The Spirit of 1670 Weeks Five and Six

We resumed playing our Skull & Bones campaign last night, and I realized that I hadn't posted about the week before, either. After the party exeted the catacombs, they took the helmet back to the school only to find it burned down, and the professor dead - a small anchor stuck in the back of his skull. They searched the ruins for clues but found little, and made their way back to an inn where they spent hours experimenting with the helmet, trying to get it to work. Finally, Aleida hit upon holding the helmet from the strap, and in her capable hands the head swung around to face north-north-west. After they made this discovery, the party made plans to head into the wilderness to search for the Fountain - presumably what the helmet pointed towards. That night, however, they were set upon by three black-robed thugs, one of whom kept using a strange assortment of powders and ingredients to cause horrible results in the party - including completely blinding Ronald. This may have been the party's hardest fight yet, but somehow the glory of God seemed to be with Rodrigo as he laid waste to his opponents. And, of course, no one noticed Zanna in the background, quietly poking pins in her doll.

The next morning, after seeking a (costly) cure for Ronald's blindness, the party made their way into the wilds. After several hours of travel, the plantations and citrus farms gave way to mangrove an cyprus, and the ground became increasingly swampier. They stopped for the night at a dry patch of ground, and the next morning found the real beginnings of the swamp - an area where dry land only existed in small tufts. Luckily, a flat-bottomed pole-boat was tied to a tree roughly where they found the edge of the swamp, so they began their journey into the heart of it. Again, they found a relatively soft patch of land to spend the night and, the next morning, found another shore where they continued on food.

Around midday they came upon a clearing and heard muffled voices. Rodrigo, being the sneakiest, snuck up on the voices and discovered several pirates pushing a shovel into the ground and checking for moisture. The leader was a tall, lanky pirate with a large red coat, an enormous black beard, and a wild shock of black hair. His men kept digging, while one of the unseen sentries snuck up on Rodrigo and put his musket to the Spaniard's head. Rodrigo shouted "hola!" loud enough for the rest of the party to hear, and proceeded to talk a mile a minute at the top of his lungs. The rest of the party snuck towards the clearning as the large pirate began to toy with Rodrigo - offering to let him go, and then trying to shoot him in the back. All was forgotten, though, as the men discovered they had in fact found what they were looking for - water bubbled from the ground. As the pirates ignored Rodrigo, and the party moved into position, the Spaniard drew his cutlass and attacked.

The party fought for their friend's safety, but the pirate captain didn't seem to care - he filled a small vial with the water, drank it, and promptly fell over dead. Rodrigo attempted to sever the man's head, but couldn't quite get it all the way off - it still hung by a small flap. Ronald, though, found a worth opponent - a lace-wearing swordfighter who tossed insults as easily as he did jabs with the rapier. The two fought brilliantly, exchanging blows and words. Aleida, though, using her newly-aquired cutlass, began hacking the pirates to pieces. She dispatched three in a row, causing both Ronald and Rodrigo to be very impressed. Meanwhile, the seemingly dead pirate had problems all his own. His hair and beard burst into flames, and his neck healed itself. Then, he stood up and knocked Rodrigo out of the way with a single punch, and shoved one of his henchmen in much the same manner. The battle stopped (except for Ronald skewering the insulting swordsman) while the pirate, his skin turning a sickly shade of green and his hair and beard now a burning wreath of hellfire, walked into the swamp, laughing. "When I send you to Hell, tell 'em John Robinson sent 'ya!" he cackled.

After looting the bodies, tying up a prisoner, and resting, the party agreed it was one of the strangest things they'd ever seen.