Tales of Varisia: The Hunt for Black Magga

The Bounty
"Wanted: Able Captains willing to undertake Perilous Hunt""      The united cities of Magnimar, Korvosa, Corentyn, Promise, Blackcove, Pezack, Acisazi, Azir and Botosani present the following offer to any able and brave captain of the Arcadian Ocean. In past months, our trade routes have been menaced by a great Serpent which has become known as Black Magga. The fiend appears as out of nowhere, and drags ships to the depths with an unearthly strength. Each city named above has promised a purse of One Thousand Platinum Pieces to the Captain who slays the beast, and an amnesty for any existing warrants held against them and their crew by any of the above cities and their vassals."

After the great dreaded serpent known as Black Magga broke free from the Storval Deep through the damage to Skull's Crossing caused by the Kreeg Ogres, she travelled down the Yonbakari River, stopping to briefly terrorise the port city of Magnimar before escaping into the Varisian Bay.

Over the next two months, Black Magga preyed upon ships throughout the Arcadian Ocean, moving from region to region with an astounding speed which suggested her extraplanar origin. Lacking an official navy, the city-states of Varisia had no way to directly respond to the beast, and the other cities affected were loathe to give the Chelish Navy lease to enter their sovereign waters in order to hunt the serpent down. Their solution? Hire pirates.

The Willow
While the bounty offered for Black Magga's head stirred steep competition, two captains were the focus of this tale. The first, Captain Nina Blackfin, an impulsive Undine and captain of the Willow. The Willow is a small, fast ship, two

masts and only 85ft long. Well known in the Shackles, and particularly on the island of Drenchport, Nina had made her crew a significant amount of money throughout the years by boarding ships and negotiating a trade with the prize captain. Making heavy use of the mysterious Kaewanag Totem, an artifact she had acquired under unknown circumstances years before, Nina had seen enough success through recent years that she did not seem to believe that Black Magga posed any real threat.

The Scourge
A rival to Nina more generally, the Willow was forced to race against a much larger ship in their hunt for Black Magga. The Scourge, a three-mast, 110ft galleon, also sought the serpent, captained by the bloodthirsty Kristof "Tigershark" de Roitte. Known for the bloody swathe he had cut across the Arcadian Ocean, de Roitte was desperate to obtain the amnesty offered by the Bounty. In an attempt to ensure his success, de Roitte offered one of the crew of the Willow, Garth Lantos, a significant share of the reward if he agreed to kill Nina on the open water.

The Hunt
Failing to acquire the assistance of The Master of Gales, the enigmatic druid Free Captain who governs the island of Drenchport, Nina decided to throw caution to the wind and sail through the Eye of Abednego regardless. With the aid of her crew she successfully navigated the divine hurricane, and broke free into the calmer waters around the Arch of Aroden. Spotting the Scourge on the horizon, Nina used the Kaewanag Totem to invoke a curse on the rival ship, deadening its sails for a significant time and allowing the Willow to pull ahead. After reaching Conqueror's Bay, the Willow was found by the serpent. Black Magga at first attempted to crush the ship, however, the crew valiantly held her at bay. De Roitte, having caught up with the Willow, took this opportunity to attempt to sink his rival. A battle between both ships and the serpent ensued, and the Scourge took heavy damage, both from the attacks of Black Magga, and the bombardments which it suffered from the cannons of the Willow and the explosives of the Willow's Master Gunner, Glory. De Roitte, seeing the peril he was in, leapt from his ship to the deck of the Willow, and attempted to seize control of the ship. His effort was cut short by Garth Lantos, who, proving his loyalty to the Willow, attempted to teleport de Roitte back to the ''Scourge. ''Black Magga, having a supernatural influence over planar shifting, had other ideas, and forced the Tigershark to reappear in her clutches. De Roitte managed to fell the serpent, beheading her with his infamous axe, Behemoth, however he took near-mortal wounds himself, and was quickly silenced by Qirin, the Willow's shapeshifting scout. Repairing the Scourge, Nina set course back to the Shackles, claiming the larger ship as her own and making plans for how they would use their new fortune.

"There is a flash packet, a flash packet of fame""She hails from the South and the Willow's her name""She sails for the Eye, where stormy winds blow""Away with the winds, the Willow shall go""Tarry down, down, down, tarry down"Ship's Song, Nina Blackfin.