50 Fathoms Maiden Voyage/Tressa the Red - Session five - A night at the theatre

50 Fathoms

Session 5 Maiden Voyage/Tressa the Red

The Party:

Urghh - Half Ugak Bloodthirsty Sailor - Aaron

Flynt - Delusional Human Merchant - Charlie

Obadiah Merle - Squanderous Human Rifleman - Garry

Kuthelaquin - Kraken Water Mage - Rob

After graciously accepting the invitation to the theatre by Edward Lazonby, the crew decked out in their finery made their way to the Baltimus Shakespear Company for the performance of The Merchant Of Venice.  They were met by Reginald Davenport, or Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeginald Daaaaavenport! as he introduced himself as, Caribdus' self proclaimed leading thespian.  Escorted to the front of the house, they were greeted by Lazonby who had arranged for a feast of luxurious wines and foods while they enjoyed the play.  

Merle immediately set about the wines and was well on his way to being intoxicated by the second act of the play, the rest of the party made small talk with Lazonby and drank at a more sedate pace.  Seated behind the Governor and his guests were another 40 or so assorted rich and important captains and merchants all trying to get the Governor's favour.  

During the interval between acts 2 and 3, waiters appeared to chivy away the wreckage of the food and drink on the small tables before the party, Kuthelaquin noticed alone, that under one of their napkins the barrel of a small pistol was concealed.  After trying to get the Governor's attention and failing, Merle spluttered loudly "More Wine!"  and the Keiran extremist assassins, disguised as theatre staff attacked.

After discharging their pistols and missing miserably, the assassins moved into close combat.  Only Flynt and Merle had swords, being allowed to wear them as part of their dress uniforms, Urghh and Kuthelaquin had daggers.  Urghh engaged the assassin making directly towards the Governor in hand to hand combat while the others drew their swords and attacked, Merle drunkenly pulled his flintlock sidearm and casually blew the brains out of a shrieking assassin.  One of the killers managed to severely injure Kuthelaquin, stabbing his dagger deep into his side, he collapsed to the floor bleeding profusely.  Flynt managed to hold his own against the professional killers, running one through and incapacitating another.  Merle downed another and Urghh was unable to best his combatant in hand to hand.  Eventually, the assassins were dispatched, with one left alive despite Urghh moving immediately to crush their skull.  After some intimidation, including Merle drunkenly threatening to burn them with brandy, the assassin confessed they were Keiran extremists trying to destabilise the peace between The British East India Company and the Kieran empire.  Governor Lazonby ordered the man taken off to Baltimus prison.  Kuthelaquin used his water magic to heal the injured, including himself.

The Governor rewarded the party with 3000 pieces of eight and a relic from his own personal stockpile, an enchanted warhammer that Urghh immediately claimed as his own.  Importantly, he also offered them a 25% discount on goods bought in Baltimus.

After this, the play was abandoned, and the party left to their own devices. In the following days, Flynt was able to get his super's tattoo with the bureaucratic intervention of the Governor, and buy goods to trade to Lanos.  

The crew set sail for Lanos, and almost immediately came across the wreckage of a frigate with a sole survivor clinging to a section of the hull, they threw him a line and the crotchety scurillion was helped on board.  After grudgingly thanking the group (in a bizarre Mancunian accent, looks like scurillions are all Northerners and working class) he introduced himself as Equias, a retired super for the Spanish guild.  He told them that during his retirement he had been travelling all over Caribdus taking depth measurements and had come to the conclusion that the seas were still rising and the free towns would be gone in three years, all land masses would be submerged within ten years unless something was done about it.  He suggested going to see Tressa the Red, the archmage for her advice.  The Teeth, where Tressa lived, is on the southern edge of the savage lands, a long and perilous journey.  The party decided to seek her out and try to find a way to stop the waters rising.  They agreed to stock the ship, head to Bluth's Crown, then head along the southern shore of the savage lands towards The Teeth.  

Resuming their journey to Lanos, they docked the ship and were able to sell their goods and buy gunpowder to sell at Baltimus.  On the return voyage, while Urghh was on watch, the hull of the ship impacted against something which scraped along the keel.  Ordering the ship to stop, he investigated and looked over the side, to see what appeared to be a tiled roof and chimney stack just below the water level, the ship had scraped along the highest chimney pot.  Realising it was a sunken ruin of a manor house, he informed the rest of the crew.  Kuthelaquin took to the water and investigated the ruin.   After a search, he found in the once opulent manor at the top of the seaweed encrusted grand staircase, a suit of chain mail armour on a wooden stand.  Taking this and returning to the ship, it was given to Urghh.

Returning to Baltimus and making a tidy profit from the sale of the gunpowder, the crew decided the they needed a presence in Baltimus, so went about renting a small dockfront warehouse under the name of the B&R Trading company.  Trusted crew was sent ashore to manage their interests, and extra cannon were taken off the ship and stored there.  The skiff, the Rosebud, was given to the warehouse staff so they could do small amounts of trading in their absence.  After restocking the Binkley and allowing the crew to carouse, Merle explained their intentions to the crew, and they set sail for the savage lands.

Heading South, several days of good weather and good boating rolls later, the crew came across swarms of razorwing which they avoided with Kuthelaquin's magic, until they eventually came across a heavily damaged frigate, The Conquistador.  Boarding the sticken ship, they found a single survivor, the heavily mutilated ship's cook Jim Black, after being revived by Kuthelaquin, he told them a harrowing tale of how the ship he was on was attacked by pirates who tortured and butchered the crew.  Flynt realised from his description that the pirate Captain was Edward Low, the same man they had rescued from the seas and taken to Lanos.  

After putting a skeleton crew aboard the Conquistador, the two ships made for Bristo.  Upon reaching the small fishing town, they met with Thomas Crane, the unofficial leader of the small community.  For a small gratuity, they arranged for him to take care of Black and to contact the owners of the Conquistador. 

Resuming their journey South, a few days later a galleon appeared on the horizon and made sail to engage them.  The Galleon was flying the skull and crossbones and Merle identified it as the Mad Dog, the same ship that attacked the Conquistador.  Realising they were outgunned and outmanned, the Binkey wheeled away from the attacker and made sail to escape.  The chase ranged for 16 hours before the party were able to out maneuver the pirates and escape.  

Finally reaching Bluth's Crown, the ship weighed anchor and Kuthelaquin went ashore, being a mage he had been there before and knew some of the elementalists there.  As he made his way towards the 4 towers, he was approached by a young earth mage, Pars Portri.  Pars and Kuthelaquin were old friends who had studied together, and Pars asked for his help.  The monolith stones, each dedicated to an element have been developing cracks in them, possibly from over use and they needed ingredients for a ritual to repair them.  They need to retrieve four items for him: a gallon of water from the heart of the Flotsam Sea, a pound of lava gathered from the great volcano of Torath-Ka, a pound of gold from the Kehana Flumes, and a bottle containing air from the highest peak of the Coaker Mountains.  For a reward of 6000 pieces of eight and 8 magical potions, they agreed to help.  

Returning to the ship and informing the crew, they decided to ask the mages for some food to replenish their stores, and also if there was an air mage who was willing to join the crew to speed their journey.  After an inspiring recruitment speech from Flynt, Ivana Brunehilde, a Prussian Earther mage was convinced to join the crew.  Her use of the Zephyr spell would help them travel further faster.

Heading East along the southern edge of the savage lands, the crew decided to make landfall near the enormous volcano that was visible from the seas, and try to gather a component for the mage's ritual.  Provisioning themselves for the 45 mile journey into the interior, the party made their way into the steaming dense jungles of the savage lands.  The first day passed without incident, and by using their survival skills they were able to find a body of fresh water for Kuthelaquin to rest in.  The second day of travel was gruelling, with the temperature soaring and Urghh being affected by the searing heat.  Making camp at the foot of the incline to the volcano, as the kraken mage was resting in a shallow pool of water, 6 yellowback raptors burst into the small clearing and leapt into combat.  4 of them swarmed Flynt, the other two attacked Urghh and Kuthelaquin.  After a brutal and short melee, Flynt was slightly wounded, and the crew had enough fresh meat to feast on to replenish their strength for the final day's trek to the heart of the volcano.

50 Fathoms Maiden Voyage - Session four- Board 'em!

50 Fathoms

Session 4 Maiden Voyage

The Party:

Urghh - Half Ugak Bloodthirsty Sailor - Aaron

Flynt - Delusional Human Merchant - Charlie

Obadiah Merle - Squanderous Human Rifleman - Garry

Kuthelaquin - Kraken Water Mage - Rob

After negotiating to get the ship repaired in Baltimus dry dock, the crew were released on shore to carouse while the group headed to The Severed Head Inn to discuss what to do next, and after a somewhat long winded conversation about trade and profit margins, the overly loud players were approached by a shifty looking scalywag called Robinson.  The grungy sailor had a business offer for the group, 10000 pieces of eight to transfer a cargo of "blackbirds" to Jomba town.  Quickly reading between the lines, and realising he was a slaver,  Urghh's response was "I have no problem with this."  Somewhat appalled, the rest of the crew were against the idea, especially Merle who was very vocal about why they wouldn't be accepting, and Robinson left the table to make his offer to a nearby crew of merchants.  

Merle took the party aside and revealed his plan, by digging into their own pockets and some nimble persuasion they could get their letter of marque from the great harbour council, they could refloat the ship and capture the merchants who had agreed to take Robinson's offer.  They knew where they were going and it would be easy enough to intercept them.  The party agreed, with Kuthelaquin, Merle and Flynt heading to get their letters, while Urghh would shadow the merchants and gather information.  

The following day, Urghh started his surveillance and the rest of the party headed to the harbour council hall.  After waiting for some time, they were eventually ushered into the office of Paikus Pathe, the current great harbour master.  After some haggling the disolute and clearly drunk Masaquani offered them letters of marque for 16,100 pieces of eight.  After some veiled threats and name dropping he backed down and offered them the letters of marque for the original price.  

Urghh's spying lead him to an old shack on the edge of town where Robinson lead the merchant crew, inside were 20 men and women in shackles.  He reported this back to the party and they decided he should follow them the next day in case they left for sea.  
Disaster struck the following morning when Urghh managed to follow the merchants to the shack, the ragged chained slaves were being transported undercover by skiff to a galleon lying at anchor in the harbour.  Realising that their ship was still a day and a half from being sea worthy, the party rushed to the dry dock and bribed the dock supervisor to try to get his men to complete the repairs as soon as possible.  Merle headed into town to round up the crew as the ship was refloated, and they boarded as quick as they could, and left in pursuit of the slavers, a scant 5 hours later.  

The galleon was sighted a day of out port, the older and slightly more cumbersome ship was easily overtaken by the Binkley.  The ship was identified as The Red Reaper.  Deciding to attack under cover of darkness, the crew shadowed the galleon, and immediately attempted to board her as night fell.   With some amazing boating rolls, Urghh managed to maneuver the ship into close range and all hands launched grappling hooks at the enemy ship.  

Drawing close, there were 20 pirates on the enemy ship's deck waiting for the attacking crew, Flynt took half a dozen crew from the Binkley and ordered the boarding action, with 2 - 1 odds, this was going to be a fight to the death.  

As the two ships crunched together, Urghh attempted to swing from the rigging and engage the enemy captain in combat on the quarterdeck.  A critical fail on the agility roll however, saw Urghh mistime his acrobatic feat, and smack into the side of the ship with a grisly thud.   He then slid down the side of the hull and fell into the water between the two combating vessels.  

From his sniping position in the rigging, Merle tried to shoot the captain down and missed, then swung down and joined the boarding party.  

The battle royal kicked off with the defending pirates shooting the attackers with pistols then moving to close combat with their cutlasses.  Kuthelauquin killed two off the pirates with water bolts then drew his bone sword and started dispatching them gorily.  With scientific precision, Merle used his pistols and musket to whittle down the attackers before drawing his sword and attacking.  Meanwhile, the soaking wet and angry Urghh climbed the side off the ship, vaulted over the gunwhale and launched himself at the captain.  Flynt was directing the attacking crew of the Binkley and taking pot shots at the pirates.  

Urghh was shaken by the captain, failed his smarts roll and immediately frenzied, butchering the captain and the nearby crewmate with his great axe.

After a long and bloody battle, where Flynt and Kuthelaquin were both wounded, the pirates were destroyed, with only one of the crew of the Binkley suffering a wound.  

The decks literally awash with blood and gore, the crew of the Binkley stood victorious, and claimed the ship for themselves.  After freeing the slaves who readily agreed to join them, they sailed both ships back to Baltimus to claim their prize money.  
As news of their heroism spread through town, people flocked to the dockside to see the valiant heroes and cheered them as they made their way back to the Great Harbour Council Hall to claim their prize.  After some more haggling with Pathe, a bounty of 31,000 pieces of eight was agreed on, and the battered and bloody crew immediately went shopping, with Merle giving a bonus of 200 pieces of eight each to the original crew of the Binkley.  

As they were about to leave the council hall, they were approached by the personal secretary of Edward Lazenby, Percy Bartlet.  He handed them a wax sealed envelope with courtly grace, which had the personal seal of Lazenby himself.  After hearing of their heroism and speaking to Admiral Duckworth, Lazenby had invited them all to a performance of The Merchant Of Venice at the Baltimus Shakespear Company, formal dress mandatory.  

Flush with cash, the party headed to Mid Town to outfit themselves in finery for a night at the theatre.

50 Fathoms Maiden Voyage - Session three - Swimming with sharks

50 Fathoms

Session 3 Maiden Voyage

The Party:

Urghh - Half Ugak Bloodthirsty sailor - Aaron

Flynt - Delusional Human merchant - Charlie

Obadiah Merle - Squanderous Human Rifleman - Garry

Kuthelaquin - Kraken water mage - Rob


After gaining the environmental protection spell from ghost captain Iago, the crew dived overboard and swam down to the wreck of The Black Prince.  Heading towards the shattered stern of the ship, Merle noticed that they were being flanked by a trio of enormous man eater sharks, the crew stood their ground and were able to dispatch the bloodthirsty creatures quickly with some dashing underwater sword play.  

Swimming to the wreck, they were able to enter the hold and discovered that their were 30 skeletal remains of slaves shackled to the walls of the ship, The Black Prince was obviously a slaver.  Merle noticed that one of the grisly remains was over 7 foot tall, and massively built.  Moving on to the Captain's cabin, the crew discovered the rotting remains of the crew and the Iago's tarred sea chest still bolted to the decking of the cabin.  Urghh moved to rip the chest off the deck and as soon as lifted it, the crew re-animated and attacked the party mercilessly.  Again, without suffering a single wound, the crew were able to destroy the undead sailors and return to The Binkley to speak to Iago.

After revealing they had indeed recovered the locket, Iago pleaded with them to give him the trinket so he could go onto his final rest.  Kuthelaquin was particularly against this idea, arguing that the captain should suffer for the torment he inflicted on the slaves he killed on his voyage.   Eventually the party decided to give him the locket and allow him to rest in peace.  

After bringing the ship about, the crew again continued on their voyage to Lanos.  After three more days at sea, Merle, who was on watch, sighted a sail on the horizon, determining it to be a heavily laden merchant ship.  The ship immediately piled on sail and made a run for it away from The Binkley.  After some discussion to agree that the crew were definitely NOT pirates, they allowed the merchant to sail away and left them in peace.  

Sighting a small dinghy in the middle of open water, Captain Flynt ordered the crew to investigate and were able to rescue the dehydrated and unconscious single occupant. Kuthelaquin restored him to health with his water magic, and the sailor revealed he was James Low, an Earther sailor who was on the merchant ship the Trinidad when it was taken by pirates. He was set adrift by the cruel captain and left to die.  The small ship drifted into a fog bank and he found himself in Caribdus.  After some culture shock, Low asked the captain to take him to the nearest port.

Two days out from Lanos, another sail was sighted, this time a privateer heading on an intercept course with The Binkley.  Realising that the ship was possibly still known for being a pirate brig, the crew decided to try to flee, with Urghh piloting the ship on a course to outrun the privateer.  After a tense 24 hour chase, The damaged Binkley managed to evade the following ship and make for Lanos.

Making port at Lanos, Captain Flynt allowed the crew to leave the ship and carouse, with the rest of the party following them.  With the only inn on Lanos being The Bawdy Maiden, the crew headed there for some restorative rum, and to try to find a merchant contact to buy food supplies to trade.  After a briefly humourous argument with a constable outside the inn, Urghh was relieved of his harpoon and allowed entry.  

After a night of relatively sedate carousing, Captain Flynt and Merle made contact with a Masaquani merchant called Roge Rez, who happily agreed to supply them with a single cargo space of rice and rice wine for trade.  

Their negotiations were interrupted by constable Turner, who offered them employment as deputies.  Farmers had been disappearing without a trace from paddy fields outside the town and the local watch were stretched too thinly to investigate properly, Governor Thornsby offered a reward to any parties that were able to solve the mystery.  

Readily accepting, the crew returned to The Binkley and organised the loading of the food cargo, and decided to take the skiff Rosebud.  Low, their passenger, had left the ship at this point and made his way into town.  

After rowing their way to the paddy fields where the farmers went missing, a quick investigation revealed that there were signs of a scuffle and some cloth strands on the nearby bushes.  With no clear motive or idea where the farmers went, the crew decided to stake out the paddy and hid in a copse of trees and disguised the skiff with branches and foliage.  

After a surveillance of about 10 hours, Merle noticed a trio of farmers heading away from the paddy fields towards a low island sheltered in a strand of trees.  Kuthelaquin decided to follow them by submerging in the muddy waters of the paddy and stealthily following them underwater.  He followed them to the island and realised that they were growing a small crop of opium, and had probably killed the farmers because they had come across the poppy fields.  Turning to swim back to the rest of the crew, Kuthelaquin swan straight into the submerged rotting corpses of the missing farmers.  Taking one of them as proof, he returned to the rest of the party and informed them of what he had found.  

The party decided that they should inform the constable and returned to town, after offering to increase their pay to assist in the arrest, Taylor and the group returned to the opium field and set up an ambush for the smugglers.  Unfortunately, as they returned, the opium farmers realised that their farm had been discovered and the crew lost the element of surprise, and a melee erupted.  

After quickly dispatching half the smugglers, the rest surrendered and were taken into custody by the constable.  With his gratitude the party received their pay and made their way back to the ship to set sail for Baltimus.

A few days out from Baltimus, Merle on watch noticed an enormous man of war bearing down on them, the HMS Justice, Admiral Duckworth's flagship.  Realising that they were massively outgunned and outmanned, the Captain ordered the crew to stand down and let the Admiral and 20 marines board the ship.  After a swift interrogation, Flynt managed to persuade the Admiral that they had taken the ship legally from pirates, and the captain of the Moon Runner could verify their story.  Duckworth was mightily impressed with their tale, (Charlie rolled 23 on his persuasion roll) and allowed them to continue on their way, suggesting they buy letters of marque to legitimise their claim.  

After heading back on course towards Baltimus, the crew sighted a merchant convoy escorted by two galleons and were allowed to join the convoy after signalling the lead ship, and sailed in safety to their destination Baltimus, home of the British East India Company.

Trading Rules for 50 Fathoms

Trading rules:

1) Find out how much of each type of "Trade Goods" are available in the port you're in using the Master Trading Table.

2) Buy "Trade Goods" at the prices listed on the Master Trading Table (or at 75% of those prices with the Merchant Edge)

3) Pay 10% of the Overall Cost in "Stamp Duty" (or 20% of the overall cost in Keira)

4) Travel to Destination

5) Roll using the Master Trading Table to find out how much of each good can be sold at this location.

6) Sell "Trade Goods" at the prices for the new location on the Master Trading Table (or at 125% of that price, with the Master Merchant Edge)

A Successful Streetwise roll must be made to buy the "Trade Goods" Illicitly anywhere that is not a pirate port. A success finds one unit of each trade good available 'under the counter' - each raise can be applied to find one more cargo space worth of that good. (Though no more will be found than is available 'legally' in the same port, as rolled for in step 1 above)

To find goods that DO have a Stamp in a Pirate Port, the same applies.

No "Stamp Duty" is paid, but the goods can only be sold at a "Pirate" port (in Italics on the Master Trading Table) unless a Streetwise roll is made, where a success allows one unit to be sold, and each raise adds another unit that can be sold up to the total that the port is willing to buy (as rolled for in the 'legal trading' side of things step 5).

If the ship is boarded by privateers the unstamped goods are going to look more than a little suspicious ...

Definition of a Brig.

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Brigs fell out of use with the arrival of the steam ship because they required a relatively large crew for their small size and were difficult to sail into the wind. They are not to be confused with a brigantine, which has different rigging (a brigantine has a gaff-rigged mainsail, while a brig has a square mainsail with an additional gaff-rigged spanker behind the mainsail). A brig is distinct from a three-masted ship by virtue of only having two masts.

In sailing, a full-rigged brig is a vessel with two square rigged masts (fore and main). The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve manoeuvrability, the mainmast carries a small (gaff rigged) fore-and-aft sail.

Brig sails are named after the masts to which they are attached: the mainsail; above that the main topsail; above that the main topgallant sail; and occasionally a very small sail, called the royal, is above that. Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the spanker or boom mainsail (it is somewhat similar to the main sail of a schooner). On the foremast is a similar sail, called the trysail. Attached to the respective yards of square-rigged ships are smaller spars, which can be extended, thus lengthening the yard, thus receiving an additional sailing wing on each side. These are called studding sails, and are used with fair and light wind only. The wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i.e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc.

The brig’s foremast is smaller than the main mast. The fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the bowsprit are the fore staysail, jib, and flying jib. All the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the running rigging. This is opposed to the standing rigging which is fixed, and keeps mast and other objects rigid.

Hull material

A brig is "generally built on a larger scale than a schooner, and may approach the magnitude of a full-sized, three-masted ship." Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft (23–50 m) with tonnages up to 480. Historically, most brigs were made of wood, although some later brigs were built with hulls and masts of steel or iron.  A brig made of pine in the 19th century was designed to last for about twenty years (many lasted longer).

Development of the brig

The word "brig" has been used in the past as an abbreviation of brigantine (which is the name for a two-masted vessel with foremast fully square rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a fore-and-aft mainsail, square topsails and possibly topgallant sails). The brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. Re-rigging a brigantine with two square-rigged masts instead of one gave it greater sailing power. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them." The variant was so popular that the term "brig" came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging. By the 17th century the British Royal Navy defined "brig" as having two square rigged masts.

Historic usage

Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns.  Due to their speed and manoeuvrability they were popular among pirates (though they were rare among American and Caribbean pirates).  While their use stretches back before the 17th century, one of the most famous periods for the brig was during the 19th century when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the Battle of Lake Erie. In the early 19th century the brig was a standard cargo ship. It was seen as "fast and well sailing", but required a large crew to handle its rigging.  While brigs could not sail into the wind as easily as fore-and-aft–rigged vessels such as schooners, a trait that is common to all square-rigged ships, a skilled brig captain could "manoeuvre it with ease and elegance; a brig could for instance turn around almost on the spot".  A brig's square-rig also had the advantage over a fore-and-aft–rigged vessel when travelling offshore, in the trade winds, where vessels sailed downwind for extended distances and where "the danger of a sudden jibe was the large schooner-captain's nightmare".  This trait later led to the evolution of the barquentine. The need for large crews in relation to their relatively small size led to the decline of the production of brigs. They were replaced in commercial traffic by gaffsail schooners (which needed fewer personnel) and steam boats (which did not have the windward performance problems of square rigged ships).

The Telos, built in Bangor, Maine in 1883, was reportedly the last brig to join the American merchant marine, and was "considered to be the finest vessel of her class ever constructed in Maine". She was wrecked on Aves Island, off Bonaire in the Caribbean, in 1900.

50 Fathoms Maiden Voyage - Session 2 - Bar Room Blitz.

50 Fathoms

Session 2 Maiden Voyage

The Party:

Urghh - Half Ugak Bloodthirsty sailor - Aaron

Flynt - Delusional Human merchant - Charlie

Obadiah Merle - Squanderous Human Rifleman - Garry

Kuthelaquin - Kraken water mage - Rob

The crew of the skiff Rosebud see a sail on the horizon, peering through his telescope, Merle discerns that the ship is a heavily damaged merchant ship called the Moon Runner.  After cautiously approaching, the crew hail the ship and are invited aboard by the first officer. 

He thanked them for coming to their assistance and told them that they were set upon by pirates who damaged the sails and poured shot into the hull, the captain and many of the crew were injured in the attack, luckily the Moon Runner was able to lose the attackers in a dense fog bank.

Merle immediately climbed the rigging to the crow's nest to keep watch for the pirates, while Kuthelaquin attended to the crew and captain, using his water magic to heal them and then started to co-ordinate repairs on the ship.  Greedy Flynt went below to check on the cargo, sensing a possible profit.  Urghh stayed on deck and pestered the crew.  

After seeing to the repairs, Kuthelaquin returned to the main deck and was signalled by Merle that there was a ship emerging from the fog bank, he identified it as the Black Arrow, the same ship that attacked the Moon Runner.  Deciding to take the initiative, the party let the pirates board the ship and then attacked them in a frenzied ambush. Urghh stepped into plain view, and loudly addressed the pirates, saying he'd rip their genitals off and feed them to them. (Arron played the Shakin' In Their Boots adventure card)  Everyone froze, and he launched himself into combat.  

Once the attacking captain was stunned by the Half-Ugak's threat, Merle sniped him from the rigging with his rifle, killing him instantly.  Cutting a rope, Merle swung down onto the deck into combat, kicking one of the pirates into his comrade behind him.  

The heroic party whittled down the attackers in a brutal melee that left Flynt mortally wounded, leaking blood onto the deck.  Merle managed to dispatch 5 of the pirates, leaving the rest of the party to make light work of the remainder.  

The captain of the Moon Runner, Kyrie Kal, thanked them for their help and gave them 1000 pieces of eight each.

The party transferred their supplies to the Black Arrow along with their crew, and plotted a course to Brigandy Bay.  After some discussion, the Black Arrow was renamed the Brinkley, for reasons that are not all together apparent.

Inspecting the hold, Flynt, who was still aching after his wounds were healed by Kuthelaquin, found that the pirates were carrying 30 casks of gunpowder.  After discussing it with the rest of the crew, they decided to sell the powder at Brigandy Bay and try to make a decent profit.  At this time, Merle was appointed quartermaster, Urghh pilot, Kuthelaquin ship's doctor, and Flynt as captain.  

After sailing to Brigandy Bay, the crew moored and made their way into the pirate town.  Allowing half the crew to go carousing, and the other left to guard the ship, the party joined them in the festivities, ending up in the Black Queen Inn.  After Flynt made contact with a local black market trader, Ballard, they were able to sell the gunpowder and buy extra cannons for the ship at a reasonable price, they also arranged to restock with provisions.  

Flynt was approached by Annie Mason, an indentured prostitute who wanted to escape from Brigandy Bay, after shamelessly trying to haggle for more of a reward, they agreed to help her flee the following night.  

The next night in the Black Queen, Annie started a bar fight with pirates at the adjacent table, seeing their drawn knives, Urghh drew his great axe and started chopping.  The bar fight quickly turned into a massacre, with Urghh killing 3 of the pirates and two of the Grael bouncers before being ordered to flee with the rest of the crew.  

Quickly setting sail and almost crashing the ship into a nearby dock, the crew made their way west around the point of Brigandy Bay heading towards Lanos,

With Merle on watch, a ghostly apparition appeared on the deck, the spirit of Captain Iago Alfonso de Toledo.  The ghostly captain begged the crew to recover his lost locket from his ship, The Black Prince and offered them the treasures of his ship as a reward.  The crew agreed to help and set sail for the site of the sunken wreck.

Johnston Blakeley, Privateer for the British East India Company

Johnston Blakeley was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812. He is considered to be one of the most successful American naval officers of that period.

Blakeley was born near Seaford, County Down, Ireland. Brought to the United States as a child in 1783, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, in 1800, then joined the Navy and was appointed a Midshipman in 1800.

After service in President during the Quasi-War with France and command of Enterprise early in the War of 1812, Master Commandant Blakeley was appointed to command of the newly built sloop-of-war Wasp.

In 1814, he made a very successful cruise which in June included the sinking of HMS Reindeer. In September, in a similar action, Blakeley sunk HMS Avon. That month he also captured the mercantile brig Atalanta. Wasp was last heard of 9 October 1814 and is believed to have foundered in a gale.  Blakeley received the Thanks of Congress, a gold medal, and posthumous advancement to the rank of Captain for his last cruise.

Captain Blakeley was married, in December, 1813, to Miss Jane Hoope, the daughter of his father’s old friend, Mr. Hoope, of New York; and has left an only daughter, who received one of the most noble and substantial and affecting tributes of national gratitude which has occurred in the history of this country. The legislature of North Carolina, on 27 December 1816, after prescribing the destination of the sword they had voted to Captain Blakeley, "Resolved, unanimously, That Captain Blakeley’s child be educated at the expense of this State; and that Mrs. Jane Blakeley be requested to draw on the Treasurer of this State, from time to time, for such sums of money as shall be required for the education of the said child."

In reality, the USS Wasp and her crew were drawn through the mists by the Maiden and barely escaped the Devil’s cross.  The Wasp was heavily damaged and all hands abandoned ship, leaving her fate unknown.  Blakeley has put aside his feelings toward the British and offered his services as a privateer commanding the Miss Jane, a brigantine in the service of the British East India Company.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6

Skills: Boating d8, Climbing d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Notice d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d8, Swimming d8

Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 5

Hindrances: Loyal

Edges: Block, Combat Reflexes, Musketeer

Booty: Loot per every 3 privateers.

Gear: Knife (Str+d4), cutlass (Str+d6), pistol (Range 5/10/20, Damage 2d6+1), compass, US Naval uniform