Episode 59: Kingdon Come

The Heroes of Bingle have rescued over two dozen prisoners from the vicious Yuan-Ti. But how will Whitebeard react to this huge group of refugees aboard his ship? Will the team be able to deal with the pirate, make it to the mainland, and reach the city of Kingdon? Even if they can, what dangers will they find when they arrive?

#### **DM/GM Intro**

*It started as a simple dungeon run…*

*But that was before these five adventurers became the Heroes of Bingle.  Before they were swept up in an epic quest.  Before the time traveling started.*

*Now they find themselves 22 years in the past, inhabiting bodies that are not their own, on a ship, sailing under the command of the notorious pirate captain, Whitebeard.  They know, from their own time, that Whitebeard holds a valuable treasure in a vault in the city of Terlis.  A treasure stolen from the Shaxen Gao empire.  The Heroes of Bingle learned of this treasure from a fugitive of the empire.  A Triton named Cho’Ran, who tried to escape the bounty on his head and save his family, but was killed by the empire’s assassins - a group of dragonborn shadow monks known as the Nameless Few.  The Heroes fought back against those assassins, even as the dragonborn boarded and fired at Whitebeard’s ship, killing much of its crew, and nearly sinking it.  Though the team prevailed, they were left with a crippled vessel in open water, badly in need of repair.*

*Even worse, their only means of finding the Shaxen Gao’s treasure lay dead on the deck with a gaping hole in his heart.  But the Heroes of Bingle had managed to procure a most unique concoction.  A beverage known as the Liquor of the Dead allowed them to communicate with spirits of the fallen.  Drinking the foul substance made it possible to speak with Cho’Ran one last time.  He told them that the Dragonborn dynasty had outsourced the security of their treasure to the Tritons.  His people had hid the riches in a place even the Shaxen Gao themselves didn’t know.  A place the Tritons called The Mantle - a secret location that he said exists under the town of Kingdon, on the mainland, in the Realm of Latlan.  He urged them to seek out the Triton king and queen, Uchalass’Voy and Uchalass’Wei - to find them and to tell them Cho’Ran and his beloved were together at last.*

*But before the Heroes of Bingle could make their way to Kingdon, they were forced to deal with the immediate problem of their own sinking ship.  Realizing that the damage from the battle meant they couldn’t make it far, the team attempted a dangerous gambit.  The vicious Yuan-Ti pirates known as the Snakes assaulted freight vessels and traders, stole their cargo, and enslaved everyone aboard.  The Heroes had crossed paths with them twice before, each time resulting in violence.  But the Snakes had a hideout nearby - a cave carved into a rock in the sea they called The Snake Bed.  The Yuan-Ti had materials, labor, and the knowhow to repair a galleon. Sailing into the enemy stronghold seemed the only option.*

*Since the Snakes hated Whitebeard and his crew, the Heroes disguised themselves and their boat with new identities.  Lily and James repainted the side of Whitebeard’s Itch with a new moniker - The White Witch - and Fahima costumed herself to take on the selfsame persona.*

*Luckily, with Whitebeard hiding belowdecks, the Heroes of Bingle managed to strike a deal with the leader of the Snakes, a Yuan-Ti pureblood named Histasi.  Fahima bolstered her disguise with a powerful display of necromancy, using Uggo’s blood to cast Blood Lance, and James brandished confiscated weapons from The Nameless Few, selling the notion that the crew of the White Witch was not to be trifled with.*

*But when the team discovered just how many captives were enslaved by the Snakes, their negotiations were no longer just for repairs.  They realized their Apparatus of Kwaalish, the magical submersible they had used to knock harmful barnacles from the hull of their ship and survive a megalodon attack, could be a valuable bargaining tool. In the end, they handed over the Apparatus and all of Whitebeard’s 5,000 gold in exchange for repairs, over 2 dozen prisoners, and a stockpile of food rations with which to feed them.*

*As we ended last week, the White Witch sailed out of the Snake Bed without incident - the only blood spilled was Uggo’s, from Fahima’s new spell.  But though the damaged ship was seaworthy once again, it was now laden with a huge number of new occupants.*