Skull & Shackles:Log

Prelude

Prior to the beginning of the adventure, the party was drugged and press-ganged into service by a number of unsavory figures who seized their equipment and locked them below deck.

4712

Erastus

Erastus 12th

Having been press-ganged into service on the Wormwood, the crew went through an orientation with Mister Plugg (the boatswain Master Scourge's apprentice) and learned that the Captain was a vicious brute. They learned of their predicament and the expectations put on them.

Gradeem mended sails and learned the Crow's Song from Tilly. Shivlaka, a Mwangi woman, sang songs about the ancestors with him and warned him that Maheem is a vicious and evil man who hated icons of any faith.

Sandra Quinn returned Eliatris' familiar to her while she worked with Ratline to catch vermin. Eliatris used her familiar to catch the rest of the day's quota of vermin and thanked Sandra for her help.

Stradio and Mogo tormented Conchobar Turlach Shortstone, an effeminate gnome with delusions regarding the romance of pirate life. Stradio befriended Maheem while Mogo offended him by mentioning a God (which apparently was very offensive to him).

Charles the Mad helped Kroop slaughter a pig and Eliatris managed to evade them in a visit to Grok to acquire twine for Ratline; on the way out, she was regaled with stories of his experience as a well-paid chef before he bet his life to Harrigan.

Ruby ended up in the bilges with Rosie and Giffer, primarily because Ruby insisted she would be good at mending sails, which seemed to enrage Plugg and Scourge; Ruby ended up speaking with the doomed Jakes Magpie, who tried to convince her to help him escape. She did not, however.

When the workday was complete, Jakes was executed by cannon (which was a messy affair). Charles convinced Grok to return his stuff by telling her it's cursed (which did not appear to garner any goodwill). Eliatris was able to retrieve her stuff due to Grok's carelessness.

Conchobar suggested Eliatris help him win Rosie's love and she agreed noncommittally. Stradio told tall tales and undermined the captain while Mogo explored the ship. Ruby and Gradeem performed for the crew, raising everyone's spirits. The party members were issued a locker in which to keep their things and given a key to the locker as well as being given a hammock. The rum rations were issued and everyone drank their except Eliatris, who slipped hers to Sandra Quinn.

Sandra further explained that she was a follower of Besmara on what amounted to a holy pilgrimage - being press-ganged was a way of letting the Pirate Queen take control and steer her like a vessel.

There were discussions of the following: where they were sailing; where their equipment was; what kind of ship was being run.

Erastus 13th

The crew was given tasks, with Stradio being given the odious work in the bilges and Gradeem being placed as the lookout. The ship ran into reefs due to errors in looking out by Gradeem (who received lashes, along with Conchobar). The party killed and ate reefclaws while catching crabs, and served them, impressing the captain. Charles the Mad was able to recover most of the party's equipment from Grok. Gradeem propositioned Sandara Quinn in hopes of gaining his equipment back. Charles was having a drink with Mogo. Sandara rejected Gradeem, but was good natured about it. She offered to help him, but explained that she wouldn't be able to retrieve his items.

Erastus 14th

The characters managed to mostly avoid a fight with the night crew, with Mogo using invisibility, Stradio menacing them away, Gradeem engaged in fisticuffs and Eliatris sneaking by. Gradeem and Charles were lashed for being "late", and Stradio was sentenced to a lashing he did not receive, which enraged Mr. Scourge. Charles taunted the bosun and received additional lashes and was put in the cage for four hours, during which time Eilatris fed him. Kroop, however, demanded his release to assist in cooking.

Gradeem entranced Syl (who seemed to have a fetish for wounds) with his lash injury, and sang for Jape (who seemed to just like singing, but didn't speak, so it was hard to tell). Eliatris visited the bilge where Stradio was and uncovered all the huge spiders down there, resulting in Giffer Tibbs and Tilly Brackett taking injury from the spiders.

Charles eventually made a stew that was delicious, stole some port wine and attempted to enlighten Caulky Taroon. As the crew prepared for free time, Scourge led out his "pet" a burly man named Owlbear, and challenged the PC's to a fight, placing a so-far unexplained bet. Stradio took the 100gp, gave 2gp to Charles for watching his weapon, and 1gp to Owlbear for being a good sport, despite evidence of cheating. Mogo was able to find a magical weapon concealed in the officers quarters. He also discovered a secret passage from the crew quarter to the kitchen. Conchobar tried to lock him in the bilges using Fipps as a weight, but Mogo was able to turn it around.

Erastus 15th

There was a storm at sea and Charles and Gradeem fell overboard taking Rosie and Fipps with them, but everyone was recovered (after Conchobar made a failed attempt resulting in face smashery). Charles and Stradio not only contributed heavily to the work on deck, but also to the recovery efforts, thus filling Scourge and Plugg with fury. The next day, Gradeem, Ruby, Mogo and Eilatris all fell asleep at some point during their subsequent shifts, earning further wrath from Scourge.

Erastus 16th

The following day, most everyone slept or otherwise was lazy. The captain announced that his door had been tampered with. The player characters engaged in boarding school and were largely successful. Peppry Longfarthing confronted Eilatris regarding her magic use, but was unable to find fault in her arguments. She asked her to keep her eyes out for a spellbook, two holy symbols and a familiar that had been stolen from he quarters (notably the party's equipment).

Erastus 17th

Kroop was sick, so Charles and Plugg had to complete the food, which was an unpleasant affair for the both. Pluck the parrot, a former possession of one of the late crew members, was renamed as "Eyedinner" after Mogo managed to coax it back to the real world. There was a water luck gremlin in the galley that Mogo discovered and Grok killed. They searched for more, and Charles managed to get a lashing. A squad was formed to search for them the next day.

Erastus 18th

Stradio was sent to the bilges to help Fipps along with Syl and Jape while the others formed a posse to search for Gremlins. While in the bilges, Stradio was attacked by Syl and Jape and took a few hits before fending them off and breaking all their weapons. Syl and Jape fled, while Fipps and Stradio continued to man the bilges. Mr. Plugg threatened Stradio based on the argument that he was a "troublemaker." Ruby spotted a ship in the distance and the Wormwood gave chase. The captain had Kroop chum the water.

Erastus 19th

The crew overtook their target, the Man's Promise, which Captain Harrigan stated he had faced before. Eilatris was able to leap into the water and take them from behind. Stradio was enlarged by Gradeem and fought viciously. Choncobar was able to behead a man and heal Stradio. Ruby stood back and sang. Charles used his Channel Energy. Mogo cast spells and was almost ballista'd. They were able to warn Harrigan of an impending attack and the Captain seemed, briefly grateful.

Only four Rahadoumi sailors survived the vicious onslaught of the Wormwood. The skeleton crew was chosen, and Plugg and Scourge were chosen to man a skeleton crew, and they selected the party, Sandra Quinn, Conchobar, and pretty much all the crew members that hated them. Grok expressed deep grief that Eilatris was leaving (and relief that Charles was leaving). Eilatris told Rosie Cusswell to take care of herself and not do anything crazy. Conchobar expressed significant grief over the perceived loss of Rosie.

Mogo searched the Man's Promise even as others were coming aboard. Mogo was able to acquire a magical hospitality hammock before anyone came aboard.

Erastus 20th

Scourge informed the crew that there would be no space for dilly-dallying whilst they were on board the Man's Promise en route to Port Peril, and that all punishments would be meted out with the scourge rather than the lash. He assigned Stradio solely to bilge duty, and put the rest to tasks. Once out of sight of the Wormwood, they made a westward turn and followed the coastline. Conchobar charmed Mogo and was dismayed to discover that Mogo had sincerely found him annoying. He eventually resolved to be more like Barnabus Harrigan.

Erastus 21st

Cleverly, Charles poisoned the Captain with undercooked chicken, although Plugg, Syl and Fipps were the only ones to get sick. Rosie had stowed away and planned to assassinate the captain.

Erastus 22nd

The captain sent the chicken back to Charles and Kroop, who cooked it more thoroughly and ate it. They decided the captain was on to them and that they needed a new plan.

Erastus 23rd

In the wee hours of the morning, Rosie was caught trying to kill Scourge. Charles saw Scourge and Plugg in their quarters, hastily dressing, while Owlbear pinned Rosie down. All hell broke loose in the crew quarters, where Narwhal was subdued, Maheem slept and Syl and Fipps were still incapacitated. Jape didn't know what to do, but Ruby was able to charm him into non-combat.

The party made their way to the deck, where they discovered a preponderance of Grindylows, a few of which made an effort to carry off Conchobar. Charles was able to recover him with a summoned devil dolphin. The party fended off the rest of the Grindylows. They then broke into the officer's hold, where they confronted Plugg and Scourge. Ruby was able to save Rosie when no one was looking. The fight went very poorly for Plugg and his entourage; Scourge was killed, Conchobar and Mogo were knocked unconscious. Eventually, the party overcame them, but Charles got to the ship's wheel too late to prevent the ship from becoming beached on the reef. Conchobar was startled and declared that Sandra Quinn had been taken by the Grindylows before anyone came on deck.

The party elected Stradio as Captain-in-fact and Charles as his de facto first mate. Eilatris was able to ask a dolphin for assistance to locate Sandra, and determined that she was on the island. Ruby determined that of those below, only Maheem did not want to be a sailor in some capacity. Owlbear wept tears of joy for Scourge's death. Plugg was interrogated by Eilatris using Charm Person and it was determined that his plan had been to take the ship to a shipyard called Rickety Squibb's and have it modified to be unrecognizable so that Capt. Harrigan wouldn't know it from descriptions while he raided the Fever Sea. Plugg stated that he had been using Scourge all along and that his ultimate goal had always been to escape at the opportune moment. Eilatris dismissed the charm and Plugg became enraged and violent. Plugg's tongue was removed, and he was publicly executed in front of the crew, after giving them a chance to declare loyalty to the obviously defeated pirate captain. After the execution, Stradio demanded that the crew swear loyalty to him or be put to port at the next opportunity, although few of them seemed to keen on having him for captain.

They located Plugg and Scouge's treasure horde (worth roughly 2000gp or 2 plunder by Mogo's estimations) and found a number of magic items and great deals of mundane equipment that no one could be bothered to write down (at which point the DM should have declared that it had dissolved, but mercifully repeated); they had located a magic cutlass (now in Gradeem's collection) an amulet of natural armor and a pair of bracers of armor +1.

The crew set to work repairing this ship while the party went ashore. It had been determined that in addition to the damages caused by running into the reef, the ship was now beached and the rudder had been sabotaged. Narwhal stated that he could repair the rudder given a supply of wood and a few days, but that Flippy, the other missing sailor (apart from Sandra) was a carpenter by trade and would be able to do a much better job.

The party made their way through a devastated fishing village. They came to a miry mud swamp with a buried bridge across. They used a rope to cross the mudhole, but were ambushed by giant frogs that ate (temporarily) Ruby and Mogo before being repelled. During the fight, a skirmishing grindylow was able to attack Gradeem and run before they caught it. The party avoided the beach, the rest of the swamp and the fields. The party dealt with the ship's whores, continued up the hill to Aaron Ivy's yurt, and dealt with botflies and a castaway ghast that had hanged himself with a Chilexian hangman's collar.

They used the vantage point on the hill to see the wreck of the ship to the southwest of the island. They followed the path down, but were quickly ambushed by chokers that managed to grab Mogo and Eilatris. The two were liberated by the rest of the party after a brief, desperate struggle (in which Mogo successfully used grease to save Eilatris). They then made their way down and encountered a fissure in the ground with evidence of Grindylow activity, into which they were planning on entering.

The party was able to defeat the stirges at the edge of the pit and move down into the caverns. They immediately defeated the Grindylows guarding the entrance and slew the ambushers in the hall. They then went on and defeated a large group of Grindylows in a scrimshaw workshop. Eilatris was able to convince a shark not to kill them. They looted the scrimshaw workshop and speculated that there is a druid or shaman among the grindylows.

The party encountered the Whale and the Brinebrood Queen, both of whom they slew, and Sandra Quinn and Flippy were saved, along with a good deal of treasure. They then left the caverns, on the way out encountering a Grindylow, who surrendered and gave them the remaining treasure.

Erastus 24th-25th

They were able to get off the island, after salvaging the Infernus and releasing the ghoul Aaron Ivy, they repaired the ship. They also discovered treasure, a set of nautical charts of the Shackles and found a locket depicting a woman, three barrels of wine (100gp), and three ewers containing human cremains.

Erastus 26th

The party got off the island and, whilst en route to Rickety's, they spotted a group of 8 ships, mostly of old Chelish make, the leader flying the flag of the Hurricane King, Kerdak Bonefist himself.

The party made it to Rickety's Squibs, where they paid 3 plunder and a pair of bracers of archery for his services. Whilst there, they spread tales of their infamy, searched about for things of interest, and entertained the people. The area was attacked by giant wasps, and Syl and Narhwal was attacked, but were rescued by the party.

The party settled upon The Broken Crescent for the name of the ship.