Captain Crimson: Into the Mystic

The last time we saw our avid adventurers, the Inventor and Scribe explained the origin of the mysterious island and what may lurk in and around. The meeting was interrupted by a trio of pirates that Captain Crimson had wittily exploited in the past, and now are back looking for revenge….

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The Mystic Wave’s guns roar like thunder in a lightning storm, blasting holes into the galleons surrounding the Wave. Crimson grabs the clutch and slams it forward, sending the Wave into a forward lurch. The ship groans and the crew tries to maintain their footing after the jarring forward motion. 

Crews from the other galleons, shocked by the sudden cannon fire, have since taken cover to avoid relentless fire from the deck guns. Captain Nutt screams for them to return fire, while cowering behind the mast. As the Mystic Wave continues to travel forward, Captain Pugwash (commander of the galleon adrift on the Wave’s prow) realizes the intention of the Mystic Wave and calls for the sails to be raised, but it was too late. The steel-reinforced prow of the Mystic Wave splits the back third of Pugwash’s ship like a wedge through a log. 

Nutt’s galleon continues the pursuit as Kennit’s (the galleon on the port-side) breaks off pursuit, trying to instead outrun the Wave. Crimson trims back the speed, attempting to bring Nutt’s ship into view of his starboard guns. Nutt’s crew was waiting, perched on the masts with grappling hooks in hand. They throw the hooks into the Wave’s masts and sails, readying themselves to swing over. 

The Gunslinger pulls his lever gun from behind him. He targets the uninvited boarding party and fires a quick, hyper-accurate volley, working the lever of the gun up-and-down like a guitarist strumming an up-tempo tune on his guitar. Not a single crewman’s boot touched the deck.

Instead the Gunslinger slings the rifle back across his shoulders and he, the Hero, and Captain Crimson grab the ropes, using them to swing onto the galleon’s deck. The deck guns ceased firing in fear of hitting Crimson, the Hero, or the Gunslinger.

The deck of Nutt’s ship was chaos. Wounded hid behind cannons, returning fire when possible. Several crew-members were unfastening a lifeboat, trying to escape the fight. A shot cuts through the other gunfire and through one of the fleeing crew members, who dropped to the deck dead. 

“Fight you cowardly scolds,” barks Nutt, blowing smoke from the barrell of his pistol. The attempted escapees and several of the other crew members turn their attention to the Hero, Gunslinger, and Captain. 

The Hero takes off in pursuit of Captain Nutt, eager for a chance to dual him. The Gunslinger quickly draws his pistols and begins picking off charging deckhands one-by-one. Captain Crimson, content to let the Hero have his shot at Captain Nutt, attends to a large crew member, wielding a pair of menacing battle axes.

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The Hero runs up onto the poop deck, drawing his saber. Captain Nutt, likewise, draws his cutlass, ready to duel the young Hero. The Hero begins by testing the Captain’s guard, swinging light strokes inside and outside of Nutt’s guard. The Hero finds his skills far outmatch Captain Nutt’s, as the captain struggles to block even some of the Hero’s slower strokes. Every now and then, the Hero allows Nutt to employ a few of his own attacks before either smacking him with the blunt edge of the blade or giving him a small cut. A fun sword fight, but not the challenge the Hero was looking for. 

The Hero plans his next few strokes. First he will lock blades with Nutt, drawing him close, eye-to-eye, before dispatching him with a quick slash-n-thrust.

The Hero locks blades, gazing into Nutt’s eyes, allowing him to get a good look at the man who killed him. That’s when the unthinkable happens. Nutt draws his head back and head-butts the Hero. The Hero stumbles back, holding his now tender nose. Captain Nutt capitalizes, wrapping his hand around the Hero’s throat and driving him backwards. The pair crash into the bannister. Nutt hikes his leg up and pins the Hero’s wrist between his boot heel and the bannister. Nutt digs his heel into the Hero’s wrist. Finally, the agony was too much and the Hero drops his saber. The saber bounces off the steps and down onto the main deck. The Hero remains laid against the bannister, stunned by his defeat.

Captain Nutt sneers at the Hero, resting the tip of his cutlass on the Hero’s chest. 

“You have skill kid, it's a shame it has to end this way,” mocks Captain Nutt.

The Hero feels mounting pressure on the cutlass tip as it digs into his chest. The Hero closes his eyes, it will all be over soon. 

There’s a loud clanging of metal as Captain Crimson swipes the cutlass up and away with his oversized sword. The Hero feels a light stinging on his chest where the tip sliced a shallow scratch up the Hero’s chest.

Captain Crimson stands between the Hero and Captain Nutt. Captain Crimson starts swinging his blade aggressively at Nutt. Despite the oversized blade, Crimson wields his sword at blinding speed, combined with its weighty swing, Nutt was outmatched from the start. 

Desperate, Nutt tries an underhanded up stroke, but the Captain is ready, parrying with a downward slash. 

*CLANG*

The top third of Nutt’s cutlass flies through the air, burying itself in the poop deck’s staircase. Nutt stares, frozen, at his broken cutlass. He then turns to face Captain Crimson, who has drawn a large blunderbuss pistol leveled at Nutt. Crimson winks, then pulls the trigger. The blast hits Nutt full force in the chest, carrying him up and over the ship’s railing.

The Captain walks over to the edge of the poop deck, looking down onto the main deck. The Gunslinger leans against the main mast, one boot propped up, reloading his revolvers. Around him is a ring of dead pirates, cut down by the Gunslinger’s lightning fast revolvers. Three of the Wave’s crewmembers are carrying loot from Nutt’s ship back to the Wave. Cole leans over the Wave’s railing, “The other ship is getting away!”

Captain Crimson, the Hero, and the Gunslinger climb aboard the Mystic Wave. 

“Drop the sails and give chase, I want no more dogs nippin’ at me heels,” barks Captain Crimson. The Mystic Wave glides forward, quickly gaining on Kennit’s vessel. As the Wave gets nearer, Crimson pulls another handle. The figurehead, a woman holding a lantern, raises the lantern to her “eye-level” and the lantern ignites.

“Turn the big one!” shouts the Captain.

The Barkeep and the Scribe run to what used to be the anchor lift and begin to push. The Mystic Wave pulls closer to the fleeing vessel. 

“Now,” Crimson whispers to himself as he pushes the button. A stream of hot flame billows forth from the figurehead’s lantern, flying through the lighting the fleeing vessel’s sails and catching the deck on fire. 

As the Wave passes Captain Kennit’s ship, Crimson sees the chaos of the ship’s crew running to put out the fires on deck. Crimson leans out over the railing, grasping one of the sail’s lines and joyfully bellows as the Wave passes by, “Sorry Kennit, couldn’t always be looking over my shoulder for ye. Maybe I’ll see you around me hardy yo ho!”