Episode 16: Whitebeard’s Jutty

The team arrives at the Island of Weir to attempt a dangerous infiltration of the pirate stronghold known as Whitebeard’s Jutty. Can they solve the puzzle of the hideout’s location, get past the army of bloodthirsty pirates, and find the renowned helmsman Saugus VanFleek?

### **GM/DM Intro**

*It started as a simple dungeon run…*

*Five new adventurers who happened to find one of the most powerful artifacts in the entire world. The Secret Keeper’s Amulet. An item that allows you, the watchers of the time stream, to influence their world, and brings chaos to them wherever they go.*

*But it also set them off on an epic quest to find the missing Wardens of Ain, the great protectors of the realms, who have been disappearing - captured, and imprisoned. Having already freed one of these Wardens from a tower in the sky, our team set off to find another - this time out in the ocean.*

*A wizard by the name of Claudiette Mormthallow procured travel for them aboard The Tardy Plunder, and when they arrived by portal, the vessel was sailing east, on course to enter the treacherous waters of The Deep Reef. But when the team heard that Lily’s island home of Bingle was under attack, they forced the ship’s captain, Mervis Blowhard, to turn the ship around, so they could mount a courageous defense of the island. And defend it they did, defeating the evil Kopru who had been using mind control to command an army of sea creatures to terrorize Bingle’s idyllic shores.*

*But the journey to Bingle was a costly one. Rerouting the ship back toward the island meant they sailed headlong into a storm - and into the path of a group of vicious harpies. While the team managed to save one crewman who was thrown overboard, two others lost their lives, including the ship’s helmsman, Loudmouth the Mute, who drowned as the ship sailed away, unable to even call out for help.*

*When the Heroes of Bingle returned to the Tardy Plunder after a night of celebration and reverie, they found a new problem waiting for them. Mervis Blowhard and his crew were unwilling to brave the unforgiving waters of the Deep Reef without Loudmouth’s experience at the wheel. Mervis told them that if they were still hell-bent on sailing into Deep Reef there was only one other helmsman alive he’d trust to make the journey: Saugus VanFleek. Unfortunately, VanFleek served at the pleasure of Mervis’ arch-nemesis, the very man who had cut out Loudmouth’s tongue: the pirate known as Whitebeard.*

*But when Mervis suggested infiltrating Whitebeard’s stronghold, taking Saugus VanFleek, and killing Whitebeard on the way out, tempers flared. Uggo refused to consider the offer, and nearly found himself thrown in the brig, as the entire ship’s crew was summoned, swords out, to the Captain’s stateroom. Luckily, James managed to cast Suggestion on Mervis, once again influencing his mind, and narrowly averting a deadly confrontation.*

*A long night passed. Siv made a connection with the bosun, Sharn, who told him of Blowhard and Whitebeard’s contentious past, then he and Fahima took a risky sojourn into the Captain’s chambers, searching for clues that might shed more light on that relationship. Instead, they found Mervis’ hidden stash of porcelain figurines, lovingly displayed near a pin-up of Lily’s old drinking opponent from Rosey Cheeks’ Pub and Tavernhall, Feisty Gail Hammersmith.*

*As we ended last week, the Heroes of Bingle were still trying to work out their differences, and come up with a plan. They prevailed upon the wizard Claudiette to join them in their quest to find Saugus VanFleek, and spied an enormous, shelled sea creature in the water as they approached the Island of Weir. A gorgeous sight, the island. Lush and green high atop it, with a shelf of waterfalls punctuating its circumference, cascading out and over and into the sea.*

*We pick up our tale as the Tardy Plunder anchors itself a safe distance from the island, and the Heroes of Bingle prepare to row out in search of…. Whitebeard’s Jutty.*