As we travel towards Tidewater Rock, we don’t run across any other ships – which gives us time to discuss our game plan, as Rickety forbade us to actually kill Lady Agatha Smythe to acquire the tower. Information from the new pirates we just saved from the Volsfang suggests she is more the widow of a famous captain rather than a famous captain himself. Her husband’s fleet was ambushed and destroyed by Harrigan and now Smythe just has a single ship to her name – although it might be a frigate (which is a third to even double the size of our boat) with a crew of 200-250, compared to our 38.
We roll up to the Tower around dinner time, in an attempt to force her to host us. Tidewater Rock is a black tower looming 70’ over the broken shale ridge it sits on, which itself rises 70’ from the water, giving the Rock a commanding view of the sea around it for a long distance. The ridge itself extends back into a small isle perhaps 2 miles long.
We anchor the boat right outside the harbor and take a longboat in with four goblins rowing, to put the Lady at ease.
As we dock at one of the two piers, someone calls down for us to identify ourselves. We call up our boat’s name, and a middle-aged blonde woman takes over in a moment to hail us.
“I’m getting bored already,” sighs Tyria. “Would anyone object if I just shot her between the eyes right now?”
When the others reprimand her, she agrees to hold off “another minute.”
Handling the negotiation, Emrys wins a meeting with the Lady when she name-drops Harrigan, although the Lady insists that we must leave a hostage and also allow a small crew to gunpowder our ship while negotiations are held.
“Wait -- you expect us to allow you to row explosives out to our boat, just to talk to you?”
“I have to ensure the safety of the keep.”
Emrys glowers up at her. “Do you take us for fools?”
“That remains to be seen. Do you want to discuss this matter or not?”
Emrys explains our crew would view approaching longboats as hostile under the current circumstances and could be at risk, so eventually Lady Smythe agrees to just the hostage. “And not one of your scummy goblins, either -- they don’t count.” We also have to agree to set aside our weapons before going inside – a condition that is a major strategic ruse for us, considering we are either spellcasters or unarmed combatants and don’t need weapons to be in top form.
When we slyly agree to leave shade Emrys (the eidelon) in their hands, they come out, hood the shade, tie her hands behind her back, and search her before taking her into the keep. Normal Emrys collects the shade’s holy symbol, which Lady Smythe’s guards have purposefully discarded on the steps.
We are led into the keep for food and discussion. There are two men of arms, the lady, her main protector, and us. Finn is chugging rum over in the corner like no tomorrow and we’re trying to keep an eye on him.
We play up the tale of how we stole our ship out from under Captain Harrigan and encourage her to talk more about him. She seems delighted by our besting the captain and tells us that he is sometimes referred to as “Harrigan of the Many Faces,” as when tragedy has struck him and he’s been written off, he has kept coming back but often looking different than his last appearance. For example, he used to be human, then half-elf, then human, then possibly an elf or half-elf – which suggests he can either possess other bodies or has some kind of illusory powers. There has also been speculation that he wears perfume to cover up an undead rotting body. In any case, he is a rising star and had much success and advanced quickly through the pirate ranks. He has exhibited a tendency towards luck or somehow has a strong intel apparatus based on his ability to find lucrative raids or target ships with perfect timing.
In terms of the lady’s deceased husband, there had been some shenanigans over an object that her husband had found and planned to turn in, but somehow he had lost it and Harrigan claimed the bounty instead. Some ships supposedly then defected from Harrigan and joined her husband, who then had four ships – but he lost his life in the conflict that ensued and she suspects the betrayal of Harrigan was some kind of deception to backstab her husband.
“It sounds like we have a mutual enemy. What assistance would you like from us to help you avenge your husband?”
Lady Smythe laughs into her wineglass. “Oh, you could just kill the bastard for me. Or he also seems to be particularly interested in a captain – a smuggler he is trying to find – named Trista Bonecutter. He is constantly looking for her ship.” We look at each other, as we know from other crew that Harrigan seemed to be searching for some particular ship by never finding it.
“But Bonecutter is a master smuggler and her ship possesses potent enchantments. She is also a likeable person, so people will go to her when they need important items smuggled. She has been instrumental in relieving sieges on some ports, by negating the blockade.”
We actually know Trisha Bonecutter’s name, as she was one of the assignments in the logs of Captain Wormwithers, whose ship we just took – along with mention of a mysterious crate that someone would like retrieved from her vessel, although not opened under pain of death.
By now rather soused, Finn interrupts to announce that, based on the appearance of the Tower (including its tarnished silverware and weather-worn doors) and its inhabitants, he thinks they’ve fallen on hard times and don’t have a lot of bargaining power. While Tyria smirks and a few of us given the sprite dirty looks, Lady Smythe smoothly brushes aside these allegations.
We ask why she hasn’t been chasing Harrigan down herself, considering all the reasons she has to hate him. Lady Smythe says she only has four ships and the location of her tower allows her to be as successful as she has been, due to its strategic properties.
“No offense, but the state of things looks like it hasn’t been as successful as you say,” repeats Finn before someone passes him another rum bottle to occupy him.
While Lady Smythe continues to deny the charges, Emrys and others sense she’s bullshitting, unless she is happening to hold some folks in reserve. Just from eyeballing this room of people, only her main protector looks challenging to defeat; the other two look rather unseasoned.
We didn’t see her frigate but it could be anchored out back in the inlet.
“If you’ll excuse me a moment,” says Tyria, stifling a belch as she pushes back from the table, “This food has been rather rich and I need a moment to clear my head.” She nonchalantly wanders over to the back window, breathing deeply, but really taking a moment to look out across the backside of the inlet. There’s only one ship at anchor out there – and rather than a frigate, it’s a much smaller brigantine, far less capable, and it looks like it has seen better days. Down, along the path going to the water, there’s a barracks with a fire outside, where some twenty men are milling about and cooking food. Tyria can also see some animal pens nearby, along with a small farm with tended crops on a small flat cleared piece of land. Whatever Lady Smythe is claiming, the total count of people seems to be closer to the 24 hands that Hake had told us.
She comes back to the dinner table. “Oh, most impressive,” she announces, cocking an eyebrow, “like the might of the glorious Vorsfang the very last time we saw her.” This doesn’t mean much to Lady Smythe, but it conveys the point effectively, considering an the last time we saw the Vorsfang, she was burned partially to the water line, had holes beaten into her hull, and was bereft of her crew.
“Well, we see you’re a bit short of hands,” says Emrys. “What if there was an exchange, perhaps for us to hold this position for you while providing a vessel with the speed to pursue your justified quest against Harrigan?”
She chuckles a bit. “I appreciate your generosity, but a fast ship is not enough to overcome the raw power he brings on the sea.”
“Then what about help in setting up an ambush?”
She says she’s willing to cooperate in an ambush but doesn’t feel any sufficient motivation to surrender the keep to anyone for any length of time. Even Finn’s drunken persistence only exposes that the Lady sees such an ambush as too much of a gamble, considering Harrigan’s track record and resources.
“Very well: What would you be willing to sacrifice to get your revenge?” asks Emrys.
“Not my life.”
“Agree -- one can hardly savor revenge when you are dead.”
She smirks and says she’ll offer us the keep for his head. We all see the issue immediately: It would be much easier for us just to take the Tower ourselves, directly, rather than trying to kill Harrigan right now to buy its ownership.
“Well?” asks Tyria looking at Emrys almost as if asking permission.
“Thank you, we’ll consider that,” says Emrys. Then, almost casually, she adds, “By the way, Rickety Hake says hello.”
The bad strategy of name-dropping Hake almost is compensated by the look of comical shock that runs through Lady Smythe’s face. Her wine glass drops out of her hands and shatters on her plate. As we’re watching this reaction in amazement, she leaps from the table, knocking over her chair, and runs for her man-at arms who has hit SOMETHING on the wall and made a magical portal appear. As both disappear through the closing portal, the other two guards knock over their own chairs as they leap up and pull pistols on us.
“Well, that was rude,” hics Fineas.
There’s the sound of gunfire in close proximity but both shots go wide. With a fearful but determined look on their faces, the two guards throw their guns to the ground, then yank out cutlasses and hatchets – one yelping as the sprite pegs him with a phase bolt.
“Right -- murder, then,” sighs Tyria, as she leaps across the table. “How pedestrian.” She rips open the wounded man, dropping him as the other comes at her – then just does a little hop over his swinging cutlass, no worse for wear.
Tom-Tom watches as SOMEONE yanks the ladder in the corner up to the next floor. He runs over to the corner to look up the hole. When he sees a man preparing to dump oil down in our room, he hurls a fireball – which explodes, making the barrel explode, immolating the bearer and dropping burning oil down on the goblin as well.
As Brandr slags the remaining guard’s arm off with acid, Emrys feels blows strike shade Emrys wherever she is being held. Before the shade can be killed, Emrys dismisses her, then prepares to resummon her in a better location.
As Finn finishes off the acid-fried guard, Tyria leaps up through the flames to grab the edge of the hole above her. Still on fire, the guard there manages to wing her with his crossbow, but she rips up his leg as he tries to retreat, then grabs his ankle and yanks him tumbling down into the fire below.
Pulling herself up into the room, she sees a door to her right, a corridor running ahead, and an arrow slit to the left next to an open cask stuffed with bolts and another crossbow. “Looks safe!” she shouts down, grabbing the ladder and lowering it back down the hole.
As her friends work on clearing the fire below and heading up, Tyria studies the door briefly – it’s got iron bands and a keyhole (without a key to unlock it), but otherwise it might have seen better days. She does a full spin kick, lashing out at the door and shattering it from its hinges.
Inside are two guards in laminated shell, both bringing up blunderbusses to fire at her.
“Why, hello, boys!” she quips, leaping in to trip the first, then roundhouse slashing him with her foot as he tries to stand, knocking him back down again. When he staggers back to his feet and shoves the end of the gun against her chest, she swats it aside just in time for it to unload into the wall.
Another loud BOOM follows when the other guard fires at her, at close range – and somehow while the walls around her are peppered with shot, Tyria has emerged unscathed. She laughs wickedly and cocks a fist.
After resummoning her shade, Emrys calls out to our longboat that the “target is fleeing.” In the process, she sees another longboat rowing out towards the harbor potentially to sabotage our boat, considering it’s carrying four large barrels with sand on top of them. She calls for Brandr, who comes to the window and casts some fire at the longboat – which immediately explodes into a huge ball of flame, leaving burning debris strewn across the water as well as presumably pieces of whoever was rowing that boat.
Having come up the ladder, Tom-Tom and Finn both charge into the guardroom and start casting spells at the two guards harassing Tyria. Dropping the wounded soldier, Tyria tries to trip the other guard but fails. He whispers some kind of command to his shield, making it blaze with light. The monk takes advantage of this moment to slash his shoulder – whereupon he sticks her with his rapier.
Emrys looks out the back window and while she can’t see the Lady and her bodyguard fleeing, she does see the fire down at the bay, with people eating food. However, none of them seem to be aware of the fighting or caring much about an attack. She and shade Emrys exit the tower and begin to move cautiously towards the bay along the ridgeline path, taking pains to stay hidden. Maybe the Lady and her protector can try to flee, but Emrys will make sure that she has no little crew left to man her ship.
As Tom-Tom electrifies the second guard, Tyria hurls herself into the second door and knocks that one off its hinges. This room is a workshop where both mundane and magical items are created. She sees a door on the far side, with a gun barrel pointing towards her through a slot. She leaps ahead right as a shot rings out, leaving Finn and Tom-Tom to cry out in pain as they are struck, and comes down with her full weight on the gun barrel, bending it downwards. She hears swearing on the far side, then the scamper of feet.
Bleeding from his side, Tom-Tom hurries forward and tries the door where Tyria is standing. It’s locked. “Tyria, can you get this open?” She rolls her eyes as if the answer should be obvious, but when she shoulders it, it resists her the first time. Winding up, she hits it again and this time it flies open, allowing her to charge up the steps to the next door just in time for burning oil to spray the steps and for her to take a gunblast through another door slot.
In a fury, she leaps at the door and smashes the lock open, but someone is pushing back on the other side. “Knock, knock!” she shouts, brute-forcing the space open far enough to see the grizzled older man there anxiously staring back at her – and slams him in the forehead with the heel of her palm. He reels back just in time to get hit by a spell from Finn, who has flown up through the arrow slits, which knocks him back towards Tyria. She kicks him in the back as he turns and shoves the sprite aside to head up more steps.
Apparently we missed two guards, because as Brandr and Tom-Tom are trying to figure out how to get past the burning steps, two guards rush the goblin from behind with their cutlasses and hatchets, proceeding to beat Tom-Tom like a drum.
Tyria leaps up multiple steps at a time, where the older soldier is banging wildly on the next door and crying for help. She rams her elbow into the back of his neck with a loud crack. As he whimpers and sags, she tries to press him up against the door as a gunfire shield – then realizes there is oil under her feet. “Dammit!” she swears as the whole stairway goes up in flames around her.
Finn slips out the nearby arrow slit and flies up to the next, but it’s being blocked by some kind of wooden apparatus. With a hard shove, he manages to dislodge it but it clatters loudly to the stone floor inside. There’s a room behind it, with a few people using an overturned dining table for cover. Seeing flame heading for him, he pulls away from the slot but not before getting singed. He starts sending fireblasts through the slot, to hit multiple targets including the door, but is in turn rocked back by force bolts.
Two floors down, Tom-Tom takes a wicked blow to his temple while Brandr tries to keep the battered goblin alive. Suddenly there’s a shout from Tyria up the nearby steps. “You guys coming or WHAT?”
“Kinda preoccupied!” shouts Brandr, still trying to deflect attacks and dish out some damage against the two guards who are coming at him, now that Tom-Tom has shifted behind him. Finally the goblin takes out one with a tempest surge, while right afterwards Tyria leaps off the stairs, kicking the last man in the kidney and then elbowing him in the throat. He spins around a few times, then collapses.
The goblin and dwarf look at her in a bit of concern, as she turns back to face them – with clothes smoking, and blood and soot smeared over her face and bare limbs. She’s definitely seen better days. “What’s taking you so long?”
“Hey, *I* was trying to help you,” says Finn popping back through the arrow slit, still a little bit drunk and kind of put off by being ignored. He’s also seen better days. Brandr sighs and starts casting healing magic, and even Tom-Tom gets into the act by doing a group heal.
Right when we are feeling more positive about our invasion, we hear something metal bounce down the steps and stop near our feet.
A grenade.