Skulls & Plunder: The Wormwood Mutiny

The first session of the Skulls & Plunder campaign will be taking place this Sunday, August 30th, at Uncle's in Redmond Town Center. As this is a long module in a short time-frame, I am providing the introduction here in advance.
For those who might be playing the entire Skull & Shackles Adventure path, be warned! There are spoilers below the break

It was a dark and stormy night (no, really, it WAS a dark and stormy night) when Venture Captain Ambrus Valsin called you to a small, seedy tavern in the docks area of Absalom. The other Pathfinders in the room were unknown to you, but you were pretty sure you had seen most of them around the Lodge during your tenure, making them probably no more experienced than you. The Venture Captain himself strode into the room, his cloak dripping from the pouring rain. He shook off his cloak, and quickly downed a tankard of something steaming the proprietor provided. He scowled around the room.

Ambrus Valsin

“All right, this is all of you.” He gulped down the last of his drink and slammed the tankard to the table. “Listen up. This is a mission like no other you’ve been on so far. You have all been chosen precisely because you are all relatively new Pathfinders, with little reputation, and because you have a … particular set of skills that make you each decidedly suitable for this task.”

“As you may know, the area south of the Eye of Abendego known as The Shackles has long been a hotbed of pirate activity. The independent Pirate Council, led by the current Hurricane King, have been raiding the shipping lanes of the Fever Sea for decades now. Their main quarry is fat merchant ships making their way around the Eye from the Sargosa, Bloodcove, and the Mwangi Expanse. “

“This has proven a thorn in the side of Cheliax, and their lapdogs, the Aspis Consortium. Many goods and artifacts destined for the coffers of the Consortium have instead ended up in the hands of the Society because we have had the good sense to cultivate profitable relationships with some of the more prominent powers on the Pirate Council, and this is a situation we wish to continue.”

“ However, recently it has come to our attention that something is awry in The Shackles. The details are unclear, but our sources indicate that Cheliax is in the middle of a subversive plan to unseat the current powers in the Shackles and replace them with their own agents, or perhaps subvert key players who are already in power. We’re not sure of the details, as the pirates of the Shackles are notoriously close-mouthed about their affairs with anyone who is not of their brotherhood.”

“That’s where you come in.” He paused and took a long pull on his refreshed drink.

“You are going undercover. DEEP undercover. You have been chosen because you are new enough that no one will know who you are, and because your particular set of skills make you well-suited to playing the pirate. And that’ s what we want you to do. We want you to go into the Shackles, infiltrate their brotherhood, uncover what the Cheliaxian plot is, and if possible, stop it.”

“We have contacts and allies in the Shackles who will be monitoring your progress and will make contact with you if and when that becomes necessary. However, most of the time you should assume you are on your own. Hells, for all I care, you can BE pirates, as long as you complete your mission. “

“Transportation has been arranged to drop you off in Port Peril. From there, it should be possible for you to join the crew of a ship, and work your way in from there.  This is a long-term mission, so you should close out your local affairs and prepare to move semi-permanently to the Shackles.”

He glared around the room. “Any questions?’

---

You did your job perhaps too well.

Your first night in the Shackles was memorable. Port Peril was a rowdy, boisterous, chaotic mess of bars and whorehouses and gambling parlors. Your first night in Port Peril was also your last. One moment you’re were sharing drinks with local patrons, and the next thing you know you are waking up at sea, a severe headache and nausea providing a clue to just how you had been press-ganged.

Barnabus Harrigan

You found yourself the newest crewmembers aboard the Wormwood, a  three-masted sailing ship under the command of the dreaded (and significantly higher-level) captain Barnabas Harrigan. Harrigan was a monster of a man, but you had little contact with him, as he left the day to day running of his ship to his trusted officers. The Wormwood was a dangerous place, and none were more dangerous than it’s dreaded First Mate, Mr. Plugg. Together with the stern boatswain, Master Scourge,  the ship’s master-at-arms and infamous disciplinarian, you received a hasty and violent education as to what it means to be the newest crewmembers of the Wormwood.

The next several weeks were spent finding your place among the crew. The most dexterous of your group became Riggers, climbing the masts and rigging and working the sails. The rest of you were relegated to being swabs, scrubbing the deck and doing the day-to-day manual work of the ship. The work was hard, but over the course of time you began to master your skills, and, more importantly, to integrate yourselves into the crew.

And you made some friends. Foremost among these was Sandara Quinn, a Cleric of the Pirate Goddess Besmara, and a proud wearer of a rare Besmara’s Tricorne hat. She became a crucial

Sandara Quinn

resource in establishing a comraderie with the rest of the crew. Other crew members who became friendly were : Rosie Cusswell, a Halfling fighter with a mastery of piratical profanity; Conchobhar Shortstone, a gnomish bard with a flair for outlandish fashion; and Owlbear Hartshorn, a hulking human simpleton whom you befriended by defeating but not killing him during one of the  “evening’s entertainment” arranged by the officers. And finally, the ship’s cook, Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop, who took an immediately liking to you (especially if one of your team became the cook’s assistant). Ambrose was officially an officer, but he was not part of Harrigan’s inner circle, and turned out to be a consistent and well-meaning source of insight and advice.

Ambrose Kroop

But you also made enemies. For some reason, Mister Plugg and Master Scourge decided early on that they did not like your “attitude”, and went out of their way to make your life miserable. Ironically, by constantly assigning you the most difficult, dirty, dangerous tasks on the ship, the officers inadvertently made you more popular with the general crew when you time and again succeeded where they expected you to fail. And each success just made them dislike you more.

Mr. Plugg

For the first several weeks of your time aboard the Wormwood, the ship cruised the Fever Sea without success, looking for likely prey. Finally, a ship was spotted, and the Wormwood pursued to engage. The ship, the Man’s Promise, was a Rahadoumi merchant ship, and the boarding action was a long and hard one. Ironically, you took an opportunity to save the life of Captain Harrigan from a surprise attack, and this did not go unnoticed by him. At the conclusion of the battle, the Rahadoumi ship was taken, and their crew was offered the option of joining Harrigan’s crew, or dying. Most joined.

Master Scourge

The captured vessel was rich in goods, most of which were transferred to the hold of the Wormwood, and the crew partied for the next 36 hours in celebration.  But the Man’s Promise itself was a prize that Harrigan intended to add to his fleet, and he made plans to have it “squibbed” – a process that changes the lines of a ship so it is no longer recognizable as the original vessel. Because of the influx of Rahadoumi sailors, Harrigan divided his crew between the two vessels, putting Mr. Plugg in charge of taking the new ship to dock, along with Master Scourge and many of their cronies. On the other hand, you, your companions, and most of the friends you have made are also transferred to the new ship. And because the Rahadoumi ship happened to have a master chef on board, Harrigan reassigned Fishguts to the Man’s Promise as well.

The two ships went their separate ways, with you and the Man’s Promise setting out for Port Peril for squibbing. However, it did not take long to recognize that Mr. Plugg had other plans when the ship changed course and began to head for the Slithering Coast. Amongst your companions, the consensus was that Mr. Plugg intended to take the ship for himself.

Things went poorly quickly. On the fourth day, the Man’s Promise was hit with a major storm, and driven away from the coast. The ship was tossed about on the high seas, and the entire crew scrambled to keep it afloat. As you frantically helped keep the vessel from being torn apart, you witnessed small goblin-like humanoids with tentacles for legs emerging from the storm-wracked seas and clambering aboard under the cover of the crashing waves. Even your limited knowledge of the denizens of the deep was sufficient to recognize these creatures as grindylows, and they seemed un-phased by the power of the storm. They grabbed a couple of the sopping sailors from the deck of the ship and quickly dove overboard with them.  Shortly thereafter, the ship was brought to a grinding halt on a coral reef.

a grindylow

The next morning, as the storm abated,  a roll-call discovered that both Sandara Quinn and Rosie Cusswell were missing.  Mister Plugg was dismissive about any objections that the missing sailors could be rescued. There’s enough scurvy dogs to run this ship, and a couple getting washed overboard is just their fate.

However, when it was discovered that the water barrels were broken when the ship struck the reef,, Mister Plugg assembled an expedition to the nearby island that was now visible about a mile to the south. The shore party consisted of you and your Pathfinder companions.

As the adventure opens, you are beaching your longboat on the northern coast of the island, at what appears to be an abandoned fishing village. You have a couple of barrels with you to recover water, but in your mind, the real goal here is to find out what happened to your friends Sandara and Rosie, and rescue them from the grindylows if possible.