Raid on a Pirate Ship (8th May 2013)
The Dragon Warriors
Aethelfrith – Thane
Sir Erich of Barton – Knight
Hillson – Warlock (played by a temporary replacement to
cover holidays)
Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian
Solaran – Elementalist (NPC’d)
Karban Telos – Sorcerer (NPC’d)
A Deal is Made (Day 15 (95) – evening)
After being briefed by Sir Erich, the rest of the party
agreed that some profit could be forthcoming in their relationship with Antonio
Guaires. He was due back that evening for their answer to his proposal. In the
meantime, Toby had returned and offered them some information; the Scorchers
were no longer the hot news they used to be – rumours running around the docks
revealed that nothing had been heard from them for a few days now, so perhaps
they had been fully dealt with. There was now more tension in the docks area as
the Scorchers had left a power vacuum and the bandit chieftain was nowhere to
be found – he was either lying very low or had left the city. They sent Toby
off again with instructions to do more of the same, and to find out who this
Antonio Guaires was in the scheme of things. The party passed the remaining
hours preparing for their meeting with Antonio later that evening.
When Antonio Guaires arrived the party took him to their
private room. He seemed well-disposed towards the party and suggested that even
though they had had a run-in a few days previously it would not sour what could
be a very profitable business relationship. Sir Erich asked him what the job
was that he required them to do and he ran it by them. It involved taking
possession of a scroll case and package from a friar who would be delivering it
to the pirate queen The Bloody Bitch as a gift from the Guaires family. Antonio’s
mother, the matriarch of the Guaires clan, ruled with an iron fist, and embarrassing
her publicly in front of powerful players would be the goal of this venture. He
could then increase his own esteem when he produced the goods as a goodwill
gesture to the same potential piratical allies. He gave them all the details of
the hit but mentioned there should be no links between the party and himself as
he wanted to remain anonymous in this venture and he wanted his strong-arm to
remain hidden from view – they had wiped out the Scorchers, got away with
murder in broad daylight and thus remained a dangerous enigma to the rest of
the family after all.
The party asked what their remuneration would be in this deal,
but Antonio only offered that they could salvage what they could from the raid
as long as he got the main merchandise undamaged. The party agreed to his terms
grudgingly and bid him adieu until the same time the following evening when
they would have what he required.
Double Cross (Day 16 – early hours)
As soon as he had left the inn, the adventurers set about
making plans for the smash and grab raid. They did not like the deal at all and
rethought it through. Why bother grabbing the required merchandise from very likely
powerful magic-wielding foes and well-armed bodyguards when they could just
raid the cog for its value whilst the deal was made between the Reavers and the
Guaires family? They decided they would attempt to double-cross Antonio Guaires
in an attempt to build their own riches. If the raid to steal the boat failed,
they could always fall back on their original plan and attempt to snatch the merchandise
as requested; their reasoning being that they wanted to whittle down the
defences on the boat so it could not sail before attacking the main party – no-one
would be the wiser.
The adventurers headed out into the cold, misty night in
search of a crew for their potential new ship. They searched many of the
dockside taverns before finally coming across a Captain Jim Cookson; a down on
his luck captain who had just lost his last ship to the Reavers. He was up for
revenge and the party’s deal of helping them sail away after a raid appealed to
him. However, after a little thought and putting two and two together he
realised this would involve stealing a pirate ship – he was even more intrigued
and agreed to raise a crew for the cog involved as well as the pilot to tow the
ship out of the harbour confines. He demanded 70 florins a week for his part in
the deal, but with 150 florins up front to hire a crew and smooth the way. The adventurers
agreed to this and a deal was struck; he would await them in the Dockside Tavern
from just after noon until he was called for, and the pilot would heave-to by
the dock about the same time too.
Cogs and Wheels (Day 16 – dusk)
The companions returned to their inn for a little rest
before they headed out at dawn to keep watch on the pirate vessel. They
wandered up and down the dock area, calling in at various inns and
establishments enquiring after prices for a passage to Thuland, dropping off a
package to Albion, and so forth so that suspicions would not be raised.
Throughout the day the pirates on-board the cog came and went on a variety of
errands, stowed cargo and generally prepared the ship for a dusk sailing. The
party kept an eye out on developments but soon lost track of how many Reavers
were left aboard at any one time. They gathered there were approximately a
dozen or so Reavers on the ship, a tough proposition.
They waited until almost dusk before two of the better
equipped Reavers left the ship and made their way up the thoroughfare towards
the Guaires family’s allocated meeting point. The party seized their
opportunity and made directly for the cog as soon as the Reavers were out of
sight and earshot.
The warriors of the party ran straight up the gang-plank and
jumped onto the deck whilst the spell-casters hurled wizardry from the wharf at
the better armoured warriors on the poop and fore decks. This caught the Reavers
by surprise, and before they knew it, one of their crew members was on the deck
bleeding from a mighty stab wound from Aethelfrith’s new short sword. Two
others were hurt in the fray before they could shake off their surprise and mount
a stiff defence of their ship.
A flurry of blows and magical missiles caused further injury
to some of the pirates but they fought back well, injuring Sir Erich in the
process. The magical attacks began to take their toll on the Reavers however, as
first the magical sword of Aethelfrith downed another pirate and Sir Erich’s great
axe cut down one of the better armoured pirates. A further flurry of blows and
magical attacks reduced the defences further as Nazir felled a pirate with his
new magical morning star. The pirates would not give up their ship that easily though
and renewed their attacks, pinning the warriors on board back against the
gangplank. Aethelfrith called for a shield wall to be formed. Nazir and the
warlock Hillson quickly joined him whilst Aethelfrith fended off three pirates
on his own to buy them some time. The full force of the Reavers now joined the
fight – the warriors on board were outnumbered by more than two to one now, but
the three quick kills meant that the odds were not any worse. They just hoped
they could finish off the Reavers on board before any reinforcements could be
forthcoming.
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