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AKA_Bait
2006-09-11, 01:20 PM
Still in progress but comments are welcome as it goes along.


Soren Waterlungs
Black Friend of the Sea

The waves lapped slowly against the starboard bow as the crew of the fishing boat toiled against the setting sun. Slowly and methodically they cleaned and gutted the fish before them, humming softly to themselves in the falling light.
CRACK CRACK CRACK
With sudden violence the ship rocked and were it not for the screams of panic of the crew the sound of water rushing into the holds below could have been heard. Above the railing of the port bow a small sloop with sails that matched the sunset had appeared as if from nowhere and several figures could be seen gesturing. Just below the railing lay the lifeless body of the porpoise that had been caught in the nets earlier that day.


Sometimes old fishermen tell stories about children tossed into the sea and adopted by the waves. Soren Whythe is evidence that these tales are sometimes true. Soren’s unwed and reluctant mother dropped his infant form into the Western Ocean with only enough care to ask the ocean to raise him. A nearby dolphin, Turn, heard her half-hearted prayer and pushed the basket containing the baby human to the druidic grotto of Ulrich, his companion. Ulrich and the other druids raised Soren until the age of 20.
That year, during the Summer Solstice festival townsfolk set upon the druids unexpectedly. The Druids had opposed, sometimes violently, encroachment into the ocean of large ships, particularly wide net fishing boats. Taken unexpectedly and after most of their spells had been spent upon the festiva,l Ulrich and his brothers made easy prey. Soren fought well and managed to retreat back to the shore before being deeply slashed with a pitchfork and when he lay unmoving face down in the water for several seconds, he was left for dead.
Dead he was not and for a year he waited and studied, taking Turn as his companion, as Ulrich had before him. The following Solstice he reappeared at the height of the festivities. Raining lightning and freezing hail down upon the commoners he slew nearly everyone at the festival. The few who escaped went on to warn others about Soren ‘Waterlungs’ the drowned druid who returned for vengeance.
A year however was too long to wait. No longer fearful of the wrath of the druids neighboring towns and cities had already begun building larger ships, sailing deeper into the ocean, and indiscriminately taking from the sea without recompense. This could not be allowed to continue but killing everyone around was a little much, even for Soren. Instead he crafted a plan to return the fear of a vengeful nature to them.
Recruiting younger druids, fey and some merfolk he crafted the Ceircie, a magical sloop, with which he would remind fishermen and other seafarers of the perils of treating the sea as their property.
Sorens preferred tactic is to flounder a boat using wands of shatter, warp wood, or preferably wood shape upon their rudders. He then boards and demands recompense for whatever they have taken from the sea. If they take fish from the ocean, he demands an equal weight in ‘land flesh’. If they refuse, he sinks their ship and leaves all but a few to drown. Usually a small number are permitted to escape, and spread the lesson. As such, he is now know as ‘Waterlungs’ not just for his apocryphal rising from a watery grave, but for the number of fishermen he has sent to one.


Statblock:

AKA_Bait
2006-09-11, 01:22 PM
His Sidekick: The Pilot

Description & Background:

Stat Block:

AKA_Bait
2006-09-11, 01:23 PM
Crew of the Ceirce:

Nigel Nickleson:

Others:

AKA_Bait
2006-09-11, 01:25 PM
Ship:

The Ceirce

Description and History:

Stat block:

Wondrous Item: Lady of the Sea

This magical single masted sloop is all of a piece and enchanted to move at the command of its captain. Crafted with utmost care from wildwood1, its remarkable lightness and magical abilities make it shockingly fast, fantastically maneuverable and nearly unsinkable.

When a command word is spoken, a strong wind similar to a gust of wind spell issues forth from the edge of the fore-and-aft mainsail. The moveable nature of the mainsail allows the wind to be guided into the port-starboard sails providing additional propulsion

Each plank of the ship has a hardness of 10 and 40 hit points. However, due to its construction out of wildwood, if damaged each plank-sized section heals 5 hp every 8 hours so long as it remains in the water and 1hp per day each day it is in bright sunlight.

Ladies of the Sea are fairly small ships and require a crew of only 30. The ships hold may accommodate as much as 75 tons of cargo.

Faint evocation; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, Wood Shape, Gust of Wind; Market Value: 186,000 gp; Weight 50 tons.

1See Races of the Wild p. 169

Wonderous Item: Whisper Sails
These all purpose sails are a boon any illicit seafaring folk that can get their hands on a set. The sails provide a +5 bonus against spot checks (increasing the DC to spot the ship by 5) by subtly changing color to blend with the background sky.
In addition these sails give the ship an ability to withstand perhaps the greatest danger to a ship at sea, fire. They grant Energy Resistance: Fire 10.

Faint illusion; CL 4th; Craft Wondrous Item, invisibility, resist elements; Price 16,500 gp; Weight 15 lb.

AKA_Bait
2006-09-11, 01:36 PM
Booty:
Soren and his crew are not there to aquire wealth so their 'booty' tends to be things that other ships had that struck him as potentially useful in the future as well as his standard equipment.

The hold usually contains:
Whatever the last ship they sunk posessed. This is variable and up to the DM. Reaquiring an object that Soren took as part of a raid is an excellent option for a plot hook.
To randomly determine use the following table:
{table]
d12
1-2 No Treasure
3-12 Treasure appropriate to an encounter ofthe level of the number rolled.[/table]

The hold always contains:
10 Wands of Shatter
3 Wands of Fireball (8th level)
3 Folding Boats