The Vampirates

Enroute to the rendezvous with Topolah's contact, Commodore Krux spies a bunch of wreckage ahead of the Moon Dancer. Using his spyglass to get a better look at the situation, Krux immediately exclaims "to arms, to arms" as he puts his spyglass away and readies his musket. It turns out that amidst the wreckage, a potentially hostile ship was spotted. To complicate the matter, a bizarre storm appeared just away from the wreckage. As the Moon Dancer neared the wreckage to investigate, the ship was boarded by two humanoid creatures. Krux immediately identified them as Vampirates, apparently an arch enemy of his and he prepared to engage in combat. Topolah quicky defused the situation and informed the party that her contact is named Gargenhale, is the leader of this Vampirate fleet and also happens to be her ex. She engages in conversation with the Vampirates and they agree to not harm any of the Moon Dancer's crew. They inform the party that much of the wreckage is their fleet mixed in with a few destroyed Xaryxian Empire ships. The divulge that Gargenhale's ship is hiding in the storm to elude the Empire's ships. Krux only agrees to tolerate the Vampirates if they agree to be tied to the mast, ensuring they are unable to inflict any harm upon the Moon Dancer's crew. Being in no situation to bargain, they agree and the Moon Dancer heads into the storm to search for Gargenhale's ship.
 
It isn't long before the Moon Dancer encounter's Gargenhale's ship. The Vampirate captain hails the Moon Dancer and requests to come aboard to parley. Harry grants permission and the Vampirate captain introduces himself to the party as Topolah greets him with some sweet talk, in an attempt to set the stage for a favorable negotiation. Gargenhale explains that the Xaryxian Empire has been a thorn in his side for a very long time and is quite thrilled at the prospect of adding the Moon Dancer and its crew to his fleet. Thomas, knowing full well that Harry is not going to voluntarily serve under the leadership of the Vampirate captain, begins to negotiate their relationship. Thomas, being a somewhat skilled negotiator, manages to get Gargenhale to divulge more information about himself than was in his best interest, which reinforced Thomas' position. Thomas insisted that the Vampirates and the Moon Dancer work together against the Empire, but the Moon Dancer remains under Harry's command as an independent ship. Gargenhale reluctantly agrees to this but requests that the Moon Dancer plays along with the ruse that they are under Gargenhale's command to help with Vampirate morale. Believing that Gargenhale as an ally is more important than flexing their independence, the party and Harry agree to play along. Gargenhale, overjoyed that he now has allies against the Empire, announces that he is going to retrieve a special bottle of rum from his ship to toast their new alliance.
 
It's at this moment, several of the party members observe Gargenhale's ship sailing away from the Moon Dancer. Inquiring with the Vampirate captain as to whether that was appropriate or not, Gargenhale exclaims that this was not supposed to happen. Just a few moments after the ship sailed away, Commodore Krux goes pale as his eyes glaze over. As he begins to speak, the voice is significant different than how it normally sounded. The words coming from his mouth were also clearly not his own. Krux was being possessed by the spirit of one of Gargenhale's crew mates. The spirit exclaimed that he and the rest of the crew were retiring from their service to Vampirate captain. A full fledged mutiny was under way and at such an inopportune time.
 
Gargenhale, being desperate to reclaim his ship, managed to convince the party and Captain Harry to pursue his ship. Utilizing some magic, Gargenhale is able to render the Moon Dancer invisible, allowing a stealthy approach to his ship. Gargenhale informs the party and crew that there is a large amount of gun powder and alchemist fire in the hold of his ship, so firing against it is probably not a good idea if his ship is to be used against the empire. He also states that he has a special weapon, in the form of a person being held in the brig of the galley. Even if they are unable to retake his ship, it is imperative that this person be safely recovered. As the Moon Dancer closes in on Gargenhale's ship, the plan is formed for the party to join Gargenhale and board his ship to try and retake it. Gargenhale reveals that the ship is crewed by nine vampires, two ogres and a ghost. The ghost is the creature that managed to possess Commodore Krux and will completely nullify all of Thomas' stealth skills as it can easily detect a living being if when well hidden. Once the two ships are within 50 feet of each other, the boarding party makes a leap from the Moon Dancer towards Gargenhale's flagship.