Poll #532 - Just Passing Through - Crimson Bay Description and Adventure Poll

A conquered harbor of blood-red sails and smoldering ruins, Crimson Bay survives on fear, secrets, and the thin hope of rebellion.

Salt wind lashes the black cliffs as waves crash below, their roar echoing through a harbor choked with mismatched ships and wary crews. The town’s crooked streets climb toward a battered wall, its cobblestones slick with brine and the lingering scent of burnt timber. Charred ruins sag where part of the wall has collapsed inward, the destruction recent enough to still feel warm. People move quickly with lowered heads, avoiding the shattered district and the blood-red flags now hanging where proud colors once flew. To the south, a dark coniferous forest presses close.

Crimson Bay clings to the cliffs of the Weeping Sea like a wound carved by violence. Its crescent harbor is stained with rust and dried blood, reminders of the assault only months ago when Mordekai Redbeard swept in with his crimson-sailed fleet. The old rulers were hanged from the harbor chains, the guard towers toppled, and sections of the western wall shattered by scuttled ships dragged ashore as improvised battering rams. Burned warehouses and blackened stone still mark the path of the pirates’ advance, and ash gathers in the ruined district like drifting sand.

Redbeard now rules as “lord by right of conquest,” his lieutenants stalking the streets and docks with open blades. Every tavern flies his banner, every merchant pays his “tide tithe,” and every ship entering the harbor knows its fate lies in his crew’s mood. Though branded an outlaw by the Aurenvale crown, Redbeard’s constant raids against Thallasel’s southern shipping lanes serve Aurenvale’s interests. Lord Garran Velthyr, the Iron Reeve, allows Crimson Bay to remain in pirate hands so long as Redbeard keeps warships occupied far from Dornwych’s shores.

Despite the fear and tension, the town thrives on desperation and opportunity. Smugglers, mercenaries, and traders flood the harbor seeking coin unavailable in more lawful ports. Yet beneath the thriving chaos lies a fragile unease—the Dreary Wood presses close from the south, the shattered wall remains a gaping invitation to danger, and Redbeard’s rule, though absolute, is unpredictable. In Crimson Bay, fortune is real, but it is always bought in blood.

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Adventure Poll

Which adventure would you like to see in a mid-length format?

1. The Blade in the Shadows

Vaela Thorne and Lila Nightshade plan to strike at one of Rotbeard’s lieutenants, but the resistance is compromised. The PCs must help them escape discovery, relocate their hideout, or finish the assassination themselves—before Rotbeard realizes who is hunting him.

2. The Drowned Map

Master Eldric Moonshadow reveals that an irreplaceable elven chart—one showing hidden currents near Thallasel—has been stolen and dumped somewhere in the Sunk Grotto’s flooded caverns. Retrieving it requires diving into tunnels filled with smugglers, pirates, and something whispering beneath the surface.

3. The Monster Approaches

The sea beast plaguing Edgewater begins circling Crimson Bay, attacking ships anchored too far offshore. Rotbeard demands the PCs help stop it, promising gold… while Ironfoot wants proof the monster is connected to Thallasel magic. Whichever side they choose, the creature grows bolder each night.

4. The Bayview Sanctuary

A diplomat hiding at the Bayview Inn possesses information that could weaken both Rotbeard and Thallasel—but assassins from Seawatch Barracks are on their trail. PCs must protect the diplomat, move them through hostile streets, or negotiate a dangerous truce between factions that would rather spill blood.

5. The Fishmonger’s Defiance

Dorian Blackwater refuses to pay Rotbeard’s increasing “tide tithe,” and his guild is now threatened with destruction. PCs can help defend the Fishmonger’s Hall, uncover who encouraged Dorian’s defiance, or negotiate with a pirate crew eager to make an example of him.

6. The Crimson Heirloom

A treasured artifact stolen from Thorne Manor before Elar Thorne’s death resurfaces on the Crimson Market. Multiple parties—Vaela Thorne, Annabelle Seabreeze, Rotbeard’s quartermaster, and a mysterious Thallaseli agent—want it for different reasons. PCs must decide who deserves it… or take it for themselves.

7. The Spyglass Curse

Silas Gray’s enchanted spyglass begins showing visions of approaching doom: burning sails, screaming tides, or something rising from the Weeping Sea. Using the spyglass reveals crucial intelligence—but also inflicts the curse. PCs must uncover the origin of the curse, break it, or decide whether the visions justify the cost.