#belowthetides

Securing a modest fishing vessel, the Hunt set out on the seas by themselves. After some difficulty in learning the finer points of sailing, a great plume of smoke was spotted off in the distance that the Hunt quickly turned their attention towards investigating. There, they found a panicked Zandalari crew in the midst of sinking. While in the midst of rescuing who they could, a strange humming could be heard in the air. It wasn’t long before the terror of the seas introduced itself to the Hunt. A great burst of energy, fueled by Azerite, ripped the Hunt’s boat in two. As the hunters fell into the sea, they caught their first sight of the beast: a Megalodon, massive in size, and seemingly infused with Azerite in its very being. The creature made a number of attempts to turn the hunters into its next meal, but after some time, it dived deep into the water and disappeared for reasons that were yet unknown.

It was then that the Hunt found some measure of relief. A loud and armored goblin ship sailed up towards the wreckage of the fishing boat. Captained by the illustrious Kykus Willowitz, he offered the Hunt passage out of the seas and back to dry land. Their destination: Freehold, pirate haven of Kul’tiras. It was suggested that a town full of pirates and sailors would be the perfect spot to acquire further aid in hunting down the Megalodon. Finding themselves in a rowdy dockside tavern, the Hunt went about perusing their options. New and old faces alike gave them ideas, but in the end, it was the same ship that had come to their rescue that they chose. Captain Kykus, as well as his brother ‘Mondo’, were glad to provide their help and their ship ‘The Other Wife’. On one or two conditions…

Before their help in hunting the Megalodon could be solidified, the Willowitz brothers first needed to finish up their business on Kul’tiras. A natural engineer, Mondo had been in the process of constructing a detector that could locate Azerite deposits. Though useful to the Hunt and their current plight, Mondo required a few more components before it could be finished. Parts that he and his brother had arranged to make a deal for with an infamous band of pirates, the Irontide Raiders. With the Hunt enlisted as muscle for the deal, they all met up at an abandoned chapel in Drustvar for the deal. However, just as the exchange was to be made, a Kul’tiran battleship, along with a cavalry brigade, caught the group off guard and demanded their surrender. Suspicions almost immediately arose between the goblins and the pirates, but they were quickly talked to reason by the Hunt. An intense firefight ensued, but despite a number of losses by the pirates, they were all able to defeat the Kul’tirans and make out of their with the needed parts.

With everything in place, the Hunt boarded ‘The Other Wife’ and set sail once more. The Azerite detector helped the goblins find the massive, moving Megalodon. Deciding to set a trap, the Hunt enlisted the help of the crew in chopping up various fish and guts in order to create an irresistible lure for the Megalodon. Once it was all dumped into the water just above the beast, it didn’t take long before it arrived to enjoy a meal. As the Megalodon came into view, Captain Willowitz opened fire with the goblin’s main gun, while the rest of the crew and the Hunt peppered the beast with attacks. Although wounded, the enraged beast turned and swam directly at the ship, ramming it at full speed and dislodging many of the crew and Hunt back into the sea. The frenzied battle continued in the water, with the Megalodon summoning up a great blast of Azerite energy that nearly tore the goblin’s ship in two. However, its wounds soon forced a retreat, and it dove back down into the water with one of the Hunt clenched in its jaws. Once the fires on the ship had been put out, the Hunt made their pursuit of the beast and down into its lair.