The Lonely Coast Campaign – Intro Session 3

At the end of our last session, our heroes were in somewhat desperate straights. The ship they had been taking passage upon, the Nydam, had become becalmed in a thick fog and its captain, Frithgar, had died. Various accusations had been flung back and forth between various members of the crew and the Frithgar’s other guest, Selewulf his lover and fiancée. The crew’s mood was pretty gloomy and dark with many wanting to throw Selewulf overboard. Hereric the First Mate had taken command of the ship but others were planning mutiny and were looking to get the heroes to side with them. All of this was interrupted by the sight of another ship drifting nearby the Nydam; a ship that looked abandoned. The heroes were “ordered” to go over and investigate and they just had finished some of their preliminary investigations and that is where we pick up this session below the break.

Muse had to miss this session and so RJ played Osric for her. Muse had randomly picked who would play Osric at the end of the last session. I wonder if she’ll do that again after she learns what happened this session.

Spoiler Alert: A good portion of this session (as well as the prior) was based on and inspired by Atlas Games’ adventure, Maiden Voyage.

The cabin on the derelict had turned out to be the captain’s quarters…or so the party assumed. After giving it a quick search (and beheading the skeleton…assumed to be the captain…in cast it animated), they had recovered the water logged captain’s journal. It was also noticed that one of the decorative maps hanging from the wall was moving in a rhythmic manner, almost as if something was heavily breathing behind it. Thalimor and Isenthorne took up positions on either side of this map and yanked it down ready for something to jump out.

Instead, they found that part of the hull had rotted away and gave access to the outside. The moving of the map was simply air passing into the cabin. The map had also hid a small cubbyhole containing an old and rusted strongbox. Thalimor pulled the box out and placed on a nearby table. It was clearly old and clearly locked. Using his dagger, Thalimor pummeled the lock in the hopes of breaking it. He was successful not at breaking the lock but at triggering an old trap. A needle poked out of the lock. Fortunately for the bard, it too was rusted and was slow enough that he could avoid being fully jabbed by the needle. Instead, he received a small scrap for his troubles.

Osric took matters into his own hands with Bay’s crowbar. The lock did not have much of a chance and the strongbox was soon opened. Inside were four or five dozen gold coins…old coins. Tucking the box into Osric’s pack, the group headed back out on to the deck. Given that below decks had obviously been barricaded to keep whatever (or whoever) it contained within, the party…particularly Thalimor…were very reluctant to open the hatches to below. Hereric, from the safety of the Nydam, however, was keen on the party exploring the ship’s cargo hold. He loudly announced that any plunder would be evenly split amongst all of the crew and he would not take the extra share due to the Captain. This was met with approving murmurs from even those planning on mutiny.

Bay trotted back across the gangplank and asked Magnus to give Fyra’s blessing to a piece of wood; it illuminated as the priest did so. Trotting back, the wood was slipped between the latticework covering the main hatch to the hold and fell into the hold. It showed that the hold was largely filled with a brackish water which helped to explain why the ship sat so low. A small dome-like thing floated in the water, disturbed slightly by the entry of the illuminated stick. It was pale and fleshy in appearance but that was about all that could be made out from above. Bay estimated that the hold was filled with about five to eight feet of water.

Thalimor would have been quite happy to head back to the Nydam at this point but Hereric was rather insistent that the hold be explored. It could hold valuables. [The players might have thought that this was me pushing them to explore but it sincerely was Hereric’s hope that some salvaged plunder would sway those of a mutinous bent to accept his command. Of course, he couldn’t just shout this out as most of the crew had come to the rails to watch the party’s progress…discipline amongst had largely gone out the window at this point.]

Bay removed the chains that held the small hatch to the hold and revealed that the stairs that once led down had rotted away. Access to the hold would have to be made via rope. Isenthorne quickly volunteered to be lowered down. She really wanted to find out what might be done there. Bay somewhat half-heartedly argued that she shouldn’t be the one to go down and that perhaps one of the men should go instead but the ranger was quite adamant in her volunteering.

Before getting lowered down, something else could be seen floating in the water. It was long and thin in comparison to the prior domelike object. Bay trotted across the gangplank again and fetched a grappling hook and rope to have Osric do a little fishing. Dropping the hook into the dark water, the nearby object started to drift away and rotated slightly to reveal a small protrusion sticking out of one end. Many thought that this might be the tail of some creature but were shown to be wrong as Osric hooked the object and started to pull it from the water.

It was an arm…a pale and bloated arm but a human arm nonetheless. Pulling up further revealed more arm and eventually a shoulder. What could be seen of the body looked partially eaten and not nearly decomposed as it should be given the age of everything else on the ship!

Isenthorne was slowly lowered down via a rope. As she entered the hold, she was assailed by a stench of sewage, rotting flesh, and blood and almost lost the meager breakfast from the morning. As she got a chance to see more of the hold, she could make out what looked to be crates at the stern end (she was closer to the fore) and several dead bodies (or at least pieces) floating about the water.

As her feet hit the water, a shout rang out from above. Osnoth was yelling, “By the gods, cut us loose or we’re all doomed. It is the Maiden! Cut us loose!” Some of the sailors immediately set to the task but Hereric yelled out to stop. Osnoth renewed his shouting and claimed that the Maiden was cursed. This got even some of those still loyal to Hereric to start cutting at the ropes holding the two ships together. [At some point, I don’t quite remember when, Osnoth shared his limited information about the Sea Maiden. It was little more than the ship had been lost a long time ago but had been sighted periodically and was, to be quite blunt, cursed and possibly a ghost ship.]

Isenthorne was quickly pulled up and all of that party aboard the “Maiden” made it back across to the Nydam. The sailors pushed at the derelict with long poles and the two ships started to slowly drift apart. The party turned over the strongbox to Hereric and he took down to his quarters, presumably to place it with the Nydam’s strongbox.

It was quite clear that the crew had solidified into two different sides. One side was still loyal to Hereric and the other was the potential mutineers led, it appeared, by Osnoth. Neither side is very cheery and the tension aboard was nearly as thick as the fog engulfing the ship. Our heroes elected to remain “neutral” and gathered on the deck near their quarters to discuss what they should do. While discussing, Bay and Isenthorne realized that the door to the brig, right next to their quarters, was slightly ajar. Trying to avoid notice or raising suspicions, Isenthorne took a peek into the brig and found it empty! Wineric was no longer inside.

The party also noticed that two of the sailors were chatting. While this wouldn’t normally raise any suspicions, these were sailors from opposite camps. Word seems to be passed through the crew and suddenly, those loyal to Hereric are pointing crossbows at him! Selewulf came out from the captain’s quarters (Wineric could be seen in the cabin behind her) and outright accused Hereric of having poisoned Frithgar! She demanded that his belongings be searched. Both sides of the crew agreed and Magnus was asked to head up the search with one sailor from each side coming along as witnesses.

The trio headed down to Hereric’s quarters. Within was little more than a hammock, a foot locker, and the two strongboxes…one from the Nydam and one from the Sea Maiden. Magnus looked through the foot locker first and found one of the venom vials, half-filled. The sailors with him immediately concluded murder. The trio went back up on deck and showed all what had been found. Ox restrained Hereric while shouting, “Murderer!” All of the sailors, from both factions, immediately believed Hereric guilty and the former First Mate/recent Captain was tied to the mast.

Our heroes had difficulty understanding how the sailors could accept such circumstantial evidence but Bay, having been a sailor himself, explained that a sailor would never go into another’s foot locker and that they tended to see things in a very black and white perspective. Osnoth now claimed the mantle of captain and none of the sailors protested. The factions, however, were obviously shifting. Some of those who had previously supported Osnoth did not seem to happy with his captaincy while some who had been Hereric’s side were now on Osnoth’s side. The primary division appeared to be whether or not one agreed that throwing Selewulf overboard was a good idea…those that thought so were now following Osnoth.

Thalimor and Osnoth retired to the party’s quarters (Selewulf still had the captain’s quarters and guards were still posted outside armed with crossbows…guards that were not on Osnoth’s side). They were going to review the captain’s journal and log for any hint of what had led them to their current predicament. The captain had clearly been looking to change course to avoid a certain area that was on their prior course and mentioned a concern about encountering the Maiden but not much more. [I believe that this might be when Osnoth shared what he know of the Sea Maiden.]

The cargo manifest seemed pretty normal with a two exceptions. Wineric, the prisoner, was noted on the manifest and that she was to be remanded to the Baron upon arrival in Wolverton. Frithgar was to receive generous compensation for completing this task. This was the second to last entry on the manifest. The last entry was for two vials of venom and one of anti-venom. There was no indication of who these were to be delivered to (if anyone) or the fee to be received upon delivery.

Perhaps more importantly, Thalimor and Osnoth had the opportunity to have a private conversation about their immediate future. Osnoth explained that they would take any wind or any current they encountered to get out of the calm waters. While any sailor, even Bay, should be competent enough to navigate the ship to Wolverton, the expert was, of course, the ship’s navigator. This was a man named Trumwig who happened to not support Osnoth as captain. Osnoth suggested that Thalimor convince Trumwig to switch sides and join Osnoth.

The bard saw no reason that he should support or help Osnoth until the old man enlightened him. Although the crew had largely blamed the prior captain, Frithgar, and his bringing his lover on the trip, Osnoth explained that it would be quite easy for him to redirect their attention. While he couldn’t explain all of the details for fear of attracting the attention of “something,” Osnoth did explain that Thalimor was probably just as responsible for their troubles as Frithgar. The symbol that he had brought aboard and shown Osnoth previously [the spiral symbol that the man on the docks had carved into his own skin] was just as likely to have brought on their troubles. All he had to do was tell the crew about the symbol and they would immediately turn their united attention to Thalimor.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, the bard went out to find Trumwig and speak to him. He found the navigator and the pair were able to have a private conversation on the sterncastle. Trumwig flatly stated that he would not join Osnoth and that Selewulf needed to be protected. Thalimor pressed the subject and it soon became clear that Trumwig was not telling him the whole truth but the bard eventually dragged it out of the navigator. [Note: None of the other characters (or players) were aware of this but I think it is safe enough to let the players know now…given the events to follow.] Selewulf had convinced members of the crew, previously loyal to Hereric, that she was now the owner of the ship…Frithgar had left it to her…and if they got her safely to port, any port, she would sell the ship and give each of them an equal share. Trumwig got Thalimor to swear upon the gods to not share this information with anyone.

But why couldn’t they all just sail to port and then go their separate ways was what Thalimor asked. Trumwig explained that would never happen at this point. Both sides saw the other as mutineers and mutiny was a high crime punishable by hanging. Neither side would want to start violence, they had all known each other too long for that, but with tensions so high almost anything could set things off. If they did start moving again, violence was inevitable before they made it to a port so the winning side could tell some story of what happened rather than being branded mutineers. Regardless, Trumwig estimated that no one would start a fight for at least another day or two unless something changed.

Isenthorne used the privacy of their chambers to review the journal that had been found on the Maiden. Most of it was completely illegible due to water damage and age but she was able to make out the name and a few of last entries. The journal was marked as belonging to Merehwit, the Captain of the Sea Maiden. The legible entries spoke to having become becalmed. As the days passed, his crew mutinied. Merehwit was bound to the mast. At one point, the crew fractured into rival groups and while they were busy fighting below decks, he escaped his bounds. Merehwit was able to lock the hatches leading below and he left his crew there to starve, though mention of cannibalism was made.

A black ship was also mentioned. The “damnable thing” remained just on the horizon of the Maiden. Merehwit also mentioned things whispering in his mind and the sense of a presence in his cabin but no one was there. The last entries indicated that he could take no more of this and that he was going to go to his fate…whatever it might be.

While Wineric had spent a good part of the afternoon in the captain’s quarters with Selewulf, she voluntarily went back to the brig so that she wouldn’t contribute to the tensions on the ship. Bay didn’t like the idea but reluctantly allowed it to happen. Isenthorne and Magnus then went in to speak with Selewulf. The conversation quickly turned to why Frithgar had brought Selewulf on this trip with him. She had no useful answer as Frithgar had simply told her that he had a surprise for her. She wasn’t even sure if the surprise was during the trip or once the ship reached Wolverton. This all turned out to be too much for Selewulf and she started to tear up and so the pair left her to her sorrow.

At some point in the afternoon, Bay retired to their quarters alone. He called out to his fey patron, the Lady Danu, in the hopes that she might come to their salvation like she had, apparently, before. There was no immediate response. Bay waited…waited…waited…but nothing. He then turned to leave but the door was jammed and he couldn’t open it. Danu stood behind him. She was more than bemused at the audacity of such a reluctant servant to call for her to aid him. Bay asked for her aid and pleaded for her to save her servant. They had a short conversation in which nothing was really said before she leaned forward and whispered in his ear that she didn’t believe that he would be her servant, sassy or not, for much longer. Then she was gone.

Dinner was meager as rationing had been announced and just as tense as any of other recent meals. After eating, the heroes went back to their quarters to rest for the evening. They did, however, take turns taking a watch outside of their quarters. It was discovered that a guard had also been posted at the brig to either keep Wineric in or to keep others from approaching her or letting her out. The guard was one of the sailors loyal to Trumwig.

In the middle of the night, while the fog was particularly thick, a scream came from midships…a scream of a man. Magnus was currently on guard and he moved quickly to investigate. As he approached the center mast to which Hereric was bound, he could make out another shape looming over him. As the fog shifted a bit, Magnus could see a dripping, pale person chewing on the First Mate’s leg! Shouts began to sound from other parts of the ship and the Sea Maiden, complete with black sails now, slowly sailed by propelled by some phantom wind!

Magnus attacked the “zombie” as all came to call their attackers. The others were roused from their sleep by the shouting and fighting and quickly came to the battle. A couple of ominous, loud splashes could be heard from the stern of the ship. As the party spread about the ship seeking other opponents, Magnus both healed and freed Hereric, telling him to defend his ship. The boarding party turned out to be small and the fight short with the Maiden quickly sailing off. The attackers, however, were not easy to kill. They could be defeated and fall but then would get right back up moments again to continue the fight!

A head count after the battle showed that two of the crew were missing, Ox and Wealdstan (the cook). Both had been on the sterncastle and there were two areas of the railing that were freshly broken. All assumed that they had gone overboard. In addition, Hereric as nowhere to be found. Osnoth and Trumwig both agreed to send men to search the ship for him. None were successful, however. The First Mate remained unaccounted for. All returned to their rest or duty.

The following day, Osnoth and Trumwig discussed the state of affairs aboard. Osnoth relinquished his claim to the captaincy and agreed to follow Trumwig’s orders as would all of the crew. Thalimor saw this as an opportunity to search the ship for the remaining vial of venom and/or anti-venom. He approached Trumwig about this and suggested that the now Captain should order all to turn out there foot lockers for inspection. Trumwig said that would be a mistake and just contribute to the tensions on the ship and possibly shatter the fragile truce that had occurred. Plus, while his man had been searching for Hereric he had also been looking for the vial but without success. When Osnoth was asked about the vial that had been found in Hereric’s belongings, he claimed to have tossed it overboard…Thalimor clearly did not believe him but there was little that could be done.

The rest of the day was largely uneventful…up to a point…but it was pretty clear to Thalimor and some others that those who had previously supported Osnoth were going out of their way to ingratiate themselves with the other sailors. Before dinner, a scream was heard from the galley. Isenthorne was the first to arrive and found a pale Hereric biting Dirt’s neck. Osric was next on the scene and grabbed Hereric in a bear hug to pull him off the boy. [Ahh…zombie love and it wasn’t even Valentine’s Day yet.] Hereric instead bit Osric! Fortunately, whatever Hereric had become was quickly defeated.

Hereric’s body was tossed overboard and Dirt was given a proper burial at sea. Osric cleaned up the galley and took on the responsibility for finishing preparing dinner. The party kept a close look on Osric; they were concerned that the same thing that happened to Hereric would happen to their friend as it appeared that a bite was all it took to “infect” Hereric in the first place.

Needless to say, dinner was a quiet and somber affair. Regardless of side, all of the sailors were shaken by the death of the boy. After dinner, however, the fog started to clear and the stars were becoming visible. Even a slight breeze could be felt. The spirits of the crew started to rise just as the wind was.

The crew unfurled the sails and the ship began to move! Their troubles looked to be coming to an end!

It wasn’t long, however, before their troubles were compounded ten-fold. Magnus asks the guard if he can speak with Selewulf. The guard comes out looking a bit shaken and tells the priest that he better go in. Selewulf is standing there with blood dripping from both arms and pooling on the floor at her feet. Pale and with a wild-eyed look, she said, “A house divided will fall.” This was followed by, “He’s watching you.” The same things that the crazy coot on the docks in Hamwic had said. As Magnus slowly backed out of the chamber, Selewulf began to carve a symbol, a rough spiral into her abdomen with a knife.

That was when Osnoth made his move to take the ship. He stabbed Trumwig in the back and the old man’s supporters took this as the signal to place their blades to the throats of those from the opposite faction. This took everyone by surprise. But before things escalated or anymore blood was shed, the crow’s nest shouted, “Ship ho!”

The Sea Maiden, black sails billowing, was spotted sailing right for them. Her pale, half-rotted crew was up on the deck. There was no time to do much but brace for the impact. The Sea Maiden crunched into the side of the Nydam, crumpling her half-rotted bow. Many on the Nydam were knocked prone by the collision with one in the crow’s nest falling into the churning waters about the ships. The Maiden’s dead suffered no such effects from the crash and immediately threw over grappling hooks and ropes to further entangle the two vessels.

The dead then began to flood onto the deck of the Nydam. Ox and Wealdstan were both amongst the boarders. Dirt was as well. Commanding the attack was Frithgar! The defenders launched a volley of bolts and arrows before they were in the thick of battle.

Matters were made even worse when Selewulf came out of the cabin, calling out her love for Frithgar and running through the crew member who had been guarding her chamber before moving onto another of the sailors. Although their numbers were not that great, the dead were slowly overwhelming the ship. It helped little that they kept rising after being “killed.”

Nor did it help that Osnoth fled the main battle and headed to the stern of the ship where the landing boat was kept. Another sailor joined him and the pair started to lower the landing boat to make their escape. Before the pair could make good their escape, Thalimor stopped them with an enchanted sleep…both slumped to the deck.

Bay went to free Wineric from the brig but found the cell door unlocked. Wineric was still within so Bay threw to door open and told her to run for the back of the ship. She did exactly that and shimmied down the ropes to the waiting landing boat to wait for the others.

As the battle raged, some noticed that the sea around them had started to swirl and spiral, a whirlpool was forming. Strange lights and sounds drifted up within the whirlpool. With the ships as tangled as they were, it was obvious that there was no hope for saving the Nydam. Those still living started to shout that they had to abandon ship.

Isenthorne fell the the attacks of the dead sailors and lay unconscious on the deck. Most of the Nydam’s crew was also dead at this point.

Frithgar had already joined the fray and redoubled his efforts at killing the crew and our heroes. He was not, however, successful. A number of defenders focused their attacks on him and defeated him. As Frithgar fell, his crew looked stunned. Then ghostly spirits began to flow up from the growing whirlpool and flew through the bodies of Frithgar and his dead crew. These spirits were ferocious and angry and as they passed though the bodies of the attackers, the zombie fell.

Osric hefted Isenthorne and ran for the rear of the ship as the Nydam began to pitch roughly in the unnatural waters. The others also fled…except Bay. Osnoth was left behind but the unconscious sailor who had fled with him was tossed in boat. Bay, instead, scrambled below decks. His first thought was to grab both of the strong boxes but then he realized that food might be a better choice. Grabbing what he could, he ran for the rising stern.

As all made it into the landing boat (except Bay), the conscious sailor, Osric (not to be confused with our hero Osric the Brave), began to fervently row away. Wineric shouted that they had to wait for Bay but the sailor ignored her. Fortunately for Bay, one of the ropes holding the boat to the ship had not been loosed. Bay arrived and slid down the rope to the boat just as the rope was cut.

And none too soon! The Nydam pitched and rolled heavily and, along with the Maiden, slipped into the whirlpool. A whirlpool that had angular arms rather than simply spiraling, clearly something unnatural. Then, in but an instant, the sea was calm, both ships were gone, and the sun was shining brightly. The survivors were relieved to have survived. Taking stock, they saw no sight of land, were heavily loaded and sitting low in the water (with eight in a boat designed for six), had few supplies, and had left behind both Isenthorne’s longbow and Osric’s crossbow in the rush to escape.

As the shock and stress of what had just happened faded, the realization of their dire predicament began to dawn on the castaways.

[That is where we ended the session a bit later than normal.

The shifting allegiances amongst the crew were difficult to follow. Selewulf’s and Wineric’s private conversations were worrisome but unknown. Thalimor (and Thomas) was left speechless at one point…or maybe more accurately, thought it best not say anything additional. Isenthorne (and Rachel) went off on a righteous rant against Osnoth for killing Trumwig. Osric (via RJ) gave a zombie a great big hug…even after knowing that they might somehow be contagious. Bay (or maybe just RJ) thought that his patron would overlook his sass, reluctance, and outright disobedience and come to their rescue. Magnus kept getting treated as the neutral arbitrator.

The final combat with the dead crew from the Maiden was actually pretty anti-climatic after all of the roleplaying from the session. It felt kind of weird…at least to me. 😉

To be honest, I really wasn’t sure where things were going to go except that the Maiden would eventually attack. I was almost surprised that Osnoth killed Trumwig like he did but it just fit in my head. Now, I’m not really sure what is going to happen. I have a few inklings but it will, of course, depend on what our heroes end up doing in the next session.]