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Yes I would agree that a bit of plunder would indeed increase the morale around here. The crew seems overall a bit agitated since the takeover of the ship but overall I don't think there be anyone who would challenge yer command.
Kroop wipes his dirty hands down his apron as he slumps into the chair, obviously tired after the long day.
Sandara looks to Jack and the others So what do you think was with these Sanhuagin? First they take some of our crew and then we find a ship decimated by them.
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Viviana hesitates slightly "We could move closer to land areas, and raid a village, fixing plunder, perhaps gaining extra food, and so on".
Aishe interrogates the crew on deck. "How quickly did this fog come upon us? Did it do so naturally, or suddenly?"
She peers into the fog, looking and listening for anything out of the ordinary.
"Is this fog magical or natural?"
Jack weaves a quick incanation. Detect Magic.
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Aishe is not able to see very far out into the fog but while they were going over the maps a couple minutes prior it did not look like they should be near any land as they are doing a straight course through the Shackles to Tidewater Rock.
It just suddenly came on. Rolled in from nowhere and fast.
Jack weaves his incantation and the fog does indeed have a bit of magic about it with an unnatural aura.
From the gloom comes the dull clanking of a rusted ship's bell somewhere nearby, echoing eerily in the fog.
Charles shivers.
"It would appear that there is something... evil... lurking in the fog."
Aishe yells, "All hands on deck! Watch for grapples and boarders! There's something out there, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it take us without a fight!" She proceeds to the middle of the boat and extends her boarding pike, readying it against anything approaching from the fog.
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The men nervously arm themselves looking all about as Aishe gives the command.
Suddenly the hulk of a ship looms in the fog off of the port bow. It's hull is rotting and stained black with age and rot. Before the mists swallow the ship once more, the ship's name can momentarily be seen on it's worm eaten bow--"Deathknell." It looks identical to the ship that you saw in the distance the night before.
"Blast! Seems we've been targeted by Whalebone Pilk, captain of the Deathknell. Rest up, everyone...we'll be dealing with him tomorrow night."
"Well, that sounds perfectly charming, I don't suppose you recall of anyone surviving his somewhat creepy stalking?"
"I'm not worried, Jack pretty holds the #1 ranking when it comes to stalking...how much worse could this guy be?"
"My dear Viviana, when was the last time you have felt my hand on your perfectly rounded tush?" With a sweet smile Jack blows Viviana a kiss and moves back to his duties.
"Wonderful." Charles remarks dryly. "Now we have spirits after us. The high seas seem almost as busy as the main market district in Bloodcove!"
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The fog slowly begins to dissipate eventually showing nothing but the open sea around you. The crew seems to be pretty nervous the rest of the night.
You awaken the following morning with zero reports of having seen a vessel after the rotting corpse of one last night. The crew seems to have calmed down a bit from the night before as their voices seem to be a bit more steady. Aishe hears rumors all about the ship as she makes a couple of rounds. ...Maybe Whalebone Pilk is out to get us fer taken the ship and killing the Cap'n....
...Maybe he thinks we be an easy target.....
....If he comes fer us tonight as the rumors say. Do ye think we be able to fend him off or should we just make a run fer it....
All whispers among the crew that go silent as soon as they notice Aishe is present.
On communing with her Maradya Somia calls on the wandering spirits of Wind. "Let us see if we can blow that damnable fog away, should it fall upon us again."
She'll spend the day trying to raise morale among the crew.
"We do not submit to ghost stories, ye be pirates of the shackles and fear nothing upon the open sea. Whalebone Pilk will fall before our blades like any other creature, and if not - well the sea is cruel and we could die at it's whim, ghosts or no... So let us take life a day at a time."
"My dear Jack, the time you work up the courage to put your hand against my perfectly formed tush is the day you (temporarily) learn to do everything one handed". Viviana quips.
Later that day however, Viviana calls the Council to order, wanting to air her concerns.
"I have no doubt that we can prevail in single combat against this foe, assuming that our weapons can actually hit it, but what troubles me is that I doubt that we are its first victims, nor that its always managed to be victorious against all its targets"
At this point Viviana hesitates, unsure "Aishe, Somia, Jack, Charles, do any of you know if its possible for ghosts to come back after being destroyed in combat?"
Aishe, seeing the crew faltering in their resolve, takes the remainder of the day attempting to encourage them, showing them that their captains are not craven, but sure of their success.
Assembled with Viviana, Aishe shakes her head. "I do not know. I have heard no rumors of other succeeding against him, but it's possible, I suppose. If some have, then we can likely assume that there must be some task, some goal, assigned to him and his crew. Finding some lost item, killing some descendant of a long-dead foe, sinking so many ships...who can know?"
Jack strokes his beard and ponders for his moment. Taking out a pipe he fills it taking his time. "I am no expert on ghosts. And undead for the matter. I just know ghosts are very very hard to kill. BUT they usually have an anchor, something to tie them to the world of the living. Destroy the anchor destroy the ghost.
"So all we need to do is find the anchor", Viviana exclaims excitedly, before her face falls for a second "which could be anything I suppose..."
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Aishe spends the rest of the day easing the crews fears of the undead captain. late in the afternoon the party gathers to formulate some sort of a plan for which to proceed.
Captain Jeremiah Pilk took the whaler Belle Dame to sea
from the port of Magnimar in 4631 ar. The Belle Dame
could take a whale in far waters, skin it, render its blubber
in the tryworks, and store its meat, all without seeing land
for weeks at a time. Such was Captain Pilk’s success that
he became known as “Whalebone” among Magnimarian
seafarers after the rumor that all he left of his prey were the
picked-clean bones, and his ship became known simply as
the Bell for Pilk’s habit of sounding the ship’s bell with a
furor every time he caught sight of a whale’s spout.
Whalebone Pilk’s success proved to be his own undoing
on his last voyage. For 2 weeks, pickings were frustratingly
slim on the Steaming Sea, until a pod of bowhead whales
was finally sighted off the shoulder of Hermea, heading
south. Pilk nearly beat his knuckles bloody that night
striking the ship’s bell, but the pod always stayed elusively
ahead of the Belle Dame. For days, the pursuit led ever
south and west into the Arcadian Ocean—almost as if the
whales were luring the ship onward. Home fell farther
behind, and supplies dwindled, until some of the starving
crew decided to mutiny. Pilk had the ringleader tied to the
mast and ordered the mate to give him lashes for as long as
Pilk rang the ship’s bell. The mate’s arm grew tired before
Pilk’s did, but by then the mutinous sailor was dead
from the beating. To keep the rest in line, Pilk had the
mutineer skinned and rendered in a try-pot and his
cleaned skull nailed to the mainmast as a warning.
The ship continued on until the 23rd day, when
a dense fog rolled in. An indistinct shape loomed
large in the water ahead and the mate ordered the
helmsman to steer hard to port to avoid collision,
but Pilk countermanded the order and began ringing
the bell, ordering the men to the harpoons. When the
huge bull bowhead came out of the fog, it rammed the
ship, breaching the hull. Pilk cursed the whales and
cursed his men and continued to ring the ship’s bell as
the foundering ship slowly slipped beneath the waves with
all hands aboard, 2,000 miles from home.
With the coming of evening, a nor’easter off the Eye sweeps
across the Fever Sea, bringing a front of high winds and a
purplish-black sky. Even before nightfall, the hurricane lamps
must be lit to pierce the gloom. As the ship rides up and down
with the swells and sporadic rain lashes the deck, the strained
clanking of a bell can be heard once again coming over the
water.
Not in the mood to run.... Jack steers the ship head on against the pirate ship, ready to fight the beast. With a grim determination, the tricorne dauntily on his head he shouts against the ship."You want to hunt us. ME? You think you can frighten me. I will eat you whole and SPIT YOU OUT."
"That f**king bell", Viviana mutters out loud, as she prepares herself for combat.
Charles nods his agreement, signalling his understanding of the group's annoyance.
"On the bright side, think of what it will do to our Rep if we destroy Pilk!"
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jack steers the ship around toward the sound of the rusty bell in the night. As the ship turns from the direction it came winds and rain begin to pelt the deck and sails as the boat rises and falls on the waves. Off in the distance a red ship's lantern shines in the darkness as the dark bulk of a derelict whaler looms out into the night.
Somia's eyes light up as the dark hull comes into view. "Let us end a Legend."
Jack will sail the ship right into battle ready to turn the wheel around at the last moment so that our crew can let the grappeling hooks fly.
All the while with the grim determination of an inquisitor of the queen of piracy.
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The two ships cut through the waves at each other. Once within 3/4 of a mile the Deathknell looks as if it might ram the Besmara's Fortune as the red light suddenly disappears into the gloom only to suddenly reappear out of the darkness directly on the opposite side of Besmara's Fortune just as Somia's winds dispel a good portion of the unnatural fog surrounding their ship.
A few of the crew from the Besmara's Fortune are thrown off as grappling hooks sail into the waters below. The group is quick to respond as they all notice the ploy right away and redirect the crew. Grappling hooks sail from both vessels as the two ships are now locked together.
The party begins to board the ghostly vessel with a small crew. The deck of the vessel seems to be covered with mold, grime, seaweed and rotten, bloated corpses strung all about. Slimey greenish skin handing from hooks and the sails themselves look to be made from dried out skin.
On the upper deck of the ship, near the steering wheel and a rusty bell witha bone for a handle stands a skeletal figure of a man who eye's glow with pure hatred and fury. An unnatural fog seems to envelope around him. Rotting clothing and skulls hang around his waist as a makeshift belt while he cackles at the boarding party.
Cahahahaha! You foolish mortals believe you stand a chance and board my vessel. I will add your souls to my collection below. The Fever Sea is mine. MINE! The jaw of the man hangs loosely, almost as if skin is barely keeping it attached as he grasps at the harpoon by his side.
Collect their souls and bring their bodies below. The man howls as the bloated bodies all around the deck begin to rise. Looking back at besmara's Fortune the party sees that their vessel also now has undead, rotted corpses climbing over the edge of the vessel with the crew fending off the ship and now loacked in battle.
Jack
Aishe
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Whalebone Pilk
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Charles
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Brine Zombies
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Somia
Viviana
Aishe sings to her comrades and crew, inspiring them to great feats of martial prowess. Somehow, she interweaves a scathing, intimidating tirade into the strains of the song that causes the rotting corpses near her begin to smolder.
Aishe relates the story of Whalebone Pilk, his ship and demise. "It would have to be the bell..."
Aishe continues singing as she extends her pike and thrusts it at the closest undead pirate.
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Aishe sings a rousing tale of bravery and valor as she extends her boarding pike at the northern undead creature. Her pike rips rotting flesh from it's rib cage, coming off like slow cooked meat. The creature seems slightly wounded by being pierced by the pike but not as bad as it should have been.
Jack
Aishe
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Whalebone Pilk
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Charles
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Brine Zombies (red)
Brine Zombies (green)
Brine Zombies (purple)-4 HP
Brine Zombies (blue)
Brine Zombies (yellow)
Brine Zombies (black)
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Somia
Viviana
Moving up to the wounded zombie and noticing that the pike is not as efficient as hoped, Jack grabs his tidewater cutlass and slashes at the nearest zombie. Asking for Besmaras fury he activates his Judgement of wrath