Day 40-42: Polishing the Rock

Day 40-42

Lockland Griswold - older man with a beard. Ulysses' friend from their time aboard the rose

The team wants to go to Tidewater Rock
We ask Sendara Quinn about it, she is encouraging if we want to establish a name for ourselves. She also says it's incredibly easy to find if you look on a map. It's on Windward Isle, westward on an archipelago, south of motaku. Its legend is more based off its strategic importance than any specific geography of the island.

We approach the Kurstov, flying the colors of the Aspis Consortium and engage them in battle
We take out their oars and steering
We board and start a fight
We win and get 600 xp from the Kurstov's crew
We gain 2 crew members
+2 plunder in armor and weapons
Treasure recorded on booty sheet
Longwhisker loses a drinking contest

Fishgut tells us about Tidewater Rock and gives us some strategies regarding subterfuge, attack, or diplomacy

We approach the lagoon around Tidewater Rock
It is at low tide
There is a towerhouse ~70ft tall
We approach peacefully, and see a guard on the battlements
A man and woman approach us and engage in conversation
She is Augustus Smithy
With her retainer, Sgt McClay
They ask for a hostage as collateral, Ulysses offers himself to stay on the doorstep unarmed and unarmored

Windward Isle
Magna stormeyes discovered this island and realized it would make a perfect haven to launch a pirate fleet
She started with just 1 ship out of a harbor
She built a keep called tidewater rock
She gained a perception bonus while building her fleet and became the scourge of the southern lanes
She eventually became the Hurricane Queen but was assassinated
After the fleet fell apart Frone became a free captain and seized the Rock
The story has a sad ending - after its control passed from hand to hand, its location and reliability dwindled with the ownership of the free captains
Sargave started tolerating piracy more, and the keep's owner became worse
GOOD FORTUNE AND SURE SAIL AWAIT FOR ONE THAT CAN CRACK THE TIDEWATER ROCK
Bertram Smithy aboard the Veil was the most recent King of the Rock
"Iron Bert" went into a feud with another free captain and was not heard from again
Barnabas Harrigan tried to claim tidewater rock but Augustus was able to defend from him
It would take an unimaginable amount of resources to crack the rock
We ask about the meaning of cracking the rock
Augustus only dates infamous free captains

Session called