Return to Oddwater
Under the cover of a moonless night and a Fog spell, Solarr
silently slides up against Grogon, the prize ship the PCs have left
anchored at the fishing village of Oddwater. Blades drawn, the fearsome pirates
of the Feathered Cockerels board Grogon, expecting the worse…
But all is well.
Local guards watch over the prize ship, and
villagers gather on the beach to drink and sing around bonfires. The PCs row
ashore and greet Buckethead and Nigel, the new Town Elder.
“I’ve got a present for you lot,” Nigel announces.
He guides the pirates inside the main lodge, where Master
Zuno is tied up in a closet. Zuno stumbled out of the jungle a few days ago
after escaping the destruction of Skag Harbor, and Nigel recognized him as
someone the Cockerels didn’t care for. “So Buckethead bonked him on the ‘ead
and we tied ‘im up.”
Unctuous as always, Zuno pretends to be happy to see the
PCs. He can see how they’d be upset with him, but reminds them that he’s a
well-connected member of the Merchants’ Guild who knows lots of useful
information. For instance, Zuno says that he knows how to find the Crucible of
Heroes, an artifact that creates magic weapons. Under the full moon’s light in
Shrine Alley in Port Sapphire, the shrine of the Gorgohydron will reveal the
location of the Crucible. They grudgingly decide not to kill Zuno, and throw
him in Solarr’s hold, surrounded by chained zombies.
They give the citizens of Oddwater one Plunder point worth of
supplies and set sail for Port Sapphire – but not before Cake consummates his
marriage with the village girl Sheila.
Eww.
Sailing to Port Sapphire
En route to the regional capital of Port Sapphire, Cake and
Teach compare necromancy notes and speculate about the practicality of a 90%
undead crew. Cake casts Speak with Dead on the corpse of Stella the
Harbormaster, who shares some juicy deets about Port Sapphire: “At the Silver
Palace Inn they hide Obari Orbs in plain sight,” whispers the dead woman.
Inspired by Cake’s example, Teach removes the flesh from a
dead body by submerging a corpse in a leather sack full of crabs. In a
sulfurous, satanic ritual he makes his very first skeletal minion, and puts a
robe on it!
Their VIP guest Lucius Haelstrom recommends that they
contact Guildmaster Bremolo, who is the #2 guildmaster behind High Master
Markovian. He pens a letter of recommendation for the Merchants’ Guild. Between
this letter and the deed to Haelstroms’ townhouse in Port Sapphire, the PCs
have the keys to the town.
Solarr passes a trio of beautiful mermaid triplets,
sunning themselves on a reef. The foxy mermaids serenade the crew with a
haunting song. Teach grabs his instrument and returns the melody – rolling a
29. He swims over and totally has sex with one or all of them.
[The DM would like to clarify that there was absolutely zero mermaid-sex roleplaying.]
Sapphire Surprise
Port Sapphire is the largest town in the Obari Reach, a
regional capital run by a Korynthian governor and the Merchants’ Guild. Built
on a jungle hillside overlooking a crescent bay, Port Sapphire is a bustling
hotbed of commerce, culture, and skullduggery. The town itself is broken into
different districts with their own unique character.
After they tie Solarr off on a bustling pier, the PCs
let Manny handle the unloading of cargo, payment of customs, and the
installation of the Radiskull figurehead.
Lucius Haelstrom and his mute manservant Mantagar depart the
ship with warm thanks for not murdering them, and the pair disappear into the
crowds on the Grand Wharf. Chaser sends his familiar to follow Lucius and
Manatagar but within minutes it dies, which piques their suspicion. They locate
the Haelstrom townhouse in the villa district and knock on the door. Mantagar
himself opens the door and stares at them with polite confusion.
“May I help you?” the formerly mute Mantagar says.
W.T.F.
After being invited inside, Widow Marta Haelstrom explains
that her husband Lucius has been missing and presumed dead for 2 years – about
the same time somebody broke into the house safe and stole important documents.
She believes that somebody is impersonating her dead husband and wants the PCs
to investigate and return the deed. She also pays them 1200 gp for the Registry
of Port Sapphire that they recovered from Harbormaster.
Marta tells them about the Silver Palace – a casino and
brothel with 3 Obari Orbs hanging in the lobby disguised as driftglobes.
Security is tight and stealing the Orbs is almost impossible, but it could be
done by skilled and resourceful thieves.
The full moon strikes the statue of the beast and projects a
map location of the Crucible on the opposite wall.
The hooded woman tries to kiss Cake, but Chaser interrupts
her, and she snarls with anger… A medusa! She tries to escape, but they
knock her out and take her back to the ship.
“What an eventful town!” Chaser declares.