Session 1 (The Pirates of Atlas)

 

"Session 1"
The Pirates of Atlas episode
The gates of Atlas welcomes all
Episode no.	Episode 1
Original air date	May 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)

"Session 1" is the first session of the campaign The Pirates of Atlas. In the golden age of piracy, with legends of the Dreamwell swirling, eight souls are fated to meet and begin their journey together to the fabled whirlpool at the heart of the world.

Synopsis

Arrivals to Atlas

The gates of Atlas welcomes all

Akula, Durgl, and Serena Lockwood arrive to Atlas first and decide to go to a bar in search of refreshments. Willem and Maren arrive shortly after and go to a museum to observe its artifacts. Anradeem Pravuil, Jué Zosteif, and Ryul Vidro arrive last and split up, with the former two ending up at the bar where Akula, Durgl, and Serena Lockwood are, while Ryul enters and wins an artificer competition. Willem and Maren arrive to Atlas and visit a local museum to take a look and admire its many artifacts.

Discovery Day events

The stairway leading to the Atlas Colosseum

The blight antidote used to heal Pravuil's severed arm

At the tavern, the first two groups meet each other after Pravuil senses a spiritual bond with Akula and the two others. Akula mistakes Pravuil's enthusiasm for the latter's belief that the former is a god. They all quickly befriend each other after learning that all have similarly aligned goals towards reaching the Dreamwell. After departing the tavern, they decide to view an exhibit where Captain Chad, leader of the Smiling Grin Pirates, describes the distant, mysterious threat of The Blight to the east and the Navy's efforts towards producing an antidote to combat The Blight's effects. Pravuil offers himself as a demonstration to the antidote's power and has his arm briefly amputated by a sword infused with The Blight's substance before his arm is completely restored by the antidote. Afterwards, the group leaves the exhibit and they learn of a competition that will be held at the Atlas Colosseum where the victors will win a ship personally gifted by the esteemed Dr. Adonis Langston.

Meanwhile, Vidro practices his weaponsmithing and makes small chat with fellow artificers who appreciate the craft. Willem and Maren do not find any object of particular interest to them but learn a great deal of knowledge by the museum curator, who informs them of the alleged existence of dinosaurs and dragons to the south of Atlas. Maren tells the curator, much to the latter's incredulity, that her people are from the Dreamwell although she does not remember much about her time there.

Colosseum Mock Naval Battle

The mock naval battle commences

As the day continues, there is an announcement that the competition at the Colosseum is about to begin. The main group finds Vidro along the way and bump into Willem and Maren. Seeing that all of them are interested in reaching to the Dreamwell and determined to do anything to achieve such a goal, they form an impromptu team and enroll in the competition. They soon learn that it will be a mock naval battle in the flooded arena of the Colosseum. The format of the game is that of a capture-the-flag game involving seven ships and three flags. There are no rules of the game other than the game will not cease until one team has acquired all three flags and that once in the game, no one may attempt to escape. In addition, if the designated captain is killed in action, the entire team will be exterminated by sentries overseeing the game's conduct. Akula, due to his strong sense of camaraderie and disposition towards viewing nearly anyone he encounters as his "friend", proposes that their team be named "Akula's Friends". He also nominates Vidro to be their captain due to a misunderstanding earlier when he had overheard Zosteif describe Vidro as "great with weapons". Ultimately, Willem self-volunteers himself to become the captain. Akula's Friends then enter the battle at Dock 7 and quickly find themselves engaged in combat. When they have entered the waters, three ships had already capsized and three teams had been eliminated already. They take out the first ship with a flag they encounter with relative ease. Zosteif quickly captures the flag while the rest of her crewmates deal with the enemy crewmates of the ship they seize. After they take over the ship they board, they make their way towards the remaining two other ships. Akula and Maren, being seaborne creatures, assume underwater reconnaissance while Willem takes charge of the command. Vidro takes up the crow's nest as the designated sniper, while Lockwood assumes the ship's wheel. Pravuil provides a supportive role as the healer while Durgl provides morale support and temporarily functions as a powder monkey. A stray cannonball goes through the ship, severely wounding Durgl, but his life is saved when Pravuil heals him and allows Durgl to repair the damaged section of the ship. Akula and Maren successfully capture the respective flags of the remaining two ships and Akula's Friends are victorious, ending the battle.

They are then brought before Dr. Adonis Langston personally who congratulates them and tells them that they must go to Row & Roll Upgrades by the Bay of Atlas to retrieve their ship.

Featured characters

Player characters

• Akula
• Anradeem Pravuil
• Durgl
• Jué Zosteif
• Ryul Vidro
• Serena Lockwood
• Maren
• Willem

New

• Adonis Langston
• Captain Chad

Mentioned

• Tubby