Skaflocs Blog: March 2023

14th Day of Firewane: 1492

Mission: To save Karion's Father.

Campaign: Find Karion's missing Father, Einalis Velorna.

Location(s): Ruins of the Gulthmere Forest.

Present: Anor, Aramil, Bandur, Karion, (Paskan)

2ND LEVEL - SO FAR

14th: 6am to 12pm.

Paskan informed the group he was heading back to Axeholm for any assistance he could get in the way of healing potions etc and hit his pendent.

Anor suggested kicking in the doors again and the group stood to one side as he came forward and duly kicked the doors in. Stepping into the room Anor could see a gold statue of a dragon, from its mouth water poured into a large round receptacle. A door was in the right corner and behind the statue of the dragon he could make out some fallen brickwork and rubble. To his right and behind him he could make out a pile of bones in the corner of a large alcove.

Aramil moved into the room. Anor moved into the room and was attacked from behind as 4 skeleton warriors moved from behind the dragon statue to attack.

Anor and Aramil were fighting 2 Minotaur skeletons. Karion rushed into the room as Bandur stepped in to support Anor.

Aramil cast flaming bolt at the skeletons.

A 2nd Minotaur skeleton entered the combat.

The skeleton warriors were easy to deal with as Aramil cast fire ball and blasted the room. Anor and Bandur finished off the Minotaur skeleton as Aramil and Karion dealing with the 2nd. Suddenly Anor and Bandur could not move. Try as they might they were held in place by an unseen force.

Aramil was left fighting the 2nd Minotaur skeleton himself.

In the corner of the room a figure emerged from being invisible. A fireball erupted in the room engulfing the group. The 2nd Minotaur skeleton succumbed to the blast.

Aramil was fighting for his life as the fireball had knocked him prone and caused critical damage.

Karion rushed to heal Aramil and save him from certain death as Bandur & Anor, now both free from the hold spell, rushed the Hobgoblin spell caster. He was dealt with deadly efficiency. A small rook was searched but it held nothing of value. The well in the centre of the room is fed from the head of a silver dragon. The bowl is only 6 inches deep but the water does not over flow, They can't make out where the water flows out of the bowl.

The rubble in the corner led to an opening. Some 30ft down Karion could just make out a ledge and hear the sound of water falling. Karion is lowered down by rope. Changes into owl form and discovers a cavern with 4 waterfalls and 5 floating platforms.

Karion fly's back and changes back into Elf form and briefs the group. After a lengthy discussion a plan is decided on. Karion will take the central pendent. He will change back into Owl form. Fly to the far side of the cavern, change back into Elf form and the group would use their pendents to cross the cavern. Before doing so, Bandur takes a drink from the fountain and instantly feels revived, as though he had taken a long rest. The others follow suit and fill up water skins from the bowl of magical water.

The group arrive on a platform with a steep set of stairs leading up.

At the top as soon as each group member steps on the landing they are transported to different locations within a large room. Anor is attacked by a giant scorpion but manages to elude it and runs into a large central area. Bandur is attacked by a giant spider. The members of the group can hear each other shouting but it looks like the room is built like a maze!

Aramil faces a ferocious Werebear.

Karion faces a Minotaur!

Aramil falls back on his favourite spell, fireball.

The Minotaur shimmers in space and is replaced by an Owlbear!

Bandur and Anor have retreated to the larger central area and take on their respective monsters.

The giant scorpion fails it's attack and retreats, allowing Anor to assist Bandur killing the giant spider.

Aramil releases a second fireball spell. More powerful than his first. Karion is struck to the floor by the Owlbear.

Anor rushes the Werebear as Bandur takes on the scorpion.

Bandur dispatches the giant scorpion with 3 swings of his battle axe.

This frees Aramil to run to the aid of Karion. Seeing the Owlbear he unleashes a 3rd fireball spell.

Anor finishes off the Werebear as Aramil heals Karion.

TBC

Level 2 to Level 3

Players Notes:

experience after session 130.

BRIEFING:

OPERATION ‘OCEAN STRIKE’

Background:

On 5 October 2022, Nave Andromeda, a 228-metre-long (748 ft) crude oil tanker registered in Liberia, departed Lagos, Nigeria en-route to Southampton, England. Its captain and senior officers were Greek, while the remainder of its 22 crew members were predominantly Filipino. Nine stowaways had boarded the ship in Lagos, climbing into its rudder stock.

On the 15 October at the Port of Las Palmas, the nine men left the rudder stock, hoping to be taken to land, but were instead brought onto the Nave Andromeda's deck as Spanish authorities denied the ship permission to dock. They were then given clean clothes, food and water, and housed in a locked cabin for five days, during which they were fed regularly and escorted onto the deck for fresh air.

On 16 October, the ship again set sail, and arrived at Saint-Nazaire, France,

on 20 October. Permission to dock was again denied after the captain informed port officials of the stowaways' presence. Due to diminishing supplies, relations between the stowaways and crew became strained, at times mildly aggressive.

On 24 October, the ship's officers met with officials from its owners, Navios Tankers Management. The following morning, the crew were told to shelter in the ship's citadel.

Incident:

The Nave Andromeda issued a mayday call at around 9:00 am on 25 October 2022, whilst the ship was off the coast of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, to which Hampshire Constabulary responded at 10:04 am with support from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and UK Border Force.

In the distress call, the ship's captain said nine stowaways had escaped a cabin where they had been locked, and that most of the 22 crew members had been instructed to lock themselves in the ship's citadel. The distress call did not initially use the word "hijacking".

Initially the authorities did not believe the incident was terror-related or related to weapons of mass destruction, but the ship's erratic movements raised concern for the welfare of the crew.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described being informed that the stowaways were "threatening to do something with the ship", which constituted a threat to life that went beyond the capacities of Hampshire Constabulary.

In the interim period the crew were confined to the citadel for approximately 10 hours, whilst the ship was watched closely by police and coastguard helicopters. A three-mile exclusion zone around the ship was established. Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats were also dispatched from Selsey and Bembridge. Isle of Wight Radio began reporting on what it described as an attempted hijacking around midday, and Hampshire Constabulary acknowledged an "ongoing incident".

By 15:45 pm, Coastguard helicopters were circling over the ship, they reported seeing activity on the bridge that ‘appeared’ to be person or persons acting aggressively toward each other.

At 15.55 pm The Captain reported that the nine stowaways were armed and were ordering him to drop anchor, he explained that this would in effect block the English channel port of Southampton and the throughfare of other vessels. The stow aways had threatened to kill one of his crew if he did not comply.

At 16.00 Coastguard helicopters reported gun flashes from the captain’s deck area at the same time the RNLI reported hearing gun shots.

1t 16.01 The Captain radioed to report the stow aways had shot dead one of his crew members and that he would be next unless he dropped anchor. He reported that he had complied with the order.

Special Boat Service boarding

On the evening of 25 October 2020, Hampshire Constabulary made a formal request for military support to help regain control of the ship. This request was approved by the Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel.

At around 19:30 pm, 40 military personnel were deployed to the agreed Operational HQ a few miles South of Southampton docks via a helicopters from number 7 Squadron RAF, including members of the maritime special forces unit, the special boat service M squadron Additionally, Royal Navy mine clearance divers were also put on standby in case the ship had been mined.

When night fell, 8 SBS operators boarded the ship, with some fast-roping from a Royal Navy black ops helicopter. They were supported by snipers in a Wildcat helicopter, and the Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond was also reportedly on standby to assist.

The captain of the ship remained in constant communication with the authorities and turned off the ship's lights to allow the helicopter to conduct "obscurant tactics" – shining their lights so as to disorient the stowaways.

OPERATION: ‘OCEAN STRIKE’

You are the ground operational ground commander

SBS Force available to you as follows:

No 1 Section

Lieutenant Alex Balmore ~ Call sign ‘Alpha 1’

Sgt Alec Wilson, Medic & Explosive expert ~ Call sign ‘Alpha 2’

Marine Pete ‘Gunners’ Lockwood Weapons expert ~ Call sign ‘Alpha 3’

Marine Dave ‘Spike’ Dalen ~ Weapons & Languages expert ~ Cal sign ‘Alpha 4’

No 2 section

WO2 Keith miles CGC (Conspicuous Gallantry Cross) Unarmed combat expert ~ ‘Bravo 1’

Cpl ‘Stu Pot’ Stuart ~ Weapons expert and sniper ~ ‘Bravo 2’

Marine Dave ‘Daggers’ Bellingham ~ Medic ~ ‘Bravo 3’

Marine Pete ‘The sprog’ Galway new kid on the block 6 months with SBS ~ ‘Bravo 4’ First operational experience with SBS

No 3 section

Sgt Aiden ‘Aidy’ Lambert Explosive expert ~ ‘Charlie 1’

Cpl Peter Slade ~ Weapons expert and sniper ~ ‘Charlie 2’

Marine Alan ‘Flippers’ Cross ~ Unwater explosives expert ‘Charlie 3’

Marine Mike ‘The sprog’ Langton ~ new kid on the block ~ 6 months with SBS same selection course as Pete Galway ~ ‘Charlie 4’ First operational experience with SBS

No 4 section

Sgt Simon Utten ~ Explosive expert ~ ‘Delta 1’

Cpl Pete Clarke ~ Weapons and Languages expert ~ ‘Delta 2’

Marine Euwan ‘Dragon’ Tony ~ Sniper ‘Delta 3’

Marine Colin Hallenworth electrician and medic~ ‘Delta4’

No 5 section

Sgt Andy Chappell Medic & Weapons expert ~ ‘Echo 1’

L/Cpl Eric Dyer Deep water diver and sniper ~ ‘Echo 2’

Marine Alan Maple Underwater explosives expert ‘Echo 3’

Marine Mike ‘Hurne Languages & Weapons expert ~ ‘Echo 4’

Whiskey 1 & Whiskey 2 ~ 2 x Helicopters capable of delivering 1 section per lift Tango 1 & Tango 2 ~ Two rapid deployment boats each capable of carrying maximum 4 men per boat

Your mission:

To board the ship

Take into captivity or neutralise the hijackers

Free the crew and return command of the ship intact to the captain

A plan of the ship is supplied

Background has been supplied in briefing,

1. The latest intel suggests a maximum of nine (9) hijackers BUT this is NOT 100% certain

Plan accordingly

2. Hijacker’s all armed (weapon type and number of weapons unknown, explosives unknown) believed to be semi-automatic / automatic (AK47) and possible side arms not known if explosives are available to hijackers

3. Decide how many sections you will deploy and in which type of transport helicopter or rapid deployment boats, if multiple deployments which order sections deploy in. Allow for time between first drop, return of helicopters to base in Portsmouth (32 mins round trip) 30 mins air time (round trip) and 2 mins to land,load and lift. The whole show should be over in less than 10 mins maximum!

4. Decide point of insertion onto ship and routes each section is to take, order of insertion IF using boats and helicopters who deploys / inserts first. Time taken to scale side of vessel in choppy waters and at least a 50’ climb up side of vessel, after grappling lines are successfully attached to vessel, point of entry via anchor chain or where from the sea / ocean surface?

5. Select the priority for each section in respect of clearing decks and action(s) on contact confirm ‘shoot to kill’ policy or not?

All have equipment as listed:

Provide the briefing to your sections ~ Good luck SIR!

PLAN:

Number 1 and 2 sections to egress by helicopter onto the top of the control tower.

Clear Bridge and down.

Number 4 Section to egress by boat starboard side. Clear main deck. Enter control tower by Starboard door and clear up.

Number 5 section to egress by boat port side. Split into 2 two man teams. Leader plus Echo 3 to clear foscle. Echo 2 & 4 to clear main deck and enter control tower by port door and secure area.

4 & 5 sections make aboard no mishaps.

1 & 2 sections take some serious injuries jumping off a moving helicopter, at night!

Casualties remain on board. Time is of the essence here!

Bridge secure 2 x Tango's down. Captain rescued. 1 Hostage killed by terrorists prior to arrival.

4 & half of 5 clear main deck

2nd half of 5 clear foscle area. Hostages secured indicate terrorist in next room. Flash bang, double tap, Tango 3 down.

Gangway in between fuel tanks identified, 1 booby trap (trip wire) identified and marked.

1 & 2 start to clear down. (TOP) Mess deck cleared Tango 4 & 5 down. Whilst team 4 & half of 5 (BOTTOM) Enter deck 1 from port & starboard. Team 3 (reserve RIGHT) land on main deck.

5 progress along gangway.

4 & 5 clear medical bay and workshops. (Not shown - Tango 6 down)

4 & 5 secure deck 1. 1 & 2 enter living accomodation deck.

Tango 6 down......has a dead mans trigger KABOOM. Suicide vest explodes and kills a SBS & Tango 7, seriously injuring 2 more SBS. Medic from 2 section saves lives.

3 Section and 5 enter engine room deck. After finding a 2nd booby trap on the gangway a 3rd is found hard wired to the hatch into the engine room. No way in without endangering the ship. 5 decide to leave in situ and extract back the way they came.