Nakatu Crossroad - help?

I just installed this today. I haven't gotten far yet (a noise on the deck woke me up) but it feels more like we're forced to figure out exactly what to do next, rather than "your actions may have consequences down the line."

The pirates go aggro very easily, killing me without a problem. I was forced to do the drinking contest before I could go to bed. Now I'm being forced to deal with the "noise on the deck" before I can go back to sleep. It says I need a key. I tried the lockpick, that didn't work. I'm a mage, but the Unlock spell was taken out of this mod.

Any ideas on this? Is there a walkthrough somewhere for this mod? It's a huge game, I didn't expect to get killed or stuck so quick.