Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Segunda Edición - Inglés - Forgotten Realms - Pirates of the Fallen Stars

7/30/2019 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Segunda Edición - Inglés - Forgotten Realms - Pirates of the Fallen Stars

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by Curtis M. Scott

CONTENTS

Introduction: A Pirates Life for Me 3 Chapter 5: The Rogues Gallery . . . . . . . .69. . . . . . .Chapter 1: To Be A Pirate . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Chapter 6: Ships of the Inner SeaChapter 2: Generating Pirate Characters . 18 Chapter 7: Movement and Combat . . . . . .96Chapter 3: Nations of the Inner Sea 111. . . . . 34 Chapter 8: Raid on Teziir . . . . . . . . . . . .Chapter 4: The Pirate Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Pirate-Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

CREDITS

Project Design: Curtis M. ScottEditing: Newton H. Ewell

Combat System Development: Zeb Cook, Jeff GrubbCover Art: Erik OlsonBlack and White Art by: Jaime LombardoColor Art by: Clyde Caldwell, Larry ElmoreProduct Manager: Karen S. BoomgardenTypography: Angelika LokotzGraphic Design by: Sarah FeggestadCartography: Dennis Kauth, Steve Beck

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ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, and FORGOTTEN REALMS are registered trademarks owned by TSR, inc. The TSR logo is atrademark owned by TSR, Inc.

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Copyright © 1992 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

9346ISBN 1-56076-320-5

9346XXX1501



In Which the Reader Meets A Former Pirate

Arr, yer all alike, you adventurers. Yougambles on the turn of a sword or thetoss of a spell; some of yers fight fer kingand country, ithers of yer think of nuthin but whar the gold fer yer nextales a-comin from. And you got the gallto sit here in my inn and tell me piratesis different from yerselves? HA! Theresthem whats heroes, and theres themwhats villains. Hang around Alaghon

long enough, and youll meet em all, Ipromise yer that.

I met plenty of em durin my timeon the sea. Not that I was one, mind ya,but I was in the wrong place at the righttime more than once in my life. Therewas the time I was stowed away on theDragons Claw, and she was boarded bya crew of cutlass-swingin madmen; andthe captain was a woman! Can you be-lieve that? A flame-haired vixen, witheyes like cornflowers and a ruby at herthroat the size of a humminbird! All thecrew jumped ship rathern be kilt by thepirates, and I was the only one left; astriplin of seventeen winters, no more,cowerin in the hold behind a pile of furs. The captain found me down there,and offered me passage on her ship.Well, I ask ya, what would you do?Course, I went with her. Showed her athing or two, too, I did, like how to playchess . . .

What do ya want ta know? Pirate se-crets? What their coves are, and where?

How this got the name Sea of FallenStars? I cn tell yer that, and more. I cntell yer how they live out there, in thePirate Isles; how they pick their cap-tains, even how you cn join up if

ya want. Course, things is different inDragon Reach than they are in Turmish.If yer plannin to travel around heremuch, youll be wantin to know wholikes pirates and who dont, so youllknow whose side yer on.

I kin even tell yer about some of themost famouer, notorious pirates onthe Inner Sea. I kin tell about theirships, their crews, what makes the cap-tains do what they do; yep, I kin tell yerall about the life o piracy.

Jomo the Cutlass Shanbaeren,retired pirate turned tavern-owner

You are about to discover how to createpirate PCs, rules for building ships, andrules for simulating naval battles. New us-es of magic on the sea are here, too. Thereis even an introductory adventure your pi-rate PCs (and your non-pirate PCs) can ex-perience to show them life on the InnerSea.

Pirates of the Fallen Stars presumes that

youre using the AD&D® 2nd Edition gamerules for Weapon Proficiencies and Non-Weapon Proficiencies. Many of the rulespresented in this book depend on use of the proficiencies. If you havent been us-ing them so far in your campaign, wehighly recommend that you familiarize

yourself with them and introduce them in-to your playing.

Heres a special note for those of youwho are using this book with your first edi-tion AD&D game instead of the new sec-ond edition: This supplement occasionallymentions chapters and headings from thePlayers Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. The citations are for the second edi-tion, not the first; youll need to locate therelevant sections in your own books.

A Pirate's Life for Me . . . 3



In Which We Explore the Piratical Mentali- ty and Lifestyle; and Wherein Are A Histo- ry of Pirates of the Fallen Stars And A List of Known Organizations

What is Piracy?

In simple terms, piracy is the act of unlaw-fully robbing a vessel on the high seas, orthe act of making a similar attack uponcoastal holdings made from the sea. With-

in this broad definition, however, there areseveral sub-groups.Pirates rob ships at sea for personal

profit. Many of the pirates of the Inner Sea,including most of the most infamous pi-rates, fit this mold well. Such true pi-rates are unwelcome in any civilized land,and can move their ill-gotten gains onlythrough thieves guilds or unscrupulousintermediaries, as they cannot openly selltheir booty in port.

Pirate attacks can take various forms.Some pirates steal only cargo, freeing theship and its crew to travel on safely. Somesink the ship, offering membership tothose able-bodied sailors who will acceptit, and killing the rest (or freeing them atthe nearest neutral or friendly port). Oth-ers murder all aboard, so that the crimegoes forever unreported.

Privateers, such as the CormyreanFreesails, raid on the high seas at the be-hest of one government, generally againstpirates or targets owned by another gov-ernment. Privateers are legal when

within their own home waters, but areoutlaw in those countries who suffer theirdepredations. Many countries of the InnerSea, particularly along the Dragon andEasting Reaches, employ privateers.

Privateers raid economic targets duringtime of peace (often with no more than si-lent approval of their governments), but inwar they act as a supplementary navy, en-gaging both economic and military targets.

Privateers typically possess a documentor other sign that they are servants of theirgovernment. These documents, called let-ters of marque, provides privateers withlegitimacy within their homelands waters.

Both privateers and pirates rely heavilyon seamanship and navigation to locatetheir targets. They often wait along sealanes for days or even weeks at a time be-fore locating a victim who is sufficiently

close (and sufficiently slow) to catch.Raiders, on the other hand, attackcoastal villages and cities. Their raids de-pend upon their ability to flee to sea beforesignificant opposition can be raised, haul-ing away as much treasure as they canseize. They typically rely on strong war-riors aboard, rather than naval prowess,as once they have raided their only goal isto flee to safety. Raiders rarely carry lettersof marque, as their targets are usually eco-nomic gain rather than military victory.

Smugglers deal in goods which are ei-ther heavily taxed or forbidden. Ratherthan dealing in violence, smugglers usestealth to avoid military patrols and deliv-er their valued contraband to its pur-chasers.

Most smugglers maintain legitimateshipping businesses. It helps when. youneed work done on your ship if you have alegal reason for owning it. Also, muchsmuggling is done as part of legitimatetrading journeys, as some ships have falseholds or secret compartments where con-

traband can be concealed from the cus-toms officials.

Some countries classify smuggling as aform of piracy. The legal justification forthis is that smuggling represents theft of money from the government, and thus thesmugglers are thieves. In fact, however,the real problem is that many smugglersare also pirates, as it helps to solve theproblems of fencing their goods.

4 Chapter 1



Where Is It Practiced?

The incidence of piracy depends uponhow much plunder is available. Thesealanes of the northern Inner Sea, partic-ularly those running from the Lake of Dragons (Suzail, Teziir and Westgate) toProcampur, and from Procampur to

Thesk, are commonly considered pirate-infested. (Many of these pirates are actu-ally unacknowledged privateers, quietlyfighting the economic wars which fre-quently arise among the city-states of theInner Sea.) Not surprisingly, both of thesesea lanes are within the reach of the fleetsof the Pirate Isles. There are other active pirate areas.

Raiders either in the employ of Thay orseeking Thays approval frequently attackthe coastal cities of Aglarond. The Zulkirsof Thay occasionally send raids across theAlamber Sea into Murghom, Threskel,and Chessenta, seeking some of the an-

cient magics of these lost lands. Even so,the majority of the pirate activity is still inthe north.

The pirates themselves come from eve-ry nation of the Inner Sea, and quite a fewothers that have no shore there. Almost allthe pirates are human, although there areconsiderable numbers of half-orcs, orcs,and ogres. Elves and half-elves are rare,but most are spellcasters, as their abilityto wear armor while spellcasting (thus be-ing less vulnerable during archery at-tacks) is highly valued aboard.

Life Aboard

The life of a pirate is not an easy one. Thetrials of piracy test not only their swords-manship, but their seamanship and en-durance as well.

A typical pirate ship carries twice asmany crew as does a merchant ship of similar size. This is primarily because the

To Be A Pirate 5



pirate ship carries no cargo, but instead isdesigned to deliver a viciously overwhelm-ing force to a target.

As a result, shipboard conditions tend tobe crowded and unhealthy. The food tendsto be of poor quality, often consisting of hard bread, pickled fish, and water orrum. True dry rations are too expensive formost pirate captains, particularly whenfeeding 30-40 men, so the quality of thefood that is bought is low, and pirate crewsmust frequently return to port (every

week or so) to take on new supplies or be-gin to suffer deprivation.

A typical watch consists of 16 hours of labor, interrupted only by a meager mid-day meal, followed by a nominal 8 hours of sleep. Ships at sea require constant main-tenance to avoid decay and loss. The traditional positions available

aboard a sailing vessel of any kind in-clude:Captain: The captain is the overall leaderfor the ship. His orders are to be obeyed

absolutely; disobeying the Captain is mu-tiny, which most pirate captains punishby swift and immediate death. Captainsmay be seamen themselves, or they maycount on their first mate (see below) to pro-vide this knowledge, maintaining their po-sition through prowess as a warrior orcharisma. The idea of an owner-aboard,a captain who leads by virtue of owningthe ship, does not exist in pirate groupswhere such distinctions as legal owner-ship are considered insignificant.

First Mate: The first mate is responsiblefor carrying out the captains wishes.When the captain is asleep or otherwiseunavailable, the first mate is in charge of the ship. While not all captains are excel-lent seamen, there are few first mates whodo not know nearly everything about be-ing aboard ship.Pilot/Helmsman: Often also the firstmate, the pilot is responsible for steering

the ship. Pilots are also give the orderswhich control the speed of the oars (for agalley) or the set of the sail (for a sailingship).Navigator: While the pilots job is to steerthe ship, the navigators job is to pick theroute the pilot will follow to reach the desti-nation. Navigators should have the Naviga-tion proficiency, and may also requirespecial equipment such as a sextant andcompass. Often, the captain is also the nav-igator. This reduces the chance of a mutiny

at sea, as the crew is unlikely to mutiny if they cannot find their way home.Quartermaster: The quartermastercares for the ships tiller, compasses,lamps, and flags. Unlike the land military,the quartermaster aboard ship is not re-sponsible for food or other supplies. Theseare the responsibility of the mess stewardand the boatswain.Mess Steward (Cook): The mess stewardis responsible for preparing meals, buyingfood, and otherwise ensuring that every-

one aboard gets enough to eat and drink.As mentioned above, enough may notbe very much, particularly on a longervoyage.Boatswain (Bosun): The boatswain is re-sponsible for the rigging of the ship, in-cluding the sails, oars, anchors, and shipsboats. The boatswain often has severalhelpers, particularly on a large ship.

These are referred to as bosuns mates.Master Armorer: The master armorerand his men maintain and man the ships

weapons (typically ballistae and catapults),and he is responsible for providing all war-riors aboard (on a pirate ship, the entirecrew) with melee and missile weapons.Lookout: The lookout occupies a positionon the ship with as unrestricted a field of view as possible. On ships with a crowsnest (a seat on top of the mast), a singlelookout can have a clear view completelyaround the ship. On larger ships, or on

6 • Chapter 1



ships without crows nests, lookouts areoften stationed in the bow and stern. (Ingame terms, a lookout in a crows nest cansee 1½ times farther than one on deck.)Oarsmen: For ships with oars, the oars-men provide the motive power for the ship.Few oarsmen are slaves, as slave oarsmenhave a disconcerting habit of slowing downwhen the ship most needs speed, in hopesof being freed by the attackers.Warriors: The rest of the men aboard a pi-rate ship are cutthroats, there to provide a

strong sword arm and a ready back intime of trouble.

History of the Pirates

According to legend, the first great pirateleader was Immurk the Invincible. Inthose days, war vessels were rare, as thenations of the Inner Sea were still growingwithin their own territories, and merchanttraffic had not been threatened.

In those days, a sailors life was difficult.Storms and sea monsters claimed the lives

of many, while others suffered cruel pun-ishments from ship captains more con-cerned with profits and order than with

justice. Captains had the authority towhip or execute a man for offenses real orimagined, acting as judge, jury, and(sometimes) executioner. Crews rarely re-ceived a share in the profits of the ship, in-stead being paid low wages which wereoften in arrears. Rething, the pressing of men into involuntary servitude on a ship,was common. Food aboard was generallypoor, especially for galley-oarsmen.

In this environment, it was easy for Im-murk to gather disaffected sailors to hiscrew, offering them a chance at plunder inreturn for total loyalty. The fat merchantvessels of the Inner Sea, crewed by demo-ralized men, would be easy pickings forthose willing to risk their lives in the pur-suit of personal gain.

Immurk began his career of piracy (solegend says) in 1164 DR, raiding amerchant-ship of Procampur and captur-ing the coronation crown of Cormyrs newking Palaghard I. The crime was so bold,say chroniclers, that the new king nearlydeclared war on Procampur, as he wassure that no one would be brave enoughfor such a crime and believed the jewelersof Procampur were cheating him.

From this start, Immurk began a waveof raids against merchant ships and un-

walled towns. He stole from Cormyr, Sem-bia, Procampur, and Impiltur, alwaysreturning to his secret base on the Dra-gonisle. Within a few years, he had gaineda following of nearly a dozen ships (mostlyconverted merchant ships from the north-em nations of the Inner Sea), each raidingin the name of Immurk.

The nations of the Inner Sea did not takethis lightly. Almost immediately, they be-gan building their own warships, seekingto defend their merchant fleets and tohunt the pirates in their lairs. Shipwrights

from Amn and Tethyr designed fleets of long-lined ships with the speed andstrength to pursue these raiders. Thekings and councils of the Inner Sea lookedto the day when these unfortunate inci-dents would be forgotten.

Unfortunately, this was not to be. Theshipbuilding efforts were plagued byshortages, loss of workers, some sabotage,and even occasional raids by Immurks pi-rates to capture newly-built ships. Crews(and even some captains) turned pirateonce the war galleys were in their grasp,putting those who would not join themover the side-sometimes without a boat. The people of the time held that Immurk,via his extensive network of spies, traitors,and informants, was responsible for thesefailures.

Whether or not this was true at first, bythe end of his days Immurk had become a

To Be A Pirate • 7



fixture of Inner Sea shipping. Nine sepa-rate expeditions were launched to bringthe pirate to justice, and every time Im-murk either could not be found, or heoverwhelmed the warships with expertseamanship and a knowledge of the PirateIsles, driving their galleys onto the jaggedreefs.

Immurk is also blamed for the rash of border clashes, diplomatic incidents, andgeneral tensions at the time among the

coastal nations of the Inner Sea. Immurksspies fostered dissent here, raided underfalse colors there, and otherwise acted as aspur in the region, keeping military atten-tion focused away from the pirates whileincreasing sea trade (and thus his booty).

Despite the legends, Immurks pirateswere not wholly a scourge on civilization.Immurks pirates were first to bring goldand silver from Mulhorand, Unther, andChessenta to the ports of Cormyr, openingup a slow and unsteady trade with thesewealthy nations. In 1182, the crown-prince of Lyrabar fled the court of his se-nile father and his unscrupulous advisorsand found sanctuary with Immurk on theDragonisle until his father passed awayand he could return to take the throne. Fi-nally, the mutinies which developed withthe Dragonisle as a safe refuge forcedmany ships to provide better conditionsand better pay for their men.

In 1201 DR, Immurk died at the helm of his ship the Sea-Scorpion, fighting a Sem-bian warship. While piloting through a

reef-filled passage, a sudden crosswindthreatened to toss the Sea-Scorpion aground, leaving Immurk at the mercy of the Sembites. Bellowing orders and curs-ing the sea-gods, he twisted at the tiller tohold the course. His strength and skill car-ried the Sea-Scorpion through the reefsunharmed, but as the ship passed beyondthe danger he slumped to the deck, hisheart burst.

The Pirate Wars

By 1201 DR, the pirate fleet of the Dra-gonisle numbered over 100 ships. WithoutImmurks strong leadership, the rough co-alition he had formed came apart. Half adozen pirates declared themselves Im-murks successor, each with his own fol-lowing of ships and captains, and theattentions of the pirates turned from raid-ing to internal warfare.

Several of the most vicious pirates of leg-end arose during this period. Black Anzil,a Turmish pirate, dipped his enemies inpitch and set them alight. Lord Chaz-dan, a Procampan noble turned pirate,would force his prisoners to drink quartsof alcohol until they died. Respitil, apirate-mage of the period, was known tobind captives to the mainmast and usesummon swarm spells to bring a cloud of biting, stinging insects to devour themalive. Urdogen the Red, the pirate whoeventually won dominance over the Dra-gonisle, forced his victims to devour theirown ears, nose, and lips, then set themfree as examples.

Urdogen, a red-haired hot-bloodedbear of a man, eventually came to domi-nate the Dragonisle. While he did not havethe banner of all of the pirates, he had ac-cumulated enough support so that nonedared challenge him. He seized ImmurksHold, the large harbor on the Dragonisle,for his own, allowing those who had not

joined him to harbor on the lesser isles of

the archipelago.Once the internal warfare was over,

these pirates raided brutally. Where Im-murk had spread the depredations of hispirates out, gathering maximum bootywhile avoiding angering the coastal na-tions, Urdogen and his fellows began asystematic plundering of coastal villagesand ships which could not be ignored. Therising Inner Sea kingdomsCormyr, Sem-

8 Chapter 1



bia, Impiltur, and the Vilhon Reach-unit-ed on the seas against the pirates. The great fleet which these nations

raised numbered nearly 200 ships. Thisfleet poured forth in three parts, approach-ing the Dragonisle from the north, east,and west.

The northern fleet, which had the short-est distance to travel, came from the Sem-bian city of Selgaunt and comprisedprimarily Sembian warships and merce-nary vessels. It was also the smallest fleet,with only 50 vessels, but still representeda substantial force. The northern fleetstask was to feint at the Dragonisle to bringUrdogens fleet out of harbor, then holdthem at sea until the other forces arrived.

The eastern fleet came from Procampurand Lyrabar, and comprised Impilturanand mercenary forces, as well as a smallcontingent sent by Aglarond (whose rulersat the time were the Gray Sisters, the sib-ling queens Thara and Ulea). This force of 75 vessels waited along the northern edgeof the Pirate Isles (near Kelthann) for the

western fleet to drive Urdogen to them. The western fleet, sent from Suzail, com-prised forces from Cormyr (including overa dozen of the new Cormyrean Freesails)and the Vilhon Reach. This fleet of 70 ves-sels was nearly the downfall of the entireplan. According to the agreement, thewestern fleet was to drive the exposed pi-rate fleet east, so that the three combinedfleets could eliminate the pirate menace.However, unfavorable winds from thenorth-northeast delayed their passagethrough the Neck by nearly 12 hours.

The battle began shortly after dawn,Eleint 11, 1209 DR. Urdogens fleet sailedout to meet the northern attackers with 90ships, a clearly dominating force. Thenorthern fleet began its slow retreat, draw-ing Urdogen away from the Dragonisleand toward the rendezvous with the west-ern fleet. When it reached the rendezvous,

however, the western fleet did not arrive,and the northern fleet was forced to en-gage with the pirates, hoping even thoughoutnumbered to stall until the westernfleet arrived.

By the following dawn, only 15 of theSembian ships remained. The pirates hadtaken a few losses, but even with the west-ern fleet the battle was only once againeven in ships, although the western fleetwas not yet battle-weary.

Fortunately, the commander of the east-ern fleet had been monitoring the progressof the battle through a crystal ball provid-ed by the Gray Sisters. When he perceivedthat the delay in the western fleet was go-ing to destroy the Sembites, he set sail forthe western rendezvous, arriving from thesoutheast (cutting off all retreat) onlyslightly after the western fleet. The battlethen became one of attrition, as pirate ves-sels struggled to escape the net formed bythe 160 attacking ships.

Some pirates fled, while others weresunk by the rams and arbalests of the

combined fleets. Others ran aground onhidden reefs as they tried to escape; Urdo-gen himself, aboard the Raging Tears, mayhave suffered this fate. The pirates stronghold had been broken.

Not long after the victory, the allies onceagain separated. Sembia, which lost mostof its own warships as well as having topay mercenaries for the other ships lost,blamed Cormyr for the delay in the west-em fleet. Procampur and the city-states of Impiltur claimed a greater share of theprizes due to their heroic rescue of the oth-

er force, while Sembia demanded restitu-tion for their heavier losses and Cormyrdemanded a greater share due to thegreater distance they had had to travel toreach the battle! The Grey Sisters repre-sentative, faced with petty bickering, re-turned to Aglarond. A chance for a unifiednation of the Inner Sea faded into nothing.

To Be A Pirate 9



10 • Chapter 1



Methlas and His Successors

For nearly 100 years the Dragonisle re-mained empty. Although a few pirates sur-vived the great battle, the pirates as a forcehad been broken. Occasional renegadeswere quickly hunted down by the efficientnavies of the Inner Sea, and the few at-tempts at reviving Immurks strangleholdwere met with swift and overwhelmingforce.

In the late 1280s, Methlas, a merchant

from Marsember, quietly gathered a smallfleet of corsairs, crewed with sailors whohad left greater navies. Although this fleetwas initially established as a merchantfleet, Methlas ships quickly became in-volved in various swindles and dodges,with double manifests, deck cargo loss-es, and false deliveries being common.Many of the cargoes in these vessels werestolen at sea, but Methlas was careful toensure that the owners never found outwhat happened to them. With these car-goes he outfitted his fleet, and by 1294 DR

had amassed nearly 40 ships in the south-ern harbor of the Dragonisle.

In 1294 DR, Methlas was murdered byhis lieutenant, Thevren. Methlas hadsought to build 50 ships before embarkingon open piracy; Thevren was not as pa-tient. Before Methlas had grown cold, Thevren launched simultaneous raids onthe Sembian cities of Selgaunt and Saer-loon.

The Sembites were caught totally bysurprise by the raids, having no idea that aforce of this size sailed the Inner Sea. With-in three days, Thevrens fleet left the har-bors laden with booty and several ships tothe good, as the pirates had seized (orsunk) every war vessel in the two harbors.

Although the Sembians wanted immedi-ate retribution, their own fleets had beendecimated in the attack. Appealing to Cor-myr for assistance, the message to Sem-

bias ambassador to Suzail was somehowgarbled in a stroke worthy of Immurk him-self. Instead of requesting the CormyreanKings help in destroying the pirates, theambassador accused the Cormyrean Free-sails of mounting the attack, and demand-ed immediate reparation. Cormyr of coursedenied the charges, but the resulting con-fusion prevented any significant force frombeing mustered against the pirates.

Although this attack assured Thevrensfame, he did not long enjoy his victory. His

mistress, Thilana, had been mistress toMethlas before his death. When Thevren,drunk after celebrating his victory, cameto her bed she poured him poisoned wineand he died. Thilanas plans extended beyond petty

revenge. Assuming the leadership of thepirate band, she resumed Methlas plan,reviving Immurks system of informants.

Thilanas network included many of theseaport taverns of the Inner Sea, whereshe had many friends. The power of the pi-rates grew, as careful strikes were made

against targets whose defenders were dis-tracted and thus unlikely to exact retribu-tion. A ship here and a small convoy theresoon led to an extensive hoard. Thilana did not captain any vessel, al-

though as leader of the pirates she could if she wished. Instead, much of her time wasspent maintaining her spy network, usingher personal charms to reach thosesources of information unlikely to visit aseamans tavern, and selecting the targetsher pirate captains would pursue. Indeed,she is rumored to have given birth to theman who founded the present ruling dy-nasty of the forest land of Gulthmere.

It was these journeys to the mainlandthat ended Thilanas career. One of her fe-male captains, Laershala of the EmeraldEyes, had gathered some support fromthose pirates who wanted more raiding forever more gold. Laershala was herself a

To Be A Pirate 11



captain of considerable talent, and manyof the pirates chafed under the leadershipof someone with little seamanship, despiteall her cunning. One night in Tantras in1305 DR, Laershala strangled Thilana andclaimed leadership of the pirates of theDragonisle.

Laershalas control of the pirates wasnot the same as that of her predecessors.Pirates who agreed with Thilana were an-gry that Laershala had killed her, andrefused to follow her. Others saw the disin-tegration of the pirate leadership as an op-portunity to strike out on their own. By1314 DR, when Laershala died in battlewith a Cormyrean Freesail, the pirateshad divided into a dozen factions, each vy-ing for control of the Inner Sea.

The Pirates Today

Today, pirate factions make war andmount intrigue much like the great courtsof the south, uniting only against naval at-

tacks on the Dragonisle. Each factionstrives to be seen as the most successful,the most daring, and the most intelligent,as it is through these battles of reputationthat pirate leaders gain the allegiance of the pirate captains and crews. In thesebattles, there are no rules; the diplomatand the dagger are both active tools in thefight for support. Two or three of the mostpowerful pirate leaders seek Immurksplace, but none has the support to assurethat he or she will not be quickly over-

thrown. The pirates are brutal, but theyknow their own history. There are at least two hundred active pi-

rate vessels (and probably many more)hidden in the Pirate Isles and around thecoasts of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The Dra-gonisle alone can hold a hundred and sev-enty vessels within its fortified harbors.With such a large pirate force and withoutsomeone in Immurks place, it is only a

- 150 DR

1 DR1163 DR

1164 DR

1180 DR

1182 DR

1186 DR

1189 DR

1192 DR

1201 DR1204 DR1209 DR

1282 DR1286 DR

Mutual Fall of Narfell andRaumathar

Founding of CormyrFounding of Pirate Base onDragonisle?Immurk Captures CormyreanCrownSembia Loses Fleet in PirateIslesCrown Prince of Lyrabar Fleesto Pirate IslesCrown Prince Returns to Lyra-bar; Becomes KingPalaghard II King of Cormyr

Foundation of Order of Free-sailorsDeath of ImmurkRise of UrdogenDestruction of Urdogens Pi-ratesAzoun IV King of CormyrMethlas Begins Building Pi-rate Band

matter of time before someone breaksranks and brings the anger of the InnerSea nations down on the pirates heads.

The Dragonisle has become a neutralground for the pirates, with no single pi-rate lord claiming control of the island. Afew pirates scurry about the lesser islandsof the archipelago, but most remain with-in the safe harbors of Earthspur.

During the Time of Troubles, Umberleeherself wandered the Pirate Isles, bringingthe destruction of the storms to all the pi-rates she found. Several pirate vesselswere sunk at sea, while many others weredriven onto the rocks, marooning theircrews. Portions of the sea were impassablefor almost a year due to the storms, but bythe spring of 1359 DR the Sea of FallenStars had returned to its normal state.

Timeline

12 Chapter 1



1294 DR Death of Methlas; Rise andDeath of Thevren; Rise of Thi-lana

1305 DR Death of Thilana; Rise of Laer-shala

1314 DR Death of Laershala1320 DR Simbul Queen of Aglarond1357 DR Time of Troubles; Umberlee

Attacks Pirate Isles1359 DR The Present Day

Pirate Customs

The life of a pirate consists of raiding for-ays of 1-2 months during the spring, sum-mer, and fall. As the Pirate Isles arecentrally located within the Inner Sea,travel to any portion of the region is rela-tively quick. A pirate vessel under full sailcan go from Earthspur all the way to thetip of the Vilhon Reach in less than a ten-dayif it is willing to risk the deep seacrossing. The winter storms over the InnerSea make sea travel dangerous, so wintersare spent ashore on the Dragonisle (or one

of the other pirate isles).Raids consist primarily of either haunt-ing the sea-lanes, searching for a likely tar-get, or (for captains with betterinformation networks) interceptions of particularly tempting targets. Rare foraysagainst land targets are usually carefullyplanned, and often involve several ships.

A code of rough justice governs the pi-rates among themselves. Crimes suchas desertion or murder aboard ship werepunished by death or marooning on one of the many tiny islands of the Inner Sea.

Many of these islands have no food ordrinkable water, so marooning was often adeath sentence unless another ship camealong-and was willing to take on some-one thus abandoned.

In return for this justice, most piratesshare in the wealth they capture. In a typi-cal pirates agreement, the captain re-

ceives three shares, other officers receivetwo shares, and the remaining privategentlemen of fortune, as the pirates liketo refer to themselves, receive one shareeach. On privateers, half the booty is typi-cally owed to the crown issuing the lettersof marque, with the remainder dividedamong the crew as established above. Spe-cific ships may change the split among thecrew, particularly if some officers andcrewmen are exceptionally skilled (e.g.,one share per level, with one share to 0-level characters).

Pirate captains are elected by the crew.Elections are usually held when the pre-vious captain dies, although there are re-corded cases of pirate crews putting theircurrent captain over the side and electingone of their number to replace him. Thecaptain appoints the other ships officers,decides which raids to make, and gets firstpick of the treasure.

Pirate Organizations

The following groups represent the limitsof organization within the pirates today.Most of these are loose-knit, with no signif-icant hierarchy of control. Nevertheless,membership in these organizations char-acterizes some of the types of pirateswhich can be found on the Inner Sea.

The Brotherhood of the Red Tide

The Brotherhood of the Red Tide is a war-rior cult (although rogues are welcome to

join). Its tenets are leadership throughstrength, with no mercy to the weak.

The captaincy on Brotherhood vessels isdetermined by trial by combat. Anyoneaboard, crewman or captive, can chal-lenge the captain to single combat to thedeath. Should the challenger win, he be-comes captain, although if a captivemakes the challenge, he may be immedi-

To Be A Pirate 13



ately challenged by a legitimate crewman

before he has had time to heal his wounds. These challenges are not always fair.

Combatants can only use those weaponsthey have to hand; a captive is thus likelyto have to fight unarmed against an armedfoe. Should the crew perceive that thechallenger is losing, they may trip up thechallenger or otherwise hinder him, turn-ing the duel into a form of torment culmi-nating in death.

Ships of the Brotherhood are viciousraiders, sometimes giving no quarter, in-

stead massacring all aboard the vesselsthey attack. In general, members of theBrotherhood are indifferent seamen, pre-ferring to concentrate on their lust for bat-tle. Thus, they often raid towns, as they donot have the patience to lie in wait on thesea lanes for a more nimble prize.

Ships of the Brotherhood rarely cooper-ate with one another, except occasionallyto make a mass raid on a walled town. Oc-

casionally, a captain will have sufficient

prowess to gather a small fleet but there isalways the danger of one or more of thecaptains striking out on his own, knowingthat he will be forced to fight once the orig-inal captain catches up to him.

Immurks Band

Immurks Band is a secret society whichextends from the Pirate Isles into the portsof the Inner Sea. According to tradition,the Band was formed by Immurk himself

as his network of spies and informants,and has continued to the present day. Con-siderable historical evidence exists, how-ever, that the current band was foundedby Thilana nearly a century later.

Regardless of its historical origins, theBand is now a fairly effective if loose-knitgroup of pirate supporters, sympathizers,and smugglers. Some members of theBand actually sail with the pirates, while

14 Chapter 1



most are shore-bound, supplying the pi-rates with political information and fenc-ing their goods.

The Band is organized into Circles, withFirst Circle being the outermost (lowest),and rumors of individuals with member-ship as high as Tenth Circle. Passwordsare traditional at the lowest circles, but be-

yond Second Circle each city establishesits own passwords, and knowledge of theBand from one city rarely does more thanprovide a simple introduction in another.

Bands within different cities rarely com-municate, and there is no hierarchy acrosscities. Theoretically, all of the Bands oweallegiance to the leader of the Dragonisle,but with that post empty for several yearsthe Bands have developed a degree of au-tonomy which the new leader (if oneshould arise) is going to have to deal with.

Immurks Band is illegal in Cormyr,Sembia, Procampur, and Impiltur. InWestgate, on the other hand, membershipin the Band is viewed as a mark of status,where the traditional First Circle pass-

word (Red moon tonight, brother) hasreplaced Well met! as the standardgreeting. Other ports have varying viewsof the Band, depending to a great extenton their views of the pirates (see Chapter4: Nations of the Inner Sea).

The Alliance of Freesailors

The Alliance of Freesailors is an associa-tion of Cormyrean Freesails and other pri-vateers. Founded by Palaghard II as TheRoyal Freesailors, a battle order for those

who fought against Urdogen the Red,the Freesailors quickly became a mutualaid society. Membership in the Freesailors,is only available by invitation, but mostCormyrean, Sembian, and Impilturan pri-vateers are members.

Freesailors must aid one another in timeof crisis, but (as would be expected with

privateers) are not expected to avoid at-tacking one another should their respec-tive governments so require. Freesailorsare also required to follow the laws of thesea, and may not turn true pirate and re-main within the order.

Captains of Freesails (ships manned byFreesailors) must always turn the Crownsportion of loot (50%) over as soon as theymake port, and must divide any remainingbooty they take equitably. The preciseterms of this equitable division have re-ceived considerable discussion over the

years, and a complex system of evaluationhas formed, in which each mans share isdetermined by his skill, his years of service,and his valor. (For game purposes, this canbe abstracted to one share per level, withone share given to zero-level characters.) The Cormyrean Freesails (the ships of

this order sponsored by the King of Cor-myr) are chartered by King Azoun to at-tack pirates on the Inner Sea, to come tothe aid of any legitimate vessel, and to de-fend the coast and waters of Cormyr

against invasion. As a result of the dili-gence (and eagerness) of the Freesailors,piracy has almost come to a total stop inCormyrean waters, although they havenot had much of an effect on the remain-der of the Inner Sea.

The initiation ritual to the Freesailors al-so traditionally includes an oath of alle-giance to Cormyrs King, but this isquietly omitted for foreign initiates. There is no formal rank system within

the Freesailors, although the Lord HighAdmiral of Cormyr is nominal head of the

order. On specific ships, of course, thereare officers, but within the context of theFreesailors they are all equals.

The Cult of the Dragon

Unconfirmed rumors continue of linkagesbetween the Pirates of the Inner Sea and

To Be A Pirate 15



the feared Cult of the Dragon. This cult,which is sometimes referred to by outsid-ers as The Followers of the Scaly Way,serves as a communications network be-tween members of evil dragonkindthroughout the Realms, and directly aidsand enriches the creatures of their venera-tion. The sign of the Cult, used as a way-

marker or recognition signal among mem-bers, is a claw grasping a crown: thecrown representing rulership of the

Realms, and the claw representing thedragons revered by the Cult. There is alsoa gesture used by Cult members to iden-tify themselves to colleagues and allies:extending a hand, palm down, from oneschin directly outward and forward, fingersheld straight out and together, and blow-ing on these extended fingers. (Not zack-ly a subtle move, sneers Jomo.)

Cult members include many powerfulevil mages, fighting-men of all levels of skill, and a few evil clerics. Most of the

more powerful Cult members can con-verse in one or more evil dragon tongues(most commonly red or blue).

Within the Inner Sea, the Cult is thoughtto have agents throughout the northernports, particularly in Westgate, Procampur,and Marsember. Only Suzail is believedfree of their influences, and this is primari-ly due to King Azouns efforts. A Cultmeetinghall is reputed to reside on the Dra-gonisle, and tales are told of a secret retreatfor Cult members on the Isle of Ilthan.

Pirate Faiths

The pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars wor-ship a variety of deities, depending upontheir national origin and personal inclina-tions.Assuran of the Three Thunders, who isworshipped as Hoar the Doombringer else-where in Toril, is the demigod of revenge

and retribution. His worship is not ex-tremely common among the pirates, butas many pirates came to this life after suf-fering injustice of their own, his shrine onthe Dragonisle is well-attended.Auril is not commonly worshipped on theInner Sea, as only a small portion of thewater along the northern shores everfreezes. Only those pirates originally fromthe Moonsea region (particularly Mulmas-ter) worship the Frostmaiden.Cyric is worshipped actively by many pi-

rates, particularly those with reputationsfor cruelty. Most Cyric worshippers onceserved Bane or Bhaal; Myrkuls poweramong the pirates has never been great.Cyrics temple is one of the largest on theDragonisle, and there are several smallershrines on other islands in the archipel-ago. Cyric is the patron deity of the Broth-erhood of the Red Tide (q.v.).Gond has a small following among the pi-rates, particularly among the armsmas-ters of the various vessels. A small

contingent of Krii (clerics of Gond) hasmade its way to the Dragonisle, which hasthe only Thayvian bombards outside of

Thay. Their presence there is a great se-cret, however, as they are trying to deter-mine whether the bombards can be usedwith Lantanna smoke powder, breaking Thays monopoly on the precious powderused to fire these weapons.Helm is worshipped by some privateers,particularly those of Impiltur who defendthe coastal cities from attack by sea. Hisworship has fallen off since the Time of Troubles.Istishia, the Water Lord, is not specifi-cally worshipped, but petitions to this Ele-mental Lord to placate Umberlee featureprominently in the traditional ship-launching rituals of the Inner Sea.Leira, Lady of the Mists, is popular amongthose pirates with a flair for stealth. Leirasworshippers are not easily trusted even by

16 Chapter 1



the pirates, but their abilities at double-dealing make them excellent spies-if their reports can be trusted. Due to theirinherent duplicity, however, Leira wor-shippers are barred from the higher circlesof Immurks Band.Loviatar has long been worshipped by pi-rates. Urdogen the Red himself was re-puted to serve the Lady of Pain. There is asmall temple to Loviatar on Earthspur, butthe services are led by worshippers, asnone of her priestesses have wanted to suf-fer the exile of piracy.

Malars following among the pirates is al-so strong. The Beastlords tenets of thehunt are the basic credo of many pirates;in some sense all piracy is a form of hunt.Perhaps most serious, there are rumors of a secret cult of lycanthropes (wererats orseawolves) who use pirate raids to masktheir feedings.Mask worshippers are not common amongthe pirates themselves, but they appearamong the pirates allies. Many Mask wor-shippers act as in-port spies or agents,while others are smugglers or fences for thepirate goods. Many members of ImmurksBand are Mask worshippers.Selune is worshipped by all sailors for herboons to navigation. However, Selunesethos is not compatible with the innatecruelty of piracy. There are some Seluneworshippers among the good-aligned pri-vateers, particularly among the Cormy-rean Freesai ls .Shar, Mistress of Night, is not commonlyworshipped even by the pirates of the In-ner Sea. There are a scattering of worship-

pers throughout the pirate crews, but herworship is not a significant force amongthe pirates.Talona is also not worshipped, but her ser-vants are often welcomed by the piratelords, as poison is one of their most potentweapons against one another, and thelords prefer to have Talonas priests both

to protect themselves and to use againsttheir enemies.Talos the Destroyer is also propitiated bythe pirates. Since the Time of Troubles,some worshippers of Bane who have re-

jected Cyric have turned to Talos, but hisworship is still rare.Tempus is worshipped by many raidersand pirates. His priests do not wear platemail, as the danger of drowning is toogreat, but otherwise they may be found atleast as often among the pirates as theymay anywhere else in the North.

Tymora is worshipped by many piratesand privateers, and is the patron deity of the Cormyrean Freesails. Her worship isquite common, and pirates with at leastsome friendly ports can often be found inher temples.Umberlee has a mixed position among thepirates since the Time of Troubles. At thattime, she came to the Pirate Islands, rain-ing savage storms and destruction on allthe pirates she could find. With such an im-mediate demonstration of her power, mostpirates are eager to soothe her with sacri-fices. In the wake of this new piety, the Temple of Umberlee on the Dragonisle hasgrown to be the largest in the Pirate Isles.However, many pirates feel that they hadbeen sacrificing enough before the Time of Troubles, and that Umberlee had not kepther part of the bargain. These pirates,though few in number, actively reject anyfurther sacrifice to the Bitch Queen. It is yetto be seen whether these apostates will sur-vive their own willfulness.Waukeen, Goddess of Trade, is wor-

shipped by some pirates. They petition tobe her agents of ruin, should she choose toremove her boons from a merchant. Inthis way, these pirates see themselves notas rapacious plunderers, but as agents of agoddess will. Most other pirates (and mer-chants for that matter) consider such ex-planations hypocrisy.

To Be A Pirate 17



In Which Are Presented Rules PursuantThereto; And Also New Magical Spells

Most pirate characters are either warriorsor rogues. (Players with access to the Com-

plete Fighters Handbook or the Complete Thiefs Handbook should consult thePirate/Outlaw kit in the former volumeand the Buccaneer and Smuggler kits inthe latter.) Some mages and priests (par-ticularly those of evil deities) work withthe pirates, but the majority of the charac-

ters should be non-magical. The pirates donot have access to the great libraries, thetemple hierarchies, and the centers of learning which are important to magesand priests.

Second, pirates can have almost anypersonality. While it is traditional to thinkof pirates as patch-eyed, peg-legged, par-rot-toting berserkers, consider the possi-bilities in a few other character concepts:

l A happy-go-lucky warrior who per-ceives piracy as great fun.

l

A tragic hero pirate who strikes outagainst society because he lost his mostprecious possession to unfair taxation (orwhose love was killed by the evil lords warriors).

l A priest of an evil deity (such as Malaror Umberlee) who performs pirate raids asa kind of sacrifice.

More sample pirates (along with theirunusual motivations) can be found in theRogues Gallery chapter.

Finally, most pirates are of neutral orevil alignment. A distinct exception arethe privateers, such as the CormyreanFreesails, who fight the evil nations of theInner Sea (and the pirates) and are usuallyof good alignment. The DM should deter-mine (and then make it clear) from the out-set whether this is a good guy or badguy campaign.

Good-Guy Pirates

In a good-guy campaign, the charactersare heroes but misunderstood. They mayhave been framed for crimes they did notcommit. They may be privateers whohave gained an undeserved reputation, orwho are hunted by an evil power. Theymay be enemies of the new ruling power(e.g. a wise old ruler dies and is replacedby an oppressive and unfair new ruler).

In such a campaign, the characters are

wanted by the law, but its the law thatswrong. The characters will capture inno-cents and take their money but theyll of-fer no insult to victims who deserve none,and will release such prisoners unharmed.On the other hand, victims who are theirtrue enemies tend to be humiliated andembarrassed before being released alsousually unharmed. The goal of a good-guy pirate cam-

paign is the restoration of the status quo(restoring the true crown prince, proving

that the frame is false) and receiving par-don or amnesty for the crimes they com-mitted while they were outlaw.

Bad-Guy Pirates

In a bad-guy campaign, the DM andplayers must define the goal. It could bethe general acquisition of treasure, findingImmurks lost hoard, or robbing the Cor-myrean treasury at Suzail.

In such a campaign, the characters areneutral or evil, and most suitable to play-ers who want to play in a nasty fashion fora while. Their characters dont have theethics of the good-guy pirates. They robeveryone. Prisoners may be released, im-prisoned for ransom, or executed for thesport of the crew, depending upon thecharacters mood that day.

This is a dangerous environment andcampaign. Since the PCs are as scummy as

18 Chapter 2



their worst enemies, there probably wontbe any DM sympathy to keep them alive inbad situations. The PCs will be competingon equal terms with the nastiest of villains(e.g. the Red Wizards of Thay), and you canexpect a high body count.

Proficiencies of the Sea

For those AD&D® game players using thenonweapon proficiency rules (found onpages 54-64 of the AD&D 2nd EditionPlayers Handbook), application of theseabilities to the surface world of the sea canbe a challenging task. Some nonweaponproficiencies seem entirely eliminated,while others need expansion. This sectiondiscusses those proficiencies in the Play- ers Handbook which are affected by life atsea; and some additional proficiencies forpirate characters.

Animal Lore: The aquatic creatures of the Inner Sea have habitats and lifestyles

which do not lend themselves to easystudy. Characters with this proficiencysuffer a -2 on proficiency checks to usethis proficiency on aquatic creatures.

Animal Training: Characters wishingto take this proficiency for aquatic animalsshould also have swimming proficiency, asit is difficult to train such animals withoutbeing able to enter the water with them.

Also, pirate characters should note thatparrots, monkeys, and war dogs are tradi-tional pets of the pirates of the Inner Sea.

Appraising: Characters with this profi-ciency can evaluate the amount of cargo aship is carrying by how the vessel sits inthe water. (A heavily laden vessel sitslower in the water and is less prone torocking.) With a proficiency check, thecharacter can determine the weight (butnot the value) of any cargo or men aboard.As with other uses of this proficiency, afailed check indicates that the charactercannot tell how much the ship contains,

Generating Pirate Characters • 19



while on a roll of 20 the character wildlymisreads the load.

Boating (New Proficiency): A charac-ter with this proficiency is needed to guidea boat down a rapid stream or to reducethe dangers of capsizing a canoe or kayak.In addition, a character with boating profi-ciency can propel a boat at its maximumspeed.

Note that this proficiency is distinct fromNavigation and Seamanship, which applyto ships on oceans and seas, rather thansmall craft on smaller lakes and rivers.

Fishing: Fishing is an important skillfor survival in the Inner Sea, as fish areamong the few reliable sources of food forthe pirates. Fishing is especially good inthe spring and fall, and is poorest in thewinter, but as the Inner Sea is land-lockedthere are no great fish migrations withinits waters.

Forgery: Letters of marque are fairlycommon documents, but they require thesignature of the king or other ruler issuinghim (or an official designated by the ruler). Thus, forging convincing letters of marque require a proficiency check with a-2 modifier.

Heraldry: A character with heraldryproficiency can make a proficiency checkto identify the personal banners of piratesand privateers. With a successful proficien-cy check, the herald can identify the ownerof the banner, and provide some informa-tion about the character, such as the nameof his ship, his country of origin, whether

he is a pirate, and if he is how vicious he isreputed to be. On a failed proficiencycheck, the character cannot identify thebanner; a roll of 20 indicates that the her-ald identifies the banner incorrectly.

Information Gathering (New Profi-ciency): This proficiency represents theability to gather information from the un-derworld. A character with this proficien-cy, in appropriate circumstances, will be

aware of any major rumors circulatingaround the lowlife of an area. With a suc-cessful proficiency check, specific infor-mation about a person or place can begathered. (The DM must decide how spe-cific the information is.) The charactersreaction adjustments (based on Charisma)should benefit or penalize the roll, assum-ing contact with people is involved in thesearch.

Since this proficiency depends upon anetwork of informants and contacts, thecharacter will be at a disadvantage tryingto use it in an area other than his own ter-ritory (home port). Outside his territory,the thief does not hear rumors automati-cally (a normal proficiency check is re-quired), and proficiency checks to gatherspecific information suffer a penalty of atleast -3.

Finally, any time a proficiency check isrequired to gain information, a small ex-penditure (1d10 gp) for bribes is required.

This expenditure is lost whether or not thedesired information is found; the DM maychoose to sell some information (e.g. themap of the secret passageway into thegilded halls of Saerloon) for a much higherprice.

Intimidation (New Proficiency): Thisis a talent for bending people to your willby scaring the living daylights out of them. It is a common tactic of pirates, whoprefer not to damage their prizes too badly(it reduces the possibilities for ransom).NPCs who are intimidated are quite likely

to do what they are told, out of fear. On thenegative side, they are also likely to har-bor resentment against the character thatintimidates themwhich they will actupon when the first chance arises.

Intimidation may be attempted with oneof two abilities: Strength or Charisma. If Strength is used, the thief is threateningimmediate, personal bodily harm. If Cha-risma is used, the intimidation consists of

20 Chapter 2



more subtle threats, which need not bephysical. If successful, the NPC is con-vinced that the character is ready and ca-pable of making his life miserableif notimmediately, then in the near future. Notethat NPCs with high morale (e.g. warriors)may choose to do something about the in-timidating character, rather than con-tinue to live under threat.

Player characters are never forced tosubmit to intimidation, as this would de-tract from the players freedom to roleplay.

Local History: The pirates of the InnerSea are considered a single region for thepurposes of this proficiency. Thus, ascholar could purchase Local History:Pirates of the Inner Sea as a proficiency.

Looting: This proficiency represents aknack for grabbing the best loot in theshortest time. For instance, a pirate entersthe captains cabin on a sinking ship. Hehas about two minutes to fill his backpackso he can escape before the ship goes un-der. If his proficiency check succeeds, he isable to recognize and stuff into his pack

the most valuable combination of itemsthat is feasible, given his limitations of time and space.

Navigation: The navigation proficiencyin the Players Handbook provides somesimple rules for handling navigation.However, in a pirates campaign such askill may be crucial in some situations, sothe following optional rules are proffered.

Characters at sea with navigation profi-ciency gain the following abilities:

l A character with the navigation profi-ciency can make a proficiency check each

day to determine whether he is navigatingsuccessfully. A successful proficiencycheck indicates that the character isaware of his current position, and there isno chance of his becoming lost (so nocheck should be made). Should the char-acter fail the proficiency check, make acheck for the character to become lost (per

the DMG, p. 128).A character who has become lost de-

spite navigation proficiency but still hashis rutter (navigation logbook) may at-tempt to determine where he made his er-ror. Note that this check cannot be madeuntil it has become clear that the charac-ter is lost: e.g. the island he is looking for isnot where he thinks it should be, or in-stead of finding a harbor he finds a reef-barred coastline. At that point, thecharacter may take one day to go over his

rutters and make a single proficiencycheck to determine just where he wentwrong. Success indicates that the charac-ter knows the mistake he made, and canapproximate his current actual position.Failure indicates that the character is stillhopelessly lost.

l The character can determine his lati-tude (north/south location), but not hislongitude, by studying the clear sky for anight and making a successful proficiencycheck. Such a determination may bemade at any time, even after teleporting or

other transportation which leaves thecharacter without any knowledge of where he is.

l The character may use his own rutter(or someone elses, if he can decipher it) toreduce his chance of becoming lost. To dothis, the rutter must describe a journeysimilar to the one being undertaken; a rut-ter describing a transit from Suzail to Pro-campur is of no use in the Vilhon Reach. If the character wrote the rutter himself, therutter acts as a local guide providing a -30 to the characters chance of becoming

hopelessly lost (see p. 128 of the DMG).Another navigators rutter will provide alesser bonus; the DM must determine thepercentage, and a misleading or crypticrutter may even add to the characterschance of getting lost!

Note that any use of a rutter requiresthat the character have Reading/Writing




proficiency in the language of the rutter.DMs may wish characters to make Read-ing/Writing proficiency checks to use acryptic rutter.

Religion: A character with religion pro-ficiency knows the sacrifices which mustbe made to Umberlee before sailing on theInner Sea. These sacrifices (generally of gold or precious jewels) are made by allships before embarking on any journey. Aproficiency check is not required to per-form the sacrifices, but only characters of neutral or evil alignment will do so.

Riding, Sea-Based (New Proficiency): The character is trained in handling aswimming mount. The particular creaturemust be chosen when the proficiency ischosen. Additional proficiency slots can beused to learn how to handle other types of mounts. A character must have this profi-ciency (or ride with someone who does) tohandle an aquatic mount. In addition, aproficient character can do the following:

l Leap onto the saddle of the creature

(when it is on the surface) and spur it intomotion in the same combat round. Thisrequires no proficiency check.

l Urge the mount to leap over obstaclesin the water, so long as the obstacles areless than 3 high and 5 wide. There mustbe water on the opposite side of the obsta-cle, or the mount takes 1d6 damage fromthe impact. If the character wants to roll aproficiency check, the mount can beurged to leap obstacles up to 5 high and10 wide. Success means that the mount

has made the jump. Failure indicates thatthe mount has balked, and the charactermust make another proficiency check tosee if he retains his seat or falls from thesaddle into the water.

l The character can spur his steed on togreat speeds, adding 2d6 feet per round tothe animals movement rate for up to twoturns. This requires a proficiency checkeach five rounds to see if the mount can be

pushed this hard. If the initial check fails,no further attempts can be made, but themount can move normally. If the second orsubsequent check fails, the mount slowsto half speed and will be unable to bear therider for a full turn. In any event, after twoturns its movement drops to 2/3 its normalrate until the mount is allowed to rest forat least one hour.

l The character can attempt to controlthe mount if it panics. Under ordinary cir-cumstances, aquatic creatures who takedamage from an attack from above the wa-ter will dive below the surface unless theymake a morale roll. Should the mount failthe roll, it will attempt to dive below thewater, where it will remain for 1d10rounds. The character (who, if he was rid-ing the horse, may thus be in danger of drowning) may try to force the mount tothe surface with a proficiency check. How-ever, the character is considered to be ex-erting himself for purposes of avoidingdrowning (see Holding Your Breath in thePlayers Handbook). A successful checkwill bring the mount back to the surface.Characters who fail their proficiencycheck may repeat it each round until suc-cessful, or until further action becomesimpossible.

Rope Use: Rope use is the stock in tradeof the boatswain (bosun). Characters withrope use can construct rigging, cargo nets,and other common useful items without aproficiency check. Note also that the +20to climbing checks when using a rope also

applies to scampering about the rigging of ship (cf. Mountaineering).

Seamanship: Seamanship is the stock-in-trade for sailors and pirates every-where. Any character wishing to work as acrewman aboard a ship must have thisproficiency.

At sea, a successful crew proficiencycheck (see the naval combat rules) adds25% to the speed of ships at sea. Also note

22 • Chapter 2



that the quality of a crew in combat is de-termined in part by the average seaman-

ship proficiency level.Characters with the seamanship profi-

ciency have a base climbing percentage of 65% when climbing rigging aboard ship. This percentage does NOT apply to othersorts of climbing (walls, mountains, etc.);in such areas a sailor is assumed to be un-trained and should be treated as such.

The basic modifiers in climbing combatare:

l A climbing character loses all ArmorClass bonuses for Dexterity and shield.

l

A climbing character suffers a -2penalty on attack, damage, and savingthrow rolls.

l A character attacking from abovegains a +2 bonus on his attack roll.

l A character attacking from below suf-fers a -2 penalty on his attack roll.

Other modifiers that often come intoplay are:

l An off-balance defender is attackedwith a bonus of +2.

l A rear attack (e.g., against a charactertrying to climb up a rope) gains a +2 bo-nus.

Losing and Regaining Balance: Anycharacter engaged in combat on ropesruns the risk of losing his balance.

A character who is struck by a weapon,or attempts to climb in the course of com-bat, must make a climbing check or losehis balance.

Lost balance means that the next roundthe character must either fall voluntarily

or attempt to regain his balance. In eithercase, the character can perform no otheraction. A successful climbing checkmeans that the character has regained hisbalance. A failure means the character hasfallen (and, of course, may suffer fallingdamage). Dont forget, all attacks againstan off-balance character are at +2.

Shipwright (New Proficiency): The

Generating Pirate Characters 23



character is knowledgeable regardingtechniques for ship construction and re-pair. He can design and build ships of alltypes, with a proficiency check only beingrequired for an unusual feature. The char-acter can perform routine maintenance onsailing vessels or galleys, including repair-ing sails and caulking the hull, without aproficiency check. A shipwright need nothave other workmen to finish small ves-sels, but vessels of any size require largecrews of shipwrights and other laborers to

build or repair.Survival: The islands of the Sea of

Fallen Stars are considered tropical forthe purposes of this proficiency. However,the Inner Sea itself is ocean terrain.Ocean terrain consists of any large body of salt water with no significant land. Survi-vors know how to extract fresh water fromrain water (or from condensation), knowwhich seaweeds and other sea life are edi-ble, and knows how to protect himself andothers from long-term exposure to the sun.

Swimming: Swimming proficiency,while highly useful to the seafaring char-acter, is not a required proficiency. Manyexperienced sailors never learn to swim.Some develop a morbid fear of the water,knowing that they will drown if their shipis sunk; others take it philosophically, pre-ferring drowning to a lingering death as acastaway. The swimming rules in the Players

Handbook (p. 121) state that a characterwearing metal armor cannot swim. In a pi-

rates campaign, the question of exactlywhat is metal armor may come up.Characters without swimming profi-

ciency cannot dog-paddle in any armor ex-cept padded or leather. As stated in thePlayers Handbook, if weighed down withenough gear to reduce their movementrate, they sink like stones, unable to keeptheir head above water.

Characters with swimming proficiency

can swim in leather or padded armor withno significant reduction in ability (al-though the weight of the armor and othergear may still reduce their movementrate). Padded armor counts as doubleweight for purposes of determining en-cumbrance and movement rate, becauseit tends to absorb water quickly.

Proficient characters wearing studdedleather, ring mail, or hide can swim with asuccessful Strength check. This checkmust be repeated each hour in addition to

the Swimming proficiency check; failureindicates that the character has sufferedan additional hours worth of strain frombearing the armor. Characters wearingsuch armor also suffer double penalties totheir attack rolls and Constitution scores.

Swimmers who try to increase theirspeed by making a proficiency check suf-fer a further 1/2 penalty if wearing one of the above armors. Thus a character withStrength 16 who tried to double his move-ment would normally have to make a

Strength check against half his Strength(8); if wearing, ring mail, however, thecharacter would have to make a checkagainst a value of 4.

Characters wearing heavier armors(banded mail, brigantine, chain mail,plate of any type, or splint mail) cannotswim, although they can walk across thebottom at 1/3 movement rate, as de-scribed in the Players Handbook. En-chanted armor is treated identically tonormal armor in this respect (see Equip-

ment (Encumbrance) in the Players Handbook). Characters with shields mustdrop their shields before they can swim.

Tightrope Walking: Tightrope walkingproficiency allows a character to fightwhile balanced on the spars or rigging of aship. The movement of a ship at seamakes such antics even more difficultthan normally, so that characters suffer anadditional -2 penalty on attack rolls, sav

24 Chapter 2



ing throws and proficiency checks, in ad-dition to the -5 penalty normally as-sessed on attack rolls.

Tracking: Tracking ships at sea is an ex-tremely difficult task. Ships leave no per-manent trail on the surface of the water;wakes generally fade within a few min-utes, and the disturbance of fish and sea-birds generally passes within two turns.However, there are those who maintainthat it is possible. DMs wishing to allowtracking on the open sea should apply a -

12 terrain modifier to such tracking profi-ciency checks.

Note also that each ship in a group is con-sidered one creature for the purpose of determining a tracking bonus. The sea-men aboard are not individually counted.

Weather Sense: Weather sense is acommon and useful proficiency aboardship. In addition to the obvious benefits(e.g., not sailing out of port into the teeth of a storm), a navigator making successfulWeather Sense and Navigation proficiencychecks can adjust for the effects of adversewinds (see Table 79: Weather Conditions in

the DMG), reducing the penalty for thesewinds to only ¼ the ships movement.

Table 1: Proficiency Costs for New Proficiencies

Proficiency GroupBoating GeneralInformation Gathering RogueIntimidation RogueLooting RogueRiding, Sea-Based GeneralShipwright

Priest

# of RelevantSlots Ability

1 Wisdom1 Intelligence1 Special1 Intelligence2 Dexterity1

Intelligence

Modifier+1

0Special

0-2

-2

Magic of the Inner Sea

Existing Spells

Jump: This spell may be used to allowquick transfer from one ship to another particularly during boarding. It is thus of-ten used by pirates as a method of gettingone (or a small group) of men aboard a tar-get vessel quickly.

Spider Climb: This spell provides thetarget with the ability to scramble aroundships rigging without having to makeclimbing rolls (see the Proficiency sectionabove).

Wall of Fog: Walls of fog are often used toconceal pirate ships. Although at lowlevels the wall is distinct and thus easily

spotted, at high levels or during foggyweather it can be an effective camouflageeither for concealing an attacker or cover-ing a retreat at sea.

Bind: This spell can be used by a magewith seamanship proficiency to manipu-late the lines which control the sails aboarda sailing ship, thus allowing him to managethe lines alone on a ship which would ordi-narily be too large to allow a single person

to control it. Note, however, that the shortduration of this spell makes this techniqueimpractical except in emergencies.

Flaming Sphere: The fireball formed bythis spell can be used to set a ships riggingalight, although it must be left in place forat least two rounds to actually ignite theships timbers.




Fog Cloud: Even more so than wall of fog (see above), fog cloud can be used to con-ceal a ship on the open sea.

Levitate: An individual with this spellcast upon them can move about the rig-ging of a ship quickly, as the ropes whichsupport the rigging can be used by thesubject so he can move horizontally aswell as vertically. Note the danger, how-ever, of losing hold of the ships riggingand finding oneself in the middle of the airwith the ship sailing out from under you!

Summon Swarm: Note that at sea onlyflying insects or bats can be summoned bythis spell, as the crawling creatures can-not usually come to the caster. On someships, rats may be available.

Whispering Wind: This spell is oftenused by pirates of the Inner Sea to carrymessages to one another. Certain areas of Immurks Hold on the Dragonisle are spe-cially set aside for those who seek to re-ceive such messages.

Gust of Wind: The gust provided by this

spell is equivalent to a strong wind.

touching the person or small object it iscast upon. Precipitation comes within aninch of the persons body, but strikes an in-visible barrier and does not penetrate tothe clothes or skin. The spell is also effec-tive against wetting by waves. The barrierdoes not affect any kind of missile or otherobject, however.

A person under this spell can see moreclearly than most in driving rain becausenone gets into his eyes. If struck by a wave,he remains dry, but if immersed in theocean the mass of water is sufficient toovercome the barrier and he will becomewet. Once out of the ocean, however, thespell will still work against precipitation.

The material component of this spell is asmall square of cloth which has beentreated with oil so that it has becomewater-repellent.

Sea Legs (Reversible] (Priest)

Range: 0Sphere: HealingComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 hour/level

New Spells Casting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: One creatureSaving Throw: NoneFew of the pirates of the Inner Sea are

mages. Nevertheless, some spells have be-come identified with the lords of Earth-spur, and these enchantments aredescribed here.

First Level Spells

Oilskin (Abjuration)

Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 2 turns/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: One creature or small objectSaving Throw: None

This spell prevents fog, rain, waves,hail, and other forms of precipitation from

This spell stops the effects of oncomingsea sickness in the target. If unable to doso before, that person also gains the abilityto balance and maneuver easily even on aviolently heaving deck, just as the mostexperienced sailor will do. At DMs discre-tion, a person under the effect of this spell

need not make Dexterity checks for ship-board actions in stormy weather thatcould easily be done in calm weather.

This spell can be reversed. The reversedspell, land legs, causes the target of thespell to make a Dexterity check to move orattack. Failure of the check means thecharacter falls down, and a second checkis required to stand up again.

26 • Chapter 2



Weathertell (Divination)Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 3 roundsArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the caster (who mustbe able to see the sky and listen to thewinds) to predict the general weather con-ditions for the upcoming 1 hour per levelof the caster. These are the natural weath-

er conditions at the casters current loca-tion (and probably the nearby area)assuming that no magical manipulationoccurs. Thus, this spell could predict thenatural rain shower which will be comingin three hours, but could not predict themagically created storm tomorrow morn-ing.

Upon casting this spell, the caster dis-covers the general wind speed and prevail-

ing direction of the wind which will beextant for the indicated time period. Spe-cific timing of gusts and wind shifts is notavailable, however.

Similarly, the caster discovers whetherit will be raining (or snowing), and approx-imately how hard any precipitation willbe. Exceptional weather patterns (such astornadoes) are revealed to the caster, buthe cannot predict their path with any ac-curacy.

Second Level Spells

Immurks Distraction(Enchantment/Charm)

Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 1 turnArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special




When this spell is cast on a concealeditem, it clouds the mind of anyone seekingthe item who is within 50 of it, so thatthey will not find the hidden item. Thecaster may exclude specific individualsfrom the effect of the Distraction (whomust be specified at the time of casting);all others must make a saving throw vs.spells or else they will not act to reveal theitem. If the item is concealed under a blan-ket (for example), it simply will not occur

to the affected individual to look underthat blanket.If specifically directed to look (for exam-

ple, by someone outside the area of effect),they will do so, but in such a fashion as tokeep the item concealed. Thus, for exam-ple, if digging for a buried chest based onpaced-off directions, the affected individ-ual will make just enough mistakes so thathe digs in the wrong place.

An item in plain sight is not protected.Similarly, an individual who is not lookingfor the affected item is not affected by thespell, and may thus stumble across theitem accidentally. Once the item is touch-ed by someone (other than one of the indi-viduals specified to be immune), thedweomer is canceled.

A character who makes his save may choose to look for the item in the correctplace, but success in the save does notguarantee successful discovery. Unlessthe individual makes the save and looks inthe right place, the item remains hidden. The caster must chant and gesture

while casting the spell, scattering a mix-ture of sand and diamond dust (from a dia-mond of at least 500 gp value) over theprotected item.

Immurks Distraction is said to havebeen researched for Immurk by Seldzen, amage of Procampur.

Mass Jump (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 1d3 rounds +1 round/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 10 radiusSaving Throw: None

This spell confers the ability to leap onceper round for the duration of the spell onall creatures within the area of effect.Leaps can be up to 30 feet forward orstraight upward or 10 feet backward. Hori-zontal leaps forward or backward have on-ly a slight arc + about two feet per 10 feet of distance traveled. The mass jump spelldoes not ensure safety in landing or grasp-ing at the end of the leap.

The mass jump spell is used as part of amagical boarding action. It allows severalpirates to arrive on the deck of an attackedship before the two ships are fully grap-pled, thus offering some chance of sur-prise. However, on the Inner Sea this tactic

is common enough to not be totally sur-prising to experienced sailors.

The material component of this spell is agrasshoppers hind leg, to be broken bythe caster when the spell is cast.

Third Level Spells

Dispel Fog (Abjuration)

Range: 0Components: V, SDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 10/level radius circleSaving Throw: Special

This spell eliminates normal and magi-cal fog from the area of effect. Only fog andmist is affected, not bodies of water, rain,or other precipitation. The fog dispelled isgone permanently, but the empty volumemay be filled in again with new fog if there

28 • Chapter 2



is sufficient quantity in the area. However,a dispelled area stays clear for 1 turn/levelregardless of other conditions.

Creatures in fog or mist form (such asvampires) who are in the area of effectmust make a saving throw vs. spell. A suc-cessful save indicates that the creaturemust transform to a form other than fog ormist; failure indicates that the creaturetakes 2d10 damage.

Preserve Wood (Abjuration)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V, SDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 2 roundsArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special

This spell protects an item made of wood (such as the members on a ship)from being deformed by magical (e.g.,warp wood). Only warp wood spells castby a higher level caster may affect wood soprotected, and then only if the appropriateroll is made (see the warp wood spell, Play- ers Handbook, page 208). The caster may protect up to 100

pounds of wood per level, but only onestructure (such as a ship or a palisade) percasting. Separate wooden items must beprotected separately.

Watery Form (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V, SDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 8

Area of Effect: Caster onlySaving Throw: None

When affected by this spell, the casterand anything he wears turns into what ap-pears to be a puddle of water. This formcannot be absorbed or divided into smallerparts. It has the same hit points and

strength as the spellcaster and moves at +his movement rate on land or in the water.

While in this form, the spellcasterblends undetectably with a body of water,wet spots on deck, etc. The form does notdrown in water and can swim at any depththe spellcaster chooses. If desired, theform can flow out of the ocean, up the sideof a ship, and onto the deck. This is as ex-hausting to the spellcaster as if he hadclimbed that distance in his regular shape.

If the form is attacked it remains in onepiece but the spellcaster suffers damage.Weapons and spells inflict normal dam-age, and other objects injure as deter-mined by the DM.

Wind Servant(Conjuration/Summoning)

Range: 10/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1-6 turns +1 turn/Casting Time: 1 turnArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special

level

This spell conjures a weak form of air el-emental. This creature is incapable of en-tering combat, as it has no effectiveattacks against corporeal creatures, norcan it be affected by normal (non-magical)weapons.

The wind servants only power is to gen-erate a strong wind over a localized area. Awind servant can make any one of the fol-lowing changes:

l Increase or decrease wind speed byone category (e.g., from Light Breeze to

Favorable Winds, or from Gale to Storm)l Change the wind direction by one

step (e.g., from North to Northeast, orfrom Northeast to Southeast). Any such ef-fect on the wind applies to only one vessel. The wind servant is too small to createwidespread weather effects, insteadchanging the weather by filling the sails of




the affected vessel with its own essence. The caster can order the wind servant to

do more than one of the above tasks, but ata cost. For each round that an additionaltask is ordered (i.e., changing the wind di-rection by two points, or affecting windspeed and wind direction), the number of rounds which the wind servant must stayis decreased by one. Thus, for example, amage ordering a northerly breeze whenthe current winds are southerly reducesthe wind servants tenure by three roundsfor each round of such activity.

Wind servants are lazy and disobedient,although not hostile. The caster must givethe wind servant continual guidance orthe creature allows normal wind condi-tions to resume. On the other hand, thecaster may change his direction to thewind servant at any time, and the windservant will respond in 1-3 rounds. (Forthe purposes of the naval game, such ashift takes effect at the start of the nextturn.)

Although wind servants cannot bestruck by corporeal weaponry, they can beaffected by magic. A wind servant whotakes more than 30 points of magical dam-age flees back to the Elemental Plane of Air, abandoning the caster.

The material component of this spell is alit block of incense worth at least 50 gp.

Fourth Level Spells

Ball Lightning (Conjuration)

Range: 180 Components: V, SDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 1 or more balls of lightningSaving Throw: ½

This spell creates one ball of lightningfor every 5 levels of the caster. Each ballcan be sent to a different target. A ball of

lightning flies through the air to strike itstarget. Once there, it moves rapidly (120/round) along surfaces in random direc-tions: up masts, along the deck, downstairwells, etc.

A ball of lightning inflicts one point of damage per level of the caster each time ittouches a living creature. There is a 10%chance that each ball will come to rest at acertain spot, such as the top of a mast or atthe end of a yardarm. If so, the lightningstarts a small fire on a roll of 5 or 6.

Sargasso (Alteration)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: 5 rounds/levelCasting Time: 9Area of Effect: 10 square feet/levelSaving Throw: Special

This spell calls up a region of thick sea-weed from a body of water which is diffi-cult to sail through. Ships sailing through

the sargasso have their speed diminishedby 2 mph if they are sail-powered, or 3mph if they are oar-powered. Ships whosespeed is reduced to or below zero as a re-sult of this speed loss are considered to beentangled (as the spell) in the sargasso,and will be unable to move. Note that for aships movement to be affected at leasthalf of the ship must be in the sargasso re-gion to be affected. A large ship may thusnot be affected by a small sargasso region,even if it sails right through.

Swimming creatures are also affectedby the sargasso, with their movementrates reduced by 6. Air-breathing crea-tures who are thus immobilized may betrapped beneath the surface unless theymake a saving throw vs. death.

The material component of this spell is asmall amount of seaweed and a handful of live brine shrimp, which must be tossedinto the water.

30 • Chapter 2



Fifth Level Spells

Calm Water (Abjuration)ReversibleRange: 360 yardsComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 2 roundsArea of Effect: 20 radius/levelSaving Throw: None

This spell reduces wave action in thearea of effect to the equivalent of calmseas. Chop, whitecaps, and violent stormwaves are eliminated, although theremight be a noticeable swell in the calmwater if the sea itself is storm-tossed.

Ships within the area of effect need notmake seaworthiness rolls due to weather,even if the type of weather otherwise callsfor it.

The reverse of this spell, churn water,creates waves within the area of effect thatare up to 1 tall/level. The material component of the calm

water spell is a bottle of oil (worth 100 gp)poured onto the waves. The material com-ponent of churn water is a silver wireframework (costing 100 gp) which is swirl-ed in a circular motion before being tossedinto the sea.

Calm Wind (Abjuration)

Range: 360 yardsComponents: V, SDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 2 roundsArea of Effect: 20 radius/levelSaving Throw: None

This spell creates an eye of the stormeffect, reducing even gale force winds to abreeze within the area of effect. Oceanwaves are unaffected by this spell, andstorm-tossed waters will continue to bat-ter a ship even though the wind has

ceased. The spell has no effect on fog orprecipitation, only on the wind that ac-companies it.

Any ship sailing in the area of effect istreated as if the winds were light breezerather than their current wind speed, al-though the direction remains unchanged.Exception: if the wind speed were be-calmed, it remains becalmed.

Sixth Level Spells

Oars to Snakes (Alteration)Reversible

Sphere: PlantRange: 50 yardsComponents: V, S, MDuration: 3 rounds/levelCasting Time: 9Area of Effect: 1 oar/3 levelsSaving Throw: None

This more powerful variant of the sticks to snakes spell transforms the oars aboarda ship into giant sea snakes. These ser-

pents remain within the oarlocks of thevessel which bore them, but may attackthose off of the ship who are nearby (suchas boarders). Thus, this is primarily a de-fensive spell, as the caster can transformthe oars of his own vessel into defenders.Each serpent can attack one boarder(THAC0 11) for 3-18 damage each round.

The serpents remain until the spell ex-pires or they are slain (AC 5, 10 HD). Whilethe spell continues, the ship does not haveuse of those oars, and thus may have re-duced speed (see the Combat chapter).

They then turn back into usable oars, al-though those which were killed are brokenand useless. This spell may also be cast offensively.

In this mode, the oars become serpents,but rather than attacking outside the ship,their poisonous heads are aimed withinthe ship, attacking the oarsmen and de-




stroying the ships ability to maneuver. Ninth Level Spells The material components of this spell

are a small piece of wood and the scalesfrom a sea snake.

Seventh level Spells

Whirlpool (Alteration)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/level

Casting Time: 1 turnArea of Effect: 25 foot radius/levelSaving Throw: None

This spell creates a swirling region of water which can consume ships andswimmers within its grasp. Any creaturein the water within the whirlpool mustmake a saving throw vs. spells or bedrawn 10 yards toward the center of thewhirlpool. In addition, any creature withinthe area of effect takes 1d6 damage eachround from the buffeting effect of the

water. Creatures reaching the center of awhirlpool must make a saving throw vs.death or be sucked beneath the wavesnever to return.

Ships are also affected by a whirlpool.Each ship within a whirlpool must make aseaworthiness roll every turn to avoid cap-sizing and sinking. Also, every ship moves1-6 hexes toward the center of the whirl-pool, and 1-6 hexes counterclockwisearound the whirlpool in addition to anyother movement each turn. Beings andships outside the area of effect of the whirl-pool are not affected. The material component for this spell

are a cup of sea water and a jeweled stick(worth at least 5,000 g.p.). The stick isswirled in the cup while the spell is chant-ed, and then broken in half and tossed intothe sea to start the whirlpool.

Tidal Wave (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 3 turnsArea of Effect: 100 long wave/levelSaving Throw: None

This spell brings up a huge wave of water from a sea or other large body of

water. This wave can destroy ships andharbors in its path, and is one of the mostpowerful attacks in the Forgotten Realms. The tidal wave is 75 feet high (regard-

less of the casters level), and 100 feet longper level of the caster. The caster maystart the wave traveling in any direction,but it may not be turned once started. Ittravels at 50 yards per round, devastatingall in its path.

Any ship caught before the tidal wavemust make a seaworthiness roll (at a -30)

in order to avoid swamping. Rolls whichsucceed by less than 20% indicate that theship is driven before the tidal wave, andmust continue to make seaworthinessrolls each round until they are swampedor manage to crest the wave. Rolls whichsucceed by 20% or more indicate that theship successfully crested the wave, and isout of danger.

Swimmers may ride over the wave bymaking a saving throw vs. death magic.Failure of the saving throw indicates thatthe swimmer takes 9d6 damage; survivorsare washed out of the wave on the otherside.

When the wave drives up on shore, itcauses 10d6 damage to everyone within50 yards of shore along its path (and alsoto any ship driven on shore ahead of it; seeabove). Thereafter, the damage dimin-ishes by 1d6 each round until it ceases toexist 500 yards inland.

32 Chapter 2



This spell is so exhausting that aftercasting this spell the caster is unable tocast magical for 1d4 days after casting thisspell due to the magical energies involved.

The material component of this spell is awooden plank, which is struck forciblyacross the surface of the water in the direc-tion the tidal wave is to form.

New Magical Items

As stated above, the Inner Sea is not wellknown for its mages, particularly those

who are of a high enough level to createmagical items. However, a few items havebeen created which carry the flavor of thesea.

Pouch of Winds

This looks like an ordinary leather pouch,tied tightly shut and bulging at the seamswith its contents. It weighs no more thanthe leather it is made of, for the pouch con-tains enchanted air. Once the pouch isopened, a magical wind escapes that does

one of three things.A fair breeze blows a steady wind in the

direction the user wants to travel. Thiswind is considered favorable (see Move-ment and Combat), and blows for one 24hour period after it is released.

A contrary wind blows a steady, if weak-er wind, in the opposite direction fromwhatever the ships heading might be. Thisis treated as an adverse light breeze, andlasts until the ship puts ashore and waitsone day before continuing its voyage.

Finally, a storm wind immediately sur-rounds the vessel with gale force windslasting 1d6 hours. These winds will re-quire the vessel to make seaworthinesschecks each hour, as described in Move-ment and Combat.

In all cases, the wind only affects theusers ship. However, other ships within

30 yards (one hex) of the users ship maybenefit (or suffer) from the effects of thewind, if they remain at that distance.

The content of the pouch is determinedrandomly, in accordance with the follow-ing table:

d6 Roll Type1-3 Fair breeze4-5 Contrary wind6 Storm wind

Flask of Vapor

This looks like a simple, stoppered brassflask, similar to an efreeti bottle or aneversmoking bottle. When opened, fogpours out until the flask is sealed oncemore. The flask creates a disk of fog that is100 across and 10 high. Once that vol-ume is filled, the flask stops emitting fog,but if wind or magical clears the mistaway, the flask once again pours forth va-por until the volume is obscured.

Oil of Stillness

This is a one-pint flask of oil. When the en-chanted oil is poured onto water, it stopsviolent seas and reduces wave actionaround one ship to the equivalent of calmwater for one hour. This effect applies tonormal waves as well as magically-agitated water. During this time, the shipneed not make seaworthiness checks dueto weather (although checks required forother reasons are still required).




In Which Is A Description of All Affected Nations; Their Defenses; and A Chronicle of Recent Piratical Activity and Smug- gling-As Told by Jomo Shanbaeren,Chronicled (and Clarified) by Alyssa of Ravens Bluff

Look at yer map, Jomo Shanbaereninstructs you, pointing to the fadedparchment. Make believe yer on asailin ship, startin at Cormyrhere

and moving eastward around the coast.Pay attention, mates! Im only tellin yathis once! He lifts his eyepatch, reveal-ing a jagged, x-shaped scar. I seenmore with me one good eye than mostmen do with both o theirs. He lets thepatch fall back into place. And what Iseen, I dont tell just any leather-wearin, sword-bearin dandy whatcomes in here! So give me yer ears, andIll fill em with the learnin of manylong years at sea-and with what myspies tell me . . . He glances sideways

toward the door. Jomo wouldnt steer ya off course, yknow!

Cormyr

Suzail, the capital of Cormyr, lies on thenorthern coast of the Dragonsmere, justeast of the Storm Horn mountains.

Suzail boasts three harbors. The first isthe Basin, a deep harbor (dredged to open-sea depths) where ships can deposit theircargos close to the shops which surround

the citys Market. Twenty ships can load orunload here simultaneously, making thisa busy harbor, while the nearby shipyardsare the primary producers of the brigan-tines which have become the trademarkvessel of the Cormyrean Freesails. The ac-tivity here supports Saszesk, a young hu-man reputed to be a member of ImmurksBand. Saszesks smuggling operation is

not well known, as King Azoun has soughtto make Suzail safe from the depredationsof such thieves guilds. The second (central) harbor is also a

commercial harbor, although its wharvesare accessed only via a series of royalwarehouses. Customs inspections herecan be painstaking, particularly if the lo-cal watch believes that smugglers areabout, and little contraband (or piraticalgoods) makes it through. On the otherhand, the Cormyrean Freesails pay their

tribute to King Azoun at these ware-houses. As many as thirty ships can bedocked here, along with many smallervessels.

The easternmost harbor contains theRoyal Docks and the Harbor Tower. Cor-myrs Imperial Navy (see below) has itsmain home port here under the personalcommand of Admiral Hazen Kelafin, Roy-al Admiral of Cormyr. Admiral Kelafinsmarines are housed within the nearby Cit-adel of the Purple Dragon.

Cormyrs low, rolling, misty coastlinestretches east to the River Lurlar. Most of the coastline has extensive shallows, andfew villages offer harbors large enough(and deep enough) for ocean-going ves-sels. Outside of Suzail only Marsember(with its archipelago of harbor-islands con-nected by bridges) offers any substantialharbor. Marsembers harbor is the busiestin Cormyr, and while some smugglinggoes on, the Harpers and the War Wizardsactively root out and destroy any activelydishonest groups. The Harpers use Mar-

sember as a safe port, and take care tokeep it that way.

Pirates and Cormyrean law

King Azoun has sworn that Cormyr willnot become a pirate haven (his belovedCormyrean Freesails not withstanding). Those convicted of piracy here are treated

34 Chapter 3



Nations of the Inner Sea • 35



harshly. A first offense costs the righthand, while a second conviction is punish-able by death.

Smuggling is only slightly less harshlyviewed. Most smuggling is to avoid taxa-tion (Cormyr charges a 5% duty on all im-ported goods) or to bring collections of weapons ashore. Cormyrs laws prevent-ing mercenaries from gathering have beenextended to merchants (particularly thosewithout Cormyrean charters) who bringweapons into the kingdom in any quanti-ty, as such caches can quickly find theirway to otherwise innocent-appearing war-riors. Smugglers are fined triple the valueof the contraband (along with confiscationof the goods); repeat offenders are pun-ished as pirates.

Naval Forces and Shore Defenses

Cormyrs Royal Navy (boasting thirty car-avels and over 5,500 men) is responsiblefor patrolling the seacoast for smugglers,

providing aid to ships in trouble in Cor-myrs waters, and to provide support tothe army in time of war. Fourteen shipsare posted to Suzail, another twelve toMarsember (specifically posted to Star-water Keep), and the remainder in smallerports along the coast. Most recently, Admi-ral Kelafins fleet (assisted by CormyreanFreesails) conveyed King Azouns armyacross the Dragon Reach to speed their

journey to Thesk during the recent HordeWar.

Supplementing Cormyrs Royal Navyare the Cormyrean Freesails, privateerschartered by King Azoun to patrol Cor-myrs waters and hunt down and destroypirates. Many of Cormyrs trading vesselsalso carry charters as Freesails, and Suzailand Marsember both have some shore de-fenses. Since the most recent pirate incur-sions, Marsember has established someharbor chains, but like much in Marsem-

ber these are in poor repair. Unfortunately,while Starwater Keep has several ballistaeand catapults, the topography of the citymakes these virtually useless for defenseof the outer harbor islands. Suzail has anexcellent set of harbor chains which canblock the narrow channel to the Basin(supported by a deployment of three bal-listae), and the Citadel of the Purple Drag-on has an excellent brace of four catapultstrained on the Royal Harbor area.

Recent Pirate Activities

Cormyr has suffered little harassment frompirates, primarily because its own Cormy-rean Freesails (along with the Royal Navy)defend the coasts and waters well. Themost recent significant pirate raid was onthe city of Marsember in 1344 DR. Al-though a few of the outermost harbor is-lands were looted by the pirates, they wereunable to enter the city proper before anoverwhelming force of Cormyrean ships

(with magical support from the War Wiz-ards in the city) drove the pirates away.

Sembia

The coastline of Sembia extends from theRiver Lurlar east to the mouth of the Drag-on Reach, and from thence north to thecity of Yhaunn (and, some say, even as faras Scardale). Over a coastal expanse of over 400 miles, the coastline varies from arocky 50 cliff (as along the stone promi-

nence between Saerloon and Selgaunt) toa marshy shore (as can be found west of Urmlaspyr). Although the best harborsare occupied by Sembias wealthy tradingcities, the coast boasts many small covesand harbors which could allow a ship to behidden from view.

36 Chapter 3



Pirates and Sembian Law

Sembias merchant rulers treat piracymore severely than murder. Piracy carriesan immediate death sentence in Sembia(which the navy is empowered to carry outat sea if necessary), and more than onceclashes have arisen between Sembia andCormyr over Sembias overzealous execu-tion of a Freesail crew.

Smuggling, on the other hand, is viewedas at worst an embarrassment. Fines are

not steep, representing only triple the taxesowed, but the smuggled goods are returnedto their owners (after the tax and fines arepaid), and can often be sold at a reasonableprofit despite the smuggling costs.


Sembia has one of the largest standing na-vies on the Inner Sea, with over ninetyships and 15,000 men on active duty. It isstrange, therefore, that they have been sounsuccessful in reducing the amount of

piracy which their traders suffer. How-ever, when it is considered that even sucha large navy leaves only one vessel foreach five miles of coastline, and that mostof that navy is concentrated in the seaportcities of Selgaunt and Saerloon, it may notbe so surprising.

Also note that most merchants of Sembiado not view pirate pursuit as a noble cause(unlike the Cormyrean Freesails, whomake up nearly half of the ships with Cor-myrean registry). Where the Cormyreanshave banded together against the pirate

menace, the Sembian attitude is that pi-racy is ill luck when you suffer it, but it isgood luck when your competition suffers it.


Piratical activities in Sembia are near-constant. Sembias ships represent the

most profitable targets for piracy in thenorthern Inner Sea. The most difficultproblem facing a pirate captain is avoidingthe patrols of the thinly-spread Sembiannavy. In fact, during some disputes be-tween mercantile houses, pirates may behired to attack the shipping of a rival. Al-though this is illegal, it is sufficiently com-mon to have given rise to the expressionhonest as a Sembian pirate. Smugglingis rampant, with nearly all Sembian ves-sels doing some. Because of the light pun-

ishment for the crime, however, and dueto Sembias relatively liberal laws regard-ing what is contraband, smuggling is notviewed as a problem in Sembia.

The Dalelands

The coast of the Dalelands extends alongthe western edge of the Dragon Reachfrom Yhaunn north to the mouth of theRiver Lis. The coast is rocky, with steepcliffs near Scardale and north of Harrow-dale. The only significant ports are those

two Dales; of the two, Scardale, which liesat the mouth of the River Ashaba, has themore extensive harbors.

Scardale was once a busy port town, butin 1350 DR its new lord, Lashan Aumer-sail, began a campaign to build Scardaleinto a great power, taking over the remain-der of the southern Dales in the process.Although he quickly conquered Harrow-dale, Featherdale, and Battledale, his mili-tary successes forced an alliance of Cormyr, Sembia, Zhentil Keep, Hillsfar,and the remaining Dales against him.Lashan was quickly overcome.

Scardale has fallen on hard times. Sem-bia briefly occupied the Dale, but it is nowdivided into small subsections, each garri-soned by one of the invading forces. PortAshaba and Scar Harbor are by conventionneutral territory, although skirmishes arestill fought between Scardale citizens and

Nations of the Inner Sea 37



the occupation forces (as well as betweenthe garrisons of the various nations).

Pirates and Daleland Law

The pirates have been quick to seize on theopportunities available in a war-tom citylike Scardale. Smuggling is rampant (inpart because different items are contra-band in different sections of the same port),and Scardale has become a safe harbor forpirate ships operating in the Dragon

Reach. Cormyr and Sembia have both at-tempted to close down the harbor, but theminimal garrisons (12 men each) main-tained by each have been unable to over-come the combined resistance of thepeople of Scardale, the Zhentil Keep garri-son, and the pirates. Although piracy is of-ficially a capital offense in Scardale, inpractice pirates use the port essentially asthey please. Harrowdale, on the otherhand, has little pirate traffic. Piracy is acapital crime there as it is in all the Dales,

but the simple farmers of Harrowdale havelittle to interest the pirates, and the harboris too far north (and thus too far from theshipping lanes) to be of much use.


Neither Harrowdale nor Scardale main-tains much of a navy As part of their occu-pation, the Sembian navy patrols thesouthern coast of the Dalelands, but theyrarely travel as far north as Harrowdale. They have had some success suppressingpiracy near Scardale through a vigorousnaval presence, but unless a vessel is ac-cused of piracy in Sembia, or commits anact of piracy in the presence of a Sembianwarship, there is little the Sembian navycan do.

Scardale did have some harbor defens-es, notably siege engines ensconced inHarborwatch Keep and a harbor chain

which could be drawn at the Anvil Bridge.However, in the wake of the occupations,many of these defenses have been de-stroyed while the remainder have beenclaimed by one of the factions which nowcontrol this city.

Harrowdales port is much less exten-sive than that in Scardale. Its defensesconsist primarily of a town militia whichhas a standing watch for repelling raiders. There are a few fishing vessels which canact as a first line of defense, but essentially

Harrowdales defenses are designed tostop raiders from taking the city, not toprosecute pirates.


As mentioned above, in the last few yearsScardale has become a pirate haven and asmugglers den. Pirates come to Scardaleto fence their booty and hide safely fromSembian patrols. Little actual piracy oc-curs near the port, as there is little trade on

which to prey and the Sembian navy main-tains an almost constant vigil nearby.

The Moonsea

The Moonsea lies to the north of the Drag-on Reach, the two connected by the RiverLis. The Moonsea is a shallow, freshwatersea with a varied coastline, low and acces-sible along the western side, a rocky bluff to the south, hilly to the north, and moun-tainous to the point of inaccessibility inthe east, where it abuts against the Galenaand Earthspur mountain ranges.

Pirates and Moonsea Law

Although the pirates of the Inner Sea rarelytravel so far from their islands, there is stillmuch here that affects their lives. The city-state of Hillsfar, once an open port whereeven the most notorious cargos could be

38 Chapter 3



traded, has become as tight and as defend-ed as Zhentil Keep and Mulmaster.

Officially, piracy is illegal throughoutthe Moonsea. In practice, it is common,with privateers and raiders from ZhentilKeep and Mulmaster preying on one an-others shipping. While these pirates havelittle to do with those on the Inner Sea,some pirates first learned the trade on theMoonsea, while others use the area as ahideout, offering their ships and crew tothe highest bidder.

Punishment for pirates varies amongthe cities. Zhentil Keep typically sen-tences pirates and smugglers to service inthe Zhentilar armies or, if not deemed wor-thy of that honor, to death in the arena.Lord Maalthiir of Hillsfar has not yet pun-ished anyone for piracy, although the oldlaw of death by hanging is still on thebooks. Mulmasters punishment for pi-racy is both specific and gruesome: the of-fender is lashed to a stone and thrown intothe Moonsea to drown.


Hillsfar is a walled city perched at the topof a rocky bluff overlooking the southshore of the Moonsea. A small. village atthe base of the bluff (known as the Docks),handles the naval traffic and possesses asmall drydock. While the Docks are notwell defended, there is rarely anything of value here, as in the case of a raid the peo-ple withdraw into the well-defendedwalled city. Hillsfars new First Lord,Maalthiir, has begun to improve the dry-

dock and shipbuilding facilities at theDocks, but has not made significant effortto either secure the port or develop a navyof any size.

Zhentil Keep has a large harbor capableof holding over 250 vessels. The harbor isguarded by the Keeps powerful navy,along with ballistae and catapults set up

on the Force Bridge and Tesh Bridge,which flank the harbor mouth on the Riv-er Tesh. It is said that it is impossible to en-ter the harbor at Zhentil Keep without thepermission of the appropriate authorities and it is even harder to get out!

Mulmasters harbor is smaller than thatof Zhentil Keep, but much better defendedand developed than the Docks of Hillsfar.A series of canals and harbor areas pro-vides Mulmaster with docks for nearly twohundred vessels. The canals can be indi-vidually blocked by harbor chains, andmany are guarded by ballistae, as the nar-row canals make the imprecise catapultuseless. Mulmaster also once boasted anavy of over seventy warships. In the re-cent Battle Between Storms, however,more than forty vessels were sunk by theforces of Zhentil Keep, and Mulmaster isstruggling to rebuild its forces.


The constant sniping between Zhentil

Keep, Mulmaster, and Hillsfar is termedpiracy by some, privateering by others,and open warfare by some outsiders particularly those who have never seenZhentil Keep truly at war. Most Moonseapiracy is limited to raids on ships at sea, asland-based raiding is fruitless given thewell-defended city-states of the region.

Tantras and the City-States

The city-states of Tantras, Calaunt, Rav-ens Bluff, and Procampur can be found on

the eastern shore of the Dragon Reach.Each of these cities presents a differentview to the pirates of the Inner Sea. Each isindependent, maintaining its statusthrough differing combinations of diplo-macy, tolerance, and military might.

Overall, the shoreline they share isrocky and high, with few accessible ports




and many rocky reefs which make settle-ment of this coastline difficult. North of Calaunt, where the Earthspur Mountains southernmost bluffs abut the Reach, andagain between Ravens Bluff and Procam-pur at the foot of High Haspur, the coast-line is impassable, with cliffs so sheer thatonly the most expert climbers can scalethem, and movement of any kind of cargois impossible.

Tantras is the largest of these city-states.A prosperous, wealthy, and proud city, itsshops offer a variety of goods far greaterthan otherwise available in this part of theDragon Reach. Dominated by the worshipof Torm and the entrepreneurial diligenceof its merchant families, Tantras is a placeof bustling industry. Tantras was heavily involved in the re-

cent Time of Troubles, and has not yetfully recovered from the destructionwhich occurred as a result. The destroyedbuildings and parkways have almost com-pletely been restored, although many of

the trees in Tantras are now mere sap-lings. More serious is the enormous magic-dead area to the north of the city, and theoccasional pockets (now mostly repaired)of dead or wild magic which dot the near-by landscape.

Procampur is the next largest city. Like Tantras, Procampur is hostile to the pi-rates, and its harbor is well defended (seebelow). Its ruler, the Thultyrl, like all theothers of his line, has sworn eternal venge-ance on any pirate who dares attack Pro-

campurs harbor or raid the citys ships.However, his mage-advisor Hamayarchhas encouraged him to more leniency andconciliation toward the pirates, and a fewpirates whose crimes are not too heinous(and who have not been accused by Pro-campan captains) have been allowed touse this fabled port.

Although Calaunts harbor is excellentand it would seem to be an ideal pirate ha-

ven, Calaunt has an evil reputation withthe pirates. Some believe it is due to thestranglehold that the local Thieves Guild,the Shadowcloaks, have on all fencing andsmuggling in the city. Others maintainthat the creatures which haunt the RiverVesper can visit bad luck on a sailor whocrosses them. Still others point to thestranglehold which the dukes of Calaunthave on the squalid city, and say that suchis bad for business. Whatever the reason,pirates rarely put into Calaunt, and this iseven less frequent since the occupation of Scardale (q.v.).

Ravens Bluff does not suffer Calaunts illreputation, and indeed is viewed as themost hospitable of the three cities. Thereis an extensive smuggling trade via thesewers (which are actually the ruins of thecity of Sarbreen), and Ravens Bluff turnsaway no oneso long as they have gold tospend.

Pirates and Dragon Reach Law

While avatars and wild magic are a prob-lem the High Council of Tantras have yetto fully solve, pirates are well understood. Tantras punishes piracy with death bydrowning: convicted pirates are lashed toheavy stones and tossed into the DragonReach. The judges are not known to be le-nient, but even so Tantras does not con-cern itself with piracy unless one of itsown ships is involved. Smugglers suffer apenalty of confiscation of the smuggled

goods plus a fine equal to their value; re-peat offenders are usually executed.Procampurs judges are quick to convict

pirates, and the punishment is usuallybanishment for first offenders, with deathby hanging for those who defy the ban.Smuggling is also not tolerated, with finesequal to the value of the goods (plus confis-cation) suffered by those who evade the Thultryls tax collectors. Slavery is illegal

40 • Chapter 3



in Procampur, and slaves brought here areconsidered free.

Calaunt punishes pirates and smugglersswiftly and mercilessly, unless they havepermission to operate from the Shadow-cloaks (who charge one-third of the valueof the goods as a tithe). The sentence forviolating their monopoly is invariably cap-ital, but the punishment may come for-mally from a Court Executioner orinformally as a dagger in the back in thenight.

Ravens Bluff concerns itself little withaffairs outside its walls. Known pirates(convicted in a court of law) are banished,but those with only evil reputations aretolerated, so long as they obey the laws of the Living City while they are in town.


Tantras harbor is defended by ballista bat-teries set up on the outer shore and alongthe mouth of the harbor. The narrow har-bor mouth can also be blocked by a harbor

chain. Tantras own naval forces are lim-ited, as the city has no great territory to de-fend, but may still send forth a force of nearly a half-dozen warships should theneed arise.

Procampurs navy is comprised of six-teen major warships, each with an excel-lent crew. On more than one occasion, thecitys very survival has depended on theskill of these crews, and the Thultryl hasmade quite an investment in them.

Procampurs harbor is not as well de-fended, in part because it extends a con-

siderable length without an easilycontrolled harbor mouth. However, abouta quarter of a mile inland, Procampurmaintains a high city wall with well-defended gates. On several occasions,raiders have managed to pillage the har-bor section, but they have never managedto penetrate into the main body of the city.

Calaunts docks are perhaps the leastdefended of all, with no significant fortifi-cations aimed at the river mouth. The cityalso maintains no formal navy, althoughthe pirates who have arrangements withthe Shadowcloaks have been known to actas such occasionally (usually as a matterof vengeance). The citys defenders, the Teeth of Calaunt, are not as well trained asmany pirate crews, but fear of the Sha-dowcloaks (and the conciliation of theirfree trade with accepted pirates) keeps Ca-

launt from being the target of many pirateraids.Ravens Bluffs defenses are limited, as

the city is some distance from the water-line. As with other independent cities,Ravens Bluff supports only a small navy,and the thriving underground smugglingtrade is rarely hindered.


The Dragon Reach is a favored haunt of pi-rates. Calaunt and Scardale (q.v.) provide

a safe harbor in the northern reaches of the Inner Sea, and the pickings from Pro-campur and the wealthy cities of Sembiaare a constant temptation. Only Procam-pur makes any attempt at policing theeastern Dragon Reach, and its ships re-main close to home (and to the commer-cial sea lanes) rather than roving throughthe less traveled areas.

Impiltur

Impiltur possesses the coastline fromLyrabar east and north to the northern tipof the Easting Reach. Its coastline is lessforbidding than most along the Inner Sea,with many small harborages in addition tothe harbors of its cities, and few dangerouspoints to disturb seafarers.




Pirates and Impilturan Law

Impiltur is attempting to build itsstrength, trading the copper and silverwhich is mined here for the manufacturedgoods of the more advanced civilizationsof Sembia, Cormyr, and Thesk. Unfortu-nately for Impiltur, this makes their shipsmore frequent targets of pirates thanthose of most other nations, as the chancefor gaining great wealth in ingots or coin is

greater in Impilturan ships.Impiltur has thus enacted severe pun-ishments for piracy. Accused pirates arehung, and their ship confiscated by therulers of the city in which they are tried.Smuggling is also not tolerated (a switchfrom much of the northern Inner Sea), be-ing viewed as a crime against the state.Smugglers are treated as thieves, withhanging common for repeat offenders.


Impilturs navy is small but hardy. Adozen small warships guard her ports andher treasure fleets, but every man aboardis hand-picked for loyalty, bravery, andskill. Their ports are also well-defended,with stone walls, ballistae, and even cata-pults (in Lyrabar and Songhal) guardingfrom raiders.


Pirates avoid Impiltur. The Impilturans donot take piracy lightly, and even the temp-tations of the treasure fleets keep the pi-rates away from the coastlines. Theirships at sea, on the other hand, have a rep-utation for attracting pirates; there aretales of a second pirate attacking an Im-pilturan treasure ship before the first pi-rate to arrive had managed to strike thecolors.

Telflamm

The city of Telflamm and its subject townslie on the eastern shore of the EastingReach, from the tip of this region in thenorth to the Aglarond peninsula in thesouth. This region suffered great destruc-tion at the hands of the Tuigan Horde, andhas not yet recovered. The harbors along this portion of the

Reach are small, with none able to hold

more than two dozen ships. (A notable ex-ception is Telflamm, with an excellent har-bor capable of holding over forty ships.)However, there are many one and two-ship harbors, and every village along thecoast boasts an anchorage where tradersmay come.

Pirates and Telflamm Law

Before the Horde War, Telflamm made itsliving from the valuable goods whichflowed along the Golden Way from farKara-Tur. However, the region had neverbeen wealthy, able only to take a smalltithe from the wealth flowing between theEast and the wealthy nations of the west-ern Inner Sea. Piracy against the ships of

Telflamm was common, but Telflamm it-self was unable to do much.

If anything, the situation is now worse. The embargo imposed by Yamun Khahan,leader of the Tuigan, against cargo beingshipped across the Great Waste damagedthe Telflamm economy, and the flood of

refugees from neighboring Thesk finishedthe job. Telflamm and its subject citieshave become somewhat lawless, as refu-gees have created overcrowding and someshortages. The pirates of the Inner Sea have taken

advantage of the situation, establishingblack markets for food and shelter inCulmaster, Ethdale, and Nyth. Only

Telflamm, whose rulers have made every

42 Chapter 3



effort to keep the pirates out, has not de-veloped a thriving underworld.

Theoretically, piracy and smuggling in Telflamm are crimes punishable by death(for the former) and confiscation and fines(for the latter). The disorganized state of the nation has made these punishmentsrare, as many Telflammans view these pi-rates (who import necessities at prices farabove those found anywhere else on theInner Sea) as saviors rather than oppor-tunists.


Telflamm has little in the way of defenses. The militia can be called out to defendagainst raiders, and most cities maintain aguard force large enough to stop all but atrue military invasion, but the higherforms of defense (such as siege enginesand harbor chains) are not available. Their navy, such as it once was, has

turned to disaster relief, with all availableships importing necessities rather than

acting for the nations defense. Several of these vessels have fallen into pirate hands,delivering their cargo of food and clothingto overcrowded villages who pay outra-geous prices for the goods, then curse therulers of Telflamm (who had intended thegoods to be distributed free) for their ava-rice. Should this situation continue forany length of time, rebellion may bringthe rulers of Telflamm down.


As mentioned above, pirate activities areincreasing along the Telflamm coast. Cor-myrean relief ships have been openly at-tacked, and Culmaster has becomesomething of a pirate haven. The govern-ment is so shaken by the events of the lastfew years that they can do nothing to stopthis.

Aglarond

Aglarond lies along the northern shore of the Aglarond peninsula. Its coastline, likemuch along the eastern portion of this sea,is dotted with small harbors, most of which have small towns or even cities.

These settlements trade with one another(and rarely with the rest of the Inner Sea),but the wealth of Aglarond is in its rawmaterials, not its trade.

Pirates and Algarondan law

The Simbul (who rules Aglarond) has notolerance for any who interfere inAglaronds affairs. Her small navy of coastboats aggressively pursues pirateswho come near the peninsula, and eventhose pirates who trade with Thay giveAglarond a wide berth.

Captured pirates are put to death imme-diately as agents of Thay. The Red Wizardsare known to trade with pirates, andAglaronds primary enemy and most press-

ing problem are the aggression of Thay. The Simbul has given direction that anysuspected of cooperating with Thay be putto death immediately, and her people seethe necessity of such draconian measures.


Aglaronds naval defenses are few, con-sisting primarily of the small navy of coast-boats which their warriors use ontheir raids. While a single coast-boat is lit-tle threat to an ocean-going vessel, suchships attack in swarms of 5-10, grapplingthe larger vessel, boarding it, and puttingall aboard to death without mercy.


As might be easily understood, almost nopiracy occurs in Aglarond.




Thay

The coastline of Thay extends from theRiver Thazarim in the east to the city of Delthuntle in the west. Only a few of theintermediate cities maintain even a pre-tense of independence, and those are un-der attack by Thay. The coastline is rocky, but supports

many small harbors as well as three majorharbors: Delthuntle, Laothkund, and Be-zantur. It is most foreboding in the east,and becomes almost inviting in the west,with rolling hills and attractive harbors.

Pirates and Thayvian Law

Even the pirates of the Inner Sea are un-likely to tug the beards of the Red Wizards.Legends clearly warn of the danger of stealing from the Red Wizards, and eventrading with these powers can bring magi-cal disaster down onto the outsider.

Should a pirate be so bold as to commit

an act of piracy against Thay, the normalpunishment for piracy is enslavement.However, if the pirate were particularlynotorious or accomplished, the penaltywould be deathin a fashion as gruesomeand painful as the Tharchioness of Bezan-tur can imagine.

However, piracy in the Alamber Sea isnot uncommon. These pirates live in small,secluded villages on the coast of Thay andMulhorand, and on the smaller islands tothe south of Ardor. They prey on the

smaller coastal trading vessels and occa-sionally surprise the crews of larger vesselswho bring their ships into shore to campfor the night or make emergency repairs.When the Thayvian navy finds and raidsone of the pirate villages, the pirates at-tempt to pass themselves off as fishermen.Sometimes they are successful, sometimesthey are not, and sometimes the Thayvianmarines dont really care and enslave the

population anywayeven if it turns out toreally be just a fishing village.

Visitors to the Alamber Sea should alsotake note of Aleaxtis, the so-called King-dom of the Sahuagin. Settlements of thiskingdom under the sea dot the bottom of the Alamber, primarily north of the vol-canic island known as the Ship of theGods. The greatest concentration of sa-huagin in the area is Vahaxtyl, a sahuagincity some 13,000 strong. The sahuagin of Aleaxtis will sink any

ship in the Alamber Sea, be it Mulhorandi,Untheric, Thayvian, or pirate. They alsoraid the Untheric cities of Messemprar andMourktar. The Thayvians pay tribute toAleaxtis in hope of reducing their depreda-tions (so far, it hasnt worked), while thepriests of Set and Tiamat in Unther haveapproached them about an alliance (alsowithout success). The sahuagin are themost predatory nation in the region, andare widely feared even by the pirate chiefsand the Red Wizards.


Thay maintains a small navy of magically-powered ships, operated from the Isle of Aldor. These ships are rarely seen outsideof Thayvian waters (except during rare in-vasions of Aglarond or other neighboringlands), but they patrol the nearby seas likelooming mountains of darkness, blastingany suspicious vessel with magical fire.

If the ships of Thay are dangerous, the

port defenses are worse. The western portshave limited defenses, but Bezantur itself isdefended with the full might of the Zulkirs.Any adventurer foolish enough to assaultsuch a fortress will not long survive.


The pirates of the Inner Sea do not raid theships of Thay. They have learned to avoid

44 Chapter 3



any ship flying the red-and-gold-flame-on-black banner of a Red Wizardunlesstheir spies have indicated that the banneris a ruse.

However, they do trade with the Thar-chioness of Bezantur for the fire-fluidwhich powers the Thayvian bombardswhich guard the Dragonisle. Thay has not yet recognized the threat to their monop-oly posed by the smoke powder of thepriests of Gond. When they discover thesituation, the pirates may have earned aterrible enemy.

Mulhorand

Mulhorand lies along the eastern coast of the Alamber Sea. Its coast is lined withcliffs, spotted with high falls which dashdramatically into the Alamber Sea. Thiswall, combined with Mulhorandese isola-tionism, has made Mulhorand one of thegreat mystery ports of the Inner Sea.

Pirates and Mulhorandese Law

Only licensed merchants may enter Skuldharbor; others are turned away. Piracy isillegal, but the traditional punishment(death by being pressed between greatstones) has not been inflicted in years.Mulhorands own ships never leave theharbor, and Thayvian captains do notleave their vengeance to the priests of theCity of Eternity.


Mulhorands single major port is Skuld,said to be the oldest city in the ForgottenRealms. Were it not for the Road to theDawn, Skuld would be as isolated as therest of Mulhorand. However, this highwayto Kara-Tur ends in this City of Shadows,and Thayvian merchants carry the cara-vans from Skuld west to the remainder of

the Inner Sea.Skuld harbor houses Mulhorands navy

(said to consist of only twenty ancient, rot-ting galleys) and the small amount of mer-chant traffic which visits this nationalmost all of which comes from Thay. Theharbor and low-lying portions of the cityare protected from tidal waves and stormsurges by a single huge seawall, set nearlythree miles out into the Alamber. This wallwas built millennia ago during Mul-horands years of greatness, and is now insad need of repair.


Despite the Thayvian near-monopoly ontrade, some smuggling has begun, partic-ularly given the increased interest byMulhorand in events outside their para-dise land. Several smuggling rings havesprung up in Gheldaneth, Skuld, andNeldorild; the priests of Mulhorand haveeither not discovered them yet, or are us-ing them as an early foray into more open

contact with the outside world.

Unther

Mulhorands traditional rival is Unther, atheocracy ruled by Gilgeam the Great, amanifestation of an extra-planar Power.Although the nobility of this land has asmuch interest in the outside world as thepriests of Mulhorand, they have allowedtrading companies to spring up along thewell-watered western shore of the Alam-ber Sea.

Pirates and Untherian Law

Piracy under the ancient law of Enlil waspunishable by banishment, the accusedbeing set adrift in a small boat with nofood or water. However, since the rise of Gilgeam and his priests, this has been re-




placed by a more arbitrary response, rang- his shoddy port. All of these cities main-ing from execution by torture to entertain- tain a small garrison, but nowhere can ament at the noble palace! real modern port defense be said to exist.

Smuggling is also common. Taxes andduties are destined for the priests of Gil-geam, but a high payment to the templecan often be avoided by a smaller bribe toa lower functionary. Under the ancient lawof Enlil, smugglers were enslaved to thestate (presumably to pay their debts to so-ciety), but this result is more a matter of

caprice than law in modern Unther.


Unthers navies were once the terror of thesouthern Inner Sea, with nearly one hun-dred warships (primarily biremes and tri-remes). However, battles with the piratesover the last several years have destroyedthese vessels, most of which were poorlycrewed and captained. Unthers navynow numbers but five ships, all of which

may be found in the harbor at Unthalass. The priests of Gilgeam now scheme torecover the Galley of the Gods, a greatmagical galley which can travel atamazing speeds, fly, and even breathe firefrom its multiple-headed dragon prow.

This galley was stolen in a daring raid bythe pirates of the Alamber Sea, and Un-ther is rebuilding its navy so that theymay recover this most sacred artifact.

The ports of Unther have decayed to thepoint of collapse. Messemprar rebelled two

years ago (with some support provided bythe city of Mourktar and carried by the pi-rates of the Inner Sea), and the army dev-astated the city before ending therebellion. Unthalass has been destroyedby flood, and the port district has only re-cently been repaired after a daring pirateattack. Shussel is perhaps the most dis-tressing; the city has become nothing butslums, and its ruler, Lord Ekur, has all butgiven up on encouraging trade through


Piracy requires prey; Unther has declinedto the point where true piracy is barelyworthwhile. Some raiding of coastal citiescontinues, but the primary trade in thisarea travels between Mulhorand and

Thay, and it is this that the pirates pursue.Since its recent destruction, the ruins of Messemprar have become a pirate haven,but the large Untheric military presence inthe city has kept it from becoming a majorcenter for piracy.

Chessenta

The city-states of Chessenta, which liealong the Bay of Chessenta to the east of Unther, house a people of passion, belying

the dour nature of its stony coast. Thesewarlike people, of all the traditional nationsof the Inner Sea, are perhaps spirituallyclosest to the pirates. They understand tak-ing what one needs, as opposed to askingfor it. They themselves are seafaring peo-ple. They give no quarter, and ask for none.

Thus, pirate raiding against Chessenta isless frequent, at least as far as the pirates of the Pirate Isles are concerned. However, pi-racy within Chessenta is a problem all itsown. The Chessentan coastline has many

small harbors and quays where sea-goingvessels can come ashore, except within theAdder Swamp. Most are occupied, andmany have some form of fortification. Mer-chant vessels carry cargo from city to city,with travel on the Bay of Chessenta havingreplaced surface travel for all but the in-land cities.

46 Chapter 3



Pirates and Chessentan Law

Piracy in Chessenta is punished harshly,primarily because most pirates in the areaare themselves Chessentan. Different cit-ies have different laws, but the death pen-alty is common, as is confiscation of thevessel. Recognize, however, that many of these pirates are actually privateers, car-rying letters of marque from their homecity-state. Given the constant internecinewarfare within Chessenta, such men may

be staunch allies one day, and piratesthe next.According to the laws of Chessenta, any-

one convicted of a capital crime has theright to defend himself before a jury,which must render a unanimous verdict.Unfortunately, not all of the cities in Ches-senta follow this code. Sentencing in madLuthcheq is decided by the whims of theKaranoks (the ruling family of Luthcheq).Sentencing in the military dictatorship of Akanax is decided by a (biased) militarytribunal. However, in Reth, Airspur, Cim-

bar, Soorenar, Mordulkin, and Mourktar,the law is applicable.Smuggling is also a serious crime, al-

though not a capital one. Most of the taxrevenue Chessentan cities gather comesfrom export taxes. Convicted tax evadershave their goods confiscated, and mustpay a severe fine; repeat offenders may bebanished.


The Bay of Chessenta itself is guarded at

Watchers Cape. As with everything else inChessenta, the naval complement of thecities varies wildly. Airspur, which recent-ly sustained heavy losses in war, has but asingle customs vessel, while Cimbar,Chessentas capital, has nearly a dozennaval vessels and marines. Chessentanvessels tend to be biremes and triremes;

they do not often use sailing vessels, inpart because the Bay of Chessenta rarelyhas favorable winds, and often goes calmfor days at a time.

Soorenar and Mourktar use wizardsrather than navies to guard their ports,with a swift fireball the usual response to araiding incursion. Luthcheq, on the otherhand, executes any wizard who comes in-to port, burning him at the stake.


Piracy is an integral part of Chessentan war-fare, and warfare is an integral part of Ches-sentan life. Thus, pirate incursions areconstant, with the intent being more to dis-rupt commerce and damage the enemysability to wage war rather than to steal trea-sure. One reason that the broad-sailing pi-rates of the Pirate Isles avoid Chessenta isthe great odds that an outsider will becaught between two warring factions.

Chondath

The nation of Chondath lies along thesouthern shore of the Vilhon Reach. Chon-daths coast is low, with large estuaries atthe mouths of the River Arran and the Riv-er Nun. The shore has little in the way of protected harbors, and the waters are of-ten shallow, limiting deep draft sea vesselsto a few carefully selected harbors of Hlathand Arrabar.

Pirates and Chondathan Law

The kingdom of Chondath is essentiallylawful, and abhors piracy. Pirates are pun-ished by flogging for the first offense, anddeath for the second. Smuggling is un-common, due to the lack of adequateports, but it is also not viewed as a seriouscrime, with confiscation and a small finebeing the only penalties.





Chondaths ports are fairly well defended,with some ballistae at Arrabar, and a cata-pult and harbor chain at Hlath. Thesmaller ports are not well defended, andare occasionally raided.

Chondaths navy is small and thinlyspread. Chondath is recovering from a terri-ble war with an evil mage named Yrkhetep. The resulting casualties have devastatedboth the army and the navy, leaving Chon-

dath virtually defenseless. As the pirates(and Chessenta) recognize this, Chondathmay find itself fending off invasion.


In the wake of the war with Yrkhetep, pi-rate activity is on the rise. The military isweak, but the nature of the war was suchthat there was little economic cost, so thecities of Chondath still have much to belooted.

Turmish

The nation of Turmish runs along thenorthern shore of the Vilhon Reach, thennorthwestward to the city of Telpir. Amountainous region, Turmish lies along arocky coast along the Reach, whichsoftens somewhat north of Alaghon. Al-though the Reach coastline is rocky, theReach itself is quite deep on the northernside, allowing ships to come to shore al-most anywhere along the coastline. Turmish itself is a somewhat frag-

mented country politically. A rural area, ithas an extensive population of demi-humans (particularly dwarves in theOrsraun mountains and gnomes in thelowlands) and goblinoids.

Pirates and Turmish law

The human law of Turmish was extractedfrom the ancient code of Enlil, which wasonce used by the ancient empire of Ches-senta. Under this law, piracy is considereda severe crime. However, the loose natureof the Turmish enforcement system makespunishment unlikely. Similarly, officiallysmuggling is a severe crime, but Turmishmaintains no extensive customs patrols.

Among the demi-humans, on the other

hand, these things are taken very seri-ously. The gnomes will punish pirates andsmugglers whenever they are found, andwill not always wait for the niceties of the Turmish legal system. The goblinoids areworse; if they arent getting a cut of thesmuggling, they have been known to exe-cute unauthorized smugglers.


Turmish maintains a militia navy: pri-

vately owned ships are commandeered onan as-needed basis to prosecute piracy. Asa result, enforcement is poor and piraticalacts are often ignored.

Raiding, on the other hand, is notviewed with as much languor. The peopleof Turmish have something of a frontierspirit, and a raider hitting a Turmishsettlement quickly discovers that insteadof facing a lackluster militia, they are fac-ing an armed populace with one unitedthought: drive out the invader.


Turmish also participated in the waragainst Yrkhetep. However, since the na-tion is so spread out, the losses from thatwar have had little effect in Turmish. In-stead, the normally lax enforcement hasbecome even more so, with pirate raidshappening literally within sight of major

48 • Chapter 3



settlements without reprisal from the Turmish government.

Westgate and Teziir

The cities of Westgate and Teziir lie on thesouthern shore of the Lake of Dragons. These two independent cities representopposite poles in their treatment of the pi-rates and in their handling of their ownports.

Westgate has fulfilled the role of tradinglink between the Inner Sea and the SwordCoast for as long as humankind have beenin the Inner Sea area. Once a simple stop-over and stockyard, Westgate has diversi-fied into shipyards, wagonmakers, andother sideline industries.

Teziir, on the other hand, is a small trad-ing town which is trying to replaceWestgate on the Inner Sea-Sword Coastroute. By providing caravans with earlierembarkment onto the ships of the InnerSea, Teziir hopes to route more of the car-go through their own harbor. Unfortu-

nately, for nearly half the year the Neck(the narrow portion of the mouth of theLake of Dragons) is frozen, preventing anyship traffic from entering or leaving Teziir.

Thus, Westgate still remains preeminentin east-west shipping.

Pirates and Teziirad/Westgate Law

Both Teziir and Westgate deal with pirates.However, while Teziir sees these dealingsas a necessary evil, the Night Masks of Westgate (who rule most of the underworld

of the town) revel in the slave trade andcontraband brought through their ports. To be convicted of piracy in Westgate,

you must raid a ship in Westgate harbor. The Lords of Westgate consider any otherarea outside their jurisdiction. Thus, theycan deal with pirates without the legal en-tanglements which would otherwise arise.

Teziir extends its influence throughoutthe Lake of Dragons. However, as the onlytraffic entering the lake is primarily goingto Suzail, Teziir has also not involved itself with the pirates much.


Westgates docks are open, but in time of need mercenaries can be called to defendthe shore. Westgate mounts no navy, aspursuit of pirates is rarely a problem forthem.

Teziir, on the other hand, does not evenhave a wall around the city. The docks arerelatively defenseless, and the only thingwhich has prevented their being raided sofar is the generous protection of the Cor-myrean Freesails, who despise the wantonevil of Westgate.


Westgate, as mentioned above, is a piratehaven. As such, one of the benefits is that

it does not fear pirate raids. Teziir is de-fended only by Cormyr, and is generallyheld to be ripe for raiding. It is said that theLords of Teziir are seeking to hire merce-naries to defend the city until the wallscan be erected, but without the trade thatWestgate is diverting, it is not clear howthe Lords will pay.




In Which The Reader Finds A Geographic and Socio-Political Description of Said Isles

Jomo Shanbaeren picks up a mug andabsent-mindedly polishes it with a ragthats not quite as greasy as the onetucked into his belt. After I was re-leased from the piratin life, I came hereto Alaghonfer some peace and quiet, yknow. From that seventeenth sum-mer until my forty-fifth, I was shuffledfrom ship to ship, always unwillingly, Ipromise, and from island to island therein them Pirate Isles. I seen em all, somemoren once. Theyre all pretty muchalike, cept fer who lives on emocourse. Set back in them chairs, now,and hark ta my words. If yer planningon bein here for any time at all, yellneed ta know what Im gone ter tell ya.

The Pirate Isles are fifteen islands (andmany smaller islets) which lie in the cen-

tral Inner Sea, south of the Dragon Reach. These islands have been pirate havenssince the days of Immurk, and much of the piracy which plagues the Inner Sea isspawned in this region. The islands themselves are rocky, re-

sembling craggy mountaintops pokingthrough the surface of the sea. There issome vegetation, particularly on the lowershores, but the highest points of these is-lands tend to be barren.

The climate is semi-tropical, with hot

and humid summers and temperatewinters. The winters also bring strongstorms which form on the open waters of the Inner Sea and smash against this ar-chipelago almost continuously during thewinter months. These storms tend tocome from the southeast, and some be-lieve that they are sent by powerful magesof Mulhorand to drive the pirates from theIsles.

There is no one pirate lord who rulesall of the Pirate Isles. Even at the peak of Immurks power, some islands were notcontrolled by the pirates, while othersheld rebel pirates who sought freedomfrom Immurks control. Now, with Earth-spur itself divided, each of the islands con-ceals its own independent inhabitants and its own secrets.

The Waterways

The sea which surrounds the Pirate Isles isshallow, with many tidal islands (islandswhich only poke out above the water dur-ing low tide) and reefs. The shallow sea is ahaven for sea-life, making fishing in the is-lands easy and productive.

The shallow sea also acts as a protectivebarrier for the pirates. It is difficult to sailthe waters around the Pirate Isles withouta pilot who knows the many hidden reefsand sandbars which dot this area, and it issuicide to sail here quickly without expert

guidance. Only in certain areas is any kindof open-sea sailing possible.

The free-sailing waterways of the PirateIsles thus become highways, allowingswift travel between the islands for thosewho know the routes. Traveling off of these waterways greatly increases thechance of running aground. The largest area of free-sailing is the

Bowl, an area of relatively deep sea rough-ly bounded by Ming Isle, Bulta, Ilthan, andthe reefs southeast of Sumbar. The Bowl

allows access to all of these islands, as wellas Oresk and Paldir.

Adjacent to the Bowl is Wyrm Bay, aroughly circular area of open sea lying in-side the eastern curve of the Dragonisle.Wyrm Bay is named for the dragon turtlesthat infest it (which also, incidentally, givethe Dragonisle its name). These huge un-dersea creatures are extremely territorial,and even though the water is clear within

50 Chapter 4



the Bay, sailing here is treacherous. Adragon turtle can capsize even the largestvessel, and those who fall into its jaws aredoomed to a gruesome death. Fortunately,the area has enough dragon turtles thatthese creatures fight one another as oftenas they attack ships. Ships which makeappropriate tribute, either in treasure ormeat, can usually pass safely.

The northeast edge of the Bowl marksone end of the Windrace, a strait runningfrom the Bowl to Alphar Isle and beyond. The Windrace is so named because it liesalong the lines of the prevailing winds, al-lowing swift travel from the Bowl to Al-phar Isle. In the other direction, however,travel is extremely slow, requiring tackingback and forth across the strait in order tomake headway. Disputes between cap-tains are often settled by a race from MirgIsle, across the Bowl and up the Windraceto Alphar harbor, with the winner gainingvictory in the challenge. It is said that justsuch a challenge cost the life of KingVerovan of Westgate, who challenged the

Red Wizards of Thay to a race from Alpharharbor around Mirg Isle and back again.According to the legend, Verovan was win-ning the challenge, but was betrayed bythe Thayvian artifice of substituting hiswhip with one braided with cockatricefeathers, thus tricking Verovan into turn-ing all of his oarsmen into stone.

Two other straits bear mentioning. One,known as the Jaws, runs south of theDragonisle beneath the high peak of Earthspur, to the islands of Teltar andSarr. The other, known as the Spoon, runs

along the southern edge of Alphar Isle tothe eastern shore of Ilthan and then southinto the Bowl. The Spoon is not as wide asthe Windrace, and it has a few sharp twistsin it, so it is not as popular an accesswayinto the central Pirate Isles.

All of these waters (except Wyrm Bay)are inhabited by the nomadic locathah.

These creatures travel throughout thePirate Isles, and lair in undersea caves onalmost every island in the region. The loca-thah tribes and the pirates have an ar-rangement, in which the locathah are paidfor steering pirate fishing fleets to the bestfishing waters, allowing these islands tosupport many more people than wouldotherwise be possible. In addition, the pi-rates do a considerable trade in locathahcoral carvings, and nearly every piratewears a ring or earring of locathah coral.

The Dragonisle

Jomo wipes his nose on the edge of hiscoatsleeve, and snuffles loudly. He spitsinto a brass spittoon, and shouts Aye!A hit! when the gobbet lands squarelyin the urn. Hes obviously had years and

years of practice. Turning to your group,he changes countenance rapidly andsnarls, Teldar, that reprobate! He livesin Immurks Hold, named after the onlyman ever worthy of the title Pirate Lord.

Thinks that livin there makes him bet-tern the rest of them poor sea dogswhat works fer their livelihoods. What afop, always wearin them lacey cuffsand fancy-schmancy turned-downboots. I dunno how hes managed toang on all these years, and not get him-self killed by a challenger whats youngern more leaderly-like. Did I tell yer about the time we took on him andthe Kissing Maiden? . . .

The Dragonisle is the largest of the PirateIsles, haven to Immurk, and the homebase for any pirate lord (or aspirant to thatposition). The island is also called Earth-spur, although that name properly be-longs to the mountain on the southern endof the island. The Earthspur is a huge spear of land

The Pirate Isles • 51



thrusting 8000 above the sea. Aboveabout 1000, however, it is bare, wind-swept rock, stripped clean by winterstorms, with only lichen and an occasionalnesting seabird living above. The moun-tain shoots up from the southern end of the island, with the northwestern part of the island forming a protected peninsulalying in the shadow of the huge peak. TheEarthspur can be seen on a clear day fromnearly 100 miles away, making it a land-

mark for navigation throughout much of the central Inner Sea. The lower portions of the Dragonisle are

more hospitable. The Dragonisle has threeprotected harbors, the largest of which (onthe northwestern side of the island) canhold over one hundred ships. Moreover, theland on the western side slopes gently tothe foot of the Earthspur, providing overseventy square miles of land within aneasy climb of the harbor. This main harboris the site of Immurks Hold, the main

settlement on the Dragonisle. The harbor isdefended by several measures, including:l harbor chains huge chains which can

be raised from the bottom to block theharbor mouth. When raised, the harborchains prevent any ship from enteringor leaving the harbor. The chains areraised primarily to keep out attackers,although in a few instances they havebeen used to trap unwary captains inthe harbor during the periodic factionalwars which sweep Immurks Hold.

l

breakrocks artificial reefs set in theharbor at strategic points just below thewaterline. Only an experienced pilotwho is familiar with the harbor at Im-murks Hold can hope to sail a vessel of any size through the harbor withoutrunning onto one of these reefs. Thus,any invader who breaches the harborchains must still find his way throughthe maze of underwater hazards beforehe can come ashore.

l ramships light galleys crewed by tenmen (usually slaves or prisoners). Theseships are little more than rams mount-ed on oared platforms; their mission isto ram enemy ships in the harbor. A loy-al pirate is usually aboard, piloting thevessel and exhorting the oarsmen to therequisite speed. Although these shipsare small, their low rams and highspeed make them a threat to all but thelargest ships. In desperate circumstanc-

es, they are loaded with combustibles,driven swiftly toward a target ship, andset aflame just before arrival.All of these defenses are coordinated

from a large fortress set 80 high in the cliff along the western side of the harbor en-trance. This fortress is also the site of theThayvian bombards, mystical deviceswhich fire a flaming projectile at enemyships. The fortress has four of these mon-sters, which may fire at any target in theirline between 120 yards and 480 yards

away. Closer targets may not be struck, asthe bombards cannot be lowered to aim atthem, while the projectiles fall beforereaching more distant targets. The bom-bards fire huge hollow stone balls filledwith fluid purchased from the Red Wiz-ards of Thay that, placed in the bombard,ignites and carries the flaming stone ballto its target. These bombards are wondersof the age, but are hampered by their size(each is larger than a manor-house inWaterdeep), the required fluid (which the Thayvians part with at a dear price), andtheir lack of accuracy. The other two harbors lie along the

southern and northeastern edge of the is-land. Both are formed by natural crevicesin the Earthspur. The southern harbor canhold nearly sixty ships, and is protectedby a curving arm of the Earthspur whichforms a natural barrier. The narrowmouth of this harbor is guarded by a fortwith another four Thayvian bombards,

52 • Chapter 4



harbor chains and other defenses, muchlike the northern harbor. Trails connectthis harbor to Immurks Hold, and theoverland journey can be made in less thanfour hours. The southern harbor is thus apopular docking point for ships who havelittle or no cargo to unload. Despite theprotection offered by the Earthspur, how-ever, the winter storms push the wavesthrough the entrance (which has no sea-wall), driving ships trapped in this harboronto the unforgiving cliffs of the Earth-

spur. This harbor is thus evacuatedthrough much of the winter months, theships scattering to other, smaller harborsthroughout the Pirate Isles. The northeastern harbor lies within a

grotto of sea-caves which can hold nearlya dozen ships. The sea-cave entrance isopen at all times, but at high tide and dur-ing storms it is not possible to sail in andout of the entrance. Also, the caves havean evil reputation, with rumors of contactwith various subterranean inhabitants, in-cluding pathways to the Underdark itself!

Nevertheless, the twisting caverns are afavored hiding place for pirates who havemade one too many enemies, and are alsorumored to hold the hidden treasure of more than one pirate-living and dead.

Immurks Hold

Immurks Hold is the closest thing to a cityanywhere in the Pirate Isles (at least abovethe water). With a population numberingnear 5,000, this pirate town is the worstden of iniquity on the Inner Sea (with the

possible exception of Westgate). In a townof criminals, power is law; edicts of piratecaptains are enforced by roving bands of pirates, who are often as much seeking thepleasure of violence as to enforce anylaws they happen to conceive.

Some traditions, however, are wide-spread enough to have gained the force of

law. Many of these are embodied in Im-murks Code, a code of conduct reputedlyset down by Immurk himself. Althoughvarious individuals vary in the exactwording and intent of the code, the follow-ing elements are common:l The city of Immurks Hold shall be opento all pirates, so long as they do not preyon other pirates (this effectively bars theprivateers).l As a pirates life is governed by the willof the gods, no god shall be barred and no

interference with worship shall be toler-ated (this has made Immurks Hold a ha-ven for many sectssuch as Loviatar and Talonawhich are not otherwise popularwith the pirates).l In time of war or attack, everyone in theHold must fight for its defense. Every manmust be trained to fight, and must main-tain his own weapon (this has been ex-tended to women and even children overthe years). When pirate captains fight, they mustdo so outside the Hold, as the Hold is more

important than any one captain (this wasoriginally intended to protect the Holdfrom intrigue and civil war, and is mostlyhonored in the breach).

Immurks Hold supports nearly anytrade associated with the sea. There areshipwrights and a yard, with a dry dockable to bear nearly any seagoing vessel.Coopers (barrel-makers) and stevedores(cargo-handlers) repackage ill-gotten car-go and move it to more legitimately-flagged vessels for fencing in the otherports of the Inner Sea. Warehouses pro-vide temporary storage for the goods,while moneychangers and usurers man-age the huge sums which the pirate tradebrings in. The city is currently divided into three

factions. Teldar of the Kissing Maiden isostensibly the most respected pirate. Anolder, capable veteran, Teldar lacks great

The Pirate Isles 53



leadership ability. Were he a more dy-namic leader, or were he able to sway thepirates with the force of his personality, hewould have been declared Pirate Lord adecade ago. However, he is generally per-ceived as too weak to hold such a postagainst all challengers. It is interesting tonote, however, that several other aspi-rants to that post have come and gone: Teldar is still here.

One of those aspirants is Vurgrom the

Mighty, a fat, brawling giant of a manwho is said to hail from the Moonsea. Al-though Vurgrom is large, his bulk belieshis grace and speed in a fight. He rose tothe captaincy after slaying his previouscaptain (a not uncommon occurrenceamong the pirates), and kept the post afterthree successive challenges, all ending inthe death of his opponent. Vurgrom hasbeen currying favor among the youngerpirates, many of whom have come to pi-racy after losing their homes to the Time

of Troubles or the invasion of the TuiganHorde. Vurgrom urges greater aggressive-ness, pointing out that the recent calami-ties have weakened even the mostpowerful nations on the coasts of the InnerSea, and the newer pirates, many of whomhave personal grudges against their oldrulers, are eagerly accepting his word.More experienced pirates remember thereprisal fleets assembled by Cormyr andSembia, and do not wish to suffer the con-centrated attention of the wealthier and

more powerful land nations again. Theyalso fear that Vurgrom, who has only beenwith the pirates for eight years, may actu-ally be in the employ of Zhentil Keep. Thepirates have served the masters of thatplace before, always to their own detri-ment, and many distrust Vurgroms mo-tives now.

Another recent arrival in the Pirate Isleswho has gained much favor is Gasteban, adeposed Chessentan noble who fled to the

Isles with three ships almost a decade ago.Gasteban has also announced dreams of unifying the pirates into an army, al-though his goal is more personal-heseeks reinstatement into his ancestrallands in Chessenta. His following is weak-er than Vurgroms, but it is growing, par-ticularly since he gained the support of thewell-known intriguer Crammar (who haslong been viewed as talented but too weakto hold the lordship). Gasteban is more

politic (and, many say, wiser) than Vur-grom; conflict between Vurgrom and Gas-teban is inevitable, as they both seek thesame power base: Teldar appears to bestanding back and waiting for them to de-stroy one another.

Alphar Isle

Aye, Immurk started at Alphar, but hedidnt stay there long. Too easy for Pro-

campur and Tsurlagol to strike at.Strange place, now, with that Selshinfella in charge. They say he wants to gostraight, to clean up the place and keepout the pirates! Think of that, in the Pi-rate Isles! Its a mans right to pirate if'nhe wants to, and a womans too Iguess. . . His eyes mist over a bit, and

youre quite sure hes remembering theflame-haired vixen with the ruby at herthroat. Not that Id everve done it bymy own choice, yknow; I was forced, I

tell ya!

According to pirate tradition, Alphar Isleis the sight of Immurks first pirate hold. The island boasts several harbors, eachcapable of holding between ten and thirtyships, and still maintains a thriving settle-ment of nearly 5,000 people at its largestharbor (on the western coast) which iswidely visited by the pirates, but as thenumber of pirates grew this harbor dimin-

54 Chapter 4



ished in prominence as the Dragonisle be-came the primary pirate hold.

Although Alphar Isle is nearly as largeas the Dragonisle, with more usable landarea, it is in fact less desirable as a piratehaven. It is within easy raiding distancefrom Procampur and Tsurlagol, so it suf-fers from the occasional patrols of thesecity-states. Its harbor is less defensible,and cannot hold as many ships as the har-bors on the Dragonisle. Further, it is con-siderably farther from the profitable

trading lines with Thay, Mulhorand, andChessenta, while the Dragonisle is nearlyas conveniently located to these as it is tothe northern tradelines. Thus, if Immurkdid begin here, it is clear why he wouldmove to the Dragonisle. Today, Alphar Isle is still a haven for

those pirates who have angered one ormore of the powerful factions in ImmurksHold. The citizens of Alphar Isle hold toImmurks traditions as an open port, sonearly anyone on the Inner Sea (exceptprivateers) is welcome in Alphar without

reprisal. However, the town will not toler-ate raiding from its harbor, as it is too closeto the vengeance of the northern nationsto tolerate the reprisals.

Unlike Immurks Hold, the town has itsown government separate from the pi-rates, with Selshin Toshant, a forty-year-old ex-pirate, currently holding the post of Alphars leader. Selshin has made some ef-fort to clean up Alphar harbor, pushingto ban wanted pirates and to open moreactive trade with Impiltur, Procampur,and Sembia. However, the nations of thenorthern Inner Sea are not eager to buildup ties to a port with such strong associa-tions with the pirates. Selshins efforts arealso being resisted by the residents of Al-phar (whose pirate traditions run deep),and observers speculate that if Selshincontinues this tack, he will soon find him-self removed from Alphars leadership.

Alphar maintains a militia and its har-bor has some breakrocks, and it once hada harbor chain which has now decayedaway, but it does not support the kind of defenses available at Immurks Hold. Be-cause of this, Alphar is much more sus-ceptible to direct attack, and it has beensacked twice in the last fifty years by re-prisal fleets from the nations of the InnerSea. The people of Alphar view these at-tacks philosophically; when invaders ar-rive, they retreat to the wilderness areas of

their island, returning when the invadershave gone and rebuilding. Lesser invaders(such as raiders) are treated much moreharshly; the skeletons of the ships of thosewho have fallen to Alphars militia liesmashed along the breakrocks.

Bulta

Ooh, thats a weird un! Teeny efalants,and teenier folknot moren a few inch-es high! Teldar claimed to have caught

one once, and called her Tinklechime;said she could glow in the dark, and toldhim things. I always said he was astrange one. Anyhow, stay away fromBulta; leave it for the harvesters.Nothin much ya kin do with a foot-highefalant, anyways. . .

Bulta is a small island in the lee of the larg-er island of Oresk. Bulta is not inhabited bymen, but its unique climate has given riseto a habitat for some of the most unusualcreatures in the Realms: the minimals. These half-sized breeds of otherwise

normal animals were presumably createdby means of spells similar to those used tocreate giant reptiles, insects, and the like.

Their environment, too, has been some-how magically affected; trees and otherplants are but half their normal height,and the animals range over domains

The Pirate Isles 55



which are similar in size and terrain once you consider their size difference. The pirates of the region occasionally

visit Bulta to harvest a sampling of thelocal fauna. These are then brought to theother pirate holds, where they have be-come quite common as domesticated ani-mals. Minimal bulls, elephants, and stagsare particularly popular, although a varie-ty of wildlife exists (including some mini-mal carnivores) on Bulta.

There are persistent rumors of sightings

of tiny winged humanoids who live in thedeep forests of Bulta. These creaturesseem in scale with the minimals. Theyhave only been glimpsed, and none of them have ever approached a human. Afew search parties have been sent into thedeep forest to locate these inhabitants, butthe explorers either returned empty-hand-ed or did not return at all.

There are legends among the natives of the region that the island of Bulta was

once much larger than it is now. It is possi-ble, therefore, that rather than simply pro-viding a preserve for these miniatureanimals, some powerful enchantment wasused to reduce the entire island. Minimalsremoved from the island do not return tonormal size, so this is more of a theoreti-cal question than a practical one. How-ever, an enchantment powerful enough toaffect an entire island might also havepowerful effects if dispelled; most piratesvisit Bulta only rarely, and try to disturb as

little as possible.

Fang Rocks

Jomo leans over the bar, his sour, stalebreath overpowering the mouth-watering aromas coming from thekitchen. Keep away from em. Theyrenothin but danger. Never mind the ru-mors about the entire Sembian fleet

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what sank to the bottom of the seathere. Aint no treasure on this worldworth riskin yer life against FangRocks and man-eatin creeters. Unless,course, the price is right. . .

The Fang Rocks are a cluster of naturalreefs lying to the northwest of the PirateIsles, and are not themselves islands (ex-cept at very low tide). They cover a rough-ly circular area nearly ten miles in radius,

with several irregularly-spaced reefs,some of which extend above the waterline,while others lie just below. However, theyare notable as a natural breakrock for theislands, lying on the primary route be-tween Sembia and the Pirate Isles, and fortheir part in the establishment of the leg-end of Immurk the Invincible.

In 1180 DR, Sembia sent an enormousfleet of twenty warships into the PirateIsles to capture Immurk himself. Thesewarships were armed not only with ballis-tae and catapults, but also with special

magical devices purchased from the wiz-ard-king of Aglarond to allow the warshipsan easy victory against Immurks ragtagfleet of pirates. This fleet swept forward atflank speed, hoping to catch Immurk atsea, as even then the harbor on the Drag-onisle was formidable.

The fleet never reached Immurk. Theyhad only limited intelligence about the layof the Pirate Isles, the area never havingbeen commercially viable, and made theircourse directly through the Fang Rocks.

Twenty warships entered the Fangs; three

left, including the flagship, the admiral onhis deck weeping at the destruction of hisfleet before ever encountering the enemy. The remaining ships turned about and re-turned to Sembia, the fleet broken. This tale has some modern aspects.

First of all, sailors of Sembia view thePirate Isles as cursed as a result of this in-

cident, and are reluctant to sail into itswaters. Second, the magical items whichthe Sembians purchased from Aglarondwere never recovered, and are believed ly-ing in the sunken ships which to this daydot the bottom of the Fang Rocks region.Several groups have tried to explore theseships (using potions of water breathing),but have been thwarted by the ixitxachitlwhich inhabit the Fangs. These evil crea-tures have been known to devour divers,tearing them apart in sacrifice to their evil

deities. These ixitxachitl are rumored tobe ruled by a vampiric ixitxachitl of enor-mous age and magical power, who viewsthe Fang Rocks as his personal domain,and who considers the Sembian magicaltreasures as his by right, even though hecannot use them, as he has no hands. Theexact nature of the magical treasures arenot known, but they are believed to in-clude a staff of swarming insects, a horn of blasting, and a bowl of commanding water elementals. This last may have been ap-propriated by the ixitxachitl ruler for his

own use (as it requires only the speakingof a command word to be used), represent-ing further danger to those seeking thetreasure.

Hawks Isle

Beasts, thats what lives there! Twistedmen, lookin nuthin like what menoughta! And they fight like no men I ev-er seen before. Why, Teldar barely gotout with his life! An me with my fingers

crossed, too. . .

Hawks Isle is a pleasant, fruitful islandwith nearly a dozen small harbors, each of which can hold no more than a half-dozenships. The upper slopes of the island arecovered with forest, and birds and otherwildlife have been spotted.

The Pirate Isles 57



Hawks Isle is named for the pirateHawk, who sailed the Inner Sea during thelast days of Immurks reign. Hawk was arebel against Immurks leadership, andrefused to subject his piratical raids to therestrictions or tithe of Immurk and hisspymasters. He established Hawks Isle asa competing pirate haven to ImmurksHold, and for nearly a decade tried to drawdissatisfied captains from Immurks ban-ner to his own. He was most successful

with the orcs, goblins, and gnolls who haddisliked Immurks reserved, slow ap-proach to raiding, but many human cap-tains and crews moved to follow him.

As might well be understood, Immurkcould not let this continue. As Hawkspower grew, Immurk became more andmore annoyed with the upstart. Hawk wasusing several of the harbors on HawksIsle, making it difficult to mount an attackwhich could bottle all of his ships in simul-taneously, and a sea battle would cost Im-

murk too many of his own ships, butImmurk developed a plan which would al-low him to destroy the rebel pirate.

Immurk sent small boats into each of Hawks harbors with one job: sink the pi-rate vessels. Before the pirates on HawksIsle realized what had happened, all of their ships had been holed and set afire,and the pirates were forced to flee to shore.With all of Hawks men trapped ashore,Immurk completed the remainder of hisplan. He had bribed a priestess of Talona,

Lady of Poison, to create a vicious plagueamong the pirates on Hawks Isle. Thisplague killed over half of the pirates, andfew totally escaped its disfiguring, debili-tating scourge.

Immurk then declared Hawks Isle to betotally embargoed and quarantined,threatening death to any who came to theisland. The few survivors attempted tobuild ships to replace their lost vessels,but each time Immurk sent men in to bum

them. Eventually, the last of the piratesdied, leaving descendants who had lostthe knowledge of seamanship, and wereleft only with the vague descriptions of their forefathers.

The descendants of the survivors of Im-murks assault have degenerated. The dis-ease which the priestess of Talona createdhas long since run its course, but the in-habitants of Hawks Isle are so deformedand twisted that they have lost all real re-

lationship to their ancestors, becomingmongrelmen. They have lost sea-craft, ex-cept as applies to the canoes and othersmall craft they use to attack passingships. An alert sailing ship can manage toevade them if the wind remains favorable,but in unfavorable winds the canoes canswiftly bring a swarm of mongrelmenboarders to all sides of the attacked vesselwho quickly overwhelm even the mostvaliant crews. Captives and provisions arebrought back to the island, from whence

they are never heard from again; the shipsare sometimes also taken, but are usuallyset adrift to be carried off empty by seacurrents.

Ilthan

Ilthan is a commonly visited island, atleast in part because of its strategic loca-tion at the join of the Windrace and theBowl. There are several harbors, eachwith a small community of pirates. Most

landings here tend to be temporary, pull-ing out during winter to return to theDragonisle. The buildings are temporary,as the winter storms often wash the settle-ments away and they must be rebuilt inthe spring.

Most of the harbors are along the south-ern edge of the island. The northern edgeis inhabited by cyclopskin, who herdsheep and goats. The cyclopskin live incaves on the high cliffs of the southern

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shore. Some keep minotaur lizards as petsand defenders, and there are rumors thatthe cyclopskin are subservient to a smallband of ettins. In any case, the few meagerharbors on the northern shore have notmade it worthwhile for the pirates to drivethese cruel but stupid creatures out.

Legend tells that the cyclopskin are ac-tually true giants, firbolgs, or other power-ful creatures cursed by Umberlee for theirrefusal to acknowledge her control of thevicious winter storms. Some travelers to

the cyclopskin lands (always a dangerousundertaking) tell of a ruined stone city inthe northern highlands, proportioned forcreatures larger than either humans orcyclopskin. According to legend, the in-habitants of this city once dominated theInner Sea; there are even hints in the re-cords of the Elven Court at Myth Drannorthat the Great Ones of the Inner Sea dis-appeared in a cataclysm not of their ownmaking. The truth of any of these rumorslies within the enormous walls of the ru-ined city of Ilthan Isle.

Kelthann

A smugglers haven, it is. Nothin per-manent, you understand, but lots of business goes on there-more than inWaterdeep itself, I hear. Did I tell youabout the time Teldar tried goin there indisguise as a smuggler, and almost gothimself sworn to Grumbar in the deal?No? Here, have another ale. Its a grandtale, aye. . .

Kelthann is one of the largest and most ex-posed islands within the archipelagoknown as the Pirate Islands. Gateway toSembia, this island has not been popularamongst the pirates, as its harbors are tooeasily raided by the fleets of the nations of the northern Inner Sea.

Where one group sees difficulty, anothersees opportunity. Kelthann has become acommon smugglers trading point, whereships of one registry can exchange cargowith those of another without the watch-ful eye of one or another harbormaster.

The island has several protected harbors,and the sea-traffic here during peak sea-son sometimes rivals that at Westgate orProcampur!

Because of the possibility of raids, thereare no permanent settlements of smug-

glers on Kelthann. However, there aresome native fishermen, as well as a smallcolony of halflings who reside on this is-land. The Kelthanni are a taciturn and un-friendly people, and tolerate the.smugglers primarily for the gifts thesmugglers bring. They are followers of Grumbar, Boss of Earth, and claim thattheir worship keeps Kelthann and the restof the Pirate Isles from sinking beneaththe waves. It is this rivalry between Grum-bar and Umberlee, explain the Kelthanni,that brings the vicious storms every

winter, as Umberlee tries to wash the is-lands from her sea. The recent visit of Umberlee during the Time of Troubles on-ly strengthened their faith, as she attempt-ed several times to wash the Kelthanni off their island and was unsuccessful.

The Kelthanni reside in rough houses of unworked stone, which have been builtfor them by earth elementals. All villages,and much of the rest of the island, are pro-tected by high dikes and stone barriers tokeep the sea out. Each Kelthanni village isled by a priest of Grumbar of at least 7th

level, who supervises the building of homes and seawalls (through his ability tosummon an earth elemental), and who de-cides all legal claims within the village. The Kelthanni tolerate the smugglers

because their activities are irrelevant tothe Kelthanni way of life. In payment forthe use of Kelthanni harbors, however, the

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smugglers offer some of the earths bounty(generally gold or silver) to be placed onthe island to strengthen Grumbars hold.Additionally, the Kelthanni require thatany ship which uses Kelthanni harborsswear an oath to not bury anyone aboardat sea. The Kelthanni will accept the bodyof any being for burial in their catacombs,but they claim that burial at sea strength-ens Umberlee. Violators of the oath aretold that the earth will reject their bodies,and they will be forced to serve Umberlee

as zombie slaves for all eternity. It is asmall enough thing to the smugglers thatthe oath is rarely broken.

The Kelthanni have some coastal sailingvessels, but nothing capable of making itto the mainland. However, the smugglerswill often provide transportation for na-tives who wish to see the wider world.

Lith

Lith, a tiny island east of Hawks Isle, has adangerous and evil reputation on the In-ner Sea. Boats which have landed on thisisland (there are no harbors for ships) ei-ther return having found nothing, or nev-er return at all. As there are no harbors,and little enough land, the island has nev-er been settled, but it still holds some fas-cination for the pirates, and manyadventurers have traveled to the island to

uncover its secretnever to return.Liths secret is the origin of the mysteri-

ous other name for the Inner Sea: the Seaof Falling Stars. Sages of three centuriesago observed a cloud of swirling shootingstars high above the Inner Sea. One partic-ularly bright star shot down from the skystraight into the Inner Sea: this star wasbright enough to be seen and noted inboth Suzail and Skuld. The image was suf-ficiently impressive that several sages

The Pirate Isles 61



quested for the landing spot of the star;none ever reported finding it, althoughmany gave up after a time and a few werenever seen again. The quests and the talesquickly brought the Sea its poetic name.

The truth is as insidious and horrible ascan be imagined. A battle between a neogibroodship and a Shou Lung dragonshipeventually led to the destruction of theneogi ship. However, rather than simplybeing destroyed in space, the ship crash-landed on the island of Lith, and its Great

Old Master (having only barely survivedthe crash) was able to crawl free just beforehatching time. After the traditional canni-balistic frenzy, the surviving neogi broodnumbered five, and they quickly set tofeasting on the animals on the tiny island.

Over the years, several generations of neogi have been born, each quicklyspreading across the tiny island. Usually,the last meal of the Great Old Master arehis sibling neogi, and thus each genera-tion starts anew. There are no umber

hulks on the island, and the neogi seemunable to swim, so for the moment thecreatures are confined to Lith. They havemanaged to survive their confinement, al-though the pull of Torils gravity is se-verely damaging, forcing them to remaindormant in the late spring, summer, andearly fall, hiding in underground burrows. Their natural ability to enslave umberhulks has extended to much of the re-maining animal life on the island, and theneogi can send animals in battle against

those who land on their island. Thus far, any visitors to Lith have be-come food for the insatiable neogi colony,unless they arrived during one of the peri-odic dormant phases. However, it is possi-ble to communicate with the, neogi(although these creatures, being isolatedfrom their society, do not speak common)if they were met just at the end of their hi-bernation, before their ravening hunger

set in. If the neogi colony were contactedby those who would exploit it, these vi-cious slavers could be spread across theForgotten Realms.

Lurath

I dunno which ones worse, Bulta orLurath. Ones got them teeny critters ont, the others gotwell, giants. Greatbig lizards! Them elves what live there

must be dotty, not to be fearin fer theirlives every minnit. It just aint natural!

Lurath lies along the western edge of theWindrace, across from Ilthan. Lurath is amedium-sized island, about twenty squaremiles in area. However, unlike most of theislands in this region, it has very little low-lands. Its shoreline is comprised of a greatcliff which surrounds the island.

The cliff is actually the outside edge of asealed circular valley. A few sailors have

been forced by shipwreck or have inten-tionally managed to penetrate this valleywall, to find a tropical paradise populatedby happy, friendly elvish primitives.

Although the valleys inhabitants arefriendly, the region is not without risk. Notonly are the humans in the valley from anearlier time, but the creatures in the valleyare dinosaurs. The villagers live in cave-cliffs above the jungle floor within the val-ley; below, gargantuan lizards battle fordominance of a small and fragile land.

Adventurers entering the valley can dis-cover the physical circumstances, but thereason behind the existence of this valleyis even more mysterious. The valley is notmerely out of its own time; travel throughthe labrynthine caves which riddle thecliffs transports the traveler back in timeto the days before men. Adventurers whotry to leave the valley by any way otherthan the caves (for example, by hitching a

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ride on a pterosaurus) will discover thatthey have left their own world completelybehind.

The primitive world they are now in isruled not by men or elves, but by dragons.Escapees from the island of Lurath mayquickly find themselves facing Alhazma-bad, the venerable copper dragon of themountain range which is (in the charac-ters time) the Pirate Isles. Alhazmabad isaware of the time-piercing portals in theLurath valley, but has no way to closethem and they are too narrow for him to

penetrate. Should characters encounterAlhazmabad, they may be able to pilfersome potent draconic magic from hishoardif they survive.

Mirg Isle

Mirg Isle is the second strongest piratehold in the Pirate Isles, with the Dragon-isle itself the only one more powerful. It isruled by the iron fist of Xenz, a pirate lordwho dares anything to achieve his aims,

and dares the Dragonisle to stop him.Xenzs ship, the Beautys Eye, is a well-known pirate vessel. Few survive from theships she captures, and his land raids areequally vicious; not only is the target vil-lage sacked, but its entire populace is cap-tured and enslaved, turning the place intoa ghost town. The few who escape hisclutches seem to have their memorieswiped out, overwhelmed by the fear of Xenz. Each of them describes the viciouspirate differently, and it is thought that heuses illusion magic to avoid being identi-

fied. Nevertheless, his crews are alwaysobedient; there are no ex-crewmen fromthe Beautys Eye.

Perhaps most serious, it is rumored thatXenz is in league with Zhentil Keep, andmay be planning a coordinated attackagainst the Dales or even Sembia. Shouldsuch an event occur, the nations of the In-

ner Sea would have no choice but to turntheir attentions to stamping piracy outagain in the region.

As Xenzs fame has grown, various oth-er captains have gone to join him. His orig-inal force of but a few ships has grown to afleet of nearly forty; it is said that only hisfailure to occupy Immurks Hold keepsXenz from taking the crown as pirate lord.Despite the increase in size, there havebeen no defections. Captains who joinwith Xenz seem to fit perfectly into theirnew subordinate role, with no frictionwith Xenz himself or the other captains (atleast, not in public). Even some of thesmugglers have begun to join him, seeingan opportunity to make more profit bymoving more merchandise.

While Xenz risks bringing another re-prisal fleet on the islands, none of the oth-er pirate captains has enough support tochallenge the renegade. As discussedabove, none of the three contenders for thecrown of pirate lord is able to commandenough force to stop Xenz, and by temper-

ament they are unlikely to cooperate un-less the Dragonisle is in imminent danger. The gossips of Immurks Band have be-

gun to whisper about Xenz. There is someconcern that his control may be magical;two captains who were bitter enemies be-fore joining his band have become the bestof friends, to everyones mystification.

The fact that he never comes to the Drag-onisle is also considered suspicious bymany. Should he continue to increase ten-sion in the region, the Band itself (whichowes no loyalty to any of the claimants, al-

though it favors Gasteban) may have toact against Xenz: a task for which outsid-ers would be more than welcome.

The Pirate Isles 63



Oresk

Aaah, Azla! What a woman! The onlyone who could ever make me forget thatflame-haired vixenyou struggle tokeep from mouthing the words alongwith Jomo, for fear of offending him with the ruby at her throat. And theonly woman who makes that pig Vur-grom worry about his pride! Its clearto all of you that this is one woman Jo-

mo admires deeply, and not only for herfeminine pulchritude.

Oresk is the third of the great pirate hold-ings. This one is ruled by Azla, a youngwoman who attained the captaincy afterher lover, the previous captain died. Azlaherself is a witch of a fighter but initiallywas viewed with some hostility by the re-maining pirate captains. Rather thanworking within the system, supporting

one or another of the factional candidatesfor pirate lord, Azla set out to establishherself first as an independent. Now, afterthree years, some are even seeing her as aviable candidate for pirate lord.

Azlas early raids were simple one-shipaffairs, as she was unable to secure the co-operation of any of the other captains.However, as she came back from cruise af-ter cruise laden with wealth, a few of thehungriest captains approached her aboutsome joint ventureswith themselves in

charge, of course. She declined, but of-fered instead to cut them in on some prof-itable treasure ships if they would aid her.

Two cruises later, she had six captains ea-ger to sign up.

Unfortunately, however, her new-foundsuccess attracted the attention of Vurgromthe Mighty When word got out that shewas looking for several ships for her nextcruise, and a few of Vurgroms captainsconsidered going, Vurgrom swore neither

he nor any captain of his would ever followa woman, and that for her impertinencehed have to kill her. Realizing that life inImmurks Hold was a dwindling proposi-tion, Azla went to Oresk to reside withsome other minor independent pirates.

Now, three years later, every pirate inboth harbors of Oresk follows Azlas lead.She seems not only to have excellent con-tacts in the mercantile houses of Sembiaand the shipping organizations of Cormyr

and Impiltur, she also has an excellent tac-tical sense, and a generous hand at distrib-uting taken wealth. Nearly forty shipssupport Azla from Oresk, but her supporton the Dragonisle is still weak, primarilydue to Vurgroms influence. A showdownbetween these two aspirants is also brew-ing; Vurgrom may well find himself trapped between Azla and Gasteban.

Paldir

Sure, I know what carved them cliffs.Im the only one who knows that secret,and Ill not be tellin it while Im alive.

Jomos eyes shift from side to side, as if he were looking for spies from Procam-pur or Sembia. Lots o folks wannaknow how them were made, but Ill notspill the beans! No, no, not Jomo Shan-baeren! Now Teldar, hell tell ya heknows, too, and hed sell the informa-tion to yer fer a bit o gold . . . the shift-less ingrate. . .

The small island of Paldir is inhabited onlyby a small population of ex-pirates and for-tune seekers. Its shores are not adequatelyprotected from storms, and the centralmountain is so large that there is notenough land area to support a large popu-lation, so most of its inhabitants evacuateto one of the larger islands each winter.

Paldir would thus be ignored in this text

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and by the pirates were it not for the hugestone reliefs which can be found in thecliffs leading to the summit of its centralmountain. These carvings, some of hu-man-like figures, others merely of heads,are as tall as 1000, and from a distanceappear to be perfect representations of some kind of warrior culture. The reliefsseem to tell a story of conquest and victo-ry, or possibly describe the termination of a war. There are glyphs with each picture,but they have baffled scholars and resist-ed any attempt to magically read them.

A closer look is even more bewildering.Despite the great height and isolation of the carvings, there is no sign that foot-holds and handholds were carved into therock. Thus, it is a mystery how such huge,complex carvings could have been cre-ated, even by a giant-sized race. Yosten of Procampur, a sage who has studied thecarvings, speculates that the carvers be-gan at the top, carving footholds into vir-gin stone, then overcarving them with theactual features of the reliefs so that all

traces of the holds was destroyed. Asdezel,a sage of Aglarond, offers the explanationthat the carvings were done by a race of creatures who could naturally fly, eventhough the carvings do not depict anyonewith wings or who is apparently magicallyflying. Ezdush, a sage who served Im-murk, told his lord that the carvings weredone by magic in a single day. The truth orfalsehood of any of these explanations canonly be conjectured.

There are legends, however, which indi-cate that the carvings hold the key to a se-

cret treasure, possibly placed by the GreatOnes of the Inner Sea (as they are referredto in the records of Myth Drannor). For-tune-seekers have studied the carvings,and many have gone so far as to scale thewalls themselves, looking for some kind of secret entrance to a treasure trove. So farno one has found such a trove (or if they

have, they are not telling), but if the leg-end is true, it is only a matter of time untilsomeone does.

Sarr

The tiny island of Sarr lies at the far south-ern edge of the Pirate Isles. This island,bare as it is to the ravages of prevailingstorms, is ignored by most of the pirates,except as a landmark and occasional fair-weather anchorage. However, the island

conceals a secret which has yet to be dis-covered by the pirates.A lone ruined lighthouse stands at the

far eastern tip of Sarr. This lighthouse hascollapsed long ago, its upper portion lyingin a heap of rubble half-sunk into therocky surf at its base. The bottom of thetower has sunk into the sand, so that theground-level entrance to the tower is longburied. Within the hollow base of the tow-er, the staircase which once led to the topof the tower has long ago fallen into decay.

At the interior of the base of the tower,

which can now only be reached by scalingthe exterior and climbing inside, there liesa trap door half-buried in sand blown infrom above. Below lies a magical artifact of the god-kings of Mulhorand: the magicalBeacon of Light which can shine acrossthe sea for miles through clouds and rain,providing a clear signal to any ship regard-less of weather. The Beacon, a golden cube with silver

cylinders extending from the top at thefour corners, can be activated by statingthe command word, and with anotherword can be deactivated again. The Bea-con may only be activated for six hourseach day, but that would provide assuredsafety to any port in the Realms during theworst of storms.

Analyzing the Beacon (with identify orother magic) indicates evocation magic,but nothing more. However, legend lore

The Pirate Isles • 65



reveals the purpose of the device and thecommand words used to control it. Such adevice would be valued in any port on theInner Sea.

What legend lore will not reveal, how-ever, is that the device is sacred to the god-kings of Mulhorand and the temple of Anhur. Adventurers locating the devicewho do not return it to the city of Skuldwill be pursued by agents of the temple of Anhur, which could include Chessentan

mercenaries or even the Statues ThatWalk. Eventually, the quest for the Beaconof Light should involve the adventurers inthe power struggle between the temples of Anhur and Horus-Re in Mulhorand.

Sumbar

I visited that oracle once. Asked whatmy lifes callin was. Got some mumbo-

jumbo about mans greatest failing and weeping and wailing. Its all hooey,

ifn yer ask me, and I knows ya didntbut Im atellin ya anyways. Threw mybest throwin dagger down that slimyol well, too, I did, and couldnt get itback neither. He harrumphs disgust-edly, and lurches through the swingingdoors into the kitchen. He returns, fol-lowing much banging and crashing,with some dried venison and more ale.Shoulda tossed ol Teldar in there maybe then Id a got an answer!

The island of Sumbar is the contact pointfor a powerful and mysterious oracle. Thisbeing, known as the Sumbar Oracle or theOracle of Nasmen, will answer a singlequestion for each querent who comes. Of-ten, the answer will be unclear, but no onehas ever found the Oracle to lie, once theprophecy was understood.

To use the Oracle, one must first reachSumbar. This is more difficult than it

would first appear, as the island is sur-rounded by treacherous reefs which movebetween visits so that no one has everbeen able to plot a permanent safe coursethrough them. Once ashore, the querentmust make his way to the ridge fromwhich the oracle (which takes the form of alarge well) may be addressed.

Before addressing the Oracle, it is cus-tomary to toss a valued item down the wellas a sacrifice. The more valuable the item,

the more accurate and clear the reading,according to legend; no one has ever con-firmed or denied it. After the sacrifice, thequerent simply calls his question down in-to the well; a voice drifts up from below,conveying the response.

The Oracle tends to respond in riddlesand poetry which are not clear until afterthe fact. It also tends to mislead, providinganswers with two possible interpretations at least initially.

For game purposes, treat the Oracle as acontact other plane spell for an outer planeentity with an Intelligence of 20. If the Ora-cle does not know, it will give a misleadingor ambiguous answer. Only if the Knowl-edge and Veracity rolls are both made willthe oracular prediction be at all clear.

The Chance of Insanity has a very specialmeaning for this Oracle. Rather than giv-ing the chance that the character will go in-sane after the reading, instead it gives thechance that the character himself will actas a result of the prophecy in precisely theway to bring himself the greatest doom.

The Oracle will word its prediction in sucha fashion that the querent will respondwith an action which fulfills the most horri-ble interpretation of the prophecy.

Regarding the sacrifice, any of the fol-lowing may be true at the GMs discretion:l The sacrifice is irrelevant; the Oracle

will answer the question regardless of whether or not a sacrifice is made.

l The sacrifice is required, but its value is

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irrelevant; if the querent asks a ques-tion without sacrificing something,even if it is a single copper piece, an impwill fly up from the well to attack thequerent.

l As above, but the value of the sacrificeis significant. For each 1,000 gp value of the sacrifice, the intelligence of the enti-ty is increased by one. Thus, a 2,000 gpsacrifice is treated as if the entity had anIntelligence of 22.

Tan The island of Tan sits on the eastern edgeof the Pirate Isles, just beyond the isle of Oresk. Tan, like many of the Pirate Isles,has an evil reputation, but this one is more

justified than most. The central mountain of the island ends

in a circular crater, from which smoke is-sues regularly. Additionally, the groundoccasionally rumbles, and the few inhabit-ants flee outside for their lives, as thecaves and houses which are built are

quickly shaken to the ground. Visitors arereminded of the Firepeaks and Sentinel-spire in the southern portion of theEndless Waste of the Tuigan.

Recently, the islands sounds have beengetting louder. The inhabitants (who areprimarily native fishermen) have consid-ered various rituals to quiet the mountain,including reviving their custom of humansacrifice. However, they are loath to dothis unless they are sure it will help.

In fact, it wont. The island is not a vol-cano, despite the symptoms. Instead, it is

the home of a great wyrm, Eshcaz the Red,a dragon which has laired in this island fornearly 1,000 years. Eshcaz is nearly 350 long from his nose to the tip of his tail, andfrighteningly powerful. His hoard includesliterally hundreds of thousands of goldpieces worth of treasure, as well as dozensof magical items. Fortunately, he has been

resting comfortably (with only occasionalturning over) for over 150 years.

Recently, however, the Cult of the Drag-on has discovered Eshcazs whereabouts,and is making an effort to waken the drag-on. While they could do so simply by steal-ing some of his valued hoard, they want totalk to him afterwards (rather than beingimmediately consumed in flames), andthus are trying to gently prod him awakewithout angering him. The recent distur-bances on Tan island have been the drag-

on shifting about, getting closer and closerto awakening. Should the Cult manage towaken this creature, it could devastatemuch of the eastern Inner Sea. Should theCult turn such a fearsome beast into a dra-colich (a form of undead dragon), theRealms would suffer a devastatingscourge for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.

Telfar

Jomo shudders and runs his hand overthe filthy kerchief covering his mattedhair. Thats one o the most evil places Iknow of, and I know quite a few. Fullmoons mean death to any in that har-bor, I tell ya true, and dont you go tryin to disprove me. Even them what dontbelieve in were-things stay away from Telfar when the moon rides high in thesky.

Telfar is a smaller island in the southernportion of the Inner Sea. Telfar is the first

stopping place for many returning pirateships, as it carries an excellent natural har-bor on its western shore with abundantfood and water. Due to the ever-presentstorms, no one lives on the island, butotherwise the island is a lovely place to be.

However, pirate lore states that the is-land is to be avoided on nights of the full

The Pirate Isles 67



moon, as entire ships have been known todisappear on such nights as the moonpasses overhead. Some explain the disap-pearances by postulating that the island isinhabited by lycanthropes, whose bestialforms destroy all vestige of human life onthe island on the nights of the full moon.Others postulate a huge sea-creaturesleeping at the bottom of the harbor; whenthe full moon rises, the creature surfaces,attracted by the light, and destroys all it

finds there. Still others scoff at all explana-tions but they do not disturb Telfarssanctity on those nights.

The truth is stranger than any of those.Although Telfars harbor is excellent, it isformed in such a fashion that tides in theharbor are extremely high. Nights of thefull moon have the most severe tides here,so that the water literally rushes from theharbor in a whirlpool, sucking down ev-eryone and everything in the harbor. Anyship afloat in the harbor is immediately

dragged to the bottom and pounded tofragments by the force of the whirlpool. Sofar, no one has witnessed this devastation;any who did would be likely to believe thegreat sea monster explanation, as tides(except for their timing) are something of amystery themselves to the sailors of theInner Sea.

Ulgar Isle

Ulgar Isle, of all the islands in the Pirate

Isles, is truly haunted. The undead rulethis island, led by an ancient vampirefrom the empire of Chessenta: Ulgar.

Ulgar the Undying was made vampireduring the height of the Chessentan Em-pire nearly 2,000 years ago. After preyingupon that empire for over two centuries,he was trapped. Although he could not bedestroyed (at least as far as the Chessen-tans knew), they shipped him to this is-land in the middle of the Sea of Fallen

Stars, there to live out eternity.Ulgar remained undisturbed, trapped

within a sealed coffin for nearly two mil-lennia. Then, during Immurks time, aband of pirates who were searching for anew lair came across Ulgars coffin andopened it. Starving for blood, he drainedthem all dry before his thirst was sated. Hethen went out to the ship, but found thathe did not have the knowledge of modernsailing craft, and so was still marooned.

Other vessels visited the island, eachfalling under Ulgars trap, until finally oneof the ships managed to flee with someonestill alive to tell of what occurred. The is-land was declared uninhabitable, and allon the Inner Sea were warned to avoid it.

Like many such items, however, thereare always those who would tempt fate.Supposedly, Ulgar possesses secret mag-ics known only to the Chessentan Empirewhich are otherwise unavailable. Severalexpeditions to gather Ulgars secrets have

landed on the island; most have failed.Ulgar now has over fifty vampire ser-vants. Most of them are sealed in coffins of Ulgars making, waiting for victims to feedupon, as even a vampire of Ulgars agecannot control fifty starving vampires.

Those who did not become vampires havebeen raised as zombie servants, and thesepatrol the island, bringing all intruders toUlgar so that he may feed.

68 Chapter 4



In Which The Reader Meets Nine of the Most Notorious Pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars

Teldar (Human Thief 14)

Str 11; Dex 17; Con 12; Int 17; Wis 16;Cha 14

Armor Class: 2Move: 12Hit Points: 43Number of Attacks: 1

Damage: By weapon typeTHAC0: 14Alignment: NEThievish abilities: PP 70, OL 70, FT

80, MS 75, HS 60, DN 80, CW 80, RL 80Weapon Proficiencies: Short sword,

Dagger, Light Crossbow, Two-weaponStyle Specialization, Ambidextrous

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Blind-fighting, Direction Sense, Disguise, LocalHistory, Rope Use, Seamanship, Tumbling

Languages: Common, Elvish, OrcishMagical Items: ring of spell turning,

necklace of missiles, cloak of elvenkind,serpentine owl, leather +2, potion of hu-man control, potion of levitation

Ship: Kissing Maiden (galleon)Crew: 100 trainedSpecial Features: 1 small catapult, 2

medium ballistae Teldar is an older man, thin and tall,

with a thick streak of grey through hisotherwise jet-black hair. He is clean-shav-en, and his face is wrinkled and brownfrom overexposure to sun and spray. It issaid that Teldar served as a lieutenant un-der Laershala, the last of the pirate lords of Earthspur. Teldar neither confirms nor de-nies this rumor. (He did, I seen him.

Jomo Shanbaeren) Teldar is considered by many to effec-

tively be the leader of the pirates. Al-though many do not follow his banner, hehas held his place for so long among the

pirates that few (save Vurgrom) considertoppling him.

Teldar maintains a posture of quiet com-petence. His own raids over the years havegiven him a record of success unequalledby any of his younger brethren. He hasnever formally sought the leadership of Immurks Hold, but has always been will-ing to offer counsel and assistance to thosewho live the pirate life.

Although Teldar is not the best warrioron the Inner Sea, he has fought his shareof battles and has distinguished himself well. In addition to his own prowess, how-

ever, he has accumulated a supply of mag-ical items which has been the end of morethan one upstart over the years. His lastuse of his necklace of missiles ended thecareer of Cheves the Scourge, who had de-termined to kill Teldar to prove his worthi-ness to lead Immurks Hold. No one knowshow many of the fiery gems he still has,but as he has rarely used this potent weap-

The Rogues' Gallery 69



on, it is presumed he still has enough. Those who have watched Teldar the

longest believe that he is the Lord of Im-murks Hold. His protestations, they say,mask the reality of his rule. What betterway, they ask, to conceal the identity of the true ruler? Those who speak thusopenly, however, tend to disappear.

Vurgrom "the Mighty(Human Fighter 12)

Str 18/84; Dex 13; Con 17; Int 9; Wis 13;Cha 13

Armor Class: 3 (ring mail +2, mediumshield +1)

Move: 12Hit Points: 99Number of Attacks: 3/2 roundsDamage: By weapon type +4 (1d8 + 8

with Battle Axe + 2)THAC0: 7 (9 with missile weapons and

shield punch, 4 with Battle Axe +2)Alignment: CEWeapon Proficiencies: Battle Axe

(specialized), Cleaving/Crushing Weap-ons, Weapon and Shield Style Specializa-tion, Crossbow, Dagger/Dirk

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Blind-fighting; Navigation; Rope Use; Seaman-ship; Swimming; Survival (Tropics)

Special Abilities: Shield punchLanguages: Common, Pirates ArgotMagical Items: Ring mail +2, shield

+1, battle-axe +2, 5 + 1 crossbow bolts,

ring of truth, potion of extra-healing, po-

tion of speedShip: Maelstrom (caravel)Crew: 40 trainedSpecial Features: The Maelstrom is

usually armed with two medium ballis-tae. Sometimes, however, when raiding,one of the ballistae is replaced with a fireprojector.

Vurgrom the Mighty is a fat, brawlinggiant of a man with tufts of wild red hair

and a thick, ill-kept beard. His strength islegendary among the pirates, and hisfighting prowess is acknowledged by allwho ply the Inner Sea.

Vurgrom commands a strong fellowshipamong the young of the Pirate Isles.Vurghoms exploits have been somewhatsuccessful, but his ability to weave an ex-citing tale in his booming, rough voice hasexpanded his reputation among those eas-ily swayed by such rhetoric.

Vurgroms boasting would make himseem the best pirate since Vurgrom him-self. Although perhaps he is not that capa-ble, he has still developed an excellentreputation for successful raiding and pi-racy. Ports from Cormyr to Chessenta offerlarge rewards for him, dead or alive.

Many credit his success to his quiet ally,Zensil of Westgate. Zensil is an 9th levelenchanter who has on occasion charmed small schools of vicious sea-creatures toaid Vurgrom in his raids. His attackinghorde of men (on the four ships who follow

him) is thus often assisted by crocodiles,giant crabs, or even (once) a giant seasnake. While mostly these creatures havelittle practical effect on the combat (asZensil rarely challenges one of the true horrors of the deep), the presence of suchbizarre warriors both heartens Vurgromsallies and terrifies his opponents. Becauseof the temporary nature of the charm monster spell, Zensil appears to locate hisallies just before a raid and release themsoon afterward, to prevent these magical-

ly-controlled creatures from somedayturning on him.Vurgrom has pursued the leadership of

Immurks Hold since his rise to captainsstatus upon the death of his former cap-tain from a sudden separation of the twohalves of his head. Several times Vur-groms captaincy has been challenged,but no one has yet bested him in the com-bination of hand-to-hand combat and

70 • Chapter 5



skulduggery which is the contest for themast.

Vurgrom has set his sights for most of that time on Teldar of the Kissing Maiden (see above), who is still considered thestrongest contender for Immurks Seat.

Teldar has avoided direct confrontationwithin the Hold, and the Kissing Maiden istoo strong a vessel for even Vurgrom andhis four ships to take. Also, whenever Vur-groms strength allows him to consider di-rectly challenging Teldar, Vurgrom has

been suddenly and unexpectedly engagedby a lesser contender. His most recentclash was with Crammar, a soft-spokendispassionate master of intrigue. Vur-groms ship met Crammars on the highseas, and when the encounter was com-plete Crammars ship followed Vurgrom.Crammar has not been seen since.

Vurghom has recently come into posses-sion of a ring of truth. He is aware of therings ability to detect lies, but wears it onlyrarely, as he does not yet trust its magicalabilities. He has thus not yet discovered its

effect on himself, though with his usuallevel of bluster it is likely he will do so soon,possibly in embarrassing circumstances.

Azla (Half-elven Fighter 9)


Armor Class: -1Move: 12Hit Points: 94Number of Attacks: 3/2 rounds (2/1

with scimitar; 3/1 with scimitar and dag-

ger, 2/1 with short bow)Damage: By weapon type +1THAC0: 12 (9 with own scimitar; 10

with own spear)Alignment: LNWeapon Proficiencies: Scimitar (spe-

cialization), Dagger/dirk, Two WeaponStyle Specialization, Short bow, Spear

Nonweapon Proficiencies: AnimalHandling, Blind-fighting, Bowyer/Fletch-

er, Heraldry, Navigation, Rope Use, Sea-manship, TrackingLanguages: CommonMagical Items: scimitar +2, spear +2,

chain mail +3, 10 arrows +1Ship: Black Champion (caravel)Crew: 25 averageSpecial Features: 1 medium ballistaAzla is a very young woman to be a pi-

rate captain, having risen to the post (inthe traditional fashion) before her thirtiethbirthday. She is tall and slender, with silkydark hair which is hacked off just below

her shoulders. She only arrived on the In-ner Sea five years ago, and immediatelymade her mark as an excellent fighter. Shehas been quite secretive about her origins,and rumor has it that she fled from theBlades of Mulmaster.

The facts are perhaps stranger yet. Azlawas an officer in the Cormyrean army, a

The Rogues Gallery 71



member of one of the most prominent no-

ble families of Cormyr, and part of the de-ployment responsible for defending itsnortheastern quarter. It was from her fam-ily that she received the magical weaponsand armor: family heirlooms which haddefended her ancestors for centuries.

Her force was attacked by a raiding partyfrom Zhentil Keep. Badly outnumbered,surprised, and far from reinforcements, hercommand was decimated. Azla, in the faceof certain death, ran.

She has never forgiven herself. Her fam-

ily and superiors in the military believeher slain in the attack, her body carried off by the Zhentarim raiders. She made herway to the shore, determined to join the pi-rates and somehow bring about her owndeath.

Instead, she thrived. Initially, she wasnot generally acknowledged as a leader,primarily because of her age and her lackof a strong political base. That lack of a

base did not stop Azla from pursuing a po-sition of leadership, all the while hopingsomeone would defeat her and end her tor-ment. After attaining her own captaincy,she established her credentials in a seriesof lightning raids against Sembian tar-gets. She freely shared in her informationabout Sembian cargo routes (although shewould never reveal her sources), and,faced with the prospect that death wouldnot easily come to free her from hershame, began the slow process of consoli-dating her momentary popularity into apermanent power base.

At that time, a series of events occurredwhose origins are still somewhat unclear.In a series of apparently coincidentalclashes, Azla was cast in opposition toVurgrom the Mighty. Although initiallyshe thought the coincidences were Vur-groms way of gaining justification for hisassault on her, it is generally held that thetwo were pitted against one another by outside factions who saw Azla (whose

training as a leader and warrior prowesshad allowed her to rise so quickly) as dan-gerous to the established order.

In any case, six months ago Azla foundherself in desperate need of another placeto be. Fleeing with only her own ship, sheretreated to the safety of Alphar Isle,where she has been since. Here she bidesher time, making only occasional raids(and those far from the militia of Alpharharbor) to maintain her crews morale.Some say her spirit is broken, and she will

never try for the position of pirate lordagain; others (including, it should benoted, those who know her best) say she isonly waiting until the right moment tostrike.

72 • Chapter 5



Wessalen Arturia(Human Paladin 9)

Str 16; Dex 13; Con 14; Int 13; Wis 15;Cha I7

Armor Class: 2Move: 12Hit Points: 55Number of Attacks: 3/2 roundsDamage: By weapon type +1THAC0: 12Alignment: LG

Weapon Proficiencies: Long sword, Javelin, Punching and Wrestling, Weaponand Shield Style Specialization,

Nonweapon Proficiencies: AncientHistory (Chessenta), Endurance, Eti-quette, Healing, Running, Seamanship,Weaponsmithing

Languages: Common, UnthericMagical Items: Scale mail +2, shield

+1, long sword +1, 3 javelins of lightning, potion of speed, potion of extra-healing,glvoes of missile snaring

Ship: Argosy (Longship)

Crew: 70 crackSpecial Features: NoneWessalen Arturia is a Chessentan noble-

man devoted to the service of Lathander,the Morninglord. In Chessenta, Lathanderrepresents the perfect athlete, and Wessa-len is tall, lithe, and strong, with curlyblond hair and a well-muscled physique.

Like many others in this temple, Wessa-len has sought to restore the land of Ches-senta to its former glory, reuniting it intoan empire which would lead the Inner Seato a new period of unity and prosperity.

Like many who seek such goals, Wessa-len has not taken enough time to deter-mine the amount of suffering such a newempire would cause. He does not justifythis suffering in terms of the higher goals;he simply hasnt thought of it.

Currently, Wessalen is seeking an an-cient Chessentan artifact which was lost

on the Pirate Isles during the time of thelast Chessentan Empire. Wessalen discov-

ered records in his temple in Cinbar whichindicated that the artifact was crucial tothe spread of the Chessentan Empire, andwas lost during the collapse. However, therecords say little of the device or its ori-gins, and thus Wessalen is not exactlysure what he is looking forhe trusts theMorninglord to tell him when he has suc-ceeded. Currently, Wessalen is seeking theartifact throughout the Pirate Isles, visit-ing each island and searching for ruins of ancient Chessentan settlements.

While he has not sought violence, Wes-

salen has also not explained his presencein the region, much to the distress of theinhabitants. Thus, he has had several vio-lent encounters, and has begun to ap-proach ships with a more openly hostile (if still defensive) attitude.

If contacted in a friendly manner, Wes-salen will be cordial, although he would




prefer not to discuss the nature of hisbusiness. (He knows that some peoplewould value the artifact for personalprofit, and does not wish to give awaysome critical clue which would allowsomeone less scrupulous to find the arti-fact first.) During an evenings conversa-tion, Wessalen is likely to offer a friendlycontest of wrestling (a sport with a strongfollowing in Chessenta). If attacked inearnest, he will not hesitate to defendhimself.

Dalvar Corzon (Human Ranger 7)


Armor Class: 4Move: 12Hit Points: 43Number of Attacks: 3/2 roundsDamage: As weapon typeTHAC0: 14

Alignment: NGWeapon Proficiencies: Long sword,

long bow, spetum, Two-handed WeaponStyle Specialization, One-handed WeaponStyle Specialization,

Nonweapon Proficiencies: AnimalLore, Animal Training (Seagulls), Direc-tion Sense, Fishing, Rope Use, Seaman-ship, Swimming, Weather Sense

Languages: CommonMagical Items: long sword +2, ring

mail +3, scroll of protection from magic, potion of flying, potion of extra-healing, potion of superheroism, potion of ESP

Ship: Gullswing (caravel)Crew: 18 averageSpecial Features: 1 medium ballista,

gulls (see below)Dalvar Corzon is an up-and-coming Cor-

myrean freesailor who has recently risento the captaincy of the Gullswing by orderof King Azoun of Cormyr. He is in his earlythirties, blond, slender and cleanshaven,

with the firm physique of the professionalwarrior.Dalvar has spent much of the last few

years working with the seagulls of the Cor-myrean coast, trying to train them to car-ry messages like the carrier pigeons usednear Waterdeep. While he has had onlyminimal success, his combined tech-niques of careful training and repeatingmessages on multiple birds have beenable to deliver some messages, a few of which were particularly critical to Cor-myrs success during the recent Time of Troubles and the Horde War.

Dalvars devotion to the land has madehim a strong force against the depreda-tions of pirates in Cormyrean waters. Hehas developed an uncanny sense of theiractivities, and is developing a reputationamong the pirates as a skilled and uncom-promising opponent.

The priests of Mielikki have told Dalvarthat his exploits defending Cormyrs

74 • Chapter 5





coastal lands have come to the attention of the goddess herself, and if he stays hiscourse he will soon be granted the right tocast Mielikkis own magics as the priestsdo. This pressure to succeed in Mielikkiseyes, combined with his recent recogni-tion by King Azoun, has made Dalvar a bittoo ready to do battle. He has never yetsuffered a serious defeat, but he increas-ingly risks tougher and tougher foes,counting on the beneficence of Mielikki toprotect him. Some in Suzail feel that the

young captain needs to be taken down a

peg-for his own good.

Jezgar Skentzin(Greater Seawolf)

Armor Class: 5Move: 9, SW 27Hit Points: 56Number of Attacks: 1 or 2

Damage: 3-12 or 1-2 and by weapon

typeTHAC0: 11Alignment: CEHit only by silver, cold iron, or +1 or bet-

ter magical weaponsShip: Umberlees Get (caravel)Crew: 19 average (seawolves; see Ly-

canthrope, Seawolf in the MonstrousCompendium)

Special Features: Two arbalests Jezgar Skentzin was one of the fiercest

pirate captains to ever sail the Inner Sea.He was a man unfrightened by force, andhis raids were well known for the highdeath toll both among his victims and hisown crew. Over time, only those pirateswith an unquenchable taste for blood anda death wish joined his crew.

Jezgars exploits include many talestold among the pirates, but his most im-portant is a complete secret. On one voy-age, he took on a shipwreck victim hefound floating at sea. The victim turnedout to be a seawolf. Jezgar slew the crea-ture, but not before it had infected himand his crew.

The extent of Jezgars evil was so greatthat he became one of the dreaded greaterseawolves. He and his crew plied thesealanes as reavers, now truly seekingblood rather than booty.

Despite the occasional rumors of aseawolf-pirate, Jezgar has cleverly hiddenhis affliction. He and his men are occasion-al visitors to Immurks Hold or Alphar

Port, although they are always gone againbefore nightfall. By day, they sail as pi-rates. At night, they swim the seas, feed-ing. If their numbers are depleted inbattle, they add to their crew in the tradi-tional fashionthey bite their victims tomake new seawolves.

76 • Chapter 5



Quelzur Naismen(Human Mage 11)

Str 9; Dex 14; Con 12; Int 16; Wis 8; Cha11

Armor Class: 3Move: 12Hit Points: 26Number of Attacks: 1Damage: By weapon typeTHAC0: 17Alignment: LE

Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger, Dart,Staff Nonweapon Proficiencies: Ancient

History (Mulhorand/Thay), Astrology, Eti-quette, Gem Cutting, Heraldry, Navigation,Reading/Writing, Spellcraft, Swimming

Languages: Common, Old Mulhoran-dic

Magical Items: censer of summoning air elementals, bracers of defense AC 4,

potion of healing, potion of fire resistance,scroll of protection from mammal control,ring of protection +1, scroll of Mordenkai-

nens Lucubration, Mordenkainens Mag- nificent Mansion, and Incendiary Cloud

Ship: Winds Despair (caravel)Crew: 17 averageSpecial Features: Commonly pro-

pelled by an air elemental (see below); twomedium ballistae

Quelzur Naismen began his career asone of the infamous Red Wizards of Thay.While he showed considerable prowess inhis early years, he failed to develop the ap-propriately humble demeanor before hissuperiors in the Thayvian hierarchy, andquickly gained a reputation as a malcon-tent and a troublemaker (not an entirelybad thing in Thay).

Unfortunately, despite his magical com-petence, Quelzur was no better at fendingoff the backstabbing politics of Thay as hewas at making friends. By the time he wasthirty, although already an accomplished

mage, Quelzur displeased the powerfulZulkir Szass Tam, and decided that volun-

tary exile was preferable to eternal servi-tude as a zombie under the Zulkir of Necromancy.

Being a Red Wizard, Quelzur had fewerfriends outside Thay than he had inside.Quelzur also felt, having been raised in

Thayvian society, that as a wizard he wasinherently superior to any mundane non-

Thayvian. Thus, though he easily bestedhis first captain (a single lightning boltburned the man where he stood), he hashad difficulty inspiring loyalty in his crew.He constantly acts superior to them, lord-ing over them like a minor godling.

Quelzur would long ago have died in hissleep at the hands of his crew were it notfor a valuable item he acquired on hisway out of Thay. This item, a censer for summoning air elementals, has givenQuelzur the most maneuverable vessel onthe Inner Sea. Whenever his ship enters




battle, Quelzur uses the device to summonan air elemental who is devoted to provid-ing the Winds Despair with a full sail andthe wind at their backs-whatever waythey decide to travel. (In game terms, theDespair is always considered to be travel-ing with the wind in a strong favorable wind. See the Combat chapter for details.)

Quelzur still wears the bright red robesof his Thayvian heritage, and maintainsthe shaved head and beard so characteris-tic of the Red Wizards.

Huzza (Hill Giant)

Armor Class: 3Move: 12Hit Points: 66Number of Attacks: 1Damage: 1-6 or by weapon (2-12 +7)THAC0: 9Alignment: Chaotic evilHurls rocks for 2d8 damage; hurls gob-

lins (see below)Ship: Ship (Longship)Crew: 70 green (goblins)Special Features: NoneHuzza is a hill giant. He was living near

the Earthspur Mountains at the end of theDragon Reach in a small valley he hadlearned to call home. There was plenty of food, and Huzza had even found a tribe of goblins to help guard Huzzas valley andbring Huzza food. Life was good.

One day, some humans came in a longship and landed on the coast near Huzzasvalley. Huzzas goblins came to Huzza andtold him, so Huzza went down to see whatthey wanted.

The humans werent very nice. Whenthey saw Huzza, they made loud scream-ing noises. They threw sharp things atHuzza. Huzza got mad. Huzza ate them.

After dinner, Huzza went into the shipthe humans had come in. It was bigenough for Huzza to ride in, and needed

lots of little people to move it. Huzza didntworry about it; he just went home. The next day, Huzza went back to the

valley, just to make sure hed eaten all thehumans. Huzza looked at the ship again.

The goblins would probably fit where thehumans used to go; Huzza could ride inthe back.

Huzza looked in the back of the ship. The humans had had gold. There must begold in the sea. Huzza liked gold. Huzzadecided to go get more gold.

Huzza is now one of the strangest shipcaptains on the Inner Sea. Huzza and hiscrew of goblins raid other ships they comeupon, but they have essentially no plan-ning, no idea about where to find ships,and the goblins really cannot row as fastas humans (cut the ships movement ratesin half).

Huzza has found a way to make shipsstop, however. Whenever he sees a ship hewants to visit, he throws goblins at it. (For

78 • Chapter 5



game purposes, he can throw a goblin as faras he can throw a rockup to 200 yards.)Sometimes the goblins miss; then theydrown. Sometimes they hit; then they getinto the ships riggings and cut them, so theother ship slows down. When he catchesthe ship, they usually have lots of foodaboard (some of which is even still alive!).

Unfortunately, this technique is hard onthe goblin supply. Huzza has convinced afew other tribes of goblins to join him, butthey have also slowly succumbed to Huz-zas unusual attack methods. The goblinsarent too happy with Huzza, but theydont know what to do about him. If theyattack him, hell just eat them; he wontlet them leave.

Urdogen the Red (Spectre)

Armor Class: 2Move: 15, Fl 30 (B)Hit Points: 59Number of Attacks: 1Damage: 1-8 + Energy Drain

THAC0: 13Alignment: Lawful EvilShip: Raging Tears (spectral caravel)Crew: 40 crack (spectres)Special Features: Can fly, moves as if

strong favorable winds regardless of truewind direction

Urdogen the Red was a hot-bloodedpirate, successor to Immurk and scourgeof the Inner Sea. His raids against the na-tions of the Inner Sea brought the mostpowerful of the rising Inner Sea kingdoms Cormyr, Sembia, Impiltur, and the

Vilhon Reachto a united assault againsthim and the Dragonisle.

Urdogen fought for a week, slaughteringships and men wherever he, went. Whenthe forces against him were too great, hefled, raging against the gods themselvesand swearing eternal vengeance againsthis one-time victims.

As he fled, a strange mist arose aroundhim and his ship. When the mist disap-

peared, he found himself in the dimensionknown as Ravenloft. Under the evil influ-ences there he quickly became a spectre,converting all within his crew to the unlifewhich drove him.

Urdogen spends most of his time there,terrorizing the inhabitants and acting asone of Ravenlofts least powerful lords.However, his oath of vengeance bringshim back on moonless nights when the fogis high, to pursue all the ships he finds onthe Inner Sea. Each time he comes, he isdrawn back by the power of Ravenloft be-

fore the dawn, but while he sails the InnerSea no living man is safe.




In Which Is Presented a Gallery of Galleys and Galleons Common to the Sea of Fallen Stars

The ships of the Inner Sea include alltypes of vessels from the ancient-style gal-leys of Mulhorand and Chessenta to thelate Renaissance galleons of Cormyr andSembia. With such a variety of vessels onthe water, it is important to understandthe basic principles of how ships work andmove in order to understand how and why

different types of vessels are chosen. The oldest type of vessel is the galley, or

oared ship. Galleys move by rowing, push-ing their oars through the water, and haveno sails. Galleys move in any direction atessentially the same speed; it does not de-pend on the wind (or lack thereof) to makeit go. Second, an oared vessel is more ma-neuverable, and is able to turn morequickly.

However, galleys have problems as well.First of all, in order to move a ship of any

size, you must have a large number of rowers. These rowers take up space, and(more importantly) food and water forsuch a large crew also takes up space. Thus, either the galley must remain closeto shore, so that it can be frequently resup-plied, or it must devote a large amount of its cargo space to food and water, makingit less efficient at carrying cargo.

Also, an oared vessel requires either alarger loyal crew (who must all be paid witha share of the profits of the voyage) or aslave crew (whose rebelliousness at an in-opportune moment may lead to disaster).

For these reasons, other seamen experi-mented with the use of sails, large clothswhich could push the ship ahead of thewind. A sailing ship needs a small crew,and can go somewhat faster than an oaredvessel in a strong wind. However, in poorwinds, the ship is slow and difficult to ma-neuver, and in any case it was not practi-

cal to travel any direction except wherethe wind was blowing. To overcome theseproblems, many ships were built whichcarried both sails (for normal operation)and oars (to provide movement in case theship became becalmed). As sails becamemore controllable, and as seamen learnedmore about sailing, the use of sails over-whelmed the use of oared vessels on mostoceanic ships.

An alternative type of vessel which ex-ists on the Inner Sea and the other seas of

the Forgotten Realms is the towed vessel.Rather than having sails, such vessels useeither swimming or flying creatures out-side the ship to provide the motive power.While even the flying creatures are notstrong enough to actually lift the ship,they can provide reasonable motivepower. For a more extensive discussion of towed ships, see the section below.

Ship Architecture

Ships have a number of attributes and sta-tistics that describe their performance andcapabilities. Below is a short overview of common terms.

A ships base movement is the averagespeed of the vessel in miles per hour undera light breeze (for sailing ships) or underfavorable conditions (for oared ships).Where two numbers are separated by aslash, the first is the speed under sail andthe second is the rowing speed. Basemovement can be converted into move-ment in yards per round by multiplyingby 30. Thus a caravel, which has a basemovement rate of 4, moves at a base speedof 120 yards per round, or a charactermovement rate of 12.

Emergency move is the top speed of the vessel in emergency or combat condi-tions. For sailing ships, emergency speedis gained by putting on every yard of sailpossible. Galleys and other oared ships re-

80 Chapter 6



ly on the strength of their rowers. Thisspeed can only be maintained for a shortperiod of time; too long and rowers willcollapse, and masts, yards, and sails willbreak.

Each ship has at least two crew num-bers. The first is the number of individ-uals needed to run the ship under normalcircumstances. The last is the maximumnumber of individuals that the ship cancarry and remain seaworthy. The middle number, if present, indi-

cates the number of individuals requiredto operate the oars. If the vessel is not car-rying that many individuals, it is limitedto sail motion only.

Seaworthiness rates the vessels abili-ty to remain afloat in dangerous situa-tions, notably storms, hidden shoals,extended voyages, huge monster attacks,and rams. Seaworthiness is rated as a per-centage value. Anytime there is a chanceof sinking, the DM rolls percentile dice. If the roll is equal to or less than the seawor-thiness rating of the ship, it remains

afloat, although bailing or repairs may benecessary. If the roll is higher than the sea-worthiness rating, the ship suffers criticaldamage.

In addition to seaworthiness, there aremany attacks that can force a ship tomake a saving throw (such as a disinte- grate spell cast on the bow) which willcause the ship to save or be damaged ordestroyed. In general, use the Item Saving

Throw chart (on page 39 of the DMG) fordetermining effects. Most ships are ThickWood for general saves.

Power type defines the type of motiveforce that causes the ship to move throughthe water.

Armament varies from ship to ship. Ina typical ship description, the standard ar-mament (SA) is provided. Additional ar-mament may be provided, though thiscuts down on cargo space (the room that

would normally be used for cargo is in-stead used to provide space for large weap-ons and their ammunition). This initialarmament number reflects the number of armaments that can be built directly intothe ship. Further additions can be madewith each weapon eating up ten tons of cargo space. Additional armament cannotexceed one-quarter of the ships total car-go capacity. This limitation allows someroom for the crews needs and ensuresthat the ship does not become topheavy

and capsize.Armament falls into an number of cate-gories:

Catapult: blunt stone throwerBallista: extremely large

crossbowRam: punches holes in shipsBombard: cannon; very rare,

expensive, anddangerous to use

Fire Projector: shoots liquid flameFurther information about each of these

weapons is given under the individual en-

tries.Cargo space is the amount of stuff the

ship can contain. The remaining interiorspace is needed for crew, armament, andother necessities. For each large weaponadded to a ship over and above its stand-ard ordnance, ten tons are subtractedfrom the total amount available for cargo(the weapons and ammunition occupythat space).

Keel length (KL) is the long dimensionof the ship, usually but not always mea-sured along the ships keel.

Beam length (BL) is the width of theship, measured at the ships widest pointbut not counting any oars or yardarmsthat may widen the ship without effective-ly contributing to its tonnage.

Armor rating (AR) for a ship is similarto the Armor Class of a character. Armorreflects the difficulty that an attacker has

Ships of the Inner Sea 81



in causing significant damage to the shipbecause of its construction. In general,small, light ships have poor ARs whilelarge, heavier-built ships have excellentARs, trading speed for protection.

Ships

The majority of the ships of the Inner Seaare based on a small set of standard hullswhich are used and reused. These hullsrepresent the foundation on which thecustom portions of the ship are built. The

following section describes of the standardhulls of the Inner Sea; DMs are encour-aged to construct their own hull designsusing these as examples.

CaravelCost: 10,000 gpBase Movement: 4Emergency Move: 5Crew: 15/50

Armor Rating: 9

Seaworthiness: 70%Saving Throw: Thick woodPower Type: SailCargo Tonnage: 180 tonsKeel Length: 70 feetBeam Length: 20 feetStandard Armament: 1 large weaponRam: Not allowed The caravel is used by the nations of

Cormyr, Sembia, and Impiltur extensive-ly, and is somewhat less common in Turm-ish and Chondath. It normally has two

masts and square sails; no oars are used. The normal crew is from 30 to 40 men.

CoasterCost: 5,000 gpBase Movement: 3Emergency Move: 4Crew: 12/40Armor Rating: 9Seaworthiness: 50%

82 • Chapter 6





Dromond

Cost: 15,000 gpBase Movement: 2/9Emergency Move: 3/12Crew: 200/400Armor Rating: 9Seaworthiness: 40%Saving Throw: Thin woodPower Type: Sail and OarsCargo Tonnage: 90 tonsKeel Length: 175 feet

Beam Length: 15 feetStandard Armament: 3 large weaponsRam: Allowed

This ship is the largest of the Chessen-tan galleys. Although it boasts one or twomasts and triangular sails, the mainpower comes from the 100 oars, 50 to aside. These oars are divided into an upperand lower bank, with one man per oar onthe lower bank, and three men per oar onthe upper bank.

A dromond can be used for both ship-

ping and war. (The above configuration isthe war configuration.) As a warship, aram projects from the front just above thewater line. Castles are built fore, aft, andamidships as firing platforms. The cargospace is occupied by marines. With suchnumbers of men, it is a very dangerousship to attack.

A dromond is not a seaworthy craft,however, and usually sails in sight of shore. They beach at night like all galleys,

since supplies and sleeping accommoda-tions are limited.Dromonds are commonly from

Mulhorand or Chessenta; both these na-tions have a long tradition of sea-battleswith these mighty galleys.

Galleon

Cost: 50,000 gpBase Movement: 3Emergency Move: 6

84 Chapter 6



Armor Rating: 7Seaworthiness: 75%Saving Throw: Thick woodPower Type: SailCargo Tonnage: 500 tonsKeel Length: 130 feetBeam Length: 30 feetStandard Armament: 3 large weaponsRam: Not allowed The galleon is the largest and most

advanced sailing ship on the Inner Sea. Itis a sail-driven ship with three masts.

There are normally three through decks(running the length of the ship), while thecastles fore and aft have two decks.

Galleons are most frequently used inCormyr, Sembia, and Impiltur. However,they are not common even there.

Great GalleyCost: 30,000 gpBase Movement: 3/6Emergency Move: 4/11Crew: 40/140/200Armor Rating: 7

Seaworthiness: 45%Saving Throw: Thick woodPower Type: Sail and OarsCargo Tonnage: 150 tonsKeel Length: 130 feetBeam Length: 20 feetStandard Armament: 3 large weaponsRam: Allowed

The great galley is an improved versionof the dromond. It is slightly smaller thanthe dromond, and its main power comesfrom its 140 rowers and its three masts;this combination gives it better speed and

handling. When outfitted as a warship,the front end is built as a ram and marinesare carried instead of cargo. Like all gal-leys, the great galley is a coastal vessel,rarely venturing into open water.

This ship, like the dromond, is mostcommon among the southern lands of Mulhorand and Chessenta.

KnarrCost: 3,000 gpBase Movement: 4/2Emergency Move: 5/12Crew: 8/14Armor Rating: 9Seaworthiness: 65%Saving Throw: Thin woodPower Type: Sail and oarsCargo Tonnage: 40 tonsKeel Length: 60 feetBeam Length: 15 feetStandard Armament: NoneRam: Not allowed

The knarr is a small cargo ship which isused in the northlands. It has a single mastand a square sail. In times of poor wind, afew oars at the bow and stem can providemore power. The ship is relatively seawor-thy, and can be used to make long (if notcomfortable) sea voyages. Its flat bottommakes it useful for sailing up rivers and es-tuaries, and it can be beached easily.

Longship

Cost: 10,000 gpBase Movement: 5/2Emergency Move: 6/13Crew: 40/200Armor Rating: 8Seaworthiness: 60%Saving Throw: Thin woodPower Type: Sail and OarsCargo Tonnage: 50 tonsKeel Length: 75 feetBeam Length: 15 feetStandard Armament: 1 large weaponRam: Allowed

This is the standard Northmens war-ship. It is more substantial than the knarrbut not nearly as massive as the drakkar.A typical longship has 20 oars per side,each worked by a single man. There is alsoa single mast and square sail. A longshipis fairly seaworthy and can sail across theopen sea when necessary.






Ship Improvements

Armaments

Ship weapons are the descendants of siegemachinery. In addition to the wide varietyof personal weapons and magical abilities,there is a collection of catapults, ballistas,trebuchets, and scorpions available toship captains, as well as a variety of rams.

All of the standard ships are capable of carrying a base number of large weapons.

The weapons themselves are not includedin the cost of the shipthese are merelyplaces where the owner can install weap-ons without eating up living or cargospace. For each weapon added beyondthat, some cargo space must be sacrificed.Some weapons count as two or three forthis purpose, and these are noted accord-ingly.

A ship can have only one ram. It must bebought and installed. (Ships with the Notallowed entry under Ram cannot havethem attached under any conditions.)

Damage for each of the weapons is listedin terms of hit points. The rate of fire (innumber of shots per round) assumes a fullcrew manning the weapon. A 1/2 ratingmeans that the weapon fires one shot everytwo rounds. For every man less than the re-quired minimum manning a weapon, re-duce the rate of fire to the next slower level.For example, a medium catapult with acrew of three and a rate of fire of 1/2 wouldhave a rate of fire of 1/3 with a two-mancrew and 1/4 with a single crewman tryingto operate the weapon. A weapon cannot

fire without at least one crew member.

Catapults: Catapults are large stone-throwing devices operated by springs andcranks.

Catapults are fixed in position oncemounted and can fire in only one direc-tion.

Catapults can be loaded with stone shotinstead of large rocks. Stone shot is mosteffective as an antipersonnel weapon andwill not affect a ship. It inflicts the listeddamage on every target within a 10-footradius of the spot where it hits (make aseparate attack roll against each target inthe area).

Light Catapult

Cost: 500 gpRange: 15/30

Damage: 2d10 hit pointsCrew: 1Rate of Fire: 1/2

THAC0: 16Critical hit on 20

Medium Catapult

Cost: 700 gpRange: 18/30Damage: 3d10 hit pointsCrew: 3Rate of Fire: 1/2

THAC0: 17

Critical hit on 19 or 20

Heavy Catapult

Cost: 1,000 gpRange: 18/36Damage: 3d10 hit pointsCrew: 5Rate of Fire: 1/3 THAC0: 18Critical hit on 18, 19, or 20Counts as two large weapons for installa-tion

Ballistae: Ballistae include all deviceswhich throw large bolts, javelins, andspears with greater force than possible byhuman (or inhuman) strength. Most arebuilt along the lines of the crossbow, andare mounted on pivots on the ships deckto fire at any targets.




Light Ballista


THAC0: 16No chance for a critical hit

Medium Ballista

Cost: 600 gp

Range: 3/30Damage: 3d6 hit pointsCrew: 2Rate of Fire: 1/3

THAC0: 14Critical hit on 20

Heavy Ballista


THAC0: 12Critical hit on 19 or 20

Rams

The effects of ramming are covered incombat. They depend on the relative sizesof the ship doing the ramming and its tar-get.

Ram

Cost: 10 gp per cargo ton of shipA ram is a long, sharp prow used to

break open and break apart an enemyship. This type of attack is likely to sinkthe attacked ship, as the ram is usuallymounted near the waterline. An attackwith a ram can sometimes result in thetwo ships being locked together.

Fire Projectors: These devices shoot athin stream of flaming, explosive liquid.

Though they can be devastating in com-bat, they are not popular because of thechance of the liquid catching fire or de-tonating on the launched ship. Only thegalleys of Mulhorand make extensive useof these devices.

Projectors affect the target and all othertargets within a 5-foot radius. A successfulsave against Breath Weapon halves thedamage.

Ships carrying fire projectors are more

vulnerable to critical hits, and ships at-tacking them add +1 to their die roll to de-termine whether a critical hit occurs. Forexample, a medium catapult causes a crit-ical hit with a modified attack of 19 or 20.Against a ship carrying a fire projector, amedium catapult causes a critical hit witha roll of 18, 19 or 20.

Fire Projectors:

Cost: 1,000 gpRange: 18/40Damage: 3d 10 hit points + FireCrew: 3Rate of Fire: 1/4

THAC0: 16Critical hit on 18, 19 or 20

Defensive Improvements

CastlesCost: medium 500 gp, large 1,000 gp percargo tonA common sight on many warships are ar-mored castles or towers. These provideprotection for marines, platforms forarchers to fire down onto enemy vessels,and ramps for boarding. Most are fittedwith crenelations and arrow slits.

One castle can be fitted for every 50 feetof keel length on the ship, typically allow-ing only one or two. A single castle will bemounted amidships; if there are two, theyare at bow and stem. A small castle is 10feet tall and provides protection for ten

88 • Chapter 6



men and a firing platform for five archers.A large castle is 15 to 20 feet tall and pro-vides protection for twenty men, plus a fir-ing platform for ten archers. The protectedmen may use a drop-away gangplank, fit-ted with hooks to hold the enemy ship, in aboarding action.

All ships hulls come with a standard Ar-mor Rating (AR), determined by the shipsshape and construction. A hulls armorrating can be improved by increasing ei-ther the thickness of the hull or by platingthe hull with other materials (usuallymetal). The options and costs are:

Increased ThicknessCost: 10 gp per cargo ton of ship

Increasing the thickness of the hull im-proves the ships AR by 1 (from 7 to 6, forexample). However, this thickening alsoreduces available cargo space by 20 per-cent. A ship can have its hull thickness in-creased only once.

PlatingCost: 30 gp per cargo ton of shipAlso called barding, plating a ship con-

sists of covering it in metal plates orscales. This improves the AR of the shipby 1 (from 3 to 2, for example) but down-grades the speed of the ship by one third.

Further, it is obvious to anyone lookingat it that the ship is plated. Plating can on-ly be performed once on any given ship. Aplated ship still uses its original savingthrow type (thick wood or thin wood).

NettingCost: 3 gp per 10 cargo tons of ship

Ships with large, open decks are oftencovered with thick, twisted ropes boundinto a net. These nets serve to partiallyprotect the crew from catapult fire andboarding from other ships. Attacks com-ing from above must destroy the nets first

before hitting crew members.Ships with netting gain a +2 on saving

throws for their crews against missileweapons or magical which creates solidobjects.

In addition, the presence of netting al-lows those personnel hit by catapultstones a saving throw against death magi-cal to avoid the effect of being hit by suchweapons.

The netting is destroyed once it is hit bya heavy catapult shot, or two medium cat-apult shots. Fire projectors destroy thenetting in two rounds. Light catapults andballistas cause no damage to netting.

In a boarding action, boarders must cutthrough the netting before they can attackthe enemy crew. Netting can be cut thesame as grappling lines; it has five hitpoints and AC 10. Defenders under thenetting can attack boarders above the net-ting if the defenders are armed with pierc-ing (P) type weapons.

Speed Improvements

Cost: 10 gp per cargo tonRigging

A ship owner can add to the existingsails and oars (rigging) to improve hisships speed and handling. A ship withthis additional maneuvering equipment istopped out and requires additionalmanpower and cost.

Rigging the ship beyond its standard re-sults in an increase in the ships speed, by+3 (a speed of 15 becomes 18, 12 becomes15).

Additional rigging also means there ismore for the crew to do. The minimumcrew required to operate the ship in-creases by half (50%). If it normally takes10 crewmen to operate the ship, when theships rigging is increased, it requires acrew of 15.

Rigging can be added only once per

Ships of the Inner Sea • 89



ship. It can be used to offset the effect of plating.

StrippingCost: 10 gp per cargo ton

Removing nonessential weight can in-crease the speed of a ship by +3 (see Rig-ging, above). This results in dropping thearmor rating by 2 points (from 4 to 6, forexample). A ship is considered to have thesame cargo tonnage despite the loss, and

the missing pieces are not obvious to thecasual observer.

Crews

Seafaring in the Forgotten Realms is alabor-intensive process. Galleys need oars-men, sailing ships need crew to manipu-late the rigging and to maintain the ship,and all ships with weapons need someoneto operate them.

Crews are divided into four classifica-

tions: green, average, trained, and crack. Their costs per man per month are below:Green: 2 gpAverage: 4 gp

Trained: 6 gpCrack: 6 gp

Payment is usually in advance for thefirst two months, with any extra moneyaccrued payable upon landfall. In addi-tion, crews going into hazardous situa-tions (such as when hired by adventurers)may demand an additional crews cut of

plunder-a share equal to that of the lead-ers to be distributed among the survivingcrew. Such an arrangement will not im-prove their sailing ability but will affecttheir morale in combat situations.

Green sailors are those who could bepicked up anywhere. They barely knowthe difference between a hawser and a bal-lista. They are warm bodies to fill theranks, but little else.

Average sailors are usually found

around large ports. They have had sailingexperience before, and are competent torun a ship fairly well. In any city of, re-spectable size (such as Suzail or Procam-pur) they can be found in sufficientnumbers to crew a vessel.

Trained sailors are the veterans of many voyages, often on a number of ships. They are numerous, but that doesnot mean they are easy to find. In anylarge city, 3d10 trained sailors can be

found for hire. Of course, arrivals of newships and ship crews mutinying or aban-doning people may change that number.

Crack sailors are not so much rare asvery specialized. They are the best at whatthey do for a particular captain and aboarda particular ship. Taking a crack crewfrom one ship and putting it on anotherwith a different captain reduces it to train-ed status.Initial Crew Status

Initially a crew has the rating of the ma-

jority of its members. A crew of 10 withone trained, six average, and three greenrecruits is considered average while onewith two trained, and eight green mem-bers is considered green. This is for deter-mining the initial crew rating only, when aship is just starting out in play.

Increasing Crew Status

A green crew becomes average after onemonth of travel. This reflects one month of

total travel, so that two days of travel, aweek of hanging around in port, and twomore days of travel add up to only fourdays of travel. Thirty days are needed tobreak in a green crew. For this reason,many captains begin with relatively safe,simple training runs to get the crew abovethis minimum competence; this is knownas a shakedown cruise.

An average crew becomes trained aftertwo more months of travel. A trained crew

90 Chapter 6



becomes crack after three more months,including at least one battle with anothership (known as blooding the crew). If during all three of these months the crewserved under one captain, they attaincrack status.

Decreasing Crew Status

Crew members may be lost through thenormal wear and tear of combat and trav-el. As long as at least 20% of the originalcrew is still on board, the ships crew sta-tus stays the same.

For example, if a ship with a trainedcrew of 10 men loses eight to a kraken andthen hires eight green replacements at thenext stop, the ship still has a trained crew.

The oldtimers teach the ropes to the new-comers.

The exception to this is crack status. If acrack crew loses more than 50% of itsmembers, it slips to trained status untilthe new crew passes through the three-month process to regain its status.

Effects of Crew Status

Crews, regardless of their status, can manlarge weapons. The status of the crew doesnot affect their combat ability.

However, a crew that works togethersmoothly can increase the speed at whichthe ship reacts to enemy maneuvers. Thishas no effect on the ships maneuver rat-ing, but does modify its initiative rolls andmorale.

Table 2: Effects of Crew Status

Crew Status Initiative MoraleGreen +1 -1Average Unmodified Unmodified

Trained -1 +2Crack -2 +4

Weapon Teams

Any crewman can operate a large weaponsuch as a catapult or ballista. There arespecialists who have been trained in theiruse, however, and they tend to be morevaluable in combat. If the captain wishesto invest, it may be possible to get specialhirelings for these shipboard positions.

Any good-sized city will have a fewlarge-weapon specialists available for hire.(A large weapon specialist is an individualwho has expended a weapon proficiencyto become an expert user of a ballista, cat-apult, or fire projector.) One to 10 will beavailable in any standard month, andtheir hiring rates are usually the same asfor trained or crack crewmen (6 gp/month/specialist).

A single specialist will affect the firing of one large weapon, adding a +1 to hit aslong as the specialist can communicatewith the crewmen operating the weapon.Further, the weapon team may lose onemember (besides the specialist) and con-

tinue to operate with no decrease in itsrate of fire. The specialist must be dedi-cated to that weapon, and cannot fulfillany other role aboard ship to gain these ef-fects.

Multiple specialists are needed to main-tain multiple weapons. A weapon special-ist can help repair and operate anyweapon, but he can only work on oneweapon at a time.

Most weapons specialists are familiarwith only one type of Weapon: ballista, cat-apult, or fire projector. Five percent of

those encountered will be knowledgeablein two weapons, and five percent of thosewill be well versed in three.

Towed Ships

Any type of ship, whether oared or sailing,can be converted to a towed vessel. The




rigging changes involved cost 10,000 gpper vessel; for some vessels, this may bemore than the cost of the ship.

Additionally, ships must be rigged for aspecific type of creature; a ship which isdesigned to be towed by giant seahorses,for example, will not have the proper rig-ging to be towed by sharks. Rigging can bemodified to be used with a different type of creature with a successful shipwright roll,subject to the following limitations:

l The old and new creatures must ei-ther both be swimmers or both be fly-ers.

l Both old and new creatures must bethe same size (M, H, or G).

The shipwright must have an exam-ple of the creature to be fitted.

The following list describes some of thecreatures which could be used to tow avessel. Along with each creature is itsmethod of locomotionswimming (SW) or

flying (Fl), an assessment of the size of ship (in cargo tons) that this creaturecould tow, and its normal towing speed.

If the ships tonnage is greater than thecapability of the creature to tow it, multi-ple creatures can be used to take up theload. If there are not enough creatures totow the entire ships tonnage, but thereare at least enough to tow half the ton-nage, the ship will move at half the listedrate. Similarly, if there is towing capacityavailable to tow twice the ships tonnage,the ship will move at double the listedrate.

Any of the creatures below can also beexhorted to travel at emergency move-ment rate. This rate is double its normalmovement rate. However, each full turnthat a creature is forced to move at its fullmovement rate, it must make a moralecheck or stop (or try to escape, if the DMwishes).

92 Chapter 6



Table 3: Towing Creatures

CreatureAerial ServantAscallionAsperiiBat, HugeCatfish, GiantCrayfish, GiantCrocodile, GiantDinosaur, Archelon

Dinosaur, MosasaurusDinosaur, NothosaurusDinosaur, PlesiosaurDinosaur, PteranadonDinosaur, PterosaurusDinosaur, TanystropheusDolphinDragon, Black*Dragon, Black*Dragon, BlueDragon, BrassDragon, Bronze*Dragon, Bronze*

Dragon, CopperDragon, GoldDragon, Green*Dragon, Green*Dragon, RedDragon, SilverDragon, White*Dragon, White*Dragon TurtleEagle, GiantEel, GiantElemental, Air**Elemental, Water

Gar, GiantGargoyle

MargoyleGenie, DjinnGenie, DaoGenie, EfreetiGenie, JannGenie, Marid*

Movement(Fl, SW)

FlSwFlFlSwSwSwSw

SwSwSwFlFlSwSwSwFlFlFlSwFl

FlFlSwFlFlFlSwFlSwFlSwFlSwSwFlSwFlFlFlFlFl

Towing NormalCapacity Towing

(Cargo Tons) Speed20 315 310 65 2

20 22 1

10 1

8 2

30 25 33 2

10 215 215 32 4

25 1

15 425 415 440 1

25 4

20 435 530 1

20 430 430 420 1

10 430 1

5 65 1

50 550 415 43 23 2

10 38 2

15 38 4

20 2




CreatureGenie, Marid*GriffonHippocampusHippogriff Ki-rinKuo-toaLocathahLycanthrope, Seawolf

(Lesser)Lycanthrope, Seawolf (Greater)

ManticoreMermanNaga, WaterOctopus, GiantOwl, GiantPegasusRay, MantaRocSahuagin

Sea Horse, GiantSea LionSelkieShark, GiantSnake, Sea, GiantSphinx, AndrosphinxSphinx (other)Squid, GiantSquid, Kraken

Triton Troll, Saltwater (Scrag)Umber Hulk, VodyanoiWhale, CommonWhale, GiantWhale, KillerWhale, LeviathanWhale, NarwhalWyvern

Movement(Fl,Sw)

SwFlSwFlFlSwSw

Sw

SwFlSwSwSwFlFlSwFlSw

SwSwSwSwSwFlFlSwSwSwSwSwSwSwSwSwSwFl

Towing NormalCapacity Towing

(Cargo Tons) Speed20 3

3 430 310 410 61 21 1

1 1

2 410 31 22 22 1

2 310 620 340 4

2 3

3 38 31 5

30 335 1

3 32 3

40 1

70 1

2 23 1

10 1

40 360 320 4

100 315 320 3

Note that having a ship capable of beingtowed by a creature is no guarantee that thecreature is available, or that it can be con-

trolled. Animal training, magical enchant-ments, or bargaining may be required to geta proper team for a towed vessel.

94 • Chapter 6







Viewing Distance Table

Weather Range (miles)Clear 8Cloudy 3Gale 2Hurricane 1

Foggy 1 or less

Obviously, any obstruction (such as anisland) will provide additional cover whichmay reduce this distance.

Ship Combat

A simple combat system is given below,

providing a very abstract system for re-solving movement. A round of combat isthe same as a standard round-one min-ute.

Players and referees will do well to re-member that this product is intended foruse as a role-playing aid, not a boardgameof ship-to-ship combat. It provides a

framework for playing the AD&D® game atsea. The game will be far less interesting if

played without the personal involvementof the player characters aboard ship.

Ship-to-ship combat includes the follow-ing steps:1. The DM decides what actions the op-

posing ship will take. Actions which aship can take are listed below.

2. The players indicate what they will do,including any attacks they may make,and how their ship will maneuver.

3. Initiative is determined.4. The relative positions of the ships are

resolved.5. Attacks are taken in order of initiative.

These steps are followed until the com-bat endsone side is defeated, surren-ders, or runs away.

NPC/Monster Ship Determination: Inthe first step, the DM secretly decides

Movement and Combat 97



what the opposing ship and its crew willdoattack, flee, maneuver for position,etc. He does not announce his decision tothe players.

Player Determination: Next, the play-ers give a general indication of what theircharacters are planning to do, and howtheir ship will maneuver. This does nothave to be perfectly precise and can bechanged somewhat, if the DM decides thatcircumstances warrant.

Initiative: In the third step, dice arerolled to determine initiative. This is doneexactly as specified on page 93-96 of thePlayers Handbook (pages 55-57 of theDungeon Masters Guide). It is recom-mended that group initiative be used;should individual initiative be used, a sep-arate initiative roll should be made for theship itself. Note that the group initiative orships initiative is affected by crew qualityas described above.

Decide relative ship positions: Basedon the speeds of the ships, their actions,and their initiative rolls, determine the rel-ative positions of the ships as specified inthe section appropriate to the type of com-bat selected.

Resolution: In the last step, PCs, NPCs,and monsters make their attacks, spellsoccur, and any other actions are resolvedaccording to the order of initiative.

The above sequence is not immutable.Some situations demand the applicationof common sense. In these cases the DMsword is final.

Quick Combat

This quick combat system is designed toallow gamemasters to resolve the ship-to-ship aspects of ship combat quickly. It isnot intended to necessarily be a realisticcombat, just a dramatic one. It is specifi-cally designed to represent a battle be-tween two ships, one run by the DM, one

by the players. Larger battles will use thetactical combat system.

Entering Quick Combat

Before two ships enter quick combat, theDM must determine the following pieces of information:

l Relative range of the two shipsl Which ship currently has the advan-

tage

Each of these is described below.

In quick combat, there are six possibleranges between ships:

Very distant: The ships can see one an-other, but cannot attack. They are morethan 500 yards apart.

Distant: The ships are just barely closeenough to attack one another. Only weap-ons with a range greater than 250 yardscan be used.

Normal: The ships are within range formost large weaponry and even bows, butare generally too far apart for the use of magic. Any weapon with a maximumrange greater than 100 yards can be used.

Close: The ships are very close together.Weapons with a range of 50 yards or lesscan be used; this includes all bows andeven some thrown weapons (such as jave-lins). Spells with a range of 50 yards ormore can also be used.

Very close: The ships are within 20 yards of one another. Large ship-basedweapons can no longer be used, but anymissile weapon (including short-rangethrown weapons such as hand-axes) canbe. Most spells (except those with very lowranges) can also be used.

Boarding: The ships are touching. Me-lee weapons, normal missile weapons, andspells can be used.

Normally, ship combats will begin at ei-ther normal or distant ranges; the DM

98 • Chapter 7



should make the final determinationbased on common sense and the circum-stances. For example, in a heavy fog bank,two hostile ships might encounter one an-other at a close distance, while a shipspotted on the horizon is considered verydistant.

In normal ship combat, neither ship willbegin with an advantage. However, due tosurprise, favorable winds, or other cir-cumstances the GM may wish to start oneof the ships (either that run by the PC or

that of the NPCs) with an initial advan-tage. An advantage is used in maneuver-ing to determine the results of the twoships maneuvers.

Quick Combat and Initiative

In the Quick Combat System, an abstract positional advantage is used to indicatesuch intangibles as having a better windposition or having made a quick and clev-er maneuver.

The initiative difference determined inthe initiative step determines which shipgains a positional advantage in QuickCombat. If the ship which currently hasthe advantage loses the initiative by 3 ormore, it loses positional advantage. If anyship gains the initiative by 6 or more, itgains positional advantage. The effects of positional advantage are listed below.

Maneuvering in Quick Ship Combat

The quick combat system does not use a

map and counters to denote the relativepositions of the two ships. Instead, it at-tempts to determine their relative loca-tions qualitatively, taking into account therange, intent, and initiative of each ship.

Each ship must adopt one of the follow-ing maneuvering postures each turn:

Charge: Head directly for the opposingship, getting as close as possible. (-5)

Approach: Get closer to the opposingship. (-3)

Maintain Distance: Maintain the cur-rent distance from the opposing ship. (0)

Gain Room: Try to increase the distancefrom the opposing ship. (+3)

Flee: Run directly away from the oppos-ing ship. (+5)

The numbers for each posture are modi-fied as follows:Faster ship + / - difference in

speedInitiative +/-1Oared +/- 1Positional advantage +/- 1

After picking a posture, the modifiednumber ratings are added together. A d10is then rolled and added for a grand total.

The resulting value is applied according tothe following table:Value Result-5 or less Ships approach by two

range categories-4 to 2 Ships approach by one

range category3 to 8 Ships do not change relative

position9 to 14 Ships separate by one range

category15 and up Ships separate by two range

categories

Example: A galleon (emergency move 6) and a longship (emergency move 13) are entering battle. The galleon gains initia-

tive, and wishes to flee the battle site. The longship chooses to charge. Neither has a positional advantage. The longship has a modified rating of -13 (-5 for charge, -1

for being oared, -7 for the speed difference). The galleon has a modified rating of 6 (+5 for fleeing, +1 for initiative). Adding the two ratings results in a -7. The DM rolls a D10, and gets a 7, so the end result




is 0. The two ships approach by one range category.

Ships which approach closer thanboarding may collide. To avoid a collision,each helmsman must make a Seamanshipproficiency check. If both helmsmen failthe proficiency check, the ships collide(see Ramming, below).

Conversely, ships which separate beyond very distant are effectively disen-

gaged. The GM must determine when (if ever) such ships re-enter combat.If ships are not at boarding range, they

cannot attack (except by missile weapons).However, ships which come from normal or close range to boarding range have sev-eral options. In particular, the ship with po-sitional advantage may choose to ram,grapple and board, or make a shearing at-tack. If neither ship has positional advan-tage, then either ship may attempt tograpple and board, but neither may at-

tempt to ram or make a shearing attack.

Combat

Jomo strokes the stubble that passes forhis beard and looks thoughtfully intothe distance. Aye, fightin ship to shipis a grand thing. Makes ya feel like a realpirate, aimin ballistas and catapultsand such at the enemy, blastin greatholes in her hull, watchin em flee likerats. . . His eyes glaze over with mem-

ories, and for a moment he looks like a young man again as he relives some of those glory days. And boardin! Thatsthe thrillleapin from yer own gun-wales onto the enemys deck, cutlassflashin, givin em the ol hook-and-eye he slashes at an invisible oppo-nent with the iron hook that takes theplace of his right handdrivin em

back to the rails! Its clear to you thathe was a dashing young man, truly en-amored of the pirates life. Let me tell

yer about the time we took on Teldarand the Kissing Maiden . . .

Ranged Combat

The large weapons onboard ship, alongwith normal missile weapons and spells,

can fire at great distances. Therefore it isoften a tactic for crews to fire volleys froma long distance before closing to attack.

Large onboard weapons (catapults, bal-listae, and fire projectors) all have a typicalrange and amount of damage they inflict,summarized on the table below. A largeweapon inflicts damage to crew (hit pointdamage) and vessel.

Any weapon attacking the crew (hitpoint attacks) may attack any characteron deck or partially exposed. A player may

not simply specify, Im attacking the cap-tain, however. If he wants to attack thecaptain, he must tell the DM how he willidentify the captain. If the attacker has noclear idea of what the captain looks like,the DM should assign the shot randomlyamong the potential targets.

Large weapons (catapults, ballistae,etc.) cannot be used against ships anycloser than 30 yards from the attackingvessel.

Large weapons modify their THAC0 by

the AC of the target they hit. For crew hitsuse the AC of the crew member attacked.A target crew member gets a one-point bo-nus to his Armor Class if the ships armorrating is better than the targets and thetargets ship has the initiative that turn(presumably, the helmsman maneuversthe vessel so that its bulk provides someprotection against enemy fire). For dam-age to the ship, use the ships armor rat-

100 Chapter 7



WeaponBallista, lt.

med.heavy

Catapult, lt.med.heavy

Fire Projector

Range Damage1/27 2d63/30 3d66/36 3d10

15/20 2d1018/30 3d1018/36 3d1018/40 3d10 + fire

ROF1/21/31/41/21/21/31/4

THAC0 Critical Hit on16 N/A14 2012 19,2016 2017 19, 2018 18, 19, 2016 18, 19, 20

ing. A large, weapon (catapult, ballista,

etc.) that misses a human target can stillinflict damage on the ship.Hard and soft cover rules, if being used

in the campaign, may also affect damage.

Fields of Fire

Not all weapons aboard a ship can attackall targets. Some weapons have a restrict-ed field of fire, particularly if they are noton turrets (and therefore cannot beaimed).

Nonmovable weapons must be desig-

nated as to whether they fire forward, aft,to port, or to starboard. Such designationis on a weapon-by-weapon, ship-by-shipbasis.

Weapons designated to fire only towardthe front (or rear) of the ship may only fireat targets that are within the lines set upby the three frontal (or rear) hexes. Theyin addition receive a +2 to their THAC0 tohit targets directly in front (for front-mounted weapons) or directly behind (forrear-mounted weapons) due to the stabili-ty of the shooting platform.

Weapons designated to fire only to port(or starboard) of the ship may only fire attargets that are within the lines as shownon the diagram. They do not receive anyspecial bonus to THAC0, however.

Ramming

Ramming is a common tactic for damag-ing or breaking up an enemy ship. Ram-ming is best performed against other shipsthat are of roughly the same cargo ton-nage or smaller. Towed and sailing shipscannot ram; only oared ships can do so.

A ship must announce its intention toram before initiative is determined. Theprocess of ramming (steering to hit the op-ponents ship, plus securing all the loosegear for the impact) requires time, and isnot something that can be done on the

spur of the moment.When ramming, use the helmsmans

Seamanship proficiency to determine if the ramming is successful. If his steeringwas true, the effect of the ram depends onthe size of the two ships.

If the ramming ship is more than threetimes the cargo tonnage of the smallership, the target breaks up and will sink in1d10 rounds.

If the ramming ship is larger than thetarget (but not three times greater), thetarget must immediately make a Seawor-thiness check at half its normal rating.

If the ramming ship is equal to the tar-get, the target must make a Seaworthi-ness check at its normal rating. Theramming ship automatically suffers aShip Shaken critical hit.

If the ramming ship is smaller than thetarget (but not 50% smaller), both target




and attacker must make a Seaworthinesscheck. In addition, the ramming ship suf-fers a Ship Shaken critical hit.

As a result of failed Seaworthinesschecks, a ship suffers critical hits. Theseare explained on p. 104.

Movement After Ramming

If the ramming ship misses its target or re-duces the opposing ship to 0 hit points (so

that the opposing ship begins to break up),the ramming ship may continue its move-ment up to its regular limits. If the shiphits its target without destroying it or islocked or grappled with the target, itsmovement stops.

Ship crews may grapple in the sameround as a ram, if so desired.

Ramming Gargantuan Creatures

In general, living things cannot be effec-

tively rammed (they are too small). Crea-tures of gargantuan size, however, arelarge enough that a ram would have an ef-fect. Gargantuan creatures take 1d6points of damage per 20 cargo tons (orfraction thereof) of the attacking ship (upto a maximum of 6d6).

Shearing Attacks

A shearing attack is a close pass againstan opposing ship with the intention of

snapping oars or dragging rigging over-board to slow the ships speed. As withramming, the attacking helmsmans Sea-manship proficiency is used to determinewhether the shear is successful. A suc-cessful shearing attack causes a Loss of Movement critical hit on the target ship.

Shearing attacks inflict no damage onthe target ships hull, but if a 20 is rolledfor the attack, an additional critical hit re-sults.

Grappling and Boarding

Often it is desirable to take over an oppo-nents ship without inflicting major dam-age. (Pirates in particular prefer to do this,as it preserves the valuables they are seek-

It was in that third summer of myforced piracy that the flame- haired vix-en taught me about climbin rigging tothrow grapplin hooks. Jomo lifts agreasy mug to his lips, takes a longquaff of ale, and licks the foam from hismustache. She sent me and anotherslip of a boy up into the ropes, draggin

grapplin lines behind uswe didntknow what we was doin, to be sure, andkept catchin the hooks in the riggin an nearly losin our footing. Two pointsforard of the port beam, another ship of our fleet waited. Attached to her star-board side was a practice wall, for us towork our grapplin technique on. Thatway, we couldnt harm the actual ship,

ysee. The wall, bein attached to theither ship, would move just like a realenemys gunwale, so wed learn to take

aim on the run, so to speak.We steadied ourselves on the yard-arm, and set to grapplin. Too bad thepoint wasnt to catch the rigginwewere real good at that, right from thestart! After three hours or so, though,we got the hang of it, and our throwswere comin closer and closer to thatphony gunwale. It was slow goin,havin ta haul the hook back in afterevery missed throw. Makes yer preciatethe skills of a perfeshunal!

Well, it was after noon, comin onsuppertime before the vixen let us stop.Claimed wed done enough damage forone dayshucks, we only tore part of the mainsail, not all of it. It was a badthrow, I say.

102 • Chapter 7



ing.) In cases like this, a side with enoughmanpower can overwhelm the other sideby grappling and boarding. Certain typesof ramming may also result in a grapplingsituation.

Either side can grapple, but the movingside has the first opportunity. The purposeof grappling is to bring the two ships to-gether to allow boarding.

The most common method of grapplingis a large hook at the end of a long rope orchain. There are also ballista bolts which

are similarly equipped and can be fired in-to the opponents hull. In either case, oncethe hooks have caught hold, the two shipscan be hauled together.

A grappling hook requires about 5' of space from side to side to be thrown at anadjacent ship. The number of hooks thatcan be thrown depends upon the length of the ship making the attack and the num-ber of hooks it can bring to bear.

Two ships are considered grappled when

2d6 lines are secure. A grappling attackinflicts no damage but links the two shipstogether. Both ships are immobilized oncethey are connected by sufficient grapplinglines.

Cutting Grapples. A crewman mustmake a normal attack roll to hit AC 10,then roll his damage to cut a grapplingline. A line has 5 hit points. Grapplingchains are AC 4 and have 20 hit points.Grapples may be cut at any time in the de-fenders turn, but often the ship has been

boarded by then.Combat when boarding is standard

AD&D® system combat. A crew (eitherside) will fight until defeated or it fails amorale check. Player characters and im-portant NPCs (determined by the DM) mayfight as long and as hard as they wish,even to the death.

In very dangerous situations, a moralecheck should be made to see if the crewwill board in the first place. For example,




attacking a ship full of mind flayers is arisky proposition under the best of condi-tions. Such a morale check would be madeafter the orders are given but before theyare carried out.

In case of a failure of morale, the crewwill retreat back to its native ship. If thecrew is on its native ship, it will surrender(unless it is checking morale to determinewhether it will board, in which case thecrew just refuses to attack). In certain

cases, where capture would be worse thandeath (such as when fighting the Red Wiz-ards of Thay), they will fight to the death.

Crashes

It was a foggy day, the eleventh in arow of sailin through pea soup withouta spoon, Jomo recounts as he leans for-ward, his elbows poking through thepatches on his once-fine captains jack-

et. Couldnt see yer patch in front o yer eye, heh heh. Couldnt hear nothin,neither, as if yer voice left yer lips andgot stuck right off. Lookouts couldntsee nothin, couldnt hear nothin,couldnt do nothin. Ol Blind Tom, tho,he was a treasure beyond price durin that time. Bein used to listenin morenthe rest of us, he wuz hearin things weneverd of caught. It was him whatsaved our hides from what coulda beena turrible crash.

It musta been after noontime, tho one couldna see the sun to tell by, thatBlind Tom hollered to the lookout. Shipto starboard! Hed heard the waves lap-pin at her hull, and could tell em apartfrom our own sounds. The first matecome up and stood by Tom, and thethree of em, the mate, the lookout, andBlind Tom, maneuvered our shipthrough them cold, gray waters. After abit we could hear the crew of the other

ship hollerin orders, too, to keep fromrammin us broadside. We had somenear misses, one I remember where Icould see the nameplate on theotherns hull: Kissing Maiden. Figgers,I thought to meself; that Teldar aintsmart enough to have a blind man oncrew fer just such a sitiation!

When two ships come alongside each oth-

er, there is a chance that the two ships willcollide unintentionally. This impact usu-ally has disastrous results for both shipsinvolved.

The helmsman of the moving ship mustmake a Seamanship proficiency check toavoid a crash. If the check is successful,the ship can continue to move normally. If not, there is a crash.

If there is a crash, treat the result as if aram occurred. A ship that is crashed intotakes a Ship Shaken critical hit.

Crashing is not a situation many cap-tains look forward to (Except for that Teldarby goom, hes a bad un! inter- jects Jomo), but in combat there is often aneed for fireships and other suicidal tac-tics where sacrificing a ship may help turnthe battle. The crew of such a ship usuallyabandons it before the crash, hoping tosurvive in the sea rather than die in thecrash.

Damaging Ships

Whenever a ship is rammed, struck bycatapult stones, pierced by a ballista shaft,or partially disintegrated, there is achance the damage caused will be seriousenough to cripple or sink the vessel. Thisis determined through seaworthinesschecks and critical hits.

To determine if a ship-mounted weaponcauses damage, the attacking player mustfirst roll a THAC0 against the armor rating

104 Chapter 7



of the ship. A successful roll indicates thestone or bolt has struck the vessel some-where (crew damage is figured at thistime), but not necessarily anywhere thatwill endanger the vessel. An Item Saving Throw is rolled for the target ship, most of-ten using Crushing Blow (for catapultstones). If this save is successful, the stonecauses some damage but not enough to doserious structural harm. Future seawor-thiness checks are reduced by 5%, how-ever. If the save is failed, a seaworthiness

check is immediately made. Should thecheck succeed, the 5% penalty is appliedto future rolls. If the check is failed, a criti-cal hit occurs. The procedure is similar for magical

spells that cause extensive damage dis- integrate, fireball, lightning bolt, etc. Thesaving throw required by the spell ischecked. If successful, future seaworthi-ness checks are reduced by 5%. If thecheck fails, a seaworthiness check is im-mediately made with the result being the

same as that for large weapons.For rams, crashes, and similar attacks,no saving throw is madeit is assumedthe ship has suffered extensive damage.Instead seaworthiness checks are immedi-ately made. Again, passing the checkcauses a 5% reduction in future checks.Failing the check requires a critical hit.

Critical Hits

Critical hits vary from ship-threatening re-sults of combat to less-dangerous situa-

tions which impair the functioning of theship. Only large weapons can inflict criti-cal hits outright, but the DM can rule thatsufficient application of small weapons(the dwarf with the battle axe) could weak-en a ship sufficiently to cause a critical hit.

When a critical hit is called for, roll onthe table below and apply the result (re-sults are listed following the table).

1d20Roll

1

23456789

10

11121314151617181920

ResultRoll twice on this tableDeck Crew CasualtyInterior Crew CasualtyShip ShakenLarge Weapon DamagedDeck Crew CasualtyHull HoledShearedHull HoledShip Shaken

Fire!Loss of MovementDeck Crew CasualtyLarge Weapon DamagedShip ShakenHull HoledShearedLeakingLoss of MovementHull Holed

Deck Crew Casualty. One exposed

crew member is struck and suffers thesame damage as the ship. Choose the tar-get randomly from exposed crew. All char-acters within 5' of that individual mustmake a saving throw against death magicor suffer the same damage.

Interior Crew Casualty. Same as DeckCrew Casualty, but everyone aboard is apotential target, including prisoners andthe captain. This reflects not so much theeffect of the missile itself, but shatteredparts of the ships interior bouncingaround during combat.

Ship Shaken. Ship rings from the blowof the attack. All characters not sitting orotherwise firmly tied down have a chanceto fall to the deck, disallowing any attacksor spell use that round. Characters in therigging will also take the appropriate dam-age if they fall. NPCs have a flat 40%chance of falling as a result of this criticalhit, while PCs (and NPCs important




enough to rate their own Dexterity) mustmake a Dexterity check to maintain theirbalance. In addition, the ship must make asecond seaworthiness check. If the check isfailed, the ship suffers the Leaking result.

Leaking. The ship begins to leak as thetimbers groan. Such a ship will sink in2d10 + 10 minutes unless two crewmenare dedicated to bailing.

If this critical is suffered multiple times,each time it occurs the leaks become more

severe. As the water flows in faster, fivemore crewmen must be assigned to keep-ing the vessel afloat. With enough leaks itwill eventually become impossible to keepthe ship afloat.

Large Weapon Damaged. One largeweapon (chosen randomly) is inoperableuntil repaired (see Repairs). Its crew is un-harmed.

Hull Holed. The attack punches a holein the ship where there was none before. The hole is below the waterline, and the

ship is sinking (see below).Fire! A fire starts somewhere aboardthe ship, determined by the DM. The ef-fects of fire aboard ship are described be-low. In cases where it is physicallyimpossible for a fire to start (all the lightsare magical), go to the next entry. A fire onboard as a result of this critical hit (as op-posed to that from a fire projector or frommagic) inflicts no damage the first round,but may spread.

Loss of movement. The emergency

move and base move of the ship drop by 1point. Weather effects are applied to themodified movement rate. Additional loss-es are cumulative, to a minimum of amovement rate of 1. If a ship with a move-ment rate (both base and emergency) of 1receives this result, go to the next entry.

Sinking and Breaking Up

Jomo is suddenly more animated than youve seen him since youve been inhis company, jumping onto a chair andtipping it from side to side. He snatchesa pitcher of water from the bar, dashes itover his head, and shouts, Avast! Weretakin on water! Shes holed! Seeing

your astonishment, he stops rockingabruptly. Just demonstratin to ya thedrama of a sinkin ship! Not that its so-methin ya wanna experience right off,now, but it happens to the best of em.He adds, almost to himself, But not tothem what deserves it . . . mincin fop. . . Its quite clear hesthinking of Teldar. You nearly ask himthe cause of their great enmity (which you are fairly certain, by now, is one-sidedsomething tells you Teldardoesnt even know Jomo), but the ven-om in his whisper halts your words be-fore they form on your tongue.

Its not all as frightenin as ya mightthink from what I just shown ya, hesays apologetically. I dont wannaskeer yer away from the free life of thesea. But, he leans forward with a seri-ous set to his mouth, ya better knowwhat yer likely ta get into once ya setout on the Inner Sea; storms kin comeup outta nowhere, great waves andwinds tossing yer ship about likematchwood, or leviathans kin take adislike to her keel and set about bashin it to kindlin. As if keepin yer footin isnt hard enough, without bein thrownabout by a overgrown minnow! And if

yer lookouts not sharp-eyed as a eagle,rivals kin sail up to yer stern quiet asfish. Like that time we took on Teldarand the Kissing Maiden. . .

106 • Chapter 7



A ship that is sinking will last 1d10 roundsonce holed. While the ship is sinking, largeweapons (catapults, ballistas, etc.) areconsidered useless. The deck of the ship istilting too sharply to properly aim such de-vices. Attacks using hand-held weaponsor spells may still be performed, however.

When the ship sinks, every characteraboard must make a saving throw againstdeath or be sucked beneath the water. Forthis reason, most characters will try toabandon ship, entering the water first toavoid being sucked into the undertow.

Characters tossed into the sea mustmake a saving throw against death magicto find a piece of debris which they can useto stay afloat. Characters who do not findsuch debris are subject to the normalSwimming rules (pages 120-122 of thePlayers Handbook), and if they are in ar-mor may quickly drown.

A ship that is breaking up or sinkingstops moving.

Effects of Crew Losses on Ship

Performance

The less manpower a ship has, the less ca-pable it is of fighting and sailing effective-ly. A ship may still handle itself inreduced circumstances, but not withthe effectiveness of a full crew.

Large weapons require a minimumcrew to fire properly. For each membermissing out of a large weapon crew, theweapon takes one round longer to reloadand fire. A weapon crewed by three menwith a reload rate of 1/3 will have the fol-

lowing reload rates with reduced crews:Crew Reload Rate

3 1/32 1/41 1/5

Men who are lost during reloading areconsidered to be lost at the start of the re-

Fire

loading. That is, if three men start reload-ing the above weapon and then one man islost as a casualty, the remaining men willneed four full rounds (including those thathave already passed) to reload and fire.

Large weapons can be reloaded andfired as long as one man remains availableto do so. A large weapon without a crewcannot be fired. If a weapon is partiallyloaded and the entire crew is slain, theloading must begin again when a newcrew arrives.

Whether as a result of a critical hit, a de-vice such as the fire projector, or spellssuch as fireball, fires sometimes start onships.

Fires do not threaten the structural in-tegrity of the ship for at least 2d6 rounds. They do, however, threaten the health andsafety of those aboard from the round theystart. After 2d6 rounds have passed, makea seaworthiness check each turn, with a

cumulative -5 applied to each check.Putting out a fire requires one person forevery round the fire has been turning.

Translate the number of rounds the firehas been burning to an equal number of points. Thereafter, the fires intensity in-creases by one for every five points. Forexample, if a fire has been burning forthree rounds, then three people workingwith proper tools (assumed to be present)can extinguish the blaze. If not enoughpeople are available to put out a blaze,they can reduce its severity by their

actions. If two people fought the three-point fire, then the fire would be reducedto a two-point fire at the end of the round(the fire is reduced by two for the firefigh-ters while increasing by one for spread).

A ship that fails a seaworthiness checkfrom fire suffers a critical hit. If the shipsinks, the debris (if on fire) will continue to




burn and break up until the disintegratingchunks are completely consumed.

Morale

The slapping of the mop on the floor-boards slows, and Jomos breathingcomes a little more labored than usual.The scullery boy isnt in today, hegrowls. Something about a halflingholidayseems like they have em eve-ry week or so. Always runnin off to an-other feast of some sort. Youd think theFood here werent no good! He sets themop in the leaky wooden bucket with adecisive thump. Where was I, then?Oh yeahlosin yer gumption. Happensto all of us, one time or nother.

Sposin yer on deck, and the ene-mys right there alongsidesay on thestarboard beam. Theys been peltin yership with rocks, and shes been holedbut the men down in the hold are bailin as best they can. Yer mainsail is burnin thanks to a hit from a fire-thrower, andchunks of mast are rainin down likehail. Arrows and bolts have took theirtoll on the crew, too, pinnin men to themasts or knockin em clean overboard.Now, the enemy come leapin over theirown gunwales onto your deck, withblades drawn! What do yer do?

If yer like most men, in that sitiation, ya jump ship and never mind the cap-tains temper. I done it meself, morenonce, he admits sheepishly, carefullyconsidering the rusty buckles on hisone shoe. Thats how I lost this leg, helifts the peg attached to his right kneeand waves it about weakly, to a sharklayin in wait fer a tasty morsel like meta fall inta the water. Enough men felloverboard, bleedin, to stir em into afeedin frenzy. The remembrance of hisown weakness in the face of battle

seems to have taken the spunk out of him for a bit. But theres them whonever spook, the ones that make namesfer themselves fer bravery in the line of danger. Never had the heart fer that,meself. He sits heavily in his captainschair at the end of the bar, and rests hispegleg on the brass rail near the floor.Theres lots o things kin scare a man, Itell ya . . . lots o things.

No one likes to die, particularly at sea witha long swim home. Thus, morale can beimportant in combat. If you can convincea ships captain (or, more importantly, aships crew) to either call off their attack orsurrender, you are winning a victory with-out risking your own ship and crew.

A crew of typical seamen has a morale of 11. Monstrous crews can have higher orlower morale (as specified for that creaturein the Monstrous Compendium), and oth-

er factors (including how well the captainis liked) can also have an effect.Morale checks are made at the conclu-

sion of a round of battle, after all actionshave been resolved. Morale checks aremade in accordance with the morale rulesunder Combat (Morale) in the Dungeon Masters Guide.

A morale check is required for a shipscrew when:

l The ship suffers a critical hit.l The ship has only 5 hit points left (un-

less the ship started with less than 10,in which case ignore this situation).l The crew has been surprised (but on-

ly on the first turn after being sur-prised).

l The ship is faced by an obviously su-perior force.

l An ally or crewman is slain by magic.l 25% of the crew has been eliminated.l 50% of the crew has been eliminated.l A companion or crewman is slain af-

108 Chapter 7



ter 50% of the crew has been elimi-nated.l All officers desert, are slain, or surren-

der.l The crew is fighting a creature they

cannot harm due to magical protec-tion.

l The crew is asked to perform heroic(and dangerous) tasks.

l The crew is offered a bribe.l A member of the crew is asked to use

a personal magical device withcharges.

l The crew has met the conditions of another morale check and is given theopportunity to surrender.

l It is apparent that the ship cannot es-cape.

l The ships captain is slain.

Situational modifiers may also affect themorale check itself:

Ship has taken 25% hull damage . . . -2Ship has taken 50% hull damage . . . - 4Ship has taken 75% hull damage . . . - 6

Captain is slain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -2Opponent firing has taken 50%

damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +2Captain is on deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +4First officer is on deck without .

captain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +2Ship is on fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 2Opponents ship is on fire . . . . . . . . . +1Abandoned by friendly ships . . . . . . - 6Crew losses at 25% . . . . . . . . . . . . . -2Crew losses at 50% . . . . . . . . . . . . . -2Crew is receiving a share of plunder . +2Crew is fighting hated enemy . . . . . . +4Enemy is known to take no

prisoners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +3Enemy is known to treat prisoners

well.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1Ships crew was surprised . . . . . . . . -2Crew fighting magical creatures . . . . -2Defensive terrain advantage . . . . . . . +1

Multiple checks per round . . . . . . . . -1Captain is of different alignment

from crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -1Most powerful ally killed . . . . . . . . . -4Crew favored by captain . . . . . . . . . . +2Crew poorly treated . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 4No enemy have been slain . . . . . . . . - 2Crew outnumbered 3 to 1 . . . . . . . . . - 4Ship outnumbered 10 to 1 in

tonnage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -2Outnumber other crew 3 to 1 . . . . . . +2Ship outnumbers opposition 10 to 1

in tonnage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +2Unable to hurt opponent . . . . . . . . . -8Magic-using creatures on same side . +2

The effect of a failed morale check islargely up to the DM, but the most com-mon result is to Strike the Colors thatis, to surrender. In some situations, the at-tacker might let the defender limp away.In others the ship will at least be boarded,a ransom will be levied for the ships pas-sage or passengers, the ship will be lootedof cargo, and/or seized with a prize crew

and sailed back to base.Because morale is checked at the end of the round, it is possible for all ships onboth sides of a conflict to strike their colorsat the same time. In this case all shipsbreak off and will not resume combat forat least two hours (this is only an average,and can vary according to the availabilityof healing spells, presence of charismaticleaders, or other factors).

If a ship that has struck its colors hasPCs aboard, it is up to the players to decidewhether to pursue the fight or not. A ship

that has struck its colors will not use itsNPCs to fire weapons on board, but thePCs may do so.

However, be warned. A ship that hasstruck its colors only to attack again isgenerally accorded no mercy by otherships. An NPC crew will mutiny immedi-ately against a captain or officers who pur-




sue the fight after a surrender, since thisonly puts their lives at even greater risk (if they are ultimately defeated, the enemy islikely to maroon them or worse).

Repair

In most civilized areas, 5 percentagepoints of seaworthiness can be replaced orrepaired at a cost of 2,000 gp in 1d6 daysby a crew of ten trained workers.

Poor (or cheap) characters can repair

ships themselves. A crew of five individ-uals, with the correct materials, can repairfive percentage points in a month at sea.Materials can be acquired by buying them(at an approximate cost of 50 gp per per-centage point worth of material) or justlanding at a vacant stand of timber andtaking what is needed.

Such repairs are just as good as the ex-pensive ones, provided that at least onemember of the crew has shipwright profi-

ciency. A successful proficiency checkmust be made for such improvised repairsto succeed.

Repair of other ship features is handleddifferently. Repair of a Crew Casualty(whether interior or deck) can only be per-formed by hiring or otherwise locating areplacement crew member.

110 Chapter 7



In Which The Characters Meet Pirates of the Dragonmere and Learn About the City of Teziir

This adventure introduces player-charac-ters to the pirate problem on the Inner Seaby involving them in a raid against thecoastal city of Teziir by a small pirate fleet.

It is designed for 5-8 PCs of 5th to 7thlevel. However, the difficulty of the adven-ture can be easily adjusted by increasingor decreasing the number of pirates, andby adjusting the level of the officers.

DMs Information

Teziirs arch-rival is the city of Westgate, amuch more populous and wealthy tradingcity. The Council of Teziir founded the citysome 35 years ago to attempt to attractSword Coast caravans with their quicker,easier access to the sea. They have beenpartially successful; some caravans (al-though certainly not the majority) haveused Teziir as an access to the Inner Sea.

However, the Council of Teziir is caught ina dilemma. To attract more caravans to the city, the

caravans must be assured that there willbe ships ready to transport their goodswhen they reach the port. However, to at-tract the ships, the ship captains must beassured that there will be cargo for themwhen they arrive. Teziir has made severalattempts to break this dilemma by offer-ing other services (such as a road patrol) tothe caravans to build up a backlog of cargoto attract ships, but so far they have been

unsuccessful.In desperation, the Council has made a

deal with the Cormyrean Freesails. TheFreesails have agreed to service the port atleast once per week with a large cog, re-gardless of whether there is sufficienttrade to justify the trip. In return, theCouncil has agreed to ensure that each

ship will sell at least 50% of their cargospaceeven if the Council has to pur-chase it empty.

With a steady supply of transportation(much of which is going unused, to theCouncils distress), some of the caravanshave begun to turn toward Teziir. Now, in-stead of traveling overland for an extratwo days, then waiting up to two weeks foran available vessel, caravans going to

Teziir are usually able to ship their goodswithin a few days, cutting their costs andallowing them to make more trips duringthe relatively temperate summer season.

This tactic has gathered the notice of theCroamarkh of Westgate. The loss of 15%of the seasons trade has caused an eco-nomic slowdown in Westgate, cutting intothe profits of everyone from the council tothe Night Masks. He has decided to put anend to Teziirs pretensions by direct as-sault. Unfortunately, using the Westgatemercenaries would attract unwanted at-tention, particularly as the presence of theFreesails means that an attack on Teziir

could involve Cormyr. With King Azounsrecent militarism since the Horde War,Westgate cannot risk open war. Thus, the Croamarkh has let it be

known (by way of his secret contacts withthe Night Masks) that Westgate would begrateful to any pirate willing to make a de-cisive raid against Teziir, specificallyagainst its warehouse district, to under-mine the caravaners confidence in thenewer port. In the face of the challenge,Vurgrom the Mighty has stepped for-ward.

Unbeknownst to either Westgate or Vur-grom, however, the Lords of Waterdeephave chosen this time to ship a gift to KingAzoun of Cormyr in thanks for his effortsin the Horde War. The pirates inadvertent-ly steal this gift (whose true value they donot understand), and the PCs must get itback.

Raid on Teziir 111



Players Information

Read or paraphrase the following to yourplayers:

Civilization at last! Youve been on theroad from Waterdeep to the Inner Sea,working a passage as caravan guardsfor Mulnis Lenz, a porcine little skinflintof a caravan master who promised you

your back pay the day you hit town.Well, its been a day or two, and Mulnis

has been a little slow coming up withthe cash.

Mulnis claims he cant pay you untilhis goods are loaded, and the Cormy-rean Freesail isnt due in town for an-other day. After some pressure, hecoughed up a few gold pieces to cover

your living expenses until the shipmentis taken and your pay arrives.

In the meantime, hes employed you

to guard his wares from the thieves of the cityfor extra pay, of course. Com-pared to the hill bandits and other scum

you fought off on the road, youve hadno trouble with the city thieves. A bandas large and capable as yours is a biggerbite than they want to chew.

You spend your days sitting in theshade of an awning, trying to stay cooland stay awake. Periodically, one of youmakes a quick trip around the ware-

house; so far youve seen no activity.One advantage of your resting spaceis that you have a good view of the har-bor nearly a quarter mile away. Achance organization of warehousesmakes an almost straight path from

your position to the docks. Thus, youspend some of your time watching outfor that Freesail, knowing that when hegets here, so does your pay.

112 • Chapter 8



Thus, this afternoon, you watch asthe four ships, sails flapping in thebreeze, glides into the port. With fourships, you think, therell be plenty of room for Mulnis cargo, and youll bepaid for sure. Then, as the first blast of liquid fire pours from the ships decksonto the town, you realize these shipsarent here to pick up cargo.

Four ships of Vurgroms fleet have en-tered Teziir harbor. They are softening up

parts of the shore with fire projectors,while they make a landing near the centerof the port.

The PCs have several options:l They could rush down to the shore-

line to help defend against the pirates.l They could rush to where the fires

have begun to help save the townfrom the fire.

l They could remain at the warehouseto guard Mulnis goods.

l They could try to track Mulnis down

to make sure he isnt killedand toensure they get paid.Each of these cases is handled below.

Fight the Pirates

If the PCs choose to rush to the shorelineto help defend the city, read or paraphrasethe following to the players:

The docks where the pirate ships are isin total chaos. Dozens of leather-armedwatchmen cross swords with scores of

pirates. Everywhere you hear the soundof steel on steel and the moans of thedying.

The four pirate ships are trying toland their troops; their gangways aredown and flooded with armed men. Atthe base of each gangway a knot of 30

guardsmen slash and hack against themarauding force. Other pirates are div-ing into the water and swimming toshore, falling on the rear of the guards-men and trapping them in a vise of steel.

As you run up to the battles, a few of the unengaged pirates see you, andmove to keep you from aiding theguardsmen.

Each PC is attacked by two pirates.

When those two have been killed, twomore step forward. After each PC hasfought four enemies, the pirates stop seek-ing them out. However, the PCs can con-tinue to fall upon the pirates, who willdefend themselves. There are approximately 200 city

watchmen on duty who are immediatelyavailable in the citys defense; the remain-ing 300 watchmen will arrive at a rate of 50 each turn. Each watchman is armedwith a short sword and shield and is wear-

ing leather armor.Against this force are over 350 pirates,armored in leather and shield and carry-ing long swords or scimitars. (In gameterms, each is AC 7, 13 hp, THAC0 18).While this force is stronger than the initialwatch, it can be confined by preventingthe pirates from getting to shore.

It is not intended that the DM run thebattle between the guardsmen and the pi-rates using the standard AD&D® gamerules. Such a battle would take far too longand would not involve the PCs signifi-

cantly in the battle. Instead, use the confu-sion of such a mass battle to make thePCs fight interesting. The DM is encouraged to find interest-

ing fighting situations in which the PCscan become involved. For example:

l While a PC is engaged with two pi-rates, a third stalks up behind him,

Raid on Teziir 113



dagger in hand, to stab him in theback. He can be saved by his com-rade, who notices the backstabber intime, or he can suffer the surprise at-tack (double damage).

l The pirates aboard one of the shipsturns the fire projector on a group of guardsmen. The PCs must kill the pi-rate aiming the weapon or see dozensof guardsmen burned to a crisp.

l Just after finishing off a cluster of foes, the PCs are challenged by a hugebearded pirate wearing splint mailand carrying a huge two-handedsword (AC 4, 45 hp, THAC0 16,1d10+2 damage). He screams andcharges the group, inflicting devastat-ing damage. He is a berserk, and nev-er checks morale.

l Late in the battle, the raiders are try-ing to flee. A force of city guardsmenhave fought their way up the gang-way onto one of the raiders ships,

and are involved in a desperate actionto capture the ship from the raiders.One of the pirates, realizing the battleis lost, tries to use a torch to explodethe fire projector aboard the ship, kill-ing the guardsmen aboard and possi-bly many other innocents. The PCsmust stop him before he succeeds.

Despite everything the PCs do, however,there are too many pirates to prevent all of them from entering the city.

If the PCs are killed or knocked uncon-scious during the battle, proceed to Cap-tured!, below. Otherwise, they failed toprotect the warehouse (which was, afterall, their job); proceed to Hell Hath NoFury.

Fighting the Fire

If the PCs choose to fight the fire, they are joined by much of the citys population. There are bucket brigades carrying water

114 Chapter 8



and sand to the fires, and the people of thetown work diligently to stop the fires.However, the blazes began too widelyspread to totally prevent damage, andmuch of the town still burns.

PCs who choose this option should begiven the chance to be heroes, saving livesand property. A few options follow:l The PCs see a woman and child

trapped at a window on the thirdfloor, with flames blazing behind her.A mage character could cast a fly spell to rescue the pair; rogue PCs

could climb the hot exterior wall (tak-ing some damage and risking death if the wall collapses); fighter or priestcharacters could attempt to catch thechild (a Dexterity roll) as it falls fromthe unconscious mothers grasp.

l The PCs are fighting a blaze in a ware-house. The wall of the warehouse sud-denly collapses, falling on a smallcrowd of firefighters, pinning severalof them to the ground. The remainderof the warehouse begins to lean, as if it will fall over, burying the firefigh-ters in burning rubble. The PCs canrush into the collapse to save thetrapped people before they sufferflaming doom.

l The flames approach a horse corral. The horses panic, kicking the gate outof the corral and stampeding down astreet filled with terrified citizens. The PCs must turn the stampede be-fore it kills someone.

l The conflagration attracts a small sal-amander (40 hp), which begins re-

starting the blazes the people haveextinguished. The PCs must attackthe salamander (by injuring it to atleast half damage) and drive it off.

In short, all PCs should be allowed toparticipate in heroic acts to help save thetown. Unfortunately, since the PCs aban-doned their posts, Mulnis treasure has

been lost, When the fire fighting is over, goto Hell Hath No Fury.

Guard the Warehouse

If the PCs are unusually dutiful, they maychoose to remain at the warehouse guard-ing their employers goods. If so, they neednot miss all the fun. Half an hour after thepirates attack the docks, a raiding group of a dozen pirates with scimitars, leather andshield (AC 7, 11 hp each, THAC0 18, 1d8damage) led by a pirate lieutenant in ring

mail, shield, and battle axe (AC 6, 28 hp, THAC0 16, 1d8 +2 damage) will comecharging up the road towards the PCs.(Make rolls for surprise as normal.) These pirates will fall on the obviously

armed PCs, and fight until either they losemorale or the PCs are all unconscious ordead. If the PCs lose, go to Captured!, be-low.

While the PCs are fighting this group, asecond group (of the same size, but with-out the lieutenant) is breaking in througha window in the rear of the warehouse,looting. If the PCs have some of their num-ber inside the warehouse, they are at-tacked by the looters; if all the PCs areoutside and engaged in combat, they stealthe choicest items from Mulnis treasure.(Obviously, if the fight is carried into thewarehouse, the looters may be caught inthe act.) As their final act, the looters setfire to the remainder of the goods.

If the PCs manage to fend off all of thepirates but lose Mulnis treasure to thelooters, go to Hell Hath No Fury. If the

PCs are knocked unconscious or killed, goto Captured! If, on the other hand, thePCs manage to defend Mulnis treasurewithout being captured or killed, go toMulnis Captured!

Raid on Teziir 115



Seeking Mulnis

PCs so totally selfish as to abandon boththeir duty and the town, instead seekingMulnis for their back pay, can go directlyto Hell Hath No Fury. It takes them overan hour to find him; by then the battle islong over.

After The Battle

If all the PCs were killed or knocked un-conscious in the battle, go directly toChased!. Otherwise, read or paraphrasethe following to the players:

As the battle proceeds, the raid quicklyturns in favor of the city. Although theraiders were a powerful force, the citywatchmen (and certain particularlybrave residents) are able to turn the tideof the battle, and within an hour three of

the raider ships are fleeing Teziir harbor,the fourth having been captured by anheroic contingent of city guardsmenand residents.

Nevertheless, the city cannot claim avictory. There are over 100 city guards-men dead or captured. Several blocks,including important warehouses, resi-dences, and government buildings, wereburned to the ground. Valuables fromseveral caravans which were intended

for shipment on the next Freesail werecaptured or destroyed. Worse, two of thecaravan masters themselves were cap-tured by the raiders.

Now, the city watch and citizens areputting out the last of the blazes, andbeginning the labor of identifying thedead and rebuilding the city. It will be

years before the Council of Teziir can re-build the citys reputation.

116 Chapter 8



What happens after the battle dependson what and how well the PCs did.

l If the PCs were all knocked uncon-scious or killed, go to Captured!.

l If the PCs failed to protect Mulnis treasure (either by leaving the ware-house or by not stopping the looters)go to Hell Hath No Fury.

l If the PCs defended the warehouse, goto Mulnis Captured!.

Hell Hath No Fury

Read or paraphrase the following to theplayers if they left the warehouse to dobattle:

The battle is over. You comported your-selves valiantly, defeating the raidersand driving them out of the city.

With the raiders gone, you return to your post at the warehouse. There yousee the doors open, smashed in by raid-ers swords. Within, the most valuableof Mulnis goods have been removed,

and the rest put to the torch.

If the PCs did not leave the warehouse, butdid not manage to keep the looters fromtaking the most valuable items, read orparaphrase the following to the players:

The battle is over. You comported your-selves valiantly, defending Mulnis warehouse against the pirate raiders.Unfortunately, you were outmaneu-vered. While you defended the front,other raiders came in the rear and stoleMulnis choicest parcels. Although youdetected the deception, you were toolate to prevent the loss of Mulnis valu-ables. Worse, before they left the raidersset fire to the remainder; you got theblaze under control, but still more of Mulnis goods were damaged.

If the PCs left the warehouse to seekMulnis, read or paraphrase the following:

The battle is over. Despite your efforts,however, you were unable to findMulnis to defend him from the raiders.As the battle ended, you decided youdbetter return to the warehouse in case

you could find him there.When you reach the warehouse, you

see the doors open, smashed in by raid-ers swords. Within, the most valuableof Mulnis goods have been removed,and the rest put to the torch.

In any case, read the following to theplayers:

As you absorb the sight of this, you seeMulnis coming down the road. His ini-tial confident strides as he sees you stillguarding his warehouse rapidly turn tothe dull plodding of a man in shock ashe takes in the burnt-out wreck that hadbeen his caravan goods.

What have you done? he cries, andbursts into real tears. You knew Mulniswas a skinflint, but this reaction seemsmuch too severe. You try to explain, buthe cuts you off.

You dont understand. Part of thatcargo was a gift from the Lords of Water-deep to King Azoun of Cormyr, inthanks for his defense of the West dur-ing the invasion of the Horde. And itsgone! His initial sorrow rapidly turnsto screaming anger. How could you?

You had a simple job: watch the cargoand make sure no one took it. You werepaid well enough for it, Id say. Mulnisgoes on, ignoring your protestationsthat you havent been paid yet. Youworthless dogs! If this were Waterdeep,Id have you before the Lords them-selves to answer for your crimes. He

Raid on Teziir 117



turns back to the shambles of the ware-house, and begins sobbing.

If the PCs are at all aware of duty, theywill feel justifiably guilty. Even if theystayed to defend the warehouse, Mulniswill describe their actions in such a way asto imply that the loss is all their fault. If they argue that Mulnis didnt tell themabout the royal gift, he will respond: Do

you think I was supposed to tell the likes of you about it? If I were such a fool Id havelost it long before we made Teziir. He willthen be sullen, although from then on hewill occasionally raise the question of whether the PCs themselves stole it.

If the PCs ask for a description of the gift,Mulnis describes it as a locked jewelrybox, 12 × 6 × 2 high, covered in purplevelvet. It was inside one of the woodencrates which is now missing.

After a period of discussion, Mulnis will

come to a conclusion. Theres no hope forit. Youll have to go after the gift and bringit back.

Mulnis will not be dissuaded from insist-ing that the PCs go after the item. If theyask him how to find the pirates, he saysthats their problem. If they refuse, he of-fers them 1,000 gp, then 1,500 gp, then2,000 gp each to recover the item. If theystill refuse, he accuses them of being in onthe theft, swears hell see them hang, andstorms off toward the center of town

(where plumes of smoke are still rising).

A Little Coercion

Within an hour, the PCs are visited by atall, thin, silver-haired man. This is Har-vas Peltsen, a member of the Teziir CityCouncil and one of the founders of Teziir.After determining who the PCs are andidentifying himself, he continues:

Your master, Mulnis Lenz, has askedme to speak with you. It seems he be-lieves that your failure to defend hiswarehouse has caused him to lose avaluable item eventually destined forKing Azoun of Cormyr. He is using hisposition as an emissary of the Lords of Waterdeep to insist on your prosecu-tion. Teziirs very existence is due to thegood wishes of the Lords and their will-ingness to send Waterdhavian caravans

through Teziir on their way to the InnerSea.

I am aware of the conditions duringthe raid.

If the PCs participated in the defense of the city, or if they helped put out fires,King Azoun will acknowledge their hero-ism as well. In any case, continue:

I have attempted to calm Mulnis down,

but he is implacable. I am afraid thatunless you comply with his wishes andpursue the item, I will be forced to ac-cede to his demands. I do not wish this.If you have any loyalty to your master,or if you wish the gratitude of Teziir, Ibeg you for your help.

Despite the well-known economy of the Teziir Council, Harvas is willing to offer5,000 gp total in addition to Mulnis offeras a finders fee for the recovery of the

gift and Mulnis. He is also willing to offerthe captured raider ship for transporta-tion, along with a crew of city guardsmenincluding a skilled pilot and helmsman.Should the PCs press, he is willing to go to20,000 gp as a finders fee, but he will tryto bargain for a lower price.

He is, however, serious. If the PCs abso-lutely refuse to participate, he orders theirarrest. If convicted, they can be enslavedunder Teziirian law, and Mulnis would be

118 Chapter 8



their owner. If they flee the city, they willbe unwelcome in Teziir again.

Mulnis Captured!

Read or paraphrase the following to theplayers:

The battle is over. You comported your-selves valiantly, defending Mulnis warehouse against the pirate raiders.While you defended the front, otherraiders came in the rear, but youstopped them as well. Mulnis will bepleased.

You wait for several hours, and Mulnisnever arrives. He usually comes by atleast once a day and checks his mer-chandise. By nightfall, you are quite con-cerned, and decide to go check on him.Your night watch companions show upon schedule (although they havent seenMulnis either), so you proceed to the fan-cy inn where he was staying.

When you arrive at the inn, you dis-

cover it was one of the raiders targets. The door has been smashed in, andsome of the upper stories were put tothe torch. People are still wanderingaround in shock, and a city watchmanis trying to keep people moving in somesemblance of order.

You ask the watchman for permissionto enter. He eyes you suspiciously andasks your business. When you mentionMulnis name, he directs you into thelobby to a tall, slender, silver-hairedman in dark clothing with a grim ex-

pression on his face. This is not Mulnis.

In fact, this is Harvas Peltsen, a memberof the Teziir City Council and one of thefounders of Teziir. After determining whothe PCs are and identifying himself, hecontinues:

Your master, Mulnis Lenz, was an em-issary from the Lords of Waterdeep toKing Azoun of Cormyr. Teziirs very ex-istence is due to the good wishes of theLords and their willingness to send Wa-terdhavian caravans through Teziir ontheir way to the Inner Sea.

Mulnis was believed to be carrying avaluable gift for King Azoun. He wastaken from here by the raiders alongwith a small purple jewelry box whichwe believe carried the gift. If you have

any loyalty to your master, or if youwish the gratitude of Teziir, I beg you for your help.

Despite the well-known economy of the Teziir Council, Harvas is willing to offer10,000 gp as a finders fee for recoveryof the gift and Mulnis. He also offers thecaptured raider ship for transportation,along with a crew of city guardsmen, in-cluding a skilled pilot and helmsman.Should the PCs press, he is willing to go to

30,000 gp as a finders fee, but he will tryto bargain for a lower price.If the PCs ask for a description of the gift,

Harvas describes it as a locked jewelrybox, 12 × 6 × 2 high, covered in purplevelvet. It was last seen in Mulnis posses-sion.

Rush to the Rescue!

In this portion of the adventure, the PCsare going out to sea, to beard the pirates intheir own den, and to steal back King

Azouns gift.Before they go, they can get the follow-

ing information from Harvas Peltsen,which he in turn got from interrogatingthose raiders who were captured:

l All of the ships were out of the PirateIsles, specifically the Dragonisle. Theraid was led by Vurgrom the

Raid on Teziir 119



Mighty, one of the most infamous pi-rates of the Inner Sea.

l The raiders were told when to makethe raid, and exactly what to take.Harvas indicates that every incomingcaravan in town was hit by the raid-ers.

l To avoid pursuit, if any, the ships wereto split up once they were out of sightof land, and rejoin back at the Dra-gonisle in one week.

l

One of the raiders knows which shipwas targeted for Mulnis and his cargo. That ship, the Stirge, is headed for theDragonisle by way of Alphar Isle.

Harvas suggests that the PCs head di-rectly for Alphar Isle to head the Stirge off.Her captain cannot know for certain thatthe fourth vessel, the Winds Slave, wascaptured, and will be expecting to meetwith it at the Dragonisle. The surprise of seeing it at Alphar Isle may allow the PCsto get close enough to snatch back the gift

(and Mulnis, if necessary). A surprise at-tack may be sufficient.

Battle At Sea

When the Stirge and the Winds Slave meet at sea, use the combat rules providedin this volume. For game purposes, theWinds Slave and the Stirge each have thefollowing characteristics:

Winds Slave: Caravel; 35 average crew-

men (not counting PCs); 1 fire projectorStirge: Drakkar; 90 average crewmen(includes 60 slave oarsmen); 1 fire projec-tor

It is important to note that the Stirge hasno reason to distrust the Winds Slave.

Therefore, the PCs might get quite closebefore starting battle, especially if they arecautious and make no obvious hostilemoves. This element of surprise may beenough to turn the battle for them.

If the Winds Slave manages to sink the

120 • Chapter 8





122 Chapter 8



on. Such a feat requires at least 18/91strength, and should be performed asif opening a locked, barred, or magi-cally held door. Should the PC suc-ceed, however, the oarhandle can beused as a quarterstaff (for 1d6 dam-age plus strength bonuses). Note,however, that the act of trying tobreak off the oarhandle is obvious (itrequires standing up under the oarand lifting with your shoulders), soany PC trying this risks a beating (2d6

damage) if they fail.Priests may be able to regain theirspells through meditation and prayer. The ship stops every night to allow allon board (oarslaves and crew) to sleep.

This sleep will allow the priest to get anight of undisturbed rest. Due to theconditions aboard and the time al-lowed, however, a priest will have atmost half an hour after a restful sleepto recover his spells before the dailyrowing begins. Thus, at most threelevels of spells may be prayed for in a

given day. Additionally, each spellgained requires a Wisdom check, at -1 for each level of the spell, to repre-sent the characters ability to maintainconcentration despite the conditions.Finally, only spells without somatic ormaterial components may be cast, un-less the priest somehow gains accessto the components or frees his handsand legs from the chains. The PCs 60 fellow oarsmen are alsoslaves, and are understandably notvery happy about it. However, theyhave been unable to come up with aplan to free themselves. If the PCsmanage to free the oarsmen, they willhave a strong and well-motivated (if poorly armed) set of companions.PCs who pretend to be dead in orderto get free of their chains may do so.

The oarsmaster cuts the chains from

the wood with a hammer (1d2 dam-age) and chisel (1d3 damage), thentwo pirates carry the corpse up tothe side and throw it overboard. Iwoother armed crewmen monitor thisactivity, however, and at the first signof life from the corpse they attack.(Obviously, however, if other oarsmenare also free, such a small party canbe overwhelmed.)

l The poor food, poor air, and lack of ad-equate exercise (not counting rowing)

has a long-term debilitating effect.Each oarslave must make a Constitu-tion check each week or lose 1 point of Constitution. When the charactersconstitution reaches 0, he dies of ex-haustion. This constitution can be re-covered at the rate of 1 point per weekin an environment with good food andclean air.

Whenever the PCs manage to escape(and, when all else fails, the old Guard,hes sick trick always seems to work),

they must battle the crew of the ship.Since the Stirge is a small galley withoarslaves, the PCs need only fight 26 regu-lar pirates (AC 7, 12 hp, THAC0 19, 1d8damage), 3 lieutenants (AC 6, 22 hp,

THAC0 17, 1d8 + 1 damage), and one cap-tain (AC 4, 35 hp, THAC0 14, 1d10+2damage). If the PCs conquer all of the pi-rates (or even just the captain), the Stirge(and the treasure) is theirs.

Conclusion

Upon acquiring the gift (and possiblyMulnis), the PCs can return to Teziir to gettheir reward. If the PCs have recoveredany of the other goods, the Council of

Teziir gives them a bounty of 10% of thevalue of the recovered goods.

When Mulnis and his gift are safely backin Teziir, the PCs may also be commis-

Raid on Teziir 123



sioned to take him to Suzail. This journeyshould be uneventful, but it leaves the PCsin possession of a ship, a good reputationin Teziir, a friend in the court of Cormyr,and an enemy in Vurgrom the Mighty,would-be lord of the Pirate Isles.

Teziir

Teziir is the largest free city on the banksof the Dragonmere. Teziir is an indepen-

dent trade city, striving to replace Westga-te as the favored port for goods brought tothe Inner Sea from the Sword Coast.

Teziir is ruled by a council of merchants(mostly LN), many of whom were respon-sible for Teziirs founding some 45 yearsago. This council represents over 80% of the wealth of Teziir, and they administerthe city as if it were their private property(which it essentially is). The council hashired magistrates, watchmen, and othercommon civil servants, and runs the city

like a businessproduce or youre fired.Despite the councils efforts to establisha well-run city, Teziir is still something of afrontier town. The citys growth has beenhaphazard, with streets merely beingwide gaps between buildings near the portwhich rarely run straight for any distance.Many of the poorer workers live in shackson the hillsides just outside of town, ekingout a living as stevedores or providingsome needed (but not necessarily legal)service to the wealthier people in town.

Teziir is still rather small, with less than40,000 people in its steady population,swelling to near 55,000 in summer. Asidefrom its use as a trading port, Teziir alsomaintains a population of miners whomine the nearby mountains for gems andprecious metals, so far with only limitedand spotty success.

The city watch of 500 leather-armoredF1-F2s, armed with clubs, short swords,and daggers. The watch is headed by

Commander Alton Mertlin (LN humanF7), a skilled fighter who unfortunatelyhas poor organizational skills, so thewatch in Teziir tends to arrive shortly afterthey are needed.

Commander Mertlin has pressed theCouncil on several occasions to wall thecity for its defense, but the council has not

yet decided to invest so much money for aquestionable return. Mertlin has notpressed any harder because his predeces-

sor (who also wanted the city walled) losthis job over his arguments with the coun-cil, and Commander Mertlin does notwant to return to the life of a wanderingfreesword. There is also a road patrol, providing

caravans from the Sword Coast some se-curity from bandits. The Council hopes touse this road patrol as a selling point to en-courage caravans to come through Teziiras opposed to Westgate, but as the patrol isgenerally undermanned and undere-

quipped, the caravan masters have notseen them as a significant factor. Teziir has never been involved in a war,

so it has not historically hired merce-naries. (Also, the Council generally con-siders mercenaries too expensive for whatthey do.) However, Teziir has suffered sev-eral pirate raids over the years, some of which have done major damage to thecity. These raids, while near the intensityof a true war, are over far too quickly forthe Council to bring mercenaries in to deal

with the problem, and the Council has not yet seen fit to hire a standing army.Several churches have established tem-

ples in Teziir, including Azuth (a smalltemple), Chauntea, Helm (the strongest inthe city), Torm, Tymora, and Tyr. The citydoes not have an official "state religion,"but Helm is worshipped by the majority of the council. There are few mages in Teziir. The city

does not have enough of the amenities of a

124 Chapter 8



larger port (such as Westgate) to attractthose mages interested in city life, but it

better part of his life improving hismagical prowess to demonstrate his

has too many people traveling in and outfor a mage who wishes a quieter, rural life.Nevertheless, two notable mages havemade their homes here:

l Cydaran (N human W8), a self-serv-ing young man whose father is on theCouncil. Cydaran has had himself named Chief Wizard of Teziir, aclaim without much distinction.

l Isyio (LN human W9 (Diviner)), a qui-et, scholarly man whose true prowessis not common knowledge in Teziir.Isyio spends much of his time on pri-vate researches, or teaching the chil-dren of the Council the rudiments of magic. In his youth, Isyio studied un-der the Simbul, but after a series of in-cidents in which the young Isyioembarrassed the Simbul, she senthim away until he grew up. Thehurt broke Isyio, and he has spent the

sincerity, hoping that someday he canreturn to the Simbuls tutelage.

Teziir has an active and growing Rogues and Thieves Guild, the Astorians. Theirprimary activity is petty theft and protec-tion, and it is estimated that nearly 5% of the goods which pass into Teziir pass outthrough the hands of the Astorians, whowryly refer to this as their tithe.

With nearly 700 members, the Astori-ans are a growing force in Teziir. TheCouncil has attempted to mount a cam-paign to eliminate the Astorians withsome success, but they have been unwill-ing to pay for the number and kind of mili-tiamen who could truly eliminate thethreat to the Councils power. Those in theknow say that within a generation or twothe Astorians will hold the place now heldby the Night Masks in Westgaterulers.

Raid on Teziir 125



Ship Terminology

Abovedeck: Outside on the top deck of the ship (not

in the rigging; see Aloft).Aft: The direction one is facing when one is on theship looking at the stern.Aloft: In the rigging of a sailing ship.Amidships: In the center of the ship.Athwartships: Across the ship from side to side.Athwartships sail: A sail running athwartships(cf. Fore-and-Aft Sail). Athwartships sails tend to besquare, and a ship with primarily athwartships sailsis said to be square-rigged.Beam: A direction directly to either side of the ship.

An object which is directly to the left of the ship, forexample, is said to be on the port beam.Bireme: An oared vessel with two banks (rows) of oars.Boat: A small water vessel, either carried by a largervessel or intended for close-shore work only. Boatsare generally not considered seagoing vessels.Boom: The horizontal spar which runs along thelower edge of a sail, particularly a fore-and-aft sail.Bowsprit: A spar extending forard from the bow of the ship, to which foresails may be attached.Bulkhead: Walls on the interior of a ship.Centerline: An imaginary line running down thecenter of the ship from bow to stem.Course: The planned direction of travel for a ship.

Dead Ahead: Travelling straight ahead withoutturning right or left.Deadlight: A porthole which cannot be opened.Deck: A floor on a ship.Focsle (Forecastle): The cabin farthest forwardaboard ship. The focsle is generally used as crewsquarters. On most warships, the focsle is a separatestructure on the front of the ship, so that the fore-deck (which would be on the roof of the focsle) israised, giving archers a better vantage point for fir-ing.Fore-and-aft Sail: A sail which runs from the bowto the stern (cf. athwartships sail). Fore-and-aft sailsare usually triangular, although four-sided sails areused (see Gaff).Foremast: The shorter mast of a two-masted ship, if it is ahead of the mainmast (cf. Mizzenmast).Founder: For a ship or boat to fill with water andsink.Gaff: A horizontal spar used to support a four-sidedfore-and-aft sail. A ship with gaffs is said to be gaff- rigged.Galley: An oar-powered ship, specifically one withone bank of oars. Also, the place aboard ship wherefood is prepared.Gunwale: The portion of the hull which extends

above the main deck. The gunwale on most passen-ger ships is topped with a liferail.Heading: The actual direction of travel for a ship (cf.Course).Headsail: One of a set of fore-and-aft sails set aheadof the forward mast. If only one sail is forward of theforward mast, see Jib.Headway: Forward movement of a ship.Jib: A lone sail set ahead of the forward mast.Keel: The structural center of the hull, runningalong the bottom of the ship along the centerlinefrom bow to stern. The ship is usually built up fromthe keel: the first stage of building a ship is laying the keel.

Leeway: Sideways movement of a ship.Length over all: The length of the hull, measuredfrom bow to stern along the centerline.Letters of marque: A document empowering aship to raid the ships and ports of an enemy land inthe name of the issuing government. Privateers car-ry letters of marque.Liferail: An extension of the gunwale which pro-vides a railing to prevent someone falling overboard.On most pirate ships, liferails are uncommon, asthey are viewed as appropriate only for passengervessels.Lines: Ropes used aboard a ship.Main deck: The highest deck which extends overthe entire boat.

Mainmast: The largest mast on a ship, it is usuallyfound amidships.Mainsail: The largest sail on a ship with multiplesails. It is usually hung from the mainmast.Mast: A large spar set vertically into the deck of theship to support sails.Mizzenmast: The shorter mast of a two-mastedship, if it is abaft of the mainmast (cf. Foremast).Oarlock: A hole in the hull of a boat used to put oarsthrough.Overboard: Off the edge of the ship into the water.Overhead: The ceiling in a compartment.Pier: A structure projecting out from the shorelinefor the purpose of providing a place to make shipsfast: cf. Wharf.

Pitch: Vertical motion of the boat where the bowand stern rise. and fall.Poop cabin: A cabin set on the main deck at the aftof the ship. The captains and officers quarters aretraditionally in the poop cabin.Poopdeck: The deck on top of the poop cabin. Thepoopdeck is also used as a platform for missile fire.Point: A measure of angle of approximately 11 de-grees. An object at approximately 22 degrees (goingclockwise with dead ahead being 0 degrees) is twopoints off the starboard bow, while an object at 68

126 Appendix



degrees (in the same system) is two points forward (and the ship gets lower) when the ship is more heav-of the starboard beam. ily loaded.Port: The left side of a ship, when one is standing atthe center of the ship, facing the bow.Porthole: A window aboard a ship.Portlight: A porthole that can be opened.Quarter: The rear half of a side of the ship. A pointat 7:30 (with the front of the ship at 12:00) is on theport quarter.Reef: An obstruction below the waterline.Rigging: The lines which support the spars and thesails and allow the sailors to control the sails.Roll: Vertical motion of the boat where the sides of the boat rise and fall.Rudder: A flat plane which is attached to the ship

and inserted into the water near the stern of theship. The rudder is used to steer the ship. If the rud-der is turned so that it points to port, the ship turnsto port; if the rudder is turned so that it points tostarboard, the ship turns to starboard.Rutter: A book where the navigator writes a de-scription of his travels. The rutter is used to allowthe navigator to retrace his steps, so that he mayfind his way to the same place again.Schooner: A ship with at least two masts, where theaft mast is the mainmast. Schooners are generallyrigged with fore-and-aft sails.Sloop: A single-masted ship with two sails: a main-sail and a jib.Spar: Any framework used to support sails. Sparsinclude masts, booms, and gaffs.Starboard: The right side of a ship, when one isstanding at the center of the ship, facing the bow.Stay: A line running from the mast to the bow orstem. A line from the bow to the mast is called a fore- stay; a line from the stem to the mast is called abackstay Stem: The back of a ship.Sterncastle: A structure (such as a poop cabin)built above the main deck in the aft of a ship.Sternway: Reverse movement of a ship.Stow: To put away.Strike: To lower something from above the deck:the reverse of hoist. One can strike the sails, strikeones colors, etc.Tiller: The place where the ships rudder is con-

trolled. The term tiller is used when the rudder iscontrolled by a lever at the back of the ship (cf.Helm).Topside: On the main deck, or at the helm.Trireme: An oared ship with three banks of oars. Triremes are rare, favored only by Mulhorand in theInner Sea.Waterline: The point on the hull where the hullcrosses from air to water. The waterline gets higher

Wharf: A structure parallel to shore constructed toprovide a place to make ships fast; cf. Pier.Wheel: For ships which do not have tillers, themechanism by which the rudder is controlled. Mostwheels are large affairs with many wooden spokeswhich extend beyond the rim of the wheel to use ashandholds, as the primitive system of pulleys thatattaches the wheel to the rudder requires considera-ble leverage. The wheel is attached so that when therudder is pointing dead ahead, one specific spoke of the wheel (called the king spoke) is pointing straightup. The king spoke is often carved specially so that itis easy to identify by sight or touch.

Yardarm: A horizontal spar used to support anathwartships sail.Yaw: Motion of the boat where the boat is pushed off course (usually by the action of waves).

Common Commands

Hoist Sail: Increase the amount of sail the ship isusing. This will increase the speed. (Note: This com-mand and the next two are often used with a specificsail, e.g. Hoist the mainsail!.)Shorten Sail: Reduce the amount of sail the ship isusing. This will decrease the speed.Furl Sail: Take the sail down, roll it up, and secureit.

Steady: Maintain heading and speed.Full Ahead: Increase speed to maximum.Five beats: Begin rowing slowly (five strokes/minute)Ten beats: Row faster (ten strokes/minute)Fifteen beats: Row as fast as possible. Most oars-men cannot maintain fifteen beats for more than afew minutes, and some large ships cannot row thisquickly at all.Bear Port/Starboard: Turn slowly to the left/right.Hard to Port/Starboard: Turn to the left/right asfast as possible.Fire: Fire one volley of missiles at the target. Thiscommand is typically used with ship-to-ship weap-ons such as ballistae and catapults.

Fire Away: Fire missile weapons at the target atwill.Hold Fire: Stop firing.Strike Colors: Surrender.

Pirate-Speak 127





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