Coast Trip Autumn ’25: Souls for Smuggler’s Shiv, Pt. 4

Last session, The Freebooters staggered back to Essina’s giant tree at dusk and received a strange benediction. The weirwood guardian thanked them, whispered the secret of the Tide Stones—blood in the central basin, then seawater until the channels overflowed—and quite literally birthed a new companion from her trunk: Spring Eternal, a wooden wanderer charged to watch over the musical Lunar Eclipse. After a night of stories about the island’s long decay, dawn brought loot and leads at the cannibals’ lighthouse: Cheliax-marked payroll bags, a shrine cluttered with Asmodean wreckage, and a cache of tinctures, antitoxins, smoke sticks, tanglefoot bags, and a thunderstone. The reflector atop the tower looked fixable—perhaps a way off this cursed shore.

At the Tide Stones the ritual worked with terrifying spectacle. Blood and brine turned the channels crimson, a sky-splitting bolt struck, and the entire inlet emptied in a roaring retreat, revealing a shipwreck—and titanic bronze doors beneath the cliff. The wreck’s lone ‘crewman,’ the watery, eager Captain Ebbes, saluted Admiral Pacifica and ushered the party through barnacled husks and past a horse-sized urchin before they pressed on. At the doors, Jason Priestley, their Viperean ally, fed the spiked handplates his blood; stone groaned and Zura’s temple yawned open.

Inside, the Freebooters fought skeletal archers atop a high bridge, survived a collapsing hallway and a gibbering mass of eyes and mouths in a honeycombed pit, and braved a pendulum-blade chamber whose pillars hid the release buttons. Beyond, a cathedral to the vampire-bat goddess flowed with a literal river of blood. There a cobra-headed priestess of Zura arrived with reptilian-boned dead. In the melee Pacifica’s net briefly ensnared priestess and guard, Spring Eternal’s bolts seared, and Lunar Eclipse’s protection turned a charm aside—but Jason fell. A hurled tanglefoot bag clogged the barred spillway, blood welled ankle-deep, and the priestess fled bleeding into the dark. With skeletons distracted by a mirage and the flood rising, the party withdrew. They later repaired the lighthouse and signaled a red-sailed whaler, escaping the island with scrolls hinting at a lost serpent city deep in the Mwangi, while the cobra-priestess slipped the noose—an oath for another day.

OUTLINE:

Return to Essina’s Tree and a New Ally

• The Freebooters reached the giant tree and were met by Essina, who thanked them and shared the Tide Stones ritual.
• Essina reached into her trunk and created Spring Eternal, charging the weirwood to watch over Lunar Eclipse.
• They rested safely; Essina spoke of centuries on the isle and a lurking pressure at the stones.

Lighthouse Loot and Leads

• They searched the cannibals’ lighthouse: Cheliax-marked payroll in a chest with Asmodean symbols.
• Recovered supplies: antitoxins, smoke sticks, tanglefoot bags, a thunderstone, healing and vitus tinctures; took a cannibal shield.
• Found the lens assembly; determined it could be repaired to signal a rescue.

Opening the Tide Stones; The Sea Parts

• The party bled into the basin, poured seawater; lightning split the sky and the inlet emptied.
• A shipwreck (the Salty Strumpet) and titanic bronze doors under the cliff were revealed.
• Captain Ebbes, a watery castaway, greeted them and pointed the way; Jason Priestley bled the spiked plates to open Zura’s temple.

Trials Within: Bridge, Pit, and Pendulum

• Skeletal archers on a high bridge were destroyed by holy water and turning.
• A trapped hall dropped the leaders into a pit with a gibbering horror; sunrod light, healing, and fire drove it back into honeycomb tunnels.
• A pendulum scythe chamber was neutralized by finding and pressing hidden pillar-buttons.

The Blood Cathedral and the Cobra Priestess

• They reached a vast shrine: a fanged idol, a river of blood, and bronze bars over a roaring drop.
• A cobra-headed priestess of Zura attacked with skeletal guards; she tried (and failed) to bend wills.
• Pacifica netted foes; Spring Eternal’s missiles struck; Jason Priestley fell in the melee.
• A tanglefoot bag clotted the spillway, flooding began, skeletons were distracted by a mirage, and the priestess fled bleeding; the party withdrew.

Escape, Repairs, and What Comes Next

• The sea crashed back, re-submerging the doors; later the party repaired the lighthouse and signaled a red-sailed whaler to escape the island.
• They carried serpent-lore scrolls hinting at a lost city in the Mwangi interior.
• The cobra-priestess escaped, setting the stage for a future reckoning.

NPCs:

• Captain Ebbes: A watery, muppet-like castaway who claimed the title of captain on the wrecked Salty Strumpet. Eager, loyal to Pacifica’s ‘command,’ and dripping constant commentary, he guided the party through the wreck and toward the temple.
• Cobra-Headed Priestess of Zura: A lithe Viperean in Varisian garb who commanded skeletal guardians and the blood-hall shrine. She tried to bend wills with a hissed command, was scorched and ensnared, then fled bleeding into the dark.
• Eris: A once-drunken castaway who rallied during the long wait and cheered loudest when a red-sailed whaler answered the relit lighthouse. She warmed to Pacifica’s talk of promotion and second chances.
• Essina: An ancient weirwood guardian whose sense of time is as deep as her roots. She taught the Tide Stones’ rite and created Spring Eternal to aid the party, hinting at centuries of watching the island ebb and sour.
• Jask (fallen): A manacled priest among the original castaways who did not survive earlier trials. His memory lingered as the group passed his remains in the cannibal warrens.

ITEMS:

• Antitoxin (x3): Bitter draughts to ward off venom and rot—practical tools pried from a witch’s hut.
• Asmodeus Figurehead: A leering devil’s visage salvaged from wreckage; more omen than ornament.
• Cannibal Shield: A wood-and-hide buckler stretched tight with unsettling craft—grim but serviceable.
• Cheliax Payroll Bags: Rotten sacks of silver and gold stamped with Chelish sigils—proof of imperial reach and compromise.
• Healing Tinctures (x6): Pungent salves and sips for closing wounds in the field.
• Marked Fortune Cards: A cleverly rigged deck for readings that come out just so—useful for coin or confidence.
• Mithril Pirate Hook: A gleaming, lightweight hook that once capped a notorious corsair’s wrist; now a tidy sale.
• Net: Pacifica’s favored throw, lethal in the right hands; even a priestess can be bagged.
• Plus-One Dagger: A keen-bladed companion that bit deep when powder ran dry.
• Serpent-Lore Scrolls: Cracking vellum covered in reptilian script and star-charts, pointing toward a lost city in the Mwangi.
• Smoke Sticks (x2): Quick smoke screens to blind and break lines of sight—perfect for retreats and raids.
• Tanglefoot Bags (x3): Sticky, alchemical snares that gum feet, bars—and in a pinch, a river of blood.
• Thunderstone: A palm-sized blast that bursts in a deafening crack on impact.
• Vitus Tinctures (x2): Restoratives that shore up a flagging constitution after poison, fever, or worse.

LOCATIONS:

• Asmodean Relic Room: A chamber piled with shipwreck icons, including a leering Asmodeus figurehead and Cheliax symbols—the spoils of ‘salvage.’
• Bridge Hall: A lofty chamber with a forty-foot stone span and skeletal archers. Quick ropes and quicker holy water decided it.
• Bronze Sea Doors: Spiked handplates and reptilian prayers barred the way beneath the cliff. Blood opened the path to Zura’s temple.
• Essina’s Grove: A serene, forbidden-feeling hill crowned by a colossal weirwood. Safe rest, morning choruses, and the birthplace of Spring Eternal.
• Honeycomb Pit: A collapse trap over a thirty-foot drop where a gibbering mass surged through a lattice of small tunnels.
• Pendulum Chamber: A shrieking scythe trap with hidden pillar-buttons that slammed bronze shutters to free the exits.
• Salty Strumpet (Wreck): Half-buried, barnacled ribs and kelp-choked cabins. Home to Captain Ebbes and one very large, moody sea urchin.
• Stones of the Tides: Four basalt monoliths around a low ziggurat basin. Blood and seawater awoke lightning—and parted the sea.
• The Lighthouse: Four stories of reclaimed wreckage, a chieftain’s den, and a nearly functional lens. Once a cannibal lair; now the beacon that drew rescue.
• Zura’s Blood Cathedral: A vast hall with a fanged idol, a flowing red trough, and barred spillway into darkness. Site of the showdown with the cobra priestess.

FACTIONS:

• Cannibal Tribe of the Lighthouse: Inbred survivors turned raiders and butchers. Their chieftain’s lair fell to the party’s prior assault.
• Cheliax: An empire whose coin and sigils surfaced even on a forsaken isle. Business is business—including with devils.
• Church of Asmodeus: The iron-clad faith of Cheliax; its relics washed ashore as wreckage and warning.
• Cult of Zura: Vampire-bat goddess worshipped in blood and shadow. Serpentfolk and their dead guarded her halls.
• Red Gull Whaler: A red-sailed whaling crew that answered the lighthouse’s beam and offered parley and passage.

QUESTS:

• Confront the Cobra-Headed Priestess: Break the serpent cult’s hold on the blood-cathedral and end its priestess.
• Escape the Shivering Isle: Signal a passing vessel and secure safe passage off the island.
• Explore Zura’s Drowned Temple: Enter the sea-gate below the cliff and probe its defenses and secrets.
• Learn and Perform the Tide Stones Ritual: Discover how to open the ancient pathway beneath the sea and enact it at the standing stones.
• Protect Lunar Eclipse (Essina’s Charge): Spring Eternal must watch over ‘the musical one’ in the trials ahead.
• Repair the Lighthouse: Restore the lens and beacon to draw rescue to the Shivering Isle.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Duffy McDufferson: A gnomish trickster with a talent for illusions and an indomitable survival instinct. Out of bullets but not out of guile, he stabbed a gibbering horror in the dark, then conjured a decoy to draw skeletons off as blood rose around their boots. Beneath the jokes lies a relentless will to live (and tell the tale).
• Jason Priestley: A Viperean devotee who spoke the old tongue and bore holy wards into profane places. He bled the spiked plates to open Zura’s doors and shattered undead with sacred waters and prayers. He fell beneath skeletal blades in the blood-cathedral, a solemn loss that sharpened his companions’ resolve.
• Lunar Eclipse: A performer at heart whose music precedes him, Lunar Eclipse often tempers bold plans with caution. He warded allies from malign influence and saw through a serpent’s compulsion in the blood-cathedral. He helped turn a desperate retreat into survival and carries the weight of Essina’s charge to be protected.
• Pacifica: Self-styled Admiral and sea-savvy survivor, Pacifica fights with shield, net, and sheer nerve. She negotiated with oddities like Captain Ebbes, then anchored the temple fights—snaring the cobra priestess and her bone-guard with a perfect cast as the room began to flood. Pragmatic to the marrow, she lives to get her crew home.
• Spring Eternal: A newly born weirwood companion pulled from Essina’s tree, Spring Eternal sees the world with bright, first-day wonder. Charged to watch over Lunar Eclipse, the wooden wayfarer answered with force when it counted, lancing foes with sorcerous bolts amid scything blades and rising blood.
• Yuna: Quick and combustible, Yuna wreathed a club in flame and leapt where others hesitated. He braved the pit’s nightmare, smashed it back into the honeycomb, and ferried aid when allies faltered. In the blood-hall he crossed the clotted spillway as the chamber began to flood, buying moments that mattered.