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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morrow" data-source="post: 3644100" data-attributes="member: 301">InterludeA few days after leaving Freeport, the Albers spotted a merchant caravel flying a Thonian flag.  The Albers was flying Thonian colors herself, but the other captain soon recognized something was wrong, and the caravel turned to run before the wind.  The Albers hoisted the jolly roger and began the pursuit.  The merchant vessel, the Darkmaiden’s Dance was fast ship with a good crew, but the crew of the Albers rose to the occasion and the two vessels were soon exchanging broadsides.  The Darkmaiden’s Dance was getting the better of the exchange until Tavaari cast a fireball, expertly threading it through an open gunport and killing the gun crew.Tavaari quickly sent another fireball washing across the Darkmaiden’s deck and Marcus joined the action by engulfing the stern in a field of Evard’s black tentacles.  Bronson dimension doored to the other ship, protected by his magic from the grasping tentacles.  He quickly convinced the entangled captain to surrender.The Albers pulled along side and began offloading the Darkmaiden’s cargo of coffee, sugar, and rum.  With all their attention on the Darkmaiden no one aboard the Albers noticed as a figure climbed out of the water onto the Albers’ deck.  Cobb turned to see a dreadfully thin waterlogged male elf with crazed eyes and long stringy hair matted with seaweed pull himself onto the deck.  The elf struck Cobb with one empty hand, and he gave a low cry and collapsed to the deck, unconscious.Both Sully and Jack were nearby and heard Cobb’s cry.  They immediately drew their weapons and charged the elf, Jack swinging from a rope over the heads of his crewmates to reach the new opponent.  The elf dodged their blows, his body in a blur of motion.  Even though he appeared unarmed he struck Jack and Sully several telling blows with his fists and feet.  As the battle continued other members of the crew rushed to help.  Marcus Vale cast a spell, attempting to polymorph the intruder into a harmless form, but his spell had no effect.Suddenly the elven monk broke away from Jack and Sully and pausing for only a moment to strike Tavaari, who was coming to their aid, a solid blow in the middle of the chest, ran across the deck of the Albers, leapt to the Darkmaiden’s Dance, ran across her deck and leapt back into the sea.The crew looked over the side, but could not see the elf in the dark water.  Tavaari, massaging his aching chest, cast an invisibility spell. For several minutes everyone was quiet.  Tavaari, still invisible, felt a sudden blinding pain.  His life was snuffed out in an instant as his heart exploded.  He spoke not a word, although his fellows heard his body, still invisible collapse heavily to the deck.At the same moment, in the blink of an eye, the elven monk clambered from the sea into the bow of the Darkmaiden.  Coincidentally, it was Jack who was once more the closest opponent and took the brunt of the elf’s attacks.  As the pair traded blows the rest of the party moved to surround the monk.  After dodging yet another flurry of blows from the crew of the Albers the monk paused, and looked across the field of foes arrayed against him, he then peered at the name on the Albers side and said, “I’ll remember you,” and in the blink of an eye he was gone.The elf did not return.  The crew of the Albers finished claiming the Darkmaiden’s cargo, collected Tavaari’s body, and left.  With a sigh Bronson offered that he could raise Tavaari the next day, but acknowledged that the diamonds required were probably worth more than the booty they had collected from the Darkmaiden.That night over dinner Nate told a story he had heard shortly before leaving port of a monastery on a small island several days sail north of Freeport.  Apparently a year ago the monastery had been burned and the monks slaughtered by pirates searching for treasure the monks were rumored to guard.  The story went that one monk survived and using his order’s strange mysticism turned himself into a sea monster to roam the oceans slaughtering the crew of any ship he came across, forever seeking to avenge his murdered brethren.</blockquote>

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