Book 3 - Act 1: Perilous Waters

The shipping lanes of Golarion's seas and oceans are filled with fat merchant vessels laden with trade goods both mundane and exotic, as well as the pirates and freebooters who prey on them. Under the banner of their Hurricane King, these buccaneers sally forth from that archipelago of lawless pirate ports and anchorages known as the Shackles, plundering the shipping of countless countries and trade consortiums, then vanishing back into the maze of islands and reefs they call home. The nations of the Inner Sea would like nothing more than to end the pirate menace once and for all, but the eternal hurricane known as the Eye of Abendego has thus far shielded the Free Captains of the Shackles from the threat of retaliation.


In the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, the PCs take on the role of pirates, but they must make a name for themselves in piracy, plunder, and disrepute to truly become infamous Free Captains of the Shackles.

A Paizo Adventure Path

Run by the Pirate King Vardaen
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The Wicked Wench

Post by Grimbold » Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:18 am

"That is true. But we cannot find any leads here. Meri, could you give us all the information you have about your sister?" Rod says.

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The Wicked Wench

Post by Hungry Xenomorph » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:15 pm

Xie joins in the conversation, "I agree that Port Peril might just be our best choice."

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The Wicked Wench

Post by Grimbold » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:05 am

"Alright. So it's off to Port Peril." Rod says. "It does bring back some memories." He remembers seeing Maggie in the bar in Port Peril, just before being abducted to slave on Hannigan*s ship. He shakes his head to clear away those memories. "Ok, assemble the crew, we shall sail with the next high tide."

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The Wicked Wench: To Port Peril

Post by Vardaen » Thu Feb 20, 2020 7:18 pm

Haven't seen GuyWithSword since Jan 10th over a month. That is well past the 3 Day rules normally I used to boot someone. He mentioned being sick, so I'll continue to NPC him for a time, but if it continues we may have to write him out of the story for a while.
Meri gives you all that she knows about her missing sister, its a sad story, but one that leads you believe Port Peril may actually be the best place to go. If you could raise your standing among the Hurricane King, you could leverage that status as a Free Captain to gather information from other Free Captains to try and locate Meri's sister Triss.
Meri Tidecaller has spent all 18 birthdays of her life under the calming waves of the ocean (well, except those times spent sunbathing on rocks above the waves). She has had a happy and carefree life, hunting and playing with her fellow merfolk, and especially her sister, Triss. They were close and inseparable, and looked fairly similar except for the fact that Triss has blonde hair. The two even shared the same wanderlust (and worship Desna). Even though they were happy with their tribe, and life was easy except for the occasional sahuagin raid (and boy does Meri hate Sahuagin), Meri and Triss often wondered about the civilizations above the ocean. What kinds of people, cultures, and adventures happened up there? Of course there is plenty of adventure in the deep as well, but the sisters often talked about taking a lengthy journey topside someday.

One day, Triss wandered far afield to search for some pearls, and never returned. Meri searched and searched, calling out, singing, but she never found any trace of her sister except for a single scale from Triss's tail. Crying, she swam to the seers and oracles of her tribe, and even to those of their triton neighbors. But all they were able to tell her is that her sister had been taken by some evil human pirate the area known as the Shackles. Details are sparse, and all she knows is that the pirate is some sort of lord, and commands a large armada. Determined to find and rescue her sister, Meri set out with nothing but a dagger and a few pearls in her satchel to barter with.

After a few weeks of swimming, and occasionally conversing with people she encountered on the shore (to get directions to a large settlement in the Shackles, and to learn what a Pirate is), she finally arrived at Port Peril. She slithered onto the shore, and into town, her appearance earning her many stares. A bit naïve, she had no idea what was in store for her. Meri just planned to use her melodic voice to sing sea epics and make friends, and hopefully gather some clues regarding Triss. She entered a tavern named the Formidably Maid, and was immediately the center of attention! Thinking this was good fortune, she began singing and trying to make friends. It was apparently working, as people were at least buying her some sort of beverage. She tried it, and was immediately struck by how STRONG it was! It was like getting punched, but it was also...pleasant. Her new "friends" kept buying her more, and she was happy to keep drinking. She has never had this "rum" before (indeed, alcohol was not a thing in her tribe), barely an hour after she arrived, everything went black.

Luckily, Meri didn't get press-ganged or anything. That would've been a horrible start to her adventures on land!
So the Captain calls for a course to be set in for Port Peril and the Wicked Wench tacks westwards and you sail on toward infamy! First stop, home, Tidewater Rock is on the way, and you haven't been back there in an age. Roderick hasn't seen his wife in months, and you need supplies and so you sail for many days until The Rock comes into view. As you sail into bay you can see the tower mobilizing for defense, for your ship is unknown to the defenders and Lady Agasta.
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You quickly make your announcements that its you and you are welcomed home. You resupply, and report in. A good meal, a soft bed, and some more time together before the difficult part begins. So the next morning you are sailing north by northeast along the channels that splits Motaku Isle from the mainland. As you have been going you've seen some traffic, minor fishing boats, a large ship too far on the horizon to worry about.

Today however, today you see something that draws your attention -- a Chelaxian Merchant Ship heading for Sargava in the south!

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"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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The Wicked Wench: To Port Peril

Post by Othniel » Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:23 am

"Chelaxians!" Seroneth bites out the word. "Shall we give chase, captain?" she calls out, her tone eager. By now the crew no doubt is aware of her hatred for Chelaxian slavers.

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The Wicked Wench: To Port Peril

Post by Hungry Xenomorph » Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:02 pm

Having never met a Chelaxian, Xie looks on at the ship with interest, he wonders why Seroneth punctuated the word with such despise, but never the less he gathers himself and gets ready in case the time to fight approaches.

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Re: Book 3 - Act 1: Perilous Waters

Post by Zorbeltuss » Tue Feb 25, 2020 12:49 am

"Ah, nothing eases the conscience of a pirate as much as plundering a ship belong to those Devil-worshipping Tyrants" Flavinia hadn't displayed anything resembling remorse or guilt about plundering any ship, no matter who it belonged to. In fact, she does seem as enthusiastic as usual at the prospect of boarding a ship to take their stuff. Still, who this side of the nine hells could possibly contrive to worship Asmodeus she really couldn't understand. Someone had once told her that those who did ended up as some half-concious shambling mass of lard and blubber in the service of evil in the afterlife....like how could that ever beat the pirate's life eternal on the waters of the great beyond?

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Re: Book 3 - Act 1: Perilous Waters

Post by Grimbold » Tue Feb 25, 2020 9:19 pm

"At them! Get ready for battle! Let's chase them!" Rod gives the orders to ready the crew and close in on the vessel.

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Re: Book 3 - Act 1: Perilous Waters

Post by Hungry Xenomorph » Fri Feb 28, 2020 5:21 pm

Xie takes a bucket of sea water and pours it over himself before casting ice armor, gathering his weapons and hitting the deck ready to fight.

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Re: Book 3 - Act 1: Perilous Waters

Post by Zorbeltuss » Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:33 pm

Flavinia takes up position behind the frontline, as fun as it was hanging over the railing and doing war cries, she wasn't much good in the melee. She was human artillery, not a meatshield.
Cast Mage Armor

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