We will now continue our adventures with the new band of adventures. They have just finished a very brutal fight and sadly this fight has led to the end of a few of the characters but worry not, the world if full of pirates, savages, and many other creatures so there are sure to be more to join their ranks. Lets look in on them and see what is happening.
The fight against the Red Men may be over but does not mean the group is anywhere close to being safe. The group now begins to try to lick their wounds and plan their next actions. Because Carnage, the only truly capable healer, is down and out, Edward Marlow attempts to heal severly damaged Kraken but sadly doesn't help with any of his wounds. Blix is able to patched up a little but he still has some wounds that linger. Any of the fallen that are no longer living are left exactly as they fell because of the fear of more dangers from the forest or other Red Men coming. Instead with the wounds bandaged and mended as well as possible and those less injured and not aiding in the bandaging gather supplies and cargo so they can retreat as quickly as possible.
While the group is gathering everything, Blix notices something peculiar in a tree a long distance away. The peculiarity appears to be a dark multi-legged creature. This creature swings down from the treas, landing easily and gracefully on the ground. The dark outer appearance of the creature is very similar to a spider, especially considering it just swung down from a tree. Not waiting allow another creature to surprise and attack the party, Blix hurls his harpoon. The throw is nowhere close as the pain from the wounds just received flair up. The spider tries to talk to the Doreen and anyone else that will listen, even after the a harpoon was thrown in his direction. The spider now makes his way closer and it is easy to tell that the first assessment was wrong. What they had thought was a spider can easily be identified now to resemeble a crab because it has exited the shadows of the trees and has come out into the open.
No more attacks are made at the creature as people could now hear and speak with the creature. This creature, now dubbed by Edward Marlow as "Spider-Crab", is introduced to the rest of the rag-tag bunch but the introductions quickly escalate into arguments as the names provided by Marlow seem to be different than what the individuals believe are appropriate. The hottest debate is over what name is more appropriate for Blix. It is argued that former Captain Abraham's current name of "fish boy" was not appropriate because Mongrel, the Kehanan, would be more appropriately named "fish man/boy" and that it is better to call Blix something like a seal, otter, and even "duck" boy/man instead. The last was muttered from the incapacitated Carnage and it is difficult to tell if he was attempting to participate in the conversation or suffering from delirium and delusions. Edward mutters each of these aquatic names under his breath to test them out before saying out loud that there is no way it can be any of those; it has to be fish-boy; presumably because none of the others sounded any good to him.
The crew, after arguing about names decides that "spider-crab" is not and intimidate threat, but still decide it is best to keep a watchful eye on him. They finish packing up the loot and cargo (as much as they could carry that is), leaving directly for the skiff they had discovered earlier that day. They were rushing to leave behind the blood and death before anyone or anything else came to cause more problems.
Edward Marlow takes the lead for directing the way to the skiff and though he is no native to the island, his instincts (really it was pure luck) point him in the right direction, much to the surprise of Pol-ariss.
Instructions are given for the crew, with Stewart as point, to set up the skiff with riggings and sails as well as to finish removing the vines and growth. During this time, Edward, Blix and Pol-ariss made their way downstream to the ruined Rebecca to retrieve the supplies left there.
Exercising caution, once more they approach the wreckage. Their caution is rewarded when the group notices a figure in the distance on the beach. The individual appears to be looking out at the wreckage. Blix immediately slips into hiding, whispering he will help if they get into trouble.
Edward Marlow and Pol-ariss, both curious about the individual as well as the status of the supplies, go to investigate. As they approach, the burly fellow does not meet their expectations. They had expected a Red Man scout but instead the individual appeared human. While human, he still looked very large and beefy, but he is undoubtedly human. The man remained stoic at the approach of the crab and Dutchman, never saying a word nor going for a weapon, even with the Edward and Pol-arriss having theirs ready just in case.
With the lack of aggression exhibited, Edward attempts to speak and as he does so, he notes that the human glances around the beat at the hastily hid gear and supplies strewn around the beach.
"Hi, you lost? You lose your mummy?" Edward asks in the kind of way someone speaks to a child. Edward then glances at the crab, who had made it know he thought Edward was crazy, adding in a whisper "He’s in a diappy".
The only response from from this new stranger was the continuation of the stoic stare. The captain, unfazed by the blank stare to continues on asking a few more questions as if the stare was in itself an answer.
"Find my shinny cannon?" Edward asks pointing at the cannon that had been attempted to be covered with sand but was still clearly a cannon.
The savage finally responds with more than a stoic stare. He moves his head down in a single nod.
Pol-ariss, was completely at a loss for words. The manner in which Edward is dealing with the situation as well as the complete craziness being exhibited by the other human make no sense to the crustacean and he cannot keep his eyes from bulging as they make an audible noise as they 'blink, blink' in an attempt to check that this wasn't some illusion.
Edward continues talking as if to a child, saying "Wanna pick it up? Wanna carry it?"
Again, the savage simply issues a single nod of his head to indicate his agreement and again, the crab stands there, unable to comprehend how such an encounter could happen. Even seeing it first-hand doesn't make it any more believable for him and again his bulging eyes just issue the sound as they again issue their 'blink, blink'.
The captain then,in an attempt to bribe the savage, pulls out some of the lizard meat. The stranger, as unconcerned or full, pays no attention to the meat. Edward, not one to be worried when he doesn't hear the voices of others, introduces with a gesture at the crab and himself as "Spider-crab" and "Cap'n".
Finally both the crab, partly because he felt the situation was safer and partly because he felt maybe another individual would help him keep his sanity with such bizarre behavior, begins to flail wildly to Blix. The Doreen however is completely oblivious and doesn't notice. Edward, noticing the crabs antics, attempts to communicate with Blix as well but normally keen senses have been dulled and the doreen still pays no attention to the situation or any danger the two may have been in.
Ignoring this Doreen’s lack of response, Edward and Pol-arris grab the gear and supplies before heading back to the skiff. Meanwhile the newly befriended savage, who the captain decided to call "Samson" since no words or name were provided, pulls along the cannons.
The rest of the crew are still diligently working on the skiff have been able to clear the skiff and set it up most of the way by the time of thier return. At this point the day has nearly come to an end with the sun setting and so it is decided that resting until tomorrow would be for the best. A fire is made by Samson while the other members of the crew finish preparing for dinner and camp.
It doesn't take long for their evening to encounter problems though. Before the sun has fully set, the camp is set upon by mosquitoes. The swarm is so numerous and dense that each memeber of the crew quicly is covered with bites. To escape the myriad of bites, the camp quickly race to the nearby stream and jump inside to escape the insidious pests.
Mongrel, being a Kehana, is fine underwater so spends the whole night just sleeping at the bottom of the stream, while the rest have to do the best they can to half sleep, half float while keeping as much submerged beneath the water as possible. Surprisingly enough, everyone but Blix (a doreen) is able to weather the night without incident. Poor Blix though, cannot find any useful rest and is fatigued by the endeavor.
Come morning, the slightly sleep deprived crew is able to extract the boat and pull it into stream. Some amazing boatman-ship from Edward allows the team to easily makes their way downstream to the its mouth. At this point, the crab has no idea what to think of the new-found captain. At first it was easy to believed he was an idiot but with his recent successes, the scurillian is unable to determine if Edward's luck or skill is is what is leading him to appear as some kind of savant.
The party makes their way to the wreckage where Mongrel and Blix spend 2 hours gathering cannon balls from the waters depths. At total of 12 cannonballs are all their efforts are able to salvage.
Having gathered all they can and wishing to be free of this god-forsaken island, the skiff takes to the sea heading to the northeast on their way to Kiera.
On the second day at sea, a ship is seen in the distance. Edward decides to make for it in hopes of help and aid. For most of the day they follow and attempt to catch-up to the ship. Finally as night was drawing close, they were able to. The ship was much larger than Edward Marlow's boat and could easily outgun the small skiff. This didn't seem make the other ship, a merchant vessel, any less weary of their pursuers though. After a great deal of persuasion, the crew aboard the skiff was able to convince the merchant ship to send over their doctor to help aid the wounded.
The many injured were not recovering and some looked like they might get worse, so the aid of a doctor was greatly appreciated. The doctor happened to be acquainted to Edward Marlow. The new captain instantly recognized "Bones", who's real name was Leonard. The doctor was able to stabilize Carnage but was unable to provide further benefit to the Kraken.
Being unable to help further, the ships head their separate ways. The skiff continues uneventfully for a few more days but eventually, due to the overcrowding of the ship, rations run low. The lack of food takes a toll on everyone but Blix, with his wounded body, is taxed and fatigued farther from his undernourishment. The rest of the crew bears the discomfort until finally they are able to reach their destination.
Finally Edward and his crew make it to Kiera. Their trip though does not show the favor of Lady Luck. Only one of the three salvaged holds of bananas were able to survive the trip. The crew disperse to search for a buyer of their bananas. Having lost their supper and manifests in the ordeal on Torath-Ka, the crew have no legitimate means through which they can go to sell their cargo. A man who apprears to be willing to buy goods from a less than reputable source is found but the man has no love for foreigners, especially those with no manners and turns them away. In a bizarre twist of luck (use of adventure card: Turncoat) Sampson is able to learn where to sell the bananas on the black market.
Gathered their fees for their cargo and at the same time being unable to accommodate the entire crew given the small size of the ship, the crew is paid their very small shares of the profit. Blix, being none-to-key about a Kehana in the first place, is quick to voice his disdain for Mongrel. Some other members, a set of twins and an Englishman decide to take their leave as well.
The remaining crew is comprised of the acting captain, Edward Marlow, the climbing Scurillian, Spider-crab, the unpleasant doreen, Blix, the heavily injured Kraken mage, Carnage, the silent savage, Sampson, the cowardly Atani, Stewart, and a Spaniard crewman, Miguel. (Stewart and Miguel are NPCs)
A little over 2 weeks at town and are luckily uneventful and all the time the group can afford with the meager funds they have. Edward Marlow further secures his position as captain by paying out of his own pocket to repair the skiff during their stay.
Discussions among the crew of prices between different cities confirm that the goods for sale here in Kiera are cheaper compared to many of the other cities even if they couldn't remember the exact prices.
With the limited funds of the crew, a search is made for a seller of the Kieran goods. Through the crew's combined use in streetwise and persuasion, they were able to find an amazing price at ten percent below the cost they believed was normal for Kiera. Their funds were sufficient to fill only a cargohold full of iron and a cargohold full of gun powder. With their hold's as full as they could make them, the ship is ready leave with their next destination set to be Brigandy Bay.
Four uneventful days pass at sea. On the fifth day the crew notices a ship in the distance, which they identify it as another merchant ship. Neither ship appear to be interested in the other and pass without either side attempting to signal the other.
A couple more days pass until finally on the eighth day at sea, a wrecked ship is spotted. Blix decides to investigate. In the wreckage he finds still alive and clutched to the wreckage, another [[Scurillian]] named Equais. Blix, being greedy and out of earshot of others, tries to gain monetary value for rescuing the Scurillian but with no success. Even without payment, the crab-man is rescued. From Equais, they learn he had been attacked by sharks. The Scrullian goes on to tell them that he used to be a super for the Spanish Guild but that is in his past because now he has been working on charting the water levels around Caribdus. He has noticed, while doing this, that the water had raised nearly six inches in just the last few months and that if his calculations are correct, then the world is still drowning. His guess is that within 3 years the Free Towns will disappear and within 10 years, all of the world will be underwater.
Equais goes on to say that he doesn't know how to stop it but if they had it in their hearts to try to stop it, his best guess would be to talk with Tressa the Red. She is the last arcmage and she has taken to living in the Teeth. Equais says he was lucky enough to have been there once. Of course, they shouldn't go there without preparing and that would mean, in the crab's opinion, they should get a better ship than they currently have. Edward tells Equais he will think about it and they will talk later.
The remaining days at sea are uneventful until they are just a day away from Brigandy Bay.
The night before they would reach the town, a fog rolls in. The fog is dense and makes it very difficult to travel. Being late, most of the crew had retired for the evening and the only two still up are Edward and Stewart.
The fog seems to carry with it a supernatural component, sending involuntary shivers down the crews neck whether they be asleep or awake. From within the fog a ghost comes forth, showing itself to Stewart. The cowardly atani too scared to scream or do anything as the ghost just points at him while speaking.
Stewart finally fights the fear enough to move and rushes off to tell the captain about a the female ghost he saw. Edward tries unsuccessfully to get any beneficial information from terrified crewman so decides to go investigate the matter for himself.
He makes his below deck in an attempt to witness the ghost himself. As Edward approaches, he feels the hairs on his arms rise. Continuing on he then also begins to smell some faint whiffs of decay almost causing him to gag. Along with the smell came the distinct feeling of someone standing behind him. Not one to let fear take root, he turns to see a ghastly figure riddled with rotting and torn flesh. Maggots were crawling both under and atop the grey, dead skin. The sight made the gender was difficult to determine due to all the grotesque features (I actually read the plot point wrong and said it was female when it was actually male. This made the story interesting to me and hence I ran with the gender confusion that is now part of the story). The undead figure moans, then croaking in broken English says "I need you. You must help me."
Edward, not one to be taken as a coward, nor to miss a lucrative opportunity listened as the ghost continues on. The ghost introduces himself as "Captain Iago Alfonso de Toledo" of the "Black Prince". He goes on to describes how 3 years ago he and his ship had terrible trouble and they all died of starvation while he threw himself overboard to drown. He has since then been unable to find peace and that to end these restless days, he needs the locket his wife gave him that went down with his ship. Toledo says he cannot get the locket himself but can lead them to it and that the ship is less than a day’s journey from his current location. He also tells Edward that the only thing he wants from the ship is the locket, they may have the cargo and whatever other valuables they find.
Captain Marlow's decision as well as more adventure will come with the next post.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Session 1: A Red Day
Captain Jonas Abraham was captain of the frigate Rebecca which ran into problems in a storm causing the ship to be run into a sandbar and a hole ripped into the bottom of the boat. To repair the damage, a group comprised that included a Scurillian carpenter named Pol-ariss, the Dutch first mate Edward Marlow, a French fire mage bodyguard Jean-Baptiste Delacroix, and a couple of randomly assigned men that included the Kraken healer Carnage and a Doreen scout Blix. This group was sent to find provisions and suitable lumber to patch the boat. While the group undergoes this task, the rest of the crew would attempt to careen the ship so it could be fixed with the supplies gathered.
The small adventure group surveyed the surrounding area climbing some trees to locate suitable locations for provisions and wood. A stream was located with trees believed to be suitable for repairs was located inland along and so in that direction the party went.
The group easily made their way to the stream and traveled up the stream. Along the Blix and Pol-ariss noticed a skiff and decided to investigate. Edward, aloof as always, acts as if he had seen the skiff all along and quickly “leads” the group to the skiff to better investigate mass now overgrown by vines. The foliage proved difficult in telling how intact it was easily but the ever curious Pol-ariss was not going to give up and decides to take longer to inspect the craft's condition. Carnage, seemingly uninterested in the vessel but eager to do something, began chopping down a random tree that the first mate Edward Marlow had picked out.
In the midst of the noise caused by hacking away at the tree, Blix noticed another sound and harshly whispers for everyone to be quiet while slipping behind some vines to gain the element of surprise should it be needed. The others were not nearly as skilled or quick and were surprise as a creature standing nearly 7 feet tall and resembling a yellow velociraptor barreled its way toward the noise and possible meal.
The surprise was short lived as the yellowback was quickly greeted by shots of muskets. The gun fire had little effect though as it couldn’t seem to pierce the tough hide of the lizard. A blast of fire from Jean-Baptiste was then brought forth and was shaking the creature as the remainder of the group descends upon the beast. Blix, in his attempt to sneak through the bushes, made a large amount of noise in his rush to get close to the yellowback. This noice drew the atttention to Blix and now being the closest, provides the beast with a blue-skinned target that would be a wonderful meal. The claws of the beast lash at the Doreen but the comes up empty. Blix, now close and without the element of surprise savagely attacks the beast easily bringing his dagger down and providing the poor creature with a quick end.
Not wanting to waist such a great bounty, the creature is butchered to secure more provisions while the tree was finished being chopped down. The skiff was also finished being looked over and looked functional if unrooted from the plants but did have a minor problems of not only having of a hole in the deck but also not having a sail or rigging.
The skiff and the freshly cut wood were left to be retrieved at a later time so the group could easily continued upstream. A couple more hours of travel lead to the discovery of a large group of wood that the carpenter believed would be suitable for repairing their ship. The group went about procuring the lumber and when what was believed to be enough to repair the ship was gathered needed to repair the ship the decision was make to go back to the ship. Rope lines were attached to the wood as it was placed in the water and floated down the stream. Blix, being a creature of the water, took to leading the logs down the stream.
The groups return was uneventful until they emerged from woods and were starting to near the boat. At that moment, they realized something was wrong. They were had been nearing their boat but they realized they couldn't see or hear any of their fellow crew and the smoke they saw on their approach and presumed were campfires, was much larger than a normal campfire would be. This spurred them to rush onward and the fire was not just a small campfire but was none-other than Rebecca, their ship.
The first mate, Edward, upon seeing the fire, looks at the fire mage, saying he shouldn’t have started a fire before he left. Jean-Baptiste, with just a quick glance, explained that the fire was poorly made and he would never have done such a horrible job of making a fire. Of course even with the crude attempts at humor, the crew knew this was not a fire made by Jean-Baptiste.
Wasting no more time, the crew rushes to the crew rushes to the boat in an attempt to retrieve any supplies they could from the burning wreckage.
Blix and Carnage were native to waters and as such were the first to arrive. Carnage climbed directly onto the burning ship, barely making it in time to remove a single sail that hadn't yet gone up in flames.
Blix was a little more cautious and approached in his typical manner, via stealth. Boarding the far side of the ship and being sure to scanned the water for signs of other ships and/or creatures. Seeing none, he then cautiously climbed aboard, listening for any signs of life on the ship burning ship. A single thump was hear but its location difficult to ascertain. Remaining cautious continues to wait, hoping to locate the cause. His patience pays off and he is able to make out labored or panicked breaths. Following them leads to single crew member that had gone into hiding. Blix immediately recognized him as Stewart and attempts to question him as to the who, what, and when.
In Blix's not-so-nice coaking, he learns it was the Red Men natives who had attacked the ship. At the sight of them, Stewart, being young and not particularly brawny, hid himself. At about this point in his story, he finally takes the time to look around and suddenly noticed that the ship was on fire. He now begins screaming and informing Blix of the obvious. Having no more time to waste on a threat that appeared to have left and a crewman too scared to get information from easily, switched back to the most obvious threat, the fire. Attempting to be rid of the scared crewman, Blix bids Stewart to head to shore. Stewart, who was more than a little afraid, told him “No way, I’m staying here with you. I don’t want to be by myself!” Having no more patience, Blix once again yells at Stewart, telling him to calm down and once again to head to shore.
Carnage had saved the sails at this point and was now within sight in the water, Not willing to waste more time arguing, Blix forcefully turned Stewart around and kicked him right off the edge of the ship and into the water.
Edward Marlow, while taking a little longer, headed directly to the captain’s quarters and attempted to find anything useful. He scanned searched but could find none of the captain’s loot or anything valuable except some of the maps that would be useful for navigation.
Pol-ariss rushed straight for the hole in the ship and decided to enter through there so he could wind up inside with the cargo and cannons. The interior was partially filled with water and all of the cargo had already been removed. There were cannons, some cannonballs, and a few kegs of black-powder that within. Decided the fire might render the cannons unusable, Pol-ariss attempts to dislodge one and sent it through the hole he entered. With some effort, he is successful and then makes his way to grab a single keg of black powder and swam right back out the hole he had entered.
It was at this time that Jean-Baptiste, climbed to the deck of the ship before making his way below past the ever-growing fire. Jean-Baptiste then followed the same thought process as Pol-ariss and arrived at the same conclusion. He attempted and made an amazing feat of strength, shoving two cannons at once right out of the hole and down to the ocean bed. He then also grabbed a keg of black powder and attempted to swim out the whole instead of going back through the fire-filled boat with a keg of black powder.
The swim was tiring and Jean-Baptiste was soon running out of air, especially with fighting a keg that kept trying to pull him up to the top of the sea next to a burning ship. As hard as he tried though, he could not get far enough away from the ship full of flames and instead had to release the keg. The keg gone, and his life on the line, he starts to swim frantically for safely. He narrowly escapes from the main blast cause as the keg reaches the top and is set on fire. This however is not far enough to escape unharmed as the concussive blast traveling through the water knocks the Frenchman into the seafloor enough to cause a wound. Regained his senses and barely keeping from drowning, he heads back to shore bruised and battered.
Blix, after sending Stewart on his way, looked around but found nothing of use and had abandoned the ship and was swimming back to shore when he noticed the Scurillian, Pol-ariss, was pulling the the cannon on the ocean floor. Knowing that they would eventually need to be brought to shore, Blix started pulling one of the cannons shoved out by Jean-Baptiste. The effort to pull the cannons was difficult along the bottom of the sea, but their efforts were rewared as they were able to pull the cannon far enough away to keep from being caught inside the blast radius of the exploding black powder kegs.
Carnage, successfully grabbing the sail and even some rigging, while Edward had gathered any supplies they could find not yet in flames. They were just arriving at the beach where Pol-ariss and Stewart already were, when the explosion occurred. Seeing the injured Jean-Baptiste had appeared, and seeming to have forgotten about the Doreen, they gathered on the beach to decide what to do next.
Their first order of business was to heal Jean-Baptiste, the only one injured. Next they went about discussing which really ended up as an argument amongst themselves. The main topic was the battle of persuasion between Carnage and Edward over who should be the next captain. They planned to leave the others behind because they were most likely dead and even though Stewart believed they should go investigate to see if the captain and crew were alright (he seemed have some guilt over not having helped when the Red Men first attacked) but no one else seemed to be of the same opinion. The group was almost all set to repair and head off on the new skiff they had found Edward noticed/remembered they didn’t their loot and decided that they should go retrieve their loot.
Carnage, having dabbled in tracking, was able to determine the direction they came in, but not a whole lot more than that was determined so they took to the trees once more to learn of the Red Men’s approximate locations before setting out. Blix once again took the lead and in short time they were able to make their way to where they had seen some smoke and that was in the direction of the tracks. As they drew close, Blix heard some tribal chanting before and was able to stop the group before getting to close and alerting the savages to their presence. The group was able to make their way so they could see the savage’s ruined location. The stone ruins held a large pool of bubbling red liquid that the group believed might have been blood. At the far end of the pool were a couple of pillars placed on either side of a large statue that stood over 20 feet tall. The statue looked similar to a humanoid ape sitting cross-legged. Gathered around the outside of the pool were 8 similarly dressed savages all following the chant of a single savage. This lead savage seemed to be reciting the chant from memory and had a mystical air about him that resemble that of a witch-doctor or shaman. This shaman was standing between the statue of the monkape and the column on the left. Directly in front of him, next to the edge of the pool, was the captain. Also lined along that end of the pool were 5 other crew-men who were all bound and left kneeling at the edge of the pool unconscious.
The group went about devising a plan on the most effective strategy for tackling the situation or maybe even abandoning it and just heading back now. Before any of them could reach a consensus, Jean-Baptiste stepped out from the trees and into the open field to fire off three bolts in quick succession. This surprised not only the savages but also the players. The bolts all found their marks and were able to take the lives of two of the savages and the third shot, while not deadly, was enough to shake third savage. The group was left but just a few options, leave Jean-Baptiste to his fate or also attack the savages. They couldn’t leave the Frenchman or maybe the loot alone and decided they had no choice but to engage the savages. Guns were fired and characters advanced but in their surprise were unable to deliver deadly blows. In this confusion, the savages Shaman leader shoved the captain into the bubbling red pool of blood. This brought about immediate rumbling and hissing from the pool from which a towing creature looking remarkably similar to the statue emerged. The monkape stepped forward and grabbed a large rock off of the ground from the ruins around the pool which was then used as a club.
This brought uneasiness to the party but Carnage was sure that no matter what, he wanted to take down the shaman. To achieve this goal, he released a charged bolt at the Shaman, and was able to score a minor wound to the savage’s leader. The monkape, now having procured a weapon, made its way toward the closest opponent. The poor, unfortunate soul happened to be Jean-Baptiste, which nearly crumpled when he was delivered a devastating blow from the rock club that caused three wounds. The fight continued with Edward swarmed by a small group of savages that no matter how hard they tried, were unable to hit the experienced fighter. The remaining savages attempted to take out Pol-ariss and Carnage who were gathered together. The shaman, after he finally oriented himself after the he was devastated by the blast of water from Carnage then also attempted to return blast of dark energy to the water mage. The fight continued in this manner, with each side taking minor damage but neither gaining a distinct advantage. The characters were able to keep the monkape stunned after his first devastating attack and slowly whittled down the behemoth’s health until eventually the giant monkape, could stand the damaging attacks of Jean-Baptiste and Blix. Blix was finally brought the 20 foot tall abomination crashing to the ground and the group even delivered enough blows to the shaman that he was just barely on his feet hiding behind the stone pillar. It looked like the tides had swung in favor of the shipwrecked group, but oh how quickly the tides of battle can change. With a killing blow delivered, Edward, who had attempted to make his way past the warm of savages to the giant monkape now decided to double back and crush the severely injured Shaman leader. The already frustrated savages, unable to hit their original target, Edward, decide to head toward the squishier and already slightly damaged Carnage and Pol-ariss. The savages overwhelmed the two in numbers and quickly brought Carnage down. It didn’t then take long before the crab’s hard shell was dented and cracked and Pol-ariss was also brought savagely to the ground. Edward was quick to have moved within range of the Shaman and, using his blunderbuss, he easily blew the few brains out of the Shaman’s head.
Edward, as well as Blix and Jean-Baptiste were unable to make their way in time to help against the leftover savages before their friends were brought to their knees. This turned the tides again, as there once again became a distinct advantage of almost two-to-one in favor of the savages. With their numbers and the confidence having already brought down the crab and water mage, the savages once again used their numbers to assault severely injured Jean-Baptiste and the companion at his side, Blix. The Frenchman and the Doreen traded blows with the savages but the wounded Jean-Baptiste’s swordplay could not manage to keep the assault of savages at bay. A solid hit dropped Jean-Baptiste as Edward was finally able to come to the aid for the last of the savages. The fight looked bleak for the crew for they were still outnumbered, the two of them still having to face four savages.
At this point, the injured Blix and the still unscathed Edward both continue to trade blows with the Red Men in this heated death-match when much to all of the combatant’s surprise, a battle cry rang out and the normally cowardly Stewart made a courageous charge into the fray. Stewart brought his hastily acquired branch down on a savage, who he managed to knock the senses out of. Blix was then able to incapacitate the same savage and Edward was also able to bring home a killing blow, turning the tables yet again on the savages. At this point, the two remaining savages attempted to flee but were shaken by the heroes and unable to flee place any real distance. This left the savages to be easily dispatched and rounds made to see how serious the injuries to the fallen were.
It seems the wounds delivered to Jean-Baptiste and Pol-ariss were too much for their bodies to handle as their bodies lied lifeless on the cold ground. Carnage still had blood flowing through his veins but also had a significant amount of it coming out of a mangled left arm. The arm looked useless now, but at least the wound didn’t look to be permanent.
The small adventure group surveyed the surrounding area climbing some trees to locate suitable locations for provisions and wood. A stream was located with trees believed to be suitable for repairs was located inland along and so in that direction the party went.
The group easily made their way to the stream and traveled up the stream. Along the Blix and Pol-ariss noticed a skiff and decided to investigate. Edward, aloof as always, acts as if he had seen the skiff all along and quickly “leads” the group to the skiff to better investigate mass now overgrown by vines. The foliage proved difficult in telling how intact it was easily but the ever curious Pol-ariss was not going to give up and decides to take longer to inspect the craft's condition. Carnage, seemingly uninterested in the vessel but eager to do something, began chopping down a random tree that the first mate Edward Marlow had picked out.
In the midst of the noise caused by hacking away at the tree, Blix noticed another sound and harshly whispers for everyone to be quiet while slipping behind some vines to gain the element of surprise should it be needed. The others were not nearly as skilled or quick and were surprise as a creature standing nearly 7 feet tall and resembling a yellow velociraptor barreled its way toward the noise and possible meal.
The surprise was short lived as the yellowback was quickly greeted by shots of muskets. The gun fire had little effect though as it couldn’t seem to pierce the tough hide of the lizard. A blast of fire from Jean-Baptiste was then brought forth and was shaking the creature as the remainder of the group descends upon the beast. Blix, in his attempt to sneak through the bushes, made a large amount of noise in his rush to get close to the yellowback. This noice drew the atttention to Blix and now being the closest, provides the beast with a blue-skinned target that would be a wonderful meal. The claws of the beast lash at the Doreen but the comes up empty. Blix, now close and without the element of surprise savagely attacks the beast easily bringing his dagger down and providing the poor creature with a quick end.
Not wanting to waist such a great bounty, the creature is butchered to secure more provisions while the tree was finished being chopped down. The skiff was also finished being looked over and looked functional if unrooted from the plants but did have a minor problems of not only having of a hole in the deck but also not having a sail or rigging.
The skiff and the freshly cut wood were left to be retrieved at a later time so the group could easily continued upstream. A couple more hours of travel lead to the discovery of a large group of wood that the carpenter believed would be suitable for repairing their ship. The group went about procuring the lumber and when what was believed to be enough to repair the ship was gathered needed to repair the ship the decision was make to go back to the ship. Rope lines were attached to the wood as it was placed in the water and floated down the stream. Blix, being a creature of the water, took to leading the logs down the stream.
The groups return was uneventful until they emerged from woods and were starting to near the boat. At that moment, they realized something was wrong. They were had been nearing their boat but they realized they couldn't see or hear any of their fellow crew and the smoke they saw on their approach and presumed were campfires, was much larger than a normal campfire would be. This spurred them to rush onward and the fire was not just a small campfire but was none-other than Rebecca, their ship.
The first mate, Edward, upon seeing the fire, looks at the fire mage, saying he shouldn’t have started a fire before he left. Jean-Baptiste, with just a quick glance, explained that the fire was poorly made and he would never have done such a horrible job of making a fire. Of course even with the crude attempts at humor, the crew knew this was not a fire made by Jean-Baptiste.
Wasting no more time, the crew rushes to the crew rushes to the boat in an attempt to retrieve any supplies they could from the burning wreckage.
Blix and Carnage were native to waters and as such were the first to arrive. Carnage climbed directly onto the burning ship, barely making it in time to remove a single sail that hadn't yet gone up in flames.
Blix was a little more cautious and approached in his typical manner, via stealth. Boarding the far side of the ship and being sure to scanned the water for signs of other ships and/or creatures. Seeing none, he then cautiously climbed aboard, listening for any signs of life on the ship burning ship. A single thump was hear but its location difficult to ascertain. Remaining cautious continues to wait, hoping to locate the cause. His patience pays off and he is able to make out labored or panicked breaths. Following them leads to single crew member that had gone into hiding. Blix immediately recognized him as Stewart and attempts to question him as to the who, what, and when.
In Blix's not-so-nice coaking, he learns it was the Red Men natives who had attacked the ship. At the sight of them, Stewart, being young and not particularly brawny, hid himself. At about this point in his story, he finally takes the time to look around and suddenly noticed that the ship was on fire. He now begins screaming and informing Blix of the obvious. Having no more time to waste on a threat that appeared to have left and a crewman too scared to get information from easily, switched back to the most obvious threat, the fire. Attempting to be rid of the scared crewman, Blix bids Stewart to head to shore. Stewart, who was more than a little afraid, told him “No way, I’m staying here with you. I don’t want to be by myself!” Having no more patience, Blix once again yells at Stewart, telling him to calm down and once again to head to shore.
Carnage had saved the sails at this point and was now within sight in the water, Not willing to waste more time arguing, Blix forcefully turned Stewart around and kicked him right off the edge of the ship and into the water.
Edward Marlow, while taking a little longer, headed directly to the captain’s quarters and attempted to find anything useful. He scanned searched but could find none of the captain’s loot or anything valuable except some of the maps that would be useful for navigation.
Pol-ariss rushed straight for the hole in the ship and decided to enter through there so he could wind up inside with the cargo and cannons. The interior was partially filled with water and all of the cargo had already been removed. There were cannons, some cannonballs, and a few kegs of black-powder that within. Decided the fire might render the cannons unusable, Pol-ariss attempts to dislodge one and sent it through the hole he entered. With some effort, he is successful and then makes his way to grab a single keg of black powder and swam right back out the hole he had entered.
It was at this time that Jean-Baptiste, climbed to the deck of the ship before making his way below past the ever-growing fire. Jean-Baptiste then followed the same thought process as Pol-ariss and arrived at the same conclusion. He attempted and made an amazing feat of strength, shoving two cannons at once right out of the hole and down to the ocean bed. He then also grabbed a keg of black powder and attempted to swim out the whole instead of going back through the fire-filled boat with a keg of black powder.
The swim was tiring and Jean-Baptiste was soon running out of air, especially with fighting a keg that kept trying to pull him up to the top of the sea next to a burning ship. As hard as he tried though, he could not get far enough away from the ship full of flames and instead had to release the keg. The keg gone, and his life on the line, he starts to swim frantically for safely. He narrowly escapes from the main blast cause as the keg reaches the top and is set on fire. This however is not far enough to escape unharmed as the concussive blast traveling through the water knocks the Frenchman into the seafloor enough to cause a wound. Regained his senses and barely keeping from drowning, he heads back to shore bruised and battered.
Blix, after sending Stewart on his way, looked around but found nothing of use and had abandoned the ship and was swimming back to shore when he noticed the Scurillian, Pol-ariss, was pulling the the cannon on the ocean floor. Knowing that they would eventually need to be brought to shore, Blix started pulling one of the cannons shoved out by Jean-Baptiste. The effort to pull the cannons was difficult along the bottom of the sea, but their efforts were rewared as they were able to pull the cannon far enough away to keep from being caught inside the blast radius of the exploding black powder kegs.
Carnage, successfully grabbing the sail and even some rigging, while Edward had gathered any supplies they could find not yet in flames. They were just arriving at the beach where Pol-ariss and Stewart already were, when the explosion occurred. Seeing the injured Jean-Baptiste had appeared, and seeming to have forgotten about the Doreen, they gathered on the beach to decide what to do next.
Their first order of business was to heal Jean-Baptiste, the only one injured. Next they went about discussing which really ended up as an argument amongst themselves. The main topic was the battle of persuasion between Carnage and Edward over who should be the next captain. They planned to leave the others behind because they were most likely dead and even though Stewart believed they should go investigate to see if the captain and crew were alright (he seemed have some guilt over not having helped when the Red Men first attacked) but no one else seemed to be of the same opinion. The group was almost all set to repair and head off on the new skiff they had found Edward noticed/remembered they didn’t their loot and decided that they should go retrieve their loot.
Carnage, having dabbled in tracking, was able to determine the direction they came in, but not a whole lot more than that was determined so they took to the trees once more to learn of the Red Men’s approximate locations before setting out. Blix once again took the lead and in short time they were able to make their way to where they had seen some smoke and that was in the direction of the tracks. As they drew close, Blix heard some tribal chanting before and was able to stop the group before getting to close and alerting the savages to their presence. The group was able to make their way so they could see the savage’s ruined location. The stone ruins held a large pool of bubbling red liquid that the group believed might have been blood. At the far end of the pool were a couple of pillars placed on either side of a large statue that stood over 20 feet tall. The statue looked similar to a humanoid ape sitting cross-legged. Gathered around the outside of the pool were 8 similarly dressed savages all following the chant of a single savage. This lead savage seemed to be reciting the chant from memory and had a mystical air about him that resemble that of a witch-doctor or shaman. This shaman was standing between the statue of the monkape and the column on the left. Directly in front of him, next to the edge of the pool, was the captain. Also lined along that end of the pool were 5 other crew-men who were all bound and left kneeling at the edge of the pool unconscious.
The group went about devising a plan on the most effective strategy for tackling the situation or maybe even abandoning it and just heading back now. Before any of them could reach a consensus, Jean-Baptiste stepped out from the trees and into the open field to fire off three bolts in quick succession. This surprised not only the savages but also the players. The bolts all found their marks and were able to take the lives of two of the savages and the third shot, while not deadly, was enough to shake third savage. The group was left but just a few options, leave Jean-Baptiste to his fate or also attack the savages. They couldn’t leave the Frenchman or maybe the loot alone and decided they had no choice but to engage the savages. Guns were fired and characters advanced but in their surprise were unable to deliver deadly blows. In this confusion, the savages Shaman leader shoved the captain into the bubbling red pool of blood. This brought about immediate rumbling and hissing from the pool from which a towing creature looking remarkably similar to the statue emerged. The monkape stepped forward and grabbed a large rock off of the ground from the ruins around the pool which was then used as a club.
This brought uneasiness to the party but Carnage was sure that no matter what, he wanted to take down the shaman. To achieve this goal, he released a charged bolt at the Shaman, and was able to score a minor wound to the savage’s leader. The monkape, now having procured a weapon, made its way toward the closest opponent. The poor, unfortunate soul happened to be Jean-Baptiste, which nearly crumpled when he was delivered a devastating blow from the rock club that caused three wounds. The fight continued with Edward swarmed by a small group of savages that no matter how hard they tried, were unable to hit the experienced fighter. The remaining savages attempted to take out Pol-ariss and Carnage who were gathered together. The shaman, after he finally oriented himself after the he was devastated by the blast of water from Carnage then also attempted to return blast of dark energy to the water mage. The fight continued in this manner, with each side taking minor damage but neither gaining a distinct advantage. The characters were able to keep the monkape stunned after his first devastating attack and slowly whittled down the behemoth’s health until eventually the giant monkape, could stand the damaging attacks of Jean-Baptiste and Blix. Blix was finally brought the 20 foot tall abomination crashing to the ground and the group even delivered enough blows to the shaman that he was just barely on his feet hiding behind the stone pillar. It looked like the tides had swung in favor of the shipwrecked group, but oh how quickly the tides of battle can change. With a killing blow delivered, Edward, who had attempted to make his way past the warm of savages to the giant monkape now decided to double back and crush the severely injured Shaman leader. The already frustrated savages, unable to hit their original target, Edward, decide to head toward the squishier and already slightly damaged Carnage and Pol-ariss. The savages overwhelmed the two in numbers and quickly brought Carnage down. It didn’t then take long before the crab’s hard shell was dented and cracked and Pol-ariss was also brought savagely to the ground. Edward was quick to have moved within range of the Shaman and, using his blunderbuss, he easily blew the few brains out of the Shaman’s head.
Edward, as well as Blix and Jean-Baptiste were unable to make their way in time to help against the leftover savages before their friends were brought to their knees. This turned the tides again, as there once again became a distinct advantage of almost two-to-one in favor of the savages. With their numbers and the confidence having already brought down the crab and water mage, the savages once again used their numbers to assault severely injured Jean-Baptiste and the companion at his side, Blix. The Frenchman and the Doreen traded blows with the savages but the wounded Jean-Baptiste’s swordplay could not manage to keep the assault of savages at bay. A solid hit dropped Jean-Baptiste as Edward was finally able to come to the aid for the last of the savages. The fight looked bleak for the crew for they were still outnumbered, the two of them still having to face four savages.
At this point, the injured Blix and the still unscathed Edward both continue to trade blows with the Red Men in this heated death-match when much to all of the combatant’s surprise, a battle cry rang out and the normally cowardly Stewart made a courageous charge into the fray. Stewart brought his hastily acquired branch down on a savage, who he managed to knock the senses out of. Blix was then able to incapacitate the same savage and Edward was also able to bring home a killing blow, turning the tables yet again on the savages. At this point, the two remaining savages attempted to flee but were shaken by the heroes and unable to flee place any real distance. This left the savages to be easily dispatched and rounds made to see how serious the injuries to the fallen were.
It seems the wounds delivered to Jean-Baptiste and Pol-ariss were too much for their bodies to handle as their bodies lied lifeless on the cold ground. Carnage still had blood flowing through his veins but also had a significant amount of it coming out of a mangled left arm. The arm looked useless now, but at least the wound didn’t look to be permanent.
A New Blog
I have become a big fan of Savage Worlds roleplaying game by Pinnicle Entertainment and have been playing it for many years now. I have played in multiple settings both home-brewed as well as published. In this time I have gotten many ideas and tremendous joy from reading other's posts about their ideas and actual play so now I thought I might try to do this as well. This is my first time attempting such an endeavor but I know I have really loved and appreciated all the time, thoughts and devotion from others undergoing this same endeavor and I hope to do the same.
I will inform everyone up front, I am no English major nor am I a professional writer. In fact I'm soundly rooted in the hard sciences, so I will likely not have the most illustrious of descriptions and there will likely be many typos and misspellings but I still hope those can be looked past so that my thoughts and adventures might prove to be beneficial to others and fun for others to read. I will also admit, that this isn't just for your benefit either. I wish to see what outside viewers reading this will think of my ideas and hopefully receive even more ideas from the comments and feedback.
Having said that, I am busy and won't be able to put up the actual plays very quickly however if you do like the posts and find them interesting and want more, leave comments because that will spur me on faster. If I don't receive feedback and comments, then I will assume that there is not interest and I will let this idea go to the wayside as I then decide to focus my attention on other things.
The majority of these posts will be about actual plays from an ongoing campaign based upon the setting 50 Fathoms focusing on the plot point campaign found in the back. This means that while reading this, there will be spoilers related to the setting and the plot point compaing so read at your own risk.
The final thing I have to say is that this campaign has been ongoing now for over a year and a half and at tje beginning I took good notes and even started a few write-ups of the adventures. Later on, those write-ups might not contain quite as much detail. Either way, this might make it more difficult to remember some details, both in my posts and if anyone has any specific questions related to the events that occur. I will do my best to answer questions but if I say I do not remember, it is not because I didn't want to answer you but just because I decided to try write about the adventure many years later.
So without Further adieu, I shall begin the tale of my gaming group as they undergo their 50 Fathoms of Adventure in the next post.
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