Somehow, I've misplaced the notes from the 1st session. I thought I was doing everything in one specific notebook but alas...I do have the notes for the 2nd session though. And those 1st notes will show up, just like the T5 deck plans I seem to have misplaced. Or perhaps I am just becoming senile and can no longer track everything.
Our group, back at the Brown Betty after meeting with the Repencarres Domain Factor Lady Addrienne Pennyworth's office, discuss plans as 3rd mate Smitty gets the stores replenished. This incudes 7 new crem members as the trading port does have a jobs board. Sailors may often change ships and ports are a convenient place for that. Deciding that a search and rescue of potential slaves is a good thing, the head off to the unnamed island. A favorable wind makes short work of the trip, and with the map the took from the Trenner Trade Guild's ship the Windrunner, they spy out the lands before preparing to dock.
We had a brief world-building discussion: ships will almost always flay a flag. If they are part of a navy, their country flag (along with a ship specific flag below that, though I just added that). Trade guilds will fly their flag, though if it is a guild that is controlled by a nation, then the national flag above the trade guild flag. But I think there are not too many of those. Privately owned ships will fly their owners' flag, sometimes the country flag depending on where they stand in the power hierarchy. Flags are important in this world.
Deciding to fly the Trenner Trade Guild flag, they espy 3 picaroons (okay, that is the Corsair name and apparently they are always in groups of 3) at the dock outside the mine entrance. It is a rough dock, but large enough for ships to dock alongside. I actually had some poster art from a KS campaign so at least had sort of what it looked like as they approached. They dock and the command crew disembarks. The head guard, noticing that the crew is not wearing guild uniforms, sends off one of the guards who scurries back to the mine.
"Papers, captain. And we were not expecting a ship so soon after the Windrunner." Captain Penny searches his pockets, then turns to Quartermaster Batrina. She hands the captain some papers, who in turn gives them to the head guard. Who looks up as soon as he sees it is a newspaper. The captain swings and entirely misses. Sailmaster Leo takes aim, and with exploding dice, nailed the other guard. Batrina also shoots but the guard was already dead when she shot at him. Our intrepid Gunmaster Henry manages to throw the head guard off the docks, to plummet a few thousand meters to the jungles below. It gave him plenty of time to regret his life choices perhaps.
With several of the crew behind them, they start into the mine. It is lit by torches, and tracks from ore wagons are easy to follow. Heny and Leo scout ahead, leading our privateers deeper into the caverns that are being mined. At one point they can smell the kerosene smell of fire imps, but they are off in the distance. Yes, we had more world building, and I decided that these self-combusting creatures had to have their own smell.
A bulbous scaly body, four legs,and a humanoid torso, these creatures are found on many of the floating islands. Named fortheir tendency to burst into flame when enraged, which is almost all the time, they can be dangerous to ships, crew, and, well, anyone. Special Ability: Can burst into flames and start small fires.
Pressing on, Tibs, Leo's pet dragonet, starts getting agitated. Listening carefully, they group can hear the sounds of dragonets far back in the next large cave. One of the new recruits, avarice apparent in his voice, does say how if there are eggs, they can fetch a mighty good price in the market. Henry asks if he can shoot the new crew member, but the captain dissuades him.
Continuing on, neither of our scouts manage to observe a trip wire and alarm bells sound off. From the passage above, several trade guild guards show up, swords and pistols in hand. The fight, however, is brief: 2 of the guards are killed in the 1st round, the greedy crew member gets shot and killed, and, seeing as they are outnumbered, the guards lay down their weapons.
Captain Penny asks who is in charge, and dead bodies get pointed to. At least the trade guild leaders actually lead from the front! They find that a heavily barricaded tunnel is keeping some surface creature out. No one wanted to investigate that! Tying up the guards except for one, they leave their crew to watch the trade guild members and go to the next cavern to find the slaves. One of who turns out to be Amaro Villeneuva, Leo's father taken more than a year ago. Bedraggled and in poor shape, there is a bit of a family reunion, though the others have no idea who the old man is. Some explanations later, and Batrina asks if he knows of any slaves like her. He recalls a girl bat slave in the surface mines below Dulcet Spire. Which is inside the borders of the Alderin Empire.
As they are leaving the cavern, they get attacked by giant crabs!
The captain was pinched a great deal but only pinked (Corsairs has a damage track and the 1st 4 hits are "pinked", next 2 are "maimed", then a couple more slots and then dead). The guard screams and runs off, only to be clotheslined by Leo who rushes back, as does Batrina and Henry. The captain tries to shoot the crab pinching him as well as the giant one leveraging herself from the river. I think he pinked the big one but missed the other. Batrina is fighting the giant crab. Henry moves around to attack the smaller crab. Fortunately, the few times I rolled well for the crab attacks, the players also rolled well in agility to dodge. So, I did not kill anyone this session, other than the greedy crew member, and four of the trade guild guards/mine overseers. Though one of the crabs actually rolled several exploding dice, as did one of the players that, like me, traditionally has horrible rolls.
They got the slaves settled into the cargo hold, and Captain Penny had Henry lay a line of explosives to seal off the mine. I think they were planning to leave enough space for the fire imps and dragonets to be able to get out, and this was the roll where he kept having exploding successes. However they wanted that mine sealed up, Henry excelled at it.
And that is where we left things. No pastries this time, but I did make banana bread from a box, and everyone seemed to like that this time.
We've also established a few additional crew members, but I'll put them all here.
Vendel, 2nd Mate. Rarely seen as he runs the night shift. I need to get some personality to him at some point.
Smitty, 3rd mate. runs a lot errands, and keeps the ship stores up to snuff. Also hunts for new crew as needed.
Pebbles Whitby, the ship's cook. Not a bad cook, but not a great one either. She at least did not mess up the crab that the crew and new guests will be eating for a bit.
Maida Fielding, ship's carpenter.
Unwin Alderige, ship's doctor. Who gets plenty of practice with this crew. Good thing the specifically stocked up on medical supplies this trip!
And while I did prep for this session, I did not have my notes from the last one. I need to get a good summary to have ready with the places and people they've encountered. And while I do this via this blog, it is not convenient thing at the table. Think I'll see about creating an outline and have it printed. Though I have a lot of printed papers...I'll have to take a picture of the inside of the DM screen I use - it is magnetic, so I do clip papers there. At least I am trying to get organized!
And I did see the new Superman movie this weekend. Took some friends of mine, one who turned 70 today! I enjoyed it - it captured the characters the way I see them mostly, based on my reading of Superman comics and stuff in the 70s. First movie in the theater I've seen in a few years. And yes, Krypto is very cute. I also enjoyed Nathon Fillon's Green Lantern - think he nailed that particular character. Hawkgirl was a little less defined but hoping they can do more with her. And Mr. Terrific was really good: though I really do not know much about that character, the actor had some nuance with it I thought. You can also see how the Kents grounded Clark and just why Superman is more human than many humans (which was one of the points of the movie honestly in my opinion). It is definitely a comic book movie and takes great glee in being a comic book movie. People are used to mass evacuations after 3 centuries apparently.
