Upon returning to the Naked Isle with a captured pirate ship, the elven pirates exhibited excitement regarding the native elves’ unclothed customs. On the first day (6/28) the pirates immediately engaged in boisterous behavior and making advances on the unclothed maidens. They also targeted and sought to bully the clothed elves. Warnings about the pirates, spread by Elaria, reached her kin and Zhargrave. Zhargrave identified the pirates as a “plague of corruption” and began gathering converts in the temple, subsequently requesting a meeting with Tienarth. Concurrently, human husbands prepared for potential conflict.
The next day (6/29), the elven pirates’ indulgence escalated, marked by open acts of harassment, aggressive pursuit of elf maidens, and attempted forced “pairings”. A public incident occurred involving an attempted abduction and sexual assault, generating insane shouts and harrowing screams, with unarmed villagers attempting to intervene being ignored by the pirates. Zhargrave met with Tienarth, detailing the outrages and cruelties inflicted by the pirates, equating them to a scourge of piracy, and urging their expulsion or strict controls. Tienarth then confronted the pirates in Oshrendell, delivering an ultimatum, but was met with jeers.
On the third day (6/30), open conflict erupted as the pirates defied Tienarth’s ultimatum and continued their behavior, with some initiating a pre-emptive strike by setting several huts on fire. A group of pirates attempted to steal The Garlic Frog, which resulted in the deaths of four of its human crew members. Jerker and Aderian successfully repelled this theft, killing all but one of these pirates. Following this, Aderian engaged in a rampage, killing 30 pirates. Jerker joined Aderian, killing 21 ordinary sailors, and Urgesh also participated in the slaughter, killing 24 pirates while enraged. The fighting lasted approximately 15 minutes, resulting in many pirate and some villager casualties, with the remaining pirates either fleeing into the swamps or surrendering.
Tienarth arrived an hour later, intending to execute the surrendered pirates. However, Zhargrave presented an argument for having a trial, stating the following.
Brothers and companions of the Raiders, I implore your attention in this critical moment, for the path we choose now will define not only our immediate actions but also the very soul of this mission and the order we seek to establish on this isle. You have fought valiantly, and the pirates have yielded, but our work is not yet concluded.
I speak not of mercy, for their outrages and cruelties have been laid bare for all to see, and they have launched a pre-emptive strike against the villagers, setting some huts on fire. Even worse, they have taken the lives of our own, killing four of the crew from The Garlic Frog. Such actions demand recompense.
However, we are not mere brigands driven by bloodlust. We are the agents of righteousness, and our deity, the Anointed One, guides our path towards justice. To simply slaughter disarmed captives, even those who have committed such vile acts, would be to descend to their barbaric level, staining our own hands unnecessarily and undermining the very order we strive to bring.
A trial does not necessarily imply leniency. It merely ensures that our actions are just, purposeful, and reflective of the higher order we represent, rather than mere reactive violence. It converts their surrender into a tool for our long-term objectives.
Let us proceed with a trial, that all may see the justice of Tienarth’s Raiders and the wisdom of the Anointed One.The captured pirates were subsequently confined to an animal pen under armed guards, and some later died from Frog Pox.
The trial commenced on the eleventh day of the seventh month (7/11). Zhargrave appointed himself the the judge. Several people from the village complained about abuses by the pirates, but also four of the Garlic Frog crew were killed. Zhargrave asked Jerker to make the case against the pirates, to speak for the entire village.
Jerker began by pointing out that the pirates were warned. They were given a chance to stop their roudy behavior, and they forced themsevles on the nubile elven women anyway. They destroyed a pig farmer’s house. He noted that few on the island need convincing of the wickedness of their deeds. He admitted that we are all owed a second chance in life. The pirates had that chance and flubbed it. They threw it away. Again, they were warned, given an ultimatum. “What did these elves do?” he asked.
“They behaved as if they were upon the wild sea, like they had no masters.” He concluded with an oath: “May the Anointed One strike me down if they don’t deserve death!”
Next, Zhargrave asked Nate the Paladin to speak on behalf of the pirates, for he was considered the most just among Tieanarth’s Raiders. He began by asking, “Is not the Anointed One a god of forgiveness?” He then quoted scripture about how the Anointed One asked his followers not to forgive those who do evil once, but seventy times seven times. No matter how foul the deed, we ought to forgive if there is repentance. “Today, if killed, the pirates will be damned to hellfire. If we condemn them to a life in prison, it’s possible they might turn to better things.” This plea of forgiveness fell on unsympathetic ears.
Zhargrave pointed out that the pirates could only offer their own testimony as to innocence. No one else would offer to be an oath-helper, and so they must make a choice: submit to the trial by water or else accept guilt and the punishment it demanded. The trial by water involved being bound and tossed in the harbor. Those that floated and survived would be held blameless. Those that drowned were judged guilty. None of the pirates accepted the trial. They were ready to accept punishment.
Ghevont spoke up. “Some of you may not want to hear what I have to say. This incident demonstrates the undeveloped souls of the lower races. We ought not shy away from sending them to the next life. They need to suffer the repercussions of their evil deeds in order to progress and return to a new life as humans.” Zhargrave respectfully judged this to a be heretical viewpoint but said nothing more.
Urgesh described the trial as nothing more than throwing a rock into water that would surely sink and prove nothing. “If that is their fate, let me throw them in now!”
“I agree with Urgesh!” announced Ollie, “but it’s not right to simply throw them in the water. Let us take them away, far from this island and cast them away where they might fight to survive.”
“We must be done with them,” answered Urgesh. “There was no need for a trial. Just kill them! They deserv to die. That’s all that needs to be said.”
Zhargrave explained that, according to custom, the pirates’ acts of outlawry carried the penalty of banishment. This aligned closely with Ollie’s ideas, though most of the crowd seemed to crave execution. The long months of enduring a brutal plague left no room for mercy. Urgesh offered to take them away, and all agreed. They were bound and marched onto the Dead Fish. Urgesh sailed away with haste.
Talk then turned to the pirate who fled into the dangerous swamps. Jerker organized a party to hunt them. The elven hunter, Duko, offered his services as he had before. They agreed to set out in the morning.
The next day (7/12), before the party could set out. Urgesh sailed his caravel back into the harbor. He’s only been gone half a day, not nearly long enough to reach another island. Arrayed on the deck were many spears on top of each were the heads of the pirates. He’d slaughtered them all. It was a gruesome display, but one that produced a feeling of satisfaction in most. Those more civilized folk could not quite bring themselves to dole out the punishment demanded by reality, letting the deed fall to the savage barbarian.
None spoke against this deed, though they had little time to overthink it, because coming in behind the Dead Fish was an unusual surge of water from which the head of a gray-skinned dragon emerged. It was a sea dragon. Each of them gritted teeth and struggled to size of the extent of the threat. Soon, two wings broke the surface of the water and hoisted the dragon into the air. Somewhat stunned by the spectacle, the crowd watched as the dragon crashed onto the wharf and swallowed a laborer in one gulp.
Hocuspo, who’d some to join the hunt for the elven pirates, transformed himself into a small, red dragon. Elaria protected herself with mirror images. Jerker and Urgesh moved to fetch boulders from the ship decks. The dragon leapt back into the air, focusing its gaze on the mass of shifting images that Elaria had become. The elf mage began casting a haste spell. The dragon seized on the opportunity to thwart her, breathing a jet of scalding steam over her.
Ollie plinked the dragon with an arrow. Jerker and Urgesh hit it from two sized with hurled boulders. It seemed stunned. Before it could react, Elaria struck it with a lightning bolt. It splashed into the harbor water, dead.
The body was hauled onto the wharf. Ollie slipped of his ring, Ag’s Ensenulator and handed it to Jerker. Ollie felt hunger pangs for the first time in a while, as the ring provided sustenance when worm. Jerker activated the ring’s ability to speak with the dead. He probed the dragon with three questions. The fading impressions of memory from the dragon’s brain floated into Jerker’s consciousness.
How could they find the dragon’s lair? Jerker could see himself swimming for three days, going southwest from the Naked Isle, then diving down into the water and through the mouth of an underwater cave before coming up in an air-filled chamber.
What brought the dragon to the island? He got the sense of the dragon being an apex predator, not at all expecting significant resistance from elven fishermen. He only wanted a tasty snack.
What possessions are in the lair? He got a vision of stacks of coins, many of them gold. He saw many gems, too, along with a magic shield, scrolls and a potion. It was a hoard worthy of a dragon.
Despite this morning battle, the party set out to explore the swamps soon after. They were Jerker, Elariea, Ollie, Hocuspo and Urgesh. Doku, the elven frog hunter, led the way. He took them south of Osrendell. Presently, they came upon a pair of hypno toads. These were like more ordinary giant frogs except for having a single, enormous eye that pulsed with swirling colors. Duko surprised the beasts and warned the party to avoid their gaze. Urgesh shut his eyes tight and dashed through the brackish water, swinging Vambier, his two-handed scimitar. Jerker followed. Despite the handicap of being effectively blind, they easily slew the two amphipians.
They found no trace of the pirates that day. They camped on a dry hummock and dined on the the frog meat that Duko cooked on freshly cut branches. He may have pulled objects from the bellies of the frogs, but none of them took much notice.
The following day (7/13), they followed the coastline, turning east. They surprised two black toads, standing eight feet tall. Urgesh remembered seeing these beasts from afar when at the wizard’s tower a year before. They took the advantage and rushed at the toads. Their acidic tongues were avoided, and they were killed by sword blows. Urgesh cut open their bellies, finding nothing. He explained he hoped to see an elf corpse.
The day after that (7/14), they were surprised by another hypno toad. Duko and Ollie fell victim to its mesmerizing gaze, but the others did not. An elf alone who happened to be paralyzed by a hypno toad would likely be an easy meal, but a single toad stands no chance against an entire hunting party. Jerker killed the toad in one blow, stabbing it by luck through the its heart. This produced a preservative effect, a special power of his sword, Ithush.
And then, they found themselves close enough to Tienarth’s Tower, that they came to shout up at the old elf, for they wanted to use his crystal ball to locate the fugitives. Jerker, who had carried the slain frog, also asked that he bring it inside to be revived and held captive. It took some convincing of both requests. Tienarth was busy performing research and could not be bothered for long.
The hypno toad was dragged down into the lower chambers of the tower where there was room with a door that closed. Jerker administered a healing potion to the frog and withdrew the sword.
Hocuspo peered into the crystal ball, spending some time searching for the elven pirates. Eventually he saw them on a beach, completing a raft. They were planning an escape by sea. He was familiar enough with the island by now to know this beach was only a mile west of the harbor. They wasted no time, running along the road Tienarth built between the tower and Osrendell, then down to the harbor and along the shore. Having foreknowledge of the pirates allowed for a surprise attack. They were slaughtered one and all. Their remains were dumped in the swamp water as a treat for the frogs.
Night had fallen, but their spirits were high as they returned to the village.
End Notes
- Days
- 6/29 – 7/10 Downtime on the Naked Isle
- 7/11 Trial of the Pirates
- 7/12 – 7/14 Hunt for the escaped pirates
- Treasure: none
- Combat: 3915 xp
- Sea Dragon 1015 xp
- 3 Hypno Toads 100 xp each
- 2 Black Toads 1300 xp each
- Characters (4.5 shares of 870 xp)
- Elaria (hireling) 435 xp
- Ghevont (present for trial but not combat)
- Hocuspo (human) 957 xp
- Jerker (human, fight) 966 xp
- Nate (present for trial but not combat)
- Ollie (fight) 879 xp
- Tienarth (present for trial but not combat)
- Urgesh (half-human, fight) 922 xp
- The Dead Fish (ne The Ranger) (Caravel)
- HP 75/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/3
- 10 elven sailors
- Jonja
- Dwarf youth
- Urgesh
- Cargo: 18 of 75 tons *
- Food: 54 man/weeks
- Water: 880 gallons
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)
- Hit Points: 75/75 hardness 8
- Crew (10)/Passengers: 10/ 13
- 10 human sailors
- 3 extra human sailors
- Jerker, Elaria, Ghevont, Hocuspo, Ollie, Leveret
- Cargo: 57.5 of 75 tons *
- Food: 44 man/weeks
- Water: 5000 gallons
- 22 tons of sugar, 5 tons of cocoa, 5 tons of cotton
- The Dragon’s Saber (Large Galley)
- Hit Points: 120/120 hardness 10
- Crew (160)/Passengers: 0/0
- Cargo: 108 of 375 tons
- Food: 1400 man/weeks (10 tons)
- Water: 6000 (24 tons)
- Passengers: none
- 600 oak crates containing tanned animal skins: 50 tons
- 118 60-gallon barrels of raw sugar: 24 tons
* See Ship Cargo for figuring cargo needed for goods and people