Ghostship Plot

Ghostship Plot
Burning, smoke, flames. People screaming in fear and pain. A lot of people. It looks to be the cramped hull of a ship. Men, women, and children are all huddled inside.

A large dark skinned man dressed as a pirate is trying to break down a door to the hull. He has a sword in one hand. The door finally gives way under his force and cracks. He pushes it open as it splinters at the hunges and the people huddled inside recoil.

The flames quickly engulf the outer deck of the ship and suddenly there is an explosion. It takes out the hull, the pirate, and the people below. Everything is burned up. It is not a pleasant death. The view pans upward out of the ship and up above it. From above two ships can be seen, a smaller trading vessel and a larger pirate ship both in the harbor. The flames seem to spread from the smaller ship onto the pirate ship which quickly catches flames as well. The explosion seemed to have not only destroyed the smaller vessel and those on it but now the pirate ship is stuck and burning as well. There is another explosion.
On the dock outside there are people gathered. They seem to be the villagers from the town. They watch in fear as the flames spread, looking like they do not know what to do.

Somewhere a young girl wakes up to the sound of commotion in a cabin and screams.

Dogeye takes the group to a small port town, Waterford, which he realized was not far from where they were after they got to the city. He has friends that dock there monthly. Can take them south to the islands. Paradise. Cheap booze. Pretty girls. Warm weather. And lots of work. Free transport, some good company, maybe some work, and definitely some pints for it. He had planned to go there for some time. One of the reasons he argued with Darla, who wanted to go north.
They arrive to the town, which from the onset looks to be a small trading town, with a few streets and moderate sized houses. The first thing they notice is that there is a weird smell of dampness, mold, and smoke. It seems to permeate and stick to the streets, the houses, and everything around them. The town is small and as they approach the docks they see that the docks are all charred and burned and there are a few ship husks half sunk in the harbor. It is very clear the harbor is out of commission. Dogeye curses. But it is late in the day and they have nowhere else to go.
The Raven's Head Inn. Not far from the harbor.

The innkeeper is an old man, Darth, who walks quickly but hunched over. He is very happy to see the party. Gets drinks. Food is shitty. No one else is there. It looks roomy and like it could be a nice place but is very empty and has some charred marks near the door. The small moldy smell remains. Darth is very happy to see them. Welcomes them in.
“Since the fire there is barely anyone coming through town. The fire was a month ago but the damages were extensive. We were a port town and no there is no trade and no business coming through. The mayor, good man, requested help from the city but it has been slow. We are doing what we can to get by.”
He also seems nervous. Keeps peering outside. As it starts getting dark he begins to shutter windows and close the door. Dog’s wolves start to howl and he immediately gets up. Darth has no issue with the wolves being let inside. He even encourages it. He opens the door and Dog calls them in. He peers out into the street. Darth says the streets are dangerous in the evenings since the fire. Doesn’t explain why. Offers them drinks.
A fog rolls into town. With it come shapes of creatures crawling through the streets. They look almost humanoid but on all hands and knees with dark smoking skin. They come from the harbor. They attack by clawing and leaving singe marks. Their touch burns. Lunge forward.
A woman runs through the streets and bangs on the door to be let in. She is the baker. Ann. Her shop has been set ablaze by them. The innkeeper is scared. Refuses. Party can let her in. She can die if they do not.
- If they open the door 5 creatures get in. They are supernatural undead.
The party can defeat the creatures. They are not hard to kill (single hits, immune to fire, but no other difficulties). They can seek out more outside to kill. The burned creatures crawl through the town.
Eventually the fog fades. A few buildings are smoking but the town folks put them out. The mayor supervises. He is a tired looking pale man in his 40s. Elliot Roten. He approaches the party. Thanks them for their help. Most people that have come through have run once they saw the creatures. A few have died trying to stop them. The attacks have been getting worse.
Ever since the fire there has been a ship floating in the harbor. It is charred and burned. Everyone who has tried to sink it has failed. Most people fled to the city. The ship has some unnatural force that causes the monsters to come. They want to destroy the city. Like the pirates did. They attacked the harbor but their attack backfired on them. They took out their own ship by accident. But it didn’t stop them. The mayor promises what gold remains in the town to the party if they can destroy the ship and stop whatever is causing the monsters to come to shore.
Dogeye stares at the ship from the charred docks. He frowns. Why would the pirates attack? They have always been welcome here. The town has been known to be an underground connection between the city and some of the more shady dealings. That was why his friends stopped here.
There is a boat that they are given. Plan to attack the ship once it comes about at dusk. On the way there creatures from the water try to capsize the boat. But it is not hard to get there.
The ship is very clearly a pirate ship. It is burned terribly but Dogeye recognizes it. It is his friend’s Cole’s ship. He would not attack the town. Something must have taken over the ship. A few more recently burned corpses are on the deck. Look to be like people that tried to storm the ship. The ones that failed. Let’s not end up like them.
Roll perception. Then agility or athletics. Can fall through the unstable burned wood down below. There are bodies in a pile. A few on top shift. They are blackened and burned like the creatures that attacked them before. A few of the bottom ones are bloated like drowned corpses. Someone collected them here.
- The burned creatures start to crawl out of the deck and begin to attack the party. There are 6 of them.
- A large fire elemental type ghost materialize into the air. “You are on my turf now.” It attacks them. Fire attacks mainly.
A young girl stands in the doorway of the hull. It looks like she is controlling the fire elemental. When it speaks her lips move. The party can attack her. Puts up a shield around herself.
When she spots Dog though she stops, her eyes widen. “Jeremy!” She immediately runs across the deck and over to him. He is caught off guard as she hugs him. This allows the party a moment to attack her if they want.
“.. Dawn? Fuck girl! I was about to bash your head in!” The elementals pull back. Dogeye stops the party from attacking her if they try. She was the navigator on the ship. She apologizes. Didn’t know that they were Dog’s friends. She lets the fire elemental fade. She looks exhausted and collapses. There is a small bundle of cloth and items salvaged from the ship in the corner of the captain’s room. She was clearly sleeping there.

Dawn explains:
The mayor of the town was involved in human trafficking and slavery. Every month a trading vessel with human cargo would go through the port. He knew this. Everyone local knew this. The town prospered. The people he did business with had him torch the evidence, a ship full of slaves, because some guards were investigating it from the main city that the town was affiliated with. She was not sure on the details but it was Elliot that set the barrels of explosives onto the ship and then lit it aflame.
All of the towns folks knew that there were slaves trapped on the ship and they all stood by and watched. No one raised a hand to help. They were too afraid. Only the the pirates tried to save the people and died doing so. They didn’t know abot the explosives. Cole was on board trying to break down the door to free the slaves when the ship exploded. The flames were set to spread. They did onto the pirate ship and in turn the dock (which the mayor did not plan as he did not think anyone would help). The whole crew died. The girl is the only survivor but her power is linked to the ship. She wants the mayor to burn.
Dogeye agrees to kill the mayor. The party can agree or not. He will go do it regardless.

The mayor is a very good swordsman. Very quick. He is in his mansion. Dawn summons the creatures to help. The group can take the boat back. Dogeye suggests that they go to see him for the reward, claiming that the ship was vanquished and then take him out. He has a couple of guards with him.

Elliott Roten: (Agi: 3, Str: 3, Melee: 4, Swords: 4, flurry attacks, Sta: 3).
He has three guards with him. All basic goons.

Afterwards Dog sets his house on fire. They can loot stuff there if need be. Upon leaving the fog is gone and the ship is gone. There is nothing left to see.