The Black Betty has been raiding the silt lanes between Cromlin, Balic, and Fort Firstwatch for just over a year now, ever since her crew was replaced in a slave uprising. Captained at the time by one Tizian Arlo out of Cromlin, the ship specialized in high value goods - namely slaves and liquor. Tizian was well known as a cruel man, often whipping his crew for even minor offenses and savagely beating slaves for no reason.

One day, however, on the way to delivering a load of slaves to a Balican fort in the Sea of Silt, the Black Betty was attacked by a silt horror. The suddenness of the attack stunned everyone, with the beast plucking three crew members off the ship’s deck before the alarm could even be raised. The shock of the attack caused the captain to consider the unthinkable: freeing and arming the slaves to help defend the ship.

The freed slaves quickly took up arms to fight the silt horror, but immediately turned on the crew once the beast was slain, as they now outnumbered their captors nearly two to one. With the old crew dead, the former captives resolved to sail the Black Betty themselves and swear off slave-trading, instead taking to raiding slavers’ vessels and occasionally taking courier jobs for “respectable” (non-slave owning) clients. Captain Tizian’s whip is still nailed to the ship’s mast - a constant reminder of the crew’s past and of their commitment to each other.

NPCs:

Dejan Heartripper: A Draji mul, Dejan is a former gladiator and the captain of the Black Betty. When the ship’s former captain freed and armed the slaves to help fight the silt horror, it was Dejan who led the fight against the creature. He was also the first to turn on the ship’s crew once the silt horror was slain. A natural leader from his time in the arena, Dejan was the obvious choice as the new captain. What he lacks in siltmanship, he more than makes up for in leadership and fighting ability. The mul finds sailing the slit as a pirate to be surprisingly satisfying, but does sometimes find that he misses the roar of the crowd.

Arvin: Ship’s wizard and former cabin boy, Arvin was barely six years old when the former ship’s wizard, the defiler and necromancer Lurkoth Dao, purchased him in Balic to serve as his apprentice and ship’s cabin boy. With Lurkoth dead, Arvin has inherited his badge of office, a Rod of the Dead that lets him animate & control undead. Since the mutiny, Arvin has been furiously studying the defiler’s spellbook, but has not yet mastered all of the spells within it yet, much to his dismay.

Kikal: A thri-kreen from Gulg, Kikal came of age hunting among the trees of the Crescent Forest. A consummate climber and hunter, he was captured by Nibenese slavers on a long-ranging hunt and eventually shipped out of Balic abord the Black Betty. Since the takeover of the ship, Kikal has found a home in the ship’s rigging, using his elevated position to assist in the ‘hunt’ - keeping watch for silt horrors, giants, other ships, and land. His crewmates were quite surprised at Kikal’s climbing ability, but he chittered at their claims that “kreen can’t climb,” calling them “ridiculous dra rumors.” Kikal highly favors the use of chatkcha in combat, and has crafted quite a few for himself, but is now looking to make or otherwise procure a bow to take advantage of the wide vistas and long sightlines afforded by the Sea of Silt.

Eikhud Gim: Formerly a marine in the Balcan navy, Eikhud was framed for his superior’s crimes and enslaved. Now the disgraced human warrior serves as the sailing expert aboard the Black Betty, trying to teach his compatriots the rudiments of sailing the silt. Eikhud is pleased with his current situation, but still longs to get revenge on his former captain. However, he does not fully trust Gugar, as he is well aware of the well-deserved reputation gith have as raiders and savages.

Za: A female aarakocra, skilled warrior, and student of the Way, Za’s psionically-enhanced attacks were instrumental in defeating the silt horror that attacked the ship. Several years ago, Za was captured by cruel slavers who clipped her wings to keep her from escaping by air. She now cycles between episodes of crushing despair and nearly uncontrollable rage at being “wingless”, but appreciates the support and acceptance of her crewmates regarding her “condition”, as she knows that her tribemates would have abandoned her and declared her dead in similar circumstances.

Cerni Kedz: Cerni is a half-elf craftswoman, ostensibly enslaved for failing to pay taxes on her shop, but in fact sold off as punishment for spurning the advances of a particularly vile Balcian templar named Anaxos Chropou. Cerni lacks any real combat experience, and was quickly knocked overboard into the silt during the battle with the silt horror. Her compatriots believed her dead, and were shocked and relieved when she shot up out of the powdery silt and landed on the deck minutes later, alive and well. Accustomed to such tasks from her time as a craftswoman, Cerni has taken it upon herself to do many of the more menial or crafting work on board the ship, as she cannot effectively help defend it from attacks. She has, however, also been learning to sail the ship and navigate, (wrongly) believing she needs to contribute more to the ship’s operation.

Gugar Foefang: Perhaps the most surprising member of the Black Betty’s crew, Gugar is a gith and the middle son of his tribe’s former chieftain. When his father died during a raid on a House Shom caravan, Gugar quietly withdrew from the battle rather than attempt to fight the tribe’s other claimants for leadership, as he knew he was unlikely to best any of them in a fair fight. Unfortunately, the caravan’s outriders found him soon afterwards and, looking to recoup their lost profits, enslaved him for later sale in Balic. None of his fellow slaves knew what to make of Gugar when they were all thrown together, but after he slipped in close and delivered the killing blow to the silt horror, they largely accepted him as one of their own. Though he had never even seen the Sea of Silt before, Gugar has taken well to marine combat, using his stealthiness and athletic skills to jump aboard enemy ships and cut down key members of their crew.

Adventure Hooks:

An Over-Eager Student: Not really understanding how others view mages and desperate to speed up his spellcasting advancement, young Arvin has been openly asking around about sorcerous tutors in several ports and with various ship’s crews. Now, a number of sailors on other ships have begun to grumble about needing to eliminate the upstart “defiler.” Worse yet, as Arvin has made no secret that he is not just a necromancer but an actual graycaster - drawing energy for his spells from the Gray, rather than the plant life around him - sinister and ruthless individuals have begun to track the Black Betty, intent on taking the young mage’s secrets for themselves. Can the PCs convince Arvin to be more discreet about his sorcerous abilities? Or will they need to personally find him a tutor to keep the Black Betty and her crew safe?

A Silt-Ship Named Revenge: Eikhud has heard that his duplicitous former commander’s ship, the Revenge, has recently been sighted in the area, and has been pushing the other members of the crew to attack it to punish his accuser. He has even gone so far as to try and recruit other ships for the assault, promising rich plunder. If the PCs encounter the Black Betty, Eikhud attempts to recruit them for the attack too, assuring them that a silt schooner like the Revenge is likely to be carrying enough loot for everyone.

Going Nowhere Fast: Several weeks ago, there was an error in navigation and the Black Betty ran afoul of some shoals beneath the silt, damaging one of its wheels. The wheel has been repaired, but the undead that drove that wheel were lost. Worst yet, while Arvin’s Rod of the Dead is still capable of commanding undead, it seems to have lost the ability to create new undead. Now, with it bearing down on the PC’s vessel, the crew of the Black Betty are looking to obtain new bodies to put into the wheels. But will they be picky about whose bodies? And will they somehow continue to use undead in the wheels, or will they be forced to use living slaves?

Power Play: While the PCs are accompanying the crew of the Black Betty (whether as passengers or on board their own ship), the silt skimmer has a violent encounter with a small clan of giants and Dejan is severely injured. The ship manages to break away from the giants, but Kikal and Gugar quickly launch into a lethal duel, attempting to determine which of them is worthy of leading the crew in the mul’s absence. With the giants still in pursuit and growing ever closer, can the PCs convince the crew’s two most savage members to put their conflict aside for everyone’s good? Or, failing that, can the PCs heal Dejan in time to save everyone’s lives?

Taking Wing: If the party encounters the Black Betty and includes a cleric, druid, or psionicist specializing in psychometabolism, Dejan will be inexplicably rude to them, insisting they stay away from his ship and crew. Investigation will reveal that, longing to soar above the choking silt and feel the wind beneath her wings again, Za desperately wishes to find someone who can restore her clipped wings. Dejan, however, secretly fears that Za will abandon the crew once she has full use of her wings again, and unconsciously acts to drive such individuals away. Can the PCs convince Dejan that the aarakocra will stay with her crewmates even after she regains the use of her wings, or will they need to face an angry mul gladiator just to heal Za?

There’s Something in the Wheel: The crew of the Black Betty has begun to hear banging and yelling coming from one of the wheels. After their mutiny, the new crew reanimated several of the dead as zombies and put them to work within the wheels, including the ship’s previous captain - Tizian Arlo. Now the crew fears that he has regained his mind somehow (spontaneously awakening as a thinking zombie) and will escape to take his revenge on them.

Two-For-One Deal: In a seedy, silt-side tavern, the PCs overhear the crew of pirate skimmer cursing into their drinks. Tired of losing their plunder, the crew of The Gray Gull’s Wings swear to hunt down their hated rivals on The King’s Ransom when next they sail, enslaving the crew and looting the ship. Can the PCs make it back to the Black Betty before the pirates reach their ship, and if so, can they convince the Betty’s crew to attack both ships mid-battle, eliminating two ships of slavers at once?

Untamed Will: Since the mutiny, the crew of the Black Betty have realized that Cerni is a powerful wild talent, and that her near-death experience in the silt awakened her psionic abilities. Cerni has been training with Za to sharpen her Will, but can still barely control her newly burgeoning powers, with telekinetic accidents and psionic mishaps occurring all over the ship with frightening regularity. Now the crew is on the lookout for an experienced master of the Way to properly tutor Cerni before something terrible happens.