Game Night Tales from around the gaming table

 

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (10 days into game)]

 

45 days without incident.

 

Westport City.

 

Yesterday we had a party at the Golden Skull Inn to celebrate the defeat of the Pirates; while there we met Fern, a S'scal who was much smaller then Orn, and missing the crest and maybe other features, but he seems to be a decent fellow.  He also says that he's good with rifles and ballistae, which we could use on the Rose, especially if we are to fight pirates more.

 

Fern has agreed to join our crew.

 

Later, while going to check on our latest acquisition we saw Magnus' airship, the "Thunder Claw," getting ready to depart.  Magnus was on board and we talked about his trip to somewhere called the "North Camp," where he'd be for about 2 weeks.

 

Last night was a dream: there was a full moon, and Agatha and I had a wonderful stroll, until some riff-raff interrupted it.  It was a brief fight, when we searched them to see why they attacked us; I found a bounty notice of 10,000 pearls for every crew member of the Rose, paid by the Pirate King Bloodwing.

 

Well, I now know that we have his attention, this will get interesting, one way or another.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (11 days into game)]

 

46 days without incident.

 

Westport City.

 

There was a massive storm heading in from the Spike Mountains, so I asked Alex if we could move the Rose into the Graveyard as the marketplace was already battened down to ride it out.

 

It also gave us time to rummage around to find some good scrap, which we did.  Orn was able to build a cool little vehicle, which he called an "Orncycle"; it was basically a small ship's engine with controls and a seat.

 

As we explored, we found an old 1725R medium cannon, as Fern called it.  Between Fern and Sari -- who is in fact a Fire Tempest, as well as a cook -- they were able to fix the barrel and restore it to original functionality.

 

- Installed 1725R medium cannon in gimbal on aft castle.

- Made landing pad on middeck for Orncycle.

 

Once the storm was over, we returned to our mooring and went about finding the needed 1725R shells.

 

The Port had weathered the storm with some damage, but everything was repairable and there was no loss of life.

 

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Mapledown; the Ale is all but gone and Breuster needs us to restock his supplies.  After a talk with him, we doubled the order to fill the Rose to capacity.  With the pirates growing bolder, I doubt that we'll be able to make another run anytime soon.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (12 days into game)]

 

47 days without incident.

 

West Side Of Stonewall Pass.

 

We arrived at Stonewall and were received by 4 massive Ironclads.  Luckily the pass that we were given got us through with nothing more than cold needle-eyed stares and harsh words; it was almost as if they wanted us to start a fight with them.  How stupid would that have been.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (22 days into game)]

 

57 days without incident.

 

Ruins Of Mapledown.

 

We arrived in Mapledown only to find the town in ruins.  Pirates had raided and left few alive, 10 town guards and 15 townsfolk, mostly the elderly and children.  We gave what aid we could and using our new water shard put out all the remaining fires.  Afterwards, the Rose hovered overhead like a protective mother, in case the pirates returned for seconds.

 

In the morning, we noticed the symbol made surrounding the Mapledown Inn.  A search found a ransom note stating that the crew of the Rose must surrender at the Spike Mountain Pass in 5 days, to the 3rd Rank Pirate Captain Crusher, if we ever wanted to see the captured townspeople alive again.

 

They didn't expect us to arrive so soon; we have the advantage.

 

Pirates are food, not friends, and therefore not to be trusted in any way.  If we thought it would actually save them, Orn and I would fly the Rose into their maw, but it wouldn't.  I have met them in battle and know that they would just kill us all.

 

I am proud that everyone aboard decided to stay and fight these cretins, as well as 6 guardsmen.  Tomorrow is the new moon and we will ambush this Crusher and destroy him and his crew in the deepest dark.  If the townspeople are still alive we will rescue them as well, but no matter what, we must make a statement to the pirates, we will not bow to such tactics and if they try it, we will annihilate them outright!

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (25 days into game)]

 

60 days without incident.

 

Spike Mountain Pass.

 

Obviously we survived, but it was a close thing.  We made all possible speed to the pass, and made it in a single day as planned.  We flew in as low as possible and came in from the North so that we would be harder to spot.  It was the darkest part of the night when we finally found them.  They weren't even trying to hide, their massive Ironside floating beside a sheer cliff with their camp set up far below near a large cave.

 

We'd run the Rose without any lights -- as one of Sari's powers was an ability to see in total darkness as if it was as bright out as the noonday sun -- so we were able to come up directly under their Airship.  Once there, I set our biggest Ornball and the Imperial explosive charge within the engine cone so that it would obliterate the entire ship if not stopped.

 

After that we moved away and settled to the ground to drop off Fern and the guardsmen, and then Orn further out on the plains.

 

Our plan was to attack on 3 fronts.  Fern's team would attack the camp to free the townspeople, Orn would make himself a target and use the Orncycle to fly unto their deck and challenge the captain to single combat, and the rest of the Rose would wait above their airship's balloon.  As Orn flew in, we'd rappel down the balloon and setup Ornballs on the aft and fore decks, as well as cover Orn, since the pirate would play dirtier than us.

 

Crusher was also a S'scal, a massive brute with a maul to match.  I must say that for the first time, since he was a newt at the orphanage, I feared for my little brother.

 

The duel was fierce, Crusher just seemed to shrug off every hit that Orn landed, but so did Orn.  That Armour we'd found all those years ago, in the hulk of the original Rose, kept him safe by hardening and shaping itself so that the hammer slid off with as little force as it could.  But in the end, Orn killed him by sliding the companion to the armour, his shard-sword, into Crusher's spine.  Then, with a massive roar he tore his back open and pulled his still beating heart out and ate it in one bite.

 

That pretty much took the fight out of the pirates, but then I think it dawned on them that Orn was alone.  So the rest of us join in to let them know how wrong they were.  The final turning point was when Sari burst into flames like a massive firebird; I used that pause to inform them that they were all Food.  Some decided that leaping off a ship, 100 yards above the rocky ground, was a better death then being eaten by our crew.  The rest were executed by Sari's wall of fire.

 

That's when I heard the explosions below; a quick look down showed me that Fern's team had also succeeded.

 

We now had another Ironclad corvette, and this one with nothing more then scorched decking.

 

- Ownership of the ex-pirate cruiser, renamed "Mapledown Hunter", fully loaded.

 

We have retrieved the townspeople and everything in the pirate's camp, we are returning to Mapledown with both ships.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (27 days into game)]

 

62 days without incident.

 

Ruins Of Mapledown.

 

The remaining people of Mapledown have decided that things are too dangerous to stay here any longer, at least until the pirates have been defeated.  We have agreed to take everyone and everything we can carry in the 2 ships with us to Westport.  Greyclaw, the Innkeeper, showed us where her entire stock was; luckily it was in an old ship's gun locker, so we were able to hoist it out and sling it under the Ironclad.

 

Orn also took a bunch of saplings as well, just in case they never returned to Mapledown.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (41 days into game)]

 

76 days without incident.

 

West Side Of Stonewall Pass.

 

We have passed through Stonewall Pass and are on our way to Westport; luckily we had moved everything that we thought might be confiscated by the Imperials onto the Rose.  The Garrison Commander, Winters, has something very, very wrong with him.  He is definitely not a friend.

 

Orn and I have decided to give the pirate treasure to the people of Mapledown, so that they may have the funds to start over in Westport.  I have also been talking to some of them about joining in our pirate hunting.  We have also been training everyone on how to fly the airships.

 

Captain's Log:  [Date (48 days into game)]

 

83 days without incident.

 

Westport City.

 

We have returned victorious to Westport, and I have introduced Greyclaw to Breuster and we have bartered a deal with them and are now 15% partners in the Golden Skull Inn and Mapledown Brewery.  5% of that is to be set aside to provide assistance to the survivors on Mapledown.

 

The Storm Rose is fully repaired and now only needs to be re-outfitted for battle.  It will be costly, but luckily we have some treasure left and our partnership to pay for it.  To that end we have made deals with both Ric & Davis for armaments.  The prototype of the lightning cannon is also finished and hopefully Ric will have a production version ready for placement on the Rose soon.

 

Enough people from Mapledown, and even a few people from Westport, have signed up with us so that we can fully crew both Ironsides.

 

I have talked to Alex and Agatha about using the pirate's treasure to buy housing and additional training for our crews and their families.

 

I have also heard that Magnus hasn't returned from his trip yet; this has me worried.  We may need to head North to find out what has happened to him and his crew.