Session One - Recap

Session One Recap

Seven people found themselves wake up in the swaying underbelly of the pirate ship, The Wormwood, each having been a victim of the poison-assisted press gang crew of the ruthless Master Scourge. They were: Galfire, a soft-spoken and short-tempered Half Elf cook. Jax Sandstrom, a nimble and randy young Human with tan skin and a ponytail. Druna, a short-haired and nature-minded Dwarf woman. Gilbert Sullivan, a well-spoken and impeccably dressed young Half Elf. Nika, an inventive and duplicitous Human ranger from the lands nearby Port Peril. Sadie “the Goat”—a skinny Dwarf woman with a penchant for fascination with nature and headbutting her foes. And finally, Scolvus O’Shaughnessy, a magical adept and semi-legitimate son of fabled Pirate Captain Corvus O’Shaughnessy (whose ship “The Handy Maiden” has frequently raided the coasts around The Shackles).

Before they could do much talking, Master Scourge—accompanied by four rough pirates with blackjacks in hand-burst through the door and ordered these “new recruits” onto the main deck to start work. While most obeyed, Galfire began calmly asking questions and explaining that he wasn’t supposed to be on the ship. In what was to become an instantly familiar scene, Master Scourge took exception to Galfire’s talk and set the pirates on him to force him to the deck.

Master Scourge

Up on deck, the newly impressed sailors were given a talking to by Captain Barnabas Harrigan and his boatswain, Mr. Plugg. After the Captain’s orders that he doesn’t tolerate the crew speaking to him, and that anyone found murdering someone else will be keelhauled, he turns things over to Mr. Plugg to assign tasks to the new arrivals. The first test—for another Rigger for the ship—is easily won by Jax who scampered up the ropes as quick as he was able. Nika was careful to not do too well, and Sadie the Goat managed to fall—luckily caught by Gilbert. However, Galfire drew even more ire from Master Scourge for getting tangled and stuck upside down in the rigging a mere foot off the deck. That ire was played out when Galfire, who had served as a chef in Port Peril for some time, was passed over for the Cook’s mate job. Nika got that position, simply by bluffing “yes” to the question “can you cook?” Feeling utterly disrespected, Galfire joined Druna, Gilbert, Sadie the Goat, and Scolvus as swabs. All were immediately put to tasks.

When evening came, so came the bloody hour when punishments were handed out. Some of the new arrivals received rope bashes or lashes, but the real horror of the bloody hour was having to watch one of the crew be keelhauled for stealing from the quartermaster’s store. After that gruesome event, the seven choked down their first rum rations and settled in to dinner—when their first friendly face emerged from the crew. Sandara Quinn, a self-described Holy Priestess of Besmara (the Pirate Goddess), slipped the crew a few of their stolen personal items. She said that Besmara warned her in a vision that seven would arrive who are chosen of the Pirate Queen who roams the celestial seas.

As the days went forward, the newly arrived seven started to make both friends and enemies on the ship. Scolvus and Gilbert befriended Rosie Cusswell, a Halfling swab, with a combination of friendly banter and tricking the superstitious quartermaster Cut-Throat Grok into releasing Rosie’s prized fiddle. Sadie the Goat made unlikely friends with Jack Scrimshaw, while Gilbert gained some measure of esteem from a nasty looking mercenary called Dovan from Nisroch (who told tales of twice-escaping retribution from some kingdom of bumpkins called “Fitzburgh”). Jax initially overplayed his hand with a rather attractive young sailor named Samms Toppin (with a “you know I never had sex in a hammock before” line), but over time got her somewhat back into his good graces. He also spent a great deal of time with Sandara Quinn—whether to deepen their friendship or deepen something else, it’s unclear. Nika, now the cook’s mate, got the scoop on the ship from her superior (“It’s poison, this ship” said Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop), managed to catch a school of fish for dinner (with a little help from Druna), and made a friendly impression on Shivikah, a massive Mwangi ex-slaver, by doing his swab work for the better part of an afternoon. And finally, the druids managed to start to make animal friends. Druna started to bond with a parrot (called “Pluck” by the crew) that was prior owned by a dead crewmember. And Sadie the Goat befriended a rather large and unusual spider (which scared the crap out of fellow pirate Conchobar Shortstone). 

So while the seven made these and other friends, the seven also noticed that Master Scourge and some of his cronies were spending time turning the ears of other pirates on the ship. Their second day on the ship, four of the pirates (Aretta Banison, Fipps Chumlet, Jaundiced Jape, and Slippery Syl Lonergan) managed to forcefully keep the seven from making the deck when the crewbell rang—getting the seven each three lashes punishment. The seven subdued and humiliated their attackers, with Nika delivering a brutal punch to Aretta’s face, Scolvus using a grease spell to humiliate Slippery Syl (now called “Greasy Pete” by the party), and Druna nearly breaking Fipps Chumlett’s neck with an enchanted mop handle. However, only the seven were punished for being late… and Nika saw Aretta Banison whispering with Master Scourge. Sneaking close, she caught snippets of conversation that sounded like he put them up to it. More worrisome, the seven noticed Master Scourge, Mr. Plugg, and their toady Tam “Narwhal” Tate chatting with some of the pirates as well—and casting dirty looks their way.

“If you outlaw mops, only outlaws will have mops” -Gilbert

The third evening on the ship ended with the seven deciding to stage a drinking game for fun—a rum chugging contest aptly nicknamed “Heave”. Druna and Sadie the Goat entered the contest, as did Tam “Narwhal” Tate and Dovan from Nisroch. Druna used the contest to further rumors that she had started of an illicit relationship between Tam and Master Scourge, while Gilbert swapped his bet to Dovan to show confidence in his newfound acquaintance. Druna eventually out-drank the last of them, and won the pot for herself and “Ratline” Rattsberger (who bet on her). As she stumbled off completely inebriated and exhausted, unfortunately she heard Mr. Plugg make an ominous threat to “Rattline” Rattberger: “We’ll see how you and your lubber friends fare with tomorrow night’s entertainment: my owlbear!”

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 (current)			Ship’s cook, perpetually drunk, smells of rum Voice: Long John Silver
Aretta Banison		(current) Master Scourge	Start				Swab, Bad tempered ex-harlot who escaped a pimp named Pepper Jack. Big ears. Voice: Bitch voice
“Badger” Medlar			Start	(current) Scolvus 1 Master Scourge 3	Scolvus 2		Swab, Older woman who has shaved white stripes like a badger on her head. Voice: Woman’s Low rumble
Conchobar Shortstone		(current) Sadie’s Spider	Start				Rigger, overly dressy and fussy gnome Voice: Olaf Peterson (“Hello beautiful ladies!!!”)
Crimson Cogward			Start (current)				Swab, Easily angered loner, impressed only by stories of bloodshed. Voice: hasn’t spoken yet
Cut-Throat Grok				Start (current)			Quartermaster, superstitious. Voice: Raspy woman (because of scar) who gasps when she laughs
Dovan from Nisroch				Start	(current) Gilbert		Swab, Colorful rogue mercenary captain, tells stories from Fitzburgh. Voice: Sexy guy voice
Fipps Chumlett		(permanent) Master Scourge / Druna	Start				Swab, Fat, Pushy bully. Voice: Bro bully voice
Jack Scrimshaw				Start	(current) Sadie		Swab, Talented young man always doing scrimshaw Voice: meek and mild
Jaundiced Jape		Start (current)					Swab, Humorless, greedy mute Voice: Mute
Maheem		(current) Mr. Plugg	Start				Rigger, Rahaddoumi half-elf with a permanent scowl Voice: Arabian Nights
"Ratline" Rattsberger				Start	(current) Druna 1 Mr. Plugg 3	Scolvus 2	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			(current) Jax 1 Master Scourge 3	Start Jax 2			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	(current) Nika			Swab, Mwangi ex-slaver Voice: Deep African voice, says “My friend” to everyone
Slippery Syl Lonergan    (or Greasy Pete)		(current) Master Scourge	Start				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