The party spent a day (3/21) resupplying on the Naked Isle. They learned the plague, called the Frog Pox, had been sickening the villagers in Osrendell for nearly a month. The infected felt mild discomfort for several days followed by complete incapacitation for a week during which time warts grew on the skin and inside the mouth. Most survived, but some people succumbed. Zhargrave was curing sufferers at the rate of two a day.
Unfortunately four of their group took ill during their one day on the island: Bale, Urgesh, Hocuspo and Elaria. They made haste to get more food and water onto The Ranger so that they could leave the next day. Ghevont cured Urgesh and Bale, though the dwarf opted to remain with his crew, several of which also took sick. Ghevont took care of Hocuspo and Elaria the next day (3/22).
That first day at sea was uneventful, except that Urgesh caught three bluefish, which was enough to feed everyone onboard. Cautious giant octopuses were seen in the clear water, but they were not molested. The next day (3/23), the wind left them, and the crew was made to row. The day after that (3/24), Urgesh once again was lucky with his rod, hauling in four red drums. As before, this fed crew and passengers alike.
Seven hours after dawn on the next day (3/25), a small galley flying a red flag was seen six miles away. A cautious parlay was made, and when the two ships came closer together, the flag was seen to be that of the empire with a rude, black hand painted over the emblem of the eagle. A demand for surrender was made by the Raiders which was rebuked, and a battle commenced. It began with a volley of thrown boulders, which crashed against the enemy vessel.
By way of a haste spell, many boulders damaged the other vessel, which soon began taking on water. Meanwhile, Tienarth covered the other ship in a poisonous cloud that killed most of the sailors. This wasn’t before a few shots from ballistas hurt The Ranger. Additionally, a hail of crossbow bolts fell on the Ranger’s crew, nearly killing two of them. Ghevont saved their lives, though one of them was paralyzed by a strike to his spine.
With most of the enemy crew dead, the captain, his two mates and two remaining sailors attempted an escape via a longboat. Before the galley sank, Jerker found a treasure chest below decks. It contained pieces of copper and electrum, plus a sapphire and a bloodstone. The dirty business of looting the ship before it sank finished, The Ranger turned to chase down the longboat, taking little more then seven minutes.
Urgesh hurled boulders at the little boat, tipping it over and sinking it. The captain and the two mates sank below the waves in their heavy armor. The two sailors treaded water, and they were asked to climb aboard and join the crew. Some argument was made that these were the heartiest of the foes and worthy to be employed. They settled in to work alongside the dwarves.
The next day (3/26), a fierce storm in the evening, lasting for a full day. It drove them back westward until they were uncertain of their location. When the sun shown again, they turned east. Nothing much happened that day, but on the 28th day (3/28), they could see Malb’s Island and a ship flying a pirate flag. This ship, another galley, did it’s best to stay away from The Ranger, but Urgesh’s ship eventually bore down on them.
The other crew stood firm against Urgesh’s threats, which started as demands for their treasure. The captain presented to assent, bringing forth a small chest. Suddenly, we opened the top and poured the coins into the water followed by the now-empty chest. This infuriated the half-orc as well as Aderian, no doubt influenced by his intelligent bag, it ever craving more gold.
Now violence was assured. Urgesh used his ring of water walking to run for the ship. Aderian and Jerker jumped over to the other ship. Tienarth was uninterested in fighting this battle. He made to protest, but refused to participate. Ollie and Hocuspo were equally disengaged. Throughout the week at sea, Ferris and Nate stayed below decks working on some unknown project. Ghevont, also paid no attention to the ensuing violence.
The enemy argued that with no treasure left to steal, they ought to be left alone, yet fury drove the Raiders towards sadistic vengeance. A vain attempt was made to pepper The Ranger with flaming arrows. Ghevont extinguished the small fire immediately with a spell. And so, the crew surrendered. The verbally accepted servitude to their captors, though their proud manner and way of speaking continued to infuriate both Aderian and Urgesh. In particular, calling themselves slaves stirred a great passion in Aderian, no doubt due to his pledge to free slaves rather than make them.
Urgesh offered amnesty to the crew except to the captain for the sin of throwing the loot in the water. The first mate declared that he’d longed for this opportunity and stabbed at his captain. The two crossed blades, but the mate was able to grapple his superior and drop him into the waves. Moments later, the sucker-covered tentacle of an octopus pulled him below the surface.
Now, the mate, declaring himself the new captain called for release and for the Raiders to leave them alone, but Urgesh was not satisfied. The mate called this slavery, which reignited the barbarian’s ire. The poor man found himself suspended by his neck being crushed in an iron grip. Urgesh made some incoherent excuse, killed the mate and cast him aside. He then began a task of completely destroying the ship, starting with it’s longboat. He punched a hole in the hull, beginning the sinking process. He and Jerker took two ballistas and an armful of ammunition.
During this rampage, the remaining sailors knelt in prayer, calling out to the Anointed One for peace. One of them called out to Urgesh that he ought to expect to burn in the fire of hell with his master, Molok. Meanwhile, Jerker raced to loot the ship before it slipped under the waves. The only thing he found worth taking was a purple flag with a prominent black X, the flag of the failed rebellion. It must have dawned on him that these were no ordinary pirates, and when speaking with them he found they were former rebels forced to a life of piracy.
Jerker offered to rescue them, perhaps bring them to the western lands where they’d be able to hide form the empire. They accepted, and Jerker offered to pay Urgesh to let them come aboard. He could not convince the half-orc to turn the ship back towards the Naked Isle, so the men were dropped off on Malb’s Island with a promise to be picked up on the return journey.
Ghevont chastised them for their pointless immorality.
End Notes
- Days
- 3/21 Resupplying on the Naked Isle
- 3/22 – 3/24 Sailing on the Ranger
- 3/25 Sunk a ship
- 3/26 – 3/27 Sailing
- 3/28 Sunk a ship of former rebels
- Treasure:
- 3200 cp
- 1200 ep
- Sapphire (100 gp)
- Heliotrope (50 gp)
- Combat: 3955 xp
- Captain of ship 1: 1300
- 2 Mates of ship 1: 75 ea
- 23 Warriors: 25 ea
- 27 sailors: 10 ea
- Rebel Captain: 1300
- Rebel Mate: 360
- 3 Rebel warriors: 25 ea
- Characters (7 shares of 565 xp)
- Aderian (human, fight) 627 xp
- Elaria (hireling) 283 xp
- Ferris (present but not played)
- Ghevont (human, preaches, healing) 633 xp
- Hocuspo (hireling) 283 xp
- Jerker (human, fight) 627 xp
- Nate (present but not played)
- Ollie (fight, illustration bonus) 3771 xp
- Tienarth 565 xp
- Urgesh (half-human, aggressive, outdoors, fight, strength) 616 xp
- The Ranger (Caravel)
- HP 63/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/10
- Cargo: 0 of 75 tons
- Food: 136 man/weeks
- Water: 930 gallons