At the first signs of the approaching storm, the crew of the Sparrow Hawk put in extra shifts to make the ship storm-proof in the harbour. Everything was made ready to sail out to sea with the Hawk should the storm reach Roaringshore: a violent storm in a harbour roadstead could be fatal for a ship.
Over the last two or three tendays, several of the smaller, less experienced pirate ships that have sailed out have failed to return to Roaringshore. Some rumour are that they have moved base of operations to other pirate ports, but now at least two crews that have gone missing have long been supporters of the High Captains.
Furthermore, the larger ships that travel between pirate ports have begun to say there are murmurs in those ports that similar small and inexperienced ships have started to go missing. Indeed there are a couple of those rumours saying that they've found one or two of those missing ships wrecked and floating in the sea with no living crew in sight.
What goes on, many wonder. There's nothing to suggest Amn, Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep have increased their patrols over the ordinary.
In the middle of the night, the large pirate ship with only half a mast of its three original still standing floats towards Roaringshore. It is clearly difficult to steer it, and it seems to be taking in water, sitting low in the sea already. It crashes eventually into the cliffs near Roaringshore, though with its slow speed, it mostly bumps off the cliffs, leaving some more damage in the hull, and settles against some rocks.
The people of Roaringshore stream to the docks, having heard the crack of the ship against the cliff face. What they see is a ship partially on fire. Blue-white flames are seen many places on the hull and the fallen masts. Of crew there seems to be only three exhausted an injured sailors alive. The ship is identified as The Kraken's Bane, one of the most formidable ships and crews of Roaringshore, aside from those of the High Captains themselves.
Some boats are sent out to help the survivors off the ship. The rest of the crew, the boatmen say, seem to have fought a battle against sword and magic both. There are signs on the hull of the ship that it may have been boarded, but there are no bodies suggesting any of those boarding it died fighting on the deck.
The three survivors are too exhausted and injured to answer any tales. Indeed one of them dies from his injuries soon after having been brought ashore. They are tended to by the ladies of the night (who are paid by one of the High Captains, it is rumoured).
The Moonlight Chase
In the morning after, another of the two survivors died in her sleep. The last one, an old experienced pirate called Larry "Three-Toes" is said to be awake and should expect to survive. The ladies who tended him share the tale he told them with the patrons of the Broken Goblet.
In the night, when the moon was at its highest, the crew of The Kraken's Bane had noticed a fog seeping in from the north. Thick and opaque, the half orc Captain Narragh had ordered a full turn around to avoid the fog. But as they turned, two ships had burst out of the fog and arrows and ballista bolts were flying towards The Kraken's Bane. The chase was on.
Ballista bolts, enchanted with magic, hit the masts and exploded, shattering the base, slowing the ship down. Suddenly, Larry had said, as the larger of the two chasing ships came close a blinding light as if from the moon itself scorched through the fog, setting the ship on fire with blue-white flames. Many sailors had wailed in pain from being blinded and burned by the light, and some threw themselves in the sea to escape the radiant onslaught.
Then they were boarded. Half of crew of The Kraken's Bane was blinded, burned or already in the sea, and the prowess of the assailing sailors were beyond anything Larry had ever seen. Lead by a man, shining of the moon as he charged and cut down pirates with holy power, the crew of The Kraken's Bane stood no chance.
The chasers took the cargo of The Kraken's Bane: Almost 50 slaves and much loot, and then they left The Kraken's Bane and its crew for dead.
The salty air of Roaringshore has always been dangerous: mutinous captains, pirates turned priestesses, and bargains struck with fiends. Yet now, the rumors around the village have turned into something darker, something... wrong.
The docks are restless. Lanterns sway in the sea breeze, their light casting long shadows over ships that should have never returned. Hulls splintered, sails slashed, and decks slick with blood: a crimson show of voiceless horrors. Survivors, few as they are, speak of visions in the mist: black sails under a moonless sky, laughter that twists like the tide, and voices calling from beneath the waves.
In the Broken Goblet, the tension is palpable. Corsairs mutter about ships disappearing, their cries silenced before they reach the shore. The few local merchants in Roaringshore clutch their coin purses a little tighter, glancing nervously at the growing shadows along the wharf. Even the Church of Umberlee seems unnerved, its priests doubling their demands for tribute, their sermons crackling with thinly veiled fear.
Yet, amidst this rising tide of fear, something stirs. A name haunts the lips of the desperate and the devout alike: Cyric.
His symbols mar the battered hulls of lost ships, carved deep into the wood as if by some unholy blade. His followers promise freedom from the Queen of the Depths, but at what cost? Nonetheless, something else is crawling in the dark: it is easy to feel, it is easy to smell for those who linger in the docks and in the village.
Something new is coming... and it will shape the village forever.
Stay tuned for more. If you want to investigate or learn something more specific, feel free to reach through a PM!
