# Return to the Known Lands - Pirate Battle!
# Session #26 (3/27/21)
## PCs:
* Louis (FM 3)
* Osan (Elf F/MU 3/1)
* Omes (Half FM 3)
* Arro (MU 1)
* Habru (Cleric 3)
## NPCs:
* Habru's war dog, named Dog
* Horace - Habru's retainer - Cleric 1
* Bunco - Omes' Knave 1
## Hirelings:
* Samtik - porter
* Durdoon - meatshield (RIP killed by a pirate)
## Session notes:
The battle with the pirate vessel began in earnest, with the pirates
firing their trebuchet as often as possible, damaging the barge with
a lucky hit. In return, the party launched a barrage of missile fire
and spells. Habru and Horace both blinded pirates with light spells,
and Arro disabled the trebuchet by aiming a magic missile at its
firing rope. Osan swam to shore and began to pick off pirates with
his bow.
Meanwhile, a small rowboat with six pirates launched and advanced
towards the barge. Osan managed to put all six men to sleep, then
swam out to the rowboat and rowed it back towards the larger pirate
vessel.
The larger vessel was now very close to the Dragonfly, and several
pirates managed to hook their grapples and board the barge. Melee
was joined! Osan at this point had secured the rowboat, and was
climbing onto the rear deck of the pirate vessel. The pirates did
not notice him in the commotion of boarding and the melee that was
in progress on the deck of the Dragonfly.
Claudia of course decided this was a good time to emerge from her
cabin to see what was happening, and three pirates moved to grab
her. Omes and Louis intercepted them, preventing the kidnapping but
getting wounded in the process. In the larger melee, Habru and
Horace were both also wounded, and Durdoon was killed.
Back on the pirate vessel, Osan was able to shoot an kill a few more
pirates with his bow, and that, coupled with the losses in the melee
on board the Dragonfly, caused the remaining crew to break morale
and attempt to swim to shore. Several escaped, but a few were
captured, including the first mate and the captain.
The party set about healing themselves and questioned the first
mate, Lieutenant Dann. They noticed that all of the pirates who had
been captured wore golden axe necklaces embossed with rubies, with
the number of rubies indicating rank. Lt. Dann told the party that
he would tell them what he knows if they let him free, and they will
never see him again. They agreed to these terms, and learned of the
Golden Axe Society, and that their leader (Captain Brant) had an
agreement with a powerful person in Dolmvay to kidnap Claudia for a
fee. Captain Brant was harder to crack, and for now refused to speak
to the party.
To be continued...
## LL Notes:
There was a lot going on in this session, with the 20 or so pirates
and multiple action threads, but this is something I find very
rewarding as a GM, when it goes well. The blinding light spells and
the magic missile that disabled the trebuchet by breaking the firing
rope were clever use of magic by the players. For the latter I
considered that the magic missile is able to auto-hit what it is
aimed at, but just in general it seemed like a good use of the rule
of cool, and I let it happen.
