Session 1 — Sunday, March 15, 2026

The Job

Mags had a simple assignment for the crew: a group of local teenagers had gotten it into their heads to spend a night on the haunted island just offshore. That island, inconveniently, sits directly above the gang's hidden sea cave — their private entrance into town and the place where hot goods quietly disappear until the heat dies down.

The teens couldn't be allowed to poke around. But they also couldn't be touched.

"Don't hurt a hair on their heads," Mags said, "but scare them so good they never want to so much as look at that island again. And keep it clean — the last thing we need is undue attention out there."

A haunting job, then. The crew got to work.

Divide and Conquer

The party split to gather intelligence on the five teenagers before committing to any plan.

Skipper and Donaar took the direct approach and sailed out to the island to scout the terrain and start laying the groundwork for whatever scares the crew eventually settled on.

Swift and Scarlet followed a lead to the Trident Chapel near the docks. One of the teens — a girl named Mara — was known to do acolyte work there. Swift spoke with Father Aldric, one of the chapel's three clergy and its devotee of Selûne, expecting a simple conversation. She got that, and something extra: Father Aldric quietly asked for a personal favor. A small artifact — a hand mirror called the Moon Mirror — had gone missing from the chapel's collection. He didn't want to report it officially and risk embarrassment in front of the other clergy. He hoped Swift might look into it... discreetly. He provided Mara's home address as a gesture of goodwill, vouching that Mara was a trustworthy girl he'd be grateful to see unharmed.

Meanwhile, Bosyn slipped off to find his contact: Bobby, a street urchin with an ear to the ground. Bobby had heard a kid named Gunther loudly bragging at the joust-ball courts about an upcoming island trip with his friends.

The Business at Mara's Door

Swift, Scarlet, and Bosyn made their way to Mara's house to take the measure of her. They arrived just in time to witness a small, private drama.

A lanky tiefling boy — later identified as Zip — was pacing outside the front door, clearly trying to work up his nerve. After a long internal debate visible to anyone watching, he gave up, hung a small hand-carved wooden pendant on the door handle, and walked away without knocking.

The crew exchanged glances.

Bosyn knocked next, posing as a curious neighbor. The conversation with Mara's mother went sideways — his line of questioning raised her suspicion and she shut the door. (+1 Suspicion)

Scarlet tried a different angle. She slipped the pendant off the door handle and returned shortly after with a cover story: she was Zip's cousin, and had come to retrieve the gift he'd accidentally left behind. Mara's mother, apparently accustomed to cleaning up after awkward teenage boys, answered sympathetically — but Mara wasn't home. She was probably at the joust-ball courts, watching her very handsome boyfriend play.

Devrik, presumably. Scarlet pocketed the pendant and filed that away.

At the Joust-Ball Courts

The crew converged on the courts, where a crowd had gathered around an afternoon match. Devrik was easy to spot — he played with the easy confidence of someone who knew people were watching. Gunther was also there, doing his best to hype up Zip from the sidelines.

The crew mingled and asked questions, learning what they could about the teenagers' plans. Some of those questions were a little too pointed. (+Suspicion)

The breakthrough came when Scarlet produced the pendant and held it where Zip could see it. He went very still. She had questions. He had answers. It didn't take long.

Zip and Gunther had heard about an island trip and invited themselves along. Zip needed to prove he was just as brave as Devrik, and Gunther was going along out of loyalty. Oh, and one more thing — they're going tonight.

Scarlet handed the pendant back. Zip stuffed it away before anyone else could see it, ears burning.

As far as the crew could tell, this was a teenage bravado expedition — a boy trying to impress a girl, with a loyal friend dragged along for the ride. Whatever had actually set the trip in motion, nobody was saying. What mattered now was the clock: they had an afternoon to get to the island and turn it into something that would scare five teenagers badly enough that they'd never look at the water the same way again.

Reconvening on the Island

With their intelligence gathered — and time running short — Scarlet, Bosyn, and Swift boarded a boat and headed out to the island, where Skipper and Donaar were already waiting.

The crew had what they needed: five teenagers, their fears, their motivations, and a few hours before the sun went down. Now it was time to build the world's most targeted haunting.

Notes & Loose Threads

• The Moon Mirror — Father Aldric's missing artifact. A side quest Swift accepted quietly. What happened to it, and does Mara know anything?
• Suspicion — The crew earned some heat at Mara's house and again at the courts. Not a crisis yet, but worth keeping in mind.
• Zip's pendant — A hand-carved wooden gift, made it briefly into Scarlet's hands before finding its way back to a very embarrassed Zip. He clearly carved it himself. Make of that what you will.

Next session: The crew executes the plan. What could go wrong?