Session Notes: Mancatcher Cove

Session notes: 9/24/17.
We are going to Motaku Ise port Newgustua, to get people to help with ship, and Tidewa ter rock.

Session notes: 9/24/17.
We learned about Cyrus Wolfe’s, notorious for raiding. Seeking out Gol Gohn ruins. The Cyclopes. Mancatcher Cove. 881 gold pieces.
Spy the Grave Lady’s prize tooth
With the Dawnflower’s first kiss (at dawn)
Climb the Captain’s wayward orb
To claim old king’s hoard
The map shows the way to Mancatcher Cove, the site of Cyrus Wolfe’s fabled hidden treasure. Knowledge (geography) check reveals the islands to be an unnamed archipelago in the Shackles north of the Ushinawa Isles and west of Besmara’s Throne. These islands lie 110 miles northwest of Tidewater Rock as the albatross flies, but we will likely have to sail a bit farther through the numerous a tolls and archipelagos of the southern Shackles.
The stylized sun could represent either a sunrise or sunset, though its position to the right (east) of the islands hints that sunrise is the proper interpretation.
The monstrous eye represents the Beast of Mancatcher Cove. The strange king’s image is merely reference to the root system of a tree that vaguely resembles a bearded monarch, under which Wolfe buried his treasure. The means of finding this burial place from Mancatcher Cove is revealed in the enigmatic lines of verse.
“Blue bight’s embrace” means to begin the treasure hunt from within Mancatcher Cove itself (area C1).
The “Grave Lady” is the goddess of death, Pharasma, also known as the Lady of Graves. This line refers to a rock formation that resembles a death’s head when seen from the correct angle in the correct light.
Her “prize tooth” refers to a deposit of pyrite in the rock that glitters like a gold tooth in the skull’s mouth when the light hits it (area C2).
“Dawn flower’s first kiss” refers to the goddess of the sun, Sarenrae, called the Dawn flower, whose identity is hinted at by the stylized image of the sun on the map. This line indicates that we must be within the cove at the first light of dawn to see the skull like formation and its “gold tooth,” which indicates the location of the treasure. “
Session notes: 9/24/17.
Climb the Captain’s wayward orb” is an instruction to climb the rock formation into one of the caves that form the skull’s eyes. The Captain Wolfe was known to have lost his right eye in battle. Therefore, his “wayward orb” is his right eye, and we must enter the right eye of the skull formation to find the treasure (area C4).
The “old king’s hoard” is another reference to the tree’s roots, which look like a bearded king, designating the proper place to dig within the cave (area C5). Let your players decipher as many of the clues as possible beforehand with the skill checks listed above allies, such as Ambrose Kroop, Sandara Quinn, or Lady Smythee, can assist them in this task if they’re having trouble.
Event 18: Lying in Wait. Following Isabella’s tattoo map eventually brings the we s’ ship to the small unnamed island in the southwest Shackles wherein lies Mancatcher Cove. The island is a series of small islands composed of carbonate platforms atop ancient reefs, forming a rough crescent open to the north.
But another ship has come to Mancatcher Cove before them Isabella Locke’s ship, the Thresher. After fleeing Tidewater Rock in Event 17, Captain Locke’s first mate, Knuckles Grype, found himself the new captain of the Thresher. With Isabella’s fate unknown, Knuckles realized that he would need to get the ship squibbed if he wanted to strike out on his own, but he lacked the funds to do so. However, the treasure of Mancatcher Cove would easily pay for a squibbing and more.
Knuckles sailed the Thresher back to Mancatcher Cove, but not being allied with the sahuagin himself, he couldn’t just sail in and take the treasure. Instead, he decided to wait offshore and see who came after him. If Isabella escaped and came looking for him, Knuckles would capture her and force her to hand over the treasure. If we came instead, following Isabella’s map, Knuckles would let them deal with the sahuagin first. If we defeated the sahuagin and took the treasure, he could attack them as they left; if they failed, then perhaps the sahuagin would be weakened enough for him to claim the treasure himself. Ship Combat: When we first arrive at Mancatcher Cove, Knuckles tries to hide the Thresher behind one of the small islands to the east. We (or any lookout on their ship) can make an opposed Perception check against Knuckles’ Profession (sailor) check. If we spot the Thresher, a second DC 10 Perception check recognizes it as the vessel that attacked Tidewater Rock. The Thresher takes no aggressive action at this point, leaving it up to we to decide whether to attack, though Knuckles responds in kind if attacked. If we don’t spot the Thresher, or choose not to attack now, Knuckles waits for we to leave the cove. Once we put back to sea, the Thresher sails out to blockade the northern entrance to the archipelago and attacks the we s’ ship.