Skip to content

Chapter 5 - Session 2

A Familiar Face in a Pirate's Haven

Events and Actions

Guided by Shark Fin, the crew of "The Bull" arrives at the notorious pirate haven known as Drowned Man's Port. Wary of the muskets they can see trained on them from the surrounding high ground, the party approaches under a flag of parlay, dismounts their swivel gun, and leaves the ship's boat visibly on deck to signal they mean no harm. Their entry is halted at Quarantine Island, where they must be vetted by the port authorities, Harbor Master Chretien and his subordinate Engerrand, to prove they are not agents of the Northern or Southern navies. Captain Knick Nab, dressed down from his usual flamboyant garb to something closer to what he wore while serving aboard the Bull's former command, goes ashore to plead their case, and Engerrand notes down the ship's name, its former service with the Northern fleet, and the captain's own name before escorting him to Chretien. After some debate, the party decides to give their true names rather than aliases, reasoning that Knick Nab is already a wanted man and any invented story would not hold up to scrutiny. Chretien demands proof that they can be trusted to keep the port's secrets; when Knick Nab offers Captain De Guzman's name alone, Chretien points out that he has no way to verify a captain who isn't even present, and hands over a paper for a fuller list of names who might vouch for them. The party compiles as thorough a list as they can recall — Captain De Guzman, Captain Barrows, Lieutenant Blaque, Prelate Nicolas, Lieutenant Dardell, Major Hubert, Randolph the Chronicler, Mistress Mary, Lady Clara, Burlyman and his wife, A'Wood, Hans, and Stick Stab — adding what context they can to make the more obscure names meaningful: Hans as a former Southern soldier taken prisoner in the Channel Islands, Stick Stab as a pickpocket the Church took from the capital, and Fritz and Lang as soldiers who had served under Major Domo Mathias Monadero. For good measure they round out the list with Steel Hand of Newport, the deserters Big Red, Tibalt, and Perkin left behind at Old Port's ruined church, and Suzette, a governor's daughter, in case any of the names mean something to the harbor master. Chretien relays the list to the mainland using an elaborate flag-signaling system that takes the rest of the day to complete; watching from a distance, the party catches glimpses of the signalers pausing to double back and correct themselves, a sign of just how intricate the code is. While they wait, the party stows their weapons in their foot lockers as a further gesture of good faith, and Mani whiles away the hours smoking his pipe and playing his lute on the dock. As evening falls, they take shelter in a tent on the island, sharing hammocks, water, rum, and a meal of biscuit and jerky. Before heading to the mainland to deliver the list himself, Shark Fin disarms and formally vouches for the party's character to Engerrand, is granted passage ahead of them, and leaves the party the address of his own lodgings, offering to act as their guide once they reach shore; he also agrees to carry word of Knick Nab's regards to Captain De Guzman and Captain Barrows, should either turn out to be in port. While waiting, the party also spots a large, anchored sloop within view of the harbor mouth that appears entirely deserted, though they cannot identify it at the time.

Their fortunes change the next morning when a boat is spotted approaching with a lady beneath a parasol seated amid its rowers; Mani, guessing at once who it must be, dashes to the dock to meet Mistress Clara, producing a stack of letters he has written her over the years and winning a kiss in their joyful reunion. Having heard of the party's arrival, Clara vouches for them before Engerrand, granting them access to the main port, then comes aboard the Bull herself, greeting the crew warmly and recalling each of the party by name. As they sail in, Clara recounts her harrowing story: she and Mistress Mary were captured and interrogated in the Capitol about the party's medallions after the party fled the city. Clara was pressed into service as ship's surgeon aboard a vessel sent in pursuit of the party — a role she secured only by convincing her captors she remained true to the Two — while Mary was left behind in custody, her fate since unknown. Clara's ship was navigated across the Maelstrom by an ancient Islander named Grantos and given its course by a mysterious red-haired youth; two priests of the Two were also aboard, one of whom went ashore at Spider Island in pursuit of the party and never returned. The ship was wrecked in the cataclysm and left impaled on a spire of rock at the heart of the Shatters, where Clara last saw it still standing before she survived by clinging to wreckage until a passing ship rescued her and brought her here, where she has practiced medicine for the three years since. Piecing together her account, the party suspects the red-haired youth was Stick Stab, though Clara's description of him as bare of any medallion gives them pause, since they know he lost his to Mani long ago.

Before sailing deeper into the harbor, Knick Nab and Werner gather the Bull's crew, backed by De Torres, to warn them that any misbehavior ashore would endanger everyone who had vouched for them; Cosimo lends the moment some theatrical weight, casting illusions that roll the captain's voice like thunder and fill the air with the taste of molasses and rum for encouragement, or bile and death for threat. The party then passes the same deserted sloop they had spotted earlier and, with a sharp eye, makes out its name and figurehead: it is "The Father's Fury," marked by a masterfully carved figurehead of a bearded man gripping a spear, its hold still full of rusting but salvageable cannon. Beyond it, the harbor itself proves well defended and busy, sheltering six or seven vessels including an enormous, heavily armed frigate. Still working their way toward the pier, the party falls into a long-running debate over their larger purpose, torn between the pirate's life the ship and its takings seem to invite and the sense that they are bound to something greater; they ultimately reaffirm that investigating the totems and countering the Divinity of Two remains their true mission, with piracy at most a means to that end. Once ashore, the party finds a sprawling market built from tents and storefronts, spots the Hospital on a hill overlooking the port, and notices the walled-off Shipwright's Yard, identifiable by a single mast rising behind its gates. Before splitting up, they briefly debate whether to spend their coin openly or keep a low profile, concluding that a visible show of prosperity is more likely to attract capable allies than to invite trouble. Some dine privately with Clara, others head for the port's pleasure houses, and the rest gather in the Drowned Man's Tavern's common room. There, a patron named Giles, drawn out with the offer of drinks, reveals that "The Father's Fury" was refitted here after being seized from the North, only to be found twice adrift with no one aboard, and points them toward the Shipwright's Yard for more. The mention of Captain De Guzman's name causes a stir in the tavern, with onlookers eager to hear news of him. A notice board reassures them that no wanted poster names heretics among its postings, though it does confirm "The Father's Fury" is for sale alongside a modest longboat, and lists several open crew positions, including a carpenter and a sailing master, pointing the party toward the Shipwright's Yard as their next step.

NPCs & Creatures

  • Shark Fin: Successfully guides the party to Drowned Man's Port. He vouches for the party's character before Engerrand, disarming himself as a show of good faith, then departs ahead of them for the mainland, leaving them the address of his lodgings and an offer to serve as their guide.
  • Engerrand: A port official on Quarantine Island who handles the initial interaction with the party.
  • Harbor Master Chretien: The official in charge of vetting new arrivals. He requires the party's list of names before he grants entry, and passes their claims to the mainland via signal flags overnight. He ultimately grants the party entry after Mistress Clara vouches for them.
  • Mistress Clara: Now a resident of Drowned Man's Port working as a doctor, she recognizes Mani from her boat and rushes ashore for a joyful reunion, then vouches for the whole party before Engerrand and rides back to the Bull with them. She recounts having been captured and interrogated in the Capitol alongside Mistress Mary, then pressed into service as ship's surgeon aboard a Church vessel hunting the party. She describes two priests and a mysterious red-haired youth aboard that ship, along with the ancient navigator Grantos; the ship wrecked at Spider Island and was left impaled on a spire of rock, and she survived by clinging to wreckage until a passing ship rescued her and brought her to the port, where she has practiced medicine for the three years since.
  • De Torres: The Bull's Master of Sail joins Werner and Knick Nab in addressing the crew before they head into port, backing the captain's warning that misbehavior ashore would endanger everyone who vouched for them.
  • Giles: A patron in The Drowned Man's Tavern who shows great interest in the fate of Captain De Guzman. Bought a round of drinks, he shares what he knows of "The Father's Fury" — that it was refitted here after being seized from the North, only to be found twice adrift and empty — and directs the party to the Shipwright's Yard for more.
  • Grantos (Mentioned): An ancient Islander prisoner who was forced to serve as the navigator for the Divinity of Two's vessel, guiding it through the Maelstrom without difficulty.
  • Red-Haired Youth (Mentioned): A mysterious figure who gave sailing orders on the Church's ship. The party suspects this was Stick Stab, though Clara recalls him as bearing no medallion.
  • Heretical Priest (Mentioned): A "crazy man" in Drowned Man's Port who preaches about "the brothers and the sisters" in addition to The Mother and The Father, suggesting a belief system that deviates from the orthodox Divinity of Two.

Locations

  • Drowned Man's Port: A large, independent pirate haven that was once a Southern naval bastion. Its residents, known colloquially as "the drowned men," are those who have abandoned or been abandoned by their old postings and now claim no allegiance to North or South. It is well-defended and serves as a refuge for pirates, deserters, and smugglers. Its sheltered harbor holds six or seven ships, including an enormous frigate, and its entrance is well covered by shore fortifications.
  • Quarantine Island: A small island at the mouth of the harbor where new ships and crews are held and vetted before being granted access to the main port.
  • The Drowned Man's Tavern: The central social hub of the port where the party gathers information.
  • The Market: A sprawling collection of tents and storefronts inside the port, ranging from stalls selling everyday goods and food to quieter tables dealing in high-value smuggled cargo. There is no visible law enforcement, but the party senses an underlying order all the same, kept by burly, armed men who look very much like hired muscle.
  • The Hospital: Mistress Clara's place of practice, set on a hill overlooking the port. She offers the party a night's lodging there.
  • The Shipwright's Yard: A walled yard behind large harbor gates, identifiable by a single mast rising above them, where a ship is under construction. Pointed to as the place to learn more about "The Father's Fury."

Conflicts

The session's main conflict was social rather than physical. The party had to successfully navigate the vetting process of Drowned Man's Port, proving their independence from the major powers to gain entry, all while aware that a great many armed men watched them from the surrounding high ground and that they were well out of position to flee if the vetting went badly. The party noted no heavy ordnance among the fortifications trained on them, only muskets, though they suspected the port had other means of enforcing compliance without simply sinking a valuable ship outright.

Learnings and Discussions

  • The Divinity's Pursuit: The party learned from Mistress Clara that the Church is actively hunting them specifically, rather than having simply stumbled onto a totem — a significant correction to their earlier assumption, though they remained divided over whether the ship's mission was to hunt them alone or to hunt totems in general. A dedicated ship, navigated by the Islander Grantos and given its course by a red-haired youth, carried two priests of the Two in pursuit of the party to Spider Island; one priest went ashore there and never returned. The ship itself was wrecked in the cataclysm and left impaled on a spire of rock, where Clara last saw it still standing.
  • Fate of Mistress Mary: Clara was separated from Mary when Clara was forced onto the Church's ship in the Capitol. Mary's fate since then is unknown.
  • A Heretical Preacher: The party learned from Clara of a "crazy" preacher in the port who speaks of "the brothers and the sisters" alongside the traditional Mother and Father of the Divinity of Two. This suggests the presence of an alternative or heretical belief system within the pirate haven.
  • The Cursed Sloop: The party discovered "The Father's Fury," a powerful sloop-of-war considered cursed after two separate crews vanished from it at sea. It is now for sale, with the Shipwright's Yard identified as the place to inquire further.
  • State of the Wider World: Clara explained that after the Shatters, the North and South settled into an uneasy truce, each preoccupied with concerns more pressing than their old war. Northern ships still reach these waters via the ice road, and Southern ships still cross the Maelstrom with the aid of navigators, but no one who has made either crossing in recent years has returned with word of conditions on the mainland, even though the Shatters reportedly extend as far as it. Giles, who crossed via the ice road and jumped ship about a year ago, added that the route is administered directly by the Northern Kingdom, and that what little trade passes between the port and the mainland is mostly in gold and wealth.
  • The Totems: By measuring the arc missing from their medallions — roughly an eighth of the circle lost for each totem destroyed — the party worked out that there were originally eight totems in the world. With two destroyed, six remain, and they have clues to the locations of four of them: one on Stone Island, one in the Channel Islands, one on the mainland, and one newly sensed by Mani somewhere to the west.
  • The Diad: Discussing the Church's diad, the party noted it is no ordinary symbol but a finely wrought, jeweled artifact of unusual metal, paraded through towns during Church processions and believed capable of enhancing the magical power of whoever is attuned to it. They speculated that diads may be rare and finite in number, and wondered whether this scarcity, and the Church's fear of the medallions, connects back to the desiccated corpse walled into the deepest level of the Capitol's dungeons decades ago.
  • Mission Reaffirmed: After a long debate over whether to pursue piracy or continue their investigation, the group confirmed their primary mission is to investigate the totems and counter the threat posed by the Divinity of Two. Arguments ranged from Cosimo's conviction that they are bound by fate to something larger than themselves, to Knick Nab's more pragmatic worry that an entire nation now seemed willing to devote real resources to hunting them down and that they needed to understand why before it caught up with them. The party agreed they are not alone in this fight and that finding allies among fellow travelers, such as the Islanders, may be part of achieving it, and that the ship, its crew, and their wealth should be treated as tools toward that end rather than distractions from it.
  • Displaying Wealth: Debating how to present themselves in port, the party weighed staying discreet against spending openly, ultimately favoring visible prosperity as a way to attract capable allies and recruits rather than risk looking like easy marks.

Items Gained

  • Entry to Drowned Man's Port: The party gained access to a safe harbor, a place to resupply, recruit, and gather information.
  • Shark Fin's Address: The location of Shark Fin's lodgings in the port, along with his offer to act as their guide once they came ashore.
  • Information: Crucial intelligence from Mistress Clara about the Church's pursuit and the existence of "The Father's Fury," along with word from Giles in the tavern of the ship's troubled history, notice-board word of open crew postings for a carpenter and a sailing master, and a modest longboat also listed for sale.

Items Lost

  • No significant items were lost during this session.