The bodies of three strange creatures lay in a mangled heap in the center of the next cave, their bodies torn apart and gnawed down to the bone. It was difficult to tell what manner of wolflike or hyenalike creatures they once were. Spiked collars lay empty beside the decapitated bodies, chains running from each to iron hooks in the walls.
Two savage krenshars waited here still. They wore spiked collars attached to long chains that allowed them full reach of anywhere in this cave, but prohibited them from pursuing foes beyond the cavern. The savage krenshars had larger jaws than their untainted kin, and large patches of their mangy fur had fallen away to reveal leprous skin covered with writhing tendrils.
Across from this cave was where the Tropic Thunder encounter Harmony Starstream, one of Halja's companions, along with the little girl they were looking to save. Harmony escaped her pirate captors moments before madness hit the cove, and she and the remaining pirates had an uneasy truce protecting each other from man-eating monstrosities. Not too long ago, the surviving pirates were jumped by a horde of savage creatures, and Harmony and the little girl escaped in the chaos. After the heroes took the girl to the Sea Wyvern and asked her to hide for safety, Harmony took the heroes where she and the pirates held their last stand.
This cavern had been outfitted with the finest in stolen furniture. Thick rugs covered the floor, and fine silk tapestries and masterful seascape paintings hanged from the walls, giving the place an almost regal feel. A four-poster bed took up much of a large nook to the south, and nearby stood an oak desk with a matching armoire. Alas, much of this furniture was ruined, spattered and stained with gore and deeply scarred by swordplay. A skeletal body dressed in the ruins of a once-fine suit of studded leather lay in a red heap at the foot of the bed. Ten more bodies lay about the room, horribly deformed men and women who seem to have perished on a rapier's point.
Kigante Valeros called this dry warm patch of cave home. The cavern walls were lined with extraordinary paintings (more than a few of which were gifts from Brissa).
Kigante himself lay against the foot of his bed, his corpse half-devoured by savage pirates. Kigante did not die without a fight, as the bodies of ten savage pirates in the room testified.
Kigante's weapon of choice, a magic rapier with a bronze hilt in the shape of a griffon, lay under his bed where it was kicked by a savage pirate eager to get to the dying man's flesh. Graim discovered it when he checked under the bed.
A closer examination of Kigante revealed a bit more treasure - a magic ring (a gold band set with several aquamarine gemstones) still sat snug on a bony finger, and his darkwood buckler remained strapped to an arm. A vial of vermillion ink sat on top of the desk, one of the few objects in the room to escape damage during the battle that ended Kigante's life.
As the Tropic Thunder approached the next cavern, the sound of combat, the unmistakable slobbering cries of rage and hunger from several savage pirates, and a woman's voice shouting profane threats and curses became audible.
The floor of this cavern sloped downward to the southeast, finally ending in a large tide pool. The waters seem to be surging from a submerged passageway leading to the southwest. A hammock strung between two stalagmites swayed gently to the south, next to an overturned table and a broken chair.
This tranquil getaway was the site of a heated battle between Harliss Javell and a horde of savage pirates.
Harliss Javell had been backed into the southern corner of the cave, where she used the overturned table as cover to fend off a half dozen savage pirates. Over two dozen more lay dead on the ground, yet for all her skills in swordplay, Harliss was growing weary. She'd been bitten several times by the savage pirates, and was suffering from savage fever already. When she spied the Tropic Thunder, she cried out, "Oi! Get in the fight or stay outta me way, buckos. These things are lookin'to die, and I plan on obliging."
Harliss was a bold beauty with raven-black hair that flowed like the deepest shade of midnight against her deeply tanned skin. She wore tight leather armor studded with fire opals and pearls and wielded a curved rapier and dagger in a blinding display of swordplay. As she fought, she taunted her foes with phrases like "Ye picked the wrong lass to make a meal out of today", or "Hungry? Have a taste o'me cold steel, ya stinking carcass!". As she recognized one of the savage pirates, she even said something like "Jebidiah? Is that you lad? You've looked better boy. Here, let me send you on your way". The savage pirates themselves din't notice the Tropic Thunder until they were attacked, at which point three of them broke off the fight against Harliss to attack them.
Although wounded and sick, Harliss Javell had no problem dealing with the remaining savage pirates. Nonetheless, she used her combat skill for defense to reduce the chance her opponents would land a solid, damaging blow on her. Javell had an imposing presence and puissance at swordplay. Javell was poetry in motion as she avoided the maws of the cannibals, dancing among them, her blades flashing impossibly fast. When the last cannibal pirate fell, Javell sheathed her blades and regarded the Tropic Thunder with a cold, appraising eye as she caught her breath and tried to determine who they were and what they were about. Harold attempted to fight her and found himself dying before he knew what happened, so the rest of the heroes thought twice about crossing steel with her.
After the battle, Harliss called out to the Tropic Thunder. "What manner of driftwood do we have here? Speak up! Your names, lubbers! If only so's I can cut'em inta' yer chests and save the undertaker some asking' round".
Harliss appreciated the Tropic Thunder for standing up to her gruff attitude with threats of their own. Harliss turned her hard gaze on the heroes and demanded to know their business in this "little place o' hell".
Harliss grew frustrated when she realized that the Tropic Thunder knew less about what happened at Kraken's Cove than she. This, combined with her clouded mind from the savage fever she'd contracted, made her a bit more talkative about Crimson Fleet matters than she probably should be. As soon as she heard Vanthus Vanderboren's name, she flew into a poetic litany of profanity that lasted several seconds and was as magnificent as it was scandalous to hear. When she recovered herself, she explained as she righted the toppled table and sat down upon it to rest.
"All this ye see here", the flamboyant woman said as she waved her hand at the slaughtered deformities, "and what nightmares ye must have fought through t'get t'me; t'was all Vanthus Vanderboren's doing! That vomitous pig came t'me with his hussy'n asked t'see our wares; made like he were a black marketer lookin' fer some fur or scale t'move. Told him we had a ship coming in what were full of exotica for him ta'shop, so he stayed on a few nights. Seemed a fine enough chap, but then not a week ago, he dumped a hold full of whale oil into the cove and lit it up. I was on th'Slippery Eel at the time, and that's when I caught the two of them on board, fixin t'rob me! Can ye imagine that? A pair of base curs tryin't'rob Captain Harliss Javell? Anyway, I stuck the fool in the arm with me blade, he yelped, and then as he ducked aside he dropped what he were tryin' t'rob. Were a black pearl. One th'size o'a man's fist, mind you! Was going to make some fair coin off that bauble, but as it fell, the thing cracked like an egg. Some o'Vanthus' blood from my blade spattered the pearl, and it boiled and flashed with light. This foul, choking green gas started spewin' from it, burning through the wood like it were acid. I grabbed th'thing, ran up topside, then threw it inta' the water, but as it struck, the thing exploded!
"After that...things got a bit weird, mind ye. A green mist filled my vision, and I felt strange. Like someone else were in my head. Someone...someone hungry! And the rage! Rage like I never felt 'afore! And then, just like that, it were gone. Vanthus were on deck too by then, but he and I were the only humans left. That pearl, it did something to me crew. Ta' Vanthus' little girly too! Turned them bad, like something ye might find in the net and throw back on account the sun got no purpose lookin' upon it. These things!" She kicked one of the deformed pirates in distaste. "Whatever were in that damnable pearl turned six score men into...into man-eating freaks!"
"Vanthus, he seen what his friend and the rest turned into. He dove into th'water t'get away. I did the same, only I swam for shore. Found me first mate Drevoraz there. He'd resisted the change too, as had some others here and there, yet they were nothing but the banquet for those things. We fought our way into th'caves and managed to hole up here with Captain Kigante, the man who keeps these caves for us. Only, Kigante's freak food now; he got jumped by a mob of them not twenty minutes ago. Tore him apart like they was sharks!
"And one more thing. I think they got the sick in their maws. The places they done bit me still burn, and it's hard to think straight...But hey! You fought yer way in here! That means there ain't much left of them out there, yeah?"
When the Tropic Thunder asked her about Vanthus, she cursed and flew into a tirade.
"I'll learn that cur what it is t'foul my business! I know who he is! Th'Vanderboren name's no secret to me. I know he's got family'n holdings in Sasserine! I sent me right hand Drevoraz't'deal with yer friend, I did. Drevoraz is on his merry way to Sasserine as we speak. He'll do for Vanthus' sister, his mum and pop, and any other family or friends that bastard has in that dunghill city. Cross the Crimson Fleet and we take everything in your life from ye. Best not forget that, boyo!"
Harliss believed the Tropic Thunder's story, and even apologized for any trouble that her first mate might be bringing to the Vanderborens. She encouraged the heroes to make haste back to Sasserine and the Vanderboren Manor if they wanted to warn Lavinia about the coming assault, but doubted they'd get there in time. She offered to write a brief note to Drevoraz, ordering him to hold off on the attack, but Graim secretly manifested a power against her before she had a chance to do that. The power did not affect her, but she made it clear to the heroes that leaving the cove would be beneficial to their health.
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