TEXT: F
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  By Matthew Goodall
  
  Crystal Dodo
  Voidsticks
  The Howling Urn
  The Skeleton Ball Gown
  = Rumored Treasure
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  The Shackles
  Fever Sea
  Motaku Isle
  Rampore
  Isles
  Shark
  Island
  Bag
  Island
  Raptor
  Island
  The Smoker
  Jeopardy 
  Bay
  Slithering Coast
  Port Peril
  Hell Harbor
  Drenchport
  Beachcomber
  Savage Shipwreckers
  Wreck of the
  Brine Banshee
  Sarlis's Pool
  Quent
  Ollo
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  Devil’s
  Arches
  Cauldron
  Rock
  Tempest 
  Cay
  Fever Sea
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  ADVENTURE PATH • PART 3 of 6
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  credits
  Creative Director • James Jacobs
  Senior Art Director • Sarah E. Robinson
  Managing Editor • F. Wesley Schneider
  Development Lead • Rob McCreary
  Editing • Judy Bauer, Christopher Carey, Adam Daigle, Patrick Renie, and James L. Sutter
  Editorial Assistance • Jason Bulmahn, Mark Moreland, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sean K Reynolds
  Editorial Interns • Alexandra Schecterson and Jerome Virnich
  Graphic Designer • Andrew Vallas
  Production Specialist • Crystal Frasier
  Cover Artist
  Daryl Mandryk
  Cartographers
  Robert Lazzaretti
  Contributing Artists
  Jorge Fares, Mariusz Gandzel, Ivan Kashubo, Diana Martinez, Roberto Piturru,  
  Bryan Sola, Craig J Spearing, and Doug Stambaugh
  Contributing Authors
  Jesse Benner, Ryan Costello, Liz Courts, Matthew Goodall, Robin D. Laws, Philip Minchin, and Tork Shaw 
  Publisher • Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
  Vice President of Operations • Jeffrey Alvarez
  Director of Sales • Pierce Watters
  Finance Manager • Christopher Self
  Staff Accountant • Kunji Sedo
  Technical Director • Vic Wertz
  Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock
  Special Thanks
  The Paizo Customer Service, Warehouse, and Website Teams
   
  This product makes use of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, 
  Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3, Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, and Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic. These rules can be found 
  online as part of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd.
  This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 edition of the world’s 
  oldest fantasy roleplaying game.
  Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not 
  Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and 
  trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)
  Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game 
  Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content 
  may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
  Paizo Publishing, LLC
  7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
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  Pathfinder Adventure Path #57: Tempest Rising © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
  Paizo Publishing, LLC, the golem logo, Pathfinder, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC;  
  Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Module, Pathfinder Player Companion,  
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Society, and Pathfinder Tales are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC.
  Printed in China.
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  table of contents
  Foreword	
  4
  Tempest	Rising	
  6
  by Matthew Goodall
  NPC	Gallery	
  52
  by Matthew Goodall
  Skull	&	Shackles	Treasures	
  58
  by Matthew Goodall
  Port	Peril	
  60
  by Liz Courts
  Scourges	of	the	Shackles	
  66
  by Tork Shaw
  Pathfinder’s	Journal:	The	Treasure	of	Far	Thallai	3	of	6	
  74
  by Robin D. Laws
  Bestiary	
  80
  by Jesse Benner, Ryan Costello, Philip Minchin, and Tork Shaw
  Preview	
  92
  
  Ship Ahoy!
  One thing the staff here at Paizo always makes an effort 
  to do is to actually play Pathfinder every once in awhile. It 
  sounds like a no-brainer, but with things being as busy as 
  they always are at the office, getting a few people to sit down 
  and play a game instead of working on it is not always an easy 
  proposition. Nevertheless, by the time I finished developing 
  Rich Pett’s “The Wormwood Mutiny,” I wanted to run a Skull 
  & Shackles campaign, come hell or high water.
  When running a game, I have a tendency (as most GMs 
  do) to go overboard with my preparations. Running a 
  published adventure right out of the book is never enough 
  for me. I have to tweak it, add in bits from other adventures, 
  create new characters and plot lines—all the things that 
  make being a GM fun. The problem, of course, is actually 
  having the time to do all of the preparation and extra work 
  necessary to keep up with the campaign. Most recently, I 
  tried to run a Kingmaker game, but I decided to set it in 
  Iobaria rather than in the River Kingdoms as written, and 
  ran it for 7 players as well, all the while mixing in elements 
  from other adventures. The end result, unsurprisingly, was 
  that Kingmaker: Iobaria died an ignominious death before 
  it even got to the second adventure.
  With Skull & Shackles, I was determined to keep it as 
  simple as possible. After all, an Adventure Path is a fully 
  written campaign. I could run it for just four people, right 
  out of the book, with no extra work needed. It would be 
  a campaign that would practically run itself. With Flip-
  Mat: Pirate Ship and Map Pack: Ship’s Cabins, I wouldn’t 
  even need to draw any maps for the first several sessions! 
  After careful consideration, I chose James Jacobs, Mark 
  Moreland, Andrew Vallas, and my wife Marta as my four 
  players, and I was ready to run my easiest campaign ever.
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  ON THE COVER
  Tessa Fairwind, pirate lord, captain of the Luck of the Draw, 
  and Mistress of Quent, graces the cover of this month’s 
  Skull & Shackles Adventure Path installment, “Tempest 
  Rising.” Tessa is a major player in the fractious power 
  politics of the Shackles, and as the PCs seek to cement 
  their reputations as infamous Free Captains, Tessa is on 
  hand to mentor and guide them—though she has a little 
  task for them to complete first.
  Then I discovered the Maiden of the High Seas. All my 
  plans (or lack thereof) immediately fell overboard, for I had 
  just found the perfect prop for my game—though unknown 
  to me at the time, it was a prop that would take hours upon 
  hours of my time before it was ready for use by my players.
  The Maiden of the High Seas is a complete miniatures-
  scale model of a ship, crafted entirely out of cardstock and 
  foam core, and handily packaged in a single downloadable 
  PDF you can print and assemble yourself. Published by 
  WorldWorksGames (and available on paizo.com), the Maiden 
  is truly a thing of beauty. It has decks that lift off to reveal 
  the rooms beneath, removable masts with crow’s nests 
  and ratlines, detachable sails, modular walls, a selection 
  of different figureheads, and even additional fan-created 
  content available for download from WorldWorksGames’ 
  website that transforms the Maiden from a respectable 
  armed merchantman into a notorious pirate ship.
  Although I was able to download the PDF onto my 
  computer with just one click, I soon began to think that 
  maybe I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew. Make 
  no mistake, the Maiden is a lot of work. The ship is well 
  designed, and comes with detailed instructions, but you 
  still have to print out everything on cardstock, carefully cut 
  it out, glue it together, wait for it to dry, cut out some more, 
  glue pieces to other pieces, wait for those to dry, and so on, 
  all while fitting parts together like a three-dimensional 
  puzzle. I spent at least a month of evenings and weekends 
  assembling the thing, used up an entire bottle of glue and 
  part of another, and lost track of how much cardstock and 
  how many printer ink cartridges I went through. 
  Building a cardstock model of this complexity might 
  not be for everyone—it takes attention to detail, fine 
  manipulation of sharp tools and sticky glue, and a lot 
  of patience—but if you have the time and the obsessive 
  attitude necessary to complete it, the Maiden of the High Seas 
  is well worth the effort—as were the looks on my players’ 
  faces when I brought out the ship as their PCs came on 
  the deck of the Wormwood for the first time.
  Fortunately, the time invested in building the ship was 
  all up-front, so I still have hopes that my Skull & Shackles 
  campaign can proceed without too much further effort on 
  my part. So far, the game is going swimmingly. The four 
  PCs are: Sasha “Firetop” Dractus, a.k.a. Lady Vermillion, 
  a human rogue (with the pirate archetype from Ultimate 
  Combat) played by James Jacobs; Klarg, a half-orc fighter and 
  former longshoreman, played by Mark Moreland; Slivikin, 
  a human cleric of Besmara played by Andrew Vallas; and 
  Madrid Dieu-le-Mer, an undine marid-bloodline sorcerer 
  played by my wife. Of course, the ship’s cruel officers have 
  their own nicknames for the PCs. Aboard the Wormwood, 
  Sasha is better known as “Carrot Top,” Klarg is “Underbite,” 
  Slivikin (the cook’s mate) is called “Flapjack,” and Madrid 
  has acquired the moniker “Fishlips.”
  After their initial shock at finding themselves press-
  ganged on a pirate ship, the four PCs have almost settled 
  into their lives as pirates aboard the Wormwood (WARNING: 
  spoilers ahead!). Slivikin volunteered to be cook’s mate, 
  while Klarg was assigned to the rigging, leaving Sasha 
  and Madrid as common swabs. They’ve explored the ship 
  and scrounged for gear, sung sea chanteys and gambled, 
  fought giant rats in the bilges and rival pirates in the hold, 
  and survived a major storm, even managing to save one of 
  their crewmates who was washed overboard. They’ve also 
  started making friends, and more than a few enemies as 
  well. Klarg, in particular, has begun to earn the enmity 
  of the ship’s officers Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge. He’s 
  racked up the most lashes of any of the four PCs and has 
  even been keelhauled for knocking another member of the 
  crew from the mainmast, resulting in a fatal fall to the deck 
  below. Fortunately, the doughty half-orc survived this latest 
  punishment, if only just (earning his newest nickname, 
  “Barnacle Back”), but it remains to be seen whether he’ll 
  last long enough to take part in any eventual mutiny. 
  Meanwhile, the players are having fun interacting with 
  all of the NPCs on the ship, and painstakingly keeping 
  track of the insults and degradations heaped upon them 
  by Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge.
  A few of the players have been keeping journals, so 
  we’ll see if we can get a campaign journal started on the  
  paizo.com messageboards so you can follow all of the 
  action.  And once the PCs take control of the ship (provided 
  they all survive, of course), I can simply make a few cosmetic 
  changes to the Maiden of the High Seas to turn the Wormwood 
  into the Man’s Promise, so it should see full use for the 
  entire Skull & Shackles Adventure Path!
  Rob McCreary
  Developer
  rob@paizo.com
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  Foreword
  
  Part three: the Free CaPtains’ regatta
  Part One: PerilOus Waters
  Part tWO: at a lady’s request
  The PCs sail to Port Peril, where they must present themselves to 
  the Hurricane King and prove themselves worthy to gain official 
  recognition as Free Captains of the Shackles.
  On behalf of pirate lord Tessa Fairwind, the PCs sail throughout 
  the Shackles, tracking down evidence of a widespread spy ring in 
  the pirate isles.
  The PCs enter the grueling annual race called the Free Captains’ 
  Regatta in hopes of gaining a seat on the Pirate Council and their 
  own island.
  Page 7
  Page 15
  Page 45
  “Tempest Rising” is designed 
  for four characters and uses the 
  medium XP track. 
  The PCs should be 9th level by 
  the end of the adventure.
  The PCs begin this 
  adventure at 7th level.
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  The PCs should be 
  well into 8th level by 
  the time they venture into 
  the Jasperleaf Apothecary and 
  enter their ship into the Free 
  Captains’ Regatta.
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  advanCement traCk
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  adventure BaCkgrOund
  The Empire of Cheliax has many spies spread throughout 
  Avistan and Garund, including within the Shackles, 
  though the fractious pirate isles have always proved a 
  difficult region in which to gather intelligence and recruit 
  secret agents. After the Chelish navy’s capture of Captain 
  Barnabas Harrigan and their subsequent plans to invade 
  the pirate confederacy, however, Cheliax has stepped up its 
  espionage operations in the Shackles under the leadership 
  of spymaster Zarskia Galembar.
  Hailing originally from Thuvia, Zarskia is a widely 
  traveled alchemist who operates under the cover of 
  the Jasperleaf Apothecary, a well–known supplier of 
  alchemical products, herbal remedies, and less savory 
  concoctions in Port Peril. Highly organized, obsessive, and 
  unhindered by morality, Zarskia is an ideal controller for 
  the Chelish spy network in the Shackles. Zarskia hired a 
  wide variety of contacts for her espionage ring, including 
  a beachcomber and part-time smuggler in Drenchport 
  named Haddon Pike, a former ship captain in Quent named 
  Elliece Farhaven, and a quartermaster in Hell Harbor 
  named Roweena Kellet. She also used a tengu smuggler 
  named Corlan to carry messages between her spies. With 
  these agents, Zarskia has been funneling information 
  through Nidalese intermediaries to Cheliax, though she is 
  unaware of her true employers.
  With the Chelish invasion imminent, however, Zarskia 
  was ordered to liquidate her primary agents and depart the 
  Shackles. To that end, she hired a Sargavan assassin named 
  Giles Halmis to eliminate these “loose ends,” and is only 
  awaiting confirmation of the assassinations before she 
  leaves Port Peril.
  Adventure SummAry
  The PCs sail to Port Peril to gain official recognition 
  as Free Captains of the Shackles. They must complete 
  a series of challenging “pirate tests” and entertain the 
  Hurricane King’s court to receive a letter of marque from 
  the Hurricane King. While on shore leave in Port Peril, 
  the PCs run into one of their former crewmates from the 
  Wormwood, as well as a potential new ally, and get caught 
  up in a huge bar brawl. Before they leave port, the PCs are 
  approached by the powerful pirate lord Tessa Fairwind, 
  who asks them to investigate recent rumors of a Chelish 
  invasion of the Shackles.
  Tessa’s clues take the PCs from one port to another 
  throughout the Shackles. The PCs negotiate with 
  Calistrian sacred prostitutes and Norgorberite assassins, 
  and face water nagas, a crew of barbarous wreckers, and 
  the denizens of a sunken ship, only to discover that most 
  of their clues are, literally, dead ends—those whom they 
  sought to question are now dead or gone. Eventually, the 
  PCs interrupt an assassination attempt against one of the 
  few leads who is still alive, enabling the PCs to learn vital 
  information about the head of the spy ring. The PCs enter 
  the spy ring’s headquarters, facing guards, traps, and the 
  mastermind behind the conspiracy, an alchemist named 
  Zarskia Galembar. Defeating Zarskia, the PCs discover 
  important coded messages and evidence of espionage 
  that Tessa Fairwind can present to the Pirate Council.
  The adventure concludes with the Free Captains’ 
  Regatta, where the PCs face treacherous weather, currents, 
  obstacles, and monsters in a nautical race along the 
  periphery of the Eye of Abendego. The race’s finish is neck-
  and-neck with the PCs’ old nemesis Captain Barnabas 
  Harrigan of the Wormwood, who does everything in his 
  power to surreptitiously snatch victory from the PCs. If 
  they win the regatta, however, the PCs receive their very 
  own island, as well as a seat on the Pirate Council.
  Part One: PerilOus Waters
  By the conclusion of “Raiders of the Fever Sea,” the PCs 
  should have acquired considerable plunder and Infamy 
  and begun making a name for themselves as pirates 
  of particular disrepute. But in order to gain official 
  recognition as Free Captains of the Shackles, they must 
  travel to Port Peril and present themselves to the Hurricane 
  King of the Shackles, Kerdak Bonefist. To prove themselves 
  worthy of a meeting with the Hurricane King, however, the 
  PCs must have at least 10 points of plunder in their hold 
  and an Infamy score of 20 or higher. If the PCs have not yet 
  accumulated enough plunder or Infamy, you should present 
  them with additional opportunities for piracy until they 
  have acquired the requisite amounts. The encounters with 
  monsters and pirate vessels detailed in the opener to this 
  volume’s Bestiary can help in this regard (see page 81). 
  The PCs will likely begin this adventure somewhere in the 
  Fever Sea south of the Shackles, or perhaps at Mancatcher 
  Cove or Tidewater Rock. Wherever they might be, they will 
  need to chart a course through the many islands of the 
  Shackles to reach Jeopardy Bay and Port Peril.
  ADDITIONAL RULES
  The Skull & Shackles Adventure Path makes use of several 
  new rules sub-systems.
  Plunder, Disrepute, and Infamy: The rules for plunder, 
  Disrepute, and Infamy may be found in “The Life of a Pirate” 
  in Pathfinder Adventure Path #55: The Wormwood Mutiny.
  Ship-to-Ship Combat: Sample ship stat bocks, as well 
  as detailed rules for handling combat between ships, are 
  presented in the Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide, available 
  for free from paizo.com.
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  Tempest Rising
  
  Welcome to Port Peril
  Arriving at Port Peril’s harbor, the PCs can find mooring 
  and arrange for provisioning, and if necessary, repairs to 
  their ship. Their crew is eager to receive their pay and take 
  shore leave. Before the PCs can relax and enjoy the port, 
  however, they must petition for an audience with Hurricane 
  King Kerdak Bonefist to receive a letter of marque and 
  thereby become “legitimate” pirates—at least in the eyes of 
  other Free Captains. As long as the PCs’ Infamy score is 20 
  or higher, gaining an audience is relatively straightforward. 
  A DC 15 Knowledge (local) check is enough to know the 
  traditional procedure: The PCs simply need to send a 
  messenger to Fort Hazard, the Hurricane King’s seat, along 
  with a bribe of at least 4 points of plunder. Bonefist won’t 
  even deign to respond to so-called “pirates” who have not 
  reached an Infamy threshold of Despicable. As long as the 
  PCs pay the requisite bribe, the Hurricane King agrees to 
  grant them an audience the following evening.
  event 1: the teSting
  The morning after the PCs successfully arrange an 
  audience, Kerdak Bonefist’s first mate Tsadok Goldtooth 
  (CE male half-orc barbarian 15) publicly meets the PCs at 
  the docks. Tsadok arrives with an entourage of cronies, and 
  many spectators gather to see the entertainment as well.
  Tsadok starts with introductions, declaring he’s there 
  as the Hurricane King’s formal representative. He plays 
  to the crowd as he explains the situation. It’s unusual for a 
  new, successful, but relatively unknown ship to request a 
  letter of marque without the sponsorship of a recognized 
  Free Captain. In this case, the Pirate Code requires 
  the ship’s captain and officers to undergo “Testing” to 
  determine whether they’re worthy of becoming Free 
  Captains themselves. While this Testing is often merely a 
  formality, Bonefist has sent Tsadok to make a show of it. 
  Even if the PCs somehow manage to get the sponsorship 
  of an existing Free Captain, Tsadok still requires the 
  Testing—unless the PCs don’t want the Hurricane King’s 
  letter of marque, of course.
  Tsadok is callous and rude to the PCs, making jokes 
  at their expense and hinting that they’re just playing at 
  being pirates. Some among the crowd laugh at his gibes, 
  but others scowl or remain silent, hinting that many 
  aren’t fond of Tsadok. Eventually, he announces the first 
  of three tests the PCs must face.
  While Tsadok doesn’t waste time giving a detailed 
  explanation of each test’s rules, the PCs should choose 
  one of their number to compete in each test, who must 
  perform without help or hindrance from others (the third 
  test is the exception to this rule—all of the PCs are allowed 
  to compete). These are piratical challenges, so bending a 
  rule or two is expected. The crowd cheers in appreciation 
  of clever tricks and boos at crude or unoriginal ruses. 
  Casting obvious spells on a contestant is extremely 
  unsporting, and Tsadok demands the spells’ removal, but a 
  PC might be able to subtly cast a spell on the competing PC 
  and remain unnoticed with a DC 20 Stealth check. Because 
  of the challenges’ stressful competitive nature, contestants 
  can’t take 10 on skill checks while competing. If the PCs 
  accuse their opponents of cheating, they are met with 
  laughter from Tsadok and his cronies. “We’re pirates—did 
  you really expect us to play fair?” he says with a smirk.
  the FirSt teSt: A climb in the rigging
  Tsadok’s first test is to see whether the PCs are passable 
  sailors, not just “fancy jackets” who found themselves in 
  command of a pirate crew. One PC must swiftly climb 
  to the top of a nearby ship’s foremast and complete the 
  tricky task of unfurling and setting the sail from the top 
  yard without assistance, before one of Tsadok’s crew does 
  the same on the mizzenmast. Flight magic is illegal, and 
  the contestants must unfurl the sails themselves, not 
  conjure creatures to do it.
  The ship used for the challenge is the Stingray, a brig 
  with two tall square-rigged masts. Competitors must 
  climb 60 feet up the mast’s rigging to the top spar. 
  Climbing the mast requires a DC 10 Climb check for the 
  lower 45 feet and a DC 15 Climb check for the upper 15 feet. 
  FIREARMS IN TEMPEST RISING
  Firearms are rare on Golarion, and as a result, except 
  for a brief appearance in this adventure, firearms do not 
  appear in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path until the 
  final adventure. If firearms play a more prominent role 
  in your campaign, however, you can use the following 
  suggestions to modify “Tempest Rising” to incorporate 
  them. See Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat for details on 
  all of these firearms and more.
  Caulky Tarroon (Event 3) might carry a concealed coat 
  pistol in addition to her daggers, and Vakarla and her wreckers 
  (see pages 21–22) could be armed with blunderbusses or 
  dragon pistols. The arrow springal and catapults on the 
  Dryad’s Grave (see page 23) can be replaced with a rocket 
  springal and cannons or light bombards, respectively, while 
  the Screaming Satyr might wield a culverin, double hackbut, 
  or even a cannon instead of a ballista. Damaged cannons 
  might also be found on the wreck of the Brine Banshee (areas 
  A6 and B9) instead of ballistae. The assassin Giles Halmis 
  (see page 35) would make a perfect gunslinger, replacing his 
  heavy crossbow with a musket, and lastly, the pirate guards 
  in the Jasperleaf Apothecary (area C2) might be armed with 
  pistols or buckler guns instead of bows. 
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  Contestants must then make their way along the yard, 
  which extends 30 feet out from both sides of the mast, 
  untying sail as they go. Contestants can use accelerated 
  climbing (–5 penalty on the check) to increase their 
  climbing speed from one-quarter speed to half speed. 
  Moving along the yard requires a DC 10 Climb check, or 
  a contestant can walk along the yard at half speed with a 
  DC 15 Acrobatics check (or move at full speed with a DC 
  25 Acrobatics check). Climbing or balancing requires 
  one skill check per move action.
  The sail is tied to the yard at four locations, 
  15 feet from the mast and 30 feet from the 
  mast on both sides. Correctly unfurling each 
  of the four areas of sail without it snagging or 
  tangling requires a DC 15 Profession (sailor) 
  check and takes a standard action. A contestant 
  who succeeds at a DC 18 Profession (sailor) 
  check realizes that untying all of the 
  sail on one side of the yard will cause 
  loose sailcloth to flap about in the 
  breeze, making the job of setting the 
  remaining sail more challenging. 
  To avoid this problem, the sail 
  should be released in stages on 
  one side of the mast and then 
  the other. If one side of the 
  sail is completely unfurled 
  first, the DC of the Profession 
  (sailor) checks to unfurl the 
  remaining sail increases by 5.
  The sailor from Tsadok’s crew competing 
  in this test is Haines Boyne (N male human fighter 4/
  rogue [swashbuckler] 3; Init +3; Climb +12, Profession 
  [sailor] +10; use the stats for a pirate guard on page 38 if 
  necessary). He’s efficient and doesn’t take unnecessary 
  risks. Haines uses accelerated climbing only when the DC 
  is 10 and unties the two points of his sail closest to the 
  mast before releasing the outer points.
  Shenanigans: Many spectators watch the test from 
  the Stingray’s deck, including one of Tsadok’s crew, 
  “Bilgerat” Jacobi, who “accidentally” unties (or cuts) 
  the line securing the Stingray’s forestay boom when the 
  competing PC is at the end of the yard.
  Those PCs who are not competing can spot Bilgerat 
  before he begins his sabotage. A DC 22 Perception check 
  picks out the bald sailor on the Stingray’s foredeck, while a 
  DC 20 Sense Motive check notices him acting suspiciously. 
  If the PCs fail these checks, they can have another chance 
  to make them just as Bilgerat strikes, but with a –5 penalty 
  due to the crowd’s distraction. PCs who succeed at both 
  checks can act in the round Bilgerat starts his sabotage. It 
  takes Bilgerat a standard action to untie the knot securing 
  the line, and a full-round action to unwrap the line from 
  the rail. If he realizes the PCs are on to him, Bilgerat draws 
  a dagger and cuts the rope instead. 
  If Bilgerat succeeds, the boom swings around and 
  crashes into the foremast’s rigging. The PC contestant 
  must succeed at a DC 20 Acrobatics check to keep his 
  balance. Failure means that the PC slips and must 
  succeed at a DC 20 Reflex save to catch the rigging or 
  fall. If the PC was at the end of the yard, the fall is into 
  the harbor’s water, not onto the Stingray’s deck (see 
  page 443 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for 
  falling rules). If the PC does not fall, the DC of 
  all remaining Profession (sailor) checks to set the 
  sail increases by +2 because of the tangle of sail 
  and lines now pressed against the foresail. 
  Creature: If attacked, Bilgerat defends himself, 
  but he yields if reduced to fewer than 20 hit 
  points, or if he is unable to complete 
  his dirty work.
  “Bilgerat” Jacobi 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Pirate guard (see page 38)
  hp 57
  Story Award: Award the PCs 
  3,200 XP for winning this test.
  the Second teSt: A 
  Friendly gAme oF cArdS
  Tsadok’s wants to see how much 
  talent and luck the PCs possess in his 
  second test. A small table is set up on the aft deck of 
  the PCs’ ship, and one of the PCs must gamble against 
  Tsadok in a card game called Bastard’s Fool. Bastard’s 
  Fool is a popular game on pirate ships, and is played 
  using a deck cobbled together from several partial decks. 
  Even a down-on-his-luck sailor who doesn’t even have a 
  full deck of cards can play Bastard’s Fool, as each player 
  brings whatever cards she has, and combines them with 
  other players’ cards to create a new deck. Bastard’s Fool 
  is a bluffing game similar to poker, but Tsadok adds an 
  additional “Port Peril” rule to the game: the winner of 
  each hand must drink a ration cup of Gutburn rum.
  Each player starts with a stake of 100 platinum pieces. 
  The PCs must supply their own stake; Tsadok has brought 
  along a moneychanger to exchange currency or plunder 
  if needed. Each hand, gamblers receive a starting hand 
  and place their initial bets. They may then discard some 
  of their cards and draw more to improve their hand, 
  and bet again. Once all bets are matched, the gamblers 
  reveal their cards and the best hand wins. Rather than 
  play out every hand, you can ask the competing player 
  to describe his or her basic strategy, make several checks 
  Tsadok Goldtooth
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  Tempest Rising
  
  (as described below), and then give a quick narrative 
  describing how the game initially progresses.
  To simulate an actual game of Bastard’s Fool, each 
  player rolls dice, trying to get a score as close to 20 as 
  possible without going over. At the beginning of the 
  hand, each player pays an ante of 1 pp and secretly rolls 
  a d20, representing her starting hand. A round of 
  betting ensues (minimum bet is 1 pp; maximum 
  bet is a player’s entire stake, called “all in”). To 
  represent the discard and draw, each player 
  may then secretly roll another die of her 
  choice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20) to 
  improve her score (the larger the die, 
  the more cards drawn). This is followed 
  by another round of betting. A player can 
  fold at any time instead of betting—in 
  this case, the opposing player wins 
  the hand. If the total of both dice is 
  20 or less, that is the gambler’s score. 
  If the total is over 20, the gambler’s 
  score is only the highest number 
  on a single die (representing 
  a poor draw). The highest 
  score wins the hand. On a tie, 
  no one wins. The pot remains 
  on the table, and a new hand 
  begins, with bets added to the 
  existing pot.
  Participants may improve their position 
  using expertise, insight, misdirection, or 
  even legerdemain. A gambler can make 
  one of the following checks each hand (all DC 15): Bluff, 
  Profession (gambler), or Sense Motive. A successful check 
  adds +1 to the gambler’s score, with an additional +1 for 
  every 5 points over the DC (even if this pushes the gambler’s 
  final score over 20). A failed check reduces the gambler’s 
  score by 1, with an additional –1 for every 5 points under 
  the DC. 
  The gambling PC can also make a DC 20 Sleight of 
  Hand check to cheat and increase her score by 4 points, 
  but failing this check means Tsadok notices the attempt. 
  The first failure costs the PC her stake for that hand. If 
  the PC is caught cheating a second time, the game ends 
  and the PC fails the entire test.
  Each time the PC wins a hand, she must a drink a 
  shot of rum. Each drink after the first requires a DC 10 
  Fortitude save (the DC increases by +1 for each additional 
  drink). The PC takes a –1 penalty on all skill checks for 
  each failed saving throw. Once the PC has consumed a 
  number of drinks equal to 1 plus double her Constitution 
  modifier, she is sickened (taking an additional –2 penalty 
  on skill checks) for 1 hour for each drink beyond this 
  maximum. Tsadok drinks when he wins as well, but the 
  alcohol seems to have almost no effect except to increase 
  his toothy sneer.
  The poop deck is empty except for the dealer, Tsadok, 
  and the participating PC, limiting the assistance other PCs 
  can provide. The dealer announces the revealed cards and 
  wagers to the crowd who cheer and shout advice. Tsadok 
  sits with his back to the harbor, making it difficult 
  to spy on his cards, but creative PCs might be able to 
  find a way to observe Tsadok’s cards and relay that 
  information to the gambling PC. If you’re playing 
  out each hand, this allows the PC to know Tsadok’s 
  score before betting. Alternatively, or for faster play, 
  you can simply subtract 4 points from Tsadok’s 
  score to represent this foreknowledge.
  Tsadok bets small for the first dozen 
  hands, folding if the stakes rise 
  too high (over 5 pp), hoping that 
  multiple drinks of rum will start 
  to affect his opponent. Tsadok is a 
  solid but unimaginative gambler; 
  he doesn’t bother making skill 
  checks to increase his score, and 
  only rolls a second die with 
  a maximum number that 
  won’t put him over 20. 
  Stacking the Deck: As the 
  game proceeds, the dealer 
  secretly arranges the cards to 
  favor Tsadok. This assistance allows 
  Tsadok to add up to 4 points to his score (to 
  a maximum score of 20) in any hand where 
  he bets 10 pp or more. The gambling PC can make a DC 25 
  Perception check and a DC 18 Profession (gambler) check. 
  If either check is successful, she notices the dealer subtly 
  manipulating the deck as he shuffles. The PC can use 
  this knowledge to her advantage, evaluating what cards 
  are on top of the deck and drawing them before the dealer 
  can rearrange them. This removes Tsadok’s advantage and 
  subtracts 6 points from Tsadok’s score for a single hand. 
  After this happens, Tsadok takes over dealing himself, 
  cursing the dealer for being bad luck.
  Eventually, Tsadok or the PC goes “all in,” betting the 
  remainder of his stake on a single hand. If the crooked 
  dealer is still dealing at this point, Tsadok “gets lucky” 
  with a natural 20 hand; otherwise, roll for Tsadok’s 
  hand normally. If the PC wins this hand, the PC wins 
  the challenge. If Tsadok wins, he keeps the PC’s coins; 
  if he loses, he grudgingly congratulates the winner and 
  tries to retrieve his own coins, stating that it was just a 
  friendly game for show, not for real stakes. If pressed, 
  Tsadok relents and lets the PCs keep their winnings.
  Story Award: If the PC wins the game, award the group 
  3,200 XP for completing the challenge.
  Kerdak Bonefist
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  A pirate needs to be able to fight, so Tsadok’s third challenge 
  tests the PCs’ combat abilities. This test takes place on 
  the PCs’ ship—any damage to their ship or property as 
  a result of this test is their own problem. All of the PCs 
  can compete in this test, in which they must defend their 
  ship from one very large, very dangerous boarder. The PCs 
  can position themselves anywhere on their ship that they 
  choose, but any crew must go ashore for the duration of the 
  test—the PCs must prove that they alone can defend their 
  ship. There are no other prohibitions on their actions, but 
  remember that some PCs might still be suffering negative 
  effects from earlier tests.
  Creature: Once the PCs are in position, some of 
  Tsadok’s crew wheel a large, covered cage onto the 
  dock adjacent to the PCs’ ship. Tsadok uncovers and 
  opens the cage, revealing a hideously ugly and 
  obese marsh giant called Fishpork—a favorite 
  at several of Port Peril’s fighting arenas. 
  Tsadok orders the brute to attack the PCs, and 
  retreats back to the mainland to watch. Tsadok cares nothing 
  for Fishpork—either the giant kills the PCs, or they kill him. 
  Fishpork 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Male marsh giant (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 129)
  hp 102
  TACTICS
  During Combat Fishpork casts fog cloud over any PCs 
  gathered together, then throws rocks (which Tsadok 
  thoughtfully placed in the cage with him) at any PCs 
  outside of the fog. Once the majority of the PCs leave the 
  fog, Fishpork scales the side of the PCs ship and attacks 
  the closest PC. He pauses in his attacks only to cast bestow 
  curse on any particularly difficult opponents.
  Morale Fishpork hasn’t lost a bout yet, and fights to the death 
  attempting to prove that he is the best and the strongest.
  Development: Once the Testing is concluded, Tsadok 
  has a quiet discussion with the PCs. If they passed two or 
  more of the tests, he acts with false magnanimity, heartily 
  thanking them for being “good sorts.” If they failed two 
  or more tests, Tsadok gives a broad predatory grin and 
  states that he’s still willing to announce they’ve passed the 
  Testing, for a price—a portion of the plunder in the PCs’ 
  hold. Tsadok wants 40% of their plunder if they didn’t pass 
  any tests, or 20% of their plunder if they passed one test. 
  Once Tsadok finishes haggling with the PCs over the exact 
  amount, he steps in front of the crowd and proclaims the 
  PCs are indeed deserving of becoming Free Pirates of the 
  Shackles, which receives boisterous cheers from the crowd. 
  Tsadok further announces that Hurricane King Kerdak 
  Bonefist himself will grant the PCs their letter of marque 
  this very evening. This announcement receives significantly 
  less applause, suggesting that the current Hurricane King 
  may not be as popular as many outsiders believe. 
  event 2: letter oF mArque
  After the PCs finish the Testing, they are invited to attend 
  a feast that evening at the Hurricane King’s fortress, Fort 
  Hazard. When the PCs arrive, the revelry is already in full 
  swing: tables are laden with roast meat and flagons of ale, 
  SHACKLES LETTER OF MARQUE
  Scribed with a firm hand in blood-red ink and emblazoned 
  with an elaborate seal of crimson wax, this thick, waxed 
  paper grants its bearer license to attack and capture ships 
  of enemy nations as a privateer. It is not an uncommon 
  practice for nations of the Inner Sea to issue letters of 
  marque and reprisal to their ships, but those issued in the 
  pirate confederacy of the Shackles grant permission to 
  engage in egregious acts of pillage and prize-taking, which 
  can only be described as piracy by more lawful nations. 
  Lawful letters of marque are issued to 
  specific ships, not individuals, but in the 
  Shackles, they are granted to a specific 
  captain and his or her officers. A Shackles 
  letter of marque accords its bearer the 
  authority to seize or destroy cargo, incarcerate 
  or slay crew and passengers, and sink or capture 
  ships from other nations, mercantile or otherwise. 
  Within the territorial bounds of the Shackles, these 
  manifold privileges also apply against any ships or captains 
  who haven’t sworn loyalty to a known Free Captain or who 
  doesn’t carry their own letter of marque (though bearing a 
  letter of marque is no guarantee of safety from other pirates, 
  who frequently strike first and ask questions later).
  Possession of a Shackles letter of marque is a crime 
  in most civilized nations and regularly carries a penalty 
  of death by hanging. As a result, a Shackles letter of 
  marque is protected by a secret page spell, enabling its 
  bearer to speak a secret command word to alter the text 
  to something more innocuous, such as a cargo manifest, 
  nautical chart, or page from a ship’s log.
  It’s common knowledge within the Shackles who 
  has been granted letters of marque, and most Free 
  Captains keep accounts of which ships and captains have 
  them, making it extraordinarily difficult to forge these 
  documents or steal them to perpetrate a deception.
  A Shackles letter of marque radiates faint transmutation 
  magic.
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  mead, and rum, and loud, drunken buccaneers swagger 
  and stagger around the main hall. 
  Hurricane King Kerdak Bonefist (NE male human 
  fighter 8/Inner Sea pirate 10) presides over the revelry 
  from his gold-chased, teakwood throne. A blustery man 
  with long black hair and beard, Bonefist looks more 
  pirate than king, forgoing his crown and royal regalia for 
  the long coat and tricorne hat of a sea captain. A tankard 
  of rum rarely leaves his hand, but his most noteworthy 
  features are his magic pistol and his skeletal right hand, 
  the source of his sobriquet. Already well into his cups, the 
  Hurricane King blearily stares down at the PCs as they 
  are brought forth for introductions.
  Bonefist repeatedly roars for silence, only to be ignored, 
  so he finally resorts to firing his pistol into the air to 
  establish a deathly silence after its thunderous echo fades. 
  He glares fierily about the hall until, with an apparent 
  change of mood, he smiles and speaks in a calm voice. 
  “This fresh catch of scallywags want to add their fine ship 
  to our brethren o’ the sea,” he says, erratically waving his 
  still smoking pistol toward the PCs. “But before I award 
  their letter of marque and make them Free Captains right 
  and true, I say we hear from them.” Bonefist turns his 
  dark gaze upon the PCs. “What say you tell us all a tale or 
  two of how you came by the plunder in your hold?” The 
  inebriated pirates draw closer to hear the PCs speak.
  The PCs need to successfully entertain the assembled 
  rowdy throng. This functions as a normal Infamy check 
  (Pathfinder Adventure Path #55 63) with a DC equal to 15 
  + twice the party’s average party level, and plunder 
  can be spent as normal to influence the result. At your 
  discretion, the PCs might receive a bonus of +1 to +3 on 
  the Infamy check as a reward for good roleplaying. Since 
  the PCs are boasting in the court of the Hurricane King 
  himself, the maximum Infamy and Disrepute they can 
  gain from a successful check increases to 5.
  Hecklers: When the PCs are partway through their tale, 
  several unruly listeners start heckling, shouting abuse and 
  taunts. Some of these hecklers have orders from Tsadok 
  to yell derisive comments, but others simply make their 
  dislike of a poor performance loudly known. There are 
  three hecklers who try to derail the PCs’ story. Any PC can 
  deal with a heckler by shouting him down with a successful 
  DC 20 Intimidate check, engaging a heckler in diverting 
  banter with a DC 22 Diplomacy check, or counter-heckling 
  with a DC 15 Perform (comedy) check. The PCs can also use 
  violent or magical means to remove hecklers, but this is 
  likely to distract and detract from the storytelling, resulting 
  in at least a –2 penalty on the Infamy check (this penalty 
  increases to a –5 penalty if the PCs do anything particularly 
  shocking or offensive). Each heckler who the PCs don’t deal 
  with imposes a –2 penalty on the PCs’ Infamy check.
  At the end of the PCs’ tale, Bonefist calls for a show 
  of approval, with the crowd shouting “aye” or “nay” to 
  decide. Assuming the PCs succeed at their Infamy check, 
  the gathering hollers in the PCs favor, and Bonefist 
  officially presents them with their letter of marque in 
  front of the approving assembly. See the sidebar on page 
  11 for details on this valuable document.
   If the PCs fail their Infamy check, the crowd boos 
  them out of the hall for their poor performance, but 
  Bonefist summons them to a private meeting later. Since 
  the PCs passed the Testing, Bonefist tells them that they 
  still earned their letter of marque, and hands it over, 
  but gossip of the PCs’ embarrassment filters out to the 
  inhabitants of Port Peril, imposing a –2 penalty on all 
  Charisma-based checks with city residents, and a –2 
  penalty on all Infamy checks made in Port Peril until the 
  PCs reach a new Infamy threshold.
  Story Award: Award the PCs 3,200 XP for successfully 
  entertaining the Hurricane King’s court.
  Shore leAve
  Now officially recognized as Free Captains of the Shackles, 
  the PCs are free to explore Port Peril and enjoy the sights and 
  entertainments of the pirate capital. They can sell plunder, 
  recruit additional crew, refit their ship, purchase magic 
  items or other gear, and increase their Infamy and Disrepute 
  scores (although any Infamy gained in Event 3 counts toward 
  the maximum amount that can be won in Port Peril for each 
  Infamy threshold). See the Port Peril gazetteer on page 12 
  for more details on this notorious pirate port.
  event 3: bArroom brAWl (cr vArieS)
  The following event takes place during the PCs’ stay in Port 
  Peril. At some point, they likely find themselves wanting 
  to enjoy some of the entertainments the notorious port has 
  THE FREE CAPTAINS’ REGATTA
  While in Port Peril, the PCs should hear plenty about the 
  upcoming Free Captains’ Regatta, the grueling annual 
  race in which independent Free Captains can win fame and 
  fortune, as well as lordship of an island and a seat on the 
  Pirate Council. Many NPCs ask the PCs whether they are 
  entering, and in every Shackles port there’s much excited 
  gossip and betting on which ships are likely favorites. 
  For the first time in years, the field is wide open, as the 
  infamous pirate lord called the Master of the Gales is 
  judging the race instead of participating. The Regatta is 
  certainly the swiftest way to power and influence in the 
  Shackles, though it is far from the easiest or safest route. 
  See Part Three for details on the Free Captains’ Regatta.
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  1 square = 5 feet
  to offer, and visit a tavern called the Riptide Alehouse. The 
  Riptide is a boisterous and rowdy establishment, full of 
  pirates and freebooters of all stripes, though most of the 
  activity seems friendly enough.
  The PCs can order drinks or food, join in a gambling 
  game or two, and generally enjoy their time there. At some 
  point during the evening, have the PCs make Perception 
  checks. Whoever gets the highest result notices a familiar 
  face in the unruly crowd in the bar: “Caulky” Tarroon, 
  Captain Barnabas Harrigan’s cabin girl on the Wormwood. 
  The PC who spots her (or any other PCs, if the first PC 
  draws their attention to her) can make a DC 15 Sense Motive 
  check to notice her suspicious behavior. She seems to be 
  surreptitiously adding something to a few sailors’ drinks—
  an activity suspiciously similar to the way oil of taggit was 
  added to the PCs’ drinks when they were initially press-
  ganged at the beginning of “The Wormwood Mutiny.”
  Before the PCs can take any action, however, they are 
  approached by Captain Pierce Jerrell, a charming rogue 
  of a Free Captain with an eye patch and a winning smile. 
  One of the PCs (choose one) has caught his eye and 
  his fancy, and he smoothly sits down at the PCs’ table, 
  offering to buy them all a round of drinks while he 
  attempts to charm and flatter the object of his affection. 
  See page 54 for a complete description of Pierce Jerrell.
  Regardless of how the PCs respond to Pierce, the 
  activity at their table draws the attention of Caulky. 
  Unless the PCs have all thoroughly disguised themselves, 
  she recognizes them from their time on the Wormwood 
  and attempts to slip away to inform Captain Harrigan of 
  their presence in Port Peril.
  At the same time, one of the sailors who Caulky was 
  attempting to poison notices that her drink was tampered 
  with. She loudly proclaims that someone is trying to 
  drug her, and throws her drink over her shoulder, square 
  on the head of a rough-looking buccaneer. The bruiser 
  stands up, roaring in rage, and throws a punch, which 
  connects with yet another bystander, and the situation in 
  the tavern soon devolves into an all-out barroom brawl.
  Exactly what triggers the melee is relatively unimportant 
  and depends on the current situation—the PCs might get 
  into a fight with Pierce Jerrell, who blocks their way to 
  Caulky; Caulky could bump into someone as she tries to 
  leave; or the events outlined above transpire exactly as 
  written. That the PCs find themselves in the middle of 
  the free-for-all is all that matters.
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  Creatures: Most of the tavern’s patrons opportunistically 
  join in the brawl or find themselves dragged into the 
  swirling melee. Rather than roll every attack of every 
  participant, keep the focus on the PCs and their opponents 
  while describing the overall fight happening around them. 
  Once the brawl begins, the mass of people in the tavern 
  makes the entire area difficult terrain. Agile PCs can move 
  swiftly through the mayhem by leaping from table to table 
  above the heads of the brawlers with Acrobatics checks 
  (DC varies based on the distance between tables). The 
  tavern’s wooden chandeliers hang 10 feet above the 
  floor. PCs can also leap up from atop a bench or 
  table to catch one and swing athletically over the 
  fight with a DC 20 Acrobatics check.
  Drunken Brawlers: Although the bar is full 
  of drunken brawlers, four of them take swings 
  at the PCs with their fists. Depending on how 
  the fight develops, more drunken brawlers 
  could engage the PCs if the opportunity 
  presents itself, especially if the PCs escalate 
  the friendly brawl into a deadly fight with 
  weapons or lethal spells.
  “Caulky” Tarroon: When Barnabas 
  Harrigan transferred half of his crew 
  to the Man’s Promise, those remaining 
  on the Wormwood were put through the 
  wringer. Harrigan’s cabin girl, Caulky 
  Tarroon, was no exception. She lost her 
  relatively cushy job on the ship and had to 
  work as hard as any common swab. Without 
  the personal protection of the captain, she 
  quickly had to learn to defend herself, and 
  became an accomplished knife fighter.
  Nevertheless, Caulky wants nothing to do with the 
  PCs. She seeks to get out of the tavern as soon as possible, 
  but the PCs are between her and the front door, and the 
  back door behind the bar is locked. As the fight breaks 
  out, Caulky tries to blend into the crowd and sneak up the 
  stairs (DC 25 Perception check to spot), making her way 
  along the balcony to the room at its southern end, where 
  she hopes to find another way out.
  The balcony is 15 feet above the main floor. Several 
  barrels of ale are stacked above the stairs at the northern 
  end of the balcony. Caulky gets up the stairs just before they 
  become packed with drunken, brawling pirates (making 
  the stairs difficult terrain as well). If the PCs try to follow 
  Caulky up the stairs, she pushes the barrels down the stairs 
  to further hinder them. Anyone on the stairs must make a 
  DC 15 Reflex save to avoid the barrels. Those who fails the 
  saving throw take 1d6 points of damage as they are pushed 
  to the bottom of the stairs and knocked prone.
   If the PCs don’t want to fight through the brawlers on the 
  stairs, they can climb the carved wall beneath the balcony 
  with a successful DC 15 Climb check. Alternatively, a PC can 
  clamber onto a table and jump to catch the balcony railing 
  with a successful DC 16 Acrobatics check. 
  Caulky frantically tries to get away from the PCs and 
  escape through the window in the southernmost room off 
  the balcony. It takes her a move action to open the window 
  and another to climb out; then she swarms up to the roof 
  to make her getaway across the rooftops of Port Peril.
  Pierce Jerrell: Pierce Jerrell eagerly joins in the brawl 
  as well, though how the PCs responded to his initial 
  contact with them determines his tactics. If they 
  were at least civil to him and they’re within range, 
  Pierce casts haste right after the fight starts, 
  targeting the PCs as well as himself. If the PCs 
  rebuffed him or started the fight with him, he 
  returns the favor, perhaps attempting to charm 
  the object of his affection with charm person. Pierce 
  uses his brass knuckles and nonlethal spells such as 
  color spray in the fight until deadly weapons enter the 
  fray, at which point he draws his longsword.
  “Caulky” Tarroon 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  Female human commoner 3/rogue (knife master) 
  2 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 72)
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +4; Senses Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +4 Dex)
  hp 39 (5 HD; 2d8+3d6+17)
  Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +0
  Defensive Abilities evasion
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk dagger +8 (1d4/19–20)
  Ranged mwk dagger +8 (1d4/19–20)
  Special Attacks sneak stab* +1d8
  TACTICS
  During Combat Caulky does her best to avoid combat with 
  the PCs and escape out the window. If cornered and unable 
  to flee, she uses her Improved Feint feat to feint as a move 
  action, and makes a sneak attack against the flat-footed 
  opponent with her dagger.
  Morale Caulky fights like a cornered rat, but if the 
  opportunity to escape presents itself, she takes it and flees.
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 12
  Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 16
  Feats Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Toughness, Weapon 
  Finesse, Weapon Focus (dagger)
  Skills Acrobatics +10, Bluff +9, Climb +7, Perception +6, 
  Profession (sailor) +6, Sleight of Hand +10 (+11 to conceal 
  light blades), Stealth +10, Swim +5
  Caulky Tarroon
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  Languages Common, Polyglot
  SQ hidden blade*, rogue talents (weapon training)
  Other Gear studded leather, masterwork daggers (2), 29 gp
  * See Ultimate Combat.
  Drunken Brawlers (4) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  Human fighter (cad) 3/rogue 1 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 45)
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Senses Perception +1
  DEFENSE
  AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
  hp 32 each (4 HD; 3d10+1d8+7)
  Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +2 
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee unarmed strike +6 (1d3+3) or
  improvised weapon +6 (1d8+3)
  Ranged dagger +6 (1d4+3/19–20)
  Special Attacks dirty maneuvers*, sneak attack +1d6
  TACTICS
  During Combat These drunken brawlers are just looking for 
  a friendly fight, and fight with unarmed strikes and Power 
  Attack. If any of the PCs pull out weapons or deal lethal 
  damage with their attacks, the brawlers snatch up tankards 
  of ale and smash chairs to use as improvised weapons. The 
  brawlers flank with each other to make sneak attacks, and use 
  combat maneuvers to disarm foes or dirty trick maneuvers to 
  blind opponents for a round or 2 (possibly by throwing ale in 
  their faces) and sneak attack those opponents.
  Morale A drunken brawler attempts to flee if he takes 20 or 
  more points of lethal damage. 
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +3; CMB +6 (+7 disarm, dirty trick, or steal); CMD 19 
  (20 vs. disarm, dirty trick, or steal)
  Feats Catch Off-GuardB, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, 
  Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Stand Still
  Skills Acrobatics +9, Bluff +5, Climb +9, Intimidate +5, 
  Profession (sailor) +7, Swim +9
  Languages Common
  SQ catch off guard*, trapfinding +1
  Gear leather armor, dagger, improvised weapon, 2d20 gp each
  * See Ultimate Combat.
  Pierce Jerrell 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  hp 69 (page 54)
  Development: Soon after the PCs defeat their opponents, 
  the Port Peril militia arrives to break up the brawl and 
  arrest the instigators, including the PCs. Assuming he is 
  still alive and conscious, Pierce Jerrell quixotically offers 
  to show the PCs a back way out of the tavern, leading them 
  behind the bar area and away down a side street. Regardless 
  of how the fight started or turned out, as long as the PCs 
  didn’t try to kill him, Pierce harbors no ill will toward the 
  PCs and is happy to forgive any “accidental” injuries. If the 
  PCs befriend Pierce, he becomes another ally they can call 
  upon for aid later in the Adventure Path. 
  If Caulky Tarroon managed to escape the PCs, there 
  are no immediate consequences, but the PCs can be sure 
  that Barnabas Harrigan now knows the mutinous PCs 
  have survived and are present in the Shackles. If the PCs 
  caught Caulky, she tells them that she was only trying to 
  curry favor with Harrigan by reporting their whereabouts 
  to their former captain. She knows nothing of importance, 
  and holds no great loyalty to Harrigan—in fact, she offers 
  to join the PCs’ crew if they spare her life (though her 
  loyalty to the PCs is one of convenience and nothing more). 
  Although Caulky knows where the Wormwood is berthed, 
  you should discourage the PCs from visiting their former 
  ship, as both Harrigan and the Wormwood have more roles 
  to play, both later in this adventure and in the Adventure 
  Path. In any case, the Wormwood leaves Port Peril the 
  following morning, whether Caulky is on board or not. 
  Story Award: If the PCs befriend Pierce Jerrell, award 
  them 3,200 XP, as if they had defeated him in combat.
  Part tWO: at a lady’s request
  A day after the PCs receive their letter of marque from 
  the Hurricane King, a messenger delivers a letter from 
  Tessa Fairwind, Mistress of the city of Quent on Motaku 
  Isle, inviting them to dinner at her townhouse in Port 
  Peril the following evening. Tales of the PCs’ exploits 
  have impressed Tessa, and she wishes to recruit them 
  for a sensitive task. Any PC who succeeds at a DC 10 
  Knowledge (local) check recognizes Tessa as captain of 
  the sloop-of-war Luck of the Draw and one of the most 
  powerful and popular pirate lords on the Pirate Council 
  of the Shackles. A result of 15 or higher on the check also 
  reveals the common rumor that Tessa is next in line for 
  the Hurricane Crown—either by the acclaim of the Free 
  Captains, or by taking it from Kerdak Bonefist herself. 
  A full description of Tessa Fairwind appears on page 56.
  When the PCs arrive at Tessa’s townhouse, her 
  retainers show them into a windowed dining hall with 
  a view overlooking Port Peril’s harbor. Tessa introduces 
  herself and congratulates the PCs on being named Free 
  Captains. She asks them what they know of the current 
  political situation in the Shackles, and hints that Kerdak 
  Bonefist’s hold over the fractious pirate lords is perhaps 
  not as strong as it might appear. If her own possible 
  candidacy for the position is mentioned, Tessa explains 
  just how reticent she is to become the next Hurricane 
  King. Nevertheless, she recognizes that Bonefist’s days 
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  are likely numbered, and hints that the time is ripe for 
  those with ambition to start gathering allies.
  Tessa also mentions the recent whispers she’s been 
  hearing about Cheliax’s designs on the Shackles. Cheliax’s 
  hatred of the pirate isles is nothing new, of course, but 
  lately the rumors have been hinting at another Chelish 
  invasion, which, if successful, could result in the Shackles 
  being annexed into the empire—a horrific outcome to 
  any Free Captain, regardless of who wears the Hurricane 
  Crown. Tessa is convinced that there is some truth behind 
  these rumors, but she needs solid proof to put before the 
  Hurricane King and the Pirate Council to force them to 
  take united action. However, she can’t investigate these 
  rumors herself—she’s too well known for such subtle 
  work, and she needs to remain in Port Peril to maintain 
  her influence over certain factions within the council.
  Instead, Tessa requests that the PCs investigate the 
  rumors. As resourceful newcomers, independent of 
  any pirate lord, they have the best chance of uncovering 
  information. Seeing the PCs as free agents with no 
  preexisting loyalties, Tessa secretly hopes to ally with them 
  and groom them for leadership roles in the Shackles—if not 
  to eventually claim the Hurricane Crown for themselves, 
  then to gain prominent places on the Pirate Council at the 
  very least. Tessa offers the PCs the chance to ally with her 
  and join her fleet, though in truth, they will pretty much 
  be left to their own devices. Indeed, Tessa doesn’t want 
  it known that she is investigating these rumors, and her 
  alliance with the PCs should be kept quiet for now. 
  If the PCs turn down Tessa’s offer to join her fleet, she isn’t 
  surprised, but still asks that they investigate the rumors. She 
  points out that if they agree, the PCs will have her gratitude 
  and friendship—a valuable commodity, for as Mistress of 
  Quent and one of the principal lords on the Pirate Council, 
  she possesses considerable influence. If she feels that it 
  might help seal the deal, Tessa even hints at the possibility 
  of a romance with one of the PCs, seductively adding that her 
  favors are a reward many are extremely eager for. If all else 
  fails, Tessa offers the PCs wealth to investigate, promising a 
  reward equivalent to 5 points of plunder should they return 
  with solid proof she can place before the council.
  Once the PCs agree, Tessa gives them two leads to follow.
  “I am convinced that Cheliax has spies and informants working 
  in the Shackles, and I can think of only two places that might 
  have some knowledge of these traitorous informers in our 
  midst. The first is the House of Stolen Kisses in Quent, a 
  temple of Calistria and one of the best information brokerages 
  in the Shackles. Use this note to obtain an audience with the 
  temple’s high priestess, Dindreann.
  “The second is the Temple of the Hidden Name, a secret 
  temple of Norgorber said to operate in the town of Beachcomber 
  on Bag Island. If anyone knows of these spies, it would be the 
  followers of the Reaper of Reputation. I have no contacts with 
  the priests of that temple, so I hope you can convince them to 
  reveal what they know.”
  Tessa then unfurls several beautifully drawn, highly 
  detailed nautical charts of the Shackles. These are charts 
  of the fair winds (see page 58), and Tessa points out the 
  locations of Quent and Beachcomber to the PCs on the 
  charts. She gives the charts to the PCs, presenting them 
  in an expertly crafted watertight case as the PCs depart. 
  If the PCs agreed to join Tessa’s fleet, she also gives them 
  a pennant to fly from their masthead signifying their 
  allegiance to her. If she flirted with one of the PCs, she 
  adds a farewell kiss before they set sail as well.
  The PCs can follow Tessa’s initial leads in any order, 
  traveling either to Motaku Isle to visit the House of 
  Stolen Kisses or to Bag Island to find the Temple of the 
  Hidden Name. The steps that the PCs will follow as they 
  investigate the spy ring are presented below in the most 
  likely order for their investigation, but the actual order in 
  which these events and encounters occur should be based 
  on the PCs’ actions and investigations.
  SteP 1: houSe oF Stolen KiSSeS
  Following Tessa’s lead, the PCs journey to the lively seaport 
  of Quent on the northern coast of Motaku Isle, making 
  their way to the House of Stolen Kisses, both a holy temple 
  to Calistria and a brothel. When the PCs present Tessa’s 
  note, scantily clad acolytes escort them through sensually 
  decorated corridors to the chambers of the temple’s high 
  priestess, Dindreann (CN female human cleric of Calistria 
  9). Dindreann pleasantly greets the PCs, offers them 
  comfortable seating and stimulating refreshment. When 
  NAVIGATING THE SHACKLES
  Throughout this adventure, and the rest of the Skull & 
  Shackles Adventure Path, the PCs will be sailing their ship 
  to a variety of destinations. In order to do so, they must 
  successfully plot a course and follow it to their destination. 
  Navigating a ship requires a successful DC 18 Profession 
  (sailor) or Survival check. Characters with at least 5 ranks 
  in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge (local) gain a +2 
  bonus on the check. Attempts to navigate without proper 
  navigational tools (such as an astrolabe, charts, compass, or 
  sextant) take a –4 penalty on the check. Success means the 
  ship reaches its destination as planned in the normal time. 
  A failure means the ship gets lost, following the rules for 
  getting lost on pages 424–425 of the Core Rulebook. Each 
  failed check adds 1d4 days to the ship’s travel time.
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  the PCs are seated and refreshed, she asks what service she 
  can render to associates of her “dearest friend Tessa.”
  Spies: If the PCs mention that they’re seeking spies in 
  the Shackles, Dindreann confirms that the House of Stolen 
  Kisses has leads on such information, as many people share 
  their secrets with the temple’s sacred prostitutes in the 
  heat of passion. But these secrets are shared in confidence, 
  and the temple cannot simply give them away for free. If 
  the PCs were to perform a service for the temple, however, 
  they could expect such knowledge as payment.
  Dindreann tells the PCs that a ship owned by the temple, 
  the Lady’s Sting, recently went missing. Divinations have 
  revealed that the ship was attacked by a group of pirates 
  who deliberately lure ships into danger so that they can 
  salvage the cargoes of the resulting wrecked ships. 
  Piracy is a fact of life in the Shackles, of course, 
  but the Lady’s Sting was carrying a relic sacred to 
  the faith—a gold-plated wasp statue known as the 
  Golden Vespal. The temple seeks revenge on 
  these wreckers who would dare attack one 
  the faith’s holy vessels, as well as the return 
  of the Golden Vespal, but they have so far 
  been unable to locate the wreckers that 
  attacked the Lady’s Sting. If the PCs can 
  find the wreckers, enact the goddess’s 
  revenge upon them, and recover the 
  Golden Vespal, Dindreann will give 
  them a lead on the spies they are seeking.
  A DC 10 Knowledge (local) check is 
  enough to realize that wreckers are a not 
  uncommon hazard in the Shackles, and 
  finding the specific crew that attacked 
  the Lady’s Sting will be a difficult task. 
  However, it’s possible that the Temple of 
  the Hidden Name in Beachcomber might 
  have some information that could lead 
  to the wreckers.
  Brine Banshee: If the PCs ask Dindreann 
  about the Brine Banshee, she tells them that 
  she knows of someone with information about 
  the lost ship. If the PCs have already defeated the 
  wreckers and returned the Golden Vespal to the 
  temple, Dindreann gives them this information 
  for free. Otherwise, they must succeed at a DC 
  18 Diplomacy check to convince her to share 
  her information. Dindreann accepts bribes 
  with a smile but these don’t affect her decision, 
  unless the bribes are less than 50 gp, in which 
  case she is quietly affronted, adding +5 to the 
  DC of the check. While Dindreann doesn’t 
  accept offers of a carnal nature at this point, 
  she appreciates the thought, and such an 
  offer grants a +2 circumstance bonus 
  on the Diplomacy check. Once the PCs convince Dindreann 
  to share her information, she tells them that a retired ship’s 
  doctor in the port of Ollo named Haneilius Fitch claims to 
  have a means to locate the Brine Banshee, but is looking for 
  someone to bankroll his expedition. Go to Step 4 if the PCs 
  go in search of Haneilius Fitch and the Brine Banshee.
  Development: If the PCs return the Golden Vespal 
  to the House of Stolen Kisses as proof of their revenge 
  against Vakarla’s wreckers, Dindreann lives up to her 
  end of the bargain, and tells the PCs that one of the 
  temple’s patrons, a half-elf scrimshander in Drenchport 
  named Jaymiss Keft, claimed to have knowledge of a spy 
  operating in the Shackles. The PCs should seek him out 
  to learn the name of this spy. Go to Step 5 for the PCs’ 
  meeting with Jaymiss Keft.
  Story Award: If the PCs learn the name of 
  Jaymiss Keft from the House of Stolen Kisses, 
  award them 3,200 XP.
  SteP 2: temPle oF the 
  hidden nAme
  Following Tessa’s second lead, the PCs 
  voyage to Bag Island, home to the largest 
  population of halflings in the Shackles. 
  Beachcomber is one of Bag Island’s 
  rowdiest ports, and many of its 
  inhabitants are rumored to be secret 
  worshipers of Norgorber. Anyone 
  succeeding at a DC 15 Knowledge (local) 
  or Knowledge (religion) check realizes 
  that openly asking about a hidden 
  temple to Norgorber would likely meet 
  with failure, if not outright hostility. 
  Instead, the PCs can make a DC 15 Bluff 
  check to get their meaning across with 
  innuendo. If successful, the PCs are 
  directed to a nondescript warehouse in 
  the town’s Lurker District. 
  Inside the warehouse, the PCs are 
  met by a halfling dressed in the black 
  clothing of an indentured servant of 
  an aristocratic household and wearing 
  a cherubic mask. As long as the PCs 
  enter peacefully, the obsequious 
  halfling guides them to a discreet 
  soundproofed room in the back 
  of the warehouse. The halfling 
  introduces himself simply 
  as “Slip” (NE male halfling 
  cleric of Norgorber 3/ 
  rogue 3) and asks how 
  the Temple of the Hidden 
  Name may be of service. 
  Dindreann
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  Spies: If the PCs explain that they’re searching for 
  spies in the Shackles, Slip nods and states that the Reaper 
  of Reputation knows much that is hidden, but that secrets 
  always have a price. He goes on to explain that the Temple 
  of the Hidden Name deals in information, using secrets 
  as currency. To learn one of the temple’s secrets, the PCs 
  must pay with another secret of equal value. Fortunately, 
  there is information that the temple wants.
  Slip tells the PCs that a famous ship called the Brine 
  Banshee mysteriously disappeared several months ago. The 
  Brine Banshee was said to have been one of the fastest ships 
  in the Shackles, with unparalleled handling for a vessel 
  its size, which many believed were the result of several 
  potent spells woven into the ship. If the PCs can find what 
  happened to the Brine Banshee, and discover the secret of its 
  unprecedented speed and maneuverability, they can trade 
  this knowledge for the information they seek.
  A DC 15 Knowledge (local) check is enough to recall 
  tales of the ill-fated Brine Banshee, which disappeared 
  west of Shark Island after leaving the port of Ollo. What 
  happened after remains a mystery, but the ship did visit 
  Quent on its way to Ollo, so perhaps the House of Stolen 
  Kisses has a lead on the Brine Banshee’s fate.
  Wreckers/Lady’s Sting: If the PCs ask Slip about wreckers 
  operating in the Shackles or the fate of the Lady’s Sting, Slip 
  says that it is no secret that many such groups operate in the 
  Shackles, but he has knowledge of one crew that claimed 
  to have successfully attacked a Calistrian vessel. If the PCs 
  have already discovered the wreck of the Brine Banshee, Slip 
  parts with this knowledge for a “donation” of 750 gp to the 
  temple. Otherwise, he demands another secret from the 
  PCs in exchange. The exact nature of what sort of secret Slip 
  accepts as payment is up to you. Possible examples include 
  the true identity of the PCs’ ship and how they acquired it, 
  the fate of the Infernus from Pathfinder Adventure Path #55, or 
  the location of Mancatcher Cove from Pathfinder Adventure 
  Path #56. Alternatively, Slip accepts the promise of a future 
  secret as payment. In this case, it is up to you to ensure that 
  the PCs make good on their promise, keeping in mind that 
  the church of Norgorber is not in the habit of giving away its 
  secrets for free. Once the PCs have negotiated the payment 
  with Slip, the halfling tells them that the wreckers they seek 
  are led by a half-orc wizard named Vakarla, and operate 
  from a hidden island base southeast of the Rampore Isles. 
  Go to Step 3 for the PCs’ encounter with Vakarla and her 
  wreckers.
  Development: If the PCs return to the Temple of the 
  Hidden Name with the location of the wreck of the Brine 
  Banshee and the secret of its speed, Slip accepts that 
  information in trade for details on spies in the Shackles. 
  He informs the PCs that he knows of a water naga named 
  Sarlis who claims to know the location of a smuggler and 
  spy for a foreign power. Sarlis resides in a shallow cove on 
  the Slithering Coast at this time of year, the location of 
  which Slip marks on the PCs’ charts. He tells the PCs to look 
  for a hillock with a lone tree at the top on the western side 
  of the river flowing into the cove. Nearby is a pool where 
  the PCs should wait for Sarlis, which could take several 
  days. The nagas of the Slithering Coast are aggressive and 
  territorial, but Sarlis is more “social” than most of her ilk. 
  Still, they might have to wait several days for the naga to 
  deign to meet with them. The PCs’ encounter with the 
  nagas of the Slithering Coast is detailed in Step 7.
  Story Award: If the PCs learn about Sarlis from the 
  Temple of the Hidden Name, award them 3,200 XP.
  SteP 3: SAvAge ShiPWrecKerS
  This side quest is detailed starting on page 20.
  SteP 4: the brine bAnShee
  This side quest is detailed starting on page 23.
  SteP 5: JAymiSS KeFt
  In search of the half-elf scrimshander Jaymiss Keft, the 
  PCs sail to the damp and gloomy city of Drenchport on 
  Tempest Cay, making their way ashore as heavy rain 
  washes the streets. Jaymiss is well known in Drenchport 
  both as an expert scrimshaw carver and a shameless 
  rumormonger. A successful DC 10 Diplomacy check 
  to gather information reveals that the gray-haired 
  old half-elf spends most of his time by the fire in the 
  Carvers’ Hall, a communal building where Drenchport’s 
  scrimshanders work together on larger projects and sell 
  their finished works.
  Jaymiss Keft (N male middle-aged half-elf expert 4) 
  has an initial attitude of indifferent, but he can be made 
  friendly with a DC 20 Diplomacy check. Purchasing one of 
  Jaymiss’s scrimshaws (at a cost of 2d10 gp) and getting him 
  a warm drink of black kelp beer, or offering a bribe of at 
  least 10 gp grants a +5 circumstance bonus on the check. 
  Once made friendly, Jaymiss reveals that he has suspicions 
  about a man named Haddon Pike, a beachcomber, 
  fisherman, and occasional smuggler. The thing is, many 
  of Haddon’s supposed smuggling trips down south in a 
  hired boat don’t actually involve moving goods. Jaymiss 
  knows the black market in Drenchport pretty well, and he’s 
  noticed that Haddon seldom buys or sells any contraband 
  goods before or after these trips. Jaymiss can provide the 
  PCs with directions to Haddon’s cottage (see Step 6). 
  SteP 6: hAddon PiKe
  Haddon Pike was hired by Zarskia Galembar to spy on the 
  Master of Gales, and his “smuggling” trips south (noted 
  by Jaymiss Keft) were actually to deliver intelligence to 
  his contact Roweena Kellet in Hell Harbor. Unfortunately 
  for Haddon, he was Giles Halmis’s first target.
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  Haddon’s residence is a small driftwood cottage 
  perched on the rugged coast just outside of Drenchport. 
  Haddon’s neighbors haven’t seen him recently, though 
  he tends to keep his own company. The front door has 
  a simple lock (DC 20 Disable Device check to open), and 
  there’s an open window at the back. Haddon’s dead body 
  lies inside the cottage. Two crossbow bolts protrude from 
  his back, and his head is submerged in a fish tank. The 
  tank holds Haddon’s pet, “Grinner,” a piranhalike creature 
  with frilled spines, huge eyes, and lots of teeth, which has 
  consumed most of its master’s exposed flesh. Clutched in 
  Haddon’s hand is a piece of driftwood carved to resemble 
  a birdlike humanoid with a narrow beak, recognizable as 
  a tengu with a successful DC 10 Knowledge (local) check.
  If the PCs examine the body, a successful DC 15 Heal check 
  confirms that Haddon has been dead for around a week, while 
  a successful DC 20 Craft (alchemy) or Heal check identifies 
  faint traces of poison on the crossbow bolts. The angle of the 
  bolts suggests that Haddon was shot through the window. 
  A DC 20 Perception check made while searching outside 
  discovers a discarded glass vial near a rocky outcropping 
  about 80 feet away with a good view of Haddon’s window. 
  Rain has washed away tracks and any residue from the vial.
  Treasure: While the cottage has been thoroughly 
  ransacked, a successful DC 25 Perception check finds a 
  concealed compartment in the fish tank’s heavily carved 
  wooden base. Inside is a waterproofed bag containing 40 
  pp, 259 gp, and a scrimshaw walrus tusk scroll case (worth 
  50 gp). Inside the case are several rolled up scrolls of sheet 
  music and lyrics, part of an old Chelish opera written in 
  Infernal. Besides the obvious incongruity of finding a 
  Chelish opera in the possession of a beachcomber, a DC 15 
  Knowledge (history) check recognizes that Infernal would 
  not have been used at the time the opera was written, 
  a hint that the opera may hold a clue. In fact, the opera 
  contains a series of instructions that have been encoded in a 
  complicated cipher. Cracking the code requires a successful 
  DC 30 Linguistics check. A character who speaks Infernal, 
  has 5 or more ranks in Perform (sing), or succeeds at a DC 25 
  Perform (any category) check gains a +2 bonus on the check. 
  The decoded instructions order Haddon to report on the 
  movement of ships visiting Drenchport, especially those 
  belonging to the Master of the Gales. The instructions also 
  identify Haddon’s main contact, a woman named Roweena 
  Kellet in Hell Harbor on Devil’s Arches (see Step 9).
  Development: If the PCs are unable to decipher the 
  encoded opera, they can take it to a large settlement such as 
  Port Peril or Quent and hire someone to decode it, or take 
  it to the Temple of the Hidden Name, where Slip is only too 
  happy to learn the secrets contained within it for himself.
  If the PCs show Jaymiss Keft the tengu carving they 
  found at Haddon’s cottage, or question him about 
  Haddon’s associates, Jaymiss explains that Haddon had a 
  regular shipmate and accomplice: a tengu named Corlan. 
  The carving could represent Corlan, who lives in Hell 
  Harbor (see Step 10).
  Story Award: If the PCs successfully find and decipher 
  the clues that lead to Roweena Kellet, award them 3,200 XP.
  SteP 7: nAgAS oF the Slithering coASt
  This encounter is detailed starting on page 33.
  SteP 8: elliece FArhAven
  Captain Elliece Farhaven and her ship the Diamond Star 
  carried messages, intelligence, and sensitive and contraband 
  materials for Zarskia Galembar’s spy ring. The Diamond 
  Star was captured by the Rahadoumi navy shortly after her 
  retirement, but Elliece continued to send intelligence on 
  Tessa Fairwind’s fleet to Roweena Kellet in Hell Harbor.
  After traveling back to Motaku Isle, the PCs can easily find 
  the mooring in Quent’s harbor that holds Elliece’s small 
  boat, an unnamed craft with a single tiny cabin. Inside lies 
  the bludgeoned body of a tiny winged devil, identifiable as 
  an imp with a DC 12 Knowledge (planes) check, well and truly 
  beaten to death with the ichor-stained anchor lying nearby. 
  Zarskia sent the imp (supplied by Cheliax through her 
  Nidalese contacts) to “retire” Captain Farhaven, but Elliece’s 
  sixth sense for danger saved her when the invisible imp 
  entered the cabin. Elliece grabbed the anchor and knocked 
  out the imp with a couple of lucky blows, then frantically 
  bludgeoned the imp for several minutes to be sure it was 
  dead. Certain that her mysterious employer was behind 
  the assassination attempt, Elliece fled the Shackles, buying 
  passage on the swiftest trading vessel she could find rather 
  than attempting the perilous ocean voyage in her tiny boat.
  A DC 10 Perception check notices a sealed glass bottle 
  containing a rolled-up scrap of parchment thrown on 
  the cabin’s single bunk. While the page inside the bottle 
  is blank and isn’t magical, it does hold a message written 
  in invisible ink (Pathfinder Player Companion: Adventurer’s 
  Armory 10). Because the page has been sealed inside the 
  bottle for some time, the PCs can notice the chemical 
  aroma about it with a successful DC 20 Perception check, 
  hinting at the nature of the message’s concealment. The 
  message can be revealed using either heat or vinegar (both 
  a lamp and a bottle of vinegar may be found in the cabin), 
  or with a successful DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check that takes 
  1 hour. When revealed, the message details Elliece’s last 
  orders: a simple instruction to report to an address in Hell 
  Harbor—the warehouse of Roweena Kellet (see Step 9).
  Story Award: If the PCs find and decipher the clue that 
  leads to Roweena Kellet, award them 3,200 XP.
  SteP 9: roWeenA Kellet
  Following the leads from either Haddon Pike’s cottage 
  or Elliece Farhaven’s boat, the PCs journey to the island 
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  of Devil’s Arches and the town of Hell Harbor in search 
  of Roweena Kellet. A DC 10 Diplomacy check to gather 
  information around town identifies Roweena as a harbor 
  quartermaster in the employ of Arronax Endymion, lord 
  of Hell Harbor and a former admiral in the Chelish 
  navy. Roweena manages two of Endymion’s smaller trade 
  warehouses, but she’s recently gone missing.
  In fact, Roweena was a major player in Zarskia Galembar’s 
  spy ring, passing along orders to and receiving information 
  from Haddon Pike and Elliece Farhaven (usually through 
  the tengu smuggler Corlan), while providing her own 
  intelligence on Arronax Endymion to Zarskia. No longer 
  needed after Zarskia was ordered to liquidate the spy ring, 
  Roweena was the second target of the assassin Giles Halmis, 
  who slew her and dumped her body at sea.
  Since Roweena’s disappearance, the goods in the 
  warehouses she managed have been transferred to other 
  holdings, leaving both warehouses empty, but the PCs can 
  easily learn her home address with another DC 10 Diplomacy 
  check to gather information. The front door of Roweena’s 
  house has been broken open, and the place has been 
  ransacked. Hell Harbor guards have been through the place 
  looking for her, but at the moment, they’re merely concerned 
  that one of Endymion’s employees has met with foul play.
  None of the many shipping and mercantile papers 
  scattered about Roweena’s office implicate her as a spy or 
  informer, but a successful DC 30 Perception check finds a 
  ledger listing the names of numerous major pirate lords 
  of the Shackles, each with a large number beside it. A 
  successful DC 20 Appraise or Linguistics check allows a 
  PC to recognize the numbers as estimated bribes, either to 
  have the named pirates lord turn traitor, or to have their 
  followers overthrow them. Of these names, one stands out: 
  Arronax Endymion, whose entry has only a dash, rather 
  than a number, after to his name. The meaning of this entry 
  is that to the Chelish government, his only acceptable fate 
  is capture, trial, torture, and public execution, but the PCs 
  might misinterpret the entry and assume that Endymion 
  has already turned traitor. Scribbled at the bottom of one 
  page is a single line: “Send with Corlan.”
  Development: If the PCs ask around Hell Harbor about 
  Corlan, or about Roweena’s known associates, a successful 
  DC 10 Diplomacy check to gather information reveals 
  that Corlan is a tengu smuggler who frequently works 
  as an agent for Roweena. The PCs can find out Corlan’s 
  address in Hell Harbor with a DC 15 check. Go to Step 10 
  if the PCs go in search of Corlan.
  SteP 10: A croW’S murder
  This encounter is detailed starting on page 34.
  SteP 11: JASPerleAF APothecAry
  This site is detailed starting on page 36.
  SAvAge ShiPWrecKerS (cr 9)
  Following the lead gained at the Temple of the Hidden 
  Name, the PCs sail to the Rampore Isles in search of the 
  wreckers who attacked the Lady’s Sting. With no way of 
  knowing the wreckers’ exact location, the PCs must sail 
  around until they stumble upon the wreckers, or the 
  wreckers find them first. If the PCs didn’t learn about 
  the wreckers at the temple, this encounter can occur at 
  any time during the PCs’ travels through the Shackles.
  The wreckers have set up their operation in dangerous 
  shoals southeast of the Rampore Isles, 2 days’ travel away 
  from any major port. The leader of this crew of barbarous 
  half-orc reavers is an accomplished illusionist named 
  Vakarla. Renegades from the Terwa Uplands, Vakarla 
  and her wreckers take the perfidious and risky gamble 
  of preying on Shackles pirates. The wreckers sail from a 
  nearby island in the early evening and moor their small, 
  leaky lugger near the barren outcroppings of a reef that 
  rise a few feet above the waterline here, returning to their 
  island base just before dawn.
   Vakarla used hallucinatory terrain and a scroll of mirage 
  arcana to disguise the reef and the wreckers’ boat as an 
  ordinary stretch of ocean, hoping to lure unsuspecting 
  victims onto the uncharted reef. Vakarla and her wrecker 
  cutthroats hide in the extra-dimensional space provided 
  by a rope trick spell, while the rest of her crew hides 
  belowdecks in their illusion-cloaked ship. A lookout 
  keeps watch through the rope trick’s window and alerts the 
  rest of the crew once a ship is sighted.
  Ship Combat: As the PCs’ ship approaches the 
  concealed reef, they are spotted by the wreckers’ lookout. 
  As it’s unlikely that the PCs are heading straight for the 
  reef, Vakarla casts invisibility on herself and leaves the 
  rope trick. She then casts major image to create a detailed 
  illusion of a small merchant sailing ship with its sails 
  lowered and flying a Rahadoumi flag. The figment even 
  has a nameplate that reads Shining Star. When the PCs 
  gets closer, Vakarla concentrates on the illusion, making 
  the Shining Star appear to frantically try to its raise sails 
  and get underway, as if fleeing the PCs’ ship. The illusory 
  ship floats safely through the glamer-cloaked reef, luring 
  the PCs’ ship into the wreckers’ trap.
  If the PCs pursue the Shining Star, they can make 
  opposed Profession (sailor) checks against Vakarla’s check. 
  If successful, a character notices discrepancies in how the 
  ship sits in the water and how its crew sails it, allowing 
  that character to make a DC 18 Will save to disbelieve the 
  illusion. If the PCs attack the Shining Star with missile 
  weapons or siege engines, Vakarla causes the illusion to 
  react appropriately, but the interaction allows that PCs 
  another chance to disbelieve the illusion. 
  Likewise, when the PCs’ ship enters the hallucinatory terrain 
  (usually the same round it strikes the reef), those on deck 
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  can make a DC 20 Profession (sailor) or Survival check to 
  notice subtle irregularities in the ocean, such as the height 
  and frequency of waves, or the coloring of the nearby sea. 
  Those who succeed at the check can make a DC 19 Will save 
  to see through the hallucinatory terrain. Characters directly 
  interacting with the terrain, such as those swimming in the 
  ocean, can also attempt to disbelieve the illusion.
  If the pilot of the PC’s ship successfully disbelieves 
  the hallucinatory terrain, she can attempt a last-ditch DC 
  20 sailing check to heave to and lessen the impact of the 
  collision. If the ship moves 60 feet or more, it strikes the 
  reef, taking normal ramming damage (usually 8d8 point 
  of damage for a sailing ship), and runs aground, reducing 
  its speed to 0. If the pilot’s sailing check was successful, 
  the damage is halved (though the ship still runs aground). 
  The PCs each take 4d6 points of damage from being 
  thrown about by the sudden grinding halt and must make 
  DC 20 Reflex saves or be knocked prone. 
  The PCs can avoid the wreckers if they ignore the 
  illusory ship or try to steer clear of it. However, if the PCs 
  see through Vakarla’s ruse, or start to follow the Shining Star 
  then suddenly break off, she knows she can’t let them get 
  away to report her presence in the area. Vakarla flies to the 
  PCs’ ship and casts a wall of force from a scroll directly ahead 
  of the ship, causing it to plow straight into the wall, dealing 
  normal ramming damage as above and halting the ship; 
  those aboard take damage and must make Reflex saves as 
  previously noted. Meanwhile, Vakarla’s crew swims out and 
  clamber aboard to fight the PCs and their crew.
  If necessary, you can use the statistics for a keelboat 
  (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 24) for Vakarla’s lugger, 
  though the PCs are unlikely to engage the vessel in ship-
  to-ship combat. 
  Creatures: When it seems inevitable the PCs’ ship will 
  strike the reef, Vakarla re-enters the rope trick to cast 
  her preparatory spells, including invisibility sphere. 
  She and her four wrecker cutthroats exit the 
  rope trick together as the rest of her crew 
  climbs from their hiding places 
  aboard their vessel, and rush 
  to the site of the PCs’ grounded 
  ship, where Vakarla uses her rope of climbing to let her 
  crew quickly swarm onto the deck of the ship.
  Vakarla 
   
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Female half-orc illusionist 9
  CE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
  Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, 
  +4 shield)
  hp 84 (9d6+50) 
  Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +9
  Defensive Abilities orc ferocity
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
  Melee mwk falchion +5 (2d4/18–20)
  Ranged mwk light crossbow +7 (1d8/19–20)
  Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +13)
  At will—invisibility field (9 rounds/day)
  7/day—blinding ray
  Spells Prepared (CL 9th; concentration +13)
  5th—mirage arcana (DC 20), overland flight
  4th—fear (DC 18), hallucinatory terrain (DC 19), phantasmal 
  killer (DC 19), wall of fire
  3rd—haste, invisibility sphere, major image (DC 18), stinking 
  cloud (DC 17), vampiric touch
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  Tempest Rising
  Vakarla
  
  2nd—false life, fog cloud, invisibility, mirror image, rope trick, 
  scorching ray
  1st—burning hands (DC 15), color spray (DC 16), grease, mage 
  armor, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 15)
  0 (at will)—acid splash, detect magic, ghost sound (DC 15), 
  open/close
  Opposition Schools Abjuration, Enchantment
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Vakarla casts false life, mage armor, and overland 
  flight every day. When the PCs’ ship is about to crash into the 
  reef, she casts mirror image and shield from her wand.
  During Combat Vakarla casts fog cloud over the PCs’ ship, 
  then casts haste on herself and her cutthroats just before 
  her crew board the PCs’ ship. She uses her flight to keep 
  out of melee combat and starts by casting fear on a large 
  group of foes, then casts her attack spells against those 
  resisting her crew, using her invisibility field to stay 
  invisible. She saves phantasmal killer for use against the 
  ship’s captain. Vakarla’s monkey familiar, Mister Swabb, 
  clings to her shoulder flinging droppings and screeching at 
  anyone who attacks her.
  Morale Vakarla expects a quick and easy victory, so if her 
  cutthroats are slain, or if she is reduced to fewer than 25 
  hit points, she flees combat, flying back to her island base 
  (see Development below).
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 12
  Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 17
  Feats AlertnessB, Brew Potion, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron 
  Will, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (illusion), Toughness
  Skills Fly +20, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +16, 
  Perception +10, Profession (sailor) +9, Sense Motive +1, 
  Spellcraft +16, Swim +4
  Languages Common, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Osiriani, Polyglot
  SQ arcane bond (monkey named Mister Swabb), extended 
  illusions +4 rounds, orc blood, weapon familiarity
  Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, scroll of 
  invisibility, scroll of knock, scroll of wall of force, scroll of 
  water breathing, wand of shield (20 charges); Other Gear 
  masterwork falchion, masterwork light crossbow with 10 
  bolts, cloak of resistance +2, rope of climbing, bicorne hat, 
  periscope, watertight engraved bronze scroll case (worth 
  75 gp), spell component pouch, spyglass
  Wrecker Cutthroats (4) 
  CR 2
  XP 600 each
  Half-orc barbarian (sea reaver) 3 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate 
  Combat 29)
  CE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
  Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 12, touch 9, flat-footed 11 (+3 armor, +1 Dex, –2 rage)
  hp 40 each (3d12+15)
  Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +4
  Defensive Abilities orc ferocity
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee falchion +8 (2d4+7/18–20)
  Ranged light crossbow +4 (1d8/19–20)
  Special Attacks rage (10 rounds/day), rage powers (no escape)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The wrecker cutthroats wait for Vakarla to 
  cast haste on them, then rage and leap in among the ship’s 
  crew to prevent an organized defense. They gang up on 
  opponents, flanking when possible and slaying everyone 
  aboard, even those who surrender.
  Morale The bloodthirsty cutthroats fight to the death.
  Base Statistics When not raging, a wrecker cutthroat’s 
  statistics are AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13; hp 34; Fort +5, 
  Will+2; Melee falchion +6 (2d4+4/18–20); Str 17, Con 14; 
  CMB +6; Skills Climb +7, Swim +7.
  STATISTICS
  Str 21, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 17
  Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack
  Skills Acrobatics +5 (+6 in aquatic terrain), Climb +9 (+10 in 
  aquatic terrain), Intimidate +6, Perception +6, Survival +6 
  (+7 in aquatic terrain), Swim +10
  SQ eyes of the storm*, marine terror*, orc blood, savage 
  sailor*, weapon familiarity
  Gear studded leather, falchion, light crossbow with 10 bolts, 15 gp
  * See Ultimate Combat.
  Development: If the PCs see through the illusions 
  cloaking the area, they can see the shattered remains of 
  two sunken ships in the shallows. Both wrecks are recent, 
  sunk within the last couple of months. One of them is the 
  lost Lady’s Sting. Both ships have been thoroughly broken 
  up and picked clean.
  If the PCs’ ship strikes the reef, its pilot must succeed at 
  a DC 20 Profession (sailor) check to free the ship. If the PCs 
  capture Vakarla or any of her crew and question them, they 
  can learn the location of the wreckers’ base, concealed on 
  a small rocky island several miles away. Hidden from the 
  shoreline, the base is a ramshackle series of thatched huts 
  surrounded by a flimsy wooden palisade. If Vakarla fled 
  combat, she flies back here, loads supplies and her sea chest 
  (see Treasure below) into a longboat, and flees the Shackles.
  Treasure: The wreckers’ base contains cargo and 
  supplies worth 6 points of plunder, primarily consisting 
  of leather, spices, timber, and various ships’ equipment. 
  The base also contains three longboats and a crude 
  alchemist’s laboratory in one hut. 
  Vakarla’s sea chest lies buried under a thin layer of sand 
  beneath her bunk, and can be found with a successful 
  DC 20 Perception check (the chest is missing if Vakarla 
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  fled through here). The unlocked trunk holds a mithral 
  dagger set with aquamarine gemstones worth 900 gp, 
  a Shackles ensign (see page 58), 320 gp in mixed coins, 
  and Vakarla’s spellbook. The spellbook contains all of 
  Vakarla’s prepared spells, all cantrips, knock, wall of force, 
  and water breathing, plus additional spells of your choice 
  from 1st to 5th level, with a focus on illusion spells. 
  A DC 25 Perception check discovers a golden statue of a 
  wasp wrapped in oilcloth and stuffed in an empty barrel—
  the Golden Vespal, stolen from the Lady’s Sting. The 
  statue could be worth up to 5,000 gp to the right buyer, 
  but the priests of Calistria at the House of Stolen 
  Kisses would likely seek to gain their revenge on 
  the PCs for not returning the sacred relic.
  the brine bAnShee
  With the information gleaned at the House of Stolen 
  Kisses, the PCs travel to Ollo on Shark Island 
  in search of Haneilius Fitch, who claims 
  to know something of the missing 
  ship Brine Banshee. If the PCs did 
  not learn about Fitch from the 
  priests of Calistria, they can 
  still encounter Haneilius Fitch 
  in any port in the Shackles. 
  In this case, Fitch approaches 
  them about serving as ship’s 
  surgeon aboard their vessel, using Bluff to 
  convey a secret message indicating that he 
  has information about the Brine Banshee.
  The port of Ollo is a foul and wretched place, and its 
  miserable residents are sullenly close-mouthed. They’ve 
  as much to fear from their bestial pirate lord Avimar 
  Sorrinash as from sahuagin raids, and questions from 
  outsiders are often met with anxious and suspicious 
  silence. A successful DC 15 Diplomacy check made to 
  gather information is necessary to learn the address of 
  Haneilius Fitch’s surgical offices.
  Haneilius Fitch (LN male old human expert 6) is a gray 
  haired gentleman with a Taldan accent, who introduces 
  himself as a retired ship’s physician. If the PCs ask him 
  about the Brine Banshee, Fitch claims to know nothing about 
  the ship, but a DC 20 Sense Motive check reveals that the 
  old man is not telling the truth. Fitch’s initial attitude is 
  indifferent, but if the PCs make him friendly with successful 
  a DC 16 Diplomacy check, or succeed at a DC 20 Bluff check 
  to imply that they can help him find the missing ship, Fitch 
  reveals what he knows. He holds up a glass tube containing 
  a human leg bone suspended in preservative solution.
  “This tibia previously belonged to Vargus Brack, one of my 
  old shipmates. Vargus was grateful to be rid of it—he’d have 
  died of gangrene if I hadn’t amputated his leg. It’s a good 
  thing I kept it as a specimen, since he was an officer aboard 
  the Brine Banshee when she last sailed. Vargus and I were 
  good friends—he came to visit me the last time the Brine 
  Banshee was in Ollo, as he always did when he was in port. He 
  mentioned in passing the course the Brine Banshee would be 
  taking, and said he wouldn’t be back for some time. The Brine 
  Banshee had an abundance of riches aboard her, and together 
  I believe we can salvage them. Are you interested?”
  Assuming the PCs agree, Fitch goes on to 
  explain how they can track down the missing 
  ship. Although Fitch knows the Brine Banshee’s 
  course, he needs magic to find the exact 
  location where the ship went down. Fitch 
  explains that there’s a magical ring that can 
  be used to find a corpse, provided the wearer 
  already has a piece of the body. He goes on to tell 
  them that he knows of a pirate captain who wears 
  just such a ring, called the ring of the iron skull.
  This is where the PCs come in. 
  They have a ship of their own, and 
  are strong enough to take the ring 
  of the iron skull from its current 
  owner. Fitch has Vargus’s leg 
  bone and knows the route the 
  Brine Banshee took. Fitch tries 
  to barter a deal with the PCs: 
  he wants an equal share of the Brine 
  Banshee’s treasure. He doesn’t care about 
  magic items; he just wants enough money 
  to live the rest of his life in modest comfort. In exchange, 
  he’ll tell them who has the ring and guide them along the 
  Brine Banshee’s course until they find the ship.
  Once he reaches an agreement with the PCs, Fitch tells 
  them that the ring of the iron skull is in the possession of 
  a pirate named “Milksop” Morton, who regularly sails 
  his sloop Dryad’s Grave between the Smoker and Shark 
  Island. Fortunately for the PCs, the Dryad’s Grave is due 
  in Ollo within the next week. If they can accost the ship 
  before it makes port, the PCs can acquire the ring of the 
  iron skull and find the Brine Banshee.
  the dryAd’S grAve (cr 10)
  Assuming the PCs decide to lie in wait for the Dryad’s 
  Grave, they encounter the pirate sloop a day’s sail southeast 
  of Ollo. The Dryad’s Grave’s greedy captain, Milksop 
  Morton, is an independent, unaligned pirate who does 
  not hold a Shackles letter of marque. He seeks to make a 
  name for himself and earn quick profits by extorting the 
  hard-won plunder of other independent pirates not sworn 
  to powerful pirate lords. Captain Morton is a conjurer 
  who has used ancient rituals powered by his own blood to 
  magically animate several weapons on his ship.
  Haneilius Fitch
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  Tempest Rising
  
  The Dryad’s Grave’s appears on the horizon off the 
  PCs’ port bow around midday. The Dryad’s Grave spots 
  the PCs’ ship at the same time and closes in, signaling 
  that it wishes to parley. Not recognizing the PCs’ ship, 
  Captain Morton assumes that the PCs and their ship will 
  be easy pickings. If the PCs don’t immediately attack, 
  Morton waits until the two ships are within hailing 
  range (100 feet), to yell his introductions and ask what 
  destination the PCs are bound for. He also questions 
  the PCs about their allegiances to the Free Captains and 
  whose fleet they serve. Regardless of the PCs’ answers to 
  his questions, Morton assumes they are bluffing, and 
  demands a toll (equivalent to at least 5 points of plunder) 
  for sailing through “his” territory. If the PCs refuse, the 
  Dryad’s Grave attacks. If they capitulate, Morton sails off, 
  once the PCs transfer the booty to his ship by ship’s boat.
  Ship Combat: Assuming the PCs resist, the Dryad’s 
  Grave attempts to close and grapple the PCs’ ship for 
  boarding as soon as it gets within 50 feet of the PCs’ ship. 
  The Dryad’s Grave’s figurehead is carved in the likeness 
  of a bare-chested, goat-horned satyr with muscular arms 
  thrust forward as if diving into the ocean, its mouth open 
  in a silent scream of anger and pain. As the two ships 
  close, the figurehead, called the Screaming Satyr, comes 
  to life—it is actually a magical construct called a ship 
  sentinel (see Creatures below). The Screaming Satyr picks 
  up a ballista from the ship’s deck and fires a bolt attached 
  to a long chain into the hull of the PCs’ ship (the attack 
  is made with a –4 penalty because of the weight of the 
  chain). The figurehead then proceeds to reel in the PCs’ 
  ship to grapple and board (see below).
  At the same time, Morton’s crew fires its springal and 
  catapults at the PCs’ ship. The springal crew targets the 
  helm of the PCs’ ship, hoping to hit the PCs and other 
  officers. The catapults are loaded with living grapnels, 
  animated constructs that scuttle around like spiders (see 
  Creatures below). The catapult crews aim at the center of 
  the PCs’ deck, maximizing the grapnels’ chance of landing 
  on the deck even if they miss their targeted square. The 
  grapnels are connected to the Dryad’s Grave by long chains. 
  When the grapnels land on the PCs’ ship, the belowdecks 
  crew of the Dryad’s Grave turns large capstans to haul on 
  the chains, drawing the two ships together. Once all three 
  grapnels have been fired, Morton orders the catapults to 
  stop firing, as he wants the PCs’ ship intact as a prize.
  Morton attempts to grapple the PCs’ ship as soon as 
  possible. Provided they successfully hit the PCs’ ship, 
  the Screaming Satyr and the living grapnels each grant a 
  cumulative +2 bonus on Morton’s combat maneuver check 
  to grapple the PCs’ ship (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 14).
  If the PCs attempt to escape combat, Morton casts 
  summon monster III to conjure small air elementals to 
  tangle their rigging and harass sailors.
  Dryad’s Grave 
  CR 7
  Shackles sloop (sailing ship) (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 25)
  Init +2
  DEFENSE
  AC 14, touch 2; Hardness 5
  hp 1,620 (sails 240)
  Save +12
  OFFENSE
  Ranged arrow springal +10 (3d8/×3), 2 mwk light catapults 
  +11 (4d6)
  CMB +20; CMD 30
  Ramming Damage 8d8
  CREW
  Captain “Milksop” Morton (NE male human conjurer 8; 
  Profession [sailor] +12)
  3 living grapnels (N animated objects)
  Screaming Satyr (N ship sentinel)
  Xicorax (N air mephit familiar)
  27 sailors (minimum 20)
  EQUIPMENT
  Gear arrow springal with 10 uses of ammunition (aft), 2 
  masterwork light catapults with 20 stones (fore), magically 
  treated sails, 30 squares of sails (1 mast)
  Cargo 2 points of plunder (ships’ arsenal and stores, various 
  personal possessions)
  Creatures: Once the two ships are grappled, the Screaming 
  Satyr detaches itself from the Dryad’s Grave to board the 
  PCs’ ship, striking enemies with its two slam attacks. The 
  Screaming Satyr only fires its ballista again if Morton orders 
  it to do so. The Screaming Satyr fights until destroyed.
  The living grapnels grab onto masts or railings on 
  the PCs’ ship, which gives them the grappled condition. 
  They strike back violently against attempts to pry them 
  off, attempting to constrict attackers with their chains. 
  They only let go if someone severs the chains connecting 
  them to the Dryad’s Grave (hardness 10, hp 5, Break DC 
  26), at which point they attack any creature within reach. 
  The grapnels fight until destroyed, but they also cease 
  functioning if the Screaming Satyr is destroyed.
  Milksop Morton is a broad-framed man with a large 
  combed-over bald spot and a craggy face. His familiar 
  Xicorax, a foul-mouthed air mephit, flies around his 
  master’s head shouting curses.
  Screaming Satyr 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Ballista marksman (variant ship sentinel; see page 89)
  hp 68
  Living Grapnels (3) 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Animated object (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 14)
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  N Medium construct 
  Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception –5
  DEFENSE
  AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+6 natural)
  hp 36 each (3d10+20)
  Fort +1, Ref +1, Will –4
  Defensive Abilities hardness 10; Immune construct traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee slam +5 (1d6+3 plus grab)
  Special Attacks constrict (1d6+3)
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 10, Con —, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1
  Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+9 grapple); CMD 15
  SQ construction points (constrict, grab, metal)
  “Milksop” Morton 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Male human conjurer 8
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +2; Senses Perception +3
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, 
  +2 Dex, +4 shield)
  hp 54 (8d6+24)
  Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +8
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk club +4 (1d6–1)
  Arcane School Spell-Like 
  Abilities (CL 8th; 
  concentration +12)
  At will—dimensional 
  steps (240 feet/day)
  7/day—acid dart 
  (1d6+4 acid)
  Conjurer Spells Prepared 
  (CL 8th; concentration +12)
  4th—confusion (DC 18), resilient sphere (DC 18), solid fog, 
  summon monster IV
  3rd—fireball (DC 17), slow (DC 17), stinking cloud (DC 18), 
  summon monster III, tiny hut
  2nd—acid arrow, glitterdust (DC 17), scorching ray (2), 
  summon monster II
  1st—grease (DC 16), mage armor, magic missile (2), shield, 
  summon monster I
  0 (at will)—acid splash, flare (DC 14), mage hand, message
  Opposition Schools Divination, Illusion
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Morton casts mage armor daily, and casts 
  shield before confronting the PCs.
  During Combat Once combat begins, Morton casts tiny hut 
  to provide one-way concealment around the helm of the 
  Dryad’s Grave. As his ship closes in, Morton casts solid 
  fog to slow the PCs’ ship, followed by confusion, fireball, 
  or stinking cloud on large groups of enemies. When close 
  enough, Morton casts resilient sphere to neutralize enemy 
  spellcasters, then summons groups of fire elementals or 
  a fiendish crocodile aboard the PC’s ship. Once the two 
  ships are grappled, Morton uses his dimensional steps 
  ability to board the PCs’ ship with his familiar Xicorax.
  Morale If reduced to 20 hit points or fewer, or if it’s clear that 
  the PCs have the upper hand, Morton calls for parley and 
  begs for mercy. He is loath to lose his ship, but he freely 
  offers the ring of the iron skull in exchange for freedom for 
  himself and the Dryad’s Grave. If given no other choice, he 
  fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 10
  Base Atk +4; CMB +3; CMD 16
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  Tempest Rising
  Screaming Satyr
  
  Feats AlertnessB, Augment Summoning, Craft Construct, Craft 
  Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Improved 
  Familiar, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (conjuration)
  Skills Appraise +11, Craft (ships) +15, Fly +13, Knowledge 
  (arcana) +15, Knowledge (engineering) +10, Knowledge 
  (planes) +10, Perception +3, Profession (sailor) +12, Sense 
  Motive +3, Spellcraft +15, Swim +5
  Languages Aquan, Auran, Common, Ignan, Terran
  SQ arcane bond (air mephit familiar named Xicorax), 
  summoner’s charm (4 rounds)
  Combat Gear potions of cure moderate wounds (2), potion of 
  invisibility, scrolls of dispel magic (2), scroll of fly; Other Gear 
  masterwork club, cloak of resistance +1, ring of the iron skull 
  (see page 58), ring of protection +1, spell component pouch, 
  spellbook (contains all prepared spells, all 0-level spells, 
  plus four additional spells of each level from 1st to 4th)
  Xicorax 
  CR —
  Air mephit familiar (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 202)
  N Small outsider (air)
  Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural, 
  +1 size)
  hp 27 (8 HD); fast healing 2 (gusty and windy areas only)
  Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +6
  Defensive Abilities improved evasion; DR 5/magic
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
  Melee 2 claws +6 (1d3+1)
  Special Attacks breath weapon (15-ft. cone, 1d8 slashing 
  damage, DC 13 Reflex half, usable every 4 rounds), deliver 
  touch spells
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +8)
  1/hour—blur
  1/day—gust of wind (DC 14), summon (level 2, 1 air 
  mephit 25%)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Xicorax casts blur and attempts to summon 
  another air mephit. He stays near Morton, using his breath 
  weapon and claws against any attackers. The open air and 
  decks of both the Dryad’s Grave and the PCs’ ship counts as 
  gusty areas for the purposes of Xicorax’s fast healing.
  Morale Xicorax flees back to the Dryad’s Grave if reduced to 
  fewer than 15 hit points. If Morton is slain, Xicorax flies into 
  the sky, never to return.
  STATISTICS
  Str 13, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 14
  Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 17
  Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative
  Skills Bluff +8, Fly +23, Perception +6, Stealth +12
  Languages Common, Auran
  SQ empathic link, share spells, speak with master
  lASt KnoWn courSe
  Once the PCs have acquired the ring of the iron skull, 
  Haneilius Fitch tells them that the Brine Banshee began 
  her last voyage in Port Peril, then headed to Quent for 
  resupply and shore leave. From Quent she sailed to Ollo, 
  stopping briefly to sell cargo before journeying northwest 
  around Shark Island’s coastline. Fitch suggests the PCs 
  begin their voyage in Ollo as well to follow the Brine 
  Banshee’s last course. Once their ship clears the strait 
  between Shark Island and Raptor Island, however, Fitch 
  announces to the PCs that the Brine Banshee’s last course 
  wasn’t northwest as many in Ollo believed, but north-
  northeast—the captain intended to skim the fringes of 
  the Eye of Abendego to raid merchant ships in the waters 
  near Botosani. The Brine Banshee’s course followed a line 
  from the two islands north of Shark Island to the Eye’s 
  edge, cutting between the Eye and the eastern coast of 
  Mediogalti Island and into Rahadoumi waters.
  The ring of the iron skull has a limited range, but 
  provided the PCs can hold their ship on a true course, 
  it should be possible to find the Brine Banshee. The PCs 
  must succeed at a DC 18 Profession (sailor) or Survival 
  check to follow the Brine Banshee’s course. Assuming the 
  PCs maintain an accurate course, the ring of the iron skull 
  indicates the presence of Vargus Brack’s corpse only a few 
  hours after the two islands drop out of sight below the 
  southern horizon.
  WrecK oF the brine bAnShee
  Once the PCs reach the location where the Brine Banshee 
  went down, they can search for the sunken wreck. The 
  ocean is just over 60 feet deep here. Stony outcrops rise 
  out of the sandy sea floor, and small sea plants grow in 
  scattered clusters. Locating the Brine Banshee is relatively 
  easy. The shipwreck lies on its side on the ocean floor. Only 
  half the ship is visible, however; the Brine Banshee’s bow 
  section rests next to a rift in the ocean floor. Insightful 
  PCs can notice the wreck’s angle, with its prow pointed 
  away from the fissure, suggesting that the ship split in 
  two when she sank, and the vessel’s stern section dropped 
  into the murky depths of the underwater trench. The ring 
  of the iron skull points to the rift as the location of Vargus’s 
  corpse.
  blood in the WAter (cr 8)
  Creatures: The region around the wreck is the hunting 
  territory of a vicious merfolk druid named Ormandar, a 
  heavily muscled, dark-skinned merman with disturbingly 
  sharklike teeth. Venerating the deadly killing instincts 
  of sharks, Ormandar and his animal companion Galieus, 
  a sleekly powerful hammerhead shark, lead a school of 
  remorseless bull sharks and seek out exotic quarry to satisfy 
  their degenerate bloodlust. As the PCs approach the wreck 
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  of the Brine Banshee, the sharks pick up their scent and alert 
  Ormandar. He swiftly prepares for the hunt, and he and his 
  shark pack home in on the PCs’ position and attack.
  Ormandar 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Male merfolk druid (shark shaman) 8 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Bestiary 204, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 40)
  NE Medium humanoid (aquatic)
  Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +13
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +5 natural)
  hp 79 (8d8+40)
  Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +8; +4 vs. fey and plant–targeted effects
  Defensive Abilities resist nature’s lure
  OFFENSE
  Speed 5 ft., swim 50 ft.
  Melee +2 trident +13/+8 (1d8+7), bite +8 (1d6+4)
  Ranged +2 trident +10 (1d8+7)
  Special Attacks totem transformation* (move action, 8 minutes/
  day), totemic summons*, wild shape as 6th-level druid 3/day 
  (shark form as 10th-level druid)
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +9)
  At will—speak with animals (fish only)
  Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +10)
  4th—dispel magic (2)
  3rd—dominate animal (DC 15), greater magic fang (2)
  2nd—barkskin, bull’s strength (2), chill metal (DC 14)
  1st—charm animal (DC 13), cure light wounds (2), entangle 
  (2, DC 13)
  0 (at will)—detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Ormandar casts greater magic fang on 
  himself and his shark companion Galieus every day and 
  uses his totem transformation ability to give himself a 
  shark’s bite attack. When he becomes aware of intruders 
  near the wreck, Ormandar casts barkskin and bull’s 
  strength on himself and bull’s strength on Galieus.
  During Combat Ormandar orders Galieus and the bull sharks 
  to attack while he stays back and casts dispel magic on 
  air-breathers that are using magic to breathe underwater, 
  forcing those opponents to hold their breath or dash to the 
  surface for air. If Galieus or the two bull sharks are slain, 
  Ormandar wildshapes into a Large great white shark and 
  rushes into melee.
  Morale Once he tastes blood, Ormandar loses control and 
  fights to the death in a gory frenzy.
  Base Statistics Without his spells, Ormandar’s statistics are 
  AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14; Melee +2 trident +11/+6 
  (1d8+5), bite +4 (1d6+1); Ranged +2 trident +10 (1d8+5);  
  Str 16; CMB +9; CMD 21; Skills Swim +20.
  STATISTICS
  Str 20, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 12
  Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 23 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Lightning Reflexes, Martial Weapon Proficiency (trident), 
  Natural Spell, Toughness
  Skills Handle Animal +10, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +13,  
  Survival +10, Swim +22
  Languages Aquan, Common
  SQ amphibious, nature bond (shark animal companion named 
  Galieus), nature sense, trackless step, wild empathy +9, 
  (+13 with fish), woodland stride
  Gear +2 trident, bracers of armor +2
  * See Ultimate Magic.
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  Ormandar
  
  Galieus 
  CR —
  XP 135
  Shark animal companion
  N Medium animal (aquatic)
  Init +2; Senses blindsense 30 ft., low-light vision, scent; 
  Perception +8
  DEFENSE
  AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +8 natural)
  hp 59 (7d8+28)
  Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +3 (+7 vs. enchantment)
  Defensive Abilities evasion
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 60 ft.
  Melee bite +14 (1d8+11)
  TACTICS
  Base Statistics Without Ormandar’s spells, Galieus’s statistics 
  are Melee bite +10 (1d8+6); Str 19; CMB +9; CMD 21; Skills 
  Swim +16.
  STATISTICS
  Str 23, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
  Base Atk +5; CMB +11; CMD 23
  Feats Improved Natural Attack (bite), Power Attack, 
  Toughness, Weapon Focus (bite)
  Skills Perception +8, Stealth +7, Swim +18
  SQ link, share spells
  Bull Sharks (2) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  Advanced shark (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 247, 294)
  hp 30 each
  Treasure: Ormandar’s lair lies in a small, rocky grotto 
  north of the wreck. The grotto is filled with a large number 
  of bones and other remains, mostly fish and marine 
  animals, but also the carcasses of over a dozen humanoids. 
  Mixed in with these bones are a masterwork longspear 
  carved from whalebone and a swordfish jaw, crafted coral 
  jewelry and ornaments worth 120 gp, polished decorative 
  shells worth 75 gp, and a disintegrating pouch containing 
  95 gp in strange hexagonal coins.
  the brine bAnShee’S boW
  The bow of the Brine Banshee lies on its side, resting at 
  a slight angle in the sand covering the seafloor. There’s 
  plenty of debris and wreckage in the bow, but no corpses—
  Ormandar and other ocean denizens have disposed of 
  the remains of any sailors not consumed when the Brine 
  Banshee went down. The following locations compose the 
  bow section of the Brine Banshee.
  A1. Forecastle: Many of the ship’s railings are smashed, 
  hinting at the violence of the Brine Banshee’s sinking. 
  A rusting anchor chain hangs from a battered capstan, 
  trailing down to the ship’s anchor buried in the sand 
  nearby. The foremast is snapped off 25 feet above the 
  deck.
  A2. Main Deck: A jumble of tangled rigging and 
  shattered beams from the foremast rests against the steps 
  leading up to the forecastle, concealing and blocking the 
  entryway into the port cabin. The main cargo hatch is 
  still fastened shut, but the PCs can simply swim around 
  through the tremendous opening where the Brine Banshee 
  split in two. The mainmast is shorn away just above the 
  deck, and no sign of it remains.
  A3. Stairwell: This spiral stairway twists counterclockwise 
  down from the main deck (area A2) to the gun deck (area A6).
  A4. Starboard Cabin: Unsecured furnishings and 
  equipment lie strewn against what was the portside wall 
  and is now the “floor” of this cabin, formerly the quarters of 
  the first mate and navigator. A successful DC 20 Perception 
  check reveals a secret door in the “floor” that opens into the 
  port cabin (area A5). The swollen timbers of the good wooden 
  door can be pried open with a successful DC 16 Strength 
  check. Almost everything of value has been destroyed 
  by seawater, but a PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Perception  
  check finds an expertly crafted sextant inlaid with silver 
  (worth 1,000 gp) in a box inside the top drawer of a locker 
  and an oil of slipstream (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s 
  Guide 244) in a battered case lying among other debris.
  A5. Port Cabin: Rigging and much of the fallen foresail 
  block the doorway into this cabin. It takes 5 man-hours of 
  work to clear this wreckage sufficiently to gain access to 
  the door. The cabin’s porthole lies buried under several 
  feet of sand. This was the quartermaster’s berth; the 
  smashed remains of writing equipment are scattered 
  along the curving hull at the bottom of this area. Other 
  remnants of furniture lie clustered near the porthole. 
  The secret door in the “ceiling” opens into the starboard 
  cabin (area A4) and may be found with a successful DC 
  20 Perception check. Hidden under the rotten fragments 
  of a mattress is a large iron-banded sea chest. The chest 
  has two good locks, further warded with an arcane lock, 
  on opposite sides that must be opened simultaneously 
  (hardness 5, hp 30, Break DC 33, Disable Device DC 40). 
  Inside is the undistributed portion of the ship’s payroll: 
  156 pp, 1,486 gp, 3,172 sp, and 781 cp.
  A6. Gun Deck: This deck held a formidable array of 
  ballistae behind rows of external hatches. What’s left of 
  these siege engines rests at the base of this area amid 
  piles of moldering rope and rusting chain. At the forward 
  end of this deck, a spiral stairway exits out to the main 
  deck and two sets of steps lead into the bow cargo hold 
  (area A8).
  A7. Main Cargo Hold: This area holds piles of rubble 
  made up of decaying sailcloth, shattered water casks, and 
  other broken ship supplies.
  A8. Bow Cargo Hold: This area is detailed below.
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  Wreck of the Brine Banshee (Bow)
  A1
  A2
  A3
  A4
  A5
  A6
  A8
  A8
  A7
  A1
  A1
  A8
  A4 & A5
  Side View
  Top Down View
  End View
  A1
  A3
  A6
  A2
  A7
  A5
  A6
  A4
  A7
  1 square = 5 feet
  A8. boW cArgo hold (cr 7)
  Rows of shelves follow the hull’s curving slope in this large 
  storage area, but the crates they once held now lie in a large, 
  jumbled heap at the bottom of the hold. Rotting remnants of 
  food and other ship’s stores float near the top of the chamber, 
  and tiny fish dart through the water, feeding on the decay.
  Creature: A giant box jellyfish has chosen the sheltered 
  waters of this hold as a spawning site. It hungrily stings 
  intruders that enter its lair.
  Giant Jellyfish 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  hp 94 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 170)
  Treasure: The seawater has ruined the ship’s cargo of 
  furs and cloth, but several small, sturdy metal drums 
  containing fine oils have survived, and are worth a total 
  of 2 points of plunder. In addition, a number of carefully 
  padded packing cases holding sealed bottles of potent 
  liquor have also survived intact, and are worth 1 point 
  of plunder.
  into the riFt
  While the Brine Banshee’s bow holds some treasure, 
  it provides no clues as to the secret of the ship’s speed 
  and maneuverability. In addition, the ring of the iron 
  skull indicates that Vargus’s remains lie within the rift 
  in the seafloor. The PCs must journey down into the 
  rift, which plummets to a depth of 180 feet. The water 
  temperature drops as they venture deeper, light from the 
  surface far above fades away into darkness, and the weight 
  of the water above crushes against the PCs’ bodies—the 
  lightless depths are a hostile and alien environment. At 
  the bottom of the chasm, the rift’s walls narrow and slope 
  inwards, forming a ravine of pitch-black freezing water. 
  The floor drops away at the northwest end into a vast 
  sinkhole that continues even deeper underwater.
  At depths below 100 feet, the temperature and pressure 
  of the water deal damage to unprotected characters. 
  The pressure deals 1d6 points of damage per minute 
  to creatures unused to the depth, and the water is very 
  cold, dealing 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per minute 
  to those without endure elements or some other magical 
  protection from cold. Freedom of movement, or magic 
  items such as a pearl of the sirines or plate armor of the deep 
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  can help mitigate these effects. See page 445 of the Core 
  Rulebook for more details on deep water dangers.
  the brine bAnShee’S grAve (cr 8)
  The stern of the Brine Banshee rests at the bottom of the 
  underwater rift 180 feet down, a lost ship that will never 
  sail the waves again. 
  Creature: A gruesome blackwater charda stalks this 
  forbidding area. Normally a solitary inhabitant of the 
  rift, the charda has recently fallen under the control 
  of Uthiggmaru, the aboleth in area B13. The aboleth 
  dominated the charda, compelling the creature to guard 
  the wreck and keep anything from disturbing the aboleth 
  in its mysterious activities. While the blackwater charda 
  is already twice the size of normal chardas, Uthiggmaru 
  cast veil on the charda to make it seem even larger to 
  further dissuade interlopers. The charda now appears 
  almost 16 feet tall. Even if the PCs don’t have light, the 
  charda’s superior darkvision makes it highly likely to 
  notice them before they see it. Once it detects the PCs, the 
  charda immediately attacks, obeying its master’s orders 
  and defending its territory. The water in the rift is cold 
  enough for the charda to make use of its cold vigor ability.
  Blackwater Charda 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Giant charda (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 55, 293)
  hp 103
  TACTICS
  During Combat The charda starts by charging a PC, bull 
  rushing that character away from the others. The charda 
  focuses on this opponent, but also uses its cone of black 
  bile if able to catch most foes in it.
  Morale While dominated, the charda fights to the death. If 
  the enchantment is removed or suppressed, the charda 
  keeps furiously attacking but retreats when reduced below 
  20 hit points.
  the brine bAnShee’S Stern
  The Brine Banshee’s stern rests upright at the bottom of 
  the rift, wedged against a shelf of dark rock. All of the 
  corpses remaining aboard the wreck are too decayed 
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  for speak with dead spells. The stern section of the Brine 
  Banshee comprises the following locations.
  B1. Poop Deck: This area is described below.
  B2. Quarterdeck: The mizzenmast juts up forlornly at 
  the center of this deck. Its moldering sails hang lifelessly 
  in the chill, dark water.
  B3. Captain’s Cabin: Double doors open into an opulently 
  appointed master cabin. Three curtained windows at the 
  stern hold shattered panes of glass. A large desk remains 
  bolted to the floor; the other expensive fittings have 
  been thrown about. The captain’s charts and papers are 
  illegible, despite being inside waterproofed pouches. In a 
  side cupboard, crystal glassware and fine porcelain plates 
  are completely smashed, but underneath rests a tray of 
  Taldan silverware worth 450 gp as a set. Lying under the 
  large bed is a teak wand of gust of wind with 6 charges left.
  B4. Main Deck: The main deck has been swept clean 
  and the railing is smashed in several places. Only broken 
  stays and snapped ropes remain to indicate that two 
  longboats were stored next to the steps to the quarterdeck.
  B5. Workroom and Ship’s Stores: Tools, casks of pitch, 
  workbenches, and spare ship’s supplies clutter this small 
  and messy work area.
  B6. Larder: Stores of salted rations, barrels of fruit, and 
  other provisions fester in this pantry.
  B7. Galley: The good wooden door to this compartment 
  is wedged shut by cooking gear and garbage (hardness 5, 
  hp 15, Break DC 16). Inside is a galley with a stove and 
  shelves of pots and pans. A thick layer of oil congeals near 
  the ceiling. The putrid corpse of the cook lies facedown 
  here, his legs trapped under a heavy bench.
  B8. Crew Quarters: A crowd of suspended hammocks 
  obscures vision in these quarters, along with overturned 
  chairs and scattered clothing. A successful DC 15 
  Perception check and a thorough search turns up 77 gp in 
  assorted coins and other personal items, as well as a board 
  game called Wyvern’s Race with pieces finely crafted from 
  citrine and bloodstone (worth 175 gp for the set).
  B9. Gun Deck: This area is detailed below.
  B10. Armory: The good wooden door to this section of 
  the ship is locked with a corroded good lock (hardness 
  5, hp 15, Break DC 18, Disable Device DC 27). Inside are 
  stores of ammunition and weapons. Most of the wooden 
  weapons here are sodden and warped, and only six ballista 
  bolts are undamaged. These are +1 distance adamantine 
  light ballista bolts. There are also spare weapons—
  cutlasses, handaxes, and daggers—for the crew, but all 
  are corroded by seawater.
  B11. Officers’ Quarters: This cabin was the private 
  quarters for three of the ship’s officers. Sea chests and 
  wooden furniture lie scattered about. The putrefying 
  mortal remains of Vargus Brack (still recognizable due 
  because of his peg leg) rest on the floor. Despite the 
  corpse’s advanced state of decomposition, a PC who 
  succeeds at a DC 25 Heal check notices he sustained 
  extensive scalding burns around the time of death. 
  Vargus was struck by the dragon turtle’s breath weapon 
  and almost passed out from pain, but managed to stagger 
  belowdecks to his quarters where one of his fellow officers 
  kept a spare potion of cure moderate wounds. Vargus lost his 
  balance as the ship lurched wildly, striking his head and 
  falling unconscious just as the Brine Banshee started to 
  sink. The potion, still unused, lies on the floor, and the 
  sea chests contain stashes of coins worth 168 gp in total.
  B12. Passenger’s Cabin: An upturned sea trunk lies in 
  the corner of this sparsely furnished passenger’s cabin. 
  The trunk contains ten female noble’s outfits and other 
  feminine garments, but all are severely water damaged. 
  At the bottom is a jewelry case holding necklaces and 
  other jewelry worth 700 gp.
  B13. Main Cargo Hold: This area is detailed below.
  B14. Brig: The solid door to this cramped space is 
  outfitted with a metal grille, hinting at the chamber’s 
  function as a brig for securing prisoners or punishing 
  crew members. The damage to the ship’s stern has 
  snapped the door off its hinges, allowing entry, though 
  a thick chain and large corroded padlock (Disable Device 
  DC 32) still secure the other edge of the door. Stacked in 
  the brig are plain wooden crates bound with iron and 
  stamped with a merchant house seal. A successful DC 
  15 Knowledge (local) identifies the seal as that of the 
  Deeptreasure Mining Company in Sargava. The crates 
  are nailed shut (hardness 5, hp 15, Break DC 23) and 
  contain gold and silver ingots worth 12 points of plunder.
  b1. PooP decK
  The ship’s helm still stands atop this deck, a moldering corpse 
  lashed to the wheel.
  The Brine Banshee’s captain, Xiribal Jalhazar, lashed 
  himself to the ship’s wheel as the ship went down, and 
  THE BRINE BANSHEE MYSTERY
  The PCs are unlikely to discover how the Brine Banshee 
  was lost from a simple search of the wreck. However, 
  curious PCs may decide to make a detailed examination or 
  use divination magic. The truth is a cantankerous dragon 
  turtle named Hirgenzosk smashed the Brine Banshee apart 
  during a fierce squall and devoured the surviving crew. 
  The PCs will encounter Hirgenzosk themselves during the 
  Free Captains’ Regatta (see Part Three).
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  Wreck of the Brine Banshee (stern)
  B1
  B2
  B3
  B9
  B10
  B12
  B13
  B14
  Illusory Wall
  B11
  B4
  B5
  B6
  B7
  B8
  1 square = 5 feet
  his decomposing corpse still stands watch at the helm. 
  Captain Jalhazar’s spirit is currently at peace, and 
  untying his body from the wheel or removing his earthly 
  possessions doesn’t disturb him. If his remains are treated 
  disrespectfully or his corpse is removed from his ship, 
  however, he curses those who do so from beyond the grave.
  Jalhazar’s Curse
  Type curse; Save Will DC 18 negates
  Effect target takes a –4 penalty on all saving throws, skill 
  checks, and ability checks while onboard any ship; Cure 
  returning Jalhazar’s body to the Brine Banshee’s helm or 
  captain’s cabin and reciting Besmaran funeral prayers over 
  the corpse automatically lifts the curse 
  Treasure: The seawater has ruined much of Captain 
  Jalhazar’s gear, but a corroded masterwork cold iron 
  rapier bejeweled with precious stones (worth 450 gp) still 
  hangs sheathed at his side, he still wears an amber ring 
  of force shield on a bony finger, and a platinum-plated 
  compass (worth 250 gp) hangs around his neck. The 
  most valuable treasure here, however, is the ship’s wheel. 
  Jalhazar’s wheel (see page 58) is the source of much of the 
  Brine Banshee’s reputation.
  b9. gun decK (cr 6)
  Bones and partial humanoid skeletons litter this deck. Unusual, 
  pallid crustaceans cling to the ship’s timbers near the gaping 
  hole outside.
  This deck once held rows of ballistae, several of which 
  form a broken pile of debris at the aft end of the deck, 
  partially blocking the doors there. The cargo hatch down 
  to the hold (area B13) is askew. The pale crustaceans 
  infesting the deck are harmless.
  Creature: A monstrous deepwater scavenger has 
  consumed many of the corpses and provisions in the 
  ship and now lairs on this deck. The anemone lurks just 
  forward of the mizzenmast, having attached itself to the 
  ceiling. It hungrily attacks anything it senses close by.
  Darkforest Anemone 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Variant giant sea anemone (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 238)
  N Huge vermin (aquatic)
  Init +2; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +8 natural, –2 size)
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  hp 76 (9d8+36)
  Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +3
  Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immune gaze attacks, mind-
  affecting effects, poison, vision-based effects
  OFFENSE
  Speed 5 ft.
  Melee tentacles +9 (2d8+7 plus grab and poison)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  Special Attacks constrict (2d8+7), poison, swallow whole 
  (2d6+7 bludgeoning damage, AC 14, 7 hp)
  STATISTICS
  Str 20, Dex 15, Con 18, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2
  Base Atk +6; CMB +13 (+17 grapple); CMD 25 (can’t be tripped)
  Skills Stealth +2
  SQ anchored, camouflage, sightless
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Camouflage (Ex) When at rest, a darkforest anemone 
  looks like a bed of kelp or seaweed. As a result, a DC 20 
  Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for 
  the first time. Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge 
  (nature) can use either of those skills instead of Perception 
  to notice the anemone.
  Poison (Ex) Tentacles—injury; save Fort DC 18; frequency 1/
  round for 6 rounds; effect 1d3 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.
  Treasure: Among the crew’s bones are their inedible 
  possessions: jewelry, coins, and other belongings worth 
  a total of 327 gp.
  b13. mAin cArgo hold (cr 7)
  Broken timber and smashed boxes litter the floor of this cargo 
  hold. Clusters of barnacles and slimy marine growths infest 
  the walls and other exposed surfaces.
  Creature: An aboleth named Uthiggmaru has taken up 
  residence in the Brine Banshee’s cargo hold. Normally a 
  denizen of the darkest depths of the ocean, Uthiggmaru 
  is scouting upward, and has been carefully studying 
  the wreck for its own inscrutable reasons. Currently 
  the aboleth lurks in the aft section of the hold behind 
  an illusory wall. When it notices the PCs at the wreck, it 
  observes their behavior while using its illusions to toy 
  with them. Uthiggmaru has already cast a programmed 
  image that is triggered if any intelligent creatures enter 
  the hold. The programmed image is a huge shark that 
  swims out of the depths and into the gaping open end 
  of the hold.
  Uthiggmaru 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Aboleth (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 8)
  hp 84
  TACTICS
  During Combat As the PCs deal with its programmed image, 
  Uthiggmaru casts dominate monster on one of the PCs and 
  telepathically orders that character to attack the “shark,” 
  thus adding to its believability. Uthiggmaru then casts 
  persistent image to create the illusion of a school of pale, 
  eyeless fish glowing with luminescence, and combines this 
  with hypnotic pattern, making the shimmering fish swirl 
  about in mesmerizing formations. Once the true nature 
  of the programmed image is discovered, Uthiggmaru casts 
  project image to appear at the opposite end of the hold and 
  dominate more foes. Only if the PCs pierce the illusory wall 
  does Uthiggmaru explode into activity, lashing out with its 
  tentacles at any attackers. 
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 20 hit points, Uthiggmaru 
  attempts to flee, escaping down the sinkhole northwest of 
  the wreck with any newly acquired dominated slaves.
  Treasure: Most of the shop’s cargo and provisions 
  remaining here disintegrate when touched, but several 
  timber boxes hold ivory worth 3 points of plunder.
  nAgAS oF the Slithering coASt
  Following Slip’s directions, the PCs sail to the shallow 
  cove on the Slithering Coast where the water naga Sarlis 
  resides. The lone tree atop the hillock is an old jukamis 
  plant, its enormous leaves clearly visible from the 
  shoreline. The PCs must venture into the marshy jungle 
  near the mouth of the stream that empties into the cove 
  to find the meeting pool, a deep rocky basin reached by 
  climbing up a series of muddy rises. 
  Sarlis (N female water naga) shows herself a short time 
  after the PCs reach the pool. She rises from the center 
  of the pool, swaying vigorously and hissing. The naga 
  is very agitated; her initial attitude is unfriendly, and in 
  her current state, Sarlis bites anyone who comes within 
  range. Characters who succeed at a DC 20 Sense Motive 
  check get the impression that Sarlis’s annoyance isn’t 
  entirely at them. The PCs must improve her attitude to 
  at least friendly with a DC 29 Diplomacy check before 
  she deigns to speak to speak with them. Speaking Aquan 
  grants a +2 bonus on the check, and the PCs can gain an 
  additional +2 circumstance bonus on the check if they 
  ask Sarlis what’s troubling her and offer to help. If the 
  PCs attack Sarlis or make her hostile, she withdraws 
  underwater, casts invisibility, and retreats upstream.
  Once Sarlis is willing to speak, she haughtily questions 
  the PCs about why they have intruded in her domain. If 
  the PCs tell her they are looking for a spy, Sarlis narrows 
  her eyes and hisses, and demands that the PCs complete 
  a task for her before she’ll consider helping them. Sarlis 
  tells the PCs that one of her ex-partners, a naga named 
  Munarei, has taken over one of her nearby lairs. If the PCs 
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  want her help, they must drive off Munarei. She doesn’t 
  care if they hurt him, so long as they don’t kill him. Sarlis 
  won’t admit this to herself, let alone to non-serpentine 
  outsiders, but she still has feelings for Munarei.
  SerPent’S enmity (cr 7)
  If the PCs agree to her terms, Sarlis guides them upriver 
  to a large riverside mound situated where a tributary 
  stream joins the main waterway. Sarlis retires back into 
  the jungle while the PCs approach the earthen mound. 
  Creature: Sarlis’s former mate Munarei resides in 
  the mound. Unless the PCs are very stealthy, he quickly 
  appears to confront intruders, swimming up from an 
  underwater tunnel into the middle of the stream. Munarei 
  dislikes and avoids humanoids. His starting attitude is 
  hostile, and he orders the PCs to leave his territory or face 
  his wrath. Unless the PCs can change his attitude to at least 
  indifferent with a successful DC 34 Diplomacy check, he 
  attacks. The PCs gain a +2 bonus on the check if they make 
  appropriate offerings of food or gifts, but they take a –2 
  penalty if they mention Sarlis. If the PCs make Munarei at 
  least indifferent, they can request him to leave Sarlis’s lair 
  without a fight with a DC 19 Diplomacy check. Munarei 
  has no knowledge of spies or traitors in the Shackles.
  Munarei 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Male water naga (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 199)
  hp 76
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Munarei casts shield and protection from 
  energy (fire) before a confrontation.
  During Combat Munarei remains in the water and uses his 
  damaging spells. He casts mirror image if wounded by 
  missile fire or if attackers get within melee range. Against 
  a serious threat, he casts suggestion against the PCs’ 
  apparent leader, ordering that character to “return to your 
  ship and sail back where you came from.”
  Morale Munarei flees if reduced to 25 hit points or fewer, 
  using invisibility if needed.
  Development: If the PCs kill Munarei, Sarlis hisses in 
  anger and swims away, refusing to help them. If the PCs 
  drive Munarei away, Sarlis repays them by guiding them 
  through the muddy wilderness to a small clearing over a 
  mile away. In the clearing is a corpse wearing the rusting 
  remnants of a chain shirt and a backpack. “This one came to 
  ask questions,” Sarlis says with a sneer, “unwise questions, 
  which only ones like those you seek would ask, and which 
  made plain the intentions of those who sent him. He also 
  tried to barter for naga venom, but one of my neighbors 
  gave him far more than he wanted. Do what you like with 
  the body.” The corpse, the remains of a Sargavan smuggler 
  named Varad (once in Zarskia Galembar’s employ), has been 
  dead over a year and little of his equipment has survived the 
  humid jungle, other than 27 gp in a rotting pouch and 60 feet 
  of moldy rope tied in an elaborate series of knots in his pack. 
  Sarlis believes the knots are a code but doesn’t know what it 
  means. A PC who succeeds at a DC 20 Knowledge (history) 
  or Linguistics check identifies the knots as Sargavan 
  naval code used before the colony’s independence from 
  Cheliax. A PC can unravel the code with a DC 30 Linguistics 
  check, or the PCs can take the rope to any major port in 
  the Shackles and find a knowledgeable specialist who can 
  translate the code. The code outlines Varad’s orders: “Go to 
  nagas, collect poison and information. Deliver both to the 
  captain of the Diamond Star.” A DC 10 Knowledge (history) 
  check, DC 15 Knowledge (local) check, or DC 10 Diplomacy 
  check to gather information in any Shackles port reveals 
  that the Diamond Star was captured by the Rahadoumi 
  navy 6 months ago. Several months before that, however, 
  the Diamond Star’s captain, Elliece Farhaven, retired—an 
  unusual occurrence, considering her relatively young 
  age. With a successful DC 15 Diplomacy check to gather 
  information in any Shackles port, the PC can identify 
  Captain Farhaven’s current place of residence, a small 
  fishing boat moored in the harbor of Quent (see Step 8).
  Story Award: If the PCs convince Munarei to leave 
  without fighting him, award them 3,200 XP, as if they 
  had defeated him in combat.
  A croW’S murder (cr 9)
  The PCs can try to find the tengu smuggler Corlan at 
  his apartment house on the edge of Hell Harbor’s tengu 
  rookery. Corlan’s house sits at a crossroads where two 
  wide streets intersect in a “T.” If the PCs knock on the 
  front door, Corlan comes to the door, but any interaction 
  with the PCs is cut short, as a barbed crossbow bolt 
  embeds itself in his chest.
  Creature: Zarskia Galembar has sent the assassin Giles 
  Halmis to take care of the last remaining link in her spy 
  ring—Corlan. Giles is a racist ex-Sargavan Guard turned 
  mercenary and contract killer. Disillusioned with what 
  he saw as his nation’s weakness and pandering to filthy 
  Mwangi natives, Giles abandoned his homeland to sell 
  his finely honed killing skills to those who could pay. 
  Giles doesn’t care who is ultimately behind the contracts 
  he has accepted, so long as he gets payment for his kills. 
  Giles has staked out Corlan’s residence, positioning 
  himself on the roof of a two-story factory across the street, 
  100 feet away. From his vantage point 30 feet above, Giles 
  has cover from those on street level. He’s been waiting 
  several hours for Corlan to make an appearance, and has 
  readied an action to shoot the tengu as soon as he appears. 
  Watching through a spyglass, Giles sights Corlan, and 
  unwilling to risk losing his elusive prey, opens fire with 
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  his crossbow. Unless the PCs somehow spotted him before 
  approaching Corlan, Giles gets off a shot in the surprise 
  round with a poisoned bolt. Using Deadly Aim and his 
  improved deadshot ability, Giles takes a –3 penalty on his 
  attack roll and gains an additional +8 bonus to his damage, 
  almost certainly dropping Corlan in the first round.
  Corlan 
  CR 1/2
  XP 200
  Male tengu rogue 1 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 263)
  hp 9
  Giles Halmis 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Male human fighter (crossbowman) 7/ranger 3 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Advanced Player’s Guide 104)
  NE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +4; Senses Perception +13
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +4 Dex)
  hp 86 (10d10+27)
  Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +5; +2 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +2
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee sharpshooter’s blade +15/+10 
  (1d6+7/19–20)
  Ranged +1 human bane heavy crossbow +17/+12 
  (1d10+4/17–20 plus poison)
  Special Attacks favored enemy (humans +2), improved deadshot*
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Giles coats two crossbow bolts with deathblade 
  poison, but since he risks poisoning himself if he rolls a 
  natural 1 on an attack roll with a poisoned weapon, he drinks 
  a vial of antitoxin as a precaution beforehand. 
  During Combat Being a consummate professional, Giles 
  makes sure of his kill by firing at least one more crossbow 
  bolt at Corlan, even if the tengu fell in the surprise round. 
  Giles shoots at anyone moving toward his position, and 
  at those who try to help Corlan. If a PC wounds him, 
  he uses his second poisoned bolt on that PC. Giles 
  targets humans, especially those of native Mwangi 
  ethnicity, as a priority. He always uses his Deadly 
  Aim feat (taking a –3 penalty on attack rolls, but 
  gaining a +6 bonus to damage). If forced into 
  melee combat, Giles spends a move action to 
  affix his sharpshooter’s blade to his crossbow, 
  then attacks with the bayonet.
  Morale Once he is convinced that Corlan is dead and has 
  ensured that no one can use magic to save the 
  tengu, Giles backs off to the rooftop’s far side, 
  climbs down the rope he secured earlier, and 
  disappears into an alleyway. If the PCs prevent his 
  escape, he fights to the death rather than face the ignominy 
  of a murder trial and execution.
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8
  Base Atk +10; CMB +12; CMD 26
  Feats Crossbow Mastery*, Deadly Aim, Endurance, Great 
  Fortitude, Improved Critical (heavy crossbow), Iron Will, 
  Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot, 
  Weapon Focus (heavy crossbow), Weapon Specialization 
  (heavy crossbow)
  Skills Climb +17, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +13, 
  Stealth +22, Survival +13, Swim +15
  Languages Common, Polyglot
  SQ combat style (crossbow)*, crossbow expert*, favored 
  terrain (urban +2), track +1, wild empathy +2
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  Giles Halmis
  
  Combat Gear potions of cure light wounds (2), antitoxin (2), 
  deathblade poison (2 doses); Other Gear +1 shadow studded 
  leather, +1 human bane heavy crossbow with 20 bolts, 
  sharpshooter’s blade (bayonet*; see page 59), backpack, 
  climber’s kit, spyglass, 50-ft. silk rope with grappling hook
  * See Advanced Player’s Guide.
  Development: If the PCs capture and question Giles, he 
  can be coerced into divulging what he knows. Giles reveals 
  his current contract is to eliminate Haddon Pike, Roweena 
  Kellet, and Corlan. His main contact is a Mwangi woman 
  named Zarskia Galembar at the Jasperleaf Apothecary in 
  Port Peril, who gives him his contracts and payments. 
  Giles also admits that asking for “two pounds of powdered 
  thileu bark” at the apothecary is a code phrase to quickly 
  obtain admittance into a secluded meeting room.
  If Giles is killed, a search of his body turns up a missive 
  with three names: Haddon Pike, Roweena Kellet, and Corlan. 
  The first two names have been crossed out. The note also 
  contains brief instructions: “Use the supplied dosage on 
  each. When done, return to the apothecary in Port Peril. I 
  can provide more toxin along with your payment if needed. 
  Destroy this after reading.” The note is signed simply “Z.” As 
  he dislikes taking orders from a Mwangi woman (Zarskia), 
  Giles perversely chose not to destroy the note.
  If Corlan somehow survives, or if the PCs use speak with 
  dead or other magic, the tengu reveals that he’s a messenger 
  for the spy ring. He knows little about its operations or 
  other members besides Haddon Pike, Elliece Farhaven, or 
  Roweena Kellet, but he receives almost all of his instructions 
  from Zarskia Galembar at the Jasperleaf Apothecary in Port 
  Peril. See Step 11 for details on the Jasperleaf Apothecary.
  JASPerleAF APothecAry
  Eventually, the trail of espionage leads back to Zarskia 
  Galembar and the Jasperleaf Apothecary in Port Peril. If 
  the PCs have not yet learned Zarskia’s name, a successful 
  DC 15 Diplomacy check to gather information identifies 
  the likely identity of the “Z” in Giles Halmis’s letter 
  as Zarskia Galembar, the proprietor of the Jasperleaf 
  Apothecary. Further Diplomacy checks made to gather 
  information reveal the following information:
  DC 10: “You can find the place on the corner of Fiddler’s 
  Lane and Anchor Way.”
  DC 14: “Zarskia Galembar runs the apothecary; she 
  bought the old mansion and set up shop about three years 
  ago. It’s been closed the last couple of times I’ve gone past.”
  DC 16: “The apothecary employs a number of ex-
  pirates as guards and sells more than just poultices and 
  medicinal remedies. They say you can buy poison and 
  other contraband goods there as well.”
  DC 18: “The shop has been closed to the public recently, 
  but I hear you can still get in if you know the right people.”
  DC 20: “Zarskia’s been selling her poisons for bargain 
  prices recently; you should get a good price if she’s still 
  got any left.”
  DC 22: “Just bang on the door and say you want to buy 
  ‘three jugs of terrap sap’ and they’ll let you in.”
  FeAtureS oF the JASPerleAF APothecAry
  Situated at the corner of Fiddler’s Lane and Anchor Way, 
  two streets close to the center of Port Peril, the Jasperleaf 
  Apothecary is a large three-story building among several 
  other shops and businesses. Behind the humble storefront 
  lies the faded grandeur of a decaying manor built a century 
  ago. The first and second floors’ exterior walls are clay brick 
  1-1/2 feet thick, and the third floor walls are timber 6 inches 
  thick (all requiring DC 25 Climb checks to scale). Stone tiles 
  1 inch thick cover the roof, and unless noted otherwise, the 
  windows are shuttered and nailed shut (hardness 5, hp 15, 
  Break DC 18). The building has one large chimney, which 
  narrows at the top to an opening 1 foot square, protected by 
  a reinforced iron grille (hardness 10, hp 30, Break DC 25). 
  During the day, only dim light shines through the shutters in 
  rooms with exterior windows. Unless otherwise noted, rooms 
  without windows, and all areas at night, are considered dark.
  Schedule
  Zarskia has hired eight pirates to guard the apothecary. 
  During daylight hours, the guards’ positions are as listed 
  below (two guards are absent during the day, enjoying 
  their time off in the city). The guards have orders not 
  to enter the kitchen (area C11), Zarskia’s laboratory (area 
  C15), or the entire third story without permission. The 
  guards are also unwilling to enter Shimerae’s lair (areas 
  C12 through C14) unless ordered to. All of the guards 
  have keys that unlock all doors on the ground floor 
  except the kitchen door (area C11).
  At night, only two guards are posted in the rear hall 
  (area C8) and the door in area C7 is locked. The remaining 
  six guards are asleep in the dormitory (area C10). When 
  the watch changes every 3 hours, a pair of guards quickly 
  patrols the shop rooms (areas C1 through C7).
  c1. StoreFront
  The shop’s strong wooden front door is kept locked at 
  all times (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 25, Disable Device 
  DC 30). During the day, the guards in area C2 respond to 
  knocks on the door by yelling back that the shop is closed. 
  Their instructions are to turn away anyone wishing to 
  only buy simple herbs or poultices, but to let in those 
  wanting poisons or who give one of several passwords 
  (including requests for either “two pounds of powdered 
  thileu bark” or “three jugs of terrap sap”). If the PCs give 
  a valid password, the guards show them through to the 
  private meeting room (area C9). 
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  Jasperleaf Apothecary
  C1
  C3
  C4
  C5
  C7
  C6
  C9
  C11
  T
  C2
  C11a
  C8
  C10
  C12
  C13
  C14
  C16
  C15
  C23
  C19
  C20
  C21
  C22
  C17
  C18
  1 square = 5 feet
  First Floor
  Second Floor
  Third Floor
  Basement
  T
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  If the PCs don’t have a password, they can convince the 
  guards to let them in as potentially lucrative customers 
  with a successful Bluff check (the guards have a Sense 
  Motive modifier of +1). Every 5 gp in bribes the PCs slip 
  under the door adds a +1 bonus on the check. If successful, 
  the guards escort the PCs to the waiting room (area C5), 
  unless the PCs’ Bluff check exceeded the guards’ Sense 
  Motive check by 10 or more, in which case the guards 
  show them through to area C9.
  Once the PCs are inside, read or paraphrase the following:
  This neatly ordered shop has a long counter with a tall stool 
  behind it, and display shelves stocked with containers and jars. 
  Samples of plants, tubers, and roots hang from hooks up on 
  the walls and the scented fragrance of herbs suffuses the store.
  The goods on display are common plants and herbs, 
  and there’s nothing valuable or incriminating in the 
  counter drawers.
  Development: After admitting the PCs, one guard waits 
  outside the door to the room where the PCs are waiting, 
  while the other goes to fetch Zarskia from area C15. Both 
  guards wait outside the door while Zarskia sees visitors.
  c2. guArd room (cr 8)
  This plain room contains three wooden chairs and a 
  small table. A set of six bone dice rests on the table, which 
  the guards often use to while away the time.
  Creatures: During the day, two pirate guards maintain 
  a watch here. All of Zarskia’s guards were part of a ship’s 
  crew who lost their vessel and captain to a succession of 
  misfortunes, including shipwreck and bankruptcy. They 
  agreed to band together until they could all sign with 
  another captain, but had little luck because of their jinxed 
  reputation. They contracted with Zarskia as bodyguards 
  to raise capital to buy their own ship.
  Pirate Guards (2) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  Human fighter 4/rogue (swashbuckler) 3 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Advanced Player’s Guide 135)
  N Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +3; Senses Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +3 Dex,  
  +1 dodge, +1 shield)
  hp 57 each (7 HD; 4d10+3d8+18)
  Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +5; +2 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities bravery +1, evasion
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 cutlass* +11/+6 (1d6+6/18–20)
  Ranged mwk composite longbow +10/+5 (1d8+3/×3)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6
  TACTICS
  During Combat The guards fight as a pair, tumbling into flanking 
  positions to deliver sneak attacks. If caught in the apothecary’s 
  narrow passageways, they back off into a wider area where 
  they can gang up on intruders or call on reinforcements.
  Morale The guards fight until reduced to 10 hit points or 
  fewer before retreating or calling for quarter.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 23
  Feats Cleave, Dodge, Iron Will, Lightning 
  Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Step Up, 
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  Toughness, Weapon Focus (cutlass*), Weapon Specialization 
  (cutlass*)
  Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +12, Intimidate +8, Perception +10, 
  Profession (sailor) +10, Stealth +12, Swim +9
  Languages Common
  SQ armor training 1, daring** +1, martial training**, rogue 
  talents (combat trick)
  Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear 
  masterwork chain shirt, masterwork buckler, +1 cutlass*, 
  masterwork composite longbow (+3 Str) with 20 arrows, 
  keys to doors on first floor
  * See Pirates of the Inner Sea.
  ** See Advanced Player’s Guide.
  c3. contAiner StorAge
  The shelves of this small storeroom are stacked with flasks, 
  vials, ampoules, and bottles of various shapes and sizes. 
  Arranged systematically into groups, these containers, 
  fashioned from porcelain, metal, glazed pottery, and glass, 
  appear both clean and empty.
  Treasure: Zarskia keeps empty containers for her 
  alchemical creations and poisons here. They are bulky 
  and fragile but worth 150 gp in total.
  c4. herbAl PhArmAcy
  This crowded workroom holds a stone bench along the wall 
  opposite the door and cupboards on both ends. Weighing scales, 
  a mortar and pestle, and other pharmaceutical paraphernalia are 
  tidily arranged about the room.
  Zarskia produces herbal remedies and legitimate 
  medical supplies here, often grinding and mixing fresh 
  batches of herbal medicines while customers wait. Since 
  Zarskia closed the shop to the public, this area is unused.
  c5. WAiting room
  This plain room holds a simple table and two wooden chairs. A 
  small oil lamp sits on the table.
  The apothecary’s guards often show clients wishing to 
  purchase remedies into this room, where they can wait in 
  privacy while their medications are prepared. 
  c6. herb drying room
  Rows of wooden shelving line this chamber. The shelves 
  contain trays and containers of roots, cuttings, twigs, mosses, 
  and unprocessed herbs. The fragrance of dried aromatic flora 
  fills the room.
  Treasure: As Zarskia hasn’t stocked up on pharmaceutical 
  supplies recently, some of the herbs here have lost their 
  potency, but there is still 110 gp worth of herbalist supplies 
  (weighing roughly 50 pounds) stored here.
  c7. Front hAll
  This hall connects the apothecary’s storefront with the 
  rest of the mansion. A small lavatory containing only a 
  chair with a hole in the center and a covered bucket sits 
  just south of the pharmacy (area C4). The strong wooden 
  door (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 25) leading to the rear 
  hall (area C8) is open during the day, but locked at night 
  (Disable Device DC 25).
  c8. reAr hAll (cr 8)
  A set of stairs leads up to the second story in the northeast 
  corner. A balustraded gallery winds around the edge of the 
  upper hall, overlooking the area below.
   An everburning torch mounted in a sconce on the stair 
  landing illuminates this hall.
  Creatures: Two pirate guards keep watch here at all 
  times. One guard is usually posted on the ground floor 
  here while the other keeps watch on the gallery above. 
  The guards know Zarskia never invites anyone any 
  further than the meeting room (area C9), so if they spot 
  strangers, they shout an alarm and attack.
  Pirate Guards (2) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  hp 57 each (see page 38)
  c9. PrivAte meeting room
  Two padded reclining chairs and a well-upholstered divan are 
  set around a low table here. To one side, a cabinet holds crystal 
  glasses and wine bottles. The large mantled fireplace set with 
  a bronze fire screen in the corner and the wooden paneling on 
  the walls add to the room’s cozy atmosphere.
  Zarskia uses this room to meet with affluent customers 
  who wish to acquire dangerous elixirs, illegal drugs, 
  or poisons, as well as with contacts in her spy network. 
  The walls here are thick enough to make it difficult for 
  people outside the room to overhear the details of a quiet 
  conversation, but the guards can still hear Zarskia if she 
  yells loudly for aid.
  Behind the fire screen, the fireplace has been bricked up. 
  Zarskia had this opening, as well as the one on the second 
  floor, sealed over. Behind the bricks, the chimney shaft 
  leads all the way down from Zarskia’s bedroom (area C22) 
  on the third floor to her secret basement retreat (area C23).
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  Treasure: The crystal glasses are high quality, worth 
  300 gp for the set, and the wines are excellent vintages of 
  Corentyn reds and whites worth 50 gp for each of the five 
  unopened bottles.
  c10. guArd dormitory (cr 8)
  Eight simple beds crowd this room, which is untidy with used 
  plates, flagons, and clothing strewn around. A bricked-up 
  fireplace stands in the west wall, and the room smells strongly 
  of grog and sour sweat.
  Creatures: Two pirate guards can normally be found 
  drinking, gambling, or sleeping here during the day. If 
  the guards hear the sounds of combat outside, they spend 
  2 rounds readying their weapons and bucklers before 
  investigating. At night, six guards sleep here. If surprised, 
  they are unarmored, though they take a move action to snatch 
  up their bucklers. If alerted, the guards spend 5 rounds to 
  hastily don their chain shirts before exiting the room.
  Pirate Guards (2) 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400 each
  hp 57 each (see page 38)
  Treasure: The guards keep their communal pay in 
  a sea chest behind the door. One guard is the group’s 
  quartermaster, who keeps a detailed register of accounts and 
  crew’s shares. The chest is unlocked and holds this register 
  as well as a large leather purse containing 760 gp and 975 sp.
  c11. Kitchen (cr 9)
  A small rusty stove stands against the north wall of this dank 
  and otherwise unfurnished room. A blackened metal chimney 
  pipe runs diagonally up the wall from the stove into the ceiling.
  This was once a kitchen but has been disused for many 
  years. The chimney pipe used to provide ventilation for 
  smoke, but the outside vent was covered over when new 
  roof tiles were laid, and the pipe now ends inside the 
  roof cavity. Behind the east door is a damp pantry (area 
  C11a), its moldy shelves bare. Behind the locked strong 
  wooden door to the south (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 
  25, Disable Device DC 25) is the mechanism for the trap 
  detailed below. Stairs used to lead down to the basement 
  (area C23) from here, but Zarskia filled the stairway with 
  rubble, making it impassable without hours of work.
  Trap: Zarskia has placed a trap in the kitchen to deal 
  with unauthorized intruders. If anyone steps into either 
  of the two squares directly in front of the south door or 
  attempts to open the door, the trap activates, launching 
  a tanglefoot bag from a concealed panel in the door. At 
  the same time, the kitchen door slams shut and locks 
  (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 25, Disable Device DC 25) and 
  sleeping gas fills the room. When this happens, a creature 
  adjacent to the kitchen door can make a DC 15 Reflex save 
  to catch the door before it swings shut, followed by a DC 
  10 Strength check to hold the door open. A resourceful 
  PC caught inside the kitchen could breathe through the 
  chimney pipe to avoid inhaling the poison gas. 
  Anesthetizing Fog Snare Trap 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 25
  EFFECTS
  Trigger location; Reset repair
  Effect Atk +15 ranged touch (tanglefoot bag) plus poison gas 
  (sleep gas [poison—inhaled; save Fort DC 15; frequency 1/
  round for 4 rounds; effect unconscious for 1d3 hours; cure 1 
  save); never miss; onset delay (1 round); duration 1 minute; 
  multiple targets (all targets in area C11)
  c12. dining room (cr 6)
  This lengthy bare room might once have been a dining hall, 
  given the long, dusty table standing in its center. Aside from the 
  double doors exiting from the hall’s eastern end, there are two 
  giant holes, large enough to push a chariot through, jaggedly 
  knocked through the southern wall, revealing a chamber beyond. 
  On the northern wall, windows let in light from the street.
  North of the double doors leading into this room, a 
  flight of stairs leads up to the third floor. The windows 
  in this room are unshuttered, letting in a substantial 
  amount of light from outside.
  Creature: Most of the second story is the demesne of 
  Zarskia’s beloved pet, a dusk kamadan named Shimerae. 
  Zarskia originally acquired the poisonous feline as 
  a source of venom several years ago from a hunter of 
  exotic beasts in Bloodcove. In spite of Shimerae’s aloof 
  and vindictive nature, however, Zarskia found herself 
  growing attached to the malicious creature. Shimerae 
  has grown to tolerate Zarskia’s attention, which 
  means she doesn’t often bite Zarskia, and occasionally 
  even follows commands, when it suits her. Shimerae 
  immediately attacks anyone except Zarskia who intrudes 
  in her domain. The guards have a healthy respect for the 
  “unholy devil-cat” and unless directly ordered by Zarskia, 
  they leave her lair well alone, even if they hear sounds 
  of fighting from inside. The holes in the walls provide 
  Shimerae with easy access to the other parts of her lair. 
  If unaware of intruders, Shimerae spends most of her 
  day sleeping and watching the street from the windows. 
  At night, she prowls around the three rooms of her lair 
  (areas C12, C13, and C14), or sleeps in area C14.
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  Shimerae 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Female advanced dusk kamadan (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 
  158, 290)
  NE Large magical beast 
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; 
  Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural, 
  –1 size)
  hp 66 (7d10+28)
  Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee bite +11 (1d6+5), 2 claws +11 (1d3+5), snakes +9 (1d4+2 
  plus poison)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with snakes)
  Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. cone, sleep, Fortitude 
  DC 17 negates, usable every 1d4 rounds), poison, pounce
  TACTICS
  During Combat Shimerae sneaks up on intruders and uses 
  her breath weapon on as many opponents as possible. She 
  pounces on any creatures still awake, spitting and hissing.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 30 hit points, Shimerae retreats 
  to the door in area C14, hoping that Zarskia has heard the 
  fight. If unable to flee, she fights to the death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 20, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 13
  Base Atk +7; CMB +13; CMD 28 (32 vs. trip)
  Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, 
  Multiattack
  Skills Acrobatics +9 (+13 when jumping), 
  Perception +10, Stealth +8
  Languages Aklo
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Poison (Ex) Snakes—
  injury; save Fort DC 
  17; frequency 1/round 
  for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 2 
  consecutive saves.
  c13. librAry
  Empty bookshelves line the walls 
  of this large decaying chamber. 
  The place is partially demolished; 
  several walls have huge holes smashed in 
  them, revealing other rooms beyond. 
  Tattered 
  scraps 
  of 
  yellowing 
  parchment are scattered over the 
  floor, and long rows of scratches 
  mar the central bookshelf. A large wooden tray 
  filled with sand sits in the southwest corner.
  The scraps of parchment are the remains of books 
  once stored in the library that Shimerae has thoroughly 
  shredded. The tray in the corner is her litter box. 
  c14. den
  Inlaid wooden paneling lines the walls of this snug room, but 
  the walls in the northwest are broken through into another 
  chamber. In the southeast corner, a pile of sheepskin blankets 
  lies next to a bricked-up fireplace.
  At night, Shimerae sleeps on the pile of sheepskins 
  here. Unless tending the kamadan, Zarskia keeps the 
  strong wooden door to the south locked (hardness 5, hp 20, 
  Break DC 25, Disable Device DC 25).
  Treasure: Shimerae sometimes plays with a collection 
  of colored stones scattered in the middle of the room. 
  While these pretty baubles are only colored pieces of 
  agate, quartz, zircon, and other low-value stones, they’re 
  worth 290 gp in total.
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  c15. ZArSKiA’S lAborAtory (cr 8 And 10)
  Benches and worktables hold alembics, crucibles, glass tubing, 
  and other assorted alchemical accoutrements. Bubbling 
  reagents, colorful chemicals, and jars of powders cover the 
  worktop areas. In the middle of the north wall is an old hearth, its 
  opening bricked up with mortared stones. The astringent odor 
  of disinfectant hangs in the air.
  Once the manor’s lounge, this room is now Zarskia’s 
  main laboratory, where she refines venomous components, 
  crafts deadly toxins, and researches new discoveries in 
  alchemical poisoning. An everburning torch mounted on 
  the corner of the fireplace illuminates the room.
  The strong wooden door to the northeast that leads 
  to the second floor landing is locked and barred on the 
  southern side (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 30, Disable 
  Device DC 25), as well as trapped.
  Trap: A corrosive chemical compound of concentrated 
  babau slime and terinav root coats the inward side of 
  the door’s stone handle, affecting anyone who attempts 
  to open the door. If the creature triggering the trap is 
  wearing gloves or gauntlets, these take damage from the 
  corrosive babau slime first. If this damage penetrates the 
  item’s hardness, it gains the broken condition and the 
  wearer takes half damage from the slime. If the damage 
  destroys the item, the wearer takes full damage. A creature 
  that takes any amount of acid damage is also exposed 
  to the terinav root. Once detected, the trap can be easily 
  bypassed by only touching the front part of the handle.
  Toxic Door Handle 
  DC 8
  XP 4,800
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 15
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset repair
  Effect babau slime (2d8 acid damage for 2 rounds); never miss; 
  poison (terinav root)
  Creature: The leader of the spy ring, Zarskia Galembar, can 
  be found here during the day, working on some last minute 
  experiments. If she hears combat outside the lab, she drinks 
  her extracts (as described in her tactics below) and waits 
  to see whether her guards defeat the invaders. If intruders 
  break into the lab, Zarskia fights a running battle as she 
  retreats through areas C16 and C17 to her bedroom (area 
  C22), then down the chimney to the basement (area C23). See 
  the descriptions of those area for her tactics as she retreats 
  through these rooms. As she fights, the splash damage from 
  her bombs might hit the alchemical equipment here. Doing 
  so shatters glass and ignites materials on the tables, but 
  has no adverse game effect during the battle. However, it 
  reduces the equipment’s value (see Treasure below).
  Zarskia Galembar 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  Female human alchemist 11 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s 
  Guide 26)
  LE Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +5; Senses Perception +15
  DEFENSE
  AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 21 (+5 armor, +5 Dex, +6 natural)
  hp 90 (11d8++37)
  Fort +10, Ref +14, Will +6
  DR 10/adamantine; Immune poison
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk butterfly sword** +12/+7 (1d4/19–20 plus poison) 
  and mwk butterfly sword** +12/+7 (1d4/19–20 plus poison)
  Ranged bomb +14/+9 (6d6+3 fire)
  Special Attacks bomb 14/day (6d6+3 fire and catch fire, DC 18, 
  10 ft. radius)
  Alchemist Extracts Prepared (CL 11th)
  4th—greater invisibility, stoneskin
  3rd—cure serious wounds, displacement, fly, haste, protection 
  from energy
  2nd—barkskin, bear’s endurance, false life, fire breath* (DC 15), 
  see invisibility
  1st—bomber’s eye*, crafter’s fortune*, cure light wounds (2), 
  disguise self, expeditious retreat
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Zarskia drinks an extract of false life every 
  day and consumes her mutagen and extracts of barkskin 
  and stoneskin as soon as she becomes aware of visitors 
  or trouble at the apothecary. If she knows intruders are 
  close, she drinks extracts of fly, protection from energy 
  (fire), expeditious retreat, and bear’s endurance before a 
  confrontation (not included in her stats).
  During Combat Zarskia drinks an extract of greater invisibility, 
  followed by extracts of bomber’s eye and haste at the beginning 
  of combat. She throws force bombs against fire-resistant 
  foes or to knock swift enemies prone. If cornered or if she 
  runs out of bombs, Zarskia drinks her extract of displacement 
  and poisons her swords using her swift poisoning ability.
  Morale Zarskia is fully aware that espionage carries a painful 
  death sentence in the Shackles, so unless it’s possible to 
  successfully flee, she fights to the last breath.
  Base Statistics Without her extracts and mutagen, Zarskia’s 
  statistics are Init +3; AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15; hp 75; 
  Ref +12, Will +7; Melee mwk butterfly sword** +10/+5 
  (1d4/19–20 plus poison) and mwk butterfly sword** +10/+5 
  (1d4/19–20 plus poison); Ranged bomb +12/+7 (6d6+3 fire); 
  Dex 17, Wis 14; CMD 21; Skills Acrobatics +14, Disable 
  Device +14, Fly +11, Perception +16, Sense Motive +11.
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 21, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 8
  Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 23
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  Feats Brew Potion, Cosmopolitan* (Bluff, Sense Motive), 
  Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Martial Weapon Proficiency 
  (butterfly sword**), Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Throw 
  Anything, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +16, Bluff +13, Craft (alchemy) +17, Craft 
  (traps) +17, Disable Device +16, Fly +13, Knowledge (arcana) 
  +12, Knowledge (nature) +11, Perception +15, Sense Motive 
  +10, Spellcraft +11
  Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Infernal, Osiriani, Polyglot
  SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +11, identify potions), mutagen 
  (+4/–2, +2 natural, 110 minutes), discoveries (concentrate 
  poison, explosive bomb, fast bombs, force bomb [6d4+3 
  force plus knock prone], sticky poison [3 strikes]), poison 
  use, swift alchemy, swift poisoning
  Combat Gear Large scorpion venom (2 doses), purple 
  worm poison (2 doses), shadow essence (2 doses); 
  Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, masterwork butterfly 
  swords** (2), cloak of resistance +2, 
  headband of vast intelligence 
  +2 (Acrobatics), alchemist’s 
  kit, masterwork thieves’ tools, 
  tindertwigs (3), keys to all locks 
  in the apothecary, formula book 
  (contains all prepared extracts plus 
  alchemical allocation*, alter self, discern 
  lies, dragon’s breath*, invisibility, keen 
  senses*, perceive clues*, shield, spider 
  climb, undetectable alignment, and water 
  breathing), diamond dust worth 500 gp
  * See Advanced Player’s Guide.
  ** See Ultimate Combat.
  Treasure: The alchemical components 
  and comprehensive alchemist’s lab here 
  are worth a total of 1,000 gp but weigh 125 
  pounds in total. Whenever a damaging 
  area effect (such as a spell or one of 
  Zarskia’s bombs) affects a bench square, 
  reduce this gear’s value by 75 gp. In 
  preparation for leaving the Shackles, 
  Zarskia has sold off almost all of 
  her stocks of poison aside from 
  her personal supplies. 
  Stored 
  in 
  a 
  sealed chest with 
  many now-empty 
  partitions are 3 doses 
  of id moss and a pouch of 
  dried sassone leaves (which can 
  be turned into 4 doses of sassone leaf 
  residue with successful DC 16 Craft 
  [alchemy] checks). A latched iron 
  strongbox under the westernmost 
  bench holds six flasks of acid, four flasks of alchemist’s fire, 
  two vials of antitoxin, three smokesticks, two tanglefoot 
  bags, and four thunderstones. In a reinforced brass tin are 
  a vial of salve of slipperiness, a small sealed bottle holding an 
  ounce of sovereign glue, three flasks of unguent of timelessness, 
  and a jar holding 5 uses of universal solvent. Inside a steel 
  box is a journal containing notes and observations about 
  Zarskia’s alchemical experiments. The last entry describes 
  her work cultivating mandragoras (see area C19).
  c16. Storeroom
  An enormous pile of old, broken furniture and other debris 
  fills the center of this room. A ladder rests against the wall 
  in the northwest corner, leading up to a roughly-cut hole 
  in the ceiling.
  Zarskia discarded excess furniture from other 
  parts of the house in this room. The ladder 
  leads up to area C17. If Zarskia has time when 
  she retreats through here, she pulls the ladder 
  up after her, or knocks it over. From the 
  room above she can also destroy the ladder 
  (hardness 5, hp 10, Break DC 13) with a well-
  placed bomb, hopefully while a PC is 
  climbing. Without the ladder, a DC 20 
  Climb check is required to scale the 
  wall to reach the room above.
  c17. mAid’S room
  This room is unfurnished and dark. 
  A door to the north wall leads into a 
  passageway, and a jagged hole has 
  been hewn through the floor, 
  opening into the room below.
  If Zarskia withdraws 
  through here, she may 
  pause here to drink healing extracts or 
  bombard the PCs as they follow her.
  c18. bAthroom
  Pale tiles line the walls and floor of this 
  clean bathroom. A luxurious bath adorns 
  the floor’s center and an ornate stone 
  basin, an inset cabinet, and several 
  mirrors are affixed to the walls.
  Treasure: The cabinet holds 
  expensive 
  perfumes 
  and 
  cosmetics worth 240 gp.
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  c19. gueSt bedroom (cr 7)
  The stink of foulest rot and miasmic decay clog the air in this 
  chamber. Along the west wall rests a heaped morass of mulch 
  and slimy mud, and five open barrels stand in an alcove on the 
  room’s southern side.
  The strong wooden door leading into this room is locked 
  and barred from the outside (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 
  25 [DC 30 from inside the room], Disable Device DC 25). 
  In the center of the room center lies the putrefying 
  remains of an eviscerated, almost skeletal humanoid 
  creature with a long tail, sharp claws, elongated skull, 
  and needlelike teeth. The corpse can be identified as a 
  babau demon with a successful DC 21 Knowledge (planes) 
  check. A successful DC 15 Heal check reveals the surgical 
  removal of many of its internal organs not long after death. 
  A DC 20 Heal check also notices two huge suppurated 
  abscesses in the chest cavity are from something actually 
  burrowing out of the body. The barrels to the south are 
  half full of scummy water.
  Creatures: Two months ago, Zarskia obtained the 
  remains of a freshly slain babau demon at a bargain 
  price from one of her black-market contacts. Aware 
  of the carcass’s potential, she immediately set about 
  experimenting on the demon’s slime and ichor. Zarskia’s 
  attempt to cultivate a mandragora plant from the 
  demon’s corpse succeeded far better than she hoped. Her 
  periodic application of distilled demonic essences to the 
  mandrake roots implanted within the cadaver resulted in 
  two hardy mandragoras.
  As the malignant beings grew, Zarskia prepared this 
  room by leaving sufficient nourishment for several 
  months and then sealed them in. She has been hoping for 
  a last-minute client interested in mandragora sap-blood 
  before she harvests them and drains their precious fluids. 
  The demon-tainted plant creatures feel secure in the only 
  environment they’ve ever known, but attack creatures 
  intruding into their domain. The mandragoras begin 
  combat with their shrieks and fight until destroyed.
  Advanced Mandragoras (2) 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600 each
  hp 47 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 185, 292)
  c20. uPStAirS hAll (cr 9)
  Trap: This upstairs hall is trapped. When anyone steps on 
  the marked section of corridor, a blade stabs out from the 
  eastern wall, also ringing an alarm bell loud enough to alert 
  the whole house. The trap’s mechanism is in area C21.
  Wyvern Blade Trap 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
  EFFECTS
  Trigger location; Reset manual; Bypass hidden switch
  Effect Atk +20 melee (1d8+6 plus wyvern poison /19–20)
  c21. bedroom
  A bed frame lacking mattresses and a dusty armoire 
  in a recess on the southern wall are the only furniture 
  in this disused but once fine bedchamber. A mechanical 
  apparatus similar to a small arbalest is pointed against the 
  west wall. The apparatus is the mechanism for the trap at 
  area C20. It’s easy to reset or disable the trap from here.
  c22. mASter bedroom
  A pair of inlaid sconces holding dancing flames illuminates 
  this well-appointed bedchamber. The room is furnished with 
  a canopied four-poster bed, two large wardrobes, a polished 
  circular table, and a mirrored dresser near the door. A grand 
  carved fireplace stands in the southeast corner.
  This is Zarskia’s bedchamber. The strong wooden door is 
  kept locked (hardness 5, hp 20, Break DC 25, Disable Device 
  DC 25), and Zarskia bars the door (Break DC 30) before going 
  to sleep at night. The sconces hold continual flames.
  The fireplace is 4 feet tall and has no floor—the 
  chimney forms a shaft that drops straight down to the 
  basement 35 feet below (area C23). Zarskia usually flies 
  down the chimney, but the shaft can also be climbed with 
  a successful DC 15 Climb check.
  Treasure: A stylish purse in the north wardrobe holds 
  Zarskia’s day-to-day spending money: 10 pp, 47 gp, and 
  29 sp. Fashionable outfits and dresses in the wardrobes 
  are worth a total of 360 gp. A jewelry box in the dresser 
  holds high-quality imitation lady’s jewelry worth 215 gp 
  (but appears far more valuable to the undiscerning eye). 
  Under the dresser is a slim case containing a fully stocked 
  disguise kit.
  c23. Secret bASement
  A pile of old unused firewood is stacked near a wide brick 
  fireplace in this dingy cellar. Opposite the fireplace, a corroded 
  iron gate secured with a padlock blocks the entrance to a 
  tunnel beyond. To the north, stony rubble and overflowing dirt 
  completely fill a flight of stairs leading upward, and a plain table 
  holding scattered papers stands to the south.
  Zarskia’s escape route leads through this basement. 
  An everburning torch in a sconce on the south wall 
  illuminates the room. The fireplace is the bottom of a 
  shaft that leads all the way up to the master bedroom 
  on the third floor (area C22), requiring a DC 15 Climb 
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  check to scale. The rubble-filled stairway once led to the 
  kitchen above (area C11).
  While rust and decay have weakened the gate’s bars 
  (hardness 10, hp 30, Break DC 22), the untarnished 
  padlock is of outstanding quality (DC 35 Disable Device 
  check to unlock). The escape tunnel runs for 200 feet 
  before ending at a secret door that opens near a drainage 
  tunnel exit. If Zarskia flees here, she grabs the bandolier 
  and money pouch from the table and unlocks the gate. If 
  she has time, she then destroys the papers on the table 
  with a bomb or tindertwig, which takes her at least 1 
  round.
  Treasure: The majority of Zarskia’s espionage payments 
  are already stored safely inside Abadaran vaults in Avistan, 
  but she keeps an emergency fund of 50 pp and 100 gp in a 
  cloth pouch on the table. A leather bandolier on the table 
  holds an elixir of hiding, elixir of tumbling, and elixir of vision, 
  as well as a feather token (swan boat). Among the papers on 
  the table are writing equipment and a large vial holding 4 
  uses of superior invisible ink (Adventurer’s Armory 10), along 
  with a smaller vial of the triggering substance that reveals 
  this particular ink.
  The papers and missives on the table were originally 
  written using invisible ink, but Zarskia has already 
  revealed the hidden messages. Many of the papers 
  are encrypted or use ambiguous code words, but they 
  nevertheless expose the identities of a widespread 
  network of spies throughout the Shackles. The papers 
  also detail the primary players in the spy ring—Corlan, 
  Elliece Farhaven, Haddon Pike, and Roweena Kellet, as 
  well as their ordered assassinations (by an imp in the case 
  of Elliece, and by Giles Halmis in the case of the others).
  If Zarskia was able to burn the papers, most of the 
  documents are destroyed, but recent instructions stored 
  in a waterproof satchel survive with only slight charring 
  around the edges. Dated 3 weeks ago and written in 
  Infernal, they read, “Silence is now key. Our plans will go 
  into full force once our agent finishes his preparations. 
  Destroy any remaining evidence and discreetly sell your 
  business. Report to Nisroch for your next assignment.”
  Development: If the PCs capture Zarskia alive, they can 
  also coerce her into revealing the information contained in 
  the papers. Zarskia knows that her handlers are scions of 
  a noble house serving the Umbral Court in Nidal, but she 
  doesn’t know which house, nor is she aware that her reports 
  quickly make their way to Egorian, capital of Cheliax.
  Even if only the satchel of recent communications 
  survives, there’s enough evidence to satisfy Tessa, and 
  deeply worry her as well. While the papers contain no 
  irrefutable link to Cheliax, the use of imp assassins, 
  messages in the Infernal tongue, and hints of Nidal’s 
  involvement all provide clues to Chelish backing of the 
  plot. If nothing else, she can present the clues gathered by 
  the PCs to the Pirate Council to alert them that someone 
  somewhere has new designs upon the Shackles.
  Tessa thanks the PCs for the information and rewards 
  them with trade goods and booty worth 3 points of plunder 
  (if she already promised them a monetary reward, she pays 
  that instead). More importantly, she promises them her 
  support and her vote in the Pirate Council, should they 
  ever need to call on her. If Tessa found one of the PCs to her 
  liking, she may give that character a more personal “reward.”
  Story Award: If the PCs recover the information 
  detailing Zarskia’s spy network and hand over the proof 
  to Tessa Fairwind, award them 6,400 XP.
  Part three: the Free CaPtains’ 
  regatta
  The annual Free Captains’ Regatta is a time-honored 
  tradition in the Shackles, and one of the few opportunities 
  that lesser, independent captains have to increase their 
  station and status among the pirates of the Shackles. The 
  Free Captains’ Regatta is a grueling nautical race held 
  among the hazardous sandbars and reefs north of the 
  Shackles among the dangerous currents and winds at the 
  southern fringes of the giant hurricane called the Eye of 
  Abendego. The race is open to any Free Captain with a 
  ship, and while many captains and ships do not finish 
  the race (or even survive it), the regatta has no shortage of 
  competitors each year, for the rewards are truly worth the 
  risk—a hefty prize purse, lordship of a small island, and 
  a seat on the Pirate Council of the Shackles.
  If the PCs have not expressed interest in competing in 
  the regatta, Tessa Fairwind strongly recommends that 
  they enter the race, particularly after they have proved 
  themselves in tracking down the Chelish spy network. Tessa 
  seeks more allies on the Pirate Council, and if the PCs can 
  win the competition, they’ll gain a seat on the council, not 
  to mention the boost to their reputations and infamy. 
  Furthermore, common wisdom holds that this year’s 
  regatta will truly be an open race. The druid-captain 
  known as the Master of the Gales has won the regatta for 
  the last 5 years, but this year he is officiating the race 
  instead of competing, leaving its outcome in doubt.
  To enter the regatta, a competitor must be the captain 
  of his own ship and pay an entry fee of 500 gp. Of course, 
  the other PCs who are not captains can still take part in 
  the race as officers or sailors aboard the vessel. If the PCs 
  are unwilling or unable to pay the entry fee, Tessa happily 
  stakes them the fee in thanks for their help.
  As the race date draws close and the last competitors 
  arrive at Port Peril, the city’s populace buzzes with 
  speculation about the course for this year’s race. A week 
  before race day, the announcement flies through the city 
  that the Master of the Gales has declared Cauldron Rock, 
  the northernmost island large enough to be marked on 
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  most maps of the Shackles, as the race’s starting point. A 
  huge flotilla of racers and spectators sets sail northward 
  out of Jeopardy Bay.
  Arriving at Cauldron Rock, the race fleet anchors 
  northeast of the island. The captains of most of the 
  competing ships disallow shore leave for their crews, but 
  numerous spectators (including many of the PCs’ friends 
  and allies, such as Tessa Fairwind and possibly Pierce Jerrell, 
  Merrill Pegsworthy, or others) make merry on their ships or 
  on a small sandy beach nearby, in spite of intermittent rain 
  and wind from the giant hurricane to the north. 
  The afternoon before the race, the Master of the Gales 
  calls a meeting of all competing ships’ captains and 
  their senior officers aboard his xebec, the Kraken. An 
  imposing man with tanned and weather-beaten skin 
  and long, windblown hair and beard, the Master of the 
  Gales outlines the course of the race to the competitors 
  and supplies a simple route map to each participant. 
  Designed to test even the most rugged crew, the regatta 
  will take ships along the fringes of the Eye of Abendego 
  and even into the storm itself, ending at a small islet called 
  Coaming Point. Fixing each contestant with a icy blue 
  stare, the Master of the Gales reminds everyone that the 
  Free Captains’ Regatta is a nautical race, not a battle or an 
  opportunity to avenge past slights. He announces that he 
  will be monitoring the race, and any ship caught attacking 
  or unduly interfering with another competing vessel will 
  be disqualified, or if necessary, sunk. Nature itself will be 
  the most dangerous enemy the contenders will face, a fact 
  the gathered captains would be wise to remember if they 
  hope to complete, much less win, the regatta. See page 52 
  for a full description of the Master of the Gales.
  Now that they know the general route of the race, the PCs 
  should plot their initial course away from Cauldron Rock in 
  preparation for the race the following morning. They can 
  use the charts of the fair winds (see page 58) to do so, but nearly 
  all of the race will occur outside the area detailed on the 
  charts, so they will only be of use for the race’s start.
  the comPetitorS
  This year’s Free Captain’s Regatta attracts far more entries 
  than the last few years. A wide variety of ships are taking 
  part, from barques, brigs, caravels, clippers, and galleons, 
  to galleys, junks, longships, and triremes. The following 
  ships comprise the PCs’ main opposition in the Regatta: 
  the Albatross, Barnacled Bitch, Bonny Witch, Chimera’s Teeth, 
  Darcy’s Pillage, Kelizandri’s Favor, Pharasma’s Price, Promise’s 
  Bounty, Redcap, Sea’s Largess, Skullduggery, Stormrunner, 
  Sullied Strumpet, Wave Wraith, and lastly, the Wormwood—
  captained by the PCs’ old nemesis, Barnabas Harrigan.
  See pages 218–219 of the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery 
  Guide for lists of captains, sailors, and ships if you wish to 
  further detail these competitors.
  rAce mechAnicS
  During the regatta, the PCs will track their Race 
  score, measuring their placement relative to the other 
  competitors using this score. A positive score means the 
  PCs are ahead of the average contender, while a negative 
  score means the PCs are trailing behind the pack. The 
  PCs start with a Race score of 0. The players should keep 
  track of their Race score throughout the race so that they 
  can see how they’re doing. At the end of the race, the PCs’ 
  total Race score will determine whether the PCs win the 
  race or not.
  As the PCs make their way through the race, they will 
  need to make numerous skill checks to successfully plot 
  a course and maneuver around the obstacles along the 
  race course. Most of these checks can be made by any 
  PC on the ship. Failing these checks can have negative 
  consequences for the PCs’ Race score, as detailed in the 
  specific encounter locations.
  In addition, the pilot of the PCs’ ship has the 
  opportunity to make additional sailing checks (usually 
  Profession [sailor] checks, if the PCs’ vessel is a sailing 
  ship) during the race. Because of the extreme nature of the 
  elements and the regatta itself, the DCs of these checks 
  vary throughout the competition, unlike the static DCs 
  of normal sailing checks (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 
  10). For every 5 by which a sailing check result exceeds 
  the DC, the PCs’ Race score increases by 1. For every 5 by 
  which a check fails, the PCs’ Race score decreases by 1.
  Up to three additional characters can aid another on 
  any of these checks, each granting the character making 
  the check the normal +2 bonus on the check if successful.
  Hazards of the Eye: The extreme weather patterns 
  and currents surrounding the Eye of Abendego add an 
  additional hazard to the race beyond those obstacles that 
  are part of the course itself. Each time the PCs enter a 
  new encounter location during the race, roll on the 
  Stormbound Hazards table on page 73 to generate an 
  additional hazard that the PCs must contend with as they 
  race along the fringes of the Eye.
  mAgic
  The use of magic is permitted during the regatta, but 
  whether it will be useful or not is another matter. Control 
  weather might seem like an ideal spell to use during the 
  race, but all competitors in the spell’s area gain the same 
  benefit, resulting in little change in relative position. 
  In addition, the Master of the Gales uses his own control 
  weather spells to negate any weather that unfairly aids a 
  competitor or hinders other contestants. 
  The winds affected by a control winds spell do not move 
  with a ship, but it can be used to circumvent appropriate 
  obstacles, adding a +5 circumstance bonus on one 
  appropriate skill check for each casting.
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  Spells with limited durations, or that affect small or 
  immobile areas, may add a bonus on a single appropriate 
  skill check equal to the spell’s level, at the GM’s discretion. 
  Examples include alter winds*, control water, gust of wind, 
  river of wind*, or spells cast to summon appropriate 
  creatures (such as air elementals). Spells marked with an 
  asterisk (*) can be found in the Pathfinder RPG Advanced 
  Player’s Guide.
  d. rAce StArt
  The race begins first thing in the morning, under leaden 
  skies and sudden squalls of driving rain. Tessa Fairwind 
  comes aboard the PCs’ ship to wish them smooth sailing 
  and good luck, as do other friends and allies of the PCs. If 
  Pierce Jerrell is romantically involved with a PC, he loans 
  his ioun stone “eye” (see page 54) to his sweetheart with a 
  parting embrace.
  After over an hour of shouting, cursing, and jostling 
  for position, the contenders arrange themselves in rough 
  formation behind the starting line drawn between the 
  Kraken and another ship, the Ocean’s Revenge. All eyes 
  look to the Master of the Gales, who stands atop a rocky 
  promontory on Cauldron Rock. He raises both arms to 
  the sky and unleashes a flashing bolt of lightning down 
  into the surf, signaling the start of the race.
  As the Master of the Gales transforms into an albatross 
  and flies over the participants, the wind shifts sharply 
  and unnaturally from northerly to easterly, throwing the 
  competitors into chaos. The PCs must pilot their way 
  clear of the milling ships by making two successful DC 
  25 sailing checks. If the PCs plotted their initial course 
  using the charts of the fair winds (see page 58), they gain 
  a +3 bonus on these checks. Using Jalhazar’s wheel (see 
  page 58) as a full-round action to combine a hard to port 
  or hard to starboard action with a full ahead action grants 
  an additional +5 bonus on one check. Successful checks 
  add to the PCs’ Race score as normal. Failing a sailing 
  check by 5 or more results in a collision with another 
  ship, treated as an accidental ramming maneuver (Skull 
  & Shackles Player’s Guide 14). Roll 
  percentile dice. On a 
  result of 01–50, the PCs’ 
  ship rams another vessel, 
  and the PCs’ ship takes 
  half its normal ramming 
  damage (no damage if the PCs’ ship 
  is equipped with a ram). On a result of 
  51–75, the PCs’ ship is rammed, taking 
  8d8 points of damage. On a result of 76–00, 
  the PCs’ ship is rammed at takes 16d8 points of 
  damage from the collision. Each such 
  collision reduces the PCs’ Race score 
  by 1.
  e. the Silted ShroudS
  The Silted Shrouds are an extensive series of shallow 
  sandbars formed by the continuous action of the Eye of 
  Abendego. There are no up-to-date charts of the Silted 
  Shrouds, as new channels and sandbars continuously 
  form and wash away. The PCs must make four successful 
  DC 25 Survival checks to navigate their way through. 
  Characters with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) 
  or Knowledge (local) gain a +2 bonus on the checks. 
  Alternatively, the PCs can use aerial reconnaissance 
  or underwater reconnaissance (provided the scout has 
  a fly speed or swim speed of 50 feet or more) to make 
  Perception checks instead. Failing a check subtracts 
  1 from the PCs’ Race score as they backtrack. Failing a 
  check by 5 or more means the PCs’ ship runs aground, 
  subtracting an additional 2 from their Race score, unless 
  they have an underwater scout moving ahead of the ship.
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  The Wormwood
  
  Casting commune with nature or find the path eliminates 
  the need for any navigation checks. The PCs can avoid 
  making any navigation checks by sailing around the 
  Shroud, but this subtracts 5 from their Race score. 
  Sailing checks: The PCs can make three DC 25 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during this leg of the race.
  F. rAKer ShoAlS
  The low-lying coral reefs known as Raker Shoals are a 
  well-known hazard to ships in this region. The PCs must 
  quickly chart a course through the shoals with a successful 
  DC 20 Knowledge (geography) check. Using the charts of 
  the fair winds (see page 58) grants a +2 circumstance bonus 
  on the check. Failing this check subtracts 1 from the PCs’ 
  Race score. For every 5 by which the check result exceeds 
  the DC, reduce the number of uncharted reef encounters 
  by one. At the same time, the PCs should decide the speed 
  at which they are traveling through the shoals.
  Uncharted Reefs: The PCs encounter five uncharted 
  reefs while sailing through Raker Shoals. Allow the 
  PCs to make Perception checks to spot a reef before 
  encountering it. The base DC of this check is 5, modified 
  by +1 for every 10 feet of distance. The result of this check 
  determines the distance of the reef from the PCs’ ship 
  when it is spotted. For example, a result of 23 on the 
  Perception check spots the reef 180 feet away.
  Once a reef is spotted, the pilot of the PCs’ ship must 
  take a hard to port or hard to starboard action (Skull & 
  Shackles Player’s Guide 13) with a successful sailing check 
  to avoid the reef. The ship’s speed is critical; if a character 
  spots a reef at a distance of four times the ship’s speed, 
  no check is required to steer the ship to avoid the reef. 
  If a reef is spotted at a distance of twice the ship’s speed, 
  the sailing check has a base DC of 5. If a reef is spotted 
  at a distance of the ship’s speed, the base DC is 20. The 
  normal penalties on the sailing checks for the ship’s 
  speed still apply.
  For example, if the ship is traveling at a speed of 90 
  feet, a DC 41 Perception check is required to spot a reef 
  360 feet away, and no sailing check is required at that 
  distance. A DC 23 Perception check spots the reef 180 feet 
  away, and a DC 5 sailing check (with a –10 penalty on the 
  check for the ship’s speed) is enough to avoid the reef. A 
  DC 14 Perception check spots the reef 90 feet away, and a 
  DC 20 sailing check (with the –10 penalty) is required to 
  avoid the reef.
  On a failed sailing check, the PCs’ ship grates against 
  the reef, taking half the ship’s normal ramming damage 
  (a ship equipped with a ram takes no damage). If the 
  sailing check fails by 5 or more, or the PCs fail to spot 
  the reef at all, the ship takes 8d8 points of damage and 
  runs aground. This delay subtracts 1d4+1 from the PCs’ 
  Race score.
  Average the PCs’ speed through the shoals and divide 
  by 30, then subtract 2; this is the change in their Race 
  score after this leg. For example, if a ship traveled at an 
  average speed of 90 feet through the shoals, its Race score 
  would increase by 1. The PCs can avoid all of the dangers 
  of the shoals (and all checks) by sailing wide around the 
  shoals, but doing so subtracts 7 from their Race score.
  g. goZreh’S FloW
  Sometimes called Gozreh’s Piss by the less reverent, the 
  swirling wash of powerful ocean currents called Gozreh’s 
  Flow sweeps out of the Sodden Lands along the southern 
  fringes of the Eye. Competitors must tack into the strong 
  wind while navigating the treacherous currents. The PCs 
  must make three successful DC 25 Knowledge (nature) or 
  DC 30 Survival checks during this leg to avoid the strong 
  easterly currents dragging them back. Each failed check 
  subtracts 1 from their Race score. Casting commune with 
  nature or find the path eliminates the need for any checks. 
  There is no way to avoid Gozreh’s Flow.
  Sailing checks: The PCs can make three DC 20 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during this leg of the race.
  h. iriS’S SPlinterS (cr 10)
  Two jagged shafts of rock, called the Iris’s Splinters, rise 
  out of the ocean here, forming a narrow 100 foot gap 
  between them. Competitors must “thread the Iris” and 
  sail between these splinters. 
  Creature: As the PCs approach the rocks, a gigantic 
  turtlelike behemoth surfaces ahead of them. As they watch, 
  the beast smashes into the Sullied Strumpet with a bellow, 
  capsizing the light sloop. This malicious giant dragon 
  turtle, named Hirgenzosk, was responsible for the sinking 
  of the Brine Banshee (see page 31) and now finds itself in the 
  midst a veritable smorgasbord of ships and fresh food.
  Hirgenzosk desires humanoid food (both humanoids 
  and their edible cargo), and hungrily attacks any ships 
  within reach. The dragon turtle’s slow swim speed gives the 
  PCs the opportunity to outmaneuver it and dart through 
  the Iris with three successful DC 25 sailing checks. If the 
  PCs wait for another ship to draw Hirgenzosk’s attention, 
  only one sailing check is required, but this subtracts 1d3 
  from the PCs’ Race score. Using Jalhazar’s wheel (see page 
  58) as a full-round action to combine a hard to port or 
  hard to starboard action with a full ahead action grants an 
  additional +5 bonus on one check.
  Failing a check means that the PCs must hold off 
  Hirgenzosk for at least 3 rounds while their ship threads 
  the Iris. Fighting from onboard their ship can be deadly 
  for the PCs’ crew, as Hirgenzosk tries to capsize the ship 
  and uses its breath weapon as often as possible. Flying or 
  swimming PCs can keep Hirgenzosk away from the ship 
  while it gets through.
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  Free Captains’ Regatta Race Route
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  Coaming
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  Cauldron
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  25 Miles
  50 Miles
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  Sailing checks: The PCs can make two DC 25 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during this leg of the race.
  Hirgenzosk 
  CR 10
  XP 9,600
  NE giant dragon turtle (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 112, 295)
  hp 150
  TACTICS
  During Combat Hirgenzosk attempts to capsize smaller ships 
  and uses its breath weapon repeatedly on larger vessels. 
  If there’s no prey in range, the dragon turtle cunningly 
  remains out of sight just below the surface.
  Morale Hirgenzosk fights until reduced to 60 hit points or 
  fewer, then plunges down into ocean’s depths.
  Story Award: If the PCs outmaneuver Hirgenzosk, 
  award them 9,600 XP as if they had defeated it in battle.
  i. into the Storm 
  The PCs must now skim through the outer edge of the 
  titanic maelstrom that is the Eye of Abendego, tacking 
  against the powerful northwesterly storm winds created 
  by the cyclone’s counter-clockwise rotation. Navigating 
  through the hurricane requires a successful DC 25 
  Profession (sailor) or Survival check. Characters with 
  at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge 
  (local) gain a +2 bonus on the checks. Failing this check 
  subtracts 3 from the PCs’ Race score.
  Once inside the hurricane, the PCs encounter 
  additional hazards. Roll three times on the Stormbound 
  Hazards table on page 73 to generate the dangers the PCs 
  must face. In addition, the following encounter takes 
  place during this leg of the race.
  Lightning: A sheet of lightning strikes the foremast of 
  the PCs’ ship, dealing 10d8 points of electricity damage to 
  the sails. If this reduces the sails to fewer than half their 
  total hit points, the sails gain the broken condition, halving 
  the ship’s maximum speed (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 11). 
  Using magic (such as fabricate or make whole) to repair the sails 
  is difficult with the violent motion of the storm, requiring 
  Climb checks to get aloft and concentration checks (DC 
  15 + the level of the spell) to cast the spells successfully. 
  PCs who succeed at a DC 15 Craft (sails) or Craft (ships) 
  check can also jury-rig the sails, suppressing the broken 
  condition until the sails take more damage. Failing to 
  repair the sails subtracts 5 from the PCs’ Race score.
  Skirting around the outside of the storm’s edge 
  eliminates the need for the navigation check, and means 
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  the PCs encounter only one stormbound hazard, but this 
  subtracts 10 from the PCs’ Race score.
  Sailing checks: The PCs can make five DC 30 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during this leg of the 
  race. Failing a check by 5 or more means the wind deals 
  6d6 points of damage to the ship’s sails. If the PCs skirt 
  around the storm, the DC for these checks is reduced to 20.
  J. ShArKSKin reeF And PinnAcle Atoll
  The PCs must sail through the two concentric rings of 
  Sharkskin Reef and around the towering spire of rock 
  called Pinnacle Atoll. Steering the ship through both 
  rings of the razor-sharp reefs requires four successful DC 
  30 sailing checks. Failing any of these checks results in 
  8d8 points of damage to the PCs’ ship as waves smash the 
  vessel against the reefs. The PCs can pass through only 
  the outer ring of reefs, which requires only two checks, 
  but the extra distance subtracts 2 from their Race score. 
  Sailing wide around the outer ring to avoid all of the reefs 
  eliminates the need for any sailing checks, but subtracts 
  6 from the PCs’ Race score. 
  Sailing checks: The PCs can make two DC 25 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during this leg of the race.
  K. lightning Storm (cr 9)
  As the PCs head out of the Eye of Abendego, an unnatural 
  electrical squall strikes and a corona of baleful green 
  lightning limns their ship’s mainmast. A successful DC 
  19 Knowledge (planes) check identifies the dangerous 
  nature of the glowing nimbus.
  Creature: The PCs have 3 rounds to act before the energy 
  coalesces into a lightning elemental. The elemental 
  remains near the top of the mast, using Flyby Attack 
  to attack those on deck. It focuses its attacks on those 
  creatures wearing metal armor or wielding metal weapons, 
  using its spark leap ability to knock them overboard. The 
  elemental fights until destroyed.
  Greater Lightning Elemental 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  hp 110 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 117)
  l. the home Stretch (cr 9)
  The PCs emerge from the depths of the storm and 
  discover that the majority of the other contenders have 
  not yet made it out of the Eye. In fact, the only other ship 
  in contention is Captain Harrigan’s Wormwood! To the 
  west, the Kraken cruises in the distance, the Master of the 
  Gales on deck observing the race’s finish.
  Creature: Spotting the PCs’ ship as his sole competition 
  for the victory, Captain Harrigan attempts a last-ditch 
  effort to slow them, but in a way that won’t be noticed 
  by the Master of the Gales. Harrigan’s sailing master, 
  Peppery Longfarthing (CN female human sorcerer 8), 
  uses a scroll of summon monster VII (caster level 13th) to 
  attempt to surreptitiously summon two invisible stalkers. 
  Peppery must succeed at a DC 14 caster level check to 
  cast the spell. If successful, she sends the two invisible 
  stalkers to attack the PCs’ pilot. The invisible stalkers 
  remain for 13 rounds; it takes them 3 rounds to cover 
  the distance between the Wormwood and the PCs’ ship. 
  The PCs can notice the invisible stalkers flying toward 
  their ship with a DC 42 Perception check. If they are not 
  detected, the invisible stalkers surprise the PCs. The 
  invisible stalkers focus their attacks on the PCs’ pilot. As 
  long as the pilot at minimum uses a move action each 
  round to take the stay the course action (Skull & Shackles 
  Player’s Guide 13), the PCs’ ship does not lose any ground. 
  If the pilot does not take this action each round, the ship 
  takes the uncontrolled action. Each round that the PCs’ 
  ship takes the uncontrolled action reduces the PCs’ Race 
  score by 1. The invisible stalkers fight until destroyed or 
  until the spell duration expires.
  Invisible Stalkers (2) 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200 each
  hp 80 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 181)
  Sailing checks: The PCs can make two DC 20 sailing 
  checks to improve their Race score during the final leg 
  of the race.
  m. FiniSh line
  The finish line of the regatta lies at a tiny island called 
  Coaming Point, about 25 miles northwest of Cauldron 
  Rock. The first ship to sail past the island wins the 
  regatta. At this point, as the PCs and the Wormwood streak 
  toward the finish line, total up the PCs’ Race score to 
  determine the winner of the race.
  Race Score Result
  0 or less 
  The Wormwood is too far ahead. The PCs 
  are unable to catch up, and the Wormwood 
  reaches the finish line first.
  1–10 
  The PCs and the Wormwood are neck-and-
  neck. At the last second, the PCs’ ship noses 
  ahead, and the PCs cross the finish line first.
  11 or more The PCs lead the Wormwood by a considerable 
  margin. Harrigan makes a determined effort 
  to catch up, but he has no chance of winning. 
  The PCs are victorious, crossing the finish line 
  as the clear winners.
  Development: If the Wormwood crosses the finish line 
  first, the Master of the Gales proclaims Captain Harrigan 
  the winner of the Regatta. Harrigan’s victory is short-lived, 
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  however, as less than an hour later, the Pharasma’s Price 
  sails out of the Eye and limps to the finish. On board the 
  ship is one of the crew of the Barnacled Bitch, which was 
  lost just past Pinnacle Atoll. The survivor, Zarena Visk, 
  tells a harrowing tale of how the Wormwood maliciously 
  rammed and sunk the Bitch, losing all hands other than 
  Zarena. It was only sheer luck that the Price saw Zarena 
  in the storm-tossed waters and picked her up. Even more 
  damning, Zarena has solid proof of her story—a piece of 
  the Wormwood’s dragon figurehead that broke off during 
  the attack, to which Zarena clung to stay afloat. With this 
  proof and Zarena’s testimony, the Master of the Gales 
  disqualifies Harrigan and declares the PCs the winners 
  of the Free Captains’ Regatta.
  Story Award: If the PCs completed the Free Captain’s 
  Regatta but did not win (Race score of 0 or less), award 
  them 4,800 XP and 1 point of Disrepute and Infamy. If 
  the PCs won the race by a nose (Race score of 1–10), award 
  them 9,600 XP and 2 points of Disrepute and Infamy. If 
  the PCs won the regatta with an overwhelming victory 
  (Race score of 11 or more), award them 19,200 XP and 4 
  points of Disrepute and Infamy.
  COnCluding the adventure
  Whether they won the regatta by their own luck and skill 
  or through the Wormwood’s disqualification, the PCs have 
  now more than ever earned the undying enmity of Captain 
  Barnabas Harrigan. As winners of the Free Captains’ 
  Regatta, the PCs receive the regatta’s rich prize purse—with 
  16 entrants, including themselves, the purse totals 8,000 gp. 
  More importantly, the PCs gain a seat on the Pirate Council 
  of the Shackles. The Master of the Gales ceremonially 
  attaches a broken, silver-plated manacle on one of the PCs’ 
  wrists as a symbol of this honor, representing the PCs’ 
  freedom from the constraints of other nations’ laws and 
  authority, but also the responsibility that now binds them 
  to the welfare of the Shackles and its people, whom they 
  now represent. Finally, the Master of the Gales presents the 
  PCs with a deed granting them lordship over a small island 
  in the north of the Shackles. But a deed is only a piece of 
  paper; in order to truly claim dominion over this island, 
  the PCs must explore it and deal with any monsters or other 
  inhabitants there. The efforts of the PCs to claim the isle 
  for themselves are detailed in the next volume of the 
  Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, “Island of Empty Eyes.”
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  Tempest Rising
  
  Master of the Gales
  The ruler of Drenchport and captain of the xebec Kraken, the mysterious Master of the Gales is 
  one of the Shackles’ most powerful pirate lords.
  Master of the Gales 
  CR 14
  XP 38,400
  Male middle-aged human druid (storm druid) 15 (Pathfinder 
  RPG Ultimate Magic 40)
  N Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +6; Senses eyes of the storm*, true seeing; Perception +25
  DEFENSE
  AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+3 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, 
  +5 natural)
  hp 161 (15d8+90)
  Fort +15, Ref +11, Will +18; +2 vs. sonic effects 
  Defensive Abilities storm lord*; DR 10/adamantine; Immune 
  deafness, wind effects; Resist electricity 20
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee staff of weather** +13/+8/+3 (1d6+1)
  Special Attacks lightning lord (15 bolts/day), storm burst 
  (1d6+7 nonlethal damage, 10/day), wild shape 6/day, wind 
  blast** (CMB +22, 10/day)
  Druid Spells Prepared (CL 15th; concentration +22)
  8th—summon nature’s ally VIII, whirlwindD (DC 25)
  7th—control weatherD, heal, summon nature’s ally VII, true seeing
  6th—find the path, fire seeds, greater dispel magic, repel 
  wood, wind walkD
  5th—animal growth (DC 22), baleful polymorph (DC 22), call 
  lightning storm (DC 22), commune with nature, control 
  windsD (DC 22), stoneskin
  4th—air walkD, extended call lightning, control water, 
  freedom of movement, ice storm, rusting grasp
  3rd—extended bear’s endurance, extended bull’s strength, 
  extended cat’s grace, dominate animal (DC 20), gaseous 
  formD, greater magic fang, water breathing
  2nd—barkskin, chill metal (DC 19), flaming sphere (DC 19), 
  gust of wind (DC 19), resist energy, warp wood, wind wallD
  1st—cure light wounds (DC 18), endure elements, faerie 
  fire, obscuring mist, produce flame, speak with animals, 
  whispering windD
  0 (at will)—create water, flare (DC 17), guidance, mending
  D Domain spell; Domains Air (Wind subdomain**), Weather
  TACTICS
  Before Combat The Master of Gales casts greater magic 
  fang on his giant squid cohort every day, imbuing all of 
  its natural attacks with a +1 enhancement bonus. He 
  casts endure elements and water breathing on himself 
  every day, and casts air walk, barkskin, extended bear’s 
  endurance, extended bull’s strength, extended cat’s grace, 
  freedom of movement, stoneskin, and true seeing before 
  combat. He also casts animal growth on his giant squid 
  cohort before battle.
  During Combat The Master of Gales uses wild shape to 
  assume the form of a giant squid, killer whale, Huge air 
  elemental, or Huge water elemental for combat. He often 
  combines call lightning storm and whirlwind to good effect 
  and reserves his baleful polymorph spell to transform a 
  difficult opponent into a sea slug. In the water, he casts 
  summon monster VII or VIII to summon elder elementals, 
  fiendish giant squids, or fiendish dire sharks to assist him 
  in combat.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 40 hit points, the Master of 
  the Gales uses word of recall stored in his spellstaff to retreat 
  to his sanctuary in Drenchport.
  STATISTICS
  Str 13, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 24, Cha 9
  Base Atk +11; CMB +12; CMD 26
  Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Extend Spell, Improved 
  Initiative, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Natural Spell, 
  Skill Focus (Profession [sailor]), Toughness
  Skills Fly +15, Handle Animal +15, Knowledge (geography) +18, 
  Knowledge (nature) +18, Perception +25, Profession (sailor) +31, 
  Spellcraft +10, Survival +20, Swim +19
  Languages Aquan, Auran, Common, Druidic
  SQ nature bond (Air and Weather domains), nature sense, 
  spontaneous domain casting*, stormvoice*, timeless body, 
  wild empathy +14, windlord*, windwalker*
  Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds; Other Gear +1 
  leather armor, cloak of resistance +2, headband of inspired 
  wisdom +4, ring of protection +2, staff of weather** (spellstaff: 
  word of recall), holly and mistletoe, spell component pouch
  * See Ultimate Magic.
  ** See the Advanced Player’s Guide.
  Giant Squid Cohort 
  CR 9
  XP 6,400
  hp 102 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 259)
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  The Master of the Gales is an aged man with a lean, 
  bronzed frame and leathery skin—the product of a 
  lifetime of hard work under the open sky. The years have 
  not worn away the grizzled captain, but condensed and 
  distilled him, making him tougher, more tenacious, 
  with an unyielding manner and bearing. A wild mane 
  of dark gray hair and a long, flowing beard swirl around 
  his head and shoulders like an imminent storm cloud, 
  and his sweeping, iron-blue gaze feels like stiff icy wind 
  blowing off a roiling ocean.
  Many legends surround the man known as the Master 
  of the Gales, but all seem to agree on two points—that 
  he was born in the Sodden Lands, and that his birth 
  occurred in the midst of one of the freakish hell-storms 
  that bombard the perpetually waterlogged landscape. 
  His original name is now lost to time; some say it has 
  even been forgotten by the man himself, but only when 
  well out of his exceptionally keen hearing. Little is 
  known of his childhood, but many believe he was raised 
  among the cannibalistic Koboto tribe of the lost nation 
  of Yamasa. While the Master of the Gales never speaks 
  of his past, he has been known to show uncharacteristic 
  moments of unbridled anger at the merest mention of 
  the Koboto, and local Drenchport superstition holds that 
  appearing in the Master of the Gales’ presence with one 
  of the goz masks favored by that tribe is an exceedingly 
  foolhardy deed.
  A prominent member of the Shackles’ Pirate Council, 
  the Master of the Gales rules the town of Drenchport 
  on Tempest Cay with a loose hand, preferring to spend 
  most of his time on his f lagship, the xebec Kraken.
  A few veteran sailors can remember when the 
  Master of the Gales first returned from a lone 
  pilgrimage to the south with a giant squid gliding 
  behind his catboat. The crew of the Kraken simply call 
  it “the Squid” or “the Master’s Hand.” Whether the 
  inscrutable creature regards the Master as a friend, 
  parent, sibling, or mate is unknown, but its loyalty 
  is unquestioned. When the Kraken is at anchor 
  and the Master of the Gales is on deck, the squid 
  often surfaces, staring at the Master with its 
  unblinking, inhuman eye. On rare occasions, 
  it has even been seen to lift a rubbery 
  tentacle over the Kraken’s rail and delicately 
  brush it against the Master’s side.
  The Master of the Gales sees piracy at 
  sea as a simple extension of the hunter-prey 
  relationship in nature, and he’s an apex predator in this 
  realm. Those ships that see the Kraken bearing down 
  on them find their masts split by lightning, their sails 
  shredded by howling winds, and their crews flung into 
  the heavens or swept overboard by malevolent whirlwinds 
  and living waves.
  Campaign Role
  The Master of the Gales serves as the judge of the Free 
  Captains’ Regatta in this adventure. He takes this role 
  seriously, not only because he has won the race for the 
  past 5 years, but also because he sees it as a solemn test 
  for the winners to demonstrate that they deserve a seat on 
  the Pirate Council. The Master takes a balanced position 
  on the Council, seeing it as similar in structure to a wolf 
  pack—there needs to be an alpha, but the leader must 
  be able to withstand challenges from up-and-coming 
  contenders. The Master of Gales is loyal to the Shackles, 
  but he knows that in any conflict of rivals, only the strong 
  survive. Only those who can prove their strength in all 
  aspects of leadership earn his support.
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  Pierce Jerrell
  Pierce Jerrell, captain of the schooner Salty Flagon, wants nothing more than to live life to its 
  fullest. He loves the adventure and excitement piracy brings, and enjoys spending his plunder on 
  the finer things in life.
  Pierce Jerrell 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Male human fighter 1/sorcerer 7
  CN Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +2; Senses Perception +3
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, 
  +1 dodge)
  hp 62 (8 HD; 1d10+7d6+28)
  Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 longsword +9 (1d8+4/19–20) or
  mwk brass knuckles* +8 (1d3+3)
  Ranged mwk dagger +7 (1d4+3/19–20)
  Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +10)
  6/day—touch of destiny (+3)
  Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +10)
  3rd (5/day)—haste (DC 16), heroism, protection from energy
  2nd (7/day)—blur, bull’s strength, false life, scorching ray
  1st (7/day)—alarm, charm person (DC 14), color spray (DC 14), 
  mage armor, magic missile, shield
  0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, 
  mending, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic
  Bloodline Destined
  TACTICS
  Before Combat Pierce casts false life and mage armor every 
  morning, renewing them as needed. If expecting combat, 
  he casts blur, bull’s strength, heroism, protection from energy, 
  and shield (not included in his stats).
  During Combat Pierce casts haste at the beginning of 
  combat, then wades into the fray with longsword 
  drawn. He attacks with Power Attack and Furious Focus, 
  alternating with spells such as scorching ray and magic 
  missile if he can cast them safely.
  Morale Brash and impetuous, Pierce only retreats if severely 
  outnumbered or reduced to fewer than 15 hit points.
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 16
  Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 21
  Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Furious 
  Focus*, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, 
  Weapon Focus (longsword)
  Skills Climb +10, Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +10, Knowledge 
  (arcana) +4, Perception +3, Profession (sailor) +11, 
  Spellcraft +4, Swim +10
  Languages Common
  SQ bloodline arcana (gain luck bonus to saves when casting 
  personal-range spells), fated (+2)
  Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, scroll of fly, scroll of 
  invisibility, scroll of pyrotechnics; Other Gear +1 longsword, 
  masterwork brass knuckles*, masterwork dagger, cloak of 
  resistance +1, cracked incandescent blue sphere ioun stone  
  (+1 competence bonus on Profession [sailor] checks; 
  Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Seekers of Secrets 47), ring of 
  protection +1, eye patch, spyglass, diamond studded earring 
  (worth 250 gp), inlaid silver hip flask (worth 50 gp), 57 gp
  * See Advanced Player’s Guide.
  Pierce Jerrell is a dashing young man with a handsome, 
  square-jawed face and finely muscled frame. He wears an 
  unadorned black patch over his left eye and dresses in 
  a loose, flowing shirt and high boots. His self-assured 
  manner and easy smile radiate self-confidence. Pierce 
  moves with an understated swagger that suggests he’s 
  well accustomed to standing astride the swaying deck of 
  a ship at sea. Under his eye patch, Pierce wears a blue ioun 
  stone in his damaged left eye socket, which complements 
  his naturally blue right eye. The ioun stone improves 
  his skill at sailing and also endows him a particularly 
  striking appearance if he chooses to reveal his left eye.
  Pierce grew up in the Drumish port city of Detmer 
  watching the shipyards turn out caravels and navy 
  frigates and daydreaming of one day sailing on one. 
  Both of Pierce’s parents served in the upper echelons of 
  Druma’s infamous Mercenary League, and made sure that 
  Pierce received strict military training to follow in their 
  footsteps and become a cadet in the Mercenary League. 
  As he matured, however, Pierce came to appreciate the 
  finer luxuries of life and realized that a long and arduous 
  career in the Mercenary League wouldn’t give him even a 
  fraction of the wealth of a successful Drumish merchant. 
  He also came to loathe the regimented and dehumanizing 
  schooling he was enduring, and became estranged from 
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  his authoritarian parents. When his sorcerous talents 
  manifested at the age of 16, Pierce was struck by the 
  ultimate realization he was destined for a different fate.
  Pierce stowed away on a Nirmathi trading ship bound 
  for Tamran and quickly learned the ropes of sailing 
  ships on Lake Encarthan. Eventually, he made his way 
  to Korvosa where, short on funds, he signed on with a 
  crew of Riddleport pirates. Pierce found that this was 
  the life for him, sailing the open sea with the chance of 
  riches just over the horizon, but before he could enjoy 
  more than a brief taste of the pirate’s life, his ship was 
  attacked by a Chelish man-o’-war. Pierce lost his eye to a 
  rain of crossbow bolts, and woke in the hold as a prisoner, 
  sentenced to hard labor on a Chelish slave galley.
  Fortunately for Pierce, dissident priests of Cayden 
  Cailean broke into the jail where he was being held and 
  unlocked the holding cells. Pierce escaped in the chaos, 
  and joined the dissidents for a short time, becoming an 
  enthusiastic worshiper of the Drunken Hero. After some 
  time, Pierce found his way to the Shackles, where he won 
  his current ship, a schooner called the Salty Flagon, in a 
  high-stakes dice game.
  Pierce has had modest success as a pirate captain, though 
  he has recently had to hire new crew after barely escaping 
  a Rahadoumi naval ambush. Pierce views captaining a 
  ship as similar to commanding a mercenary company and 
  organizes his crew in a similar fashion. Captain Jerrell’s 
  primary motivation is to make enough money to live the 
  good life. After a successful series of raids, he carouses and 
  celebrates wildly, with copious amounts of wine, gambling, 
  companionship, and merriment. 
  Pierce is a charming and likeable rapscallion. He 
  learned enough etiquette growing up in Druma to show 
  a level of well-mannered decorum and suave demeanor 
  that makes him stand out from other raucous buccaneers 
  in the Shackles. Pierce also has a chivalrous streak—
  he honorably accepts a challenge or agreement, eagerly 
  fights a foe fair and square in single combat, and doesn’t 
  abuse prisoners or sell them into slavery. He does have 
  a temper, however, and when angry, Pierce can become 
  belligerent and ferocious.
  Campaign Role
  Pierce Jerrell has the potential to become an ally of the 
  PCs who can aid them later in the Adventure Path. As a 
  fellow pirate whose fortunes are on the rise, Pierce could 
  also become a friendly rival, though depending on the 
  PCs’ actions, the rivalry could quickly become hostile. 
  Even if Pierce and the PCs become good friends, he is 
  a spirited fellow who enjoys a competitive camaraderie. 
  He often makes informal bets to liven thing up, such 
  as a quick race to a nearby island, a challenge to be the 
  first one to board a fleeing merchant ship, or a wager to 
  see who can fill their hold with the greatest amount of 
  plunder in a month. 
  A pretty face can easily turn Pierce’s head, and one of 
  the PCs may also attract his romantic interest. Pierce 
  ardently pursues a potential romantic companion, 
  wooing the PC with flamboyant demonstrations of his 
  devotion, showers of presents, cleverly planned dates, 
  and extensive intimate conversations. He isn’t looking to 
  settle down with a lover, but to have a “partner in crime” 
  with whom to celebrate the party of life. Just before the 
  Free Captains’ Regatta, Pierce may loan his ioun stone to a 
  PC he is romantically involved with.
  Pierce makes a tempestuous romantic partner, and any 
  relationship with him is likely to be full of emotional ups 
  and downs— stormy fights and smashing of furnishings, 
  long silences, extravagant begging 
  for forgiveness, and passionate 
  reunions. Pierce has an explosive 
  personality, as well as a jealous 
  streak, so if a PC lover scorns him, 
  he could become a bitter enemy.
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  Tessa Fairwind
  Tessa Fairwind 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  Female half-elf bard (daredevil) 10/duelist 3 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Ultimate Combat 32)
  CN Medium humanoid (elf, human)
  Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +17
  DEFENSE
  AC 25, touch 19, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +2 deflection, +6 Dex, 
  +1 dodge)
  hp 76 (13 HD; 10d8+3d10+13)
  Fort +7, Ref +14, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments, +3 vs. fear and 
  mind-affecting effects
  Defensive Abilities canny defense +3, dauntless*, parry
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee +2 rapier +16/+11 (1d6+2/18–20)
  Ranged mwk light crossbow +14 (1d8/19–20)
  Special Attacks bardic performance 26 rounds/day (move 
  action, countersong, derring-do* +2/+4, dirge of doom, 
  distraction, fascinate, inspire competence +3, inspire 
  greatness, suggestion), canny foe* (dirty trick, disarm, trip), 
  precise strike +3
  Bard Spells Known (CL 10th; concentration +14)
  4th (2/day)—dimension door, freedom of movement
  3rd (4/day)—charm monster (DC 17), crushing despair (DC 17), 
  good hope, haste
  2nd (5/day)—glitterdust (DC 16), hold person (DC 16), 
  invisibility, mirror image, suggestion (DC 16)
  1st (6/day)—charm person (DC 15), cure light wounds, 
  expeditious retreat, grease (DC 15), hideous laughter (DC 15)
  0 (at will)—dancing lights, mage hand, mending, message, 
  prestidigitation, read magic
  TACTICS
  During Combat Tessa begins combat by casting freedom of 
  movement, good hope, haste, and mirror image, and uses 
  inspire greatness on herself. She casts crushing despair on 
  large groups of foes, or charm monster or suggestion against a 
  single powerful opponent. When fighting hand-to-hand, she 
  stays mobile with her Spring Attack feat and uses her precise 
  strike ability with her rapier, or attempts to disarm foes. When 
  making a full attack, she often forgoes her primary attack so 
  she can use her parry ability to block incoming melee strikes.
  Morale If a sea battle turns against her, Tessa attempts to 
  disengage and save her crew. In personal combat, Tessa 
  retreats using dimension door when reduced to fewer than 
  25 hit points. When defending her ship, however, she fights 
  to the bitter end.
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 18
  Base Atk +10; CMB +10 (+12 dirty trick and trip, +14 disarm); 
  CMD 26 (28 vs. dirty trick and trip, 30 vs. disarm)
  Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Disarm, Mobility, 
  Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse, 
  Weapon Focus (rapier)
  Skills Acrobatics +21 (+26 when jumping), Appraise +11, 
  Bluff +25, Climb +16, Diplomacy +26, Escape Artist +16, 
  Knowledge (local) +16, Perception +17, Perform (dance) +12, 
  Perform (oratory) +20, Perform (sing) +12, Profession (sailor) 
  +15, Sense Motive +15, Swim +8
  Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Osiriani, Polyglot
  SQ agile*, elf blood, enhanced mobility, improved reaction +2, 
  scoundrel’s fortune* (2/day), jack-of-all-trades (use any skill)
  Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of fly, 
  scroll of silence; Other Gear +2 glamered mithral chain shirt, 
  +2 rapier, masterwork light crossbow with 15 bolts, belt of 
  incredible dexterity +2, boots of striding and springing, cloak of 
  resistance +2, headband of vast intelligence +2 (Sense Motive), 
  ring of protection +2, lucky ivory dice, platinum holy symbol of 
  Calistria (worth 100 gp), spell component pouch, tricorne hat
  * See Ultimate Combat.
  Tessa Fairwind is a slender woman with long red hair 
  worn in a no-nonsense braid. She wears a figure-hugging 
  combination of fashionable finery and practical sailor’s 
  clothes with a tricorne hat at a jaunty angle. Her fine 
  features and delicately pointed ears accent her exquisite 
  looks, and she moves with lithe fluidity and graceful 
  efficiency evident in her every motion. 
  While the exact details of Tessa’s past are the subject 
  of much speculation and several tragic ballads among 
  the islands of the Shackles, the truth is that she was born 
  on the open sea, from a spur-of-the-moment union of a 
  seductive human merchant sailor and an elven priest at 
  the Pleasure Salon of Calistria in Absalom. Tessa spent 
  A popular figure throughout the Shackles, Tessa Fairwind is Mistress of Quent and captain of 
  the sloop-of-war Luck of the Draw. Widespread rumor holds that she will be the next Hurricane 
  King, either by acclaim or by force.
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  her childhood years with her mother aboard countless 
  ships and on the docks of numerous Inner Sea ports. She 
  grew up listening to sea chanteys and tales of exotic ports 
  and fabulous voyages. Her career as a pirate began as a 
  young adolescent when she stole a yacht from Cassomir’s 
  docks and used it to burglarize a smuggler’s secret 
  stash. By the age of 15, Tessa was captaining her first 
  ship, sailing it up the Junira River to lead an audacious 
  midnight robbery of a Thuvian pleasure barge.
  Within 3 years, the price on her head had become so high 
  that Tessa sailed through the Arch of Aroden and into the 
  Arcadian Ocean to avoid capture by bounty hunters. Her 
  successful raids on Chelish shipping near Khari as 
  she voyaged westward were an indication that the 
  young pirate had no intention of changing her wild 
  ways. Sailing down the Garundi coast, Tessa attacked 
  Rahadoumi trading vessels and coastal villages until 
  she arrived in the Shackles, finding the pirate isles 
  much to her liking. 
  Tessa soon set about 
  making a name for 
  herself and carving out 
  a place in the dangerous pirate confederacy, 
  which quickly put her into conflict with 
  several Free Captains and pirate lords. 
  Through all the skullduggery and treachery, 
  those who underestimated Tessa Fairwind 
  soon learned that meddling with the half-elf 
  captain was an exceedingly painful mistake, 
  and often a fatal one. Over time, she became a 
  powerful pirate Free Captain, gathering a loyal 
  following of scoundrels and a large fleet of ships 
  under her banner, including her personal ship, 
  the sloop-of-war Luck of the Draw.
  Tessa Fairwind is now Mistress of Quent 
  on Motaku Isle—one of the Shackles’ most 
  important ports—and one of the leading lords 
  of the Pirate Council. She is a shrewd player 
  in the game of politics, but her rebellious and 
  carefree attitude has won her popular acclaim 
  in the Shackles. Tessa has no wish at all 
  to claim the Hurricane Crown, however. 
  She much prefers the freedom of the 
  open sea, with the wind in her hair and 
  the sway of a good ship beneath her. 
  Most of all, she loves the thrill of the 
  hunt when seeking merchant ships 
  to plunder, though she views wealth as 
  simply a means of keeping score. 
  Tessa is an unconventional worshiper 
  of Calistria, for while she truly believes 
  in the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure 
  and the freedom to live as she pleases, 
  she finds seeking revenge for petty slights a waste of 
  time, and games of trivial intrigue a distraction from 
  the joys of living. Nevertheless, bawdy songs of Tessa’s 
  exploits are known throughout the Shackles, though 
  Tessa herself neither confirms nor denies the veracity of 
  these tales.
  Campaign Role
  Tessa sees herself as a mentor and guide to the PCs as 
  they commence their journey through the treacherous 
  political waters of the Shackles and its Pirate Council. 
  She looks on the PCs as a gust of fresh wind 
  that can stir things up for the good of 
  the pirate isles. While Tessa herself 
  doesn’t want to rule the 
  Shackles, she wants a 
  deciding say in who 
  does. Tessa’s motives 
  aren’t altruistic; she simply 
  wants the freedom to do as 
  she pleases, with a strong 
  Hurricane King who sees 
  things her way.
  Tessa prefers to take 
  a light hand with the PCs; she doesn’t 
  want irresolute allies who need her to 
  make all the decisions. If the PCs want to 
  chart their own course, she happily helps 
  them while delicately manipulating 
  circumstances to their mutual 
  benefit. If the PCs somehow come to 
  view her as a potential rival, Tessa 
  may attempt a token resistance 
  before graciously conceding to 
  the PCs, hopefully bolstering 
  their long-term influence with 
  the council.
  Tessa may see one or more of 
  the PCs as suitable paramours. 
  Although she is more than happy 
  to entertain flirtatious PCs, she 
  keeps her affections on a strictly 
  physical level. Past heartbreak 
  has resulted in a preference to 
  avoid emotional attachment—
  though she took her due 
  revenge against the lover 
  who spurned her, it left her 
  unwilling to risk her heart 
  again. However, a patient, 
  affectionate, and loyal lover 
  might convince her to change 
  her mind.
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  Skull & Shackles Treasures
  The following unique treasures can be found in “Tempest Rising.” Player-appropriate handouts 
  appear in the GameMastery Skull & Shackles item card set.
  Charts of the Fair Winds
  Aura moderate divination; CL 9th
  Slot none; Price 3,200 gp; Weight —
  DESCRIPTION
  These aged charts of thick, yellowed parchment display rough 
  representations of the Shackles’ major islands and the sea 
  lanes between them. The detailed markings on these charts 
  grant a +2 circumstance bonus on Profession (sailor) or 
  Survival checks to navigate within the Shackles.
  In addition, a multitude of wrinkles, stains, and blemishes 
  mar the charts’ surfaces. Anyone meticulously studying 
  the charts notices that these markings shift over time. The 
  creases, smudges, and blotches on the map represent real 
  weather conditions (such as clouds, rain, and wind) in the 
  region, allowing an informed observer to determine the 
  current weather patterns over the islands of the Shackles. The 
  charts grant a +4 competence bonus on Survival checks made 
  to predict future weather conditions and a +2 competence 
  bonus on Survival checks to gain a bonus on Fortitude saves 
  against severe weather. 
  Finally, the pilot of a wind-propelled ship can make a DC 20 
  Profession (sailor) check to plot a course within the Shackles 
  using the charts. If the check is successful, the charts grant 
  the ship a +10% enhancement bonus to its waterborne speed 
  as long as it follows the plotted course.
  All of the charts’ benefits only apply within the geographic 
  region of the Shackles. GMs with access to the Pathfinder 
  Campaign Setting: Skull & Shackles Map Folio might use the 
  elaborate player map of the Shackles included therein to 
  represent this item.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, commune with nature, 
  creator must have 10 ranks in Survival; Cost 1,600 gp
  Jalhazar’s Wheel
  Aura moderate transmutation; CL 11th
  Slot none; Price 7,500 gp; Weight 15 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  Handles of polished bone and grim skulls decorate this 
  ornately carved ship’s wheel. When grasped, the wheel’s 
  handles feel comfortably smooth. Those who stand watch at 
  the wheel claim to hear the whispered guidance of Captain 
  Xiribal Jalhazar, and occasionally feel ghostly hands holding 
  the ship’s course true. When fitted to the helm of a ship, 
  Jalhazar’s wheel grants a +5 competence bonus on sailing 
  checks to turn the ship with the hard to port or hard to 
  starboard actions (Skull & Shackles Player’s Guide 13). The 
  wheel also halves the penalty on sailing checks made when 
  turning the ship while traveling at three or more times the 
  ship’s acceleration. In addition, the ship’s pilot can combine 
  a hard to port or hard to starboard action with a full ahead 
  or heave to action as a full-round action up to three times 
  per day.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, haste, 
  creator must have 10 ranks in Profession (sailor); Cost 3,750 gp
  Ring of the Iron Skull
  Aura faint divination; CL 5th
  Slot ring; Price 10,800 gp; Weight —
  DESCRIPTION
  Crudely cut amethysts and a single engraved skull decorate 
  the band of this thick iron ring. The ring grants its wearer a 
  +5 competence bonus on Appraise checks to determine the 
  most valuable item in a treasure hoard and a +5 competence 
  bonus on Heal checks to ascertain details of a dead creature’s 
  demise. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can 
  touch the ring to a corpse or piece of a corpse to learn the 
  dead creature’s name, gender, race, and profession or role, 
  as well as the manner of the creature’s death. The wearer 
  also becomes aware of the location of other pieces of the 
  corpse if they’re within 1,200 feet. If the body part comes 
  from a creature that’s still alive or undead, the wearer gains 
  no information. The ring of the iron skull must be worn for 24 
  hours before it starts to function for the wearer.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Forge Ring, blood biography (Advanced Player’s 
  Guide 206), locate object; Cost 5,400 gp
  Shackles Ensign
  Aura moderate enchantment; CL 10th
  Slot none; Price 10,800 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  This red-and-black naval ensign displays the grinning skull and 
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  crossed manacles of the Shackles. While the flag feels as sleek 
  as silk, the material is stronger than the toughest sail canvas. 
  Openly flying a Shackles ensign improves the initial attitude of 
  most hostile or unfriendly pirates by one step, and worsens the 
  starting attitude of those opposed to piracy by one step. The 
  ensign has no effect when not properly mounted on a ship.
  Once per day, a Shackles ensign can be hoisted and 
  unfurled on a ship to impose a sinister sense of doom upon 
  an opposing ship’s crew. It takes two full-round actions to 
  raise the flag. All non-pirate creatures (defined at the GM’s 
  discretion) within 300 feet who are able to see the flag take 
  a –1 penalty on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving 
  throws, and skill checks for 1 minute. This is a visual mind-
  affecting effect. In addition, all allied creatures aboard the 
  ship flying the Shackles ensign gain a +1 luck bonus on attack 
  rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks 
  for 1 minute.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, prayer; Cost 5,400 gp
  Sharpshooter’s Blade
  Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th
  Slot none; Price 7,305 gp; Weight 1 lb.
  DESCRIPTION
  This bloodstained, skull-bedecked bayonet (Advanced Player’s 
  Guide 176) has thin blood gutters running along both sides 
  of its 14-inch blade. When attached to a magic crossbow or 
  firearm, a sharpshooter’s blade gains the enhancement bonus 
  and other weapon special abilities of the ranged weapon it 
  is attached to, and feats, spells, and abilities that enhance or 
  improve attacks with the ranged weapon can be used with 
  the sharpshooter’s blade, provided these would work with a 
  weapon of the bayonet’s type (a two-handed piercing melee 
  weapon). These bonuses and benefits don’t stack with bonuses 
  or benefits of the same type or from the same source. For 
  example, a character with both Weapon Focus (bayonet) and 
  Weapon Focus (heavy crossbow) would only gain the benefits 
  of one of those feats when attacking with a sharpshooter’s 
  blade attached to a heavy crossbow. Use-activated abilities 
  of the ranged weapon can be triggered through the 
  sharpshooter’s blade but count toward the usage limitations of 
  the ranged weapon. 
  When not attached to a magic crossbow or firearm, a 
  sharpshooter’s blade has no enhancement bonus, but is still of 
  masterwork quality and counts as magic for the purpose of 
  overcoming damage reduction.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, greater magic 
  weapon, versatile weapon (Advanced Player’s Guide 254); 
  Cost 3,805 gp
  Charts of the 
  Fair Winds
  Ring of the 
  Iron Skull
  Shackles Ensign
  Sharpshooter’s 
  Blade
  Jalhazar’s 
  Wheel
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  Skull & Shackles Treasures
  
  Port Peril
  I
  f you yearn for the smell of the clean salt air and the sour stench of boiling 
  tar, and desire the opportunity to fulfill sailors’ every vice, then you need look 
  no further than Port Peril. By the nine layers of Hell, I think they’ve invented 
  some vices of their own, so best take caution—you can’t trust anyone in that 
  port, and any word given by the Free Captains only goes so far. Between the 
  thieves of Pike Street, the perfumed doxies of Scrimshaw, and thirsty sailors 
  looking for the nearest cask of rum, you can find yourself battered, shirtless, 
  and broke before you’ve even left sight of the quay. 
  —Xavi Narcis, first mate of
  the Serpent’s Curse (retired)
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  ust as likely to offer a hand out on a stormy sea as to 
  stab you over a single gold piece, every rough-and-
  tumble resident of the Shackles lives life to the fullest. 
  A stout heart, steady sea legs, keen eyes, a healthy respect 
  for the sea—the freedom-loving denizens of the Shackles 
  admire these traits even in their hated foes. A driven 
  personality with a love of profit doesn’t hurt either, and 
  in the misfit collection of isles that make up the realm 
  sandwiched between the Arcadian Ocean and the jungles 
  of southern Garund, such behavior goes far. In Port Peril, 
  the drive to amass wealth, admiration of the power of the 
  wind and waves, and skill at commanding a sailing vessel 
  all characterize those that call the Shackles their home.
  Port Peril
  CN metropolis
  Corruption +4; Crime +0; Economy +6; Law +7; Lore +6; 
  Society +3
  Qualities holy site (Berth of the Sea Wraith), notorious, 
  prosperous, rumormongering citizens, strategic location, 
  superstitious
  Danger +20
  DEMOGRAPHICS
  Government overlord
  Population 43,270 (27,636 humans; 3,891 half-elves; 3,496 half-
  orcs; 2,663 gnomes; 2,230 halflings; 1,798 elves; 1,357 dwarves; 
  199 other)
  NOTABLE NPCS
  Captain Kerdak Bonefist, the Hurricane King (NE male 
  human fighter 8/Inner Sea pirate 10 )
  MARKETPLACE
  Base Value 29,744 gp; Purchase Limit 225,000 gp; 
  Spellcasting 8th
  Minor Items all; Medium Items 4d4; Major Items 3d4
  Port Peril Gazetteer
  South of Jeopardy Bay, Port Peril sits on the mainland 
  outside the frenzied grasp of the Eye of Abendego and west 
  of the mountainous Terwa Uplands. The rocky escarpments 
  and bluffs cup a deep harbor capable of handling heavily 
  laden merchants’ barques and galleys. Convenient access 
  to the jungles of the Terwa Uplands and the Slithering 
  Coast means prospecting teams can easily move inland 
  in search of precious lumber, spices, and exotic fauna for 
  trade in distant ports. Neutral merchants berth here before 
  making the treacherous journey north, but the port’s 
  militia forces ships bearing the flags of Inner Sea nations 
  away. Merchants looking to turn a fast profit have their 
  pick of commandeered goods in the markets of Port Peril, 
  though the wise ones do well to check the provenance before 
  attempting to sell them in northern ports.
  The following locations are among the most infamous 
  and exciting spots in Port Peril.
  Beggarbriar: Hard-luck cases, addicts, and those whom 
  not even pirates can tolerate end up here, outside of the 
  natural stone bluffs that form the protective wall for 
  Crescent Harbor, Eastwind, and Merchant Marina. The 
  stink of boiling tar permeates all of Beggarbriar, as does 
  the reek of the tanneries. The creation and sale of ropes, 
  sails, and supplies (neither the best nor freshest) employ the 
  residents of Beggarbriar, and others operate the dry docks 
  to repair and scrape ship hulls. Ironically, for all its poor 
  reputation and lingering stench, Beggarbriar holds some of 
  the finest shipwrights in the Shackles—every one of them 
  irascible, ill-tempered, and prone to drink. The most well 
  known of them, Callindra Raines (CN female human expert 
  9), once served as a shipwright in Augustana, lured to the 
  Shackles by the promise of wealth. With the secrets of the 
  Andoren navy ships in her head, she has a phenomenally 
  large bounty in her homeland, but doesn’t care—the Free 
  Captains pay her five times what she received in Augustana.
  Bekyar Headman’s Lodge: Simple wooden shacks and 
  huts form a wall against the jungle along the western half of 
  Beggarbriar. Numerous members of Mwangi tribes live in 
  this area, particularly of the Bonuwat and Bekyar peoples, 
  who come to trade with the pirates of the port. The Bekyar 
  of the area consider Goat Tongue (CE male human witch 6), 
  a worshiper of Angazhan, their headman and leader while 
  in the city and obey his ritual-inspired visions that so often 
  demand sacrifice and slave-taking.
  Berth of the Sea Wraith: This is one of the few holy sites 
  dedicated to Besmara. Before the temple rise arching fingers 
  of petrified wood that form the hull of an immense ship, 
  twice as long as the Hurricane King’s flagship, the Filthy 
  Lucre. Many believe Besmara built this nameless vessel as a 
  prototype for the Sea Wraith long before Port Peril existed, 
  then sailed off into the eternal oceans of the Maelstrom.
  Bloodpools: Pools filled with strange urchins partially 
  fill a cave within the Knotworks. Supposedly, these 
  pools provide passage to the sea east of the city, possibly 
  explaining sightings of merfolk and strange creatures 
  amid these waters.
  Captain’s Crawl: Said to be the pit where half-orc Captain 
  Jolb Manyfingers hid a career’s worth of plunder, this 
  reeking pit descends deep beneath the Knotworks’ caves—
  some say even into the Darklands themselves. None can 
  truly say how far, though, as old Jolb himself disappeared 
  down the pit more than 20 years ago.
  The Cup and Rudder: Few realize that Kennewik Masi’s 
  (CG male human cleric 4) popular and sizable tavern is also 
  Port Peril’s unofficial temple to Cayden Cailean. Most take 
  the building’s size and the holy symbol on the building’s 
  tarnished bronze dome to be an elaborate theme.
  Crescent Harbor: When visitors think of Port Peril’s 
  confusing streets, bloody alleys, and smoky taverns, they’re 
  really thinking of its bow-shaped harbor island. Crescent 
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  Port Peril
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  Harbor’s docks are filled with rowdy sailors and swindlers 
  ready to separate any visitor from his coin with drink, 
  gambling, whores, and cons. By standing order of the 
  Hurricane King, all ships must dock at Crescent Harbor 
  first, where their cargo is examined by dockworkers and 
  quarantined for at least a week before crossing over to 
  the main docks, an order that the Harbormaster Tsojmin 
  Kreidoros (LE male dwarf wizard 7) adheres to with 
  gravitas and efficiency.
  Dead Man’s Dance Hall: Carved by wind and wave over 
  the centuries, this natural stone arch serves as a gruesome 
  landmark. Spinning in the breezes off Jeopardy Bay, iron 
  cages hang from chains, and scavengers pick away at the 
  corpses within as they rot in the humid tropical air. Local 
  assassins use this place to display their kills, as does the 
  Hurricane King.
  Eastwind: This district is split into two distinct wards, 
  High and Low, and citizens of both quickly get used to the 
  sound of wind and rain. Built on tidal silt, Low Eastwind 
  loses bits and pieces of land to the sea yearly, and the tops of 
  old houses that slipped into the sea along with portions of 
  the bluff remain visible during the calm waters of summer. 
  The threat of waking up several inches lower than yesterday 
  gives many Low Eastwinders a dour, pragmatic outlook on 
  life. High Eastwind sits a hundred feet above Low Eastwind, 
  its stone houses safe and secure on their promontory. 
  Merchants build manors here, fat on the gold they make 
  shipping Sargavan treasures north or Chelish luxuries south 
  for colonists and explorers. The spectacular views, easy access 
  to the entertainments and docks of Merchant Marina, and 
  the distance from rowdy Crescent Harbor put High Eastwind 
  second only to the Lucrehold in terms of wealth. 
  F & M’s Exotic Meats: A shop located in Low Eastwind, 
  this building houses an unusual pair of shopkeepers. 
  Festerscale (CN male kobold rogue 3) and Mizrah (N female 
  half-elf cleric of Brigh 3) seek to purvey fresh meat to the 
  many races of Port Peril. With their magically fashioned 
  storerooms that keep their wares from rotting, they do a 
  brisk business. Here, one can acquire the best-trimmed 
  beef roast for Oathday dinner, a day-to-day sausage, or fare 
  rare and exotic. For an extra bit of coin, these butchers will 
  also quietly dispose of bodies, generally by making them 
  someone else’s lunch. 
  Freedom Hole: Few know that a tunnel cuts into the 
  rock behind Goli Mor’s (N male human ranger 5) Brinery, 
  a cave that leads to a cracked wall separating the captives 
  of the Saltfish Camp from freedom. The cracks in the 
  wall are big enough to slip coins, a message, or anything 
  else about the size of a coconut through, providing those 
  in the slave camp with a tantalizing taste of freedom. 
  Once a week Mor comes to the hole, and reliably takes 
  and delivers messages from those in the camp, but only 
  for a price in silver or desperate secrets.
  Harborhorn: The squat tower of Harbormaster Kreidoros 
  rises from a spit of land jutting from Crescent Harbor. 
  Little passes within sight of the tower that the stern dwarf 
  and his toughs are not aware of.
  The Knotworks: Beneath the bluffs of Port Peril lie a 
  series of labyrinthine tunnels packed with merchants who 
  dream of leaving the caverns for a shop in High Eastwind. 
  Most people here have little more than one lean-to or 
  carved niche of rock to live in and sell their handiworks 
  from, but merchants from the Viridian Cartel stake out 
  whole caverns within the bluffs, protected by a small 
  army of the cartel’s guards. The constant temperature and 
  humidity of the Knotworks make such caverns excellent 
  warehouses. Despite the seclusion from wind and rain, 
  many people seek to avoid living here, as horrifying stories 
  tell of creatures emerging from some of these tunnels, 
  ravenous for the taste of blood. 
  Latchmin’s Folly: This squat sea fort was constructed 
  by pirate lord Lukain Latchmin, who over a hundred years 
  ago sought to take the title of Hurricane King by force—
  and failed miserably, as the fort’s fire scars still attest. The 
  fortress is now owned by Zeru Faizel (LN female human 
  aristocrat 3/expert 4), a Katapeshi merchant who made 
  her fortune in the Shackles, and has converted much of 
  the keep to a stylish manor surrounded by gardens at the 
  top of the incline from High Eastwind. Her alliance of 
  merchants, the Viridian Cartel, deals directly with the 
  Hurricane King, negotiating tax rates on cargo and safe 
  escorts around the Eye. Faizel aims to make money for 
  herself and her business partners, and often uses methods 
  illegal in the Inner Sea—perfect for any seeking to invest in 
  the cutthroat world of the Port Peril mercantile business.
  The Locker: Law and order exist in Port Peril, though in a 
  curious and misshapen form. More often than not, mob rule 
  holds true, but some crimes, such as attempted mutiny, earn 
  a front-row seat at the Locker. A low, two-story stone edifice 
  covered with lichen, seabird nests, and shellfish, and built 
  over the water’s edge, this jail faces the Dead Man’s Dance 
  Hall. A single watchtower sits by the perpetually open front 
  gates, and also serves as a signal tower. Narrow slit windows 
  allow in light and fresh air, but the Locker’s reputation 
  has nothing to do with its amenities. Large holding cells 
  on the upper level collect minor criminals who end up as 
  laborers or slaves, but the lower level’s Tidal Cells prey upon 
  every sailor’s worst nightmares. These cells sit below the 
  high tide line, and water all but fills these 5-foot-square 
  rooms when the tide comes in. Waste from the upper levels 
  flows down, making these damp and cold cells even more 
  unpleasant. Secured to the ceiling with thick iron chains, 
  prisoners have to balance on iron crossbeams or risk falling 
  into the water below. The head gaoler, a grizzled half-orc by 
  the name of Xue Bonebleeder (NE female half-orc fighter 
  5), takes a perverse delight in putting unruly citizens or 
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  mutineers in the Tidal Cells, then chumming the waters 
  with bait to lure in the black-tipped jigsaw sharks that 
  inhabit Port Peril’s harbor.
  Lubber’s Lurk: The only way to enter Port Peril by land 
  is through these twisting, poorly lit, and even more poorly 
  marked sea caves. Rumors of growls in the dark, stealthy 
  brigands, and cave fishers make catching a barge from 
  Beggarbriar into the city far preferable to most folks.
  Lucrehold: The island hold of the Hurricane King, this 
  island serves as the seat of Port Peril’s limited government. 
  Upon the sea cliffs rises Fort Hazard—the home of the 
  Hurricane King, Captain Kerdak Bonefist—and the tower 
  lighthouse called Besmara’s Beacon. The light of Fort 
  Hazard has long symbolized safety for sailors coming home 
  after a long voyage, but also the opposite. Tales tell of how 
  the Hurricane King, watchful for those who have gained his 
  ire, snuffs the light of the Beacon and watches as the ships 
  impale themselves upon the shoals. Pirate captains within 
  sight of Lucrehold often tally up their actions before 
  approaching, checking to make sure they have not 
  crossed the Hurricane King.
  Marg’s Emporium: Situated within a narrow 
  gap between two caverns in the Knotworks—
  forcing traffic through the long shack—
  the shop of “Mangey” Marg Martols (N 
  female human bard 2) has a reputation 
  as a place where a sailor can sell nearly 
  anything. Marg’s collection of junk 
  from around the Inner Sea is second to 
  none, and has become something of an attraction 
  for both visitors and seekers of the bizarre—as 
  has Marg herself, with her penchant for fast-
  talking and impromptu storytelling.
  Merchant Marina: Everybody who sells 
  something in Port Peril has business in 
  Merchant Marina. At this assortment of 
  docks on the eastern shores of mainland-
  side Port Peril, dock hands offload 
  merchants’ cargo—commonly fabric, 
  lumber, spices, or wines—for sale 
  and transport elsewhere. Captains 
  pay their fees, fines, and taxes to 
  Merchant Master Pherias Jakar 
  (LE male elf wizard 7), earning 
  the marina the epithets Miser’s 
  Wharf and Pennypincher Pier. A 
  friendly rivalry between Master 
  Jakar and Master Kreidoros 
  has existed for decades, 
  and each has been known 
  to arrange for a bit of 
  excitement to break 
  up the tedium.
  Mermaid’s Bucket: Numerous mermaid statues, fish 
  masks, and other paraphernalia with a nautical theme 
  festoon the taproom of this rowdy tavern, barely 10 strides 
  from the main docks of Crescent Harbor. A mermaid 
  mosaic with scales of a red resinous substance covers the 
  wall over the main bar, and is clearly visible from outside. 
  The lanky proprietor, Nefti Unwesha (CN female human 
  expert 3), supplies rum to every drinkhouse and brothel in 
  the city, buying out smaller crafters with unusually marked 
  silver coins, or encouraging them to take their business to 
  other cities.
  Mystic’s Redoubt: The only public arcane library in Port 
  Peril, this six-winged circular tower stands in Crescent 
  Harbor and charges steep fees for its use. Visitors must pay 
  a yearly fee of 1,000 gold pieces or donate an unusual arcane 
  item worth at least 500 gp—a scroll, potion, other magical 
  item, or text on magic or planar theory—to enter the 
  Redoubt. High entrance fees mean the tower does 
  not get many newcomers, but a small number 
  of apprentice hopefuls arrive each year, along 
  with academicians wishing to study the relics in 
  the Redoubt’s antiquities hall. Rare natural 
  components are grown in the well-tended 
  grove next to the Redoubt, available for sale 
  to any spellcasters stopping in Port Peril.
  New Eleder: The tunnels leading into this 
  cavern of Sargavan expatriates inexplicably 
  collapsed more than a year ago. As no one 
  cared enough about the occupants to dig 
  them out, the cavern remains blocked—
  though some claim scrambling and 
  scratching can still be heard within.
  Saltfish Camp: In Port Peril, fortune 
  sometimes runs out, and slavery is often 
  the end result of poor decisions or sheer 
  bad luck. Out of sight of most of Port 
  Peril’s citizens, this rickety collection 
  of shacks barely keeps the rain out, and 
  the slaves within must huddle together 
  for warmth on cooler nights. Captains 
  and foremen looking for cheap 
  labor come to Firoj (CE male human 
  expert 4), whose keen eye picks out 
  just what they’re looking for, and at 
  bargain rates. Firoj keeps a firm hand 
  on his property, aided by the whispers 
  of Talsetus (CN male human 
  commoner 5). Talsetus acts 
  like a friend to the 
  other slaves, showing 
  new slaves how to 
  take care of blisters 
  and 
  lashes, 
  which 
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  guards to stay on the good side of, and how to stay dry in the 
  rainy season. Careful layers of lies and deception allow him 
  to keep up the facade even as he feeds Firoj information 
  about escape plans and mutinies. He knows that he has as 
  good a life as a slave gets, as Firoj rewards him quite well 
  for his duplicity, and if others must pay for his privileges 
  with their suffering, so be it.
  Scrimshaw: Compared to the refined pleasure-houses 
  of High Eastwind, the low-rent brothels and bars of 
  these whitewashed tenements have little more than their 
  decorations to separate them from the other ramshackle 
  buildings in this district. The carved ivory sculptures that 
  adorn many of the buildings contain code and symbols, 
  a hidden language indicating the availability of certain 
  vices—three gulls for flayleaf, a shark for an assassin, or a 
  whale for a fence of stolen items. Many sculptors have homes 
  in Scrimshaw, making use of the ivory imported from the 
  Mwangi Expanse and whalebones from the North Tack.
  Sea Wrack Chapel: Most seaports hold a small shrine to 
  Gozreh, master of the winds and waves, who holds dominion 
  over the livelihood of every sailor that dares to roam the open 
  seas. Not much different from that of any fishing village, 
  Port Peril’s hall has walls made of driftwood and netting 
  to serve as a place of refuge for those seeking Gozreh’s 
  guidance. Father Ignalus (N male venerable halfling adept 
  5) tends this hall and welcomes those who follow his god, 
  no matter the form it may take, including veneration of 
  the dual form of Shimye-Migalla often worshiped in the 
  Mwangi Expanse. A studious record-keeper since he arrived 
  in Port Peril, Ignalus has kept an accurate, though morbid, 
  account of all the shipwrecks around the pirate haven. 
  Sminsilver House: Constructed by retired captain Lucio 
  Sminsilver over 40 years ago, this richly decorated manor 
  overlooks Scrimshaw and stands as the most desirable 
  address in mainland Port Peril. Few of the mansion’s more 
  than a dozen owners have managed to hold it for longer 
  than 3 years, though, and the house has been gambled 
  away, taken by rivals, or abandoned numerous times.
  Siren’s Lash: The denizens of Port Peril love the pleasures 
  of the flesh, and plentiful adherents to the goddess of lust, 
  Calistria, live here to attend to their every need. Regularly 
  requested by the Hurricane King when he entertains in 
  Lucrehold, the attractive and attentive courtesans of the 
  temple serve as excellent informants for a bit of extra coin. 
  Once a temple to Shelyn, Siren’s Lash still bears marks of 
  that goddess’s influence in its furnishings. Exotic birds 
  roost in intricate gardens, topiary sculptures intertwine 
  with fragrant orchids, and bright silken curtains catch even 
  the slightest breeze. Mistress Livdana Giedrence (CN female 
  half-elf cleric of Calistria 6), a curvaceous, dark-skinned 
  woman with deep purple eyes, loves goods imported from 
  Kyonin, and such gifts all but ensure an audience with this 
  leader of the Savored Sting’s faithful.
  Sunken Plaza: A confusing maze of ladders, rickety 
  stairs, multicolored lanterns, and the occasional flicker 
  of eldritch lights, this multilevel market holds the most 
  diverse and affordable shops in Port Peril. While the 
  rich make most of their purchases in Merchant Marina, 
  citizens looking for the uncommon, very cheap, or very 
  specific come here. Poisons from Nidal, Mwangi juju 
  fetishes, questionable artifacts with unknown provenance, 
  magic items of every caliber, exotic beasts, and countless 
  petty criminals with sharp blades and light fingers can all 
  be found here. The plaza is built upon the crumbled layers 
  of a collapsed mausoleum, and residents constantly find 
  bits and pieces of frescoes, urns, and tiled floor mosaics. To 
  the delight of the sages of Mystic’s Redoubt, entire ancient 
  homes remain intact, their belongings and furnishings 
  untouched by time. The Pathfinder Society has yet to delve 
  into Port Peril’s ruins, a fact not lost on the Hurricane 
  King, and he waits for an offer from the Decemvirate or a 
  representative to whom he can sell exclusive access.
  PORT PERIL LOCATIONS
  1. Crescent Harbor
  2. Mermaid’s Bucket
  3. Harborhorn
  4. Mystic’s Redoubt
  5. Lucrehold
  6. Latchmin’s Folly
  7. F & M’s Exotic Meats
  8. Merchant Marina
  9. Sea Wrack Chapel
  10. Siren’s Lash
  11. Eastwind
  12. The Bloodpools
  13. Sminsilver House
  14. Dead Man’s Dance Hall
  15. The Locker
  16. The Cup and Rudder
  17. Scrimshaw
  18. Marg’s Emporium
  19. The Knotworks
  20. Bekyar Headman’s Lodge
  21. Beggarbriar
  22. Berth of the Sea Wraith
  23. Sunken Plaza
  24. Captain’s Crawl
  25. Lubber’s Lurk
  26. Saltfish Camp
  27. Freedom Hole
  28. New Eleder
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  Scourges of the Shackles
  T
  hem dirty devil-worshiping Chelaxians are always claimin’ the 
  Shackles is dangerous because of the Eye. Them greedy bilge-drinking 
  merchants’ll tell you the Shackles is dangerous on account of all the pirates. 
  Those backstabbing bastard pirates’ll claim the real danger’s in them toothy 
  beasts that snatch you off o’ deck and drag you under the bloody waves, 
  but they’re all wrong, and they’re all right—the Shackles is dangerous ’cos 
  o’ the whole bloody lot, I’ll tell you! You can keep your precious ‘freedom of 
  the sea,’ and you can keep your blasted Shackles. That whole damn’d place 
  wants you dead, and if the Shackles seeks to claim you, not even ol’ Bes can 
  keep you safe.”
  —Daenfar Hornbelly, former helmsman of the Dreaming Dog
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  n a region where violent death and ancient evils cling 
  to the rocks like barnacles to a bow, a sea voyage is 
  fraught with perils beyond the hosts of pirates hungry 
  for loot and thirsty for blood. In the Shackles, many with 
  the luck (or the coin) to avoid the cutlass still fall prey to 
  strange, silent aberrations, flora and fauna tempered by 
  endless storms, and a weather system so brutal it seems 
  almost sentient. With one stray breath from the Eye of 
  Abendego, the Shackles’ seas become angry mountains—an 
  unstoppable fury in which only the most skilled sailors can 
  keep their vessel, let alone their crew, intact. 
  Presented here is an overview of some of the greatest 
  dangers of the Shackles, specifically the pirate lords of 
  that deadly region and a host of stormbound hazards—
  with new rules to bring such meteorological chaos to life.
  Pirate Lords of the shackLes
  While Kerdak Bonefist reigns as overlord of the Shackles, 
  he does not rule alone. Beneath the Hurricane King, a 
  council of pirate lords exercise dominance over their own 
  island holdings and often whole fleets of semi-loyal pirate 
  vessels. The most popular and infamous of the Shackles’ 
  pirate lords are listed here, along with their areas of 
  operation, the name of their flagship, and brewing plots. 
  More details on many of these NPCs and their holdings 
  appear in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Isles of the Shackles.
  Alahandra Boisich 
  LN female human bard 6/fighter 3
  Area of Operation Chalk Harbor (Whyrlis Rock) 
  Vessel Cloudbuster’s Dream 
  More than 5 bitter years on the wind-battered Whyrlis Rock 
  have given the mysterious and beautiful Alahandra Boisich 
  the graying aspect of a much older woman. Nevertheless, 
  she remains keen as ever, running an elaborate slaving 
  operation based out of Chalk Harbor, where she forces 
  any victims she captures at sea to work in the mines for a 
  minimum of 2 years before releasing them. Despite her 
  questionable means of acquiring workers, Alahandra 
  proves to be a relatively kind overseer, and makes sure her 
  enslaved miners are fed and watered. None know what the 
  pirate lord hopes to find in her excavations of the rugged 
  stone that makes up most of Whyrlis Rock, though in recent 
  months she has become increasingly excited at her project’s 
  progress, leading her allies to believe they may be close to 
  uncovering whatever it is she’s seeking.
  Arronax Endymion 
  NE male human aristocrat 6/fighter 6
  Area of Operation Hell Harbor (Devil’s Arches)
  Vessel Tyrannous
  Endymion seems to always be carrying the weight of 
  great troubles on his imposing shoulders. His dark eyes 
  peer out from under his great, jet-black eyebrows, and a 
  sullen mouth pouts beneath a wiry, waxed mustache. As 
  the admiral’s crippling paranoia of long overdue reprisal 
  from Cheliax grows, so too does his sense of isolation. 
  He longs for a genuine taste of the complicated social 
  convention that brought his exile from Cheliax, and any 
  wishing an audience with the lord of Hells Harbor would 
  do well to present themselves as they would in Egorian—
  with deference, respect, and insincere flattery. 
  Avimar Sorrinash 
  CE male human wereshark rogue 5
  Area of Operation Ollo (Shark Island)
  Vessel Blood Moon
  Able and deadly in his human form, Sorrinash is a brutal 
  tempest when transformed. While the rest of Shark Island 
  fends off the razor teeth of the sahuagin, Ollo loses only a few 
  souls a year thanks to the acts of bloody underwater carnage 
  and shows of subaquatic strength of their lycanthropic 
  pirate lord. Sorrinash has persuaded the sahuagin that he 
  deserves not only their alliance, but their worship. 
  Bedu Hanji 
  LE male rakshasa magus 6
  Area of Operation Rampore Isles 
  Vessel Semudarogah 
  Attired in vibrant silks that offset his cobalt and crimson 
  mandrill features, Bedu’s sharp, simian teeth betray 
  the brutality the rakshasha pirate lord is known for. 
  The massacre of innocents aside, no pirate lord has a 
  greater appreciation for song than Hanji, and he intends 
  to entice Golarion’s finest performers to the Shackles 
  with a lavishly funded music competition. Rumor has it 
  he is also considering a special event for household slaves 
  to enter, with the winner receiving not only a generous 
  financial reward, but also her freedom.
  Bradesmar Wache of Mediogalti 
  CN male middle-aged human fighter 6/rogue 2
  Area of Operation Maidenspool (Tempest Cay) 
   
  Vessel —
  Some sailors can muster a brave face even in the greatest 
  of troubles, but Bradesmar is not one of these. His 
  threadbare clothing, unkempt gray hair, and sallow skin 
  tell of many hours sitting in silence and darkness, cursing 
  his very existence. He has become even more withdrawn 
  over the last year since a series of deaths occurred 
  around his unfinished home. Locals whisper that the 
  overwhelming power of his grief has dragged the spirit 
  of Ella, his beloved wife, back to Maidenspool against 
  her will. Bradesmar is as terrified of this prospect as the 
  rumored ghost is furious, and he attempts to ignore the 
  problem by denying its very existence.
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  Lady Cerise Bloodmourn
  CN female human aristocrat 2/fighter 7/rogue 5
  Area of Operation Quent (Motaku Island) 
  Vessel Come What May
  Once of Galt’s proud Vauxtiere family, Lady Bloodmourn 
  left her exiled family’s home in Taldor after a childhood 
  of ridicule for her foreign birth. Seeking freedom and an 
  escape from the expectations of nobility, Cerise seduced a 
  pirate captain and convinced him to help her steal a ship 
  and her inheritance. Since then, Lady Bloodmourn has 
  quickly turned from a debutant to a true pirate, joining the 
  ranks of Tessa Fairwind’s fleet and recently even claiming a 
  place on the Shackles’ Pirate Council for herself.
  Chan Ai-Huao, Jieh Hui, and Lo Shei Wen 
  CN female half-elf fighter 5, CN male old human rogue 5, 
  and NE male human ninja 4
  Area of Operation Shenchu Bay 
  Vessels Minkai’s Grace, Black Night, and Serpent’s Tongue 
  These three Tian pirate lords make up the current Wise 
  Council of Three of Shenchu Bay, a usually functional 
  form of government that has proven tumultuous with this 
  combination of councilors. The warm wisdom of elderly 
  Jieh Hui often finds itself at odds with the cold cunning 
  of raven-haired Lo Shei Wen during debates. Chan Ai-
  Huao has proven to be the only real voice for the laity of 
  the island, but her support has dwindled in recent years, 
  thanks in no small part to Shei Wen’s public beratings of 
  Ai-Huao as a “half-blooded mongrel.”
  Delemona Burie and Little Shaggard 
  CG female human bard 6 and CG male human rogue 5
  Area of Operation Lilywhite (Motaku Isle) 
  Vessels Winsom Lass and Mollusk 
  Upon first encountering the duo, one might think the 
  spindly Delemona is the rogue and the good-looking 
  Little Shaggard the bard, but when either opens her 
  or his mouth, it quickly becomes clear which is which. 
  Delemona wins over friends and foes alike with her 
  fantastic storytelling and beautiful music, and her warm, 
  treacly voice seems completely at odds with her twiggy 
  frame. Little Shaggard, in contrast, has a tongue as sharp 
  as his blade, and little time for pleasantries despite his 
  approachable and handsome visage. Both are devout 
  followers of Cayden Cailean, and jointly rule over the 
  town of Lilywhite since Shaggard’s father passed 20 years 
  ago. In keeping with the Lucky Drunk’s attitude toward 
  slavery, the pair of swashbucklers has taken up arms in 
  the anti-slavery movement throughout the Shackles as 
  Jolis Raffles’s own campaign against the practice loses 
  momentum, often attributing their own deeds to the 
  halfling in hopes of rekindling fervor for his cause in 
  the archipelago.
  Hardluck Massey 
  CN male human fighter 5
  Area of Operation Pex (Devil’s Arches) 
  Vessel —
  Hardluck’s love of cigars can be detected by his yellowed 
  fingers and the thick odor of tobacco smoke that 
  perpetually drifts from his clothes. He doesn’t walk so 
  much as swagger, and the pirate lord’s unpredictable 
  temper is legendary throughout the Shackles. Many 
  believe that what Hardluck needs is the calming influence 
  of a good partner, but few realize he already has his eyes set 
  on one. Kiyano Remsteel (CN male human rogue 3) is the 
  object of his affections, and the young ex-deckhand can 
  count himself among the few who benefit from the good 
  side of Hardluck’s turbulent nature. Kiyano encourages 
  Hardluck’s advances to a certain extent, but many believe 
  (quite rightly) that the lad is only humoring the old salt until 
  he admits where he has squirreled away his wealth. Afterward, 
  the young pirate plans to leave the island altogether in his 
  search for the fabled treasure.
  Havalas Grudd 
  CN male human rogue 6
  Area of Operation Oyster Cay (mainland) 
  Vessel Scylla 
  Havalas cuts a fine figure at the helm of the Scylla with 
  a rugged charm and thick, curly locks. His bloody feud 
  with his former lover, Wide Olga, is a source of great 
  amusement for the rest of the pirate lords, but a matter 
  of grave peril for the residents of Oyster Cay. What was 
  a simple lover’s slight has turned into a dramatic battle, 
  thanks in part to the work of both captains’ first mates, 
  who deem it necessary to fuel the violent conflict for 
  their own purposes. The Scylla’s wily first mate Sea-spit 
  (NE male half-orc barbarian 1/rogue 2) has designs on 
  the captaincy, and hopes that by fanning the flames of 
  his captain’s rivalry with Olga he can bring about the 
  position’s vacancy. 
  Hemdak Wavebaiter 
  CN male human fighter 3/rogue 2
  Area of Operation Colvass Gibbet (mainland) 
  Vessel Strange Mercy
  Despite a rebellious past, Hemdak has started to see the 
  benefits of standing in good stead with coalitions. To the 
  dismay of the many malcontents who slink around Colvass 
  Gibbet, the pirate lord has been seeking ways to curry favor 
  with the Hurricane King himself. Most recently, he put 
  out a call for adventurers to investigate the Temple of the 
  Ravenous Moon in a bid to succeed where Bonefist’s own 
  expeditions failed, hoping to present the Hurricane King 
  with a portion of the spoils in an act of good faith and 
  garner Bonefist as a powerful—if only tentative—ally.
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  Iolandra and Petrina Maxeme 
  CN female human aristocrat 2/summoner 6 and N female 
  human aristocrat 3/fighter 5
  Area of Operation Little Oppara (Taldas Isle)
  Vessel Lion’s Reach and Fearless Steed
  These two granddaughters of a minor Taldan noble run 
  Taldas Isle now, though few can say how long their turbulent 
  reign will last. Petrina performs the majority of the work, 
  while her capricious sister is always off on some new bold 
  exploit. Rumors say Petrina is tired of losing money to these 
  adventures and some even say she has designs to get rid of 
  Iolandra for good.
  Jolis Raffles 
  CN male halfling fighter 7/rogue 2
  Area of Operation Slipcove (Bag Island) 
  Vessel Chains of Freedom 
  A former slave turned freedom fighter, Jolis Raffles has 
  become a little too comfortable in his wealth and position 
  as lord of Bag Island, and his once-ardent campaign 
  against slavery in the Shackles has dwindled to little more 
  than a drizzle. No longer as nimble as he once was, even 
  a clumsy blade might find its mark should any see fit to 
  assassinate the lax halfling. In an effort to secure many 
  more years of self-indulgence, he has taken to ceding 
  a portion of his fortune to the temple of Norgorber in 
  the town of Beachcomber, a fact unknown to all but his 
  closest advisors.
  Kerdak Bonefist, The Hurricane King
  NE male human fighter 8/Inner Sea pirate 10
  Area of Operation Port Peril (mainland)
  Vessel Filthy Lucre
  Among the most notorious and best-armed pirates in the 
  Shackles, Kerdak Bonefist owns the title of Hurricane 
  King, commands the largest fleet, and holds Port Peril—
  the largest city in the region. Although not well liked by 
  many of the region’s Free Captains, none dare oppose 
  him alone and few can tolerate one another long enough 
  to rally against him. From Fort Hazard on the island of 
  Lucrehold in Port Peril’s harbor, Bonefist indulges in his 
  vast wealth and the endless tribute of lesser pirates, while 
  regularly shooting those who offend him full of holes with 
  his magical pistol or scarring them with a touch from his 
  skeletal hand.
  Longbeard
  CN male human fighter 6
  Area of Operation Mezdrubal (Devil’s Arches) 
  Vessel —
  Longbeard’s unusual height is a bane for one so keen on 
  sartorial finery. With few high quality tailors available in 
  the Shackles, the pretentious pirate lord must force his 
  6-foot-5-inch frame into velvet suits and lambskin jackets 
  made for much smaller men, often giving him the look of a 
  boy who grew up too suddenly. He makes up for his shortfall 
  in sleeve-length with a host of jewelry, and perhaps the 
  only thing he appreciates more than fashion is flattery. 
  Despite his profound indifference to the music and 
  pronounced hatred for the patrons, Longbeard often visits 
  the Three-Horned Hall opera house in Hell Harbor, as his 
  fascination with the finery of the costume is enough to see 
  him through hours of unintelligible noise. His greatest 
  HAZARDS OF THE SHACKLES
  Brutal storms are not the only hazards at sea in the 
  Shackles, and wary captains know to keep on the alert for 
  a number of strange dangers.
  Leucoch or “Hanspur’s Ballast” (CR 2): This tenacious 
  breed of echinoderm is often found in deep water, where 
  it attachs itself to the hull of a vessel in order to feed on 
  the sewage and garbage tossed overboard by a busy crew. 
  Nourished in this way, a leucoch grows at an alarming rate, 
  and increases at a rate of one size category per week. Its 
  bulk eventually starts to drastically affect a ship’s navigation 
  and speed. A Medium leucoch weighs 350 pounds, a Large 
  one weighs 2,800 pounds, and a Huge leucoch weighs 
  up to 25,000 pounds. A Medium leucoch reduces a ship’s 
  maximum speed and acceleration by 10 feet, further 
  reducing these traits by an additional 10 feet for each size 
  category larger than Medium. These urchinlike creatures 
  can be removed from a ship either by dealing it 10 points 
  of damage (+10 for each size category above Medium) with 
  a slashing weapon, or by starving it (ejecting no organic 
  materials overboard for 5 days).
  Phantom Fog (CR 2): Fog is common enough in the 
  Shackles, but occasionally sailors find themselves drifting 
  through a bank of what is known as phantom fog. Seafaring 
  scholars believe the eerie substance was originally drawn 
  from the Plane of Shadow, perhaps in some magical mishap 
  at Whyrlis Rock. The effects of phantom fog are myriad and 
  unpredictable, though affected crew members inevitably 
  begin to see their own twisted shadows as dangerous 
  assailants. In addition to taking the effects of mundane 
  fog, all creatures caught inside a bank of phantom fog must 
  succeed at a DC 13 Will save or become convinced the fog 
  has brought with it a host of attackers or strange souls from 
  the deep, becoming frightened while the ship remains 
  fog-bound. Those affected can make an additional save to 
  disbelieve the terrifying illusion once per minute or if they 
  attack one of their perceived antagonists. This is a mind-
  affecting fear effect of the illusion (phantasm) subschool.
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  wish is to find someone cunning and daring enough to 
  rob the theater of its wardrobe, an act that would not only 
  furnish him with many beautiful clothes, but would also 
  deal a solid blow to the repute of the paranoid Endymion, 
  whose taxes on Mezdrubal have long been a thorn in 
  Longbeard’s side.
  Mase Darimar
  CN male half-elf druid of Gozreh 8/fighter 4
  Area of Operation Drenchport (Tempest Cay) 
  Vessel Wavecrest
  Mase’s father was an aquatic elf and his mother a member 
  of the Mwangi Expanse’s Bonuwat tribe, but his capture 
  by Chelish slavers sentenced him to a life at sea. When 
  pirates attacked the slave galleon, he found himself 
  press-ganged into a pirate crew and eventually joined 
  the service of the Master of Gales. His deep connection 
  with the sea and respect for the Master of Gales led him 
  to become a druid and eventually reconnect with his 
  aquatic elf brethren. His skill as a captain and power 
  over the waves have propelled his career as a pirate, 
  eventually winning him a place on the Pirate Council 
  of the Shackles.
  Master of the Gales
  CN male middle-aged human druid 15
  Area of Operation Drenchport (Tempest Cay)
  Vessel Kraken
  While there is not a captain in the Shackles who could 
  oppose this mysterious man of the sea, the eerie Master of 
  the Gales appears content to hold only the battered town of 
  Drenchport. Rumors abound of his links to the Cult of the 
  Eye, and many believe that his allegiances lie not with the 
  Pirate Council, but with the incredible power of the Eye of 
  Abendego itself.
  Mauril Breakwater and “Baron” Venigo Palpathe 
  CE female human rogue 6 and CN male human sorcerer 6
  Area of Operation Raketooth (Shark Island) 
  Vessels Banshee’s Wail and Water Nymph 
  This unusual pair of pirate lords rules over the decrepit port 
  town of Raketooth, and visitors seeking their favor know to 
  watch their back while dealing with the treacherous duo. 
  Their distasteful dealings with the nearby sahuagin tribes 
  have ensured their town relative safety from the monsters’ 
  depredations, but they have also given Raketooth an ugly 
  reputation even among the rest of Shark Island. Not 
  long ago, a young noble woman from Ustalav arrived in 
  town, claiming to have been drawn by tales of Palpathe’s 
  achievements. While Palpathe has been entirely captivated 
  by her flattery and heavy purse, Breakwater remains 
  skeptical of the stranger’s intentions, and is keeping a close 
  eye on her pirate lord partner’s budding relationship.
  Maxevale Janis 
  CN male human bard 4/cleric of Besmara 4
  Area of Operation Rapier Bay (Motaku Isle) 
  Vessel Motaku Maiden 
  Intimidation has been the key to Janis’s control of 
  Rapier Bay, but not the kind dealt out with a clenched 
  fist. Maxevale possesses a gaze that bores into a rival’s 
  heart and sniffs out her darkest secrets. Whether or not 
  he can actually read people as well as some claim is up for 
  debate, but many a would-be troublemaker has sweated 
  out her secrets under Maxevale’s silent, indecipherable 
  stare. He is a short, mousey man of few words at the 
  best of times, his stony silence proving to be his most 
  powerful investigatory tool.
  Despite his commendable control over his rowdy port 
  city, Janis lacks direction. His support for Tessa Fairwind 
  on the Pirate Council is fueled by a desire for change in 
  his own life, which he hopes will come from change on 
  the council. Even his dedication to Besmara stems from a 
  need for purpose rather than any religious bent, and if one 
  day the right offer should come along, he would abandon 
  Rapier Bay to its chaos in favor of a wild adventure—the 
  sort that both makes and claims a true pirate.
  Nisia Gbele 
  CN female human barbarian 5
  Area of Operation Vilelock (Shark Island)
  Vessel Bloody Cudgel 
  A barbarian by choice as much as by instinct, Nisia Gbele 
  violently disdains the civilized. She has managed to keep a 
  stranglehold on what passes for power in Vilelock longer than 
  most of her predecessors thanks in part to her unpredictable 
  behavior. This dusky-skinned maniac is impossible to read, 
  and the safest approach when dealing with her is to lead with 
  a punch; some days she will laud a visitor’s fighting spirit, 
  others she will beat him to a pulp for it.
  Panewa Oala 
  CN male human fighter 3/rogue 4
  Area of Operation Queen Bes (Besmara’s Throne) 
  Vessel Desperation 
  While always willing to pass the time with strangers, 
  Panewa can never seem to keep his mind on the task at 
  hand. A tall, imposing portreeve with a shiny, shaved 
  head and a blood-red eye patch, he constantly chews his 
  thick fingernails, though whether from nervousness 
  or anticipation few can say for certain. Once a pirate of 
  great skill and renown, Panewa has run Queen Bes for 
  almost a decade now, and he secretly longs for the open 
  sea once more. Even though he is truly devoted to Besmara 
  and knows the importance of his position on her favored 
  island, Panewa has grown increasingly resentful of the 
  landlubber he’s become in recent years.
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  Tessa Fairwind 
  CN female half-elf bard 10/duelist 3
  Area of Operation Quent (Motaku Isle)
  Vessel Luck of the Draw
  A willingness to use her feminine wiles when her reason 
  or rapier fail to hit home has made Tessa Fairwind one 
  of the most influential pirate lords in the Shackles. 
  Her well-known stubbornness is matched only by her 
  reputation for fairness and for her guile, influence, and 
  usually personable nature. Those seeking to make their 
  homes in the Shackles could do much worse for an ally. 
  Wide Olga 
  CN female human bard 6
  Area of Operation Oyster Cay (mainland) 
  Vessel Beckoning Nereid 
  Wide Olga is so named not only for her girth but also for her 
  enormous, toothy grin. Her full build and tight-cropped 
  hair give her the appearance of a stocky cabin boy, but 
  even in silhouette her athleticism and physical confidence 
  mark her as captain. Her fury at her former lover Havalas 
  Grudd has had no chance to cool, as her first mate Sinserra 
  (CE female human rogue 2) continues to fan the flames of 
  their fallout. Like her counterpart on Grudd’s vessel, the 
  Scylla, Sinserra seeks to fill Wide Olga’s boots, and the 
  two first mates have formed a tentative truce in order to 
  ensure one another’s promotions. Without 
  Sinserra’s goading, Olga’s mood toward 
  her paramour would likely soften, and after 
  a good few ales she has even been known to 
  call for a message of truce to be sent to the 
  Scylla. Unfortunately for Oyster Cay, such 
  orders are always intercepted by Sinserra 
  and forgotten by Olga in the morning.
  Weather and stormbound 
  hazards of the shackLes 
  More than terrible pirates and vicious sea 
  monsters menace those who sail the deadly 
  seas of the Shackles. The endless hurricane 
  of the Eye of Abendego spins off lesser—but 
  still violent—storms, any of which could 
  spell the destruction of a vessel and its 
  unprepared crew. Such deadly weather has 
  become a fact of life for most who regularly 
  sail along the western coast of Garund, 
  and daring mariners do all they can to 
  gauge and predict these tempests, but 
  acknowledge that if the sea and sky desires 
  a ship’s doom, there’s little even a skilled 
  sailor can do about it.
  The Verses: While accurate measurements 
  of weather severity are difficult to come by in 
  the Shackles, seafarers living there have developed a kind 
  of eyeball scale by which to judge and describe incoming 
  storms. They call this scale “the Verses,” a term originating 
  from one of the songs from Hymns to the Wind and the Waves, 
  the holy text of Gozreh. The scale ascribes an increasing 
  number of verses to increasingly dangerous weather fronts, 
  from one verse for a minor gale all the way to nine verses 
  for the most powerful and deadliest of storms. In the very 
  worst of weather, when the wind and the sea tear life and 
  livelihood from the coast, battered residents are even 
  sometimes known to wail of the “tenth verse,” but it is 
  considered bad luck to invoke the term at sea, where even 
  the eighth can easily claim any vessel. The Verses are used 
  to measure storms throughout the rest of the Inner Sea 
  region, but it is rare for any to speak of weather that exceeds 
  the sixth. The final three are uttered almost exclusively 
  in the Shackles, where only the mighty blasts of the Eye of 
  Abendego can do them proper justice. 
  Using the Verses: Included in the Shackles Random Weather 
  table on page 72 is a verse rating for each kind of weather.  
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  Pirates of the Shackles often speak of the Verses in both 
  casual conversation and in their salty yarns. A minor squall 
  might be described as “a single verse,” or the “first verse.” A 
  tropical depression might fall between three and four verses, 
  and tropical storms can be described as anywhere from the 
  fifth verse and above. The crew of any sailing vessel, Shackles 
  or otherwise, knows to hold on for their lives if the captain 
  starts yelling about “the whole bloody hymn!”
  Determining the Weather
  The ever-whirling Eye of Abendego largely determines 
  both the frequency and potency of storms in the Shackles, 
  making the area what it is today. Proximity to the Eye affects 
  the likelihood of difficult weather, but with enough skill, 
  seafarers still have a chance to avoid storms. To reflect 
  these factors, random weather rolls are modified by a 
  vessel’s proximity to the center of the Eye (as per the Eye of 
  Abendego Weather Modifiers table), and captains from the 
  Shackles should be allowed the chance to navigate around 
  storm fronts. Treat the random weather table presented 
  here as a Shackles-specific version of Table 13–9: Random 
  Weather on page 439 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. 
  Once a weather roll (a d% roll) is made and adjusted for 
  proximity to the Eye, allow a ship’s captain to make either 
  a Profession (sailor) or Survival check, subtracting the 
  result from the total—this represents the captain’s ability 
  to predict and avoid turbulent weather. When, despite the 
  captain’s best efforts, a vessel finds itself in a storm, use 
  the Stormbound Hazards table on page 73 to determine 
  how the ship is affected by the storm.
  ShackleS ranDom Weather
  PCs with the Survival skill can determine the weather days 
  in advance. The accompanying Shackles Random Weather 
  table can be used to keep track of the current conditions, 
  from calm seas to deadly tornadoes, as well as to help create 
  a smooth transition from one type of weather to the next. For 
  a lengthy voyage, a GM might want to roll for the weather 3 
  or more days in advance, then use the steps on the Shackles 
  Random Weather table to determine the appropriate 
  conditions for the days building up to a significant storm. 
  This helps to make meteorological transitions smoother 
  and more realistic, so one day’s clear skies don’t turn into 
  a hurricane in just a few short hours.
  The following entries detail some of the most common 
  types of weather in the Shackles and correspond to the 
  Shackles Random Weather chart. In addition to the usual 
  environmental hazards, several of the wilder storms can 
  also have dangerous effects on seabound vessels. Each 
  entry lists how long the weather typically lasts, as well as 
  how often a GM should roll for a stormbound hazard on 
  the Stormbound Hazards table on page 73 and what sort of 
  modifier (if any) to apply to that roll.
  Normal: The weather proves calm and relatively clear—
  perfect weather for sailing.
  Precipitation: Roll d% to determine whether the 
  precipitation is fog (01–40) or rain (41–100).
  Tropical Depression: This dense, humid weather front 
  is common in tropical seas and lasts 2d4 hours. Combining 
  strong winds and rain, a tropical depression rarely deters 
  the Shackles’ seafaring population, but can be a nuisance 
  for those not used to rough seas. 
  Stormbound Hazards: frequency 1/hour, d20 modifier –10. 
  Tropical Storm: This is a more extreme relative of the 
  tropical depression; only foolhardy or experienced captains 
  set sail in tropical storms, which typically last up to 5d4 hours.
  Stormbound Hazards: frequency 1/hour, d20 modifier —. 
  Severe Tropical Storm: Storms of this size have claimed 
  many unskilled captains. Wind drives sheets of rain, 
  and the roiling sea finds its way into every corner of an 
  unprepared vessel. Otherwise acting like windstorms (Core 
  Rulebook 438), these storms last 3d6 hours. 
  Stormbound Hazards: frequency 1/10 minutes, d20 
  modifier +10. 
  Hurricane: This whirling maelstrom of death is rarely 
  escapable by any but the most veteran captains. While a 
  hurricane can last for many days, its inexorable journey will 
  typically pass the storm over ships in 4d6 minutes, during 
  which period they will need to roll on the Stormbound 
  Hazards table each minute. Almost no one has the pirate 
  luck to survive an encounter with this epic force.
  Stormbound Hazards: frequency 1/minute, d20 modifier +15. 
  Tornado: No natural force at sea is deadlier than the 
  tornado or waterspout, and few can sail through one and 
  live to tell the tale. A tornado lasts 1d6 minutes.
  Stormbound Hazards: frequency 1/round, d20 modifier +15. 
  eye of abenDego Weather moDifierS
  Proximity to the Eye 
  Weather Roll Modifier
  Within 300 miles 
  +4
  Within 250 miles 
  +8
  Within 200 miles 
  +12
  Within 100 miles 
  +36
  Within 50 miles 
  +60
  ShackleS ranDom Weather
  d% 
  Weather 
  Features* 
  Verses
  1–55 
  Normal 
  Normal 
  0
  56–65 
  Precipitation 
  Fog or rain 
  1–2
  66–80 
  Tropical depression 
  Strong winds and rain  3–4
  81–93 
  Tropical storm 
  Severe winds and rain 5–6
  94–97 
  Severe tropical storm Windstorm 
  7–8
  98–99 
  Hurricane 
  Hurricane 
  9
  100 
  Tornado 
  Tornado 
  9+
  * Details on weather features can be found on pages 
  437–440 of the Core Rulebook.
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  StormbounD hazarDS
  These events illustrate the effects of a typical storm on 
  tropical waters, and can be used in conjunction with combat 
  encounters to create exciting and memorable fights or used 
  on their own to show PCs the relentless brutality of the 
  sea. The PCs can mitigate their chances of encountering 
  such disasters with a Profession (sailor) or Survival check 
  or, when disaster does strike, deal with the problems using 
  their unique skills and abilities.
  To use the following hazards, refer to the weather 
  descriptions in the Shackles Random Weather section on 
  page 72—the frequency of these events and roll modifiers 
  for the Stormbound Hazards table are listed in each 
  weather type’s entry. Then roll a d% and add the modifier 
  associated with the particular type of weather, if any. 
  Whoever is piloting the ship (usually the captain) then 
  makes a Profession (sailor) or Survival check and subtracts 
  that result from the modified d% roll to determine the final 
  result of the roll. Once a result is determined, consult the 
  Stormbound Hazards table to determine what peril the 
  ship faces. A result of 20 or lower means the crew proved 
  able enough to avoid any danger, while higher results have 
  increasingly more dangerous or costly repercussions.
  StormbounD hazarDS
  d% 
  Hazard 
  Effect
  20 or lower  No Hazard 
  21–35  
  Slippery Deck: A rush of water over the deck 
  makes it more slippery than usual for 1d4 
  rounds. Creatures must succeed at a DC 10 
  Acrobatics check to move safely; failure means 
  they fall prone.
  36–40 
  Dragged Anchor: The ship travels 100 feet 
  in a random direction in 1 round and is no 
  longer considered anchored. This hazard only 
  affects anchored ships; otherwise, treat as the 
  Slippery Deck hazard. 
  41–45 
  Jammed Rudder: Steering becomes extremely 
  difficult. All Profession (sailor) checks are made 
  with a –10 penalty until the rudder is unjammed, 
  either via a successful DC 15 Craft (carpentry) 
  check or by casting warp wood or a similar spell. 
  46–55 
  Violent Swell: A single violent wave strikes the 
  vessel. All creatures on deck must succeed at a 
  DC 15 Reflex save or fall prone.
  56–60 
  Lashing Rigging: A rope comes loose, whipping 
  across deck. Creatures in a random 20-foot line 
  on deck must succeed at a DC 13 Reflex save or 
  take 2d6 points of nonlethal damage.
  61–65 
  Wind against Tide: The sea becomes a mass 
  of steep waves, reducing the ship’s movement 
  speed by half for 1 hour.
  66–68 
  Torn Sail: Strong winds tear a sail in twain. 
  If sails have been reefed or lowered already, 
  treat this as Lashing Rigging.
  69–71 
  Loose Cargo: Poorly secured items on deck 
  break free. Creatures in a random 20-foot 
  square take 3d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 
  15 half).
  72–74 
  Crew Member Overboard: Starting with the 
  creature on deck closest to the stern, 1d3 
  creatures adjacent to the side must make DC 
  16 Reflex saves in turn. If one creature fails, it 
  falls overboard and the others need not make 
  further saves. 
  75–77 
  Sprung a Leak: The vessel springs a minor 
  leak at a random location.
  78 –80 
  Spoiled Stores: Saltwater ruins 1d4 weeks of 
  dry stores or plunder (50% chance of either).
  81–83 
  Lost Lifeboat: A lifeboat or small vessel stowed 
  or in tow falls overboard or breaks free.
  84–86 
  Lightning Strike: Roll a d%. A bolt of lightning 
  strikes the vessel (01–60) or the character at 
  the highest point on deck (61–100). If more 
  than one character is at the same elevation, 
  the bolt hits the one wearing or carrying the 
  most metal. The bolt deals 4d6 points of 
  electricity damage on creatures struck (Reflex 
  DC 18 half).
  87–88 
  Broken Mast: One of the vessel’s masts snaps 
  in the wind. The mast falls overboard and, 
  unless cut free from all rigging and allowed to 
  float away, it pierces the hull in 2d6 rounds (see 
  Serious Hull Breach below).
  89–90 
  Broached: The vessel is blown over, flat against 
  the sea. The vessel rights itself in 1d4 rounds, but 
  creatures on deck must succeed at a DC 22 Reflex 
  save each round or fall overboard. Unsecured 
  cargo and equipment falls overboard.
  91–92 
  Submarined: The ship plunges down by the bow 
  under a huge oncoming wave. Treat this as a bull 
  rush with a CMB of +30 against all creatures on 
  deck. Those who fail are swept overboard.
  93–94 
  Pooped: A massive wave engulfs the vessel 
  unexpectedly from the stern. Treat as a bull 
  rush with a CMB of +30 against all characters 
  on deck, running stern to bow. Those who fail 
  are swept overboard. For the purposes of this 
  bull rush attempt, treat creatures as flat-footed.
  95–99 
  Two Hazards: Roll twice on this table with 
  the same Profession (sailor) check included 
  in this roll. Both of these hazards occur 
  simultaneously.
  100+ 
  Serious Hull Breach: The vessel’s hull is 
  punctured and it immediately begins to sink.
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  League of Drowned Ghosts
  Pathfinder’s Journal: The Treasure of Far Thallai 3 of 6
  S
  till groggy from a blow to the head, I rushed to 
  the edge of the rocky shelf, from which Otondo 
  had pulled the cyclops Megeus. He’d plummeted 
  with him more than a hundred feet to the coral shore of 
  Butcher’s Rock. My first thought was of suicide: Otondo 
  had freed himself from his magical indenture by taking 
  his life. Not to mention that of Megeus, whom we had come 
  merely to speak with. Another addendum, I saw, would 
  have to be added to the lengthening terms of the geas.
  Although it was a sound idea, I realized as soon as I 
  looked down that Otondo had maneuvered toward a less 
  permanent conclusion. He lay sprawled in the gravel 
  below, dazed and groaning. He’d let Megeus wrap him in 
  his arms, then pushed off, so that he landed on the cyclops. 
  It was only his opponent his rash move had killed.
  Then I saw Megeus briefly stir, before slumping again. 
  He might breathe, even now. 
  I remembered Megeus’s ally, a younger cyclops. As I 
  wheeled on him, he held up his arms in supplication. 
  “What’s your name?” I demanded.
  “Phagon.” Singed welts, marks of the wizardly lightning 
  bolt he’d taken during the scrap, were rising across his 
  body.
  “Is Twill Ninefingers here, Phagon?”
  “The human?” He shook his one-eyed head.
  “You didn’t eat him, did you?” Aspodell asked.
  “Some of us argued for it.”
  “Then what happened to him?”
  “Ask Megeus. If you haven’t murdered him.” He slumped 
  sulkily against the limestone cliff face.
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  “Aspodell,” I managed. “Take Seagrave with you and 
  search these ledges. Make sure he’s telling the truth.”
  Phagon produced an affronted grunt. Though he took 
  imputations of cannibalism in stride, it was apparently a 
  more serious matter to suggest he might tell a lie.
  Aspodell pointed his rapier tip at Phagon. “You lead us to 
  Megeus’s tent. Wouldn’t want to step in any traps, would we?”
  “You’ve no cause to trouble us,” Phagon complained.
  “We fly the black flag. You have no cause to deny us 
  your loot.”
  Rira led the way as we climbed down. By the time we 
  reached the shore, a group of twenty or so cyclopes had 
  gathered around Megeus and Otondo. I braced, ready for 
  them to rush us; they stepped away as we approached. Why 
  they gave us this freedom, I could not tell. I guessed that 
  Megeus had been their strongest champion, and that they 
  feared us because we’d bested him. Other explanations stood 
  as equally likely: that they deemed him unpopular and not 
  worth fighting for, or that they would wait until they knew 
  more about us before staging a true assault. I kept on guard 
  against abrupt alterations in the crowd’s demeanor.
  Otondo pulled himself to a sitting position. Kneeling 
  beside Megeus, I saw that the cyclops’s chest still rose and 
  fell. Aware of the risk of leaving myself alone with the 
  cyclopes, I instructed Rira to take the boat to the ship and 
  come back with healers. Equally aware that I might get 
  myself killed, Rira complied, her equanimity swift.
  That both ogre and cyclops had survived a drop that 
  would have ended any man was a wonder, but scarcely 
  inexplicable. The old saw tells us that the bigger they 
  are, the harder they fall; however, in my previous life as a 
  cloistered scholar, I learned that the larger and denser the 
  skeletal structure, the more evenly the impact of a fall is 
  dispersed through the body.
  Megeus recovered consciousness before the healers even 
  arrived. Our expenditure of salves and prayers on him 
  seemed to sway the crowd in our favor. I still could not 
  divine their full attitude toward Megeus. Perhaps, after 
  dispatching a thousand and one higher priorities, I will 
  one day dispatch a junior Pathfinder to research a treatise 
  on cyclops politics.
  “You got pigs aboard your ship?” Megeus asked, as our 
  salves ebbed his bruises away.
  He would take some easing before we reached the 
  subject of Twill Ninefingers. “Pork, but no pigs.”
  “I reckon it’s heavily brined.”
  “How else to preserve it?”
  “You humans and your salt. You spoil everything. What 
  else you got to eat?”
  “Megeus, you should be grateful for the repairs we’ve 
  done to your accursed carcass.”
  He caressed his throbbing skull. “Not when it was you 
  who made the need for them.”
  “A not unreasonable point. Tell us what you did with 
  Twill and perhaps I’ll find a morsel or two for you.”
  Megeus stared wistfully at the blue horizon. “I traded 
  ’im.”
  “Explain.”
  “Twill came here to hide out from someone who was 
  chasing ’im. He brought two barrels of pickled eggs, a 
  cask of jerky, a—”
  “Skip the inventory part.”
  “Then let’s say we ate what he brung us, and then he let 
  slip exactly who he was fleeing from.”
  “Kered Firsk the Flayer, the Monster Captain.”
  Megeus blanched. “We had no wish for a fight with the 
  likes of that.”
  “So you traded him to Kered Firsk.”
  “We would’ve, but we got another offer first. Ghosts. 
  Their isle, Drowningtide, arose from the depths in the 
  wake of a blistering storm. They came at night, all green 
  and see-through. They offered us shark meat, deep-water 
  oysters, and a family of merfolk. It seemed a worthy trade, 
  so I put Twill in a sack and handed ’im over.”
  “They sensed you had a human with you?”
  “They called ’im by name.”
  “And how can you be sure they weren’t in cahoots with 
  Kered Firsk?”
  He shrugged, then winced at the effort. “Maybe they 
  were. I cared not about their intent, but the quality of their 
  provender. Those merfolk were firm and fresh.”
  Aspodell and Seagrave returned from their search of the 
  hills, hauling sacks of loot. “Wait now!” Megeus rose in 
  protest, then wobbled, seized by dizziness.
  “The man we seek? You sold him to ghosts. When we 
  came to talk, you attacked and tried to kill us. If you’d won, 
  you’d have drunk our blood and chewed our flesh. All of 
  these offenses warrant punitive action. You’re lucky we 
  only care to confiscate your goods, and not those of your 
  neighbors.” I spoke this last part clearly, for the benefit 
  of the crowd. One by one, Megeus’s neighbors slunk off 
  to their caves and tents. They proved themselves ready to 
  defend their own hoards, but not to form a united front.
  As we left for the boat, Otondo leaned down and grinned. 
  “I’d never eat a merman,” he said.
  “Stop talking now, Otondo.”
  “Too fishy.”
  Once back on the ship, I met with my adjutants in the 
  captain’s quarters.
  Aspodell lounged with his bony backside in one chair 
  and his long legs slung over the arms of another. He drank 
  port from a tiny crystal glass. It was among the liquors 
  we’d confiscated from the confiscators back in Moonplum.
  Otondo paced like a caged bear, as he did when no better 
  distraction presented itself.
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  Seagrave and Rira sorted through the bag of treasure 
  we had taken from the cyclops. Seagrave stacked coins 
  and counted pearls. Rira poked through potion bottles 
  and assorted gewgaws. Among them she identified a 
  magic ring, which one of our sailors could use in place 
  of armor. The bottles, she said, contained doses of water-
  lung. They would prove themselves useful, likely sooner 
  than not. Many of the Shackles’ predicaments grow easier 
  when one can breathe underwater.
  I knew of Drowningtide from accounts in books, none of 
  whose authors had set foot on any isle of the Shackles. “What 
  can we say for certain about this ghost isle, Seagrave?”
  He answered without slowing his counting. “Never been 
  there, ma’am. It moves around, perhaps in keeping with 
  the moontides. It’s an isle of drowned men.”
  “You’ve not been?”
  “Thank the sea fates, no.” Like several of the crew—who 
  may well have picked it up from him—Seagrave subscribed 
  to a peculiar sort of faith. It held that pirates and sailors 
  were more tightly bound by the forces of destiny than 
  land-dwellers. These forces he personified as sodden hags 
  called the sea fates. After long years sailing together, I still 
  had no idea whether he regarded the sea fates as genuine 
  entities, or only metaphor. Perhaps one day I will learn the 
  truth, and write it in another journal like this one. “And 
  how does one wind up on this ghost isle?” I asked him.
  “Gozreh the ocean-god is a possessive deity. When the 
  waters of the Shackles claim a man’s life, Gozreh cleaves to 
  him and does not let him go. When the sailor’s soul swims 
  to the surface from its watery grave, he sometimes finds 
  himself on Drowningtide’s misty shores. That’s as close to 
  land, life, or celestial rest as he’ll ever get.”
  “And what can we expect when we get there?”
  Otondo stopped his pacing long enough to shudder. 
  Seeing that I observed him, he went on as before, 
  pretending to be untroubled. 
  “Hard to separate guess from truth, as them what lands 
  there never comes back, even if they still breathed when 
  they arrived. Safe to say only that it’s a melancholy place, 
  more of the sea than the land. They say that drowning is 
  contagious there.”
  “What does that mean?”
  “Hanged if I know.”
  “And what would they want with Twill? Why would a 
  ghost want a lock broken?”
  “I would not care to guess, ma’am.”
  Rira spoke up. “It won’t be that, Challys Argent. The 
  possessions ghosts carry with them are only memories, 
  as half-substantial as the stray souls themselves. A flesh-
  and-blood man could no more open a ghostly lock than 
  wield a ghostly sword.”
  “I have seen that said,” I allowed. I recalled the fact from 
  the tattered copy of Maleg’s Realms of the Dead once housed 
  in the archive of my youth. “But let’s not decide ahead of 
  time what ghosts can and cannot do.”
  Rira slowly nodded her mask at me, admitting the point.
  “So then how do we find Drowningtide?”
  From the pile of assorted loot she plucked a tool 
  consisting of a flat handle and a long, thin spike. The 
  spike terminated in a small circular form.
  “A lock pick,” said Aspodell.
  “Yes,” said Rira, “One item from a matched kit. Well-
  kept. Not encrusted with dirt and mildew like the rest of 
  Megeus’s hoard.”
  “And therefore Twill’s, mostly likely,” I said.
  Rira rose from her chair. “If we are lucky, I can focus on it 
  and behold its mates.” She withdrew from beneath my bunk 
  a copper cask I required her to store with me. Through her 
  months of magical captivity, I kept to my promise to leave 
  it unmolested. I suspected that it would not open if I tried.
  We retreated from my cabin. Seagrave lingered at the 
  threshold long enough to jab meaningfully at the stacks of 
  counted coins. Rira’s mask muffled a contemptuous snort. 
  I closed the door; we stood close by and waited. A low 
  clattering sound marked Rira’s unpacking of items from 
  her cask. Arcane chanting followed, in her sharp and 
  husky voice. At length a vapor curled over the doorjamb. It 
  smelled of seaweed and cinnamon. We heard the bang of a 
  small gong, after which the incantation ended. After a few 
  moments to repack her oracular implements, Rira opened 
  the door. “Southwest,” she said. “Two hundred degrees.”
  For ten hours we sailed. Rira repeated her magic, 
  whatever it was, twice more. After her last divination, she 
  announced that we’d reached our destination. I climbed to 
  the aft deck to survey a placid ocean. Sunset threw flecks of 
  gold- and salmon-colored light onto the Fever Sea. By the 
  charts we were on the northern edge of the island cluster 
  we call the Shackles. The closest land was a large island 
  about twenty miles to the south.
  “There?” I asked Rira, pointing to it.
  “No, there,” she said, indicating the empty ocean just 
  ahead. “Not yet, but there. Drop anchor. We’ll have time to 
  fortify ourselves. It’s always best to be well fed—and more 
  important still, halfway drunk—when rubbing shoulders 
  with ghosts.”
  We did as Rira said. I ordered the anchor dropped and 
  joined my adjutants at table. We ate oysters and conch with 
  pickled cabbage. From my cabinet I withdrew a bottle of 
  muscat I’d been saving. We finished it and another lesser 
  bottle besides. Otondo, for his part, turned up his nose at 
  the wine, sticking to his usual ghastly rum. It was strange, 
  to drink with them as might a friend. Under the influence 
  of the vine, Rira and Seagrave softened, seeming to despise 
  me less. Aspodell and the ogre balanced the equation with 
  ever more vicious snarls and glares.
  A shaft of moonlight speared through a porthole.
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  “Now,” said Rira. We rose on just slightly unsteady feet 
  and strode to starboard. Above, the moon had slipped 
  from behind a bank of clouds. It shone down on the waters, 
  illuminating a floating city of the dead.
  Indistinct and contradictory, Drowningtide shimmered, 
  a place from an ever-shifting dream. Luminous spires 
  rose up from a coral base to fill the sky. They recalled, 
  in hazy detail, the styles of a dozen towns. A looming 
  bulwark styled itself like a fortress of Mendev. Turrets 
  evoked a Brevic keep. Beside them jostled a Qadiran 
  minaret, a bronze mantis dome of Mediogalti, and an echo 
  of Fortress Fangspire. Amid them thrust assortments of 
  masts and sails. Loops of rotting rigging, festooned with 
  seaweed, hung between them. There were more towers 
  and roofs than foundations; many of the structures, 
  as if left unfinished by a distracted painter, faded out 
  where their foundations ought to have been.
  Portals appeared in these uncertain structures. 
  Figures issued forth, translucent, their edges 
  overlapping. Phantasmal water streamed from them 
  to pool around their hazy feet. Their forms 
  testified to the grotesqueries of death by 
  drowning. Some were bloated and blackened, 
  swollen heads lolling on overwhelmed necks. 
  The incorporeal flesh of others bore the bite 
  marks of scavenging fish. Gobbets of skin and 
  flesh floated from them as if they were still 
  underwater. A few appeared relatively 
  intact; I imagined that they’d been pulled 
  from the water shortly after dying. Ghostly 
  costumes varied from the pirate motley of the 
  Shackles to those affected by the merchant 
  and naval fleets of Rahadoum, Cheliax, 
  Varisia, and Absalom.
  In a mass, the ghosts milled toward 
  a point on the shore closest to the 
  Aspidochelone. They stood silently, 
  arms at their sides, expressions at 
  once woebegone and expectant.
  “We’re taking a boat,” I told my adjutants.
  “Are you certain?” asked Aspodell.
  “You don’t want to invite them here, do 
  you?”
  “On second thought, no.”
  The five of us clambered down to a boat.
  Otondo hesitated by the rail. “And men 
  who drown in the Shackles ends up here?”
  Seagrave had climbed only a few feet 
  onto the rope ladder. “So it is said.”
  “This will be bad.”
  “Why is that?”
  “How many men have you 
  had drowned, Seagrave?”
  They exchanged trepidatious looks, shrugged, and 
  joined us in the boat.
  As the two of them rowed us toward the shore, a chill 
  suffused the tropical air. By the time its nose touched 
  the ephemeral island, my arms were a landscape of 
  goosebumps. Seagrave tested the island’s solidity. To our 
  collective surprise, it held his weight unyieldingly. Otondo 
  hopped out, great cutlass in hand.
  “Stow that,” I said, my lips unmoving.
  After the standard show of reluctance, the ogre complied. 
  The rest of us stepped from the boat; he and Seagrave pulled 
  it farther up onto the eerie shore. 
  I took a central position, flanked by the others. 
  A gaunt, shirtless ghost in a whaler’s cap 
  separated himself from the pack and bowed to 
  greet us. His left arm was missing, along with 
  a good chunk of shoulder. The adjoining 
  portion of his torso showed the slashing 
  scars of a shark attack. In his extant hand 
  he carried a long harpoon. He held it with 
  dignity, as one might a ceremonial staff.
  I was glad of the wine coursing through 
  my veins. Middling drunkenness lent a 
  leavening absurdity to the proceedings. 
  By emphasizing the unreality of the 
  situation, it somewhat blunted the 
  horror. “I am Challys Argent, of 
  the Aspidochelone,” I said, bowing 
  in return. “We have no wish to 
  disturb your rest, but—”
  “You cannot disturb what 
  we do not have, pirate.“ The 
  ghost’s voice reverberated, out 
  of synch with the movement 
  of its lips. “This existence is far 
  from restful.”
  “I sympathize with your plight.”
  “Then you will grant us solace, in 
  the form of your company. We shall lay on a feast.”
  I bowed again. “There is no need, for we have just 
  eaten. Who do I have the honor of addressing, sir?”
  The ghost’s pale brow knitted in dismay. “You 
  must excuse my lapse. Drowningtide receives 
  few visitors. We have lost the knack for 
  courtesy. I am Geor. Known in my day as Geor 
  Whalespotter. Though that name is not used 
  here. Come with us to our banquet hall.”
  “We do not wish to trouble you.”
  “Who knows what thoughts 
  hide behind Rira’s iron mask?”
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  Crimson undertones pulsed through his transparent 
  frame. “We insist.”
  I gave him a third bow and trooped after him. “We come 
  in search of someone.”
  “Let us spend frivolous time at table first, and speak of 
  weighty matters when the port is served.”
  “His name is Twill Ninefingers.”
  A gout of seawater dribbled down Geor’s lips. “That 
  name may hold significance. Reward us with your 
  fellowship, and I’ll say more.”
  “Is he here, then?”
  “Come along.”
  The ghosts thronged around us, whispering and 
  chattering. The sound crawled across the back of my neck like 
  a bug. They pressed in tight. They smelled us and tugged at 
  our garments. I flinched as ghostly hands came near. When 
  I could not avoid their touch, they seared my skin with cold.
  We proceeded to a weird building I had not seen from 
  the shore. It was a keep constructed from the remains of 
  wrecked ships, fused together by some unknowable undead 
  process. A trio of prows jutted from the asymmetrical 
  structure, two to the left and one to the right. An 
  assortment of crow’s nests competed for supremacy atop 
  its gabled roof. Chalky barnacles dotted its surface. The 
  front doors, which now swung open, were fashioned from 
  rudders sized for seafaring giants.
  They opened into a vast hall composed of several decks, 
  laid on top of one another. Rope ladders connected the 
  levels. We walked on sodden velvet carpet to the nearest 
  ladder. The ghosts floated up; we climbed, fearing for 
  the structure’s solidity. On the highest deck, a long table 
  stretched before us. Tarnished silver cutlery flanked 
  chipped and mismatched plates. Nautilus-shell goblets 
  awaited the pouring of wine.
  A good four dozen places had been set, with chairs to 
  match. On the decks below, more ghosts gathered, faces 
  forlornly upraised. I found myself wondering what protocol 
  they used to award the coveted spots at the head table. Then 
  I reminded myself that the social strata of phantasmal 
  society was the least of the questions I ought to be asking.
  The pushing ghosts separated us from one another, 
  surrounding us to enact a bizarre parody of a grand soiree. 
  They herded me toward a railing. Each of my adjutants they 
  buttonholed in like fashion. I saw Otondo baring his teeth, 
  Seagrave clutching his stomach, and Aspodell disguising his 
  discomfiture behind a barracuda grin. Rira alone, hidden 
  behind her mask, maintained a semblance of composure.
  In hissing tones, the Drowningtiders barraged us with 
  questions:
  “Does Naleno Long-Tress still dance at the Red Dolphin?”
  “What year is it?”
  “My name is Komak Kos Sab. Do any now sing of my 
  deeds?”
  “I beg you to take a message to my mother at Maquino. It 
  is a small village on the northern—”
  “Are there any of the old faith still left in the Cinderlands?”
  Geor appeared at my shoulder. “Those four. They stand 
  beside you, but not freely.”
  “No.”
  “You have enslaved them?”
  “I prefer to say that they are imprisoned, and furloughed 
  to my care. My sword—”
  The ghost waved an impatient, blurry hand. “Ghosts 
  find many subjects uninteresting. The mechanics of your 
  dominance over them would be an example. You may care 
  to know that you have dulled our days in Drowningtide.”
  “How so?”
  “We depend on new drownings to swell our ranks. Few 
  flesh-folk visit our lonely home. With a flow of newcomers 
  comes fresh experience, no matter how vicarious.”
  “The 
  ghosts of 
  Drowningtide 
  are perhaps too 
  hospitable.”
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  “What has that to do with me?”
  “No one sent more sailors to the sea’s damp embrace 
  than those four. You prevent them from pirating now?”
  “I bend their savagery toward positive ends.”
  Geor’s inner light flickered. “You deprive us of fresh souls.”
  I backed into the railing, conscious of how far I would 
  topple if I lost my balance. “If fewer are dying than would 
  have otherwise, I find it hard to reproach myself.” A curious 
  elation added itself to my fear and disorientation. The 
  dead man had confirmed my greatest hope. By collecting 
  my band of adjutants, I’d saved lives, and many of them. 
  Whatever happened to me when the final toll came due 
  would be worth it.
  Geor pushed himself closer. “You shine with a lovely 
  madness.”
  I slid along the railing, evading him. A witty retort 
  nearly came to mind. I have never been as good with them 
  as I would like.
  “You could be my bride,” he said.
  “I refuse all such proposals, from the living and the 
  dead alike.”
  Geor slid through a mass of ghosts to ring a ship’s bell 
  suspended near the table. The clang cut through me like 
  a blade. I checked my adjutants; they too winced in pain. 
  “It is time to sit with our guests, and eat, and drink,” 
  Geor announced. 
  The ghosts shoved us until we sat, arranging us so that 
  none were near any of the others. Geor took his spot at 
  the head of the table. The drowned whaler positioned me 
  to his right. Clay amphorae appeared, borne by phantom 
  cabin boys. They poured a red liquid into the goblets. It 
  was the red of wine on the verge of turning to vinegar, and 
  smelled like brackish water. Geor raised his goblet. “To a 
  cessation from our solitude, no matter how brief.”
  As the ghosts consumed the ethereal liquid, a compensating 
  quantity of water poured from their noses and ears.
  I raised my goblet, but did not drink. “There are 
  hundreds of you. How can you call yourselves alone?”
  Geor’s ghost-form wavered. “Without the spark of life, it 
  is not the same.”
  “Again, I express my sorrow at your plight. It is not right 
  that souls should be kept on Golarion, simply because they 
  have the misfortune to drown. Now, if I might ask you 
  about Twill Ninefingers...”
  “He and I have much in common,” said Geor. “And 
  much to settle, between us.”
  “Why did he not join us at this feast?”
  Geor edged toward me, his ghost-vapors fading through 
  those of the table. “You did not drink.”
  I adjusted my position, ensuring an unimpeded draw if I 
  needed my sword. “As I said from the outset, we have come 
  here neither thirsty nor hungry. Please do not consider it a 
  slight against your hospitality.”
  An angry groan hissed from the drowned host.
  “You will drink, Challys Argent, and you will command 
  your slaves to do the same.”
  I wrapped my fingers around the goblet. “I am sorry 
  to say it, Geor Whalespotter, but I suspect that this is a 
  drowning potion, and that if we partake, we’ll be with you 
  here forever.”
  Geor swarmed at me through a suddenly dispersing 
  table. Ghosts clawed my arms and back, the chill of their 
  touch now multiplied tenfold. I swept my cutlass free. It 
  slashed through them, its magic granting it at least some 
  purchase against their soul-stuff.
  My adjutants, like any pirate captains worthy of the 
  title, also wielded weapons of some enchantment. These 
  slashed through ephemeral bodies, which dispersed and 
  then reformed, somewhat diminished.
  Despite these swipes, the ghosts swarmed in. They 
  struck back at us not with fist or blade, but with solitude. It 
  weighed me down, buckling my knees, pushing me to the 
  deck. The others folded, too. Aspodell dropped his rapier, 
  hands clawed and teeth clenched. Rira went limp against 
  a railing. Otondo gibbered, weaving on his feet like a 
  drunken man who has forgotten how to fall. Seagrave I 
  could not see at all. 
  With each gelid touch their bitterness invaded me. Dead 
  and thwarted aspirations cracked through my certitude. 
  My own thoughts turned traitor. Yes, they said, this island 
  of ghosts is where you belong. You killed yourself the moment you 
  enslaved the first of your adjutants. One day one of them will get 
  you. But if you let yourself die here, on your own terms.... At least 
  then it will not be one of them that slays you.
  In a vision, I beheld myself as a ghost, among the 
  legion here, dining at their table, forever drinking their 
  wine of drowning. The four of them would sit at my side, 
  prevented forever—more decisively than by the geases of 
  Siren Call—from wreaking murder in the lands of the 
  living. If I wished to sacrifice myself, I could do it now and 
  here and permanently.
  I fought these false thoughts. They were not my own, and 
  only felt as the result of ghostly trickery. The enthrallment 
  of the four captains, I reminded myself, was only a means 
  toward the true goal, the quest for lost and stolen lore. In 
  an eternity on Drowningtide, I’d recover not a scroll, not a 
  scrap of a footnote...
  The ghosts subsumed themselves into a single suffocating 
  mass. The fortress of ships lost substance. The ghosts had 
  fashioned it from their unslaked desires. Now they shifted 
  its essence to their foremost wish: our demises.
  I’d stopped breathing, I realized, and wondered if my 
  last breath had already been taken in and exhaled.
  My fingers spread out on the deck. I could see through 
  them. They withered and flickered. 
  I was becoming a ghost.
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  Bestiary
  “Full sails, captains! Fulfill your oaths to me!” Mad Captain Yspane’s manic 
  bellow reverberated off the timbers of the curio-crammed cabin. My cutlass 
  still leveled at his chest, I started to repeat my demand for surrender when 
  something struck the blade’s length, ricocheting with a sound clang. About 
  me, more than a dozen miniature, bottle-bound vessels—knickknacks I’d 
  taken for another of the madman’s obsessions—had sailed from their shelves, 
  plying invisible waves of open air. Upon each, tiny figures scampered across 
  timbers like toothpicks, training toy weapons upon me, loosing volleys of 
  stinging bolts in time with the mad captain’s mocking laughter.”
  —Confession of the Rabid Gull
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  All manner of unnatural beings and storied sea creatures 
  fill this month’s entry into the Pathfinder Bestiary.
  ShipS, SailorS, and other VictimS
  Numerous vessels might cross the PCs’ path as they ply 
  the Fever Sea, some easy prey for piracy, others death 
  ships in disguise. GMs seeking an appropriately nautical 
  random encounter might have any of the following 
  vessels appear on the horizon. Each of the ship entries 
  below lists where GMs can find the stats for their crews, 
  whether they be monsters from various Bestiaries or 
  repurposed NPC stat blocks from the Pathfinder RPG 
  GameMastery Guide. GMs looking for more tools to help 
  them conduct their boarding raids and shipboard battles 
  should also be sure to check out GameMastery Flip-Map: 
  Pirate Ship or GameMastery Map Pack: Ship’s Cabins.
  Curio: Less a pirate ship than a floating emporium, the 
  Curio stays anchored on the western edge of the Eye of 
  Abendego. This ex-cargo vessel acts as the hub for a small 
  cadre of buccaneers who specialize in well-coordinated 
  nautical heists rather than the typical smash-and-
  grab jobs favored by most of their compatriots. The 
  otherworldly mercane who captains the Curio is a reliable 
  and well-paying fence for all manner of stolen magical 
  items, making him a popular figure among sagacious 
  privateers. Known simply as Big Blue, this outsider is more 
  of an extralegal entrepreneur than a pirate. Guarded only 
  by a few mephit servants and the abjurations granted by 
  his inventory, the strange mercane relies predominantly 
  on his girth and mysterious reputation to deter would-
  be assailants. If attacked, Big Blue (Bestiary 2 188) and 
  1d4 water mephits (Bestiary 203) defend the Curio—a CR 
  7 encounter. 
  Red Wish: Once a small-time operation with a poor 
  reputation, the crew of the Red Wish has recently enjoyed 
  a significant run of luck in the Shackles. The catalyst was 
  little more than an accident, though the upstart crew 
  may boast otherwise. While out on the Arcadian Ocean, 
  preying on their usual diet of whaling ships and hard-luck 
  merchant vessels, the crew of the Red Wish happened upon 
  a well-equipped ship named the Cockatrice f loundering 
  in the aftermath of a brine dragon attack. The pirate 
  crew eagerly seized the opportunity for an easy score, and 
  quickly overwhelmed the still-reeling sailors. Among 
  the contents of the Cockatrice’s cargo was an incredible 
  find for the pirates: a set of four strange Azlanti statues, 
  discovered upon some nameless ruin-littered island. 
  The crew of the Red Wish have sequestered these metallic 
  sculptures in their hold and are on their way to Corentyn 
  to sell them. If attacked, the Red Wish fields 2d4 shipmates 
  (GameMastery Guide 294) as well as the captain (use the 
  stats for a guard on page 260 of the GameMastery Guide). 
  During the battle, though, something awakens 1d4 of 
  statues, which function as clockwork servants (Bestiary 3 
  56). This is a CR 6 encounter.
  Sea Jackal: Most other pirates gladly avoid the Sea 
  Jackal, which is well-known throughout the Shackles for 
  its gruesomely disfigured and fanatically sadistic crew. 
  Scuttlebutt has it that the ship’s captain, Kassim ibn Sayyir, 
  was a prosperous Ketapeshi slaver who left his home port 
  one day with a ship full of slaves and never returned. He 
  resurfaced over a year later, having repurposed his ship 
  as a raiding vessel and his former slaves as buccaneers. 
  Worshipers of Lamashtu, the pirates aboard the Jackal are 
  known to practice elaborate forms of self-mutilation, and 
  inflict the same upon their captives. Lamashtu’s blessings 
  for the crew’s grisly perversions are evidenced by the yeth 
  hound padding constantly at its captain’s side. Captain 
  ibn Sayyir (use the stats for a torturer on page 278 of the 
  GameMastery Guide), his yeth hound (Bestiary 286), and 
  1d4 cultists (GameMastery Guide 271) eagerly attack any 
  ship they encounter, demanding flesh-bound tributes 
  to Lamashtu, while the less zealous crew members hang 
  back. The crew of the Sea Jackal is a CR 7 encounter.
  PORT PERIL 
  RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
  d% 
  Result 
  Avg. CR Source
  1–5 
  1 raider 
  5 
  GMG* 280
  6–10 
  1 barkeep, 1d4 drunkards 
  5 
  GMG 303
  11–13 
  2d4 wererats 
  6 
  Bestiary 197
  14–20 2d6 rabid riding dogs 
  6 
  Bestiary 87
  21–24 2 turnkeys, 1d6 prisoners 
  7 
  GMG 271, 270
  25–29 1d10 cockroach swarms 
  7 
  Bestiary 2 58
  30–35 1 sellsword 
  7 
  GMG 283
  36–38 1 soucouyant 
  8 
  Isles of the  
   
   
   
  Shackles 61
  39–45 1d6 traveling merchants 
  8 
  GMG 285
  46–51 1 priest 
  8 
  GMG 305
  52–57 
  1d4 tupilaqs 
  9 
  Bestiary 3 275
  58–63 1 merchant prince 
  9 
  GMG 285
  64–68 1 alchemical golem 
  9 
  Bestiary 2 135
  69–73 1 coral golem 
  9 
  Isles of the  
   
   
   
  Shackles 47
  74–80 2 first mates 
  10  
  GMG 295
  81–85 1d6 duppies 
  10 
  Isles of the  
   
   
   
  Shackles 48 
  86–90 1 guild master 
  10 
  GMG 267
  91–95 1 pirate captain 
  11 
  GMG 281
  96–99 1 bandit lord 
  11 
  GMG 259
  100 
  1 athach 
  12 
  Bestiary 2 33
  * Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide
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  Comozant Wyrd
  Comozant Wyrd 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  N Small outsider (air, elemental, extraplanar, incorporeal)
  Init +7; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +13
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 15 (+4 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 size)
  hp 27 (5d10)
  Fort +1, Ref +9, Will +7
  Defensive Abilities incorporeal, plasma form; Immune cold, 
  electricity, elemental traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (good)
  Special Attacks lightning lash
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +11)
  2/day—control weather (standard action; intensify or dispel 
  storm only)
  STATISTICS
  Str —, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 8, Wis 17, Cha 18
  Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 21 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
  Skills Diplomacy +12, Fly +13, Knowledge (nature) +3, 
  Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13
  Languages Auran, illuminating flames
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean (during storms)
  Organization solitary
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Illuminating Flames (Su) As a standard action, a comozant 
  wyrd may shroud the upper halves of any Small or larger 
  creatures it can see within 30 feet in cold, buzzing flames 
  similar to the wyrd’s own. Any degree of electricity resistance 
  blocks this effect, unless the target willingly submits. 
  Otherwise the flames persist until the wyrd is out of range. 
  Because of the flames’ glow and buzz, targets of this effect 
  take a –10 penalty on Stealth checks.
  A comozant wyrd can communicate empathically with 
  creatures subject to this effect, gaining a +4 racial bonus on 
  Sense Motive checks when doing so. Interacting with a wyrd 
  in this way still uses standard social skills and rules. While 
  communicating in this fashion, a comozant wyrd can confer 
  unexpected insight or information equivalent to the result of 
  a divination spell.
  Lightning Lash (Su) As a standard action that does not provoke 
  attacks of opportunity, a comozant wyrd can shock any 
  creature or object within 30 feet to which it has line of effect, 
  dealing 2d8 points of electricity damage. The wyrd can choose 
  for this damage to be nonlethal. If the target is currently 
  affected by the wyrd’s illuminating flames, the target is 
  stunned for a round and the flames are dispelled. A creature 
  affected by the combination can resist being stunned with a 
  successful DC 16 Fortitude save. The DC is Charisma-based.
  Plasma Form (Ex) Although incorporeal, a comozant wyrd 
  cannot hide inside solid objects. It must start its turn 
  attached to the outside of something solid and of Small size 
  or larger, or it takes 5 points of damage. Anyone attacking 
  the wyrd must take a –4 penalty on the attack roll, or resolve 
  the attack against whatever the wyrd is attached to as well.
  A comozant wyrd appears to be approximately 3 feet 
  of heatless blue or violet plasma jutting from solid, 
  protruding objects (usually a mast or spar of a ship). It 
  flickers like flame, and its only static features resemble 
  those of a humanoid face. Manifested on the Material 
  Plane, the creature emits an uncanny buzzing, hissing 
  noise, but does not consume creatures or objects it touches. 
  Creatures adjacent to it or to targets of its illuminating 
  flames often find their hair literally standing on end and 
  their bodies crawling with harmless but unnerving sparks.
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  ecology
  Comozant wyrds are most often encountered in the 
  hearts of Golarion’s greatest storms, particularly the Eye 
  of Abendego and the smaller storms it spawns. They are 
  incredibly rare, and almost always solitary; no sightings 
  on land have ever been reported.
  Because they are so rare and their natural environment 
  makes detached study improbable, few creatures on Golarion 
  even know of comozant wyrds, let alone understand their 
  nature. Citing their command of storms, some speculate 
  that the wyrds are infant forms of an unknown breed of 
  storm elementals, but others say they are fey spirits, born 
  in the moment they appear and existing only for the brief 
  time they shine.
  habitat & Society
  Comozant wyrds have no society as such. Seafarers regard 
  them with considerable awe for the danger and mystery 
  that attend them, but few are brave enough to attempt 
  conversation with living plasma on a wooden ship, especially 
  mid-tempest. Displaying such mettle is a sure way to earn 
  considerable respect from any ordinary sailor—persuading 
  a wyrd to abate its storm could inspire outright awe.
  Comozant wyrds rarely speak even to those fluent 
  in Auran, preferring to communicate in a more primal 
  way, using their illuminating flames. Those who have 
  “conversed” with a wyrd in this way describe an alien 
  mode of communication that is as much raw emotion 
  and image as it is concept and word, and a mysterious 
  mixture of knowledge and ignorance. For instance, when 
  first encountered, a wyrd apparently does not understand 
  how different from itself mortals are, or how dangerous 
  storms are to mortal creatures. Overlying everything is an 
  unsettlingly alien but somehow childlike inquisitiveness, 
  mixed with rage or fear if the wyrd feels threatened.
  The form this interest takes can vary widely. One report 
  describes spending half an hour in communion with a 
  wyrd, exchanging detailed mental images of elemental and 
  humanoid creatures’ anatomies and behaviors while the 
  storm raged unheeded around them. Another speaks of a 
  wyrd chasing the entire crew of a pirate schooner around 
  the deck of the ship with electrical attacks, punishing those 
  who slowed, and stopping only when half the crew was dead. 
  A third author writes of being flooded with comprehension 
  of the nature of the cosmos in a single ecstatic instant, only 
  for the wyrd to banish its own storm and disappear.
  Such vanishing is a reasonably common occurrence 
  in non-hostile encounters with comozant wyrds. Several 
  accounts agree that once wyrds understand the peril in 
  which storms place mortals, they use their command of 
  the weather to end the storm, even though this apparently 
  forces them to either leave or vanish altogether. To some, 
  this suggests that comozant wyrds possess at least some 
  respect for life, and that what seems like cruelty may 
  simply be uncomprehending curiosity, even playfulness. 
  Naturally, those who have suffered at a wyrd’s whim are 
  unsympathetic to this view.
  One of the few things almost all accounts agree on is that 
  the touch of a comozant wyrd’s illuminating flames seems 
  to confer sudden insight. Judging by images glimpsed 
  in wyrds’ minds, they appear to know, but not always 
  understand, things that they glimpse in the thoughts, pasts, 
  and entanglements of those with whom they converse. On 
  one occasion, this has led to a traveler learning that one 
  of her companions was in the pay of a hated rival. Other 
  authors recount glimpses of scenes relevant to them that 
  were happening at that precise moment halfway around 
  the world, scenes of which nobody on board could possibly 
  be aware. One way or another, very few of the available 
  reports fail to mention the author glimpsing a secret she 
  could not otherwise learn, an answer—or at least a hint—
  to a puzzle she had been attempting to solve, or a flash of 
  inspiration that enabled her to complete some great work. 
  These tales lead some desperate souls to seek out storms to 
  sail into, hoping for answers they can find nowhere else.
  Comozant wyrds themselves do not seem to have a 
  discernible agenda from moment to moment, or indeed 
  to place very much weight on past experience. They will 
  attack—or, conversely, stop fighting and “parley”—
  without hesitation, based purely on whether they feel 
  their immediate situation warrants it. This is not to say 
  that they forget past behavior, but they seem to bear few 
  grudges. They react badly when they detect deception, 
  however, seemingly regarding it as only a short step down 
  from outright violence.
  ST. ELMO’S FIRE
  St. Elmo’s fire (also known by the obscure English word 
  “comozant,” among others) is a pale, flamelike glow, typically 
  blue or violet and often accompanied by an electrical 
  buzzing or drone. A harmless natural phenomenon caused 
  by atmospheric imbalances in electrical charge, similar 
  to the aurora borealis and the insides of plasma globes, 
  it appears around protrusions such as masts, chimneys, 
  spear tips, or horns, and occasionally on people as well. 
  It usually, but not always, appears during storms. Like the 
  wyrd’s illuminating flames, it sheds light as a candle, and 
  characters and items it touches take a –10 penalty on 
  Stealth checks, but there are no directly harmful effects. 
  Its dim illumination has no special effect on creatures 
  vulnerable to light, and can be quelled by any spell that 
  creates darkness or provides resistance to electricity.
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  Shark
  anguStiden
  This majestic beast glides through the water with murderous 
  intent. Its thick-toothed maw is wide enough for a human to 
  stand in, and its body stretches back more than 20 feet. 
  Angustiden 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  N Gargantuan animal (aquatic)
  Init +1; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +19
  DEFENSE
  AC 16, touch 7, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +9 natural, –4 size)
  hp 105 (10d8+60)
  Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +3
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 90 ft.
  Melee bite +13 (2d8+15/18–20 plus grab)
  Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  Special Attacks grab, powerful jaws
  STATISTICS
  Str 31, Dex 12, Con 23, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 4
  Base Atk +7; CMB +21 (+25 grapple, +23 sunder); CMD 32  
  (+34 grapple)
  Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Sunder, Lunge, 
  Skill Focus (Perception)
  Skills Perception +19, Swim +18
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Powerful Jaws (Ex) The teeth of the angustiden are so sharp 
  and tough that they make light work of almost any material. 
  When the angustiden makes a successful grapple attempt 
  following the use of its grab ability, it automatically makes 
  a sunder attempt against the armor worn by the creature 
  grappled as a free action. Each round the grapple is 
  maintained it makes another sunder attempt against its 
  victim’s armor.
  The angustiden is a gargantuan hunter of the deep sea. 
  The size and ferocity of this behemoth are matched only by 
  those of the megalodon, and it counts even the great white 
  shark among its prey. Its foot-long, dense, and jagged teeth 
  tear through anything they choose to clamp down on, and 
  very few creatures manage to leave such an embrace with all 
  of their body parts.
  great White Shark
  This immense silvery beast oozes strength, power, and speed. Its 
  gigantic maw is lined with rows of ragged-looking teeth, and its 
  pitch-black, emotionless eyes give nothing away.
  Great White Shark 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  N Huge animal (aquatic)
  Init +6; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +9 natural, –2 size)
  hp 38 (4d8+20)
  Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +4
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 90 ft.
  Melee bite +8 (2d6+10)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  STATISTICS
  Str 25, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 1, Wis 16, Cha 6
  Base Atk +3; CMB +12; CMD 24
  Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative
  Skills Perception +10, Swim +15
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary, pair, school (3–6), or pack (7–13)
  Treasure none
  Among the largest of predatory fish, great white sharks 
  speed through the world’s oceans, perpetually hunting.
  hammerhead Shark
  Beneath this sleek gray shark’s unusually shaped head, a 
  disproportionately small mouth flashes with razor-sharp teeth.
  Hammerhead Shark 
  CR 3
  XP 800
  N Large animal (aquatic)
  Init +7; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +10
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+3 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
  hp 30 (4d8+12)
  Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +4
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 60 ft.
  Melee bite +7 (1d8+7)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  STATISTICS
  Str 21, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 1, Wis 16, Cha 6
  Base Atk +3; CMB +9; CMD 22
  Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative
  Skills Perception +10, Swim +13
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary, pair, school (3–6), or pack (7–13)
  Treasure none
  Hammerheads’ heads give them a wider field of vision and 
  allow them to pin prey to the seafloor before devouring it.
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  helicoprion
  This creature resembles an ordinary shark from tail to mouth, 
  but the unusual shape of its lower jaw marks it as something 
  else. A whorl of teeth spirals inward, tiny at the centre, but long 
  and brutal farther out.
  Helicoprion 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  N Large animal (aquatic)
  Init +8; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +12
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
  hp 68 (8d8+32)
  Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +3
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 60 ft.
  Melee bite +12 (1d8+10 plus 1d4 bleed)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  Special Attacks bleed (1d4), whorled jaw
  STATISTICS
  Str 25, Dex 18, Con 19, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 4
  Base Atk +6; CMB +14 (+18 grapple); CMD 28
  Feats Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, 
  Lightning Reflexes
  Skills Perception +12, Swim +15
  ECOLOGY
  Environment temperate oceans
  Organization solitary, pair, school (3 –5)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Whorled Jaw (Ex) When a helicoprion hits a Medium or smaller 
  creature with its bite it can, as a free action, attempt to 
  grapple and then pin that creature should the initial grapple 
  be successful. Once the target is pinned, the helicoprion 
  continues to do its bite damage (including bleed) for as long 
  as it maintains the pin. 
  The helicoprion is a bizarre beast to behold. The remarkable 
  physiology of its mouth allows it to flick out its bottom 
  jaw, unrolling the whorl of teeth and snaring prey along 
  its length. As its powerful muscles roll its jaw, the prey 
  becomes trapped in a spiral of ragged, brutal incisors. Once 
  it has captured a hearty meal, the helicoprion retreats in a 
  thickening cloud of its victim’s blood to patiently await the 
  slowing of struggles and the imminent demise of its dinner. 
  JigSaW Shark
  Jagged markings decorate the body of this human-sized shark. 
  A multitude of stains on its large teeth tell of the frequency and 
  ferocity with which it uses its bite.
  Jigsaw Shark 
  CR 1
  XP 400
  N Medium animal (aquatic)
  Init +6; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
  hp 11 (2d8+2)
  Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
  OFFENSE
  Speed swim 60 ft.
  Melee bite +3 (1d6+3)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  STATISTICS
  Str 15, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
  Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15
  Feats Improved Initiative
  Skills Perception +6, Swim +10
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any ocean
  Organization solitary, pair, school (3–6)
  Treasure none
  The fact that these sharks dwell in shallow coastal waters 
  places them in direct contact with those making a living 
  from the sea. It’s not uncommon to hear stories of jigsaw 
  sharks leaping from the water and taking out dockworkers 
  or fishermen in small boats. Their patchwork coloration of 
  browns and blue-grays partly inspires their name.
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  Ship in a Bottle
  A model sailing ship in a display bottle the size of a boot sails the 
  air on vaporous waves. Speckles of water move about the deck like a 
  crew, arming a miniature ballista and preparing to take aim.
  Ship in a Bottle 
  CR 2
  XP 600
  N Tiny construct 
  Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+1 armor, +2 Dex, +2 size)
  hp 19 (3d10+3)
  Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1
  Defensive Abilities DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune construct traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
  Melee ram +6 (1d3)
  Ranged ballista +7 (1d6)
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 15, Con —, Int 5, Wis 10, Cha 13
  Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 14 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative
  Skills Fly +20
  Languages understands Aquan and Common
  SQ shatter spray
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, fleet (2–5)
  Treasure standard
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Shatter Spray (Ex) The first time a ship in a bottle fires its 
  ballista, rams a creature, or is dealt weapon damage, the 
  bottle containing it shatters, spraying glass in a circle 
  around it. All creatures in a 5-foot radius take 1d6 points of 
  piercing damage. A successful DC 12 Reflex save halves this 
  additional damage. 
  bottled armada
  A fleet of miniature ships, each secure in a glass bottle, flies through 
  the air. The ships move as one, coordinating their attacks.
  Bottled Armada 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  N Tiny construct (swarm)
  Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +15
  DEFENSE
  AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +2 size)
  hp 64 (8d10+20)
  Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4
  Defensive Abilities DR 5/—; Immune construct traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
  Melee swarm (2d6+4 plus distraction)
  Special Attacks distraction (DC 16)
  STATISTICS
  Str 16, Dex 17, Con —, Int 5, Wis 14, Cha 15
  Base Atk +10; CMB —; CMD —
  Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Skill 
  Focus (Perception)
  Skills Fly +20, Perception +13, Sense Motive +4
  Languages understands Aquan and Common
  SQ shatter swarm
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, fleet (2–5)
  Treasure standard
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Shatter Swarm (Ex) Whenever a bottled armada fires its 
  ballistae, swarms a creature, or is dealt weapon damage, 
  one of the containing bottles shatters, spraying glass in 
  a circle around it. All creatures in a 5-foot radius take 1d6 
  points of piercing damage. A successful DC 13 Reflex save 
  (DC 13) halves the damage.
  A ship in a bottle signifies patience and devotion. Parts are 
  assembled through an obstinate hole to create the illusion 
  of something impossible. The average model maker devotes 
  months of delicate handling and blinding eyestrain to its 
  creation. Most ships in bottles are built by sea captains and 
  modeled after their vessels. As the devotion of a captain to 
  his ship compares to that of a marriage, a ship in a bottle 
  could be seen as the offspring of that relationship. This 
  devotion is palpable well beyond the Material Plane.
  Water sprites, tiny elemental spirits from the Plane 
  of Water, see boats as perversions enabling landlubbers’ 
  insistence on venturing where they do not belong. These 
  water spirits commandeer ships in bottles and sail them 
  through the air to chase off the sailors who invade the high 
  seas. Even if the ship in a bottle is destroyed, the water spirit 
  at the helm claims victory, having effectively forced a captain 
  to destroy his offspring.
  A ship in a bottle is about 1 foot long and weighs about 
  5 pounds. 
  ecology
  Model ships in bottles stand prominently on shelves in 
  the quarters of captains and admirals, usually made to 
  perfectly replicate their creators’ ships. Once brought to 
  life by a water spirit, a ship in a bottle maneuvers through 
  the air on waves of mist. The strings of its miniature 
  ballistae winch with enough tension to fire, and the 
  water spirit turns a tribute into something that is both a 
  weapon and a parody at once.
  Not all ships in bottles are captained willingly. Captains 
  or admirals who desire more dramatic tributes to the ships 
  they have commanded sometimes have mundane ships 
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  in bottles seemingly brought to life via magic. Through 
  either great devotion or greater gold, they gain access to 
  the magic necessary to bind water spirits to their model 
  ships. The magic binding a water spirit to a ship in a 
  bottle also enchants the elemental spirit into believing 
  it is the captain and crew of a typical vessel. Magically 
  bound water spirits follow the orders of either the caster 
  who bound them or the maker of the ship in a 
  bottle, treating him or her as their admiral. 
  habitat & Society
  A ship in a bottle’s life is on the high seas, and its 
  water spirit captain sets sail toward the nearest body 
  of water. Its mission is to seek and destroy land creatures 
  on the seas, and tales of ships in bottles’ voyages rarely 
  speak of glory. When a ship in a bottle manages to survive 
  long enough to log journeys, what can be extrapolated 
  from its miniscule logbook makes for fascinating insight 
  into the elemental mind. The ways in which the water 
  spirit captain justifies the world as seen from its viewpoint 
  reads like a mix of mythology and a child’s bathtime story. 
  The spirit inhabiting this construct determines 
  the nature of the crew and replicates tiny sailors on 
  deck. These are solely to unnerve onlookers, as the 
  spirit operates the ship in a bottle’s sails and weaponry 
  hydraulically. A water spirit magically bound to a ship 
  in a bottle agains its will often crews the vessel with 
  manifested sailors based on the bottle’s owner, or his 
  descriptions of the original ship’s crew.
  A ship in a bottle sails alone only when it has no other 
  choice, and usually welcomes the opportunity to join, 
  form, or lead a fleet with other water spirits, flying tiny 
  flags designed seemingly at random. Usually unbound 
  water spirits captain all the ships in a bottled armada, 
  although sometimes an unbound water spirit takes 
  advantage of naive bound water spirits. 
  A chance meeting between individual ships in bottles 
  is not the only manner in which fleets form. Water spirits 
  sometimes conspire to commandeer multiple ships in 
  bottles together, and nautical museums have reported 
  dozens of ships in bottles flying off shelves and out to sea. 
  conStruction
  A ship in a bottle can be created through a binding ritual 
  undertaken by a powerful spellcaster. The ritual requires a 
  masterwork model ship in a bottle that must be built from 
  materials worth 100 gp, and DC 30 Craft (woodworking) 
  skill checks made over 2 consecutive weeks. Alternatively, a 
  masterwork model ship in a bottle can instead be purchased 
  for the ritual, but it must be worth at least 600 gp. 
  Ship in a Bottle
  CL 9th; Price 5,100 gp (5,600 gp)
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, magic 
  jar, suitable spirit of a living creature, 2 ranks in Craft 
  (woodworking); Cost 2,600 gp (3,100 gp)
  Ship in a bottle aS a haunt
  GMs can also use a ship in a bottle as a more psychological 
  threat by substituting the soul of a drowned sailor for the 
  water spirit and running it as a haunt. 
  This lost soul has never accepted the sinking of its ship in life. 
  It uses models of ships in bottles to make up for the failure that 
  betrayed its ship, its fellow crew members, and its captain. 
  Bottled Shipyard  
  CR 7 
  XP 3,600
  LE persistent haunt (35-ft.-radius cabin on a vessel or room 
  near docks)
  Caster Level 10th
  Notice Perception DC 20 (to spot ethereal crew)
  hp 31; Weakness tricked by Diplomacy; Trigger proximity; 
  Reset 1 day
  Effect The haunt settles in areas with enough ships in bottles to 
  animate a small fleet. When the area of a bottled shipyard is 
  entered, the haunt animates a ship in a bottle (using the stats 
  on the facing page) each round for as many rounds as there 
  are ships in bottles to animate (usually 1d6+1). Although any 
  ship in a bottle that the haunt animates can be attacked and 
  destroyed as a creature, only positive energy used against 
  the constructs damages the haunt. 
  Destruction A model ship animated by the haunt but not 
  destroyed must be caught, brought to a large body of 
  water, and released to sail the seas. 
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  Ship Sentinel
  A larger-than-life wooden carving of a mermaid holding a spear 
  clambers forward, the vibrant paint coating her frame encrusted 
  in years’ worth of sea salt.
  Ship Sentinel 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  N Large construct 
  Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, ship sight; 
  Perception +6
  DEFENSE
  AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+5 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)
  hp 68 (7d10+30)
  Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +8
  DR 5/slashing or piercing; Immune construct traits
  Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
  Melee mwk spear +11/+6 (2d6+6 plus salted wound/×3) or 
  2 slams +10 (1d6+4 plus salted wound)
  Ranged mwk spear +12 (2d6+4 plus salted wound/×3)
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  STATISTICS
  Str 19, Dex 21, Con —, Int —, Wis 23, Cha 16
  Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 27
  Feats Improved InitiativeB
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any water
  Organization solitary
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Salted Wound (Su) Any living creature damaged by a ship 
  sentinel must make a successful DC 16 Fortitude save or 
  take a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls for 1 round as 
  salty brine drips painfully onto the wound. On a successful 
  critical hit, the target takes an additional 3d6 points of 
  damage as its flesh cracks and withers from dehydration. 
  The save DC is Charisma-based.
  Ship Sight (Su) A ship sentinel is treated as having 
  tremorsense out to 100 feet while onboard a ship, as its 
  senses permeate the vessel’s timbers. It can only detect 
  creatures in contact with the vessel or on objects in 
  contact with the vessel. It cannot use this ability to detect 
  creatures not in contact with the ship, even if they are 
  within the ability’s 100-foot radius.
  Ship sentinels are animated constructs that are bound 
  to a specific vessel and to that ship’s captain. Crafted 
  to resemble a humanoid figurehead, a ship sentinel 
  normally rests at the prow of its ship, granting good 
  fortune and protection to the crew. But in times of dire 
  need, the captain can also activate the ship sentinel, 
  causing it to spring to life and fight alongside the vessel’s 
  crew. Although individual features of ship sentinels may 
  vary, all ship sentinels are made of wood and have the 
  same general statistics.
  A ship sentinel stands roughly 6 feet tall and weighs 
  400 pounds.
  ecology
  A ship sentinel’s form is carved and shaped by skilled 
  woodworkers, but cannot truly be brought to “life” without 
  offerings from the sea. Most spellcasters who endeavor 
  to create these guardians crush a mixture of sand, shells, 
  and valuable pearls and mix it with saltwater and oils, 
  creating a grainy varnish. The carved figure is coated with 
  the solution and then brought to the shores of the sea and 
  affixed to the bowsprit of the craft it will protect. Only 
  then is the construct’s creation finally complete. Unlike 
  with most constructs, however, control of the creature does 
  not fall to the creator, but rather to the captain of the ship 
  to which it is affixed. If the captain of the ship changes, 
  control of the construct passes to the new captain.
  Although resistant to most hazards of sea and storm, 
  all ship sentinels eventually wear down after a time 
  and require polishing, cleaning, and recoating with the 
  specially prepared varnish used during the construct’s 
  creation. If maintained in this fashion, however, a single 
  ship sentinel can guard a ship—passing from captain to 
  captain—for decades or even centuries.
  habitat & Society
  Ship sentinels are solitary creations, and a single construct 
  is capable of defending even the largest of ships. Their 
  presence is an undisputed boon to all aboard—though 
  most captains prefer not to speak of their crafts’ 
  guardians, preferring to keep the constructs as secret 
  weapons. When the sentinel is needed, the captain must 
  shout a word or short phrase to bring the construct to 
  life. An awakened ship sentinel is able to recognize loyal 
  members of its crew, placing them under its protective 
  wards, and directs its attacks against any living targets 
  that it does not ward, though the construct’s master can 
  point it toward specific targets. 
  In combat, ship sentinels can pulverize flesh and 
  bone with their heavy wooden hands, but normally 
  wield a weapon of some kind—usually a spear, rapier, 
  shortsword, or other light weapon. Stories even exist of 
  elven vessels that armed their ship sentinels with huge 
  bows, or of daring Brevic sea captains who gave their 
  constructs the fabled Aldori dueling swords of their 
  homeland. Regardless of these variations, most weapons 
  used in a ship sentinel’s construction draw upon the 
  construct’s inherent nimbleness, an agility belied by the 
  figurehead’s wooden form. But whether their weapons 
  are forged or natural, all ship sentinels can infuse the 
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  sting of seawater and salt air into their blows, wracking 
  their foes with crippling pain.
  Ship sentinels are resilient foes, their wooden bodies 
  capable of turning aside most attacks that cannot 
  pierce or gouge them. Unfortunately their construction 
  also makes them vulnerable to fire—their greatest 
  weakness—and any magical fire quickly dries a ship 
  sentinel’s body to a nearly  immobile brittleness. 
  Variant Ship SentinelS
  Ship sentinels can be crafted in a wide variety of forms 
  and are often embellished and customized similarly to 
  mundane figureheads. The following are some of these 
  constructs’ most common customizations.
  Ballista Marksman: Some ship sentinels have a light 
  ballista built into their forms; these sentinels are usually 
  designed to look like an archer with an oversized 
  bow, a beauteous lillend, or a cruel 
  erinyes. Such ship sentinels rarely have a 
  melee weapon, resorting instead to slams 
  if unable to use their ballistae to make 
  ranged attacks. Statistics for ballista 
  marksmen are modified as follows: 
  Ranged light ballista +12 (3d8 plus salted 
  wound /19–20). See Chapter 3 of Pathfinder 
  RPG Ultimate Combat for additional details on 
  siege engines.
  Mariner’s Muse: Sculpted 
  to resemble harp-playing 
  angels or armored heralds, 
  a mariner’s muse ship 
  sentinel can use the inspire 
  courage effect of a bard’s bardic performance once per 
  day for 5 rounds as if it were a 5th-level bard. It always 
  uses all 5 rounds of its performance at the same time and 
  can never use the performance multiple times in 1 day 
  for any duration.
  Sea Sorcerer: These ship sentinels are often crafted 
  to resemble wizards, sea serpents, or abstract orrery-like 
  sculptures, and possess limited spell-like abilities. They 
  can only use these abilities while onboard a sailing vessel. 
  These spell-like abilities can each be used 3 times per day, 
  and include animate objects, grease, and obscuring mist.
  conStruction
  A ship sentinel is built from 400 pounds of wood. The 
  creator or a hired artisan must then shape the creature 
  into the desired likeness, usually after a fashion common 
  to the nautical vessels of the region. Afterward, a special 
  varnish is made from a mixture of sand, seawater, 
  crushed pearls and shells, and magically treated oils—
  the varnish is worth a total of 250 gp and is applied to the 
  entire form. If the creator intends for the ship sentinel 
  to wield a weapon, a masterwork or better version of that 
  weapon must also be supplied.
  Ship Sentinel 
  CL 9th; Price 21,250 gp; 21,750 gp (ballista marksman); 23,250 
  gp (mariner’s muse); 25,250 gp (sea sorcerer)
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, limited wish, 
  creator must be caster level 9th; Craft (woodworking) check 
  DC 25; Cost 10,750 gp; 11,000 gp (ballista marksman); 
  11,750 gp (mariner’s muse); 12,750 gp (sea sorcerer)
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  VoidStiCk zomBie
  This shambling humanoid’s taut gray skin shows signs of 
  arcane symbols now faded with age and decay. Long, darkwood 
  spikes riddle its body; every inch of flesh is staked and violated. 
  A palpable aura of entropy and despair hangs over the sorry, 
  perforated creature. 
  Voidstick Zombie 
  CR 12
  XP 19,200
  CE Medium undead 
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense 60 ft; Perception +10
  Aura sacrilegious aura
  DEFENSE
  AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 26 (+12 natural, +4 profane)
  hp 157 (15d8+90); fast healing 3
  Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +9
  Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4; Immune undead traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee 2 melee touch +13 (1d8 negative energy)
  Special Attacks channel negative energy 5/day (DC 22, 8d6)
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 11, Con —, Int 7, Wis 6, Cha 15
  Base Atk +11; CMB +12; CMD 26
  Feats Channel Smite, Great Fortitude, Improved Channel, 
  Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Skill 
  Focus (Stealth), Toughness
  Skills Climb +5, Perception +10, Stealth +11
  Languages Common
  ECOLOGY
  Environment any
  Organization solitary, pair, or plague (3–9)
  Treasure none
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Channel Energy (Su) The voidstick zombie can channel 
  negative energy as a 15th-level cleric.
  Sacrilegious Aura (Sp) The overwhelming entropic energies 
  and the sheer number of voidsticks animating the voidstick 
  zombie warp and augment negative and positive energy 
  around the creature. As with all voidsticks, an aura of 
  intense negative energy extends in a 30-foot radius from 
  the zombie functioning as the spell desecrate. Undead 
  within this aura receive a +1 profane bonus on attack and 
  damage rolls and the DC to resist channeled negative 
  energy increases by +3. The voidstick zombie constantly 
  gains the benefits of this effect (the attack and damage 
  bonuses are already incorporated into its statistics). 
  In addition, this miasma of void energies also 
  interferes with wielding positive energy. Any creature 
  attempting to use positive energy in this area—such as 
  through a cleric’s channel energy ability, a paladin’s lay 
  on hands, or any spell with the healing descriptor—must 
  make a DC 25 concentration check. If this check fails, the 
  effect is blocked, consuming one use of the ability, or the 
  spell is lost. 
  The voidstick zombie is the hateful creation of wicked 
  shamans and necromancers, who use voidsticks to animate 
  the dead. One voidstick is required for every Hit Die 
  possessed by the base creature.  These vile devices, each 
  of which is 6 to 10 inches in length, are pierced through 
  the living or dead body of a creature, pumping the dark 
  energy of the void into its form. Packed with the bitter 
  entropy of negative energy, the creature rises, seeking out 
  the life force of others with endless sadness and insane 
  determination. Its single goal is to extinguish life and 
  smother any source of positive energy. Multiple voidsticks 
  in a creature’s form feed one another, augmenting their 
  standard abilities and imbuing the touch of the voidstick 
  zombie with the power to drain life from anything it 
  touches. The zombie becomes almost a sliver of the void 
  itself, existing in a state of such negative power that its 
  very proximity can tamper with other creatures’ abilities 
  to summon the powers of the Positive Energy Plane, and 
  with the perpetual sadness that numbs its own intellect it 
  gains the power to enhance and influence other creatures 
  that depend on negative energy.
  These sad creatures, wracked with soulless negative 
  energy, constantly hunger for destruction, delighted at 
  every chance they get to snuff the spark of life from the 
  living. They hunt the islands throughout the Shackles, 
  especially the Cannibal Isles, where their creation 
  began long before its current inhabitants made their 
  home there.
  As the brutal and savage kuru people of the Cannibal 
  Isles explored the ruins of Ghol-Gan, they discovered the 
  foul magic involved with the voidsticks, and as they turned 
  to barbarism and cannibalism, their shamans carved 
  these devices and created the first voidstick zombie 
  seen on Golarion in thousands of years. The kuru use 
  voidstick zombies for war against each other and to serve 
  as ruthless hunters, culling humanoids who wander too 
  close to their blood-drenched islands. Kuru shamans 
  create the vile voidsticks in order to enhance their own 
  necromantic strength as well as to animate voidstick 
  zombies. In some tribes it is seen as a great honor to 
  be transformed into one of these powerful creatures, 
  and some aged shamans on the eve of their death elect 
  to undergo this transformation instead of becoming a 
  ritual meal for their tribes. 
  Since the rediscovery of voidsticks, those interested in 
  necromancy and the creation of new undead have sent 
  emissaries to the Shackles eager to buy them. These 
  enterprising necromancers experiment with the devices 
  and unleash voidstick zombies into Avistan and Garund 
  to fulfill their murderous intent. 
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  VoidStickS 
  In remote parts of the world, it is not always practical for 
  the faithful to visit holy places with any regularity. In 
  particular, the weak, the sick, and the dying may be in 
  no position to trek across plains or risk dangerous water 
  crossings to see their spiritual leaders. In response to 
  this, the godstick was born—a crafted rod that serves as a 
  portable shrine, carried by shamans and witchdoctors and 
  pushed into the ground to focus devotion at any location. 
  Ingenuity is not just the way of the benign, however, and 
  just as often it is the way of evil. Before long, shamans who 
  worshiped more hateful deities corrupted this notion; they 
  created the voidsticks and drove them into bodies, living or 
  dead, charging those bodies with the power of the endless 
  void and creating rattling, hungry abominations. 
  Voidstick
  Aura faint necromancy [evil]; CL 5
  Slot special; Price 2,500 gp, Weighs 1 lb.
  DESCRIPTION 
  Each voidstick is 6 t0 10 inches long, with a diameter of about 
  an inch. Carved from single pieces of polished darkwood, 
  they often display markings or symbols sacred to the deity 
  of their creator, but can just as easily be plain and smooth. 
  Planting a voidstick into the ground with an appropriate 
  prayer is a full-round action that provokes attacks of 
  opportunity. The device floods the area with negative energy, 
  producing an effect identical to the desecrate spell in a 20-
  foot radius. In addition, any evil divine caster within 20 feet 
  of the voidstick may cast her spells without the need for any 
  material component with a value of 10 gp or less, or any 
  focus item with a value of 50 gp or less. This ability functions 
  only for the individual planting the voidstick and persists 
  until the stick is uprooted. 
  While this is a useful tool for shamans in locations poorly 
  serviced by trade in magical goods, it pales in comparison 
  to the voidstick’s most potent function: the creation of 
  undead. Creating a voidstick zombie requires an hour-long 
  ritual during which foul symbols are drawn across a corpse’s 
  flesh. At the end of the hour, the creator must make a DC 25 
  Knowledge (religion) check before driving the first voidstick 
  into the victim’s heart. If this check succeeds, the victim is 
  transformed into a voidstick zombie. To fully animate the 
  creature, one voidstick must be used for each Hit Die the 
  base creature has. In 12 rounds, the creature rises under its 
  own power, eager to spread its negative energy and snuff out 
  life nearby. Undead created using voidsticks are not under 
  the control of their creator but can be commanded using 
  channeled negative energy, spells, or similar effects. 
  Voidsticks can also be driven into a living body to slay the 
  creature and transition it to undeath. If a living body is used, 
  the creature must be pinned or otherwise helpless for the 
  duration of the entire ritual. When the ritual is complete and 
  the first voidstick is inserted, the creature must make a DC 18 
  Fortitude save. If this save succeeds, the creature is reduced 
  to 0 hit points and is dying, but the magic of the voidstick and 
  the ritual are wasted and the ritual must be performed again, 
  using another voidstick. If the save fails, the creature dies and 
  the ritual is successful, transforming the base creature into a 
  voidstick zombie. 
  Undead that contain such an item benefit from the +2 
  bonus hit points per Hit Die for having been created in the 
  area of an enhanced desecrate spell.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead, desecrate; 
  Creator must have 5 ranks in Knowledge (religion). Cost 
  1,750 gp
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  Matthew Goodall.
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  Island of Empty EyEs
  by Neil Spicer
  Having won the Free Captain’s Regatta, the adventurers 
  must now claim their grand prize: the uninhabited and 
  dangerous Island of Empty Eyes. After exploring strange 
  ruins and fighting the island’s myriad monstrous 
  denizens, the PCs must host a feast for their new peers on 
  the Pirate Council—but a mysterious saboteur threatens 
  to disrupt the party. Can the heroes tame their island 
  wilderness and protect their influential guests? Or will 
  they lose the respect of their fellow pirate lords and fade 
  into obscurity?
  mystErIEs of thE shacklEs
  Learn the truth behind the wildest claims of lost plunder 
  and lurking evil spread by pirates throughout the Shackles. 
  Any of these taproom tales have the potential to lead their 
  listeners to either the heights of fame and fortune or their 
  catastrophic dooms. 
  Ecology of thE cyclops
  Discover the secrets hidden by the cyclopes of the Shackles, 
  savage prophets and bitter scions of a fallen empire.
  and morE!
  The dangers of dealing with ghosts and harpies in the 
  fourth chapter of Robin D. Laws’s Pathfinder’s Journal, 
  “The Treasure of Far Thallai.” Also, cursed constructs 
  seethe in the Pathfinder Bestiary.
  subscrIbE to pathfIndEr advEnturE path!
  The Skull & Shackles Adventure Path continues! Don’t 
  miss out on a single volume—sail your ship over to 
  paizo.com/pathfinder and subscribe today to have 
  each Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Campaign 
  Setting, Pathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder 
  Module, and GameMastery product delivered to your 
  door! Also, be sure to check out the free Skull & Shackles 
  Player’s Guide, available now!
  
  Crystal Dodo
  Considered a lucky treasure, this crudely 
  carved statue gains value each time it is stolen 
  or sold. Some captains claim that as long as 
  this prize was on their vessels, the ships were 
  never successfully boarded, but seeing how 
  its current owner stole the thing from a rival 
  captain's quarters, that can’t be true. 
  The Skeleton Ball Gown
  On the new moon of Neth, wealthy citizens of Port Peril 
  hold an elaborate festival in which they dress up in their 
  best finery and disguise themselves as skeletons. Chosen 
  each year, the Skeleton Queen is bequeathed an expensive 
  glamered ball gown and the honor of naming next year’s 
  Skeleton Queen.
  The Howling Urn
  Grinning Jalad, a strange vanara pirate known for his jokes 
  as much as for his courage, sailed into the Shackles 
  with a hold full of plunder, eager to trade it all for 
  a lost relic called the Howling Urn. He was tight-
  lipped about why the urn was so valuable to him, 
  but immediately sailed off to Raugsmauda’s Reach 
  following a lead, and none have seen him since.
  Voidsticks
  Corrupted devices of a divine nature, these sticks are 
  fashioned by shamans of the kuru people living in 
  the dreaded Cannibal Isles, who infuse them with 
  negative energy. Those pierced by such creations 
  become shambling horrors, wandering their islands 
  or spreading destruction to neighboring isles. 
  Landlubbing necromancers often venture to the 
  isles for samples of these wicked spikes.
  
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  Race the Storm
  T
  he time has come for the heroes to take their places as true pirate lords. But 
  doing so will require more than a ship, a scallywag crew, and a hold full of 
  plunder—they’ll need to win the esteem of the Hurricane King himself. If they 
  succeed, they’ll earn the right to claim even greater glory by participating in the Free 
  Captains’ Regatta, a grueling race along the fringes of the mighty hurricane called the Eye 
  of Abendego. The winners receive a fat prize purse, their own private island, and a seat on the 
  Pirate Council of the Shackles. Will the adventurers triumph against fierce competitors, old 
  rivals, and the treacherous winds and currents of the Eye? Or will their ship be claimed by the 
  storm, a doom that’s befallen so many before them?
  This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:
  • “Tempest Rising,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 7th-level characters, by Matthew Goodall.
  • Details on the infamous pirate lords of the Shackles and new rules for storms at sea,  
  by Tork Shaw.
  • A gazetteer of the infamous pirate city of Port Peril, by Liz Courts.
  • Ghosts and cylcopes in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
  • Five new monsters, by Jesse Benner, Ryan Costello, Philip Minchin, and 
  Tork Shaw.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Adventure Paths/PF055-060 - Skull & Shackles/Skull & Shackles - 03 - Tempest Rising.pdf