Our group woke up on day four of Hammer with the intention of finding work and lining our pockets with gold. They picked up a quest and, after a hearty breakfast, they headed out to the town of Deep Harbor. There, they planned on chartering passage on a boat to investigate some strange attacks happening off the coast. There was one boat in particular, the Jade Lion, which had gone missing some time back. One of the passengers, Raf, was the son of a prominent merchant stationed in Deep Harbor. The man had posted the job, he was frantically worried about the safety of his son and the cargo he had aboard.
The party arrived in the town around 11 am. Karris and Kaladrax headed to Asterisk’s to try and find items to help our quest. The rest of the group hurried to the docks and asked a soldier where they could book passage to a remote island where there were several sightings of water elementals. He laughed and asked why we would want to go where ships were being attacked. We showed him the quest scroll we had and our membership pins from Haven’s Cross. He sobered up a bit and gave us directions to a nasty little bar where captains congregated. He told us that the only captain stupid enough or drunk enough to go was Shiela Coppertree. We thanked him and headed to the tavern.
The outside was a grungy brown speckled with even darker brown from the dirt outside. The inside was a dirty grey that was not the original color. It was dark, with only the illumination of hooded lanterns peppered throughout the place. The result was a myriad of shadows that concealed the patrons and gave each a sense of privacy. Upon entering, all eyes turned to the party. We entered without acknowledging the stares. Once inside we bought a keg of booze and sent it to her table, hoping to win an audience with her. She accepted the chest and motioned us over. We played a quick game of Dragon’s Ante with D6’s. She cheated with her special Blacktar Dice but we caught her and in exchange for a discount, we charted her boat to sail us to the remote island. Malachi attempted to charm her by hitting on her but she looked him up and down. She dropped the hammer on him by saying he wasn’t her type. She then turned to Aleera and winked with a suggestive look. The whole party was pleasantly shocked by this turn of events and marveled at the Bard being on the receiving end of a flirt instead of being the giver.
She informed us that we would head out in an hour and to buy any provisions we might need for the trip. We headed to stock up on supplies like rations and health potions. At 1 pm we arrived at the docks where the Annabelle Lee was moored and beheld a beautiful ship that was streamlined and had purple sails waving in the air. As we were getting ready to set sail we were called out by a dwarf and a gang of men on the pier. He called Coppertree out as a cheat by saying she used weighted dice. We all groan as we realize just how much trouble this captain has gotten into. They started shooting and we returned fire as we sailed out of the harbor and into the open ocean.
The first few hours are quiet and serene but then the ship was besieged by four water elementals. We fought off three and Kaladrax managed to cast Geas on the fourth one, enslaving it for 30 days. Upon Kaladrax’s command, the water elemental swims down to the bottom of the sea and awaits further instructions. After a few more hours of travel we spotted the light from the lighthouse shining in the distance. Land ho! We had finally reached our destination. The island looked deserted from the coast. There were bits of wreckage everywhere. Broken flotsam lay everywhere, even on the path leading up to the lighthouse. We landed on the island and looked around. On the way up towards the lighthouse we found the body of a sailor. Upon inspecting his body we found that it was Captain Arin Hest. His corpse still had a gold tooth in the mouth, his signature pointed beard and large pot belly.
With this discovery, we continue onwards. Our hearts were full of trepidation and silent horror at the death ever present on the island. The whole land was ominously quiet as we made our way up the path toward the lighthouse. Up ahead it looked like a battle had taken place. The doors had been blown outward and there were bodies littered everywhere. The most strange part was that not all the bodies were human. Some were eel people.
The Adventure Begins: Stories from the Wife of a Dungeon Master 