history, but little proved to give any more lead on where Mancatcher Cove or her allied sahuagin might be. Jax and Scoluvus shared their tale of disabling The Dominator, and much laughter was had at the expense of the Chelish. The evening ended as the fire dwindled with tales of shipping lanes and how best to dodge the pirate hunting fleets.

Two days later, the crew spied a trawler askew and riding low in the water. Shivikah--the ship's carpenter--said that it could potentially be repaired but he would need a closer look. The officers rowed over to the listing ship, and see that it is indeed partially submerged. There was no sign of lifeboat, but there was a clear hold in the hold which water continues to seep into with each wave. Just as a few of them clamored onto the deck, without warning a number of sahuagin rose from the cluttered underwater portion of the ship's deck, menacing them with their bone-carved tridents. To make matters worse, two others riding sharks and brandishing crude crossbows surfaced between the crew and The Broken Promise. 

Evil creatures of the sea that walk as man

Scolvus' mirror image spell managed to confound the attackers enough to let the crew get the upper hand in the battle quickly. It was soon clear that the shark-riders were the greater threat than those battling on the deck of the ship itself. Galfire, incensed by the sharks (his leg was bitten off by a shark after all), attempted to leap at them and attack in a single jump off the bow of the dinghy. Unfortunately his balance was off, landing him in the drink far from his target. Druna followed suit with the plan, except she was able to reach the foes and knock one off his shark mount. As the crew killed the dismounted rider and the remainder on the ship, the final shark rider fled into the deep ocean. Watching him go, the crew noticed a sunken life boat in the water below--belying the fact that this was a trap baited by the promise of recovering a ship.

They searched their foes and the ship, and found one of the sahuagin wore a strange necklace. It seemed to be thick platinum, but with deep darkened whorls in the metal that were somehow mesmerizing and off-putting at the same time in their suggestion of cosmic nothingness. The bait craft proved to be unsalvageable as a sailing vessel, but Shivikah suggested they tow it to shore and take what good wood remained as stores to repair their own ship. Agreeing to this, the crew towed the boat to a nearby island's shore. Hauled with a great deal of sweat and hard work, they manage to heave the ruined vessel up onto land, and prepared to cannibalize the timbers. As the crew began their work, Druna assumed the form of an eagle and scouted the island. She spied a small cove on the northern side of the island, about an hour away if the crew took the pilot cutter.

As night fell, Galfire prepared a sumptuous bonfire cookout of fish and shark over pork-fat seasoned rice, with a hearty helping of the numerous crabs which crawled the shore. He finished the dishes with blackened starfish, which the crew raved about. During the evening revelry, Jax took the opportunity to speak with Portia D'Angelique, starting with a discussion of the sahuagin and the strange platinum necklace. She identified it as deep platinum, and told that the creatures of the sea depths revered it for its supposed magical connection to the great sea God Leviathan. Portia explained that a jeweler she worked with had a small piece once, and was told when he bought it from a sailor that supposedly the metal is mined from poisonous vents on the very bottom of the ocean floor by strange beings known as Aboleths--strange intelligent icthyoids that were the only creatures that might swim so deep as to retrieve it.

Dark dreams of the rising Aboleths surfaced as they stared into the night fire

Jax turned the conversation to Portia's prisoner status, and whether she would consider working on the ship to reduce her ransom amount (though unknown to her the letter of ransom had not even been sent yet). She agreed to speak to Captain Sullivan about the matter. They came to an agreement, that she would provide her considerable skill at appraising and antiquities as an assistant to the Quartermaster. In exchange, she would work until her pay reached the value of two magic swords (4630 gold pieces, or present for 20 plunder points distributed to crew)--once she earned half the amount she'd be free to decide to work the rest off or go free on her promise to provide the rest. Captain Sullivan and Jax take her to Scolvus and instruct her to start her work in the morning.

In the morning, Portia and Scolvus went about the ship, having her appraise everything from the ship to its contents and crew. While her appraisal of Druna--"akin to a wire rake for a fireplace"--earns her a rope bash, she proves to do good work. Concerned a bit about Portia walking the ship free, and in contact with her former crew who are impressed, the officers of The Broken Promise decided to recruit a few trusted crew to keep their eyes out for any insurrection. Druna recruited Ratline Rattsberger, while Captain Sullivan enlisted Crimson Cogward. Jax approached Jaundiced Jape, suggesting to him that as a mute he might often be overlooked. A knowing nod later Jape too agreed to keep an eye out on the crew.

The next morning the crew took the pilot cutter to explore the cove on the northern side of the island. They found it to be quite hidden from the sea view, but inside it was a thin tidal cove with crystal clear water. More worrisome, they saw a great stone head near interior of the cove, as if an enormous stone giant had been buried up to his shoulders. Scolvus identified it as potentially one of the Tiberoliths: enormous stone constructs the giants who once lived on the islands created to defend their structures. He shared tales of whole islands full of them, ancient guardians left purposeless violently turning on crews who dare land on the shore. Giving the massive head a wide berth, the crew pushed into the jungle beyond the cove.

They came upon a set of massively huge cyclopean stairs, left from the same ancient civilization of giants that must have placed the stone head. Climbing the stairs was an endeavor, both because they were built for a creature vastly larger than them, but also because they were overgrown with roots and vines. Reaching the top, they found a stone plaza with more massive ruins choked with overgrowth. To cover the area, they split into groups to search for any treasure.

It may not be Mancatcher Cove, but there is sure to be some treasure under all these plants and vines

Eventually, the crew found a single entrance amid the ruins to space beneath the huge flagstones. Lighting torches, they proceeded cautiously into the dark. Jax led the way, searching for traps. Soon he shouted for the group to stop, as he realized that he was standing on a floor tile that was indeed a trap trigger. Yet made for giants, his weight wasn't enough to even trigger the mechanism. Showing the group what to avoid, they pushed onward where they found another oversized trap. This time it was a thick rope that would have been correctly placed to trigger for a giant, but was utterly obvious for a human. Looking about, Jax saw the holes lining the walls in which hidden spears were set to emerge on the victim--the lowest still being too high up to even give one of their group a haircut.

Eventually they reached a large, locked door. Propped on Druna's shoulders, Jax was able to reach his arm right into the lock and manipulate the tumblers with his fingers. Swinging the door open, they found a large chamber inside, which would have been a small store room to giant sensibility. In the room was an enormous decaying treasure chest. The chest stood as tall as Galfire, and while the wood was decayed the metal bindings and lock were intact. Opening the lock, the group found a pile of Gohl-gan gold coins: huge dinner-plate sized currency used by the long lost giant race of Golarion. They couldn't be directly spent, but they made an impressive plunder! They also found a strange greatclub, which would have been a smallish club for the ancient race but was nearly unweildable by Galfire. The club seemed to be composed of the same strange sandstone as the Tiberolith head, and had a strange heft--there seemed to be liquid inside the club. It appeared to have some sort of acid inside, that once swung enough would start to weep out and provide a corrosive weapon effect for a while (until the acid finally ate through the item and ruined it).

Deciding they wanted to take the chest fittings and re-build the massive chest with new lumber for their ship, Druna used a warp wood spell to remove them simply. The crew then drug the fittings out of the chamber and up to the surface, content with their exploration and plunder.

The full crew in front of their massive chest (L-R): Jax, Druna (with Pluck above), Sadie the Goat, Captain Gilbert Sullivan, Scolvus, and Galfire

Outside the dungeon, the crew was laughing and congratulating themselves on the ease of this exploration when the reached the hidden cove. Unfortunately, the found a bloody scene. A massive crab, no doubt hidden in the sand when they had arrived, had apparently emerged. It snipped one of the sailors left the guard the pilot cutter clean in half. As they watched, it was menacing Sandara Quinn, who had climbed a tree to safety. Seeing the tree was coated in blood, they spied that her hand had been cut clean off by the crab's massive pincers. As they watched it take another hunk of the tree out with its pincer, and Sandara drop even closer to certain death, the crew rushed the beast. Galfire got caught in its pincers first, with his ribs shattering and leaving a horrible scar across his chest (minor scar). Struggling free and leaving the crab's massive pincers free, Galfire crawled to safety while the pincers found Pluck the Parrot in their grip. Druna, screaming Dwarven obscenities plus "my bird" hit it squarely and shattered its shell with a single thud of her club.

"Are you okay?" Scolvus asked Sandara, to which she quickly replied "I know I'll have to bear a worse pain yet this year. Burn it." Tending to her wound, the crew burned the stump of Sandara's arm while taking the big pieces of the crab's shell for components for druid armor. A quick service for the slain sailor later, the crew made their way back to the ship, and headed off along the island chain once more.

A few days later, Scolvus happened to catch Sandara away from Jax and inquired about how she was feeling and what she meant by her cryptic comment. She revealed to him that she was pregnant with Jax's child. She said that she presumed that he knew that she was pregnant, as she performed all the proper rites to Besmara both before, during, and a fortnight after their copulation. Scolvus said that maybe she should check with Jax, as he might be less familiar with the practices of the faith than she was.

After about a week of hunting, the ship came upon a small village on the big island of Motaku Isle's southern shore. Seeing potential prey for their attacks, the crew landed in force up the shore and then attacked the village at dusk. The villagers fled except for a few defenders, who beset the crew with vicious trained dogs and poisoned darts, led by a strange witch doctor whose curse magic proved to be hard for the crew to overcome. The witch doctor was finally killed by Jax, who had snuck around the side of the brawl to strike from the shadows. Once the witch was slain, the others' resolve to fight crumbled and they mostly perished or fled. One remained lying comatose, having accidentally poisoned his own foot, and the crew pressed him into service. Back on the ship they found out from Shivikah, that their new sailor's name was N'dahno. With a hold now full of agricultural goods, and a new sailor, the crew set off yet again to find their fortune in the seas of the Shackles.


Infamy and Disrepute Tracker

Infamy Score: 5
Disrepute: 5

Port Infamy list:
Rickety's Squibbs: 2

Session Eight - Recap

Session Eight - Recap

The crew set a course for Senghor, deciding to pass by Tidewater Rock as they go. They see a simple fort on an a tiny island, with a single small cove to fit one ship, and note that the place is very well defended. They sail on, with about two weeks of relative calm before arriving at Senghor: the largest city south of the Shackles.

Releasing the crew for three days, Quartermaster Scolvus and Captain Gilbert first focus on selling their plunder, before turning their thoughts to selling the captured Absalom Barque that was formerly captained by their now-prisoner, Portia D'Angelique. Asking around, their first lead is that a gentleman named Sheriff Moran has taken up residence in the Rusty Anchor Bar, and that the Sheriff is looking to buy a ship outright. They head to the bar, get an introduction from the barkeep, and speak to him in his room.

"It's an expedition! Ooooh yes! An expedition, it is!"

Sheriff Moran quickly, and routinely, informs the crew that he is indeed on an expedition and in need of a ship of his own. The expedition is for Pirate Deadeye's treasure, on a hidden cove somewhere in the Shackles. From the sounds of it, the Sheriff is either duped or absolutely ignorant (or both). Yet he is flush with cash, and pays the crew not only a handsome fee for the boat, but also 10% of his find when his "expedition" locates Deadeye's buried stash.

That evening, asking around the bar, Scolvus learns the full story of the origin of Tidewater Rock: that it was initially a base for a Pirate Queen named Stormeyes, who was so successful after taking it as a base that it became lore that the island itself was the source of her luck. Successive pirates who conquered the Rock likewise had runs of good luck. The most recent pirate conqueror was Iron Bert Smythee, who had a run of good luck untill a run-in with Captain Barnabas Harrigan--who sunk most of Smythee's ships and killed Smythee himself. That left Smythee's young wife, Lady Agasta Smythee in control of Tidewater Rock but without a fleet to defend it. The question of who would be the next to "crack the Rock" was rampant amongst the seedier types in Senghor's taverns.

The next day, the crew improved their ship by purchasing two heavy ballistae which they installed on the forecastle and a smuggling compartment hidden next to the bilge. Quartermaster Scolvus and Sadie the Goat also procured ten pigs, thinking that they might be useful food or potential bargaining chip with Tidewater Rock. Finally, they also increased their crew, by hiring on a few new hands (and pressing three others in a lucky bout of evening drinking).

Setting out the next morning, the new crew were explained the run of the ship by Captain Gilbert, Boatswain Jax, and Master-at-Arms Druna. When assigning duties, it quickly became clear that ballistae duty was absolutely unwanted, owing to the danger of the position. The crew decides that the punishment detail would be the ones who man the bows should prey be found. As they sail back north, cutting deep to sea to potentially find merchantmen loaded with goods, the routine of daily life on board a ship set in. While most of the new crew was effective, one sailor in particular seemed to be slacking--one of the impressed sailors from Senghor named Murd. Druna quickly turned to disciplining him: knocking him unconsious, starving him, and hanging him upside down on the yard.

The harsh discipline caused a ripple of rumbling through the crew, and Jax and Druna come to an agreement about punishment on the ship--trying to strike the right balance of strict yet fair. Jax informs the crew that order can be a little loose, but it'll be hard work when sails are in sight. Druna informs them that "this sailor's name is no longer Murd. It's Turd. Until he works, and works well, he'll be Turd." Assigned to bilge duty and ballistae order, but at least fed again, Turd sets about on the ship with slightly more ability and effort. After two weeks of sail, they arrive back at Tidewater Rock.

"Good fortune and sure sail await what one can crack the Tidewater Rock." - Free Captain Merrill Pegsworthy, upon christening The Broken Promise

Sailing into the small landing under a flag of peace and trade, a representative of the guard from the small fortress emerges and asks the crew's business. Captain Gilbert says they're there to offer trade and re-supply of the fortress. The steward, a man named Royster McCleagh, agrees to invite the officers in if one is held as hostage. Jax is chosen as the hostage, and accompanies McCleagh into the castle. He meets the Lady of the island, Lady Agatha Smythee, and as always, Jax cannot resist flirting with her as the terms are given to him: he'll be locked in the dungeon and under guard, and will be killed should his mates prove foul.

With Jax in the cellar, the rest are invited in for dinner. There, Lady Smythee proves to be quite perceptive, inquiring if this is a mission to size up her forces before invading. With the crew stammering just a bit, she says that she appreciates the fact that they at least came open and honest and brought actual trade goods (the hold full of hogs). After a pleasant set of exchanges, and a set of mutual appreciation of each other's situation--an isolated island without a fleet and a new captain and crew seeking to make their name in the Shackles--Lady Smythee makes an offer of a pirate's marriage. Should the fame of Captain Gilbert and The Broken Promise rise, she will agree to such an arrangement: a situation where she and the Captain would be married for a term of one year, with assets and gains held in common for that time. After the year, should the arrangement be promising, it can be continued. Gilbert gets the clear sense that this is merely a convenient contract, not a matter of sex or love. Brushing it off with a pun, they agree to return when their infamy has increased amongst the Shackles.

Whether good fortune comes to one who can crack Lady Agatha Smythee's "Rock" is another matter

As The Broken Promise will moor overnight with them, Jax is held in a cell overnight. Surprisingly, late in the night Lady Smythee comes to him and tells a tale of her needs and wants going unfulfilled since her husband was drowned years ago. With that, Jax spends the evening together with her in her bedchamber.

In the morning, at breakfast of spit-fired bacon on the beach, discussion turns to the sahuagin the crew encountered. They discuss an infamous Free Captain, Isabella Locke, who is rumored to work with the cruel fishmen. Nicknamed "Inkskin", she was once a slave to a great pirate Captain who had a map to an ancient treasure tattooed upon her shoulder and back: the legendary lost location of Mancatcher Cove and the hidden fortune of Captain Cyrus Wolfe. Once escaped from her captor, and allied with the sahuagin, she has made a name for herself as a pirate on her own in the area. As breakfast concluded, the crew agreed to search for Mancatcher Cove and perhaps put an end to Inkskin's foul alliance with the sahuagin. Walking away, Captain Gilbert remarks to Jax about the Lady Smythee: "I think she took a shine to me," which Jax answered with only silence about his own night "shine" with the Lady.

The crew began searching some of the southernmost coasts of the Shackles, looking for Mancatcher Cove in the general vicinity of where they were ambushed by sahuagin before. Sailing up one deep river inlet that fails to yeild their desired cove, they moor upstream as Galfire hunts some new food to diversify their meals. As they prepare to sail back down the river, they luckily spy tall masts downstream. Scouting as an eagle, Druna realizes that a massive Chelish Pirate Hunter has moored at the mouth of the river. The ship, with five sails and three levels of deck, dwarfs The Broken Promise and would easily sink her in a direct engagement or overwhelm her with swarming marines in a boarding action. The crew hatch a plan to disable the massive ship, by severing the tiller line that such a large ship would have between wheel and rudder. Scolvus, using his affinity with water, swam Jax to the ship under the cover of darkness. As Jax climbed up the rear of the ship with knife clenched in his teeth, he sees a massive carved nameplate: The Dominator. Slipping into the the quarterdeck via a small window, Jax located the tiller rope apparatus. Taking care that it drops silently, a few slashes with a sharp axe disabled the rope and left the ship unable to maneuver. Just at that moment, the door to the Quarterdeck opens, and in walked an officer in full Chelish regalia.

Vice-Commander Kyan Kain, famed officer and pirate hunter

Drawing boarding axes at the same time, Jax managed to dodge the vicious and lightning-fast swings of the officer. Jax's own strikes prove ineffective, his own axe embedding in a timber along the roof. Abandoning his stuck axe, Jax tumbles away to the rear of the cabin. With a quick "Au revoir" he crashed through the decorative lattice window work, turning his jump into a smooth dive in the darkness of night. With shouts of alarm ringing through The Dominator, The Maiden's Promise emerged from the river with perfect timing for Scolvus and Jax to rejoin their own ship. A single heavy catapult shot from The Dominator's aft deck proved to be the only damage taken, and the crew managed to slip into the ocean at dawn, leaving the temporarily crippled Chelish pirate hunter in their wake.

Infamy and Disrepute Tracker

Infamy Score: 5
Disrepute: 5

Port Infamy list:
Rickety's Squibbs: 2

Session Seven - Recap

Session Seven Recap

The first morning outside of Rickety's Squibbs arrived with a loud whistle and a shout of "Out or down!" from Jax in the crew quarters. Those who were slow to rise were met with a slashed hammock and quick journey to the floor of The Broken Promise. After about a week of sailing southward, the crew finally found their first prey: a small fishing trawler working near to the coastline.

As their much larger ship closed in, the officers of the crew gathered on the decks leaving Sandara Quinn at the helm and their boarding parties waiting in the rigging for the ships to draw near. The animal companions of the druids lead the way, with Pluck managing to knock a sailor from the prey vessel right into the water, while Sadie the Goat's newly-recruited Walrus leaped onto the deck with a deafening bellow. The officers themselves were slower in making their move onto the enemy ship, and Captain Gilbert Sullivan learned that even the rough men of fishing boats can use a crossbow, as he fell to their counter-barrage as the boats closed.

First into the fray

The Captain of the prey ship, a cruel and salty looking dwarf in a fancy, former-military-cut coat, led the defense but suffered the combination of three hydraulic push spells, which forced even his stubborn dwarf frame over the edge of the boat. They spotted him swimming far too easily toward the near shore, and thus Sadie ordered her walrus to give pursuit. The two dived under the water, and only the walrus' bloody corpse floats to the surface after some time. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was put to the sword by the officers and Slippery Syl (who seemed to really relish the fighting). Only two Mwangi sailors survived the battle on the trawler's side, and are pressed by the crew. Documents in the captain's quarters seem to suggest that the escaped Dwarf was named Captain Vesgal Falkirk, though the group learned little else about him. The holds of the fishing trawler held only fish, hardly even a single cargo load's worth. So the crew turned to salting the fish as their own provisions. Questioning the two surviving sailors, they found they were sailing to Senghor--the next major port down the coast past Bloodcove.

After another week of sail, The Broken Promise found a tiny village on the Sargavan coast named Dthai. Trying to sell the fishing trawler to the locals, they found themselves frustrated by an internal squabble between the two main fishing families in the village. The crew manages to broker a deal where the aging patriarch of the one family marries the considerably immense daughter of the other family, allowing the two families to pool enough income to pay for the trawler--buying it into their own fleet.

Another day of sailing passed by when they caught eyes on another ship, this time a Barque from Absalom. They give chase, as the ship cuts northward and out to sea--back in the direction of the Shackles. The chase took almost five days, but they finally caught the ship it as they neared the archipelago. Sadie the Goat used powerful hails of magical stone to pummel the decks of the ships, sending the crews diving under the cover of the deck. The fight becomes one of close quarters below decks, where a number of the Absalom merchantmen crew were waiting with flasks of acid to burn the invading pirates. Jax called for the crew to join the officers, recognizing that the close quarters fight favored numbers. Crimson Cogward was one of those who rushed forward, only to be rewarded by catching  crossbow bolt in his right eye socket. The blow didn't kill him, but he wouldn't see out of that eye again. While Druna provided a nigh-impervious shield against crossbow fire (unable to progress deeper due to a grease spell from Scolvus), Jax clamored over the stowed cargo in the hold to menace the enemy Captain. The instant he held a knife to her throat, she surrendered (and humiliatingly wet herself out of fear in doing so). The rest of the crew surrendered with her.

Questioning their new captive, they found that Captain Portia D'Angelique was a terrible captain buy an amazingly shrewd businesswoman. Her merchant family owned the boat and gave her command, with her brother as first mate (slain by Scovlus' magic missile in the fray earlier). The ship contained a whole hold full of newly made products from Eleder, a port in the far south, to be faked as antiques back in Absalom--where Portia's family could make a bundle on the perceived "exotic" look of such "ancient" designs. Captain Sullivan recalled a merchant from Absalom he sold textiles with, a man named Fildus Beene, and thus thought that the crew might do well to ransom Captain Portia. They made her write a letter (twice) of ransom to her family, and suggest to her that they sent it, though they did no such thing at that time. The rest of her crew were pressed into their service.

"Can I borrow a cup of Halfling?"

The crew decides to resume their southward sweep, again passing by the southernmost isles of the Shackles. That night, Jax and Sandara were busy snuggling under the bowsprit, while Sadie the Goat was attempting to teach Ratline Rattsberger how to steer the ship. At that moment, a pair of deadly fishmen called Sahuagin slipped onto the rear of the ship in the moonlight, and attacked Ratline and Sadie. They seemed to be trying to take the two of them captive and abduct them, tho for what foul purpose the crew didn't know. A call of alarm rouses the rest of the crew, and Captain Sullivan led the charge. With a shout of "NOT ON MY BOAT!" he swung his cutlass and beheaded the Sahuagin in a single swipe. The other one tried to steal away with Ratline, but a well-placed grease spell again proved to be effective from Scolvus, causing the fishman to drop the squirming Halfling sailor. That remaining Sahuagin seemed to think better of his abduction plans with the rest of the crew arriving, so he dived back off the end of the ship into the night sea. The crew stood on the aft deck, wondering what the fishmen were doing and whether they might have to face more such menaces before dawn arose.

Infamy and Disrepute Tracker

Infamy Score: 5
Disrepute: 5

Port Infamy list:
Rickety's Squibbs: 2

Session Six - Recap

Session Six Recap

The new Captain of the ship, Gilbert Sullivan, began his captaincy by discussing the officer positions on the ship. Some are by volunteer, such as Galfire who indicated his wish to be the cook--saying "I'll cook for you and the crew, but I reserve the right to beat the shit out of you at any time" to the new Captain. Jax was made Botswain, promising to run the ship with a hands-on approach to the sailing. Druna requested the position of Mistress-at-Arms to provide security and punishments on the ship. Scolvus inquired about being Quartermaster, which all agreed that he, with one of the more educated minds on the ship, would be ideal at that position. Sadie the Goat was asked by Captain Sullivan to be the sailing master, counting on her knowledge of the seas, nature, and ability to magically sense the direction north. Shivikah was asked to be the Carpenter/Surgeon, to which he agreed. Finally Dovan of Nisroch, another candidate for Captaincy was given an "appeasement" position as Master Gunner of the ship--appeasement owing to the fact that the ship had not a single gun or artillery piece to fire anyhow. Then came the question of what to do with Maheem, the one of the former crew who sided with Plugg. After a sharp talking to, and statement of expectations going forward, Maheem opted to comply with the commands of the new Captain and officers, and joined the riggers without further fuss.

Jax then spoke to the assembled crew, getting a sense of their likes and dislikes for tasks on the ship. He then started them on their tasks and gets sailing toward Rickety Squibb's (using Maheem's knowledge of the exact location) to refit and disguise their ship. That evening at dinner--fresh caught shark prepared by Galfire--Sandara Quinn joins them at the officers table and talks about what sailing life will be like after the squibbing. Her advice seems well received: Captain Sullivan should seek to become recognized as a Free Captain, getting a letter of marque from the Hurricane King. In order to do so, it would require a fair amount of infamy as a crew to get that recognition.

That evening, Sandara pulls Jax aside to speak with him on the fore deck. She points out that it was exactly two weeks after she and Jax first slept together, and asked him to do so again--this time under the absent moon. The session included some strange rituals, including reading some words from a paper in a language Jax didn't understand, but he complied and had a fine time in the pitch black night.

A fine port for a squibbing

After a further week of sailing, the crew arrived at Rickety Squibb's, a port hidden by the coastline just past the southern end of the isles that formed the Shackles. Signalling their peaceful intent, they sail into the hidden cove. A small launch sails out to meet them, and aboard is an old man named Rickety Hake, the proprietor of the squibbing dock and governor of the small town. He offered the crew safe port and repair, if they prove to be friendly and can pay for the latter. Scolvus goes ashore to start the selling of plunder assisted by Jax. They met Chandra, a halfling druid, who runs the village store and conducts the business transactions of buying plunder for Rickety Hake. They take her on a tour of the ship and their goods, where she seems quite enamored with both the cargo and Jax himself (leading her to make a somewhat suggestive remark about one of the dire tiger fur rugs). They processed the business transaction with her, and get the ship into dry dock to change the lines and look of the craft to hide it from Captain Harrigan.

That night, most of the crew gathered in the small tavern in Rickety's Squibbs, where Captain Sullivan told tales of being swallowed by The Whale and his nasty scar, increasing the crew's infamy. Jax spoke privately with Chandra, which leads to her inviting him back to her place for the evening.

Rickety Hake, master of interior design and the ancient Tian Xia art of ship-board color balance

The next day Rickety Hake takes Captain Sullivan, Jax, Sadie, and Scolvus on a tour of his dry dock. He worked with them to pick out some design elements for their ship, to set it apart from others--ultimately deciding upon a succubus masthead design and vulture-themed sails.

Meanwhile, Galfire and Druna hiked out the finger peninsula to see the watchtower that guards the small cove. On the way, they ran into a mated pair of wild boars rooting along the trail for food (as the drought has been bad). The pair quickly slew the wild hogs, then stopped to dress and skin the pair for food which they carried  along to the watchtower. Upon arrival they met Lyle Goodwin, the lookout, and his parrot Rotgut (who seems only able to say "Shoo fly don't bother me"). Roasting one of the boars with him, they had a generally pleasant time talking about books and the sea, Lyle's two passions.

Upon returning to the rest of the crew, Galfire roasted the other boar and presented a sumptuous feast upon the shore of the cove. Turning to the makeshift tavern again, Druna started an arm-wrestling contest to try and win a few coin. Unseen by most, she enhanced her strength with magic before her matches, but she still only managed to break even in the process. Captain Sullivan spread tales of sea-faring daring-do, again raising the group's infamy yet again among the dry dock workers and few stranded sailors of Rickety's Squibbs.

In the morning at breakfast, a dockworker comes dashing into the longhall where people are eating and shouted "There's a Chelish Warship, sailed right into the cove, no warning!" Sure enough, a big ship is anchored in the small cove, with a shore party climbing aboard the docks as people watched. While others hung back, Captain Sullivan boldly strode out the dock to the new arrivals with a cocksure "Hello." Sharp eyes quickly spotted that the new arrivals were not in Chelish marine gear, but rather were rather rag-tag. The leader of the landing party, a tall Andoren man with a peg leg, introduced himself as Merrill Pegsworthy.

Once you loose a leg, it's nickname time...

Captain Pegsworthy said that he didn't get any signal from the watchtower so he just sailed right in--hence the cautious attitude and his sailors' dirks drawn. Rickety Hake reached the docks at about that point, and was concerned about the lack of his lookout sending word to the docks of the approaching ship. The crew of The Broken Promise offered to check up on Lyle Goodwin the lookout, which Rickety Hake said he'd sure appreciate and reward them for if they find something amiss.

Heading up to the lookout's spot to check on Lyle, the crew finds no answer when they call out. Climbing up to the lookout perch they are greeted with a gruesome sight. Lyle's body lies there, horribly swollen and clearly dead. Investigating the body, they do find evidence that he was stung numerous times, but it wasn't venom that killed him. Rather, the loss of blood from huge sword-size stingers did the job.

Presuming some sort of giant insect, the crew searched into the headlands of the peninsula. There they found a giant sloth stung to death, and a huge wasp nest torn to bits by the creature in it's death throes. Unfortunately, there were only giant wasp larvae and a few dead insects--not nearly the number that would likely to be present with a hive of this massive size. Suddenly the crew became very nervous about where all the wasps were.

Running back to Rickety's Squibbs the crew find the town beset by the giant wasps. They leaped into immediate battle, and while a few get stings they manage to finish off the last group of wasps. Many of the villagers were injured from stings and a few died from multiple strikes. Their crew assisted, along with Captain Pegsworthy's, in defending the town admirably. Most were okay or only superficially hurt--though Jaundiced Jape suffered about eight stings and was absolutely swollen with poison. He managed to mutter his particular hiss-like laughter and give a thumbs up with the hand that wasn't swollen stiff.

After spending the evening resting and tending for the wounded of the village, the next morning the crew found Rickety Hake ready to launch their modified ship. For good luck, Rickety suggested that an existing free captain like Captain Pegsworthy christen the launch. Pegsworthy agreed to do so, saying that the bravery the crew of The Broken Promise showed in defending the village and his sailors made him owe them a debt of gratitude. He said that his ships all fly the sign of the Three Birds, and that they'll be informed to run fair with The Broken Promise as long as it does the same. At the rechristening, Captain Pegsworthy offers a toast, saying in part that "Good fortune and sure sail await what one can crack the Tidewater Rock." As the crew board their ship and ease out into the ocean from Rickety's Squibbs, they wonder whether they should turn their eyes to preying on merchants, pillaging fishing villages, seeking out buried treasures, or taking a chance at what Captain Pegsworthy suggested: attempting to control the small fortress island known as Tidewater Rock that marks the southern point of the Shackles.

Infamy and Disrepute Tracker

Infamy Score: 5
Disrepute: 5

Port Infamy list:
Rickety's Squibbs: 2

Session Five - Recap

Session Five Recap

In the room with a swirling vortex of water, facing off against the vicious Brinebrood Queen, and watching their two bound allies fall into the water and start sinking toward the ghouls chained to the floor of the chamber below, the party sprung into action. Jax immediately began climbing up the wall, then across the roof stalactites to try and grab the severed vine to haul Sandara Quinn and Shivikah away from the ghouls. Sadie the Goat cast a spell of swimming onto Druna, who raced across the water with ease to engage the half-grindylow-half-octopus Brinebrood Queen. Frighteningly, swimming from the small recess in the back of the room came a massive, bloated grindylow. This "whale" swam with horrible speed, heading toward where Gilbert and Sadie were swimming.

He's going to swallow you...

Scolvus cast a grease spell on Sandara Quinn's bindings, hoping to allow her to struggle free on her own. Meanwhile, Gilbert faced off against the Whale. The big beast was up on him in an instant, its enormous maw clamping down directly over his head. With a savage gulp, the Whale swallowed Gilbert nearly whole. In the process, one of the beast's massive teeth pierced through Gilbert's skin and tore a huge gash all the way from his chin down to his chest (sure to leave an impressive moderate scar). 

Sandara Quinn, thanks to the spell from Scolvus, managed to slip free--lightening the load on Jax who was hanging upside down trying to keep her and Shivikah suspended above the ghouls as best he could. She swam back to try and help Gilbert, whose one leg was horribly still hanging out of the Whale's mouth, as it seemed the beast could only barely swallow its prey.

Scolvus swam to where Shivikah dangled and cut him free. But one of the savage ghouls below finally managed to struggle free of its chains (breaking its ankle horribly to pull it free). It swam up and quickly paralyzed both Scolvus and the big Mwangi sailor with its savage attacks. Jax, thinking quickly, threw a rope around them to try and haul their paralyzed forms upward.

Druna found the Brinebrood Queen rather difficult to hit, and seeing her friends paralyzed and in danger from the ghouls swam back to fight there. Meanwhile, the Whale was set upon by foes from without and within. Sandara cast a spell of healing on Gilbert's dangling foot--awakening inside the beast, he drew a dagger and slashed at its guts causing the Whale to vomit Gilbert back out in disgusting fashion. Turning on the Whale, Gilbert, Sandara, and Sadie finally manage to finish it with a series of dagger slashes.

Scolvus recovered quickly from his paralysis, and attempted to cast a spell at a foe, only to lose his grip and sending himself and Shivkah plunging back into the water into the midst of the ghouls. Thankfully, Druna continued to fight and managed to defeat both the ghouls before the trio were too further damaged. 

The Brineblood queen, enraged by the death of the whale, swam to the entrance of the room--likely torn between preventing her foes' escape and thinking of escaping herself. While she managed to summon an octopus and two dolphins to fight for her, the attacks began to start getting though. Jax lashed a rope to a rock outcropping and swung over, to leave the Queen pinned between his and Druna's savage attacks. Finally the nasty druidess was slain. The party looted the place, finding most notably a massive 50 pound whale scull carved with scrimshaw that worked as a scroll. While huge and bulky, the spells were certainly powerful enough for Scolvus to carry it along.

Like this, but with spells. Deadly, deadly spells. 

The crew swam back to the dinghy, to find that they were not the only ones who had fought grindylows. The craft contained the corpses of two of the creatures which had snuck on and tried to kill Pluck the Parrot and Anastasia the Spider. One lay clawed to death from the parrot's sharp talons, while the other was slumped in the corner paralyzed from spider venom and dead from its venom-liquified innards being consumed by the beast. The group took a moment to swim down to the wreck of the Infernus below, where the cage with the initial "weapon" ghoul lay bent and broken at the bottom of the sea. While the party searched for treasure, a shark approached--no doubt attracted to some of the residual blood on their clothes from the battle. The shark was driven off after taking a bite out of Scolvus' arm, and spotting more approaching from the smell of blood the group scooped up what small treasures they could find and swam back to the dinghy. 

Reaching the ship again, the group found Captain Plugg hardly welcoming of their efforts. Instead, he directs his ire especially at Sandara Quinn and Shivikah. Claiming that they were derilect in their duties by getting captured, he orders them lashed with the cat-o-nine. Tying the two of them immediately to the main mast, Master Scourge chuckles as he tears Sandara Quinn's blouse from her back. She tries to cover her breasts which are now exposed, and begins crying. While Shivikah's back is already torn and scarred from prior lashings, Sandara's is smooth and undamaged.

As Sandara wept uncontrollably, and Master Scourge began preparing to slash her back with the nettled cat, the injustice was finally too much for the crew. Jax moved up behind Master Scourge as he stealthily drew his dagger. Druna and Gilbert were also in motion to help when Jax slid his blade into Master Scourge's ribs. With a shout of "At 'em lads, the bullshit's at an end!" Jax started the ship's mutiny.

Almost everyone drew weapons, with the two "factions" of the crew squaring off. Conchobar Shortstone, Badger Medlar, Maheem, Tam "Narwhal" Tate, and most of the Rahadoumi crew--those loyal to Captain Plugg--were set upon by the heroes plus Dovan from Nisroch, Jaundiced Jape, Ambrose "Fishguts" Kroop, Rattline Rattsberger, and Rosie Cuswell. Meanwhile others, including the two Rahadoumi riggers that Jax had made friends with held back and watched. perhaps weighing it was best to wait and join the winning side.

Similar, if you believe the "Bligh was cruel" story over the "let's have sex in Tahiti" story

The fight began rough, with Master Scourge being more the initial target than Captain Plugg amongst those who formed the shore party. Because they seemed to have the numbers, Plugg used his Tidewater Cutlass to try and push Jax off the ship, or at least to free Master Scourge. While it bought Scourge enough time to drink a healing potion, Jax remained on the ship. Scolvus used his whale skull scroll to blast his foes on the decks, but quickly forgot to compensate for being on the dinghy he remained hiding in and fell over the side. Captain Plugg crossed swords with some of the crew, before he dashed below decks. Gilbert began a rousing speech, trying to curry those who waited by the sidelines to jump into the fight.

Master Scourge fought well, but was brought down when he left an opening when trying to reach the dinghy, and Druna, Jax, and both druid pets got to strike him when he was unprepared. He was literally torn, clawed, stabbed, and clobbered into pieces as his bloody corpse fell lifeless to the deck floor. Jax grabbed Master Scourge's bloody cat, raised it above his head, and shouted "Scourge is dead, the ship is ours! Throw down!"

The fighting on the deck paused for a moment as people looked at Jax and seemed to weigh his claim (and their opponents' intentions). But just then the door to the Captain's quarters burst open and out roared the man called Owlbear onto the deck. Carrying a massive greatclub, he madly leveled a swing at the first thing he saw: Badger Medlar, whose head shattered from behind as it was caved in by the raving madman.

Captain Plugg, undaunted by the death of his botswain, shouted "Kill them my pet! Kill those who fight against me! The ship is still mine, you scurvy dogs!" Those frozen from Jax's words leaped back into combat, and the deck started to get slick with blood. Bodies were falling on both sides amongst the pirate crew. Notably, near the forecastle Ambrose "Fishguts" Kroop lay slain, his neck opened from the savage chop of a boarding axe by a Rahadoumi sailor. Nika crouched next to him, trying fruitlessly to staunch the bleeding and screaming as her companion lay dying.

Sadie the Goat, seeing Scolvus floundering in the water below, lowered the dinghy down to rescue him. Wet but fuming with anger, Scolvus hauled himself into the small craft and raised it back up to be part of the fight. Getting back level to the deck, they saw that Captain Plugg was not easily defeated. While the hits from Jax and Druna started to add up, Plugg was giving as well as he got. Gilbert meanwhile squared off against Maheem, and managed to knock the Rahadoumi unconscious with a well-timed bash with the butt of his longspear. Conchobar Shortstone, with the stabbed and dying Rosie Cusswell lying at his feet, turned to fight Gilbert but was caught between attackers and brought down. And finally, Plugg's last ally Tam "Narwhal" Tate, was battling the mutineers when suddenly Slippery Syl Longergan slid up behind him and stabbed him right in the gut. Whispering something that sounded suspiciously like "My secret now dies with you," Syl's blade went right thru Tam's chest. He fell oddly over the deck, his neck craned on the other dinghy's edge leaving him dangling just a moment before his dead corpse plummeted into the ocean. And the druids both spoke to Owlbear, calming him down and reminding him that he was their friend--stopping his murderous rampage.

Seeing that the tides had truly turned, Captain Plugg leaped into the dinghy that his toady's blood just spilled across. He began lowering the ropes as fast as he could, when Gilbert stepped up and cut the ropes free--perhaps hoping to leave Plugg helpless and adrift or marooned on Bonewrack Isle. But both Jax and Druna wanted Plugg dead, not left adrift to potentially return. Jax cut a rope from the rigging and swung down smoothly, while Druna took a solid and slightly ungainly leap. Yet both were in the dinghy, on either side of Captain Plugg. With a few sharp sword slashes and club bashes, Plugg was reduced to a corpse lying in the bottom of the rowboat.

At that moment, Scolvus took a spot on the aft near the ship's wheel and loudly proclaimed the mutiny finished with Plugg's death, and that all should lay down their arms. The crew complied. Rosie Cusswell and Ambrose "Fishguts" Kroop lay dead, as did all of those loyal to Plugg except for Maheem. Someone mentioned that the ship now needed a new name, and Jax quickly quipped that The Man's Promise should now be named The Broken Promise, a name which suddenly and immediately seemed to fit and stick.

"The Broken Promise", moored near the cove of Bonewrack Isle

Sandara Quinn immediately spoke to those assembled on deck, speaking with the authority about "pirate laws" that only a cleric of Besmara can possess, saying that what needed to happen immediately was that a new captain should be chosen. She said that captaincy could be decided by blood or by vote of the crew, whichever they preferred. Most, seeing the bloodstained ship and former friends on both sides dead.

Nominations began, as anyone could nominate themselves or be nominated by others. Jax, Gilbert, and Scolvus were the three nominees from the shore party, while Dovan from Nisroch nominated himself and the two surviving Rahadoumi sailors Akphir and Mutnodjmet nominated each other. Sandara explained that this group would meet and discuss in secret, to see if any would drop out or lend their support to others. Retiring to the Captain's quarters, it became obvious almost immediately that the two Rahadoumi simply nominated themselves to assure that they would be okay and ask for kindness from whoever the new captain was should future Rahadoumi vessels or ports be raided. Accepting that in general principle, the two removed themselves from consideration. Jax also contemplated the position, but said that he was simply more interesting in sailing the actual ship than dealing with all the politics and planning that were the Captain's main tasks. The others, however, were resolute in their wishes to be considered for Captain.

Thus, the three candidates of Gilbert, Scolvus, and Dovan from Nisroch, were presented to the crew. Sandara Quinn fetched a holy book of Besmara and tore pages from it, as votes were to be done in sacred pirate tradition. They were distributed to all the crew, and all made their marks for the candidate of their choice. Finally, the votes were publicly revealed. Jax, Gilbert, and Nika had voted for Gilbert along with just under half of the crew. Sadie, Druna, and Scolvus had voted for Scolvus, along with the exact same number of votes from the crew. Dovan from Nisroch had received exactly two votes--one from himself and one from Samms Toppin. Worried about the situation of a tie and what that meant, suddenly a rather tired looking Galfire emerged from below decks. Seeming to not even notice the blood, nor having heard the commotion, he gave some half-formed comment about "tending to things below" to cover his shirking of work duties. The captaincy, with a clear tie, was left in his hands. Asked who he would vote for as Captain between Gilbert and Scolvus, he eyed the two candidates for a second. Judging both as feeble, weak, and neither being the kind of men he would actually take orders from, Galfire said "Gilbert. Better him than the one who falls in the water all the time."

And with that, a new Captain was proclaimed for The Broken Promise. Where the seas would take Captain Gilbert Sullivan and his crew, no one quite knew. 

Session Four - Recap

Session Four Recap

With the sails of The Wormwood now in the distance, the crew found themselves on The Man's Promise with the new Captain, Mr. Plugg giving orders to all on the main deck. He instructed the crew that the ship would be heading toward Port Peril to be sold as a prize. Some of the crew who suffered under the harsh discipline on The Wormwood scratched their heads in puzzlement when Mr. Plugg said that "order on the prior ship was too lax." He explained that his ship was one of work: there would be no entertainment in the evenings, no gambling, no one allowed above deck without permission at night, and no rum ration. Violation of these would result in punishment with the cat-o-nine,  and the punishment for failing to work hard was increased to six lashes. Things looked to be very different, and far more miserable, under the command of Mr. Plugg.

That's "Captain Plugg" to you!

Captain Plugg also announced the new senior staff of the ship. Maheem would take over as sailing master, while "Badger" Medlar would be the botswain. And Master Scourge was promoted to First Mate, Captain Plugg's old position. With that, the crew was given their new tasks for their first day on the ship. Work that day was routine and rough, as shouting and occasional on-the-spot-lashes were far more prevalent. The galley crew in particular, Fishguts Kroop and Nika, were berated and yelled at by Captain Plugg for nearly an hour while the rest of the crew got to work--the demand of "you will cook until you get the food right" could be heard echoing below deck. Again, it seemed like they got the worst tasks, particularly Gilbert whose new boss Badger Medlar seemed to have not forgotten the terrible haircut he gave her. Jax worked the ropes, and did his best to make nice with some of the new riggers as well as Conchobar Shortstone--getting them involvled in a game of "point at it and say the name of it" language-swapping. The two new Rahadoumi Riggers, Akphir and Mutnodjmet, proved to be capable sailors who spoke only Rahadoumi, but were interested in learning the other words for parts of the ship. Meanwhile Conchobar focused on items of clothes, far more interested in learning the Rahadoumi words for "shoe buckle" and "sash". The swabs worked diligently for the most part, with Gilbert taking only a brief break to visit the busy galley. He found Nika slaving at the stove with Fishguts Kroop drunk again. Gilbert resumed his entreaties for Fishguts to put the drink aside for good, which ended with the old drunk weeping openly and for a second time swearing to quit.

Once dusk fell, a majority of the crew was confined below-decks. Sadie, Scolvus, Druna, Jax, Gilbert, Galfire, and Nika taking one corner of the cabin along with Shivikah and Jaundiced Jape. Badger Medlar came to the crew cabin and asked Conchobar Shortstone and Slippery Syl to join an "officers meeting." Jax, suspicious at this, quickly went to the door and when others were not looking in the busy and noisy cabin, popped the lock open and snuck out. He followed Badger and the two swabs up to the Captain's quarters, where Captain Plugg was holding a clandestine meeting.

With ear to the door, Jax heard Captain Plugg talking to selected crew members. Peeking through a crack in the door he could see the familiar faces of those pirates who seemed to be cronies or swayed with intimidation or reward to Plugg's side: Master Scourge, Maheem, Tam "Narwhal" Tate, Badger Medlar, Conchobar Shortstone, Slippery Syl, and a few of the higher-ranking impressed Rahadoumi crew. Plugg spoke, and Jax shuddered when he heard the plan: the ship was not headed to Port Peril as Captain Harrigan had commanded. Instead, Plugg was taking the ship himself, planning to go to a small cove on the southern shore called Rickety Squibb's, where the ship would get squibbed--the lines and sails superficially adjusted to make the ship look different and disguised. Plugg said it was time to start himself as his own Captain. Once the ship was changed, he would change his identity as well: from Mr. Plugg to Captain Shaft!

With a toast to Captain Shaft's plan, the meeting began to break up and Jax rushed back to his bunk below. There, in hushed tones, he told the basics of what was happening to his friends--as well as Shivikah and Jaundiced Jape who bunked close to them. As Conchobar Shortstone re-entered the bunks, he cast a greasy and transparent smile at Jax and the others as they tried their best to get to sleep with this disturbing news ringing in their ears.

And Jax had a bad feeling about what might happen to him and his friends in this new plan...

In the morning, both Druna and Sadie sense a directional change different than the path back to Port Peril, confirming what Jax heard the night before. The day of work was particularly nasty and rough, as the weather started to worsen. Many swabs and riggers performed their work poorly, and nearly half the crew was given lashes with the cat-o-nine during the bloody hour, with further punishment duties to keep the ship sailing during the night storm for some of the crew. However, the group found themselves not on evening duties--instead confined below decks under Captain Plugg's "no need for anything but work and sleep" policy. Sadie took time to heal the savage cuts on Ratline Rattsberger's back from the lashing, while Jax spoke with Slippery Syl and furthered Syl's hatred of Tam "Narwhal" Tate. Finding Syl quick to be willing to outright murder Tam, Jax felt he had found a dubious but useful ally for their side.

As night fell, the storms continued and the ship swayed terribly. Nearing morning, huge crunching sound and the ship lists to starboard, spilling them from their hammocks. Shouts quickly inform them that the ship hit a reef and has a huge hole in the starboard side. In the pre-dawn light, the crew could make out an island nearby, and the reef that the ship hit. For hours everyone worked the bilges just to keep it from going down.

As low tide finally arrives and the crew caught their breaths, a head count revealed that that two of the crew are missing: Sandara Quinn and Shivikah. Captain Plugg presumes they fell overboard in the storm, and announces that he's far more concerned about the ruptured water barrels, which are left dry. Both of the druids offered to create water, to which Captain Plugg responded "magic water don't last, and we might not always have ye on board" with a cruel smirk. Plugg commanded Druna, Gilbert, Jax, Sadie, and Scolvus to head to the island to find fresh water, and if they find Sandara and Shivikah, well all the better--but the ship leaves in 48 hours either way. As they ready for the expedition, Jaundiced Jape shows the group a medallion that belonged to Sandara Quinn, and indicates that he found it on the forcastle deck. Inspection of it reveals signs that it might have been ripped loose in a struggle.

The group set out on the ship's gig, first heading toward the nearest shore of the island where they could vaguely make out humanoid shapes in the water. Hoping to find Sandara and Shivikah waving for help in the shallows, the crew was horrified to find a pair of bound skeletons with strange language scrimshaw all over them.

 One of the strange, lashed-together carved skeletons that are tied in the shallows around the island

Seeing the jungle waiting at the edge of the shore and unsettled by the skeletal buoys, the crew guide the small gig to the a large hill at the northeastern point of the island. Landing and climbing the hill, they find the remains of long-disused signal fire. Searching about, they locate a cache of torches and tindertwigs. And scanning the island, they spy what looks to be a stockade in the hilly ridge along the western side of the island.

The crew decided to skip the jungle section, and sail to the eastern side of the porkchop-shaped island where a broader and safer beach lay. There, they found more signs of humanoid habitation: fields planted in an attempt at orderly fashion. On the edge of the field, they found two things: a path, and a gruesome decomposing head impaled on a pike--some sort of warning or scarecrow? Cautiously, they followed the path up the hill to the fort. There they find the gate open, and inside the walls of the stockade they locate a source of fresh water and a fixed spyglass. Jax peers through the spyglass and sees a hidden cove tucked within the hilly cliffs, which would be invisible to anyone sailing along the island's coast. More worrisome, he spotted two small aquatic creatures with gills and nasty, grabbing hands, on the beach. The group figureed out that these creatures are grindylows, strange little creatures that abduct sailors, leaving the group with a distinct feeling of unease about Sandara and Shivikah's safety.

Bonewrack Island (signal fire C2, fields C7, stockade C8, hidden cove D)

As the group filled up their waterskins, they also started to inspect the small structure inside the stockade. Within, they found a grisly scene and a horrible smell. Hanging from the rafters was a rotting man in tattered remains of a Chelish sailor's outfit, the noose and overturned stool a sign of suicide. The group found a diary, and flipped through it despite the stink of the corpse and the flies in the air. The diary detailed how a Chelish warship sank about a year ago, and the survivors made their way to this island. They started to set up a habitation and signal fires. But they didn't realize that the "weapon" they kept caged on the deck of the ship didn't die when the ship sank. Instead, the weapon survived underwater and apparently eventually broke free, got to shore, and started attacking survivors of the shipwreck. The journal was fuzzy on details, but it sounded as if the Ship's Whores banded together with this "weapon" and turned on the rest of the survivors. Unclear what to make of that, but worried about the depressing final entry about the man unable to stand the whores returning each night to attack his fort causing him to kill himself, the group started to lift the man down from where he hung himself. 

At that moment, the corpse started to move--with a sudden burst of speed it lifted itself up using the crews' bodies for leverage. With a deathly hiss, the stench in the room suddenly worsened as dropped to the ground and lay about the group biting and slashing with claw-like fingers. The smell sickened some of them, and others found that the creature's strikes paralyzed them. More and more of the group were falling still from the ghast's attacks, when finally Scolvus managed to cast a spell leaving a slippery area of grease around the creature. The reanimated sailor fell to the ground, and in that moment Druna managed to strike downward with an enormous blow of her cudgel, shattering the creature's skull into pieces. The crew managed to escape mostly intact, with only Jax receiving a nasty bite from the hanged man. Healing themselves somewhat, the group started back down to their boat to explore the cove. 

Plenty of ghoulish fun yet to come!

Heading down the hill path, the group did not realize that eyes were watching them from the jungle. Yet as they walked along the strip of jungle at the base of the hill back toward the fields, the sound of sudden rustling in the path behind them was evident. Suddenly, four screeching, walking corpses burst from the treeline and rushed down the path toward the group. Their sallow, purplish skin glistened in the tropical heat, and their clothes jangled with jewelry--clearly the ship's whores the journal spoke about. Again, Scolvus' quick thinking with his grease spell proved to be the critical point of the battle. Placing a patch of slippery magical grease between the running ghouls and the group, a number of the undead ship's whores slipped and fell, sliding directly to the feet of the party. Sadie even managed to slay one as it slid past where she stood, caving its skull with expert precision. Druna fell herself, and managed so slay the final ghoul while wrestling with it on the ground--provoking no short number of snide comments about greased wrestling from Gilbert. 

Hurt, slashed, cut, and yet not having rescued Sandara and Shivikah, the group decided to return to the stockade to get some rest and recover. By that point, Jax's bite wound had started to become infected with a nasty--and frightening--purplish tinge. Sadie cared for him as best he could, but knew little about the process of the malady that was starting to sicken him. 

As they slept the night, those on watch and those trying to sleep noticed that the place was horrible with mosquitoes. While Scolvus had fun freezing one with ice spells, the group found themselves bitten up something fierce overnight. More disconcerting was the fact that Gilbert arose feeling quite sick--and with a similar purplish tinge to his skin around one of the mosquito bites as Jax had around his bite from the ghast. 

Wanting to get off the island as soon as they could to avoid further risk to others developing this "ghoul fever", the crew climbed into the cutter and sailed around the southern end of the small island. There, through the extremely clear water, they could see the wreck of the Chelish ship The Infernus. They could see a man-sized rusted cage on the deck, where likely the first ghoul was held. Being already dead, the thing didn't drown when the ship sank and instead eventually pried the bars free and must have swam to shore where it--and mosquitoes gorged on its blood--infected the other shipwreck survivors. 

Facing an unbroken sea cliff, the crew did some quick calculations and surmised that the cove would likely bereached through an underwater passage from the water's edge. With a bit of looking they located a crevice in the shore that seems to run deeper inland. Forced to swim, and to leave Druna's trained parrot and Sadie's trained spider on the boat, they swam out into the water.

Like this, but without the gear

While the distance should have been a mere 50 feet, the group found that the channel cut back and forth. Finally, they saw light ahead and above and burst gasping for breath into the cove. Unfortunately they only found a small ring of beach sunken in the deep rock walls--and a torn bit of Shivikah's clothing. Seeing no land entrance that took them further, the group located an underwater channel that bore them deeper under the island. They decided to split a water breathing potion to explore without having to worry about breathing, and then swam on into the flooded corridors. 

After a series of continued confusing turns, and sections that were both submerged and only slightly flooded (as it was low tide), the crew came upon a large half-flooded room choked with seaweed in a bed. Jax decided to climb around the wall rather than swim through the seaweed, and as the others waited and watched his progress they saw a number of grindylows emerge from hiding in the thick tangle of plant mass. Jax threw daggers from the walls, while others dived into the water to battle the creatures there. The fight was a struggle, as while the grindylows were easily slain if hit, their defenses and the slowing effect fighting in water has on swinging a weapon proved difficult. In particular, the grindylows seemed fond of grabbing their foes with their strong grip and pulling them downward into the water to drown. The crew's secret that they could breath underwater was their only advantage, and they managed to triumph after a rough fight. 

What followed was more twisted and flooded halls. One large room had a metal grate trap which fell upon Scolvus, Druna, and Gilbert. Designed to catch them and leave them drowning in the water, the trap proved mostly just a hindrance--as the water breathing spell kept them alive easily and Scolvus' grease spell created a slippery cloud in the water to ease their slipping free. 

Finally, the crew found themselves in a tunnel filled with more water motion than they'd seen elsewhere. Not only that, but they started swimming into chunks of strange, half-eaten deep sea fish as the water clouded with blood and gore. They swam out of the tunnel into a large room where a current spiraled in a vile circular motion creating a slow whirlpool filled with more of the chunks of prehistoric-looking fish. The crew immediately heard two things. First, chanting in a strange language from the back of room where a strange creature (half grindylow, half octopus) seemed to be conducting a ritual at an altar. And second, shouts for help coming from the cavern's ceiling. There, suspended by seaweed ropes, hung Sandara Quinn and Shivikah, both tied and bound with heavy silver ingots dangling from them. Below, at the center of the slow whirlpool, the crew could make out two more humanoid forms--these two seemed to be chained with loose chains to the floor of the cavern. And they carried the unmistakable purple skin tone and savage eyes of the ghouls the party had encountered previously. 

Hearing the captive's changed screams for help, the strange grindylow hybrid turned and saw the arrival of the crew into the cavern. Shouting in a language they didn't understand, the creature glowered at them evilly. Clearly whatever dark ritual it was performing, it was interrupted. With rage, the creature slashed its weapon--a nasty multi-pronged harpoon--across the seaweed ropes that suspended the two prisoners aloft. Sandara and Shivikah felt with a splash into the water, and began slowly sinking toward the ghouls beneath them who struggled with fury to reach this new helpless prey. Finally, and maybe even most worrysome, the crew could make out the shape of something enormous rise up from the bottom of the cavern floor and start swimming their way. Could they save their friends in time? Was the place where the lives of the crew might be perilously cut short? 

Next time: an encounter with the Brinebrood Queen

NPC Matrix

The characters have a basic idea of attitudes of the other crewmembers to them, which will be represented on this matrix and updated after each session. The (current) indicates where the attitude is, while the names in boxes show who influenced whom. (Permanent) indicates that the character is now permanently that status relative to the PCs. While they can still directly benefit from interaction with that NPC, the attitude is fixed unless something extreme happens to push the NPC the other way (cruel or insulting treatment of a helpful ally, for instance). Where movement goes back and forth, the names will be numbered to show the order of influence. I make this information public because living in close proximity on a ship really cannot hide their interactions!

Name	Face	Hostile	Unfriendly	Indifferent	Friendly	Helpful	Description
Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop				Start	Gilbert 1	(current) Gilbert 2	Ship’s cook, perpetually drunk, smells of rum Voice: Long John Silver
Aretta Banison							Swab, Bad tempered ex-harlot who escaped a pimp named Pepper Jack. Big ears. Drowned by Galfire.
“Badger” Medlar		(current) Master Scourge 7	Start Gilbert 4 Mr. Plugg 6	Scolvus 1 Master Scourge 3 Sadie 5	Scolvus 2		Botswain, Older woman who has shaved white stripes like a badger on her head. Voice: Woman’s Low rumble
Conchobar Shortstone		(current) Sadie’s Spider 1 Mr. Plugg 3 Captain Plugg 5	Start Gilbert 2 Jax 4				Rigger, overly dressy and fussy gnome Voice: Olaf Peterson (“Hello beautiful ladies!!!”)
Crimson Cogward			Start Mr. Plugg 2	(current) Nika 1 Sadie 3			Swab, Easily angered loner, impressed only by stories of bloodshed. Voice: dark and brooding
Owlbear Heartshorn		Start	(current) Sadie 1				Tarred-and-feathered simpleton lackey of Mr. Plugg. Voice: pathetic
Dovan from Nisroch				Start Mr. Plugg 4	Gilbert 1 Master Scourge 3 Gilbert 5	(current) Gilbert 2 Suspicion of Plugg 6	Swab, Colorful rogue mercenary captain, tells stories from Fitzburgh. Voice: Sexy guy voice
Fipps Chumlett							Swab, Fat, Pushy bully. Drowned by Galfire.
Jack Scrimshaw			(current) Captain Plugg 7	Start Master Scourge 2 Master Scourge 6	Sadie 1 Scolvus 3 Master Scourge 5	Gilbert 4	Swab, Talented young man always doing scrimshaw Voice: meek and mild
Jaundiced Jape		Start	Jax 1 Nika 3	(current) Jax 2 Scolvus 4			Swab, Humorless, greedy mute Voice: Mute
Maheem		(current) Mr. Plugg 1 Master Scourge 3 Mr. Plugg 5	Start Jax 2 Gilbert 4				Sailing Master, Rahaddoumi half-elf with a permanent scowl Voice: Arabian Nights
"Ratline" Rattsberger				Start	Druna 1 Mr. Plugg 3	(permanent) Scolvus 2 Druna (saved life) Gilbert/Nika/Jax (helped)	Rigger, Rat faced Halfling missing fingers Voice: Chuckles constantly (think heh heh heh)
Rosie Cusswell				Start	Scolvus	(permanent) Gilbert / Fiddle	Swab, Swears constantly. Voice: stream of expletives
Samms Toppin			Jax 1 Master Scourge 3	(current) Start Jax 2 Jax 4 Jax 6 Mr. Plugg 8 Master Scourge 10	Jax 5 Scolvus 7 Scolvus 9		Rigger, Former fisherwoman, never wears shoes Voice: Sweet melody
Sandara Quinn						Start (current) Nika Jax	Swab, Believer in Besmara’s guidance Voice: Moonbat
Shivikah			Start Master Scourge 2	Nika 1 Jax 3	Druna 4	(current) Scolvus 5	Swab, Mwangi ex-slaver Voice: Deep African voice, says “My friend” to everyone
Slippery Syl Lonergan    (or Greasy Pete)		Master Scourge 1	Start Mistrust of Tam 2	Jax 3	(current) Plot against Tam 4		Swab, Unhinged murderer who escaped to sea Voice: Dirty Harry (You feelin’ lucky punk?)
Tam "Narwhal" Tate		Start (current)					Swab, old friend of Master Scourge, Huge Nose Voice: Sniveling Toady