After leaving Dakaran, the crew of The Demon's Mercy headed for Second Chance to enact the required repairs on their new vessel. The first few days of the journey were uneventful, but then one morning they saw on the horizon a pillar of smoke. Amos Black sent one of the crew up to the crow's nest with a telescope, and soon heard back the report that there was a ship aflame to the north, flying the colours of Breland. Deciding that the detour would only cost them a few hours, the ship turned to intercept.
When they got closer, they saw that it was a merchant vessel that had its rear sail alight. On the deck, they could see that the crew appeared to have been rounded up and held hostage by a group of gnolls wielding spears. Bringing The Demon's Mercy alongside, the crew decided to intervene. Unable to get close enough to leap across directly, several of them threw grappling hooks to forge the gap, but only Kuven succeeded in his attempt. He quickly scrambled across his rope, with the others following in his wake. El Graeve stayed behind, preferring to shoot arrows from the deck of their own ship. This proved a nearly-fatal error, as the gnolls fired back, and only from the quick intervention of Sacha Cresswell, running back across the rope to use Lay On Hands, saved him from oblivion.
Meanwhile, Amos Black and Kuven worked together to take out several of the gnolls. Kuven tried to push one over the side, but unfortunately he clung on, and Amos' attempts to dislodge the gnoll's grip proved unsuccessful. Sacha Cresswell followed on shortly afterwards, and together the three of them turned the tide. El Graeve had some success with his arrows, and also used the Command spell to cause another gnoll to go over the side, but like Kuven was unable to stop the gnoll from holding on. After several had been defeated, one more gnoll emerged from the depths of the vessel. This one was the largest and meanest of the gnolls, and his glaive nearly proved fatal to Kuven. However, the new friends stood firm and eventually victory was theirs.
After the battle was concluded, they freed the captured crew. The leader introduced himself as Fernando ir'Dain, and explained that he was a silk merchant travelling from Xen'drik to Sharn. The gnolls had stowed away amongst his crates of merchandise. While his crew scuttled around fixing the ship and putting out the flames on the sail, he was most thankful for the rescue. This wasn't enough for Amos Black though, he pressured the merchant into offering a reward; and when only one crate was offered, he pushed further to receive a second one. Thus beginning their life of piracy, the crew of The Demon's Mercy returned to their vessel and continued their course to Second Chance. While en-route, the rest of the crew asked the lead four for a share of the spoils; it was agreed that they would get one of the two crates.
Arriving at Second Chance mid-afternoon the following day, the party briefly split. El Graeve and Kuven went to speak to Krellick, the shipwright that they had been told could fix up their ship. Amos Black and Sacha Cresswell headed out to look for someone to buy the silk from them, as an easy first source of gold. Krellick was found easily, and after looking over the storm damage stated that he could fix the ship for 500 gold, though it would take him two weeks. Agreeing to this, El Graeve and Kuven headed off after the other two. Meanwhile Amos Black and Sacha Cresswell had been stopped by the halfling Baddock, who was flagging down passers-by in the hope of getting someone to compete in tonight's event at The Necrodome. When he realised that he had caught their attention, Baddock told them where to find Lucius, who would let them compete.
Seeing a good job opportunity, Amos Black and Sacha Cresswell decided to first head to The Bottomless Mermaid, where they thought to ask around to see who might be interested in silks. The barkeep at the inn, Orlan Nezumi, pointed them towards The Courtesan at the House of Pleasure. Additionally, he said that he had his own work to offer; he was looking for someone to hunt a crocodile that was living in the sewers, and preying on his customers. He also pointed to some priests from the Church of the Silver Flame, who were drinking in the corner. He was aware that the priests had hired some mercenaries, so had some work that needed doing, though he didn't know the details.
After reuniting, the four headed to the The Necrodome. There, they were met by the flamboyant Lucius, the tiefling proprietor of the event. He was delighted to see them, as his previous entrants had been recruited by some priests for another job; the crowd was already entering the stands and starting to place their bets. He explained the rules; the party would enter the arena, face an unrelenting horde of zombies, and they had to kill as many as they could before they were knocked down. The record was twelve. He also explained that they would receive five gold for every kill, and that a magical crystal in the centre of the arena's roof would prevent any of them dying - a sorcerer in his employ could cast Spare The Dying through it, to prevent anyone from being killed. The group entered the arena, setting themselves at one end as the horde of zombies charged. They quickly felled several, but then slowly got overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Sacha Cresswell skipped past the zombies, showboating as he went, and positioned himself at the other end of the arena, but this meant he was too far away to help as El Graeve was the first to fall. Amos Black lasted a little longer, taking several with him. Kuven's rage kept him going as he was surrounded, but eventually he too fell. With all of the undead concentrating on him, Sacha Cresswell didn't last much longer. Their final tally was eleven, just one short of the record.
Lucius was pleased with their performance, willingly paying them gold. He also offered them work; once they had their ship repaired, he encouraged them to go to Coral Reef, and capture more zombies for his events. He explained that the entire population of the town was undead, though nobody knew why. The four took note of this, and then decided to try to sell the silks before calling it a night. Amos Black took the lead, heading to the House of Pleasure and introducing himself to the seductive changeling that greeted the newcomers. She introduced herself as The Courtesan, and she agreed to purchase the silks for a hundred gold. As they left, the party noticed that the building next door also had a crowd around it.
With one hundred and fifty-five gold of their target of five hundred achieved, the party decided to rest before seeking further opportunities. Three possible avenues remained open to them; investigate the crowd around the building next-door to the House of Pleasure, hunt the crocodile for Orlan Nezumi, or speak to the priests of the Church of the Silver Flame, to see if they could offer paying work too.