BreadBert wiped the sweat from his brow, his colonial-style coat already stained with salt and whatever mysterious goo had spilled from the galley earlier, as well as a little flour from bread baking activities. As the captain’s nephew and official gofer aboard the ship “Merry Mariner”, his duties were simple: fetch, carry, scrub, offer bread, and stay out of the way. Today’s task was a bit grander. A wealthy passenger in a hooded cloak had paid handsomely for “special cargo” to be loaded at the last port. “Handle it with care, lad,” the passenger had hissed, pressing a few coins into BreadBert’s palm. “It’s an old family heirloom.”
The crate was heavier than expected. BreadBert grunted as he and a couple of deckhands wrestled it up the gangplank. The instructions he'd been given said to remove the crate, without touching the contents and let the object be transported while sitting freely exposed to air. Metal chains were wrapped around it, so even with the shell of the crate removed it still seemed fairly covered up. It was long & narrow, smelled faintly of dust. A sarcophagus, the passenger called it. Some sort of ornate coffin from distant ruins. BreadBert shrugged. Rich folk and their oddities. He wedged it into the hold between barrels of ale and crates of dried provisions. As he stepped back, he could have sworn he heard a faint scratching sound from inside, but the ship’s timbers were always creaking. Probably nothing.
That night rumors were already swirling among the crew. One sailor swore he’d seen glowing runes flicker on the sarcophagus when the lantern light hit it just right. Another claimed the temperature in the hold had dropped unnaturally. BreadBert chuckled to himself. Superstitious nonsense. He took another bite of bread and wandered below deck to check the cargo one last time. His uncle had told him to keep an eye on things. As he approached the hold, the scratching grew louder. BreadBert froze, crumbs tumbling from his lips. He had helped bring this thing aboard.
With a gulp, he backed away slowly, already imagining how he’d explain this to the captain. “Uncle, about that fancy coffin…“
Jules & Eyrun didn't yet know each other, entering the campaign as level 1 player characters. Both were aboard the Merry Mariner for travel away from the Havenspass region. Jules, running away from a failed attempt at learning magic in Mythburg and Eyrun on the run from her father Atlas's criminal lifestyle would soon begin to notice nightly killing on the Merry Mariner, hear the scratching sounds from the coffin, and BreadBert, bless his heart, would play dumb about it all which wasn't hard for him.
Also aboard the Merry Mariner was a wizard named Mitch who claimed to be on his way to somewhere called “Ethica”1), Pirate Captain Salty Merlot & a few of his crew that were captured thanks to Jules & Eyrun, and a variety of random ship crew and passengers using the ocean liner as you'd expect.
This became the basis for the start of the campaign with Jules & Eyrun, and the voyage on the Merry Mariner ended when it was attacked by none other than KraKaren. A few loose ends were generated during this game session, seeding the game world immediately with intrigue.
Additionally this game session resulted in Jules, Eyrun, Salty Merlot & BreadBert surviving the kraken attack and destruction of the Merry Mariner. The Mons-ophagus supposedly went down the the ship and this foursome all washed up on a couple little islands where the Kuo-Toa Idol was acquired as well. They'd leave as a group and arrive via a strange portal into the area near Goldvale. Salty Merlot and BreadBert quickly teamed up to found the “land pirates”, aka normal mercenaries riding around with a cart and horses instead of a ship, but calling the cart a “ship” anyway. These events and actions leave room for additional questions that may need explanation.