Shipwrecked!

As sea voyages go, things were looking good for Black Eyed Bill (Carson's sea ranger) and his crew on the Slippery Scythe. He had his own ship, fully staffed with a few salty dogs from Captain Fergus's Merry Maiden, filled out with greenhorn natives from Horseshoe Island. After a few months helping the natives recover after their battle with the ogre and hobgoblin armies, the ships were fully provisioned and had been underway on a northern heading for a couple of weeks, back on the old trade route favored by Fergus and other merchant seamen. Nightsong Sharpfang (the npc female kobold bard) was aboard the Slippery Scythe, while Sir Vatofcan (Phil's paladin) and Aiko (P.'s female dwarven monk) were on the Merry Maiden.
At dusk as visibility worsened, first the Scythe, then the Maiden hit reefs and began to take on water. Two additional problems presented themselves: a storm from the south, and a small armada of ogre navy ships from the east. In desparate haste, crews chipped away the reefs, went over the side and pushed the ships off from below, wedging themselves underneath while holding their breath. A few crewmen did not survive this dangerous procedure, as the storm winds blew the full weight of the ships on top of four men, pinching them between the reefs and the ship for too long to escape. But it finally worked, and the ships were free of the reefs.
Seamen worked the bilge pumps and repaired the hull damage as best possible, while other sailers prepared for a stormy battle above decks. While the ships had been stuck on the reefs, six ogre ships had closed in, each with at least three extra-heavy catapaults capable of firing each round. It turned out that the ogres also had at least one spellcaster as well. But though overpowered out outflanked, the Scythe and the Maiden made a pretty good showing, with Fergus casting fly, protection from arrows, and using his 6d6 wand of lightning bolt to pretty good effect, though in the storm he was in competition with the real thing. The valiant archers and artillery of the party's ships, in combination with Fergus, damaged two of the great ogre ships, and sunk two. But the massive stones raining on their ships took their toll, sinking them both.
Floating on the wreckage, the survivors were Black Eyed Bill, de Vat of Can Bob, Aiko (who was lost at sea, floating on a barrel for a day before being found by the others) and eight crewmen. Rivet (Robby's kobold engineer, played by Carson as an npc) directed efforts to tie the boxes, barrels and wreckage together. It turned out to be important, as the storm doubled back and hit again. This time, no more hands were lost. Black Eyed Bill's parrot made contact with a nearby human merchant vessel, and word arrived via Captain Fergus' crow that the mage had been captured and was on the big red ship, to the east. The whereabouts of Nightsong and the other crew were unknown. After a time, the floating wreckage, with a shirt as a sail, found land on an island populated by curious natives; the children had never seen a man with metal skin before, such as the chain shirt Bob was wearing. 1,500 xp were awarded. Next time: The Rescue!