Guillaume is torn. He consides diving into the water to try and find the bell. But with so much debris, it's probably a fool's errand. And no telling how deep it's gone. He shakes his head and bellows a command to his crew. "CREW! GET BACK TO THE PEARL! THAT GHOST SHIP'S GOING DOWN, AND I'LL NOT HAVE YOU GETTING DRAGGED IN AFTER IT BY ZOMBIES!"
Beket marches across the sinking deck to where the others were pulling at the grate, his black eyes and sharp teeth wide and terrible in the dark scowl he had.
"So eager to join Pilk's crew, are you?" The distorted, nearly monstrous voice said. "Get back on the Pearl now before I help you sink down!"
Bessie's heart sinks as the bell falls through the deck. We had him beat. And now he will be back. We should have destroyed the bell first - but that may have killed Orslaw. The price of victory. Snapped from her thoughts as the deck below her begins to buckle and creak, she focuses on the crew again.
Back to our ship - you sail with us or sail with Pilk forever! Bessie doesn't wait, and begins to run for the safely of the Pearl, yelling as she goes. Back to the ship!
At the bellow of the Captain the men grumble but change their direction and head back to the ship giving the shapechange sideway glances. Back on board the crew separate the two ships so the Pearl does not get dragged down with the rapidly sinking vessel. When all is said and done only the mast of the Deathknell is left floating on the water.
Beneath the waves there is something shiny that reflects the light about forty feet below the surface. It doesn't sink but maintains its position.
Bessie watches the mast drift upon the waves for a moment, pondering what might have been. She turns her focus to healing the crew and identify any who were lost. She also works to impart how close they came to losing themselves to Pilk's service and how that it was a good call by Capt'n Coeur-de-Lion to call us back.
Orslaw stares out at what was almost his watery grave as his mind replays the horrid scene. "Thanks again, Bessie and thanks to Besmara too," he says sincerely. Then to the Captain, "I'm not sure about you, sir, but I'd prefer not to be here when he comes back."
Beket makes sure that the men get off of the ship, their grumbles not affecting him whatsoever as eyes become human once more. Looking down back at the water though, they widen at the sight of...something. It didn't continue to sink though, not like the decrepit whaler beside them.
"Something's in the water." Beket murmurs, his form changing again. His eyes went black as night but instead of sharp teeth, his fingers and feet would become webbed. Leaping into the water, he swam like he belonged there. With a shield and spear in hand, he cautiously approached the reflected light in the depths.
The goblin doesn't really notice anything special - especially being distracted into counting his own teeth to make sure none stayed attached the Pilk.
As she is rallying the crews, Bessie wraps a protective arm around Orslaw's arm. I look out for the Peril Crew, and the Perilous Pearl and Goblin's Prize crews. You take the fight to our enemies, I keep you in the fight - with Besmara's blessings of course! I have your back as long as I live!
Then seeing Beket leap into the water, Bessie moves to the rail and calls out, Man-Shark overboard! Be prepared crew, we may not be done yet!
The crew seem quite mollified when they see how quickly the ship crumbles and goes under. Bleepos finds that he does indeed have all of his teeth though he is in need of some serious flossing to remove all of Pilk. When Beket leaps into the water many of the crew move to the railing to see what is going on. There, under the water, the druid finds a harpoon dangling from the end of a 50' line that is tied off to the mast. He believes it is the same one Pilk was throwing at people.
Beket looks over the harpoon for a few moments before his tentacles reach out and grab a hold of the the rope. He lets it lead him down towards the mast, his knife cutting the rope at its base before pulling it close and swimming his way back up towards the Pearl once more. Rising out from the water, Beket would deposit the harpoon and rope onto the deck amidst the crowd that had gathered.
"It may have not been an entirely profitless endeavor. May we hold onto this harpoon and return it to Pilk in a most violent fashion." Beket murmurs, his spells finally wearing away. The tentacles writhe and twist back into him, disappearing underneath the dark rags once more.
Guillaume is at the railing just as Beket splashes in, and watches him all the way down. When he comes back up with the harpoon, Guillaume smiles, and helps pull him back in. "Good eye, Beket. We'll do just that, if he ever thinks to face us again."
Bessie will heal wounded and take roll for the missing or dead.
After the crew is healed, she will inspect the harpoon, a nagging doubt that the bell was the object linking Pilk to the world of the living. If it was the harpoon and not the bell, then he will come for it sooner rather than later.
Umlingo. she says softly, blue sigils swirl around the open palm she holds above the harpoon as she casts Detect Magic.
Bleepos keeps his distance as the others pick the submerged weapon and start analyzing it. The goblin is curious, but probably a lot more afraid than that - although he keeps walking around puffed up pretending to be a very brave and heroic pirate.
It is magical. A +1 seeking harpoon you determine after concentrating on it for a few rounds.
With the ghost ship sunken and the little bit of treasure recovered the ship prepares to head back to Rickety's. The roll call reveals only four sailors lost another four are still in the water and are quite sheepish when hauled aboard. The follow on trip back is uneventful.
Bleepos gets to the port with his usual bravado, greatly enhancing the story about how the brave crew fought and fend off the ghost ship, sending the undead to the bottom of the sea to sleep and come back to hunt another day. As the goblin tells the story, the parts where he's in are insanely modified to make it sound like he fought dozens of undead at the same time by himself.
Once at Rickety's Squibs, Beket enjoys the ale at the tavern and listening to Bleepos's rendition of the battle against Whalebone Pilk. Only a few times does the seascarred interrupted, whispering about the bloated, hateful look in Pilk's crew's eyes and how the very same harpoon he had in his hand was the evil captain's weapon of choice. He plays up the horror and terror in the scene, the desperate battle between the living and the dead.
Bessie is oddly happy to be back at Rickety's. Her first stop is to find Crow and tell him the tale, with instructions to spread word the Perilous Pearl and Goblins Prize are blessed by Besmara. She then finds the shrine to the Pirate Queen and offers her Goddess an offering. Finally she will join the goblin's crowd, whispering details to send chills up listeners spines by detailing Sandara's calling divine wrath upon the undead; Captain Coeur-de-Lion going toe to toe with Whalebone, Beket and Orslaw wading through undead hordes to defeat Pilk and their narrow escape as the qhostship returned beneath the waves.
Upon hearing it, the tale is almost too far fetched to for even her to believe - except for the harpoon displayed by Beket.
Guillaume stands in the back, his arms crossed. He nods a few times, at important points in the stories, but says nothing. He just smiles wickedly.
Orslaw stands by while the stories go by and offers in the personal encounter of Pilk's ghostly hand that clutched his throat attempting to squeeze the life out of him. However, in telling the story he chokes on his ale causing more people to laugh than be drawn into the story.
The crew tell their stories over the next day or so and soon the new ship is ready to sail. The question is where to go. Fishguts suggests a few possible ways to go; prey on ships to gather more plunder, start hitting villages, or try to crack Tidewater Rock.
Tidewater Rock is more of a prestige thing now (+4 to the next two infamy rolls). Over the many years since, control of Tidewater Rock has passed from hand to hand, and its strategic location and practical defensibility have enabled its owners to enrich themselves substantially. With the rebellion of Sargava and its ostensible alliance with the Free Captains, Tidewater Rock became of less strategic importance, and its owners came to be of less prominence, but the age-old axiom of “Good fortune and sure sail await what one can crack the Tidewater Rock” has stood the test of time among the pirates of the Shackles and is oft-quoted—if seldom heeded—even today. The Rock still commands some treasures—its favorable location, its security, and the late Iron Bert's fabled iron shirt from which he gained his nickname—but it is otherwise remote and at the mercy of what the sea chooses to throw upon its shores.
With such an exciting story you manage to convince yet another half dozen of the men at Rickety's to join the crew. He of course does not notice this but by the time you have slept off the evening's revelries and loaded up the ships he appears to be more than happy to see you gone.
As they leave the bay and make open water, Guillaume calls for a meting of the steering committee on he Pearl. "So, is it to crack old Tidewater Rock? A tough nut, that. But a feat that would make our name far and wide, I think."
Beket stands in the captain's cabin, the dark covering him like a cloak. Only the colorful beads and dark dreads hang from beneath his hood as he considers the captain's words.
"That could be what we need; something to put us on the map." He leans forward, the lantern light illuminating his smile as he nods. "Let us break open Tidewater. Rickety's cannot be our home forever."
Bessie looks over the map to the Rock. Her brow furrows as the others talk, she tils her head side to side pondering the map before talking and pointing at locations on the map.
Taking on the Rock should be doable - especially with two ships. We need a way to communicate in battle, and a coordinated plan for the Perilous Pearl and Goblin's Prize. We should also go to Goats Head and sail on to Ngozu to pick up some extra crew for manning weapons and assaulting. Maybe also actually gather some info about the place. I'd like to know what to expect before we get there. Maybe even take some cargo from the Goat to Ngozu before taking on the Rock.
Waiting to see if you go straight for the rock, what the plan is if you do, or if you go to Goat's Head for recruiting.
Bessie will push for a Goat-Ngozu recruitment and intel route.
Up to Commodore Coeur-de-Lion; Bessie is just a Captain.
Guillaume nods slowly as Bessie talks about making for Goat's Head and Ngozu first. "Yes, that makes sense. We do still need the crew. Let's do it Bessie's way, and may the Pirate Queen bless our journeys." he says, tossing a few coins out the window as an offering.
The ships sail out from the Slithering Coast headed for Goatshead. A day and a half later they pull into port at Goatshead, a flag with a white goat head on a black field flying over the port. It seems to be a moderately thriving town. The roads are all dirt which means they are still mud after the lashing of the storm a few days back. There is no dock, merely a protected cove where various ships have weighed anchor. It is not crowded but that is to be expected as you are pulling in in the mid-afternoon and many of the fishing vessels are likely still out to sea, two of which you passed on the way in. Weighing anchor you setup the watch, drop the ship's boat from each vessel, and begin rowing the crew ashore.
Bessie will try to recruit crew, believing that having full crews and additions to man weapons is highest priority for their long term goals.
As she moves about, she will see if Goatshead has anything else of note.
Similarly to Bessie, Bleepos will work on recruiting as well. Differently than her, however, the goblin's methods are those most of lying or greatly exaggerating the ship's feats to try to attract more interested members.
Orslaw will work on telling stories of their encounter with Deathknell. He overly illustrates the ghostly hand of Pilk choking him while the crew cracked Pilk's bell and slew the undead monster. However, now that we've defeated him once and sunken his ship, we are waiting for him to come back for revenge.
Beket eagerly takes to Goatshead's taverns, settling in with a mug of ale until the mood is right. As the others look for the brave and foolish to join their crews, Beket tells the haunting tale Whalebone Pilk and his clash with the Peril crew. It was a struggle of life versus undeath, the festering depths of the rotten whaler that swarmed with swollen undead. He pulls the crowd in closer with the close call that Orslaw had endured, the bravery of Bessie, the frenetic ball of fury that was Bleepos, the alchemical rain of destruction caused by Nasifi, and the skilled shots and power of Captain Guillaume.
Bessie and Bleepos spin their glorious and embellished tales drawing several new sailors to the ship.
Guillaume tries, but his efforts fall flat, the people of Goatshead apparently well used to such things.
I assume you stay anchored through the night. Do you stay for the following day to try and find cargo to haul? You could have two officers look for cargo while the other three pursue infamy.
Bessie will see if there is any legitimate cargo hauling work during the following day.
Beket frequents the different taverns, earning drinks and telling stories with his dark tales of their adventures upon the sea so far.
Also want to try to learn more about the Rock. Who controls it, defenses, how did they defeat the prior owner, layout? Any other useful tales...
Bleepos tries to help Bessie gather more details about the Rock before they head towards it.