The party are invited to lunch by
Tessa Fairwind, a leading member of the Pirate Council. Tessa explains
the the Harbourmaster is merely acting on instructions from Kerdak Bonefist, the Hurricane King himself. She
advises the party that in a week the annual Free Captains Regatta will take place, a winner take all race where the
entry fee is 1000gp. The winner is also guaranteed a place on the Council. Her plan is for the party to enter the race which the authorities will most likely block by impounding their ship. Tessa, who is not competing this year, will then lend them her own ship which she had especially built for the race. Tessa also gives them charts for the race, a run down of its hazards and lends
them four extra crew members from her own followers.
In due course the party find themselves on the deck of The Swallow opposite
Cauldron Rock on the start line of the race. The starter and referee for the
race is the druid and previous race winner, the Master of Winds. He starts the race and then turns himself into
a seabird to fly over the fleet. As he does so the wind direction changes dramatically throwing the fleet into
confusion. The party react quickly and, steering their ship clear of the scrummage, join the early leaders.
The first two challenges for The Swallow are the Silted Shrouds and the Raker Shoals both of which contain uncharted
hazards. Hapu helps navigate the ship by inhabiting the consciousness of a seabird to perceive the dangers in advance.
At one point The Swallow drops to fifth place but coming up to the third hazard, Iris's Splinters, where the ship
has to sail between two jagged rocks 100' apart the party are in third place. As the second ship, the Barnacle Bitch, positions itself
to sail between the rocks a huge dragon turtle crashes into it driving it off course and potentially to its doom.
Although Dru would like to go to their aid most of the crew of The Swallow think they would be unable to take on
the monster and while it is distracted they sail through the gap.
The ship has now to sail through the frightening storms at the edge of the
Eye of Abendego but emerges from that terrifying journey intact and still in second place.
They sail through the Sharkskin Reef and past Pinnacle Atoll and can now see the leader, the Wormword in front
of them. Down the home straight they gradually gain on the leaders but sadly have too much ground to
make up. They have gained much glory but sadly not much gold (apart from those members of the crew who had a side wager on the favourites, the Wormwood).
Tessa, however, is delighted with their performance, not least because it becomes clear that she also sponsored the Wormwood. The crews of The Swallow and the Wormword are invited to a party at Tessa's mansion during which
she takes the party aside to request their help. Apparently she suspects a ring of foreign spies have been
operating in The Shackles and she wants the party's help in uncovering their plots.
She fears they might be from Rahadoum a nation who would like her captured and executed.
The party sail to
Quent to see if the
House of Stolen Kisses (who act as one of the regions leading information brokers besides performing other services) can provide them with a lead. They are told that the House has helpful information
but first the party must discover the fate of the House's own ship, The Lady's Sting, and recover the holy item it
was carrying. The House advises that another of The Shackles' information brokers, the
Temple of the Hidden Name may know something about the ships disappearance. The party therefore sail
to the Halfling port of Beachcomber and after discrete enquiries end up talking to a Halfling known only as 'Slip'
in a rundown warehouse.
'Slip' says he knows the group of wreckers who were responsible for The Lady's Sting's fate but it will cost them 750gp plus they must find out what happened to another ship, the 'Brine Banshee' which disappeared west of Shark Island. He thinks the House of Stolen
Kisses may know where to start on that investigation. Back in Quent the party again talk to the priestesses and
discover that a retired ship's doctor, Haneilius Finch of Ollo, is trying to get financial backing to search
for the Brine Banshee. The party sail to Ollo, question Finch, and agree to help him find the wreck in return
for a 50/50 split of the treasure. Finch knows that everyone was looking for the wreck in the wrong place and guides
them to a destination near the Eye of Abendego where the ship went down.
The party search the wreck but have to fight off an aggressive merfolk druid and his shark companions. They
bring up roughly 2500gps of goods plus the magic ship's wheel (which probably accounted for the Brine Banshee's
legendary manoeuvrability). The gold and goods go to Finch and on Aya's advice the party take the wheel.
Returning to Beachcomber the party give the information about the Brine Banshee's
whereabouts and a heads up about its magic ship's wheel to 'Slip' (they forget to mention they themselves recovered
the wheel). In return 'Slip' reveals the wreckers of The Lady's Sting were Vakarla and her gang of half-orcs
who operate out of a base near the Rampore Isles.
The party sail The Swallow to the Rampore Isles and are scouring the area for the wreckers when they spot
a merchant ship at anchor which hastily raises its sails to escape from them. Some of the sharper-eyed members
of the party notice some anomalies in the way the merchant ship is lying in the water and recognise it as an
illusion. They see instead two wrecked ships lying in the shallows beyond a wicked reef. Just in time The Swallow is steered away from the reef but out of nowhere Valkarla's half-orcs appear on The Swallow's decks. A fierce fight
ensues but her crew are victorious, leaving just one survivor among the half-orcs. An invisible magic user also
backed up the half-orcs but seems to have withdrawn by the end of the fight. As a result the survivor, feeling abandoned by Varkala, spills the
location of the wrecker's base and the party sail there immediately.
The 'base' is little more than a group of poorly constructed huts on a small remote island but buried in the
largest hut is some loot that includes the Golden Vespal, the object sacred to Callistra. Returning to the House
of Stolen Kisses with this item the party are given the information that Jaymiss Keft of
Drenchport, a retired sea captain who has taken up carving whalebone, may have
some information. Sailing to Drenchport the party ply Jaymiss with drink while he tells them his suspicions about
a local smuggler, Haddon Pike. The party are too late to question Haddon as they find his body face down in his fish tank. Two crossbow bolts, however, appear to be the cause of death. Examining his room the party find a hidden
compartment in the base of his fish tank that contains an opera written in Infernal. They detect a hiiden code and
read a message which says 'Record movement of ships in and out of Drenchport and also record the movements of the
Master of Gales. Report to RK in Hell Harbour.'
The party find the identity of 'RK' by advertising in Hell Harbour that they have found a valuable item with these intiials on it which they wish to return to its owner. A friend of Rowena Kellett approaches them saying it
might be her but Rowena hasn't been seen in the port for a few days. Heading for Rowena's house they find the
place ransacked but among her papers is a list of every member of the Pirate Council with a large sum of money
against it (Tessa having the largest sum). On finding out that Rowena had a close associate, Corlan, they stake
out his house only for Aya wounded by a poisoned crossbolt from a would be assassin. The rest of the party engage the attacker but he
escapes over the rooftops. Dru, however, can track by scent and they trace the attacker to a posh house owned by
Gilles Halmis. Although they keep a watch on the house they find in the morning he has fled Hell Harbour.
Corlan they take into custody for his own protection on board The Swallow.
Fearing for his life spill Corlan spills the beans on the whole operation. Rowena was reporting to Zarskia Garlemba.
a Mwangi woman, at the Jasperleaf Apothecary in
Port Peril.