Our heroes found themselves sailing across the ocean towards adventure and to the aid of a recently kidnapped girl who had just days prior been stolen away in the night by vicious pirates. They sailed on a fine ship, its white sails were blowing in the breeze as the morning sun glistened off the dangerous looking ballista mounted on its bow. The captain of this vessel was a peculiar rabbit-man. They had met him at the Mayor’s bequest, but other than questioning the group to see if they were really cursed dragonborn banished from their lands (apparently a common affliction where he hailed from), he remained as quiet as one who was kicked in the throat by a horse.
Their journey would require days of sailing but the party passed the time in a routine fashion. In the morning they received rudimentary lessons in sailing, at midday they played cards, and by the evening they took turns being violently seasick before eventually falling asleep / passing out, begging for death.
With the pirate cove fast approaching, the group soon gathered their strength and kept an eye out for pirates and other terrors. They did not find danger but instead a group of sunbathing merfolk. Could these be the perfect allies in their fight against the pirates? The group hailed the merfolk and asked for their help but were met with overwhelming indifference. It was only when the Bard approached did the merfolk react with joy and reverence. The Bard was accustomed to this reaction and, after giving the 7’s and 8’s to his sister, asked his fans if they might work together. With tears in their eyes and smiles in their hearts, they offered their assistance in scouting out the pirate cove. Helping out the Bard was enough of a honor, but with a wink of his eye, the Bard offered the merfolk any future help if they required it. With that, the heroes renewed their journey to the pirate cove, knowing they would reunite with the merfolk once they had revived any of their kin who had fainted during the Bard’s visit.
The group was ecstatic to have new allies, but their good fortunes would not last long. All of a sudden, the Boss shouted out “Pirates off the port side!” Sure enough, a pirate ship could be seen on the horizon, heading towards the port of Innsmouth, but it was swiftly changing course and approaching our heroes! They had mere minutes to come up with a foolproof plan. First, the monk would recreate a fake pirate flag. And then they would pose as a fellow pirate ship. And then they would talk with the other ship’s captain. And then they would explain their new ship was part of a recent heist. And then they would distract the pirates with a show. And then they would send the warlock to the ship in secret. And then they would drop and disable the anchor to leave it stranded in place. And then they would cast spells on the immobile ship! This multi-multistep plan required split-second timing and any deviation would likely cause it to fail and leave them all at the pirates’ mercy!
As the ship approached, the group prepared step 1 of their 15 step plan. When their ships were nearly touching, the captain came out to the deck. Would he see through their plan? Would they attack on sight? Was the mission finished before it even began?!
“You guys wanna listen to some tunes? Let’s drop anchor over there and we can hang out,” suggested the unsuspecting pirate captain.
“….sure,” mumbled the group, eyes and mouth wide opened.
As soon as their adversaries’ anchor dropped, the warlock took the opportunity to cast his most powerful spell. At once, the ship was shrouded in darkness and the screams of both the sailors and the damned rang out. The lucky ones died immediately, while some managed to abandon ship and began the long swim to shore.
“Should we rescue them?” asked the druid.
“If we let them live, they might tell the rest of the pirate crew,” said the archer.
“Shunk,” said the ballista, as the Boss sent one of its bolts through the air.
“Splaugh,” said the brain of the nearest pirate as the missile split it in two.
After some awkward silence the group slowly turned to look at the Boss, who still had the trigger of the ballista in his hand. The Boss, in turn, slowly pointed to the rabbit-captain, placing the blame on his shoulders. But it mattered not, for the group saw the die was cast and they had no choice now to fight their way through this encounter. The weakened pirates were no match for the mighty heroes and one by one they were dispatched.
Without the pirates to stop them, they now had a clear shot to the pirate cove, but this was just a scouting party. Luck was on their side this time, but how many more would be at the cove? There was no time to think of this as every moment they waited was a moment the young girl was in danger. So off they sped, into the unknown!