Our party are:
- Corwin: a curious fellow and agent of old Bes
- Hector: a former slave with a painted face who wields magic through his poppet
- Montague: a dashing young fellow with a romantic notion of life at sea
- William: a man of means with a taste for the sweet life
The hanged man grabbed out at Corwin only to miss and receive fire from Billy’s musket. Yet before Corwin could escape the range of the hanged man’s tether the undead creature had grabbed Corwin again and used the dumbfound pirate to lever itself up and escape the noose that held it in place. Montague rushed in to aide Corwin but as the hanged man had begun moving the botflies that had nested on its corpse were swarming the two pirates unfortunate enough to be in the cabin and making a meal of them.
The party resolved to withdraw from the cabin but Hector’s sharp eye spied what looked like a steel wand driven into the wall and being used as a coat hook. He sent Alice (the ship’s whore he’s dominated with his poppet) to retrieve the spike as the front line withdrew. With all friendlies outside the cabin Montague shut the door and held it firm against a shove from the hanged man, who cursed them and swore not to be imprisoned any longer.
After some panicked discussion the pirates decided to open the door, have Billy shoot the creature and immediately close the door again. The plan was a resounding success and as the creature fell to musket fire the door was shut and wedged to prevent further harrying from the swarm.
Despite the expectation of loot inside the cabin the party decide to abandon the stockade and continue the search for their missing crew mates. Having seen Grindylow wearing Sandara’s hat through the spyglass they decide to head the most direct route down the cliff side to the shore, rather than back the way they came, relying on the jungle to ease their descent.
The away team and Alice begin the climb down and all seemed well, despite the dark, until Billy lost his footing. Montague courageously attempted to catch his falling ally and was able to grab on to the gunslinger, though couldn’t keep hold of the weight. Corwin mocked the unfortunate sap as the sounds of Billy becoming intimate with the jungle and cliff face echoed back up to his allies…