A Moonlit Stroll

Rumbles of discontent within the marooned crew prompt Shem to send the most vocal malcontent to scout the native village, along with Brentoph and Galadir.  For some reason (Brentoph), this goes poorly, and Galadir is captured.  Shem and the others are forced to negotiate with the natives, who offer to return Brentoph if the pirates search for a missing local.  This native went north, to the "Great Mountain", in order to commune with the "Dreaming Gods".  In order to ensure good faith from the pirates, the natives give them poison, which will kill them if they do not return within 7 days.

Jungle of Death

The group trek north through the dense jungle, seeking the Great Mountain.  Finding the spoor of a massive carnivore, they blithely follow it.  This choice leads them straight into the jaws of a T Rex, with the result that Shem and Galadir end up as dinosaur food.  Brentoph and Demanor, with poison still in their veins, have no choice but to press on alone.  They reach the mountain and venture inside ... not seeing the web that descends over the cave mouth soon after they enter ...

The White Widow

Brentoph and Demanor awake in the larder of a terrible spider-beast, having been ambushed and poisoned by the creature.  Demanor uses her shape-changing powers to slip free.  They find two other living victims of the creature: Morgana - an escapee from Tamanak - and Fafnir, her former gaoler.  The foursome descend to the depths of the mountain, where they find the misssing native - clammy and pale, despite the fierce heat - and are assault with strange visions of deformed fish-folk.  They take the native and retreat the way they came, surviving another encounter with the fell spider-beast before they emerge from the mountain.

The Ancient Ones

The native, Shona, awakes.  Fafnir mentions the fish people and Shona explains that these are the 'ancient ones', wicked and terrible creatures.  He says that they need to go to the temple of the ancient ones to see if there are any immediate signs of the creatures return.  Since this is out of their way, and they're on a clock, Fafnir hits him in the head ... and Shona drops dead.  So the group then lugs his corpse back to the native village - fighting a giant leech en route - and return it, claiming they don't know how he died.  Brentoph and Demanor are given the antidote to the poison.  When told of the ancient ones, the natives suggest an alliance with the pirate crew, as a single group will be able to defend itself better.  The group agrees, and takes word to the crew.  Cleaver, as senior officer, accepts the offer, though from his private comments to Brentoph, it's clear he thinks the whole 'ancient ones' thing is a scam.  Brentoph elects not to tell Cleaver otherwise.

Against the Shark-men

The natives inform Morgana that they found a ‘sea spine’ in Shona’s body.  This is a device the ancient ones use to take control of humans.  They explain that it is possible the group have also been subverted.  They check Morgana, Fafnir and Brentoph (a full body search) and all is OK.  Demanor, however, is missing on an “errand”, and has Jordy with her.  The other three set out in pursuit, following Demanor’s (unusually obvious) tracks to a set of seaside caves,  Just inside the caves, they find Jordy’s knife.  Pressing on, they encounter a group of savage shark-men, and a brutal battle ensues.  The six shark-men are eventually slain, but they both Brentoph and Fafnir are badly injured, with the latter losing a hand.  Morgana’s magics also attract unwanted attention: a powerful telepathic voice invades her mind, then triggers a near fatal aneurism in her brain.  They discover an unconscious Jordy in a nearby cell.  When woken, she remembers little after arriving at the caves.  They want to check her for sea spines, which she agrees to do as long as the men don’t watch.  No sea spines, but she does have a birthmark on the front of her thigh.  Morgana, however, has no idea this might be significant.  A debate breaks out about whether to keep looking for Demanor.  Morgana is in favour, but Fafnir is ambivalent and Brentoph refuses to go on without a lot more backup.  Eventually they leave and head back to the village, along with the rest of the pirate crew.  Demanor’s fate remains unknown ...

The Hunt

A mind-controlled Demanor begins attacking the village.  Fafnir and Morgana eventually manage to find over-power her (with the aid of a native tracker) and remove the sea spine that made her the ancient ones slave.

Temple of the Ancient Ones

Morgana, Demanor and Fafnir venture out of the temple of the ancient ones.  There they discover a cache of strange crystals.  Demanor breaks one of the crystals and is slain by a temple guardian for her actions.  Morgana also near dies in the fight, but at the last moment her fingers touch the broken crystal and some kind of energy enters her body, saving her life.  However, her behaviour afterward is sufficiently strange that it greatly unsettles Fafnir.

Sacrifice Play

After enlisting the aid of crewman Drummond's necromantic magic to contact the memories of the ancient one in Morgana's skull, the group return to the Temple.  There they make a grim bargain with the ancient ones: Morgana restored to normal, plus escape from the island for 8 people, in exchange for which they will hand over 101 sacrifices.  They accomplish this by poisoning the villagers with a sleeping draught, tying them up, and then having 31 of the crew help them take the prisoners to the Temple.

Things don't go so well for those 31 crew members.

Afterwards, the four of them, plus Jordy, Cleaver and two crew members, are sent to Sargasso by the ancient ones.