Sea Princes #14: Rum, Rangers & Religion

It was a short session this week, but the gang is all back in port. Last time, a few intrepid members of the Bird of Prey, went on a special mission for the Count of Port Torvin to wrest control of a ship belonging to him that was in the hands of mutinous smugglers. With their mission a success, there was still the matter of what to do with all the cargo inside...




Here is our protagonists:

Victor Emmitt Hammond (recklessly rowdy fighter)

Araxo Tydan (ritzy reading rogue)

Cuahtehmoc aka "Cuahto" (relentlessly reliable ranger)

Brother Pickles (religiously raging cleric)
Henri Morgan (rascally rude rogue)

The Sea Ghost was brought into port reluctantly by Vic, Cuahto and Henri. Once there, agents of the Count were contacted to inform him that his ship was secured. Over 300 small casks of rum, wine and brandy needed to be unloaded and fast. The Count's merchants quickly negotiated a generous offer to buy the cargo, less several casks kept for the enjoyment of those who worked so hard to gain the haul. The Count also made sure to reward the three for rescuing his ship, splashing handfuls of cheap small gems in the palms of each. All the activity at the docks of course caught the attention of their fellow crewmates from the Bird. So out of the kindness of their salty hearts, Pickles was given a silver service set (which he seemed amused with) and Araxo was given a highly useful book found on the Sea Ghost titled, Legal Distinctions in Letters of Marque.

The next day, as the five stumbled out of one of the many dockside taverns on their way to who knows where, Brother Pickles was flagged down by an old mentor, Father Lork of Procan. Wild haired and fanatical, old Father Lork was working his way down the docks spouting his stormy religious rhetoric to porters and linemen and Brother Pickles was enlisted to help him bless vessels. Unfortunately coming in the opposite direction was a group of four Hool swamp rangers, who being landlubbers in general, were less keen about the superstations of Lork. Unfortunately, one of them happened to be a red-head and that set off a confrontation...

According to Lork, red-headed strangers must be spoken to before they can speak to you or else bad luck befalls the sailor. This didn't sit well with the red-ranger as he was pushed down and taunted by his compatriots. And that of course didn't sit well with the dim-witted Pickles. Before his allies knew it, Pickles was raging and charging the red-head with a meat cleaver. Indeed, even the rangers were caught by surprise and could only back away defensively. Once weapons were drawn, both sides sprang into action.

The swamp rangers were of course friends and family of the rangers that Araxo and Henri had dispatched at the Lighthouse brothel mere days ago. This fact only made the confrontation more lethal. Victor challenged the largest ranger to a duel, which he gladly accepted to get away from the manic cleaver of Pickles. Pickles was backed up by Cuahto (wearing a skinned Gnoll pelt) and Henri (always eager to knife someone in the back). Araxo stood with many other bystanders and read from his new book.

Within minutes, two rangers were down and Victor had cut down a third foe through with his cutlass. The fourth took off like lightning with Henri giving chase. The Torvin guard had showed by then to clean up the mess. With a show of his signet ring, Araxo informed the guard who was at fault and his allies were allowed to resume their business. Father Lork thanked Pickles and his friends for their aid and respect by gifting them two vials of holy sea water and some special algae that grants the ability to breath water. After imparting some more sea-lore and superstition on the group, Lork moved on. Araxo however was contacted by his father to attend a meeting at the manor concerning his next voyage.

Later that evening, Araxo (who brought Pickles along) was in a private council chamber with Captain  Rennaud, Count Tydan and his right hand man, Lord Ronaldo Key (cousin of Araxo). Rennaud opened by relating to Araxo (who had already gathered the truth) that he was once a Knight of the Watch from neighboring Keoland; the source of his nickname the Blackguard (though he didn't yet go into the reason why he was in disfavor). Related to this, he revealed that "the Owl's nest egg" that pirate captain McGrath referred to was not some rumored Keoish treasure he stole, but in fact a map that belonged to his family. A coded map to a mythical place that Count Tydan was very eager to invest in finding: The Well of All Heals.

(to be continued)