Return to 50 Fathoms Recap #28: The Sphere

January 26, 2020 @ 3:00-9:00 P.M.

 < WARNING SPOILERS FOR 50 FATHOMS AHEAD MATEY!> 

NEW CHARACTER BIOS
Player Name: Randall
Character Name: Chug 
Race: Grael 
Archetype: Whaler 
Hindrances: All Thumbs, Blubbery, Dumb, Slow (R), Curious (M), Illiterate (m), Ugly (m) 
Notable Edges: Boarder, Brawny, Marksman, Rope Monkey, Whaler 
Notable Equipment: Harpoon Gun. Statistically similar to the Grapple Gun except it shoots a harpoon that deals d10+d4 damage and as a Grael, All Thumbs applies to it. So it breaks on a 1 on the Shooting die, and Chug's shooting is -2 with the gun. Chug also can't repair it (at least probably) at Repair skill -6 (No Repair skill, All Thumbs, -2 to Repair for items broken by All Thumbs). The weight is also 24 lbs. (harpoon + grapple gun weight). 
Background: Chug is from Kaja, Arfk and has hunted orcas and norwhales. He has a nasty scar across the top of his head from a norwhale horn and seems to be mentally damaged from it as well. His vocabulary is limited to Chug and emotional states for the most part. Reading is an impossibility due to never having learned or from the effects of his brain injury. Due to his Curious Hindrance he headed south from Arfk to hunt other whales and sharks. His hunting ship was smashed to pieces from a failed great white shark hunt.

INTERLUDE (What Cyrus did after David left last session and before he arrived this session.)

        Cyrus Black was taken by el guardians from El Grande Posada and escorted to see Grande Alcide Rodrico Pires. Pires told Cyrus he could come to him with any legitimate business in New Madrid. If he had illegitimate business, he could go to Marsales to the Diablo Locos. A man named Martin del Fuego could assist him if had need of a fence. 
       Cyrus spent the rest of the time drinking until La Arcadia left Brigandy Bay later in the session which is around when David arrived.

Day 227
PLACE: BALTIMUS, CUWAYO 
WEATHER: OVERCAST

    The group decided to leave with The Coalition to return to Brigandy Bay heading east. The group discovered that nearly a third of their provisions had rotted away.
 

Day 228-229
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA 
WEATHER: OVERCAST

    The group found a Sunken Ruins. Horventerous and Kahoola explored the ruin and found a sunken Masaquani manor. Horventerous found a set of fine china and a treasure chest with a rusted lock. Kahoola found a small jade Masaquani statue. Horventerous brought the chest on board. Felicity tried to finesse it open with her lock picks but couldn't pick the rusted lock. Kahoola tried to open it with her pincers but couldn't crush the lock. Suzu pried the lock open with her spear. The 1,000 pieces of eight inside were divided. 400 to Horventerous and 200 to the others who tried to open the chest leaving the Captain Red Pirate Roberts angered. Kahoola noticed the unfair distribution of treasure and gave Horventerous a nickname, "Hoardy". The group left southeast towards Brigandy Bay after the Captain refused to stay a second day while complaining about the food situation.

Day 231
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA 
WEATHER: RAINY

      The group was extraordinarily fortunate to find game which helped replace some of their lost food.

Day 233
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA 
WEATHER: SUNNY

    Red Pirate Roberts spied a hundred ship fleet north of them headed west with her spyglass. She realized they were all Kieran cutters of the same design as The Swift Death. She gulped and continued heading east towards Brigandy Bay. 

[Fortunately for them, I rolled a critical fail on Notice for the Kieran fleet on them.]

Day 235
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA
WEATHER: SUNNY

    The group saw a Grael holding on to a wooden plank. When they went near him to rescue him, he shot a harpoon gun at the ship and used it to climb up the bulwark and then dislodged his harpoon. Cyrus looked at the device and realized that it was just a grapple gun that someone had removed the hook and shoved a harpoon inside. Captain Red Pirate Roberts was mad about the damage to the ship's wall. The group tried communicating with the Grael and all he seemed to be able to say was Chug. They gave him some water and he chugged it. With great difficulty he then said Chug happy and Chug grateful. Horventerous pulled out a potion and Chug drank that too. This brain boosting potion temporarily made Chug a genius by Grael standards and he explained how he had left Kaja, Arfk and the Cold Sea to hunt other creatures in the Pirate Sea while working his way towards the sea around Torath-Ka hoping to hunt the largest sea creatures in Caribdus. His hunting ship had been destroyed by a great white shark before he could slay it. The loss of his ship had left him shipwrecked here. 
      Chug recognized Owen McDougal in the crew. Owen told Chug his tale about how they had finally got the treasure near Calib's Rock by going up at it rather than down towards it.    
      Horventerous asked him about if he had seen any treasure or maps. Chug told him that there was a Kehana named Winston who had left for Swindon to sell a treasure map. He seemed to have something else to say but the potion wore off and all he could say was Chug while shrugging. 


Day 237
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA
WEATHER: SUNNY

      Kahoola made careful measurements of the time using the chronometer while inside Brigandy Bay. 

Day 238-239
PLACE: BRIGANDY DAY
WEATHER: OVERCAST 

      The group caroused and toasted to The Coalition's great victory over the British East India Company that had dared to strike at Brigandy Bay.      Horventerous sold the fine china for 100 pieces of eight. 
     A man in a black cloak tried to sell Felicity Blackbeard's Cutlass for 20,000 pieces of eight and eventually went down to 14,000 pieces of eight. Felicity realized that the cutlass was just painted black. She told the man to look behind him and then stabbed him in the back. She stole his cloak and cutlass making her Wanted in Brigandy Bay (for the minor Hindrance she took in character creation). Stealing his cloak when she is an Atani is quite funny actually.
       The group left for the northern tip of Torath-Ka near Vittoria.

Day 241
PLACE: THE PIRATE SEA
WEATHER: FOGGY

      The group saw a severely charred Kraken in a Kraken scout ship on the edge of a Burning Sea covered in oil.  The group rescued him and Horventerous healed him. The Kraken scout told them he was Halimas of the last Kraken Great Ship. He told them about a golden sphere that was in the center of the Burning Sea. Strange creatures of fire had attacked them and the other two Kraken scouts were lost. Halimas had escaped to tell the others but was barely able to keep the Kraken scout ship adrift in his severely burned condition. 
    The group entered the Burning Sea and Captain Red Pirate Roberts avoided the sparks at first but nearly caught the ship on fire before a quick spin of the wheel saved the ship. They made it to the Golden Sphere. 
     Felicity rode the updrafts and attached enough rope to pull the Golden Sphere out of the Burning Sea. Exhausted she fell to her knees in front of the stairs to below decks. Halimas, a Kraken of honor, lifted her to her feet and helped her downstairs towards her quarters despite his own injuries. It was then that four-armed fiery lizardmen boarded La Arcadia by clambering up ropes, burning them to cinders after they touched them. Sarah Galloway ran screaming below decks yelling, "Fiery octopons!" She ran past Halimas and Felicity, nearly knocking them over in her fit of terror. 

      The Fire Salamanders were incredibly quick and agile and soon overwhelmed six sailors (although only one died from his burns after the fight).
       
       Captain Red Pirate Roberts decided to white knuckle the wheel and refused to budge even with the Fire Salamanders attacking fearing the ship would hit a spark and ignite if she left it unattended. The sailors counterattacked and managed to kill a few of the salamanders. But several of their spears were set on fire and they tossed them into the Burning Sea. 
       Horventerous used water bolts to extinguish a few of the Fire Salamanders. 
       Cyrus drew his pistol and his cutlass. He shot at a Fire Salamander but the bullet seemed to melt in a fiery aura before it even reached the Fire Salamander's body.  
       Chug fired his harpoon gun at a Fire Salamander and stuck it to him. Somehow the rope didn't catch on fire.  

[Randall rolled a 1 on a d6 for catching fire.]
 
       Kahoola used her pincers to attack the Fire Salamanders. She kept burning her pincers but shaking off the pain while stunning the Fire Salamander. 
       Suzu was sitting in the crow's nest crying. It was where Unk liked to stay when he was alive. She tried to climb down but tripped and fell to the deck. 




      The Fire Salamanders and sailors continued to battle. A Fire Salamander attacked Suzu on the ground but couldn't pierce her plate corselet. A Fire Salamander slashed at Cyrus but he parried the blow. The Fire Salamander still attached to a harpoon charged at Chug but couldn't hurt him through all the blubber. The Fire Salamander on Kahoola couldn't crack her thick shell.           

     


     Cyrus fired both shots of his double-barreled pirate pistol, but the Fire Salamander's fiery aura melted both of the shots before they reached his center mass.

     Horventerous moved south and unleashed three more water bolts, dousing three more Fire Salamanders including the one on Cyrus. 

     Chug twirled around in a circle and used his momentum to throw the Fire Salamander still attached to his harpoon into the one engaged with Kahoola. This killed Kahoola's Fire Salamander. Kahoola followed this attack up by drawing her cutlass and attacking with it and her two pincers, managing to kill the Fire Salamander that Chug had sent her way. 

     Suzu got up and tried to stab the Fire Salamander attacking her with her spear but she missed.

      

     The Fire Salamander counterattacked Cyrus and seared his right leg with his cutlass. A Fire Salamander slashed Suzu and left her critically wounded. 
     The sailors moved south towards the remaining Fire Salamanders. Those that had lost spears drew cutlasses from their scabbards. Other sailors continued to engage the Fire Salamanders. 
     Cyrus lunged at a Fire Salamander with his off hand with his magical cutlass but missed. 

     
     Chug dropped his harpoon gun and he cut a rope to slam into a Fire Salamander with his Grael Battleball causing a small shock wave on the upper deck. The Fire Salamander took the blow but seemed winded.

[Rope Monkey is an excellent way to deal with the Grael Pace problem. Well assuming you have a Man O' War or Galleon anyway. It probably wouldn't be good on a smaller ship...]

     Horventerous cast three water bolts against a Fire Salamander. The first bolt struck the Fire Salamander's cutlass which steamed and then warped. The second bolt made the Fire Salamander's fiery aura sizzle and vanish. The third bolt completely disintegrated the Fire Salamander.

[I played Lucky Break on the first bolt. When Cyrus plays, I get a card play because he is cursed from Pandora's Box with his magical cutlass.]

     Kahoola used her pincers to crush the Fire Salamander that had wounded Suzu shaking off the heat and flame from attacking through its fiery aura.

     The remaining Fire Salamander counterattacked Chug but the cutlass just bounced off of him. Chug laughed and smashed him to the deck with his Grael Battleball.

     Captain Red Pirate Roberts seemed to have planned La Arcadia's escape route during the fight and a sudden gust of wind propelled La Arcadia out of the Burning Sea. Horventerous healed Suzu and Cyrus, but Suzu was left with minor burns.

[Sam played Favor of the Gods to add an extra success to the escape. I applied the double movement as +1 success to one of the Captain's Boating rolls.]

     After La Arcadia escaped the Burning Sea with the golden sphere in tow, the Kraken Great Ship appeared. La Arcadia sailed over to it and the heroes boarded the Kraken Great Ship.
     High Admiral Caspian, scarred from his battle with the Sea Hags, told the group about the sphere. The key to opening the device was the hand of an Archmage and the hand of a creature from another world. It needed to be opened only during the fight with the true enemy, the Sea Hags. All would be revealed when the time is nigh. Caspian promised to tow the sphere for the group and gave Horventerous a whistle made of bone to be played when it was time for the Kraken Great Ship to appear again with the sphere. Captain Red Pirate Roberts didn't want to give it to them, but also realized that it would make La Arcadia move at a snail's pace, so eventually agreed.

[Horventerous played Get a Clue and realized Humans counted as a creature from another world. Towing the Golden Sphere would have reduced Travel Speed to 1 base.]

     High Admiral Caspian told them that the Krakens were a dying race, like the Doreen. The Kraken race may die out in the final battle. But it was a sacrifice they must be willing to make if the other races and Caribdus were to survive. If the Sea Hags were not stopped, Caribdus would drown. The Atani, Grael, Humans, Masaquani, Scurillians, and Ugaks and all land life would die. It would be an endless world of seawater and sunken continents fought over by the Kehana and Octopons as the Sea Hags would torture the last surviving race for their own enjoyment.
     High Admiral Caspian cast greater healing and healed Suzu's burn wound. 
     After transferring the golden sphere to the Kraken Great Ship La Arcadia headed east towards the northern tip of Torath Ka...

[Randall played Folk Hero which is applied to the Kraken Great Ship.]

[End of session.]

XP: 2 Heroic, 3 Veteran

MINIMUM XP: 52

LOOT: Golden Kraken Sphere, 13 Fire Salamander Cutlasses


MAPS



DramaScape's Above Decks Volume Two: Smuggler's Sloop and The Wave Cutter Smuggler's Sloop side used for La Arcadia. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/114448/Above-Decks-Volume-Two-Smugglers-Sloop-and-The-Wave-Cutter?affiliate_id=12615

 

MINIATURES 

       Ships used include a ship from Letters of Marque by Fantasy Flight Games and a porcelain ship from Red Rose Tea. Trifolds used are from 50 Fathoms Figure Flats and the metal Kraken miniature made by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Kitha (Suzu) is from Grey Matter Games Deadly Missions Third Edition. Additional cannons are from a printable page from DramaScape's The Western Keep.   


DramaScape's Western Keep

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/99545/Western-Keep?affiliate_id=12615