The conclusion of the pirate adventure…
As the party prepared to make land fall a small ship was rapidly approaching. As the boat came closer it was seen flying the city flag of Stonekeep. Aboard the smaller ship was the paladin of Torm coming to aid in the coming battle. As he joined the party, Morgan “The Greaser” had pressing business back in town. The boarded the smaller ship to return to town.
The barbarian, monk, rouge and paladin began to trek through the forest, following the river, in hopes of quickly finding the pirate fort. After an hour of walking they heard a group of people approaching. The rouge, monk and paladin decided to hide and see who was approaching. The barbarian was having none of that and just waited for whomever it was to approach.
It was a small patrol of gentlemen dressed as one would think pirates to dress. The barbarian announced himself and they saw the monk who was not able to hide successfully. He said they were looking to join up for a life of a river pirate and could be of some use aboard ships.
Of course the pirate patrol agreed to take them to their camp to meet with their captain. They also made note of all the fancy gear the two warriors were carrying. As they led them toward the fort, the pirates drew weapons and prepared to attack the unsuspecting warriors. That was until the rouge snuck up behind the pirates and dispatched one of them and gravely wounded another. The monk and barbarian turned with a confused look on their faces…until they say that the pirates had weapons drawn. Battle was joined and the patrol was quickly dispatched. They tossed the bodies off the small trail they were on and continued toward the fort.
A few miles later the trail led them to the pirate base. What they saw was a 20’-30’ moat surrounded by sharpened wooden poles. This was all in front of palisade walls that stood roughly 10’- 20’ high in spots. A single gate lead into and out of the fort. There were a pair of ballista on the front walls aiming toward the forest. Towers were at each of the four corners and it appeared several guard manned the walls. The forest was cleared for roughly a quarter mile around the fort. It was going to take some effort to approach without being seen and taking fire from the wall.
As they discussed how to deal with the approach the sun started to set. Another patrol left the fort and the party waited in the woods to ambush them. Ambush them they did! They cut down the second patrol quickly and then formulated a plan. The rouge was to sneak over the wall and open the gate. Simple.
Well nothing is ever simple.
The rouge managed to sneak to the moat. As he was hiding he thought he saw movement in the water. He then decided that this was the perfect time to leap at said movement. As he jumped into the moat a large toothy maw clamped shut behind him. It seems the moat was full of crocodiles. He pulled his weapons and quickly gutted the large reptile and then leapt out of the moat. He was able to sprint to the wall and hide before the guards could notice him ( the rolls were so bad for these guards he could have strolled from the forest out in the open and not be seen). He then turned and unleashed his acidic dragon breath on the wall to see if it would burn through. Sadly it didn’t. It just scorched the thick wood.
The barbarian frustrated with waiting decided to act. He began to run through the open field toward the gate. The monk and paladin were confused by this, but they followed suit. The wall guards sounded the alarm and began to fire at the trio as they approached.
The rouge made it up the wall and attacked a guard, well he grabbed a guard and tried to throw him over the wall. That failed and it became an awkward aggressive hug for a few rounds. The monk made it to the moat and was able to leap all kung-fu crazy over the it (seriously, the jumping rules for this game are insane and even worse for monks). The barbarian followed suit and the paladin used his pole arm to vault himself over the water and crocs. The monk began to climb the walls. The barbarian and paladin began to lift the gate.
The rouge finally tossed the pirate guard off the wall into the courtyard. He then drew his dagger and dove after him. As the pirate lay there gasping for air, the dragonborn rouge landed on the poor guard driving his dagger into his chest as he landed.
The monk continued to try and scale the walls…..
The paladin and barbarian were able to raise the gate and enter the courtyard to see around 30-50 pirates milling about. Some were eating. A few were carousing. The majority were drawing weapons and reacting to the alarm.
Walking out of a small cabin was a tall finely dressed and groomed human male. Seeing his gates open and his men being assaulted he raised a call to arms. His various crew members answered with a rousing throaty bellow! Battle was to be joined! His fellow officers took to arms and began to position and order men about.
The barracks opened and began to empty.
The ½ orc cook stopped meal prep and grabbed meat cleavers.
The bosun a large ½ orc, who kept the crew in line, grabbed an anchor chain and over-sized oar.
Dwarves hired to build defenses and repair ships gabbed weapons from their makeshift tool shed.
The quartermaster began loading several pistols with the help of a small monkey on his shoulder.
Guards on the walls began to turn the ballista to fire into the courtyard.
All the while the pirate captain one Swarthy Pete Bortolono bellowed a orders and encouragement to his men.
The barbarian flew into a rage. The rouge rushed off to attack a group of pirates near a bonfire. The paladin prepared spells. The monk finally made it up the wall.
End part 1
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