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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4940432" data-attributes="member: 3285">Lady Quay: ConclusionAn explosion wracked the Lady Quay…then another and another in a chain of designed destruction. She had seen better days: she was a wrecked bulk of planks and torn sails, of rotten shrouds and sagging yardarms.  Her keel was irreparably split, her rudder nothing but a splintered stub.  Fetid seaweed clung to her warped bulkheads like rotting flesh. “What the hell happened?” asked Vlad in horror.  The hull of the Lady Quay ruptured, cracked open like an arid desert; the aft section burst and trembled. Slowly, it began to sink in flames, plunging to her death. Sebastian watched dispassionately. The Lady Quay sank beneath the waves as the sun set. A few crewmen dove off the side, swimming their way to shore. The survivors of the Lady Quay, temporarily safe, watched in awe and grief as their only way home died in the ominous Pale Sea beyond. Captain Miro watched with hollowed eyes.“My god, Rekello,” she whispered. “What have I done?”“What you had to do,” said Rekello.  “What you always do.  Turned death into a fighting chance to live.”  He looked concerned over at his captain.  “You hear me, Winnifer?”Captain Miro took a deep breath and nodded her understanding to Rekello. “Mind explaining it to the rest of us?” asked Kham.Rekello shot Miro a glance.  She nodded at him.  “It doesn’t matter now.” Miro turned to address Sebastian, Vlad, and Kham. “Several months ago, my consort Thispin Venorth and I were hired to deliver a fell cargo of Essence Ingots to Freeport.  We loaded the Essence Ingots into the hold of our beautiful ketch, the Night Heron, unaware that the dangerous black bricks contained the trapped souls of once-living creatures.  The ubiquitous ship rats gnawed on the crates and eventually were infected after consuming portions of the tainted ingots.  When the infected rats bit the crew, fatalities quickly mounted and the frightened sailors declared an all out mutiny.”  She choked, unable to go on.Rekello picked up where she left off. “The ensuing fight was savage and bloody.  The Night Heron caught fire during the fray.  In order to save our lives, we slew a dozen of our own men.  But Thispin was mortally wounded.  He died even as the ship was sinking.”“I fully expected to drown with him,” said Miro.  “But I found the ship rising up from the clutches of the cold sea.  Only days later, when my crewmates rose up as undead horrors, did I realize what happened.  The Night Heron had become a ghost ship.  Rekello and I were the only living people aboard the haunted vessel.”“So we hatched a plan,” said Rekello. “We cloaked the ship with magic and vowed to set the undead crew to rest by delivering another shipment of the cursed cargo to Freeport, thereby passing on the taint. But…”“Worked pretty well,” said Vlad.  “Ghoul Juice nearly destroyed Freeport, thanks to you.”“There’s no more cursed cargo,” said Sebastian.  “We razed the place to the ground. All the Essence Ingots were destroyed along with the sorcerer who created them.”“Then the curse is truly broken,” said Miro.  “I had expected to go down with my ship.  And with Thispin.”“We still have the dinghies,” said Sebastian.  “Perhaps we can lash a makeshift boat together.  Three days time should allow me to scout ahead until we can be rescued.”“You do that.”  Kham grabbed the Captain by her waist.  “What if I told you I could bring you to Freeport in the blink of an eye, sweetcheeks?”The Captain eyed Kham but didn’t pull away.  “I’d say you’ll be the only man who called me that and lived.”  But she managed a grin.“That’s all I need to hear.”  Kham winked at Vlad.  “See you in Freeport!”He touched one hand to the kelpie amulet.  With a flash, Kham and Captain Miro disappeared.The other sailors who had survived the sinking of the Lady Quay, all men who hired on from Freeport, stared at them expectantly.  Sebastian glared back at them.“Don’t look at me.  I don’t possess such magic.  Not yet.”  He flapped into the air.  “I’ll cut down some trees for our raft.”The sailors stared up in shock.“You heard the man!” shouted Vlad.  “Hop to!  If we’re going to get off this island, we’ll have to work together!”The men scurried to do Vlad’s bidding.  When they were out of earshot, the Milandisian turned to address the ocean.“I sure hope you know what you’re doing, Kham.”</blockquote>

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