Back to the adventure… Who wants to fight pirates?!

Characters (Seven Associates) (Well, five actually O_o)

• Flyzus, Wood Elf Ranger (Hunter), Outlander; sole survivor of his tribe after an orc invasion
• Varis, Drow Elf Rogue (Thief), Far traveller; exiled scion of a noble family on the losing side of a feud
• Lucky, Half-Elf Cleric of Tymora (Trickery), Street Urchin; the lowly will be exalted
• Shin, Tabaxi Fighter (Arcane Archer), Outlander; big-game hunter, has no patience for weakness
• Pocor, Human Druid (Circle of Spores), Outlander; member of Chultan Diaspora, returned to his roots, literally

Against the Pirates

Both Zhanti and her son Shago had a strong interest in defeating the pirates that scourged the Savage Seas around Port Nyanzaru which after all, you have to remember is a MARITIME city. They had a plan to inflict a first blow to the pirates and, of course, it involved using the Seven Associates. The PCs would accompany a selected force on board of a seemingly vulnerable merchant ship.

Hidden in the cargo hold, they waited for the pirates to find them, cramped quarters being the main foe in the meantime.

Goals

• Capture at least a few pirates
• Capture the Captain
• Capture the pirate ship

Capturing a Stirge

The pirates did showed up (how boring would it have been otherwise!). The pirate ship had a kind of giant mosquito on its flag revealing that they were prey to The Stirge!

The false merchant ship did try a token escape tentative so it wouldn’t look too suspicious. The pirates boarded as the crew on deck seemingly surrendered. Half a dozen pirates were sent below to take a look on the merchandises. But the Cleric of Tymora had prepared a nice trick for them: a Zone of silence, so that when the hidden ambushers jumped on the surprised pirates it did not alert their comrades above. Next, the pirates’ second in command, a burly Orc, went below to see what the heck took so long. He had time to swing his large cleaver at Flyzus once, wounding the Wood Elf, before he was cut down too.

The already suspicious pirate captain, still oblivious to what happened, decided then to listen to his instincts and called a retreat, dashing back to his own ship. The PCs and their allies rushed out at once, throwing more grappling hooks as simultaneously the pirates tried to cut free. Two planks were still in place and fierce fighting ensued. The pirates were now outnumbered but a priest of Umberlee amongst them managed to summon a water elemental in the hope of turning the tide (!).

With the Tabaxi firing arrows after arrows from the crow’s nest and the battle for the planks going in favor of his opponents, despite the water elemental wreaking havoc, the pirate captain decided to surrender.

As for the priest of Umberlee, he jumped into the water, disappearing under the waves, never to be seen again. No, really, he won’t be seen again. I’m telling you!

DM’s notes

• The Stirge and its crew comes from ToA
• The PCs found some valuables, including an old Omuan tapestry, a first inkling of things to come
• reward: 2000 gp or a first payment if the PCs want to keep the ship