Once upon a time a group of adventurers met a cloaked man. He was very mysterious, but he offered them transportation to far off places to fight frightening horrors. This transportation came at a cost as sometimes the adventurers would sleep for days after their arrival.
On this day, after another recent transportation from the mystery man, the group awoke to find themselves in a familiar shipping town, the port city of Innsmouth! While they were excited to be back in this familiar place, it was not the same island they remembered. Where woods once stood, there was now an ugly wall separating the town from ghastly moans originating from the far side. Buildings once bustling with activity now stood vacant. And the monk and the Boss, who would normally be traveling with the group, were nowhere to be found!
While some were confused by their absence, slow realization crept across the warlock’s face. This town held many enemies, and leading them would be the leader of the town. The warlock knew this man to be Campolo and he knew where to find him. Without a moment to lose, he dashed from the group and sprinted to the large building at the town’s edge.
The rest of the party raced after him, but when they entered Campolo’s house, they saw the warlock had already been there for some time. There he was, standing right behind the man that must be Campolo. Though, unlike at most meetings, this man did not immediately shake the Bard’s hand and ask for an autograph. No, something wasn’t right here. Slack-jawed, droopy-eyed, no admiration for the Bard…
This was clearly a man out of his wits through magical means!
The warlock smiled and informed his group that Campolo would be happy to help them.
“Won’t you?” said the warlock.
“Yes…” mumbled Campolo.
“And you’ll let our friends go?” said the warlock.
“Yes…” mumbled Campolo. “It is already done.”
“Er… oh? Um, great,” said the warlock, “bring them here at once.”
Slowly Campolo turned to look at the warlock, his drooping eyes turning into narrowed ones. “I can’t do that… how would I even drag them out of the bay with all those heavy chains on them?” Campolo’s empty stare became a sneer, the charm vanishing from his face. He was only pretending to be spellbound!
“And besides, what do soon-to-be-dead people, such as yourself, need with a couple of drowned corpses?”
There was no time to lose! With their friends in danger of drowning, they raced to the bay.
They arrived at the docks just in time to see the Boss lowered into the water from the largest ship in the port, aptly named “Revenge”. They had to save him! Racing up the nearby ramp, they were immediately slowed by the ship’s crew, but no one would stop our brave heroes. With a flash, flame belched from an unseen source and forced the archer into the water. The others leaped through the flame and answered with their own attack.
The crew was formidable. Arrows and blades whistled through the air as they attempted to slay our heroes. But the adventurers would not be denied! Heavy hammers and swords were swung. Men were bewildered by enchanting magic. At one point a gorilla showed up and punched a person.
Slowly, the heroes fought their way to the end of the boat, but when they reached it there was… nothing. No sound. No rope. No Boss.
Spreading out, they searched the rest of the ship. They had checked every inch of it. Every inch but one. As they reached the last door in the very depth of the ship, they came face to face with their good friend the Boss… as well as the captain of the ship, who was preparing a fiery spell inches from the Boss’s face.
“So you killed my men? Pity, some of them were quite expensive, and Joey gave the best massages. Now that you’ve had your fun, how about you leave, or I roast your friend here?”
The druid whispered to her friends, “He’s bluffing, I can handle this.” With a large stride forward, she looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I’d like to see you try.”
“OK,” responded the captain.
With a terrible roar the small cabin erupted in flames!
“We have to get out of here!” screamed the archer, “this place will be consumed in flames in seconds! Leave the Boss!”
“I’ve got the Boss here,” answered the warlock, retrieving his body.
“Cool,” replied the archer.
The group ran from the burning ship and dove overboard just as the boat began to break apart and sink into the sea. They started to swim to shore, desperate for someplace safe. They did not know if the captain had gone down with the ship, if the monk was OK, or even if Campolo was close behind them. They swam through the inky black water not knowing what the dawn would bring them.
Coda: The monk swam through the water towards what he hoped was land, a challenging feat even for those who did not have bound hands and feet and two recently dislocated shoulders. He thought back to his recent escape. Gods, how could he leave the Boss behind?! No, this was not the time to think about that. They had been tortured for hours and only his highly skilled monk training had allowed him to escape into the dark depths of the bay. Campolo was a monster, that was certain, but the monk knew there was worse where he came from. If he was going to change anything he would need his friends. He was just…. so… tired. He was barely aware of the sand beneath him as he reached the shoreline. He merely demanded his feet carry him just a little… bit… farther. His final thought before his mind surrendered to exhaustion was “We can’t win… unless… they find….”