Book 2 - Act 2: Piracy on the Fever Sea
- AdamDaBomb11
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Gragol, without hesitation, goes to fetch his gear.
- Trogdor
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
"I'd thought the Deathknell was just a legend," Maggie says when she sees the name of the ship. "But it seems like tomorrow night we'll be in for the fight of our lives."
- Eilandor
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Toruk shakes his head as he peers out at the now very real legend, "Why couldn't it have simply been a whirlpool that swallowed the ship we saw?"
Number Two: "You are number six."
Number Six: "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
Number Two: "Muh ha ha ha ha!"
Number Six: "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
Number Two: "Muh ha ha ha ha!"
- Vardaen
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Sandara looks pale as the mention of the man, and Kroop with draws at the thought of the ship now haunting you. Your crew has heard of the Deathknell and of Pilk, many sailors have. Its Conchobhar Turlach Shortstone, your resident gnomish bard that takes up the tale as those terrible names are mentioned. He mutters, "For some, unbridled obsession can lead to death and even the deaths of those who follow them. But for a cursed few, obsession reaches beyond the grave and drags them into an eternal torment of striving without rest or reward."
Conchobhar looks up and calls out, "Captain Pilk you say? Have you heard the full tale? I have, gather round mateys..." He thing begins to tell the tale of Captain Jeremiah Pilk.
"Captain Jeremiah Pilk took the whaler Belle Dame to sea from the port of Magnimar in 4631 ar. The Belle Dame could take a whale in far waters, skin it, render its blubber in the tryworks, and store its meat, all without seeing land for weeks at a time. Such was Captain Pilk’s success that he became known as “Whalebone” among Magnimarian seafarers after the rumor that all he left of his prey were the picked-clean bones, and his ship became known simply as the Bell for Pilk’s habit of sounding the ship’s bell with a furor every time he caught sight of a whale’s spout.
Whalebone Pilk’s success proved to be his own undoing on his last voyage. For 2 weeks, pickings were frustratingly slim on the Steaming Sea, until a pod of bowhead whales was finally sighted off the shoulder of Hermea, heading south. Pilk nearly beat his knuckles bloody that night striking the ship’s bell, but the pod always stayed elusively ahead of the Belle Dame. For days, the pursuit led ever south and west into the Arcadian Ocean—almost as if the whales were luring the ship onward. Home fell farther behind, and supplies dwindled, until some of the starving crew decided to mutiny. Pilk had the ringleader tied to the mast and ordered the mate to give him lashes for as long as Pilk rang the ship’s bell. The mate’s arm grew tired before Pilk’s did, but by then the mutinous sailor was dead from the beating. To keep the rest in line, Pilk had the mutineer skinned and rendered in a try-pot and his cleaned skull nailed to the mainmast as a warning.
The ship continued on until the 23rd day, when a dense fog rolled in. An indistinct shape loomed large in the water ahead and the mate ordered the helmsman to steer hard to port to avoid collision, but Pilk countermanded the order and began ringing the bell, ordering the men to the harpoons. When the huge bull bowhead came out of the fog, it rammed the ship, breaching the hull. Pilk cursed the whales and cursed his men and continued to ring the ship’s bell as the foundering ship slowly slipped beneath the waves with all hands aboard, 2,000 miles from home."
"Captain Jeremiah Pilk took the whaler Belle Dame to sea from the port of Magnimar in 4631 ar. The Belle Dame could take a whale in far waters, skin it, render its blubber in the tryworks, and store its meat, all without seeing land for weeks at a time. Such was Captain Pilk’s success that he became known as “Whalebone” among Magnimarian seafarers after the rumor that all he left of his prey were the picked-clean bones, and his ship became known simply as the Bell for Pilk’s habit of sounding the ship’s bell with a furor every time he caught sight of a whale’s spout.
Whalebone Pilk’s success proved to be his own undoing on his last voyage. For 2 weeks, pickings were frustratingly slim on the Steaming Sea, until a pod of bowhead whales was finally sighted off the shoulder of Hermea, heading south. Pilk nearly beat his knuckles bloody that night striking the ship’s bell, but the pod always stayed elusively ahead of the Belle Dame. For days, the pursuit led ever south and west into the Arcadian Ocean—almost as if the whales were luring the ship onward. Home fell farther behind, and supplies dwindled, until some of the starving crew decided to mutiny. Pilk had the ringleader tied to the mast and ordered the mate to give him lashes for as long as Pilk rang the ship’s bell. The mate’s arm grew tired before Pilk’s did, but by then the mutinous sailor was dead from the beating. To keep the rest in line, Pilk had the mutineer skinned and rendered in a try-pot and his cleaned skull nailed to the mainmast as a warning.
The ship continued on until the 23rd day, when a dense fog rolled in. An indistinct shape loomed large in the water ahead and the mate ordered the helmsman to steer hard to port to avoid collision, but Pilk countermanded the order and began ringing the bell, ordering the men to the harpoons. When the huge bull bowhead came out of the fog, it rammed the ship, breaching the hull. Pilk cursed the whales and cursed his men and continued to ring the ship’s bell as the foundering ship slowly slipped beneath the waves with all hands aboard, 2,000 miles from home."
"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
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
- Hayabusa
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
As happy as she was telling tales of her own, so eager was Aya to hear other's telling them to learn all she could. So she listens intently until the gnome has finished. "Aye! And now he's a scourge of the Shackles. When you see his ship then nothing will happen. On the second day it'll be closer to your own. And on the third and final one he'll drag you down with him."
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- Vardaen
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Crimson snarls, "I'm not going down without a fight!" A bunch of sailors around him including Owlbear all agree, they grunt and snarl, pump their hands and you hear rumblings like, "Bring him on!" and "We'll cut them to ribbons!"
Maggie stands at the wheel deep in thought, "We will need to be ready Captain."
Maggie stands at the wheel deep in thought, "We will need to be ready Captain."
"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
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
- Hayabusa
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
"A good attitude, Crimson Cog!" Aya nods with a wide grin on her face. She spreads her arms as she addresses the rest of the crew. "I want you all to take those two as examples for anything that will happen tonight. Anyone not up for only needs to give me a note and I'll make sure you will not face what is coming for us."
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
"We fight! We fight!" Rod says. "If we do not, we will end up at the bottom of the sea or worse, working endlessly on that cursed ship. Get your weapons, we shall fight!"
- AdamDaBomb11
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Sunset Day 71: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Gragol returns in his equipment, which seems to have come with a cup of Dwarven ale. "If it be a fight they want, it be a fight they get!" He says, just before he chugs the ale and licks his lips.
- Vardaen
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Sunset Day 72: For Whom the Bell Tolls Night 3
The ship is on high alert, but according to the legends tonight, night two, the Deathknell won't return. It is tomorrow night that you must be ready for, still the crew is armed, and takes to keeping extra watches as you sail on through the night into the morning. As the legends say you are safe, for now.
The morning comes, and the day moves on, afternoon, late afternoon, early evening and now you expect at sunset the return of Captain Whalebone Pilk and the Deathknell.
With the coming of the third evening, a nor’easter off the Eye sweeps across the Fever Sea, bringing a front of high winds and a purplish-black sky. Even before nightfall, the hurricane lamps must be lit to pierce the gloom. As the ship rides up and down with the swells and sporadic rain lashes the deck, the strained clanking of a bell can be heard once again coming over the water. A red ship’s lantern shines in the darkness as the dark bulk of a derelict whaler looms out of the night.
The morning comes, and the day moves on, afternoon, late afternoon, early evening and now you expect at sunset the return of Captain Whalebone Pilk and the Deathknell.
With the coming of the third evening, a nor’easter off the Eye sweeps across the Fever Sea, bringing a front of high winds and a purplish-black sky. Even before nightfall, the hurricane lamps must be lit to pierce the gloom. As the ship rides up and down with the swells and sporadic rain lashes the deck, the strained clanking of a bell can be heard once again coming over the water. A red ship’s lantern shines in the darkness as the dark bulk of a derelict whaler looms out of the night.
"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
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring