Chuck (once Xim and now Ashe) meanders in. He brushes a couple strands of seaweed from his rain slicker and comments, "You wouldn't believe the week I had." Bruce (Grenville d'Tharashk) mentions, "I might. I had a really incomprehensible week. I'm ready to believe anything." At this moment Ernest (Kurgash) shows up with Peco (Solmar). He offers, "Tim's not here, so I thought I'd bring someone to replace him." Far away at the Renaissance Faire Tim (once Silharath) feels a strange twinge, then goes back to the drudgery of peddling overpriced soda to globular fairegoers in skin-tight chainmail. He shudders and reflects, "I guess working for Wal-Mart would be just as soul-deadening, but it wouldn't have the same carny atmosphere." Chris (Thaiphong) murmurs, "Mmm... globular carnies... so pungently soft, like rancid custard..." Then Paul wanders in and mentions, "You know, these NPC stats are way too weak. I'll just spend a moment to toughen them all up for you." Apparently Billy (Secheck) was already warned of this and elected to not show up at all.
Last time, Xim and Silharath were felled by the hideous chewing of the gibbering mouther. Having transported their remains back to Zarash'ak, the characters arrange for them to be buried and returned to the bounty of Eberron. As the most religious of the surviving characters, Kurgash says some simple but moving words for them. He instructs the other characters to wrap the bodies in cloth and weight them with stones, because he knows the score.
Then the characters divide up their fallen comrades' gear. Thaiphong looks at the pile and asks the others, "Who wants the masterwork spear? Nobody? Hmm... I sense that someone is going to want a masterwork spear soon."
The group also recovered Olaras Vinisins' spellbook. It contains all zero-level spells; the first-level spells Burning Hands, Grease, Mage Armor, Obscuring Mist, Sleep; and the second-level spells Knock, Protection from Arrows, Scorching Ray, and Touch of Idiocy. The characters buy two sets of masterwork manacles to restrain Vinsins, and Thaiphong puts a Nixon mask on him. For good measure, Grenville d'Tharashk uses his Spellcraft skills to ensure that everything that could possibly be a spell component has been excised from Vinsins' person. Grenville knows that the mage could theoretically use his hair or toenail clippings as spell components, so he removes these as well. He tells the others, "I don't want any snide comments about why I'm shaving the mage's back." And then when Vinsins is asleep, Grenville sews his "Sun" talisman into his robes.
Everyone realizes that the group needs a few new members. Grenville d'Tharashk offers, "We run a bar, let's just advertise!"
Kurgash suggests, "I could stand up on a table and yell out that we're looking for people!"
Thaiphong comments, "That would be the way you'd do it. I was thinking we should place ads in the newspaper."
Grenville ignores his comrades and just hits up his various contacts in House Tharashk. He has them spread the word that he's looking for some reliable companions for an adventuring group. Ashe gets the word and realizes that the guys looking for help are in the bar right next door to the brothel he's staying at.
He walks next door and tells the first bugbear he sees, "I like tater tots!"
Thaiphong replies, "Oh thank god. I thought you said something about lactating." It says something about the group's application process that this exchange is considered to be more than enough to establish membership.
Solmar shows up next. He is the first dwarf artificer any of the characters have ever seen. He says that he comes from a wealthy family in the Mror Holds. He contracted the wanderlust at an early age and has traveled ever since. Thaiphong asks, "Are your family all dwarfs too? That's too bad." Solmar volunteers to help the characters bring Olaras Vinsins to justice in Sharn if they cut him in for a share of the reward. The characters agree to this bargain. They don't have much other choice, as they sense that Solmar isn't going to be going away soon.
Thaiphong announces that the characters have 2929 spare gold coins. The characters head down to the docks to see what kind of passage this will buy them. They decide that they'd prefer not to leave their captive unguarded, so they pack Olaras Vinsins into an old rice sack and bring him along (Whack! "Bad corpse! Bad corpse! Stop scaring Smithers!"). They pick a sack from the top of the heap, so they get one that Thaiphong has been sleeping on it. It is completely covered in bugbear hair. Very quickly, the characters discover that Vinsins is horribly allergic to pet hair. Thaiphong protests, "I'm not a pet!"
Kurgash points out, "That mind flayer of yours keeps you people as pets."
Thaiphong protests, "We're elite warriors!"
Kurgash scoffs, "Oh, think what you want. Squid-head-master still eats bugbears as after-dinner bon-bons when he feels peckish."
A shivering old man approaches Thaiphong. He grabs the bugbear's arms and howls, "A house divided must fall! He sees you!" Thaiphong suppresses a strange urge to ask him how he likes the book. The madman's arms are covered with cuts, some of them still fresh and bloody. He lets go of Thaiphong and goes for his dagger. The characters watch with curiosity as the madman starts carving a rune in his arm. But then they decide that they'd best do something. Grenville hits him with a Daze scroll, then Ashe saps him and knocks him out. He goes down.
Grenville patches the madman up with a quick Cure Light Wounds. Solmar watches this process, and notes that the man's body shows several previous rune-carving attempts. They look like spirals.
The characters decide to continue looking for a boat, but to ask around to see if anybody recognizes him. None of the bystanders seem to be paying attention: they averted their gazes from the whole Daze-and-sap episode.
The characters quickly learn that there are several options available for passage to Sharn. A ticket on a House Lyrandar air-galleon costs 900 gold, and will take six days to reach its destination. The next-fastest option is passage upon a sailing ship made from soarwood, which will cost 360 gold each for a nine-day journey. Finally, there are a few ancient galleons in port that can take a body to Sharn in 18 days for only 180 gold.
The characters review their options and decide that they're not in a hurry. Passage for seven (the characters, plus their two prisoners) on a galleon will cost 1260 gold, well within the characters' budget. They also suspect that some of them could cheapen the burden by agreeing to work for passage.
The characters end up meeting with an old deranged galleon captain named Finn in the Salty Wench tavern. Grenville negotiates passage cost with him.
Captain Finn has one good eye and one glass eye. He keeps the glass eye focused keenly upon Grenville all through the discussions. He explains his sailors are superstitious. He has a woman on board and they don't like it. He needs some muscle to watch over her. Plus he'd want his hired men to fight any raiders they encounter, not that he anticipates any such trouble.
Grenville manages to arrange a child's rate (half price) for Secheck and free passage for Kurgash and Thaiphong if they'll work as guards during the voyage. The total cost is 810 gold. Thaiphong hands over the coins and Grenville pays Captain Finn as subtly as he can manage.
Captain Finn tells Grenville, "Show up at the Albers at the Western Dock tomorrow at sunset and we'll depart directly. We already have a full cargo for Sharn."
Thaiphong drags out the madman and asks, "By the way, Captain Finn, do you recognize this guy?"
"I've seen him around the past couple of days. He's been bothering people and shouting nonsense at them, but he seems harmless."
Kurgash offers, "Want to buy him?"
Captain Finn, "Sorry, I don't deal in slaves and I've already filled the position of Ship's Loon."
Thaiphong mourns, "We went to the docks with one prisoner, we returned with two."
At this point, the madman pipes up, "Krakus watches us from the deep!" Grenville tries Sense Motive and concludes that the guy is mad as a hatter. He speculates that his music might help. Ashe admits that his arcane knowledge is worthless. Solmar mournfully admits that he knows nothing.
Grenville offers, "I'm going to try and fascinate him with my incredible flute playing!"
Thaiphong falls over laughing. Grenville's efforts have no other useful effects: the madman quiets down as long as Grenville keeps him in thrall, then goes right back to yammering when Grenville stops playing.
The characters decide to drop him off at the House Jorasco hospital to see if he folk there can do anything for him. Grenville's three platinum pieces are enough to persuade a priest to tell them, "This looks like some kind of possession, but he's obviously not under the full control of whatever is trying to possess him." On Thaiphong's request, he agrees to write a letter to the Temple of the Silver Flame in Sharn describing this opinion, for whatever it is worth. The characters decide that the humanitarian thing do to is to bring the madman to Sharn for treatment. Thaiphong spends 50 gold from the group kitty for another set of masterwork manacles, and 180 gold for passage.
Grenville and Ashe go looking for information about Krakus. Ashe finds a sailor who thinks Krakus is some kind of sea-daemon. Grenville finds out that Krakus is a demon lord who ruled the seas in the Age of Demons. He was sealed away by the dragons. The sailor knows about him because the sahuagin (sah-HOO-a-GEEN) worship him.
Grenville decides to go a bit upmarket. He persuades the House Tharashk elders to let Solmar into the House Tharashk library. After eight hours in the stacks and a particularly vicious paper-cut, Solmar comes back to report that Krakus was a demon Rajah. Specifically, he was a rakshasa raja who fought the dragons 100,000 years ago. After he was defeated, he was sealed away under the ocean off the southern coast of Khorvaire. There are several related legends:
The characters conclude that their madman is probably a sea-scourge. Should be all manner of funsomeness to bring him on board a ship for three weeks.
The characters report to the docks at sunset of the next evening. The Albers is a venerable but seaworthy vessel. The crew is working to load the cargo as they sing festive sea chanteys. A handsome blonde man comes forward to greet the characters. He tosses his golden mane of hair in a wind nobody else can feel, then introduces himself, "I am the First Mate; my name is Huxley. You are the guards we have hired?"
Thaiphong asks him, "Where is our room? We want to stow our prisoners."
Huxley seems a bit unsettled, "What prisoners?"
Grenville breezily answers, "Oh, didn't the Captain tell you? There are two of them, and we've already paid full passage on them"
While Huxley and Grenville are discussing how many prisoners the characters are allowed to bring on board, a young boy approaches. He begs Huxley, "Teach me to be a sailor and I'll wash pots for you! I'll clean the decks! I'll do anything!"
Huxley asks the lad, "What's your name?"
"Dirt."
Huxley groans and motions towards the gangplank, "Come aboard."
Dirt vanishes aboard ship.
The characters' money buys them one cramped cabin in the aft, adjacent to the crew's quarters. Thaiphong, Kurgash and Secheck set up the prisoners. Secheck gets first watch. Everyone else heads out to check out the ship. They find out there is actually a brig, but elect to not use it: it's just one cell, with a barred door. Also, it is not overwhelmingly more secure than the characters' cabin.
The galley and mess are in the forecastle. The quarterdeck contains the Captain's and First Mate's cabins. The whole of the Albers is less than sixty feet long.
The Albers has fourteen crew, plus Captain Finn, his girl, the cook, and the cabin boy Dirt. The captain's woman stays in the Captain's cabin and doesn't come out much. The regular crew are a mix of humans and orcs.
Kurgash quickly notices one crewman who is exceptionally big, with arms like tree trunks. Kurgash wonders if the crewman might even be as strong as he is. Kurgash approaches him and asks, "You look strong like me. Do you want to bond? Maybe do some push-ups? Do you like movies about Turkish prisons? Bring the coconut oil."
Kurgash learns that the crewman's name is Ox. He actually seems rather friendly, and asks Kurgash if he plays cards. Kurgash replies, "Is it whist? I hate whist."
Ox reassures him, "No, I like a game called Skull. The whole crew plays all the time. But we could play whist too."
An old sailor approaches Thaiphong to warn him, "Your friend is talking to Ox. He's untrustworthy. He'll probably try to get him into a card game, but he's a shark. I owe him a lot of money, and so do a lot of the other crew. Maybe if you could challenge him to a boxing match? We could get a lot of the crew to bet on the match."
Thaiphong mentions this to Kurgash. Kurgash grunts something about really liking boxing.
First Mate Huxley tells Thaiphong and Ashe, "I'm sure the Captain will want to talk to you soon, but right now he is too busy preparing for departure." The two of them settle in on deck to wait.
Grenville is infuriated by the fact that he's the only character who doesn't have dark vision. Thaiphong offers to tell him about the sights, "And over there is a thirty-foot crocodile with smoke coming out of his eyes!" The crew clearly dislikes the characters and mistreats them. They are even meaner to the cabin boy.
Some time after dawn, the characters hear a commotion on deck. Kurgash investigates. He finds the crew hanging around the railing. Kurgash peers over to see what they're looking at. He sees something like a thick, scaled, green-gray torso sink beneath the waves. One of the crew slaps him on the shoulder, "It was a beauty of a sea serpent! Big! You see 'em sometimes, but not usually at this time of year!"
Thaiphong looks carefully. He thinks he can see a shadow half the length of the ship swimming around. He asks one of the crew, "Are you men throwing fish guts overboard to attract sea serpents?"
"Of course not, sir!"
Captain Finn finally approaches. He demands, "What's the commotion?" Thaiphong lets the sailors explain. The Captain berates the crew for gawking, and tells them to get back to work. The men go back to work, but gripe about the harsh discipline.
First Mate Huxley finally brings Grenville in to talk to Captain Finn. He goes alone. Captain Finn is in his cabin at a table, penning notes into a ledger. An older woman sits on the bed, sewing a jacket. She has graying hair, but still in good shape.
Captain Finn tells Grenville that he wants the characters to watch over the crew and help the First Mate. Grenville guesses that Captain Finn is making excuses to stay in his cabin.
Ox finally persuades the characters to play Skull with him, after the evening meal. It doesn't take a whole lot of persuasion. The game is held in the storage room, on the navigator's table. Someone comes up with watered wine and tobacco for the players while Ox explains the rules:
In game terms, the ante for each round is a silver piece. Each player may bid an up to four additional silver for up to four extra cards. A player's score in a hand is a skill roll against Profession: Gambling. Grenville manages to wrangle himself into being able to use half of his Bluff ranks instead. Each additional silver wagered provides a +1 bonus. A roll total of 30+ represents Skulls and an immediate win. There are several ways to cheat, including marking the cards, working with other players, and palming cards (which could give up to a +6 bonus).
The initial round involves no money. Every round after that includes betting. A player may opt to fold out at any time.
| Round | Thaiphong | Kurgash | Solmar | Ashe | Grenville | Ox | Tomas | Went | Total Pot |
| 1 | 4 (0 sp) | 8 (0 sp) | 4 (0 sp) | 11 (0 sp) | 6 (0 sp) | (0 sp) | (0 sp) | (0 sp) | 0 |
| 2 | 24 (5 sp) | 16 (3 sp) | Fold | 18 (4 sp) | 10 (3 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | 21 |
| 3 | 24 (5 sp) | 8 (3 sp) | 16 (5 sp) | 31 (5 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | 45 |
After the first round Grenville and Ashe both notice that the card backs are slightly different. They both keep quiet and get a +3 on further rounds. Grenville manages to get Skulls on the third round and collects seventy-four silver coins. He crows out, "This game is easy!" and demands another game.
Ox is more than willing to oblige Grenville's request, though some of the other players seem a bit twitchy about the matter.
| Round | Thaiphong | Kurgash | Solmar | Ashe | Grenville | Ox | Tomas | Went | Total Pot |
| 1 | 19 (0 sp) | 4 (0 sp) | 15 (0 sp) | 9 (0 sp) | 21 (0 sp) | (0 sp) | (0 sp) | (0 sp) | 0 |
| 2 | 19 (5 sp) | 12 (3 sp) | 11 (5 sp) | 10 (5 sp) | 16 (3 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | (2 sp) | 27 |
| 3 | (5 sp) | (3 sp) | (5 sp) | (5 sp) | 25 (3 sp) | (4 sp) | (2 sp) | (5 sp) | 59 |
On the third round, Ox lays down Skulls and everyone pays out double.
Ox suggests that the game would be much more interesting with higher stakes, perhaps an ante of five silver and five silver per additional card. Thaiphong decides that this is too rich for his blood. He has plenty of company: all of the other ship crew also bow out. But Kurgash announces that he will continue playing. Thaiphong asks him, "You got a system, Kurgash?"
Kurgash admits, "I don't understand the rules. I just try to make the colors match up."
Nobody doubts that Grenville is in.
| Round | Kurgash | Solmar | Grenville | Ox | Total Pot |
| 1 | 15 (0 sp) | 21 (0 sp) | 21 (0 sp) | (0 sp) | 0 |
| 2 | 8 (5 sp) | 10 (5 sp) | 11 (15 sp) | (10 sp) | 35 |
| 3 | Fold | Fold | 20 (25 sp) | (10 sp) | 70 |
| 3 | 22 (25 sp) | (25 sp) | 120 |
Ox manages to take the pot in the fourth round, but only barely. He grins and asks the others, "Anyone want to play again?"
Thaiphong growls, "No! It is time to check the prisoners! Weapons check!" He stomps off to the characters' cabin and executes the check just aggressively enough to be considered abusive. He finds that Olaras Vinsins is awake and begging for water. The old man is still insane.
Kurgash offers, "I've got a better idea for a wager! Let's box!"
Ox muses, "I don't know how much that'd make. Everyone in the crew would bet on me."
Kurgash offers, "I'll take that money."
Thaiphong realizes that he's missing talk of boxing and wistfully speculates, "I hope I get back from the prisoners in time..."
Kurgash and Ox finally agree to a match tomorrow, out on the main deck. They head off to prepare and arrange wagers.
Kurgash is on watch in the depths of the nights when Vinsins starts to become more lucid. Kurgash readies an action to bury a hatchet in his forehead if the wizard utters anything magical, then takes off his gag to see what the fellow wants. Olaras Vinsins proceeds to interrogate the orc.
Kurgash finally gets tired of the conversation. He tells Vinsins, "Well, now it's time for your kickin'" He gives Vinsins a good kicking, then retires having restored balance to the universe.
He hasn't had much time to get settled when the general alarm sounds. Kurgash delays just long enough to wake Secheck before he storms to the deck. He immediately sees that odd things are going on in the sky: the moons are eclipsing each other. Sypheros has gone behind Mim. Kurgash gazes at the heavens slack-jawed, murmuring, "Preeeetty..."
A sailor nearby curses him, "Idiot! It's a bad omen!"
Kurgash asks, "Is the bad omen that you're going to get your ass kicked by an irate orc?" The crew starts to clear away from Kurgash.
First Mate Huxley rings the bell again and demands, "Everyone get back to work! It's just an eclipse! Who rang this bell?" Nobody comes clean. Huxley sends them back to their posts.
Kurgash rouses the other characters to ask them what an eclipse of Sypheros by Mim means. Solmar admits that he slept through the "eclipses" lecture in the academy. In near-desperation, Ashe asks Vinsins about eclipses. The crazed wizard explains, as if to especially slow and dim-witted children, "Sypheros controls the ebb of magical power. When it is eclipsed, spells and wards can be weakened."
Kurgash grumbles, "That's very useful information. Thanks very much. And now it's time for another good kicking." Vinsins utters a strangled squeak of protest as Kurgash's unleashes his heavy boots once again.
Secheck chirps out that his Demon Eye is pointing off the ship's course and down. Kurgash pauses from brutalizing Vinsins long enough to reflect, "At least there's something off the ship that's more evil than the things on the ship." The characters debate how to break this information to the Captain, and decide to be quiet about it.
After dinner the next evening the crew prepares the deck for Kurgash's boxing match against Ox. It will be a bareknuckle fight, with no armor allowed. Kurgash strips down and oils up. He lets the artificer toy with his belt long enough to infuse it with Bull's Strength, then straps it on. Kurgash and Ox establish a bet of 15 gold each. The other characters cover bets totaling 10 gold from the rest of the crew.
The two combatants circle, then crash together like buck elk in season. Ox staggers to the floor, then gets up slowly. Thaiphong crows out, "I want that lucky tooth!" Ox ignores him.
Kurgash swings wide, opening himself up to Ox's fists. It is Kurgash's turn to stagger. Then Kurgash slams Ox again and knocks him to the ground. Thaiphong yells something, but is disappointed to learn that it isn't going into the session summary.
Ox fades into blissful unconsciousness. It takes Grenville two Cure Light Wounds spells to bring Ox back around. Ox recovers surprisingly good-naturedly.
Grenville spends the rest of the evening singing sad and mournful songs about beautiful women once loved and now lost. The old lookout Old Pete comes up to him with tears in his eyes and tells him, "Your singing is so beautiful! It makes me remember my lost youth when I would go up to the rocky bluffs over my village in my best shawl and hope to find a handsome sailor to carry me away!"
Grenville preens and replies, "Oh, thanks so very much! But if you're down here listening to me, then who's up in the crow's nest keeping watch?" Old Pete shrugs and heads off to find some more watered rum.
About the time the characters realize that the Captain didn't eat with the crew today, they notice Dirt the Cabin Boy carrying a tray with stew and ale to the Captain's cabin. First Mate Huxley stops Dirt and talks to him for a bit, then lets him along.
Thaiphong steps up to Dirt after he comes back from the Captain's cabin and asks, "How's the Captain, lad?"
Dirt replies, "He's fine, sir. Last time I went in there he had lots of papers and metal bits out and he was making lines and circles and things."
Thaiphong scratches his whiskers and muses, "Ah. Sorcery."
Dirt is wide-eyed with amazement, "You think so?"
Thaiphong tries to put on an expression of worldly experience as he tells the lad, "Well, whenever our tribe's sorcerers did their magic it took metal bits. How about the woman?"
Dirt explains, "I bring her food, so she doesn't have to leave the cabin. I don't think the crew like her."
Solmar talks to the crazy man who is still acting quite crazy. Solmar seems to think that the fellow might say something useful; nobody else really knows why. The old fellow screams at the top of his lungs, "How many miles to BABYLON? Three score and ten! Three score and TEN! Can I get there by candlelight? YES! YES! There and back again! THREE score and ten! Where the green grass grows! Stand up straight! Auuught! Choose the one you love! I love Krakus! I love him so! Huruhghg! Up all night running through town, upstairs and down! Running the streets in my nightgown! Burn the docks and scream! Krakus! All the birds serve Zogg!"
Solmar sighs and walks away shaking his head mournfully. Unseen in the background, Grenville is finding something very funny but refuses to tell anyone else what it is.
There is a terrible sound from the Captain's cabin, a sound of a woman screaming. Thaiphong rushes to the cabin to find the door locked. He rushes the door, determined to break it down.
WHAM!
The door stands solid. Thaiphong complains, "Ow!"
Kurgash arrives on the scene and observes the problem. He tells Thaiphong, "Stand aside! I'll show you how an orc-blooded warrior handles this sort of thing!"
WHAM!
Kurgash staggers back, moaning, "Ow! What's that thing made of? Lawyer's souls?"
The two of them decide that this is a situation demanding cooperation. They both put their heads down and rush the door.
WHAM!
Thaiphong holds himself and moans, "Oh my god! I think I pulled my groin!" Kurgash just draws shuddering breaths.
Kurgash finally decides that he's had enough and launches himself at the door spine-first. Thaiphong is half-expecting to watch his orcish friend break something serious. Fortunately, the door gives before Kurgash does.
Kurgash and Thaiphong rush through the door to see Captain Finn slumped over his table in a pool of stew and blood. The Captain's woman is screaming hysterically on the bed. Thaiphong yells, "The stew killed him!"
A crewman looks into the cabin and yells that he's going to find First Mate Huxley. Grenville arrives just behind the fellow. He swiftly casts Friendly Face and sits down to calm and console the woman.
Grenville isn't a navigator, so he can't get much from the charts, even barring the stew and blood, which seems to have come from the Captain's mouth. All he can tell is that the course doesn't look like the ship's current course, and that "Maiden" is written on the margins of the chart. Grenville does notice that Captain Finn's glass eye is no longer in his head.
Grenville concentrates for a moment. It takes him less than a simple action's worth of Locate Object to figure out that the girl has the glass eye. He demands, "Hand over the glass eye!"
She protests, "What makes you think I have it?"
"I know, trust me. Hand it over."
She brings it out of a fold of her dress.
Grenville asks her, "Why did you take his eye?" She replies with a lame story about maybe needing it later, and maybe using it to force the killer to confess. Grenville scoffs, "NO seriously, what does it do?"
Again, she protests, "It doesn't do anything! It's just a glass eye! It replaces a real eye." Grenville verifies that it isn't magical, then hands it to the artificer so he can give it the twice over. Solmar eventually declares that it is in fact nothing but a glass eye.
By this time First Mate Huxley is on the scene. He announces that he wants everyone out of the cabin, and that he intends to bury the body at sea immediately. He says having the body around will cause trouble among the crew. He orders the girl taken below, and blames her for the Captain's death. Thaiphong persuades him to lay off until there can be some investigation. Thaiphong also finds Captain Finn's log, but it's written in a weird nautical shorthand. Nobody can read it, not even Grenville and Ashe.
Solmar finds a lockbox hidden in the wall behind a painting, and a strongbox under the bed. He isn't able to open it. The characters are stymied until Thaiphong wonders, "Does the Captain have a key?" It turns out he does. The lockbox contains about 500 gold in various currencies. Regrettably, the characters conclude that it would be tough for them to claim the money.
Thaiphong takes Dirt down below to the girl, to make sure she's okay. He sneaks around until he finds her, on the off chance that she's talking to the First Mate Huxley. Selene is there with another crewmember, but they're talking about the weather. The crewman asks, "Do you like ham?"
Selene replies, rather sadly, "Yeah"
The crewman comments, "Sucks that your husband died."
Selene replies, rather sadly, "Yeah"
A faint glimmer of hope in his voice, the crewman observes, "So you're sort of available?"
Selene replies, rather sadly, "Yeah"
Thaiphong decides that this would be a good time to join in the conversation, and perhaps turn it into more of an interrogation.
Thaiphong spends a bit more time down in the hold with Selene, just to calm her down. They braid each others' hair. Then he thanks Selene for her help and heads off to tell the others what he's learned.
The characters reason that Captain Finn must have been poisoned, and that the obvious suspect is the cook. They storm the kitchen. The cook backs up against a wall and stammers, "What are you doing in here?" His name is Went, and he is quite a sight: he is quite obese, unkempt, and he's missing two fingers.
Grenville asks point-blank, "Why did you poison the captain?"
Went shoots back, "How dare you come down here to my kitchen and accuse me of something like that? I'd never poison anyone! I'll only answer questions from the First Mate!"
Grenville thinks he's telling the truth.
Ashe comments, "You have eight fingers left, now..."
Kurgash and Ashe browbeat the cook. Solmar suggests that the cabin boy saw him slip something into the stew. Went protests, "I'll skin him alive! I did not such thing!"
Then Kurgash announces "Time for tasties!" and feeds the cook some stew. Forcibly.
Thaiphong looks around rather helplessly and exclaims, "Dear god! Will someone stop him! He's about to poison the cook!"
Grenville picks his nails and replies, "I'm just curious to see if the stew really is poisoned."
Thaiphong asks Grenville, "What's your alignment?"
Grenville blows on his nails and gets out a bit of emery board, "Chaotic Neutral. Why?"
Thaiphong mumbles, "Ah. Just one short step away from chaotic evil."
Grenville finds the First Mate Huxley organizing the Captain's funeral. Huxley explains to the crew, "The Captain died the night before!" The crew whisper something about the evil moons. Huxley continues, "Now we must give the Captain a proper sea burial. I will say some words, and you can say whatever you like." Splash! Over the side goes the body.
After the funeral, Huxley informs the crew that he will take the role of the Captain until the ship reaches Sharn. After he dismisses the crew, Grenville asks him about the alternate course and the current ownership of the ship. Huxley seems not to know anything about the alternate course, "Maiden" or the ship's ownership.
While Grenville has Huxley distracted, Solmar and Ashe sneak into the First Mate's cabin and figure out that the most suspicious item he owns is a flute. Ashe theorizes, "He must be a Bard! He could give the crew minor competency bonuses!"
The characters take the charts to Tomas, the navigator. Tomas admits that the Captain asked for maps and plotting gear last night and told him that the ship might have to change course. He doesn't know why. He agrees to spend a few hours looking at the charts to see if he can figure it out. Grenville sits behind him, singing and providing a +2 competency bonus. After an hour or so, Grenville notices that Tomas is glaring at him. Grenville explains, "You might think I'm wildly insane, but it really works!"
On the way out of Huxley's cabin, Ashe sees Went the cook go into the Captain's cabin, break the Captain's hourglass and take some of the sand. Ashe realizes that sand is the spell component for Sleep, and that colored sand is a component for Color Spray. He follows Went down below decks, watching while the fellow gathers up some food an heads to the characters' cabin.
Went knocks at the cabin door and calls in, "I've brought food for the prisoner!" Secheck waves him in.
Ashe leaps into activity. With a desperate cry of, "No!" he rushes into the cabin. Secheck squeals as the half-elf rushes in and clubs the cook down. Went falls like a dead tuna. A piece of dried beef rolls across the deck. Ashe swiftly searches the cook for self-mutilation scars. He finds nothing. He demands, "Has he been down here before?"
Secheck comments, "Well, he's been bringing food for the prisoners since the beginning of the voyage. Why?" Ashe shrewdly realizes that Secheck suspects that someone has just gone tearingly insane, but isn't sure if it's the half-elf character or the unconscious cook.
Kurgash arrives on the scene. He notices that someone has just knocked out (or possibly killed) the ship's cook. He deduces that all is not well and asks, "What's going on here?"
Ashe answers him, "It's the cook! The cook! He had food and sand! He had to be stopped! Don't you understand? Food and sand!"
Kurgash smiles and backs away from Ashe slowly. Secheck tries to casually reach for his sword-hilt. Any doubts he might have entertained about who is and who isn't tearingly insane are gone.
Kurgash decides that the best way to defuse the situation is to act like nothing is out of the ordinary. He comments, "Well, all's well that ends well." Ashe rather lamely suggests that the cook might regain consciousness in nine hours or so.
In the meantime, the characters decide to search the kitchen. They find nothing, including not even the littlest bit of poison.
By this time, Grenville has used a Cure Light Wounds to bring the cook around, then he stands back and watches as the others brutalize the poor fellow some more. Finally, Kurgash knocks him out again. And orders him into silence.
The characters drag Went to First Mate Huxley and have him throw the fellow into the brig under suspicion of having poisoned the Captain.
It isn't too much later when Old Pete sends up the cry, "Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy, and she be quite the sight!"
Ashe murmurs, "Oh, please let it be pirates!"
Huxley gives orders to sail closer. It is quickly obvious that the ship is a derelict. It has no sails and no rigging, and sits in the water at an unusual angle.
Thaiphong tells Selene and Dirt to stay put below decks, then goes up to take a look at it with his Looking Glass. He reports that the derelict looks worn and waterlogged, but zombie-free. Kurgash and Thaiphong volunteer to go across and investigate, but only after they gather up all their war-gear. Kurgash is so eager he doesn't even wait for the crew to secure the ship before jumping over. Sadly, he misjudges the distance and ends up in the water. Fortunately, he can Swim.
Thaiphong leans over the gunnel and howls down at him, "Did you see that fucking sea serpent? Get out of the water!" The crew haul him out, only to see him try jumping again. Splash. By the time Kurgash is out again, the crew has the ship secured.
The derelict's deck is quite slippery, covered with gunk and mildew. Thaiphong and Kurgash head aft, searching as they go. They find a locked door on the poop deck, and a chain-locked hatch to the main hold.
Kurgash kicks open the cabin door. "Here, zombie zombie zombie!" He easily smashes through. It looks like there are some catapult stones piled behind the door. Kurgash takes six points of damage as the stones roll over him. Some embed themselves in the rotted deck, while others break through the railing near the Albers and go over the side.
Thaiphong yells back, "It's all under control!"
Inside the cabin, an inert skeletal Captain lies propped against a chair. He appears to be pointing a crossbow to the door. There is a waterlogged journal at his feet and a stained chart on the wall. It heaves as if air is pushing from behind it.
Kurgash jokes, "Hey! He knows our Captain! Haw haw haw!"
Thaiphong shrugs at his comrade's incomprehensible humor and brings the journal out to Grenville. It is damp and rotted. The early pages are destroyed and unreadable, but the middle portions remain. Grenville reads the inscription to the others, "Captain Orlando of the Sea Maiden, Proud Vessel of the Merchant Alliance." He knows that the Merchant Alliance operates in opposition to House Lyrandar. It is a little guild desperately trying to keep above water as Lyrandar drives it into commercial oblivion.
Thaiphong offers, "I think part of their problem is abandoning ships out in the middle of nowhere with dead Captains."
Back in the Captain's cabin, Kurgash looks behind the chart to find a niche holding a rusted strongbox. He searches for the key in the Captain's coat. He doesn't find a key, but he does come up with an antiquated bronze gadget that Solmar identifies as a nautical compass. A collector might pay 100 gold for it. Kurgash finally forces the strongbox to reveal ninety old gold coins, which Solmar appraises as worth 500.
By this time, Grenville has managed to interpret the legible entries in the Captain's journal. He relates them to the others:
Thaiphong asks the others, "So, we sink it, right?" All agree, but nobody has a good idea how. But first, the characters cannot resist opening up the hold to see all the death inside.
Thaiphong breaks the chains. He is greeted by the stench of death and bloated flesh. The hold is full of water to a depth of two feet. Horrible things float in the miasmic water. Sunrod in! Sunrod in! Now everyone can see.
Thaiphong and Kurgash go in. They see sickly green bloated corpses. The water level seems to be increasing. Kurgash plants his axe into someone's belly, "just to be sure." Thaiphong jabs deads as he goes by. They look around, but find that everything is rotted and ruined, even in the face of repeated Search attempts.
The characters return to the Albers, cut the derelict away and sail off.
Once the Sea Maiden is safely away, Thaiphong tells the First Mate, "Huxley! Something boarded our ship while we were on the derelict! We need to search the Albers top-to-bottom!" The characters open up the hold and search everything. None of them have been down in the hold before: it has been locked all this time. Within lie crates and bolts of cloth and such. One crate is partially opened (Thaiphong finds it). Inside are ornate alchemical bottles, packed in straw. Some are broken. They smell terrible. Grenville determines that they are not actually magical, just alchemical. Huxley points out that the Captain's log will have a record of what was in the box. Grenville fetches it and lets Huxley read it. One of the bottles contained a rare venom. Another (he points it out) contains an antidote. Thaiphong grabs the antidote and tucks it into his bandolier. Kurgash takes the poison.
There is a quick determination that the Captain was the only one with the key to the hold, and with access to the cargo manifest. Grenville and Ashe ask, "Where's the girl?" Turns out that she's still above decks where Thaiphong put her, apparently distant from any mischief or mayhem.
Thence ensues a huge debate on which people the characters can trust and which ones they can't. The characters enlist two nameless sailors to watch the brig. They pack Selene, Dirt and Went inside.
And then the wind dies. The characters immediately suspect the worst. They gather up Navigator Tomas and First Mate Huxley and push them into a room with the charts, explain everything they know and ask them to figure a way out. Tomas indicates that the Captain's new course actually was far, far away from the location of the Sea Maiden. Oops. The characters leave Tomas and Huxley with the task of plotting a course away from this cursed patch of sea.
And then the screaming starts up on deck. The Sea Maiden has made a new appearance, and this time it's loaded with zombies. The characters pile into them with gusto. Kurgash and Thaiphong demonstrate that they can go through zombies like lawnmowers through grass. And then the zombies actually attack. Kurgash takes a cutlass strike to the guts.
Ashe howls, "They're using weapons? That changes everything!" He moves in to trip a zombie. The thing staggers to its feet only to be carved to pieces by Kurgash's attack of opportunity. Grenville gives up singing to cast Shield. Kurgash continues mashing zombies.
A zombie kills a crewman, who promptly turns into a zombie. Grenville notes this as a potentially very, very bad development.
Then the Zombie Captain comes out. It's Captain Finn, still missing his eye! Ashe comments, "That's what we get for not having a real cleric around. Damn burials at sea."
Two more crewmen get killed and come back as members of the opposition. The characters watch as a fourth crewman gets killed. Even the amazing rate at which the characters are chopping zombies down is only keeping pace with the rate at which they're cutting down crew. Grenville definitely feels that this is a poor sign.
Captain Finn further colors the situation by stepping over to Kurgash and delivering an innard-rearranging slash. Kurgash staggers back with only four virtual hit points left, supported only by the power of his rage. Ashe steps forwards and attempts to disarm Captain Finn. He almost loses his chain in the process. He calls back to the others, "Hey, I got a safety tip here! Captain Finn is immensely strong! Do not attempt to arm-wrestle him!"
Grenville heals Kurgash again, then watches as Kurgash power-attacks Finn. Unsurprisingly, Captain Finn seems to be a lot tougher than the other zombies. Finn chops into Kurgash, leaving him staggered. Grenville sighs and heals him again, enjoying several attacks of opportunity in the process.
Solmar recognizes that zombies are overwhelming him, so he turns himself Invisible. Grenville wishes he could do the same.
Then Thaiphong collapses after another cut from a zombie.
Captain Finn lands another attack on Kurgash. He falls down. Grenville heals him and he comes right back up. Kurgash quickly realizes that things are not going well. He chops away the Sea Maiden's rotted railing and knocks Captain Finn down into the water.
Solmar quickly infuses Thaiphong's armor with Bear's Endurance, bringing him back up. And then a zombie hits him, taking him back down. But not for long! Grenville hits him with the Cure Light Wounds wand, bringing him back up! Thaiphong protests, "I feel dizzy. And nauseous." But not bad enough that he can't obliterate two zombies in quick succession.
Grenville's efforts to heal Kurgash up some more are drawn to naught when a random zombie slams Kurgash in the side of the head with a mace and takes him out again. Decides to ignore him with the plan of healing up Thaiphong instead, leaving Solmar to help Kurgash. He doesn't even realize that Captain Finn has climbed back up to the deck. Ashe notices that Finn is carefully aiming a cutlass strike at Grenville's neck. He draws strength from the onrushing threads of panic, swinging wildly at the Captain in an effort to save Grenville.
Captain Finn turns away from Grenville. Ashe congratulates himself upon a plan well executed, only belatedly realizing that he is now the one in danger. Ashe just barely avoids being murdered by Captain Finn, thanks entirely to the potion of Mage Armor he drank before the battle.
By this time Thaiphong steps back into the fight, now armed with a +1 Longsword infused with Undead Bane (thanks to Solmar). He chops Captain Finn hard enough in the neck that the villain's head lolls off to one side.
Grenville realizes that zombies surround him. He starts swinging at them with the Cure Light Wounds wand. He is terribly gratified when one of the creatures wanders through his threatened zone and steps right into the wand-tip, ending itself. He follows up on this success by offing another zombie with the same tactic.
Solmar infuses Kurgash with Barkskin then steps back and watches the orc go. Kurgash cleans away the next-to-last zombie. The last zombie takes a chunk out of Ashe, who steps up to help Thaiphong with the Captain. Thaiphong delivers a vicious chop to the creature, then watches as Ashe's attack goes wild. Thaiphong reminds him, "You need to hit him with your weapon!" Ashe glowers. Then Thaiphong demonstrates how it's done and crushes the Captain with a final strike. The Sea Maiden starts to sink. The characters swiftly cut the lines. The two surviving crew shiver in shock.
Kurgash's rage fades, he totters, and Grenville runs in to bring him back quick.
The characters hear the lamenting of tortured souls. They look up to see that a vortex is pulling the Sea Maiden down. It doesn't look like the vortex leads to the bottom of the ocean. It looks like it goes somewhere really scary.
After the Sea Maiden vanishes, the weather clears and the characters are able to complete their journey to Sharn, albeit a bit short-handed on crew. Next session will start in Sharn with the 15,000 gold in reward money in hand.
Grenville, Secheck, Thaiphong and Kurgash each get 500 additional gold.
The crazy guy gets better when the conjunction of the evil moons passes.
Each character gains 1260 experience points. Just about everyone gains a level. Grenville proudly shows off his fourth-level Bard merit badge (+7 hp). Thaiphong and Kurgash both settle for additional levels of Fighter.