A look back - The Curse of the Antelope - Part 4

The Reavers row out to investigate the Ghost Ship of Selgaunt Bay and soon find themselves engulfed in thick, cold mist.

AWAKENINGS

You awake to the heavy sounds of creaking wood and crashing waves. There is a strong Sea Salt smell in the air, the sound of squawking gulls and running feet, harsh shouting, and the feel of sea mist upon your faces. Opening your eyes you see that you are in fact sitting among some barrels on the rolling deck of a square sailed vessel. Peering out past the barrels you see sailors moving about the deck busily tending to their tasks under the shouted orders of a man standing on the fore-deck. A glance over the rails doesn't help much in orienting yourselves, but you can see the grey outline of a coast.

You hear a voice close by and snap your heads around to see a smiling sailor wink at you and say "I know you just came on board and all, but you lot better get moving. If the boss see's you slackards lying 'round like this, he'll have yer hides. " He looks curiously at the armor some of you sport and shakes his head. "If ye're hopin' ta impress the Captain with yer shinies, I think it's gonna be a poor surprise fer y'all. Plus there is the fallin' overboard and drownin' thingy." He chuckles to himself. "I'm Ollie. Welcome aboard the Antelope. Now get that stuff off and git ta work now, you sea dogs. Yer not in Westgate anymore. Git to findin' yer sea-legs. Ye can stow that gear in the hold", he points to an opening in the aft-castle. He walks away briskly and helps another sailor secure a rope.

What in the Nine Hells is going on here?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

The characters can pretty much explore the ship a bit at this point. If they take Ollies advice they can take the stairs down into the hold and ditch their heavy armor. They will encounter several members of the crew in their exploring, but unless the characters interact with them, they will seem to walk on about their business. They see them there, but do not see them as they really are (Outside of the story), just as new recruit sailors from Westgate.

There is no way the characters can break the curse at this point in the story or even try to bring their reality into it. If they explain the situation as they know it to any of the officers or crew, they blow it off as them being crazy or delirious, quickly ending the conversation and going about their business. The only real way they can meaningfully interact with the crew is to play along with the re-enactment.

The idea in this part of the adventure is to have the characters interact with the crew and become engrossed in being sailors on a merchant cog, letting the characters experience what it is like on-board a ship on the Sea of Fallen Stars. The sights, the sounds and smells. The amusing moments and the dramatic moments. They should begin to learn all of the various personalities of each member of the crew as they journey across the sea.

The next section details the Journey and will be broken down into a series of narrative encounters that the characters can interact in. It will involve a course change that puts the Antelope out to open sea through pirate infested waters as they race towards Selgaunt on the Captains secret urgent business. After stopping at port in Selgaunt they will quickly make to sea again, only to be hunted down and attacked by the undead minions of Thay. Can the characters survive and defeat the living dead, and by doing so remove the curse upon this ship?

THE JOURNEY

PUT TO WORK

This encounter should be one of the first. After they have decided they have no choice but to play along, they will be assigned specific chores to perform on the ship. These should be ones that sort of suit their characters or could be assigned for humor value as well.

They should be encouraged to role-play these situations a bit so that they get to know a little about how it feels as well as have an opportunity to interact with other crew members and learn a bit more about the antelope and it's history.

COOKIE'S DELIGHTFUL MASH

This encounter is set in the mess hall as Cookie prepares his most famous meal - Cookie's Delightful Mash. Which is essentially some sort of gruel with little bits of meat in it and a few root vegetables. What the little bits of meat are is uncertain and best not to think about.

This is an opportunity to play up some of the more over the top personalities among the crew and have the characters interact with them. Essentially most of the regular crew are here except the couple that need to man the deck. Of course the Captain and his officers dine separately from the crew.

SEVEN COME ELEVEN

At some point on their voyage, after chores are done, the PC's will find themselves below decks where some of the crew are gambling and drinking their rum rations away. Young Will is there and the boys are doing their best to corrupt him with drink and cards and talk of Curvy Lasses of distant lands. Will is loving it!!

The PC's can interact with the crew as they see fit here, possibly gambling, drinking or whatever suits their fancy. This is just another chance for the PC's to interact with the crew as they journey the Inner Sea together.

COURSE CHANGE

A few days into the voyage the Captain has called for a sudden and severe course change. This course will bring them directly across the deepest and darkest parts of the Sea of Fallen Stars, through potentially stormy seas and terribly close to the Pirate Isles. When some of the crew voice their concerns the First Mate Shouts them down and commands them to get busy, we have to move with all speed.

This is not a popular decision among the crew but they reluctantly do as the Boss commands. No one knows what he is up to but that course will take them straight across from the Dragon coast (Where they are now) to the coast of Sembia. This cog prefers to hug the coast and almost never makes a journey like that, especially this late in the season.

THE EYE OF THE STORM

Mid-way across the Inner Sea, the Cog gets caught in one of the Sea's vicious seasonal storms (A Category 2 Hurricane) with seas swelling to 10 yards. The crew go into emergency mode and the PC's can see just how professional this rag-tag band of sailors can be when it really counts. There should be a few moments of panic as the ship almost capsizes and the Pilot pulls out some amazing moves to turn the ship into the waves and keep her afloat. Crew handling the rigging, etc.

And of course the PC's can help out in saving the ship in anyway they can.

ARRIVAL AT SELGAUNT

After a harrowing journey, the Antelope arrives in port at Selgaunt and the Captain and his pet mage Vasindra leave the boat on private business. About an hour or so later they arrive back aboard the ship and Barrett gives the order to make haste and plots a course east along the Sembian coast. He gives no indication what his business might be.

PURSUIT

The Antelope is almost a day out when a strange thick fog seems to envelop the ship and the sailors stand around in anxious wonder at the supernatural weather. What is happening now?

Make sure to check back for the final installment of this series - The battle and conclusion.