The Fisherman's Lantern

We left the shady character with his Rosamortis, his promises of deals on his exotic wares ringing in our ears as we retreated across the Steppes. There were dense areas of Sturmbeorn once we left the Skull Hollow, more than I had even seen in books and pictures; we had to fight, frequently, and were allotted little time to rest or recover.

Several hours later, we came upon a dock with a strange lantern. It was well passed dark, and there was a faint aura of magic about it. Both Malia and I felt that it was benign, whatever it was, so I sent a spark into the housing. Within minutes, a ghostly boat appeared with an equally ghostly Estherian; once the boat stopped, the Estherian spirit moved out onto the dock, as if he were still alive.

He introduced himself as Owlin, a lost soul who had been betrayed by those he travelled with long ago. They drowned him long ago, and he has been trapped reliving his end for over one hundred years. After a few minutes of conversation, I realised the poor man had fallen in with pirates, and was not aware of such until it was too late.

We offered to assist his crossing into the afterlife, and he created a portal to the cove where these pirates had escaped to after murdering him. He spoke of their captain, a man with one eye, and stated that it was he who made the decision to drown Owlin; perhaps if he were sent into the afterlife, Owlin could finally make it there himself.

The cove was hidden inside of a cave, though we're still unsure about whether or not one could escape by water anymore; one hundred years had passed after all, and it seemed that the pirates didn't leave again after a few years. There were undead pirates all over, along with the bleak souls of their last victims, and a number of unruly crabs. Malia suspected they received cursed treasure at some point, and their greed bound them to this realm rather than allowing them to pass on.

Several of the 'officers' of the crew were reconisable. The undead pirates flocked to them, as the lesser undead flocked to the greater in the two tombs we'd been through. We met the boatswain first, then the quartermaster, then the first-mate, and finally we arrived at the remains of a ship. Before we could even set foot on the gangplank, a monstrous skeleton that was more spirit than bone flew up from beneath the deck, one eye covered by the remains of an eyepatch.

After several minutes, he dissipated into oblivion. Malia advised leaving all the treasure we found behind, unsure of which pieces were cursed, if there was a curse at all. Empty-handed, we returned to the portal Owlin had made for us.

Owlin thanked us before fading into the mists, and the lantern went dark, leaving us alone with the river and the night sky.