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--- game_systems:pathfinder:skull_shackles:lady_pirates:adventure_journal [2023/05/22 19:19] – [Mutiny!] Bryan Stephens
+++ game_systems:pathfinder:skull_shackles:lady_pirates:adventure_journal [2023/07/02 11:07] (current) – [04 Rickety’s Squibs] Bryan Stephens
@@ Line 338: / Line 338: @@
 End of Book 1.
+===== 04 Rickety’s Squibs =====
+|Game Date|03/24/2023|
+|Campaign Dates | Gozran 29 - Densus 3|
+The //Man’s Promise// sits repaired off Bonewrack Isle. Left to decide is the fate of the three remaining allies of Mr. Plugg, who were trapped below in their assault. They decide to put Fipps, Arreta, and Patches to work as impressed crew for the time being. Captain Xeni orders the ship to sail clear of the island and make their way north. Tulie takes the sextant and charts their course north west, while Pharn takes the wheel. The rising sun increased the breeze and their ship, to be renamed //Besmara’s Seabiscuit// rolls through the water.
+After an hour, the lookout spies a cripped ship, limping north. Xeni orders the chase. It is brief, and soon //Besmara’s Seabiscuit// is pulling alongside the two masted ship. One of its masts is fallen, and there is no way their prey can escape. Darix stands ready to lead a boarding party aboard. Xeni hails the ship and gets a reply.
+//”I am captain Beryl Lightheart. We know we cannot run. We will surrender our cargo to you in exchange for passage!//
+Xeni is fast to agree to this, much to Darix’s disappointment. The Major leads her crew to move the cargo from this crippled Chelish ship, //Southern Sirocco// to their own. The plunder is exotic spices. Xeni comes over to talk with Captain Lightheart, and discovers the ship was caught in the same storm that grounded the //Man’s Promise//. Several of her crew are wounded and the ship is almost shattered. Xeni offers healing, and she, Sandra, and Tulie aid several of the crew. Xeni also offers and engaged in use of her //mending// magic to enact some needed repairs. Darix looks on, shaking her head, but Tulie and Pharn, with their good natures, approve.
+{{ :game_systems:pathfinder:skull_shackles:lady_pirates:npcs:beryl.jpg?300|}}
+After a full morning, the two ships separate, with Fipps, Arreta, and Patches transferred to the crew of the //Southern Sirocco//. The group knows they will need more crew, but they are happy to be rid of the last of their enemies from the //Wormwood//. They unfurl their sails and begin the trek north. The crew celebrates that only a day into their new ship’s life, they have plunder to spend among them.
+On the first of Densus, the ship approaches their goal. Rounding the tall headland reveals a hidden cove at the mouth of a wide jungle river, its sluggish brown waters staining the waters of the blue sea like an ugly bruise. A series of docks has been built upon this estuary, with buildings concealed beneath the overhanging limbs of the jungle beyond. A wooden watchtower stands upon the promontory of the headland, carefully concealed among the trees to provide a clandestine view of the seas. It is clear to the crew that there is a significant drought going on in the area.
+As //Besmara’s Seabiscuit// sails past the headland, a checkered flag of yellow and red is raised above the tower on the promontory, and an answering flag of blue is hoisted upon a yardarm at the docks ahead. A number of humanoid figures emerge from the shaded buildings and gather on a pier. A small, single-masted longboat soon sets out from the boathouse on the estuary to meet the Man’s Promise, and its crew hails the ship asking them to drop anchor to discuss terms. Rickety’s Squibs is run by old Rickety Hake, a retired buccaneer and former mate aboard the //Bearded Whore// under Free Captain Ella Gurnett and Rickety himself hails the  ship from the deck of the longboat //Peccarine// requesting permission to come aboard. Rickety is accompanied by six sailors armed only with dirks. They are not looking for a fight and retreat back to the settlement if attacked. Rickety Hake himself is a short, stoop-backed old man with a leathery, weatherworn face; watery blue eyes; and a halo of frizzy white hair. Once he is allowed aboard, Rickety gets right down to business, inspecting the ship to see how much work will be needed to “squib” it.
+After some negotiations, Rickety makes his offer to squib the ship, and offers others upgrades. Xeni confers with her officers, and they agree to add a well endowed female figurehead, holding a giant sand dollar. They add silk sails, several smuggling compartments, and a larger rudder. All told, the cost is 7400 gold! Fortunately, the group has booty from Bonewrack Isle, and two units of plunder to spend.
+Rickeyt’s Squibs is a small village of around 80 souls. It is comprised of the docks, a boathouse, the dry dock, a lookout post, and the commons. When the deal has been struck, Rickety instructs the group to sail their ship into the estuary where cutters will tow it to the dry dock so that work can commence at once. They  can stay at the Commons free of charge, but they will have to purchase any food, drink, or equipment during their stay. Xeni goes ashore to get a good deal for their plunder at the village, while Tulie heads to the Commons Taproom to spin tales of their adventures. She plans to make the most of each day to start building their fame, knowing that it will be vital to be more than prey themselves.
+A once-grand building with broad wings extending from its ground floor stands at the end of the docks, its octagonal dome topped by a cupola. It was obviously a fine villa in its day but time and the harsh sun and rains of the Slithering Coast have faded its paint and cracked its boards, leaving it a gray ghost of its former self. A painted board above the veranda names it as “Rickety’s Squibs.” Smaller, less grandiose hovels and sheds clapped together of flotsam and jetsam surround the larger building and merge into the jungle behind it. Guests at Rickety’s Squibs are put up in the somewhat shabby accommodations of the main house, which does at least have a taproom, a small market, and a functioning chow hall that serves the entire settlement. The shade of the jungle canopy here is welcome, as the heat is merciless and many of the trees are wilted with browning leaves that show the effects of an extended drought.
+Rickety Hake and a few of his menial hirelings reside in the Commons as well, but most of the residents of Rickety’s Squibs live in the smaller huts. Most of these men and women are humans (N human commoners 1–3, though a dozen are experts 3–5 and oversee the actual refitting work) with a handful of halflings as well. None are armored, and few carry anything more dangerous than a knife or hatchet.
+{{:game_systems:pathfinder:skull_shackles:lady_pirates:npcs:ricket_hake.jpg?250 |}}
+The group settles in, and spends a day seeing their ship be hoisted at the dry dock. A massive, wedge-shaped wooden ramp rises directly from the river. It is large enough to hold a ship of the line and has huge mooring points to allow such a ship to be stabilized in place. Wooden scaffolding is erected all along its sides to allow workers easy access to all points of a ship and its hull.
+The next day, the 3rd of the month, the sky is cloudless and the color of iron, promising another scorching day. The jungle wilts under the unrelenting sun, and the river is shallow, murky, and sluggish, with wide swaths of cracked mud exposed along its banks. To pass the time, some of Rickety’s off-duty workers invite the PCs to join in a game of ninepins in the shade of the boathouse and share a small cask of beer that’s been cooling in the waters of the estuary. The ladies join in the game, and do moderately well. Red has come, but is napping in the shade when it is her turn. She grabs a ball and amazes the group with a perfect series of rolls. One of the workers says this calls for a drink and he goes to pull on the rope where the keg of beer has been cooling in the water overnight. However, the rope jerks suddenly and one man is pulled into the water with a scream while the woman has the palms of her hands burned bloody where she was holding the line. The screams and thrashing in the water indicate the man who fell into the water 5 feet below is not alone. The water itself is 20 feet deep here and it is clear the man is in trouble.
+The group leaps to help. Rolling on the surface is a river naga. She has the advantage of initiative and kills the hapless man she dragged under. However, Red strikes the naga with a //scorching ray// just as its head rolls up, severely burning the water creature. Darix and Pharn jump in and strike at the monster. Xeni, walks on water and strikes with her staff. The creature thrashes, and Tulie tries to stop it with //hideous laughter// but the rage filled naga shakes it off. Tulie immediately follows up with //blindness// as the creature tries to bite Darix. This time it cannot see and falls to the party before it can get away.
+The poor soul dragged down is dead, but Xeni heals the hands of the woman pulling up the keg. Thanks to their intervention, Rickety takes 500 gold off the price of their refit in thanks. At this point, Red is back napping in the shade.

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