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Beacon Point

by Tristan Dunigan

OK, here goes. Some of this may be a bit sketchy, as I don't have the material in front of me. I sent it off to the Netherlands so a friend of mine could try his hand at running a Savage Coast adventure with it too.

We'll start with Thieves Challenge II: Beacon Point.

I had the PCs as passengers on a ship going from Gargoña (although just about any of the Baronies with a port would work) to Texeiras. Well, on the way there, the ship was attacked by pirates and the PC's, eventually, were overtaken and tossed overboard. The next morning, they awoke on the beach of one of my made up barrier islands off Texeiras looking up at a large lighthouse. As it turns out the lighthouse is manned by a reclusive wizard who, many years before, was sent by the Baron of Texeiras to be the caretaker. Then the blood-thirsty buccaneers moved in. The wizard tried to send word to the mainland, but each attempt was intercepted by the pirates, who now more or less run the little town of Beacon Point. It is also told that the pirates have a secret cove on the island from which they launch their raids into the Texeiran shipping lanes. So the PC's mission seems pretty clear, right? Rid the town and island of the pirates, right? Well, unfortunately, as the PC's discover, the townsfolk actually like the pirates being there as they have brought in much needed "loot" to their local economy. With the exception of maybe 3 townsfolk, all the folks love the pirates. So the trick of the whole adventure is "Who can you trust"? Well, somehow, the PC's must find a way to "liberate" the island from the pirates and shut down the Pirate Cove. However, the pirate captain and most of his men should be allowed to escape...in order to tie in with the next portion of the adventure........

Part two begins with the PCs arriving in Texeirans and being met by a grateful local government. Among these is an Admiral of the Texeiran Navy, who has a little proposition for the PC's: As it turns out, the Texeiran navy has been receiving intelligence on pirate movements and strongholds from an undercover operative code named Manta Ray. Agent Manta Ray has located the hub of all pirate activity in the Gulf of Hule and has been spying on the pirates for many months, disguised as one of them....however, as the pirate raids become less and less fruitful, they begin to suspect someone on the inside is selling them out. Agent Manta Ray knows this and has requested to be extracted from the pirate stronghold. Well, this little adventure has so many twists and turns I highly suggest you track down that issue of Dungeon and see for yourself. Needless to say, getting Manta Ray out is a dangerous feat and if successful, the PC's are awarded their own ship and commissions in the Texeiran Navy among other more material goodies.