Collecting the Bounty

Collecting the Bounty is the 29th session of the New Dawn Memories campaign. It is the second session of the Salty Seas and Somber Dreams story arc.
== Synopsis ==
The Uninvited sail towards Everwind, but are attacked by Chernobog, who wants to collect their bounty.
= Development =
== Cold Open ==
The Uninvited board Aran’s ship, the MS Anne, in Derlusk. After setting up in their cabins, they start mingling among the crew.
Mycha is contemplating about a letter he received during their rest in Oeble. The envelope contains one human tooth. In addition, the envelope contains a letter. Mycha starts reading it.
We are taking back three months into the past. Mycha is sitting with the rest of the party in their hideout. It starts raining and Mika decides to go outside and finish something started a few weeks ago.
Arriving at the house of the necromancer who stole his sword in the star park, he enters it and manages to tie the necromancer onto a chair. He starts cutting into his face and fingers, repeating that he wants to teach him a lesson. The necromancer doesn't seem fazed, and laughs off Mycha's attempts to scare him.
After a few more cuts, the necromancer dies from his wounds.
When he leaves the house Weneon is standing across the street in the rain. He holds 2 letters in his hands and throws one to Mycha. Mycha reads the letter and realizes it's from his sister Myscha. She tells him how sorry she is for all the things she did as a child. In the end of the letter, she tells Mika that she will forgive him for everything if he forgives her, but that she will never forgive “all of them”.
== Part 1 ==
Back in the present, the party is getting to know the crew of the ship. Aaran and his trusty navigator Willfried, an elderly turtleoid, are setting course for Everwind, the border kingdoms settlement in the sea of swords. Manasa and Lorkhan talk to Terrania, a female human sailor. They share a smoke together and Terrania tells them about the rest of the crew. They learn from her that Endollynn has paid good money for the tour to Everwind, 3500 gold pieces.
Weneon is talking to Aran. He annoys him to hell about how bored he is, but Aran keeps his composure and tells Weneon to wait for the open sea and try to have fun with the sailors on deck.
Mycha talks to Willfried. Willfried tells him about the salty sea. An old sailor legend, supposedly located in the Eye of the Sea. He tells Mycha, however, that the sea is full of stories like these.
Kilijan visits Ugo, a male goblinoid and the chef on the ship. Kilijan gives him a few ingredients. Ugo is pleased, but still yells at Kilijan to leave his kitchen.
== Part 2 ==
The Uninvited finally leave the ports and arrive in the open sea. Weneon is playing cards with some of the sailors and Willfried joins in a game of Chvokarra. Weneon wins every single game and bests Wilfried by 8 gold pieces.
Mycha is going down to Zendekay’s cabin and calls her up to join them for lunch. Zendekay refuses to, and tells Mycha to get lost. He overhears her then taking a bath and makes her aware that he is listening in. She opens the door a bit and tells to not be a creep.
The party goes to the ship’s restaurant and have lunch. Terrania joins them for desert. Kilijan brings Zendekay her plate, but Zendekay arrives at the restaurant. She eats with them, but then is irritated by Mycha’s remarks and goes to the deck.
Kilijan and Lorkhan follow her some time later. Terrania, Weneon, Manasa, and Mycha spend half an hour talking over desert, and Manasa starts singing a sea shanty, while Weneon stares at the rest of the crew trying to figure out their alertness.
Zendekay, Lorkhan, and Kilijan talk. Lorkhan is annoying Zendekay with his talks about killing a bunch of people, while Kilijan asks her about the Sea of Swords. She tells him about the settlements and how they are divided into settlements belonging to the indigenous people, and settlements belonging to the Border Kingdoms, also called colonial settlements. 
When mentioning Traxigor, Zendekay tells him the story about an ancient psion spellcaster who seeked lichdom, and was turned into an otter. Legend says that his whereabouts are in the Eye of the Sea. Zendekay then explains, however, that almost every legend mentions the Eye of the Sea, since it is unreachable and thus ideal for pouring all the dreams of bored sailors into it.
In the restaurant, Aran joins the Uninvited and talks to them about their course and how he predicts that they will arrive there in approximately a day and a half.
Zendekay suddenly sees something on the horizon and whispers quietly “Chernobog”. She is paralyzed by fear. Kilijan takes the spyglass from her and looks towards the horizon. A big pirate ship with a goat-headed jolly roger is seen miles away, but in an instance, it teleports close to them.
The crew and Aran run onto the deck. Chernobog, a male half-giant is looking at them from his ship. Arrows are fired towards them, with the wanted posters of the Uninvited tied to them. Chernobog tells Aran that he just wants to collect them for the bounty and fires a few warning shots towards the MS Anne.
Aran tells him off, to which portals above the ship open and Chernobog’s pirates land on the MS Anne.
== Part 3 ==
During the fight, the Uninvited tell Aran that this is not his fight. He understands and tells his men to go below deck. 
The Uninvited manage to kill the admiral Chernobog sent. A shadowy figure appears next to Chernobog, a female tiefling sorcerers, who seemingly manages to control the pirates. The party, however, kills them as well.
During the fight, Lorkhan falls unconscious. Chernobog is about to fire his cannons at the ship, this time for real. Kilijan uses his Cape of Leaves to heal Lorkhan and jumps into the lower deck.
As he does so, Aran looks at Kilijan and mouths “you idiot”, and then Kilijan and Aran both look at Chernobog, who’s eyes light up when he sees Kilijan using the cape. 
Chernobog fires the cannons and turns his back to them, revealing that he also is wearing a Cape of Leaves.
The chain-cannonball hits the MS Anne and the ship is cut in half. Lorkhan regains consciousness and jumps from the ship, polymorphing himself into a whale.
Lorkhan the Whale falls into the ocean and hits the half of the ship where the cabins and the kitchen were located. His splash into the water causes a downdraft. Manasa jumps board, and is sucked into the ocean’s depth.
Kilijan immediately jumps to save him, but, before hitting the water, he is teleported by Aran back to the ship. Aran tells him, I will not loose you again, to which Kilijan jumps right back into the water, while Mycha holds Aran back.
Weneon, who during the fight was saved by Terrania in the lower decks, manages to find a rescue boat and saves Terrania from drowning.
Kilijan and Mycha jump into the water to find Manasa, who already lost consciousness. Lorkhan the Whale, while being in the water, polymorphs into a shark, causing another downdraft of the water to occur and hindering the the rescue efforts even more.
He manages, however, to locate Manasa at the last second and bring him to the surface, as well as Zendekay, whom he rescued among three other sailors from the MS Anne. Lorkhan saw Ugo and Wilfried drowning in the ocean and was not able to get to them in time.
As the MS Anne is sinking and the party is boarding the rescue boat Weneon found, Kilijan looks at Aran going down with his ship. He tells him to jump into the water. Mycha tells him to not be a fool and go down with his ship. Aran salutes them and tells Kilijan that if there is an afterworld, he will tell him about his decisions there. Kilijan forgives him and Aran starts sinking chest-deep in the water.
A shadow appears suddenly in the sky, and a metal bird appears. Serge is gliding on metal wings down to Aran and picks him up, gliding over the party’s rescue boat and towards big galley a few miles to the east.
General Taylor and some hundred to a hundred fifty crew members are watching the happenings. Serge flies with Aran in his hands towards the ship. Zendekay wakes up in Kilijan’s hands, sees general Taylor’s ship, and says: “Oh my god, everything, just not him again.”
As Kilijan looks towards the sunken ship, he notices that the color form the name "MS Anne" has been washed off, revealing the original name of the ship "MS Sirja", the name of his mother.