Pirate Booty
In The News
Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Olarune - Front Page
More Strange Disappearances in the Skyway - The city watch is finally starting to take notice after two more noble families suddenly disappeared last week. Previously the d'Morr family disappeared without any indication of their whereabouts. They have still not been seen. This week the families of Jeral d'Kvin, and Serranne ir'Camino disappeared under similar circumstances. Neither let any of their friends know where they were going - their manor houses were simply found empty. Even the watch now has to admit that something is going on, but so far they have turned up nothing which might indicate what could have happened to them.
Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Olarune - Front Page
Shocking Twist in Silver Flame Case - The city watch now has in its custody the man they believe is responsible for the horrible Silver Flame murders which rocked Sharn. Even more shocking, however is the identity of the murderer. It is none other than Merrin Tox, known romantic interest of Sadie Wolfchild. Merrin was recently awarded the keys to the city, for his assistance in the incident at the Sharn Opera House. Sadie is currently the only shifter member of the Silver Flame, one of only three in the entirety of Eberron. Her acts of heroism and her attachment to Merrin Tox are both well known. This comes as a shock to everyone in our fair city. Currently Sadie cannot be reached for comment, but we will interview her as soon as she returns to Sharn. Merrin is scheduled to appear before a city justice in one week's time.
Chronicle
The Flaming Rat dipped low, its ring of fire nearly touching the shimmering tropical waters. The airship glided past a
Garen, Cora, Thaspar, and Sadie disembarked. They hefted their way up the steep, moss covered, ground; through rows of tall trees. Everywhere long fronds leaned down over them, shading the mossy logs and green ferns which covered the ground. Sadie led the way; twisting through the foliage.
They were back on the pirate island. They had landed at the far side, and were sneaking their way through the jungles of the small piece of land to the far side, where the hidden pirate city lay. A pit trap, which almost spelled the end for Sadie, told them that they were getting close.
After a few hours of trekking they came out into the large clearing at the top of the cliffs. The clearing was completely deserted. Crystal clear green lakes sat untouched, pouring lazily off the cliff-top and roaring down to the ocean below. The group made their way toward the stone steps, cut into the top of the cliff face, which led down to the warren of tunnels below.
As they approached the stone stairway there came a sudden low roar and a pounding sound. Cora spun around to see a massive beast is bearing down on her. It was a giant bear, with pieces of armor grafted onto its body, and a huge metal ramming stub embedded in its forehead. It was charging forward. Before she could react the monstrosity was slamming into her unprotected body. In a moment of vertigo she realized that she was falling. As the halfling fell through the air she could see the behemoth bear above her, and Sadie falling beside them both. With a snapping sound she crashed down onto a tangle of vines, suspended between the cliff walls. The beast's armored maw opened wide to bite engulf her. She could feel the vines breaking under the stress as she struggled to escape.
The halfling twisted to get free, but the armored brute clamped down on her arm with his yellowed teeth, and held her with his massive paw. Under the crushing weight of the bear, she was dimly aware of Sadie shouting to her.
In fact, the shifter had jumped away from the beast, and was cutting vines. She was shouting to Cora to escape, hoping that the bear would simply break through and leave them hanging above in safety. Unfortunately it was already too late - Cora was firmly in its grip.
With a ripping snap the bed of green crawlers gave way and Cora and the bear dropped with a jerk. This time they were caught in a tangle of vines and rope two bridges, which had been pulled together - both straining and pulling free from their fastenings.
Up above, Thaspar and Garen were finding their arrows relatively ineffective against the hulking, armored beast. Thaspar decided that there was nothing else for it. He slung his bow, drew his katana, and jumped.
The black blade whistled as it plunged through the air. It crashed into the ironclad hulk, but with a screech of metal was deflected. Thaspar went tumbling off the heavily armored creature and landed on his back against the wooden steps of the bridge. He could sense the tension on the vines and ropes. They were creaking. The wooden steps were splintering under the weight.
With a sudden burst of wood and vines they were falling again. It couldn't have been more than ten feet, but the impact as they met the elastic give of another bed of vines was jarring. Cora was just able to jump free. The bear turned on Thaspar who was slashing at it with his black sword.
As Cora got shakily to her feat, Thaspar was quickly pinned by the beast. Defenseless as the creature mauled him, he struggled in vain to wrest himself from its grip. It was just too strong.
Meanwhile, Sadie had resigned herself to attacking the monster. It now looked like there would be no way for them to all escape otherwise. She did know that one thing was to their advantage - the vines. It was nearly impossible for her companions, or the bear to stand on them. That kind of situation left one... vulnerable.
Cora was sizing up the beast. It was already off guard. If she could just score a hit, it could be a very nasty blow indeed. The problem was the behemoths copious armor. Fortunately she was an expert at finding chinks in armor. She spent a moment studying, and then with a lightning strike hurled a dart. It struck the bear directly in the unarmed spot for his eye. The beast roared with rage.
Sadie had just arrived, clambering nimbly across the hanging vines, when the impact struck. The four hundred pounds of wood and steel that was Garen came suddenly plummeting from above. His axe sliced into the bears flank, splitting its armor, and exposing crimson flesh. The warforged then crashed into the behemoth, who collapsed under the impact.
There was a loud SNAP. Everything was upside down. Thaspar saw the world whirling by. He could see Cora and Garen grasping onto vines as they swung. The vines had broken, and they were swinging, hurtling toward the cliff face. Garen and Cora grasped their vines, and readied their bodies for a safe impact. Thaspar had no such option. He was still in the grip of an enormous and very angry bear - a bear, who seemed to have no intention of limiting his velocity.
The initial impact against the cliff face knocked the wind out of the elf, but it was the sickening crunch as the huge beast crashed against him that did the real damage. Thaspar was staggered and giddy with pain, but one good thing had come of it. He was now free from the creature's grasp. It had released him.
Thaspar found himself lying in a bed of vines, much further down, and against the cliff face. It appeared that Garen and Sadie had ended up at the opposite cliff face and just he and Cora were left with the beast. The bear was just gaining its feet and turning to face him. The elf didn't even try to get up - he just hacked at the monster with his sword while lying prone.
It was Cora's blow that really felled the beast. Sizing him up once again her dart flew, hurtling into its mouth, and coming to rest in the armored beasts soft brain tissue. The creature staggered for a moment. It might have gotten in another parting blow, but Thaspar finished it off with a quick stab.
Leaking red from its enormous jaws, the beast staggered. Its eyes bore the confused look of an animal about to die. Cora and Thaspar grabbed hold of the cliff face as the beast slumped over, snapping the bed of vines. A dead weight, the mighty bear slowly ripped its way through the remaining vines and bridges, until at last it came to its final resting place in the sea.
Soon everyone had regrouped near the entrance to Deathbringer's chambers. Strangely, they had not met any resistance up to this point.
Above them they could hear shouts and speech. This is where the plan came in.
Using the portion of Deathbringer's mask that they had recovered Garen had fashioned an impressive replica. Thaspar now donned this fake, and prepared to impersonate his old nemesis.
The cluster of pirates in Deathbringer's chamber were shocked as the group suddenly burst from the trap door and poured into the room. There were several dozen ruffians of every sort in the chamber. Sitting atop the old pirate lord's throne was a short, hairy man.
"I am the Deathbringer," Thaspar boomed, "I have come back! Who dares sit in my throne?"
"My name is Darogean, and I run this place now," growled the man, "I challenge you to one on one combat! The winner rules the pirate city!"
Before long a ring had formed around Thaspar and the new pirate lord. Thaspar drew his family's ancestral sword, which doubled as the Deathbringer's weapon. His opponent drew a rusty cutlass.
The battle was hopelessly one sided. With two quick motions the self-proclaimed successor to the pirate lord was laying in a pool of blood upon the floor. His last words before he slipped away were, "attack them!"
Five of his attendants attacked Thaspar, but he and his friends effortlessly dispatched them.
With the rest of the pirates quivering in fear, it wasn't hard to convince them that Thaspar was their new (and perhaps old) lord.
After some quick information gathering Cora was able to determine that most of the pirates had fled upon Deathbringer's demise. Some had fled back to their old lives, while others had taken ships and set off on their own. Only about one fifth of the pirates remained behind, and they were polarized behind two leaders. Darogean had led the pirates based on this side of the cliffs, while The Skipper was leading the opposition on the far side.
Thaspar took surprisingly quickly to his role as Pirate King. He decided to organize an assault against the opposing pirates. This would help to diminish the number of pirates left (as well as solidify his reign).
While Thaspar led the troops, Cora, Sadie, and Garen started investigating the vault.
The door was a complex mechanism composed of iron and steel. A large handled metal wheel formed the primary means of opening it, but that was locked by several components. First there was a large keyhole, which seemed intended for a regular key. There was a turning, gear-based mechanism, which had a small shape cut into the main gear. Near the top was a combination lock with 26 settings. Finally, the door was protected by a strange set of switches. 10 in all, each could be set to 3 places: up, which was labeled 1, center, which was labeled 2, and down, which was labeled 3.
Sadie decided to start with what she knew. She began to pick the standard keyhole lock. It was well crafted, but a few electrical shocks later it came open easily enough.
In the meantime, Garen had been searching for traps, and had found a small note, tucked under the door. It read:
I make you weak at the worst of all times.
I keep you safe, I keep you fine.
I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,
I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.
Upon reading the note Cora and Sadie both recited the word "Fear" in unison. They weren't just sure what to do with this clue. Cora spent some time studying the door, and discovered the answer.
"See how the combination lock has 26 numbers," she said, "they each correspond to a letter of the alphabet. So the combination is..." she began working the spinner, "6-5-1-18." With a click the combination lock opened.
Unfortunately the other two locking mechanisms were not so easy to bypass. Sadie wasn't very good with mechanical things, and they were at a loss as to how to deal with them properly.
Cora decided to investigate the Deathbringer's personal chambers. She searched everything - the closet, the bed, the desk. Everything. She found only two things of interest.
The first was a signet ring attached to the underside of the bed. It had a strange insignia embossed on it. The second was something that looked like it might be some sort of combination. Mixed in with some of the papers on the desk was a scrap with a series of numbers written on it:
13112221
Upon further investigation Cora noticed that there seemed to be something written further up on the paper, but it had been erased. The halfling remembered once seeing an inquisitive rubbing charcoal on a similar piece of paper to reveal the removed writing (in that case it had been hers (and somewhat incriminating)). In any case she pulled out the charcoal she kept stored in her pack. Goodness knows why she had it. In any case, soon the entire sequence of numbers was revealed:
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
It turned out that the signet ring opened the gear mechanism, leaving only the switches. It seemed obvious that the strange string of 1's, 2's, and 3's had something to do with the switches, but they could not figure out what. Even Garen was stumped. When Thaspar returned from his conquests, and all four of them were sitting around Deathbringer's room, trying to puzzle out what the numbers might mean. Thaspar joined them in wracking his brain.
As afternoon wore on to evening they seemed to be getting nowhere. Then, suddenly Cora, who had gone off to "think by herself" entered the room and announced that the puzzle was solved. Everyone was eager to know the solution, so she led them down to the vault. There they discovered the solution.
Cora had managed to disable the mechanical locking device controlled by the switches by dismantling it.
The door could now be opened, and with excitement they spun the wheel which allowed the vault within to slowly come into view.
Inside was a small circular room, cut out of stone. Directly ahead was a riveted iron door, protected with a simple padlock. Flanking them were two wooden chests. Otherwise the room was empty.
Cora and Garen began combing the room for traps while Sadie picked the lock on the right chest. The halfling and warforged had just given the all clear when the lock clicked open. Unfortunately their trap finding senses had not been as acute as they had hoped. With a loud snap the floor suddenly fell away in two flaps, leaving only the chests standing. Sadie and Thaspar jumped quickly and grasped the wall. Cora attempted the same, but she couldn't get purchase on the stone wall, and loosing her grip she plummeted into the darkness. Garen, on the other hand, was falling long before he even realized what had happened.
The pit was deep. Cut stone gave way to natural rock. The halfling and warforged plummeted together. In the gloom below Garen suddenly perceived large, nasty spikes. Twisting his metal body he managed to avoid most of them as he crashed to the ground with a deafening clank. Cora did the same, landing to one side of the spike-lined pit.
Both were injured, but not badly hurt. Sadie provided a rope and they began the ascent, with her coaching them. At the top they found Sadie and Thaspar, each perched on a chest.
After some investigation, they found a reset mechanism on the side of the right chest. Flicking this switch caused the floor to flip back into place. They then jammed the trap so that it would not spring again.
The chests contained a modest amount of wealth, in the form of gold, jewels, and fine clothing. Nothing like they would have expected from a pirate horde. So they decided to press on through the iron door.
Sadie picked the padlock without difficulty and the black door swung open.
The room beyond the iron door was large and square. The door came out at one corner and there were no other exits from the chamber. In the far corner was an enormous treasure chest, at least five feet tall. Otherwise the room was utterly bare.
Garen began searching the large chest for traps, while Cora skirted the room looking for any devices along the walls. As the halfling was feeling the stone wall with her fingertips, suddenly her hand plunged through a piece of what had appeared to be solid rock. She quickly pulled her hand back, but it was too late. There room filled with the sound of grinding stone.
Cora watched in shock as four stone figures melted from the walls. They were roughly hewn, and clasped in each one's right hand was a steel blade. With a grinding and thumping they marched forward to attack.
The one nearest Thaspar was the first to strike. The sword, wreathed in flame, in its massive stone fist came down on the elf with sickening force. Worse was the effect it had on the monk. Something on that blade shot through his entire body. It felt like he was falling apart - crumbling away. With all his force of mind he concentrated on the wholeness of his body. The magic was overcome, but he was now almost fatally wounded - from a single strike.
The sword wielded by the guardian closest to Sadie glowed blue with the power of ice. She discovered soon enough that like the blade used against Thaspar, it too was poisoned. The poison upon it, however, was not nearly so potent. The icy blade still cut deep and painfully.
The nature or presence of poison on the blades of the remaining guardians was never determined. While the third blade, dripping with acid, struck Garen fiercely, it was either not poisoned, or poisoned only with mundane poisons, to which the living construct was immune.
Meanwhile the guardian nearest Cora, his blade crackling with electrical energy could not even score a single blow on the wily halfling. After witnessing the carnage the stone opponents has inflicted on her fellows, she had no desire to experience their wrath first hand. Moving into a completely defensive stance, her rapier (Helen's Revenge) was an impenetrable shield. The blur of steel denied every attack from the stone guardian.
The first strike of the constructs had been fierce and deadly. All four separately hoped that they had not made a fatal mistake.
While Garen and Thaspar fought toe to toe with their attackers Sadie decided to hop up and over the huge chest in the room. She planned to hide behind it for a brief respite - time to take a potion at least. She found, however, that the massive guardian would not attack or damage the chest in any way. Since it could not fit behind it either, it allowed her to snipe the creature with immunity; which was good, seeing as she was near death after its initial onslaught.
Unfortunately the construct, while mindless, was programmed well enough to attack other targets when its primary target was inaccessible. After several seconds of fruitless attempts at getting at the shifter, it turned its attention to Cora, who was barely holding off one of the stone creatures.
Things were looking very grim indeed. The shifter bounded up on the chest to get a better vantage and began firing arrows into the back of the walking statue.
The guardian lumbered slowly toward Cora. The halfling glanced around. Thaspar was about to fall, and his opponent had its fiery sword raised high for a death blow. Garen seemed to have severely damaged the guardian nearest him, but he was not in good shape either. In a moment she would be facing two of the constructs at once. She was starting to think that they weren't going to make it out of this one.
Then, by a stroke of luck she glanced to her left. There, next to the fallen portcullis was a tiny, hidden latch. If it opened the portcullis they could escape. But only if everyone was standing.
Never lessening her defense against her attacker that halfling reached to her belt and with an unnatural speed drew her wand of Mage Armor. In a single fluid motion she cast the spell on Thaspar. An invisible shield of force sprang up around the elf, and as his opponent’s sword came down on him, it was suddenly deflected. The elf stood, flabbergasted, but at least he stood.
Then, abandoning the wand, Cora turned to the latch. But it was too late; the second guardian was upon her. His icy blade glinted in the dim light. She could not defend herself and flip the latch. She reached forward, but the guardian’s blade was already falling. If she did not survive this blow, then they were surely doomed. The sword hummed as it cut then air, sweeping down to sever the defenseless halfling’s head. Closer and closer it came. Then... with a crash the guardian fell into a ruinous heap of crumbled stone. One of Sadie's arrows protruded from the remnants of its destroyed head.
One down. Three to go.
As if it knew of its companion's defeat, in almost the same moment the guardian facing Garen fell under his might axe. That left only two. But the problem was that those two were almost entirely undamaged, while all four party members were inches from death.
Cora flipped the switch, and the portcullis quickly retracted into the ceiling. They could escape!
Cora used another wand to create a patch of grease on the floor. While the guardians languished in the slipper substance, Thaspar and Cora bolted from the room with their opponents close behind. As the elf and the halfling fled, Sadie was struck with an idea.
"Jump up on the chests!" she shouted.
Thaspar and Cora were confused, but in the panic of the moment, they obeyed the command - they were running on pure adrenaline.
The two guardians lumbered forward to attack.
"Now!" shouted Sadie, wrenching free the bar they had used to jam the floor trap, "Open the chests"
Holding on tight, Thaspar tipped himself backward, opening the chest. With a loud snap the trap in the room was re-triggered. Except for the two chests, the floor fell away. It felt like slow motion as the two guardians fell into space. A few moments later they heard the sharp sound of smashing stone.
Everyone stood still for a moment. That was very close indeed.
With the guardians finally neutralized, all eyes turned to the large chest in the well-guarded room. Cora and Garen once again performed their check for traps in the room. It turned out that the guardians had been behind illusory walls. Within each wall was a small alcove. Each contained a small portion of the poisons which had coated their blades. This was carefully collected for future use.
Once the halfling and warforged were reasonably certain that the room was trap free, Sadie went to work on the chest. The lock was difficult, but as she pulled and pried with her lock-picks, it eventually snapped open a hair. Excitedly she pulled the large lid up all the way to reveal.... nothing.
The chest was utterly empty.
Everyone stood silent... looks of stunned disbelief playing across their faces.
"There has to be something in here," Cora announced.
She clambered into the chest and began searching it.
"There has to be something here."
The halfling's tenacity was rewarded. The chest had a false bottom. A single iron ladder led down to the darkness below. Cora descended the steps with barely contained anticipation.
And there it was. Treasure. Heaping, flowing, glorious piles, mounds, and waves of treasure. Treasure upon treasure. Cora stood, motionless and silent, he face slack, as her friends gathered around her. Then, she burst into a grin.
There were thousands upon thousands of pieces of gold, silver, and copper. There were gems, scrolls, and wands. Expensive jewelry. Rare stones.
Now this was a pirate hoard.
It took some time to hall the entire hoard up onto the airship, but once every shiny penny was accounted for, they set their course back to Sharn. The pirates had largely disbanded, and the remaining miscreants were quickly destroying each other. They no longer posed a serious risk. So, with glad hearts the crew of The Flaming Rat turned for home.
Timeline
- Zor 5 Olarune - Thaspar re-accepted into his family
- Sul 8 Olarune - Breaking into Deathbringer's vault
People
Anwuay Bet'nar
A deathless sage over two-thousand years old. He is a learned master of elvish lore, but had never before left Arenal, until it became apparent that he needed to find the ancient Besathlae sword, and put it in the hands of its rightful owner.
Heroic Actions
- Cora whipped out a wand and Mage Armored Thaspar as a fluid motion as she put up an impenetrable defense with her sword
Adventure Names
- Robert - Thaspar: Pirate King
- Robyn - A Return to Falling
Legends & Lore
When the Daelkyr first attacked from the maddened real of Xoriat it was from manifest zones in The Eldeen Reaches and the Byesk mountains. At that time the Dhakkani goblin empire constructed massive gates to control the Xoriat portals, then sealed them with powerful magic. Cut off from their home plane, the remaining hordes fled deep into the Byesk mountains, where they continued to plague the untamed lands of what is now Droaam.
Rumors abound that the realm of Xoriat is getting nearer, and that as it does the old bonds holding the gates are failing. Unfortunately there are very few alive these days who know the locations of the gates, or how to reseal them.
Statistics
Date Played: October 6, 2006
Session Length: 7 hours
Experience Gained: ~6500/character
Foes Vanquished: Ironclad Mauler, Darogean, 4 Vault Guardians
Locking Mechanisms Bypassed: 9
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