Once upon a time, a group of heroes made a deal with a local mayor. In exchange for a boat needed for their journey to the nearby city of Clifton, they would have to rescue his daughter from vicious pirates. The group accepted and slaughtered many pirates on their way to the pirate king, but when they reached his doorstep they did not find a cruel swashbuckler, but an ordinary man looking out for his outcast people. The adventurers agreed to help this noble man, though, coincidentally, the tale of their prior pirate murderfest did not come up.
Of course, bloody evidence still remained on the pirate ship parked outside the cove, but as both heroes and pirates emerged, the boat was nowhere to be seen. It would seem that the samurai’s sailing lessons had finally paid off!
With a quick message to the Mayor, the Bard arranged a meeting between the two leaders and they set sail with hope in their hearts that this feud could be reconciled quickly and that both parties might escape this island while they could. Doom had been looming since their arrival and the adventurers could feel in their bones that they were approaching the calm before the storm.
Meanwhile, the samurai had indeed had the insight to sail away from the cove when it was clear the pirates were not dangerous. Going was tough, but the samurai was never one to back down from a challenge. Slowly but surely she sailed to mermaid cove and anchored offshore. She had made it here in one piece, but what of the ship? It was still dripping from the blood of innocent pirates. Thinking quickly, the samurai began to furiously mop the deck. The gore could be tossed overboard and the current would take it out to sea. After many hours, the deck was clean and no one would know about their great sins. But as she descended into a rowboat and headed to shore to wait for her friends, the samurai noticed that this cove had no current and the blood was staying stagnant in the bay. The samurai moved quickly through the sinew soup and thought, “Maybe no one will notice.”
As the samurai touched the shore, boats of both the Mayor and the pirates could be seen approaching at the same time. There was mild vomiting as the boats traveled through the brain batter, but eventually all parties reached the shore and prepared themselves for a tense meeting.
The pirate king told his tale of his unfairly accused and good people who deserved more than dying on a doomed island. He explained that the signs had been clear and they would all be in danger as long as they stayed on this island. Their only hope, he exclaimed, would be to join forces and evacuate the island as soon as possible.
The Mayor heard all this with folded arms and finally interrupted the pirate king. He had his daughter now and he had his home. They would be able to withstand any danger as long as he had these, and so he told the pirates that they should leave and never come back to the island. “Besides,” he sneered, “I am not so weak that I’m worried about rising tides and the occasional dinosaur.”
With this, a monstrous crash interrupted the group and a monstrous bellow echoed from beyond the tree line. This was no raptor, this was something… bigger.
With a loud cracking sound, a multi-headed serpent exploded from the forest. The druid had heard of beasts like this before, but only ever in legend. This was a Hydra! The beast was known to be nigh impossible to kill, capable of regenerating after receiving any injury. Though, there was something else not right about this particular beast. Its skin was pale and its eyes were cold and glassy. If the party didn’t know any better, they would think this creature had died years earlier.
Could the heroes be any match for such a creature? They might have been able to make it to the boats, but what of the weaker folk, including children, who had also come to shore? No, thought the pirate king, he would not lose any more people today. With a deep roar, he pulled out his golden rapier and rushed the creature. This was enough to rally the brave adventurers and they followed the pirate king into battle.
The heroes fought gallantly, but for every head that was lopped off, two more grew in its place! They were quickly being overwhelmed. Just when it seemed like the end had arrived, a voice shouted out, “Don’t move! It can’t see you if you don’t move!” More bewildered than compliant, the group froze, only to see a spray of acid shoot from the tree line, catching both the Hydra and the pirate king in one arc. This acid was quickly followed by a massive black dragon, who perched on the remains of the unmoving Hydra. All continued to hold still, mostly out of fear, but the druid did risk a small healing spell directed at the acid puddle that used to be the pirate king. Now conscious and able to feel pain once again, the pirate king whispered, “Kill me…” but other than that, the beach was still.
The black dragon looked up and down the beach, acid still dripping from its massive jaws, but just when it seemed it was preparing to attack again, it unfolded its great wings and catapulted into the blue sky, disappearing in an instant.
Tears were dried and pants were changed as a tall figure emerged from the forest. This must be the one who warned them to hold still in front of the dragon, and on closer inspection, the party saw that this was the same hooded stranger who had rescued them from the zombie invasion of Dis!
He explained that time was short, for even though it seemed peaceful now, this island would be swallowed by disaster shortly. He wanted our heroes to reach their full potential and ultimate destiny, but they would not be able to do so here.
He quickly put on a pair of dark sunglasses, reached out his hand to the adventurers and instructed, “Come with me if you want to live.” The group stared at the remnants of the pirate group and the Mayor consoling his scared daughter. Would they be okay on their own? But this stranger had saved their lives once already, so with a deep breath and focused courage, the group offered him their hands. As the last fingers touched the stranger, their vision went black. As the world fell away from the heroes they each had the same thoughts: What adventures would be next and what was happening with these islands that was causing so much mayhem to spread?