Airship Crash
"The light is scarce above the clouds. The twin moons, Bennetar and Aluvar, are but slivers caught in their never-ending chase. Heritor, the dark sun, has just passed over the horizon. Clouds stream past your windows, reflecting purple and yellow light from the twin moons in a warm glow. It's a somber kind of beautiful. From the relative comfort of your own rooms, no one would judge you if you smiled. So far, your time on the A.A. Northwind has been… typical. It's a passenger airship, mainly designed to get crowds from point A to point B. From the outside its majesty was undeniable, but as you grew accustomed to the ship, it became more and more mundane. Still, it's not so bad here. You get your own rooms. The beds are better than nothing. A worthy yet costly way to ensure safe arrival at the seat of the world, the shining city of mages, Shimmermene.
Morning is always so different up here. No birdsong to bid you good morning, just the constant hum and movement of the ship's Solar Arcane engine. By now you've gotten used to the weighty feeling of ascending.
On your end table, a whirring circular device begins to vibrate and ding. A message from the captain, so long as you give it a tap.
"Apologies for the interruption passengers. We're coming up on peak altitude, so make sure to keep your aspirators on when you go outdoors. Oh, and things are gonna get bumpy, so walk carefully. Thanks."
The device cuts out into a buzz that stops a second later.
You would all know that they gave you aspirators when you got on board. They're metal masks that help you take in enough air to survive at high altitudes.
After he finishes talking, a distinct low rumble gets higher and higher in pitch until it explodes with every tone at once.
(Dc 15 arcana/history success) This is the sound an Eldritch cannon makes before it fires. They would also know that their ship has no such weaponry.
(DC 15 arcana/history failure) From your cloudy window, it's hard to tell whether that was heat lightning or the strongest wind you've ever seen
A bang hits the ship. It shakes and rumbles. Afterwards, the engine noise starts to sputter. The ascent stops, and the ship starts to turn downwards again.
The communication device starts to vibrate again, but before you can reach to touch it, an explosion. For a moment gravity shifts completely as you and the device are flung towards the wall in front of you. Your masks are flung in front of you as well, thrown from your desk. You have two choices here:
Cushion your fall: DC10 Con save to reduce 3d6 fall damage by half, but mask will break
Grab the mask: DC10 Dex save to catch the mask, but take full fall damage
When you slam into the ground, you can see a hole burnt all the way through the side of the ship. You can also see a smaller ship with black sails. Crew members stand on it, channeling magic into a brass rod. An eldritch cannon. Pirates!
When the spherical communication device hits the wall, it starts talking in a voice that occasionally cuts out.
"Everyone above deck! Abandon ship! We're being boarded!"
The party can get up top, but they'll need to use their masks if they want to be able to breathe right. They'll pass through a constraining horde of desperate people.
The airlock broke in the attack, so this place is losing air. They'll need their masks no matter where they are.
Not wearing aspirator: Poisoned condition
When they're up top, they'll see The captain up at the wheel, a gnomish man with unruly long eyebrows and a scraggly beard.
"Everyone stay calm and get on the lifeboats! They want the ship, not your life."
With the ship shaking so much, it's tough to walk around without falling over! This whole area will count as difficult terrain as you don't have your air legs yet.
Hundreds of people try to scramble on a small dhingy strapped to the side of the boat. Pirates with long braided beards and metal rings woven through their hair suddenly apparate from lightning-fast bursts of mist, teleporting in from their ship.
The captain talks again, flipping through a guidebook desperately.
"Gentlemen, I want to offer a bargain. You take our ship, and we leave with our l-"
A pirate apparates onto the ship with bow drawn, firing an into the captain and his first mate. The captain falls over the railing and the first mate is hit right in the throat.
Roll initiative!
The pirate leader will talk to the party if they fight back, taunting them about how he'll rob their bodies.
The passengers will be crowding around the dhingy, taking damage if hurt and imposing difficult terrain in that side of the ship.
Narabi Kinjo will be on the ship fighting back against the pirates. "Come and test your mettle against a true warrior, stealing scum!"
Pinna Ankleite is also there, clearly scared and unsure of herself. She will approach Narabi and draw her wand, asking to help.
Narabi will tell her, "Stand down, Amateurs have no piece on my board."
Pinna will get discouraged and go hide among the crowd unless the party tells her she can help and reassures her. If they do, she'll do what the party says, but she'll always prioritize the defenseless passengers over any battle plan. (Don't forget her callstone if she dies.)
ENCOUNTER: https://www.dndbeyond.com/encounters/05d0c75f-4e69-4a0d-bbcc-1ab3557ce19f
The majority of the passengers will just be trying to get away on the dhingy, but they'll eventually realize that the sail is torn and it won't fly! When this happens, chaos. The crowds spread and make the whole ship difficult terrain and make misses likely to kill someone.
All this time, the ship is quickly descending, but not taking a nose dive.
When it becomes clear who will win the fight (or when it starts to get boring), another ship, the same size as the A.A. Northwind will sail up next to it. On board, more pirates. And several ballistas loaded with chain shot. They shoot, launching huge metal balls linked by lightning. They pass cleanly through the ship. They hear a sharp noise right when they realize that this ball has just hit the engine. In milliseconds, an explosion. The ground beneath you caves. The mast stretches and snaps off the boat. For just a brief moment, you're pushed up into the air. Then, blackness.
En Route to Gilford
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