TEXT: C4
  79
  NEW DIMENSION
  GAMES
  Official Game Adventures
  BY: MATT DEMILLE
  OUT FOR
  TM
  LOVE AND DUTY
  
  For  Gore  Verbinski,
       for  great  films . . .
  Credits
  Designer:  Matthew  deMille
  Cover:  Newell  Convers  Wyeth  (historical  picture)
  The  Dark  Lady:  Based  on  the  song  by  Ek  Ong  Kaar  Kaur  Khalsa
  Editing,  Graphic  Design,  Typography:  Matthew  deMille
  Producer:  James  deMille
  This  work  is  protected  under  the  copyright  laws  of  the  United  States  of  America  COPYRIGHT  2004
  
  PLANNING   THE   ADVENTURE
  2
  Ahhh,  the  scent  of  fresh  blood,  I  smells,  minglin’
  with  the  foam  o’  the  sea!  White  caps  be  peaceful
  an’  so  mean  peace,  but  I  tell  ya  true,  red  caps  o’
  them  waves  are  not  from  any  poet’s  sunset,  but  a
  sure  sign  that  war  is  burning  just  over  the  horizon.
  Love  an’  duty  are  a  callin’  ye  fer  sure.  Afraid,  are
  ye?  Just  give  a  good  yo-ho  ta  God  an’  set  sail  fer
  a  venture  most  rewardin’,  in  ways  more  than  gold!
  PRONOUN  NOTE:  The  male  pronouns  (‘he’,
  ‘him’,  ‘his’)  are  used  throughout  this  ‘ere  book.
  Though  women  may  be  bad  luck  at  sea,  they’re
  right  fine  for  this  ‘ere  game,  and  we’re  not  be
  tryin’  to  exclude  ‘em,  nor  even  imply  their
  exclusion.  Centuries  of  use  have  made  these  ‘ere
  pronouns  neutral,  and  they’re  use  provides  for  clear
  and  concise  written  next—nothing  else  does.
  ABOUT  THIS  BOOK:  About  this  book  in
  particular,  indeed  this  gamebook—what  is  a
  gamebook  for  a  role-playing  game?
  What  is  in  this  book:  Contained  within  these  pages
  are  three  individual,  open-ended  Adventures  that
  will  take  the  Characters  on  thrilling  journeys  across
  the  Caribbean!  These  can  be  played  individually,  or
  used  in  chronological  order,  building  the  basis  for
  the  careers  of  the  Player  Characters.  Or,  they  may
  even  be  played  in  non-chronological  order,
  assuming  that  the  Encounters  keyed  to  specific
  years  are  omitted.
  Using  this  book:  These  Adventures  are  relatively
  short,  requiring  on  an  average  one  full  game
  session  (roughly  10  hours)  to  play  through  to  their
  end.  However,  you  may  increase  the  length  of  any
  Adventure  by  adding  Encounters  from  other  game
  gazetteers.  One  must  select  such  additions  carefully
  however,  for  each  of  the  Adventures  in  this  book
  are  carefully  constructed  and  their  own  Encounters
  are  carefully  chosen  to  lead  the  Characters  to  a
  certain  conclusion,  and  even  one  sidetrack  can
  throw  the  Players’  thinking  off  enough  to  change
  the  course  of  the  entire  Adventure.  Additional
  Encounters  are  welcome  and  even  encouraged,  but
  you  should  read  through  the  new  material  and  the
  entire  Adventure  itself  before  choosing  what  to  add
  and  where  to  add  it.
  It  is  important  to  note  that,  as  these
  Adventures  are  not  ‘full-length’,  that  they  should
  not  be  played  back-to-back,  as  Players  may  tend  to
  believe  them  to  be  one  entire  Adventure.  This
  would  lead  to  problems,  in  that  Players  would
  associate  the  Encounters  in  one  Adventure  with
  situations  they  face  in  another,  and  this  can  throw
  them  way  off  track  in  their  decision  making.  These
  Adventures  should  only  be  played  one-after-another
  if  the  Players  are  fully  aware  when  one  Adventure
  ends  and  that  a  new  Adventure  is  beginning.
  Indeed,  if  you  play  these  Adventures  one  after
  another,  have  a  little  ‘shore  leave’  time  in-between
  them,  perhaps  breaking  the  game  session  at  that
  point,  or  in  some  other  way  clearly  establishing  the
  time  elapsed  between  adventures.
  PREPARING  TO  PLAY:  Before  you  and  your
  friends  sit  down  to  play  this  game,  you  should
  consider  the  basic  elements  of  the  Adventure,  as
  explained  throughout  the  following  pages.
  Tales  to  be  told:  The  Adventures  in  this  book  are
  presented  in  their  chronological  order.  The  first
  Adventure,  ‘Lady  Jane’s  Quest’  is  set  in  1681.  The
  second  Adventure,  ‘The  Endless  Voyage’,  occurs
  within  the  year  1684.  Finally,  the  third  Adventure,
  ‘Long  Live  The  Queen’,  takes  place  in  1687.
  Telling  these  tales:  Each  of  these  Adventures  is
  about  heroism,  and  everything  revolves  around  that
  idea,  for  both  the  Player  Characters  and  all  the
  NPCs  as  well.  Thus,  when  telling  these  stories,
  maintain  valor,  honor  and  ‘doing  what  must  be
  done’  as  the  driving  force  behind  most  (if  not  all)
  themes  and  actions.  Certainly  other  motives  and
  ideals  such  as  greed,  patriotism,  politics  or  revenge
  can  come  into  play,  but  they  should  never  take
  precedence  over  courage.
  SIDE  ADVENTURES:  In  order  to  add  greater
  interest  and  fun  for  the  Player  Characters,  there  are
  provided  below  several  ‘side  adventures’.  These  are
  simple,  open-ended  Encounters  that  may  be  used  in
  any  of  the  three  Adventures  found  in  this  booklet.
  Use  them  sparingly,  for  they  do  not  last  long,  and
  moreover,  use  them  wisely,  placing  them  in  the
  story  when  they  will  be  most  effective.
  
  PLANNING   THE   ADVENTURE
  3
  1)  First  blood
  This  Encounter  is  best  used  if  there  is  at  least  one
  Player  Character  present  who  is  either  beginning
  his  first  adventure,  or  is  still  Level  0,  or  is  16
  years  of  age  or  younger.
  A  ruckus  in  the  alley  outside  the  taverne  draws
  a  large  gathering,  yourself  mingled  amongst  them.
  But  as  soon  as  you  arrive,  the  crowd  is  already
  beginning  to  disperse,  the  excitement  passed.  As
  people  drift  by  you,  silent  and  empty-eyed,  you
  see  the  aftermath  of  the  commotion—a  Spaniard
  laying  murdered  in  the  alley,  his  fresh  blood
  mixing  with  the  filth  of  a  hog  trough.
  Any  Player  Character  who  is  either  young  or
  inexperienced  as  described  earlier  must  make  a
  Wits  Check  to  stomach  the  sight  of  fresh  blood,
  with  failure  indicating  that  he  begins  to  retch  and
  cannot  take  part  in  looting  the  body,  nor  witness
  what  anybody  does  with  it.  For  the  body  is  indeed
  worth  looting,  having  on  him  a  pistol  and  a  purse
  (filled  with  30  silver  doubloons)  that  the  slayer
  missed  in  his  haste  to  flee,  but  can  yet  be  found
  with  a  successful  Search.
  2)  Goldtooth
  This  night,  as  you  watch  the  waves  slush  by,
  you  feel  a  warm  wind  roll  down  your  back—the
  breath  of  one  of  your  crewmates.  Turning
  around,  you’re  confronted  by  ‘Goldtooth’,  and
  now  you  know  why  he  has  that  name—one  of
  his  teeth  is  made  of  solid  gold!  And  he  wants
  more—he  wants  your  purse  so  he  can  buy  you  a
  coffin . . . as  he  says  between  drunken  gasps.
  Goldtooth  is  one  of  the  crew  of  the  lowest
  Level,  and  in  his  drunken  state,  he  has  a  -1  to
  attack  with  his  flint-lock  pistol,  and  a  mere  DS  4,
  G  4,  and  move  60’.  As  Goldtooth  has  picked  his
  spot  to  attack  a  fellow  crewmate  at  night,  nobody
  will  notice  if  he  dies  either,  though  it  will  require
  a  Brawn  Check  to  pry  that  gold  tooth  lose,  which
  is  so  pure  as  to  be  worth  5  gold  coins!
  3)  A  whale  of  a  tale
  Tonight,  with  the  moon  above,  the  crew  gathers
  in  the  calm  air  amidships,  where  one  of  them
  begins  to  sing,  quickly  drawing  in  the  others  for
  a  welcome  distraction  from  the  slow  speed  of  the
  night’s  voyage.  Master  gunner  Douglas  sings  of
  all  the  women  he’s  loved  in  ports  around  the
  world,  and  how  each  one  ended  so  badly  that
  now  there’s  no  sea-monster  that  could  frighten
  him.  A  whale  of  a  tale  he  tells,  and  getting  even
  the  off-duty  crew  to  join  in.
  The  songs  have  distracted  everyone  from  a
  real  ‘sea  monster’  not  far  away,  indeed  a  reef  that
  is  not  being  seen—only  the  Player  Characters  have
  a  chance  of  spotting  it  before  the  ship  they’re  on
  hits  it,  and  then  only  if  at  least  one  of  them  can
  make  a  successful  Intuition  Check.  If  they  spot  it
  in  time,  they  will  raise  Morale  by  +2.  However,  if
  the  ship  runs  aground,  Morale  will  lower  by  -3,
  and  the  crew  will  subsequently  embellish  the  tale
  in  later  tellings  of  how  the  song  awoke  a  sea
  monster  that  speared  their  ship.
  4)  The  seachest
  Amongst  the  rest  of  your  haul,  you  find  an  old
  seachest.  Its  leather  skin  is  so  weathered  that  it
  is  almost  black,  yet  its  thick  straps  still  hold  true
  and  keep  it  sealed.  Who  knows  what  secrets  lie
  asleep  inside  of  it?
  The  chest’s  locks  are  rusted  through  and  so  it
  must  be  broken  open,  requiring  a  single  blow  of  9
  Damage  or  more.  No  Attack  Roll  is  necessary,  but
  failure  to  do  this  much  damage  with  one  hit  will
  either  blunt  the  weapon  or  cause  the  gunshot  to
  ricochet,  the  former  permanently  lowering  the  Base
  Damage  of  the  weapon  by  -1,  the  latter  making  an
  unmodified  Attack  Roll  upon  a  random  target!  If
  opened,  the  chest  will  contain  only  a  skull,  which
  will  curse  the  pirates,  saying  aloud  and  only  once
  “You  have  until  the  sunset . . .”  It  speaks  true,  for
  those  who  hear  this  and  do  not  get  blessed  by  a
  priest  by  sunset  will  perish.
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  4
  Pssst!  Avast  there!  Be  ye  aware  o’  what  lies  just
  ahead  there,  mateys?  Treasure  indeed,  says  I,  but
  no  treasure  o’  gold  or  jewels.  I’m  telling  ya  true,
  there  be  treasures  greater  than  silver  an’ gold,  mate.
  An’ mark  well  me  words,  that  while  some  riches
  send  ya  on  adventure  an’ wait  fer  ya  at  the  end,
  some  others  send  ya  seekin’ adventure  but  are  there
  fer  ya  when  ya  first  raise  anchor . . .
  BEGINNING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Before  running
  this  Adventure,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  read  through  it
  just  to  be  familiar  with  the  storyline  and  key
  elements.  However,  reading  the  entire  Adventure
  beforehand  is  not  necessary  for  play.
  Timeline:  This  adventure  is  set  in  the  Caribbean  in
  the  year  1681.  Those  Encounters  that  are  marked
  with  an  ‘*’  require  the  game  to  be  played  in  this
  era.  If  your  game  does  not  adhere  to  timelines,  do
  not  use  these  Encounters.
  Background:  When  everyone  is  ready  to  play,
  begin  the  adventure  by  reading  the  narrative  below.
  The  shifting  tradewinds  of  this  day  and  age  have
  seen  business  bad  for  pirates,  on  either  side  of
  the  political  line  and  of  all  blood,  no  matter  how
  much  or  how  little  they  spill  of  any  king’s
  enemies.  Truth  to  tell,  it  seems  even  God  has  a
  mind  for  business,  forgiving  the  Caribbean  its
  centuries  of  sin  and  blessing  it  with  times  of
  relative  peace,  a  time  when  more  churches  and
  missions  are  being  built  than  ever  before.  Yet
  while  others  have  blind  faith,  you  see  with  open
  eyes  of  wisdom,  and  know  that  peace  is  but  the
  calm  sea  before  a  storm.
  Yet  even  as  you  look  out  across  the  horizon,
  wondering  when  the  sun  shall  set  on  this  peace
  and  turn  the  whitecaps  into  ripples  of  red  blood,
  you  wonder  most  what  the  sea-fates  have  planned
  for  you.  Indeed,  how  is  the  gathering  storm  of
  stories  of  other  men  going  to  draw  you  into  the
  eye  of  the  hurricane?
  Thar  she  blows!  As  if  in  answer  to  your  own
  thoughts,  you  feel  the  unmistakable  breeze  of  a
  storm  gathering  its  strength.  Armadas  of  winds  to
  serve  the  Queen—of  the  fates.  Her  great  eye  is
  seeking  you  even  now,  but  for  what  purpose?
  PART  1:  MONSTERS   IN   MONTSERRAT:  A
  short  sail  from  the  military  and  economic  anchor
  of  English  power  in  the  Colonies  that  is  St. Kitts,
  this  small  town  is  governed  mostly  by  merchants
  whose  general  refusal  to  use  slavery,  whose  wealth
  in  architecture  and  whose  simple  lives  hold  great
  meaning  for  the  future.  Here  shall  the  adventure
  begin  here  for  all  of  the  Player  Characters.  Just
  how  their  story  shall  begin  will  be  determined  by
  using  the  following  Encounters  in  the  order  that
  they  are  presented.
  1)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  any  and  all  Player
  Characters  of  British  heritage.
  Your  tale  began  in  England,  at  the  Jamaica  Inn,
  a  pirate  haven  in  Bristol.  Indentured  or  invited
  aboard  the  Royal  Arms,  one  cannot  tell,  not  on  a
  military  man-o-war  such  as  that  ship  is.  A  slave
  ship  in  its  earlier  days  no  doubt,  and  your  cabin
  was  no  better  than  a  slave’s  seat  at  the  oars.  Yet
  when  you  finally  put  ashore,  you  feel  not  only
  free,  but  reborn.  Looking  around  the  towering
  steeples  and  lavish  mausoleums  of  this  island
  colony,  you  feel  that  you  have  indeed  arrived  in
  a  new  world  altogether.
  The  Characters  are  free  to  do  as  they  will
  here  in  Montserrat,  while  the  ship  they  came  on,
  the  Royal  Arms,  is  going  to  be  based  here.
  2)  Dead  men  swimming
  This  small  city  is  a  marvel  of  sculpture  and  fine
  architecture.  Yet  today  this  heaven  of  stone  turns
  to  a  hell  of  bone.  Being  sea-level,  graves  flood
  easily  and  so  mausoleums  are  the  general  burial
  practice,  with  the  old  bones  broomed  into  secret
  pits  every  few  years.  But  last  night’s  rain  has,  as
  it  often  does,  flooded  the  wells  of  the  dead  and
  a  storm  of  chaos  is  now  overtaking  the  streets;
  dogs  carry  away  bones,  you  hear  the  tailor  say
  “Look,  there’s  goes  grandma’s  ol’ bones  floatin’
  down  the  lane”  and  an  entire  corpse  has  drawn
  an  alligator  from  the  swamp  to  the  marketplace!
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  5
  During  the  next  hour  or  so  as  chaos  reigns,
  all  Pilfering  and  Stealth  Checks  will  gain  a  bonus
  of  +3.  However,  should  anyone  be  a  hero  and  slay
  the  alligator,  the  town  will  offer  a  total  reward  of
  100  gold  to  the  slayer(s).  In  any  event,  one  other
  person  will  be  taking  advantage  of  the  chaos  too,
  running  around  to  each  Player  Character,  seeking
  them  out  in  fact,  and  literally  whispering  in  their
  ear  “If  Diablo  is  your  devil  and  Jahova  your  God,
  is  Santana  your  goddess?”  before  using  that  same
  +3  bonus  to  vanish  into  the  crowd  again.
  3)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  any  and  all  Player
  Characters  of  non-British  heritage  who  have  no
  rank  or  title  of  any  nation.
  “I’m  afraid  your  tale  is  a  sad  one . . .”  so  says
  the  old  man.  “I’ve  been  here  in  these  shackles
  for  years  I  can  no  longer  count.  But  you,  well,  I
  don’t  know  what  you’ve  done,  but  it  doesn’t
  matter.  You  might  have  gotten  away  with  a  good
  old  fashioned  hanging,  but  not  after  the  merchant
  guild  took  over.  Now,  you  get  to  look  forward
  to  slavery.  Fortunately  for  me,  my  arms  are  too
  old  and  frail,  for  the  fields  or  the  mines.  Ahhh,
  but  not  to  worry—the  sun  or  the  salt  will  kill
  you  long  before  the  work  does.”  The  old  man
  shuts  up  quickly  as  the  guards  arrive,  who  then
  proceed  to  haul  you  out  in  shackles,  to  be
  auctioned  off  before  a  meager  crowd.
  Any  Player  Characters  already  introduced  may
  bid  on  the  new  PCs  for  whatever  reason  they
  wish,  but  doing  so  will  make  them  slaves  to  the
  purchasers  under  English  Common  Law.  The  high
  bid  for  any  PC  will  be  the  total  of  all  his  Skill
  Levels,  Wits  Score  and  Girth  Score.  However,  if
  any  new  PC  is  not  bought  by  the  other  Player
  Characters,  they  will  instead  be  bought  by  a  rather
  exotic-looking  woman,  clearly  of  English  heritage
  but  with  tanned  skin  as  if  she  has  been  at  sea  on
  the  Caribbean  for  years.  This  woman  is  a  pirate
  captain  in  disguise,  and  as  thus  will  not  speak  to
  her  new  ‘slaves’,  but  instead  have  her  servants
  (other  pirates  in  disguise)  quickly  take  them  to  her
  ship,  as  accounted  later  on  in  Encounter  5.
  4)  The  haunted  mansion*
  The  Governor’s  mansion  lies  far  back  at  the  end
  of  a  crooked  alleyway,  the  cobblestone  street
  always  alight  with  colorful  lanterns.  Passing  by
  many  shoppes  overflowing  with  exotic  trinkets
  and  even  voodoo  charms,  you  come  to  the  end
  and  stand  before  the  wrought-iron  gates  of  a
  converted  plantation  estate.  Rising  atop  a  low  hill
  surrounded  by  dark  elm  trees,  this  two-story
  house  looks  brand  new,  though  its  grounds  are
  dominated  by  gravestones  charred  black  by  fire.
  The  original  plantation  was  burned  down  by  a
  slave  revolt  in  1640.  This  resulted  in  the  founding
  of  the  multi-cultured  town  of  Montserrat  and  the
  general  disdain  for  slavery  here.  This  new  mansion
  was  built  only  a  few  years  ago,  though  on  the
  same  grounds,  and  so  it  is  cursed.  It  is  said  to  be
  haunted  by  nearly  a  thousand  spirits,  both  slaves
  and  their  slaughtered  masters,  and  others  as  well.
  The  Governor  is  currently  not  on  the  island,  seeing
  to  business  in  another  colony,  though  which  one
  nobody  knows.  No  guards  patrol  the  grounds,  for
  none  need  to—should  anyone  break  in,  they  will
  have  to  deal  with  the  appropriate  Ghost  forms  of
  any  and  all  PCs  and  key  NPCs  that  have  died  in
  this  Campaign  thus  far . . .
  5)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  any  and  all  Player
  Characters  who  have  not  yet  joined  the  story.
  Fate  has  found  you  at  a  gala  evening  held  at  the
  plantation  of  a  wealthy  storyteller.  However,  tales
  of  ghosts  and  galleys  that  sail  against  the  wind
  are  all  quickly  sunk  by  salvos  of  merchants’
  comparing  figures.  You  soon  find  yourself  on  the
  verandah,  overlooking  the  simple  town  below.  In
  an  instant,  you  and  several  others  behold  the
  apparition  of  an  angel  and  hear  her  cold  words:
  “Your  salvation  lies  with  the  Santana . . .”  and
  then  the  heavenly  body  is  gone!
  Only  the  Player  Characters  who  are  present
  were  witness  to  this,  and  no  one  shall  believe  their
  tale  if  they  try  to  tell  it.
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  6
  6)  The  piratess
  Run  this  Encounter  only  once  everybody  has,  for
  one  reason  or  another,  gone  aboard  the  ‘Santana’.
  The  Santana  is  a  dirty  galleon  flying  all  pirate
  colors.  Once  aboard,  you  join  a  crowd  amidships,
  all  looking  up  at  an  angel  incarnate  on  the  aft-
  deck—your  gaze  is  drawn  up  her  black  knee-high
  boots  to  her  bare,  sweaty  thighs  strapped  with
  two  pistols . . . each.  Her  breasts,  like  her  attitude,
  are  barely  contained  by  her  tight  captain’s  coat,
  girt  with  gold  thread  and  a  gilded  cutlass.  Her
  raven  hair  flies  wildly  in  the  wind,  worsted  only
  by  the  darkness  of  her  eyes.
  “I  have  brought  you  here  by  the  grace  of
  God—our  God!”  she  says  in  a  voice  that  could
  cause  angels  to  cower.  “Like  the  legend  of  my
  home  in  Nottinghamshire,  I  too  intend  to  plunder
  the  rich,  of  England  and  everybody  else!  But  not
  for  myself.  This  ship,  know  now,  is  cursed,  and
  now  that  you’re  aboard  it,  you  are  too.  Leave
  my  command  and  you  will  fall  as  I  draw  my
  last  breath.  Only  once  we’ve  restored  the  balance
  of  wealth  in  this  world  shall  the  balance  of  our
  lives  be  returned.  Thus  have  I  brought  you  here,
  one  way  or  another.  That  ogre,  King  Charles  II,
  encourages  the  merchants  and  commerce  that
  bleeds  the  people  dry.  Know  this—when  a  count
  of  two  hundred  thousand  has  been  given  to  the
  poor  and  unfortunate,  we  will  be  free.”
  The  crew  seems  surprisingly  glad  to  be  on
  board  the  Santana.  From  their  murmurs,  you  can
  tell  that  they  see  Lady  Jaye  as  a  rebel  with  the
  right  cause,  but  more  than  that,  they  believe  she
  is  quite  capable  of  achieving  freedom  by  a  great
  degree,  and  at  a  great  profit  to  you  all.
  Any  and  all  who  agree  to  join  Lady  Jaye’s
  cause  and  crew  will  set  sail  with  her  on  the  tide.
  Lady  Jaye’s  statistics  are  provided  as  Handout  1,
  and  those  of  her  ship,  the  Santana,  on  Handout  2.
  Her  boast  about  the  curse  is  a  bluff—neither  she
  nor  the  ship  are  cursed,  and  she  does  not  believe
  in  curses  nor  fear  them,  but  the  tale  has  always
  been  enough  to  keep  her  crew  in  line,  for  as  long
  as  they  believe  it,  nobody  ever  commits  mutiny—if
  they  get  that  upset,  they  slay  themselves  in  despair.
  PART  2:  SEEKING   THE   SEA   KING:   Whether
  the  Player  Characters  sail  aboard  the  Santana  and
  under  Lady  Jaye’s  command  or  not,  the  winds  of
  fate  shall  blow  them  towards  a  famous  ship.  This
  they  shall  encounter  after  venturing  only  60  leagues
  in  any  direction.  If  Lady  Jaye  is  in  command,  she
  will  sail  due  north,  passing  all  towns  unless  there
  is  given  good  reason  to  stop.  During  this  voyage,
  use  the  following  Encounters  at  your  discretion.
  7)  Dinner  with  Lady  Jaye
  On  your  first  night  at  sea,  you  and  a  few  others
  are  invited  to  have  dinner  in  the  captain’s  cabin.
  Lady  Jaye  sits  quietly  at  a  table  as  candleflames
  slowly  sway  back  and  forth  to  tell  the  silent  tale
  of  the  ship  caressing  the  Caribbean  waves.  After
  eating  an  entire  meal  without  uttering  a  single
  word,  the  piratess  explains  at  length  how  she  is
  seeking  the  Sea  King,  a  famous  slave  ship  that
  anchors  on  the  Amazon  coast  and  holds  the
  secret  to  a  fabulous  treasure  hidden  there.
  Lady  Jaye  will  tell  no  more,  at  least  not  out
  of  charity.  This  saucy  piratess  will  tempt  the
  various  Player  Characters  to  figure  out  how  to  get
  more  information  out  of  her,  as  detailed  below.
  Kissing  her  lips  will  concoct  poison  (Level  1)
  she  has  smeared  her  lips  with  and  quietly  supped
  the  antidote  to  in  her  wine  glass—she  will  inform
  the  victim  of  the  poison,  but  not  the  antidote,  thus
  encouraging  her  little  game.
  Toasting  her  will  have  her  switch  glasses,  and
  so  provide  the  antedote  and  tale  thereof  to  all.
  Singing  her  a  song  will  amuse  her  enough  to
  stroke  her  thighs  in  a  seductive  manner.
  Kissing  her  thighs  will  encourage  her  to  tell
  the  tale  that  the  treasure  is  guarded  by  ‘ghosts’.
  Telling  her  a  tale  will  garner  the  response  “I
  don’t  believe  in  the  ghost  stories  that  frighten  so
  many  others  away,  but  you  should  believe  at  least
  in  legends,  as  they  will  prove  real  enough.”
  Threatening  her  in  any  way  will  have  her
  calmly  remind  everyone  of  the  curse,  that  if  she  is
  no  longer  in  command,  they  all  die.  Of  course,
  this  being  a  bluff,  if  called,  she  will  fight,  but
  after  only  3  Rounds  the  rest  of  the  crew  will
  come  to  her  rescue,  firmly  believing  in  the  curse.
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  7
  8)  Seeking  rumors
  Should  anyone  seek  legends  of  the  ‘Sea  King’  or
  any  potential  plunder,  only  one  person  will  have
  information,  and  at  the  first  port  they  visit.
  Locals  redirect  you  to  the  home  of  a  retired
  pirate  outside  of  town.  A  weather-beaten  shanty
  on  the  barnacle  encrusted  headland,  you  cross  a
  maze  of  planks  over  shallow  coves  to  his  door,
  which  is  the  lid  of  the  coffin  that  stories  say  he
  was  prematurely  buried  in.  The  man  who  invites
  you  inside  is  visibly  aging  but  still  hale,  and  as
  your  eyes  scan  the  trinkets  and  treasures  that
  clutter  his  home,  you  feel  his  every  possession
  has  a  tale  to  tell.  He  sits  down  on  an  overturned
  barrel  and  looks  at  you  with  foggy  eyes.
  The  old  man  calls  himself  ‘Scally’,  short  for
  ‘scalawag’  and  surname  to  his  dead  wife,  ‘Scully’.
  For  the  price  of  3  gold  (2  if  the  coins  are  those
  of  England  or  Holland)  he  will  recount  one  tale
  from  the  following  chart.  However,  he  is  prone  to
  lapses  of  memory,  and  thus  duplicate  rolls  result  in
  duplicate  tales,  with  no  refund.
  Rumors
  Roll
  Rumor  about  the  Sea  King
  11-12
  The  anchorage  of  the  Sea  King  is  an  isle
  that  lies  beyond  time  and  space
  8-10
  The  captain  of  the  Sea  King  is  a  wealthy
  man  whose  treasure  is  hidden  inside  him
  4-7
  The  name  of  the  Sea  King  curses  all  men
  who  utter  it  aloud  and  alone
  1-3
  The  crew  of  the  Sea  King  are  all  ghosts
  9)  Curse  of  the  Sea  King
  Should  anyone  utter  aloud  ‘The  Sea  King’
  with  no  adjoining  words  before  or  after  it,  this
  will  indeed  awaken  a  curse.  This  curse  is  of  a  5
  Magnitude,  causing  whomever  spoke  it  to  always
  have  ghostly  voices  uttering  ‘The  Sea  King’  at  the
  same  time  he  speaks  any  other  name  to  anyone,
  thus  penalizing  all  Charisma  Checks  by  -6  until  the
  curse  is  lifted.  To  do  this,  one  must  be  given
  leave  by  the  captain  of  that  vessel,  as  he  still
  commands  the  spirits  of  men  lost  long  ago.
  10)  Services  at  sea
  Dawn’s  light  finds  the  entire  crew  holding  a
  Mass  amidships.  As  you  watch  and  listen,  you
  can  tell  that  they  are  trying  to  ward  off  their
  growing  fear  of  these  waters.  One  of  them  leads
  from  the  forecastle,  Bible  in  hand.  “Let  us  now
  hear  of  Psalm  sixty-six . . .”  he  says  in  a  voice
  as  calm  as  the  ocean  waves  surrounding  the  ship,
  indeed  leading  the  crew  along  as  surely  as  the
  currents  themselves  are  leading  your  ship.
  Should  the  Player  Characters  do  nothing  to
  interfere  with  this  Mass,  they  may  gain  a  clue  that
  is  to  their  advantage.  Indeed,  the  crew  will  follow
  the  lead  of  their  preacher  and  sing  the  first  six
  lines  of  Psalm  66,  which  you  should  read  aloud  to
  the  Players.  What  is  sung  is  also  reproduced  on
  Handout  3,  but  do  not  give  this  to  the  Players
  unless  they  have  a  Bible  amongst  their  Characters’
  equipment,  or  if  they  join  in  the  singing  (that  is,
  the  Characters  singing,  not  the  Players),  and  so
  learn  the  lines  well  enough.
  Make  a  joyful  noise  unto  God,
     all  ye  lands:
  Sing  forth  the  honour  of  his  name;
     make  his  praise  glorious.
  Say  unto  God,  How  terrible  art
     thou  in  thy  works!  though  the
     greatness  of  thy  power  shall
     thine  enemies  submit  themselves
     unto  thee.
  All  the  earth  shall  worship  thee,
     and  shall  sing  unto  thee;  they
     shall  sing  to  thy  name.  Selah.
  Come  and  see  the  works  of  God:
     he  is  terrible  in  his  doing
     toward  the  children  of  men.
  He  turned  the  sea  into  dry  land:
     they  went  through  the  flood
     on  foot:  there  did  we  rejoice
     in  him.
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  8
  PART  3:  GUNS   AND   GHOSTS:   No  matter
  where  the  Player  Characters  sail,  they  are  destined
  to  cross  sails  and  perhaps  swords  as  well  with  the
  crew  of  the  Sea  King.  Indeed,  at  this  point,  that
  legendary  ship  is  not  too  far  away.  Tell  the  tale  of
  this  confrontation  with  the  following  Encounters,  to
  be  played  one  and  all  and  in  the  order  that  they
  are  presented.
  11)  Evil  omen
  This  morning  you  find  your  vessel  mired  in  a
  most  unnatural  fog.  The  ghostly  mists  slay  all
  sounds,  save  for  the  waves  gently  lapping  against
  the  side  of  your  ship,  reminding  you  that  mere
  wood  and  the  craft  of  slaves  is  all  that  now  lies
  between  you  and  plunging  into  the  dark  oblivion
  of  the  ocean  depths.  Even  as  you  try  to  reassure
  yourself  that  your  ship  is  sound,  looking  down  at
  the  keel,  you  see  a  few  planks  and  scraps  of
  charred  cloth  floating  by . . .
  The  wreckage  is  coming  not  from  the  ship  of
  the  Player  Characters,  but  a  merchant  vessel  not
  but  a  mile  away,  recently  destroyed  by  the  Sea
  King.  If  they  follow  the  debris,  they  will  come
  upon  the  smoldering  wreck.  Only  those  who  climb
  aboard  this  slowly  sinking  wreck  can  find  anything.
  To  do  so  requires  an  Agility  Check,  lest  one  fall
  and  suffer  a  Base  Damage  of  2.  Yet  whether  one
  gets  hurt  or  not,  he  may  make  a  Searching  Check
  to  discover  aboard  the  flaming  wreck  a  small  chest
  of  gold,  equaling  250  crowns,  235  doubloons,  and
  392  pieces  of  eight.  To  take  any  of  this  gold  will
  awaken  a  spirit,  unseen  but  whose  voice  will  echo
  from  within  the  chest,  saying  “Take  not  the  price
  our  crew  pays  for  passage  to  Hell.  All  else  was
  taken  by  the  Sea  King.  Take  not  our  souls . . .”
  12)  To  battle  the  King
  “The  glass!  The  glass!”  comes  to  lookout’s  cry.
  The  crew  scrambles  to  their  stations,  knowing
  well  the  call  of  an  hourglass—the  symbol  of  a
  pirate’s  flag  and  the  legendary  center  of  the  Sea
  King’s  jolly  roger—your  time  has  run  out!  For
  indeed,  another  ship  is  making  straight  for  you!
  The  other  ship  is  indeed  the  Sea  King,  and  it
  is  intent  on  capturing  the  ship(s)  that  all  the  Player
  Characters  sail  upon.  Though  outnumbered,  the  Sea
  King  is  driven  by  greed,  for  it  is  a  slave  ship
  looking  for  new  ‘cargo’.  Indeed,  anyone  amongst
  the  Player  Characters  that  does  not  duel  with  the
  captain  in  this  battle  will,  if  defeated,  be  knocked
  out  instead  of  slain,  to  become  a  slave  unless  the
  Sea  King  is  defeated.  And  to  defeat  the  Sea  King
  will  be  difficult,  for  it  is  a  square-rigger  with  a
  crew  of  100  bloodthirsty  1st Level  men  and  30
  wicked  2nd Level  men,  and  running  20  guns.  The
  captain  is  a  standard  pirate  captain,  save  that  he
  wields  a  cutlass  instead  of  a  longsword,  thus
  setting  his  Base  Damage  at  11*.  If  he  is  ‘slain’,
  he  will  not  die,  but  hold  onto  life  like  a  ghost . . .
  13)  The  captain’s  bargain
  Use  this  Encounter  as  soon  as  the  battle  is  over.
  As  the  storm  of  battle  dies  down  and  the  winds
  of  war  falter  into  the  fading  whispers  of  thought,
  the  captain  of  the  Sea  King  comes  forward.  He
  walks  with  a  limp,  yet  none-the-less  approaches
  you  boldly  and  honorably.  “If  you  grant  me  my
  leave,  good  sirs,  I  would  offer  you  in  turn  a
  bounty  far  greater  than  the  pleasure  of  running
  me  through.  Let  me  go,  and  set  me  adrift  with
  food,  water  and  a  compass,  and  I  will  give  up
  to  you  information  that  leads  to  a  most  fabulous
  treasure.  Indeed,  I  will  give  you  the  coordinates
  to  my  secret  of  which  so  many  tales  tell.”
  As  the  nameless  captain  finishes  his  speech,
  have  each  Character  make  an  Intuition  Check  to
  notice  that  he  has  a  diamond  tooth  (worth  1300
  gold).  He  will  further  instruct,  if  needs  be,  that  his
  bargain  involves  him  shouting  the  coordinates  back
  to  the  ship  once  he  is  safely  in  his  longboat.  He
  will  honor  his  bargain,  but  once  the  coordinates  of
  ’3  and  6  from  66’  are  given,  he  will  dematerialize,
  indeed  like  the  sounds  of  battle  themselves.  If
  ‘killed’  under  any  circumstances,  the  pirate  captain
  will  then  dematerialize  all  the  same,  yet  without
  giving  the  coordinates,  thus  leaving  the  Characters
  and  their  fellow  pirates  with  one  less  clue  to
  escape  the  dark  waters  that  they  are  already  in . . .
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  9
  PART  4:  THE   DEVIL’S   SEA:   The  Sea  King
  was  a  slave  ship . . . long  ago,  but  got  trapped  in
  an  area  of  the  Caribbean  known  as  the  Devil’s
  Sea.  And  now,  the  Player  Characters  have  ventured
  there,  for  one  reason  or  another,  and  they  must
  escape  it.  Indeed,  no  matter  in  which  direction  they
  sail  nor  how  far  they  go,  they  shall  find  nothing
  but  open  sea,  that  is  until  they  break  the  heart  of
  the  curse  in  Encounter  22.  But  to  get  there,  they
  will  have  to  face  many  trials  and  perils,  including
  the  following  Encounters,  which  are  to  be  played
  in  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  Coordinates  to  Hell’s  Gate:  The  coordinates  that
  may  have  been  given  by  the  captain  of  the  Sea
  King  will,  once  applied  to  any  charts,  make  no
  sense,  for  36N  and  66W  lie  outside  the  Caribbean,
  and  thus  they  are  useless  to  the  Characters.
  Morale:  Being  lost  in  a  cursed  sea,  the  crew  will
  consider  this  as  ‘going  nowhere’,  and  thus  lose  -3
  Morale  each  day,  for  making  minimal  speed.
  14)  Despair
  If  Lady  Jaye  is  not  with  the  Player  Characters,  do
  not  read  the  second  paragraph  of  the  narrative
  below.  However,  if  she  is  indeed  still  with  them,
  read  this  description  in  its  entirety.
  “We  be  caught  in  the  Devil’s  Sea.”  is  a  common
  comment  among  the  crew  today.  Many  of  them
  lean  on  the  railing  for  hours,  watching  the  waves
  go  by,  whispering  words  of  ill  omen.  As  you
  pass  them  by,  you  hear  other  comments  far  more
  disheartening;  “I  says  we  be  trapped  here.”  and
  “This ‘ere  sea,  she’ll  never  let  us  go . . .”
  Lady  Jaye  herself  stands  undeterred  upon  the
  aft-deck.  “I’ve  been  caught  in  many  traps.”  she
  says  coldly.  “To  seek  safety  we  have  to  find  the
  eye  of  the  storm.”
  The  crew  has  lost  -10  to  their  Morale  out  of
  sheer  despair.  However,  before  considering  the
  ramifications  of  this  loss,  the  Player  Characters  can
  do  a  number  of  things  to  counter  it—those  things
  that  will  matter  to  the  crew  right  now  are  listed
  on  the  following  chart  (nothing  else  will).
  Boosting   Morale
  Action
  Morale
  Marry  Lady  Jaye  (Charisma  Check  -4)
  +6
  Female  PC  whores  for  the  crew
  +4
  Good  preaching  (Religion  Skill  Check)
  +2
  Every  1000  gold  given  to  the  crew
  +1
  15)  Coordinates  of  Heaven
  The  crew’s  fears  seem  to  have  become  real,  as
  if  their  dread  is  warping  time  and  space;  the  sky
  is  an  eerie  green  hue,  the  waves  but  a  reflection
  of  the  clouds,  the  horizon  line  altogether  lost,
  and  the  ship’s  compass  is  spinning  wildly,  as  if
  trying  to  escape  its  own  wooden  prison.  “We  are
  slaves  now  to  this  accursed  sea.”  says  one  of  the
  crew.  “I  cannot  look  to  Heaven  above  nor  Hell
  below  for  want  or  love  of  life.  Where  can  we
  look  now?  Has  God  forsaken  us?”
  The  ship(s)  the  Player  Characters  sail  will  now
  find  no  new  shores  nor  any  change  in  the  weather
  for  1-12  days,  and  each  night  thus  will  the  count
  of  days  claim  an  equal  number  of  NPC  crewmen.
  For  example,  on  the  3rd  day,  3  more  crewmen  will
  die.  However,  this  unnatural  fog  can  be  passed  at
  any  time  by  any  one  person  singing  aloud  lines  3
  and  6  of  Psalm  66,  thus  speaking:  “Say  unto  God,
  How  terrible  art  thou  in  thy  works!  through  the
  greatness  of  thy  power  shall  thine  enemies  submit
  themselves  unto  thee.  He  turned  the  sea  into  dry
  land:  they  went  through  the  flood  on  foot:  there
  did  we  rejoice  in  him.”  If  this  is  done,  the  ship(s)
  will  come  to  the  island  at  the  center  of  the  Devil’s
  Sea,  bypassing  Encounter  16.
  16)  Cursed  storm
  If  the  Players  did  not  solve  the  puzzle  in  the  last
  Encounter,  they  will  be  taken  to  the  cursed  island
  by  a  horrendous  storm.  This  storm  will  be  of  a
  Magnitude  of  13,  and  will  be  upon  them  at  once,
  and  thus  it  cannot  be  rounded.  Once  it  has  passed,
  move  on  to  the  next  section  of  this  Adventure,  the
  sea  fates  having  drawn  their  new  slaves  to  their
  island.  If  this  storm  sinks  the  ship(s)  of  the  Player
  Characters,  they  and  Lady  Jaye  alone  will  survive,
  floating  with  the  wreckage  just  off  shore . . .
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  10
  PART  5:  HELL’S  THROAT:   The  center  of  the
  Devil’s  Sea  is  an  island  known  as  ‘Hell’s  Throat’.
  Now  that  the  Player  Characters  have  arrived  there,
  they  must  go  inside,  indeed  to  seek  the  eye  of  the
  storm,  as  Lady  Jaye  says,  if  they  are  ever  to  be
  free  again.  Lady  Jaye  herself,  alone  of  all  her  crew
  will  go  in  with  the  Player  Characters.  To  tell  the
  tale  of  this  journey  through  these  haunted  caves,
  use  the  following  Encounters  one  and  all  and  in
  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  17)  Approaching  the  island
  From  a  distance,  it  looks  like  any  other  island,
  though  dark  and  shrouded  in  mist.  Up  close,  you
  see  that  it  is  barren  of  all  living  things.  No  gulls
  use  its  sharp  headlands.  No  trees  can  be  seen
  high  or  low.  This  island,  if  indeed  an  island  it
  is,  appears  more  to  you  like  a  heap  of  slag  that
  bubbled  up  from  the  furnaces  of  Hell  and  cooled
  upon  the  ocean  waves.
  To  reach  the  island,  one  will  have  to  take  a
  longboat,  as  no  ship  can  safely  move  through  the
  maze  of  sharp  reefs  that  surround  it.  However,  all
  those  in  any  longboat,  on  any  raft,  or  swimming  in
  the  water  will  be  close  enough  to  see  ghostly  faces
  in  the  deep,  thus  calling  for  a  Wits  Check  at  a  -2
  penalty.  Those  that  fail  will  be  stricken  with  fear
  and  will  thus  suffer  a  penalty  of  -1  to  all  rolls
  until  they  leave  the  island  behind.
  18)  Tunnels  of  terror
  The  surface  of  the  island  is  barren  and  featureless.
  However,  one  can  make  a  Searching  Check  once
  with  every  tide  (thus  every  6  hours)  to  find  a  cave
  leading  inside  the  island . . .
  “Dead  men  tell  no  tales . . .”  The  ghostly  voice
  resounds  throughout  the  deep,  dark  cave  that
  opens  before  you.  Moving  inside,  you  find  the
  tunnel  illuminated  by  strange,  almost  supernatural
  lights,  like  the  green  and  blue  torches  of  spirits
  still  haunting  this  place,  indeed  still  seeking  to
  find  a  way  out.  As  you  venture  on,  you  swear
  you  can  almost  hear  the  poor  devils—broken
  words  bantering  about  division  of  treasure.
  Up  ahead,  the  tunnel  splits  into  three  separate
  passages.  However,  it  does  not  matter  which  way
  the  Characters  choose  to  go,  though  certainly  allow
  them  to  banter  about  it  on  their  own  account,  only
  to  confuse  themselves  further.
  A  successful  Searching  Check  made  at  this
  junction  will  discover  a  message  scrawled  on  the
  wall  in  English,  reading  ‘Ten  times  round,  five
  fathoms  down,  our  ship  went  south  into  Hell’s
  mouth,  slew  seven  men  and  one  monkey  when  the
  Devil  came  to  judge  our  blame’.  This  writing  is
  reproduced  on  Handout  4.
  19)  Shadows  and  swords
  The  tunnels  soon  begin  to  twist  and  turn,  making
  for  a  regular  maze  under  the  island.  The  further
  you  go,  the  more  flooded  the  passages  become,
  until  you  are  wading  thigh-deep  through  black
  waters.  What  you  would  give  to  hear  the  sound
  of  gulls  again,  or  the  ocean  waves—you  hear
  instead  the  clash  of  swords!  Looking  around,  you
  see  the  shadows  of  pirates  fighting  on  the  cavern
  walls,  locked  in  an  epic  battle  for  all  eternity,
  dueling  for  the  pleasure  of  the  silent  audience  of
  their  own  mortal  remains  laying  nearby,  skulls
  sunken  in  hills  of  sand  or  skeletons  pinned  to
  the  stalagmites  with  rusted  swords,  thus  telling
  how  the  battle  will  end,  indeed  with  everybody  a
  prisoner  of  this  island . . .
  The  skulls,  skeletons  and  swords  are  useless  to
  the  living.  However,  a  successful  search  of  this
  cave  will  discover  a  monkey-head  wrapped  around
  a  glass  bobble,  thus  serving  as  a  gruesome  potion
  container  that  pours  through  its  mouth,  which  is
  currently  sealed  by  having  once  been  burned  and
  subsequently  stitched  shut.  If  opened,  a  hideous
  laughter  will  fill  the  cavern,  drawing  the  attention
  of  the  otherwise  oblivious  dueling  shadows,  who
  will  disappear,  to  reappear  as  the  Ghost  shadows
  of  all  who  are  present  here,  seeking  to  slay  their
  living  counterpart.  If  all  these  shadows  are  defeated
  the  monkey-head  will  vomit  blood,  staining  the
  sand,  though  the  little  bit  still  dribbling  from  its
  crooked  teeth  will,  if  supped  by  a  single  person,
  prove  potent  enough  to  permanently  increase  his
  Girth  Score  by  +1.
  
  LADY    JAYE’S   QUEST
  11
  20)  Rope  bridge
  Making  your  way  through  the  maze  of  tunnels,
  you  come  at  last  to  a  chasm  spanned  by  a  frail
  rope  bridge.  Steam  rises  from  this  rent  in  the
  earth,  sculpting  the  stalactites  throughout  time
  untold  into  the  jaws  of  death,  ready  to  close  on
  any  who  venture  deeper  into  Hell’s  Throat.
  The  bridge  is  frail  and  can  only  support  so
  much  weight.  Every  50  Weight  total  (rounded  up)
  is  the  cumulative  chance  in  12  that  the  bridge
  breaks.  Anyone  on  the  bridge  when  it  snaps  must
  make  an  Agility  Check  at  a  -3  penalty  to  ride
  either  side  of  the  bridge  as  it  slams  against  either
  cliff.  All  those  who  fail  fall  100’ to  Encounter  22.
  21)  Lady  Jaye’s  love
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  Lady  Jaye  is  still  with
  the  group.  She  will  at  this  point  have  become
  convinced  that  curses  are  real,  and  will  seek  love
  from  one  of  the  Player  Characters  for  confidence.
  The  following  event  will  happen  to,  in  order  of
  priority,  the  PC  that  is  male,  English,  British,  the
  one  with  the  highest  Charisma  Score,  the  one  with
  the  highest  Brawn  Score,  and  finally  the  one  with
  the  highest  Experience  Point  total.
  In  a  part  of  the  tunnel  so  still  and  silent,  and  so
  infernally  dark  that  you  wonder  if  you  died  and
  wandered  into  Hell  without  realizing  it,  you  hear
  a  voice  saying  “I  want  you . . .”  A  moment’s
  reflection  brings  no  new  wisdom.  Then  you  hear
  one  of  you  being  grabbed!  Then,  the  confusion
  passes,  and  all  is  silent  again.
  Let  the  Players  (over)react  however  they  will.
  However,  in  that  moment  of  blind  confusion,  Lady
  Jaye  simply  grabbed  the  Character  she  desires  and
  kissed  him.  When  the  group  continues  on,  she  will
  be  holding  his  hand.  After  this,  she  will  not  leave
  his  sight  and  will  die  to  protect  him.  If  she  was
  already  married  to  another  (from  Encounter  14),
  she  will  insist  that  her  ‘true  love’  duel  the  other  to
  the  death  in  order  to  break  the  marriage.  If  either
  refuses,  she  will  duel  her  husband  for  her  own
  freedom,  and  thereafter  vow  to  love  no  one!
  22)  The  Eye  of  the  Storm
  The  tunnels  converge  in  a  steam  cavern,  the  well
  of  a  dormant  volcano.  A  lake  of  boiling  water
  surrounds  a  small  island  half  buried  with  golden
  ash,  the  treasure  of  those  who  never  came  back,
  or  indeed,  who  never  left.  In  the  center  rises  a
  short  pedestal  fashioned  from  human  skulls,  and,
  set  atop  it,  a  diamond  so  large  it  could  easily  be
  the  single  most  valuable  object  in  the  world.
  The  treasure  here  totals  26500  ducats,  15600
  doubloons,  8100  guineas,  82900  pieces  of  eight,
  and  a  chest  filled  with  all  kinds  of  jewels  to  equal
  a  thousand  count  totaling  104000  gold  value.  If
  Lady  Jaye  is  present,  she  will  confess  how  her  tale
  of  being  cursed  was  a  ruse,  thus  she  and  the  PCs
  can  keep  all  this  wealth  unto  themselves.
  The  diamond  is  worth  13000  in  gold,  but  it  is
  also  the  ‘Eye  of  the  Storm’,  the  key  to  the  curse
  of  the  island  and  surrounding  sea.  If  smashed,  thus
  making  its  shards  worth  considerably  less  in  gold
  (666  to  be  exact),  the  curse  will  be  lifted.  If  this
  idea  is  suggested  Lady  Jaye  will  agree  to  it,
  saying  that  freedom  is  the  true  treasure  to  be  had.
  However,  if  anyone  took  any  treasure  before
  the  Eye  was  shattered,  he  will  remain  cursed,  that
  when  he  leaves  the  shores  of  this  island,  he  will
  lose  1  random  Ability  Point  each  sunset;  the  roll
  of  ‘1’  being  Brawn  and  so  on  down  one’s  Ability
  Scores,  with  ‘9-12’  resulting  in  no  loss  that  night.
  When  any  Score  reaches  0,  that  person  dies,  to  be
  a  Ghost  to  haunt  the  island  forever.  The  only  way
  to  break  the  curse  at  this  point  is  to  get  married.
  CONCLUDING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Once  the
  party  has  left  the  Devil’s  Sea  behind,  there  are
  some  things  to  consider.
  Marooned  on  the  island:  If  the  Characters  have  no
  ship  with  which  to  leave  this  accursed  island,  there
  is  a  1  in  12  chance  each  month  that  another  ship
  will  be  drawn  here,  though  each  person  will  have
  to  buy  passage  off  at  the  price  of  1000  gold.
  Lady  Jaye’s  love:  If  anyone  should  marry  Lady
  Jaye,  she  will  adventure  with  him  forever,  loyal
  unto  the  death  (and  perhaps  beyond).
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  12
  Ever  hear  of  the  Dark  Lady,  mate?  Ahhh,  perhaps
  not. ‘Tis  a  sad  tale,  ye  see.  Many  who  know  it
  don’t  speak  o’ it,  lestaways  not  unless  they  feel
  safe  by  the  fireside  a  tellin’ other  ghost  stories.  Fer
  many  have  crossed  this  ghost  ship—crossed,  says  I,
  not  crossed  paths,  this  ship  with  a  will  o’ its  own,
  born  o’ heartbreak.  Will  her  heart  break  yours,  or
  will  ye  be  the  first  ta  set  the  dead  ta  rest  an’ take
  her  treasure  fer  yer  own?
  BEGINNING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Before  running
  this  Adventure,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  read  through  it
  just  to  be  familiar  with  the  storyline  and  key
  elements.  However,  reading  the  entire  Adventure
  beforehand  is  not  necessary  for  play.
  Timeline:  This  adventure  is  set  in  the  Caribbean  in
  the  year  1684.  Those  Encounters  that  are  marked
  with  an  ‘*’  require  the  game  to  be  played  in  this
  era.  If  your  game  does  not  adhere  to  timelines,  do
  not  use  these  Encounters.
  Background:  When  everyone  is  ready  to  play,
  begin  the  adventure  by  reading  the  narrative  below.
  You  awaken  in  Hell,  or  at  least,  so  it  seems.  As
  your  eyes  slowly  fill  with  the  dim  light  of  hope,
  you  find  yourself  surrounded  by  the  majestic
  stalactites  and  stalagmites  of  a  cave.  Curtains  of
  flowstone  glisten  with  dripping  water,  filling  a
  tidal  pool  which  only  now  do  you  realize  you
  are  laying  in,  shallow  and  as  cold  as  dead  blood.
  Sitting  upright,  you  look  out  the  way  you  must
  have  come  in,  a  narrow  throat  of  stone  leading
  into  a  blinding  light.
  Are  you  dead?  Your  mind  and  memories  are
  assaulted  by  feverish  visions,  plaguing  your
  waking  thoughts  with  images  of  men  being  hung
  or  walking  the  plank.  And  now,  within  this  oasis
  of  darkness,  away  from  the  stark  light  of  life,
  you  come  to  remember  that  all  this  occurred  in
  lives  you  once  lived,  and  of  hearts  you  have
  broken,  by  your  will  or  not.
  Even  as  your  mortal  life  slips  away  like  the
  tide  in  this  cave,  you  can  only  marvel  at  the
  plan  of  God—if  He  loves  you,  why  has  he
  brought  you  to  such  an  end?  Indeed,  is  this  an
  end,  or  are  you  to  suffer  in  Hell  for  all  time?
  PART  1:  CAVE  OF  GLOWING  SKULLS:   This
  lonely  location  may  be  the  horrible  end  for  the
  tales  of  many,  but  it  is  only  the  beginning  of  this
  story  for  the  Player  Characters.  To  tell  their  tale,
  play  the  following  Encounters  one  and  all  and  in
  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  1)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  all  Characters  who
  wish  to  play  this  Adventure . . .
  You  soon  discover  that  you  are  not  alone,  and
  that  others  were  also  washed  into  this  tidal  pool,
  though  as  they  lay  motionless  in  the  shallow
  water  you  wonder  if  they  even  alive,  nor  rather
  how  they  could  be  anything  but  dead,  corpses  to
  decorate  this  flooded  grave  to  which  you  have
  been  banished.  As  you  fight  off  your  fever,  you
  begin  to  remember  what  occurred;  Your  ship  was
  caught  in  a  terrible  gale  and  wrecked,  and  half-
  drowned  you  were  washed  upon  these  uncharted
  shores  by  a  storm  so  fierce  that  a  cave  appearing
  as  no  better  than  the  mouth  of  Hell  itself  offered
  better  odds  than  turning  back  into  those  waves.
  Even  now,  as  a  storm  rages  outside  the  end  of
  the  tunnel,  you  look  upon  the  headlands  which
  claimed  so  many  others,  as  well  as  your  only
  hope  of  escape.  Timbers  are  still  being  smashed
  upon  the  cruel  rocks,  the  ship’s  skeleton  pounded
  by  the  angry  sea,  whose  rancor  fills  the  sky,  yet
  it  is  dulled  to  but  a  whisper  within  this  cave,  a
  soft  voice  that  begins  to  awaken  the  dead . . .
  The  Player  Characters  are  all  here  and  alive,
  as  will  be  any  key  NPCs  that  followed  them  from
  other  Adventures  to  this  doom—they  are  the  others
  that  are  stirring  now,  everyone  having  the  same
  visions  and  slow  awakening  as  each  other.  Each
  person  will  still  have  all  their  carried  equipment.
  The  tunnel  leads  onto  the  stormswept  headland
  that  is  impassable  at  this  time.  However,  each  and
  every  Character  who  makes  a  successful  Searching
  Check  out  there  (or  everyone  that  is  involved  in  a
  successful  Group  Searching  Check)  will  discover
  from  the  wreckage  of  their  ship  enough  goods  to
  constitute  one  roll  from  the  following  chart.  There
  are  no  modifiers  to  any  of  the  rolls  on  this  chart.
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  13
  Recovered   Goods
  Roll
  Recovered  from  the  shallows
  9-12
  Barrel  of  water  (10  days  worth)
  6-8
  1  day  worth  of  food
  4-5
  Body  of  crew  to  be  looted  (Table  81)
  3
  30’ of  good  rope
  1-2
  Nothing  more  to  be  found  by  this  person
  Should  any  Player  argue  the  loss  of  the  ship,
  particularly  if  he  had  any  ownership  in  it,  remind
  him  that  no  Adventure  can  take  that  away—he  will
  get  a  chance  to  get  his  ship  back  and  more,  but
  he  must  go  through  some  difficulties  to  get  it.  In
  the  meanwhile,  they  have  little  choice  but  to  wait
  out  the  storm,  or  explore  further  back  into  the
  cave.  Either  way,  they  are  soon  to  have  their  first
  difficulty . . .
  2)  Old  as  dirt
  Thunder  and  lightning  now  pounds  inside  the
  cave!  Yet  it  is  not—you  see  the  weak  lightning
  of  a  very  feeble  torch  drawing  near,  followed  by
  the  equally  weak  thunder  of  a  haggard  old  voice
  that  grunts  and  chokes  as  it  draws  closer.  Soon
  the  dim  light  reveals  its  master,  an  old  man  who
  seems  older  than  the  cave  itself,  stepping  out  of
  the  shadows  like  a  ghost.
  The  old  man  was  marooned  here  when  he  was
  a  boy,  so  long  ago  he  cannot  remember.  He  barely
  even  remembers  his  own  name,  ‘Ric’,  which  he  is
  able  to  recall  only  because  how  often  he  makes  a
  similar  sound,  choking  and  hiccuping,  eating  naught
  but  fish  for  most  of  a  century.  He’ll  wish  to  talk
  to  the  party,  and  be  kind  for  the  most  part,  even
  joking  about  himself  as  being  ‘old  as  dirt’,  but  he
  has  a  serious  side  as  well—he  will  inform  the  new
  occupants  of  this  cave  that  there  is  no  hope  of  a
  rescue,  for  no  ships  sail  here,  save  one,  ‘the  Dark
  Lady’,  as  this  cave  lies  on  the  edge  of  the  feared
  ‘Circle  of  Blood’,  the  route  that  evil  ship  sails  and
  hs  done  so  for  years  now.  He  knows  no  more,  but
  will  say  that  there  is  greater  wisdom  to  be  found
  further  back  in  the  cave.  Ric  will  accompany  the
  party  as  they  delve  into  the  depths  of  the  cave,
  skewering  a  dead  fish  on  the  end  of  a  driftwood
  stick  and  lighting  it  to  use  as  a  torch.
  3)  Sunken  skulls
  Venturing  deeper  into  the  cave,  the  tunnel  climbs
  a  steep  slope,  which  is  revealed  as  the  rim  of  a
  natural  pool,  the  beginning  of  a  large  cavern  a
  good  hundred  feet  long,  its  entire  floor  flooded.
  As  your  eyes  adjust  to  the  deceptive,  pale  light
  glinting  off  the  cave  walls,  you  see  dead  faces
  in  the  water.  Skulls  they  are,  hundreds  of  them
  forming  the  entire  bottom  of  the  sunken  floor,  in
  water  so  shallow  that  some  of  them  peer  above
  the  surface . . . a  snake  swims  through  one  eye
  socket  as  though  it  were  one  of  you  leaving
  your  own  cave  under  the  watchful  eyes  of  the
  storm  gods  and  sea  fates  that  brought  you  here.
  Ric  will  not  venture  beyond  this  point,  as  he
  fears  the  skulls  and  the  heathen  gods  very  much.
  Have  each  Character  make  an  Intuition  Check  to
  notice  the  old  man  muttering  about  how  the  skulls
  ‘were  buried  almost  a  thousand  years  before  Christ’
  and  how  ‘God  has  no  power  over  them’.
  If  anyone  speaks  directly  to  the  skulls,  ghostly
  voices  will  seem  answer  him—no  matter  what  one
  says,  his  own  voice  will  echo  back  with  different
  words.  They  will  also  speak  of  their  own  accord  if
  disturbed.  What  they  speak   will  be  determined  at
  random  on  the  following  chart.  If  the  words  are
  “Dead  men  tell  no  tales . . .”  then  the  speaker  must
  make  a  Luck  Check  or  perish  instantly!
  Legends
  Roll
  Legend  of  the  Dark  Lady
  10-12
  “No  ships  can  see  us  or  withstand  us . . .”
  8-9
  “The  headlands  are  the  bones  of  gods . . .”
  6-7
  “Dead  ships  shall  rot  even  as  we  do . . .”
  3-5
  “Beyond  our  sight  lies  a  graveyard . . .”
  1-2
  “Dead  men  tell  no  tales . . .”
  4)  Escape!
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  the  party  moves  through
  the  pool  in  Encounter  3  and  explores  beyond  it.
  Miles  beyond  the  sunken  skulls,  the  tunnel  opens
  into  the  sweltering  outside  air  of  the  deep  jungle.
  The  party  is  now  along  the  coast  of  Honduras.
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  14
  PART  2:  ESCAPE  FROM  HONDURAS:   Lost
  in  a  cave  along  an  uncharted  coast,  the  party  has
  but  three  options.  Each  of  the  following  Encounters
  accounts  for  each  way  they  might  leave  the  cave
  and  Honduras  behind.  Use  only  the  Encounter(s)
  that  surmise  what  the  party  does  in  trying  their
  various  methods  of  escape.
  Rescue:  The  one  Encounter  that  will  not  happen  is
  being  rescued,  no  matter  how  long  the  party  waits
  here.  Ric  will  in  this  event  remind  the  party  that
  no  ships  come  here  anymore,  not  just  to  avoid  the
  perilous  headlands,  but  also  the  Dark  Lady  herself.
  Ric:  A  crazy  old  man,  Ric  will  not  wish  to  leave
  this  cave,  no  matter  how  plausible  the  party’s  plan
  of  escape  may  seem.  Though  he  has  not  left  the
  cave  in  nearly  a  century  it  is  true,  he  will  claim
  to  know  well  enough  that  he  will  be  doomed  if  he
  tries  to  leave—“Nothing  escapes  those  rocks!”  he
  will  add  with  such  finality  that  his  heart  gives  out
  and  he  dies  at  that  moment!
  5)  Lost  village
  Use  this  Encounter  if  the  party  explored  the  cave
  to  its  end  and  sets  out  into  the  jungle.
  Through  the  shredded  canopy  of  palm  leaves  you
  see  the  unmistakable  glint  of  metal  on  a  barren
  mountain,  about  half  a  mile  distant.
  If  the  party  follows  the  light  to  its  source,  it
  will  turn  out  to  be  a  Spanish  helmet  on  a  pike,
  marking  the  head  of  a  trail  that  leads  6  miles  on
  to  the  remnants  of  an  old  native  village.  There  are
  materials  enough  here  to  build  a  raft  after  10  total
  man-days  are  spent  working  on  it,  thus  taking  the
  group  out  to  sea  and  to  Encounter  7.
  If  the  village  is  successfully  searched,  one  will
  find  a  skull  mingled  with  slag  in  the  bottom  of  a
  huge,  cracked  cauldron—it  seems  as  if  the  natives
  were  melting  the  Spaniards  along  with  their  own
  weapons  and  armor.  This  one  surviving  skull  has
  writing  scratched  upon  it  in  Spanish,  translating  to
  ‘The  Dark  Lady  is  alive’.  If  nobody  can  translate
  this  writing,  the  Players  themselves  may  attempt  to
  decipher  it  by  studying  Handout  5.
  6)  Tides  and  tentacles
  Use  this  Encounter  if  the  party  tries  to  travel  along
  the  treacherous  headlands  outside  the  cave.
  These  headlands  seem  impassable.  This  maze  of
  rocks  changes  with  the  tide,  often  imprisoning
  you  upon  sun-baked  boulders  for  hours  at  a  time
  while  you  wait  for  the  water  to  recede.  Finally,
  you  find  your  way  blocked  by  a  narrow  chasm
  cutting  into  the  sheer  clifface  as  if  a  giant  hand
  scooped  a  piece  of  the  earth  away,  leaving  the
  shallows  filled  with  the  writhing  tentacles  of  at
  least  one  octopus,  maybe  more,  spawned  in  the
  deep  and  awaiting  anyone  that  should  fall  in.
  There  is  actually  only  one  octopus  below,  but
  it  is  large  and  menacing  to  behold.  It  is  a  full  20’
  jump  to  the  other  side  of  the  chasm,  and  anyone
  who  falls  into  the  water  below,  which  is  itself  9’
  deep,  will  have  to  do  battle  with  the  octopus.  Yet
  only  4  miles  beyond  this  point  a  longboat  from  the
  party’s  own  wrecked  vessel  will  be  floating  in  a
  cove,  swamped  but  intact,  which  can  lead  them  out
  to  sea  and  thus  to  Encounter  7.
  If  the  party  ventures  along  the  coast,  108
  leagues  north  will  take  them  to  Trujillo,  and  96
  leagues  south  will  bring  them  to  Puerto  Bello.
  7)  Daring  the  sea
  Use  this  Encounter  if  the  party  sets  out  to  sea  in
  any  kind  of  makeshift  raft  or  boat.
  The  journey  out  to  sea  is  difficult  at  first,  as  the
  waves  roll  against  you  like  armies  of  the  ocean
  spirits  trying  to  keep  you  back.  Eventually  you
  push  through  them,  drenched  and  with  the  salty
  taste  of  the  tide  but  also  of  victory  on  your  lips.
  You  glide  over  the  reefs  just  below  the  surface,
  and  then  you  look  ahead  to  sea—and  indeed  see
  a  ship  heading  your  way!
  The  ship  is  a  derelict  French  sloop,  plundered
  by  the  Dark  Lady  but  12  days  ago,  as  the  logbook
  will  indicate  if  read.  This  ship  is  now  sinking  and
  cannot  be  saved,  however  its  longboat  certainly  can
  be.  There  are  20  days  of  food  and  water  aboard.
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  15
  PART  3:  THE  CIRCLE  OF  BLOOD:   One  way
  or  another,  the  fates  will  drive  the  Player  party  to
  Jamaica  and  into  the  Circle  of  Blood,  the  route
  endlessly  traveled  by  the  Dark  Lady.  Once  they
  have  reached  this  point,  a  good  180  leagues  from
  the  Cave  of  Glowing  Skulls,  they  can  encounter
  the  Dark  Lady  at  any  time.  Run  the  following
  Encounters  whenever  they  are  applicable,  but  in  the
  order  that  they  are  presented.
  The  Circle  of  Blood:  The  Circle  of  Blood  forms  a
  ring  from  Port  Royal,  30  leagues  to  Petit  Goave,
  then  70  leagues  to  Tortuga,  and  then  80  leagues
  back  to  Port  Royal.  However,  the  normal  bonus  of
  +3  to  speed  in  this  route  is  lost  for  the  party,  as
  the  winds  blow  ill,  suffering  them  a  -1  penalty  to
  speed,  as  the  Dark  Lady  is  coming  for  them . . .
  Summoning  the  Dark  Lady:  It  is  possible  that  the
  Players  have  read  the  Caribbean  Sourcebook,  or
  rather  that  their  Characters  know  the  legend  of  the
  Dark  Lady—should  anyone  drink  a  toast  in  their
  own  blood,  nothing  will  happen  any  sooner  than  it
  would  otherwise,  for  the  ghost  ship  has  already
  been  summoned  by  fate,  and  is  on  her  way . . .
  8)  Lonely  hearts
  Use  this  Encounter  if  there  are  any  NPCs  among
  the  party  that  are  the  opposite  gender  of  any  PCs
  themselves.  The  PC  thus  with  the  lowest  total
  Ability  Points  will  win  the  affection  of  the  NPC,
  regardless  of  any  past  relationships  with  anyone.
  When  reading  the  narrative  below,  replace  ‘NPC’
  with  the  name  of  the  now  lovestruck  NPC  and
  ‘CHARACTER’  with  the  namesake  of  his  or  her
  new  admirer.
  The  journey  seems  as  endless  as  the  sea  itself.
  Staring  away  across  the  horizon  of  this  desert  of
  water,  ‘NPC’  then  turns  and  gazes  longingly  into
  your  eyes,  ‘CHARACTER’.  “I  will  not  die  alone,
  nor  unwed.  ‘Tis  no  trick  of  the  maddening  heat
  nor  of  despair . . . I  love  you!”
  The  NPC  does  indeed  love  the  Character,  and
  will  continue  to  love  him,  regardless  of  whatever
  happens  after  this,  for  it  is  true  love  unbreakable.
  9)  Shark  attack
  The  rolling  sea  ahead  kicks  up  a  spray.  Soon
  you  see  why—the  waves  crash  against  the  high
  rocks  of  a  reef  and  spew  through  its  blow-holes.
  As  you  glide  over  this  undersea  island,  the  water
  turns  ghostly  green . . . and  beautiful.  Ripples  from
  your  own  oars  cast  emerald  hues  over  the  rocks
  naught  but  five  feet  below.  However,  your  oars,
  raft  and  even  yourselves  leave  a  wake  of  shadow
  that  draws  your  attention  to  others—the  living
  shadows  of  dark  sharks  gliding  over  the  reef  like
  devils  of  the  deep.  They  are  surrounding  you!
  There  are  7-12  reef  sharks  here,  and  will  after
  2  Rounds  begin  to  bump  against  the  party’s  boat,
  capsizing  it  after  2  more  Rounds  pass  unless  they
  are  all  killed.  Each  person  who  enters  the  water
  will  divert  1  shark  from  the  raft,  which  like  all
  reef  sharks  will  fight  him  for  1  Turn  and  then  let
  him  be,  that  is  until  he  tries  to  get  away,  whether
  by  swimming  away  or  getting  back  onto  the  raft.
  A  successful  search  of  the  reef  (this  roll  made
  with  a  -1  penalty)  will  find  a  marker-barrel,  its  old
  rope  dropping  down  10’ to  a  chest  of  810  daadlers.
  10)  The  ghost  ship’s  approach
  The  moon  is  out  tonight,  washing  all  color  from
  the  sky  and  the  sea.  Dark  clouds  roll  menacingly
  above  like  the  tide  of  Hell  encroaching  on  the
  shores  of  Heaven,  staining  the  silvery  seas  below
  them  with  shadows  that  creep  past  your  boat  like
  the  wakes  of  unseen  ghost  ships.  Your  heart  is
  soon  to  stop,  for  one  ship  you  can  indeed  see
  with  living  eyes—a  ship  whose  sails  fly  against
  the  wind  and  whose  hull  is  so  damaged  as  to  be
  a  skeleton  of  wood,  yet  float  she  does,  and  is
  making  straight  for  you . . .
  The  ship  is  the  Dark  Lady  herself.  She  will
  be  upon  the  party  in  8  Rounds,  though  anything
  they  may  do  (such  as  hide  beneath  their  raft  or  lie
  down  to  play  dead)  will  be  seen  and  known  after
  the  3rd  Round.  Once  the  party  has  carried  out  what
  plans  they  will,  the  ghost  ship  will  stop  to  take
  aboard  anybody  that  is  willing.  At  this  point,  move
  on  to  the  next  section  of  this  Adventure . . .
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  16
  PART  4:  ABOARD  THE  DARK  LADY:  The  ship
  spoken  of  only  in  whispers  and  ghost  stories,  the
  ‘Dark  Lady’,  is  quite  real.  She  continually  sails  the
  passage  known  as  the  Circle  of  Blood,  and  now
  that  the  Characters  are  aboard  her,  they  must  try
  to  solve  the  mystery  of  this  ship,  if  they  are  ever
  to  be  free.  Each  of  the  following  Encounters  offer
  a  clue  to  solving  this  mystery,  so  use  them  as  the
  party  evokes  them,  but  only  at  the  maximum  rate
  of  1  Encounter  occurring  every  1-4  nights.
  The  spirit  of  the  Dark  Lady:  The  Dark  Lady  is  a
  ship  kept  afloat  by  ghostly  spirits.  And  thus  while
  she  appears  badly  damaged,  she,  like  a  corpse,  will
  not  sink,  no  matter  how  much  damage  she  endures,
  nor  will  she  prove  able  to  run  aground.  Reefs  and
  shoals  of  the  physical  world  break  apart  at  her
  passing,  much  like  the  hearts  of  all  those  that  have
  passed  beyond  this  world  due  to  her,  and  indeed
  whose  spirits  hold  her  together.
  The  curse  of  the  Dark  Lady:  The  entire  crew  of
  this  ghost  ship,  indeed  all  those  who  stayed  aboard
  and  eventually  died  on  this  vessel,  are  now  part  of
  the  ghost  crew.  All  36  of  them  are  intangible  to
  the  living  and  will  seldom  interact  with  them,  save
  when  someone  joins  them.  This  may  very  well  be
  the  party’s  fate,  for  there  is  no  food  or  water
  aboard.  Furthermore,  anyone  who  tries  to  physically
  leave  the  ship  will  become  cursed,  and  so  begin  to
  lose  1  Brawn  Point  a  day,  until  he  inevitably  dies.
  Thusly,  the  more  investigating  the  party  does,  the
  more  they  may  learn  of  this  curse,  but  the  longer
  they  will  delay  getting  to  the  next  section  of  this
  Adventure,  where  food  and  freedom  await  them.
  The  blood:  Though  the  party  was  doomed  to  come
  across  the  Dark  Lady  despite  the  legends  in  the
  Caribbean  (Sourcebook),  and  thus  drinking  a  toast
  in  their  own  blood  would  have  neither  helped  nor
  hindered  them  before,  it  will  now.  The  next  section
  of  this  Adventure  will  begin  once  any  Character
  does  indeed  drink  a  toast  to  the  ship  in  his  own
  blood.  To  get  enough  blood,  he  must  effectively
  wound  himself  for  0  Base  Damage,  and  make  a
  normal  roll  against  his  Girth  Score  to  survive  this.
  However,  if  he  does,  his  wound  will  miraculously
  close  before  his  eyes.
  11)  Welcome  aboard  the  Dark  Lady
  Use  this  Encounter  when  the  party  first  climbs  on
  board  this  haunted  vessel.
  You  climb  aboard  to  find  this  ghost  ship  to  be
  quite  real.  Still,  there  is  something  strange  about
  these  pirates.  They  mull  about  the  deck  without
  a  care  in  the  world.  They  hardly  even  glance  in
  your  direction,  save  for  one,  the  quartermaster  by
  his  appearance,  tall  and  brawny,  who  awaits  you
  amidships.  He  opens  the  door  to  the  captain’s
  cabin  and  leads  you  inside.  Therein,  it  is  as  Hell
  must  be.  Dark  and  dimly  lit  with  candles  only,
  their  pale  light  illuminating  skulls  and  ill-begotten
  treasures  that  look  back  at  you  from  the  depths
  of  the  shadows.  The  captain  himself  sits  behind
  a  desk  whereupon  rests  a  book  and  a  quill,  the
  ferocious  look  on  his  twisted,  gaunt  face  telling
  you  true  that  to  put  your  mark  in  his  book  is  to
  sign  your  very  soul  away.
  The  captain,  one  Baron  LaBonne,  is  giving  the
  party  a  chance  to  join  him  as  they  would  aboard
  any  pirate  ship,  save  that  if  they  refuse,  being
  already  aboard,  the  curse  will  effect  them  so  that
  their  Brawn  will  begin  to  wane  as  if  they  jumped
  overboard,  though  not  noticeably,  so  each  Player
  will  make  their  choice  with  no  hint  as  to  whether
  it  is  good  or  ill.  Those  who  do  refuse  can  lift  the
  curse  by  signing  the  book,  but  will  not  regain  any
  Brawn  Points  already  lost.  Any  NPCs  with  the
  party  will  sign  unless  given  good  reason  not  to,
  such  as  the  PC  they  love  refusing  to  sign  on,  and
  will  still  make  their  choices  only  after  all  of  the
  Player  Characters  have  made  theirs.
  12)  Talking  to  the  crew
  To  engage  one  the  crew  in  conversation  requires
  first  getting  their  attention.  The  only  way  this  can
  be  done  is  to  treat  him  as  the  ghost  he  is,  either
  by  reaching  through  them,  holding  up  a  cross  or
  crossing  one’s  self.  The  crewman’s  illusionary  flesh
  will  then  melt  away  to  reveal  the  Ghost  Skeleton
  beneath,  who  will  then  attack  the  one  who  did  this
  to  him.  If  defeated,  his  skull  will  utter  one  thing
  from  the  following  chart.
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  17
  Ghost   Stories
  Roll
  Last  words  of  the  crew  member
  10-12
  “We  are  bound  to  the  Dark  Lady . . .”
  6-9
  “LaBonne  is  not  in  command . . .”
  3-5
  “I  tried  to  leave  the  ship  once . . .”
  1-2
  “We  are  cursed . . .”
  13)  Reading  the  logbook
  To  read  the  logbook  one  must  sneak  into  captain
  LaBonne’s  cabin—he  will  not  show  it  to  them  for
  any  reason.  He  only  leaves  once  each  night,  when
  he  goes  to  the  helm  to  drink  a  toast,  seemingly  to
  himself,  but  in  truth  is  to  the  Dark  Lady.  This  will
  offer  a  mere  5  Rounds  total  for  would-be  thieves
  to  approach  the  cabin,  enter,  search  and  slip  away,
  and  both  the  door  and  rear  windows  are  locked.  If
  the  party  waits  until  any  night  when  a  storm  fills
  the  sky  (rolled  upon  Table  40),  LaBonne  will
  spend  a  long  time  gazing  out  into  it,  giving  them
  12  Rounds  instead  of  5  to  complete  their  task.
  This  time  you  find  the  cabin  to  be  not  Hell,  but
  Heaven—once  the  devil  had  conquered  it.  Within
  the  shadows,  lanterns  sway  back  and  forth  with
  the  rocking  of  the  ship,  but  appear  as  if  they  are
  being  carried  by  angels  coming  to  lead  you  away
  from  this  place.  As  their  light  fills  the  room,  or
  rather  as  your  eyes  adjust  to  the  gloom,  you  see
  that  the  cabin  is  dominated  by  a  pipe-organ,  its
  gilded  tubes  fanning  out  in  the  shape  of  a  shell,
  its  keys  of  ivory  stained  red  with  blood.  Naught
  else  is  to  be  seen,  not  even  those  items  that  one
  would  expect  in  a  captain’s  cabin—you  see  no
  charts,  weapons  or  logbook.
  A  Searching  Check  can  be  made  only  once  as
  normal,  and  each  place  one  specifically  looks  at  or
  into  takes  another  full  Turn.  The  logbook  can  be
  found  hidden  in  an  unlocked  seachest,  buried  under
  what  looks  like  a  Spanish  bridal  gown  (which  was
  to  be  for  the  Lady  Carlotta,  whom  was  the  reason
  the  Dark  Lady  cursed  her  captain  and  crew).  It
  will  take  far  longer  than  a  mere  few  Rounds  to
  read  the  logbook  for  anything  of  import,  but  if  one
  looks  at  the  last  entry,  he  will  find  an  interesting
  passage,  provided  as  Handout  6.
  14)  Waking  the  dead
  Use  this  Encounter  if  the  party  simply  isn’t  getting
  enough  answers,  preferably  after  they  have  at  least
  tried  whatever  actions  would  lead  to  the  previous
  Encounters  (12  and  13).
  Tonight  you  are  caught  in  the  heart  of  a  gale.
  The  spray  of  the  sea,  your  savior  during  the  hot
  day,  is  poison  to  you  now,  stinging  your  skin  as
  your  cold  hands  clutch  the  rigging  of  the  Dark
  Lady.  Thunder  rumbles  overhead,  as  if  the  storm
  is  reaching  all  the  way  to  Heaven.  A  stark  flash
  of  lightning  reveals  a  woman  standing  by  the
  railing,  oblivious  to  the  fury  of  the  sky  and  sea,
  yet  somehow  at  one  with  it—the  waves  splash
  over  the  deck,  passing  right  through  her!
  This  is  the  ghost  of  a  Spanish  lady  who  was
  a  victim  of  this  ghost  ship.  She  will  remain  for  4
  Rounds.  On  each  Character’s  Turn  he  may  try  one
  action  with  her,  but  only  specific  actions  will  get
  her  attention,  and  then  only  with  specific  results.
  After  4  Rounds  the  ghost  lady  will  disappear,  and
  the  storm  will  subside  shortly  thereafter,  whether
  one  was  rolled  on  Table  40  for  this  day  or  not.
  Offering  to  help  her  will  get  no  response.
  Asking  her  name  will  encourage  her  to  merely
  whisper  it,  fearful  that  the  ship  itself  will  hear  her,
  requiring  an  Intuition  Check  to  hear  “Carlotta.”
  Offering  to  kiss  her  will  merit  a  cryptic  reply,
  spoken  in  the  asking  Character’s  own  voice,  “Give
  your  love  to  the  ship  or  she  will  take  your  life.”
  Asking  how  she  died  will  receive  a  response
  that  “The  captain  betrayed  his  lover.  Be  warned.
  Hell  hath  no  fury  like  a  lady  scorned.”
  Mentioning  Baron  LaBonne  by  name  will  get
  this  ghost  to  weep,  with  tears  of  blood,  and  she
  will  curse  his  name  before  flying  into  a  rage  in
  which  she  will  attack  the  asking  Character  for  a
  single  Round,  before  returning  to  her  place  beside
  the  ship’s  railing  to  stare  out  into  the  storm  again.
  Asking  how  to  end  the  curse  will  see  her  turn
  and  raise  a  glass  of  red  ‘wine’,  then  proceed  to
  have  a  toast,  the  ‘wine’  filling  her  pale  apparition
  with  living  color  for  a  moment,  but  soon  to  fade,
  even  as  the  winds  die  down,  their  last  breaths
  blowing  away  this  apparition  like  a  mist . . .
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  18
  PART  5:  AN  UNFAITHFUL  LOVER:   Begin  this
  part  of  the  Adventure  only  once  one  of  the  living
  Characters  aboard  the  Dark  Lady  has  drank  a  toast
  in  his  own  blood.  At  this  point,  both  the  captain
  and  the  ship  herself  will  become  aware  of  the  true
  potential  of  the  party  and  seek  to  exploit  them.
  Run  the  following  Encounters  one  and  all  and  in
  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  15)  So  close  and  yet  so  far*
  “Food!  Water!”  cries  the  lookout,  mocking  you.
  Yet  he  speaks  true,  for  he  sighted  a  ship,  where
  the  crew  is  alive . . . at  least  for  now,  for  as  the
  Dark  Lady  raises  her  colors,  the  other  ship  is
  quick  to  show  theirs—white.
  The  other  ship  is  a  French  merchantman  that
  has  indeed  surrendered.  Baron  LaBonne  will  run  up
  alongside  her,  all  guns  at  the  ready,  and  tell  the
  Player  Characters  that  they  are  free  to  go  aboard
  and  get  what  treasure  they  can  carry  in  a  single
  trip,  though  they  alone  shall  go.  He  will  now  fully
  explain  how  the  crew  are  bound  to  never  leave  the
  ship.  Once  they  have  taken  what  they  will,  he  will
  scuttle  the  French  ship,  leaving  none  alive.
  16)  Dinner  with  the  devil
  The  Characters  will  be  asked  to  dine  together  with
  the  captain.  Run  this  Encounter  for  all  who  accept.
  If  nobody  accepts,  move  on  to  Encounter  17.
  Upon  entering  the  cabin,  you  are  drowned  in  a
  flood  of  sad  yet  majestic  music  flowing  from  the
  organ  that  dominates  the  room.  The  captain  has
  his  back  to  you,  though  a  table  has  been  made
  ready,  with  places  for  each  of  you,  and  food  that
  the  courtiers  of  France  would  die  to  dine  upon.
  As  you  make  yourselves  comfortable,  the  Baron,
  who  has  no  setting,  begins  a  tale  that  is  drowned
  under  his  music  even  as  you  are,  a  song  with  as
  strained  a  marriage  to  his  organ  as  he  has  with
  his  ship.  For  each  night,  as  he  sings  it,  he  must
  drink  a  toast,  and  this  night  he  will  share  it  with
  you,  a  toast,  he  goes  on,  to  his  lovely  lady  host,
  the  ship  you  sail  upon.  You  feel  that  his  tale,
  and  yours,  is  only  beginning,  as  is  your  feast.
  The  food  and  drink  is  real,  and  will  provide
  sustanance  for  anyone  who  has  it,  though  each  of
  the  different  items  also  have  adverse  effects  as  a
  result  of  the  ghost  ship’s  curse.  Provide  the  Players
  with  Handout  7  to  list  what  they  have  to  dine  on.
  What  these  different  foods  and  drinks  do  to  the
  living  are  explained  below.  Each  time  someone  has
  all  of  his  share  of  anything  on  this  ‘menu’,  Baron
  LaBonne  will  sing  one  more  line  of  his  tale.  Thus,
  in  order  to  hear  the  full  story,  the  party  will  have
  to  eat  and/or  drink  a  total  of  6  different  things.
  The  Lady  Carlotta  was  a  beauty  quite  fair
  My  loneliness  I  could  no  longer  bear
  And  I  vowed  she  would  be  my  wife
  The  Lady  of  darkness  I  never  believed
  Until  my  bride  she  forced  me  to  grieve
  On  this  ship  alone  have  I  life
  The  roast  chicken  is  sweet  and  savory,  giving
  the  living  a  permanent  increase  of  +1  to  his  Prime
  Requisite  Score  (to  a  maximum  of  12).
  The  bread  is  bitter  and  brittle,  old  as  the  ship
  itself,  the  cost  and  the  loss  to  the  living  -1  to  his
  Endurance  Score  (to  a  minimum  of  3).
  The  smoked  salmon  tastes  like  powder  from  a
  cannon,  requiring  an  Endurance  Check  to  down  but
  will  permanently  raise  one’s  Defense  Score  by  +1.
  The  boucaned  swine  still  twitches  at  times,  but
  if  eaten  it  will  sweeten  one’s  taste  for  other  things,
  giving  him  the  (additional)  Trademark  of  ‘lustful’.
  The  wine  is  the  antidote  for  the  poison  that
  has  been  applied  to  the  apples,  and  having  tasted
  the  former  will  make  one  immune  to  the  later.
  The  apples  are  lush  and  polished—with  poison,
  concocted  of  a  Skill  Level  3,  though  they  have  an
  antidote  in  the  wine  that  is  plentiful  on  the  table.
  17)  Lost  love
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  a  Player  Character  has
  an  NPC  lover.  When  reading  this  narrative,  replace
  ‘NPC’  with  the  loving  NPC’s  name.
  The  crew  has  gathered  amidships  for  roll-call,  a
  formality  at  best,  and  something  that  has  not
  happened  until  now.  Then,  Baron  LaBonne  looks
  at  you.  ‘NPC’  seems  to  be  missing  by  his  count,
  and  his  only  response  is  to  smile.
  
  THE   ENDLESS   VOYAGE
  19
  The  NPC  committed  suicide,  diving  overboard
  in  despair.  LaBonne  knows  this,  and  will  freely  tell
  the  party  if  asked.  If  there  is  any  uncertainty  as  to
  the  Dark  Lady  being  a  ghost  ship  with  her  own
  will,  the  Baron  will  now  speak  clearly  of  it,  while
  adding  that  the  lost  love  NPC  felt  the  Dark  Lady’s
  despair,  as  have  many  others,  and  rid  herself  of
  the  curse.  He  will  finish  by  saying  that  the  NPC
  is  free—the  Player  Characters  are  not!
  PART  6:  THE  END  OF  THE  VOYAGE:   There
  is  only  way  to  end  this  endless  voyage,  and  that  is
  to  take  command  of  the  Dark  Lady  and  sail  her
  back  to  the  Cave  of  Skulls,  and  wreck  her  on  the
  accursed  headland  there.  But  to  take  command,  one
  must  defeat  Baron  LaBonne  in  a  duel.  Only  so
  long  as  it  remains  one-on-one  will  this  Ghost  Hero
  prove  a  tangible  enemy  to  the  party’s  own  hero.
  Once  the  party  takes  command,  the  Dark  Lady  will
  try  to  destroy  them.  Negate  all  rolls  on  Table  40
  as  they  will  encounter  only  storms,  of  a  different
  Magnitude  each  day,  determined  by  rolling  a  single
  dice.  Once  the  ghost  ship  reaches  the  same  stretch
  of  headland  where  the  party  began  this  Adventure,
  run  the  following  Encounters,  and  in  the  order  that
  they  are  presented.
  18)  Shipwrecked  sailors*
  Steering  straight  through  the  heart  of  the  gale,
  the  night  is  suddenly  broken  by  wreckage,  with
  floating  timbers,  rope  and  barrels  defining  where
  the  waves  end  and  the  skies  begin.  Amongst  the
  wreckage  you  see  several  sailors  clinging  to  a
  swamped  raft.  They  spot  you  and  struggle  against
  the  storm  to  reach  your  ship,  but  clearly  cannot.
  The  choice  lies  with  you  to  rescue  them.
  There  are  three  sailors,  one  of  them  a  woman.
  If  rescued,  she  will  be  so  grateful  as  to  give  the
  Player  Characters  a  title  deed  to  her  home  back  in
  Europe,  which  is  worth  5500  gold.  The  name  that
  she  goes  by  in  the  Caribbean  is  ‘Ek  Ong  Kaar
  Kaur  Khalsa’,  and  that  is  the  name  on  the  deed  as
  well.  However,  only  3  people  maximum  can  sign  it
  and  thus  claim  legal  ownership.  In  order  to  avoid
  disputes,  only  those  who  can  write  English  can
  write  their  name,  and  must  do  so  on  Handout  8.
  19)  Return  to  the  beginning
  The  Circle  of  Blood  is  broken  with  the  ship,  as
  the  Dark  Lady  crashes  against  the  headlands  that
  began  this  adventure  of  yours,  and  now  end  it.
  The  ship  breaks  apart  in  an  instant,  as  suredly  as
  her  heart  is  broken  forever,  and  she  splinters  into
  a  storm  of  wood  and  canvas.  As  the  ghost  ship
  feels  mortal  agony,  she  groans  for  the  first  time
  in  countless  years.  Then  as  she  enters  her  death-
  throws,  you  are  hurled  into  the  relentless  ocean,
  who  cares  not  for  sinner  or  savior—in  her  death,
  the  Dark  Lady  may  yet  claim  you  as  well.
  Each  Character  must  make  a  Luck  Check  to
  get  free  of  the  wreckage  before  it  goes  down,  and
  then  must  swim  180’ to  reach  the  land.  Those  who
  reach  land  must  make  an  Intuition  Check.  Those
  who  are  successful  will  swear  they  can  see  the
  Dark  Lady  sailing  away,  a  spectral  vessel  riding
  against  the  wind,  now  a  true  ghost  ship . . .
  CONCLUDING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Once  the
  party  has  left  the  Dark  Lady  behind,  in  any  way,
  shape  or  form,  there  are  some  things  to  consider.
  Death  of  the  Dark  Lady:  If  the  ship  was  wrecked
  outside  the  Cave  of  Glowing  Skulls,  dawn’s  light
  will  reveal  all  the  treasure  she  had,  gathered  over
  the  years  by  a  crew  that  could  not  be  killed—13
  rolls  on  Table  81.  However,  the  party  will  still  be
  trapped  in  the  same  place  that  they  began.
  Legend  of  the  Dark  Lady:  The  legend  of  the  Dark
  Lady  will  take  shape  in  the  shadows  of  legends.
  Whether  she  was  rescued  or  even  lived  or  not,  the
  woman  who  goes  by  the  name  ‘Ek  Ong  Kaar  Kaur
  Khalsa’  will  write  a  song  of  all  of  this.  In  time,
  this  song  will  circulate  back  to  the  Player  party.
  The  complete  lyrics  are  provided  on  Handout  9.
  The  voyage  of  the  Dark  Lady:  The  endless  voyage
  will  indeed  continue,  whether  wrecked  or  not,  as  a
  real  ship  or  a  phantom  ship.  Thusly,  if  one  sails
  the  Circle  of  Blood  and  drinks  a  toast  in  his  own
  blood,  this  ghost  ship  will  return,  but  now  as  an
  intangible  wraith  that  cannot  be  interacted  with,  but
  merely  sighting  it  will  lower  crew  Morale  by  -20.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  20
  Duty?  Fer  pirates?  Aye,  I  be  not  jestin’,  matey.
  Fer  pirates  know  well  what  duty  be.  They  knew  it
  once,  and  they  knows  it  now.  Aye,  they  be  dutiful
  ta  themselves!  Yet  freedom  also  bees  a  trap  says  I,
  fer  as  surely  as  a  pirate  would  spit  in  the  face  o’
  authority  or  keel-haul  a  king,  he’d  also  be  just  as
  quick  ta  serve  him . . . if  the  price  were  right.  I’m
  tellin’ ya  true,  that  the  winds  are  shiftin’,  an’ those
  pirates  who  sail  in  this ‘ere  game  are  about  ta  be
  caught  up  in  a  storm  the  likes  o’ which  they’ve
  never  known,  sending  their  ship  an’ their  fates  alike
  into  the  service  o’ Europe,  as  the  governments  be  a
  seekin’ the  same  thing  as  they  be . . .
  BEGINNING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Before  running
  this  Adventure,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  read  through  it
  just  to  be  familiar  with  the  storyline  and  key
  elements.  However,  reading  the  entire  Adventure
  beforehand  is  not  necessary  for  play.
  Timeline:  This  adventure  is  set  in  the  Caribbean  in
  the  year  1687.  Those  Encounters  that  are  marked
  with  an  ‘*’  require  the  game  to  be  played  in  this
  era.  If  your  game  does  not  adhere  to  timelines,  do
  not  use  these  Encounters.
  Background:  When  everyone  is  ready  to  play,
  begin  the  adventure  by  reading  the  narrative  below.
  The  Caribbean,  a  sea  of  blood,  and  of  rumor.  Of
  late,  a  tale  has  come  and  gone  as  often  as  the
  tide  itself,  a  tale  of  two  nobles,  and  of  a  throne.
  As  the  story  is  most  oft-told,  a  Duchess  and
  a  Duke,  both  with  claim  to  the  throne  of  France,
  were  engaged  to  be  married,  indeed  to  unite  the
  now  dividing  country.  Yet  then,  somehow,  their
  love  turned  to  duty,  and  they  are  now  actively
  hiring  pirates  to  seek  out  the  others’ head.  As  it
  is,  they  have  both  become  a  rich  prize,  not  just
  to  each  other,  but  to  the  other  nations  of  Europe
  as  well,  perhaps  because  either  head  would  be
  far  more  valuable  as  a  decoration  for  London
  Gate  than  it  would  be  wearing  any  crown.
  As  the  tide  flows  back  out  into  the  sunset,
  leaving  a  bloody  flotsam  of  crimson  red  and  odd
  wreckage  on  the  beach  as  the  telltale  sign  of  yet
  another  battle  waged  beyond  the  horizon,  you
  wonder—what  are  the  Duke  and  Duchess  worth?
  PART  1:  SPY   HOUSE:  This  tale  can  begin  in
  any  port  town  within  the  Caribbean.  Overlooking
  the  harbor  is  what  looks  like  a  taverne,  where
  behind  closed  doors  government  officials  and  some
  pirates  conduct  secret  business.  Just  what  sort  of
  business  will  be  done  today  will  be  told  through
  the  following  Encounters,  to  be  played  one  and  all
  and  in  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  1)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  one  Character  to  the
  game—the  one  with  the  most  Notoriety  Points.  If
  there  is  a  draw,  or  nobody  has  any  Notoriety  yet,
  this  opportunity  shall  be  given  to  the  one  who  can
  roll  highest  on  a  single  dice.  When  reading  the
  passage  below,  replace  ‘CHARACTER’  with  the
  name  of  the  Player  Character  being  approached . . .
  The  wharf  is  bustling  with  activity.  You  are  in  a
  crowd  of  onlookers  watching  pirates  being  hung,
  and  for  crimes  even  you  find  offensive,  when  a
  tall,  steely  man  approaches  you.  “Correct  me  if  I
  am  mistaken,  sir,”  he  whispers,  “but  you  are  one
  ‘CHARACTER’,  am  I  not  right?  I  was  seeking  a
  brave  soul  such  as  yourself.  May  we  talk,  away
  from  the  floggings  and  dizzying  heat?  Perhaps  to
  a  taverne.  Why,  I  am  so  withered  by  this  New
  World  sun  that  I  could  have  mistaken  you  for  a
  pirate  yourself . . .”
  The  man  is  the  personal  servant  of  the  town’s
  governor.  If  not  followed,  he  will  cry  out  that  the
  Player  Character  is  a  pirate,  leading  to  the  swift
  arrival  of  10  guards.  After  the  fight,  he  will  move
  to  the  next  most  notorious  Player  Character  and,  as
  you  repeat  the  boxed  text  in  its  entirety,  repeat  his
  offer,  with  greater  emphasis  on  the  last  line.  Once
  a  Player  Character  joins  him  at  a  ‘taverne’  the  one
  chosen  will  be  ‘Spy  House’.  There  he  will  say  that
  the  Governor  offers  a  commission  to  find  the  Duke
  that  hunts  the  Duchess,  a  payment  of  either  3000
  crowns  and  a  ‘letter  of  marque’,  or  8000  gold  if
  the  Character  is  already  a  part  of  the  king’s  Navy
  (whatever  king  or  country  that  may  be).  To  receive
  this  payment,  one  needs  only  do  this  duty  and
  bring  the  Duke,  William,  back  to  Spy  House.  A
  Charisma  Check  can  get  half  payment  now.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  21
  2)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  any  Player  Characters
  who  have  a  total  value  of  200  gold  or  less  in
  equipment,  coins  or  jewels  with  them.
  As  you  make  your  way  through  town,  you  have
  chanced  to  enter  a  street  teeming  with  prostitutes.
  Some  wave  while  others  glare  at  you  only.  From
  among  their  customers  you  hear  a  salty  old  sailor
  say  “It  ain’t  my  compass  that’s  a  pointin’ north.”
  A  moment’s  reflection  almost  costs  you  what  he
  says  next;  “Aye,  I  know  where  ta  find  the  Duke
  that’s  a  huntin’ the  Duchess . . .”
  If  approached,  the  crude  sailor  will  not  deny
  his  tale.  Quite  the  contrary—he  will  offer  to  sell
  the  information  of  the  Duke’s  whereabouts  for  the
  price  of  either  100  gold.  If  there  is  a  female  PC
  amongst  the  group,  he  will  knock  of  10  gold  for
  each  Point  of  Charisma  she  has,  if  she  gives  him
  a  roll  in  bed.  In  the  end,  when  this  fellow  is  at
  last  satisfied  and  takes  his  leave  of  the  party,  he
  will  say  that  the  Duke  is  in  the  French  town  of
  Martinique.  If  asked  how  he  knows  this  to  be  true,
  he  will  scratch  himself  and  say  “I  get  around.  I’ve
  a  mast  in  me  lions,  an’ all  the  rigging  I  need.  The
  way  ta  wealth  is  through  the  Royal  back  door.  I
  speaks  o’ Spy  House.”  He  will  tell  the  party  what
  and  where  Spy  House  is  for  free,  where  the  same
  commission  from  Encounter  1  awaits  any  who
  agree  to  seek  out  the  Duke  and  bring  him  back.
  3)  Introduction
  This  Encounter  will  introduce  any  and  all  Player
  Characters  who  are  aboard  a  ship  that  any  of  the
  Player  Characters  is  in  command  of.  When  reading
  the  following  narrative,  replace  ‘TOWN’  with  the
  name  of  whatever  town  the  other  Player  Characters
  (who  have  already  been  introduced)  are  in.
  They  come  into  port  like  the  Grim  Reaper  with
  his  cartload  of  the  dead—pirate  ships,  ominous
  but  unstoppable—and  now  yours  has  come  in.
  The  sleepy  port  of  ‘TOWN’  awaits  your  fellow
  crewmates  to  disembark,  almost  as  if  they  have  a
  want  for  blood  and  debauchery.
  The  town  is  under  orders  to  welcome  pirate
  captains,  as  the  Governor’s  officials  wish  to  make
  their  acquaintance  and  lead  them  to  Spy  House,
  indeed  to  make  the  same  offer  presented  originally
  in  Encounter  1.
  4)  The  Pirate  Queen*
  If  the  party  needs  further  incentive  to  go  to  Spy
  House  or  to  accept  the  offer  there . . .
  The  taverne  is  dimly  lit  by  flickering  lanterns,
  hanging  in  the  darkness  like  glass  ghosts  trapped
  in  wrought-iron  cages.  Through  the  crowd  of  the
  dead,  damned  and  drunk  comes  an  angel,  boldly
  striding  right  up  to  you  and  the  others  who  share
  your  table.  There  is  an  amorous  pallor  about  her,
  betraying  an  aura  of  hidden  desires,  should  one
  overlook  her  mortal  form—she  wears  black  knee-
  high  boots,  and  her  bare,  sweaty  thighs  are  each
  strapped  with  a  gilded  pistol.  Her  bosom,  like
  her  smile,  is  barely  contained  by  a  tight  captain’s
  coat,  girt  with  gold  thread  and  a  gilded  cutlass.
  Her  raven  hair  cascades  down  her  shoulders  like
  the  locks  on  an  angel  indeed,  stained  by  the  soot
  of  a  Hell  she  has  just  vanquished,  a  Hell  whose
  fires  are  still  reflected  in  her  deep,  dark  eyes.
  The  woman  is  known  as  ‘The  Pirate  Queen’.
  If  Lady  Jay  did  not  die  in  the  first  adventure  in
  this  booklet,  it  will  be  her,  with  updated  statistics
  provided  as  Handout  10.  However,  if  Lady  Jay  did
  indeed  die  at  any  point,  this  woman  will  be  her
  cousin,  continuing  her  legacy  of  fighting  against
  the  oppression  of  the  crown.  “James  II  is  a  worse
  king  than  Charles  was,”  this  woman  will  say  in
  either  event,  “a  King  who  makes  slaves  of  people
  without  them  realizing  it.”  If  any  of  the  Player
  Characters  agree  to  talk  to  her,  she  will  say  that
  she  believes  the  Duke  to  be  a  good  man  who
  should  be  rescued,  before  less  honorable  pirates
  find  him.  Moreover,  she  knows  of  the  commission
  at  Spy  House  (she  already  has  hers,  but  will  not
  reveal  that  to  any  of  the  Player  Characters),  and
  will  urge  the  group  to  go  there  so  that  they  might
  be  motivated  to  go  on  this  venture—she  has  no
  ship  and  needs  a  captain  to  follow . . . to  the  town
  of  Martinique,  where  she  knows  the  Duke  awaits.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  22
  PART  2:  BOUND  FOR  MARTINIQUE:   Once
  the  party  of  Player  Characters  is  ready  to  seek  out
  the  Duke  (or  the  Duchess)  in  Martinique,  use  the
  following  Encounters  at  your  discretion  to  tell  the
  tale  of  their  voyage.
  Buying  passage:  If  the  Player  Characters  have  no
  ship,  there  will  be  several  ships  going  to  the  town
  of  Martinique  that  they  can  easily  secure  passage
  on.  The  cost  is  5  gold.  Or,  they  can  simply  work
  for  their  passage,  paying  and  being  paid  nothing.
  Ships  leave  for  that  French  port  every  few  days.  If
  they  inquire  as  to  why  this  is,  anybody  will  tell
  them  that  many  are  going  there  in  search  of  the
  Duke,  either  to  see  him,  or  to  capture  him.
  Buying  loyalty:  If  the  Players  (and  thus  their
  Characters)  have  shown  little  interest  in  seeking  for
  the  Duke,  or  even  if  they  haven’t,  you  might  want
  to  ‘buy  their  loyalty’  to  the  plotline  by  having  an
  NPC  buy  their  Characters’ loyalty  to  the  Governor’s
  plans.  In  this  scenario,  have  an  official  approach
  them  with  a  document  bound  with  a  Royal  seal.
  When  broken,  it  names  any  Characters  with  Royal
  blood  as  heirs  to  the  throne  of  France!  After  a  lot
  of  words,  the  paper  makes  it  clear  that  the  only
  thing  standing  in  the  way  of  the  Characters  is  the
  Duchess.  This,  however,  is  a  ruse,  concocted  by
  government  officials  to  use  the  PCs  as  pawns.
  5)  The  Bloody  Cannon
  “Ahoy!  Warship  off  the  larboard  quarter!”  The
  crew  answers  the  call  and  scrambles  to  see  what
  they  have  come  across.  It  turns  out  to  be  a
  vessel  of  doom,  ‘The  Bloody  Cannon’,  a  feared
  pirate  ship,  and  its  heading  straight  for  you!
  The  Bloody  Cannon  is  galleon,  manned  by
  160  1st Level  pirates  and  100  3rd Level  ones,  ready
  to  use  the  full  20  guns  they  are  running!  They  are
  bent  on  capturing  the  ship(s)  that  all  of  the  Player
  Characters  sail,  no  matter  the  odds!  If  victorious,
  the  captain  of  ‘the  Cannon’,  as  he  refers  to  it,  will
  offer  all  Player  Characters  and  key  NPCs  a  chance
  to  join  his  crew,  which  will  be  to  their  advantage,
  indeed  not  hindering  their  journey,  for  he  is  also
  bound  for  Martinique  in  search  of  the  Duke.
  6)  Hurricane
  Sometime  during  the  voyage,  no  matter  what  is
  rolled  on  Table  40  that  day,  the  party’s  ship(s)
  will  encounter  a  hurricane!  This  is  a  storm  of  a
  Magnitude  of  11.  If  they  dare  venture  into  it,  they
  will  come  to  Encounter  7  immediately.  However,  if
  they  round  this  storm,  they  will  come  upon  reefs
  instead.  Yet  if  these  reefs  are  sailed  through,  they
  will  come  to  Encounter  7  after  all.
  7)  Mountain  of  silver*
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  the  party  sailed  into  the
  storm  or  the  reefs  thereafter  in  Encounter  6.
  The  sea  becomes  enchanted  with  the  green  hues
  of  shallow  water  as  you  navigate  through  a  maze
  of  reefs.  The  mirages  of  untouched  beaches  and
  pools  of  plentiful  fish  are  betrayed  by  how  often
  you  spot  the  wreckage  of  old  ships  rotting  in  the
  shallows,  like  the  wooden  bones  of  the  sailors
  that  drowned  with  them,  lulled  by  the  promises
  that  now  beckon  to  your  eyes.  The  latest  of
  these  illusions  is  a  small  mountain  of  silver  coins
  glittering  under  the  brain-burning  tropical  sun . . .
  The  mountain  of  silver  is  real!  A  successful
  Searching  Check  (this  roll  made  with  a  -3  penalty,
  but  only  a  -1  if  made  by  men  scouting  the  reefs
  in  a  longboat)  will  discover  a  total  of  870  silver
  coins  within  arm’s  reach,  be  it  on  the  reefs  or  in
  tidal  pools.  This  reef  is  where  a  Spanish  treasure
  galleon,  the  ‘Concepcion’,  sank  back  in  1641.  The
  few  survivors  then  piled  all  the  silver  they  could
  recover  in  a  specific  place—where  it  may  be  found
  again,  but  where  no  ship  can  reach  it.  Any  vessel
  that  tries  will  automatically  wreck,  and  the  shallow
  waters  surrounding  it  have  become  a  feeding  zone
  for  hundreds  of  sharks.  One  would  have  to  swim
  200’ to  reach  the  silver,  fighting  an  additional  great
  white  shark  each  Round!  Still,  there  does  await  the
  brave  a  total  of  151652  silver  coins!  However,  any
  silver  that  is  recovered  will  be  seen  by  those  who
  watch  from  the  ship  nearby,  and  demanded  to  be
  placed  either  in  the  ship’s  common  fund  (for  pirate
  ships)  or  into  the  captain’s  care  to  be  returned  to
  the  Navy  later  (for  non-pirate  ships).
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  23
  PART  3:  FIRES  OF  MARTINIQUE:  When  the
  Player  Characters  eventually  arrive  in  Martinique,
  they  will  find  the  town  already  sacked  by  pirates.
  These  buccaneers  took  over  five  days  prior  to  the
  party’s  arrival,  having  come  in  search  of  the  Duke
  themselves,  and  still  enjoying  the  spoils  of  their
  successful  venture.  They  will  do  nothing  to  stop
  the  arrival  of  any  ships  except  those  of  any  Royal
  Navy.  As  the  Player  Characters  move  about  the
  town,  they  will  find  nothing  of  interest  or  value,
  save  in  a  few  specific  locations,  detailed  in  the
  following  Encounters,  to  be  used  where  applicable.
  8)  Wild  goose  chase
  If  the  party  goes  to  a  taverne . . .
  The  barkeep  listens  with  interest  to  every  word
  you  say.  Then  he  displays  quite  a  trick—an  old
  sea-dog  himself,  he  learned  your  personal  slang
  and  word  choice  in  this  short  span  of  time,  and
  is  thus  able  to  speak  to  you  with  eerie  similarity,
  even  going  so  far  as  to  mimic  your  own  voice.
  As  you  maneuver  through  the  guile  of  his  words
  like  a  ship  through  deceptive  reefs,  you  find  a
  treasure  within  them—he  has  a  tale  to  tell,  for
  your  profit  and  his—he  knows  of  a  treasure  and
  he’ll  tell  you  of  it,  for  a  price.
  The  price  for  the  tale  is  80  gold,  to  be  raised
  to  120  if  there  is  any  threat  or  complaint  made  to
  the  man.  Once  paid,  he  will  tell  the  following  tale:
  “I’m  not  the  first  man  to  man  this  taverne.
  Years  ago,  a  man  of  many  years  spent  years  here.
  A  lone  sailor,  he  sat  alone,  writing  cryptic  notes
  by  the  fire.  He  told  tales  of  crypts  burning  with
  fire.  We  called  him  a  liar.  But  he  made  friends  of
  the  barkeep,  my  father.  My  father  said  this  man
  said  that  if  he  did  not  return  after  ten  years,  he
  was  to  open  a  box  he  left.  He  never  returned.  And
  that  was  twenty  years  ago.  I  am  too  old  now  to
  go  chasing  gold.  The  box  is  yours,  for  a  price . . .”
  The  box  is  hidden  and  cannot  be  found,  but
  the  barkeeper  will  make  good  on  his  promise,  for
  the  same  fee  as  before.  The  sole  content  of  the
  box  is  a  paper,  provided  as  Handout  11.
  The  cryptic  clues  of  the  paper  can  mean  many
  things.  Let  the  Players  interpret  it  as  they  will,  for
  they  will  doubtless  make  something  out  of  them.
  Ultimately,  wherever  they  decide  that  the  paper
  says  a  treasure  is  hidden,  it  will  be  so.  There  they
  will  find  a  hidden  chest,  containing  nothing  but
  potatoes,  and  a  paper,  provided  as  Handout  12.
  9)  The  haunted  bed
  If  the  party  goes  to  a  brothel . . .
  The  whores  at  this  brothel  seem  to  prefer  time
  in  the  foyer—you  even  see  some  conducting  their
  business  in  the  parlor.  Now  that  you  think  about
  it,  you  hear  no  sound  at  all  from  the  bedrooms
  at  the  top  of  the  stairs.
  The  whores  no  longer  go  upstairs,  as  they
  believe  one  of  the  bedrooms  is  haunted.  All  of  the
  rooms  upstairs  are  empty.  Should  any  man  sleep
  alone  in  any  of  them,  he  will  be  visited  in  his
  dreams  by  a  woman  floating  above  him,  who  will
  kiss  him,  and  then  the  room  will  catch  fire,  his
  bed  suddenly  floating  above  a  pit  into  Hell,  his
  headboard  now  a  headstone,  and  she  now  an  angel
  reaching  down  to  hold  him  aloft—if  he  refuses,  he
  will  awaken  in  a  cold  sweat  and  nothing  more,  but
  if  he  accepts  her  hand,  this  Ghost  lover  will  haunt
  him  forever,  appearing  whenever  any  other  woman
  tries  to  touch  him,  attacking  her  until  dead.  She
  will  not  appear  in  churches  or  cemeteries,  however.
  10)  Question  of  loyalty
  If  the  party  goes  to  the  Governor’s  manor . . .
  This  house  once  enjoyed  the  shade  of  lush  palms
  and  trimmed  hedges,  all  of  which  are  now  black
  ghosts,  charred  shadows  of  their  former  beauty.
  The  manor  itself  is  relatively  unscathed.  As  you
  approach,  you  see  several  lean  Negroes  busy
  plastering  the  outside  to  cover  up  the  damage.
  The  Negro  slaves  were  spared  by  the  pirates,
  but  have  no  love  for  them.  If  questioned,  these
  slaves  will  say  that  the  Governor  fled  during  the
  attack,  and  a  reward  is  being  offered  inside.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  24
  Inside  the  house  there  is  even  more  restoration
  taking  place,  but  so  far  only  one  room  has  been
  finished,  and  now  serves  as  the  office  for  one  of
  the  Governor’s  surviving  officials.  He  is  now  a
  surrogate  Governor,  but  does  nothing  to  question
  the  authority  of  the  pirates  that  currently  rule  this
  settlement.  He  will  be  pleasant  enough,  but  he  can
  offer  no  real  aid  to  the  party.  However,  if  anyone
  asks  what  they  can  do  for  him,  he  will  say:
  “You  have  a  tongue  tempered  with  courteous
  speech  the  betrays  deeply  hidden  honor.  Thus  shall
  I  say  this  much:  Recently,  the  colony  of  Leogane
  was  captured  by  the  Spanish,  the  garrison  sent  to
  the  galleys  or  the  gallows,  or  God  knows  where.
  But  the  Governor,  he  is  currently  en-route  to  Spain
  to  stand  trial.  A  mockery  at  best!  If  you  would
  find  our  Lord  Dupree,  and  deliver  him  safely  to
  any  French  port  save  this  one,  I  will  draw  up  for
  you  an  appointment  that  will  ensure  a  reward.  Yet
  I  must  inform  you  that  to  accept  would  be  to  give
  service  to  the  French  crown,  and  in  these  times  of
  war,  this  would  be  seen  as  treachery  to  any  other
  country  to  which  you  have  given  service.”
  The  offer  is  genuine.  The  reward  will  be  for  a
  total  of  20000  Louis  d’ors  upon  the  Lord  Dupree’s
  safe  delivery  to  any  other  French  Governor.  Still,
  the  danger  is  real  as  well—if  this  appointment  is
  accepted,  whether  the  Governor  is  even  encountered
  or  not,  it  is  treason  to  any  other  country  to  which
  the  Player  Characters  already  have  any  rank,  title
  or  other  appointment,  and  so  the  party  must  work
  hard  to  keep  this  paper  a  secret,  just  as  you  as
  Game  Captain  should  work  hard  to  expose  it.  If
  the  group  declines  this  offer  for  the  stated  reason
  of  being  loyal  to  another  country,  the  surrogate
  Governor  will  be  impressed  by  their  loyalty,  which
  is  “Not  commonly  seen  in  pirates”  as  he  will  say,
  and  will  offer  them  a  different  deal,  a  handshake
  only,  that  if  they  carry  out  the  mission  none-the-
  less  and  can  return  to  him  with  proof  of  their
  success,  he  will  pay  them  the  20000  Louis  d’ors
  himself,  and  no  papers  will  be  made.
  In  any  event,  do  not  give  the  results  for  any
  Character’s  decision  until  all  the  Player  Characters
  have  made  up  their  minds.
  11)  The  pirate  priest
  If  the  party  goes  to  a  church . . .
  The  church  has  been  taken  over  and  converted  to
  the  command  room  of  the  pirate  captain  who
  now  governs  Martinique.  Seated  in  a  throne  right
  affront  the  altar  itself,  his  guards  lounge  about  in
  the  pews  and  vomit  into  the  holy  water  basins.
  Your  presence  evokes  a  contemptuous  glare  from
  under  the  wide  brim  of  his  hat,  studded  with  so
  many  pistol  balls  that  it  looks  like  it  rained  lead.
  “Ye  be  too  late,”  he  sneers,  “the  best  prize,  the
  Duke,  is  already  gone.  He  escaped  us  all.”
  This  pirate  captain  has  renamed  himself  ‘Saint
  Christopher’,  and  fancies  himself  both  a  priest  and
  a  philosopher.  He  is  exceptionally  long-winded,  and
  in  his  ranting  and  preaching  uses  a  lot  of  crude
  jargon  to  mock  religion  while  talking  about  any
  subject.  Ultimately,  all  the  Player  Characters  can
  learn  from  him  is  what  he  already  said,  that  the
  Duke  is  not  to  be  found  in  Martinique  as  far  as
  he  knows.  And  while  he  may  be  disrespectful  of
  everything,  even  his  own  god,  he  is  always  telling
  what  he  believes  to  be  the  truth.
  12)  Duke  of  the  dead
  If  the  party  goes  to  a  graveyard  or  stays  behind
  on  their  ship,  the  Duke  William  will  approach
  them  on  his  own.  Filthy  and  hardly  looking  like  a
  Duke,  he  has  evaded  detection  and  wishes  a  parley
  with  these  pirates.  Play  out  this  conversation  as
  much  as  you  like,  with  the  Duke  ever  calm,  cool
  and  collected,  a  man  in  control.
  The  Duke  will  freely  explain  that  he  was  to
  be  named  Governor  of  the  town  that  the  party
  began  this  adventure  in,  and  that  what  happened
  between  him  and  the  Duchess  was  that  she  was
  deceived  by  the  English  king  (James  II)  into
  thinking  he  (the  Duke)  was  in  league  with  the
  Spanish.  To  prove  he  is  not,  and  to  acquire  the
  services  of  the  PCs  as  a  means  of  seeking  the
  Duchess,  he  will,  though  bluffing,  claim  to  know
  where  a  pirate  treasure  is  hidden,  one  worth  far
  more  to  the  Characters  than  any  offer  they  may
  have  been  given  to  find  him . . .
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  25
  PART  4:  TRIALS  OF  VIRTUE:   Whether  the
  Player  Characters  now  set  sail  to  deliver  the  Duke
  to  anyone  or  to  trust  his  guidance  in  seeking  out  a
  hidden  treasure,  they  will  have  many  adventures  on
  their  voyage.  Use  the  following  Encounters  at  your
  discretion,  but  try  to  use  them  all  before  the  party
  puts  into  port  again.
  13)  Dolphin  sport
  On  this  crisp,  clear  day,  the  waves  glisten  like
  magic.  The  ship’s  bow  conjures  up  a  refreshing
  white  spray  and  jumping  dolphins,  rising  and
  diving,  keeping  pace  with  your  vessel.  Many  of
  the  crew  have  gathered  in  the  forecastle,  and  are
  enjoying  a  game  of  pistols,  using  the  dolphins  in
  their  sport  to  determine  who  is  the  best  shot.
  Each  character  who  takes  offense  at  this  game
  and  does  anything  to  stop  it  gets  a  bonus  of  +1  to
  his  future  roll  in  Encounter  20.
  14)  Fishing  Mermaid
  As  you  glide  along  through  the  Caribbean,  you
  enjoy  the  song  that  the  crew  is  singing—until
  you  realize  that  none  of  them  are  singing!  Many
  of  them  gather  portside,  gazing  our  at  a  beautiful
  woman  sitting  on  a  choral  reef  not  far  away,  a
  Mermaid  indeed!  She  has  a  comb  in  one  hand
  which  she  uses  to  stroke  her  long,  golden  hair,
  and  a  glass  in  her  other  hand,  which  she  raises
  as  if  to  offer  to  anyone  who  would  come  to  her.
  Her  song  goes  on  to  say  that  your  ship  will  sink
  if  nobody  comes  over  to  love  her . . .
  The  Mermaid  is  real,  as  is  her  prediction.  She
  is  a  mere  150’ away  from  the  ship.  Most  of  the
  crew  will  not  dare  to  venture  any  closer,  so  if  any
  of  the  Player  Characters  go,  they  will  have  to  take
  a  longboat.  She  will  not  attack  unless  threatened,
  as  she  is  only  fishing . . . for  mortals.  The  total
  men  who  kiss  her  will  be  the  cumulative  chance  in
  12  that  their  ship  does  not  become  enchanted  so  as
  to  suffer  a  penalty  of  -4  to  all  future  rolls  on
  Table  40  and  for  rounding  storms.  Moreover,  each
  Character  who  kisses  her  will  get  a  bonus  of  +2
  to  his  future  roll  in  Encounter  20.
  15)  For  the  Queen!
  Have  each  Player  Character  with  a  spyglass  make
  an  Intuition  Check.  If  nobody  is  successful,  do  not
  read  the  second  paragraph  of  the  narrative  below.
  However,  if  even  one  Character  is  observant,  read
  this  narrative  in  its  entirety.
  You  route  has  taken  you  to  greener  waters.  The
  horizon  is  dotted  with  small  islands . . . and  one
  of  them  is  moving.  “Sail  ho!”  cries  the  lookout.
  It  is  a  short  time  before  another  pirate  ship  is
  upon  you.
  Their  Jolly  Roger  looks  more  like  a  map,  but
  you  haven’t  time  to  tell.
  This  ship  just  set  out  from  their  secret  island
  refuge  not  but  3  leagues  away  from  here  in  the
  direction  they  came  from,  which  the  Duke  William,
  guessing  this  much,  will  jump  at  the  chance  to  say
  is  where  the  treasure  he  knows  of  is  hidden.  Still,
  the  party  must  defeat  these  bloodthirsty  pirates,
  who  sail  a  barque  filled  with  90  2nd Level  men  and
  run  20  cannons  (the  ship  modified  to  its  limit).
  Work  into  your  impromptu  narrative  the  battle-cry
  of  these  pirates  “For  the  Queen!”,  as  they  were
  once  loyal  to  the  crown  of  England  until  James  II
  used  them  as  scapegoats  in  a  rebellion,  and  they
  wish  they  could  serve  the  Queen  instead.  Each
  character  who  is  in  the  service  of  England  in  any
  way  and  openly  desires  to  allow  the  surviving
  enemies  live  on  this  account  gets  a  bonus  of  +2  to
  his  future  roll  in  Encounter  20.
  When  the  captain,  one  ‘Marcus  Bloodbeard
  Knave’  emerges,  he  will  prove  to  be  a  ferocious
  opponent.  Each  time  he  is  hit,  he  will  take  his
  next  Turn  to  dig  his  blade  into  his  own  wound  to
  madden  himself,  so  that  next  time  he  hits,  he  will
  penalize  his  victim’s  Girth  roll  by  -1,  as  well  as
  share  any  poison  that  may  have  been  dealt  to  him.
  After  the  battle,  if  these  pirates’ flag  is  looked
  at,  it  will  prove  interesting,  much  like  a  map,  as  is
  provided  on  Handout  13.  If  they  use  this  to  find
  their  island  anchorage,  move  on  to  Encounter  16.
  However,  without  knowing  the  shape  of  the  island,
  one  cannot  find  it  at  all,  so  if  the  party  does  not
  look  carefully  at  their  enemies’ Jolly  Roger,  do  not
  play  Encounter  16  at  all.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  26
  16)  Skull  Rock
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  the  party  compared  the
  Jolly  Roger  map  of  the  pirates  in  Encounter  15  to
  the  islands  nearby,  with  the  swords  as  reefs,  and
  inside  them  the  sea  is  only  6’ deep,  preventing
  ships  from  entering  there.  A  Searching  Check  must
  be  made  of  the  island  to  discover  the  pirates’ cave.
  Pushing  through  the  jungle,  you  come  to  a  most
  amazing  place:  A  high  cliff  is  bathed  in  a  great
  waterfall,  splashing  down  over  three  caves  whose
  size  and  shape  gives  them  the  appearance  of  a
  huge  skull  carved  from  the  jagged  rocks.  Adding
  to  the  illusion  is  the  setting  sun,  which  washes
  the  falls  in  crimson  light,  so  that  they  appear  as
  blood  cascading  down  over  the  eyes  of  the  great
  skull,  pooling  in  the  lower  jaw  and  then  bleeding
  between  the  teeth,  falling  to  fill  the  crystal  clear
  pool  over  a  hundred  feet  below.
  One  must  make  an  Agility  Check  to  reach  the
  cave  mouth,  lest  he  fall  into  the  pool,  requiring  a
  Luck  Check  to  land  safely  and  avoid  the  rocks!
  The  two  eye-caves  are  dead-ends,  filled  only  with
  shadows.  However,  the  main  cave  leads  back  to
  the  pirates’ secret  cache,  equaling  16  rolls  on  the
  ‘others’  column  of  Table  81.  A  Searching  Check
  in  this  cave  may  discover  writing  scratched  on  the
  cave  wall,  reading  ‘For  the  Queen,  for  those  who
  have  suffered,  and  for  those  who  should  not.  May
  this  be  given  back  to  those  who  truly  deserve  it.
  May  the  blood  of  sinners  stain  the  falls  as  they
  plunge  all  the  way  to  Hell  unseen’.  This  writing  is
  reproduced  on  Handout  14.  Each  character  who
  chooses  to  eventually  give  his  share  of  this  plunder
  to  charity  gets  a  bonus  of  +3  to  his  future  roll  in
  Encounter  20.
  If  any  blood  should  fall  in  this  cavern,  it  will
  awaken  the  Ghost  of  Sir  Francis  Drake!  The  famed
  hero  of  England  will  stand  at  the  cave  mouth,  an
  obstacle  to  any  who  would  seek  to  enter  or  leave
  the  cave.  This  spirit  may  be  fought  normally,  but
  if  someone  tosses  his  share  of  the  treasure  into  the
  pool  far  below,  indeed  down  the  waterfall  where  it
  will  be  forever  lost,  or  if  he  says  “Long  live  the
  Queen”  (or  something  to  that  effect),  the  Ghost
  Hero  will  allow  him  alone  to  pass.
  PART  5:  SEEKING  THE  DUCHESS:   Nobody
  knows  where  the  Duchess  is.  Anyone  who  seeks
  her  has  only  one  way  to  find  her,  and  that  is  to
  wait  for  pirates  she  has  hired  to  find  the  Duke
  William  to  succeed  while  they  are  with  him.  The
  Duke  is  willing  to  make  himself  such  bait,  indeed
  to  openly  declare  in  towns  and  to  passing  ships
  where  he  is,  but  only  on  behalf  of  the  Player
  Characters,  whom  he  has  gained  respect  for,  which
  is  indeed  the  truth.  Provided  below  are  Encounters
  detailing  attacks  by  several  pirate  ships  that  are
  actively  seeking  him.
  A  flawless  plan:  All  these  pirates  know  where  to
  find  the  Duke,  for  he  is  actually  in  league  with
  the  Duchess,  and  has  been  sending  messages  to  her
  by  pigeon.  Thus,  these  Encounters  can  occur  at
  any  time,  but  they  will  always  allow  the  Player
  party  1-12  days  to  recover  from  the  previous  one,
  as  they  are  being  tested  only—the  pirates  the  PCs
  fight  are  the  true  pawns.  The  pirates  themselves  do
  not  know  that  the  Duke  and  Duchess  are  in  league
  and  thus  cannot  divulge  that  information.
  Loyalty  to  the  Queen:  If  any  Characters  openly
  declare  themselves  loyal  servants  of  the  Queen  of
  England  at  any  time  during  these  Encounters,  the
  pirates  will  share  that  loyalty,  and  at  once  cease  to
  fight,  saying  that  their  employer,  the  Duchess,  is  in
  Martinique.  They  will  add  that  in  fact  she  has
  always  been  there,  simply  disguised  as  a  whore.
  17)  Surprise  attack
  Broken  planks  and  scraps  of  white  cloth  form  a
  trail  through  the  waves,  leading  to  a  derelict  old
  barque.  The  sails  are  reefed,  and  you  see  nobody
  aboard,  though  the  ship  is  still  seaworthy.  Some
  of  your  own  crewmates  suggest  an  outbreak  of
  malaria  or  some  unknown  illness  of  the  Indies.
  The  barque  is  actually  manned  by  50  1st Level
  men  and  30  2nd Level  men,  hiding  below  decks
  while  a  few  play  dead  above  deck—if  the  party’s
  vessel  approaches  without  preparing  for  an  ambush,
  these  pirates  will  rise  up  and  automatically  gain
  the  first  Initiative  with  their  15  guns—their  captain,
  ‘Pedro  Manz’,  is  a  cunning  Scourge  of  5th Level.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  27
  18)  Thunder  of  Thunder
  Sailing  past  some  high  cliffs,  your  ship’s  wake  is
  suddenly  haunted  by  a  Spanish  galleon!  It  must
  have  been  lurking  in  a  hidden  cove,  waiting  for
  you  to  pass.  She’s  flying  a  Jolly  Roger,  but  the
  smoke  rising  from  her  gun-deck  suggests  that  her
  crew  is  anything  but  jolly . . .
  This  Spanish  galleon,  the  ‘Red  Lightning’  is  in
  command  of  ‘Lucy  Thunder’,  a  piratess  to  be  sure
  but  with  a  Captain’s  statistics.  Her  crew  consists  of
  135  1st Level  men  and  30  2nd Level  men,  who  are
  all  too  happy  to  fire  their  16  cannon  should  they
  get  broadside.  They  will  try  a  boarding  party  on
  the  4th  Round,  whether  they  are  winning  the  battle
  or  not.  Through  the  smoke,  Lucy  will  seek  out  any
  female  Characters  to  fight,  wishing  to  prove  herself
  to  be  the  strongest  woman  in  the  Caribbean.  These
  pirates’ treasure,  however,  is  wisely  hidden,  back  on
  the  island  they  came  from,  and  only  Lucy  herself
  knows  its  whereabouts,  and  she  will  not  divulge  it
  unless  a  man  can  to  satisfy  her  amorous  appetite
  her  for  3  consecutive  nights.  This  calls  for  an
  Endurance  Check,  penalized  by  -5  but  increased  by
  any  bonus  one  has  from  Girth  (‘prostitute’  column)
  and  any  Skill  of  ‘Loving’.  If  he  cannot  please  her,
  he  falls  asleep,  and  she  will  castrate  him!
  19)  Come  and  get  him!
  The  setting  sun  stains  the  sails  of  a  large  square-
  rigger  red,  perhaps  an  omen  of  the  blood  to  be
  spilled—she  is  making  boldly  for  you,  and  even
  as  you  read  her  name,  ‘Bane  of  France’,  your
  spyglass  fills  with  the  image  of  an  officer  being
  hung  up-side-down  from  her  yardarm.
  Have  each  Player  Character  who  spoke  with
  the  surrogate  Governor  in  Encounter  10  now  make
  an  Intuition  Check.  Those  who  are  successful  will
  recognize  the  hanging  man  as  the  real  Governor,
  quite  alive,  but  clearly  in  harm’s  way  if  any  roll
  on  Table  42  should  result  in  ‘3’,  ‘4’,  or  ‘5’.  Thus,
  the  party  will  have  to  take  this  ship  quicker  if
  they  are  to  receive  the  reward  for  bringing  him  in
  alive.  And  that  won’t  be  easy,  as  this  square-rigger
  is  manned  by  85  2nd Level  men  with  18  cannon.
  PART  6:  RETURN  TO  MARTINIQUE:   In  the
  end,  all  clues  and  conspiracies  will  lead  the  party
  back  to  Martinique  to  confront  the  Duchess.  She
  will  know  they  are  coming  and  actually  seek  them
  out,  the  pirates  that  were  once  here  having  left  the
  town  behind.  Play  both  of  the  following  Encounters
  and  in  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  20)  Love
  If  Duke  William  is  not  with  the  party,  do  not  read
  the  second  paragraph  in  the  description  below.  But
  if  the  Duke  is  indeed  present  when  the  Characters
  find  the  Duchess,  then  read  the  following  narrative
  in  its  entirety.
  You  find  her  at  last,  the  Duchess—“Kimberly,”
  she  says,  walking  up  to  you  while  tearing  away
  her  harlot’s  clothing.  “And  where  is  the  Duke,
  my  William?”  she  asks  as  if  blind  to  the  pain
  you  could  deal  her  at  any  moment.
  The  Duchess  feigns  a  swoon,  and  as  throws
  herself  into  William’s  arms,  she  looks  up  at  you
  with  wide  eyes  filled  with  a  magical  malice  born
  of  her  obvious  gratitude  waging  silent  war  with  a
  contemptible  lust  for  power.
  If  the  Duke  William  is  still  alive,  the  Duchess
  Kimberly  will  wish  to  marry  him  in  the  church  at
  the  center  of  town.  There  they  will  find  that  she
  has  been  in  charge  of  charity  for  the  people  left
  homeless  and  injured  by  the  pirates—she  feels  this
  is  her  fault,  and  certainly  has  the  wealth  to  care
  for  them  all.  Wealth,  she  adds  to  whoever  makes  a
  Charisma  Check,  which  “Knows  no  boundaries,  and
  could  be  yours  if  you  hear  me  at  midnight.”  And,
  if  the  Duke  is  dead,  she  will  make  the  offer  all
  the  same,  simply  without  being  married.
  21)  Duty
  In  the  gloom  of  the  empty  church,  the  Duchess
  sits  down  with  you,  her  authoritive  voice  and
  mastery  of  both  words  and  business  betraying  her
  harlot’s  disguise.  Judging  from  the  chests  of  gold
  that  sit  quiet  in  the  shadows,  a  fortune  to  which
  she  pays  little  or  no  heed,  you  doubt  not  that
  she  has  a  mighty  offer  to  make.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  28
  The  Duchess  will  wish  to  talk  for  a  while,  so
  role-play  this  conversation  as  you  wish,  so  long  as
  she  gets  across  all  she  needs  to—she  and  the  Duke
  have  always  been  in  league,  the  hunt  for  him  was
  a  ruse  to  discover  pirates  strong,  cunning  and  thus
  capable  enough  for  a  greater  task,  pirates  that  have
  indeed  rescued  Dukes  and  perhaps  even  Governors.
  This  task,  she  says,  is  to  rescue  the  Queen  of
  England  herself,  who  is  currently  held  captive  in
  the  Spanish  for  of  Cartagena.  She  will  say  to  the
  Player  Characters  that  they  can  leave  now,  living
  with  what  treasure  they  have  found,  or  they  can
  do  their  duty  and  perhaps  find  a  treasure  greater
  than  gold.  Play  this  as  much  as  you  can  to  have
  the  Players  torn  between  treasure  and  duty,  indeed
  to  weigh  in  the  scales  of  their  greed  that  classic
  pirate  choice  of  redemption . . .
  PART  7:  THE  WALLS  OF  CARTAGENA:  The
  city  of  Cartagena  awaits  the  party  at  the  end  of  a
  280  league  voyage  west  by  southwest  from  the  city
  of  Martinique.  Once  there,  the  Player  Characters
  must  gain  access  to  the  main  fort,  which  will  be  a
  difficult  task  indeed,  for  Cartagena  is  one  of  the
  greatest  and  best  defended  in  the  Caribbean.  As  it
  is,  the  party  will  have  to  decide  how  they  will  get
  into  the  fort,  be  it  attacking  outright,  sneaking  into
  town,  having  at  least  some  friendly  contacts  with
  the  Spanish,  etc.  Only  once  they  have  entered  the
  main  fort  itself  will  this  Adventure  move  from  raw
  rolls  and  rules  to  the  planned  events  throughout  the
  following  pages.  Use  these  Encounters  one  and  all
  and  in  the  order  that  they  are  presented.
  22)  Gate
  The  walls  of  Cartagena’s  main  fort  rise  straight
  out  of  the  harbor  like  the  ramparts  of  Hell.  Red
  torchlight  flickers  within  narrow  windows,  casting
  a  devilish  glow  upon  the  black  cannons  that  now
  stand  silent  along  the  battlements  over  fifty  feet
  above.  As  is  common  with  the  Spanish,  you  see
  only  one  gate  leading  inside,  a  rather  medieval
  portcullis  that  opens  onto  a  narrow,  stone  walk,
  like  a  ledge  on  the  man-made  mountain  of  the
  fort,  serving  both  as  a  landing  for  the  deep
  drafted  Spanish  galleons  and  connecting  to  the
  road  that  leads  back  to  the  city.
  There  are  no  guards  visible.  However,  hiding
  just  inside  the  gate  are  guards  to  equal  the  total
  numbers  and  Levels  of  crew  that  are  presently  with
  the  band  of  Player  Characters,  having  seen  them
  approach  no  matter  what  stealth  they  used  or  what
  victories  they  gained.  In  order  to  enter  inside,  the
  party  will  have  to  fight  it  out.  If  this  battle
  involves  only  the  Player  Characters  and  key  NPCs,
  the  rest  of  the  fort  will  consider  themselves  well
  protected  and  not  be  alarmed,  leaving  the  party  the
  surprise  advantage  and  the  possibility  of  stealth,  so
  long  as  they  deliberately  maintain  it.
  At  this  point,  no  one  other  than  key  NPCs
  will  be  willing  to  follow  the  Player  Characters  into
  the  fort.  Their  reasoning  is  that  Cartagena  has  an
  infamous  reputation  of  torture,  and  it  is  said  that
  none  who  pass  the  gates  of  its  fort—the  very  gate
  they  stand  at  now—ever  have  a  chance  of  ‘having
  eyes  left  to  see  the  light  of  Heaven  with’.  If  the
  captain  commands  them  to  enter  anyway,  have  him
  make  a  Charisma  Check.  Success  results  in  no
  change  in  his  crew’s  mood,  but  failure  results  in
  1-12  men  feeling  betrayed  and  running  off  to  town
  to  surrender  themselves  to  the  Spanish—their  lives
  traded  for  telling  the  Governor  about  the  Player
  Characters,  thus  bringing  200  guards  to  the  fort!
  The  walls  are  actually  only  40’  high.  Should
  one  climb  them,  he  will  come  to  Encounter  29.
  23)  Empty  corridors
  The  entire  lower  level  of  the  fort  is  a  maze  of
  pillars  wrapped  in  iron  scones  clutching  torches.
  This  endless  wasted  space  filled  with  hellish  light
  illuminates  a  vivid  picture  of  Spanish  avarice  and
  deplorable  wealth.  Your  footsteps  echo  loudly  on
  the  cold,  stone  floor,  where  once  soldiers  may
  have  had  barracks,  or  perhaps  this  area  has  never
  been  used  at  all,  indeed  a  storeroom  yet  to  be
  filled  with  the  bones  of  trespassers.
  A  successful  Searching  Check  in  this  area  will
  discover  writing  scratched  onto  the  wall.  Written  in
  Spanish,  it  translates  to  ‘False  treasures  lead  not
  to  false  Heaven  but  to  Hell,  so  be  wary  of  gold
  not  stained  in  blood’.  If  no  Characters  can  read
  Spanish,  the  Players  may  attempt  to  decipher  this
  writing  for  themselves  by  studying  Handout  15.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  29
  24)  Alligator  pit
  The  fort  seems  deserted.  Exploring  the  endless
  halls  and  rooms,  you  find  nothing,  until  far  back,
  where  you  must  be  underground,  you  come  to  a
  place  where  the  floor  drops  down  into  an  indoor
  swamp,  formed  where  a  lower  level  of  chambers
  has  flooded.  Several  alligators  writhe  around  in
  the  darkness,  caged  by  bars  of  light  from  the
  sky,  shining  through  a  rusted  iron  grate  in  the
  ceiling  high  above.  Several  stairwells  begin  on
  the  other  side  of  this  wall-to-wall  swamp.
  The  only  way  to  continue  further  into  the  fort
  is  to  cross  the  alligator  pit,  which  is  100’ wide  and
  50’ across.  There  are  2  alligators  visible,  plus  4
  more  lurking  unseen  in  the  darkness,  waiting  for
  prey  to  enter  their  domain.  The  water  is  8’ deep,
  its  surface  6’ below  the  floor  where  the  party  now
  stands.  Thus,  the  alligators  cannot  get  out  of  the
  pit,  but  anyone  they  bite  within  it  will  be  caught
  in  their  jaws  and  must  make  a  Brawn  Check  to
  get  free,  lest  on  its  next  Turn  that  gator  will  drag
  its  captured  prey  underwater  and  into  an  unseen
  lair,  indeed  a  fully  flooded  room,  where  it  will
  proceed  to  kill  him,  forcing  him  to  fight  alone
  while  holding  his  breath!
  25)  Guard  patrol
  As  you  continue  to  explore  the  halls  and  rooms
  of  this  fort,  finding  nothing  save  for  cannons  and
  stacks  of  fodder,  you  hear  footsteps  from  the  hall
  ahead.  Not  but  a  heartbeat  later,  silhouettes  with
  the  unmistakable  shapes  of  Spanish  helmets  and
  swords  stain  the  wall  just  around  the  next  corner,
  like  ghosts  of  your  grim  future  coming  to  meet
  you.  You  count  four  in  all.
  There  are  indeed  4  Spanish  guards  around  the
  next  corner.  If  the  party  has  maintained  silence,  the
  guards  will  not  be  aware  of  them,  guaranteeing  the
  Characters  the  first  Initiative  if  they  attack  at  once!
  A  successful  search  of  the  bodies  of  these
  guards  will  find  both  a  ring  of  keys,  and  a  single
  key  kept  separate.  The  ring  of  keys  opens  all  the
  doors  in  the  fort.  The  separate  key  is  good  for  the
  chest  in  Encounter  27.
  26)  Torture  chamber
  All  the  corridors  converge  here,  in  a  vast  torture
  chamber,  the  heart  of  the  Spanish  fort.  Many
  closed  doors  lead  away  from  this  room,  the  veins
  of  halls  clearly  leading  up  from  here.  All  of  the
  torture  machines  appear  in  fine  condition  and
  recently  used,  well  oiled  with  both  oil  indeed,
  and  with  blood.
  The  party  cannot  go  further  into  the  fort  save
  through  these  closed  doors,  which  are  all  locked.
  Any  bashing  or  breaking  of  the  doors  will  destroy
  the  party’s  element  of  surprise  while  they  remain
  inside  the  fort.  To  break  any  one  of  these  doors
  requires  a  single  hit  of  12  Damage  or  more.  No
  Attack  Roll  is  required,  but  if  the  Damage  is  less,
  it  will  either  break  the  weapon  (for  melee  arms)  or
  cause  the  shot  to  ricochet  (for  guns),  thus  effecting
  an  unmodified  Attack  Roll  on  a  random  target.
  27)  False  treasury
  A  wide  hallway  ends  before  large  doubledoors.
  In  haste  you  pull  them  open,  and  find  yourself
  looking  into  a  treasure  vault!  Stacked  seachests
  make  for  a  mountain  range  of  wood  and  leather,
  snowed  in  gold  that  glows  pure  and  unstained,
  gleaming  under  the  torchlight  from  the  corridor
  behind  you.  One  chest  captures  your  gaze,  the
  largest  of  all,  resting  in  the  center  of  the  room,
  its  lock  small  and  rusted,  waiting  to  be  broken.
  The  treasure  here  is  fool’s  gold,  indeed  made
  from  such  polluted  metals  as  to  be  worthless  save
  perhaps  as  ballast.  However,  this  vault  is  designed
  as  a  trap,  the  visible  coins  thus  cleaned  to  look
  real  at  a  distance,  their  true  nature  only  discernible
  up  close,  indeed  only  by  one  who  stands  within
  the  room.  The  entire  floor  is  a  pit  trap,  and  if
  anything  is  disturbed,  the  floor  will  open,  sending
  all  within  the  room  (and  all  of  the  fool’s  gold  as
  well)  plunging  down  a  60’ deep  pit,  ending  in  an
  alligator  nest  (a  different  area  than  Emcounter  24).
  There  are  8  gators  there,  placed  by  the  Spanish
  trap-makers.  However,  if  one  uses  the  singular  key
  from  Encounter  25  in  the  large  chest’s  lock,  it  will
  disarm  this  trap  (picking  the  lock  will  not  do  this).
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  30
  28)  Guard  barracks
  You  round  the  corner  and  come  face-to-face  with
  a  group  of  Spanish  guards  apparently  playing
  cards  while  they  should  be  on  duty.  They  stand
  at  once  and  scramble  to  gather  their  pistols  and
  swords.  One  of  them  throws  a  rum  bottle  at  you.
  There  are  4  guards  here.  If  the  party  has  kept
  the  element  of  stealth  and  thus  surprise,  they  will
  gain  the  first  Initiative  of  this  fight.  Each  Round
  the  Spaniards  will  attempt  to  flee.  If  followed,  the
  party  will  run  right  into  a  trap—the  barracks  with
  15  more  guards  ready  for  battle!  This  large  group
  heard  the  fighting  and,  according  to  orders,  waited
  for  their  fellow  guards  to  lead  the  intruders  to
  them  rather  than  rush  to  their  aid.  The  room  where
  the  party  first  encountered  the  slacker  guards  is  a
  junction  of  halls.  The  barracks  is  a  dead  end.
  29)  The  mad  guard
  Use  this  Encounter  only  if  the  party  has  by  this
  point  in  the  fortress  made  noise  enough  to  forfeit
  their  element  of  stealth.
  The  corridor  ahead  is  blocked  by  a  single  guard.
  Normally,  one  might  not  imagine  this  to  be  a
  problem,  but  this  guard  has  rolled  a  cannon  into
  the  hall,  and  has  it  pointed  right  at  you!  He
  maniacally  waves  a  flaming  brand  back  and  forth
  above  the  fuse,  which  is  about  as  short  as  his
  patience,  as  he  curses  you  with  such  a  twisted
  strand  of  Spanish  and  broken  English  as  to  be
  incomprehensible.  However,  you  do  manage  to
  catch  the  words  “Surrender  you  godless  dogs!”
  This  Spanish  guard  indeed  has  a  cannon  ready
  to  fire  down  the  hallway,  loaded  indeed,  yet  not
  with  a  cannonball,  but  rather  with  the  skull  and
  bones  of  a  dead  prisoner.  All  those  who  can  run
  120’ back  down  the  hall  before  this  madman  gets  a
  Turn  can  reach  safety,  otherwise  when  he  lights
  the  fuse  it  will  constitute  an  Attack  Roll  with  a
  +6  bonus  that  will  do  a  Base  Damage  of  15  to
  everyone  in  its  path!  After  firing  his  salvo,  he  will
  attack  with  his  cutlass  and  fight  to  the  death.
  30)  Planning  room
  Your  exploration  of  the  fort  has  led  you  to  what
  must  surely  be  the  core  of  the  Spanish  navy  in
  the  Caribbean!  This  chamber  contains  a  large
  table  surrounded  by  several  high-backed  chairs,
  its  walls  are  draped  in  maps  and  Spanish  flags,
  and  statues  of  great  navigators  watch  you  from
  the  shadows.  So  extensive  is  the  wealth  of  Spain
  it  is  matched  only  by  their  arrogance,  using  gold
  coins  for  markers  of  ships  and  jewels  to  mark
  towns  on  the  huge  map  that  covers  the  table.
  The  coins  and  jewels,  along  with  the  entire
  table,  are  trapped—if  anyone  should  disturb  it,  the
  counter-weight  on  the  floor  will  cause  the  doors  to
  close  and  bars  to  fall  into  place  outside  them,  thus
  sealing  the  trespassers  in  this  room  until  30  guards
  arrive  to  deal  with  them.  The  jewels  are  all  rubies,
  numbering  126  in  all  and  worth  10  gold  each,  and
  the  coins  are  all  pieces  of  eight,  numbering  362  in
  all.  The  current  display  on  the  table  is  an  old  plan
  long  since  put  into  action,  and  is  thus  useless  to
  the  party.  Should  anyone  specifically  unlock  all  the
  doors  with  the  ring  of  keys  found  in  Encounter  25,
  it  will  disarm  the  table’s  trap.
  31)  Lonely  battlement*
  The  maze-like  corridors  of  the  Spanish  fort  lead
  you  past  a  small  battlement,  no  larger  than  a
  ship’s  forecastle.  From  there,  a  rusty  old  cannon
  looks  out  over  the  bay.  It  appears  that  nobody
  has  used  this  relic  for  years,  its  design  harkening
  back  to  the  days  of  Drake.
  The  cannon  is  old  and  useless,  no  longer  kept
  clean  or  maintained  at  all,  as  this  is  where  a  great
  Spanish  commander  met  his  untimely  end,  and  so
  is  this  place  avoided  by  all  Spaniards.  As  a  result,
  so  long  as  anyone  remains  here,  no  guards  will
  capture  them  or  even  fight  them.  However,  the
  guards  will  indeed  wait  just  outside  in  the  halls
  and  on  ships  below  for  the  trespassers  to  leave,
  and  if  they  are  captured  later,  any  and  all  rolls
  made  for  them  on  Tables  115  and  116  will  suffer
  penalties  of  -1  and  -2  respectively.
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  31
  32)  Tower  stairs
  The  fort  has  been  explored.  You  now  climb  the
  stairs  inside  a  corner  tower,  leading  to  the  high
  battlements,  indeed  all  that  remains  of  the  fort
  unknown  to  you.  Yet  even  as  your  shadow  races
  up  the  wall,  the  ghostly  shadows  of  the  Spanish
  come  down  to  meet  it.  Made  real  in  an  instant
  by  the  gold  and  silver  flash  of  swords,  you  find
  yourself  ambushed,  with  guards  both  above  you
  and  below,  their  curses  echoing  off  the  narrow
  walls  of  this  tower  stairwell!  A  single  window
  offers  a  glimpse  of  the  distant  sea,  freedom  that
  could  have  been  yours  if  not  for  coming  here.
  There  are  only  as  many  Spanish  guards  as
  there  are  Characters  present  there,  evenly  spaced  to
  offer  the  same  resistance  above  and  below  on  the
  stairs.  If  the  party  fought  the  fort  from  their  ship
  before  entering  it  on  foot,  all  of  these  guards  will
  also  be  wounded  to  match  the  party  as  well.
  If  one  goes  out  the  window,  he  faces  a  20’
  jump  across  to  the  battlements,  or  a  50’ fall  onto
  the  rocky  headland  below,  either  of  which  can  be
  avoided  with  a  successful  Agility  Check—one  can
  jump  to  the  battlements  or  dive  far  enough  to  land
  safely  in  the  deep  bay  water.
  33)  High  battlements
  The  stairs  open  out  onto  the  wide  battlement  that
  dominates  the  entire  roof  of  the  fort.  Cannons
  fill  every  crenellation  and  mounds  of  cannonballs
  are  stacked  in  an  orderly  fashion.  You  see  only
  a  few  guards,  and  then  only  gathered  near  the
  door  to  a  lone  tower  rising  a  hundred  feet  into
  the  Caribbean  sky.
  There  are  3  guards  by  the  tower  door,  and  3
  others  patrolling  the  battlements.  This  area  is  vast,
  running  hundreds of  feet  along  its  face,  enabling
  the  cannons  to  fire  on  any  part  of  the  harbor,  but
  also  giving  the  party  plenty  of  room  to  fight,  flee,
  or  whatever  kind  of  plan  they  may  come  up  with.
  The  tower  door  leads  to  a  stair  and  eventually  to
  Encounter  area  34,  but  no  where  else.
  From  the  battlements,  it  is  a  50’ drop  to  the
  deep  bay  water  below.
  34)  Treasure
  You  have  finally  reached  the  top  of  the  tower.  It
  is  a  comfortable  living  chamber  whose  windows
  look  out  upon  the  bosom  of  the  Spanish  Main.
  One  could  easily  fancy  looking  down  upon  the
  world  from  Heaven  and  see  no  more  clearly  than
  from  here.  The  floor  is  covered  with  a  plush  rug
  and  the  walls  with  elaborate  tapestries  depicting
  courtly  scenes.  A  four  poster  canopy  bed  lies
  buried  under  vast  amounts  of  treasure,  the  room
  apparently  used  as  a  vault  rather  than  anyone’s
  personal  quarters.  You  see  diamonds  and  rubies
  and  countless  pieces  of  eight,  the  golden  bed  for
  many  nobles  resting  quietly  within  their  frames,
  for  among  the  plunder  are  the  paintings  of  many
  monarchs,  including  the  English  queen  herself.
  The  Queen  of  England  is  indeed  not  here,  nor
  was  she  ever,  save  in  her  portrait,  which  is  just
  one  of  many  hoarded  by  the  Spanish.  However,
  her  portrait  in  particular  holds  a  secret,  one  that
  cannot  be  found  with  any  roll  of  the  dice.  If  the
  back  of  the  portrait  is  slit,  slashed  or  otherwise
  opened,  one  will  find  a  paper  hidden  therein  (and
  gain  the  Experience  Points  normally  granted  for  a
  successful  Searching  Check).  This  paper  is  provided
  as  Handout  16,  and  the  offer  that  it  makes  is
  genuine—whoever  signs  it  in  the  presence  of  an
  English  governor  will  by  law  claim  ownership  of  a
  very  valuable  ship,  ‘Her  Majesty  the  Queen’,  which
  lies  anchored  in  Port  Royal.
  The  rest  of  the  treasure  here  consists  of  10
  rolls  from  Table  81,  using  the  ‘others’  column.  As
  this  treasure  is  a  major  holding  for  the  city  of
  Cartagena  it  is  considered  part  of  the  city’s  wealth,
  however  it  was  difficult  to  reach  beyond  what  a
  normal  dice  rolling  assault  on  a  city  would  involve
  and  thus  if  the  town  is  plundered  these  rolls  will
  not  count  against  the  11  treasures  normally  rolled
  for  this  settlement’s  wealth.
  Any  key  NPCs  present  will  wish  to  take  the
  portraits  with  them,  whether  the  party  finds  the
  hidden  paper  or  not,  because  if  they  didn’t,  the
  NPCs  will,  in  time.
  When  the  party  leaves  the  tower,  all  of  the
  guards  they  fought  but  did  not  defeat  will  have
  gathered  on  the  battlements,  waiting  for  them . . .
  
  LONG   LIVE   THE   QUEEN
  32
  CONCLUDING  THE  ADVENTURE:  Once  the
  party  has  left  Cartagena  or  their  quest  for  the
  Queen  behind,  there  are  some  things  to  consider.
  The  Duke:  Duke  William  plays  a  very  important
  role,  both  alive  and  dead.  If  he  lives,  he  will  soon
  make  his  way  to  the  city  the  party  began  this
  Adventure  in,  to  become  Governor  within  a  year,
  and  once  in  office  will  favor  the  PCs  who  rescued
  him,  forever  offering  them  safe  harbor  in  that  port,
  regardless  of  their  Notoriety  and  allegiance.  Yet  if
  he  died,  the  Governor  who  takes  his  place  will  be
  one  to  begrudge  the  Player  Characters,  their  captain
  and  their  ship  until  the  end  of  his  days,  that  same
  port  thus  becoming  forever  hostile  towards  them,
  regardless  of  rank,  title  and  amnesty.
  The  Duchess:  Duchess  Kimberly  will  put  on  the
  front  of  being  in  love  in  with  Duke  William,  but
  her  true  intention  was  always  to  have  him  become
  Governor  only  so  she  could  work  with  pirates—she
  set  up  the  entire  Adventure  to  recover  the  letter
  giving  ownership  of  the  pirate  ship  Her  Majesty  as
  she  wants  to  have  her  personal  pirate  doing  errands
  for  her  throughout  the  Caribbean.  One  way  or  the
  other  she  will  find  her  way  into  the  marriage  bed
  of  a  powerful  Governor,  and  from  there  use  pirates
  to  wage  war  on  Spain.  Use  her  thus  as  a  woman
  with  a  mind  for  business  and  a  heart  of  ice,  ever
  ready  to  give  the  party  returning  aboard  the  strong
  ship  Her  Majesty  another  secret  mission.  If  the
  Player  Characters  ever  ask  Duchess  Kimberly  as  to
  why  she  favors  that  ship,  she  will  say  that  it  is
  the  ship  that  brought  her  to  the  Caribbean,  and  on
  whose  deck  her  father  defied  the  Spanish  and  was
  murdered,  an  adventure  that  led  her  to  being  saved
  by  pirates  whose  articles  preventing  anyone  from
  taking  advantage  of  her,  until  they  ransomed  her,
  hence  her  mind  for  business  beginning  at  an  early
  age  and  continuing  to  this  day.
  The  potato  chest:  If  the  chest  full  of  potatoes
  discovered  through  the  clues  of  Encounter  8  is
  ever  given  over  to  an  English  Governor,  he  will
  accept  it  most  gladly  and  pay  those  who  deliver  it
  10000  crowns,  explaining  that  these  new  wondrous
  foods  will  enrich  English  culture.
  Return  to  Spy  House:  When  the  party  returns  to
  Spy  House,  they  will  indeed  be  paid  as  agreed  if
  they  bring  the  Duke  William  with  them.  If  the
  Pirate  Queen  is  also  with  them,  she  has  an  equal
  share  of  the  commission  herself,  and  fully  intends
  to  collect  it.
  Her  Majesty  the  Queen:  This  ship  is  a  treasure  in
  itself.  A  frigate  by  design,  it  is  built  with  such
  skill  and  exceptional  materials  as  to  be  unable  to
  ever  be  duplicated.  Those  who  sail  aboard  it  come
  to  both  love  this  ship  and  swear  duty  to  it.  Some
  know  it  simply  as  ‘Her  Majesty’,  while  others  tend
  to  refer  to  her  as  ‘The  Queen’,  yet  it  is  the  same
  vessel,  strong  and  legendary  indeed.
  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  is  very  exceptional:
  Value  12,  Crew  5/250,  Speed  20  leagues,  Guns  30,
  Battle  10,  Hull  500,  and  Cargo  20000.  She  has  the
  same  special  capabilities  as  a  normal  frigate,  but
  the  only  flags  suggested  to  be  flown  are  those  of
  England,  or  of  pirates  themselves.
  If  the  hidden  paper  in  Encounter  34  was  not
  discovered  and  a  key  NPC  took  the  portrait,  he
  will  leave  the  party  as  soon  as  possible  so  he  can
  go  and  claim  the  ship  for  himself.  You  may  have
  this  individual  return  one  day  under  any  conditions
  that  your  storytelling  needs,  the  ship  still  a  prize
  that  is  in  the  grasp  of  the  Player  Characters,  one
  way  or  the  other.
  Show  me  that  horizon:  Try  to  end  this  Adventure
  with  the  party  taking  possession  of  Her  Majesty
  the  Queen  and  setting  sail.  A  narrative  has  been
  prepared  below  to  help  you  sum  up  the  feelings
  the  Player  Characters  may  have  at  that  time.
  Her  Majesty  the  Queen—upon  her  deck  you  feel
  as  if  in  love  for  the  first  time,  at  once  at  peace
  and  yet  excited  about  where  she  will  lead  you.
  Running  your  hand  along,  caressing  her  wheel,  a
  sense  of  fulfillment  fills  your  heart,  a  sense  of
  loyalty  to  this  ship,  even  duty,  an  end  to  an  old
  life  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  one,  indeed  of
  opportunity  on  the  high  seas.  Looking  ahead,  you
  welcome  the  horizon,  and  an  old  song  echoes  in
  your  mind.  The  others  must  share  it  as  well,  for
  they  echo  your  thoughts:  “Yo-ho . . .”
  
  Lady Jaye
  Agility:
  Brawn:
  Nationality:
  Experience Level:
  Notoriety Level:
  Defense Score:
  Carried Weight:
  Notes and Changes: Move:
  Class:
  Age:
  Height:
  Weight:
  Handed:
  Born:
  Endurance:
  Girth:
  Wits:
  Intuition:
  Charisma:
  Luck:
  04
  07
  07
  09
  10
  07
  10
  05
  090
  037
  120’
  23
  08
  3
  4
  5’7”
  1658
  Very little is known about this woman before she set
  her sword into the Governor of Santana, a town she set
  afire and named her ship after, save that she fancies her
  pirate career as a modern-day Robin Hood on the seas.
  Lady Jaye is highly skilled with a cutlass (+3), as it
  is the weapon her father used. She embraces living as a
  rogue, blending into the crowd to vanish at will. Such a
  life has learned her the languages of English and French
  (both with Level 3), Poisons (Level 1), Disguise (Level 5)
  and Skulking (Level 2). And, like all Rogues, she has a
  knack for noticing people trying to pick her own pocket,
  has great luck for escaping her own failed attempts with
  pilfering, and of disappearing into the shadows.
  Lady Jaye is an accomplished fighter, wielding the old
  sword of her father, a cutlass with a gilded handleguard,
  valued at 7000 gold. Two pistols are strapped to each of
  her bare thighs, a warning to men at the least. She ever
  wears a rich captain’s coat but no hat, and keeps a set
  of lockpicks hidden on her.
  L
  English
  Rogue
  HANDOUT 1
  
  The Santana
  Captain:
  Design:
  Mounted cannon:
  Reserve cannon:
  Men per cannon:
  Hull Points:
  Crew:
  Morale:
  Hold:
  Cargo:
  Levels:
  Speed:
  Notes and Changes:
  400
  5
  25
  15
  15
  45
  20000
  5100
  140
  200
  English
  Galleon
  Lady
  Jaye
  The slave trade is sometimes its own worst enemy, the
  tale of this ship proof enough of that. She was a slave-
  trade ship, but her cargo took control, renamed her after
  the dead leader of the mutiny, and then turned pirate.
  The Santana is crewed by 140 proud Englishmen and
  pirates (100 1st Level, 30 2nd Level, and 10 4th Level), a
  crew bound by a common hatred for slavery. Well armed
  and well motivated, they follow Lady Jaye anywhere that
  the one whom they call ‘the pirate queen’ may lead. The
  crew loves her, and for no other reason than that, under
  her command and aboard the Santana (which they love
  just as much) they gain +1 to their Mass Melee rolls.
  The Santana is well provisioned for pirateering and if
  the occasion arises waging war. She has 40 cannon with
  50 salvos, 2 longboats, spare sails, 4 anchors (one which
  is used only for lashing mutineers upon, sending them to
  the bottom for 3 days to let devils feed on them), and a
  supply of 100 days of food and water for a crew of 200
  (if there are less crew, the extra food is kept for reserve).
  Flag:
  HANDOUT 2
  
  Make a joyful noise unto God,
  all ye lands:
  Sing forth the honour of his name;
  make his praise glorious.
  Say unto God, How terrible art
  thou in thy works! though the
  greatness of thy power shall
  thine enemies submit themselves
  unto thee.
  All the earth shall worship thee,
  and shall sing unto thee; they
  shall sing to thy name. Selah.
  Come and see the works of God:
  he is terrible in his doing
  toward the children of men.
  He turned the sea into dry land:
  they went through the flood
  on foot: there did we rejoice
  in him.
  HANDOUT 3
  
  HANDOUT 4
  
  La Dama Oscura
  está viva
  HANDOUT 5
  
  should be taken as well. There should be no wanting for what is
  well within our grasp.
  October 19th, 1612.
  Captured a Spanish galleon (they are all the same to me). I
  will have no record of the plunder for it is also all the same to me,
  compared to the true treasure she offered. The Dark Lady now
  welcomes aboard the beauty Carlotta, found in the hold with the
  dull gold and jewels. No Spaniards survived to tell of her fate.
  October 30th, 1612.
  I can no longer keep my personal feelings bound within my
  journal, and for the sake of the men they must be here recorded.
  The beauty Carlotta taunts my soul. Her alone I value above
  all, even my ship, to whom once I thought I was married. Be
  done with superstitions of ghost ships that turn against their
  captains! I will not be slave to anything but my desire for her.
  October 31st, 1612.
  I have taken my share of the treasure, divided on this morning.
  On the eve of the Hallowed Day, I ask the angels to bless my
  bed, for I will bring the beauty Carlotta to it. She and I shall
  be married in truth. This night the Dark Lady will be proud.
  November 1st, 1612.
  My heart is broken. The beauty Carlotta perished in the night,
  swept overboard in a storm the crew blames upon the ship herself.
  Am I an unfaithful lover? I believed nothing of ghost ships in
  my youth, but with age my mind is set afire. Not with desire.
  With fear. We are doomed. Our voyage damned to continue for
  all eternity. Therefore a logbook is no longer necessary.
  HANDOUT 6
  
  Roast chicken
  Bread
  Smoked salmon
  Boucaned swine
  Wine
  Apple
  HANDOUT 7
  
  od s Trust
  G
  The house of Gods Trust has by leave of His Majesty the King full
  ownership and responsibility for the disputed property formerly known as
  the Royal Josephine House, by direct appointment, and by the undeniable
  Grace of God Himself.
  This property is hereby with this appointment and its sixteen official
  copies dedicated to redistributing this wealth in accordance with the Last
  Will and Testimony of Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa..
  This letter of ownership is for the amount of five hundred and five
  thousand golden crowns, as weighed by the scales of Horrace and Homlin,
  solicitors of the Lord William of Yorkshire. The undersigned are given
  full and equal ownership of said property and hereby accept equal and
  irrefutable responsibility for the same..
  By the decree of His Majesty September 22nd, 1680, the High Council
  offers land in Yorkshire to all members of the Royal Josephine House.
  All those whom by the grace of God are given right by the signatures of
  the undersigned have equal ownership in the amount marked by my Lord.
  Lord Chester Connely
  1684
  ‘
  HANDOUT 8
  
  A fierce one-eyed man named Baron LaBonne
  A meaner pirate had never been known
  And he sailed on the Dark Lady
  A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
  And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
  Fleet and swift was the Dark Lady
  And every night the Baron would drink a toast
  He'd say, “Here's to our lovely lady host!
  My one true love...”
  “Hear, hear!” the crew replied
  And the Dark Lady sighed
  A rich Spanish galleon was spotted one night
  The Dark Lady's crew prepared for the fight
  Clash of swords.... No Spaniards survived it
  Except for a maiden with dark eyes so bold
  Found in the hull with the jewels and the gold
  LaBonne laughed and took her for ransom
  And every night the Baron would drink a toast
  He'd say, “Here's to our lovely lady host!
  My one true love...”
  “Hear, hear!” the crew replied
  And the Dark Lady sighed
  The girl Carlotta was a beauty quite rare
  With each passing night LaBonne couldn't bear
  His empty bed... He brought her to it
  The Baron soon found he felt more than desire
  His love for her grew and his soul filled with fire
  He proclaimed they would marry
  The night the Baron drank with jubilee
  He said, “Here's to my lovely bride-to-be!
  My one true love...”
  “Hear, hear!” the crew replied
  And the Dark Lady cried
  The following night, a storm brewed at sea
  The Dark Lady saw a chance to be free
  Of her rival, the beauty Carlotta
  The ship steered her self to the heart of the gale
  Where a wave swept the maiden out over the rail
  Sweet revenge on an unfaithful lover
  That night the Lady drank a toast
  She said, “Here's to your lovely lady host!
  Your one true love...”
  No voices replied
  And the Dark Lady smiled
  And now every night when a storm fills the sky
  They say that a ghost ship sails in its eye
  Fleet and swift is the Dark Lady
  A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
  And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
  While the Captain gazes out to sea
  But every night the Baron must drink a toast
  He says, “Here's to our lovely lady host
  My one true love...”
  “Hear, hear!” the ghost crew replies
  And the Dark Lady smiles.
  The Dark Lady
  By: Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa
  HANDOUT 9
  
  The Pirate Queen
  Agility:
  Brawn:
  Nationality:
  Experience Level:
  Notoriety Level:
  Defense Score:
  Carried Weight:
  Notes and Changes: Move:
  Class:
  Age:
  Height:
  Weight:
  Handed:
  Born:
  Endurance:
  Girth:
  Wits:
  Intuition:
  Charisma:
  Luck:
  090
  037
  120’
  29
  11
  7
  6
  5’7”
  1658
  Very few men dare to cross swords with this woman,
  who fancies herself a Robin Hood of the modern age, a
  loyal daughter of England in these days when the crown
  belongs to a true rogue, and she ever fights him.
  Lady Jaye is highly skilled with a cutlass (+4), as it
  is the weapon her father used. She embraces living as a
  rogue, blending into the crowd to vanish at will. Such a
  life has learned her the languages of English and French
  (both with Level 3), Poisons (Level 2), Disguise (Level 5)
  and Skulking (Level 3). And, like all Rogues, she has a
  knack for noticing people trying to pick her own pocket,
  has great luck for escaping her own failed attempts with
  pilfering, and of disappearing into the shadows.
  Lady Jaye is an accomplished fighter, wielding the old
  sword of her father, a cutlass with a gilded handleguard,
  valued at 7000 gold. Two pistols are strapped to each of
  her bare thighs, a warning to men at the least. She ever
  wears a rich captain’s coat but no hat, and keeps a set
  of lockpicks hidden on her.
  L
  English
  Rogue
  04
  12
  07
  09
  12
  07
  10
  05
  HANDOUT 10
  
  The gold eggs. follow the footsteps
  of the leader, the letter, the ledger.
  I and tenfold in angels shall keep
  a log only the compass can read.
  Two ways make one, but herein is
  a third, the road to the sunrise.
  The psalms make no mention of a
  magical goose egg as few men have
  set foot where I have been. yet it is
  the psalms that keep my secret. as
  there are golden eggs in myth, the
  legends shall keep my mind safe.
  I see god watching from the dawn.
  The devil’s gold awaits at the end.
  HANDOUT 11
  
  or Her Majesty,
  F
  I write this on the eve of my last voyage. I have come to know that not
  all treasure is silver and gold. This prize I keep for the Queen, if my
  opinion is still to be trusted, will fetch a price far more worthy in weight
  than even the gold that would otherwise fill the seachest that is the home
  that the words of this letter shall come to haunt. May the Governor of
  an English court dispel this ghost one day.
  What are these strange treasures? Myths of the ancient seas speak
  of golden apples. Are these the ambrosia of the New World? Are they
  the golden goose eggs that sailors marooned for months have spoken of, if
  only embellished? Their rough appearance could betray the colour of gold
  in the right light, or to a parched man, or are they worth more than gold
  to the starving man? I know not, and can only hope that time will see fit
  to vindicate me. I fear that God may not come the voyage ahead.
  Francis Drake
  1570
  HANDOUT 12
  
  HANDOUT 13
  
  For the Queen, for those
  who have suffered, and
  for those who should not.
  May this be given back
  to those who truly deserve
  it. May the blood of sinners
  stain the falls as they plunge
  all the way to Hell unseen
  HANDOUT 14
  
  HANDOUT 15
  
  od s Trust
  G
  The house of Gods Trust has by leave of His Majesty the King full
  ownership and responsibility for the disputed property formerly known as
  the Royal Josephine House, by direct appointment, and by the undeniable
  Grace of God Himself..
  This property is hereby with this appointment and its sixteen official
  copies dedicated to redistributing this wealth in accordance with the Last
  Will and Testimony of Sir Christian Josephine.
  This letter of ownership is for the former Royal Navy frigate last
  in service in Port Royal Jamaica in the Indies, Christened without the
  formal title of HMS, for her name is Her Majesty The Queen, as
  proven by documents provided by the offices of Horrace and Homlin,
  solicitors of the Lord William of Yorkshire. The undersigned is given
  full ownership of said property and hereby accepts equal and irrefutable
  responsibility for the same, once witnessed by an English Governor.
  By the decree of His Majesty September 22nd, 1680, the High Council
  offers land in Yorkshire to all members of the Royal Josephine House.
  All those whom by the grace of God are given right by the signatures of
  the undersigned have equal ownership in the amount marked by my Lord.
  Lord Chester Connely
  Legal owner
  Witness
  1684
  ‘
  HANDOUT 16
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pirates/Pirates C4 Pirates out for Love and Duty {NDG2204}.pdf