Cy 4863 Jan 2^nd – 3^rd

With Taryn installed as the new leader of Hell’s Bay the normal day-to-day activities resume as if nothing had happened. The inhabitants accustomed to such dramatic changes took it in their stride. For the first day the party busy themselves with various tasks. Fuls Brett writes stoneskin scrolls for Meklor or Garsh – his fellow sorcerers – prince Antigor experiments with climbing plants whilst Traumbrenner gathers some aspiring killers close to him with the idea of mentoring them.

Next day a Myrid ship enters the harbour. From its mast flies a nobleman’s crest and count Xavior arrives with a proposition for Taryn Bzar.

"I want you to stop a ship," he says, "and ensure no-one on board survives the voyage. I am prepared to give you ten thousand gold pieces for your trouble."

"Who is on the ship?" Taryn asks.

"The grandson of the Steward of Van Myrid (Valadain Raikos)."

The count gives them until one hour after dawn the next day to make their move. Taryn and the others debate the action back at the tavern, he mobilises several ships and many men for the operation. Meanwhile the three sorcerers casts invisibility and fly and head for the count’s ship. Through the porthole on the outside of the ship they discover a crone huddled over the captain’s table with a strange fire sprite dancing before her.

Later that evening the crone leaves the ship and Batista shadows her with Velda close by. Down a dark alley she goes and inevitably she is set upon by three of Hell’s Bay’s most notorious muggers. Batista hears a short scuffle and is surprised to see the crone emerge unharmed from the other end of the alley. He sees the broken and crushed bodies of the muggers and wonders what kind of woman he follows.

She slips quietly into the whorehouse. Batista enters from the front entrance whilst Velda comes in from behind but there is no sign of the old woman. A sudden bloodcurdling scream from one of the rooms makes the whole building run into one of the rooms. A young whore lies on the bed terrified and babbling. Batista notices a red mark on her forehead, a mark similar to those Taryn creates with his inner fire. The young whore cannot remember a thing – she thinks it a nightmare but Batista is not convinced.

Taryn decides to move in on the count’s ship after midnight. One hundred cut-throats and vagabonds are mobilised with a further flotilla in the harbour to prevent escape. Taryn sends them on board as the three sorcerers, Meklor, Garsh and Fuls Brett get into position to fire spells. Taryn is on the harbour wall with a bow, prince Antigor is on the roof of a nearby building and Traumbrenner is close by with his shortbow.

Meklor casts shrink below the waterline and the hull buckles and springs a leak. Garsh launches a fireball high into the rigging and Taryn’s men swarm onto the deck. The battle has begun!

Twenty heavily armed Myrid soldiers appear to face the pirates. It soon becomes clear that they are skilled in battle, unfazed by the rabble before them they cut the first twenty five pirates to pieces without a single wound to themselves. But Taryn and the other two archers maintain the pressure. They pick off seven of the Myrid crew in the rigging before turning their attention to the soldiers on deck.

The three archers slay many of the soldiers over the next few minutes, despite their heavy losses these Myrid combatants are able to slay all but six of the pirates before the deadly archers fell the last ones. A constant bombardment of fireballs from Garsh and blindness spells from Meklor help to destroy the Myrid warriors.

The ship lists badly, the rigging and cabins are all ablaze as the pirates alight it in triumph. Still there is no sign of the crone, or the captain, so Traumbrenner and Batista get amongst the remaining pirates. Batista realises – with spirit sense – that one of the pirates is a massive spirit. He knows it is the count Xavior, disguised as a pirate, and the two men move in.

Count Xavior sees them approach and unleashes a longsword at them with astonishing speed. Both Traumbrenner and Batista are hit but to the count’s dismay the stoneskin saves them from harm. Batista engages the count – an expert swordsman – with unarmed combat whilst Traumbrenner stalks him from the shadows, nipping in to inflict minor wounds with his rapier.

Meklor casts blindness on the count and the fight becomes desperate for the noble Myrid swordsman. With a growing number of wounds the count is slowed and Batista continues to stifle his attacks with unarmed catches. He disarms the longsword which falls at Meklor’s feet, and the battle is almost over. Traumbrenner eventually runs the count through with a rapier stab to the brain.

The count’s ship is almost sunk. It is an inferno but Taryn can sense magic within, powerful magic that dominates the entire harbour. He leaps into the flames despite the protests of those close by but few of the pirates are aware that Taryn Bzar is able to cope with most flames. His own inner fire protects him as he moves through the captain’s cabin, the roof almost gone and the floor about to collapse into the sea. Eventually he puts his hand upon a small black diamond, cold to the touch but throbbing with inner energy.

On deck Fuls Brett tries to identify it but the gemstone absorbs all the magic cast upon it. He then tries dispel magic but this too fails. Taryn is unconcerned by the sorcery, instead his eyes are all over the harbour and the buildings beyond. The crone has disappeared…her body nowhere to be found…