Prince Kanunakar kept his keen eyes ahead, the mist strewn shallows gradually pulling back like a curtain as they ventured into the region his kenku guide called 'The Jagged Teeth'. Apparently old ruins of mysterious origins jut out of the water and islands of the area, attracting brutish ape-like creatures and explorers alike.
Thunder cracked overhead, and in that very moment he spied the cylindrical tower that dominated this paticular blasted region of swamp. It was that moment that an unnaturally chill wind blew across the Prince's face, making his blood turn cold for a moment. Ears pricked up, he strained against the mist until he saw it. First one pair of glowing green eyes...
Then another. And another. The undead were here.
"To arms!"
The Crews:
The Pride of the Sun: Prince Kanunakar (Heritor- Wraithwalk, Burning Eyes, Regrowth, Spark of Life, Steelheart), Vaneet Omenspeaker (Beast Warden- Beast Strength, Beast Cry, Control Beast, Wrath of Waves) + Vasco (archer), Daniboro (Guide), Ajari (Tomb Robber), and Saburo (Infantryman).
The Crimson Cutlass: Captain Trebilcock (Shadowfold, Intuition, and some others I don't remember), Lazarus (Storm Warden- lighting, call storm. wrath of the waves, and one other), + Cedric and Milburn (Two Duelists).
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| The shallow swamp around the old Watchtower, more water than land. |
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| Prince Kanunkar and most of his crew in a longboat. |
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| On the left we have the ghastly ghost part of the crew of the Crimson Cutlass led by Bright-Eyes Lazarus the Storm Warden. |
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| Captain Trebilcock and his Skeleton-bros man the boat, their corporeal bodies more likely to be dragged down by the water. |
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| Vaneet the Beast Warden, Saburo the kenku, and a crewman start on the large island where Vaneet hopes to control some sort of crocodile to avoid swimming. |
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| You can see the screamer (monkey) Ape Man in the tower, a fragmant of map floating in the gatehouse, some yummy vittles by the ruined column and- in the distance, the Prince's boat drifting up. |
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| Using Wraithwalk the prince double moves over the water believing that he will make short work of the snake- instead finding himself hurt and poisoned. |
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| The male panthertwin steps off the boat to grab the book treasure. |
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| The skeleton crew make their way to the door, but the animalfolk are on their way. |
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| Finally the Prince kills the snake with his two-handed weapon. |
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| The longboat drifts to the center island... |
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| The elder kenku brandishes his magical staff (counts as a bow) and sends his companions forwards to block the undead's advance. |
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| ... and the female panther, supported by Ajari the Tomb Robber rush to block the door. |
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| Lazarus and his ghosts execute the other snake. |
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| The Panther crew-woman, despite being dazed, manages to hold off the initial skeletal assault. |
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| A vicious flying ape (razorbeak) flys onto the board, engaging one of the pirate crew's duellists.~ |
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| The undead surge forwards even as the panther and Ajari fight to defend the door to the best of their ability. |
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| Utilizing his wraithwalk ability the Prince has entered through the thin arrow slit and up to take a commanding view of the area. |
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| Damage flying on all sides, eventually the undead crew overwhelm the two door guardians. |
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| A vicious 'serpent' man appears to try to steal some of the catfolk's treasure- a turn too late as those crewman flee the board. |
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| Reinforcements arrive! Vaneet uses Wrath of the Waves to smash apart a ghost while Saburo cuts the dread Captain in half with his heavy blade. Just like that, the pirates turn tale and flee the field, leaving the tower to the Prince. |
Post Game:
Victory for the Prince! In the end his party held the watchtower, grabbed three out of five treasure, and scored enough experiance for him to level up twice. However, as things so often seem to go, winning the battle came with notable setbacks for the campaign.
Both undead pirates knocked to the ground reform without injury, gathering up 130 gold crowns and their captain gaining the 'Eyestone' magic item (which he promptly placed in his own eye socket).
For the catfolk, our valuable tomb robber ended up rolling a '3' and so ended up dead. On top of that my four rolls on the treasure chart gave me only 30gc, a magical dagger, a magic hand weapon, a superior staff, and a pouch of dreamlocke. Not nothing, but a bad trade for my poor bird. Either way, we'll have our revenge!
Epilogue:
Saburo glanced backwards and clicked his tongue against the roof of his beaked mouth. His mentor, Daranibo, was still cradling the wrapped body of his son. The flickering ghostly blade from that abominable pirate wraith sliced right through his armor, flesh, and heart. It would normally be good enough to know that his killer was dead and gone, but these undead would likely reform in a few hours without any further harm. It infuriated him, and he knew the knowledge that his son's killer still walked would eat at the normal wise Kenku guide.
The red-armored warrior glanced towards the catfolk prince to whom he was sworn to follow and drew a whetstone across the bare steel of his blade. He would exact a permanent vengeance upon the crew of that damned Crimson Cutlass. He swore on his life.
