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As related by Jonathon in reference to an incident in the Smytheport harbor concerning the ship The Vengeance:

During my journey north along the seacoast I'd made the acquaintance of several other individuals traveling in the same direction. Among them were Darion, a magician, Eldriditch, a pointy-eared gambler, another pointy-ear named Ahriallen, Johnathon Greaves, Solaar, Maradon, Kelthorn, a human druid, and a human fighter. We had just turned along the coast road and into a protected cove when we came upon an ox cart in the middle of the road, and a ship lying at anchor offshore. The ship, named the Wind's Pawn and owned by Ahriallen, had wounded aboard and Kelthorn laid hands upon several of them to ease the more grievous pains. As it was dusk, we decided to make camp in the cove and proceed the following day. Cerberus, my wolf, and I scouted the area and determined there to be no hostiles in the surroundings. My squaw prepared supper that I thought was adequate, given our meager provisions, but some of the other folks were a little particular.

Next day we proceed north, myself scouting ahead and the wounded riding in the cart driven by Maradon. Winter snows yet remained on the ground allowing for easy tracking of possible encounters, although the weather remained not unpleasant. Toward late afternoon we came upon the scene of what appeared to be a battle with bodies of dead horses and people scattered about under a thin blanket of snow. Solaar and Eldriditch proceeded to retrieve items of possible value before we turned again north toward our destination. It was dark, late in the evening, before we arrived at the city gates and the guards requested our coins before admitting the party through the gates.

Once we had located lodging and settled down conversation turned to recent events that had befallen some of the party folk. Although these folks weren't bad as traveling companions, they seemed to be concerned about some pirate ship they might meet up with. A Captain Morgan was frequently discussed. It was the next morning when Eldriditch proposed that if this pirate ship was such a problem, why didn't we just sink it? Although many of the party initially rejected his idea, they began to reconsider it, as Eldriditch was not only persuasive but also apparently clever and bold.

Plans were discussed, reviewed, modified, rejected, rethought, and finally a concept was agreed upon. Late that morning, Ahriallen cast spells upon Eldriditch and Solar, causing both of them to vanish from our sight. Party members were sent about the town buying various items and preparing for the battle scheduled to start at dusk. Not sure of the wisdom in this plan, I told my squaw to pack up our possibles and rendezvous a couple of miles outside of town on the north road.

About an hour before the sun was to set, the party walked to the southernmost area of the port and rented three small fishing rowboats. We boarded, with the unseen folks sitting in my boat and the rest distributed between the other two boats, and proceeded to row out to sea. About a quarter-mile from shore, I drew close to the boat containing John the priest, and he cast some incantation upon my unseen passengers. Supposedly it was a spell to protect them from the cold water in case they needed to swim. We then all proceeded to row toward the main part of the port with the intent of passing near The Vengeance.

As we neared the ship, people on board warned us away under threat of arrows. Nevertheless, both my skiff and the one carrying the wizard Darion, Ahriallen, and Maradon were able to close sufficiently near that Darion could cast his spell upon the ships planking, just at and below the waterline. The plank shrunk, popping loose from its fastenings, and water began to flood into the ship. Then Maradon, being of considerable strength, used a gaff hook to yank the plank completely away from the hull of the boat. At the same time as these actions occurred, Ahriallen cast a fire spell upon the ships deck.

Great chaos and pandemonium ensured as a three-foot ball of flame slowly began rolling along the deck. During this confusion I was able to row to the stern anchor rope of The Vengeance where my two unseen colleagues quickly disembarked from my boat and, I think, tried to climb up onto the deck. I then proceeded away from the back of the Vengeance. I saw the ball of fire continue along the deck while many arrows were shot at Darion, Ahriallen, and the dwarf but the angle of the ships deck made clear shots very difficult. However, when their rowboat reached the middle of The Vengeance, a volley of arrows struck both Maradon and Darion knocking them both down. Almost immediately a very large ball of blackness appeared over the place where they lay in the bottom of their rowboat. In the next moment I saw Eldriditch appear on the deck of The Vengeance and immediately dive over the side.

I continued rowing until I reached a point where I felt comfortable using my bow. As I nocked an arrow I heard a loud crash and saw the ocean light up below The Vengeance. Unsure what it was, I drew sight on one of the pike men on the deck and loosed my arrow. My aim was good and I saw him stager back, but my action brought a fusillade of return fire and I was cut in my left arm. I put down my weapon and proceeded to row out of range and sight.

After making rendezvous, and determined that squaw was safe, I went back into town to locate the other party members. I was only able to find Kelthorn, and in a strange turn of events, John the priest, and I will retain this portion of my narrative in confidence. Determining that it was best to leave as soon as possible, Kelthorn and I made camp in an alley, pretending to be drunks, until time to leave the city at dawns first light. Ahriallen tracked us down and made contact. He then left for a couple of hours, only to return to depart the city with us.

The next day we made contact with the Wind's Pawn and I bade farewell to Ahriallen as he boarded his ship and I turned again toward my mountains. I found out later that while The Vengeance was not destroyed, it had partially sunk and required considerable time and effort to repair, refit, and reprovision. I also learned that Maradon, Darion, Eldriditch, Solaar, and the human fighter had died.

I prefer my mountains.

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