The party report back to the Pirate Council which has a new task for them. They are to sail to Captain Harrigan's fortress on Gannet Island and bring him back alive to answer to the Council.
Tessa Fairwind informs them afterwards that this is a set up and typical
of the Hurricane King's political moves; he hopes sets up a conflict which will remove one rival. She cautions against taking on either Harrigan himself or his deputy Adelita Doloruso in a fair fight and has purchased some
expensive poison which should be enough to down Harrigan in a rather more unfair ambush.
Grok knows the island and says they need to take a cow with them as an offering to the sea monster that guards
the entrance to the harbour. She also says that the party should be able to bluff their way in if they return with
the Ocean Breeze as Harrigan will presumably not know the details of their mutiny.
Gok is indeed recognised at the fortress's gatehouse and the party is let in and after some refreshment granted
an audience with the hook-handed magic user Adelita Doloruso in her private room. To get there she ushers them through a room with an
enormous demon and up some stairs where a somewhat smaller erinyes devil mans a guardpost. Adelita explains
with a wink that Harrigan has been getting somewhat paranoid recently. In her room she immediately holds up a sign saying the erinyes devil is there to spy on her and they should write down anything they wish to tell her confidentially. She explains that Harrigan
left his fortress a few weeks ago with most of his fleet for an unknown destination. She was unhappy to be left
behind particularly as a lot of the personnel remaining in the fortress are actually cultists of Norgorber for whom she has little liking. Meanwhile her own crew are restricted to staying aboard their ship which is anchored in the harbour.
Gok gives her edited highlights of their adventures while other members of the party explain that the Pirate Council would like a chat with Harrigan. Adelita suggests a raid on Harrigan's locked bedroom would be instructive if the party have anyone with the required skills. Aya enters the bedroom only to find another erinyes devil stationed there. She quickly repositions herself behind Gurr who attacks the devil. Some of the party act to support Gurr while others block the path of the second devil. A tough battle follows but the party have both Urugu and Sandara Quinn providing healing services and their overconfident foes are vanquished.
Searching Harrigan's bedroom reveals his treachery and also that the
Rahadoum plan is to use demonic help to bring their fleet through the
Eye of Abendego and surprise the pirates. The first target is
Drenchport.
Adelita now wants to get to her boat in the harbour but first she wants to rescue two of her former shipmates
who Harrigan turned over to the Norgorber cult for torture. Her move, however, is anticipated by the cult
and Luccaria, a senior priestess and her acolytes bar the way. Adelita releases a fireball to weaken their ranks before the party attack and Luccaria soon decides to flee, barring herself in the prison. This does not save her from Adileta who uses Dimension Door to follow her. Without Luccaria's magic to back them up the cultists are soon defeated by the party and Luccaria herself surrenders saying her cult will pay a rich ransom for her return. Adelita is clearly in two minds whether to execute her on the spot but in the end takes her prisoner.
The party and their magic user ally then return to their ships and sail for
Port Peril with Adelita making no secret of the fact she intends to apply for
Harrigan's seat on the Pirate Council and the ownership of Gannet Island.
The party take their evidence to the Pirate Council who, with
Tessa and the Master of Winds to the fore, come up with a bold plan to meet the Rahadoum fleet as it emerges from
the Eye of Abendigo. The Master of Winds reckons that even with demonic help the fleet will need to be protected by a special ritual to pass through the Eye. In order to cover the whole fleet the demons involved in the ritual must be situated in both the foremost and hindmost ships in the fleet. Disrupting the ritual in just the foremost ship will immediately diminish the area protected and expose at least half the fleet to the wrath of the storm. With
this in mind Tess co-opts the party to help her board the Admiral's ship and slay the demons.
The pirates disperse to their home ports to gather their ships. The party head to
Quent with Tessa Fairwind but while in the port are attacked by a group of tough mercenaries in what is clearly an assassination attempt. The party shrug the attack off as they have more important
things to worry about. In Quent Tessa provides them with a budget to purchase the potions which will enhance their
capabilities in the coming conflict.
When Tessa's fleet reaches the rendezvous point there is no sign of the ships of the Hurricane King or some of his
closest allies. Tessa and the Master of Winds agree that there is no point in waiting for them as time is of the essence. The fleet sails to the edge of the Eye and intercepts the Rahadoum armada. As the fleets close
a group of vrocks are seen flying towards Tessa's ship. The party prepare to intercept the demons but find they are illusions.
The real (invisible) vrocks meanwhile attempt to grab Tessa and her first mate. The party rescue their colleagues
and kill the demons.
Once that threat has been neutralised Tessa wastes no time in taking her ship alongside Admiral Thrune's vessel, Abrogail's Fury, and boarding her. As Tessa's crew swarm onto the Fury the party target the four Demons perched
atop each of the ship's masts. Hapu blasts one demon off the ship before diving into the sea to finish
it off.
The rest of the party prefer more conventional means but the demons are tough and Urugu is kept busy healing the
results of the demon's attacks. While this titanic battle is taking place in the ship's rigging
Tessa and Grok have fought their way to the ships's quarterdeck to confront Admiral Thrune and her bodyguard.
One of the demons drops to the deck to help in this conflict but is intercepted and slain by the party. In the end
the party are able to reach the quarterdeck to aid in the final thoes of that important conflict. Once Admiral Thrune is defeated her crew surrender and the threat to The Shackles is nullified.
Much later the party learn that roughly 25% of the
Rahadoum fleet was captured or sunk by the pirates, 50% was assumed lost in the storm and a mere 25% was able to return to port. In the immediate present, however, Tessa is furious with the Hurricane King for his lack of support and, with the backing of the Master of Winds, vows to dethrone him. She sails for Port Peril.