Chapter 6: Wrath of the Sea Dogs

Part 1
You find yourself in Stormwater, a port trading town currently in violent disarray as pirates have been laying siege to it, blockading the waterways, demanding the release of a prisoner kept in the heavily guarded Seastone Tower. The commercial ships necessary to reach the next destination are unavailable due to the violence and blockade.

What do you do?

Part 2
You hear an ear-splitting rumble from the shore. Chaotic waves rise up from the ocean, flooding the ports.

The prisoner turns to those who freed her and says:

I am Lala Hollywood of the Hollywood Pirates, also known as the Queen of the Pirate Fleet. I appreciate your assistance, stranger, but I am afraid you are a little too late. You see, I am the bride of Chorus, the sea titan. When I was not yet born, my father promised his daughter to the sunken lord in exchange for safe passage and protection over the violent oceans. He is not a demanding husband, but he does require that I remain on the open oceans, and do not spend too long on land. It has been, well, too long. If I do not return to him, he may well destroy all of Stormwater in his wrath. I understand that is your objective, but I must make one request. I cannot even remember the last time I saw a forest. If you take me to see one, I promise you can return me to the fleet shortly.

A fissure emerges, shattering a section of the port into splinters. A massive sea serpent emerges four stories high out of the ocean. Its jaw unhinges to reveal a scaly humanoid shape from the torso up.

People of Stormwater! Release Lala Hollywood at once if you want to remain a port town any longer. It would require little of my strength to return your shoreline to the ocean, and some effort to erase your town from the very maps.

What do you do?

Calen
Calen attempted to contact the other players to form an army to fight the pirates. He managed to exchange greetings with Nick and Jack and rounded up several local militiamen with his charisma.

Jack
Jack asks Ba'az how to make an explosive material out of available resources, produces a pot of dogfire, finds a pirate, defeats them in combat, takes the pirate's clothes, and boards one of the pirate fleet's ships in a dinghy, upon which he lights the ship on fire, jumps on the nearest ship, lights it on fire again, and gets captured upon pirates realizing the common denominator in ship fires.

Jatin
Jatin asked Solomon if he knew any way to penetrate the walls of the Seastone Tower, to which he replied he did, and used alchemy to produce an explosive substance he calls Boomdust. Flying on the top of the tower on the Chaos Horse, Jatin and Solomon threw boomdust bombs into the walls, breaking them. The prisoner, a young blonde woman, ran to get her belongings before escaping the prison on the length of rope Jatin let down. On the way down, the prisoner shot a few guards with her crossbow.

Michael
Michael trained his creature to defend its master.

Nick
Nick attempted to touch a pirate ship to determine structural weak spots to exploit, but was captured by the pirates as they noticed a suspicious person trying to approach their ship.

Nicole
Nicole had Pippin wait outside the Seastone Tower and entered, flashing her royal seal and telling the guards that it would be optimal for the prisoner to be released. The guards said they would consider it, and sent one of them to the top of the tower to check on the prisoner. Upon seeing that the prisoner was in the midst of escaping already due to the actions of Jatin and Solomon, the guards suspected Nicole was a conspirator and ordered her arrested.

Calen
Calen runs as far away from the shore as he can, abandoning his militia, looting stores on the way. He acquires money, a few basic potions, an assortment of metal tools, and rare exotic spices.

Jack
Jack asks Ba’az how he can fight off the pirates and escape from the ship. Ba’az confesses that although he does not care much whether Jack lives or dies, the possibility of his being submerged in water is very threatening, so he will be lending him direct aid. The ifrit directs Jack to follow his lead, and emits a dazzling flare in the face of the closest pirate to Jack. Jack uses the opportunity to steal the pirate’s blade and cut a specific rope in the ship’s mast as Ba’az flies around the ship in spectral form, lighting various things on fire, including an adjacent rope to the one Jack cut. The ship’s sail falls, knocking over several pirates, and Jack runs in the distraction to escape. However, a figure leapt down from the top of the mast just before the sail fell. Falsetto Hollywood spots the flame flying around the ship and withdraws his lute from his back, which he begins to play in quick, jarring notes. Ba’az immediately retreats into the Ifrit's Candle. Barely looking at his target, Falsetto deposits four throwing knives in Jack’s chest and thighs. Before he can close the gap, a barrel of rum Ba’az had ignited explodes in the lower deck below him, knocking him back. A bleeding Jack escapes in the dinghy he arrived in, unaided by an unresponsive Ba’az.

Jatin
Jatin spirits Lala away to the nearest forest in a chaos horse-lead wagon. There, Lala’s normally hardened, energetic demeanor gives way to a profound wistfulness and she gazes upon the birds, deer, and trees of the forest with a bittersweet wonder. Jatin finds himself falling in love with the pirate queen. After an hour passes, Lala resignedly thanks him for his service, also noting that he was one of the first friends she ever made. Jatin protests, insisting that with his speed, Chorus could never catch them if they ran away together. Lala rebukes him, asserting that she is the daughter, sister, and bride of the sea. “I love you,” he says in defeat. “Don’t make this any harder than it is,” she shakes her head.

As Jatin returns Lala to the ocean, she thanks him again and offers him an entire ship, or a pick of treasures from the fleet’s collection. Jatin refuses, saying she knows what he wants, and he cannot have it. Before she leaves, she whispers something in his ear.

“I will kill you,” Jatin hisses at an unresponsive Chorus, “I know not how, but one day I will end your long, long life, and that woman will be free.”

Michael
Michael runs as far away from the shore as they can, looting stores on the way. He acquires money, a few basic potions, an assortment of metal tools, and rare exotic spices.

Nick
Nick touches the ship with the intent of reading the daily schedule of the pirates, particularly to see when they get drunk and will be off guard enough for him to sneak away. Their drinking time proves several hours ahead, but Nick is able to find out when the usual prison guarding shifts will rotate to the laziest member of the ship’s crew. With no one paying attention, he acquires a length of rope. The fiery commotion from the adjacent ship suddenly provides sufficient distraction for Nick to find a dinghy he located with the glove, reach it with the rope, and begin rowing towards the shore. However, Chorus’ presence has caused the waters to become extremely violent and unstable and he is dashed against the shore, leaving him severely injured.

Nicole
Nicole uses her hat to convince the guards she is a royal affiliate. However, this makes the head guard even angrier, and they commence charging her. Pippin places himself between Nicole and the guards and slays two of them. Already having lost seven guards due to the combined efforts of Lala and Pippin, the guards decide to cut their losses and not pursue them as they flee town.

Ending
As Lala sees that three of her ships are either destroyed or damaged, a cold anger washes over her. “Forgive me, uncle. I bear you no ill will as a man, but as a leader I cannot accept you. You lead us to this potentially total disaster. It is time for new blood.” As she boards the Red Carpet, she splashes rum on Baritone Hollywood's face, signaling a duel. The crew is shocked. Baritone soberly accepts. It is over in seconds, and the captain’s head flies. “Hollywood Pirates!” she declares. “Lay your swords before your new captain.” Every single crew member obliges. Falsetto flashes his sister a shy, prideful smile.