Set Sail for Mystery

**Episode 1: Port Royally Screwed**

 In a small tavern called the Stagger Inn, located in the grimier parts of Port Euler, five acquaintances gain the favor of a local smuggler to get them an interview for crewing a soon-to-dock ship. Needing to get out of town tonight, no exceptions, they will take whatever they can get.

After semi-successfully sneaking their way through town, taking back alleys and shortcuts to attempt and avoid the local city guard, these six criminals find the only person waiting on a nearby dock, dressed in dark colors and sporting a few blood-red bandannas on his left arm and half of his lip missing, scared over. Trick, the First Mate and Quartermaster, interviews the prospective crewmembers one by one:

**Dark McFyre**, Goliath Bard, disgraced athlete.

**F'ukkin Buffenstuff**, Goliath Barbarian, Dark's best friend and equally as disgraced.

**Lady**, High-Elf Rogue, trusts no one and questions everything.

**Pussywillow "Willow"**, Tabaxi Monk, equally as suspicious as Lady; perhaps moreso. A cat of few words and a big stick.

**L'it Strongp'our**, Wood-Elf Ranger, a skilled hunter from Fort Maw.

**Jaena**, Half-Elf smuggerl, the informat met at the bar... soon shot down by the oncoming contingent of the City Guard.

Once the City Guard strikes, it's a mad rush to board the recently docked ship; its hull made entirely of blackened wood, trimmed and molted with iron-shade detailing and dark maroon sails. Unfortunately, the anchor has been dropped and the sails retracted for docking; the party has to quickly learn and perform the rigging and raising, while Dark, Willow and L'it dissuade the guards from approaching further. The ship sets sail successfully, with Jaena's body recovered by some of the baser crew members, and the ship only takes some aesthetic blows from the Guard's brought-in mini balistas.

Now onboard and a safe distance away from Port Euler, Trick has a conversation with the new crew and a warning about disobeying direct orders 5 minutes into their tenure, reminding them about what happened to the last group of crew who disobeyed orders one too many times; their corpses now adorn the bow of the ship as warning.The Bos'n named Slack help prepare the ship for a longer journey through night, and then Trick promise the new crew a nice little meal and some ale prepared by the chef Cookie.

Down below, the new crew meet Silver and Sharp; half-elf carpenter and wood-elf lookout, respectively. A few rounds of gambling entertain L'it, Dark and F'ukk, while Lady and Willow independently sneak off to investigate the mysterious and anonymous captain of the ship. Some eavesdropping reveal the captain's heavy footsteps and low, gravely voice, which speaks of preparations and more vagueness than answers. To avoid being found out, Lady and Willow go topside to discuss their unease with the questionable morality of the ship's leader...ship...

Cutting between the conversation, the boat begins to slow due to no fault of the crew of the wind, stopping fully with a violent lurch. Lady hears a strange click-clack, almost like a code.... until she turns, and is faced with a large 4-foot tall crab! Beyond the first crab, multiple crabs on deck! They attack and attempt to drag the nighttime skeleton crew into the depths. A quick warning through the speaking tubes throughout the deck send word below of an aggressive boarding action! Willow notices, on the other end of the boat, two mysterious humanoids dock, though it is too far and too dark to make out any details.

Quickly the new crew get topside, fending off various giant crabs through martial and verbal skill; L'it saves the crewmembers being dragged off the side of the boat, while Lady and Willow make their way to the bow of the ship to address the assailants. Dark attempts to psychically assault a mean looking crab, however interference with some other mind turns the attack back on him; Dark's sick rhymes are squandered by some mind with asicker flow than his own!

Once L'it gets to the bow, the assailant is a blue-skinned mer-creature with a large trident and a mutated-looking sea-monster-man at his side! The fight is one-sided until he summons to the center of the deck, a large elemental octopus! It's likely the assailant will get away with this distraction, until the heavy footsteps and loud growl of a Dragonborn slashes the monster to pieces with a bone-axe wreathed in green flame, and her scorching hot fire breath. The captain is revealed, and helps to turn the tide, taking the unconscious body of the Mer-man with her below deck.

**Episode 2: In Sickness and In Death**

The ship's Captain takes the aquatic blue-skinned assailant below deck, for some purpose. The rest of the crew rushes above board, half to fix the damage sustained from the fight and the other half to congratulate the heroes for protecting the ship.

The party is lead down below deck to the recreation space, and skillfully recites the adventure so far in a rhyming verse. Immediately after he passes the fuck out. Concerned for his health and safety, L'it and Fukkin drag him to the boat's doctor, located on the bottom deck on the other side of the stairwell. They are met with a tall, slender and macabre dark elf named Stitch.

Lady chats it up with the crew, mainly Puck and Tackle, as she tries to pry them for information regarding how the ship's crew likes working on board and how often these attacks happen. Their answer: not often, but increasing over recent months.

Willow decides to take a private break and goes to meditate in the party's new room room; there she finds 5 empty bunks, one messed up from their apparent new roommate Trevor, who works the night shift.

Stitch provides medical assistance to Dark, quickly mixing together some custom brews to help wake him and informs Dark he has psychic bruising from the recent fight; when Dark tried to invade the giant crab's mind, his psyche collided with the assailant's who was controlling said crab. Stitch creates a temporary remedy potion by using the brain goop of Jaena, who died shortly after being shot back in Port Euler.

Lady learns that most of the crew isn't super well traveled, and that sea charts are a jealously guarded secret out on sea. She also learns that the boat plans to dock soon at a nearby pirate outpost for supplies, as they were unable to secure the needed supplies in Port Euler due to the assault of the city's guard. She also learns of some mysterious islands near this part of the sea.

Willow tries to make friends with a mouse, but it flees. In sadness she eats some old bread found below the bunk.

Next few days everyone learns their jobs with flying colors.

Then, before going to bed one night, L'it hears a strange noise on the second floor and goes to investigate. There he finds ghosts! L'it is alone! No axe! What is an elf to do?

***Episode 3: That Which Haunts***

L'it, surrounded by 3 specters with no weapon at the ready, takes the sensible action and runs.

One follows him below deck through the walls; the other two flee topside. L'it's teammates hear the scrap and come to help, but the specter escapes with a shred of its life. It too flies through the ceiling topside.

The group then hears a commotion deckside; the specters are draining and assailing the rest of the crew. Silver is meekly fencing with a ghost, while other crewmembers are being chased or drained of their life essence.

A fight ensues, now that everyone is grouped together and armed. They destroy the ghostly assailants, with one nearly escaping before it is evaporated into nonexistence.

The team tracks down the cause of the spectres; the desecrated corpses hanging off the bow of the ship, the dismembered remains of the previous "muscle" on the ship, whom attempted a coup and failed. Lady loots the corpse-pieces before cutting the corpses loose, dropping them into the sea.

Later, they arrive at Crescent Bay, the headquarters of the Concord of Commons; a formalized pirate coalition. Tall, sheer cliffs protect the north, south an deast while a protective fence of ships barracade the west. Flying the Black Guillotine's true flag, a stylized dragon skull with two bone battle axes behind it on a maroon sail, two of the larger boats separate and allow entry to the Concord.

***Episode 4: Before the Council***

Now docked at Crescent Bay, the group and their captain Malar'muun disembark to spend a few days shoreside amongst the Concord of Commons. They opt to head directly to the council's chambers, meeting the door guards Maunch and Craunch. Inside, they are greeted by four of the five councilmembers: Augustine De'Challo, Rip "Nathaniel" Tear, Dominic Re'brand, Reamus Shorestride. Feast of Family was not in this day.

Reamus gives them the low-down on the various cults and groups amongst the sea: the Heretics of the Storm, the Blue Order, The Invisible Sea Hand, and the cult they were assaulted by early on in their adventure: The Cult of Endless Thirst, aka the Thirst Seekers. In exchange for information from the group about the Thirst Seeker attack, he promises to investigate into Clifford the Red, a dogman who slaughtered Willow's family and is at large on the seas.

Before they leave, Augustine offers them a job to hunt down Archibald, a red-skinned horned man who broke bad with the Concord and fled to the Isle of Conquest out Northeast. They will pay for his head; and pay even better for him captured and delivered. They will also pay for a slaughtered crew, a scuttled ship, and more so for their ship returned back to the Concord. More information will be brought to their attention in a few days, along with info on Clifford.

The group negotiate for use of the Black Guillotine for this adventure with Malar'mun, and agree to give her 17% of the rewards on the condition she outfits them with equipment from her personal stock to assist them with the mission.

***Episode 5: On the Hunt***

Finishing their wheeling and dealing with the council, the group decide to gather information about their new tasks at the local bar. Live with merriment, drinking and gambling, a dwarf named Brick teaches L'it how to play Halflings & Giants and while making new friends amongst the bar, the team gain information about the island of Challenge and how much of a right bastard Archibald is. The challenge is some sort of tournament with a curious reward. Also, Dark befriends a 12-year-old.

Willow and Lady do some shopping and order some custom weapon work, while L'it window-shops local crossbow prices. Fukkin and Dark meet up with Cronch, gathering L'it, to find the rumored lion hiding within the forested areas of the island. They trek in, and while on the hunt become the unexpected prey of a few jaguar-like creatures with snakes growing out of their shoulders. The goliaths unable to see in the dark, increasing the peril.