Dolgrin approached Marqua. “I can’t help but notice that my object for sending the rats to rat heaven has disappeared. I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”
Marqua was puzzled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No, I was sure you wouldn’t.”
Dolgrin turned to leave. The hobgoblins stopped him and assured him that they actually had no idea what he was talking about. It turned out that he had a satchel recovered from some plunder that one of their ships had brought in during their six months in the First World, and rats were drawn to it. They always seemed very happy to be entering it, so he let them.
The hobgoblins swung into action, casting divination spells and searching the island. It wasn’t too long before they discovered that Giffer had taken it, and they tracked it to the underwater cave where the demons had hoarded treasure. They brought it back to the surface and sent through a summon air elemental. One greater scrying later they discovered that it had been sent to a warehouse somewhere full of organized decay. Many rats were there, as well as Giffer in wererat form. Everyone seemed happy except for the drow with a broom who was both trying to maintain the warehouse and avoid being bitten.
The mystery solved they handed the satchel back to Dolgrin and set sail. One night as they rounded the Eye of Abendego they heard banging on the hull. Marqua shapeshifted and dove into the water, accompanied by the grindylows on the crew. It turned out that a mechanical squid piloted by Skignagrokle and two other gnomes was down there attacking the Quipper. They drove it off.
The excitement ended, they made their way to Ilizmagorti, where the crew was given shore leave and the quartermaster could refill the ship’s stores.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 12)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 13)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 13)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 13)
The shopping on Ilizmagorti concluded, the hobgoblins once again set sail. As the Quipper resumed its northward journey it wasn't long before the lookout spied a sailing ship that had left the Gap of Aroden. They poured on the speed and soon caught up with the Dagon's Bastard. Between clerical and druidic spells, the fight was mostly over before Oknarok could take full advantage of his musket. The captain had tried to slip away on a rowboat, but she was also captured. In exchange for her release she gave the hobgoblins the name "Samaritha Beldusk" and said that she was an ex-Cyphermage in Riddleport who could tell them about Cobra's flying ship. They sent the Dagon's Bastard back to the Island of Empty Eyes under the command of the newly-married Jelga and Woo.
A couple of days later two Chelish ships pursued them. As the ships approached the Quipper a squad of marines from each ship sprouted wings and flew up to board them. This proved to be a fatal mistake, and after the two squads were dispatched the crews of the ships attempted to scuttle their vessels and teleport home. The hobgoblins decided to keep one of the sailing ships and destroy the other (much to the dismay of the Quipper crew, who were hoping for prize money). The Sulphur Sting sailed back to the Island of Empty Eyes with a Prize Crew and the Hell's Beauty went to the bottom of the sea.
The Quipper eventually made it to Magnimar, where the hobgoblins spent some time in the Bazaar of Sails talking themselves up. The crew enjoyed some short leave, then it was time to set sail again.
Partway to Riddleport they saw a keelboat with garish colours. It turned out to be the plaything of a Taldane nobleman, and the hobgoblins seized the ship and kept the noble to be ransomed off.
When they reached Riddleport they sought out Samaritha Beldusk. She did indeed know Cobra, and praised him his heroics. His ship, the Cobra's Sting, generally flew over the waters of Lake Encarthan. Its nemesis was the gnomish airship, the Light as Lead. Commodore Grimka thanks Samaritha for the information, and the hobgoblins started to scheme.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 12)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 13)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 13)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 13)
The hobgoblins decided to squib the Braynor's Pride so that they could take it upriver to Lake Encarthan. While that was happening, they went out to investigate some giants who had been blockading part of Riddleport's transportation and demanding tribute. They discovered that two sun giants were responsible for this, and took the fight to them. Malikor was slain, though this was only a temporary setback. They took out the giants and kept the extorted tribute for themselves.
Using sending, they called ahead to Magnimar and had a divine scroll of sodden ship waiting for them. They collected it, gave the crew a bit of shore leave, then headed for the blockade at the Arch of Aroden. Just before they reached it they used the spell (since Malikor could cast it once a day but they needed two castings) and went beneath the Chelish ships.
They were pursued underwater by some merfolk who had been granted dominion of the underwave section of the Arch by Cheliax. The merfolk demanded tribute, but this demand did not go well for them. Their mounts were badly injured, and they fell behind.
They took their newly-disguised ship through the Inner Sea, finally making a stop in Merab. They were able to sell plunder for a good price, but their attempts at gaining infamy fell flat. They did, however, learn of some hobgoblins who had been captured and were being held in Fort Forthoklek (in Hinji), and decided to backtrack to perform a jailbreak.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 12)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 13)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 14)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 14)
The trip back to Hinji was uneventful, and the hobgoblins gave their crew shore leave. Investigating Fort Gorthoklek took several days, as did preparations (including not looking like hobgoblins). Eventually they learned that the hobgoblins had been captured in Merab by a captain who was currently away on fleet maneuvers in a training exercise, but that the hobgoblin prisoners themselves were held in a dungeon beneath the citadel. They found a drunk guard who was willing to help them get past the front gate.
The troop of guards eating did their best to stop the hobgoblin rescuers, but it was futile at best. Once they were dispersed their keys allowed for rapid unlocking of the entire prison, freeing all the inhabitants. To everyone’s surprise, however, there were no hobgoblins. Finally one of the other prisoners revealed that they had been secretly digging a tunnel, and once there was a loud distraction they made their escape.
The pirate hobgoblins decided to leave and meet them outside. Unfortunately, the acting head of the Fort had a candle of invocation, which he used to call a horned devil. The second troop of guards did very little, but the horned devil was another matter entirely. Oknarok injured him badly, then fell unconscious. Malikor woke Oknarok up, but then a fireball finished him off. Marqua summoned a colossal roc which had trouble hitting the devil, who turned to face Grimka in an attempt to stop her gaze attack. This was successful, and now two of the four hobgoblins were dead. The remaining two each grabbed a corpse and flew in opposite directions, and succeeded in escaping. Sadly, the musket that Oknarok had been carrying since early days on the Wormwood got left behind.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 13)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 14)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 14)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 14)
Arriving in Cassomir, the party did some shopping and spent a day talking themselves up. Though they gained a little in the process, they learned that Cassomir had a famous pirate of its own, who was technically an outlaw but was nonetheless greatly admired by the locals. If he’d been in port the party might have tried to take his infamy from him by force.
While this was happening, the newly rescued (low-level) hobgoblins did extensive adventuring in the passages beneath Cassomir. When shore leave ended they came back loaded with new pieces of equipment.
The group extensively researched what sort of documentation they’d need to go upriver, then meticulously forged it. Once they had a perfect copy, they cast sodden ship and sailed beneath the blockade.
Things were peaceful on their trip upriver. They kept getting mistaken for being from Ustalav, but that might be on account of their use of the skeleton anchor to man their oars with the undead. In any case, they made steady progress upriver until Marqua asked to stop at the Isle of Arenway. She met some other druids and talked shop, and she was particularly keen on conversing with their rat specialist, an elf everyone else called “the rat guy”. He showed her his taxidermy collection, including rats from as far away as Castrovel and Akiton. She promised to return for the summer solstice, and started thinking about the island as a possible retirement home.
They sailed past Galt and Kyonin, and finally stopped in Xer. They took care to learn Razmiran hymns and did their best to pass for worshippers, though they clearly didn’t know everything they should. The masked priests had no objection to new converts, fortunately, so they were able to resupply and enter Lake Encarthan.
They’d been told that there was a permanent storm over the Isle of Terror, and since they live in the shadow of the Eye of Abendego they knew how to prepare. They were almost disappointed when it was just cloud cover and a bit of rain. They’d heard that the flying skiff Cobra’s Sting had gone toward the island and hadn’t been seen since, and they were determined to have it for their own. As they got closer to the island, however, a large black creature (Jolanera the nightwing) flew out to intercept them. Things got particularly bad when one of Marqua’s summoned elementals died and instead of reappearing on the elemental plane of air instead was the focus of a tear in reality leading somewhere extremely black and got sucked through, screaming. Marqua immediately sent all her summoned creatures away so that none of them would suffer the same fate. With both Oknarok and Grimka unconscious, the Ravenous Orca made a hasty retreat. Jolanera declined to follow them past the cloud cover.
They set course for Caliphas City, and were determined that when they returned they’d be prepared.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 13)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 14)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 14)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 14)
Re-equipped and healed up, the hobgoblins set out once again for the Isle of Terror. There was some hope that by skirting around from another direction they might be able to sneak past Jolanera (the nightwing), but this was not to be.
As they approached the island they started their magical preparations. Once Jolanera appeared in the distance they completed their prep and sent their crew into an extradimensional space. Jolanera's shadowy entourage charged in, and the fight was joined.
Things looked dire for the heroes until Oknarok managed to critically hit her three times within two rounds using his magical musket. This triggered her contingency, and she vanished.
The hobgoblins took advantage of her disappearance to continue down the coast of the island. At an extremely old stone ruin they found the Cobra's Sting floating at a stone dock, its lines securing it but otherwise showing no signs of a crew. A look through her hold showed that most of the supplies were missing. She showed signs of having been freshly painted.
Grimka took a helmet near the helm and commanded the ship into the air. As the Cobra's Sting and the Ravenous Orca departed from the Isle of Terror the hobgoblins saw a number of elves running out of a completely white forest gesticulating at them. The hobgoblins gesticulated back, and sailed off.
Captain Donata's intention was to keep the Ravenous Orca in Lake Encarthan for a while before sailing back to the Shackles, so the hobgoblins all boarded the Cobra's Sting (now rechristened as the Bat's Shadow) and shifted to the ethereal plane. The next day they shifted back to the material, and found themselves near Ilizmagorti. They covered the remaining distance home in a more conventional manner.
Upon returning to the Island of Empty Eyes they were greeted by astonishment from the staff, who thought that they might never see their bosses again. Apparently the Pirate Council was after them for the murder of Wide Olga and her husband (both Council members).
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 13)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 14)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 14)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 14)
I am so on board this ship.
The members of the pirate council had all been invited to the Island of Empty Eyes in order to hear for themselves Wide Olga's accusations of her murder at the hands of Fleet Admiral Badger Medlar. Tessa Fairwind was the first to arrive, being brought via teleportation courtesy of an elf named Gleinàthon Ondalaneir. She explained to the hobgoblins that the Hurricane King was seeking even closer ties to Alkenstar, and the next council meeting would include motions to hire the Red Mantis to assassinate unauthorized firearm wielders in the Shackles as well as confiscating all flying vessels for use in transporting prisoners across the continent to them.
The hobgoblins decided that it was time to take matters into their own hands. They made sure that their guests were comfortable, and Tessa assured them that she would take over hosting duties in their absence. Then Gleinàthon Ondalaneir said that he had been hoping that they would join him, and had red team armbands made. He confessed that the armbands had been Captain Alnimyin Menthimniar's idea, but the team name and embroidery were all him. He declared them to be "Team Squid", though he preferred the vastly more euphenious elvish: "Zenúmien Henvìl".
Oknarok declined to wear his armband, so Marqua adjusted it for Bitey (her crocodile companion) and they all teleported to Lucrehold. Gleinàthon Ondalaneir wished them well, then teleported away. The remained of Team Squid crept into the warehouse they were assured housed a secret entrance into the Hurricane King's underground cave complex, and were nearly caught immediately by some office workers. They sped past that area into the large warehouse, where a golem spun to look at them. It only had eyes for Oknarok, and after he fled he quickly found a red bandana and wrapped it around his arm. After that there were no more problems with the golem.
Down the secret passage revealed quite a lot of undead. Once dispatched, the undead's former resting places gave up their secret: another passage. At the bottom of this passage was an area that (unlike where the undead were) seemed to be in use. In particular, it was in use by a cannon golem. Team Squid took it down, but Bitey nearly didn't survive the encounter.
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 15)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 16)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 16)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 16)
Having spent the night refreshing themselves in a magnificent mansion, the hobgoblins peered out the door. There was a campfire beneath them, and a fiery dome surrounded them. Oknarok emerged invisibly. Marqua's crocodile companion (Bitey) charged out and killed them street person who had been hired to tend the fire. Grimka dispelled the fire wall, and then the surrounding area became clear.
There were two dwarfs on watch, and Marqua kept them busy with a gargantuan fire elemental. A tent nearby yielded a number of hobgoblins, and a tower across the water supported a canon pointed directly at the campfire. Before it could fire, however, Malkior hit it with a fireball.
The resulting explosion rocked the entire cavern, and left a ringing in everyone's ears that would last for days.
Now everyone within earshot (and beyond) knew that something big was happening in the cavern. Marqua was in the shape of an air elemental and Frimka was invisible, and everyone was in combat. Even the Hurricane King hurried to join the fray.
The battle was intense. First Malikor then Oknarok were hit by maze spells cast from scrolls by Badger. Malikor prayed to General Moloch for assistance and promised to lead an armada against his enemies in the south, and was returned to the Material Plane in exchange for his service. Oknarok managed to figure out the maze on his own.
Marqua cast basilisk gaze and began petrifying nearby enemies. This happaned to Badger and two of the elves who had been sniping at them. The gaze attack ended, however, when Marqua was knocked unconscious and fell into the salt water beneath her.
Finally Oknarok managed to unload his musket into the Hurricane King. Kerdak Bonefist fell. The Hurricane King was dead. Long live the Hurricane King!
PCs:
Grimka (hobgoblin fighter 1/mesmerist 14)
Malikor (hobgoblin fighter 1/cleric 15)
Marqua (hobgoblin fighter 1/druid 15)
Oknarok (hobgoblin fighter 1/gunslinger 15)
Yay! Hobgoblins forever!
Having the PCs all be from the same hobgoblin squad certainly gave them a sense of unity that other groups can lack. It was a fun approach. :)