Monday, June 11, 2012

Two Magical Items

Today I have another pair of magical treasures, inspired by tales of piracy on the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

-Nate



Danseker's Shillings
Among the many European sailors who turned renegade and joined the corsairs of the Barbary Coast, few were more famous than Simon Danseker. He was a Dutchman, and eventually came to inherit the title of “Diablo Ra'is,” or “Devil Captain.” Even so, Danseker was never so reviled as some of the other renegades, due to the fact that he was merciful. His encounter with the ship Charity is a good example of this.
It happened one day that he encountered a ship which had already been raided by corsairs; the few crew members aboard it had been spared and were making their way back to England, their cargo and personal valuables already taken. Learning of this, Danseker gave each of these survivors four shillings each with which to purchase the necessary supplies, and then sent them on their way. In this way he earned a reputation for mercy, like a seagoing Robin Hood.
In game terms, Danseker's shillings bring good luck to those who live lives of adventure. When invoked, they provide a +2 luck bonus to one check, up to three times per day.

The Jacob Cutlasses
The story of the ship Jacob is one of tremendous derring-do. It was an English vessel out of Bristol captured by Mediterranean corsairs; a handful of its crew members were left aboard to sail it after the attacking vessel. Even though they were outnumbered, the four men—John Cooke, William Long, David Tuckey and William Jones—hatched a plan to retake their vessel. During rough weather they ere released from their chains, at which point they began eliminating their captors one at a time. Once the ruse was exposed, one of the sailors rushed below decks and snatched up a pair of cutlasses, then fought off the remaining corsairs. From there the Englishmen managed to reach a Spanish port, where they sold their form captors into slavery.

In game terms, these two cutlasses function as +1 weapons; the bonus increases to +3 when the wielder is outnumbered by the enemy.

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