Far Isles Session #72 - The Destruction of the "Waverunner"

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy

Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 5)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes 
Torak (Cleric 5) 

Gauging the wind and distance, Chaff figured they had 15-20 minutes before the mystery ship was alongside. The party ordered Lynessa to have the anchor raised and called their musketeers onto the deck for possible action; it would be a tight race to see if the crew got the anchor up before the new ship arrived. The crew started to scramble, and Lynessa then turned her spyglass on the approaching ship. It was a small sailing vessel with a lateen sail, painted in a grey camouflage pattern. That description got some brain cells in the party working; had they encountered a similar vessel at the Anchorage many months and adventures before?

The Burning Anchorage

Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, Awg and Kwinsea slipped over the side to lurk hidden below water. The crew of the "Purple Haze" had just gotten the anchor aboard when the mystery vessel reached hailing range of about a 100 yards. On the fore-deck stood a figure in flowing silks and a turban, accompanied by a pair of dour dwarves and a human musketeer. Perched in the rigging above were three more musketeers, their weapons braced and aimed at the deck of the "Purple Haze". But the turbaned figure called across the water a friendly greeting, introducing himself as Atli the Golden (from the mouth full of gold teeth he flashed no doubt), and his ship as the "Waverunner". They too were explorers of these Far Isles, and wanted to talk. Had the party any luck in their travels? Any great treasures recovered? What going on right now? Going ashore an that island? Mind if they drop anchor and come over to talk and trade sea stories?etc etc. Altogether a bit  too nosy it seemed, so the party lied and said they'd had little luck and were heading back to Xin for rest and refit. Good idea, replied Atli, since the Anchorage is a smoking ruin. That caused the party to perk up their ears. Alti explained a crazy wizard had appeared at the island some weeks ago, looking for some folks who had wronged him. He didn't find those people  (by the way, did the party know anyone named Abdul, or Kwinsea, or Chaff, or Torak, or Beuford?), but the wizard proceeded to utterly destroy anyone who had done business with the malcontents he was tracking. And everyone else had fled the Anchorage, leaving only smoldering ships and bodies behind. 

In a hushed discussion, the party mentally ticked of a list of all the wizards they'd ticked off. They finally settled on the wizard Calcidius (whom they'd left stranded inside a summoning circle) as the primary suspect.  Humm, looks like someone had let him out. THAT might be a problem they should deal with ASAP. However, the more immediate problem was the "Waverunner". The party decided to head back in the direction of Xin, and then see what their visitors course of action might be. Awg and Kwinsea would linger behind in the water for awhile to eavesdrop on Atli and crew. First off, the aquatic duo learned that Alti was looking for some easy pickings i.e. let someone else do all the fighting and exploring, and his gang could scoop up the treasure after the fact. And the man with the golden smile didn't believe for a minute the "Purple Haze" was going back to Xin. He ordered the "Waverunner" to follow her at a distance to find out where the "Purple Haze" was really going. Awg and Kwinsea quickly swam back to their lingering vessel to relay the news, and the party came up with a plan. They would sail back to the Island of the Stone Ships and draw their pursuer onto the reef.

`Waverunner`on the Reef

Fighting contrary winds, it took a few days to get back to the island, but Lynessa was able to time arrival to coincide with dusk. The "Purple Haze" cut close to the island and turned to approach the reef-encircled lagoon;. In the failing light they could just see the "Waverunner" following them in. At this point Awg and Kwinsea slipped into the water, and before the "Waverunner" dropped sail, commanded  a rope to tie her rudder such that the ship could not divert course from the reef. Atli soon realized he'd lost steerage, and his crew scrambled to lower sail and drop anchors over the stern. But it was too late, and the "Waverunner" crashed onto the exposed reef. After a few catapult shots to de-mast the trapped ship, the "Purple Haze" hove off and let the rising storm batter the "Waverunner" on the rocks. By sun-up, the tide had risen and it looked likely what remained of the wrecked ship would float free and sink. So Kwinsea and Awg swam, Chaff rode the fly and Torak water walked over to the "Waverunner" to pick over the remains. They found a few bodies floating in the water, several sailors on the verge of death, and the ship's boat missing. Interrogating a dying sailor, the party learned that Atli and his chief men had gotten the captains gig overboard into the sheltered lagoon and rowed for shore, leaving the rest of the crew behind. Looking towards the island, the party could see the gig pulled up on the beach, quite close to the location of the Stone Ships. While Torak sent the sailors to the Drowned God, everyone else quickly searched the ship. They recovered a sea chest from the captains cabin (which when smashed open revealed a small trove of mixed gold and silver coin), as well as the ships' log and a vast collection of charts for most of the known seas around Esrae and Wesrae. From the log they learned Atli and the "Waverunner" were primarily smugglers from the Inner Sea, who'd heard of these new Far Isles and decided to try their luck. But luck had been elusive. The ship had touched in a number of places the party had also been; the only new place mentioned were the "Islands of the Silver Lotus", located somewhere to the east of the Isle of Dread. The log book spoke of  reef encircled isles ruled by a cruel pygmy king, grown fat and rich on newly opened trade of silver lotus with the city of Visryi. There were also off handed references to a Temple of Slugs and the River of Life and Death and rumors of treasure therein

The party abandoned ship as the tide lifted the "Waverunner" off the reef, and she quickly filled with water and sank. But now the question was what to do next? They decided to go after Alti and his men, not wishing to leave potential enemies behind them, having learned their lesson from the escaped Calcidius. They returned once more to the small beach on the north end of the island, and made the trek back towards the Stone Ships. As they got close to the clearing, Torak cast locate object on Atli's golden teeth; it looked like the captain was right in the centre of the clearing in front of the second ship. The party crept down the path, but were seen by one of the dwarves standing picket in the undergrowth. He ran back to the clearing, and the party figured the jig was up and charged forward. Kwinsea cast a fog cloud for cover, but they were met by a blast of musketry from the left, and a pair of axe-wielding dwarves from the right. Awg started to fire his/her laser pistol about wildly, until the battery pack was drained, while Torak holy chanted invisibly (thanks to his ring) to give comfort to the party and unease to their enemies.   Chaff fired off spell after spell, catching the dwarves in a web, instincting two musketeers to beat each other to death with their muskets, and leech blasting Atli and the last musketeer until the smuggler had had enough and called for the survivors to surrender. As Atli`s men threw down their weapons, the party proceed to tie them up and start to discuss what to do with their new prisoners ...

TOTAL XP
974

GAINS
600gp
400sp

KILLS

5 Sailers
Ethos, Rigging-Rat Musketeer
Brunhilla & Durnd, the Dwarf Duo
Rolo the Musketeer

CAPTURED
Atli the Golden [Captain of the 'Waverunner']
Uthos & Halthos [Rigging-Rat Musketeers]

LOSSES

None