The Easy Way In

The victorious fleet sail to Port Peril with the aim of taking the town and then setting about capturing Kerdak Bonefist's supposedly impregnable fortress, Fort Hazard, on the island of Lucrehold. The Hurricane King's second in command, Tsadok Goldsmith has assembled a 'welcoming party' to stop Tessa Fairwind's crew from disembarking but the party lead the way in electrocuting, roasting and dismembering those trying to prevent pirate 'freedom of movement'.

The Port itself is soon taken once the crews from the fleet have landed as the population quickly reads the runes regarding Bonefist's prospects. The Hurricane King himself has as expected holed up in Lucrehold hoping that he can just wait for tempers to cool. Tessa and the Master of Winds are determined, however, that Bonefist is to be deposed, few of the other captains are willing to support him, and even fewer to say so.

Tessa has a daring plan to infiltrate the Hurricane King's fortress via a secret passage. A map of the passage was found in Captain Harrigan's belongings and the plan of the traitorous pirate appeared to be to lead Rahadoum marines into the fortress that way to capture or kill Bonefist. A lightly guarded warehouse on Lucrehold Island is the surprising entrance to the passage. The party sneak into the warehouse and find and move the 2000 lb barrel that covers the trap door they are seeking without alerting the guards. The passage leads into ancient crypts and the party have to defeat undead skeletons and wights before they can make further progress.

A passage then continues to a Redoubt beneath Fort Hazard itself, the entrance to which is guarded by elite troops who man hidden positions that create a killing zone in the Redoubt's entrance halls. Fortunately the little known secret passage avoids these halls but nevertheless the party wish to exit the Redoubt this way. Happily the defenders are not expecting to be attacked from within the Redoubt but they put up a tough fight with the party's healers and the presence of Tessa creating the edge. Leaving the Redoubt the party follow a passage down to the Fort's secret harbour. There they can see Bonefist's ship, the Filthy Lucre anchored and rather than fight their way through the harbour's defences they come up with the ingenious idea of using Water Breathing spells to enable them to walk underwater to the ship.

The plan might have a few flaws, however, as once Hapu, Gurr and Dru are in the water they are faced with what appears to be an undead dragon. The dragon is indeed a large and formidable creature but lacks the breath weapon and armoured scales it would have possessed when alive. The three members of the party that are comfortable with aquatic combat (Hapu, Gurr and Dru) bravely remain in the water while the rest of the party provide ranged support including much need healing spells. After a tough fight the dragon is defeated and its bones sink to the bottom of the lagoon. Looking down Dru thinks he sees something gleaming on the lagoon floor and Hapu retrieves a broken sword covered in ancient draconic runes.

After such a tough fight the party speculate that they may have discovered the coveted 'Path of Maximum Difficulty' and proceed by walking along the lagoon floor. Sure enough they soon discover six weresharks in the water that cause substantial damage with their bites. Alarmed Aya uses her shielding power (which she was saving for a confrontation with Bonefist) to protect the party and gradually the weresharks are overcome. As the last wereshark is killed, however, six giant sharks attracted by the blood in the water arrive and another tough fight ensues.

At this point the party pause as they are beginning to run short of magic. They rest for an hour so that at least Aya can regain her shielding power and Hapu his main attack. Some argue that, since the party haven't yet actually avoided any of the harbour's defences, the POMD (Path of Maximum Difficulty) must dictate that they get out of the water now in order take on the harbour's land garrison. Other speculate that since the fort they can see can have at the most a garrison of 6 - 8 humanoids that there is still a good chance that the POMD continues to lie underwater. This point of view is somewhat justified as the party proceed below the surface of the lagoon and almost immediately run into two huge aquatic demons who can cause paralysis with their attacks.

After disposing of the demons the party realise that perhaps a little greater discretion is required and send out a scouting party to see what further perils might await. The area of the lagoon around the ship appears to be patrolled by several creatures that are coniderable larger than the giant sharks the party killed. The party hide under the walkways to the ship questioning whether their commitment to the POMD is worth it given that they might not make the final conrontation with Bonefist if they continue to pursue it. A dash along the walkway some argue might be preferable given that no one will have detected their presence. No one that is who hasn't seen the fourteen bloated corpses of giant monsters floating in their own entrails on the lagoon's surface....

While the party debate their options Tessa receives a telepathic message from Hyapatia, a powerful sorceress who is also Bonefist's consort, saying she knows Tessa must be in the area and would she like to negotiate under a flag of truce. She also reveals that she is the owner of the luxurious house the party can see on the harbour front. Not entirely trusting Hyapatia Tessa sends Dru to front the negotiations while the rest of the party remain hidden. It would appear that Hyapatia has fallen out with Bonefist over the last year ('he seems a different man') and she wishes to terminate the relationship. In exchange for Hyapatia facilitating the surrender of the fort and helping the party confront Bonefist the party will give Hyapatia control of Bonefist's ship and help her leave the harbour and Port Peril.

Suddenly there is activity on the ship and it looks like it is preparing to sail. The party hurriedly board the ship and confront Bonefist's bodyguards as most of the crew scuttle below decks. After disposing of the bodyguards a new threat appears in the form of two large demons who block the way to Bonefists's quarters. These are also defeated and finally Bonefist himself apprears. The Hurricane King is a formidable fighter and even though he is outnumbered nearly kills Urugu in the ensuing conflict. When he is finally brought down and the Huricane Crown rolls to the deck a translucent diabolic figure emerges from his disintegrating body. The figure proves impervious to attack and chuckles at the party's attempts to harm him. Instead he embarks on a 'villain monologue' which unfortunately only reveals his future plans in vague terms.

With some reluctance Tessa picks up the Hurricane Crown and places it on her head where it instantly transforms itself into a fashionable pirate hat. She is now the new Hurricane Queen. Hyapatia says she needs some time to load her possessions onto the ship so the party heal themselves and those that can benefit from a short rest regain their powers. The harbour is actually fully enclosed with no natural exit to the sea but Tessa uses the power of the Crown to cause a tunnel to appear in the side of the enormous cave. She then guides the vessel into Port Peril's main harbour to allow Hyapatia to replace those crew members killed by the party and take on further provisions.

In the coming days Tessa makes it known that she will instigate a full enquiry into the events in Port Peril which led to the non-appearance of the ships of Bonefist and his allies at the recent battle. Several pirates take the opportunity to leave Port Peril in a hurry and Tessa replaces them on the Pirate Council with her allies including Captain Grok who is given The Swallow (Tessa's old racing ship) as a reward for the efforts of the party. Those that accompanied her on the daring mission into the secret harbour also received 10,000gp each with other members of The Swallow's crew also receiving generous rewards.

While enjoying the well earned fruits of their recent adventuring the party go to an inn to listen to a bard named Vilren who has a burgeoning reputation. There they spot a teenage girl sitting by herself and the reason for her isolation soon become clear as a group of unwelcome male admirers drop unceromoniously to the floor. The regulars must have seen this before as they pile the bodies in a corner and continue to leave her alone. Hapu, however, appears intrigued by her, introduces himself and then beckons the party over. It soon become clear that she has become a reluctant follower of the Vilren and her magical choker (a gift from the bard which she cannot remove) may be the reason.

The party resolve to help the girl whose name is Aecrypa. They cast a spell to temporarily dampen the choker's magic and she explains her predicament. It would appear she cannot move more than 300' from Vilren while she wears the choker and trying to remove it results in it tightening. Vilren is not what he seems and she expects he is working for 'powerful interests' who are trying to influence her father. The party ambush and capture Vilren when he goes to his room but he informs them he can kill Aecrypa with just a thought. In the end he promises to release her in exchange for his life and a head start. He wants to keep the choker and when the party refuse he somehow magically teleports it to him and he quickly vanishes. Hapu persuades Aecrypa to join the crew of The Swallow and she becomes its 16th member.