Trouble in Below Town
A 50 Fathoms Game run by Desert Fox
Contents
Characters[edit]
Expedition Crew[edit]
| Name | Parry | Toughness | Typical skill die | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dianna - Masaquani sharpshooter | 6 | 6 | Most d6 but shooting d10+1 | Has trademark weapon bow | 
|
| "Orca". Huge Grael. | 6 | 7 | Most d6; fighting d8 | Quite dumb | |
| Zo, apothecary/ dark magician | 4 | 5 | Most at d6 but Persuade d8 | is trying to restore PPs through magical abstinence | 
|
| Dongo, Ugak witch doctor | 5 | 6 | Most at d6 but Healing d8 | is trying to restore PPs through magical abstinence | 
|
| Bill, Prize-fighter from Bristol | 6 | 6 | Most at d6; fighting d8 | prize-fighter , original member of crew | 
|
| French lady pirate, Mademoiselle Marchant | 6 | 5 | d6; fighting d8 | we’ll give her a bit of fighting oomph to make her more playable | 
|
| Atani scout lad and lass | 6 | 5 | Most at d6. Notice d8. | scouts for the expedition | |
| Extras: Spanish sailmaker , Cornish fisherman, Spanish monk |
5 | 5 | Most d6. | Oarsmen/ cooks/ porters: will avoid open battle if possible | 
|
Original Crew Notes
Prizefighter Bill. A shaven-headed English sailor who worked as a prize-fighter. Standard pirate with 1d8 fighting and +1 toughness.
Hunter. A relaxed-looking doreen who looks lithe and competent. Worked as a 'Nightswimmer'. Standard doreen with d8 stealth.
Pedro. A grizzled old Spaniard, who only speaks Spanish and poor Masquani. Standard sailor with d8 repair (ship's carpenter)
Xothos. A one –armed scurrilion, now the quarter master of the ship. Standard scurrilion.
Other NPCs (all standard pirates):
English sailor. Shot in the battle against Shark's Rockies, but recovered.
Spanish sailor
Masquani sailor
Doreen (later Chinese!) sailor
A Marching Order for Smugglers' Tunnels, Pirate Caves and the like[edit]
Hunter, stealthy doreen scout. Wears a (Xothos-made) sputtering whale-oil lamp attached to an iron band on his forehead.
Galamos can cast spells one-handedly so walks second carrying a lantern.
Diego, with both weapons drawn
Shay, with both weapons drawn
Skort, ever the resourceful grael, takes the rearguard, trusting in Cap'n Ziggy to help him watch the crew's back. His Axe is well at hand and he has replaced his trusty belaying pin with a stout pitch and whale blubber torch. The torch is a favored object in the cold darkness of Arfk nights. It provides light and in a pinch can still beat someone about the head and neck.
[edit]
Zo is worried. She has been sleeping badly, seeing in her dreams the approaching sea monster (which she refers to only as 'it'). 'It' will arrive by the end of the week!
She invites the Nelly's officers to her shop where she spreads a large, pre-flood map of Cuwayo (this island) on her broad counter. On it, the shrine, the Maze of Cthoth, is marked with forbidding symbols. It stands at the top of the Mountain of Clouds [the fourth hump down from the top of Cuwayo; please see the wiki map-this is kind of important if you want a sense of where you are heading]. There are two ways there. The most obvious is a track running from Xaxa on the east coast, which wends its way into the mountains. The second is to pass across FROM WHERE YOU ARE NOW across Carroway country overland to reach the mountain's base.
The journey from Xaxa up into the mountains should be doable in that time, but since this zig-zagging line looks forbidding even on the map, and has gone unmaintained since the fall of Ograpog, it it could be a scary business. Some also say that the mountain route is guarded by creatures such as elementals or even (some say) a (sacred ?) roc.
The alternative is to start from Maroa, striking inland across the Carroway swamp. This is the way that Crass went, taking Dongo and Zo as his (unreluctant?) hostages. Zo relates that he took small boats inland to the eastmost verge of the Carroway forest, where the deep seawater swamp becomes a shallow freshwater marsh, following remote creeks inland. The marsh teems with monsters like giant spiders and snakes, and one night Crass lost a whole dinghy of sailors to a unseen monster of some kind. Once Crass' crew reached the base of Cloud Mountain they found the final part of trail up sturdy and undamaged....
Ship's Coffer[edit]
Cash = 975 PoE
- Excellent local sea charts (Around Below Town)
- Magically shifting local sea-charts (+2 for boating around Taratos and the Whip Islands)
- Captain Galley (15 Bottle Fine wine and 3 flasks of rare pre-flood Ograpog liquor)
Ships[edit]
Maroa[edit]
Wares of the Air Guild Workshop[edit]
Craftspiece....................Description............................................................ ...Price
Whirlyblade....................Fighting machine 1d10 attack, parry 8, toughness 8........1000 poe
Arrows of the falcon........+1 shoot, +1 damage.................................................each 500 poe
Arrows of the petrel........Near-infinite range.....................................................each 1000 poe
Skyhook .......................Grappling hook auto attaches.......................................8000 poe
Wind-Javelin..................javelin returns to hand next round................................900 poe
Owl box .......................Attracts friendly owl ..................................................900 poe
Fan of the zephyr...........Invokes zephyr spell.................................................7000 poe
Turban of the air............Allows summoning and command of (invisible servant type) spirits ...2000 poe
Staff of winds................Invokes powerful wind; opponents must make STR check or be blown down ..... 5000 poe
Ghost ring.....................Allows manipulate elements (air)............................................ 2000 poe
Roc’s blood potion .........Allows flying ............................................ 4000 poe
Cloak of battle...............+1 to parry and ............................................ 3000 poe
Storm bottle..................Invokes/ quells storms as spells ............................................ 20000 poe
