It is day 6 of month 5, 1042, at the Free Moorings of The Tangle. At 02:00 last night, wreckers from Wrecker Cove cut two ships loose. One was the Plover, a small Compact trader owned by Agnes Pryor. She carried two hundred Kettle rifles for the captains of The Tangle, and Agnes's nephew, a deckhand of nineteen, was asleep in the hold. The other was an empty old hulk. It was cut so that people would blame the usual prank between rival crews. A wrecker tug towed the Plover in the dark around the outside of the ring to Wrecker Cove.
Behind it is Marius Penrose, a Dominion navy agent who passes as a Syndicate buyer. He pays Yvette Garrow in Dominion Crowns for ships from a list, ships that carry guns for the Compact. Last month he also ordered forty cannons from Ruta Kessel at the Gun Barge and paid a third. He never means to collect them. The order keeps the Gun Barge busy so it cannot arm Compact ships before the captains vote on the war. The Dominion cutter that has waited off the ring for three days is his ride. At 23:00 tonight a boat from the cutter meets him at Wrecker Cove to take the rifles. Yvette will also sell him the nephew as a pirate prisoner.
Raiding a Compact ship breaks the one deal that keeps Wrecker Cove safe. Bosk Madden, the chief Port Keeper, wants proof before he acts.
Agnes Pryor (about 46), captain of the Plover. She wants her ship and her nephew back. She pays 30 Crowns now and 100 more when the Plover is home.
Rasko Fenn (about 30), captain of the Fair Share. He is a friend of Agnes and lends his ship's launch, a small fast boat.
Wilmot Dabney (about 30), a Pellin trader on the Swap Deck. He saw the tow at 02:00 while stealing parts on the far side. He wants the helm key of a Dominion yacht the wreckers hold. For it he will return Digby Hart's helm crystal.
Ruta Kessel (about 45), chief smith of the Gun Barge. She wants to know who her cannon buyer really is.
Marius Penrose (about 40), the Dominion agent. He wants the rifles and a clean exit.
Yvette Garrow (about 40), boss of Wrecker Cove. She wants her pay and no proof left behind.
Bosk Madden, chief Port Keeper. He will throw the wreckers off the ring under the Charter once he has proof.
The crew is Corbin Weatherby, a patient Pellin bounty hunter who owns the tug, Uzga Brann, a loud Gorr former raider, Elias Garrow, a quiet knife fighter who is Yvette Garrow's half-brother and grew up in Wrecker Cove, and Clio Ashdown, a rigging dancer who has been teaching Agnes's nephew to climb. They fly the salvage tug Steadfast, chained two posts down from the Plover. Agnes lent them a month of crystal on credit. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Digby Hart is a Pellin pilot who lost his helm crystal at dice, Brock Tanner is a gunsmith at the Gun Barge and Carys Linden signed on yesterday as a hand on the Plover. They are NPCs who follow their description.
Stat blocks. Wreckers use Compact Raider, Tangle Boarder and Swivel Gunner. Marius Penrose uses the Spire Guard Mage stat block, and his two escorts from the cutter use Dominion Marine. If Yvette Garrow fights, she uses Raid Chief. Port Keepers use Compact Raider and fight on the players' side.
The empty spot, 07:00. At the Free Moorings, the harbour crews tell Agnes Pryor that rival crews cut ships loose all the time. A DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check on the cut chains shows they were cut with a heavy chain cutter of the kind wreckers use, not burned through. Elias Garrow has advantage on this check, and he knows the cutter from Wrecker Cove on sight. A DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check spots grease marks of a tow line on the next post. Rasko Fenn offers his launch and says the only crews with a tug on this side are the wreckers.
The Swap Deck, morning. Wilmot Dabney sits at his stall of rune locks and helm parts. A DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check shows he knows something. He tells what he saw only in return for a favour. He saw a tug with no lamps towing a trader past the far side at 02:00. He wants the helm key of the Dominion yacht in Wrecker Cove, and he will give Digby's helm crystal back for it. A DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check makes him talk without a deal, and he never forgets it.
The Gun Barge, 14:00. Ruta Kessel keeps the buyer's Crowns in a locked box. They are Dominion coins with the mint marks filed off. Marius Penrose arrives at 14:00 in a fine green coat to pay the second third. A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check hears a Bright Core accent under his Low Spiral words. A DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check lifts a folded list from his coat. Elias Garrow has the best hands for it. It names six Compact ships, and the Plover is crossed out. Following him unseen needs a DC 14 Dexterity (Stealth) check. He takes a small boat to Wrecker Cove.
Bosk Madden, afternoon. At the Captains Deck, Bosk Madden listens. Talk is not proof. The list, the Plover seen in Wrecker Cove or a wrecker who confesses is proof. With proof he gathers 8 Port Keepers. If the players fire a Signal Flare from the cove, the Port Keepers arrive 2d4 rounds later.
Wrecker Cove, night. The cove is a cluster of loose ships on the far side of the ring. The Plover is chained between two wrecker hulks while wreckers strip her rigging. The Steadfast is too big and slow to come in unseen. Rasko's launch, or Digby's skiff once its helm has a crystal, can come in dark along the outside of the ring with a DC 13 Dexterity check using the helm. The wrecker lookout has a passive Perception of 12. Elias Garrow knows where the lookout stands and which hulk has a loose hatch. Agnes's nephew is tied up in the Plover's hold. The rifles are still in their crates. The Dominion yacht lies one hulk over, and its helm key hangs in the wheelhouse.
Fight on the Plover. 2 Swivel Gunner, 2 Compact Raider and 2 Tangle Boarder. The gunners fire from the rails of the two hulks. Cut ropes and loose cargo make the deck difficult terrain.
Encounter math. A crew of four level 4 characters, Low 1,000, Moderate 1,500, High 2,000. 900 + 400 + 200 make 1,500 XP, Moderate (budget 1,500). Corbin Weatherby's snares across the hulk gangways can stop the raiders from closing in.
The wreckers break when half are down. Yvette Garrow watches from her own ship and does not join a losing fight. She offers to hand over Marius Penrose and keep her crews out of it. A DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check makes that deal hold. If Elias Garrow speaks to his sister, the check has advantage, but she will want to talk about the night he left.
The handoff, 23:00. A boat from the cutter comes alongside the Plover with Marius Penrose and 2 Dominion Marine. If the wreckers are beaten, the marines see trouble and try to take Marius back to the cutter.
Encounter math. High 2,000. Spire Guard Mage (700) and 2 Dominion Marine (1,400) make 2,100 XP, about High (budget 2,000). If the crew still has Port Keepers with them, it plays closer to Moderate.
Marius falls back when he is below half his hit points and gives up if his boat is lost. The cutter does not fire on the ring. Doing so would start a war it was not sent to start.
The Prize Court, day 7. If Marius Penrose is caught, Sybil Ancrum judges him. With the list, the court votes to throw Wrecker Cove off the ring. Agnes takes the Plover home to the moorings.
Day 6, 23:00. The rifles and Agnes's nephew go aboard the cutter's boat.
Day 7, 06:00. The cutter leaves. The nephew is later shown in a Dominion port as a captured pirate.
Day 8. The Plover's sails and fittings turn up for sale on the Swap Deck.
Day 12. Ruta Kessel starts on the forty cannons. Two Compact raiders wait months for the guns they ordered.
Day 20. A second ship on Marius's list vanishes on the lane to Kettle.
Good. The Plover and the nephew are home, the rifles are saved and Marius Penrose stands before the Prize Court.
Mixed. The nephew is saved but the rifles or Marius get away, or Marius is caught but the Plover is stripped.
Bad. The cutter leaves with the rifles and the nephew, and Wrecker Cove keeps its deal with the captains.
Agnes Pryor pays 30 Crowns now and 100 Crowns when the Plover is back, and she forgets the crystal debt.
Ruta Kessel pays 50 Crowns for proof about the buyer and fits one ship cannon free on the Steadfast.
Bosk Madden pays 20 Crowns to each player character from the Port Keepers' fund.
Wilmot Dabney returns Digby Hart's helm crystal (a Crystal) for the yacht's Helm Key.
Rasko Fenn offers the Ship Deckhand job on the Fair Share, with a fair share of each cargo.
Heroic Inspiration for saving Agnes's nephew at real risk.
The Grey Widow. Marius Penrose has met Stellan Rudd in the locked cabin of the Grey Widow. The list in his coat has a second page of raid dates.
The forty cannons. Ruta Kessel holds a third of the price in Dominion Crowns. The captains must decide whether to keep the money or send it back.
Wreckers Point. Yvette's cousin, Vane Scully of Wreckers Point on Kettle, works from the same kind of list. The next ship on it sails from Grit Harbour.