We finally raid the pirate base, summon a mythical Sneckalasquid, and nearly have a reunion with our arch nemesis.

When last we left our heroes, they had embarked on a quest to end the pirate scourge plaguing the seas of Chult. They had captured one pirate vessel, found the location of the secret pirate base, and after some soggy encounters with hydras, rogue robots, and a trans-dimensional whirlpool, they have arrived at Jahaka Anchorage, the name of the aforementioned base. Thanks to the cowardly Captain Elok, they knew that one ship would be docked inside the cavernous inlet, while another was moored outside as a lookout. Our heroes have dropped anchor nearby, hidden by shoals and jagged rocks, as they hatched a plan to infiltrate the base.

After weeks of never being sure where the adventure would take us, we finally have one of the most straight forward sessions we have ever had. Of course, my players keep inventing new ways to make me scramble and sweat, but we’ll get to that. This week is the climax of a subplot that has been brewing since Session 22. My players are itching to see this through without further delay and I have no grand plot twists to throw at them. There’ll be a few surprises to keep them on their toes but nothing crazy; just a big battle and a few rooms to explore. It was rather refreshing frankly.

My immediate concern is that the players will want to use their newly obtained ship, re-christened The Narwhal IV, and all her crew to charge into the pirate base and stage another giant naval battle. But we just did that last week, and I don’t want to do the same thing again. Besides, this location is meant to be stormed by the actual player characters, not the PCs and their gang of 20 allies. Fortunately, my group decides to infiltrate the base by stealth and attack it from the inside. Perfect. They do have a plan for their ship to swoop in later to cut off any escape routes, but that’s later and that’s fine. I just hate it when the players abuse their access to allies, saving them from any dangers and all the adventure right from the start.

Gwen did use her difficult (for me) divination spell, asking, “What aid can be found to help us in the conflict with the pirates?” Once again, I have to come up with a suitably cryptic yet useful nugget of unknowable knowledge. It’s my own fault really. Since I’ve leaned so heavily into fortune telling and prophesy for this adventure, I should expect my players to do the same. Okay, how about this: “Past the Devil’s Smile beneath the waves of Jahaka, the crew of the Leviathan awaits a new master. But beware, not everyone in the anchorage is an enemy, and this crew cannot tell the difference.”

For context, the Devil’s Smile are the jutting rocks at the entrance to this cove that I describe as looking like demonic teeth. The Leviathan is a sunken ship at the bottom of this cove that has several skeletal sailors still on the boat, perfect for a cleric of death to potentially raise and lend aid. Sadly, Gwen did not prepare the proper spell, but she will use another spell that still uses The Leviathan and her crew in a very unexpected way. And the “not enemy” refers to two things. A pirate within the base who might be swayed to switch sides and a batch of captives that will of course need rescuing at some point in the coming chaos.

Using the underwater chariot that our heroes obtained from the demi-goddess Mainu, in Session 29, our heroes sneak into the pirate base undetected. I reward their ingenuity by having them discover the wreck of the Leviathan right away. The masts have all collapsed, but aside from a large gaping hole, the hull seems mostly intact. My group refused to investigate the hole. Are you sure? But that’s where the sharks are all hanging out. Fine! I’ll just bring them out later. Our heroes move on, but Gwen is already forming some scheme in her head and marks the location of the sunken vessel.

They also quickly discovered the prisoner cell in the southwest part of the cave. Inside is the crew of some exploration vessel out of Port Nyanzaru. Half the crew, the captain, and the noble who hired them are dead, and the rest want out of here as soon as possible. There were a few good moments of tension as the captives began raising their voices to get out and the players had to get them to shut up. There were also two very special NPCs hidden in the back, who did not want to be found by this particular group of heroes. If the players had explored deeper into the cells, it would have triggered an interesting encounter and probably blown their cover. But our heroes did not discover them and they were able to keep the prisoners calm with some rations and a promise to get them released when it was safe. The stealth mission was still a go. For now.

The best part about a stealth mission is waiting for the moment when it all goes wrong. I always throw minor complications at them that don’t immediately raise an alarm but could if things go awry. They ignored the sharks in the sunken ship and kept the nosy captives quiet. They avoided the pirate sentries I placed about the dock, including a moment when a guard shined a bullseye lantern right on their location, but our heroes resubmerged in the water just in the nick of time. So, with good stealth, they were able to swim right up to the hull of the ship anchored at the dock. I had this be the Emerald Eye, the main ship of the fleet, captained by the corpulent Zaroum Al-Saryak. They were doing really good so far. Now they just had to get on the ship.

Here, it all fell apart. First, to no surprise to anyone, Gwen could not climb up the rope to get on the ship. So, while the rest of the party was already skulking about on the deck of the ship, Gwen had to get back in the chariot/boat and glide around the ship to a gangplank on the opposite side of the dock. She never made it. Meanwhile, the other three had split the party even further. There were two guards on deck, one at the front of the boat and one at the back. Martic and Thames were about to knock out one and Roland was going after the other, when Roland failed his Stealth Roll.

Suddenly, a third pirate comes up from the hold. “Oi! What are you on about, eh?” Apparently, these pirates speak with a cockney accent, I don’t know. Roland tried to play it off that he was a new recruit, but seriously boned his Deception Check. “You limey git. You ain’t no pirate. Where’s your hat?” Roland confessed, “You’re right. I’m not a pirate. I don’t have a cool hat yet. I’ll take yours from your soon to be severed head. Die, dog!” Yep, that’s the lawful good paladin, for ya. Roll Initiative.

From this point, it was pure pandemonium. Unlike the previous pirate battle, I didn’t want another massive melee with dozens of minis on the board at the same time. I staggered the release of the enemies over the course of a dozen rounds. Just as the heroes finished off the first wave of bad guys, reinforcements would arrive to keep the battle rolling, and on and on. Some came up from the lower decks. The captain was sleeping in his quarters and took a few rounds to get dressed. Others were in the tavern located on the land-side of the cave and took several rounds to enter the fray. This kept the battle balanced and kept the really nasty foes from attacking too soon.

Once more, I kept terrible notes of who did what to whom and when, but here are some highlights. Roland used his moonbeam spell to decimate several pirate goons then focused his attention of the two heavy fighters, Voltan the first mate berserker of the Emerald Eye, and then Heel, the gladiator from The Stirge whom I had sleeping off a hangover in the tavern. There was great apprehension when Heel burst out of the bar, clearly the most deadly fighter of the bunch, but took three rounds to run at the paladin untouched by any ranged weapons. Roland was desperate to kill the minor minions around him before the clearly dangerous Heel arrived, who kept getting closer and closer with each round. Their one-v-one battle was awesome, with the nearly dead Roland getting a last-second Nat-20 Critical Smite on Heel to finally bring him down.

Meanwhile, Thames has perfected his Min/Maxed Artificier such that he gets multiple attacks using regular, bonus, and reaction actions, giving him spell attacks, breath weapons, and his OP Cannon that I foolishly allowed to be carried around by his flying construct, Seppi. This mechanical twerp bombs around the board blasting all my fun bad guys, which means I have to always have to waste a couple of rounds to take down this pesky “pet”. I even had to stop giving out creation gems as a reward just so Thames can’t build an army of these guys.

Thames also got to tackle the giant octopus I had hidden about. When it became obvious that no heroes were going to end up in the water, I decided to have this eight-limbed mollusk check out the commotion on the deck where Thames was the only hero around, and this sucker only attacks good guys. Thames hates melee combat and this was a good way to make him grapple (literally) with this challenge and finally take some hit points away from my overly cautious dragonborn. At least I was able to run Thames out of spell slots and the octopus was killed by Thames’ last breath weapon attack.

Martic has yet to find his groove between being a front-line fighter or a stealth archer. He took out a few enemies with his sword on the deck, then with his arrows as they ran out of the tavern. And he took two blasts from the ballistas on deck before those pirates were struck down. But his true moment to shine would come in a little bit. For now, he mostly soaked up damage away from the paladin.

Speaking of soaking up damage, let go to Gwen. Still stuck in their floating chariot, she was about to disembark when a gang of pirates ran out to intercept her. She pushed away from the dock and spent the entire fight floating just a few feet out of melee range. But that didn’t mean she was safe from taking damage. Once again, she had bonded herself to another player. Today it was Martic. And since Martic was mostly a meat shield for Roland, that meant Gwen was taking the same amount of damage. She really should rethink her life choices about getting hitched to any Tom, Dick, or Harry that comes along. Or in this case, any Thames, Martic, or Roland.

The battle wasn’t going great. Several pirates lay dead, but more just kept coming. Captain Zaroum was still alive, as was the deadly first mate Heel, who was keeping Roland on the defensive. Out heroes on the deck was in serious danger of being overrun. That’s when Martic had a bold plan that first involved abandoning his fellow fighters. Martic’s subclass of Swarm Keeper allows him to “fly”; held aloft by his creepy critters. Officially, his speed is only 10’ per turn, but he hardly ever uses this ability and we both forgot the rules, so today, (and only today) Martic flew up into the sky like a bird and using Thaumaturgy sent his voice booming across the cavern. “Attention feeble mortals! If you are smart, you will lay down your weapons and surrender or I will call upon my deck of many things to smite thee!”

Martic does not own a Deck of Many Things, but these pirates don’t know that, and Martic did draw some sort of deck of cards from his waterproof pouch. It is a Deck of Illusions and is the very first magic item the group gained way back in Session 2. It only has six cards in it, so Martic has been very judicious about when he should use it. Today will be Card number 4. When the pirates laughed at Martic’s offer of surrender, he called out once more. “Last word of warning. Run!” Martic threw a card into the harbor. And, yes! It was the card I’ve been awaiting for 18 months; Nessie, the loch monster.

Suddenly the seas churned as a monstrous beast rose up out of the waters. It was a grotesque creature over fifty feet tall, with a bloated blue body that ended in a giant scorpion tail. It has an immense giraffe neck with tiger stripes that writhed to and fro supporting a huge goose head with a vicious snapping beak and dead shark eyes. This is the dreaded, and completely made up, Sneckalasquid and it has the world’s coolest mini. I have unique (and mostly gag) minis for all the Illusion cards but this one is special. I could have use a giant brontosaur toy that I have (since that is what Nessie actually is) but I have something even better. When James was six, he created this paper-mâché monstrosity for some art class. He dubbed it the Sneckalasquid and I have held on to it for over a decade just for today. When he finally drew this card, I gleefully ran to my mini collection to unveil this beauty. And when I dropped it onto the battle mat, I was rewarded with several cries from my non-familial players of “What the hell is that?” Love it! Dropping a wacky, out-of-left-field mini on the table is always a fun moment.

But this moment wasn’t really for them. It was for James and he knew exactly what the hell it was. It was a quick, quiet, and sweet moment where James realized that by saving this stupid thing, that I, his father, treasure everything he has ever done and that he is very special to me. It may seem silly to an outsider, but it was a moment, man. It was real and sweet, and no, I’m not crying! Shut up!

Fine, back to the game. To complete the deception, Martic flew into the illusionary head and began casting spells out of the Sneckalasquid’s “eyes”. It may be a monster that defied description (or logic), but it sent a wave of panic through the pirates. The only one who wasn’t fooled was Captain Zaroum. His magic eye could see through the illusion. But this crew could not and they fled in terror or surrendered. Only a few hearty brigands remained.

But the battle was far from over and it was about to get worse. There were just a few pirates left on the deck and dock, including Captain Zaroum and the first mate, Heel. But the alarm had been raised for several rounds and now the sleek black hull of The Stirge glided into the Anchorage with a fresh crew of bad guys just itching for a fight. Some fell for the Sneckalasquid illusion, but it didn’t matter, for Gwen had a trick up her sleeve that she’s been waiting to use for the past three session and it was now or never.

Still stuck on her dinghy, Gwen cast Control Water which has several moist effects, some more lethal than others. She chose the usually defensive Trench option and offensively placed it directly under the incoming ship. I’m sure the developers intended this to act like a parting of the Red Sea; allowing a party to escape from some incoming horde of bad guys, with the water slowly moving aside to form very wet walls. But I want an over-the-top effect for this epic moment. So the water instantly rushes to the sides all the way down to the sea bed, leaving the doomed Stirge hovering in thin air for the briefest of moments.

That’s when gravity kicked in. Like a cartoon coyote, the ship plummeted 60’ and crashed onto the rocky sea floor and directly on top of the sunken vessel found earlier. The ship and everyone on board took 6d6 damage, killing half the crew instantly. But Gwen wasn’t done. She turned off the Trench and the water rushed in to fill the void, drowning another quarter of the crew as the ship bobbed to the surface. But our Cleric of Death was vengeful this day. “Do it again! And again!” she cried in a fury. Like a puppet on a string, the deluged ship was smashed, swamped, and resurfaced over and over until her battered hull could take no more and she sank one last time, her final resting place on top of the other sunken ship, adding to the dead buried beneath the waves.

By now, the pirate base was routed. All the pirates were dead, captured, or run away; mostly dead. Just one pirate remained, who almost got away. Laskilar, the captain of The Stirge, had somehow teleported off his drowned ship onto a rowboat stashed in a quiet area of the base and he was trying to sneak away in all the chaos. I could have had him teleport outside the base completely, guaranteeing his escape, but I wanted my players to have a shot at capturing him. I gave everyone a Perception Check, and it was Thames who saw the fleeing pirate and shouted his position to the rest of the party.

Gwen in her chariot/boat and Martic on his bugs gave chase, but Gwen was closer. She sent her chariot at full speed, ramming into the fleeing rowboat. The underwater chariot would need major repairs, but the rowboat was completely destroyed, dashed upon the rocks. Laskilar was able to scramble to shore, but then Martic arrived, and together, he and Gwen showed no mercy as they cut the rakish captain to shreds. Jahaka Anchorage was ours!

All that remained was to clear out the rest of the cave and divvy up the loot. As for enemies, the tavern barkeep and his dino pet were no challenge to the party, nor were the flying swords guarding the warehouse. I had invented a whole subplot that the barkeep and the (now dead) first mate on the players’ ship, the Narwhal IV, were brothers, but it didn’t go anywhere, so I just let it slide. As for the treasure, this location is easily the best haul of the entire campaign, so I didn’t make any additions or changes. Except one, which I’ll get to in a moment. Gwen kept Captain Laskilar’s Cape of the Mountebank, allowing her to cast dimension door once a day. Except today, since the captain already used it. The rest of the loot, including the ridiculous amount of gold, Captain Zaroum’s gemstone coat, bejeweled scimitar, and the sending stone that directly connects these pirates with the Baldur’s Gate faction, all went into the community sack.

The only change I made was to the “magic eye” that Captain Zaroum possesses. In the book, it is just an eye that allows Zaroum (and only Zaroum) to detect a “ghostly path that can lead him to “treasure””. This is lame idea plus a totally undiscoverable and, as written, unusable item for the party. I made the gem a gem of true seeing, but instead of working when held in your hand, it only works when shoved into an empty eye socket, similar to the Eye of Vecna. This makes the item way cooler and creepier and makes it a real dilemma for the player who decides to use it. But who is going to get it?

Of course, my players and I know exactly to whom this item is intended to be given. The homebrewed NPC, Sir Miles Farsight (pun intended), a good commander in the Baldur’s Gate faction and staunch ally of our heroes, was blinded by some hags and then rescued by our heroes back in Session 3. With this gem in hand, plus the incriminating sending stone, the party fully expects to get back to Fort Balurian, expose the traitor in league with these pirates, restore the vision of their friend, and be hailed heroes to both Chult and Baldur’s Gate. Sadly, life is full of cruel irony and none of these things shall come to pass.

But that is a tale for another day. For now, the party secures Jahaka Anchorage for themselves to use as a southern base. They have taken possession of another ship, The Emerald Eye, which they never rechristened. They rejoined Captain Carlos and the crew of the Narwhal IV. The freed captives were all invited to join the ranks of that ship, which they gladly accepted. The Narwhal IV and her sailors would remain here and await the return of our heroes while we mount an expedition up the River Tath looking for the lost temple of Orolunga. They will never return.

BTW, remember those two captives that did not want to be found by our heroes? They were Faroul and Gondolo, the two devious guides that were once rescued by our heroes and then took credit for all our heroes’ successes to boost their reputation as guides. Our heroes want to murder these two and I keep trying to set up a confrontation between them, but my players keep missing the opportunity. And I keep coming up with crazier and crazier backstories to explain their presence, but it is all for naught. Now, I’ll just have to invent some new ridiculous situation that will force these two groups to meet again. But not yet, first, we got more jungle to conquer.

Next week, we venture back into the jungle, discovering more secrets, more depravity, and the more devious deadline of the Death Curse.

As always, memorable moments can come from anywhere, even the placement of a silly mini, and Game On!

Don’t forget to check out my Tomb of Annihilation Resources Page, filled with all the stuff I use to make this epic campaign even more epicier: My full Campaign Diary, plus Handouts, Maps, Charts, PDFs, Images, and more to use, abuse, or ignore at your peril.

And written specifically for this adventure, read my Explorer’s Guide to Chult to delve into all the legends, lore, history, religion, and culture that I used to bring even more life to this adventure.