There Are Alternatives to Fighting
Our adventuring guides us towards the Iron Island, where our new dwarven ally, Herbie, escaped and where lots of other slaves remain, working to extract minerals from the quarries there. The main problem is how to cross the water between us and the island.
We find out from Herbie that a ship regularly transports the ore from the island to the mainland, which seems like our best chance of getting to the island ourselves. Of course, getting passage on the ship may not be straightforward, at least once we reject the obvious choice of offering ourselves as slaves.
'I have criminal connections', says Nerrick, 'I may be able to contact the smugglers'.
'Bear in mind your location, and that these pirates will be enemies of the state', warns the GM.
'Well, yes. That's why they're pirates. If they weren't enemies of the state, they'd be the navy.'