The Fall of the Ravenhand Pirates (Concluded)
The Fall of Captain Trem Phoenixwinds
The Ravenhand Pirates fell upon hard times when they got caught by a violent storm when returning to their base on Ebonmaw Isles. They got scuttled about 15 miles north of Ebonwich and the surviving members abandoned ship and took shelter inside a nearby structure, that turned out to be an abandoned Tor. Inside the battered and tired crew had to fend off various attackers both mystical and mundane to survive the night. A notable one talked about was what appeared to be a flying skull with a terrifying shriek that could paralyze those who heard it. While victims were paralyzed it killed one and gave what appeared to be a "kiss" to several others, including Captain Trem Phoenixwinds. Over the next day, all those inflicted with the Unknown Magical Effect - Ravenhand Pirates died but Captain Trem Phoenixwinds while the remaining crew patched the ship up and got back to Ebonwich.The Rise of Captain Eldon
At this point the crew had lost 8 members of 23, including the quartermaster, shipwright, ship's wizard, and ship's cook. Knowing what happened to the rest of those with the ailment, the First Mate Dyson decided that they needed to take Captain Trem Phoenixwinds to the hag Sephira "Crab Sucker" Salthook that makes her home near Ebonwich in order to try and save her life. The Second Mate, Captain Eldon, went with Dyson to help, but was the only one to return. Captain Eldon said the hag agreed to treat the Captain, but required the creature that gave the "kiss" be captured and brought to her alive. He has said that the hag killed Dyson, but has been somewhat elusive as to exactly why or how. Captain Eldon took charge of the situation, taking the ship and most of the crew with him to repair the ship and try to get some money together to hire a priest to heal Captain Trem Phoenixwinds. Houlac Onyxbeard was left at Ebonwich with 3 survivors that were too weak to survive ship travel as he was deemed as the one most qualified to care for them and keep them alive. The Ravenhand Pirates arrived in Rivertide on the day of the Elven/Human Conflict Instigation. When it became apparent the town was under attack, they began to take advantage of the situation by taking any goods they could easily move onto the Winddrift and also fleeing citizens that requested help, much to the crew's surprise. That night Captain Eldon bullied his crew into taking the refugees as prisoners to the Sennid Kingdom and sell them into slavery. Malach overheard the dispute and then confronted Griffin "Tower", who was prominently against the decision to become slavers, and Whitby and was able to galvanize their dissent against Captain Eldon. Malach, Griffin "Tower", the crew, and the refugees made it clear they were going to overthrow Captain Eldon, but he managed to placate the crew by agreeing to drop it and explained that they needed the money to save Captain Trem Phoenixwinds. Malach, seeing that the crew was going to allow him to remain in power, pivoted the situation and offered to help them save Captain Trem.The Phoenix Rises Again
Over the next several days @Malach takes several steps to stifle Captain Eldon's power and work on restoring Captain Trem Phoenixwinds. He met with Sephira "Crab Sucker" Salthook to confirm the conditions on healing Trem, as Eldon had been aloof about the details. He then made allies amongst the rest of the crew, notably with Houlac Onyxbeard, then secured their support in his assault on the Tor at High Tower. He managed to retrieve the vargouille and payment at personal cost and then brought them to Sephira for negotiations. After being healed, Trem discovered Eldon's treachery and killed him, then informed Wendell, who had supported him, that when they returned to port that he'd be leaving the crew. Captain Trem Phoenixwinds thanks Malach, then asks him to join her crew and offers to take care of his family. The Ravenhand Pirates return to Rimeshore to fix the Winddrift and to settle in the refugees (Session 5: The Refugee and Ravenhand Company Recover Report).
Subplots
