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  By Tim Hitchcock
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  Teroro and Ina
  Liecaller
  Mister Ripples
  Skeletal Cutlass
  = Rumored Treasure
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  The Shackles
  Fever Sea
  Besmara's
  Throne
  Dagon's
  Jaws
  Firegrass
  Isle
  Gannet
  Island
  Island of 
  Empty Eyes
  Island of the 
  Black Tower
  Port Peril
  Hell Harbor
  Queen Bes
  Goatshead
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  Fever Sea
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  ADVENTURE PATH • PART 5 of 6
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  credits
  Creative Director • James Jacobs
  Managing Editor • F. Wesley Schneider
  Development Leads • Adam Daigle and Rob McCreary
  Editing • Judy Bauer, Logan Bonner, Christopher Carey, Patrick Renie, and James L. Sutter
  Editorial Assistance • Jason Bulmahn, Mark Moreland, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sean K Reynolds
  Editorial Intern • Jerome Virnich
  Senior Art Director • Sarah E. Robinson
  Graphic Designer • Andrew Vallas
  Production Specialist • Crystal Frasier
  Cover Artist
  Daryl Mandryk
  Cartographer
  Robert Lazzaretti
  Contributing Artists
  Joewie Aderes, Jorge Fares, Andrew Hou, Diana Martinez, Bryan Sola,
  Craig J Spearing, Doug Stambaugh, and Kieran Yanner
  Contributing Authors
  Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, Tim Hitchcock, James Jacobs, Robin D. Laws,  
  Mark Moreland, and Sean K Reynolds 
  Publisher • Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
  Vice President of Operations • Jeffrey Alvarez
  Director of Sales • Pierce Watters
  Finance Manager • Christopher Self
  Staff Accountant • Kunji Sedo
  Technical Director • Vic Wertz
  Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock
  Special Thanks
  The Paizo Customer Service, Warehouse, and Website Teams
   This product makes use of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, 
  Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3, Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide, and Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat. These rules can be found online as part of the Pathfinder 
  Roleplaying Game Reference Document at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd.
  This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 edition of the world’s 
  oldest fantasy roleplaying game.
  Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not 
  Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and 
  trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
  Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game 
  Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content 
  may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
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  Pathfinder Adventure Path #59: The Price of Infamy © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
  Paizo Publishing, LLC, the golem logo, Pathfinder, Pathfinder Society, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC;  
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  Printed in China.
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  table of contents
  Foreword	
  4
  The	Price	of	Infamy	
  6
  by Tim Hitchcock
  NPC	Gallery	
  54
  by Tim Hitchcock
  Skull	&	Shackles	Treasures	
  60
  by Tim Hitchcock
  Fleet	Battles	
  62
  by James Jacobs
  Norgorber	
  70
  by Sean K Reynolds
  Pathfinder’s	Journal:	The	Treasure	of	Far	Thallai	5	of	6	
  76
  by Robin D. Laws
  Bestiary	
  82
  by Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, Mark Moreland, and  
  Sean K Reynolds
  Preview	
  92
  
  The Young Man and the Sea
  I
  ’ll admit, last year at PaizoCon 2011 when it was 
  announced that a pirate Adventure Path was on the 
  schedule, I wasn’t super-exited. I know, I know... to the 
  lash with you! Keelhaul the swab! But wait—hear me out.
  Raised on the Texas Gulf Coast, I had the opportunity to 
  spend a good amount of time on the water. In some places it’s 
  not a particularly pretty body of water, but you can still easily 
  get out there on a small boat and sail far enough away that 
  land fades into the horizon, leaving you alone on the water 
  with nothing but the sky above. I grew up going fishing with 
  my dad on the Gulf. While most of that was just fishing from 
  piers or wade fishing from the beach and whatnot, every now 
  and then we’d go out and do some deep-sea fishing.
  You’d get up before the sun and head down to the coast, get 
  some strong coffee in you, and look for a good spot to start 
  dropping lines in the water. Turns out, all the offshore oil rigs 
  attract a lot of fish, so out in the Gulf you see boats camped 
  out near them pulling up redfish, snapper, dolphin, wahoo, 
  and other tasty sea fare. It was on one of these trips I spotted 
  my first shark, and once witnessed a guy pulling one in that 
  was bigger than me at the time. On one of the deep sea fishing 
  trips, one of the other guys on the boat accidentally hooked 
  an octopus. It was a fairly small one, with a head the size of 
  a baseball, and before we threw it back they let me hold it. Its 
  suckers felt weird on my skin, and it kept trying to crawl away, 
  slithering its tentacles around my forearm. I even felt its beak 
  drag against my open palm, and it was then that I announced 
  I was done holding it. Back into the water it went.
  As I got older, I fished less, but my connection with the 
  Gulf of Mexico wasn’t reduced. I merely transformed that 
  relationship into other activities. My friend Kyle’s family 
  owned a 30-foot single-mast sailboat, a 16-foot Hobie 
  catamaran, and a small Laser sailing dinghy. I’d never sailed 
  before, but they taught me on the Laser before moving me 
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  ON THE COVER
  Druvalia Thrune, admiral of the Chelish Imperial Navy 
  and commander of the Chelish armada sent to invade the 
  Shackles, stands proud on this month’s cover. Although 
  the PCs will not face Druvalia and her armada until the 
  final adventure, they’ll get their first glimpse of the 
  admiral and learn of her plans to annex the Shackles when 
  they finally confront their old nemesis, Captain Barnabas 
  Harrigan, in this month’s Adventure Path installment, 
  “The Price of Infamy.”
  up to the catamaran. Kyle’s dad taught me all the right terms 
  (many of which I’ve since forgotten), and for that entire 
  season it seemed like we were out on the water every day. The 
  “big boat” named Shi-Bui (which they joked meant “stuck in 
  the mud,” because of its really long keel) had a fiberglass hull 
  and deck, but the mast, rails, and other fixtures were wood. 
  The summer between my junior and senior year of high 
  school, Kyle and I sanded and refinished the deck, rails, and 
  all the fixtures. While working on the boat, we slept in the 
  cabin every night, the gentle waves rocking us to sleep. Each 
  morning I’d climb up the mast like a monkey and stand on 
  the spreaders looking out over the marina. Toward the end of 
  that time, once we were mostly done with the work, we took 
  it out a few times. The boat had a diesel engine, but the whole 
  time I spent with that family and that boat, the engine never 
  worked, so we’d have to raise the sail in the slip and push off, 
  then strike the sail and coast into the slip when we’d return. 
  This old salty sailor that lived on his boat in the marina was 
  extremely impressed watching two skinny teenagers sail in 
  and out of the slip without the use of an engine, and would 
  tell us so on every occasion we’d run into him. We weren’t 
  going to spoil his pride in us by telling him we only did it 
  because the engine was busted and we had no other choice.
  That busted engine ended up being a major source of 
  stress one weekend when we moved Shi-Bui from Sabine 
  Pass to Kemah. The trip should’ve been short and sweet, 
  but once we got fully out into the Gulf and started heading 
  west, the wind died and we just bobbed there for hours. 
  After night fell, I started seeing lights from the radio 
  towers and realized we were drifting toward shore. Kyle 
  and I stayed up all night doing what we could to stay on 
  course and not end up beaching the boat. We took a lot 
  of small tacks, rowed for a bit, and even jumped in and 
  swam behind the boat pushing it (until a porpoise startled 
  us into realizing that maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to 
  be swimming a quarter-mile out into the Gulf at night.)
  So, yeah, I’ve spent some time on the water. Strangely 
  enough, though, I’d never been a huge fan of the pirate genre, 
  and as a result I had mixed feelings about this Adventure 
  Path during my previous months as a fan. But once I got here 
  and started working on the Skull & Shackles AP, all of the 
  emotions and memories about being on the water with the 
  wind at my back came crashing back, and I fell in love.
  It was weird. I liked pirate movies well enough, but I 
  was never strongly connected to the genre. I guess I was 
  having a disconnect relating my actual experiences on the 
  water to a roleplaying setup, but all it took was immersing 
  myself in what we were producing to rekindle my old 
  romance with the sea.
  PlAyiNg ADmiRAl
  A couple of weeks ago, Rob, Wes, and I took a few hours 
  out of our busy workdays to play a game. We weren’t 
  just goofing off on company time: we were playtesting 
  the fleet battle rules you’ll find if you keep turning 
  pages. We crowded into Wes’s office and read through 
  the rules James wrote, then collected a few stacks of the 
  ship counters from the free Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 
  (available online at paizo.com), and got to work building 
  our fleets. Rob (or “The Admiral,” as he’s sometimes 
  called these days) chose Tessa Fairwind as his fleet’s 
  admiral. (I think he has a crush on her.) I named my fleet’s 
  fearless, generic leader Admiral Soandso. We chose our 
  ships and built our squadrons. Rob’s fleet skewed more 
  toward the PCs’ side of things, and I built my fleet based 
  on what the bad guys would be bringing to the battle. My 
  fleet was weaker, but that’s okay—you don’t want to piss 
  off The Admiral. Wes acted as an impartial observer and 
  made notes based on our experiences and the outcomes 
  of the battles.
  Of course, as with any playtest, we rewound a few times, 
  replayed a round or two, and made less than favorable 
  decisions just to see how it would play out. While we were 
  playing, I realized this would make a fine standalone 
  game, and immediately wanted to find the constructible 
  pirate ships I bought last year at Gen Con. I could even play 
  this game with my friends who don’t play RPGs but are 
  fond of board games, since at its heart this system is a set of 
  simple, streamlined rules that involves bits of chance and 
  some strategy. So today I’ll print up some ship counters to 
  bring home, and see if my lady would enjoy a quick pirate 
  fleet battle. Enjoy the fights you’ll find in the adventure 
  this time around, and good luck!
  Adam Daigle
  Developer
  adam.daigle@paizo.com
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  Foreword
  
  “The Price of Infamy” is 
  designed for four characters and 
  uses the medium XP track. 
  The PCs should be 13th level by 
  the end of the adventure.
  The PCs begin this 
  adventure at 11th level.
  11
  The PCs should be 
  12th level by the time 
  they start exploring the Black 
  Tower—if they’re not close at 
  this point, consider having 
  them go on a few additional 
  side quests to earn more XP.
  12
  AdvAncement trAck
  PArt One: BlOOd in the WAter
  After attending a meeting of the Pirate Council, the PCs get a grim 
  warning that their old enemy Barnabas Harrigan is readying an 
  attack, and they must build a fleet to defend their home!
  PAge 7
  PArt tWO: islAnds Of the dAmned
  An attempt to rescue one of Harrigan’s former officers puts the PCs up 
  against a hideous aquatic undead threat.
  PAge 17
  PArt three: the BlAck tOWer
  A quest to retrieve an infamous sword requires a descent into a trap-
  filled tower once ruled by a legendary cultist.
  PAge 25
  PAge 35
  PArt fOur: hArrigAn must die
  Harrigan’s fleet attacks! The PCs must defend their home, then go on 
  the offensive to get revenge against their former captain!h
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  The PCs must gather their allies and recruit new ones to 
  build a fleet of ships to protect their island. In doing so, 
  they have a chance to rescue several castaways who once 
  served under Harrigan, and to recover a powerful and 
  infamous weapon from an eerie tower. They may even 
  clear the name of one of the Shackles’ major pirate lords, 
  who is suspected of being a Chelish sympathizer, and in 
  so doing gain the support of another powerful ally.
  Harrigan’s attack on the PCs’ island comes soon enough, 
  and after the PCs defeat Harrigan’s fleet with their own, the 
  time is right to finally strike back against Harrigan with 
  an attack against his own island fortress. When the PCs 
  finally confront and defeat their old enemy, though, they 
  discover that not only was Harrigan a Chelish agent, but 
  that Cheliax’s fleet is fast approaching the Shackles and 
  intends to conquer the pirate confederacy as a new colony!
  PArt One: BlOOd in the WAter
  Part One of “The Price of Infamy” deals with the PCs’ 
  efforts to build a fleet to defend their island home, but 
  Parts Two and Three also provide opportunities for 
  the PCs to increase their infamy and attract new ships 
  to their flag. As a result, you should run Parts Two and 
  Three concurrently with Part One, adjusting the timing 
  of these events as you see fit. Only after the PCs have had 
  time to complete the encounters in Parts One, Two, and 
  Three should you move into Part Four.
  The PiraTe CounCil
  Among the prizes the PCs were promised for winning the 
  Free Captains’ Regatta was a seat on the Pirate Council, 
  and after their (hopefully) fine showing at the climax of 
  the previous adventure, they should have earned at least 
  a single seat on the Council, even if they didn’t earn 
  the right to vote. This adventure begins with the PCs 
  attending their first council meeting in Port Peril.
  ADDITIONAL RULES
  The Skull & Shackles Adventure Path makes use of several 
  new rules subsystems.
  Plunder, Disrepute, and Infamy: The rules for plunder 
  and Infamy may be found in “The Life of a Pirate” in 
  Pathfinder Adventure Path #55: The Wormwood Mutiny.
  Ship-to-Ship Combat: Sample ship stat bocks, as well 
  as detailed rules for handling combat between ships, are 
  presented in the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide, available 
  for free at paizo.com.
  Fleet Battles: Rules for building fleets and fighting mass-
  scale naval conflicts appear in this volume on page 62.
  Adventure BAckgrOund
  Captain Barnabas Harrigan’s loss to his upstart former 
  crew members in the Free Captains’ Regatta churned in his 
  craw like the fury of the Eye of Abendego itself. Robbed of 
  his prize and disgraced by the defeat, he grew determined 
  to avenge himself. While the PCs busied themselves with 
  the exploration and conquest of the Island of Empty Eyes, 
  Harrigan got to the task of bolstering his fleet in order to 
  sail against the PCs and take their newly claimed prize by 
  force. But revenge against the PCs is only the beginning of 
  Harrigan’s treachery. 
  Meanwhile, Tessa Fairwind continued her hunt to root 
  out traitorous pirate lords in the Shackles, possibly even 
  within the Pirate Council itself. Despite her work, her 
  well-founded suspicions remain poorly placed, for the real 
  traitor, Barnabas Harrigan, lurks outside the Council’s 
  inner circle. Few suspect that Harrigan, believed by so 
  many to be a scourge of the Chelish navy, is in fact deep in 
  Cheliax’s pocket and has been for several months. After 
  he was captured by Admiral Druvalia Thrune of Cheliax, 
  craven Harrigan bartered for his life by offering to serve 
  as her primary secret agent the Shackles. At present, 
  Harrigan’s forces now swell with Chelaxians disguised as 
  hostages or low-life pirates. What most believe to be his 
  recent spate of victories over Chelish merchant ships are 
  actually carefully orchestrated performances, fake battles 
  with dummy ships. Harrigan’s “seizures” of Chelish 
  plunder and slaves allow his allies to covertly supply 
  him with men, ships, and funding while bolstering his 
  appearance as a sworn enemy of Cheliax.
  As his apparent victories over Cheliax bolster his 
  infamy, Harrigan has come to realize that with such 
  notoriety comes unwanted attention, and in order to 
  distract his enemies long enough for Cheliax’s plans 
  to play out, he’s decided to create dissent and suspicion 
  between the various Free Captains. Some of his agents 
  scoured their crews for stooges willing to sell their 
  captains’ secrets. In other cases, he paid large sums in 
  “stolen” Chelish coin to ruin more powerful rivals by 
  planting false evidence to imply their own involvement 
  in traitorous acts against the Pirate Council. The most 
  prominent of his brazenly selected targets was Arronax 
  Endymion, the lord of Hell Harbor. Now, with the Pirate 
  Council fearfully rooting through its ranks in search of 
  traitors, Harrigan has one last obstacle in his path before 
  he calls down the Chelish Armada upon the Shackles—
  his onetime swabs and riggers, the PCs.
  advenTure Summary
  After earning their seats on the Pirate Council, the PCs 
  attend their first meeting of the council only to learn 
  from a friend that their old nemesis Barnabas Harrigan 
  is preparing for an all-out attack on their new home. h
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  The Pirate Council meets in a large chamber located 
  in Fort Hazard itself. The Hurricane King typically sits 
  at the head of a long oaken table in an overly ostentatious 
  chair with a high back carved with images of sea monsters 
  coiled around ships, while 30 smaller, less extravagant 
  but still rather comfortable chairs are positioned around 
  the table (15 to a side). No one sits at the far end of the 
  table, where a second enormous chair sits—this chair is 
  reserved for Besmara herself, should she ever decide to 
  attend. Food and alcohol are served in quantity during a 
  Pirate Council—the meal is quite fine, serving almost as 
  a bribe to encourage the pirate lords to attend in the first 
  place. Several other, smaller tables sit against the walls 
  of the room—these are for minor pirate lords who do not 
  actually have votes, but who are still welcome to provide 
  feedback and opinions during the meeting.
  A typical council meeting begins a half-hour before the 
  food and rum is served—and typically lasts a half-hour 
  after the meal begins and the effects of the rich repast 
  and fine rum begin to have their effects. Eventually, the 
  Hurricane King calls the council to an end by rising and 
  declaring the meeting adjourned, usually leaving more 
  than a few agenda items on the table for the next meeting.
  During a Pirate Council, the chairs at the central 
  table are reserved for pirate lords who have full votes. 
  Depending upon the PCs’ success in “Island of Empty 
  Eyes,” they may have one vote, no votes, or they might 
  have all earned voting rights. If the PCs have only one 
  vote, only one of them is allowed a seat at the table, while 
  all others must sit at the smaller tables.
  For this meeting, there are only 11 pirate lords 
  attending, leaving 20 chairs empty (some of which may 
  well be filled by PC pirate lords, of course). These include 
  Tessa Fairwind, Arronax Endymion, and the Master of 
  the Gales. In addition, the three pirate lords who were 
  sent to the Island of Empty Eyes to observe the PCs are 
  here—Avimar Sorrinash, Cerise Bloodmourn, and Mase 
  Darimar. A few other pirate lords the PCs may or may 
  not know are in attendance as well: Delemona Burie, 
  Hardluck Massey, Jolis Raffles, and Wide Olga. Hurricane 
  King Kerdak Bonefist, of course, sits at the head of the 
  table. You can use the “Scourges of the Shackles” article 
  from Pathfinder #57 to round out who is in attendance if 
  you wish (all of the pirate lords listed in that article have 
  votes on the council), although if you do, you’ll need to 
  adjust the vote counts as appropriate.
  The issues up for vote are detailed below. Each topic 
  has a champion for and against, along with arguments as 
  to why the council should vote aye or nay on the topic. In 
  each case, you can allow the PCs to state their opinions 
  on the matter at hand as they wish in order to try to sway 
  the voting. Once they’re done and all the pirates have had 
  a chance to have their say, Bonefist calls for a vote of ayes 
  and nays, which are tallied and recorded by his first mate 
  Tsadok Goldtooth. 
  To influence a vote, a PC must make a Bluff, 
  Diplomacy, or Intimidate check. The DC of this check 
  varies between issues, but with a successful check, the PC 
  can sway the votes by 1 in a direction of his choice (aye 
  or nay), effectively moving one vote from one side to the 
  other. Each issue may be influenced up to 3 times in this 
  manner (once with a Bluff check, once with a Diplomacy 
  check, and once with an Intimidate check)—additional 
  characters can aid another on these checks. The PCs 
  can also rely upon their reputations to influence the 
  voting as well—by spending a point of Disrepute, they 
  can shift a single vote from one side to the other. Unlike 
  the skill checks, there’s no limit to the number of votes 
  they can adjust by spending Disrepute save for their total 
  Disrepute available to spend.
  Once the PCs have made any attempts they wish to 
  influence votes, the actual voting takes place. Adjust the 
  issue’s votes by the total votes necessary (as determined by 
  the results of influencing attempts), shifting votes from 
  one side to the other as appropriate, then call for the 
  voting PCs to cast their votes before revealing the final 
  results. Each issue has an Aye/Nay result listed so you can 
  track the repercussions of the voting over the rest of the 
  Adventure Path.
  FIREARMS IN THE 
  PRICE OF INFAMY
  Firearms are rare on Golarion, and as a result, firearms do 
  not appear in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path until 
  the final adventure. If firearms play a more prominent 
  role in your campaign, however, you can use the following 
  suggestions to modify “The Price of Infamy” to incorporate 
  them. See Ultimate Combat for details on all of these 
  firearms and more.
  The best opportunities to introduce firearms into “The 
  Price of Infamy” come in Part Four (although you could 
  certainly have “Barracuda” Aiger’s ships be outfitted with 
  cannon if you wish at the end of Part Three). Consider 
  giving Kipper a +1 flaming musket instead of a longbow; 
  he may even have taken a few levels of gunslinger rather 
  than rogue levels since the last time the PCs met him. The 
  light ballistae at Harrigan’s fortress can easily be turned 
  into cannons—if you do so, make sure to give the fortress 
  a supply of cannon balls and gunpowder (likely stored 
  in area E2). Harrigan himself should be given a pistol of 
  some type—he still prefers to fight with his sword, but 
  can start a battle with a shot or two!
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  Issue #1: Increased Shares for the Island of Empty Eyes
  Summary Normally, a new pirate lord earns only a quarter 
  share of the tithes from Sargava, but some of the pirate 
  lords (Arronax, Delemona, the Master of the Gales, and 
  Tessa) are impressed enough with the PCs that they think 
  the PCs should earn full shares.
  Champion Tessa Fairwind (believes the PCs are worthy of 
  a full share of the tithe, rather than the standard quarter 
  share for new Lords)
  Opponent Kerdak Bonefist (isn’t impressed with the PCs and 
  thinks they should go through the same multiyear proving 
  period as other new pirate lords in order to earn a full share)
  VOTING
  Influence DC 28
  Initial Votes 4 aye/7 nay
  REPERCUSSIONS
  Aye The PCs earn a full share of the most recent Sargavan 
  Tithe (this amounts to an immediate payment of 12,000 gp 
  to the party).
  Nay The PCs earn a quarter share of the most recent Sargavan 
  Tithe (this amounts to an immediate payment of 3,000 gp 
  to the party).
  Issue #2: Use of Sargavan Tithe for Public Works
  Summary The bulk of the funds from the Sargavan Tithe are 
  supposed to go toward the improvement and port defense 
  of Port Peril, as well as upgrading the Shackles’ fleet, but 
  Cerise Bloodmourn, ever eager to curry favor, pushes 
  instead to have a large amount of the funds go toward the 
  creation of towering statues in all of the Shackles’ major 
  ports in honor of the Hurricane King.
  Champion Cerise Bloodmourn (argues that placing the visage 
  of “our tremendous leader” in every port will only increase 
  the infamy of the Shackles)
  Opponent Master of the Gales (the only pirate who’s not 
  afraid enough of the Hurricane King to openly point out 
  how ridiculous a waste of money such a venture would be)
  VOTING
  Influence DC 32
  Initial Votes 10 aye/1 nay
  REPERCUSSIONS
  Aye A fair amount of resources go toward the erection of 
  several statues over the next several months (the DC to 
  increase sale of plunder increases by +5 for the remainder 
  of the campaign, and all prices associated with hiring 
  squadrons increase by +25%).
  Nay Spending of the tithe is handled normally (no change 
  to resources).
  Issue #3: Declaration of Rights of Salvage
  Summary With all the whispering and stories being told of 
  the Isle of the Black Tower and the magical sword Aiger’s 
  Kiss that is said to be lost inside, Avimar Sorrinash wants 
  Ollo to be granted salvage rights over the island and its 
  waters, as Ollo is the closest significant settlement to the 
  isle in question.
  Champion Avimar Sorrinash (asks for a 20% tithe of all 
  plunder taken from the isle over the next 12 months)
  Opponent Jolis Raffles (still bitter about a similar request he 
  made for a different island during the last council meeting 
  being voted down, and doesn’t think it’s fair for other 
  pirates to succeed where he did not)
  VOTING
  Influence DC 20
  Initial Votes 6 aye/5 nay
  REPERCUSSIONS
  Aye Avimar earns his requested tithe (if the PCs don’t pay him 
  20% of the total value of treasure they take from the Isle of 
  the Black Tower in Part Three, Avimar becomes their bitter 
  enemy and may even sail out to Gannet Island in Part Four 
  to join forces with Harrigan against the PCs).
  Nay The Isle of the Black Tower remains in a “finders-keepers” 
  state and any plunder and loot taken from the isle requires 
  no tithe at all.
  VOTING PIRATE LORDS
  Name 
  Stats 
  Home Port 
  Affectations
  Arronax Endymion 
  NE male human 
  Hell Harbor 
  Hates Cheliax, paranoid, sullen, troubled
  Avimar Sorrinash 
  CE male human werewolf 
  Ollo 
  Bloodthirsty, blunt, lustful, short-temper
  Cerise Bloodmourn 
  CN female human 
  Quent 
  Ambitious, clever, manipulative
  Delemona Burie 
  CG female human 
  Lilywhite 
  Anti-slavery, entertaining, well-spoken
  Hardluck Massey 
  CN male human 
  Pex 
  Cigar smoker, quick-tempered, swaggers
  Jolis Raffles 
  CN male halfling 
  Slipcove 
  Enjoys comfort, kind of lazy, reactionary
  Kerdak Bonefist 
  NE male human 
  Port Peril 
  Arrogant, bone hand, carries pistol
  Mase Darimar 
  CN male half-aquatic elf 
  Drenchport 
  Loves the sea, observant, quiet, secretive
  Master of the Gales 
  CN male human 
  Drenchport 
  Eerie, middle-aged, mysterious
  Tessa Fairwind 
  CN female half-elf 
  Quent 
  Flirty, friendly, stubborn, swashbuckler
  Wide Olga 
  CN female human 
  Oyster Cay 
  Foul-mouthed, stocky build, toothy grin
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  Issue #4: Declaration of Scags Rotgram as an Outlaw
  Summary Captain Barnabas Harrigan paid a hefty bribe to 
  Hardluck Massey to have this issue brought to the table—
  according to Harrigan, his former first mate Scags Rotgram 
  has been engaging in unsanctioned piracy against Sargavan 
  vessels. He wants Scags and his ship, the Devilish Duchess, 
  to be declared outlaw.
  Champion Hardluck Massey (has no true loyalty to 
  Harrigan, and only brought this before the council 
  because he was bribed)
  Opponent Kerdak Bonefist (regards this as merely the latest 
  example of Harrigan’s increasingly poor attitude and not 
  worthy of the council’s time)
  VOTING
  Influence DC 22
  Initial Votes 5 aye/6 nay
  REPERCUSSIONS
  Aye Scags Rotgram is declared outlaw—a 5,000 gp bounty 
  is placed on his head (this bounty can be collected at Port 
  Peril if the PCs find Scags in Part Two and collect his head).
  Nay No bounty is placed on Scags Rotgram’s head.
  Issue #5: Funding and Support for Chelish Investigations
  Summary Tessa Fairwind reveals to the council the results 
  of her research into the possibility that there’s a Chelish 
  sympathizer and traitor among the pirate lords, based in 
  large part on the clues and intelligence the PCs recovered 
  for her during “Tempest Rising.”
  Champion Arronax Endymion (some might think he’s a 
  bit too quick to push for an increase in the funding and 
  support for finding a Chelish spy, prompting several 
  pirates to wryly observe, “Well, ain’t that the pot calling 
  the kettle black!” or “Don’t they call Hell Harbor ‘Little 
  Cheliax’?” or the like—comments that put Arronax into a 
  sullen and foul mood)
  Opponent Kerdak Bonefist (secretly would rather those funds 
  go to building statues for him, or barring that, just padding 
  his treasury—he refuses to entertain the thought that 
  Cheliax honestly poses a threat to the Shackles)
  VOTING
  Influence DC 30
  Initial Votes 4 aye/7 nay
  REPERCUSSIONS
  Aye Tessa gets the funding and support she needs to make it 
  more difficult for Cheliax to support their agent by forcing 
  them to spend more time and effort on maintaining their 
  cover. When the PCs reach Part Four of this adventure, 
  they won’t face additional Chelish support in Harrigan’s 
  fleet or fortress.
  Nay Without the council authorizing additional support and 
  funding for the investigations, Cheliax can supply Harrigan 
  with extra troops and ships, increasing his fleet and fortress 
  defenses as detailed in “Additional Support” on page 35.
  Story Award: Each issue the PCs can get resolved in 
  their favor earns them an award of 3,200 XP.
  TeSSa’S Warning
  After Issue #5 is voted upon, Kerdak Bonefist’s patience 
  for bureaucracy wears out. Although a dozen topics were 
  on the agenda, the fifth issue annoys Bonefist enough 
  that he calls the meeting to a close, citing a desire to visit 
  his lovely consort for some “comfort in arms.” The other 
  pirates, already feeling the effects of the food and grog, 
  are for the most part eager to comply, and quickly vacate 
  Fort Hazard, heading back to their ships to return home.
  As she leaves the harbor in her ship Luck of the Draw, 
  Tessa Fairwind sends the PCs a silver raven figurine of 
  wondrous power, which is waiting for the PCs aboard their 
  ship with a message from its mistress clenched in its 
  beak. This message is reproduced as the Player Handout 
  on page 11.
  Building a FleeT
  The amount of time the PCs have to build their fleet 
  is left to you—Captain Harrigan’s preparations for his 
  attack on the PCs’ island are hindered by his own bad 
  attitude and the necessity of splitting his resources 
  between serving his Chelish masters, disciplining his 
  crew, and enjoying bottles of fine brandy and rum.
  You should let the players study the rules for f leet 
  battles at this point (found on pages 62–69 of this 
  volume); this will allow them to plan for their f leet 
  and determine who and what they want to recruit. The 
  PCs can either attempt to hire mercenary squadrons or 
  recruit existing allies into their f leet. Both methods 
  of building a f leet are detailed below. Keep in mind 
  that the maximum number of squadrons in a f leet is 
  determined by the PCs’ Infamy score, modified by the 
  Charisma modifier of the admiral put in command of 
  the f leet.
  merCenary SquadronS
  Hiring a squadron of mercenaries requires at least one 
  PC to spend 1d4 days in a port no smaller than a large 
  town (with a minimum population of 2,001)—smaller 
  settlements simply don’t have enough mercenaries to 
  round out an entire squadron of ships without several 
  weeks, or even months, of work. Only five settlements in 
  the Shackles meet this requirement: Drenchport, Hell 
  Harbor, Ollo, Port Peril, and Quent, effectively giving the 
  PCs a total of five opportunities to recruit mercenaries.
  Recruiting mercenaries requires a Bluff, Diplomacy, or 
  Intimidate check—additional PCs can aid another with 
  DC 10 checks of their own to help the primary recruiter’s 
  check. The exact skill used to hire a mercenary sqaudron 
  makes little difference—stats for squadrons that are 
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  tricked, sweet-talked, or press-ganged into service are 
  all essentially the same. The DC to recruit a mercenary 
  squadron is 30. Failure brings no penalty other than time 
  wasted. All squadrons recruited have identical statistics 
  with average commodores (NPCs with a Charisma 
  modifier of +0, allowing a mercenary squadron to have 
  a maximum of 3 ships). Once a mercenary squadron is 
  recruited from a port, a new mercenary squadron cannot 
  be recruited from that port for 1d4+4 weeks—likely too 
  long a wait for the PCs.
  A mercenary squadron expects to be paid for their 
  work. Hiring a mercenary squadron also involves paying 
  for a significant part of the ships as well, be it repair 
  work, bribes to the owners, or the outright purchase of 
  ships. Paying for a mercenary squadron isn’t cheap—
  it costs either 40,000 gp or 40 points of plunder. If the 
  PCs pay with plunder, they can also spend Disrepute to 
  reduce the price—1 point of Disrepute lowers the price of 
  a squadron by 5 points of plunder (to a minimum cost of 
  25 points of plunder).
  Even when paid, a mercenary squadron takes a –2 penalty 
  on morale checks—such squadrons are notoriously prone 
  to mutiny.
  A mercenary squadron remains part of a fleet only 
  until the first significant battle—if the PCs wish to keep 
  that fleet for a later battle, they must pay the squadron’s 
  cost again.
  Statistics for a mercenary squadron are given below. If 
  the PCs wish to increase the size of a squadron by adding 
  a ship or ships of their own, they’ll need to replace the 
  squadron’s commodore with someone more charismatic, 
  such as a PC or an NPC ally. Adding ships, of course, 
  increases the cost of a fleet as appropriate.
  Mercenary Squadron
  Configuration 3 sailing ships or 3 longships (recruiter’s choice)
  Commodore Mercenary Captain (Profession [sailor] +10, 
  Charisma modifier +0)
  Hits 9; Morale 3
  Defense Value 20
  Attack Value +10; Damage 1d6+3
  Morale Check –2
  Story Award: Award the PCs 1,200 XP for successfully 
  recruiting a mercenary fleet—this award may be earned 
  up to five times (once per port).
  My friends! It pains me to darken your accomplishments, but I feel I must.
  Despite your triumphs of late, there remain those who do not accept you as deserving of the prize 
  you have been awarded. If you expect to keep your isle, you’ll need to fight for it. Even as I pen this 
  warning, know that your old nemesis Barnabas Harrigan is bolstering his own fleet, funded through 
  his recent spate of successes raiding the Chelish shipping lanes.
  And he will come for you as soon as he is ready.
  War is coming to the Shackles, whether Bonefist wants to admit it or not. We have a traitor, or 
  perhaps traitors, in our midst, and when the Chelish navy sails south, it will divide us through our own 
  greed and betrayal if we are not ready.
  I intend to survive this war—and to do so, I need all the help I can get. I hope to see you survive 
  as well, but to do that, you must gather a fleet. In time, I will join my resources to yours, but for the 
  immediate future I must retain a low profile—I fear I have drawn too much attention to my plans 
  already. Hire mercenaries if you must, but seek out friends and allies if you can—they will serve 
  better than those bought with coin. Bolstering your infamy can only help as well—some of the topics 
  that came up in the council meeting seemed to me good places to start. Looting the Black Tower and 
  recovering the sword Aiger’s Kiss from within would certainly increase your fame, and if you can 
  track down Scags Rotgram... well, an old mate of Harrigan’s could be an invaluable ally, especially 
  if he knows something about Harrigan’s weaknesses!
  Until I contact you again, keep the silver raven figurine as proof of my word. Sell it off if you wish... 
  after that party you threw at your fortress, I suspect you might need the spare coin to help pay for 
  the fleet you’ll soon need!
  —Tessa
  Player Handout 
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  reCruiTing allieS
  The wisdom of recruiting allies to build a fleet should 
  become clear to the PCs soon after they learn about the 
  prices for mediocre mercenary squadrons—certainly, 
  Tessa’s advice for the PCs to do so is sound. Which allies 
  the PCs might be able to turn to will vary from campaign to 
  campaign—three sample allies are listed below. You can use 
  these allies as templates to generate additional recruitment 
  opportunities as appropriate for your campaign.
  Recruiting an ally’s squadron has two significant 
  advantages over mercenary squadrons—no check is needed 
  to recruit them, they do not cost money to recruit or 
  retrain, and they have stronger squadrons. The only major 
  disadvantage is that an allied squadron, if destroyed, cannot 
  be replaced.
  Each entry below lists the NPC’s current location—
  the PCs must travel to that location to recruit the NPC 
  and her fleet. A successful DC 15 Knowledge (local) check 
  or Diplomacy check to gather information is enough to 
  determine the current whereabouts of these NPCs if the PCs 
  haven’t kept track on their own. The entries also include 
  the name of the NPC’s squadron and its statistics. In many 
  cases, the Profession (sailor) skills of these NPC commodores 
  have increased from their original score, to reflect their 
  experience since the PCs last encountered them.
  Note that if one of the NPCs on the list below has been 
  traveling with the PCs for the campaign, or if that NPC 
  perished earlier in the campaign, he or she cannot provide 
  a fleet for the PCs. In this case, you can replace one or more 
  of such characters with other NPCs from earlier in the 
  campaign, such as Lady Agasta Smythee or others.
  Merrill Pegsworthy (Firegrass Isle—Goatshead): Still 
  somewhat bitter about his situation, Merrill Pegsworthy 
  was drawn to Goatshead on Firegarass Isle after hearing 
  about how highly freedom is valued there. Since he last 
  saw the PCs in Pathfinder #56, he’s become rather well 
  liked, and can field a squadron of three sailing ships (he 
  sold one of the ships he originally had) with particularly 
  high-spirited crews that gain a +4 bonus to their initial 
  Morale scores and a +2 bonus on morale checks.
  Drale’s Eagles
  Configuration 3 sailing ships
  Commodore Merrill Pegsworthy (Profession [sailor] +12, 
  Charisma modifier +0)
  Hits 9; Morale 7
  Defense Value 22
  Attack Value +12; Damage 1d6+3
  Morale Check +2
  Pierce Jerrell (Port Peril): Pierce Jerrell hasn’t gone far 
  from where the PCs first encountered him in Pathfinder 
  Adventure Path #57. He is still in Port Peril, and even more 
  conveniently, has stumbled into a bit of good luck—he 
  recently won six fine Ulfen longships in a high-stakes 
  game of towers, as well as a fair amount of gold—more 
  than enough to hire crews for these ships.
  Lucky Gamble Squadron
  Configuration 6 longships
  Commodore Pierce Jerrell (Profession [sailor] +11, Charisma 
  modifier +3)
  Hits 18; Morale 3
  Defense Value 21
  Attack Value +11; Damage 1d6+6
  Morale Check +3
  Sandara Quinn (Besmara’s Throne—Queen Bes): The 
  PCs first encountered Sandara Quinn while press-ganged 
  aboard the Wormwood in Pathfinder Adventure Path #55. If she’s 
  not been traveling with the PCs since then, she’s made the 
  pilgrimage to Besmara’s Throne and has risen quickly in the 
  ranks of the church. By the time the PCs contact her again, 
  she has a squadron of five warships under her command.
  Queen Bes’s Own Squadron
  Configuration 5 warships
  Commodore Sandara Quinn (Profession [sailor] +14, Charisma 
  modifier +2)
  Hits 20; Morale 3
  Defense Value 24
  Attack Value +14; Damage 1d6+5
  Morale Check +2
  Story Award: Award the PCs 4,800 XP for successfully 
  recruiting an ally’s fleet.
  Clearing endymion’S name
  As the PCs build their fleet, word of what they’re doing 
  spreads through the Shackles. At some point during the 
  adventure before Part Four (preferably after the PCs have 
  started recruiting squadrons but haven’t yet filled up 
  their fleet), when the PCs are visiting a port looking for 
  recruits, they are approached by a well-dressed man who 
  introduces himself as Chambros Egrossa, first mate of 
  the Tyrannous. A successful DC 12 Knowledge (local) check 
  is enough to recognize the Tyrannous as the flagship of 
  Arronax Endymion, former admiral of the Chelish navy 
  and lord of Hell Harbor.
  Chambros apologizes for interrupting the PCs, then 
  informs them that his captain, Arronax Endymion, would 
  like to speak with them aboard his ship, which awaits 
  them in the port. If asked why, Chambros apologizes 
  again, saying Admiral Endymion didn’t give him the 
  details, only that he wanted to speak to the PCs about a 
  mutually beneficial arrangement that would see their 
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  GameMastery Flip-Mat: Waterfront Tavern
  Theater of Corruption
  1 square = 5 feet
  fleet gain some significant support. As a show of good 
  faith, Chambros presents the PCs with a small wooden 
  chest as a gift of solidarity, one that the PCs can keep 
  even if they do not accompany him back to the Tyrannous. 
  Inside the chest is 200 pp. The implication is clear that if 
  the PCs accept the gift but do not go to the Tyrannous to 
  hear Endymion out, they’ll lose an important potential 
  ally. However, Endymion is eager enough to meet the PCs 
  that he’ll agree to meet them aboard their ship or on land 
  if they wish—in such a case he brings six stalwart pirates 
  with him as an honor guard (use the stats for smugglers 
  on page 41 for these pirates).
  Arronax Endymion is detailed on page 56. He greets 
  the PCs with a hearty salutation, but seems worried and 
  distracted. Nevertheless, he gets right to the point.
  “I know you and your ally Lady Fairwind have been rooting 
  about for Chelish conspirators. You’ve doubtless heard the 
  rumors that I’m one of those conspirators as a result. I assure 
  you that nothing could be further from the truth—my hatred 
  of Cheliax and her devil-besotted fools plumbs deeper than any 
  well of loathing in the Shackles. But still, the rumors persist—
  in fact, they’ve been spreading of late in my own home port 
  of Hell Harbor. I wish these rumors squashed, but to do so, I 
  need your aid. I cannot directly move against the source of this 
  latest campaign of falsehoods against me, but if you do this for 
  me—if you teach these slanderers a lesson, I’ll reward you with 
  a squadron of my finest warships.”
  If the PCs express interest, Endymion goes on to 
  explain that the slanderers in question are a small group 
  of exiled Chelish performers who have purchased a 
  seaside tavern and have been using it as a cover for their 
  campaign against him. Their performances are quite 
  popular among the citizens of Hell Harbor, and by the 
  time Endymion realized it was they who were slandering 
  him, any overt move he made against the troupe would 
  only martyr them and “prove” his guilt, since it would 
  look like he was attempting to crush those attempting to 
  get the truth out. But if an apparently nonallied group 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  were to infiltrate the theater and reveal the truth, his 
  name would be cleared.
  If the PCs confront Endymion with evidence they may 
  have uncovered that implicates him, he curses and denies 
  any involvement, saying, “Prime examples of their work! 
  You see the nature of the vilification I’m up against!” He 
  wants the PCs to sail to Hell Harbor and to investigate 
  the troupe and find proof of their work against him, or 
  at the very least, proof that they are Chelish agents. If no 
  such proof can be found, then no harm is done, for Hell 
  Harbor has no shortage of entertainers.
  Assuming the PCs agree to do this task, Endymion invites 
  them to visit his manor once the matter is settled and he’ll 
  reward the PCs with the squadron of ships he promised.
  The TheaTer oF CorruPTion
  Endymion gives the PCs an address for the old waterfront 
  tavern his enemies have converted over to a makeshift 
  theater, but requests that the PCs time their investigation 
  of the site for the late night or early morning. Not only 
  does this have a good chance of catching those within off 
  guard, but it minimizes collateral damage—Endymion 
  does not want any locals harmed in the pursuit of 
  revealing the truth.
  The tavern has been renamed the “Theater of 
  Corruption” by the performers, who are a trio of Chelish 
  expatriates sent to the Shackles by Admiral Druvalia 
  Thrune to wage a war of misinformation designed to 
  draw attention away from Harrigan and his activities. She 
  charged the troupe (which consists of the Chelish diva 
  Isawyn, a tiefling illusionist named Lady Nightshade, 
  and a showboating barbarian named Gorebeard Trench) 
  with choosing a high-profile lord to target with their 
  slander. The troupe chose Endymion after discovering 
  the pirate lord already had a fair amount of rumors about 
  supposed Chelish sympathies.
  The Theater of Corruption is both a cover for the 
  troupe’s actual efforts and a way for them to make a 
  little extra money, while protecting themselves from 
  direct reprisal from Endymion in a cloak of popularity. 
  Deliberately delving into abstract reworkings of ancient 
  Chelish theater, Isawyn creates disturbing operatic 
  comedies featuring dark fiends as protagonists and 
  mortal antagonists who embroil themselves in sins and 
  deviltry. As a result, the antagonist suffers ironic or 
  tragic loss, deformity, and most commonly damnation. 
  Isawyn’s new theater has raised quite a stir, even within 
  the hardened port of Hell Harbor.
  As long as the PCs approach the tavern between the 
  hours of 3:00 in the morning and noon, they find the 
  site to be relatively deserted. Although the tavern looks 
  run down, the doors and windows are all kept locked, 
  requiring a successful DC 25 Disable Device check to open.
  a deviliSh deCePTion (Cr 11)
  Creature: While the troupe sleeps inside the Theater of 
  Corruption, a barbed devil watches over the building, 
  crouched atop the tavern under the cloak of invisibility 
  granted by its ring. The devil was called up via a planar 
  binding spell cast by Lady Nightshade and charged with 
  watching over the tavern—the troupe has been expecting 
  Endymion to send mercenaries against them for some time.
  If the devil notices anyone snooping around during the 
  off hours, it uses major image to confront the PCs with an 
  illusion of a heavily armored guard who steps out from 
  behind a corner to accost them loudly. The illusory guard 
  demands the PCs’ names, then orders them to move 
  along—stating that this building is under the personal 
  protection of Lord Endymion himself. If the PCs persist, 
  the guard calls out an alarm (which does little more than 
  alert the troupe inside of trouble—they react as detailed 
  in their “before combat” tactics), and then attacks. The 
  barbed devil hopes to get the PCs to waste a few resources 
  on the illusion, and once the PCs realize the truth, the devil 
  attacks from the roof above with unholy blight. He cackles, 
  and as ordered by Lady Nightshade (in an attempt to further 
  confuse intruders who she suspects will have been sent 
  by Endymion), shrieks out in Common, “Lord Endymion 
  sends you his regards, fools... now die at his command!” The 
  devil then leaps down to attack, fighting to the death.
  Barbed Devil 
  CR 11
  XP 12,800
  hp 138 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 72)
  Treasure: The barbed devil wears a ring of invisibility.
  The TrouPe (Cr 13)
  Creatures: The troupe of performers at the Theater of 
  Corruption consists of three hardened adventurers who 
  have been in the employ of Cheliax’s Thrice-Damned 
  House of Thrune for many years, working as slanderers, 
  destroyers of reputations, and spreaders of propaganda 
  and misinformation. They prefer to undertake these 
  missions, which can last months or even years, under the 
  cover of a performing troupe of actors, moving in much 
  as they have done in Hell Harbor: buying a small tavern 
  or theater, and using that to explain their long-term 
  presence in the region rather than risk their true purpose 
  becoming known.
  When the PCs confront the three, they do not waste 
  time trying to trick the PCs into thinking they’ve been 
  duped—the slanderers would rather press the advantage 
  as best they can and attack at once, hopefully killing the 
  PCs quickly so that they can loot them and have their 
  bodies disposed of before their first show of the day just 
  after noon.
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  Isawyn
  Isawyn handles the directing of the troupe’s 
  performances and functions as its public face. As a result, 
  she also considers herself the leader of the group, although 
  she’s always careful to frame this role to the others in a 
  way that makes them feel more like equals than minions. 
  Isawyn is secretly somewhat bitter about her role as the 
  leader of the troupe—she would much prefer a role as a 
  true Chelish diva in a grand opera house in Egorian, and 
  sees her current service to Thrune as merely another 
  stepping stone in that direction.
  Lady Nightshade serves as the troupe’s 
  magical support, be that a need for 
  “special effects”—illusions or summoned 
  monsters to play the role of victims 
  in their performances—or a need for 
  the same to play the role of thugs and 
  minions in battle. Nightshade’s ancestry 
  carries a strong dose of urdefhan blood. 
  These eerie, half-daemonic creatures 
  dwell in the deepest reaches of the 
  Darklands, and she’s inherited their 
  disturbing trait of transparent skin 
  and musculature. She appears 
  as a skeleton wrapped in a 
  woman’s translucent flesh, and 
  as such tends to stay behind the 
  scenes during performances so 
  as to not distract the audience.
  Gorebeard Trench is the 
  troupe’s violent, murderous star. 
  Many of the performances involve 
  nothing more than this savage barbarian 
  mutilating himself, summoned creatures, 
  or in rare cases, “volunteers” from the 
  audience. In the latter cases, Isawyn does 
  her best to prevent death, but at times 
  Gorebeard gets carried away. He ends 
  most of his performances by soaking his 
  scab-crusted beard in fresh blood. Of 
  the three, Gorebeard is perhaps the only 
  one who tends to get mixed up whether 
  he’s “in character” or not, and in fights tends 
  to showboat and revel in the carnage. His 
  latest obsession is with pirates—he wears his 
  pirate outfit all the time, and has been seriously 
  considering self-amputation so he can wear a peg 
  leg or a hook hand.
  Isawyn 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Female human bard (Chelish diva) 10 (Pathfinder 
  Campaign Setting Inner Sea Magic 32)
  LE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +2; Senses Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, 
  +2 shield)
  hp 108 (10d8+60)
  Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +9; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-
  dependent, and sonic
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 keen rapier +10/+5 (1d6+2/15–20)
  Ranged mwk composite shortbow +10/+5 (1d6+1/×3)
  Special Attacks bardic performance 26 rounds/day (move 
  action, countersong, devastating aria, distraction, 
  fascinate, inspire courage +2, inspire greatness, scathing 
  tirade, suggestion)
  Bard Spells Known (CL 10th; concentration +14)
  4th (2/day)—dimension door, dominate person 
  (DC 18)
  3rd (4/day)—confusion (DC 17), crushing despair 
  (DC 17), dispel magic, haste
  2nd (5/day)—cure moderate wounds, detect 
  thoughts (DC 16), invisibility, sound burst (DC 16), 
  whispering wind
  1st (6/day)—animate rope, cure light wounds, 
  disguise self (DC 15), unseen servant, 
  ventriloquism (DC 15)
  0 (at will)—light, mage hand, mending, 
  open/close, prestidigitation, read magic
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Isawyn casts 
  unseen servant at the start of every 
  day. She drinks a potion of bear’s 
  endurance just before combat.
  During Combat Isawyn activates her bardic 
  performance to inspire courage, then casts 
  invisibility and uses haste and healing magic 
  to aid Gorebeard and any summoned 
  monsters. She uses her unseen servant to 
  open and close doors, pick up fallen weapons, 
  and otherwise do small tasks during combat to 
  keep opponents on their toes and force them to 
  waste time with move actions to counter these 
  minor inconveniences. She targets the most 
  heavily armored foe with dominate person and 
  orders that person to strip out of his armor, drop 
  his weapons, and then stand patiently in the 
  corner of the room. If the battle turns bad, she 
  risks ordering the dominated person to attack 
  her enemies with his bare hands. If a foe 
  looks like he’s only a few points away from 
  being knocked unconscious, Isawyn uses 
  devastating aria to try to knock him out 
  with the damage it causes.
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  Lady Nightshade
  Morale Isawyn doesn’t want to die here; she casts dimension 
  door to escape into the surrounding slums if reduced to 
  fewer than 15 hit points. Isawyn holds grudges, however, 
  and having heard of the PCs’ infamous grudge against 
  Harrigan, she seeks him out and joins him in defending 
  his island if she can escape.
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 18
  Base Atk +7; CMB +8; CMD 21
  Feats Arcane Strike, Dodge, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perform 
  [sing]), Toughness, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +17, Bluff +23, Fly +17, Diplomacy 
  +17, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (local) +7, 
  Knowledge (nobility) +7, Linguistics +6, 
  Perform (dance) +17, Perform (oratory) +17, 
  Perform (sing) +23, Sense Motive +23, Sleight 
  of Hand +11
  Languages Common, Gnome, Goblin, Infernal, 
  Polyglot
  SQ costume proficiency, famous, jack-of-all-
  trades (use any skill), prima donna, versatile 
  performance (sing, dance, oratory)
  Combat Gear potions of bear’s 
  endurance (2); Other Gear +1 
  glamered breastplate, +1 buckler, 
  +1 keen rapier, masterwork 
  composite shortbow with 20 
  arrows, spell component pouch, 
  92 pp
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Bardic Performance—Devastating 
  Aria (Su) By spending 1 round of bardic 
  performance as a standard action, Isawyn can direct a 
  burst of sound at a target within 30 feet. This deals 1d4+10 
  points of sonic damage to an object, or half this amount 
  to a living creature.
  Bardic Performance—Scathing Tirade (Su) To affect a 
  creature with a scathing tirade, Isawyn must be within 30 
  feet of the target, who must be able to see and hear her. 
  The targeted creature becomes frightened (Will DC 19 
  reduces the effect to the shaken condition) for as long as 
  Isawyn continues the performance plus 1d4 rounds. This is 
  a mind-affecting fear effect.
  Costume Proficiency (Ex) Isawyn is proficient with medium 
  armor and can cast bard spells while wearing medium 
  armor without incurring arcane spell failure chance.
  Famous (Ex) Isawyn gains a +3 bonus on Bluff and Intimidate 
  checks made in and around certain parts of central 
  Cheliax—this ability is of little use to her at this time.
  Prima Donna (Ex) Isawyn can expend an extra round of bardic 
  performance to gain a +2 bonus on Perform checks or save 
  DCs to her countersong, fascinate, and scathing tirade 
  bardic performances.
  Lady Nightshade 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Female daemon-spawn tiefling illusionist 11 (Blood of Fiends 19)
  NE Medium outsider (native)
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 20 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +3 Dex, 
  +1 dodge, +4 shield)
  hp 107 (11d6+66)
  Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +11
  Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk dagger +6 (1d4/19–20)
  Tiefling Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; 
  concentration +10)
  1/day—death knell (DC 11)
  Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; 
  concentration +15)
  At will—invisibility field (11 rounds/day)
  7/day—blinding ray
  Illusionist Spells Prepared (CL 11th; 
  concentration +15)
  6th—quickened mirror image, 
  summon monster VI
  5th—persistent image (DC 19), 
  quickened shield, summon monster V
  4th—dimension door, greater 
  invisibility, phantasmal killer (DC 18), 
  summon monster IV (2)
  3rd—dispel magic, fly, lightning bolt (DC 17), 
  major image (DC 17) (2), summon monster III
  2nd—acid arrow, bear’s endurance, blur, glitterdust (DC 16), 
  invisibility, minor image (DC 16)
  1st—disguise self (DC 15), floating disc, mage armor, magic 
  missile (2), silent image (DC 15)
  0 (at will)—ghost sound (DC 14), mage hand, mending, open/
  close, prestidigitation
  Opposition Schools enchantment, necromancy
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Lady Nightshade casts bear’s endurance and 
  mage armor.
  During Combat Lady Nightshade hangs back from combat, 
  casting quickened shield and greater invisibility on the 
  first round and then using summon monster spells each 
  round thereafter. If her invisibility is countered, she casts 
  quickened mirror image on the next round, snapping her 
  fingers at the same time to also activate her contingency 
  spell of displacement.
  Morale Lady Nightshade abandons the troupe if reduced to 
  fewer than 15 hit points, using dimension door to escape into 
  Hell Harbor. After that, she does her best to avoid the PCs 
  and escape the Shackles.
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  Gorebeard Trench
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 8
  Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 21
  Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, 
  Mobility, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Silent Spell, Toughness
  Skills Disable Device +5, Disguise +10, Fly +17, Knowledge 
  (arcana) +18, Knowledge (history) +8, Knowledge (local) +8, 
  Knowledge (planes) +8, Perform (act) +7, Sleight of Hand +16, 
  Spellcraft +18
  Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Common, Gnome, Goblin, 
  Infernal, Polyglot
  SQ arcane bond (amulet), contingency (displacement 
  on self if she snaps her fingers as a free action), 
  extended illusions +5 rounds
  Combat Gear wand of grease (48 charges); 
  Other Gear masterwork dagger, cloak of 
  resistance +2, ring of protection +2, ring 
  of the ram (17 charges), spellbook, spell 
  component pouch, ivory statuette of 
  herself worth 1,500 gp, 328 gp
  Gorebeard Trench 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Male human barbarian (savage 
  barbarian) 11 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Advanced Player’s Guide 79)
  CE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +2; Senses Perception +15
  DEFENSE
  AC 25, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+3 armor,  
  +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 dodge, +4 natural, 
  –2 rage, +4 shield)
  hp 143 (11d12+66)
  Fort +11, Ref +5, Will +9; +2 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, naked courage +2, 
  natural toughness +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee unarmed strike +20/+15/+10 (1d3+9)
  Ranged improvised weapon +13 (1d4+9)
  Special Attacks greater rage (25 rounds/day), rage powers 
  (intimidating glare, powerful blow +3, raging leaper +11, rolling 
  dodge +2, unexpected strike), stunning fist (2/day, DC 16)
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Gorebeard drinks a potion of barkskin +2.
  During Combat Gorebeard rages, then charges the closest, 
  toughest-looking target, using Power Attack to gain a +6 
  bonus on damage rolls at the cost of a –3 penalty on attack 
  rolls. He uses Stunning Fist in the first 2 rounds of combat. 
  If he reduces a foe to fewer than 0 hit points, Gorebeard 
  must make a DC 20 Will save to resist the compulsion to 
  smear his beard in the victim’s blood on his next turn as a 
  move action—this provokes attacks of opportunity.
  Morale Gorebeard fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 29, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8
  Base Atk +11; CMB +20; CMD 34
  Feats Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Power 
  Attack, Stunning Fist, Throw Anything, Toughness
  Skills Acrobatics +15 (+19 when jumping), Intimidate +13, 
  Perception +15, Perform (act) +10, Swim +22
  Languages Common, Polyglot
  SQ fast movement
  Combat Gear potions of barkskin +2 (2); Other Gear 
  +2 heavy wooden shield, bracers of armor +3, ring of 
  protection +1, 593 gp
  Treasure: Once the troupe is defeated, a 
  search of the tavern finds 4,800 gp in coin 
  and jewelry (some of which was earned 
  honestly from patrons, but most of 
  which was pickpocketed by Lady 
  Nightshade). The search also turns 
  up plenty of evidence proving that 
  the three performers are Chelish 
  agents sent to the Shackles by 
  House Thrune specifically to 
  discredit Arronax Endymion. If 
  the PCs found evidence that cast 
  suspicion on Endymion in previous 
  adventures, they should also find clues 
  here that the evidence itself was created and 
  set into motion by these three conspirators.
  Development: If the PCs deliver the 
  proof of his innocence to Endymion, the 
  pirate lord thanks the PCs profusely. Although something 
  of a sadist and a murderer, Endymion is as good as his 
  word, and provides the PCs with a squadron of warships 
  captained by a snarling, scruffy, but quite compelling 
  commodore named Brok “Madshanks” Cordain.
  Madshank’s Marauders
  Configuration 5 warships
  Commodore Brok “Madshanks” Cordain (Profession [sailor] +15, 
  Charisma modifier +2)
  Hits 20; Morale 3
  Defense Value 25
  Attack Value +15; Damage 1d6+5
  Morale Check +2
  PArt tWO: islAnds Of the dAmned
  Beyond compelling them to build a f leet, Tessa’s initial 
  missive to the PCs suggested they seek out Barnabas 
  Harrigan’s former first mate, Scags Rotgram. This 
  advice is sound, for Harrigan’s method of command 
  relies on fear more than devotion or trust, and once 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  an officer escapes from under the man’s direct control, 
  few remain loyal for long. Unfortunately, regardless 
  of where the PCs start asking around for Scags, the 
  answers seem to be the same—none of Harrigan’s old 
  officers still live, for Harrigan is notorious for seeking 
  out and making violent examples of those who dare turn 
  against him—much as he is currently planning to do to 
  the PCs, in fact.
  Every day, the PCs can attempt a DC 35 Diplomacy 
  check to gather information about Scags Rotgram. This 
  Diplomacy check gains a cumulative +1 bonus each time 
  it’s made, but costs a PC 2d20 gp each time in bribes and 
  the like. With a failure, they only find frustrating dead 
  ends and doubtful leads—but rumors that Scags still 
  lives persist. Once someone succeeds at the check, the 
  work pays off, and the PCs learn about Scags Rotgram’s 
  last known whereabouts (see the sidebar, above).
  SCagS’S FaTe
  Scags Rotgram served as Harrigan’s first mate aboard the 
  Wormwood, but he gave Harrigan the slip only a few months 
  before the Wormwood was captured by Cheliax. This gave Scags 
  the time he needed to go to ground and hide out—otherwise, 
  Harrigan would certainly have tracked him down by now 
  and killed him twice over. For a time, Scags commandeered 
  a ship called the Devilish Duchess, and made a quiet living 
  for himself plundering ships along the southern Mwangi 
  coast under an assumed name. When Scags returned to the 
  Shackles, however, Harrigan was waiting for him. Scags only 
  survived the ambush by sailing the Devilish Duchess toward a 
  notoriously accursed pair of islands known as Dagon’s Jaws. 
  Trusting that the cursed denizens of that isle would do for 
  Scags, Harrigan broke off pursuit, and to date it appears that 
  Harrigan made the right call, for no word of Scags or the 
  Duchess has been heard since.
  In truth, Scags decided to “shoot the Gullet” between 
  Dagon’s Jaws in an attempt to lose his pursuers, a decision 
  that cost him his life. While the advice on navigating the Jaws 
  from “The Vanishing of Scags Rotgram” is mostly sound, the 
  true danger in the region is far more sinister than mundane 
  navigation perils like seaweed and hidden reefs. In fact, a 
  colony of aquatic undead shapeshifters known as brykolakases 
  has long haunted Dagon’s Jaws. The brykolakases keep watch 
  over the islands and attack ships that pass through Dagon’s 
  Gullet. After slaying and devouring sailors, the creatures 
  dismantle the ships and hide their hulks within a massive 
  cavern hidden on the smaller island, hoping to keep the 
  Gullet clear of wrecks and lure in new prey. Thus, to the rest 
  of the world, the ships seemingly disappear. 
  The brykolakases struck soon after the Devilish Duchess 
  entered the strait. As the undead swarmed up over the 
  sides of his ship, Scags swiftly realized why Dagon’s 
  Jaws had earned their reputation, as well as just how 
  outclassed and outnumbered he was. Determined to save 
  his crew, Scags desperately attempted to beach the Duchess 
  on the western island so that his crew could escape the 
  water-dependent undead. The captain and several of his 
  officers held the deck long enough for two-thirds of the 
  crew to abandon ship and make the mad dash into the 
  jungle to safety. Scags himself was not as lucky. He exists 
  now in the brine below the Gullet as a lacedon minion of 
  a brykolakas master (see area A1).
  Scags’s only surviving officer is his first mate Alise 
  Grogblud, whom he charged with leading the crew 
  to safety into the jungles of Dagon’s Jaws, and who 
  remains in command of the remaining crew. And while 
  Scags is now dead (or, to be precise, undead), much of 
  his knowledge of Harrigan and his fortress lives on in 
  certain documents that, to Alise’s knowledge, still reside 
  aboard the wreck of the Devilish Duchess (see area A5).
  exPloring dagon’S JaWS
  Dagon’s Jaws consist of a pair of rocky islands southwest of 
  Motaku Isle. Big Jaw, the larger western island has a peak 
  elevation of almost 300 feet above sea level. The smaller 
  isle, Little Jaw, rises no more than 60 feet above sea level 
  (with 50 feet of that height consisting of the island’s cliff 
  shoreline). A rocky, relatively shallow (never more than 30 
  feet deep) three-quarter-mile channel known as Dagon’s 
  THE VANISHING OF SCAGS 
  ROTGRAM
  “Looky mates, I know all about Scags Rotgram, and his 
  ship, the Devilish Duchess. Fell afoul o’ the curse of Dagon’s 
  Jaws, he did, or so everyone says. But see here, the curse of 
  Dagon’s Jaws is all a bucket of sahuagin piss! The problem 
  is, ain’t too many know how to navigate ’em. They’re ‘red 
  isles,’ mates. Iron heavy. They’ll kick yer compass off a little. 
  Yellowbacks get scared when their needles start twitchin’ 
  and head for landmarks. Problem is, there ain’t none ’cept 
  by traveling between the two isles. There’s a quarter-mile 
  strait between ’em called Dagon’s Gullet. Why? Cause it 
  swallows ships. It’s all sargasso and shoals. Those trying to 
  shoot the Gullet usually end up grounding out on the rocks. 
  Bet there’s a dozen ships at the bottom of that channel. I’d 
  also bet the Devilish Duchess ain’t one of ’em. Scags, he 
  warn’t fooled by old legends. He knew what he was doing 
  when he headed that way—knew that if someone were 
  chasin’ him, the Jaws’d be his best bet t’scape pursuit. If 
  Scags ain’t back yet, I’d wager that’s his own doing—that 
  man’s got a talent for dodgin’ Besmara’s last kiss, he does. 
  I’m sure he’s still kickin’ somewhere on that rock...”
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  Dagon’s Jaws
  A5. The Derelict Cave
  A5
  A5
  A1
  A2
  A3
  A4
  Big Jaw
  Little
  Jaw
  ⋅
  1 square = 5 feet
  D
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  Gullet divides them. All Profession (sailor) checks made 
  within a mile of Dagon’s Jaws take a –4 penalty due to the 
  difficulty of navigating the area.
  Big Jaw: The larger of the two islands, Big Jaw is 
  covered by relatively dense jungle. A few small streams 
  provide fresh water as they trickle down the hillsides to 
  the sea. Tropical birds, foul-tempered monkeys, snakes, 
  and insects make up the primary forms of life on Big Jaw.
  Little Jaw: Little Jaw’s soil is rockier and less fertile 
  than that of Big Jaw—no trees grow here, and the place is 
  dominated by tall, hearty, yellow grass. Sea birds and tortoises 
  are the primary inhabitants of Little Jaw. No beaches welcome 
  visitors here, for 50-foot-high cliffs surround the island.
  Dagon’s Gullet: Navigating the Gullet requires intense 
  concentration—if a pilot fails a DC 25 Profession (sailor) 
  check, the ship hits a hidden reef and becomes grounded. 
  This deals 8d8 points of damage to the ship and prevents 
  it from moving until the tide changes (roll 2d4 to 
  determine the number of hours until the next high tide). 
  The droWned dead (Cr 12)
  Creatures: A frightening number of the shapechanging 
  brykolakases swim the waters around the Gullet and Little 
  Jaw, usually in the form of rays or dolphins. The undead 
  are patient, and do not immediately attack all ships that 
  sail near the shores, but it’s only a matter of time before 
  the brykolakases show themselves. As those slain by a 
  brykolakas rise as undead themselves (ghoulish lacedons 
  with pale gray skin), the number of undead in the region 
  is significant—enough that the PCs could face as many 
  waves of the undead as you wish. Listed below are the 
  various ways in which the PCs could find themselves faced 
  with a brykolakas attack.
  Running Aground in the Gullet: If the PCs attempt to sail 
  through Dagon’s Gullet, they won’t be attacked unless they 
  run aground. In this case, a raiding party of brykolakases 
  clamber up onto the deck of their ship at some point after the 
  ship runs aground—stage the timing of this event so it’s as 
  sinister and creepy and tense as possible (perhaps just after 
  night falls, or as the ship is just about to float free of the reef).
  Spending the Night Offshore: If the PCs decide to spend 
  the night anchored offshore, the brykolakases swim 
  out to their ship to attack that evening. If the PCs leave 
  their crew alone on their ship while they investigate the 
  islands, you might want to consider running a short 
  “side adventure,” in which the PCs take on the roles of the 
  NPCs that they left behind to try to defend the ship from 
  the attack. In this event, chances are probably good that 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  Elder Brykolakas
  the brykolakases will defeat the crew, in which case you 
  should allow the PCs to make DC 15 Perception checks as 
  soon as it’s logical for them to notice that their ship has 
  gone adrift. If the PCs act quickly (likely with the aid of 
  teleportation or flight or other magical means of travel), 
  they should be able to reach their ship before it runs 
  aground, at which point the PCs themselves will need to 
  fight the remaining undead and retake their ship.
  Rescuing the Castaways: If the PCs manage to avoid 
  all encounters with the undead, you should have the 
  brykolakases attack the ship as they’re returning to their 
  ship with the rescued castaways from area A3.
  All of the brykolakases in the area are particularly powerful 
  elder versions of their kind. In their natural form, they appear 
  as tall, lanky humanoids with rotting, gray flesh, tangles of 
  black hair, and cold gray eyes, but they do not assume this 
  frightening form except when attacking. Whenever a group 
  of undead attacks, the force consists of three brykolakases 
  and 1d6 lacedons—a CR 12 encounter on average.
  Elder Brykolakases (3) 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400 each
  Variant brykolakas (Tome of Horrors Complete 85)
  CE Medium undead (aquatic, shapechanger)
  Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +24
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (+5 Dex, +6 natural)
  hp 123 each (13d8+65)
  Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +12
  DR 10/silver; Immune undead traits; SR 20
  Weaknesses water dependency
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
  Melee 2 claws +16 (2d6+6/19–20 plus disease)
  Special Attacks create spawn, death throes
  TACTICS
  During Combat The brykolakases let their lacedon minions 
  engage opponents first, using them as sacrificial troops to 
  distract enemies and perhaps use up some resources before 
  they step in to focus their attacks on the same foes.
  Morale A brykolakas fights until destroyed.
  STATISTICS
  Str 22, Dex 20, Con —, Int 15, Wis 18, Cha 19
  Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 30
  Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (claws), Improved 
  Natural Attack (claws), Power Attack, Toughness, Vital 
  Strike, Weapon Focus (claws)
  Skills Acrobatics +18, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (nature) +15, 
  Perception +24, Stealth +21, Swim +27
  Languages Common
  SQ change shape (dolphin or manta ray, beast shape I)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Create Spawn (Su) A humanoid or monstrous humanoid killed 
  by a brykolakas rises as a lacedon in 1d4 days under the 
  control of the brykolakas that created it. 
  Death Throes (Su) When reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, a 
  brykolakas is destroyed and its body changes into a pool 
  of deadly poison that quickly fills a 10-foot-radius spread 
  (if underwater) or a 10-foot-diameter puddle (if on land) in 
  1 round. All creatures in this area are exposed to this foul 
  venom. The poison disperses in 1 round if underwater, or 
  1d2 rounds if on land. 
  Brykolakas poison: Death throes—contact; save Fort DC 
  20; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/round for 2 rounds; effect 1d6 
  Dex damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Charisma-based. 
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  Disease (Su) A brykolakas’s claw attacks deliver a virulent 
  disease that breaks down the victim’s internal organs, 
  resulting in internal bleeding and a gradual darkening of 
  the skin. This supernatural disease is called brykolakas fever. 
  The save DC is Charisma-based. 
  Brykolakas fever: Claw—injury; save Fortitude DC 20 
  negates; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 Con and 
  1d4 Dex damage; cure 1 save.
  Water Dependency (Ex) A brykolakas can survive out of the 
  water for 6 hours. After that, its body begins drying out, 
  and within 1 hour, the brykolakas crumbles into dust (this 
  does not activate its death throes ability) unless it can reach 
  saltwater before the hour passes.
  Lacedons (1d6) 
  CR 1
  XP 400 each
  hp 13 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 146)
  a1. The BeaCh (Cr 11)
  The waves have gnawed great chunks from the earth that edges 
  the shoreline along this rocky beach. From the water, the land 
  slopes gradually upward into a series of rocky escarpments. 
  Beyond, the terrain continues its ascent through tangles of 
  dense brush toward the highest point of the island. A game trail 
  leads up into the jungle from the beach itself, while fragments 
  of what appears to have once been a ship’s longboat lie strewn 
  among the rocks along the shore.
  It was here that the castaways from the Devilish Duchess 
  came ashore. A search of the wrecked longboat finds 
  a plank bearing the Devilish Duchess’s name upon it, 
  confirming that Scags’s crew was indeed here. The game 
  trail that leads up the rocky slope into the jungle is the 
  route the castaways took to flee the beach. No Climb 
  check is required here to move inland. A successful DC 
  20 Survival check notes sets of humanoid tracks entering 
  and returning along this route—barefoot tracks left by 
  the castaways during their periodic visits to the shore to 
  confirm that the undead still waited for them in the waves 
  of the Gullet.
  Creatures: As the surf rolls against the shore, the shapes 
  of a half-dozen sodden corpses bob face-down in the 
  gentle waves. These are actually a number of lacedons, 
  floating in the surf and posing as the drowned corpses of 
  Scags Rotgram’s crew. They lie still in the water, letting 
  the surf push them toward the intruders. Meanwhile, their 
  brykolakas masters wait in deeper waters, still in dolphin 
  form. These two brykolakases wait for their lacedons 
  to engage foes, then swim up out of the waves, assume 
  their true forms, and attack any obvious clerics or other 
  characters who utilize positive energy, knowing that these 
  foes are the most dangerous to them.
  Although it’s unlikely the PCs will recognize him, one 
  of the lacedons here is none other than Scags Rotgram 
  himself. If the PCs rescue the castaways from area A3 
  and he remains in this location, they certainly recognize 
  their old captain and do their best to put him out of his 
  misery (or ask for his remains to be buried at sea).
  Elder Brykolakases (2) 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400 each
  hp 123 each (see page 20)
  Lacedons (6) 
  CR 1
  XP 400 each
  hp 13 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 146)
  a2. The SaCred SPring
  A sizable clearing opens along this ridge, the edge marked by 
  rows of upturned boulders that almost seem to be keeping 
  the trees back. In the center, a bubbling spring breaks the 
  surface, forming a small series of freshwater pools dotted with 
  mountain lilies and swarming with dragonflies. Along the west 
  side, the spring waters race downhill through a series of rocky, 
  moss-covered sluices cut into rock, eventually running down 
  the hillside toward the sea to the southwest.
  After the cyclops empire of Ghol-Gan collapsed, yet 
  before the advent of the modern era, countless societies 
  lived among the islands of the Shackles. These small 
  populations came and went, often without leaving any 
  evidence of their existence behind at all. This small 
  spring is all that remains of one such culture that dwelled 
  upon Dagon’s Jaws thousands of years ago.
  The stones surrounding this sacred spring bear faint 
  carvings of three entwined spirals, identifiable with a 
  successful DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check as an archaic 
  symbol of Pharasma. The waters from the sacred spring itself 
  channel into the rock, creating a sort of fresh waterspout 
  that emerges off the western shoreline. Despite the fact 
  that the brykolakases are powerful enough creatures to 
  withstand the spring’s effects, they tend to avoid the spring, 
  as well as the water along the western shore.
  A successful DC 20 Survival check is enough to note 
  a large number of footprints around the spring—the 
  castaways come here often for water.
  Treasure: The spring’s blessed waters are highly 
  magical—among other things, they act as a bane against 
  undead. The waters themselves contain traces of positive 
  energy, which radiate outward from the source. A weapon 
  anointed with the waters of this spring gains the benefit 
  of the undead bane weapon special ability until sundown—
  the pool’s waters can anoint up to three weapons per 
  day in this manner. A character who drinks from the 
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  fountain gains the effects of a cure moderate wounds spell 
  (CL 10th)—a single character may benefit from the 
  waters in this manner up to once per day. Water bottled 
  from the spring becomes nonmagical, yet remains pure 
  and delicious to drink. The effects of the spring can be 
  identified as if it were a magic item (CL 10th).
  a3. The CroWn (Cr 11)
  A swath of barren soil stretches atop a forty-foot-high cliff 
  overlooking the Fever Sea to the west of the isle, sheltered 
  from the sea winds by a lone massive boulder. The boulder 
  rises another thirty feet above the edge of the cliff, an almost 
  pyramidal structure perched precariously at the edge. A half-
  dozen crude shelters—little more than lean-tos—huddle 
  around a campfire in the lee of the stone.
  Creatures: The survivors of the Devilish Duchess have 
  dwelled here for several weeks now, and while they are in 
  no danger of starvation or dying of thirst (there’s plenty 
  of game and water available on Big Jaw, after all), their 
  morale is low. Originally numbering 18 strong, only 
  nine castaways remain after several attempts to escape 
  the island on rafts resulted in death from undead talons. 
  All of the castaways have endured poisoning and disease 
  from fights against the brykolakases, and while they’ve 
  recovered by now (due in large part to spending the last 
  few weeks away from the dangerous beaches), they’ve all 
  but given up on the opportunity for rescue.
  Each time the PCs sail their ship off the island’s west 
  shore, there’s a cumulative 10% chance that the castaways 
  (who have largely given up on watching for ships) spot the 
  ship. The castaways immediately light a signal fire that 
  the PCs automatically notice.
  The castaways, however, are paranoid—after having 
  been chased into the region by Harrigan, their leader 
  Alise Grogblud worries that this new ship isn’t here to 
  rescue them but to finish the job. As a result, she rallies 
  the castaways into defensive positions, planning on 
  attacking whoever answers the signal so that the castaways 
  can take their ship and escape the islands. The castaways 
  move into hiding in the surrounding jungle, leaving the 
  central campfire smoldering. When the PCs enter the 
  campsite, the castaways step out of the surrounding brush, 
  crossbows at the ready, as Alise demands the PCs drop 
  their weapons and gear and hand over their ship. How the 
  PCs react to these demands is up to them. A successful DC 
  15 Perception or Sense Motive check is enough for a PC to 
  note how desperate and ill-prepared the castaways are.
  If the castaways aren’t aware of the PCs’ approach, they 
  are sprawled about the campsite, listless and depressed. 
  Roll 1d6, with the result indicating how many of the 
  castaways are asleep when the PCs arrive. Alise is always 
  awake. In this event, Alise commands the castaways to 
  wake up in a frantic voice and does her best to demand the 
  PCs’ surrender, despite her less-than-prepared situation. 
  The simplest way to secure the cooperation of the pirates 
  is to fight back and accept their surrender, of course, but 
  silver-tongued PCs may be able to use Bluff, Diplomacy, 
  or even Intimidate to convince the castaways that they’re 
  here to help. The castaways are initially hostile, but the 
  PCs need only convince Alise of their good intentions to 
  secure the cooperation of the lot of them.
  Alise Grogblud 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Female human rogue 8
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Senses Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
  hp 71 (8d8+32)
  Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +1
  Defensive Abilities evasion, improved uncanny dodge, trap 
  sense +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 scimitar +11/+6 (1d6+4/18–20)
  Ranged mwk throwing axe +10 (1d6+3)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +4d6
  TACTICS
  During Combat Alise makes good use of Spring Attack in 
  combat, staying on the move so she can make flanking attacks 
  while minimizing full attacks on herself from enemies. She 
  avoids ending her turn standing within 5 feet of any foe.
  Morale Alise surrenders if either she’s brought below 25 hit 
  points or at least four of the other castaways are defeated. 
  In this event, Alise throws herself upon the PCs’ mercy, 
  tearfully explaining that she feared they were assassins 
  sent by Harrigan and begging them to rescue her and 
  her crew from this “cursed rock.” If she finds out that the 
  PCs are Harrigan’s enemies, she tells them about the files 
  her captain Scags kept on his old commander, stored in a 
  watertight chest on the Devilish Duchess, which she knows 
  has been claimed by the brykolakases and is in area A5. See 
  “Rescue and Repairs” on page 25 for more details on how 
  Alise can help the PCs against Harrigan.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 12
  Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 23
  Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Martial Weapon Proficiency 
  (scimitar), Mobility, Spring Attack, Toughness, Weapon 
  Focus (scimitar)
  Skills Acrobatics +14, Bluff +12, Climb +14, Intimidate +12, 
  Perception +10, Profession (sailor) +10, Stealth +14, Survival +7, 
  Swim +14
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  Alise Grogblud
  Languages Common
  SQ rogue talents (bleeding attack +4, combat trick, stand up, 
  weapon training), trapfinding +4
  Gear +2 leather armor, +1 scimitar, masterwork throwing axe, 
  ruby worth 1,000 gp
  Pirate Castaways (8) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Human fighter 2/rogue 3
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +5; Senses Perception +9
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 Dex, +1 dodge, 
  +2 shield)
  hp 51 each (5 HD; 2d10+3d8+23)
  Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2; +1 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +1, evasion, trap sense +1
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk cutlass +9 (1d6+3/18–20)
  Ranged mwk light crossbow +6 (1d8/19–20)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 19
  Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Power 
  Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (cutlass)
  Skills Acrobatics +9, Appraise +6, Climb +11, Intimidate +7, 
  Perception +9, Profession (sailor) +9, Swim +11
  Languages Common
  SQ rogue talents (combat trick), trapfinding +1
  Other Gear +1 studded leather, +1 buckler, masterwork cutlass, 
  masterwork light crossbow with 10 bolts, 60 gp
  Story Award: For each castaway the PCs manage to 
  rescue alive from the island, award them XP as if they 
  had defeated that castaway in combat.
  a4. The duSk WaTCherS 
  (Cr 12)
  Atop this thirty-foot-tall sea 
  cliff loom a half-dozen towering, wood-carved heads 
  peering out over the ocean. Each head stands ten feet 
  in height, and bears a strangely curious expression. 
  Although carved of wood, the heads seem not to have weathered 
  or become covered with overgrowth—each appears to have 
  been carved as if only yesterday.
  These mysterious wooden heads, once known as the 
  Dusk Watchers, date back into lost centuries and the 
  mysterious tribe that dwelled upon this island in the 
  dark years between the fall of Ghol-Gan and the height 
  of the Age of Destiny. The stone heads are magically 
  enhanced to be as hard as iron—in the time of their 
  construction, these heads possessed magical auras that 
  allowed those who dwelled upon the island to use strange 
  amulets to unerringly navigate their way home through 
  any storm or across any distance. The heads retain an aura 
  of divination, and their original use can be determined 
  with a successful DC 25 Spellcraft check.
  Creature: Although the ancient tribe that once lived 
  upon this island is long gone, one of their legacies lives 
  on here—a creature of gleaming black metal and chiseled 
  stone, wrapped in a heavy cloak with a deep cowl. This is 
  Lakorian-Kriss, a kolyarut inevitable bound to the area 
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  Dusk Watcher
  as a protector and guardian of the Dusk Watchers. The 
  inevitable has very little imagination and even less capacity 
  for free thinking—it was placed here to guard the Dusk 
  Watchers from any but the ancients themselves.
  As the PCs come within 30 feet of the Dusk Watchers, 
  the inevitable (which spends its time invisible) speaks 
  to them in its booming voice: “OUTLANDERS! STEP 
  AWAY FROM THE DUSK WATCHERS OR 
  BE JUDGED!” The kolyarut gives 
  intruders 1 round to retreat beyond 
  the 30-foot mark—if they do not, 
  it immediately attacks. As long 
  as the PCs remain respectfully 
  distant, Lakorian-Kriss remains 
  silent, but if the PCs can make 
  the 
  stoic 
  (and 
  unfriendly) 
  inevitable at least friendly via 
  Diplomacy or Intimidate, they 
  can carry on a short conversation 
  with the guardian. The inevitable 
  unfortunately has little knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  undead 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  surrounding the island, apart from 
  confirming that it does not enjoy their 
  proximity. It knows about the castaways 
  at area A3, and can direct the PCs there if 
  they ask if anyone else lives on the island. 
  Over the thousands of years it has stood 
  vigil here, Lakorian-Kriss has forgotten 
  much about the ancient tribe who placed 
  it on this duty, save for the fact that it must 
  continue to guard the Dusk Watchers until 
  those ancients release it. Lakorian-Kriss only reveals the 
  method of its release if made helpful (somewhat paranoid, 
  the inevitable finds it easier to believe that any promise to 
  release it is merely a sneaky way to approach and damage the 
  Dusk Watchers). To release Lakorian-Kriss from its bound 
  duty, one need only anoint the six brows of the six wooden 
  heads with water taken from the sacred spring at area A2.
  Lakorian-Kriss 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Kolyarut inevitable (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 163)
  hp 150
  Treasure: If the PCs successfully dismiss Lakorian-Kriss 
  from his no-longer-necessary duties, the grateful inevitable 
  promises to reward the PCs at some future date. The next 
  time the PCs return to the Island of Empty Eyes, a delivery 
  is waiting for them—a lacquered wooden box (itself worth 
  400 gp and delivered by a very busy and rushed arbiter 
  inevitable that does not remain to engage in conversation) 
  that contains a single and unusual scroll of summon monster 
  VIII (CL 20th) that can be used to summon Lakorian-Kriss 
  for aid.
  Developments: Lakorian-Kriss’s presence is the only 
  thing maintaining the magic that suffuses the Dusk 
  Watchers and the pool at area A2. If the PCs defeat the 
  kolyarut or dismiss it from its duty, a slight tremor rushes 
  through the surrounding soil. Minutes later, the towering 
  wood-carved heads crumble to ash and blow away in the 
  ocean winds. At the same time, the sacred spring in area A2 
  begins to lose its magical properties—it only functions for 
  another 24 hours before turning into nonmagical water.
  Story Award: If the PCs dismiss the inevitable, 
  award them XP as if they had defeated it in combat.
  a5. The dereliCT Cave (Cr 13)
  Along the southwest shore of Little Jaw lies 
  a deep inlet that cuts a narrow cleft deep 
  into the stony cliffs. At low tide, the gaping 
  mouth into the cavern is quite navigable, 
  climbing almost 10 feet above the water in 
  a cathedral-like arch, but at high tide the 
  waves move in, forcing DC 20 Swim 
  checks for those who wish to enter.
  Creatures: Beyond the cave 
  entrance lies a vast cavern with a 
  natural cathedral-like roof. This cave has 
  long served as the primary brykolakas 
  lair, though at any one time, only a few of 
  the total undead in the region can be found 
  here. Currently, there are just four of them 
  present. Over the years, the brykolakases 
  have dragged dozens of ships into the 
  cave, transforming the interior into a chaotic graveyard of 
  rotting derelicts draped with sea kelp like fetid cocoons. 
  Despite the changing tides, the sickly green water stinks of 
  death. During the day, only a few rays of sunlight penetrate 
  from the outside world. At night, the cavern is pitch black. 
  To fit the ships into the sea cave, the brykolakases break 
  off the ships’ masts. They can only haul the ships in during 
  high tide, at all other times, the ships’ keels have too much 
  draw. Once inside, the creatures let the ships float and 
  slosh together so they can use them as macabre tenements. 
  As older ships rot and fall apart, the brykolakases haul in 
  new ones, and beneath the cavern waters rest the rotting 
  remains of dozens of ships and thousands of bones. At 
  present only four ships remain in good enough shape to 
  identify. All four are sailing ships—the largest among 
  them being the Devilish Duchess. 
  The four elder brykolakases who lurk amid the ships here 
  watch and wait for the PCs to start exploring the ships, lying 
  in wait in the water below. They move to attack any target that 
  lets itself get separated from the main group, or all at once if 
  the PCs attempt to loot any of the treasure they find within.
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  Elder Brykolakases (4) 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400 each
  hp 123 each (see page 20)
  Treasure: Much of the cargo once carried by the 
  ships here has fallen into the water below and has been 
  destroyed, but the PCs can still find a fair amount of 
  plunder in the cargos of the four still-seaworthy ships. 
  In all, there are 8 points of plunder to be had from these 
  four ships.
  In addition, a successful DC 30 Perception check made 
  while searching the captain’s cabin of the Devilish Duchess 
  reveals a small hidden panel in a beam just above a slowly 
  moldering hammock. Scags kept his small hoard of private 
  treasures in a hollow within this beam. Although Scags 
  thought none of his crew knew about this secret stash, 
  his first mate Alise Grogblud did, and if she tells the PCs 
  about the hidden cache, they can locate it automatically. 
  Scags’s treasures consist of a leather pouch containing 
  120 pp, an exceptionally well-carved ivory statuette of 
  two entwined succubi worth 500 gp, three bottles of fine 
  spiced Sargavan rum worth 250 gp each, two potions of 
  remove disease, a potion of cure serious wounds, and a bottle of 
  air. In addition, a small leather journal is wedged in the 
  hollow. This journal contains a detailed accounting of 
  Scags’s grievances against his former captain, Barnabas 
  Harrigan. The bulk of the journal is relatively useless, 
  although the PCs may take some level of satisfaction at 
  reading another person voicing their complaints about 
  their shared enemy. Near the back of the journal, Scags 
  makes clear his fears that, as long as the both of them live, 
  Harrigan will never cease in his attempts to track Scags 
  down and kill him for daring to abandon the Wormwood. 
  The back of the journal contains numerous notes about 
  how Scags hopes to some day invade Harrigan’s fortress in 
  the middle of the night and assassinate him. While Scags 
  never had the guts to carry out these plans, his research is 
  solid—he’d visited Harrigan’s fortress many times before 
  he left the man’s employ, and the PCs can use these notes 
  to great effect in Part Four of this adventure (see “Planning 
  Revenge” on page 39 for more details).
  The true treasures here, however, may well be the four 
  derelict ships—while they lack masts, the four ships are 
  in remarkably good shape. If the PCs can salvage them, 
  they’ll gain four new sailing ships for their fleet (see 
  “Rescue and Repairs” below).
  reSCue and rePairS
  The four sailing ships found in area A5 are badly 
  damaged—each has only 400 hit points remaining (with 
  0 hit points for the sails) and cannot sail at all until the 
  masts are repaired. If the PCs choose to make repairs 
  here, they’ll be attacked by groups of brykolakases every 
  night (sometimes more than once a night), but the PCs 
  can tow the ships back to a safe port to repair them.
  More importantly, if the PCs return from Dagon’s Jaws 
  with four new ships and the rescued castaways, word 
  quickly spreads. The PCs gain 1 point of Disrepute and 
  Infamy for this accomplishment, but more importantly, 
  the proof that they braved the so-called “curse of Dagon’s 
  Jaws” and not only survived, but returned with additional 
  ships and crew, quickly attracts enough new sailors that 
  they can crew the four ships recovered here free of cost.
  The Lost Squadron
  Configuration 4 sailing ships
  Commodore Alise Grogblud (Profession [sailor] +10, Charisma 
  modifier +1)
  Hits 12; Morale 3
  Defense Value 20
  Attack Value +10; Damage 1d6+4
  Morale Check +1
  PArt three: the BlAck tOWer
  In order to build a strong fleet in the Shackles, one needs 
  more than mere gold to pay for ships and crews. Those 
  who would seek command must also bring a significant 
  amount of Infamy to the table. During the Skull & Shackles 
  Adventure Path, the PCs should have been accumulating 
  Infamy all along, yet they may find that they’re still short 
  of the maximum amount of Infamy they could possess.
  While the PCs could certainly work to increase their 
  Infamy as this adventure progresses, Tessa Fairwind’s 
  advice to seek out a particularly infamous treasure to 
  claim as their own represents the fastest way they can 
  gain a significant boost in a single dangerous mission. 
  Her suggestion of seeking out the lost weapon Aiger’s Kiss 
  is an excellent one, and if the PCs ask around about the 
  weapon, the rolling eyes, low whistles, and shaking heads 
  they’ll elicit from normally brave scallywags should 
  confirm the fact. Any group capable of retrieving Aiger’s 
  Kiss and wielding it in battle would be assured of a place 
  in the oral histories of the Shackles.
  As with gossip, tall tales, and bawdy jokes, the 
  popularity of fabled and infamous treasures waxes and 
  wanes as the years roll by. A successful DC 25 Knowledge 
  (history) or Knowledge (local) check or Diplomacy check 
  to gather information confirms that the mysterious 
  legend of Aiger’s Kiss currently dominates the curiosity 
  and imaginations of the Free Captains of the Shackles. 
  It’s been 25 years since infamous pirate Captain Tevenida 
  Aiger (known in the legends to have been a powerful cleric 
  of Norgorber) led a raid on the Isle of the Black Tower and 
  its foul mistress, the Shrouded Queen, whose mastery 
  over ocean currents and strange monsters had rendered 
  the nearby sea lanes dangerous for any pirates seeking a 
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  shortcut into the lucrative shipping lanes. Captain Aiger 
  lost her sword, her ship, and her life in that raid, but the 
  Shrouded Queen was defeated and the sea lanes around 
  her isle opened again. Yet while the Shrouded Queen 
  no longer menaced the surrounding seas, something 
  remained active within her Black Tower, for all attempts 
  to retrieve Aiger’s Kiss have failed. With this year being the 
  silver anniversary of the Shrouded Queen’s defeat and the 
  loss of Captain Aiger’s magical sword, the tale seems to be 
  on everyone’s lips, along with speculation about Captain 
  Aiger’s son, an unpleasant man with the nickname of 
  “Barracuda,” of whom very little has been heard of late. 
  Many suspect Captain Aiger’s son of being but the latest 
  fool to go missing in the Black Tower, while others muse 
  that he’s fled the Shackles completely, unable to bear the 
  shame of the loss of such a potent heirloom. In any event, 
  all agree that the time is right for someone to seek out 
  Aiger’s Kiss and rescue the sword from the Black Tower!
  iSle oF The BlaCk ToWer
  The Isle of the Black Tower lies along the western edge of 
  the Shackles archipelago. Despite being near the Cannibal 
  Islands, even the notorious flesh-eaters give the isle wide 
  birth, for it is commonly believed today that the island 
  is haunted by the ghost of the Shrouded Queen. In fact, 
  the rumored dangers on the small isle are quite true, if 
  inaccurate—for something worse than a mere ghost 
  haunts the place.
  A mysterious slender tower of black stone sits at the 
  small island’s center. Standing over 400 feet in height but 
  measuring only 30 feet in diameter, the tower looks more 
  like an impossibly tall black pin sticking out of the center 
  of the isle, as if some vengeful god had pierced the island 
  from above with a gargantuan needle. In fact, the tower 
  was the creation of a powerful mystic theurge and cleric 
  of the demon lord Dagon—her original name lost to the 
  mists of time, she was known at the height of her power as 
  the Shrouded Queen, due to her penchant for dressing in 
  funerary shrouds, bound to her body by coils of rope. She 
  raised the Black Tower herself, choosing this island as the 
  site for her home due to the thinness of the planar boundaries 
  between the Material Plane and a deep, remote Abyssal 
  realm known as Yad Iagnoth—the legendary entrance to 
  the mind-shattering realm of the fiends known as qlippoth. 
  The tower itself was grown more than constructed—
  the Shrouded Queen tore a hole in reality and helped 
  guide a tumorous length of Abyssal stone out of the hole, 
  sculpting it into the 400-foot-tall tower before the artificial 
  planar rift stabilized and closed. From her new home, the 
  Shrouded Queen began studying the Abyssal realm of Yad 
  Iagnoth and those realms that lay deeper still, in hopes of 
  finding a way to conjure and control one of the mightiest 
  of the qlippoth, a unique monster known as the Iathavos. 
  She turned to the surrounding shipping lanes to supply 
  her ever-growing demand for live sacrifices—necessary 
  payments to the increasingly inhuman monstrosities with 
  which she trafficked for knowledge.
  The Shrouded Queen’s reign ended when a cabal of 
  frustrated and frightened pirate captains joined forces under 
  the flag of their most powerful member, the Norgorber-
  worshiping pirate priestess Tevenida Aiger. Armed with the 
  legendary sword Aiger’s Kiss, she led her allies on a brazen 
  assault on the Black Tower. Despite the facts that no one 
  rightly knows what happened to Captain Aiger or her sword, 
  and that not a single pirate returned from the mission, 
  during the next few months the seas calmed and the 
  weather around the island returned to normal. Whatever 
  had happened, it appeared that the Shrouded Queen had 
  perished. Soon after, many captains eagerly launched their 
  own expeditions to the island, determined to plunder 
  the tower’s supposed treasures and recover Aiger’s Kiss for 
  themselves, yet none of them emerged from the mysterious 
  edifice either. As the Black Tower’s fame grew in the years 
  to follow, increasingly few have dared to set foot upon the 
  island. Were it not for this year being the twenty-fifth 
  anniversary of Aiger’s assault on the Black Tower, few would 
  be talking about the legend today at all.
  In truth, Captain Aiger and her allies underestimated 
  the Shrouded Queen’s power, and were surprised to find 
  that the tower itself contained an almost fully functional 
  portal to the Abyssal realm of Yad Iagnoth, one through 
  which the queen could pull an endless amount of qlippoth 
  minions to throw against the invaders. Captain Aiger and 
  her allies breached the tower and fought their way down 
  through the chambers within. In the end, only Aiger 
  herself survived long enough to confront the Shrouded 
  Queen in her inner sanctum, and when she realized she 
  could not slay the queen, she did the next best thing—she 
  used Aiger’s Kiss to destroy the Abyssal portal. The resulting 
  surge of magical backlash unleashed raw Abyssal energy 
  into the Black Tower, simultaneously transforming the 
  Shrouded Queen and cursing her. She became a qlippoth 
  herself, a powerful augnagar, yet at the same moment she 
  became bound to the sundered portal, unable to travel far 
  from its fractured frame without sickening and wasting 
  away. Captain Aiger managed to escape as far as the floor 
  above, but perished from her wounds before she could 
  make it out of the tower to report her Pyrrhic success. The 
  newly transformed Shrouded Queen was unable to repair 
  her portal or even touch Aiger’s Kiss—although she won 
  the fight, she lost the battle, and for the quarter century to 
  follow has remained imprisoned in her tower. 
  The island on which the Black Tower is located was little 
  more than a nameless, jungle-covered rock before the 
  Shrouded Queen rose her home from its heart. Today, the 
  island is known as the Isle of the Black Tower in honor of 
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  its most striking feature. The island is roughly circular, 
  about a half-mile in diameter, covered with dense jungle, 
  and 120 feet above sea level at its highest point (where 
  the Black Tower extends another 400 feet into the air). 
  The highest orders of life dwelling in the island’s jungle 
  are insects, spiders, and other invertebrates—even birds 
  avoid the island, leaving the place an infested morass. 
  Characters who travel through the thick undergrowth 
  do so as if through trackless jungle. For each full hour 
  spent in the humid, unpleasant tangle, a PC must make a 
  successful DC 15 Fortitude save to resist contracting red 
  ache (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 557) from the countless 
  insect bites they must endure.
  Creature: As the PCs approach the Black Tower, there’s 
  a 50% chance of encountering one of the nyogoths from 
  area B4 as it prowls the jungle. In this case, the nyogoth 
  fights the PCs until reduced to fewer than 60 hit points, 
  at which point it fills the area with acid fog, then flies 
  back to the Black Tower until it is close enough to use 
  dimension door to return to area B4.
  The BlaCk ToWer
  The Black Tower is made of a strange, weirdly porous 
  but fantastically strong dark stone with a rough, grainy 
  feel similar to pumice, yet with the strength of marble. 
  The slender tower is supported as much by magic as its 
  architecture, something a successful DC 25 Knowledge 
  (arcana) or Knowledge (engineering) check confirms. The 
  tower has no visible entrances—in fact, only one entrance 
  into the tower exists, located at its peak. Indeed, the bottom 
  half of the tower consists of solid stone (see the side view on 
  the map on page 28). The sides of the tower are overgrown 
  with thick, slippery vines—a DC 10 Climb check is all that’s 
  required to scale the tower’s sides as a result. The chambers 
  inside the Black Tower are unlit unless otherwise indicated. 
  Ceilings vary from 15 to 20 feet high.
  B1. The CroWn
  Years of neglect and exposure to a quarter-century of storms 
  have apparently caused the tower roof to collapse in on 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  The Black Tower
  B1
  B1
  B2–B3
  B4
  B5–B6
  B7
  B2
  B3
  B4
  B5
  B6
  B7
  1 square = 5 feet
  itself, forming a bowl-shaped, rubble-filled concavity at the 
  tower’s crown. Most of the stonework and rubble lies buried 
  beneath thick blankets of moss, vines, and other hanging 
  plants that cling to the foot-deep layer of soil, composed 
  entirely of the sodden, decomposing remains of over two 
  decades of jungle growth.
  A successful DC 25 Perception check made while 
  searching this overgrown area reveals a section where the 
  ground seems strangely sunken. This marks the point at 
  which an ancient trap door hangs partially open, clogged 
  with rubble, soil, and roots. A few minutes of work clears the 
  debris and reveals an old stone trap door opening onto the 
  top of a curved flight of stairs winding down into the tower. 
  A successful DC 18 Strength check is all that’s required to 
  force the door open wide enough to admit entry.
  The walls of the curving stairway beyond are carved with 
  disturbing imagery of coils of tentacles seemingly without 
  end twisting downward into the darkness. Now and then, 
  the tentacles are shown crushing people, ships, and in 
  more than a few cases, entire cities or islands. Amid all of 
  these carvings is repeated an eerie symbol—an octopus eye 
  surrounded by sinister runes. A successful DC 25 Knowledge 
  (religion) check identifies this as the symbol of Dagon, the 
  demon lord of deformity, the sea, and sea monsters.
  B2. enTranCe hall (Cr 11)
  Patches of dull blue mold spot the walls of this room, partially 
  obscuring a faded mural that depicts some sort of enormous 
  amalgam of eel, fish, and cephalopod rising off the shore of 
  an island. Opposite the entrance, a pair of patina-crusted 
  iron posts suspend a massive gold-plated disc, etched with 
  elaborate runes. Within the center of the disc stares a grayish 
  and bulbous fleshy eye with a horizontally shaped pupil. Beside 
  each post, a serpentine basin rests upon a short, wooden 
  pedestal painted with flaking gold leaf. Within a small alcove 
  opposite the massive disc stands a wooden statue also painted 
  in badly flaking gold leaf. The statue depicts the same horrid 
  creature as shown in the mural, and holds its hands in front 
  of its chest to clench a fist-sized chunk of serpentine carved in 
  the shape of a human heart. A reinforced wooden door stands 
  to the southwest, its hinges and metal hardware forged in 
  the shapes of fish fins and spiked gills. Iron spikes have been 
  hammered into the perimeter of the door, presumably to hold 
  it shut. Crudely scrawled graffiti mars the door’s face. 
  A successful DC 25 Knowledge (religion) check ties the 
  decorative motifs to the worship of Dagon. The strange 
  eye-disc is the demon’s unholy symbol and the paintings 
  and statuary represent his various cultural depictions.
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  Eye of Dagon
  The basins have long dried out, leaving their interiors 
  lightly crusted with sea salt crystals. A successful DC 15 
  Perception check reveals a lump beneath the salt in one of 
  the basins that disguises a fist-sized chunk of serpentine. 
  This chunk of stone is about the same size as the statue’s 
  serpentine heart and can be used as a replacement weight 
  to prevent the trap from triggering (see Trap below).
  The graffiti on the door is written with charcoal 
  in the Common tongue and simply reads “She Lives.” 
  Beneath the inscription is a charcoal handprint with wide 
  splayed fingers. A successful DC 20 Knowledge (religion) 
  check associates the handprint with a sect of 
  Norgorberite holy assassins who refer to 
  their deity as “Blackfingers”—the same 
  sect that Captain Aiger belonged 
  to. The door leads to area B3, 
  and must either be forced open 
  (hardness 5, hp 35, Break DC 
  25) or its spikes removed with a 
  DC 20 Disable Device check to 
  access the area beyond.
  Trap: The serpentine heart 
  in the statue’s fists is far more 
  than a valuable work of art—it’s 
  a key that can be used to open the 
  secret door in the adjacent room. 
  While easily removed, an object of 
  similar size and weight must be placed 
  within the hands as quickly and gently as 
  possible (requiring a DC 20 Dexterity check) 
  to prevent triggering a deadly trap. One 
  round after the heart is removed, the eye upon the great 
  disc animates and begins shooting dangerous magical rays 
  around the room, targeting living creatures at random. 
  The eye can be destroyed with force (AC 15, hardness 8, 
  hp 130, Fort +6, Break DC 34)—although attacks against it 
  trigger the trap as surely as removing the serpentine heart 
  without replacing it with an identical weight do. Once the 
  trap is triggered, it continues firing rays each round until 
  an object of equal weight to the serpentine heart is placed 
  in the statue’s hands.
  Eye of Dagon 
  CR 11
  XP 12,800
  Type magic; Perception DC 32; Disable Device DC 32
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset automatic; Bypass replace serpentine 
  heart with equal weight (DC 20 Dexterity check)
  Effect Once activated, the eye of Dagon fires a blast of vile-
  smelling water at a random creature in the room; the water 
  evaporates as quickly as it strikes, making a +10 ranged 
  touch attack. A creature struck takes 1d4 points of Wisdom 
  damage and must make a DC 20 Fortitude save to resist 
  being transformed into some form of foul-looking but 
  relatively harmless sea creature (such as an eel, an octopus, 
  or a hagfish) as if by baleful polymorph. A victim that is so 
  transformed automatically takes on the mental facilities of the 
  new form, and is likely to asphyxiate due to the lack of water.
  Treasure: The 6-inch-diameter serpentine heart is 
  worth 750 gp and weighs 10 pounds.
  B3. hall oF CandleS (Cr 12)
  A guiding row of black iron candleholders protrudes 
  from the curving southwestern wall, their 
  candles long since melted into foul-
  scented, yellowish tallow lumps. Behind 
  the candles, flaking plaster laid in the 
  shape of fish scales exposes a rough 
  stone wall beneath. Within a shallow 
  alcove at the end of the hall stands 
  a serpentine statue carved in the 
  shape of a naked male human being 
  devoured by tiny, flesh-boring eels 
  that wind their hungry way through 
  every part of his body save for an area 
  over the center of his chest.
  The statue is actually a magically 
  warded secret door that conceals a flight 
  of steps leading to the level below. An 
  examination of the statue (and a successful 
  DC 20 Perception check) reveals that the 
  statue actually stands before a flight of stairs leading 
  downward, and can be slid into the alcove to the north. 
  Unfortunately, the statue is also trapped—something 
  that may not be immediately obvious to the observer!
  On a result of 30 or higher on the Perception check, an 
  additional interesting feature of the statue can be noted. 
  The section in the center of the statue’s chest that’s 
  devoid of eels can be rotated and then pushed into the 
  statue to reveal a hollow sized to accept the serpentine 
  heart from area B2. Placing the heart into this hollow 
  causes the statue to slide harmlessly aside, providing 
  access to the stairway behind without triggering the trap.
  Trap: If the statue is forced aside, or if any attempt to 
  bypass it via effects like gaseous form is made, the statue 
  suddenly shrieks in horrific pain as the burrowing eels 
  seem to come to life. At the same time, flesh-eating eels 
  suddenly manifest on the bodies of all living creatures 
  in area B3 or on the stairs leading down to area B4 
  (save for those who worship Dagon) and begin chewing 
  their way into their victims’ flesh. The curse activates 
  each time a new attempt to move or bypass the statue is 
  made—teleporting can bypass this curse but only if the 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  teleportation effect brings the traveler directly to area B4 
  and not to the stairwell leading down to it.
  Curse of the Flesheaters 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Type magic; Perception DC 30; Disable Device DC 30
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset automatic; Bypass place serpentine heart 
  inside of statue
  Effect When this trap is triggered, all creatures in area B3 
  or on the stairs leading to B4 who do not worship Dagon 
  are immediately cursed to become infested with flesh-
  eating eels. Victims must succeed at a DC 20 Will save or 
  take 1d4 points of Constitution drain and be staggered for 
  24 hours from the pain. On a successful save, a victim is 
  only sickened for 1 minute. Only those under the effects 
  of this curse can perceive the burrowing eels, for this is a 
  mind-affecting curse, and the eels themselves are merely 
  incredibly realistic hallucinations. The periodic bites that 
  open on a cursed victim’s body are plainly visible to all.
  Curse of the Flesheaters: Curse—trap: save Will DC 20; 
  frequency 1/day; effect 1d4 points of Constitution drain 
  plus staggered for 24 hours (or sickened for 1 hour with 
  a successful save); cure—(any effect that heals this Con 
  drain also ends the staggered condition—at least until 
  the next time the victim fails his save against the curse’s 
  ongoing effect)
  B4. CrumBling anTeChamBer (Cr 12)
  Huge, once-lavish tapestries hang from this circular chamber’s 
  walls, although the curtains are now sodden and thick with 
  yellowish fungus. The floor in the northwest portion of the 
  chamber has crumbled away into a chamber below, leaving behind 
  a gaping hole and significant cracks and fissures in the remaining 
  mold-encrusted floor. A few furnishings remain, including the 
  moldering remnants of chairs decorated with gold leaf and a 
  wooden table, ornately carved with ichthyic motifs and draped 
  with rotting silken cloth. A tall clay statue sculpted in the image of 
  a bloated, fishlike humanoid stands to the south, also covered with 
  mold. A few feet ahead, another flight of stairs descends deeper 
  into the lower chamber exposed by the collapsed flooring.
  The floor in this room is as unstable and dangerous as 
  it looks, as a successful DC 15 Knowledge (engineering) 
  check can confirm. Only the section of ground directly 
  above area B6 is stable—stepping on any of the floor 
  elsewhere in this room (including the landing between the 
  stairs) brings a good chance of additional collapse. Check 
  for a collapse at the end of each round for each creature 
  standing in the room—a Small creature has a 25% chance 
  of causing a collapse while a Medium one has a 50% 
  chance. Tiny creatures do not raise the chance, and the 
  floor automatically collapses if a Large or larger creature 
  stands upon it. If a collapse occurs, the victim falls 20 feet 
  into area B5 below, and also triggers the mold on the walls.
  Hazard: The fungus growing on the walls, the statue, 
  and across the room is a large colony of yellow mold. All 
  surfaces in this room are caked with the stuff.
  Yellow Mold 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 416
  Creatures: While paranoid adventurers may fear that 
  the clay statue to the south is a golem, it is, in fact, merely a 
  statue. The actual guardians of the room are a pair of horrific 
  qlippoth that survived the original attack on the Black Tower 
  by Captain Aiger and her allies. These qlippoth are known 
  as nyogoths, roughly man-sized clots of wriggling intestines 
  wrapped around a many-toothed maw. Some of the dangling 
  intestinal lengths end in snapping mouths of their own, and 
  the whole dripping mass floats and wriggles in the air using 
  a supernatural ability to fly (and thus the two nyogoths do 
  not run the risk of collapsing the floor in this room). Both 
  nyogoths are “starving”—while they cannot actually die 
  or even take damage from starvation, it has been so long 
  since either has eaten that they attack on sight and fight to 
  the death, driven by their relentless hunger. Note that, as 
  nyogoths are immune to poison, they need not fear the yellow 
  mold’s spores, and may well deliberately activate a patch of 
  mold adjacent to a PC during the fight as a move action.
  Nyogoths (2) 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600 each
  hp 125 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 224)
  Treasure: A successful DC 20 Perception check reveals 
  that the clay statue’s eyes glitter. Almost entirely crusted 
  over with yellow mold, each of the statue’s four eyes is in 
  fact an emerald worth 1,000 gp.
  B5. BreaTh oF dagon (Cr 12)
  Rubble from the collapsed ceiling fills the center of this room, 
  which is shaped like three-quarters of a circle. The walls bear scorch 
  marks, and the plaster shows severe cracks. To the southeast, two 
  eerie ivory statures stand on either side of a closed door. These 
  statues are carved into the forms of handsome men that have 
  been bound, gagged, and blindfolded, both heads turned inward 
  to face the other. The statues seem strangely moist, as if they have 
  just been pulled from the sea.
  The rubble on the floor creates difficult terrain in 
  this room. This chamber is where Captain Aiger and her 
  allies clashed with the agents of the Shrouded Queen. The 
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  majority of those invaders were defeated by the queen and 
  her minions, but not before the queen was forced to flee 
  down to the portal chamber (area B7).
  A successful DC 25 Knowledge (history) or Knowledge 
  (religion) check identifies the statues as depictions of Maok 
  and Seft, twin sons of the fabled Mad Mwangi Priest-King 
  Arot-Sheb, as described in the epic poem Tides of Ishiar. 
  In the legend, Arot-Sheb sacrificed his sons to Dagon by 
  lashing them to a drowning pole at low tide. The following 
  day, the Priest-King drank the seawater from his drowned 
  sons’ lungs as part of an unholy ritual. Soon after, he 
  received guidance from Dagon that enabled him to not only 
  conquer the fabled Crystal Isles of Zyracia off of Garund’s 
  western coast, but also to whisk them away to Dagon’s 
  Abyssal realm of Ishiar as offerings to the demon lord.
  Trap: The two statues that guard the door into area B6 
  are trapped. Any attempt to damage the statues or to pass 
  between them (even if only to attempt to open the door) 
  triggers the trap, which causes both statues to weep and 
  drool seawater from the eyes and mouths. A successful DC 
  20 Perception check made while searching the statues isn’t 
  enough to notice the trap (that requires a DC 30 Perception 
  check), but is enough to note that the statue heads can be 
  rotated. Turning both heads so they look away from each 
  other instead of toward each other deactivates the trap, 
  but the statues’ heads automatically turn back to face each 
  other after a delay of 1 minute, which may catch the PCs 
  unawares as they return from the chambers beyond!
  Breath of Dagon 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Type magic; Perception DC 30; Disable Device DC 30
  EFFECTS
  Trigger proximity and visual (true seeing); Reset automatic; 
  Bypass rotate heads to face away from each other
  Effect When this trap is triggered, the creature between the 
  statues becomes afflicted with a potent curse—the breath 
  of Dagon. If only one of the statues’ heads is rotated away, 
  the trap still triggers but the victim gains a +4 bonus on his 
  initial saving throw to resist being affected by the curse.
  Breath of Dagon: Curse—trap: save Fortitude DC 20; 
  frequency 1/minute; effect every round, the cursed victim’s 
  lungs fill with water, and he must immediately hold his 
  breath or risk drowning. Every minute, the victim can 
  attempt a new DC 20 Fortitude save—with a successful 
  save, he can expel the water from his lungs and breathe 
  normally for 1 minute. This condition is permanent until 
  the curse is lifted—but until that time, the victim may find 
  himself unable to sleep and thus grow increasingly fatigued 
  or exhausted, since having one’s lungs fill spontaneously 
  with water is a sure method to wake you from even the 
  deepest slumber! If the victim can breathe water, this curse 
  has no effect.
  B6. The ShaFT
  Flaking plaster speckled with patches of mold crusts the walls 
  of this room. Faded frescoes portray a strange, crystalline city 
  rising out of a vast ocean beneath a gray sky. In several places, 
  imposing iron hooks protrude from the wall, now rusted with 
  age. To the southwest, a jumble of bones held together by an 
  aged suit of black leather armor slumps against the wall, while 
  in the middle of the room, a huge circular trap door sits in the 
  floor. Three lengths of chain have been hammered over the 
  hatch, bound in place by iron spikes that have been hammered 
  into the floor. A black handprint is on the wall next to the 
  skeleton, along with a few lines of scribbled text.
  This room was once the entrance to the Black Tower’s 
  portal chamber, and now serves as the final ward 
  preventing the Shrouded Queen from escaping her prison. 
  After she used her sword Aiger’s Kiss to seal the Abyssal 
  portal, Captain Aiger watched horrified as the Shrouded 
  Queen transformed into an augnagar qlippoth. The pirate 
  priestess fled back up the shaft using air walk, but as she 
  fled, the augnagar got in one last strike at the pirate, biting 
  her and afflicting her with the rotting curse.
  Upon making it back up here, Captain Aiger cast 
  forbiddance on the chamber below to prevent the augnagar 
  from using planar travel to escape from the room, then 
  slammed the heavy door in place. Too large to fit through 
  the shaft in pursuit, the augnagar was forced to rage 
  impotently as Aiger hammered spikes into and through 
  the chains once used to raise and lower the trap door. 
  Unfortunately, Aiger’s wounds and the rotting curse had 
  left her in no condition to attempt an escape with several 
  more qlippoth guardians still lurking in the tower’s upper 
  reaches. She fell asleep against the wall, hoping to survive 
  through the night and remove the rotting curse in the 
  morning. But as fate would have it, Aiger’s magic failed 
  her and the curse eventually overtook her. In her final 
  agonizing hours, she used a stick of charcoal to scribble a 
  warning on the wall next to what would become her grave:
  “The Shrouded Queen yet lives below, bound by 
  Blackfingers’ forbiddance and Aiger’s Kiss. Seek not 
  entrance for naught but her rotting curse awaits ye—let 
  the slumbering darkness lie!”
  Captain Aiger’s remains can be identified via speak with 
  dead—note that this may also allow the PCs to learn some 
  or all of the events that led to Aiger’s demise, depending 
  on the questions they ask.
  Opening the trap door leading to area B7 requires either 
  several minutes of work undoing the spiked chains, or 
  a single DC 30 Strength check to wrench the door open. 
  Below, a 5-foot-wide shaft drops down 50 feet into area B7 
  below. The shaft’s walls are smooth and difficult to climb, 
  requiring a successful DC 30 Climb check to safely scale.
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  Treasure: Captain Aiger’s remains are still clad in her 
  +3 shadow studded leather armor. A ring of improved swimming 
  sits on one finger, a ring of improved climbing on the other. 
  Her other gear has long since rotted away.
  B7. PorTal ChamBer (Cr 14)
  Decorative stone rafters partition the ceiling of this large 
  circular chamber. A frieze between the vaulted ceiling and 
  lower portion of the chamber depicts a chain of intertwining 
  sea creatures and human bones. In the chamber beneath this 
  frieze, a large altar overlooks a fetid, brackish pool of stagnant 
  water. At the bottom of the pool, what appears to be a black-
  bladed short sword is impaled in the stone.
  Once the chamber in which the Shrouded Queen hoped 
  some day to conjure the Iathavos qlippoth to serve her, this 
  room now serves as the queen’s prison. The entire chamber 
  is affected by a neutral evil forbiddance spell (CL 13th) placed 25 
  years ago by Captain Aiger, her last act against the Shrouded 
  Queen. The pool once served as a portal capable of linking to 
  a number of vile bodies of water deep in the Abyss, but is now 
  little more than a pool of brackish water thanks to Aiger and 
  her sword Aiger’s Kiss.
  Creature: When Aiger destroyed the portal, the 
  backlash of magic transformed the Shrouded Queen from 
  a beautiful wizard into a hideous monstrosity. Today, 
  the monster she became remembers only fragments 
  of her previous life as a human, her current intellect 
  barely capable of comprehending anything but her own 
  frustration at being unable to escape this room. A quarter-
  century of hunger for rotted flesh, as with the nyogoths 
  above, has not harmed the Shrouded Queen—but it has 
  left her insensible with rage and anger. As an augnagar, 
  the Shrouded Queen looks something like a hideous mix 
  of eel, octopus, bat, and spider, all melded together into a 
  body the size of an elephant.
  Shrouded Queen 
  CR 14
  XP 38,400
  Augnagar qlippoth (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 219)
  hp 203
  TACTICS
  During Combat The Shrouded Queen starts combat by casting 
  waves of exhaustion on enemies, then switches to physical 
  attacks. Note that while she’s too large to fit into the shaft 
  leading out of the room through the ceiling, she can fly up 
  there and use her reach (up to 30 feet with her claws) 
  to attack foes who attempt to flee via that route. If 
  the PCs remove the forbiddance spell, she can use 
  dimension door to pursue foes throughout the 
  tower, but the nature of the curse she suffers 
  prevents her from leaving the structure 
  for any reason.
  Morale Insane with her ravenous 
  hunger, the Shrouded Queen fights 
  to the death.
  Treasure: Strewn throughout 
  the chamber lie the Shrouded 
  Queen’s most valuable items. 
  These include a set of tiny 
  but 
  elaborate 
  statuary 
  of 
  horrifying 
  deep-sea 
  creatures 
  carved 
  from 
  whalebone and coral worth 
  2,000 gp, 10 clay amphoras 
  filled with assorted pearls 
  and gold and silver ingots 
  worth a total of 5,000 gp, and 
  a crystalline case containing a 
  collection of six ampoules filled 
  with blood samples from Azlanti 
  kings worth 3,000 gp. One of the most valuable 
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  Shrouded Queen
  
  of her items, though, is the golden tiara she wears upon her 
  misshapen head—an eldritch work of art worth 9,500 gp. 
  Fragments of her spellbooks lie strewn about the room—
  they are too damaged to be of any use.
  The greatest treasure in the room, though, is not one 
  of the Shrouded Queen’s belongings, but the sword Aiger’s 
  Kiss (see page 60), currently embedded in the bottom of 
  the destroyed portal pool. The pool is only 3 feet deep, but 
  pulling Aiger’s Kiss out of the pool is a standard action that 
  requires a successful DC 28 Strength check. Worshipers of 
  Norgorber automatically succeed at this roll, regardless of 
  their actual Strength modifier. As Aiger’s Kiss is removed, 
  the pool’s waters drain away mysteriously into the tiny hole 
  that remains—from that point on, eerie but unintelligible 
  whispers seem to periodically well up from the hole, but 
  the portal itself remains deactivated.
  Infamy: Once word spreads that the PCs have recovered 
  Aiger’s Kiss, they gain 4 points of Disrepute and Infamy. 
  They gain this reward even if they end up giving the sword 
  to Aiger’s heir, but not if he takes Aiger’s Kiss from them 
  (see below).
  aiger’S heir (Cr 13)
  Although the defeat of the Shrouded Queen and the 
  reclaiming of Aiger’s Kiss might seem to the PCs to be the 
  climax of this part of the adventure, one final encounter 
  awaits them as they emerge from the Black Tower. From 
  their vantage point atop the tower, the PCs can see that 
  a second sailing ship flying the Shackles flag has come 
  broadside to their own ship. 
  This second ship is the Wanton Wastrel, and her captain 
  is the son of Captain Tevenida Aiger—a man known 
  as Valerande “Barracuda” Aiger. Barracuda earned his 
  nickname for the fact that he filed his own teeth into a row 
  of fangs reminiscent of the toothy fish. Never a particularly 
  brave man, Barracuda has lived his life in the shadow of 
  his famous mother. He became a pirate in an attempt to 
  make his own name for himself, and the extreme steps he 
  takes with his persona (filing his teeth, his outlandishly 
  flamboyant outfits, his shrill voice) are all examples of 
  him trying to shed the shade of his mother from his name.
  But when the legend of Aiger’s Kiss reemerged into 
  popular chatter at the seaside taverns, Barracuda realized 
  here was a chance to embrace his legacy—if he could 
  claim Aiger’s Kiss for himself, no one would ever see him 
  as a shadow of his mother again! Of course, he’d heard 
  the stories of the Black Tower, and had no desire to risk 
  his life in an attempt to explore it, but once he learned 
  the PCs were going to try for it, he decided that a group of 
  fellow pirates, their resources taxed by an exploration of 
  the dangerous site, would make a much easier target. In 
  short, he’s waiting for the PCs to return with Aiger’s Kiss, 
  then plans on taking the sword from them by force.
  At this point in the adventure, the PCs’ current Infamy 
  score determines what Barracuda Aiger does. If the 
  party’s Infamy score is 40 or lower, Barracuda attacks 
  and boards their ship. Otherwise, he hangs back and 
  waits for the PCs to emerge from the Black Tower to 
  bargain with them.
  Barracuda Attacks: If Barracuda attacks the PCs’ ship, 
  you can assume he takes the ship with little problem. (If 
  you prefer, you can have the PCs play out the battle between 
  his ship and theirs, of course, but this adventure assumes 
  Barracuda has no problem taking a relatively undefended 
  ship.) He anchors his ship, the Wanton Wastrel, nearby the 
  PCs’ ship. He lowers the PCs’ flag and flies his own—a 
  barracuda on a blue field. From the top of the tower, the 
  PCs can make a DC 20 Perception check to see that their 
  ship appears to have been boarded. A successful DC 20 
  Knowledge (local) check identifies the flag as belonging 
  to Captain Valerande “Barracuda” Aiger. Barracuda has 
  brought half of his crew over with him to seize the PCs’ 
  ship. Six of these pirates are capable of helping Barracuda 
  in battle; the others are there only to help crew the PCs’ 
  ship. Barracuda imprisons all of the PCs’ crew in the ship’s 
  hold but doesn’t kill any of them—he only wants Aiger’s 
  Kiss, after all, not the PCs’ ship or their undying hatred. 
  If the PCs visibly approach, Barracuda hails them and 
  proposes a trade: their ship and crew for Aiger’s Kiss. If the 
  PCs agree, Barracuda asks one PC to deliver the sword to 
  him; he then ties up that PC and he and his crew leave for 
  the Wanton Wastrel and try to escape into the open seas. 
  Stealthy groups can sneak on board their ship to ambush 
  Barracuda—in this case, or if the PCs decide not to 
  bargain, Barracuda and his men fight the PCs on the deck 
  of the PCs’ ship, or attempt to flee with the ship if attacked 
  from range.
  Barracuda Plays It Safe: If the PCs’ ship is obviously 
  powerful, or if Barracuda attacks and is defeated, then 
  he approaches the PCs with a bit less confidence. If he’s 
  a prisoner, he only begs to be let go, explaining he came 
  here to retrieve his rightful inheritance, Aiger’s Kiss. If 
  he’s simply hanging back and observing, he calls for 
  parley with the PCs, demanding they turn over Aiger’s 
  Kiss lest they face his wrath. This is mostly bravado and 
  bluster—if the PCs call him on his threats, he backs down 
  immediately and asks for a private meeting with the PCs, 
  during which he remains relatively well mannered as he 
  tries to negotiate a deal for Aiger’s Kiss. Barracuda may 
  offer the contents of his ship’s hold for the sword (worth 
  8 points of plunder), and while this is not enough to pay 
  for as fine a weapon as Aiger’s Kiss, he’s not above offering 
  one or two of his magic items to sweeten the deal if the 
  PCs push back. He’ll certainly agree to join the PC’s fleet 
  with the Wanton Wastrel if the PCs offer him the sword in 
  exchange (see Development, below).
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  Captain Valerande “Barracuda” Aiger 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Male half-elf rogue (pirate) 5/Inner Sea Pirate 8 (Ultimate 
  Combat 72, Pirates of the Inner Sea 24)
  CE Medium humanoid (elf, human)
  Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +17
  DEFENSE
  AC 26, touch 17, flat-footed 20 (+7 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, 
  +1 dodge, +1 natural, +1 shield)
  hp 76 (13d8+18)
  Fort +5, Ref +13, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments, +1 vs. fear and 
  mind-affecting
  Defensive Abilities evasion, uncanny dodge, unflinching*
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +2 rapier +15/+10 (1d6+4/18–20), 
  +1 boarding axe +13 (1d6+2/×3)
  Special Attacks sneak attack 
  +6d6 plus trip
  TACTICS
  During Combat Barracuda uses his officers to set up flanking 
  opportunities, barking orders to move them around the 
  combat as needed. He uses his swinging reposition ability 
  to try to bull rush players over the side of the ship, then 
  moves closer to allies so he can make full attacks as soon as 
  possible. He uses Combat Expertise if faced by particularly 
  hard-hitting foes.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 15 hit points, Barracuda drops 
  his weapons and surrenders, hoping to appeal to the PCs’ 
  sense of pity at this point to claim his birthright.
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10
  Base Atk +9; CMB +14; CMD 28
  Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved 
  Feint, Sea Legs*, Skill Focus (Bluff), Two-Weapon Defense, 
  Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +23, Appraise +14, Bluff +21, Climb +4, 
  Intimidate +15, Perception +17, Profession (sailor) +15, Sense 
  Motive +15, Swim +20
  Languages Common, Elven, Osiriani
  SQ elf blood, pirate tricks (classic duelist, deep breath, 
  defensive climber, foot sweep, rigging monkey), rogue 
  talents (bleeding attack +6), swinging reposition*
  Gear +4 studded leather, +2 rapier, +1 boarding axe, amulet of 
  natural armor +1, ring of protection +1
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Pirate Tricks (Ex) Barracuda gains a +1 
  competence bonus on attack rolls with a 
  cutlass, rapier, or short sword. He can 
  hold his breath for 36 rounds before 
  risking drowning. He does not lose 
  his Dex bonus to AC when climbing. If he 
  damages a foe with sneak attack, he can try to trip 
  that foe as an immediate action. He gains a +2 bonus 
  on Climb checks when using ropes, and when he 
  does so, climbs twice as quickly as normal.
  *See Ultimate Combat.
  Barracuda’s Officers (6) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Pirate castaways (see page 23)
  hp 51 each
  Development: While Aiger’s Kiss is certainly a fine 
  weapon, this encounter gives the PCs the chance to not only 
  earn the Infamy for recovering the legendary blade, but to 
  gain an addition to their fleet as well. Barracuda has several 
  additional allied ships he can call to his side if need be—
  and if the PCs offer Aiger’s Kiss as a bribe of sorts, he swiftly 
  pledges himself and his allied ships to the PCs’ fleet. This 
  squadron of ships only works together as long as Barracuda 
  himself serves as the squadron’s commodore, though.
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  Captain “Barracuda” Aiger
  
  Barracuda’s Raiders
  Configuration 3 sailing ships
  Commodore Valerande “Barracuda” Aiger (Profession [sailor] +15, 
  Charisma modifier +0)
  Hits 9; Morale 3
  Defense Value 25
  Attack Value +15; Damage 1d6+3
  Morale Check +0
  Story Award: If the PCs manage to resolve this encounter 
  without resorting to combat, award them XP as if they had 
  defeated Barracuda and his six officers in combat.
  PArt fOur: hArrigAn must die
  As this adventure progresses, Captain Barnabas Harrigan 
  is juggling two different and equally complex tasks. He’s 
  preparing for the imminent invasion of the Shackles with 
  his minions, working with a small group of highly trained 
  soldiers and scrags (many of whom have been supplied by 
  Cheliax in the form of “prisoners” captured from ships) 
  to prepare them for a surgical strike against Fort Hazard 
  once the Chelish armada attacks Port Peril. At the same 
  time, he’s preparing for a naval strike against his onetime 
  swabs and riggers—the PCs. Since Harrigan can only be 
  in one place at a time, he’s reluctantly ceded control of his 
  fleet to his current first mate, Adelita Doloruso.
  Fortunately for the PCs, the combination of Harrigan’s 
  meticulous preparations for this private war and Admiral 
  Doloruso’s difficulties in getting her various commodores 
  and squadrons to actually work together instead of bicker 
  among themselves means that it takes quite some time for 
  Harrigan’s fleet to get into shape.
  The timing of the attack on the Island of Empty Eyes 
  is thus left for you to decide. This adventure assumes 
  that the PCs are there to take part in the defense of their 
  home. If they’re avoiding (by chance or design) a return to 
  their home, you should consider having them overhear a 
  rumor that the Island of Empty Eyes has been sacked and 
  claimed by someone else—this “someone else” could be a 
  fleet of Kuru cannibals, an attack by unknown raiders, or 
  even an uprising of undead cyclopes. The rumors could 
  even be accurate—whispers that Harrigan is sending (or 
  perhaps has already sent) his fleet against the PCs’ island. A 
  successful DC 20 Diplomacy check to gather information (or 
  perhaps the use of magic like sending to communicate with 
  an ally left at the isle) confirms the fact that the island hasn’t 
  actually been attacked, but the mere fact that the rumors are 
  flying should get the PCs heading home soon enough.
  The BaTTle oF emPTy eyeS
  Before you begin the battle, make sure you’re familiar 
  with the rules for fleet battles, as presented on pages 
  62–69. If you wish, you can allow the PCs to play a few 
  “practice rounds” with the rules—to do so, they need 
  merely split their current squadrons into smaller fleets 
  and run training missions in their harbor—attacks are 
  all simulated in the training, but you can still use the 
  fleet battles rules in this simulation to give the players a 
  chance to get used to the rules.
  Adelita Doloruso and her fleet arrive at dawn, and they 
  waste no time in sailing to the attack. You can allow the 
  PCs to discuss pre-battle tactics as you wish, but since the 
  fleet battle rules are abstract, actual preliminary tactics 
  won’t have much of an impact. If you judge the initial 
  placement and defensive tactics the PCs come up with to be 
  particularly effective or inspiring, though, feel free to give 
  them a +4 bonus on the first Profession (sailor) check made 
  to determine initiative on the first round of fleet combat.
  The enemy fleet consists of three squadrons, although 
  each squadron is relatively large. As a result, while the 
  PCs are likely to have more squadrons, and thus will have 
  more attacks during each round, it’ll be harder to bring 
  down any one squadron under Doloruso’s command.
  The battle itself should play out relatively quickly—the 
  fleet battle rules are designed for speed, after all. As each battle 
  phase plays out, you should spice up the attacks and defenses 
  Harrigan’s Fleet makes with exciting descriptions of ships 
  coming up broadside, siege engines firing, near misses, and 
  devastating damage to match the results of the die rolls with 
  each attack. Encourage the PCs to also do so, and assuming 
  they do well against the fleet, make sure to describe how 
  they’re getting closer and closer to the Wormwood itself—for 
  ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
  At the start of this adventure, the PCs hopefully helped 
  pass Issue #5 during the Pirate Council, ensuring additional 
  funding and support for the investigations into the Chelish 
  conspiracy in the Shackles. The remainder of this chapter 
  assumes the PCs got this issue to pass, but if they did not, then 
  Harrigan is able to focus less on covering up his treachery 
  and more on bringing in Chelish aid. This manifests in two 
  ways—a larger fleet and more defenses at his fortress.
  Fleet Support: Add an additional squadron of seven 
  sailing ships (identical to Zura’s Kiss Squadron) to the 
  battle—this additional squadron does not count against 
  the normal maximum of three squadrons that Adelita would 
  normally be able to command.
  Fortress Support: In every encounter that includes clerics 
  of Norgorber, add two bearded devils as loyal minions 
  supplied by House Thrune. In every encounter that includes 
  smugglers, add two additional smugglers. Harrigan himself 
  has been granted an additional erinyes bodyguard as well.
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  if the PCs defeat Harrigan’s fleet, they’ll have a chance to 
  board the Wormwood and take it as their prize!
  Harrigan’s Fleet
  XP 19,200
  Admiral Adelita Doloruso (Profession [sailor] +17 [+25 to 
  determine initiative])
  Flagship Wormwood
  Significant Characters
  Adelita Doloruso (Wormwood, Arcane Artillery)
  Kipper (Wormwood, Swift to Battle)
  Riaris Krine (Wormwood, Vengeance)
  Patch Patchsalt (Wormwood, Swift to Battle)
  SQUADRONS
  Duskwyrm Squadron
  Configuration 6 warships
  Commodore Wordusk Ghanderwal (Profession [sailor] +15, 
  Charisma modifier +3)
  Hits 24; Morale 3
  Defense Value 25
  Attack Value +15; Damage 1d6+7
  Morale Check +5
  Zura’s Kiss
  Configuration 7 sailing ships
  Commodore Delarie Listerveil (Profession [sailor] +13, 
  Charisma modifier +4)
  Hits 21; Morale 3
  Defense Value 23
  Attack Value +13; Damage 1d6+8
  Morale Check +6
  Reefspider Squadron
  Configuration 5 galleys
  Commodore Lesik “Whitecap” Biceroy (Profession [sailor] +11, 
  Charisma modifier +2)
  Hits 20; Morale 3
  Defense Value 21
  Attack Value +11; Damage 1d6+6
  Morale Check +4
  Development: Although it’s assumed the PCs defeat 
  Harrigan’s fleet, the adventure need not grind to a halt if 
  they lose. If things look grim, the PCs can attempt to flee 
  the battle before the last of their ships are destroyed (see 
  Fleeing a Battle under Rout Phase on page 68). Even if the 
  enemy entirely defeats their fleet, the PCs still have a chance 
  to survive, for Adelita has strict orders from Harrigan to 
  capture the PCs and their ship. With their defeat, Adelita 
  and her crew immediately board the PCs’ ship. In this case, 
  you can run the Boarding the Wormwood encounter below 
  but with the battle taking place on the PCs’ ship instead of 
  on the Wormwood itself. If the PCs lose that battle, they’ll 
  be captured, stripped of their gear, bound and gagged, and 
  brought to Gannet Island where Harrigan imprisons them 
  in area D5, storing their gear in area E6. At this point, you 
  can continue with the chapter as a prison-break scenario. If 
  the PCs manage to defend their ship from the boarding of 
  Adelita and her crew, the remains of her fleet are put into 
  disarray long enough that the PCs can flee, leaving their 
  island in the control of the enemy. If they’re quick, they 
  should be able to make it to Gannet Island to strike against 
  Harrigan before his fleet can return—or they can flee and 
  attempt to rebuild their resources to try to retake their 
  home from Harrigan.
  If the PCs defeat the enemy fleet, they have an option—
  they can either sink the Wormwood (the ship has been 
  heavily damaged) with relatively little worry, or they can 
  attempt to board it and seize the ship. The former action 
  earns them no additional XP or Infamy—and you should 
  warn the PCs as such before they follow through on such 
  an act—but it does represent the safest method to deliver 
  the death blow to Harrigan’s fleet.
  Infamy Award: Award the PCs 2 points of Disrepute and 
  Infamy if they defeat Harrigan’s fleet without losing more 
  than half of their own ships.
  Boarding The WormWood (Cr 14)
  Once the PCs break Harrigan’s fleet, leaving sailing ships, 
  galleys, and warships foundering and sinking all about, 
  the PCs spot the fleet’s flagship, the Wormwood, damaged 
  heavily by the battle, listing to port, and feebly trying to 
  flee for the open sea. There is no need to run ship-to-
  ship combat at this point, for approaching and boarding 
  the damaged and demoralized Wormwood should be 
  child’s play. But once the boarding is accomplished, the 
  remaining crew, led by Adelita Doloruso and consisting 
  of several familiar faces from the PCs’ first days aboard 
  the Wormwood, rise up in a last-ditch attempt to defend the 
  ship and, if they are lucky, take the PCs hostage.
  When this part of the battle begins, you don’t need to 
  play out the actual grappling procedure—you can simply 
  describe the PCs’ grappling of the Wormwood, since the 
  enemy ship is in no condition to resist, especially with her 
  crew preparing for battle.
  Creatures: Although the PCs may hope to face Captain 
  Harrigan aboard the Wormwood, their nemesis is in fact 
  not present. With the death of Mr. Plugg at the PCs’ hands, 
  Harrigan has charged his newest first mate, Adelita 
  Doloruso, with the task of captaining the Wormwood as the 
  flagship of his fleet.
  The battle for the Wormwood is a significant conflict with 
  many enemies—as with all shipboard battles, you should 
  assume that the PCs’ crew is fighting against the Wormwood’s 
  crew, while the PCs themselves focus their attacks on 
  Doloruso and her officers. In all, there are 11 officers on 
  the ship who stand against the PCs—Adelita Doloruso, 
  seven officers, and three other NPCs the PCs will doubtless 
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  recognize from their earlier time aboard the Wormwood. 
  The first of these is the Wormwood’s former master gunner, 
  Riaris Krine. As foul-mouthed as ever, Krine is now the ship’s 
  sailing master, and is eager to put the upstart PCs in their 
  place—preferably in a watery grave. Krine’s former gunner’s 
  mate, Kipper, is now the Wormwood’s master gunner. 
  Having survived the explosion of alchemist’s fire on the 
  Man’s Promise, Kipper is badly scarred, but the accident did 
  nothing to curb his pyromaniac tendencies. Lastly, former 
  boatswain’s mate Patch Patchsalt rounds out those officers 
  from the Wormwood’s original crew. Patch has replaced Cut-
  Throat Grok as the ship’s quartermaster, and has her eye on 
  the first mate’s position, should Adelita fail in her duties.
  Adelita Doloruso 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  hp 126 (see page 54)
  Kipper 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Male human rogue 9
  CE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Senses Perception +13
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, 
  +2 shield)
  hp 89 (9d8+45)
  Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +6
  Defensive Abilities evasion, improved uncanny dodge, trap 
  sense +3
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk short sword +9/+4 (1d6+2/19–20)
  Ranged +1 flaming composite longbow +11/+6 (1d8+3/×3 plus 
  1d6 fire) or
  light ballista +9 (3d8/19–20)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +5d6
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Kipper drinks a potion of invisibility as the PCs 
  prepare to board.
  During Combat Kipper mans a ballista, hoping to fire on a 
  PC within 30 feet so that he can make one of the most 
  memorable sneak attacks of his life. He then drinks his 
  second potion of invisibility, moves to an advantageous spot, 
  and makes a second sneak attack against a foe with his bow. 
  He continues to snipe with his bow until the PCs engage in 
  melee, at which point he moves to flank, if possible, with 
  his sword.
  Morale Kipper fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 22
  Feats Dodge, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (light ballista), Iron 
  Will, Lightning Reflexes, Shield Focus, Shield Proficiency, 
  Toughness, Weapon Focus (composite longbow)
  Skills Acrobatics +14, Bluff +11, Climb +13, Craft (alchemy) +12, 
  Knowledge (engineering) +9, Perception +13, Profession 
  (sailor) +13, Stealth +14, Swim +13
  Languages Common
  SQ rogue talents (bleeding attack +5, combat trick, resiliency, 
  weapon training), trapfinding +4
  Combat Gear potions of cure moderate wounds (2), potions 
  of invisibility (2); Other Gear +1 chain shirt, masterwork 
  buckler, +1 flaming composite longbow with 20 arrows, 
  masterwork short sword
  Patch Patchsalt 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Female gnome fighter 5/rogue 3
  CE Small humanoid (gnome)
  Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +11
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)
  hp 82 (8 HD; 5d10+3d8+37)
  Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +5; +2 vs. illusions, +1 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +1, evasion, trap sense +1
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft.
  Melee +1 human bane short sword +12/+7 (1d4+5/19–20)
  Ranged mwk dagger +13 (1d3+2/19–20)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, weapon training (light 
  blades +1)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Patch focuses her attacks on humans, if 
  possible, flanking where she can to maximize her damage. 
  She prefers to fight with Riaris Krine at her side, both of 
  them focusing their attacks on the same foe at once.
  Morale Patch fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
  Base Atk +7; CMB +7; CMD 21
  Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved 
  Iron Will, Iron Will, Toughness, Weapon Focus (short 
  sword), Weapon Specialization (short sword)
  Skills Acrobatics +11, Bluff +11, Climb +9, Perception +11, 
  Profession (sailor) +11, Stealth +16
  Languages Common, Gnome
  SQ armor training 1, rogue talents (combat trick), trapfinding +1
  Gear +1 leather armor, +1 human bane short sword, masterwork 
  dagger, 554 gp
  Riaris Krine 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Female human fighter 8
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +2; Senses Perception +9
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+8 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
  hp 80 (8d10+32)
  Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +5; +2 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 15 ft.
  Melee +1 boarding pike +14/+9 (1d8+8/×3) or
  mwk dagger +12/+7 (1d4+4/19–20)
  Ranged mwk dagger +11/+6 (1d4+3/19–20)
  Special Attacks weapon training (polearms +1)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Riaris uses her boarding 
  pike’s reach to attack foes being hounded 
  by Patch Patchsalt, using Power Attack 
  to gain a +6 bonus on damage rolls 
  (at a cost of a –3 penalty to hit) to 
  further her blows. She keeps an eye on 
  spellcasters, and attempts to maximize 
  her Disruptive feet by catching as many 
  enemy spellcasters in her weapon’s 
  reach as possible.
  Morale Riaris fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, 
  Cha 8
  Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 24
  Feats Disruptive, Dodge, Greater 
  Weapon Focus (boarding pike), 
  Iron Will, Lunge, Power Attack, 
  Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon 
  Focus (boarding pike), Weapon 
  Specialization (boarding pike)
  Skills Climb +13, Perception +9, 
  Profession (sailor) +12
  Languages Common
  SQ armor training 2
  Combat Gear potions of cure 
  serious wounds (2); Other Gear 
  +2 breastplate, +1 boarding pike, 
  masterwork daggers (5), grappling 
  hook, rope, peg leg
  Wormwood Officers (7) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Pirate castaways (see page 23)
  hp 51 each
  TACTICS
  During Combat The officers do 
  their best against the PCs, but 
  their true value in the battle 
  is to either provide flanking 
  opportunities for sneak 
  attacks, or to use the aid another action to bolster the AC 
  of one of the significant NPCs in the battle.
  Morale The Wormwood officers fight to the death as long as 
  Adelita lives—they surrender if brought below 10 hit points 
  once she’s dead. If all four of the significant NPCs above are 
  slain, all remaining Wormwood officers immediately surrender.
  Treasure: Harrigan’s fleet carries very little plunder, 
  the ships’ holds mostly empty save for supplies for their 
  crews. Nonetheless, 5 points of plunder can be gathered 
  from the Wormwood and the other ships once the Battle of 
  Empty Eyes is over.
  Development: Once the battle is over, the Wormwood 
  and any non-sunken ships among the enemy fleet can 
  serve as replacements, after repairs, for ships lost by 
  the PCs. Likewise, captured crew members can be 
  recruited—with the exception of the Wormwood’s 
  significant NPCs, none of the crew or captains of 
  these ships are loyal enough to Harrigan that 
  they would not jump at the chance to save their 
  lives by joining the PCs’ fleet. All of these crew 
  members, officers included, are ignorant 
  of Harrigan’s true allegiance to Cheliax, 
  even though the majority of the ships in 
  the fleet are of Chelish make. Harrigan 
  chose these crews specifically because 
  they don’t know of his true allegiance, so 
  that if any of them are captured they cannot 
  implicate him. For all they know, the ships 
  are the spoils of Harrigan’s increasingly 
  successful piracy campaigns in the 
  Chelish shipping lanes. Even Adelita, 
  if she survives, knows little about 
  Harrigan’s treachery.
  Any of the crew members can 
  confirm that the fleet itself 
  consisted of the bulk of the 
  vessels Harrigan had at his 
  disposal—he fully expected his 
  fleet to crush the PCs, and as such 
  threw all of his available vessels into the 
  assault. Several other ships are still out to 
  sea pirating, scheduled to return in a few 
  weeks, but until that point, Harrigan is 
  stuck in his fortress with no way to escape 
  and with little in the surrounding waters to 
  defend its harbor. In other words, the time to 
  strike back at him is now!
  Infamy: Award the PCs 1 point of Disrepute 
  and Infamy if they manage to capture the 
  Wormwood, as stories of their long-
  lasting conflict against Harrigan 
  have long awaited an end like this!
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  Riaris Krine
  
  Planning revenge
  If the PCs capture any living pirates during the Battle of 
  Empty Eyes, or if they rescued the castaways from Dagon’s 
  Jaws, or if they recovered the documents from the Devilish 
  Duchess in area A5, they can determine the location of 
  Harrigan’s fortress with ease—otherwise, a successful DC 
  20 Knowledge (local) check (or a DC 20 Diplomacy check 
  to gather information in a town or city) is needed to learn 
  where Harrigan’s lair is. The pirate’s fortress and home 
  port is located on a small isle located about 36 miles west 
  of the Smoker called Gannet Island.
  Captured crew members from Harrigan’s fleet have very 
  little intelligence to offer about Gannet Island or Harrigan’s 
  fortress—they know that a sea serpent guards the waters 
  surrounding the isle, and can provide a basic map of the 
  outline of the fortress, but of the pirates, only Adelita has 
  actually been inside the fortress. If she survives and the PCs 
  can make her talk, she can warn of the scrags Harrigan has 
  recruited, and that he seems to have something secretive 
  going on in the fortress, but can reveal little more.
  The greatest boon the PCs have while preparing their 
  assault on Gannet Island is Scags Rotgram’s diary from 
  the Devilish Duchess. A study of the last few pages of this 
  diary not only provides the PCs with a relatively accurate 
  map of the first floor of Harrigan’s fortress (you should 
  sketch out a version of areas D1–D10 for your players), but 
  also reveals the following key bits of information.
  • Harrigan keeps a “pet” witch—a foul, long-tongued 
  man who keeps a trained sea serpent in the reef-maze 
  surrounding the isle. Scags’s notes indicate that when 
  Harrigan and his ships come and go through the 
  treacherous reefs, they bang large gongs and drop a 
  freshly butchered bull or other large animal over the 
  side as an “offering” to the serpent. The monster’s been 
  trained not to attack ships that use this ritual as they 
  pass through the reefs.
  •  A sea cave exists under the island that serves as an 
  escape route. The cave is exposed at low tide, but even 
  at high tide the tunnel that leads up into the island 
  would provide a stealthy entrance, especially if a force 
  were able to approach the island underwater and enter 
  the cave at high tide.
  •  Harrigan’s personal quarters are on the castle’s third 
  floor—an attack against Harrigan from above would 
  certainly be the fastest route, but Scags notes that such 
  a foolish tactic would leave the entire complement of 
  guards on the floors below available as reinforcements 
  to aid Harrigan. Scags had planned on working his way 
  up through the lower floors with several of his allies, 
  hoping to use Harrigan’s cowardice and arrogance 
  against him so that when the final confrontation 
  occurred, there would be no reinforcements left to 
  protect the man.
  Numerous other entries throughout the diary provide 
  smaller tips on how to infiltrate the castle, with notes on 
  guard patrols, blind spots, and the like. If the PCs take a 
  few hours to study these pages in the diary, they gain a +4 
  bonus on all initiative checks made inside the fortress.
  ganneT iSland reeFS (Cr 12)
  Gannet Island consists of a rocky outcropping surrounded 
  by smaller shoals and rocks that make navigating difficult 
  to those unfamiliar to the territory. Past these shoals lies a 
  small bay ample enough harbor Harrigan’s growing fleet—
  although now, with the bulk of his fleet likely residing on 
  the sea bed near the Isle of Empty Eyes, this harbor is empty. 
  It requires five DC 35 Profession (sailor) check to navigate 
  the treacherous reefs that surround Gannet Island, with 
  each failure dealing 8d8 points of damage to the ship as it 
  strikes a reef. Access to Scags’s journal and the harbor charts 
  he copied within its pages grants a +20 bonus on Profession 
  (sailor) checks made to avoid these hidden perils.
  Creature: As the PCs approach the island, whether on a 
  ship or attempting a stealthier infiltration via an underwater 
  approach, they run the chance of attracting the attention of 
  the sea serpent that Gilbrok the Tongue has charmed into 
  guarding the island. The sea serpent automatically notices 
  the approach of a ship, but is relatively easy to slip by if the 
  PCs decide to approach the island using stealth without a 
  ship or boat.
  While the serpent is charmed, it remains a relatively 
  unintelligent beast. It does know, however, that when 
  passing ships ring a gong and dump fresh food into the 
  waters that it’s not supposed to attack those ships. The sight 
  of the tremendous monster coiling up from the waters below 
  to gulp down a cow in a single bite might be frightening, but 
  as long as the PCs don’t attack it, the serpent allows their 
  ship to pass by unmolested. Those who do not perform this 
  ritual, on the other hand, are swiftly attacked.
  Sea Serpent 
  CR 12 
  XP 19,200
  hp 187 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 244)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The sea serpent attempts to capsize the ship 
  several times, violently slamming into the hull with charge 
  attacks before disappearing beneath the waves. As long as 
  the PCs are in a Colossal ship, they have no fear of actually 
  being capsized, but the attacks should nonetheless be 
  frightening. The sea serpent remains out of sight for 1d6 
  rounds before returning to attack again. At this time (or if the 
  PCs manage to harm the monster before then), it abandons 
  attempts to capsize a ship and rears from the waters, 
  attempting to knock crew members from the deck by tail 
  slapping them into the water where it can easily devour them. 
  Morale The sea serpent fights to the death.
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  ganneT iSland FeaTureS
  The majority of Gannet Island is dense jungle—the island 
  itself is home to insects and thousands of sea birds, but 
  very little else. The shores this U-shaped consist almost 
  entirely of ragged 30-foot-high cliffs, save for a small 
  beach that lies near the northern shore inside the island’s 
  natural harbor. No pier exists—travel to and from this 
  beach from ships must be made via ship’s boats or the 
  like. A stone staircase winds up from the beach toward 
  the fortress itself, which is perched on the cliff edge and 
  cut off from the island via a 20-foot-deep trough that 
  floods on the stormiest of days. A drawbridge that leads 
  to area D1 allows for easy foot traffic from the stairs to the 
  fortress itself.
  Harrigan’s soldiers keep sharp eyes to sea, and if they see 
  the approach of any ship that looks obviously like anything 
  other than one of their own, they do not hesitate to open 
  fire with the light ballistae located at areas D1, E1, and 
  E2 against incoming ships (there are five light ballistae in 
  all). The fortress alarm is also raised as soon as any enemy 
  ship is sighted.
  Note that as soon as the fortress knows the PCs are 
  approaching, the witch Gilbrok (in area F) begins to cast 
  control weather, although it’ll take an hour after this first 
  sighting for the weather to turn truly foul. During this 
  hour, though, make sure to keep reminding the PCs of the 
  gathering storm clouds and rising winds. See area F for 
  more details.
  C. Sea Cave (Cr 13)
  About 200 feet south of the beach, nestled at the base of the 
  cliffs at the innermost curve of the island’s harbor, lies a sea 
  cave. During high tide (noon and midnight at this time of 
  year), this sea cave is entirely submerged, while at low tide 
  (dawn and dusk) a few feet of air exist near the cave’s ceiling 
  between waves. Spotting the cave from above water requires 
  a DC 30 Perception check (this check gains a +5 bonus at low 
  tide), but it is automatically visible from underwater. The 
  churning water can be navigated with DC 20 Swim checks. 
  The cave is 20 feet high from floor to ceiling. At the far end, 
  the ceiling rises an additional 10 feet above sea level, at which 
  point a narrow tunnel winds up into the rock, traveling for 
  several hundred feet before opening into the pit in area D9a.
  Creature: Harrigan knows about this alternative route into 
  the fortress, but hasn’t bothered to do much about protecting 
  it since the cave is not only hard to see, but is also the den of a 
  dangerous creature—a giant deep tiger sea anemone, a much 
  more aggressive creature than most sea anemones, either 
  normal or oversized. When it retracts its tentacles, a deep tiger 
  anemone is very difficult to detect among the surrounding 
  rocks, but when it attacks, it unfolds hundreds of wriggling 
  orange-and-black tentacles surrounding a cavernous, toothy 
  maw. The immense predatory creature fills much of the 
  eastern portion of the cave near the tunnel leading up to 
  the fortress. Normally a denizen of deeper aquatic reaches, 
  the thing enjoys the dark of the cave and feeds well on the 
  constant flow of smaller fish and sea life that gets washed 
  into this cave. That said, it certainly won’t hesitate to attack 
  anything that comes within reach of its tentacles!
  Deep Tiger Anemone 
  CR 13
  XP 25,600
  Variant giant sea anemone (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 238)
  N Colossal vermin (aquatic)
  Init +2; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 4, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +15 natural, –8 size)
  hp 275 (19d8+190)
  Fort +21, Ref +8, Will +6
  Defensive Abilities amorphous; DR 15/slashing; Immune gaze 
  attacks, mind-affecting effects, poison, vision-based effects
  OFFENSE
  Speed 10 ft.
  Melee tentacles +20 (8d6+21 plus grab and poison)
  Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft.
  Special Attacks fast swallow, poison, swallow whole (4d6+21 
  bludgeoning damage, AC 17, 27 hp), water jet
  TACTICS
  During Combat The deep tiger anemone lashes out at all 
  available targets, using its Whirlwind Attack feat to great 
  effect. It only attempts to grab and eat one target per round.
  Morale The deep tiger anemone fights to the death, but does 
  not pursue foes.
  STATISTICS
  Str 38, Dex 14, Con 30, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2
  Base Atk +14; CMB +36 (+40 grapple); CMD 48 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Whirlwind AttackB
  Skills Stealth +10; Racial Modifiers +24 Stealth
  SQ anchored, sightless
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Poison (Ex) Tentacle–injury; save Fort DC 29; frequency 1/
  round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Strength drain and 1d6 
  Dexterity drain; cure 2 consecutive saves.
  Water Jet (Ex) Once every 1d4 rounds as a swift action, a deep 
  tiger anemone can draw large quantities of surrounding 
  water into its body and then expel the water at high 
  pressure. It makes a single combat maneuver check against 
  all creatures within 30 feet—those whose CMD this roll 
  equals or exceeds are pushed back to a maximum distance 
  of 30 feet from the anemone. This forced movement does 
  not provoke attacks of opportunity.
  Treasure: The cave floor around the anemone’s base is 
  littered with bones and fragments of rusted, encrusted gear 
  left here over the years by unfortunates who attempted to 
  explore the cave only to fall to its guardian. The majority 
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  of the treasure has washed out to sea, but a search of the 
  nooks and crannies of the rocks reveals 534 gp, 22 pp, a 
  circlet of persuasion, a minor ring of fire resistance, and a wand 
  of fly (11 charges).
  d1. SenTry ToWer (Cr 12)
  This octagonal tower rises 30 feet into the air. A pair of light 
  ballistae loom on the roof above, while chains descend from 
  the tower’s eastern face to attach to a drawbridge that spans 
  a dry gulch.
  The roof of this tower can be accessed via a rope ladder that 
  hangs down from the north wall; the ladder is usually kept 
  pulled up while guards are on duty above. The doors in this 
  tower are generally kept barred from the west side—each set 
  of doors is of reinforced oak (hardness 5, hp 40, Break DC 27).
  Creatures: A group of six smugglers occupies the sentry 
  tower, keeping watch over the winding pathway and the 
  surrounding seas alike for the approach of enemies, 
  whether in ships or on foot. If the smugglers spot anything 
  suspicious, they quickly raise the alarm. Of the six 
  smugglers, two crew the light ballistae on the roof above, 
  while the remaining four hold the line inside the tower 
  after they raise up the drawbridge and lock it in place. 
  Depending on how long the PCs take to get here, they may 
  well face additional forces in this room (smugglers, cultists, 
  and scrags) or the courtyard beyond (area D2) as you see fit.
  Smugglers (6) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  Human rogue (smuggler) 8 (Pirates of the Inner Sea 23)
  LE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +4; Senses Perception +11
  DEFENSE
  AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
  hp 63 each (8d8+24)
  Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +5
  Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 short sword +11/+6 (1d6/19–20)
  Ranged mwk shortbow +11/+6 (1d6/19–20) or
  light ballista +11 (3d8/19–20)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +4d6
  Rogue Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th, concentration +9)
  3/day—detect magic
  2/day—disguise self (DC 12)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The smugglers on the roof use the ballistae 
  against intruders—they can’t target foes in area D2, 
  though, so if the PCs move the fight down there or into 
  the floor below, they abandon the siege engines to join 
  the fight. Smugglers in melee combat work together to 
  surround foes and flank, relying on their shortbows only 
  when they can’t reach a foe in melee.
  Morale The smugglers are highly trained Chelish agents—
  they fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 8, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14
  Base Atk +6; CMB +5; CMD 20
  Feats Dodge, Iron Will, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (light 
  ballista), Mobility, Toughness, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +13, Diplomacy +13, Disable 
  Device +15, Disguise +13, Knowledge (engineering) +12, 
  Perception +11, Sense Motive +11, Sleight of Hand +19, 
  Spellcraft +9, Stealth +15
  FORTRESS DEFENSES
  In addition to a few unique guardians and NPCs, three 
  different types of minions currently defend Harrigan’s 
  fortress. While the named NPCs and specific guardians 
  are generally only encountered in the rooms they’re listed 
  in (exceptions are noted in the text as they occur), the three 
  types of minions listed below are more mobile, and should 
  the fortress alarm be raised, they can quickly mobilize to 
  come to its defense. See the Additional Support sidebar 
  on page 35 and the To Arms! sidebar on page 43 for more 
  details on additional defenders and how the fortress rises 
  to meet a threat.
  Cultists: There are six clerics of Norgorber in the fortress—
  all loyal to their high priestess Luccaria (see area D10), herself 
  a Chelish agent and the primary point of contact between 
  Harrigan and his Thrune handlers. If the alarm is raised, two 
  clerics remain in the shrine (area D9) with Luccaria to defend 
  it while the others quickly move to intercept intruders and 
  provide support to scrags and smugglers as needed.
  Scrags: Four scrag barbarians dwell in the fortress in 
  area D4. Foul tempered at having to remain out of water 
  for so long, these aquatic trolls remain loyal as a result 
  of charm monster spells cast by Harrigan’s witch-man, 
  Gilbrok the Tongue. They quickly move to oppose any 
  attempt to enter the fortress once the alarm is raised.
  Smugglers: With the bulk of Harrigan’s personal crew 
  and followers out with his fleet, the pirate captain has 
  retained a large number of Chelish smugglers here for 
  his fortress’s defense. These men and women are loyal 
  Chelaxians who have been ordered to serve as Harrigan’s 
  guards and to aid in covering up and smuggling Chelish 
  support and supplies to the traitor. There are a total of 15 
  smugglers in the fortress—they move quickly to engage 
  the enemy once the alarm is raised.
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  Harrigan’s Fortress
  Gannet Island
  . D
  . C
  E2a
  E2
  E1
  E4
  E3
  E5
  E6
  F
  G1
  D7
  D6
  D1
  D2
  D3
  D4
  D5
  D8
  D9a
  D10
  D9
  C
  G2
  G3
  1 square = 5 feet
  1 square = 5 feet
  1 square = 15 feet
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  Languages Common, Polyglot
  SQ rogue talents (bleeding attack +4, finesse rogue, major 
  magic, minor magic), smuggler abilities (bribery, conceal 
  item, distraction)
  Gear +2 studded leather, +1 short sword, masterwork shortbow 
  with 20 arrows, cloak of resistance +1
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Smuggler Abilities These smugglers gain a +2 bonus on 
  Diplomacy checks made to smuggle contraband through 
  a checkpoint and a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks. In 
  addition, a smuggler can make a Bluff check opposed by a 
  searcher’s Perception check when a searcher looks for items 
  the smuggler has concealed—if the smuggler makes this 
  check, the searcher must roll a second Perception check 
  and take the worse of the two rolls as his actual result.
  Development: If the proper questions are asked of a 
  smuggler prisoner (and he’s made helpful), he could reveal 
  the truth about Harrigan’s alliance with Cheliax. This 
  counts as “aid that could result in punishment,” and thus 
  increases the Diplomacy DC to earn that information by 
  +15, making it a DC 42 Diplomacy check to convince a 
  hostile smuggler to come clean.
  d2. ouTer yard
  This weed-choked courtyard features little more than a filthy 
  trail leading from the outer sentry tower to a short tunnel that 
  passes through the main wall of the fortress.
  If the alarm is raised, this yard can serve as a marshaling 
  area or a staging ground for defense. Otherwise, the area 
  remains empty.
  d3. liFT
  Hard-packed earth covers the ground of this courtyard. To the 
  southeast, a wooden platform sits on the ground, nestled in 
  the corner of the surrounding wall. A winch and crane nearby 
  provides the mechanism to raise and lower the lift to the 
  walkway twenty feet above.
  The lift can be operated from ground level or the 
  walkway above. A single person can operate the winch, but 
  it takes a full minute for the slow-moving lift to make a 
  complete journey. The lift can support up to 1,500 pounds 
  before collapsing. A successful DC 20 Climb check is 
  required to scale the walls to the parapets above.
  d4. SCrag Pen (Cr 12)
  This large room has a floor of hard-packed earth. Numerous 
  open windows along the walls give the place a drafty feel, while 
  the ceiling above is supported by a network of rafters and 
  wooden beams, all thick with cobwebs.
  Creatures: Harrigan has kept scrags as guardians for his 
  fortress for years, relying upon the magic of his “pet witch” 
  Gilbrok to keep the aquatic trolls in line with charm monster. 
  Traditionally, Harrigan has used the scrags as guardians 
  for his fortress’s jail (area D5), but of late, with so many of his 
  regular guards out on the seas, he’s relied more and more on 
  the scrags to serve as primary guards. They’ve been ordered 
  to immediately move to aid battles if the alarm is raised.
  Scrag Savages (4) 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800 each
  Scrag barbarian (sea reaver) 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 268, 
  Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 29)
  CE Large humanoid (aquatic, giant)
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., eyes of the storm*, low-light 
  vision, scent; Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +7 natural, –2 rage, –1 size)
  hp 127 each (9 HD; 6d8+3d12+81); regeneration 5 (acid or fire, 
  when in contact with water)
  TO ARMS!
  Once the alarm is raised in Harrigan’s fortress, the option 
  to explore the castle at a leisurely pace vanishes—the 
  denizens of the fortress quickly rise up to fight against the 
  PCs, including the named NPCs. Only Gilbrok the Tongue 
  (area F) doesn’t immediately join the fight if he’s still using 
  his weather control hex to call up a storm.
  How you run this battle depends on your preferences. 
  Not only is it unfair to force the PCs to fight every one of 
  the fortress’s denizens at the same time, it’s not particularly 
  fun or realistic. When the alarm is raised, the rest of the 
  fortress reacts in waves. Rather than forcing the PCs to take 
  on all of the fortress’s defenders at once, simply have new 
  groups of defenders arrive as the previous wave is defeated. 
  By throwing multiple CR 11–12 encounters at the PCs, you’ll 
  wear down their resources and force them to fight smarter 
  and use better tactics than they might otherwise. Feel free 
  to have significant NPCs show up early in this fight, but you 
  should save Harrigan for some point near the end of this 
  long, multi-wave fight. Consider having Harrigan flee back 
  to his bedroom (area G3) with Gilbrok and perhaps an erinyes 
  or two once it looks like the PCs are about to win. With 
  Harrigan barricaded in his room as he tries to recover, the 
  PCs can take a bit of a breather before recovering to attack 
  their nemesis one final time.
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  Fort +17, Ref +7, Will +7
  OFFENSE
  Speed 25 ft., swim 40 ft.
  Melee mwk handaxe +14/+9 (1d8+9/×3), mwk handaxe +14/+9 
  (1d8+9/×3), bite +10 (1d8+4) or
  2 claws +15 (1d6+9), bite +15 (1d8+9)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 1d6+10), rage (15 rounds/day), 
  rage powers (swift foot +5 feet)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Even though their regeneration doesn’t work 
  out of water, the scrags are ruthless and aggressive in 
  battle. The scrags do more damage with their axes, but if a 
  scrag consistently misses foes, it throws the axes aside in 
  disgust to switch to biting and clawing.
  Morale Although the scrags are charmed, this doesn’t make 
  them foolhardy. A scrag panics if brought below 25 hit 
  points, and immediately attempts to flee the castle and 
  into the ocean to activate its regeneration ability. If a scrag 
  is released from a charm monster effect, it immediately 
  realizes it’s been tricked and flees into the ocean at once, 
  abandoning its duties.
  STATISTICS
  Str 29, Dex 18, Con 29, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 4
  Base Atk +7; CMB +17; CMD 29
  Feats Double Slice, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, 
  Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Two-Weapon Fighting
  Skills Acrobatics +5, Climb +16, Intimidate +12, Perception +6, 
  Profession (sailor) +7, Survival +6, Swim +22
  Languages Giant
  SQ amphibious, marine terror*, savage sailor*
  Gear masterwork handaxes (2), amulet of natural armor +2
  * See Ultimate Combat.
  d5. PriSon
  The entrance to this area is blocked by an iron-shod door 
  held fast with a metal drop bar, chains, and two masterwork 
  good locks (hardness 8, hp 40, Break DC 28; Disable Device 
  35). The key to the locks is carried by Jakaw Razorbeak, 
  Harrigan’s current master-at-arms and jailer (see area E3).
  This dark, filthy chamber has been split into five cells—four 
  small cramped ones to the north and south with a larger cell to 
  the west. Manacles hang from the walls, and the floor is strewn 
  with filthy, moldering straw.
  Creatures: This room is where Harrigan keeps his 
  “favorite” prisoners—enemies he’s captured or crew member 
  who tried to defy him and failed. The current occupants 
  of this chamber are two familiar faces from the 
  PCs’ days on the Wormwood—former sailing 
  master Peppery Longfarthing (CN 
  female human sorcerer 8) and ex-
  ship’s surgeon Habbly “Stitchman” 
  Quarne (N male human fighter 
  4/expert 3). When word reached 
  Harrigan of the loss of the Man’s 
  Promise during the PCs’ mutiny, 
  his anger was staggering—
  and the Wormwood’s crew 
  took the brunt of it. Some 
  of them managed to stay 
  in his good graces, but 
  a few crew members, such 
  as the two imprisoned here, 
  became the unfortunate targets 
  of his wrath. Harrigan merely lopped 
  off one of Habbly’s feet and put out an eye with a hot iron 
  before throwing him into this prison cell—he got off easy, 
  compared to Peppery Longfarthing. Once a close friend of 
  Harrigan, she miscalculated his loyalty when she dared to 
  suggest that the PCs’ mutiny could be an object lesson for 
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  Scrag Savage
  
  Harrigan—“Maybe if you kept your officers on a shorter 
  leash they’d inspire more loyalty among their crews,” she’d 
  said. She’s had the months since to regret those words, for 
  Harrigan cut off both her hands, put out both of her eyes, 
  and cut out her tongue to teach her a lesson and ensure 
  that she could tell no one what she knew of Harrigan’s 
  association with Cheliax. She’s still alive only because of her 
  long friendship with Harrigan—an ironic fate, perhaps, 
  since in her current state she’s all but helpless.
  If other significant crew members remained with the 
  Wormwood in your campaign, feel free to have them found 
  here in similar dire straits. Without at least a few regenerate 
  spells, none of the prisoners found here can be of much use 
  in helping the PCs, but if they can be communicated with, 
  you can use them to fill the PCs in on what Harrigan’s been 
  up to of late. However, the prisoners refuse to talk until 
  they’ve been rescued and are far away from this island—or 
  alternatively, until they’re sure Harrigan is dead.
  Story Award: If the PCs show mercy to their old enemies 
  and rescue the prisoners, award the PCs 4,800 XP.
  d6. TorTure PiT
  The door to this tower is carved with lines of prayers to 
  Norgorber. A successful DC 18 Knowledge (religion) check 
  identifies the prayer as the Psalm of the Splintered Spine, 
  an unholy psalm dedicated to the revelation of hidden 
  truths. This psalm inspired an entire sect of Norgorberites 
  devoted entirely to the art of forcing individuals to reveal 
  their secrets through the manipulation of both mind 
  and flesh. The door is of reinforced iron and is locked 
  (hardness 8, hp 40, Break DC 28, Disable Device DC 40). 
  The key can be found in area D9.
  Beyond the door, a narrow walkway encircles a wide stone-
  lined pit just deep enough to trap a human. Mounted to the 
  pit walls hang half a dozen pairs of iron manacles, all spattered 
  with dried blood. Around the ledge, metal racks hold a bizarre 
  array of vicious-looking torture implements, including barbed 
  whips, bone chisels, metal piercing spurs, flasks with strange 
  colored liquids, and coal-filled braziers.
  Creature: The cultists of Norgorber use this room to 
  practice their torture techniques—their current victim lies 
  tightly bound in chains laced with hooks in a coffin-shaped 
  cage in the pit below. As with the prisoners in area D5, the PCs 
  are likely to recognize the Wormwood’s former quartermaster, 
  Cut-Throat Grok (N female half-orc fighter 5), even without 
  her arms and legs or ears and nose (all of which have been 
  expertly and surgically removed over the past several months). 
  Grok has long since fallen into insanity from the horror 
  and pain of the torture, and the Norgorberites have for the 
  moment suspended their work until they can arrange to have 
  a greater restoration spell cast on her to restore her awareness. 
  For now, Grok is lost in a permanent state of catatonia and 
  must be cared for lest she die of thirst or starvation—a task 
  the torturers are disturbingly diligent about.
  Treasure: Items stored in this room include a +2 whip, a 
  masterwork scourge, 10 flasks of acid, six branding irons, 
  eight masterwork manacles, a case of candles, a set of 
  masterwork bone chisels worth 350 gp, a set of adamantine 
  torture needles worth 500 gp, and a cabinet containing 15 
  potions of cure light wounds and a rusty metal funnel with 
  a strap tied to it so it can be affixed in place around a 
  person’s mouth and head.
  Development: As with the prisoners in area D5, feel 
  free to replace Grok with another NPC the PCs may have 
  inadvertently befriended and left aboard the Wormwood. 
  If the PCs can get through to Grok by healing her, she 
  can, like the other prisoners, inform the PCs about what 
  Harrigan’s been up to.
  Story Award: If the PCs rescue Grok, award them 4,800 
  XP. If they cure her madness and restore her limbs and 
  facial features with regenerate spells, she immediately 
  pledges her life to the PCs, effectively serving the party as 
  a loyal minion or cohort for as long as they will have her.
  d7. ToWer SToreroom
  Within this tower hang several shanks of dried, salted meat, 
  while crates and other shelves hold barrels of drinking water 
  and other food stores.
  There’s enough food and water stored here for the 
  occupants of the fortress to last for 2 weeks, though in 
  practice, the presence of so many clerics in the fortress (and 
  hence access to spells like create water, purify food and drink, 
  and create food and water) means that they can last a lot longer 
  than that. Stairs here lead up to the watchpost at area E2.
  d8. enTranCe hall
  Over a dozen battle-scared flags decorate the walls of this 
  room. A flight of stairs to the east leads up to an upper floor, 
  while a strange sigil of a faceless black mask marks a door at the 
  north end of the room.
  The flags on the walls are various trophies claimed by 
  Harrigan over the years—nearly two-thirds of them are 
  from Chelish vessels. The sigil on the northern door can 
  be identified as a symbol of Norgorber (specifically, in his 
  aspect as the Reaper of Reputation, patron of secrets) with 
  a successful DC 12 Knowledge (religion) check. The stairs 
  lead up to area E3.
  If the alarm is raised, the southern iron and oaken door 
  is double barred from inside (hardness 5, hp 30, Break DC 
  28, Disable Device DC 30).
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  d9. Shrine oF norgorBer (Cr 13)
  The walls of this long hall are lined with complex tapestries 
  depicting crowds of faceless people going about their daily tasks 
  in an unrecognizable but sprawling city. Hammocks suspended 
  from hooks driven into the ceiling hang near the north walls to 
  the east and west, while in the center, the long hall opens to the 
  north into an upraised pulpit featuring a circular black altar stone. 
  Directly opposite this pulpit, a railing replaces the southern wall, 
  which looks out over a large sinkhole in the floor to the south.
  While Harrigan himself isn’t a very religious man, he 
  understands the value of having clerical allies. He’s long kept 
  secrets (his allegiance to Cheliax merely being his greatest 
  secret), and has found this plus his penchant for taking 
  what he wants to match well with the dogma of Norgorber. 
  But when Cheliax sent down a secretive group of Norgorber 
  cultists, ostensibly to serve as allies and agents, Harrigan was 
  right to suspect more. In fact, these cultists are here as much 
  to keep an eye on Harrigan as they are to provide support. 
  The shrine itself is a relatively mundane affair, although it 
  does bear an unhallow effect (CL 12th) that fills all of area D9, 
  D9a, and D10 with its effects. This unhallow also carries a 
  silence effect that targets all non-worshipers of Norgorber.
  The railing to the south looks out over a large room 
  whose floor has fallen away into a large sinkhole (area 
  D9a). It’s a 10-foot drop to the sinkhole, which opens into 
  a large cavern below that is filled with water. The tunnel 
  from area C leads to this cavern—climbing up through the 
  hole in the cave roof (which is about 5 feet from the surface 
  of the water) requires a successful DC 25 Climb check.
  Creatures: Four of the Norgorber cultists are present in 
  the shrine, all followers of a woman named Luccaria (see 
  area D10). All of them follow strict rules and interpretations 
  of the Reaper of Reputation’s holy texts, and are much 
  more rigid and pedantic in their readings. While they 
  work well together, their methods would certainly amuse 
  or even annoy most other worshipers of Norgorber.
  An additional threat lies in the cavern below the 
  sinkhole—an enormous spiny eurypterid (also known as a 
  spiny water scorpion) dwells in the water. Captain Harrigan 
  considers the eurypterid a pet, and calls it by the name Mr. 
  Clack. Harrigan keeps the thing fed (including with body 
  parts—or entire bodies—from his enemies) and it remains 
  here as a guardian of the back way into the fortress. 
  Norgorber Cultists (4) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  Female human cleric of Norgorber 7
  LE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +1; Senses Perception +4
  DEFENSE
  AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 shield)
  hp 63 each (7d8+28)
  Fort +9, Ref +3, Will +9
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft.
  Melee +1 short sword +7 (1d6+1/19–20)
  Special Attacks channel negative energy 4/day (DC 14, 4d6)
  Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +11)
  7/day—copycat (7 rounds), touch of evil (3 rounds)
  Spells Prepared (CL 7th; concentration +11)
  4th—confusionD (DC 18), cure critical wounds, poison (DC 18)
  3rd—bestow curse (DC 17), cure serious wounds, dispel magic, 
  magic circle against goodD
  2nd—cure moderate wounds (2), death knell (DC 16), 
  invisibilityD, silence (DC 16)
  1st—bane (DC 15), cure light wounds (2), disguise self D (DC 15), 
  divine favor, sanctuary (DC 15)
  0 (at will)—bleed (DC 14), guidance, read magic, stabilize
  D Domain spell; Domains Evil, Trickery
  TACTICS
  During Combat The cultists prefer playing support roles, 
  hanging back in a battle with sanctuary or invisibility spells 
  in effect so they can move to and fro casting healing spells 
  on those better suited for combat. If directly confronted, 
  they rely heavily upon their ability to channel negative 
  energy and confusion spells.
  Morale The cultists are fanatic and fight to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 18, Cha 13
  Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 16
  Feats Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Selective Channeling, 
  Toughness, Weapon Focus (short sword)
  Skills Heal +10, Knowledge (arcana) +4, Knowledge (religion) +6, 
  Profession (torturer) +9, Sense Motive +10
  Languages Common
  Combat Gear potions of cure moderate wounds (2), potions of 
  invisibility (2); Other Gear +1 chainmail, +1 light wooden 
  shield, +1 short sword, spell component pouch, silver unholy 
  symbol of Norgorber worth 25 gp
  Mr. Clack 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Advanced spiny eurypterid (Pathfinder #37 78)
  N Huge vermin (aquatic)
  Init +6; Senses low-light vision, tremorsense 30 ft.; Perception +3
  DEFENSE
  AC 27, touch 10, flat-footed 25 (+2 Dex, +17 natural, –2 size)
  hp 184 (16d8+112)
  Fort +17, Ref +7, Will +8
  Defensive Abilities spiny carapace; Immune mind-affecting 
  effects
  OFFENSE
  Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft.
  Melee 2 claws +20 (2d6+10/19–20), sting +20 (1d6+10 plus poison)
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  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (20 ft. with sting)
  Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d6+15)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Mr. Clack attacks anyone it notices 
  approaching its den. Note that anyone who climbs down 
  into the sinkhole (or, for that matter, bumps the edge of the 
  railing) is in reach of the eurypterid’s sting attack. With its 
  tremorsense, Mr. Clack can lash out through the hole at 
  anyone in or adjacent to area D9a.
  Morale Mr. Clack is too big to pursue foes out of it den. It 
  fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 30, Dex 14, Con 24, Int —, Wis 17, Cha 6
  Base Atk +12; CMB +24; CMD 36 (48 vs. trip)
  Feats Improved Critical (claws)B, Improved Initiative B, 
  Improved Natural Attack (claws) B
  Skills Swim +18
  SQ amphibious
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 25; frequency 1/round for 
  6 rounds; effect 1d4 Con and 1d2 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.
  Spiny Carapace (Ex) Any creature that attacks Mr. Clack with 
  a light weapon, unarmed strike, or natural attack takes 
  1d6 points of piercing damage from the eurypterid’s spiny 
  carapace. A creature that grapples or is grappled by Mr. 
  Clack takes 2d6 points of piercing damage per round the 
  grapple is maintained.
  Treasure: A small niche on the north side of the altar 
  contains a few objects of interest: two blocks of incense of 
  meditation, two scrolls of restoration, and an iron key to the 
  door to area D6.
  d10. miSTreSS oF revelaTionS (Cr 12)
  Along one wall of this elegantly appointed room, shelves hold a 
  collection of ominous looking tomes. Near the shelf rests a bed 
  with black silk sheets. A huge red-and-black banner depicting a 
  spiked cross in a circle hangs above the bed. Along the far wall 
  stands a stone masked-shaped font, filled with a dark liquid.
  A successful DC 10 Knowledge (local) or Knowledge 
  (nobility) check identifies the banner as that of the House 
  of Thrune and the nation of Cheliax. The tomes consist 
  mostly of religious works dedicated to Norgorber, but 
  several focus on Chelish history and genealogy instead. 
  The strange font on the far wall is filled with 10 doses of 
  unholy water. Sacred to Norgorber, this magical font also 
  allows for communication with Thrune agents far to the 
  north (see Development, below).
  Creatures: The high priestess of the Norgorber cultists, 
  and the primary point of contact between Harrigan and 
  his Chelish mistress Druvalia Thrune, is a woman named 
  Luccaria. She’s occupied this chamber since Harrigan’s 
  return from his capture, when she replaced the previous 
  cleric of Norgorber Harrigan kept. Luccaria is a much 
  more powerful priestess, and Harrigan has left her to her 
  own devices as a result.
  Luccaria spends the majority of her time scrying upon 
  various people of interest to her—Harrigan, low-ranking 
  agents of the Hurricane King, even some of the PCs’ 
  followers. She takes care not to ever directly scry those 
  whom she is interested in, knowing that such actions could 
  reveal her interest. It’s up to you to determine how much 
  she knows about the PCs, but if they possess any secrets, 
  feel free to have Luccaria reveal some of them before the 
  other players—after all, she also has access to spells like 
  commune and divination in order to learn more!
  Luccaria prefers to appear dressed in formal black gowns, 
  when in fact even her clothing has secrets—it is in fact a 
  magical glamered chain shirt. She is attended at all times by 
  two cultists of Norgorber—loyal followers who do their best 
  to protect her.
  Luccaria 
  CR 11
  XP 12,800
  Female human cleric of Norgorber 12
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Senses Perception +4
  DEFENSE
  AC 25, touch 17, flat-footed 22 (+7 armor, +4 deflection, +3 Dex, 
  +1 shield)
  hp 117 (12d8+60)
  Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +12
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +3 grayflame short sword +14/+9 (1d6+3/19–20), +3 short 
  sword +14/+9 (1d6+3/19–20)
  Special Attacks channel negative energy 5/day (DC 18, 6d6)
  Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +16)
  At will—charming smile (12 rounds, DC 16), master’s 
  illusion (12 rounds/day)
  7/day—copycat (12 rounds), dazing touch
  Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +16)
  6th—blade barrier (DC 20), heal, misleadD (DC 20)
  5th—charm monsterD (DC 19), quickened divine might, 
  flame strike (DC 19), quickened shield of faith
  4th—air walk, heroismD, greater magic weapon (2), spell immunity
  3rd—bestow curse (DC 17), cure serious wounds, contagion 
  (DC 17), dispel magic, magic vestment, suggestionD (DC 17)
  2nd—bear’s endurance, cure moderate wounds (2), death knell 
  (DC 16), hold person (DC 16), invisibilityD
  1st—charm personD (DC 15), cure light wounds (3), 
  deathwatch, obscuring mist
  0 (at will)—bleed (DC 14), guidance, read magic, stabilize
  D Domain spell; Domains Charm, Trickery
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  TACTICS
  Before Combat Luccaria casts greater magic weapon on her 
  swords and magic vestment on her armor. As soon as she 
  hears her cultists in area D9 shouting, she casts air walk, 
  bear’s endurance, and invisibility on herself. She also casts 
  spell immunity, choosing spells she knows the PCs favor.
  During Combat Once combat starts in area D9, and once 
  she is invisible, Luccaria sends her two attendant cultists 
  into area D9 as well to join the fight. She follows, casting 
  quickened shield of faith and heroism as she enters the 
  room. If the opportunity presents itself, she casts blade 
  barrier to block escape routes. Once she’s visible, 
  Luccaria casts her ranged attack spells. If she’s 
  engaged in melee she casts quickened divine 
  might before attacking, then channels negative 
  energy as a swift action the following round 
  to activate her grayflame short sword (which 
  increases the weapon’s enhancement bonus by 
  +1 and deals +1d6 points of damage for 6 rounds). 
  Luccaria casts heal on herself if she ever drops 
  below 40 hit points.
  Morale If dropped below 15 hit points, Luccaria 
  casts mislead and attempts to escape to 
  Harrigan’s side (in area G3) to inform him 
  of the PCs and to aid him in combat. She 
  does not abandon Harrigan as long as 
  he lives, but if he is slain, she attempts to 
  flee the Shackles entirely.
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 19, Cha 14
  Base Atk +9; CMB +9; CMD 26
  Feats Combat Casting, Quicken Spell, 
  Toughness, Two-Weapon Defense, 
  Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon 
  Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword)
  Skills Diplomacy +9, Heal +11, 
  Intimidate +6, Knowledge (religion) 
  +6, Profession (torturer) +11, Sense 
  Motive +11
  Languages Common
  Combat Gear wand of cure serious 
  wounds (14 charges), unholy water (2); 
  Other Gear +1 glamered chain shirt, 
  +1 grayflame* short sword, masterwork 
  short sword, headband of inspired 
  wisdom +2, ring of mind shielding, spell 
  component pouch, silver unholy symbol of 
  Norgorber worth 25 gp
  * See the Advanced Player’s Guide.
  Norgorber Cultists (2) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  hp 63 each (see page 46)
  Treasure: The books kept here range from the mundane 
  to the truly rare: 10 of the tomes here are particularly 
  scarce editions worth 200 gp each.
  Development: For a cultist of Norgorber, Luccaria keeps 
  very few physical valuables—she values her secrets much 
  more than wealth. The most valuable object in the room is 
  her scrying font—for when it is filled with holy or unholy 
  water, it allows her to establish a two-way communication 
  link with a second font located in the captain’s cabin of 
  Abrogail’s Fury, the flagship of the Chelish armada under 
  Admiral Druvalia Thrune’s command. If the PCs 
  interact with the font in any way, including simply 
  touching the font or examining it with detect magic 
  (it radiates strong divination), Druvalia notices and 
  activates the font from her end. This causes the 
  water in the font to rise up and form a miniature 
  version of the woman—at the same time, an image 
  of whichever PC activated the font appears in the 
  other one aboard the Abrogail’s Fury. Admiral Thrune 
  looks surprised for a moment, but quickly recovers with a 
  self-assured smile. She then delivers the following 
  message to the PCs (a message that the PCs can 
  interrupt at any moment by emptying the 
  font or tipping it over if they wish).
  “So you must be one of Harrigan’s pests. I’ve 
  been curious about you! Hopefully, when we 
  next meet, you will have a change of heart. 
  Submit to Thrune, and perhaps we may 
  bargain—my thralls are well kept, after all. 
  Perhaps you would enjoy a magistrate’s 
  position within our new colony? I 
  suppose by the time you’ve finished 
  with Harrigan, he won’t be needing 
  it. A shame, really... he was such 
  a good puppet. If your pride 
  prevents you from bending the 
  knee to me, no matter. There are 
  plenty among the Free Captains 
  who will gladly serve us once 
  Bonefist falls and the Shackles 
  break beneath my armada. In any 
  event, I’ll see you soon, so be sure to 
  have an answer for me.”
  Druvalia punctuates her final 
  sentence by blowing a kiss, after which 
  her image quickly winks out. As it does, 
  she destroys her font, causing the font 
  here to explode, sending stone and metal 
  shrapnel out in a 5-foot-radius burst that 
  deals 3d6 points of slashing damage (DC 
  15 Reflex half) to anyone in this area.
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  e1. ForTreSS BaTTlemenTS (Cr 11)
  Wide parapets atop the fortress walls allow guards to 
  walk its perimeter. The battlements provide partial cover 
  against foes on the ground below. The drop from the 
  parapets to the ground is 20 feet. A single light ballista sits 
  at the location marked E1 on the map.
  Creatures: A group of four smugglers patrols the parapets 
  at all times. As soon as they spot intruders, they raise the 
  alarm and attack with ranged weapons (including the 
  ballista here), or move to engage in melee if the PCs have 
  managed to gain the parapet walls without being noticed.
  Smugglers (4) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  hp 63 each (see page 41)
  e2. WaTChPoST (Cr 9)
  A few empty crates provide makeshift furniture in this room. A 
  trap door accessible via a rope ladder sits in the ceiling above, 
  while a flight of stairs winds down to the northwest.
  The trap door above leads to the roof of the tower (area 
  E2a), atop which sit a pair of light ballistae. The stairs lead 
  down to the tower storeroom (area D7).
  Creatures: A pair of smugglers is stationed on the roof 
  above. They keep the trap door open so they can descend as 
  needed once foes move out of easy range of the two ballistae.
  Smugglers (2) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  hp 63 each (see page 41)
  e3. BarraCkS (Cr 12)
  A total of eight bunk beds, along with a few foot lockers, furnish 
  this room. A flight of stairs leads down to the east.
  The stairs lead down to area D8.
  Creatures: Originally a barracks for Harrigan’s guards 
  and some of his officers, this room now serves as a barracks 
  for the Chelish smugglers. Only one of the denizens of 
  this room remains Harrigan’s man—a tengu named 
  Jakaw Razorbeak. Harrigan recruited Jakaw to serve as 
  his master-at-arms after he lost Master Scourge, but kept 
  Jakaw back from the fleet, reasoning that he needed at 
  least a few people at his side whom he could trust to be 
  loyal to him first and Cheliax second. Harrigan placed 
  Jakaw in command of the smugglers, but Jakaw knows 
  that the smugglers answer first to Cheliax. The tengu 
  doesn’t trust the smugglers all that well as a result, but 
  admires Harrigan both for his brutality and for the 
  simple fact that Harrigan never treats Jakaw as a mascot.
  Jakaw Razorbeak 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Male tengu ranger 11 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 263)
  NE Medium humanoid (tengu)
  Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +16
  DEFENSE
  AC 25, touch 15, flat-footed 21 (+6 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, 
  +1 dodge, +3 natural, +1 shield)
  hp 120 (11d10+55)
  Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +5
  Defensive Abilities evasion
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee +1 scimitar +15/+10/+5 (1d6+5/18–20), +1 kukri +15/+10/+5 
  (1d4+5/18–20), bite +12 (1d3+4)
  Ranged mwk shortbow +15/+10/+5 (1d6/×3)
  Special Attacks favored enemy (aquatic humanoids +2, elves +2, 
  humans +6)
  Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +10)
  3rd—greater magic fang
  2nd—barkskin, bear’s endurance
  1st—charm animal (DC 13), longstrider, resist energy
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Jakaw casts barkskin, bear’s endurance, greater 
  magic fang, and longstrider if the alarm is raised.
  During Combat Jakaw uses his hunter’s bond to grant bonuses 
  to the smugglers in the area on the first round of combat, 
  while declaring the toughest-looking human enemy as his 
  quarry. If the alarm is raised, Jakaw can establish one of the 
  PCs as his quarry early by watching them from afar if he gets 
  the chance. Jakaw leaps into battle with a cackle once he’s 
  established quarry and granted his companions his hunter’s 
  bond, focusing his attacks on his quarry before moving on to 
  other humans or elves if possible.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 40 hit points, Jakaw 
  attempts to retreat to Harrigan’s side (area G3) to report 
  his failure and then help protect his captain. He fights to 
  the death otherwise.
  STATISTICS
  Str 18, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8
  Base Atk +11; CMB +15; CMD 30
  Feats Dodge, Double Slice, Endurance, Improved Natural 
  Attack (bite), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Toughness, 
  Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon 
  Focus (scimitar), Weapon Focus (kukri)
  Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +10, Intimidate +13, Linguistics +6, 
  Perception +16, Profession (sailor) +16, Stealth +18
  Languages Aquan, Common, Elven, Osiriani, Polyglot, Tengu
  SQ favored terrain (urban +2, water +4), gifted linguist, 
  hunter’s bond (companions), quarry, swift tracker, 
  swordtrained, track +5, wild empathy +10, woodland stride
  Gear +2 chain shirt, +1 kukri, +1 scimitar, belt of giant strength +2, 
  ring of protection +1, keys to areas D5 and E5, 78 gp
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  Smugglers (3) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  hp 63 each (see page 41)
  Treasure: There are eight footlockers in this room, 
  each containing a small stash of assorted coins, gems, and 
  jewelry worth 500 gp.
  e4. oFFiCe
  This small room contains a single wooden table with a few chairs 
  around it. A short stack of papers is pinned to the table with a 
  bejeweled dagger.
  Stairs lead up from this chamber to area F above.
  Treasure: Harrigan and others meet in this office to 
  plan raids or other shenanigans. The papers tacked to the 
  desk include all the plans for assaulting the PCs’ fortress. 
  The dagger is a masterwork dagger fitted with garnets and 
  amethysts, worth 800 gp.
  e5. WarehouSe (Cr 12)
  The doors leading into this area are kept locked. Jakaw 
  Razorbeak (area E3) and Harrigan (area G3) both carry keys 
  to unlock the iron doors (hardness 10, hp 60, Break DC 28, 
  Disable Device DC 40).
  Numerous crates, boxes, barrels, and chests lie scattered about 
  this large room, interspersed among sails, timber, figureheads, 
  bolts of cloth, ballista bolts, and other various forms of plunder.
  Two staircases along the south wall 
  climb to the fortress’s third floor. 
  The western stairs lead to area G1, 
  while the eastern steps lead to the 
  hallway between areas G2 and G3.
  Creature: This room is off-limits 
  to most of the fortress’s denizens, and 
  Harrigan thus employs a different 
  guardian here—a derghodaemon 
  called in and bound here at great 
  expense using a scroll of greater planar ally 
  and a scroll of binding, cast courtesy of his 
  current first mate, Adelita Doloruso. The 
  derghodaemon is under orders to attack and 
  kill anyone who enters the room that it doesn’t 
  recognize as an ally of Harrigan’s. The daemon 
  communicates telepathically with Harrigan if 
  it attacks, warning him of intruders.
  Derghodaemon 
   
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  hp 161 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 66)
  Treasure: The goods stored in the crates in this room 
  are worth 12 points of plunder.
  e6. TreaSury (Cr 13)
  The stout iron door to this room is kept locked at all 
  times (hardness 10, hp 60, Break DC 28, Disable 
  Device DC 40). Harrigan has the only key. 
  Those without the key must force the door or 
  pick the lock, but doing so activates a trap on 
  the door.
  Trap: If the door to this treasury is opened without 
  key, or if it’s merely jostled roughly (as in an attempt to 
  break the door down), six poisoned spikes jut up out of the 
  walls and floor, all pointing inward to impale the target.
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  Gilbrok the Tongue
  Poison Spikes 
  CR 13
  XP 25,600
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 35; Disable Device DC 35
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset automatic
  Effect Atk +20 melee (4d8+16 plus deathblade poison)
  Treasure: Harrigan’s treasury is somewhat sparse 
  at this point, despite the fact that, according to 
  rumor, he’s been looting countless Chelish 
  ships. In fact, Harrigan’s had to use most of 
  his significant treasure to pay to his Thrune 
  handlers, to build his f leet and secure the 
  loyalty of his new crews, and in his pursuit 
  of the PCs. As a result, most of the chests 
  in this room lie empty, but enough coins, 
  jewelry, and the like remain for a total 
  haul of 6,500 gp.
  F. The Tongue (Cr 12)
  This lightly furnished room contains 
  little more than a modest sleeping 
  pallet, a writing desk and chair, and a tin 
  candleholder with a drippy candle stub. Near 
  the foot of the pallet rests a small sea chest 
  filled with various old, worn burlap robes. 
  Light enters from a pair of window slits cut 
  into the curved outer wall. To the east, a flight of 
  stairs descends to a lower level.
  The stairs lead down to area E4.
  Creature: This drafty room is the home of one of Harrigan’s 
  own retainers—his “pet” witch, Gilbrok the Tongue. So 
  called for his unusually protuberant and rather hideous 
  tongue, Gilbrok the Tongue has long served Harrigan, even 
  before the pirate captain’s capture by Cheliax. Alone among 
  Harrigan’s crew, Gilbrok has never served aboard one of 
  Harrigan’s ships, instead remaining here as a defender of 
  the fortress. The old witch and his filthy, mangy monkey 
  familiar Maka-ruku are something of an institution on the 
  isle. Gilbrok considers himself Harrigan’s man—viewing 
  himself almost as a lifelong slave after Harrigan rescued 
  him from a particularly hideous fate at the hands of a tribe of 
  Kuru cannibals many years ago.
  Gilbrok lives simply. His small writing table is rimmed 
  with waxy candle stumps that surround piles of weathered 
  tomes—mostly obscure histories, almanacs, tide readings, 
  calendars, and weather logs, along with lunar, solar, and 
  star charts. Gilbrok spends most of his time alone in 
  his quarters, and for the first hour of the PC’s invasion 
  of Gannet Island, that remains the case as he capers and 
  dances with his monkey to call up a powerful storm with 
  his weather control hex. At the culmination of this hour, 
  assuming the PCs do not reach him in the meantime 
  to interrupt the hex, the weather in a 2-mile-radius 
  surrounding the island becomes a powerful windstorm 
  (Core Rulebook 438–439) for 4d12 hours.
  Gilbrok the Tongue 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Male old human witch 13 (Advanced Player’s Guide 65)
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +0; Senses Perception +15
  DEFENSE
  AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10
  hp 74 (13d6+26)
  Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +12
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
  Melee mwk quarterstaff +5/+0 (1d6–2)
  Special Attacks hexes (agony [13 rounds], 
  blight [130 feet], charm [2 steps,  
  6 rounds], evil eye [–4, 9 rounds], 
  healing [cure moderate], misfortune  
  [2 rounds], weather control)
  Witch Spells Prepared (CL 13th; 
  concentration +19)
  7th—heal
  6th—cone of cold (DC 22), flesh to stone (DC 22), 
  mass suggestion (DC 22)
  5th—baleful polymorph (DC 21), dominate person (DC 21), 
  geyser* (DC 21), overland flight
  4th—black tentacles, control water, charm monster (DC 20), 
  dimension door, phantasmal killer (DC 20)
  3rd—bestow curse (DC 19), dispel magic, lightning bolt (DC 19), 
  suggestion (DC 19), vampiric touch
  2nd—blindness/deafness (DC 18), detect thoughts (DC 18), 
  fog cloud, glitterdust (DC 18), hold person (DC 18), pox 
  pustules* (DC 18)
  1st—burning hands (DC 17), command (DC 17), cure light 
  wounds (2), ill omen*, ray of enfeeblement (DC 17)
  0 (at will)—bleed (DC 16), dancing lights, message, stabilize
  Patron water
  * See the Advanced Player’s Guide.
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Gilbrok casts overland flight on himself every day.
  During Combat Once Gilbrok finishes his weather control 
  hex, or once he’s confronted in combat, he uses a dose 
  of dust of disappearance at once—he knows he’s close 
  to helpless in direct melee combat, and relies upon the 
  greater invisibility afforded by the dust to survive, using 
  flight to stay mobile and change position each round while 
  he harries foes with his ranged attacks. Each time his dust 
  wears out, he uses a new dose to maintain invisibility.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 30 hit points or if his 
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  The Price of Infamy
  
  invisibility tactics aren’t working (or if he runs out of dust of 
  disappearance), Gilbrok flees to Harrigan’s side in area G3 
  to cower behind him for protection. He won’t surrender or 
  flee at this point, but if Harrigan is slain, he immediately 
  surrenders and begs the PCs for mercy, promising to serve 
  them well if they spare his miserable life.
  STATISTICS
  Str 7, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 10
  Base Atk +6; CMB +4; CMD 16
  Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials, Great 
  Fortitude, Improved Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Skill Focus 
  (Spellcraft), Toughness
  Skills Craft (alchemy) +22, Fly +26, Handle Animal +13, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +22, Knowledge (nature) +22, 
  Perception +15, Spellcraft +28, Survival +15, Swim +11
  Languages Aklo, Aquan, Boggard, Common, Cyclops, 
  Osiriani, Polyglot
  SQ witch’s familiar (monkey named Maka-ruku)
  Combat Gear dust of disappearance (4 doses), potions of cure 
  moderate wounds (3), potion of gaseous form, wand of cure 
  moderate wounds (24 charges); Other Gear masterwork 
  quarterstaff, necklace of adaptation
  g1. guard room (Cr 11)
  Creatures: As part of its commitment to support Harrigan, 
  House Thrune used some of its vast resources to assign 
  four erinyes devils to him to serve as bodyguards. The 
  erinyes are dreadfully bored with this duty, but serve 
  without complaint, for in fact they are here to keep an eye 
  on Harrigan for Admiral Druvalia Thrune. Once she’s 
  arrived and the Shackles are under Chelish control, the 
  erinyes have been promised Harrigan and his remaining 
  loyal crew as sacrifices to take back to Hell.
  Of the four erinyes, two are always located in this 
  room, standing by until Harrigan calls for their aid. A 
  third patrols the hallway to the north, while the fourth 
  is stationed as a stoic guardian in the war room (area 
  G2). As soon as any one of them spots foes, though, she 
  telepathically alerts the others.
  Erinyes Devils (3) 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800 each
  hp 94 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 75)
  g2. War room (Cr 8)
  This room is decorated with trophies (mostly flags and 
  figureheads) taken from a wide variety of ships. A round table 
  surrounded by chairs sits in the room’s center.
  Harrigan uses this room as a study as well as to host 
  private conferences. Open boxes hold rolls of charts, 
  blank chart paper, and pirate maps of seas throughout 
  the Inner Sea region and beyond—but there is no 
  incriminating evidence here of Harrigan’s alliance with 
  Cheliax. The cupboard is in fact a closed bar stocked 
  with crystal decanters and a wide selection of brandies 
  and rums.
  Creature: One of the four erinyes devils guards this 
  room. She remains in telepathic contact with her sisters 
  elsewhere on this floor at all times.
  Erinyes Devil 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  hp 94 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 75)
  Treasure: The six crystal decanters in the bar are worth 
  250 gp each, but the collection of fine alcohol is much more 
  valuable. In all, there are two dozen unopened bottles, 
  each worth 500 gp.
  g3. harrigan’S Bedroom (Cr 15)
  This moderately sized room is furnished with a dresser and 
  some shelves. A huge four-poster bed occupies the southern 
  end of the room, while bookshelves along the walls hold a few 
  dust-covered leather journals, strange coral-encrusted skulls, 
  ships in bottles, nameplates from ships, and other nautical-
  themed treasures and trophies.
  Creature: This room is where Captain Barnabas 
  Harrigan has been spending much of his time of late—
  with the Chelish invasion of the Shackles looming on 
  the horizon and his own fleet at sea attacking the PCs, 
  Harrigan has been particularly stressed of late, and has 
  found relief in his fine rum and long, drunken slumber. 
  When the alarm is raised, he wakes quickly, but is 
  fatigued—at least until he downs one of the potions of lesser 
  restoration in his nightstand.
  How quickly Harrigan prepares for battle is left to you. 
  If the PCs manage to confront him here without raising 
  the alarm, Harrigan fell asleep on his bed fully equipped 
  after a drunken binge. If the alarm is raised elsewhere, 
  then the amount of time Harrigan takes to prepare to 
  join the battle should be a variable amount so that his 
  appearance on the field of battle is dramatic as possible 
  after the PCs have already cut their way through several 
  waves of cultists, smugglers, scrags, and pirates.
  Captain Barnabas Harrigan 
  CR 15
  XP 51,200
  hp 204 (see page 58)
  Treasure: While most of the trophies on the shelves are 
  of sentimental value only to Harrigan, five of the objects 
  are in fact valuable treasures. These valuable prizes are a 
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  skyrocket crossbow (see page 61), a rod of splendor incorporated 
  into a harness for use as a peg leg, a mithral masterwork 
  cutlass with a gem-studded ivory hilt worth 7,000 gp, 
  a darkwood ship’s wheel bearing carvings of wrestling 
  sahuagin and mermaids worth 4,500 gp, and a skull with a 
  jaw full of gold teeth, each carved with a different demonic 
  rune—this is the skull of a notorious pirate named 
  Wretched Baxus whose fate has, until now, remained 
  unknown. The skull is worth 2,500 gp.
  In addition, a drawer in Harrigan’s nightstand contains 
  six potions of lesser restoration, three potions of remove disease, 
  and a potion of cure serious wounds.
  cOncluding the Adventure
  After defeating Harrigan, a search should soon reveal the 
  bag of holding he keeps in his glove of storing—and inside that 
  bag, all the evidence the PCs need to not only prove that 
  Harrigan was the traitor Tessa Fairwind was seeking, but 
  also all the intelligence they need to locate the approaching 
  Chelish armada. Also included among the papers are 
  details on a secret entrance to Fort Hazard created (and 
  subsequently forgotten) by a previous Hurricane King—
  Harrigan’s notes indicate he plans to escort the Chelish 
  admiral and several of her more powerful captains into 
  this tunnel to finish off Kerdak Bonefist once Port Peril is 
  taken. Of particular note to the PCs is the timetable on one 
  of these documents, for if this chart is to be believed, the 
  Chelish armada is not far from launching its assault on the 
  Shackles! There should be just enough time for the PCs to 
  travel to Port Peril and call for an emergency meeting of 
  the Pirate Council—if the other pirate lords act quickly, 
  they can organize their combined fleets into an armada 
  that can meet the Chelish fleet just north of the Shackles.
  Unfortunately for the PCs and the Shackles, Hurricane 
  King Kerdak Bonefist is a more stubborn and arrogant 
  leader than anything else, and as the final adventure in 
  the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path begins, the PCs soon 
  find themselves at the vanguard of the Shackles defense, 
  with only them and what allies they can gather standing 
  between Cheliax and their homeland!
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  Adelita Doloruso
  While Adelita serves as first mate to Barnabas Harrigan, her alliance is merely one of temporary 
  convenience. Only a fool would fail to recognize her true ambition to become a Free Captain in 
  her own right.
  Adelita Doloruso 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Female human evoker 13
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +6; Senses Perception +14
  DEFENSE
  AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, 
  +1 dodge, +4 shield)
  hp 126 (13d6+78)
  Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +11
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee wizard hook +6/+1 (1d4)
  Ranged mwk silver dagger +9 (1d4–1/19–20)
  Special Attacks intense spells (+6 damage)
  Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13th; concentration +17)
  At will—elemental wall (13 rounds/day)
  7/day—force missile (1d4+6)
  Evoker Spells Prepared (CL 13th; concentration +17)
  7th—quickened fireball, prismatic spray (DC 21)
  6th—chain lightning (DC 20), quickened scorching ray, 
  repulsion (DC 20)
  5th—cone of cold (DC 19), quickened shield, telekinesis 
  (DC 19), teleport
  4th—bestow curse (DC 18), dimension door, ice storm (DC 18), 
  phantasmal killer (DC 18), shout (DC 18), wall of fire
  3rd—dispel magic, fireball (2; DC 17), heroism, vampiric touch (2)
  2nd—arcane lock, flaming sphere (DC 16), ghoul touch (DC 16), 
  gust of wind, invisibility, mirror image
  1st—burning hands (DC 15), mage armor, magic missile (2), 
  shocking grasp (2; DC 15)
  0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, flare, light, read magic
  Opposition Schools enchantment, transmutation
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Adelita casts mage armor every day.
  During Combat Adelita hangs back at first, letting her crew 
  move forward while she supports them with spells. She 
  casts quickened shield on the first round, along with 
  invisibility so she can prepare a few other spells (mirror 
  image and heroism) before she joins in with her attack spells. 
  She casts repulsion if too many enemies are reaching her.
  Morale Adelita fights until reduced to 40 hit points or fewer, 
  at which point she attempts to teleport back to Harrigan’s 
  fortress to warn him of the fleet’s failure. If she escapes in 
  this manner, feel free to either have her join forces with 
  Harrigan (if your PCs could use a bigger challenge) or 
  join the other prisoners in the prison (area D5) after some 
  unfortunate mutilations to her hands and tongue.
  STATISTICS
  Str 8, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 13, Cha 10
  Base Atk +6; CMB +5; CMD 20
  Feats Arcane Strike, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Eschew 
  Materials, Great Fortitude, Improved Familiar, Improved 
  Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell, Scribe 
  Scroll, Toughness
  Skills Acrobatics +10, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana) +20, 
  Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, 
  Knowledge (nature) +13, Perception +14, Profession (sailor) +17, 
  Spellcraft +20
  Languages Common, Cyclops, Infernal, Osiriani, Polyglot
  SQ arcane bond (cacodaemon familiar), contingency (stoneskin 
  activates as soon as she takes any physical damage)
  Gear wizard hook (+1 hook hand; see page 61), masterwork 
  silver daggers (6), belt of mighty constitution +4, cloak of 
  resistance +2, mutineer’s bane earring (see page 60), ring of 
  protection +2, jewelry worth 1,200 gp, spellbook
  Adelita Doloruso was born in Galt, daughter to a husband 
  and wife who had collaborated on more than just her—
  they were the authors of a particularly scandalous 
  underground series of chapbooks that saw circulation 
  throughout the city of Isarn. Her parents were always 
  careful to cover their tracks, but one day, a week after 
  Adelita’s 11th birthday, her father was captured and taken 
  to the final blades. Fearing for her daughter, Adelita’s 
  mother disguised her and put her aboard a merchant 
  vessel bound for distant Sargava, a scant few hours before 
  the noble parent was captured and executed herself.
  Adelita was discovered halfway to Sargava, but rather 
  than throw her overboard, the cruel captain merely 
  smashed her hand with a mallet as punishment. Adelita 
  bore the pain stoically and without a cry, and the ship’s 
  crew began to grow worried about the young girl who was 
  immune to pain. When a terrible storm struck several 
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  days later, they blamed the girl and cast her adrift in a 
  small rowboat. It would be 2 days before her boat washed 
  ashore on the wild coast of the Kaava Lands. She was badly 
  sunburned and half-dead from thirst, but still lived, 
  though her hand had turned gangrenous.
  Adelita was rescued by a Zenj wizard—a man who saved 
  her life not only by giving her food and water, but also 
  by amputating her hand and preventing the gangrene 
  from spreading. For the next decade, Adelita lived with 
  her savior’s tribe, learning the ways of the wizard and his 
  people. Then pirates came, seeking fresh slaves. Many 
  of those strong enough to resist were slain in combat, 
  the weak and infirm were butchered, and the prisoners 
  (Adelita among them) were taken aboard the Wormwood 
  to the slave markets of Port Peril. The ship’s captain, 
  a florid man named Alaster Flint, took a liking to 
  Adelita, and kept her as his own prize. In a matter 
  of weeks, she was with child. Once her pregnancy 
  was obvious, Captain Flint quickly lost interest 
  in her and planned to sell her off at their 
  next port—if he could find no buyers 
  for a pregnant slave, he’d just toss her 
  overboard. Always a fool, Captain Flint 
  made the mistake of openly bragging 
  about his plans in front of Adelita. 
  On the night before they were to 
  sail into Bloodcove, Adelita 
  snuck into Flint’s cabin and 
  slit his throat.
  Rather than attempt to flee 
  the Wormwood, she instead made a 
  canny move, confessing her crime to the 
  first mate, a young man named Barnabas 
  Harrigan, who had been more than vocal 
  about his desire to seize the Wormwood for 
  his own command. If Harrigan promised 
  to let her go free in Bloodcove, she would 
  back him up on his claim of having 
  murdered Captain Flint. Harrigan 
  agreed, and took command of the 
  Wormwood at dawn. He honored his 
  promise to Adelita, granting her 
  freedom and dropping her off in 
  Bloodcove. It would be several 
  years until the two spoke again. 
  In Bloodcove, Adelita sought 
  whatever menial work she could 
  find. She saved any extra coin she 
  scrounged in order to acquire 
  a spellbook, determined to 
  continue the studies she once 
  pursued with the old Zenj 
  wizard. Hoping to make 
  a better life for herself, she eventually took a job as a 
  weatherwitch aboard a small vessel headed back to 
  Absalom, where she thought she might start her life 
  anew. After a week at sea, tragedy struck again when a 
  drunken crew member made unwanted advances and 
  attacked Adelita. Though she was able to defend herself, 
  Adelita suffered several rough blows during the fight 
  that caused her to miscarry later that evening. After this 
  loss, she spiraled into darkness and violence.
  Instead of continuing on to Absalom, Adelita jumped 
  ship at Ollo, where she fell in with thugs and cutthroats, 
  and she convinced them to let her join their crew after 
  promising victory on their next raid. Good to her word, 
  she helped them bring down a small merchant vessel 
  by torching its sails with her magic. Having earned 
  their respect, she stayed aboard as a battlemage, and 
  through her fierce use of evocation magic, she quickly 
  gained a reputation for ruthlessness. In 6 months, she 
  helped seize seven merchant vessels, including two 
  Chelish galleons. Her growing reputation 
  caught the attention of an older and 
  more notorious Barnabas Harrigan, 
  who upon meeting and recognizing 
  her as the woman who had helped 
  win him the Wormwood, immediately 
  offered her the recently opened position 
  of first mate aboard his ship.
  Adelita is in her late twenties. 
  She dresses like a male pirate 
  and favors traditional Zenj 
  jewelry, wearing tiger fang 
  plugs in her earlobes. Still, 
  her 
  most 
  identifiable 
  feature is the cruel 
  metal hook fastened 
  to the stump of her 
  left forearm—a weapon 
  she recently paid to have turned 
  into a wizard hook.
  Campaign Role
  Adelita is the admiral of the f leet 
  that Barnabas Harrigan sends to 
  attack the PCs, and is the primary 
  antagonist of the naval Battle of 
  Empty Eyes. If she survives the battle 
  and escapes back to Harrigan’s side 
  only to be thrown in prison for her 
  failure, she may well have a change 
  of heart if the PCs rescue her, 
  and would likely join them 
  in seeking revenge for 
  this latest mistreatment.
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  Arronax Endymion
  Lord of Hell Harbor and captain of the former imperial frigate Tyrannous, this disgraced Chelish 
  admiral is one of the leading lords of the Pirate Council.
  Arronax Endymion 
  CR 11
  XP 12,800
  Male middle-aged human aristocrat 6/fighter 6
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +5; Senses Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 24, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (+8 armor, +2 deflection, +1 Dex, 
  +3 shield)
  hp 94 (12 HD; 6d10+6d8+30)
  Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +7; +2 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 keen longsword +16/+11 (1d8+7/19–20)
  Ranged mwk dagger +12 (1d4+3/19–20)
  Special Attacks weapon training (heavy blades +1)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Endymion prefers to avoid combat whenever 
  he can by bluffing or intimidating foes into standing down 
  before a fight begins, but if battle is inevitable, he fights 
  with Combat Expertise and attempts to disarm his foes as 
  quickly as possible. Once combat begins, Endymion rarely, 
  if ever, has an interest in taking hostages or prisoners—he 
  kills his foes as quickly and ruthlessly as possible.
  Morale Endymion fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 14
  Base Atk +10; CMB +13 (+17 disarm); CMD 26 (28 vs. disarm)
  Feats Alertness, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Greater 
  Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Lightning 
  Reflexes, Shield Focus, Toughness, Weapon Focus 
  (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
  Skills Bluff +15, Climb +9, Intimidate +15, Knowledge 
  (geography) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Perception +10, 
  Profession (sailor) +15, Sense Motive +10, Swim +9
  Languages Common, Infernal
  SQ armor training 1
  Combat Gear potions of cure serious wounds (2); Other Gear +2 
  breastplate, +1 keen longsword, masterwork dagger, belt of 
  mighty constitution +2, boots of speed, feather token (anchor), 
  ring of force shield, ring of protection +2, bicorne hat, Chelish 
  admiral’s coat, 682 gp
  Arronax Endymion was born in Westcrown. A military 
  brat and second son to famed Commodore Arrodius 
  Endymion, Arronax was quick to follow in his father’s 
  footsteps, enlisting in the Chelish Imperial Navy at the 
  young age of 16. His father used his position and influence 
  to have his young son stationed at a relatively safe and small 
  port in the Bay of Solva, but Arronax lusted for the chance 
  to prove himself in battle, and switched his paperwork 
  with another new conscript. He was soon off to guard 
  the Arch of Aroden at Corentyn. Arronax stayed on at the 
  Arch for the next 5 years, attaining the rank of captain and 
  taking a wife soon after. The promotion placed him in 
  command of a small ship with a letter of marque granting 
  him permission to raid the ships of rival nations, a task 
  at which Arronax proved most adept. After numerous 
  successes, the young captain caught the eye of Lyserius 
  Thrune, a wealthy noble who offered to sponsor him. With 
  Lyserius’s support, Arronax swiftly achieved the rank of 
  admiral, in command of the Fourth Chelish Fleet. During 
  this time, he spent months at sea chasing down enemies 
  of the House of Thrune throughout the entire Inner Sea 
  region, traveling as far north as the Steaming Sea, east to 
  the isle of Jalmeray, and south to the waters of Desperation 
  Bay. Through his exploits, Arronax grew rich and became 
  quite the toast of Corentyn society.
  Still, while Arronax’s successes grew, the months at sea 
  gnawed their way through his personal life. His many 
  triumphs brought significant attention to his house and 
  his beautiful young wife Adelise. The Endymions were 
  often expected to attend important social affairs, but 
  with Arronax usually at sea and unable to attend, Adelise 
  went to these events in her husband’s stead. An excellent 
  conversationalist, she grew quite versed in culture and 
  current politics, and transformed into a budding socialite. 
  As she became more of a scene fixture, she started 
  squandering the family’s considerable finances, and 
  eventually fell into a sordid and very public affair with 
  Lyserius Thrune, the very nobleman who had sponsored 
  Arronax’s ascension to the admiralty. When Arronax 
  returned to Corentyn and learned of the affair, he marched 
  straight into Lyserius’s court and demanded a duel. 
  Lyserius responded by ordering a guard to shoot Arronax 
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  in the knee with an arrow and had the wounded admiral 
  thrown out into the street. With great effort, Arronax 
  staggered back to his flagship Tyrannous and, after healing 
  his injury, retaliated by plundering Lyserius Thrune’s 
  shipping houses and burning them to the ground. This 
  triggered a rapidly escalating clash that, in the end, 
  Lyserius Thrune won. With an Imperial warrant issued 
  for his arrest, Arronax had no choice but to abandon his 
  wife and holdings forever and flee south to the Shackles.
  His crew remained loyal, and when the Tyrannous 
  finally sailed into Hell Harbor with a boatload of riches 
  ransacked from Thrune warehouses and ships, flying an 
  upside down Chelish flag with a white skull painted over 
  the shield, they found a place more welcoming of 
  plunder and treachery. Arronax purchased the 
  service of several moderately talented captains 
  and went on a piratical rampage, principally 
  targeting Chelish trading vessels. With his 
  knowledge of Chelish tactics, trade routes, and 
  the weaknesses of the ships and their 
  captains, he proved to be a highly 
  efficient scourge indeed. Within a 
  month, he’d seized more than a 
  dozen vessels, enough to make 
  a name for himself as a 
  Free Captain.
  Over the following 
  years, Endymion acquired a 
  sizable fleet and reputation. His 
  crew swelled with mutineers from 
  the Chelish navy, who soon became 
  known throughout the Shackles as 
  the Devils’ Own. Endymion continued 
  to operate out of Hell Harbor, and 
  purchased large chunks of property 
  within the port, building himself a 
  great manse overlooking the harbor. 
  Endymion’s reputation for swift and 
  creatively cruel punishment earned 
  him loyalty as surely as his reputation 
  for crushing Chelish ships, and soon, 
  Endymion found himself referred to 
  as Lord of Hell Harbor. He did little to 
  stifle the use of this title.
  Arronax Endymion is a powerfully 
  built, middle-aged man with pale skin 
  and strong, chiseled Chelish features. His 
  short-cropped black hair is only beginning 
  to gray at the temples, and his eyes shine 
  an icy blue. He takes great pride in his 
  appearance, and he wears only the finest 
  clothing, custom tailored in the 
  style of the pre-Thrune Chelish 
  naval uniforms. He wears dozens of medals, presumably 
  from his navy days, though he has had all of them re-cast 
  in the shape of his jolly roger, a crouching imp skeleton 
  run through with a spit. He retains the use of his previous 
  rank of admiral, but he deliberately wears his admiral’s 
  stripes upside down on his sleeves.
  To this day, Arronax continues to nurture his hatred 
  for the House of Thrune, its lower houses and families, 
  and the Chelish aristocracy in general. He despises 
  implications that he somehow played a role in his wife’s 
  infidelity or that 
  he is at fault for 
  what happened to 
  his personal life. He 
  doesn’t actually dislike 
  Cheliax, and still holds its 
  culture and people in the highest 
  regard—rather, he views the House of 
  Thrune as the true traitors to his nation and its 
  people. He maintains that his exile wasn’t 
  forced—he imposed it upon himself as a 
  statement of defiance and rebellion.
  Campaign Role
  The PCs have collected tiny bits of 
  evidence throughout the Skull & 
  Shackles Adventure Path that 
  a traitor sits upon the Pirate 
  Council, and thus far, all of it 
  points toward Arronax Endymion. 
  Of course, this evidence is falsified, 
  and as the PCs learn in this adventure, 
  there are few more loyal to the concept of 
  the Shackles than Arronax. If the PCs gain his 
  support, he can provide them with significant 
  aid, both politically and financially, for as the 
  lord of one of the Shackles’ largest ports he 
  wields a good deal of power and has many 
  friends upon the Pirate Council. He may even 
  prove to be a key figure in the final defense of 
  the Shackles in “From Hell’s Heart.” 
  But Endymion is also a bitter man who 
  rarely forgets an insult, whether real or 
  perceived. If the PCs get on his bad side, 
  they may find themselves pitted against 
  the former Chelish admiral at the end of 
  the campaign. In this event, you can have 
  Endymion side with the Hurricane King 
  at the Adventure Path’s end, and when 
  the PCs make their final moves against 
  Kerdak Bonefist, they’ll have to face 
  off against the Lord of Hell Harbor 
  as well.
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  Barnabas Harrigan
  Barnabas Harrigan 
  CR 15 
  XP 51,200
  Male human fighter 5/rogue 11
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +9; Senses see invisibility; Perception +20
  DEFENSE
  AC 30, touch 16, flat-footed 24 (+6 armor, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 
  natural, +4 shield)
  hp 204 (16 HD; 5d10+11d8+123)
  Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +10; +5 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +1, evasion, improved uncanny 
  dodge, trap sense +3
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +3 short sword +23/+18/+13 (1d6+8/17–20)
  Ranged +1 returning handaxe +19 (1d6+3/�3)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +6d6, weapon training (light 
  blades +1)
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Once Harrigan knows combat is near, he drinks 
  a potion of barkskin +4, a potion of cat’s grace, and a potion of 
  invisibility. He also activates see invisibility from his eye patch.
  During Combat If he starts a battle invisible, Harrigan drinks 
  his potion of haste on the first round of combat, then 
  positions himself to block the most obvious escape route. 
  On the next round, he activates his howling skull armor 
  to attempt to frighten his foes. In succeeding rounds, he 
  focuses his attacks on frightened targets, using Dazzling 
  Display to shake more foes whenever necessary so he can 
  make sneak attacks against such victims thanks to his 
  Shatter Defenses feat. 
  Morale Harrigan fights until reduced to 30 hit points or fewer, 
  at which point he attempts to escape battle. He fights to 
  the death only when cornered.
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 20, Con 22, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 10
  Base Atk +13; CMB +15; CMD 31
  Feats Combat Reflexes, Dazzling Display, Dodge, Improved 
  Critical (short sword), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron 
  Will, Iron Will, Shatter Defenses, Shield Focus, Toughness, 
  Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword), Weapon 
  Specialization (short sword)
  Skills Acrobatics +24, Appraise +10, Bluff +11, Intimidate +19, 
  Knowledge (local) +11, Perception +14, Profession (sailor) +20, 
  Stealth +14, Swim +14
  Languages Common
  SQ armor training 1, rogue talents (bleeding attack +6, 
  crippling strike, defensive roll, finesse rogue, ledge walker), 
  trapfinding +5
  Combat Gear potions of barkskin +4 (2), potions of cat’s grace (3), 
  potion of haste, potions of invisibility (2); Other Gear howling 
  skull armor (+3 studded leather; see page 60), +2 light steel 
  shield, +3 short sword, +1 returning handaxe, belt of mighty 
  constitution +4, cloak of resistance +3, glove of storing, 
  mariner’s eye patch (see page 60), bag of holding (type IV), 
  Chelish invasion plans (kept in bag of holding), key ring
  Originally hailing from the port city of Senghor, 
  Barnabas Harrigan was born Dwali Kepu, the fifth child 
  to a poor family of Bonuwat fisherfolk. As a young child, 
  he accompanied his mother to her job as a fish-gutter. 
  There, he listened to the stevedores tell romantic tales of 
  pirates and plunder, and he became seduced by thoughts 
  of living a life of freedom, riches, and infamy. When he 
  turned 13, as his mother lay dying of blood poisoning from 
  an infected cut she suffered on the job, Dwali left home 
  and took a job on a merchant vessel headed to Bloodcove, 
  where he hoped to seek a new destiny as a pirate. Upon 
  arriving, his fantasies were quickly shattered when he 
  discovered the pirates he’d romanticized were little more 
  than lice-infested drunks who’d cut a boy’s throat over a 
  few gold pieces. With little money and fewer prospects, 
  Dwali lurked around the docks, pickpocketing sailors 
  and stealing stray crates from merchant ships. Eventually, 
  he ran afoul of the authorities, and for his crimes he was 
  pressed into the service of Bloodcove. He served most of 
  his 2-year stint in the militia, during which he received 
  martial training and made numerous contacts with local 
  pirates. Only 2 months before completing his sentence, 
  he abandoned the Bloodcove militia and joined the crew 
  of the pirate ship Sea Wasp. As a pirate, Dwali changed his 
  name to Barnabas Harrigan, and over the next 5 years, 
  slowly rose to the rank of first mate, though he lost one of 
  his eyes in the process.
  Few suspect that Captain Barnabas Harrigan holds a secret pact with Cheliax to sell out his 
  pirate brethren. In exchange, the infernal nation has promised Harrigan a position as the new 
  governor of the Shackles once the archipelago become a new Chelish colony.
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  The Sea Wasp mostly targeted merchant vessels off the 
  coast of Senghor, but eventually worked its way up the 
  coast to Port Peril. There, Harrigan jumped ship in search 
  of his own vessel to command. Unfortunately, he learned 
  that there were few opportunities to immediately start as 
  a ship captain, and so he pledged himself to the service 
  of Captain Alaster Flint of the Wormwood. Harrigan soon 
  found himself headed south again, but after enduring a 
  few months of slim pickings at sea, Captain Flint looked 
  to shore for easier bounty—slaves. The Wormwood’s first 
  raid was quick and brutal, and in one strike against a Zenj 
  village, the ship’s hold was full of living plunder. Among 
  these slaves was the young Adelita Doloruso, a wild girl 
  who eventually slit Flint’s throat and handed Harrigan 
  his ship in exchange for her freedom.
  Now finally in command, Captain Harrigan 
  spent the next few years developing a fearsome 
  reputation. But Harrigan’s fortunes would not 
  last, for just as his star seemed to be on the rise, 
  he fell into the clutches of the Chelish navy. 
  Although most believe that Harrigan was able 
  to escape the Chelaxians, his greatest secret is that 
  he turned to their side and now serves the Chelish 
  admiral Druvalia Thrune as a pawn who will lead her 
  to the conquest of the Shackles.
  Captain Harrigan is a tall, muscular man, with skin 
  the color of fertile earth. His head is shaved, and he keeps 
  his long black beard twisted and waxed into a single lock 
  bound with gold rings.
  Years of practice have made Harrigan an accomplished 
  commander. He’s edgy enough to push his crew, though 
  he isn’t a cruel leader. In his eyes, abusiveness shows 
  weakness. He would have been a champion pirate had 
  his luck not ran out when Druvalia Thrune caught him. 
  Harrigan appears confident, but while he attempts to 
  bolster his ego with Thrune promises, ultimately he 
  realizes he’s a pawn and has been for some time. This 
  sense of lost destiny feeds his anger and his mania. 
  Campaign Role
  Captain Barnabas Harrigan has plagued the PCs 
  from the very beginning of the Skull & Shackles 
  Adventure Path. At this point in the campaign, Harrigan 
  serves as a transition between a speculated danger and the 
  final threat of actual war. He alone has done more than 
  anyone to empower Cheliax’s presence in the Shackles. 
  Even dead, his plans cannot be defeated, for they now 
  belong to Druvalia Thrune.
  If Harrigan escapes the PCs at the end of this 
  adventure, he has few choices for survival. 
  He knows his game has ended, for he 
  is no Chelaxian, and the House 
  of Thrune will show him no 
  sympathy for his failure. He has indeed made a deal with 
  a devil, and the devil holds the contract. Instead, he seeks 
  out a safe spot to hide out on his island until the PCs leave. 
  Then he attempts to stow away on one of the other ships in 
  his harbor, hoping to catch a ride to some other port. He 
  still has a few allies within the Shackles that he can call 
  on for help, so getting a new ship won’t be an impossible 
  task for the clever captain. Once he gets a new ship, he 
  also takes on a new identity. Calling 
  himself Dwali the Bloodcove 
  Butcher, he disguises himself 
  by donning a long powdered 
  wig and a frightful Tian demon-
  faced mask. Tracking down the PCs and 
  murdering them becomes his obsession—
  one that could well last beyond the climax of 
  the campaign.
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  Skull & Shackles Treasures
  The following unique treasures can be found in “The Price of Infamy.” Player-appropriate 
  handouts appear in the GameMastery Skull & Shackles item card set.
  Aiger’s Kiss (Minor Artifact)
  Aura strong abjuration and evocation; CL 20th
  Slot none; Weight 2 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  The Shackles are rife with tales of legendary treasures, but the 
  story of the loss of Aiger’s Kiss has seen a resurgence of late, 
  it being the 25th anniversary of the blade’s loss in the Black 
  Tower near the Cannibal Isles. Wielded before that loss by 
  Captain Tevenida Aiger—and rumored to have been given to 
  her by Norgorber’s herald as a reward for an unknown task—
  Aiger’s Kiss is said to have been a particularly potent weapon 
  against outsiders. In addition to being a notorious pirate 
  captain, Tevenida Aiger was a priestess of Norgorber, and her 
  specialty was the capture of Chelish warships, particularly 
  those employing devils or other extraplanar defenses. Some 
  whisper that Captain Aiger and her sword vanished in the 
  Black Tower due to a Chelish trap set in the structure, but in 
  fact her fate was much grimmer than that (see Part Three of 
  “The Price of Infamy” for details).
  Aiger’s Kiss is a short sword of the planes (Pathfinder RPG 
  Core Rulebook 477). Three times per day, it can be used to cast 
  dimensional anchor on a creature the sword has just struck—
  activating this effect is a swift action for the sword’s wielder. If 
  the strike is a critical hit, the effect gains a +10 bonus on its caster 
  level check to penetrate the target’s spell resistance, if any.
  The weapon’s greatest power, though, is its ability to 
  destroy portals or seal planar rifts. Once per year, Aiger’s 
  Kiss can be plunged into an extraplanar portal as a standard 
  action—doing so immediately results in two effects. First, it 
  targets the portal with a mage’s disjunction (this effect lasts for 
  as long as the sword remains in the portal). Second, as long as 
  the sword remains lodged in the portal, it becomes affected 
  by an antipathy effect against all outsiders. Once removed 
  from a portal, it takes the sword a year to build up its magic to 
  be able to use this ability again.
  DESTRUCTION
  If Aiger’s Kiss is used to attempt to seal a planar rift from the 
  Material Plane to an extraplanar realm under Norgorber’s 
  control, the sword is immediately destroyed and the planar 
  rift is unharmed—in fact, doing so immediately summons the 
  herald of Norgorber to the site to claim the fragments of the 
  sword and punish those who destroyed it.
  Howling Skull Armor
  Aura moderate necromancy; CL 7th
  Slot armor; Price 20,375 gp; Weight 20 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  This suit of +3 studded leather armor is decorated with metal 
  skulls. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can 
  command the skulls to unleash a cacophonous chorus of howls, 
  causing all creatures within a 30-foot spread to make a DC 16 Will 
  save to avoid becoming frightened for 1d4 rounds. The wearer 
  can choose up to three targets (plus himself) in the area of effect 
  to be exempt from the effect. The wearer of a suit of howling 
  skull armor gains a +4 bonus on all saving throws against fear 
  effects. Each time the wearer of howling skull armor succeeds at a 
  saving throw against a fear effect created by someone other than 
  himself, he gains a +2 bonus on Will saves for 1 round.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, fear; Cost 10,275 gp 
  Mariner’s Eye Patch
  Aura faint evocation and divination; CL 5th
  Slot eyes; Price 12,000 gp; Weight —
  DESCRIPTION
  This pirate’s eye patch typically features at least one jewel set into 
  a leather patch. Upon uttering a command word as a standard 
  action, the eye patch allows the wearer to use the following 
  abilities once per day each: comprehend languages, scorching ray, 
  and see invisibility. The mariner’s eye patch originally appeared on 
  page 73 of Necromancer Games’ Dead Man’s Chest.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, comprehend languages, 
  scorching ray, see invisibility; Cost 6,000 gp 
  Mutineer’s Bane Earring
  Aura moderate divination; CL 7th
  Slot none; Price 4,000 gp; Weight —
  DESCRIPTION
  This magic earring grows warm whenever a ship’s crew begins 
  muttering of mutiny, granting the wearer of a mutineer’s bane 
  earring a +5 bonus on all Sense Motive checks made while on a 
  ship under such conditions of poor morale.
  A mutineer’s bane earring has additional effects if worn 
  by a commodore or admiral. If worn by a commodore, that 
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  commodore’s squadron gains a +3 bonus on morale checks 
  in fleet battles. If worn by an admiral, all squadrons in the 
  admiral’s fleet gain a +1 bonus on morale checks in fleet battles. 
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, detect thoughts; Cost 
  2,000 gp 
  Skyrocket Crossbow
  Aura moderate divination and evocation; CL 6th
  Slot none; Price 10,400 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  The stock and bow of this +1 distance hand crossbow are 
  decorated with the golden head of an osprey, sea eagle, or 
  other avian creature. Three times per day, a skyrocket crossbow 
  can imbue one of two special abilities on its ammunition. 
  The first causes a bolt fired from the crossbow to explode 
  in a dazzling burst of colored light when it hits a creature or 
  object, or if it reaches its maximum range increment (600 
  feet). Creatures within a 10-foot radius of the target point 
  are blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. A successful DC 13 Will save 
  means a creature is dazzled for 1 minute instead. Sightless 
  creatures, or those without line of sight to the target point, 
  are unaffected. 
  The second ability causes a bolt fired from the crossbow to 
  function as a screaming bolt (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 475).
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, clairaudience/
  clairvoyance, doom, flare burst (Advanced Player’s Guide 223); 
  Cost 5,400 gp
  Wizard Hook
  Aura moderate necromancy; CL 6th
  Slot none; Price 4,310 gp; Weight 1 lb.
  DESCRIPTION
  A wizard hook is a +1 hook hand (Pirates of the Inner Sea 19) 
  and a useful item for any arcane spellcaster. Although 
  a wizard hook does not allow for fine manipulation, it is 
  infused with magic that bolsters somatic components—you 
  can use a hand stump outfitted with a wizard hook to fulfill 
  any somatic components for casting arcane spells. A wizard 
  hook also grants proficiency in its use as a weapon. You can 
  make touch attacks with spells using a wizard hook, either 
  by making a normal attack with the hook (in which case it 
  deals normal hook hand damage plus the spell effect), or by 
  making a touch attack with the hook (in which case you gain 
  a +4 bonus on the attack roll and the save DC of the spell 
  increases by +1, but you do not do hook hand damage).
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, spectral hand; 
  Cost 2,310 gp 
  Aiger’s Kiss
  Wizard Hook
  Mutineer’s Bane 
  Earring
  Skyrocket 
  Crossbow
  Howling Skull 
  Armor
  Mariner’s 
  Eye Patch
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  Fleet Battles
  “I 
  was just a cabin boy on old Captain Gresham’s ship back when we fought 
  the Chelish fleet at Desperation Bay, but let me tell you, that was some 
  battle. That Thrune fleet came at us, but I’ll bet they didn’t know what to expect. 
  Hundreds of us Shackles pirates set up at the mouth of the bay and waited for 
  them. The whole bay was awash in rippling sails and taut lines, and the creak of 
  dozens upon dozens of masts and booms filled the air before the fighting started. 
  When that first wave came, the ships at the front launched their ballistae before 
  sailing full ahead to ram. Other ships in our fleet circled around to flank them, 
  firing all the weapons we had, launching flaming pots and burning their sails away. 
  It was a glorious day, I’ll tell you, and not one that’s been repeated since.”
  —Old Blind Krauss, Shackles pirate
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  T
  hroughout much of the Skull & Shackles Adventure 
  Path, the PCs come into conflict with other ships 
  on the high seas—whether these conflicts arise 
  as the PCs seek to seize plunder or are forced to defend 
  themselves from attack, the ship-to-ship rules presented 
  in the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide are meant only to 
  suffice for small-scale naval battles between just a handful 
  of ships at most. But in “The Price of Infamy,” and then 
  again in the final adventure, “From Hell’s Heart,” the PCs 
  are destined to find themselves involved in some much 
  larger naval conflicts involving dozens of ships at once. 
  Rather than playing out such large, complex battles ship 
  by ship, you can use the following rules for fleet battles to 
  determine the results of these mass conflicts. Note that 
  while the rules presented here are specifically tailored for 
  individual naval battles that occur in the last third of the 
  Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, they can serve to resolve 
  large-scale naval battles in other campaigns as well.
  Fleet Basics
  A fleet consists of multiple ships organized under a single 
  admiral. Each individual ship in a fleet is crewed by a 
  captain and her crew. Technically, it only takes two ships 
  to constitute a fleet for the purposes of these rules, but in 
  the battles that occur in the last two installments of Skull 
  & Shackles, the number of ships involved will always be 
  quite a bit higher (if you’re just doing a battle between a 
  couple of ships, it’s generally better to simply use the ship 
  combat rules from the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide).
  Fleets consist of a number of squadrons of ships. All 
  of the ships in a squadron must be of the same type of 
  ship (longship, junk, sailing ship, warship, etc.). Each 
  squadron involved in a fleet battle is commanded by a 
  single commodore. A squadron consists of at least one 
  ship, and can consist of a maximum number of ships 
  equal to 3 + the commodore’s Charisma modifier. A 
  character whose Charisma modifier is –3 or worse cannot 
  serve as a commodore.
  The fleet as a whole is commanded by a single admiral. An 
  NPC fleet consists of a number of squadrons equal to 3 + the 
  admiral’s Charisma modifier. A PC fleet can have a number 
  of squadrons equal to the party’s Infamy score divided by 10 
  (round down)—this base number is then increased by the 
  admiral’s Charisma modifier. A character whose Charisma 
  modifier is –3 or worse cannot serve as an admiral.
  Reading a Fleet Stat Block
  A fleet is represented in text as a stat block (see, for 
  example, Harrigan’s fleet on page 37). Alternatively, you 
  can record all of a f leet’s relevant numbers on the f leet 
  sheet presented on page 69. What follow are notes on 
  how to read f leet stat blocks.
  Name: This lists the fleet’s name.
  XP: This lists the number of experience points earned 
  by the PCs for defeating the fleet. See page 68 for rules on 
  determining a fleet’s XP value.
  Admiral: This lists the name of the fleet’s admiral, 
  followed by the admiral’s Profession (sailor) skill modifier 
  and the fleet’s initiative modifier.
  Flagship: This lists the name of the fleet’s flagship.
  Significant Characters and Boons: This lists the fleet’s 
  significant characters, their location in the fleet, and the 
  boons they provide to the fleet.
  Squadrons: The second half of a fleet stat block lists the 
  fleet’s individual squadrons. The entries below are repeated 
  for each of the fleet’s squadrons. Some fleets may have all 
  unique squadrons (this is likely to be the case for the PCs’ 
  fleet) while others might simply have multiple essentially 
  identical squadrons (as far as game statistics go).
  Configuration: This lists the number and type of ships 
  in the squadron.
  Commodore: This lists the name of that squadron’s 
  commodore, the commodore’s Charisma modifier, and 
  her Profession (sailor) skill modifier.
  Hits: The amount of damage a squadron can take before 
  all of its ships sink.
  Morale: This lists the squadron’s morale score.
  Defense Value: This lists the squadron’s Defense 
  Value (DV)—essentially, the DC of any attack against 
  the squadron in order to cause significant damage. A 
  squadron’s Defense Value is equal to 10 + the commodore’s 
  Profession (sailor) modifier + any miscellaneous modifiers 
  granted by flagship boons.
  Attack Value: This lists the squadron’s attack roll modifier.
  Damage: This lists the damage the squadron deals on a 
  successful hit.
  Morale Check: This lists the squadron’s morale check 
  modifier.
  terminology
  Listed below are key terms for describing fleet battles.
  Admiral: Commander of a single fleet. An admiral 
  influences a fleet’s morale score and determines the fleet’s 
  maximum size.
  Battle Phase: Period during which each squadron 
  attacks the enemy fleet.
  Captain: Commander of a single ship.
  Commodore: Commander of a single squadron. A 
  commodore primarily influences a squadron’s Attack 
  Value and Defense Value. 
  Disabled: A ship that has taken an amount of damage equal 
  to its hits is disabled. A disabled ship does not count toward 
  its squadron’s damage rolls or the squadron’s number of hits. 
  A ship that takes further damage while it is disabled sinks.
  Flagship: The ship in a fleet on which that fleet’s 
  admiral is located.
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  Fleet: A number of squadrons that are commanded by a 
  single admiral.
  Hits: Every ship in a squadron takes up a certain 
  number of squares—this number represents the number 
  of times the ship can be damaged during fleet combat 
  before becoming disabled, and is referred to as its hits. 
  As long as the amount of damage a ship has taken does 
  not equal its number of hits, the damage is automatically 
  repaired at the end of the fleet battle. A squadron has a 
  number of hits equal to the sum of its ships’ hits.
  Morale: Every squadron has a morale score ranging 
  from 1 to a maximum of 10. When a squadron’s morale 
  score drops to 0, that squadron mutinies and is lost.
  Morale Check: This check is made during the rout 
  phase of a fleet battle, and requires rolling a d20 and 
  adding the squadron’s morale check modifier. This 
  check determines whether a squadron mutinies and is 
  removed from play. 
  Round: A round consists of a battle phase and a rout 
  phase. A single round of mass naval conflict generally 
  accounts for 10 minutes of open warfare in game time.
  Rout Phase: Period after a battle phase when each 
  squadron must make a morale check to avoid mutiny.
  Ship: A single ship in a fleet, which is commanded by a 
  single captain.
  Significant Character: A PC (in the case of a player fleet) 
  or a named unique NPC (in the case of a GM-controlled 
  fleet) whose presence in a fleet grants additional boons 
  and bonuses.
  Squadron: A number of similar ships commanded by a 
  single commodore.
  Sunken: When a ship sinks, it is removed entirely from 
  a fleet. A new ship must be purchased or recruited to 
  replace it. Survival of any characters on a sunken ship 
  is subject to the GM’s discretion and how quickly and 
  successfully the PCs undertake rescue attempts (in the 
  case of a player fleet).
  cReating a Fleet
  When the PCs begin gathering allies for their fleet at 
  the start of “The Price of Infamy,” you should provide 
  them with a blank copy of the fleet sheet on page 69. 
  While they won’t be able to fill in the information 
  about their squadrons until they start recruiting 
  commodores during the adventure itself, they can 
  start filling in basic information about their fleet 
  at the start. (The point of 
  these rules is not to create 
  multiple small fleets under 
  PC control, but rather to 
  create 
  one 
  single 
  large 
  f leet—as such, any one party 
  can only ever control a 
  single fleet at a time in a 
  Skull & Shackles campaign.)
  The PCs should follow the 
  following steps to build their fleet.
  Step 1—Fleet Name, Home Port, and 
  Flagship: The name the PCs choose for 
  their fleet and the names of their home 
  port and the fleet’s flagship have no 
  effect on the fleet’s statistics—
  these are purely flavor elements.
  Step 2—Select an Admiral: A 
  fleet can have only one admiral. 
  Whether this is a PC or an NPC ally 
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  is in large part irrelevant, but you should explain to the PCs 
  that a fleet admiral should have a high Charisma score and 
  possess many ranks in Profession (sailor). Note that non-
  admiral PCs can still bolster a fleet by granting flagship 
  boons (see Step 4). Record the admiral’s name and his or her 
  Profession (sailor) bonus on the sheet.
  Step 3—Determine Maximum Squadrons: A single fleet 
  can consist of a maximum number of squadrons equal to 
  the party’s Infamy score divided by 10 (rounded down)—
  this initial value is increased or decreased by the admiral’s 
  Charisma modifier. For NPC fleets, this maximum is 3 + 
  the admiral’s Charisma modifier.
  Step 4—Assign Significant Characters: Each fleet 
  possesses a number of significant characters—either PCs 
  (in the case of a player-controlled fleet) or unique, named 
  NPCs (in the case of a GM-controlled fleet). Record the 
  names of the significant characters here, as well as their 
  location in the fleet (either on the fleet’s flagship, or in 
  a squadron). If a significant character is an admiral, he 
  must be located on the flagship—if a significant character 
  is a commodore, she must be located in the squadron she 
  commands. Finally, each significant character grants the 
  fleet a boon—record that significant character’s boon 
  here. See “Flagship Boons” on page 66 for more details.
  Step 5—Begin Recruiting Squadrons: Without squadrons, 
  a fleet is merely theoretical. A large portion of this adventure 
  covers the steps necessary to recruit squadrons of vessels to 
  a fleet. Each squadron recruited has its own statistics to 
  go along with it, but if the PCs wish to build up their own 
  squadrons from scratch, they can do that as well (although 
  this is fantastically expensive—it’s generally faster and 
  easier to recruit existing squadrons—see page 10 of the 
  adventure for details).
  cReating a SquadRon
  A squadron consists of a number of individual ships, 
  each commanded by a captain. The squadron (and its 
  captains) are in turn commanded by a single commodore. 
  A squadron can have no more ships than its commodore’s 
  Charisma modifier + 3.
  Each squadron and its statistics is listed in its fleet’s 
  stat block under a separate subheading. On the fleet sheet, 
  each squadron is recorded in its own squadron box. Follow 
  the steps below to fill out a squadron box.
  Step 1—Name the Squadron: Record the squadron’s name 
  at the top of the box—this name can be whatever you want.
  Step 2—Determine the Configuration: Record the 
  number of ships in the squadron, along with the type 
  of ships in the squadron. Record how many hits each 
  ship contributes to that squadron’s total hits. Ship type 
  determines how many hits each ship contributes. All of 
  the ships in a squadron must be the same type of ship. 
  The types of ships available for use in a fleet are listed on 
  pages 23–26 of the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide. The hits 
  per ship for these ships are listed in the “Hits per Ship” 
  sidebar on this page.
  Step 3—Select Commodore: List the name of the 
  squadron’s commodore, along with her Charisma modifier 
  and Profession (sailor) skill modifier. An admiral can 
  never serve as a commodore. If a commodore is also a 
  significant character (either a PC or a significant named 
  NPC), that squadron gains a +2 bonus on all attack rolls, 
  damage rolls, and morale checks. (As a general rule, most 
  NPC fleets should have 2–4 significant named NPCs 
  serving as commodores.)
  Step 4—Determine Hits: A squadron’s hits equals the 
  number of ships in the squadron multiplied by the number 
  of hits each ship contributes. For example, a squadron of 
  five rafts would have only 5 hits (since a raft is only a 1-hit 
  ship), whereas a squadron of five warships would have 
  20 hits (since a warship is a 4-hit ship). This number is 
  temporarily reduced by disabled ships and permanently 
  reduced by sunken ships.
  Step 5—Determine Morale: Morale for each squadron 
  fluctuates during a battle. A newly consigned squadron’s 
  starting morale score is equal to the party’s Infamy score 
  divided by 10 (round down), with a minimum morale score 
  of 1 and a maximum score of 10. An NPC fleet’s squadron 
  has a starting morale score of 3 points. If a squadron’s 
  morale score is ever reduced to 0, the squadron mutinies 
  and is lost—it cannot be “repaired” in this case, and can 
  only be replaced by a new squadron. A single squadron’s 
  morale score can never be higher than 10.
  Step 6—Determine Defense Value: A squadron’s Defense 
  Value (DV) is equal to 10 + the commodore’s Profession 
  (sailor) skill check modifier, further increased by some 
  flagship boons.
  Step 7—Determine Attack Value: A squadron’s Attack 
  Value is equal to its commodore’s Profession (sailor) check. 
  This value can be increased by flagship boons or the 
  presence of a significant commodore.
  HITS PER SHIP
  A ship possesses a number of hits equal to the number 
  of squares it takes up in the ship-to-ship combat rules 
  presented in the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide. Those 
  totals are reprinted here for sake of ease in determining 
  a squadron’s hits.
  1 Hit per Ship: Raft, rowboat, ship’s boat
  2 Hits per Ship: Keelboat
  3 Hits per Ship: Junk, longship, sailing ship
  4 Hits per Ship: Galley, warship
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  Step 8—Determine Damage: A squadron deals 1d6 
  points of damage to a fleet on a successful attack, plus an 
  additional point of damage per ship in the squadron. This 
  damage can be further modified by flagship boons and 
  the presence of significant commodores.
  Step 9—Determine Morale Check: A squadron’s base 
  morale check is equal to its commodore’s Charisma modifier, 
  further modified by flagship boons and the presence of 
  significant commodores. Each time that squadron has a 
  ship become disabled, add +1 to its loss count. Each time a 
  squadron has a ship sink, add +1 to its loss count. Each time 
  an entire squadron is destroyed or mutinies, add +1 to each 
  surviving squadron’s loss count. A squadron’s total morale 
  check is equal to its base check minus its loss count.
  FlagShipS and SigniFicant chaRacteRS
  A flagship is the ship on which the fleet’s admiral is 
  located. A flagship moves around during a fleet battle, 
  issuing orders and providing support as needed, but does 
  not itself belong to a specific squadron. A flagship cannot 
  be damaged or sunk during a fleet battle, and is generally 
  regarded as a prize or trophy of any conflict. See the 
  “Victory” section on page 68 for more details on the fate of 
  a flagship once a fleet battle is resolved.
  A flagship’s primary purpose in a fleet is to grant boons 
  to the fleet. Boons are advantages granted by the fleet’s 
  significant characters. For a party-controlled fleet, each 
  PC counts as a significant character. A GM-controlled 
  fleet’s significant characters are unique NPCs—a GM-
  controlled fleet generally has four significant characters.
  A fleet gains one boon for each significant character who 
  travels with the fleet. If the significant character associated 
  with a particular boon is not present in the fleet (either 
  because that character was elsewhere at the time of the 
  battle or because that character’s squadron was destroyed), 
  the fleet does not gain that boon.
  FlagShip BoonS
  Flagship boons must be chosen when the fleet is created, 
  and once chosen, they cannot generally be changed. Adding 
  a new significant character to the group allows a new boon 
  to be selected, but otherwise, you must decommission the 
  current flagship and place a new flagship in command 
  of the fleet in order to be able to pick different boons. 
  Decommissioning a flagship in this way deals 1d4 points 
  of damage to each squadron’s morale score—which can 
  result in the need to replace squadrons if mutinies result 
  from this morale damage.
  The available flagship boons are as follows. A boon cannot 
  be taken more than once for a fleet unless otherwise noted.
  Advanced Tactics: At the start of a battle phase, select 
  a squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus to its Attack 
  Value. Whenever that squadron deals damage during 
  that battle phase, you can determine which enemy ships 
  take the damage, rather than the damaged fleet doing so. 
  Requirement: Significant character with at least 11 ranks 
  each in at least 5 different skills.
  Defensive Tactics: At the start of a battle phase, select a 
  squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus to its Defense 
  Value for that battle phase. Requirement: None. Special: This 
  boon may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, 
  you may add a +2 bonus to a different squadron at the start 
  of the battle phase. (This bonus does not stack if it is placed 
  on the same squadron.)
  Divine Protection: At the start of a battle phase, select a 
  squadron in the fleet. That squadron takes 1 fewer point of 
  damage than it normally would when attacked by a squadron 
  in the other fleet. Requirement: Significant character with 
  the channel energy class feature. Special: This boon may 
  be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, it must be 
  applied to a different squadron at the start of the battle 
  phase. (This bonus does not stack if it is placed on the same 
  squadron multiple times.)
  Loyalty: Whenever you recruit a new squadron, all 
  squadrons gain a +2 bonus on morale checks (this bonus 
  does not stack if multiple squadrons are recruited). 
  Requirement: Significant character with a Charisma score 
  of 15 or higher.
  Magical Artillery: All squadrons gain a +1 bonus on 
  damage rolls and a +1 bonus on morale checks. Requirement: 
  Significant character capable of casting at least one 6th-
  level spell.
  Overwhelming: The fleet’s maximum number of 
  squadrons increases by 1. If this boon is lost, the squadron 
  with the lowest morale (determined randomly if multiple 
  squadrons have equally low morale) immediately mutinies. 
  Requirement: Significant character with the Leadership 
  feat. Special: This boon may be taken multiple times—its 
  effects stack.
  Reckless Maneuver: At the start of a battle phase, select 
  a squadron in the fleet. That squadron gains a +4 to its 
  Attack Value for that round, but these maneuvers leave it 
  open to attacks. The selected squadron takes a –2 penalty 
  to its Defense Value until it acts in the next battle phase. 
  Requirement: None. Special: This boon may be taken multiple 
  times. Each time it is taken, it must be applied to a different 
  squadron at the start of the battle phase. (This bonus does 
  not stack if it is placed on the same squadron multiple times.)
  Remorseless Advance: At the start of a battle phase, 
  select a squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus on 
  attack rolls and damage rolls for the duration of that battle 
  phase. Its morale increases by +1 at the start of the battle 
  phase. Requirement: Significant character with a base attack 
  bonus of +11 or higher.
  Swift Repairs: At the end of a battle phase, roll 1d6. You 
  may remove this amount of damage from any combination 
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  of non-sunken ships from any single squadron. 
  Requirement: Significant character capable of casting at 
  least one 4th-level spell.
  Swift to Battle: The admiral gains a +4 bonus on all 
  Profession (sailor) checks made to determine initiative. 
  Requirement: None. Special: This boon may be taken 
  multiple times—its effects stack.
  Vengeance: The first time one of the f leet’s ships 
  sinks in a battle phase, all allied squadrons become 
  overwhelmed with a need for vengeance and gain a +2 
  bonus on attack rolls and morale checks for the rest of 
  that battle phase. Requirement: None.
  running mass naval comBat
  A fleet battle begins as a result of two fleets encountering 
  each other on the high seas. During a mass naval conflict, 
  players do not draw upon their characters’ abilities—
  instead, they use their fleet’s squadrons to make attacks 
  against the enemy, with their characters serving as 
  commanders on the ships. A mass naval combat plays 
  out over the course of multiple rounds, with each round 
  consisting of a battle phase and a rout phase.
  At the start of a combat, place each fleet’s ships on the table 
  as representations for the attack—this works best if you use 
  photocopies or printouts of the ship counters from the Skull 
  & Shackles Player’s Guide. For each squadron, place a number 
  of appropriately sized ship counters on the table so that they 
  are adjacent to each other. Actual placement on the table is 
  irrelevant; since these fleet battle rules are streamlined and 
  simplified, the allocation of damage represents the ships 
  maneuvering 
  and 
  shifting 
  position during the battle.
  Battle phaSe
  At the start of a battle phase, 
  each fleet’s admiral makes 
  a Profession (sailor) check to 
  determine initiative. The admiral 
  whose result is higher gains the 
  upper hand in that battle phase, 
  which grants all of his squadrons 
  a +1 bonus on attack rolls. This 
  Profession (sailor) check is made 
  at the start of each battle phase.
  Each 
  fleet 
  then 
  takes 
  turns 
  making attacks with 
  their squadrons. 
  The winner of 
  the initiative roll 
  gets to make the first 
  attack, using any one of 
  his squadrons. The other fleet 
  then makes its first attack, using any 
  one of its squadrons. Attacks with squadrons go back and 
  forth during the battle phase until all squadrons able to 
  attack have done so—a single squadron can only attack 
  once per battle phase. If one fleet has more squadrons than 
  the other, the additional squadrons attack at the end of the 
  battle phase after the other fleet has used up all of its attacks 
  for that round.
  Attacking: When you attack with a squadron, pick one 
  of the enemy fleet’s squadrons as your target. Roll 1d20 
  and add that squadron’s attack value. If the result equals 
  or exceeds the enemy squadron’s Defense Value, you deal 
  damage as appropriate for your squadron. If you miss, you 
  still deal 1d4–1 points of damage (damage from a miss 
  can never be increased by any other effect). This damage 
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  is an abstract combination of siege weapons, ramming, 
  spellcasting, missile fire, and even boarding actions 
  against enemy crews.
  Assigning Damage: The damaged fleet normally gets to 
  assign its damage by marking (either by crossing out of 
  by placing a marker such as a die, penny, or some other 
  counter) the amount of damage on the targeted squadron. 
  This damage doesn’t all have to be on the same ship—you 
  can spread it out in any way you wish among all of the non-
  sunken ships in your squadron.
  Critical Hits and Fumbles: A natural 20 on an attack roll 
  always hits and allows you to assign damage to the enemy 
  as you wish, rather than allowing the defender to allocate 
  it (you do not deal double damage with a critical hit, 
  though). A natural 1 always misses entirely (and results in 
  no damage at all to the enemy fleet). Every time a squadron 
  scores a critical hit, its morale score increases by 1; each 
  time it rolls a fumble, its morale score decreases by 1.
  Effects of Damage: Each point of damage reduces a 
  squadron’s total hits. When a particular ship takes an 
  amount of damage equal to its hits, it becomes disabled. A 
  disabled ship does not count toward its squadron’s damage 
  rolls, and increases that squadron’s loss count by +1. A ship 
  that takes damage while it is disabled sinks and is removed 
  entirely from the fleet, increasing that squadron’s loss 
  count by +1.
  Losing a Squadron: Each time you lose an entire 
  squadron (as a result of either damage or mutiny), increase 
  the loss count for each surviving squadron by +1.
  Abandoning Ship: For simplicity’s sake, you can 
  assume that a commodore’s ship is the last to sink in 
  any squadron. Note that not all characters on a sinking 
  ship automatically perish. Typically, a ship sinks slowly 
  enough that officers and crew can abandon ship, and 
  there’s usually ship’s boats and other pieces of wreckage 
  to grab onto. Once a battle is over, you can assume that 
  any significant characters who were on a sinking ship 
  survive, either by escaping in a boat, by clinging to 
  flotsam, or by fleeing via magical means. The ultimate 
  fate of a significant character on a sunken ship depends 
  more on the results of the actual battle itself. If the 
  imperiled character’s fleet wins, she can be rescued after 
  the battle, but if her fleet loses, the best she may be able 
  to look forward to is capture by the enemy—more often, 
  such victims are merely left to perish via the countless 
  methods the sea presents for death.
  Rout phaSe
  A rout phase occurs after each battle phase. At this 
  point, each surviving squadron must succeed at a DC 10 
  morale check by rolling 1d20 and adding its morale check 
  modifier. Failure indicates that the squadron takes 1d4 
  points of damage to its morale score. A squadron whose 
  morale score is reduced to 0 immediately mutinies and is 
  removed from play.
  Fleeing a Battle: At the end of a rout phase, an admiral 
  can attempt to flee the battle entirely. When he does so, 
  the other fleet immediately gets one free attack using 
  any one of its squadrons and can target any one of the 
  fleeing fleet’s squadrons. The fleeing admiral makes 
  a Profession (sailor) check at a –4 penalty, opposed by 
  the other admiral’s Profession (sailor) check. If the 
  fleeing admiral’s check result is higher, his fleet escapes; 
  otherwise, every squadron in the fleeing admiral’s fleet 
  takes 1 point of morale damage and the battle continues 
  into a new round.
  VictoRy
  A f leet wins a battle once all of the enemy’s ships are 
  removed from play, either by disabling or sinking all the 
  ships in play or by causing squadrons to mutiny. When 
  victory is secured, the enemy f leet’s f lagship is rendered 
  defenseless, allowing the victors to board the f lagship 
  at once.
  PC Defeat: If the PCs are defeated, the repercussions 
  of that defeat are described in the text of the adventure. 
  In general, the enemy captures and/or executes the PCs, 
  resulting in a loss as if the PCs had all been defeated in 
  regular combat. A defeated fleet generally disbands. In 
  the unusual case of a PC fleet managing to surrender or 
  even escape before it is destroyed, every squadron takes 1d8 
  points of damage to its morale score.
  PC Victory: If the PCs win the battle, they capture the 
  enemy flagship. In most cases, the fleet’s commanders 
  refuse to go down without a fight. At this point, the PCs 
  resolve the conflict by engaging in shipboard combat 
  against the enemy, but because of their recent triumph, all 
  PCs gain a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, 
  and saving throws made during this shipboard combat.
  All surviving squadrons gain 1d4 points of morale with a 
  fleet victory, minus 1 point for every ship in that squadron 
  that was sunk during battle (minimum 0 morale gain). 
  After a battle, any damage to non-disabled ships are 
  repaired at the rate of 1 hit per hour as the crew works to 
  recover from the battle. Disabled ships must be towed back 
  to a harbor, where repairs can be made at the normal cost 
  (see page 16 of the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide). A disabled 
  ship is reduced to 5% of its total hit points.
  Sunken ships and ships that fled a battle after their 
  squadron was reduced to 0 morale cannot be repaired—they 
  must be replaced.
  Experience point awards for defeating a fleet should 
  be tailored to be a CR award roughly equal to the party’s 
  average party level at the time the battle took place. For 
  particularly tough or easy battles, the GM can adjust this 
  award upward or downward as she sees fit.
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  © 2012 Paizo Publishing, LLC. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use only.
  Fleet Name
  Home Port
  Flagship
  Fleet Sheet
  CHA MOD
  PROF. (SAILOR)
  INIT. MOD.
  MAX. SQUADRONS
  ADMIRAL
  SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  LOCATION
  BOON
  NAME
  SQUADRON 1
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
  SQUADRON 4
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
  SQUADRON 2
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
  SQUADRON 5
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
  SQUADRON 3
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
  SQUADRON 6
  HITS
  NAME
  MORALE
  CONFIGURATION
  ship type
  defense value
  base
  loss count
  total check
  attack value
  morale
  =
  +
  damage
  profession (sailor)
  charisma mod.
  hits per ship
  # of ships
  COMMODORE
  COMBAT
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  Fleet Battles
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  69
  
  Norgorber
  N
  orgorber (NOR-GOR-ber) is one of the Ascended, a mortal who became a god 
  through the power of the Starstone. Little is known of his life as a mortal, for he 
  conceals this information—or has murdered those who knew him—so others may not 
  use it against him. He is a mysterious deity who rarely lets anyone learn much about his 
  goals or interests. Only his most favored worshipers know more than the most general 
  information about him so they may help bring about his plans in the world, and sometimes 
  he wipes the knowledge from their minds when the job is done to better preserve his 
  secrets. Beyond these basic ideas, he says little, as he does not want to disclose anything 
  useful to his enemies. Some sages believe that if Norgorber’s true nature were discovered, 
  he would be undone—perhaps as a side effect of his passing the Test of the Starstone, or 
  perhaps from some sacrifice he has made for greater power. He is also unique among the 
  Ascended in that he is the only evil one, though he is not overtly malicious like Lamashtu 
  or Rovagug, for his power relies on the manipulation of others, not their destruction.
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  N
  orgorber has four aspects, all of them sinister. 
  Those who call him the Reaper of Reputation 
  venerate him primarily as the god of secrets and 
  are typically spies or politicians. Thieves’ guilds often revere 
  him as the Gray Master, and look to his skills as a thief 
  more than anything else. Many alchemists, herbalists, and 
  assassins know him as Blackfingers and see his work in every 
  poisoned meal and venomous beast. His most notorious and 
  dangerous cultists, though, are the madmen, 
  murderers, and maniacs who call him Father 
  Skinsaw, and believe that with every murder, 
  the future is sculpted according to their dark 
  god’s unknowable plan.
  In artwork, Norgorber is shown only 
  as a featureless, polished black mask, or 
  sometimes as an invisible man dressed in 
  the garb of a thief. Other depictions show 
  him as a spectrelike figure with an obscured 
  face and sinister black gloves. Those who try 
  to paint or sculpt him as a recognizable figure, 
  even if the image is purely from 
  the artist’s imagination and 
  not based on any knowledge 
  or insight, find their hands 
  fumbling 
  and 
  their 
  work 
  increasingly erratic if they 
  persist, until their motor control is permanently afflicted. 
  Wiser priests of his church say this is because if the god 
  only blotted out accurate depictions of him, mortals could 
  deduce his true appearance by determining what they 
  are not allowed to paint, so instead he simply hinders all 
  attempts to portray his visage.
  The Reaper of Reputation cares little for flashy displays 
  of power. When he manifests to mortals, he appears 
  to be a normal human dressed in brown and black, of 
  average height and build, always with his face concealed 
  or entirely invisible. Mortals in his presence always have 
  the impression that he’s actually behind them, even 
  when he stands in full view of a crowd, and he is vaguely 
  threatening even when speaking pleasantly.
  Norgorber treasures secrets like misers hoard gold, 
  whether the secret is his own or belongs to a mortal or 
  supernatural creature. He counts and catalogs these 
  secrets, and measures them by their value based on whether 
  they are totally hidden, known to a few, in the hands of an 
  enemy, or open secrets. He trades them for more valuable 
  secrets, gives them away if such knowledge serves his long-
  term goals, and takes them from volunteers who can’t trust 
  themselves not to speak of what they know. He modifies 
  memories or kills to preserve secrets. It is important to 
  note that he is not a god of lies, but sometimes finds lies 
  useful—in particular, if a secret is actually a lie and its 
  existence protects the truth of the matter or makes it more 
  valuable. Still, he dislikes altering knowledge or fact to 
  make a true thing false or a false thing true. 
  Norgorber understands that controlling something is 
  having power over that thing, and having power leads to 
  wanting more power. This desire can motivate people 
  to commit illicit or immoral acts to obtain what they 
  seek. Because he is subtle rather than overt, Norgorber 
  knows there may be negative consequences for acting 
  directly against whoever controls the thing you 
  desire, which leads to deceptive, circumspect, 
  and insidious methods like blackmail and 
  poisoning rivals. Of course, some poisons 
  are merely an inconvenience to the target, 
  and some targets are easier to eliminate 
  than to accommodate. Together, these ideas 
  make Norgorber the god of secrets, greed, 
  poison, and murder—four pernicious traits 
  interwoven to create a treacherous whole.
  Norgorber’s realm in the Great Beyond is a 
  network of sprawling tunnels and caverns beneath 
  the perfect city of Axis. Its 
  shadows and dark inhabitants 
  hum 
  silently 
  with 
  secret 
  intent, bending the letter and 
  spirit of Axis’s laws but never 
  going so far as to disrupt 
  the harmony upon which it feeds. The domain connects 
  to various points in Axis, not always in a conventional 
  manner or relying on normal perceptions of time and 
  space. Norgorber’s presence and that of his followers is 
  like the grease in a complex mechanism: dirty, messy, and 
  hidden away, but crucial to its overall function.
  Like a thief in the night, Norgorber is subtle in his direct 
  intervention. When he is pleased, a pickpocket finds a gold 
  coin in an otherwise poor man’s purse, a spy overhears 
  a juicy bit of information from an unexpected source, a 
  poisoned weapon retains its coating for a second attack, or a 
  slain guard dies with merely a quiet gurgle. When roused to 
  anger, however, his ire is carefully measured and meted out 
  suddenly. A thief finds she’s lost the jewel she was supposed 
  to steal, a speaker completely forgets whatever important 
  topic he was talking about, an envenomed blade nicks 
  the hand of even a master assassin, or a skilled murderer 
  finds himself downed by a lucky blow from an alley thug. 
  Norgorber is disinclined to kill his own useful followers, 
  even if they know far too much, and prefers to instead 
  punish them with humiliation, sickness, or a crippling 
  injury for a time, wiping key information from their minds 
  to preserve his master plan. However, he has been known to 
  kill those who are of no further use to him, especially those 
  whose lives could be a threat to his objectives, and even more 
  so if their deaths also serve as a lesson to surviving members 
  of the cult.
  “There is value in the things that others 
  shun or conceal. A secret is an intangible 
  coin worth more than a noble’s murder.”
  —The Words Behind the Mask
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  Norgorber is neutral evil and his portfolio is greed, 
  secrets, poison, and murder. His weapon is the short sword 
  and his holy symbol is a featureless black mask, sometimes 
  polished to a mirror-sheen. Some cults represent his 
  presence as a black masklike badge or an empty black glove, 
  and are known to nail a black glove to a door as a warning 
  to someone who has offended the cult. His domains are 
  Charm, Death, Evil, Knowledge, and Trickery.
  His faith is outlawed or at least persecuted in most 
  civilized lands. Fortunately, the cult’s reliance on secrecy 
  allows it to thrive under these conditions, whether 
  operating behind a facade of legitimate business or 
  literally working underground with lairs and meeting-
  places in a city’s sewers and basements. Many city-
  dwelling members of the cult lead double lives, reputable 
  by day and murderous at night. Some gifted priests 
  pretend to be members of a different religion, speaking 
  false prayers and making false offerings to a different god 
  with laypeople none the wiser, and only showing their true 
  colors and allegiance when in the company of the Sons and 
  Daughters of the Mask. A few—particularly among the 
  crazed worshipers of Father Skinsaw—take this habitual 
  dual identity to such an extreme that they develop a form 
  of psychosis, living two lives separated by nightfall and 
  sunrise, completely forgetting the existence of the other 
  self except for brief moments of transition.
   Norgorber’s primary worshipers are thieves, assassins, 
  and murderers, with alchemists, spies, and politicians a 
  minority among the faithful. Common folk are rightfully 
  suspicious of any who openly worship Norgorber, fearing 
  them for being thieves, bandits, and liars at best and assassins 
  or serial killers at worst. 
  Ceremonies to Norgorber are quiet, even in cities where 
  his faith is tolerated. Typically, a masked senior priest leads 
  a prayer, pausing for murmured assent from the faithful. 
  Ceremonies avoid singing or using musical instruments, 
  though some rituals are accompanied by the shaking of 
  coins in a cup or the sharpening of a blade with a whetstone.
  Norgorber has no opinion about marriage or families. 
  He recognizes that some cults and guilds have strong 
  traditions of marriage, forming powerful crime families 
  that vie for control of a city’s business, but doesn’t care 
  whether these marriages are political, romantic, barren, 
  or fruitful. He does, however, recognize that marriage 
  often leads to infidelity and secrecy, and relishes the 
  opportunities this gives mortals to manipulate each other, 
  for even an honest man can be corrupted if his lover puts 
  his arranged marriage at risk.
  Most of Norgorber’s cults are associated with or run 
  a thieves’ guild, and the guildlike traditions have carried 
  over into temple practices, even for the other three aspects 
  of the god. Once a new member of the cult has established 
  competency at basic tasks, she is usually given a mission 
  relating to the cult’s more nefarious activities. Successfully 
  completing this mission is a rite of passage within the cult 
  and elevates the member to full (journeyman) status within 
  the organization. For example, a cult of the Gray Master may 
  require a person to steal goods of a certain minimum value, 
  recruit an especially attractive person into prostitution, get 
  a gambler into a specified amount of debt, or use violence to 
  extort a significant protection payment from a merchant. 
  In the cult of Blackfingers, membership is attained upon 
  the synthesis of a particular poison, reverse-engineering a 
  drug’s components from its final product, or discovering a 
  new alchemical use for an animal gland. For followers of the 
  Reaper, typical initiations involve liberating a choice secret, 
  defaming or defeating a key rival outside the organization, 
  or accomplishing a political goal of value to the cult. 
  Unsurprisingly, the challenges of the cult of Father Skinsaw 
  involve murder, either of a high-profile target or a specific 
  number of people in a short period of time.
  The Four AspecTs
  Members of Norgorber’s cult usually align themselves 
  to one of his four aspects and ignore the others. Though 
  the faithful are all “Sons and Daughters of the Mask” and 
  the different branches of the church might work together 
  toward some secret plan orchestrated by the god and his 
  direct agents, in many respects they operate like four 
  distinct churches of different deities.
  Blackfingers
  In his alchemist and poisoner aspect, Norgorber 
  represents unethical experimentation for the sake of 
  knowledge and the use of alchemical knowledge to harm 
  others. His alchemists breed spiders and scorpions with 
  stronger venom, invent paralytics and memory-fogging 
  drugs to aid criminal activity, and practice vivisection and 
  surgery without anesthetic to discover secrets of the flesh 
  or create hybrid or altered monsters. By mastering the use 
  of exotic drugs and toxins that duplicate the effects of food 
  poisoning, dropsy, and dyspepsia, his assassins engineer 
  deaths easily attributed to accidents. The god’s followers 
  prefer masks of smoked glass, ostensibly to protect the 
  wearers’ faces from chemical spatters but also concealing 
  their identity when meeting with other cultists. Disciples 
  of Blackfingers are not kindly folk and rarely use their 
  knowledge for benign purposes. Good- and neutral-
  inclined alchemists usually worship Abadar, Gozreh, or 
  Nethys instead, though all have at least heard of the secrets 
  taught by Blackfingers.
  father skinsaw
  The most dangerous branch of Norgorber’s church is the 
  Skinsaw Cult. It attracts the most extreme and dangerously 
  insane folk, from bloodthirsty bandits to unabashed serial 
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  killers. Many of them wear magical masks made of human 
  skin that allow them to detect the most vulnerable parts of 
  their targets (see page 426 of Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise 
  of the Runelords Anniversary Edition). For these evil men and 
  women, every murder is a prayer to their dark god and a step 
  toward completing his mysterious plan. Their killings are 
  not clean or gentle; bodies are mutilated and the scene of 
  the crime left bloody. No good or neutral person worships 
  Father Skinsaw. Those whose honest work is killing (such 
  as executioners, mercenaries, or soldiers) normally serve 
  Abadar, Gorum, or Iomedae instead.
  the gray Master
  Just as a predator hunts the weakest prey animal in a herd, 
  worshipers of Norgorber’s thieving aspect target the weakest 
  and most vulnerable citizens in a society. Whether through 
  burglary, gambling, prostitution, extortion, blackmail, or 
  selling illegal materials, the guild profits at the expense 
  of others and usually outside the allowances of the law. 
  Individual thieves’ guilds vary from evil thugs who would 
  disfigure a merchant or his family members for not paying 
  protection money to nearly legitimate organizations that 
  don’t allow drugs or the mistreatment of prostitutes in their 
  territory. Masks of this cult are usually simple strips of gray 
  or black cloth that create anonymity by concealing the face 
  below the eyes, often a scraps of cloth or scarves that are easily 
  discarded after a crime. Neutral and evil thieves worship the 
  Gray Master; good individuals who like the idea of liberating 
  wealth from evil folk usually prefer Cayden Cailean or Desna.
  the reaper of reputation
  Perhaps the most benign (if that is the word) aspect of 
  Norgorber is his guardianship of hidden information, which 
  makes him a favorite of politicians and spies. Secrets and 
  manipulation are bread and butter to these folk, and even 
  the most amiable politician or good-hearted spy is wise to 
  master their use. Of course, most of the Reaper’s followers 
  have selfish interests at heart, using their knowledge or 
  influence for personal gain, but those interests might benefit 
  others as well. For example, the guildmaster of a crafting 
  guild who manipulates market prices to drive out foreign 
  competition enriches the wealth of the artisans he represents 
  as well as his own. However, most of the Reaper’s followers 
  are simply corrupt politicians and informants for powerful 
  tyrants or despots. Some followers of the Reaper take a more 
  aggressive route to gathering information, most notoriously 
  the mysterious Ustalavic assassins known as the Anaphexia, 
  who collect esoteric secrets and slay all others who possess 
  such knowledge. A typical mask for a worshiper of the Reaper 
  is a domino or masquerade mask or a spiral that covers 
  the mouth. Good folk interested in politics usually flock 
  to Abadar and Iomedae instead, and nonevil spies usually 
  follow Cayden Cailean, Iomedae, or Torag.
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  Temples And shrines
  Norgorber’s temples are organized like thieves’ guilds. A 
  guildmaster (usually a rogue, assassin, or cleric) runs each 
  temple, with lieutenants and lesser bosses in charge of 
  various plans and controlling teams of followers. Temples 
  to Blackfingers sometimes operate more like a merchant’s 
  guild with a legitimate front selling exotic substances.
  Ceremonial clothing for the church is predominantly 
  black and brown. Attracting attention to the cult by 
  standing out from local fashion is frowned upon, so the 
  clothing styles usually follow current trends to allow the 
  wearer to blend in with those outside the faith.
  Shrines are uncommon in the faith. Any place with a 
  large populace supports a temple that operates in secrecy, 
  leaving little need for another location that the public could 
  discover. The Skinsaw cult may secretly bury the remains 
  of murdered victims in public places and treat 
  such sites as shrines, albeit shrines with 
  no obvious markings. Followers of 
  Blackfingers might designate one place 
  in town as their dumping-ground 
  for dangerous alchemical leftovers, 
  creating 
  a 
  blighted 
  space 
  where nothing grows and 
  treating it as a shrine 
  to the god’s secrets.
  A priesT’s role
  Norgorber welcomes people from all walks of life into his 
  priesthood. Most are rogues, clerics, bards, assassins, or 
  alchemists, but inquisitors, shadowdancers, illusionists, 
  enchanters, and even more exotic types are not unheard 
  of. A few druids and witches serve Blackfingers for his 
  patronage of poisonous creatures, and particularly heinous 
  barbarians venerate the brutal teachings of Father Skinsaw. 
  Depending on which aspect their temples favor, priests 
  usually have some skill in thievery, information-gathering, 
  poison, or stealth. 
  Thievery, whether common or elaborate, is a typical 
  profession for priests. Some are master imitators, stealing 
  others’ identities and using them to cover up dark deeds or 
  simply take their valuables from homes and vaults.
  Others use their knowledge of alchemy, poisons, and 
  potions to keep villains supplied in deadly goods while 
  keeping public personas of harmless apothecaries. More 
  sociable priests work as diplomats, spies, or negotiators, 
  buying and selling information and contracts.
  Followers behave according to their chosen aspect of 
  the god. Those who worship the Reaper of Reputation 
  are coy and secretive, followers of Blackfingers tend to be 
  bookish, those of the Gray Master are greedy and covetous, 
  and those of Father Skinsaw are antisocial. Of course, 
  these traits color rather than define a worshiper, and 
  while some are caricatures of these qualities, most have 
  the good sense to rein in their urges and present a normal 
  demeanor to the outside world.
  holidAys
  Norgorber’s followers celebrate his Ascension in 
  midwinter by snatching a random person 
  from the street, bringing her to their 
  temple, quietly murdering her with poison, 
  then hiding the body where it will never be 
  found. Cults that avoid killing might plant 
  incriminating evidence on a target, drug a 
  target and place him in a compromising position, or steal 
  something valuable in a way that embarrasses its owner. 
  Aphorisms
  With four different aspects and countless individual 
  organizations scattered across the Inner Sea region, only 
  two phrases stand out as common to the entire religion.
  With One Hand I Give: Used as a salutation, this is also 
  a warning—the speaker’s true motivations remain secret, 
  and a gift in one hand may be offset by a threat in the other.
  I Wait for a Fair Price: Something of little apparent value 
  may be worth something in the right hands or whispered 
  in the proper ear. A person who says this possesses 
  some item or knows some secret that has not yet 
  reached its full potential.
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  holy TexT
  At least 17 short texts are associated with the faith, all given 
  innocuous code names and often disguised as mundane 
  books or encoded to prevent easy scrutiny. Among the 
  faithful, the collected teachings of Norgorber are called 
  The Words Behind the Mask, though any two cults may have 
  very different ideas about how the chapters are organized, 
  the specific wording of certain phrases, or which sections 
  are the most important.
  relATions WiTh oTher religions 
  Norgorber is careful to maintain civil relations with 
  most deities. When he must act against another deity, he 
  does so through intermediaries or in ways that obscure 
  his involvement, allowing him to appear innocent even 
  under great scrutiny. As a master of secrets, he is often 
  able to use his knowledge to leverage assistance out of 
  those who dislike him, usually for the purpose of striking 
  a common enemy. He has been known to unexpectedly 
  assist those who dislike or oppose him, most likely to 
  achieve a secret goal.
  Of all the major deities, only six refuse to speak with 
  Norgorber. Abadar opposes him, as the god of thievery 
  represents an aversion to the idea of laws benefiting a 
  society, and his actions directly undermine merchants and 
  the acquisition of honest wealth. Cayden Cailean considers 
  him a coward and a villain—and perhaps some of their 
  rivalry is due to them being the only surviving males among 
  the Ascended. Erastil has seen him and his followers ruin 
  enough lives—whether through criminal activity or family-
  damaging secrets—to never trust him. Iomedae steadfastly 
  believes Norgorber has evaded justice for far too long, and 
  thinks the dark god was somehow involved in the death of 
  Aroden. Sarenrae has given him enough chances to redeem 
  himself and has been burned many times by Norgorber 
  using false repentance to further some evil plot. Torag 
  hates him because he is the cancer that destroys a city from 
  within, despite the mightiest walls to keep out dangerous 
  foes. Despite their enmity, even these deities have dealt with 
  Norgorber in the past through intermediaries to obtain 
  some of his valuable secrets.
  Father Skinsaw has a unique relationship with Achaekek. 
  Both love the conception, planning, and execution of a 
  murder, and the two cults have been known to work together. 
  He has been known to consort with Gyronna and Sivanah as 
  well, calling upon their aid directly or manipulating them 
  for his own purposes, and withdrawing in silent amusement 
  when they manage to manipulate him in turn.
  neW spell
  The unique magical abilities of a priest of Norgorber 
  depend on which aspect is the priest’s patron. Clerics and 
  druids of Blackfingers may spontaneously cast poison as 
  a 3rd-level spell. Clerics of the Reaper of Reputation may 
  prepare nondetection as a 3rd-level spell. Clerics of Father 
  Skinsaw may spontaneously cast slay living as a 5th-level 
  spell. Clerics of the Gray Master may spontaneously 
  cast clairaudience/clairvoyance as a 3rd-level spell, and his 
  antipaladins may prepare it as a 2nd-level spell.
  In addition to poison egg (see Pathfinder Campaign Setting: 
  Gods and Magic), his priests have access to the following spell, 
  which they often cast on patsies to wipe their memories 
  after they’ve magically compelled them to commit a crime.
  False Alibi
  School enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]; Level bard 3, 
  cleric 3, inquisitor 3 (Norgorber)
  Casting Time 1 round
  Components V, S, M (100 gp of emerald dust)
  Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
  Target one living creature
  Duration permanent; see text
  Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
  This spell functions similar to modify memory, except you 
  can modify the target’s memory only in a specific way. In 
  response to a triggering condition you determine, up to the 
  last 5 minutes of the target’s memory are eliminated and 
  replaced with a memory of your choosing (or no memory at 
  all). For example, you could cast this on an assassin, set it to 
  trigger when he completes his kill, and replace his memory 
  of the murder with the memory of him discovering the 
  body and picking up the murder weapon. You can cast this 
  spell multiple times on the same target, even with the same 
  trigger, affecting different memories. A single casting of false 
  alibi affects a creature only until the specified condition has 
  been triggered; once a condition has been triggered and the 
  target’s memory altered, that condition no longer triggers this 
  spell unless the victim is subject to another casting of false 
  alibi that specifies the same trigger.
  CUSTOMIZED SUMMON LIST
  Norgorber’s priests can use summon monster spells to 
  summon the following creatures in addition to the normal 
  creatures listed in the spells.
  Summon Monster III
  Human natural wererat rogue 2*
  Summon Monster IV
  Choker* 
  Summon Monster V
  Shadow mastiff (Bestiary 3) 
  * This creature has the extraplanar subtype but is 
  otherwise normal for its kind.
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  Pathfinder’s Journal: The Treasure of Far Thallai 5 of 6
  T
  he harpies had strewn an assortment of bones 
  around their nest, mostly human, all well gnawed. 
  As my adjutants stripped the monstrous corpses of 
  their jewels, they tripped over rib cages and tumbled skulls 
  from their resting places. Among the gruesome litter I 
  spotted also the skeletons of elves and halflings. Not all of 
  them had been adults. The large bones had been cracked 
  open to get at the marrow. I wished one of the harpies would 
  rise back to life, so I could send it right back to Hell.
  A burlap sack, blotched with rusty stains, held a man-
  sized form. A dirty length of cord tied its mouth shut. I 
  stepped my way through the pile of bones and slain harpies 
  to tear loose the cord and open the sack. 
  My shoulders slumped in frustration—the pot-bellied, 
  white-haired man inside appeared to be dead. Then 
  came a flutter of movement. A blue tinge below the eyes 
  told the tale: He’d been dosed with a sedative. I waved 
  Otondo over and dug into the supply pack he carried on 
  his back. Though the healers back on the ship likely had a 
  cheaper remedy, I uncorked a healing potion and dribbled 
  its contents onto his lips. The man awoke with a start. 
  Goggling in terror, he scuttled back, clutching at his hip 
  and finding only an empty scabbard. His frantic effort to 
  free his legs from the sack entangled him further.
  I knelt down, placing a foot on the burlap to help him 
  work himself free. Gently taking hold of his right arm, I 
  pulled it clear of the sack. The forefinger was missing. 
  We’d found Twill Ninefingers.
  “My name is Challys Argent,” I said. 
  Comprehension eluded him; it would take him a few 
  more moments to shake off the mind-dulling effects of the 
  sleep draught. He held out his hands, as if afraid I was about 
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  to run him through. A shadow passed over my shoulder: it 
  was Otondo. “What have I told you about looming?” I said. 
  The ogre retreated, smirking. Twill’s expression veered 
  from abject dread to mere apprehension. 
  “We came here to rescue you,” I told him.
  “W-why?” he managed. Like the nest around him, he stank 
  of carrion. A general pallor, coupled with inflammation of 
  the eyelids, showed that he had not been properly fed in 
  a good long time. Judging from his sagging cheeks, he’d 
  begun his recent misadventures as a much portlier man. 
  “You are Twill Ninefingers, the famous lockbreaker?”
  “Who wants to know?”
  “As I said, I am Challys Argent, captain of the Aspidochelone.”
  “If you are she...” He swiveled his gaze to each of my 
  adjutants in turn. “...then these are the Devil’s Four!”
  Otondo chortled at the term, which I had not heard 
  before.
  “If you have heard that much about them,” I told Twill, 
  “you are also aware that they now atone for their past 
  crimes.”
  “No one believes that will last,” he whispered.
  “She does,” said Aspodell.
  I moved to block Twill’s view of the others. “Whether 
  you think they serve me or the devil, you’ll have to admit 
  we’re preferable to a nest of ravening harpies.”
  “They weren’t going to eat me.”
  “No, they were holding you for Kered Firsk. Who do you 
  prefer to sail home with? Him or us?”
  “Do not think me ungrateful.” He finally made his way 
  fully out of the sack, leaving it in a bundle at his feet. “But 
  I’m not opening no treasure box for you.”
  “We don’t have a treasure box.”
  “No, but the Monster Captain has the Treasure of Far 
  Thallai, and you want it. I’m not getting mixed up in no 
  set-to between the two of you. Just drop me someplace 
  secluded, and you can tell whatever fool god you serve that 
  you’ve added another good deed to your ledger book.”
  I held out my hand to him. “Perhaps we’ll do exactly 
  that. It’s true I seek the treasure, but I won’t force you to 
  open anything. Did you hear the harpies say what they 
  were supposed to do with you?”
  He took my help, wobbling to his feet. “They were waiting 
  for someone to arrive.”
  “Who?”
  “Someone they didn’t much like. There was a lot of 
  squabbling over whether they’d go down to meet them, or 
  would make them come up to the nest. They called them 
  nyoggot, or some such. Any meaning in that?”
  I scribbled the word in my small carry-diary, for later 
  transcription into a logbook proper. “Harpy slang, I 
  suppose, or a fragment of some long-lost tongue.”
  “Whatever a nyoggot is, the harpies didn’t trust them. 
  They argued about whether they should just fly me to the 
  destination themselves. But that wasn’t what Firsk told 
  them, and they feared him.”
  “Destination?”
  “They mentioned Dead Slave Cove.”
  “That’s on Raptor Island,” Seagrave said. “South side.”
  “He’ll slay me if he finds me with you,” Twill said.
  “You’re worried that he’ll do it anyway, once you’ve 
  opened the Thallai case, or you wouldn’t have fled 
  Moonplum to escape him. You heard he was coming?”
  Twill tottered to the edge of the volcanic crater, where 
  he surveyed the formidable slope below. “A spice trader 
  putting in at Moonplum said he’d heard that Firsk had the 
  Thallai case but needed someone to open it. I needed to 
  hear no more than that. Sooner or later word would get 
  back to him I was living there.”
  “So you sought the protection of a cyclops?”
  “Easy enough now to call me a fool. I thought even Kered 
  Firsk might think twice before raiding an island teeming 
  with one-eyes. And whatever Megeus’s faults, I’d dealt 
  with him in the past. It was a point of lunatic pride with 
  him, how he’d never violated an oath. And he swore up and 
  sideways he’d never betray me to Firsk.”
  “He didn’t.”
  “But the ghosts...”
  “They weren’t working for Firsk. They wanted you for 
  themselves.”
  “I don’t understand.”
  “Your brother is now a grandee of Drowningtide. He 
  misses you. And would like you at his side, forever.”
  “Geor?” Twill grimaced. “He never cared for me in life.”
  “Death exists, for some, as an eternity of pondering 
  and regret. At any rate, they weren’t delivering you to the 
  harpies. The bird-bitches intercepted you.”
  Twill leaned against the crater’s edge. “That explains it. 
  They were all set to open me up and feast on my liver, till 
  they saw my face and counted my fingers.”
  “Firsk has more than one set of monstrous allies 
  scouring the Shackles for you. If we drop you off on a 
  lonely atoll, how long do you think it will be before you’re 
  sniffed out by a sea drake, draugr, or something worse?”
  The lockbreaker noticed an overlong fingernail and 
  commenced to neatly clip it off with his teeth. “I see your 
  point.”
  “And, in a more urgent vein, how long before more 
  harpies return to this nest?”
  Even in the best of health, no one would mistake Twill 
  for a climber. We nearly lost him twice on the way down 
  Sarenvent’s slopes. Nonetheless we conveyed him to the 
  boat, and from there to the Aspidochelone. After turning 
  him over to the ministrations of the healers, Jeffret and 
  Cold Bendani, I consulted with Old Hallegg.
  “Any trouble?” I asked him.
  “Shapes move beneath the waters, captain.”
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  “Haul anchor and ready the sails.”
  “Where to?”
  “That’s the question, isn’t it?”
  I met with the Devil’s Four—a term that lodged itself 
  in my head, despite its idiocy—in my quarters. “Where do 
  we take him?” I asked. “At first I’d thought we hide him 
  inland, at Neruma.”
  Seagrave’s beard appeared to writhe with disapproval. 
  “An overland journey? As tough on us as it would be  
  on Firsk.”
  “Right. Other suggestions?”
  “We’re using Twill as bait, yes?” Rira asked.
  “Well-protected bait.”
  “Then north, to the edge of the Abendego storms?”
  Seagrave twitched. “Firsk’s crew is as able there as we. If 
  we’re to fight an even battle, let’s not do it on the skirts of 
  a hurricane.”
  “We take him to Port Peril, then,” said Aspodell. “Firsk 
  doesn’t dare invade the very city of the pirate king. He’d 
  have to come at us by stealth, alone or with a handful of 
  crew. And when it comes to subtlety, my wager’s on us. By 
  which I mean, me.”
  I left a moment’s pause for objections, nodded my 
  assent, and left the cabin to order a course for Port Peril.
  A good wind cleared the sky and filled our sails. As 
  the Aspidochelone bore down on the Terwa coast it grew 
  stronger. The ship’s hull and decks sang in harmony as 
  we cut the water, carried on the waves. Seagrave took the 
  helm, belting out a ribald shanty about a ship besotted 
  with a mermaid. I’d heard the song before, but never so 
  many verses of it. The crew bellowed the chorus and left 
  the verses to him. I joined him on the aft deck, not to better 
  hear what rhymed with “weatherduck,” but to scan the 
  horizon for signs of Kered Firsk’s vessel, the Slicer. From 
  my eavesdropping on the harpies before we slew them, it 
  seemed more than likely that they’d already alerted the 
  Monster Captain to Twill’s presence. His dark ship could 
  be waiting for us behind any island. 
  Twill stumped up beside me. The set of his brow 
  suggested that he’d also mulled the chances of an ambush.
  “You look haler already,” I said.
  “Salt cod and hardtack. Now I remember why I promised 
  myself never to sail again.”
  “When we get to Port Peril, we’ll feed you better than that.”
  “Your healers say you’re a Pathfinder.”
  “That I am.”
  “So you care more about discovering facts to put down 
  in your little books than you do about the fates of others.”
  “These goals are one and the same. The soul needs 
  knowledge like the belly needs food.”
  “There’s nary a lesson I’ve learned that I don’t wish I 
  hadn’t,” he said, almost to himself. “How to break locks 
  most of all. Things are put behind lock and key for a reason, 
  that’s what I’ve discovered. Best to leave secret doors secret 
  and closed chests shut. Ain’t nothing I e’er opened wasn’t 
  more trouble than good. It’s a curse, a punishment for 
  curiosity and greed. For caring more about ill-got riches 
  than my own kinfolk and comrades. They say I’m among 
  the best in the world. Near as good as Vitta of Mendev, they 
  say. And what’s it got me? Bad company and worse grub. 
  What’s money? It runs through your fingers. What’s lore? 
  A bunch of words. Dead thoughts about dead men.”
  “Men prosper when they learn, and suffer when old 
  truths are lost.”
  “How many truths are my life worth?”
  Before I could answer him, the ship lurched. I flew 
  against the rail, catching myself just in time to avoid 
  a nasty bang on the head. Twill landed face-first on the 
  deck. From the corner of my eye I saw a sailor plummet 
  from the rigging. A loud splash announced his fall into the 
  sea. I looked to the anchor, wondering if some fool had let 
  it drop. But it remained in place, drying and swinging, its 
  chain still well secured.
  The Aspidochelone continued to slow until finally we 
  were becalmed altogether. The winds blew as powerfully 
  as ever, rattling in the sails to no effect. It seemed like 
  magic, so I called for Rira. In the meantime, men leaned 
  over the port rail, looking for the fallen sailor. They cried 
  his name. It was Feddick, a recent recruit who signed on 
  with us at Hell Harbor, bringing with him a haunted look 
  and a history of having been press-ganged.
  We waited for him to break up through the waves. They 
  ran fast, so he could easily have been pulled out ahead of 
  our inexplicably halted ship. Old Hallegg took command of 
  the detail, leaving me to deal with whatever had stopped us.
  “What is this?” I asked Rira.
  “I don’t like it,” she said.
  “I’m not asking you to like it, I’m asking you to account 
  for it.” This outburst I immediately regretted. An angry 
  captain is a weak captain. I wondered what sly expression 
  hid behind Rira’s mask.
  She wove a looping pattern in the air with the fingers 
  of her left hand while muttering a barely audible arcane 
  formula. A faint hum followed her movements. It stopped 
  when her hands did. “Whatever it is, it’s not a spell.”
  “The work of an enchanted object?”
  “Not that, either.”
  “Battle stations!” I called. The crew broke from the search 
  for Feddick to take up the cry. Soon they were arrayed with 
  swords in hand, or behind ballistae or fire-throwers.
  The waves broke into a white froth. Creatures bubbled 
  up from below the waves. Fishy heads appeared, framed 
  by fans of red gill-fins. Some were drably colored, others 
  splendid. It was the sea devil war-party we’d outdistanced 
  on our way to Sarenvent, back to greet us again. How had 
  they stilled our ship, if not by magic?
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  The most outrageously patterned of the sea folk, whom I 
  took to be a queen or the like, rose up from the water, held 
  aloft by two lesser subjects. Droplets of water fell from the 
  tips of her face-spines, some of which extended to a yard in 
  length. Her enormous shark and its aquatic howdah were 
  nowhere in evidence. We’d last seen the sea devils as they 
  fought off a squid-thing; presumably her mount and its 
  apparatus were now in its gullet.
  “Who leads you greasy airbreathers?” the sea devil queen 
  called, her voice a distorted burble. 
  I swept to the rail. “I am Challys Argent, captain of the 
  Aspidochelone.”
  “Your appearance disgusts me. The sound produced 
  by your useless lungs and lips is like unto the coupling of 
  clawfish. To address you is to demean myself. So I shall 
  merely specify my name, which is Kless of milting Snasn, 
  breeding Shalligilat, lineage Sho-ese. The remainder of 
  this parley shall be undertaken by one of lesser worth, the 
  herald Drid, of milting Lellij, of breeding unspecified.”
  As captain of a pirate vessel, I should have perhaps 
  interrupted her insults and asserted my authority. As a 
  Pathfinder, I’d won a priceless opportunity to observe the 
  speech patterns of southern sea devil royalty, and to record 
  them accurately for future posterity.
  A mottled specimen, its headdress of fins thin and 
  punctured, bobbed up in the waves ahead of Kless. 
  “Though I am but a worm, I am still of the true race, and 
  thus infinitely superior to all else who swim the waves, 
  and, it need not be said, landwalking nonentities such 
  as yourselves. Yet at the behest of the great and merciless 
  Kless, I command you to obey.”
  This had gone far enough. “Show respect, sea-trash, or I’ll 
  boil the water around you with our battery of fire-throwers.”
  The drab fish-people darkened; the vivid ones grew even 
  more so.
  “Let me demonstrate,” said the herald Drid.
  The prow of the Aspidochelone rose into the air, seemingly 
  pushing itself up out of the water. Sailors tumbled down 
  from the fore deck to the aft. They dangled from the 
  rigging. A few thudded to the deck. The prow then fell, 
  abruptly released. A shockwave ran up through the ship 
  and into our bones. Loosened nails jutted up through the 
  planking. A fire-thrower fell from its housing to clatter 
  and roll. Rira stopped it with her foot.
  “Were it our desire, pathetic motes,” continued Drid, 
  “we could, with a shrug, tear your ship to shreds. This 
  will become our desire should you make any untoward 
  or hostile motion, or speak in such a way as to offend the 
  supremacy of our race. Is our position clear, ape-spawn?”
  “You have articulated it precisely,” I replied, hands 
  curled tightly around the rail. In the hilt of my cutlass, 
  a crystal pulsed with cold blue light. Of the five stones, it 
  was the one that held Rira’s geas. Its sudden gleam meant 
  that she was fighting its hold over her. My adjutants always 
  chose inopportune moments to test their magic bonds. 
  This struck me as particularly ill-timed.
  Drid gurgled on: “Be it also clear that the true race never 
  acts out of mercy toward inferiors.” 
  I caught Rira in a sidelong glance. Her position 
  mimicked mine—spine straight, gripping the rail as if to 
  strangle it, quaking with contained rage. Was her rebellion 
  aimed at me? Was it even conscious? As fully intent as I 
  should have been on Drid’s demands, I couldn’t help but 
  consider her mask. Of its origins, Rira refused to speak. 
  Its metal lips and flaring gills certainly bore a striking 
  resemblance to the creatures below.
  “If we do not destroy your ship,” Drid said, “it is 
  merely because we do not wish unnamed others to count 
  themselves over-pleased by our cooperation.”
  “It appears the lockbreaker has 
  a sense of honor.”
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  “You mean Kered Firsk. If you hate all humans, why 
  do—”
  “Do not inquire of us!”
  The queen flared her face-spines. In response, the prow 
  of the ship again pushed itself up, though not quite so high 
  or for as long as before. The crew let me see its collective 
  fear. If it were only me in danger, I’d have restated the 
  question. Instead I fell silent.
  “Inutile landwalker Challys Argent, you will do as we 
  command. We intuit that on board your laughable vessel 
  quivers a contemptible bag of flesh known by your people 
  as Twill Ninefingers. For reasons we do not deign to 
  enumerate, we demand this chattel. It will be surrendered 
  to us forthwith. We will then depart, without feeding 
  any of you to our sharks. Though you might be inclined 
  to fall to your knees and weep with gratitude, we eschew 
  such displays. Give us the Ninefingers, and consider our 
  business transacted.”
  At some point during the parley, Aspodell 
  had eased up next to me. “They can’t tell 
  one inutile fleshbag from another. Tell 
  them I’m Twill.”
  “I can’t let you sacrifice 
  yourself.”
  “Nor am I suggesting it. 
  That queen’s last meal will 
  be the steel of my rapier.”
  “Even you can’t take 
  an entire sea devil 
  war party.”
  Twill Ninefingers appeared at my other elbow. “Nobody’s 
  going in my stead.”
  “Twill—”
  “This is my doom. That’s plain to see. I should never 
  have opened that first lock. Anybody taking my place 
  dies for nothing.” He leapt up on the railing. “I’m Twill 
  Ninefingers! You want me?”
  I grabbed for him, but Aspodell pulled me back.
  “You got me, you rotten nyoggot!” Twill leapt from the 
  rail into the sea below. Unprepared for this, the sea devils 
  swam in a confused pattern. Ninefingers hit the waves 
  on the outer periphery of their formation. One of their 
  great white sharks lunged at him. Sea devil soldiers leapt 
  on it, grappling its slippery hide. It bucked and snapped 
  at them. A soldier cried out in thrumming tones, the 
  underside of his arm stripped to the ulna. Blood pooled 
  in the water, sending the other sharks into frenzy. The 
  sea devils fell on them, hauling on reins of seaweed, or 
  prodding them with long poles. The ends of these devices 
  glowed when they made contact, and seemed to exert a 
  pacifying magic. One by one the sharks succumbed to 
  docility. In the meantime, Drid and several other of the 
  queen’s attendants had plucked Twill from below the 
  surface. They yanked his head up and 
  back as still others produced a drinking 
  vessel fashioned from the ornate shell 
  of some deep-sea mollusk. Holding his 
  mouth open with their webbed claws, the 
  attendants poured a saffron-colored 
  liquid. It spilled across Twill’s 
  face and into the water. Having 
  thus dosed him—undoubtedly 
  with waterlung—they ducked 
  his head down and out of 
  sight. Still working to 
  calm their sharks, 
  the entire party 
  disappeared 
  into 
  the depths.
  The crew held 
  its collective breath, 
  waiting for the force holding our ship 
  to release it. Though fresh gusts rattled 
  the Aspidochelone’s sails, it did not budge. 
  Pressure built in the masts and booms; they 
  groaned as if ready to crack. 
  “Lower the sails,” I shouted. 
  The crew rushed to seize 
  the halyards.
  A yell from the aft 
  deck sent me running, to see 
  Feddick’s upper half bobbing in the waves below. 
  “Shark bite?” I asked Seagrave.
  “Never argue with a sea devil—
  especially not a queen.”
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  “If so, it’s no shark I’ve ever seen. See how the bite is 
  shaped like a narrow V?”
  I nodded, though in truth I could make out nothing 
  more precise than a gruesome smudge of severed entrails.
  “What did this was more beak than sharky jaw,” 
  Seagrave said.
  “Giant squid? Kraken?”
  “Or the like.”
  A dark mass snaked under the surface of the water. 
  Feddick’s remains jerked and were gone, pulled below. 
  I ordered Old Hallegg to fetch our own supply of 
  waterlung. We’d liberated several doses from Megeus the 
  cyclops, and so had draughts to spare. When he came 
  back with the chest containing the potions, he said, “You 
  wouldn’t be going yourself, would you, captain?”
  Otondo growled over Old Hallegg’s shoulder. “We don’t 
  need you talkin’ ’er out of things. Do we?”
  Hallegg withdrew a step. 
  “I need one to come with me,” I said.
  Rira stepped forward. “It should be me.”
  When Hallegg offered her the potion chest, she waved it 
  away. In response to my questioning stance, she tapped her 
  mask. “What do you think this does? Who do you think put 
  it on me?” Before I could turn these rhetorical questions 
  into an occasion for further inquiry, she plucked up one of 
  the specialized crossbowlike weapons the crew sometimes 
  used for spearfishing, strode to the rail, and jumped over. 
  I quaffed the waterlung potion and followed her, doffing 
  superfluous items of clothing along the way. An instant of 
  vertiginous suspension followed. Then I angled my body 
  to mimic a knife, and in this shape sliced down through 
  the waves. I rode the force of my dive until it dissipated, 
  then curled around to view the underside of the ship from 
  a vantage dozens of yards below the surface.
  An enormous creature, half fish, half octopus, dangled 
  below the ship, seven spined tentacles wrapped around 
  our rudder and much of the hull’s aft section. Its skin, 
  mottled and fibrous, was the color of a blood blister. Bony 
  projections protected its glowing cerulean eyes. Muscular, 
  elongated flippers extended past its vestigial tail. These 
  fluttered in tandem with a prominent anterior dorsal 
  fin, holding our ship in place. They would have worked 
  harder still when the sails were up. My memory flashed to 
  a page from a long-destroyed copy of the second folio of the 
  Abyssal Synoptic. The author, Praligeus, called it a devilfish. 
  He identified the term as a misnomer, however: It was an 
  escapee not from one of the layers of Hell, but from the 
  aquatic regions of the demon-haunted Abyss. Praligeus 
  also claimed for it the rudiments of a mind. But then, he 
  also assured readers that it grew no larger than a horse. 
  This specimen was nearly as large as my ship.
  If it was capable of thought, it could have received and 
  carried out instructions from its sea devil masters—or it 
  could choose to disobey them. However, I had no means of 
  divining what its instructions were, or plumbing the extent 
  of its loyalties. Nor could I communicate with it while 
  underwater. We would have to dislodge it the simple way.
  Rira, a string of bubbles pouring from her mask, directed 
  a barrage of complex gestures at me. She swam toward the 
  devilfish, enacting a spell. A pulsing, white energy rippled 
  from her fingertips. They traveled outwards in a series of 
  expanding circles. As each ripple struck me, my muscles 
  spasmed in agony. 
  She was throwing lightning bolts beneath the water. Rira 
  had been struck by the force of her own spell, and seemed 
  worse off than I. She floated in the water as if stunned.
  The first of the white circles reached the devilfish. 
  Energy danced along its rugose flesh. Instantly, it released 
  the ship’s hull. It collapsed into a defensive ball, with its 
  tentacles wrapped protectively around its body. Each time 
  an electric ripple struck it, the beast shuddered. As badly 
  as it had hurt us, Rira’s spell had clearly done greater harm 
  to the creature.
  It remained in its ball as the last ripple washed over it. 
  With sluggish movements, Rira seized the crossbow she’d 
  slung across her back. I swam forth, cutlass ready.
  As I neared it, the first of Rira’s projectiles struck the 
  creature. Guided by enchantment, the spearlike bolt 
  homed in on a spot between tentacles, lodging in the 
  devilfish’s eye. The behemoth uncurled itself from its 
  ball, emitting a black liquid. This billowed out to fill 
  a sizeable volume of water centered around the nexus of 
  its tentacles—what would have been its nose, had it been 
  configured like an ordinary fish.
  I reversed course too late; clouds of the dark substance 
  washed over me. As soon as it made contact with my flesh, 
  my gut erupted with the urge to vomit. Fighting this with 
  all my will, I swam back, out of the cloud. Concentrating 
  my strength into my legs, I dove behind and beneath 
  the devilfish. Above me Rira had done much the same, 
  avoiding the cloud. A succession of bolts already pierced 
  the thing’s spine. I stabbed my cutlass into the muscle 
  fixing its flipper to its body.
  The creature rolled over, grazing me with its half-
  severed flipper. It skittered through its inky cloud and 
  made a foolish attempt at flight. In the panicked effort, it 
  caused its flipper to detach entirely from its side. Only a 
  threaded cord of nerves connected the creature to it. Gouts 
  of blood blackened the water. The devilfish pitched onto 
  its side and bobbed to the surface.
  Rira and I clambered onto the ship to the cheers of the 
  crew. She leaned against the rail. I lay on the deck, gasping. 
  My next command was issued flat on my back and heedless 
  of my dignity. 
  We would make speed to Dead Slave Cove, and a decisive 
  reckoning with Kered Firsk.
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  e heard the beast before we saw it. A long, low groaning rumbled 
  through the air, suddenly rising in pitch to become a keening wail. 
  Half of the crew stood transfixed in fear and awe, unsure what to do as 
  the rotting creature erupted from the water in an attempt to dive onto 
  the ship. Without a second thought, I ordered the crew who still had 
  their wits about them to take evasive measures, only narrowly avoiding 
  the skeletal whale. With its second leap, we were not so lucky. Half of us 
  managed to swim ashore, but now we’re stuck on this blasted island.
  —From the journal of Captain Rory Nightgull of the Dreaming Dryad
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  he warm seas surrounding the Shackles teem with 
  life both benign and malevolent. Those sailing 
  these waters must keep a keen eye on the horizon for 
  any signs of approaching danger. Better yet, a clever captain 
  employs submerged scouts to warn of the even greater 
  threats that may surge up from the dark waters below.
  ShipS, SailorS, and other VictimS
  Myriad ships cross the Arcadian Ocean and Fever Sea 
  every day, and any one of them can serve as easy prey for 
  pirates—or as dangerous foes for those who attempt to 
  board the vessels. GMs looking to challenge their PCs on 
  the high seas might have any of the following ships serve 
  as threats. Each of the following ship entries provides 
  information on a particular pirate ship and describes its 
  place in the Shackles. GMs looking for more tools to help 
  them conduct their boarding raids and shipboard battles 
  should also check out GameMastery Flip-Map: Pirate Ship 
  and GameMastery Map Pack: Ship’s Cabins.
  The Dark Sword: Runaway criminals and indebted 
  stowaways alike know to fear Derin Skallas, an 
  accomplished bounty hunter (use the bounty hunter 
  statistics on page 283 of the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery 
  Guide), who teamed up with Captain Clanston Arrento (use 
  the first mate statistics on page 295 of the GameMastery 
  Guide) to sail the seas and hunt down those who’ve fled 
  their responsibilities. The Shackles are ripe for this kind 
  of work, since people from all over hope to hide in this 
  pirate paradise. In their first year operating in this way, 
  they brought nearly a dozen outlaws and runaways back 
  to face their crimes and swelled their coffers to fund 
  future endeavors. Cheliax pays the greatest bounties, and 
  the two frequently make trips back and forth to Egorian 
  to claim their prizes and obtain new targets for their 
  enterprise. The Dark Sword is crewed by 24 additional 
  shipmates (GameMastery Guide 294) and a trusted sellsword 
  (GameMastery Guide 283), making this a CR 13 encounter.
  The Dying Moon: This dilapidated barkentine carries 
  a cult of Groetus making their way around the Inner 
  Sea preaching apocalypse and spreading their nihilistic 
  philosophy. A figure of a full, pale moon with a faint skull 
  graces the ship’s black sails, and the sound of the crew’s 
  feverish chanting swells as the ship approaches. These 
  followers of the God of the End Times are fanatical in their 
  beliefs and thoroughly mad, and boldly commandeer other 
  vessels they come across, either converting or sacrificing 
  the crews. Sometimes the ship and crew practice less 
  violent methods, making a show of peace in order to gain 
  access to another ship in order to proselytize about their 
  grim patron’s ultimate goal of total apocalypse. Few care 
  to hear their mad ravings, though, and these evangelical 
  missions often end in bloodshed. The Dying Moon’s 
  crew consists of 30 working believers (use the vagabond 
  statistics on page 291 of the GameMastery Guide), 13 cultists 
  (GameMastery Guide 278), 2 mercenaries providing muscle 
  (use the sellsword statistics on page 283 of the GameMastery 
  Guide), and one cult leader (GameMastery Guide 279). If 
  things get violent, all crew members fanatically fight to 
  the death, making this a CR 14 encounter.
  The Salty Gear: Captain Crissa Serucest keeps a 
  ship crewed by only her constructs. Perfectly content 
  living without any other human contact, she talks to 
  her constructs at length and treats them as if they were 
  her children, giving each of the golems and animated 
  objects names and assigning personalities to the 
  creatures. To keep from losing any of these mindless 
  servants, she prefers to use wood golems that will 
  remain af loat if they fall overboard. This strange pirate 
  captain and cleric of Brigh also secured the services 
  of a master artisan to help her permanently animate 
  the siege weapons aboard the Salty Gear. Some say she 
  resorted to piracy in order to save up to fully animate 
  this sturdy sailing junk. Captain Crissa (use the high 
  priest statistics on page 305 of the GameMastery Guide 
  but change her spells and domains) maintains a crew 
  of eight wood golems (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 164) and 
  eight Large animated objects (Bestiary 14). If attacked, 
  they all join in the fight, making this a CR 15 encounter.
  HIGH-LEVEL OCEAN 
  ENCOUNTERS
  % 
  Result 
  Avg. CR Source
  1–9 
  1d8 giant jellyfish 
  11 
  Bestiary 2 170
  10–14 
  1 clockwork leviathan 
  12 
  Bestiary 3 55
  15–21 
  1d4 ghawwas 
  12 
  Bestiary 3 87
  22–28 
  2d8 saltwater merrows 
  12 
  Bestiary 2 189
  29–34 
  1 sea serpent 
  12 
  Bestiary 244
  35–42 
  1 charybdis 
  13 
  Bestiary 2 56
  43–49 
  1d4 lukwatas 
  13 
  Bestiary 3 187
  50–56 
  1d4 basilosaurus 
  14 
  Bestiary 3 193
  57–62 
  1 old brine dragon 
  14 
  Bestiary 2 94
  63–66 
  1 great white whale 
  14 
  Bestiary 2 282
  67–71 
  1d6 hezrou demons 
  14 
  Bestiary 62
  72–76 
  1d8 sapphire jellyfish 
  15 
  Bestiary 3 155
  77–81 
  1 sea bonze 
  15 
  Bestiary 3 239
  82–86 
  1d12 siyokoys 
  15 
  Bestiary 3 246
  87–91 
  1 scylla 
  16 
  Bestiary 2 241
  92–95 
  1 bakekujira 
  17 
  See page 84
  96–97 
  1 kraken 
  18 
  Bestiary 184
  98–99 
  1 deep sea serpent 
  19 
  Bestiary 3 240
  100 
  1 thalassic behemoth 
  20 
  Bestiary 3 38
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  Bakekujira
  This hulking, rotted mass of pale blubber and bone looks like it 
  was once a whale. Ghostly flames glow in each of its eye sockets.
  Bakekujira 
  CR 17
  XP 102,400
  NE Colossal undead (aquatic)
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20
  Aura undead parasites (30 ft., DC 28)
  DEFENSE
  AC 32, touch 2, flat-footed 32 (+30 natural, –8 size)
  hp 262 (25d8+150)
  Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +14
  Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4; DR 15/bludgeoning; 
  Immune undead traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 15 ft., swim 60 ft.
  Melee bite +27 (6d6+16/19–20), tail slap +21 (4d6+8)
  Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft.
  Special Attacks capsize, leviathan’s call, resonant song, 
  smashing breach
  STATISTICS
  Str 42, Dex 10, Con —, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 23
  Base Atk +18; CMB +42 (+46 bull rush); CMD 52 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, 
  Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical 
  (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Lightning Reflexes, 
  Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, 
  Stunning Critical, Weapon Focus (bite)
  Skills Intimidate +16, Perception +20, Swim +28
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Leviathan’s Call (Su) The tone of a bakekujira’s eerie song 
  varies from that of a wistful memory to a burning, pain-
  wracked hatred. As a standard action, a bakekujira can alter 
  its song to make creatures either fascinated or frightened. 
  All living creatures within a 120-foot radius must succeed at 
  a DC 28 Will save or gain one of the conditions (bakekujira’s 
  choice) for as long as the bakekujira sings. The bakekujira 
  can maintain the song using a standard action each round, 
  though affected creatures receive a new save each round 
  to end the effect. Any creature that succeeds at this save 
  cannot be affected by the same bakekujira’s leviathan’s call 
  ability for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting effect. 
  The save DC is Charisma-based.
  Resonant Song (Su) As a standard action once every 1d4 
  rounds, the bakekujira can release a single pure note that 
  causes a damaging resonance, dealing 12d8 points of sonic 
  damage to all creatures in a 60-foot cone (Fortitude DC 28 
  halves). The save DC is Charisma-based.
  Smashing Breach (Ex) As a full-round action, a swimming 
  bakekujira can make a special charge attack against creatures 
  on the surface of the water. At the end of its charge, the 
  whale breaches, then slams down onto the target with 
  incredible force. Any Huge or smaller creatures in the 
  bakekujira’s space must succeed at a DC 28 Reflex save or 
  take 4d8+24 points of bludgeoning damage and be forced 
  into the nearest empty square adjacent to the bakekujira. 
  Any humanoid creatures killed by this ability rise as draugr 
  (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 110) in 1d6 hours. Animals or 
  vermin killed by this attack rise as either skeletons (Bestiary 
  250) or zombies (Bestiary 288) in 1d6 hours. A bakekujira can 
  use its capsize special attack in conjunction with this ability. 
  The save DC is Charisma-based.
  Undead Parasites (Su) A bakekujira’s rotting flesh is infused 
  with necromantic energy. Creatures feeding on the beast’s 
  carcass (such as fish, insects, and sea-going birds) sicken 
  and die, later rising as undead thralls. This host of carrion 
  eaters manifests itself as a sickening cloud of sea birds and 
  fish churning within 30 feet of the bakekujira in both air and 
  sea. Any creatures coming within 30 feet of the bakekujira 
  must succeed at a DC 28 Will save or be nauseated for 1 
  round as per the distraction special ability. In addition, 
  those entering this area take 6d6 points of damage as this 
  undead swarm pecks, claws, and chews on living flesh. Any 
  animal, humanoid, or vermin killed by these parasites rises 
  as a skeleton or zombie in 1d6 hours. Creatures with the 
  ability to channel positive energy can suppress this aura by 
  using one of their uses of channel energy. The bakekujira 
  receives a Will save against this effect. The save DC is equal 
  to 10 + 1/2 of the caster’s level + the caster’s Charisma 
  modifier. If the bakekujira fails this save the undead parasite 
  aura is suppressed for 1 minute. Channel energy used in 
  this way has no other effect (it does not harm the bakekujira 
  or any other undead in the area.)
  The seas of Golarion are home to many legends both living 
  and undead, but the bakekujiras is perhaps one of the largest 
  among these latter horrors. Some have trouble believing 
  the old stories, but woe to anyone that discovers the truth. 
  These embodiments of corrupted majesty prowl the seas, 
  along with their flocks and schools of pestilent parasites.
  A bakekujira weighs about 50 tons, though sometimes 
  less, depending on how long it has been decomposing. 
  Bakekujiras are as large as they were in their former lives, 
  measuring from 50 to 60 feet long.
  Ecology
  Though the exact circumstances vary, the story of 
  each bakekujira is similar: It was nothing more than 
  an ordinary whale when whalers attacked. The whale 
  managed to escape, but sustained a grievous wound from a 
  whaler’s harpoon. It died after days of anger and pain, only 
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  to arise as an undead monstrosity bent on taking revenge 
  for its demise.
  As a bakekujira goes about its new, corrupted existence, 
  it continues to rot until all the flesh is stripped from its 
  bones, leaving behind only an immense skeletal whale. The 
  decomposition process draws all sorts of sea scavengers to 
  the rotting whale, from gulls to fish. However, the flesh of 
  a bakekujira is not only rotten—it is also toxic and deeply 
  infused with negative energy. Any creature that eats of this 
  flesh sickens and dies, only to rise shortly thereafter and 
  continues its existence as an undead thrall inexplicably 
  bound to the bakekujira. Normally these creatures take 
  up residence in and around the putrefied body of the 
  bakekujira, swarming throughout the creature and only 
  emerging to push back any who would seek to do harm to 
  their rotting host. 
  The bakekujira is relentless in its mission to upset and 
  capsize any vessels reminding it of its descent into unlife, 
  though because of the vastness of the sea, its quarry can 
  be scarce. When a bakekujira does come across a ship, its 
  rage is such that the beast cares little whether the vessel is 
  an actual whaler or just a fishing sloop. The whale pits its 
  full power against the ship, and is capable of capsizing all 
  but the luckiest of ships with the most skilled captains. 
  Bakekujiras are also able to affect the minds of the ships’ 
  crews. Their usual song is gentle, evoking thoughts of 
  peaceful days in the sea. However, bakekujiras are able to 
  channel their fury through their music, transferring to 
  their victims the terror and helplessness the bakekujiras 
  themselves experienced in their last moments of 
  life. Using it jaws, tail, and enormous girth, a 
  bakekujira attacks relentlessly until its angry 
  spirit is laid to rest.
  Habitat & SociEty
  While there are stories about pods of bakekujiras 
  collaborating to lay waste to fleets and port towns, it is 
  unlikely that the massive undead beasts would even notice 
  each other. They are creatures of destruction and see other 
  creatures, even their own kind, as mere obstacles in their 
  pursuit to wreak as much havoc as possible. This doesn’t 
  mean that multiple bakekujiras never attack the same 
  target; rather, they simply attack independently, motivated 
  by their own individual anger.
  On rare occasions, large creatures such as giant vultures 
  and dire sharks feed alongside the bakekujira’s undead 
  parasites. These creatures frequently succumb to these 
  parasites and join the throng, swimming or flying 
  alongside the bakekujira and taking a more active role than 
  the whale’s aura suggests. A GM can enhance encounters 
  with bakekujiras by providing other undead creatures as 
  auxiliary foes. Below is a list of appropriate animals typically 
  encountered among a bakekujira’s  larger undead parasites, 
  either with the skeleton or zombie template applied.
  Creature 
  Base CR Hit Dice Source
  Albatross (use vulture stats) 1/2 
  1 
  Bestiary 3 284
  Eagle 
  1/2 
  1 
  Bestiary 118
  Electric eel 
  2 
  2 
  Bestiary 119
  Manta ray 
  1 
  3 
  Bestiary 2 232
  Seagull (use raven stats) 
  1/6 
  1 
  Bestiary 133
  Shark 
  2 
  4 
  Bestiary 247
  Stingray 
  1/2 
  2 
  Bestiary 2 232
  Vulture, giant 
  4 
  5 
  Bestiary 3 284
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  cetacean
  Among the largest animals on Golarion, cetaceans are as 
  varied as the seas in which they make their homes. From 
  the deadly white whale to the often-friendly dolphin, these 
  air-breathing aquatic mammals are perfectly adapted to life 
  on the open ocean, and aside from their need to occasionally 
  surface to breathe air, they are as versatile swimmers as 
  the fish upon which they feed. Cetaceans are split into two 
  categories: toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed 
  whales eat fish, scooping up whole schools in their wide 
  mouths, while baleen whales filter their tiny-sized food 
  through a comb-like structure. Only toothed whales use 
  echolocation; they possess a lumpy organ on the front of their 
  head called a melon that aids in this ability.
  Whalers often hunt cetaceans for their blubber, which 
  whalers render down into oil. Whalers also prize cetaceans’ 
  bones and teeth, which artisans use to craft weapons and art 
  objects using a method of carving called scrimshaw.
  Despite their massive size, cetaceans can be relatively 
  docile, but predatory species or threatened members of any 
  species make formidable foes in combat, as their size, speed, 
  and relative intelligence make them more of a challenge than 
  most mundane sea creatures.
  bluE WHalE
  This massive aquatic mammal has bluish-gray coloration, a 
  wide fluke tail, and a wide mouth filled with layers of baleen.
  Blue Whale 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  N Colossal animal 
  Init –1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +27
  DEFENSE
  AC 26, touch 1, flat-footed 26 (–1 Dex, +25 natural, –8 size)
  hp 184 (16d8+112)
  Fort +17, Ref +9, Will +8
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 40 ft.
  Melee tail slap +21 (8d6+24 plus stun)
  Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft.
  Special Attacks capsize, swallow whole (4d6+16 damage, AC 22, 
  18 hp)
  STATISTICS
  Str 42, Dex 8, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
  Base Atk +12; CMB +36; CMD 45 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Awesome Blow, Diehard, Endurance, Improved Bull 
  Rush, Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), 
  Weapon Focus (tail slap)
  Skills Perception +27, Swim +35; Racial Modifiers +12 Perception
  SQ hold breath
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary, pair, or pod (3–18)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Hold Breath (Ex) A blue whale can hold its breath a number 
  of rounds equal to 10 times its Constitution score before it 
  risks drowning.
  Powerful Tail (Ex) A blue whale’s massive tail deals more 
  damage than a normal tail slap. The blue whale’s tail slap is a 
  primary attack and applies 1-1/2 times its Strength bonus to 
  its tail slap damage.
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  Stun (Ex) A blue whale’s fluke can deliver a powerful stunning 
  blow. A creature struck by this attack must succeed at a DC 34 
  Fortitude save or be dazed for 1 round. If the strike is a critical 
  hit and the target fails its save, it is instead stunned for 1d4 
  rounds. The save DC is Strength-based. 
  The imposing blue whale is one of the largest animals in 
  the sea, though it is generally docile toward anything it 
  doesn’t perceive as a threat. A filter-feeder, the blue whale 
  does not look at humans or ships as potential meals, instead 
  preferring to eat millions of tiny invertebrates known as 
  krill, which it sucks through its baleen in massive gulps. 
  The most dangerous thing about a blue whale, other than 
  its sheer size, is its powerful tail, which can capsize boats 
  and kill humanoids. These enormous mammals can be 
  found in all of Golarion’s oceans and seas. An adult blue 
  whale is 100 feet long and weighs 200 tons.
  crimSon WHalE
  Similar to other whales in many ways, this giant aquatic beast 
  is notable for its enormous teeth, menacingly strong jaws, and 
  blood-red skin.
  Crimson Whale 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  N Gargantuan animal 
  Init –2; Senses blindsense 120 ft., low-light vision; Perception +21
  DEFENSE
  AC 22, touch 4, flat-footed 22 (–2 Dex, +18 natural, –4 size)
  hp 105 (10d8+60)
  Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +6
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 40 ft.
  Melee bite +17 (2d8+26 plus grab)
  Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
  Special Attacks swallow whole (4d6 damage, AC 19, 10 hp)
  STATISTICS
  Str 36, Dex 7, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
  Base Atk +7; CMB +24 (+28 grapple); CMD 32 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, 
  Weapon Focus (bite)
  Skills Perception +21, Swim +29; Racial Modifiers +12 Perception
  SQ hold breath, powerful bite
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization single, pair, or pod (3–8)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Hold Breath (Ex) A leviathan can hold its breath for a number 
  of rounds equal to 6 times its Constitution score before it 
  risks drowning.
  Powerful Bite (Ex) A leviathan applies twice its Strength 
  modifier to bite damage.
  While many cetaceans are docile, the crimson whale is 
  an aggressive hunter that evolved to quickly kill even the 
  largest and most powerful of prey. It sports a full set of  
  deadly teeth that average between 1 and 2 feet in length, 
  and its powerful bite can tear through flesh and crush 
  bone. A typical adult crimson whale is 45 feet long and 
  weighs 30 tons.
  narWHal
  This small whale lacks a dorsal fin and has pale, mottled skin, 
  but its most notable feature is the single tusk protruding from its 
  nose, easily as long as a human.
  Narwhal 
  CR 3
  XP 800
  N Large animal 
  Init +3; Senses blindsight 120 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
  DEFENSE
  AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, –1 size)
  hp 30 (4d8+12)
  Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +3
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 80 ft.
  Melee bite +7 (1d8+7)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  Special Attacks tusk
  STATISTICS
  Str 21, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 6
  Base Atk +3; CMB +9; CMD 22 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Skill Focus (Swim), Toughness
  Skills Perception +12, Swim +20; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception
  SQ hold breath
  ECOLOGY
  Environment cold oceans
  Organization solitary, pair, or pod (3–18)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Hold Breath (Ex) Narwhals are expert deep divers, and a 
  narwhal can hold its breath a number of minutes equal to 2 
  times its Constitution score before it risks drowning.
  Tusk (Ex) A charging narwhal can make a single gore attack with 
  its tusk in place of its normal bite attack. If it hits, the tusk 
  deals 2d6+14 points of damage with a ×3 critical multiplier.
  The narwhal is a skilled hunter in arctic waters, and 
  has been known to dive deeper than even much larger 
  cetaceans both in open water and beneath thick sheets of 
  waterborne ice. Male narwhals possess a single, 6-foot-
  long tusk extending from just above the mouth that 
  serves to impress females during mating season, though 
  in times of need the tusks may be used to break through 
  thick ice or even in self-defense. A typical narwhal is 14 
  feet long (not including the tusk) and weighs 3,200 pounds. 
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  GalVo 
  This creature is constantly crackling with blue energy, and 
  appears to be composed of dozens of undulating electric eels 
  tightly knotted into a slithering, humanoid shape. 
  Galvo 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  NE Medium magical beast (aquatic)
  Init +4; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light 
  vision; Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +8 natural)
  hp 127 (15d10+45)
  Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +6
  Defensive Abilities swarmlike; DR 10/slashing; Immune electricity
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
  Melee bite +19 (1d6+3 plus 2d6 electricity), 2 slams +19 (1d6+3 
  plus 2d6 electricity)
  Ranged eel dart +19 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 electricity)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with slam)
  STATISTICS
  Str 17, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +15; CMB +18; CMD 33
  Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Point–Blank Shot, 
  Power Attack, Precise Shot, Vital Strike, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Perception +10, Stealth +15, Swim +15
  Languages Aquan (can’t speak)
  SQ amphibious, compression, varied attack
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any aquatic
  Organization solitary, pair, or tangle (3–9)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Eel Dart (Ex) A galvo can launch one of its component eels 
  like a dart up to 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. An eel 
  dart deals 1d6+3 points of damage plus 1d6 points of 
  electricity damage.
  Swarmlike (Ex) A galvo has no discernible anatomy, and is 
  not subject to critical hits or flanking. It is also immune 
  to any physical spell or effect that targets a specific 
  number of creatures (including single-target spells such 
  as disintegrate). Mind-affecting effects that target a single 
  creature function normally against a galvo, since the 
  creature’s individual components share a hive mind. A galvo 
  takes half again as much damage (+50%) from damaging 
  area effects such as fireball and splash weapons.
  Varied Attack (Ex) A galvo’s slam attack deals both 
  bludgeoning and slashing damage since the creature is 
  formed completely of biting eels.
  In a sunless trench in the Arcadian Ocean, deep siyokoy 
  fleshcrafters created the first galvos to serve as soldiers 
  in their war against the sahuagin and skum. Since 
  those days, galvos have moved beyond their darkened 
  trenches, breeding and expanding into shallower, warmer 
  waters. In recent years, they have begun to come closer 
  to civilizations, preying on coastal communities. A true 
  horror to look upon, a galvo averages 7 feet tall and weighs 
  around 300 pounds. 
  Ecology
  Direct sunlight dries out a galvo’s hide. This does not 
  harm the galvo in the short term, but it causes discomfort. 
  As a result, galvos prefer to stay deep underwater during 
  the day and stalk the shadows by docks and riverbanks 
  at night. A galvo can live both in the water and on land, 
  and frightening stories tell of galvos springing up 
  from the water to strike at prey both on ships and on 
  beaches. While an electric eel’s diet of invertebrates and 
  fish would easily sustain a galvo physically, it would 
  not satisfy the sadistic creature’s appetite for terror. 
  Invertebrates and fish accept death too easily; galvos 
  prefer prey that screams.
  Galvos do not wear armor or wield weapons. They 
  attack with their natural weapons which are augmented 
  with potent electrical charges. Much like the electric eels 
  that form their bodies, galvos focus their energy into 
  concentrated electricity, and discharge it with a touch. 
  Even without their formidable electric powers, galvos 
  are dangerous creatures. The eels that make up their 
  bodies tear at their victims with biting mouths. To attack 
  opponents outside their reach, galvos launch component 
  eels from their swarming bodies. 
  When a galvo kills a target, it feasts as soon as it 
  safely can, usually after bringing the victim back to its 
  underwater cave lair. The victim is stripped of any bulky 
  metal armor and weapons, then subsumed into the galvo’s 
  writhing body, which peels apart and engulfs the corpse 
  to swiftly and brutally devour its prey. A galvo discards 
  the bones of its victims from its swarming body as they 
  are picked clean. If the meal is small enough, a galvo can 
  maintain its normal activities while it digests, chewing 
  and tearing apart one meal as it hunts for another. Galvos 
  defend themselves with a greater fervor when digesting, 
  but do not attack as aggressively, as they are not usually 
  in the habit of killing more than they can consume at 
  one time. 
  Habitat & SociEty
  There is no true galvo society. Galvos sometimes work 
  together, but these alliances often are short and last only 
  through a single hunt and feeding. The strange creatures 
  make exceptions during their two-month mating season, 
  when spawned and fertilized eggs require additional 
  protection in order to survive.
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  Despite their propensity to work together during 
  mating seasons, galvos do not actually require other 
  galvos to reproduce. As galvos are composed of eels of 
  both sexes, all eels forming a galvo are attracted to one 
  another during these two months and the creatures 
  appear more tightly wound, reducing their size slightly. 
  Instead, the female component eels lay eggs within the 
  swarm, which are inseminated by the male component 
  eels. When the eggs hatch it appears as though a tiny 
  swarm of eels simply emerges from the larger parent 
  galvo, leading many observers to incorrectly assume 
  galvos reproduce asexually.
  There is no sexual interaction between separate galvos. 
  They instead come together in cohabitation, working 
  together to attack prey and feed. Typically each galvo 
  births three to 10 infant tangles during this time. Adult 
  galvo cohabitants care for the entire nest, not caring 
  to keep track of which galvo birthed which tangle. As 
  the mating season ends, the galvos find themselves less 
  interested in one another. They drift apart towards the 
  end of this hormonal phase, and each returns to its own 
  lair. At this time, the infant tangles are expected to leave as 
  well and fend for themselves. Only about half of all galvo 
  infants survive to reach adulthood. 
  When a galvo reaches adulthood, it claims a permanent 
  lair. Ideal lairs are underground caves, although any 
  large clearing between rocks and out of direct sunlight is 
  satisfactory. A galvo primarily hunts the area near its lair, 
  specifically the land above, where prey is plentiful and one 
  catch makes a large enough meal to sustain it for several days. 
  The magically enhanced galvo hive mind develops a 
  higher intellectual capacity than individual electric eels 
  ever could, showing a level of intelligence approaching 
  that of a below-average human. Galvos cannot 
  speak, but they learn to understand languages 
  when living among or near creatures that 
  communicate verbally. If their need to cause 
  harm is met and they are provided an aquatic 
  living space, galvos sometimes even come to be 
  loyal followers of more powerful creatures. 
  This is especially true for siyokoys, who 
  keep large stables of galvos at the 
  ready in their endless fight against 
  the sahuagin and skum.
  Underwater, 
  electric 
  eels 
  are 
  irresistibly drawn to galvos out of a 
  mix of familiarity and curiosity. Galvos, for 
  their part, typically tolerate such followers for 
  short periods of time before spurning the pests. 
  There has never been a recorded case of a stray electric eel 
  being absorbed into the swarm, although there have been 
  many cases of galvos tiring of mundane eels’ company and 
  cannibalizing these followers. 
  Galvos do not use items nor intentionally collect 
  wealth. However, when they consume a victim, galvos 
  indiscriminately eat its belongings during their hasty 
  meal. Whatever gear on the corpse of a victim was too 
  big to be eaten is expelled nearby, most often in the galvo’s 
  underwater lair. Reports tell of undigested gems and 
  other valuables being found in the gutted component eels 
  of a freshly killed galvo. In extremely rare circumstances, 
  traditionally worn wondrous items (like a headband of 
  inspired wisdom or a belt of mighty constitution) caught within 
  component eels sometimes convey their magical effects to 
  the galvo.
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  the StaBBinG BeaSt
  This cottage-sized scorpion-man moves with an eerie grace and 
  an intelligent, murderous intent.
  Stabbing Beast (Humanoid Form) CR 15
  XP 51,200
  NE Medium outsider (evil, extraplanar, shapechanger)
  Init +16; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, see in 
  darkness, see invisibility; Perception +27
  DEFENSE
  AC 35, touch 23, flat-footed 22 (+12 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural)
  hp 225 (18d10+126)
  Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +15; +4 vs. mind–affecting 
  Defensive Abilities all-around vision, 
  scorpion mind; DR 10/good and magic; Immune poison; 
  Resist acid 30, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 26
  OFFENSE
  Speed 50 ft.
  Melee +1 short sword +20/+15/+10/+5 (1d6+4/17–20 plus bleed), 
  +1 short sword +20 (1d6+2/17–20 plus bleed), sting +22 
  (1d6+5 plus bleed and poison)
  Ranged poison stream +30 touch (blindness)
  Special Attacks bleed 2d6, scorpion strike, sneak attack +5d6, 
  sudden strike
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +20)
  Constant—see invisibility
  At will—absorbing touch*, alchemical allocation*, charm 
  person (DC 13), keen edge, poison (DC 16), true strike
  3/day—false alibi (DC 15, see page 75), greater teleport (self 
  only plus 50 lbs.), invisibility, modify memory (DC 16), 
  suggestion (DC 15), summon (level 6, 1 fiendish deadfall 
  scorpion**, 100%) 
  * See the Advanced Player’s Guide.
  ** See Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 35, Con 24, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 14
  Base Atk +18; CMB +21; CMD 44
  Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deflect ArrowsB, 
  Dodge, Greater FeintB, Improved FeintB, Improved 
  Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Mobility, Skill 
  Focus (Stealth), Spring Attack, Two-Weapon FightingB
  Skills Appraise +13, Bluff +22, Climb +12, Craft (alchemy) 
  +13, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (local) +13, 
  Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (planes) +13, 
  Knowledge (religion) +13, Perception +27, Sense Motive +14, 
  Stealth +39; Racial Modifiers +8 Bluff, +4 Perception
  Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Protean; 
  telepathy 100 ft.
  SQ change shape (Huge scorpion or scorpion-tailed 
  human), murderer’s reward
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any land or urban
  Organization solitary
  Treasure standard
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Murderer’s Reward (Su) If the Stabbing Beast’s attack reduces 
  a target to fewer than 0 hit points, the Beast immediately 
  gains 2d6 temporary hit points. If the attack kills the target, 
  the Beast immediately gains 3d8 temporary hit points. 
  Neither aspect of this ability can heal the Stabbing Beast 
  more than the maximum hit points of the target. The 
  temporary hit points last for 1 hour.
  Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 26; frequency 1/round 
  for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Str; cure 2 consecutive saves. The 
  save DC is Constitution-based.
  Poison Stream (Ex) The Stabbing Beast can force a stream of 
  poison from its stinger at a target as a ranged attack. 
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  The target must make a successful DC 26 Fortitude save or 
  be blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. This attack has a range of 180 
  feet with no range increment. The Beast can make this attack 
  in place of a melee sting attack (for example, attacking twice 
  with its weapons or claws and once with its poison stream).
  Scorpion Mind (Ex) Though the Stabbing Beast is an 
  intelligent outsider, its mind functions much like an 
  augmented vermin’s brain, granting it a +4 bonus on all 
  saving throws against mind-affecting effects.
  Scorpion Strike (Ex) The Stabbing Beast can make a single 
  melee attack as a standard action. If this attack hits, it 
  deals damage normally, and the target’s base land speed is 
  reduced to 5 feet for 2 rounds unless it succeeds at a DC 21 
  Fortitude saving throw.
  Sudden Strike (Ex) The Stabbing Beast is adept at moving 
  quickly when its foes are surprised. During a surprise 
  round, it may act as if it had a full round to act, rather than 
  just one standard action.
  Stabbing Beast (Scorpion Form) CR 15
  XP 51,200
  NE Huge outsider (evil, extraplanar, shapechanger)
  Init +14; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, see in 
  darkness, see invisibility; Perception +27
  DEFENSE
  AC 31, touch 19, flat-footed 20 (+10 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, 
  –2 size)
  hp 225 (18d10+126)
  Fort +18, Ref +16, Will +15; +4 vs. mind–affecting
  Defensive Abilities all-around vision, scorpion mind; DR 10/
  good and magic; Immune poison; Resist acid 30, cold 10, 
  electricity 10, fire 10; SR 26
  OFFENSE
  Speed 50 ft.
  Melee 2 claws +27 (2d6+12/19–20 plus bleed and grab), sting +27 
  (2d6+12/19–20 plus bleed and poison)
  Ranged poison stream +26 touch (blindness)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  Special Attacks bleed 2d6, constrict (2d6+12), scorpion strike
  Spell-Like Abilities (same as humanoid form)
  STATISTICS
  Str 32, Dex 31, Con 24, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 14
  Base Atk +18; CMB +31 (+35 grapple); CMD 52 (64 vs. trip)
  Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deflect ArrowsB, 
  Dodge, Greater FeintB, Improved FeintB, Improved Initiative, 
  Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Mobility, Skill Focus (Stealth), 
  Spring Attack, Two-Weapon FightingB
  Skills Appraise +13, Bluff +22, Climb +20, Craft (alchemy) +13, 
  Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (local) +13, Knowledge 
  (nature) +10, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) 
  +13,Perception +27, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +37 (+45 in 
  forests); Racial Modifiers +8 Bluff, +4 Perception, +8 Stealth 
  (+16 in forests)
  Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Protean; 
  telepathy 100 ft.
  SQ change shape (Huge scorpion or scorpion-tailed human), 
  murderer’s reward
  The Stabbing Beast is the herald of Norgorber, the god 
  of greed, murder, secrets, and poison. It is an incredibly 
  dangerous predator, a creature of immense strength that 
  uses its keen intellect and deadly poison to stalk and kill 
  its prey. Its natural form is that of an huge scorpion, but 
  it can also assume an armored humanoid shape suitable 
  for stealth or interacting with Norgorber’s followers. 
  Though its main purpose for coming to Golarion is to 
  kill, it has also been called to aid great thefts and bury 
  terrible secrets.
  The Stabbing Beast enjoys the company of mortals in 
  the same way that a well-fed barn cat enjoys the company 
  of mice. It sometimes “plays” with these toys, teaching 
  them secrets of alchemy or assassination, though it just 
  as often maims or kills them as it sees fit or according to 
  Norgorber’s greater  plans. It ignores most creatures as if 
  they were unimportant or not even alive, bowling over these 
  irrelevant people in its way and casually murdering those 
  who make nuisances of themselves.
  ecoloGy
  The Stabbing Beast is guilty of thousands of killings and 
  has no fear of death. It does not believe that anything other 
  than its master can kill it, despite mortal records showing 
  that it has been killed in the past; Norgorber wiped its 
  memory of these failures when he resurrected his herald. 
  Norgorber’s herald is normally emotionless and cold, 
  showing no remorse or regret for any death or injury. 
  When the cult of Norgorber summons the Stabbing Beast, 
  the mortals may present it with several choice targets to 
  hunt and slay, though predicting its interests is difficult 
  and the Beast may select its own target—or none at all—
  in exchange for its services. The Beast keeps trophies of 
  its kills by covering the corpses in a preservative bile, 
  swallowing them in its scorpion form, and regurgitating 
  them when it returns to its lair deep beneath the planar 
  metropolis of Axis.
  haBitat & Society
  The herald of Norgorber lives only to serve his dark 
  master, whose mandates may come to the Stabbing Beast 
  in a steady stream of evil deeds or sporadically and with 
  long periods of dormancy between. When idle for too 
  long, it tends to turn off its mind and simply waits in 
  stasis, completely inert like a clockwork device that has 
  run down. It reacts to prayers to Norgorber as if they were 
  echoes of its master’s voice, drawing its attention without 
  violence and bringing it to full alertness.
  h
  h
  Bestiary
  h
  91
  
  h
  92
  h
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  h
  Next Month
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  System Reference Document © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Authors: Jonathan Tweet, 
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  Tim Hitchcock.
  Open Game License Version 1.0a
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  From Hell’s Heart
  By Jason Nelson
  With an enemy f leet intent on conquering the Shackles 
  looming on the horizon, the adventurers must launch 
  their own f leet of pirates and buccaneers to defend 
  against the invaders, culminating in an epic naval 
  battle against the forces of Cheliax in the middle of the 
  terrifying Eye of Abendego. Will the adventurers defeat 
  the invading navy and save the Shackles from becoming 
  just another Chelish colony? Or will the independence 
  of the Free Captains be eradicated forever?
  Continuing tHe Campaign
  The Skull & Shackles Adventure Path now draws to a 
  close, but that’s no reason to swallow the anchor and 
  remain at port. From searching for lost and legendary 
  caches of treasure to facing ancient horrors risen from 
  the sea and defying foul gods, the Shackles can provide 
  many more adventures for your campaign before it sails 
  off into the sunset.
  sea monsters
  More than just sea serpents, killer whales, and sinister 
  fish people, the most notorious sea monsters of Golarion 
  find their way out of the depths and into your game.
  and more!
  A final showdown and legendary loot in Robin D. Laws’s 
  Pathfinder’s Journal, “The Treasure of Far Thallai.” Also, 
  undersea nightmares to threaten even the hardiest of sailors.
  suBsCriBe to patHFinder 
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  A 
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  where a merchant on the verge of achieving eternal 
  youth via a magical elixir is mysteriously murdered, his 
  soul stolen from the af erlife. The only clue is a magical 
  ransom note oﬀ ering to trade the merchant’s spirit for 
  his dose of the fabled potion. But who could steal a 
  soul from the boneyard of Death herself? Enter Salim, 
  whose unique skills should make solving this mystery 
  a cinch. There’s only one problem: The investigation is 
  being ﬁ nanced by the dead merchant’s stubborn and 
  aristocratic daughter—and she wants to go with him. 
  Together, the two must embark on a tour of the Outer 
  Planes, where devils and angels rub shoulders with fey 
  lords and mechanical men, and nothing is as it seems.
  From noted author and game designer James L. Sutter 
  comes an epic mystery of murder and immortality, set in the award-winning world of the 
  Pathﬁ nder Roleplaying Game.
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  o an experienced thief like Krunzle the Quick, the merchant nation of Druma is full 
  of treasures just waiting to be liberated. Yet when the fast-talking scoundrel gets 
  caught stealing from one of the most powerful prophets of Kalistrade, the only option is 
  to undertake a dangerous mission to recover the merchant lord’s runaway daughter—
  and the magical artifact she took with her. Armed with an arsenal of decidedly unhelpful 
  magical items and chaperoned by an intelligent snake necklace happy to choke him into 
  submission, Krunzle must venture far from the cities of the merchant utopia and into a 
  series of adventures that will make him a rich man—or a corpse.
  From veteran author Hugh Matthews comes a rollicking tale of captive trolls, dwarven 
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  Lord Over Your Hoard
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  Find Your Path
  All trademarks are property of Paizo Publishing®, LLC © 2012 Paizo Publishing, LLC.  
  Permission granted to photocopy this page.
  
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  Teroro and Ina
  Captain Malago first found this carved cup near one 
  of the outer isles of the Shackles, and he's been 
  looking for its mate ever since. These paired  cups 
  represent two figures from ancient kuru tales; one 
  who gave life, and another who took it away. As such, 
  one of these cups provides constant nourishment, 
  while the other leaves the drinker endlessly thirsty. 
  Poor Captain Malago possesses the latter. 
  Skeletal Cutlass
  Gregsly One-Arm found this strange cutlass 
  in a tidepool on a remote island. As the tale 
  goes, the blade belonged to a pirate captain 
  who, when pressed to surrender, said his attacker 
  would have to pry it from his dead fingers. The 
  curse worked, and his entire forearm had to be 
  removed to take the weapon. Gregsly is now looking for a 
  way to fuse the old cutlass with his stump.
  Liecaller
  Ever fearful of leaked secrets, Captain Marissa Gabrelle 
  commissioned this amulet to ensure no one would ever 
  be able to use magic to speak with her corpse upon 
  her death. The sea witch who made it claimed that 
  after wearing the device for a year, Marissa would 
  be protected from such divinations. Furthermore, 
  Captain Gabrelle learned that she could use the 
  liecaller to point to any lies or secrets nearby, making it 
  an invaluable tool in keeping her crew honorable.
  Mister Ripples
  Mascot of the Briney Blade, this grotesque mummified 
  trophy steers the ship away from storms and barely 
  submerged rocks. Some of the crew says it talks 
  to the captain; others claim it sings during the 
  night. No one knows where Captain Crenshaw 
  got the blasted thing. Some think it's a long-
  dead ningyo, while others claim it's a shaved 
  selkie. Either way, the important thing is that 
  Mister Ripples keeps the ship and crew safe.
  
  h
  h
  h
  h
  h
  Printed in China. PZO9059
  paizo.com/pathfinder
  Assemble the Fleet
  T
  he adventurers now have their own island and port, but they’ll need more than one ship to 
  defend it. When a past rival sends a fleet to attack them, they’re forced to pull out all the stops 
  to defend their island home, scouring the harbors and docks of the Shackles in order to 
  recruit more ships and crews to their flag. Yet when they sail to the attacker’s own island to get 
  their revenge, the adventurers discover a traitor—one whose betrayal threatens not only their 
  own fleet, but the very islands of the Shackles themselves.
  This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:
  • “The Price of Infamy,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters,  
  by Tim Hitchcock.
  • Fleet battle rules that allow players to stand as admirals and commodores 
  directing their own armadas against enemy fleets in large-scale naval 
  warfare, by James Jacobs.
  • A glimpse behind the gray veil of Norgorber, Golarion’s most 
  secretive deity, by Sean K Reynolds.
  • Lock-breakers and sea-devils in the 
  Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
  • Four new monsters, by Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, 
  Mark Moreland, and Sean K Reynolds.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Adventure Paths/PF055-060 - Skull & Shackles/Skull & Shackles - 05 - The Price of Infamy.pdf