08. 1 vs 100

Duster assumed command of *the Matricide* as it fled Shandy's island hatchery, revealing himself to be a doppelganger. Using a magical fan, Driscoll’s ship quickly got away from Zephyr and the island. The forest of the island started burning; the goblin fire some of the party had thrown on it before they left starting to take effect. People immediately got to work skinning the dragons and sun stags that had been killed on the island. The party were told to keep the coin they’d collected, and that they’d also be paid for what the creatures they’d brought back.

*The Matricide* sailed back through Shandy’s territory for two days, with everyone aboard anticipating a fight waiting for them at the border to their territory. Wilfred spent the two days under the ‘tutelage’ of Wick. The halfling intended for the gnome to master the noble art of the fireball through sweat, pain, and first-hand experience. Vic and some of the other members of the party overheard Duster speaking into some magical stones he kept tied to his belt. Apparently, ‘Nemmonis and Badger had begun getting the word out.’ Elio expressed to the party that he was displeased with the events he’d been caught up in, feeling that they’d just been dragged along on ‘one man’s revenge fantasy.’

Clark approached Rhythm one night, hoping to learn about the fight waiting for them. He ended up learning a great deal more. The dark elf explained some of the history between her crew and Shandy: Mother Shandy raised them all and kept the more exotic or magical of them as her favourites. If ever they did things she disapproved of, she would punish the humans instead. The sahuagin that the party had faced nearly two weeks prior had also been her doing - *the Matricide’s* crew having dealt with all of the sea devils in their waters long ago. Three ships had been sent to pursue *the Matricide* when they initially scouted the island, their crews’ minds altered so that they butchered each other all the way and chummed the water with their allies’ corpses, keeping the pursuing sahuagin in their frenzy – all just to inconvenience Driscoll and his crew a little.

On the third day, everyone aboard the ship was ready for a fight. Duster had Vic sit in the crow’s nest and watch the horizon. She eventually saw a fleet that was waiting for them, straddling the gap between two land masses. On the beach of one island, a woman in dark robes stood under a parasol being held by a small person at her side. Mother Shandy had come to see them off. Thankfully, *the Hearth and Home* was nowhere to be seen. Driscoll gave a brief speech to his crew, telling them the whole world would be watching that patch of water ahead, that they were to remind everyone the Fifth Lord’s War never ended. He said there was nothing to fear because Shandy’s favourites, her commanders, were back near the centre of her territory, and she herself wasn’t welcome aboard their home. He then offered the party a choice: stay and fight with him or flee to Rumidian waters in their folding boat. They elected to stay.

*The Matricide* was never going to get around the formation, nor was it their plan. Driscoll intended to go through the middle. To that end, Laylin, King, and Malak went ahead of the ship to make them a path right through the centre of the fleet. Wick and Wilfred would be at the front of *the Matricide,* keeping the corridor open and dealing with any enemy spellcasters. Driscoll was heading into the enemy formation to try and thin their numbers a little and take some heat off his ship – being the target Shandy would want dead most of all. To this end, he requested the party give him the folding boat so he could return once he was done. Rhythm was going to be up on deck supporting everyone, which left Pyt to operate the drums for those on the oars. Duster would be disguised as Driscoll while he worked the steering wheel, drawing some attention from the rest of the crew. The doppelganger requested Vic watch his back, later telling her that Icke had been inquiring about her wellbeing every day, despite how little the two can communicate; Duster intended to protect that parental bond, so he planned on watched Vic’s back too. Clark was tasked with keeping the crew standing so they could keep the ship moving. Starth and Elio were free to do as they saw fit. They both intended on boarding the enemy ships and were outfitted with grapples on ropes. As they got closer, Duster took the opportunity to give a flamboyant, over-the-top speech to the enemy while in the guise of Driscoll, his voice booming unnaturally loudly over the distance.

The chaos started suddenly. The trio in the water forced a number of ships in the formation aside, King and Malak freezing their rudders to one side while Laylin cut their drawn sails loose and tackled their helmsmen into the water. They repeated this as *the Matricide* plunged into the formation, with Wick and Wilfred blasting away at the front. The pair did battle with a number of wizards on the enemy ships. Arrows and fire rained down on *the Matricide* hordes of pirates swarmed onto her deck, boarding from all sides. Vic succeeded in keeping Duster safe, but an intimidating half-ogre climbed on deck who gave her pause. Clark rushed to her aid, leaving four of Driscoll’s crew to die as he helped the young girl. The half-dwarf had tapped into new power, channelling the realm of death he still understood so little about. Fleeting echoes of people he once knew, like spectres or spirits, began encircling him and pulling his enemies to that land of no life. The pair succeeded in vanquishing the half-ogre without difficulty. Wilfred prevented some ballistae getting their shots off, but one managed to fire a large spear that eventually tore a huge chunk out the side of *the Matricide*, killing two of its oarsmen instantly and exposing the room where Pyt was. Enemies began swarming through the hole, but Pyt succeeded in tricking them all into following a powerful illusion of Driscoll running up onto deck. Malak, having been told by King to return to *the Matricide* once he'd done what he could in opening the fleet, killed scores of boarding pirates with successive thunderwaves, and Elio dealt with the remainder on the other side of the ship with an enormous gout of sweeping fire. Malak then conjured storm clouds just ahead of the galleon that drenched the ship in a downpour, outing all the flames that were bothering the deck and sails.

Starth had jumped onto one of the enemy ships and was aiming to take out the ballistae crews. He succeeded in taking out the people operating two of the siege weapons but was almost immolated by Wilfred's *fireball* spell – the gnome having engaged in a brief wizards’ duel; first counterspelling a fireball and then ending the enemy mage with one of his own. Starth succeeded in dodging the worst of Wilfred’s indiscriminate attack but was badly hurt and had a full crew of enemy pirates rushing at him. Hesitantly, he tapped into the dangerous powers of his sacred artefact. All the shadows on the ship wrapped around their owners and started choking them, including his own. Starth almost died, but was finally able to calm himself and the relic. Everyone else aboard the ship was dead. The gnome rushed back to *the Matricide* just as it finished punching through the fleet and broke into open water.

The fight wasn’t over yet. Most of the fleet still pursued *the Matricide*. Duster pushed the oarsmen hard, using magic to augment their physical abilities. They made it into Driscoll’s territory as night fell and quickly drew up the sails before they fell victim to the ghostly galleon that haunted these waters, an entity their plan was counting on. *The Moonswimmer* appeared quickly and tore through the pursuing fleet, killing hundreds. The crews of the fleet could be heard screaming all through the night, just a few hundred feet away from *the Matricide* that dare not move lest the ship return for them. Duster had the ship moving again as soon as the moon disappeared a few hours before dawn. *The Drunken Dragon* appeared by midday the next day, having flanked Shandy’s pursuing fleet, powered by the last magical fan Duster had, which he'd given to Driscoll. King and Laylin were also aboard, but the water genasi had been hurt rescuing his captain from the heart of the enemy fleet. This was a problem for the next part of their plan, but King implored Driscoll to entrust the duty to Malak. He asked the triton if he’d go and lead Brineskimmer into the middle of the pursuing fleet. Malak agreed without hesitation.

Equipped with King’s magical trident, and with a cocktail of magic swirling within him from all the spells his allies had cast, Malak swam faster than he ever had before, right down into the sea dragon’s coral cave. He stabbed the leviathan in one giant eye and then fled for his life, barely managing to keep out of her reach. He successfully lead Brineskimmer into Shandy’s ships, and her fury soon turned blind and indiscriminate. Driscoll dove into the water to help Malak get back to the waiting *Matricide* when the kickback from a haste spell left him stalling in the water, unable to move.

What few ships had made it through the initial battle, the ghost ship, and the sea dragon, dogmatically pursued *the Matricide* and her exhausted crew. They’d anticipated this. In her fury at her dragons being killed, Shandy would have used her powers on all the crews, forcing them to chase Driscoll to the end of the ocean if they have to. Driscoll had his ship move slowly, keeping the pursuers out of range, but not running as fast as they could. They led the remnants of the fleet to the big rock near Longreach, where four of Driscoll’s ships – *the Wicked Sister, the Ramshod, the Fortunate Fool, and the Indomitable*- were waiting in ambush, ready to destroy them all and profit from the spoils aboard.

Back on Longreach, Simon greeted the party, insisting they try some brandy the drake had found among the wine brought from Bisquay. Duster presented the party with a large sack of money for the dragons and stags they’d secured on the island, an expensive spyglass for their work during the fight against the fleet, and one of Driscoll’s flags for their consideration. The choice whether they remained their own crew and sailed under it or went their own way was theirs to make.

As Starth went to grab another drink, his membership key to an extra-planar bar that had stopped working months ago began vibrating. He told the party he was taking his leave and letting them have his share of the money. His intentions were to return to his monastery with the sacred artefact - the goat testicle have proved to be even more dangerous than Starth had assumed. Starth invited Pyt to come along with him, figuring that the bard might be able to recover some of the memories he'd lost. Pyt politely refused. He felt like he was getting stronger since he'd had a weird dream or something where a voice told him to choose a side. Starth left through the drinking hall's door, but ended up somewhere quite different to Longreach's beach.

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