Session 13 - Ahoy, Me Hearties!
General Summary
When last we left our heroes...
The party was on their way to The Siren's Call merchant fleet offices, but not before Trickles bought everyone some super cheap tricorn tourist hats. Properly outfitted in matching sailor-y headgear, the team walked through the door of the Siren's Call and were quickly escorted into Athene Whitroar's office. Athene greeted the adventurers warmly as introductions were made and the matriarch of Siren's Call caught up with those who already knew her. Once everyone was settled, Athene closed the door and started to explain the business she had available for them. "I want you to hunt down some pirates, and bring them back to Runswick for justice." Athene explained that in the past three months, over 20 Siren's Call ships had been hijacked by pirates - that's over 25% of the business, but more importantly, hundreds of crew members (who Athene considers family) who have been murdered by the pirates. Out of all the ships attacked, the only survivor was Carter, a young cabin boy who just happened to be in the galley when the ship was attacked and managed to hide. He was found on a lifeboat barely alive several days later. According to Carter, an unidentified ship was spotted by the crew of his ship. But before an alarm could even be sounded, about a dozen caped and hooded men just appeared on deck. They killed the crew, loaded the cargo on rowboats, and rowed away, leaving the ship to rot at sea. In her investigations into the situation, Athene had also heard rumors that the band of pirates were being led by a Gnomish pirate known as Haklack, and operated out of a mysterious tower in the middle of the ocean. Athene asked the band of adventurers to sail out and try to locate the Tower of Haklack, stop the pirate threat, and bring Haklack back to Runswick for justice. After a few questions and clarifications, the group jumped at Athene's offer and got ready to hit the high seas! Glitz did mention that she thought it was odd that Haklack was reportedly behind this, as she knew the gnome and felt it was out of character. "There's something going on here," she remarked. After a brief stop to pick up supplies in Runswick (and let Glitz bedazzle just about everything including the Lute of Chaos), the adventurers returned to the docks to board The Moon Shadow, their new galleon provided by Athene. They met the crew of the ship, including the captain, Thaddeus Rizzo, the First Mate Gustav "Gonzo" Gonzolian, and Quartermaster Kermit O'Connor. As Captain Rizzo welcomed them aboard, Flaar cast Mage Armor on himself, which unfortunately caused Arindorf to bear out! Rizzo was taken aback for a bit, but eventually came around with a bunch of persuading from the other members of the party. As the crew got ready to depart, Flaar cast the ritual spell that would allow them to find the Tower of Haklack. With a blinding flash, the black pearl he was using for the spell emitted a black beam of light all around, then focused and pointed in a particular direction out to sea. The crew got to work following the guiding beam, and before the party knew it they were heading on a beeline in that direction, picking up speed as they made their way towards the blue horizon.On The Journey...
The first two days of their voyage were fairly uneventful. Flaar worked on his spells below decks. Trickles learned how to tie sailor knots from Gonzo and practiced Hook Shotting from crow's nest to crow's nest. Slappa spent his time in the mess hall, playing songs for the crew and practicing his bardic skills while Glitz sang along. Marcel took a night watch in a crow's nest and spent the time communing with Selûne. Arindorf stayed mostly at the helm, oiling his new heavy crossbow. In a quiet moment, Glitz approached Captain Rizzo and asked him about the pirate situation. "What do you know about Haklack?" she inquired. "That bastard!" Rizzo spat. "I don't know a whole lot, just what Athene has told me. Possibly gnomish wizard, been terrorizing the seas for the last two years. When we find him, we'll bring him to justice. To be honest, Glitz? I kind of want revenge. A lot of my friends - good friends, people I consider family even - are dead. I know Athene keeps telling us 'justice before revenge,' but, well - hard to think like that when your family's been murdered." Then, on the third day of their journey, just around noon, Marcel and Arindorf, the only two members of the party on deck, noticed an unidentified ship on the horizon. Rizzo yelled for the crew to move, but before he could even finish his order, four humanoid beings, all in black, cloaked and hooded, appeared on the deck of the ship. A desperate battle ensued as the crew of the Moon Shadow rushed to get below deck and bar the door as per their orders, while Marcel and Arindorf stayed behind to fight the unknown menace. Gonzo and the crewmembers ran belowdecks. The mess hall doors burst open and Glitz, Slappa, Flaar, and Trickles all heard them yelling "We're under attack, we're under attack! Lock the doors!" The other party members rushed upstairs to join Marcel and Arindorf in battle. Rizzo, just ahead of them, drew his scimitar and leapt into battle. "To hell with what Athene wants, I fight with you!" The sounds of struggle filled the air as team Vomit and Blood leapt into action. Marcel wielded magical surfboard and mace frantically, hearing loud "clangs" every time they connected with one of the figures. Arindorf ended up having to abandon his crossbow and leap out of the way of the cloaked figures, but came back swinging with his shortsword to devastate the creatures. Glitz leapt around the ship, sneaking and stabbing from every angle she could find. Slappa played the Lute of Chaos, activating wild magical effects left and right. Flaar first used his faithful Chill Touch spell on the adversaries, then quickly realized the necrotic damage of the spell didn't appear to be doing anything. As the hooded creatures began to take hits, their black cloaks began to tear away, revealing some sort of empty animated plate armor underneath. But with two longswords each, they were dealing serious damage across the battlefield. One hit Marcel hard, hurting the cleric badly as he screamed out in pain. Trickles rushed up to his friend, attacking the black-clad figure who had been engaged with Marcel. It collapsed in a clanging heap of cloth and metal on the top aft deck. At that moment, the door to the mess hall flew open, startling Flaar. Out burst Gonzo with his giant two-handed scimitar. He yelled, "All the crew is secured! I stand with my captain and my crew!" The eight defenders of The Moon Shadow leapt into action, working tightly together as a well-formed team. After downing a couple of healing potions with help from Trickles, Marcel threw a Healing Word spell to Glitz as she was looking pretty bloodied. Gonzo took a stand beside Glitz, engaging the figure currently bent on destroying her. Slappa sent some Bardic Inspiration Arindorf's way with a cheery "You can do it!" Rizzo actually managed to get a hit in on one of the figures and did some decent damage! "Take this," he yelled. "You won't beat my new friends!" Flaar sent a magical spray of acid to the figure in front of him. The black cloth surrounding it burned away, revealing some sort of giant metal automaton with glowing eyes. "Well, that checks out with what I know about old Haklack," Glitz said.Athene's Offer:
- 100gp each to shop for supplies
- reimbursement of weapons and armor already purchased
- a galleon provided for the party's use, her fastest ship, The Moon Shadow, along with a crew and stock for the journey
- 3,000gp for stopping the pirates
- a bonus of 2,500gp for bringing Haklack back to Runswick alive for trial
- Potential to come on The Siren's Call payroll with Athene acting as the group's patron, with more missions and rewards to come.
Characters Interacted with:
Athene Whitroar
Thaddeus Rizzo
Gustav "Gonzo" Gonzolian
Athene Whitroar
Thaddeus Rizzo
Gustav "Gonzo" Gonzolian