Eight years ago, a band of pirates landed on Kalris and ran amok. Now they're back with their crew.
This event is scheduled to begin September 5th at 8pm EDT/12am UTC.
Hello everyone, and welcome back! This event is going to be the sequel to the previous event, Pirates Ashore, which ran in 2024. You can read the details about it there, but the gist of it is this: A group of four pirates, essentially a scouting party from the ship, landed on Kalris and ran around robbing people and beating them up. Despite suffering early defeats at the hands of the rallied Morenth defense, they used stealth and cunning to get around the guards and attack the undefended civilians, including kidnapping one.
After taking this hostage back to the forest with them, the locals discovered the disappearance and sent scouts out to find out more. They were all ambushed and defeated and also kidnapped. Faced with a growing hostage situation and pressured with threats of violence, the people of Morenth decided that the safety of the prisoners was the most important and paid a handsome ransom to the pirates for their safe return. The pirates then left, taking this ransom and returning to their ship.
For a long time, nothing more came of this, but A Pirate Never Forgets! Soon, the Dread Captain Longwhiskers will be seeking more of the riches that his crew members found on Kalris nearly eight years ago, and returning with his whole ship to stake a claim on the land beyond the Torrus Foothills. He and his crew intend not just to hassle the local inhabitants, but to drop anchor and establish a settlement of scofflaws and brigands, and to bring those living here to heel at least long enough to extract the score he's been dreaming of his entire life.
Naturally, most people of Kalris are likely to take issue with this. But what can they do about it? Captain Longwhiskers' reputation as a duelist par none is well-earned, and if that weren't bad enough, he has a whole crew of nasty critters to back him up. It doesn't seem like a quick ejection is on the books, but no one is invincible. He must have some weakness that can be used to drive him off or scatter his band. We all just might have to put up with him and his merry band for a while while we try to figure out what that is. In the meantime, at least they brought rum?
Event Play Guidelines
This will not be a purely combat-focused event, and the pirates are not here primarily to rob players; they might shake people down for valuables to wager each other in dice games, and it's likely they'll muscle local establishments for protection rackets or to force them to accept the presence of pirates in them. Players should be prepared for this and ready to employ guards or not play during event hours if they wish to avoid this (think of the Old West town where all the buildings slam their windows shut as soon as the bandits roll through town).
However, the primary goal here will be the intermingling of pirates with player characters and the attempted bullying and intimidation of the locals into submission, as well as creating a safe haven for outlaw-type characters away from the main civilization. The pirates will have their own gathering and social space which players can freely come into without being in danger as long as they don't make trouble. Pirates may also choose to come into town and socialize with players. They will have their own supplies and unique items which players can attempt to barter for or pilfer.
Play your characters with the understanding that they are unlikely to resolve the situation immediately and setbacks should be expected. People who choose to play during the event times should try to adapt to the circumstances. The main antagonist will be working towards his own goal as a "lose condition" which can end the event if players are unable to put up enough resistance.
This event will have more of a goofy tone than The Enchantress, but the same advice I gave previously still applies: Interact directly with the event characters even if you don't like them. People who do this, I think, will have fun. The event characters are there to help you have fun. People who avoid them and do stuff around them maybe won't have so much fun, because you will have to create your own fun. Don't take too seriously the advice you're likely to receive to avoid the situation for your own safety. New characters have little to nothing to steal and are in no danger. The pirates will make it immediately clear if they are coming around to pick fights and steal things versus to be boisterous and loud.
Have fun!
More info: Event Page