Session 11

General Summary

As they were leaving their meeting with Chancellor White Falcon, Feng and Mrek bumped into Lieutenant Scrivener and Pip, who had come to the Far Traveler desperately seeking the heroes. Scrivener explained as he led the way to the docks: an Exonian ship, the Islander, had just come into the harbor with all sail set, no crew at all, and a massive smear of blood leaking behind it. The Exonian Merchant Marine needed someone to address the issue, as they were busy preparing for the end of the Congress of Volscia Mera.
Scrivener and Pip rowed Feng and Mrek to the Islander, where they climbed aboard to find the main deck covered in blood, splinters, and other signs of battle. They explored, and found that the wheel had been cut loose, though the bell still stood as normal. Feng took the navigators' tools from the binnacle. Next they examined the captain's cabin, finding a sea chest containing clothes and 200 gp, the ship's log, and a copy of Forester's Manual of Seamanship. The log described taking on passengers and cargo at Crothe, then being attacked by the Cercimoni pirate Red Remzi on the way back to Volscia Mera. The captain's final words accused a man named Hawkins of being a spy for the pirate, then saying "I shall wind the watch, then we shall see what happens. Aru forgive me, but I shall wind it." Tucked into the Manual was a note from an Exonian admiral commanding Captain Carpenter to begin using the system of timekeeping described in the book, which used the ship's bell to signal half-hours in each watch, up to eight bells for change of watch. Feng took the books, but they left the gold.
They headed belowdecks, and found a charnel scene in the orlop; a few inches of sticky blood covered the floor, filled with the spill belongings of the crew. The two released the anchor to stop the ship from drifting, and Mrek discovered the powder magazine but wisely kept out. He did notice that much of the gunpowder had been used, as expected on a ship that had battled pirates. The officers' quarters turned up no further clues. Finally the pair discovered the hatch, buried beneath the blood slurry, to the hold. This revealed a huge collection of corpses, apparently the entire crew of the ship, leaking blood into the sea. Captain Carpenter was here, but no pirates.
Moving away from this scene of horror, the pair discovered that the hammocks slung from the beams of the orlop were now occupied by phantom crewmen, their throats cut. Two phantom boys stood ready by the armory but didn't seem to notice the heroes. They ascended to find that night had fallen. A shout from the crosstrees of the mainmast drew their attention, as four ghostly musketeers began to fire down at them, thinking they were boarders. Gun crews stood ready by the cannon, and a phantom first lieutenant by the wheel, but no captain.
The pair slayed a couple of the musketeers, then fled to the orlop, where the phantom boys attacked but were swiftly beaten. The heroes returned above and began tangling with the musketeers again. Feng noticed a marine standing guard by the captain's door. Mrek, in wolf form, leapt to the poop deck and rang the bell eight times. A change of watch began, and in the chaos, the two slipped into the captain's cabin.
Within, they found the ghost of Captain Carpenter scrabbling at the left-hand wall in a panic. Mrek tried to intimidate him, and the spirit attacked them, thinking they were pirates. He was eventually defeated, and the wall revealed a hidden panel. Within was a chest holding 35 pp, a perfumed love note from an Aequian woman named Rosie, and a pocketwatch wrapped in brown butcher paper. A note on the wrapping read, "To King Magnus III of Lygrany: May this put an end to the enmity between us. - RWF."
Mrek wound the watch to its maximum, twelve turns, and a spined devil leapt out and attacked. It was resistant to normal attacks and immune to fire, so, knowing they were unable to handle the beast, the pair retreated to the poop deck. Mrek sent his flaming sphere below to the magazine, and as the two dove from the deck into the water below, the ship exploded, spraying flaming flotsam everywhere. The last sight the two had of the devil released from the watch was of the thing beating its wings to rise against the moon, unleashing a screech that echoed across the harbor, and disappearing into the night.

Report Date

24 Jun 2019