Far Isles Session #51 - Boarding Action!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 4), with henchman Corvus (Fighter 2)

Kwinsea (Aquamancer 4), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 1)

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar PrettyBird and riding dog PuppyWhuppy
Abdul el Abdul (Fighter 4)

Aug Wahmn (Calmonari 2)

Torak (Cleric 4) [NPC]

The party picked over the barrels and crates, all of which they recognized as coming from the "Purple Haze". Turning over one barrel, Chaff found a short note carved  in the side: 'attacked, fleeing, send message when back'. Well, that didn't tell them much they hadn't already learned from the octopus, but at least they had some supplies. Since Pretty Bird hadn't seen anything, Chaff decided to summon the ebony fly, and he and Kwinsea headed off to do a wider sweep of the area to look for their lost ship. Meanwhile, the rest of the party set up camp and started gathering wood to build a signal fire if that became necessary (Rodrigo narrowly missing getting stung by giant centipedes as he rooted through the underbrush).

Chaff and Kwinsea headed east from the cove, towards a trio of small islands on the other side of the sound. One was dominated by a tall tower of rock, behind which the sharp eyed Kwinsea spied a mast. Chaff brought the fly in low over the spire, and as he did they could see a man jump out of a dead tree, run towards to edge of the spire and start shouting. As the fly buzzed past him and over the edge, Chaff and Kwinsea could see a ship hiding in the lee of the isle. It was not the "Purple Haze", but the battered "Loreman's Passage". They also saw bustling activity on the deck below, as sailors started to raise sail, and a half dozen crossbowmen raised their weapons and fired on the flying spies. Both Chaff and Kwinsea were stuck by multiple bolts, so they quickly turned away and beat back towards the rest of the party. As they crossed the sound, they could see the "Loreman's Passage" coming around the small isle and then settling in to patrol the waters rather than pursue their flying foes.

Jungle Trek

After stopping to inform the rest of the party of what had happened (and to get a few cures from Torak), Chaff and Kwinsea jumped on the fly once more to scout the western edge of the Mandaro-Shanti island. At the southern tip there was a small islet separated from the main island by a narrow passage. It was overhung by trees and vines, but the sharp eyed Kwinsea once more spied a mast in the mess. Dropping to the deck, they were thrilled to find the "Purple Haze" waiting for them. The crew was likewise happy to see them, and Lynessa filled them in on the details of their escape.With the fly now exhausted for the day, Chaff sent PrettyBird back to the rest of the party with the news, and instructed them to move over land where the island was narrowest so they could meet the "Purple Haze" without the "Loreman's Passage" knowing they'd all rejoined their ship. Luckily, Abdul el Abdul, Rodrigo, Awg Wahmn, Torak, Corvus and Jaz were able to chop their way through the jungle overnight without getting lost or eaten by some large jungle beast.

With everyone now on board, the party burned with a desire for revenge on the "Loreman's Passage" and the band of ruffians who were running the ship. Unfortunately, the day dawned with heavy rain followed by thick fog, and they couldn't see much further than the end of the bowsprit. Lynessa slowly and carefully brought the  "Purple Haze" around the island and anchored at the entrance to the sound to wait out the weather. Thankfully, the next day dawned clear and bright, so they  raised sail and looped around the outer isles to come up on the last known location of the "Loreman's Passage" from behind. And luckily, they found their foe in much the same place as they'd left her two days ago. The party had Lynessa and the crew crowd on as much sail as possible; the "Loreman's Passage" did likewise, coming around and raising sail. The party, meanwhile, loaded up the catapult. Once in range, they let loose, aiming for the rigging and mast to try slowing down the approaching ship.  In this they were successful, but the two vessels were still closing fast. On the fore-deck of the "Loreman's Passage" stood the five adventurers, while in the rigging were a half dozen crossbowmen. As soon as they were in range, the party loosed a hail of pistol and bow shot, all of which missed. Chaff then cast instinct on one of the adventurers, who turned in a rage to attack one of his companions! Jaz followed with a sleep spell, which dropped most of the crew (cracking a few skulls on the deck as they fell from the rigging), which caused the ship the shudder and sway as it started to loose steerage. Finally, Kwinsea used tidal force to push all but one of the adventurers across the deck and over the rail into the sea. The three armored fighters sank like a stone and were not seen again,  but a pair of lightly encumbered men saved themselves and were left treading water.

Rodrigo, Ho!

As the two ships passed each other, Awg Wahmn dove in to take the surrender of the two in the water. The rest of the party tried to board the "Loreman's Passage", but were unable to get safely aboard the wildly swaying ship. It took some time to get the "Purple Haze" turned about to pursue, but the battered "Loreman's Passage" didn't have a chance. Coming alongside this time, Rodrigo swung from his perch in the crowsnest into the rigging of the  "Loreman's Passage", cutting down one of the men-at-arms stationed there. The rest of the party jumped the railing and rushed the last adventurer and the men at-arms. There was a short fight, but in the end all surrendered. That didn't save Rolf, the last adventurer, as Abdul el Abdul cut him down anyway. The party did accept the surrender of the rest of the men-at-arms as well as of the ship itself. They found their old companion,  Rold the erstwhile first mate, in charge of the ship. And likewise recognized the handful of crew who remained alive. After some discussion, it was decided that the men-at-arms would be pressed into helping crew the "Loreman's Passage", Lynessa's first mate would take over as captain, and both Rold and the magic user Dorban (one of those rescued from the water by Awg Wahmn)  would be kept prisoner on the "Purple Haze".

Meanwhile, Kwinsea and Awg Wahmn dove down to recover the bodies of the drowned adventurers, but were successful in finding just one in the deep water. From the body they recovered a handful of magical crossbow bolts, as well as a collection of gold bangles. They also relieved Dorban of his gold bangles and spell book, and gagged the magic user just in case. The party also flipped through the "Loreman's Passage" log and took down some notes on the location of the "Temple of the Sea Mother". They learned from Rold and the crew that the adventurers hadn't done much exploring of the "Temple", they being content mostly with attacking and robbing the other parties returning from the dungeons. But as far as they knew, no one had yet recovered the great pearl, the Egg of the Sea other.

After hauling the "Loreman's Passage" ashore for a few days to make repairs, the party decided to head towards the large island to the south and take up their half-forgotten plan to capture a dinosaur. Approaching the island, they observed a rocky and mountainous shore  to the west, and thick jungle and swamp to the east. The mountains came right down to the sea and offered no anchorage, but there was one cove which was less rugged, as well as a few locations along the jungle shore that looked promising ...

TOTAL XP

1700

GAINS

Pile of gold bangles (1200gp)

7 crossbow bolts +1
potion of climbing
Spellbook - 1/Sleep, 1/Read Magic, 1/Shield, 1/Magic Aura, 2/Scare, 2/Web, 2/Stinking Cloud 
A slightly battered "Loreman's Passage"
5 men-at arms and 1 magic user (Dorban) captured  

KILLS

'The Dudes' - Martlet, Gusso, Breen & Rolf
1 man-at-arms

LOSSES

none