After a long night of planning, the party rested in the Siren’s Shipwreck Tavern, but peace was fleeting. At the Witching Hour, eerie green mists rolled in from the sea, and strange lights danced across the sky. The Ghost Ship, no longer just a legend, drifted a mere fifty feet from the docks of Rosenhall.
Under cover of the fog, the party rowed quietly to the spectral vessel, using the mist as their shield. They discovered a boarding party preparing to head to the smugglers’ warehouse. Moving quickly and silently, the party ambushed and eliminated the crew without raising alarm.
Once aboard, the real battle began.
- Saratuc used Ensnaring Strike to pin down the infamous pirate, Captain Helmut Hookhands, as his hobgoblin crew rallied in defense.
- Mayla commandeered a cannon and obliterated a Nilbog spellcaster, responsible for conjuring the ship’s magical fog cover.
- After a fierce fight, Hookhands was subdued alive by Zahkir, though badly beaten.
Exploring the bowels of the ship, they met a strange and possibly inebriated stowaway:
Orson Harrington, a disoriented pirate with an oversized musical hat and a thousand contradicting stories.
According to Orson:
- He got drunk at a bar and passed out only to awaken kidnapped on Hookhand’s ship. He insists that this was somehow the nefarious work of Hookhands.
- Hookhands sank his ship multiple times throughout the past 20 years, each time more implausible than the last.
- His hat was a gift from Duke Oni Sev, whom he alternately called his “best friend” and “a piece of shit.”
- He is the most eligible bachelor in Oar’s Rest.
- He killed a Red Dragon and an Astral Dreadnaught single handily.
- He led the Civil War attack on the Coast Guard and sunk them all single handily.
- He sunk the original Ghost Ship with Ocean’s Oath, which is how he met Ondor Sev.
The party discovered a disturbing cargo manifest:
- Illegal firearms
- Parts suspiciously similar to the Chardalyn Dragon
- A new frame for the stolen Raven Queen portrait
- And, most horrifically, a body hidden among the crates
Among the paperwork was a letter of diplomatic immunity, bearing the Decal seal of Duke Ondor Sev.
This letter matched the one found earlier on the warehouse smuggler. It confirmed the party’s fears:
Duke Sev is tied to these operations.
And more, these letters are being mass-produced.
Captain Malcolm Monsterblade took Hookhands into custody and reviewed the manifest. He revealed:
- Oni Sev’s brother, Hardin Tomcat, is the alleged head of the Golden Rat Syndicate.
- The forged immunity letters are being distributed across the criminal underworld.
- Queen Dev has already signed Oni Sev’s death warrant, and it was time to act.
Malcolm tasked the party with traveling to the Sapest, arresting Sev for his corruption, regardless of any local pardon. But first, they were to head to Queen’s Plaza, the city’s cultural district, and meet Eran Serederias. He might know which art gallery had the means to purchase the stolen Raven Queen portrait.
As for Orson…
He agreed to escort Mayla to Wyvern Castle in Bradford, as he claims to be its legendary Dockmaster. However, upon learning that Lily and Cyrus Wyvernblood ran the guild, he insisted on staying in the Havenflower Hotel instead—
“I’d rather go to prison than see either of those two again. And Rosenhall has laws. I hate laws.”