Campaign
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Key Events
- The Adventurers meet on the Copper Hammer, captained by Avus Proudwind
- The Adventuerer battle Zeeyah Morgath
- The Adventurers attend the Navethian ball, where the Titus is assassinated
- The Adventurers explore and an old elven ruin outside Naveth, a hideout for the Order of the Everseeing Eye
- The Adventurers defeat Zohl the Zealous (an Everseer)
- The Adventurers rescue Marcus Valiso and Welenath of Saranor from the ruin
- The Adventurers meet Rewyn Silversteel
- The Adventurers plan (and fail) to capture Zeeyah Morgath, and learn that Myles' real name is Wesley Whitewood
- The Adventurers come under suspicion for the murder of the Titus, as well as Mardamo Cusorio
- The Adventurers, in exchange for payment, agree to head to Durea and search for a dark relic fragment
Hosum of 934 f.Ma.
5th of Hosum
The adventurers found themselves on the Copper Hammer. The trade-frigate, having just entered the Glimmering Sea, picks up speed and with Captain Proudwind estimating a day and a half of sailing left, the adventurers feel confident to start walking around on the ship.
The half-elf bard, Mellow-voice Myles, having boarded the ship before the rest of the adventurers, is more familiar with its crew and the surroundings. He helps the crew out with chores and duties.
The other half elf, Zerkan Farseer, shaman, just hangs around on top deck for the day, before eventually retiring to bed.
Free, the tiefling ranger, notices another of his kin - a rare circumstance in Veracia and starts making small talk, and they become.
The other tiefling in question, Caspian, talks with Free a bit, but they also eventually go to sleep as night comes.
6th of Hosum
Free starts exploring the cargo hold, noticing a locked section with reinforced crates and iron chests. It is guarded.
Myles hangs around the crew quarters.
Caspian stands on top deck, looking at the golden sea.
However, before long the ship lookout warns everyone of a drow ship, coming towards them from the right.
The Captain knows they can't outrun it, and they'll have to fight.
Before long they are boarded by the drow pirate ship, led by Captain Zeeyah Morgath
Free takes a shot at sneaking into the locked section of the cargo hold to no avail.
The adventurers barely manage to fend off pirates, before she, their Captain shows up.
During the combat, she talks to Miles about birthdays, dowries and farms.
Soon, two men with hooded red cloaks and iron masks show up to arrest Morgath - The Red Inquisitors. Somehow, she manages to escape with her ship.
Following the battle, the crew starts making the ship ready to set off.
Free, having seen Myles and Zeeyah talking, grows very suspicious and tries to unsuccessfully to subdue him. He starts interrogating Miles, and the two are soon yelling at each other before they notice Caspian dragging his dagger alongside a dead human pirate inner thigh. In fact, everyone notices him.
He mentions nonchalantly that he needs raw meat, and Miles tells him to go to the Cook - which he casually does and everyone just drops the topic for the time. Free tells Miles that he doesn't trust him.
During the late evening, the Copper Hammer arrives in the North Docks of Naveth. Captain Proudwind offers to buy the adventurers a drink at the Foolish Beggar Inn as a token of his gratitude. The evening ends with Caspian blacking out, Zerkan going outside to sleep under a tree - while the others retire to their respective rooms.
7th of Hosum
The next morning, the adventurers gather their bearings. Myles goes to purchase equipment, Caspian and Free purchases a map of Naveth - and, together with Zerkan, they all eventually group up - before starting to look for adventure.
After walking around town, they hear about Artificer Hoosa, who has problems with an Earth Elemental. They inquire more and learn that the elemental has escaped from Hoosa's Workshop, where she held it in order to craft magecraft weapons, using its powers.
Following the boulders and rocks that have been dragged to the surface, they track the Earh Elemental down, way north of the Volasta Farmstead. Zerkan attempts to commune with the stone spirits inside the dormant elemental, but he only learns of a urgent need for the elemental to travel (something EE:s don't like to do) north. Zerkan realizes that the elemental needs help and starts channeling his magic powers, just as some strong gale winds start to blow.
Two Air Elementals arrive, and the rest of the party manages to defeat them.
Returning to the Foolish Beggar in (and Zerkan to his tree), Myles tells the party about orphans he often takes care of.
8th of Hosum
The next day, the party walks around Naveth, and gets paid 120 gold pieces by Hoosa, but don't agree on a price for finding a new Earth Elemental.
The adventurers go to the plaza in fron of Naveth Keep, where they meet a guard called Oaf, and learn about bounties.
Still in the plaza, they learn of a rat that has been stealing jewelry and valuables and decide to try and find it.
They return to the home of a woman who has lost her wedding bands, and investigate her house for clues. They manage to track the rat to a warehouse in the Southern Docks district.
They attempt to enter a warehouse:
○ Myles distracts people with a show, and pockets some gold from the audience
○ Free and Caspian try to grapple-hook onto the roof using an arrow and a hemp rope
○ Free climbs up to the window (about 2-3m in the air), but finds out it opens outwards
○ Caspian notices the front door is unlocked
○ Zerkan is seemingly baffled by the idiocy of his two tiefling companions
Caspian finds the jewelry in a double-bottomed barrel and they stakeout for the rat. Free catches it and tries to interrogate it. Caspian uses thaumaturgy and yells at it, which draws the attentions of four thugs who enter the warehouse, ready to fight.
After the battle, Zerkan communicates with the rat and learns that it steals in exchange for food. Myles concludes that it is a trained rat. The party returns to the Foolish Beggar Inn (with Myles having the rat still). During night, Caspian talks to the fire.
Myles talks to Marcus and learns of a fence to which he sells half his stolen goods.
Free stays awake, clutching his gold and jewelry before falling asleep, while Zerkan goes to his tree.
9th of Hosum
The next day, the group goes to the plaza, returning some of the stolen goods (Caspian's share) and Myles personally gives the wedding bands to the woman who had lost them.
Following this, they go to Mercus' and Mitus' Oddities, and both Free and Zerkan sell their goods to Mercus for 20 and 30 gold pieces respectively, while Myles sells the remainder to the fence. Still at the shop, Mitus manages to sell a Ring of Snow to Caspian. It is a cursed ring, which randomly summons a flung snowball at him, regardless of location and weather. It is unable to be removed by normal means.
10th of Hosum
While walking around in town, the party are approached by a Mardamo - a Marenth official called Oppoius Hortius Cusorio, who begs for the party to help them. It seems he approached the first adventurer party he could find, as he's desperate. He claims the house he's been staying at has been broken into, and that someoen is trying to kill him. He offers to hire the party as bodyguards, as he simply must attend the Naveth annual summer masquerade ball in two days, but can't go without protection. The group accepts his quest and guards him for the rest of the day.
11th of Hosum
The next day, the adventurers - while guarding Cusorio - go and order masks for the ball. Cusorio leads them to the townhouse he's been staying at, in order to investigate the break-in. The adventurers explore every nook and cranny, including the chimney, and Caspian almost falls off of the roof as an untimely snowball hits him in the head. They do, however, find a tunnel beneath behind a false wall in the basement. They follow the tunnel and conclude that it leads out of Naveth, about half a mile to a lone shed in the middle of an otherwise empty field.
12th of Hosum
The adventurers pick up their masks and start shopping for clothes, in order to impress at the ball.
Free buys an entirely new set of clothes, while Caspian settles for an overcoat. Zerkan, on the other hand, steals a bearskin rug and wears it like a cloak. Myles decides to hold onto his gold.
When they arrive at the ball, they split up and begin socializing. Myles meets Dama Ridona of Ondossin, but fails to make a good impression. However, Titus Senuso of Naveth seems to take a liking to him, as he has similar views on work ethics. Caspian also meets The Titus and Dama Ridona, but manages to vex Myles by pointing out at the performing bard whom they also meet, Merry-Vocals Malcolm, is eerily similar to him.
Free meets Damo Arturis, the lord of Prigia. He and Free have a pleasant discussion and invites Free to come stay at Prigia.
Zerkan mets Damo Valepo, who is similarly is a bit of a social recluse, and the two men of few words get along quite well.
The banquet is served and the players sit with the Marenthian officials. They overhear Cusorio reminding the Titus of their meeting in the next day, and urging him not too drink too much. The Titus tells him to lighten up, as the ball only comes once a year - it is their duty to please the summer maiden with joy and festivities! When fall follows, he will bring plenty of time for dry bureacracy and boring politics.
Cusorio excuses himself and heads to the bathroom, Myles escorts him. However, they are ambushed and Mardamo Cusorio is killed. At the same time, the Titus chokes to death, as his wine has been poisoned! The ball quickly turns into chaos, but they manage to kill the assassin and learn that they're to meet in the Green Dragon with a someone called Anazal. The Adventurers return to the Foolish Beggar Inn.
13th of Hosum
The day after the ball, while the rest of the party sleeps, Myles visits the shady tap house - the Green Dragon, to meet this mysterious Anazal. Myles alludes to him being the assassin and claims that he's the one who killed Cusorio. She tells him to return in two days to collect payment. He then returns to the Foolish Beggar Inn to sleep until the rest of the party wakes up.
When the adventurers all wake up, they find that the city has changed. There are more guards on every corner, as well as Red Inquisitors patrolling, questioning people. The populace is on edge, and as the day goes by, less and less people appear on the streets.
Having heard the name "Proudwind" mentioned as being the damo of Durea at the ball, the party, believing it would be Avus, asked him about it. He told them his son, Amos Proudwind had been the damo, but disappeared with the rest of the populace in the mysterious destructive event that swept over the town. He tells them of the only survivor, Amos' minister Gorann Ierinnhaammar, who mostly spends his days drinking and gambling in the Green Dragon in Naveth. Caspian also decides to ask about someone called Saria, but Avus doesn't know of her.
The party then visit the Green Dragon together to meet Gorann. He drunkenly tells them what he remembers leading up to the event, which causes Zerkan to become visible pale. He then recounts a few bits and pieces he remembers from the event itself.
- "The air was warmer that day, warmer than it should be that time of year. Then, it came out of nowhere. Thick black smoke billowed through the streets and covered the ground with ash and soot. The smoke would sear your flesh at the mere touch of it. I bolted, looking for the lad, Amos. The smog that filled my lungs felt like molten lead. For each step I took, the pain increased two-fold, but remembering my oath to protect this young damo helped me power through. The very oath I failed.... Still taunts me to this day.
- When I finally arrived at the keep I... I swear, he disappeared before my very eyes. Everybody did. It was as if they turned into shadows and vanished in thin air. I could only find his clothes and jewelry on the spot he stood. Then, everything went black and... I can't remember anything after that... I woke up in Marenth. They said I was out for a month.
They learn that a High Elf named Welenath asked him about Durea a few days earlier. This Welenath seemed to be a scholar looking into Durea. The Adventurers decided they should find him.
Before leaving, Caspian inquired about the Snow Elf, Saria, again, and he mentions he remember her looking for tieflings. He urged her to visit the spymaster in the capital, but doubted she'd get a chance to speak with him.
As the Adventurers turned to leave, Free noticed a Goliath with a feral Goblin chained as a pet. His demand to have the creature freed, turned into a battle to the death, ending with Free slaying the Goliath. As a reward, the Goblin bit Free in the leg and ran away.
When the Adventurers reached Welenath's residence in Naveth only to find his door ajar. Entering his abode, they found there had been some kind of struggle, but no valuables had been taken. Only Welenath himself, was missing.
Myles, disguised as another guard, managed to trick some guards into revealing that this was not the first disappearance of similar nature.
The party returned to the Foolish Beggar Inn and retired for the night.
An Eye for Trouble
14th of Hosum
The Adventurers woke up to loud a loud banging noise from downstairs. They immediately saw that there'd been some kind of struggle in the Foolish Beggar during night. Opening the doors, revealed Avus Proudwind, who had come to look for Marcus Valiso who had been late to some kind of meeting. They investigated the inn and found clear hints that pointed to the fact that Marcus, just as Welenath, had been taken by someone.
Free, using his masterful tracking skills, led the Adventurers on search party. They quickly found an old Elven ruin in the Navethian Woods, where they defeated a Gargoyle guarding the entrance.
The party then delved into the dungeon and immediately split up. Zerkan was determined to find hidden rooms by digging holes using magic. Myles and Caspian got stuck in a trapped room with a button, while Free went exploring. Eventually they all decided it'd be smarter to stick together, but despite this, got caught for a while in another trap.
Through exploring the dungeon, they learned the occupants were some kind of cult worshiping some kind of "true vision" and a "trueseer".
Heading deeper into the dungeon, they found a Gnome Barbarian called Orm, who had falled into the dungeon through a spike trap. He had gotten stuck at the door in front of him for a few days, trying to solve the puzzle. After teaming up, they solved the puzzle and managed to get through the door.
They soon found battled their way to the penultimate room of the dungeon, where they learned Zohl the Zealous, the leader of this particular group of cultists, resided. Through illusion trickery, they managed to thin out his henchmen and easily defeated him, freeing Marcus Valiso, Welenath and a few other prisoners. Besides loot, they also found a few pages written in a very odd writing.
15th of Hosum
The Adventurers and their entourage arrived in Naveth at noon, and while they were eager to speak to Welenath, he needed some time to recuperate. However, as soon as he saw the pages Myles had looted in the dungeon, he purchased them for a large sum of gold. He told them it was written in Dreadtongue, a dark language spoken only by the Dread Tyrant Vaz'roth and his followers. He briefed the Adventurers about Vaz'roth's history, his dark relics, his defeat in the War for Mortalkind and the dark relic fragments that now could be found all around the world. Welenath presented his theory that these dark relic fragments had caused the destruction of Durea. He asked them to come see him again later, as he still needed rest and some time to look through the Dreadtongue pages.
Deciding they'd be staying in The Foolish Beggar Inn more permanently and wishing for more privacy and security, they rented a room to act as a safehouse. While they were lounging in the Foolish Beggar, generally relaxing and also waiting for Welenath, a contact asked them to help with a less than legal situation. A smuggler had brought in some large beast from Wiseria, but it had broken out of its enclosure and had been sealed in a warehouse. The smuggler and his crew wanted the beast dealt with before any guards arrived.
With the promise of a hefty lump of gold, the Adventurers headed to the warehouse, and quickly found that the creature was a Giant Scorpion. Through a very tough struggle, they managed to slay it. Slightly frustrated with Myles cowardice in the fight, Orm spat at him. In response, Myles promptly stabbed him with the scorpion's extremely venomous stinger, nearly killing him.
Dowry Come Due
18th of Hosum
The Adventurers spent the next three days recuperating from the intense days of adventure. During this time, Myles arranged for a meeting with the Morrow Company, where he claimed he planned to pay off his debt to them. Myles had partially briefed the party of this, but only giving them small bits of detail: Zeeyah Morgath will show up, giving us a chance to ambush her and claim her bounty.
At midnight, the party set up around the meeting area, getting into position on the rooftops, ready to strike at a moment's notice. However, to their surprise, the pirate captain was not alone. Zeeyah Morgath was accompanied by a large amount of her crew, some who also were position on rooftops opposite the players. Myles, regretting his plan, decided to only pay of his debt instead.
However as the ship's first mate was unable to find something under the name 'Myles' in the ledger, Myles was forced to reveal his real name, Wesley Whitewood. Though he tried whispering it to the first mate, the other Adventurers heard it loud and clear when the first mate repeated it. They learned he had owed them 1800 gold for escaping somewhere called "Shitewater".
Myles, having finally been come up short with his heists, watched it all blow up in his face. However, following this, he becomes (slightly) more honest with the rest of the Adventurers and Free becomes (slightly) less suspicious of him.
As dawn breaks and the party returns to the Foolish Beggar, Marcus warns them that they are under suspicion for the Titus' murder and that Red Inquisitors have been searching for them throughout the city, which is now littered with wanted posters. At the Foolish Beggar, Welenath asks to see them. He is accompanied by a man they learn is famed hero Rewyn Silversteel, one of the Nine Blades of Veracia who defeated Vaz'roth 200 years ago.
At his request, they tell him about the cultists they faced a few days earlier. He mentioned that though their motives and identities are unknown, their symbol, an eye pierced by an arrow, has been seen around many high profile killings and kidnappings. Rewyn adds that he believes they are involved with these dark relic fragments, somehow.
Welenath informs them that the page, though he's not transcribed it fully, mentions Durea's destruction. He explains that this means the page has been only recently written, as the event took place 10 years ago, while Vaz'roth's defeat took place 200 years ago. Dreadtongue was thought to have been an extinct language, but, worryingly, it seems somebody is still using it.
Rewyn and Welenath ask them to head to Durea to investigate. They are to go to the village of Aveva, where a party of Rewyn's Bladewardens will meet them. He tells them that he himself will sneak out of Naveth tomorrow morning as the city is still in lockdown. The Adventurers decide to join him, and spends the remainder of the day buying supplies and gear. Free purchases Dragonfly.
Chapter II - Durea
Key events
- The Adventurers leave Naveth
- The Adventurers visit the Imperial Crossing where Myles gambling addiction becomes apparent
- The Adventurers briefly visit Ladius, but vow never to return
- The Adventurers arrive in Aveva, and fight a room-sized mimic in the library and battle paper golems in the Hedge Wizard's tower
- The Adventurers enter Durea and defeat Bezdo the Blind (an Everseer), retrieving the dark relic fragment
- The Adventurers instantly lose the dark relic fragment to a mysterious figure
- The Adventurers return to Naveth, but soon leave for Shinewater
Hosum of 934 f.Ma.
19th of Hosum
Early in the summer morning, the adventurers, accompanied by legendary hero Rewyn Silversteel, set of to the townhouse, where they knew a of a secret tunnel out of the city in lockdown.
They spotted guards and inquisitors, but together with Rewyn they knocked them out and headed out of Naveth.
The party said their goodbyes to Rewyn, who rode of towards Ondossin.
Thus began the long road to the village of Aveva, where they would rendezvous with a unit of Rewyn's Bladewardens, led by a Captain Rowe.
21st of Hosum
After three days on the road, the party woke up in the middle of night to a wolf attack - Caspian had left the camp for a while to take a piss.
The party eventually found out, that Caspian in fact did not take a piss, but burn down a house to the ground on behalf of the Ashen Wolf
22nd of Hosum
The next day, the party had to cross the strait which separated the regions of Oretha and Seretha - and fed water from the Glimmering Sea into the Gulf of Prigia. Free & Zerkan who crossed the bridge - Orm, Caspian and Myles took a dingy ferry helmed by a gnome called Farpip.
23rd of Hosum
By nightfall, the adventurers arrived at the Imperial Crossroads - and took up lodging at The Messenger's Lodge, perhaps the busiest inn in Marenthia. They met Ghura, an Okorthal human who worked as gambler and bodyguard, with whom they played Liar's Dice.
24th of Hosum
On the last day of the month, they set off towards Aveva.
Calum, 934 f.Ma.
Ladius & The Cursed Noble
2nd of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
On the second day during noon, they met an old farmer who was transporting a load of seemingly rotten apples in a wheelbarow. The farmer, who said he was from Ladius, a nearby village, managed to sell the party some apples.
3rd of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
During night, as the party huddled around the campfire, they heard a scream and soon saw a man who had ran out of the woods, he was running towards them.
The man presented himself as Artore, the stableboy at the Hoarse Horse Inn in Ladius. He had went on a midnight stroll with his love, Millia, when they saw what he called the Cursed Noble'. A spectral knight, surrounded by green flames who had screamed and walked towards them. He abandoned his Millia and ran.
4th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The party accompanied Artore to Ladius, and stayed at the Hoarse Horse Inn. They learned the Turiom had captured a masked man, and wanted to interrogate him.
5th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The party took care of a wolf problem, and killed three trolls. Orm entered a frenzy and slaughtered the child troll and bathed in it's blood.
6th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
After helping Ladius with some of their troubles, in order to gain favour with the Turiom, they soon started investigating the Cursed Noble.
Talking to Millia's father, Kaeso Messenus, they were promised a thousand gold pieces for rescuing his darling daughter.
They forced Artore with them into the forest, where Millia had been abandoned. They found an old well, where she had fallen into. They somehow managed to hoist out the heavyset girl, but were interrupted by the Cursed Noble, a Messenus who had been cursed by a witch. Only sacrifice, the blood of a greedy Messenus, could lift the curse. Myles took the girl to where the noble had been cursed and cut Millia's hand above the nearby pond. The Cursed Noble soon dissipated.
Upon returning the girl, the old man Messenus laughed at the party and told them there'd be no reward. Zerkan angrily ripped the frail Kaeso's coin purse from his belt, gaining some, but not the promised amount, of gold.
The party met with Rica Tempersage, a former Bladewarden who now had started working as an apothecary in Ladius. She could concoct a truth serum, but it would take a day.
7th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The next day, they retrieved the truth serum and went to interrogate the man who they learned were called Quintus. His organization, the Society of the Everseeing Eye (AKA Everseers), followed a "True Vision" by someone they called the "Trueseer".
- They learned that some Everseers were on their way to Durea.
- They learned that the Everseers killed high profile people.
- They learned that the Everseers had many hideouts, like the one found near Naveth, throughout all of Noreia.
8th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The party set to investigate a lost cow ("cowe"), Bessie, by a farmer called Cleatius in order to gain the massive reward of 2 000 gold. Upon walking into Cleatius house, they were greeted by an ogre who had sprung up the trap. They killed the ogre and set off towards Aveva, but not without a new deep disdain for Ladius and its people.
Finally, Durea
12th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
During nightfall of the 12th, the adventurers finally reached Aveva. They took in at the Hound's Cellar - where Myles soon learned of the Burning Loins Brothel and instantly decided to go there instead, forcing Caspian and Orm with him. Orm intantly bolted upon entering the brothel, and Caspian left after hiring the services of a courtesan that reminded him of someone. Myles spent the night.
13th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
As the Townmaster seemed to be the only one who knew where the Whistling Sword unit of the Bladewardens had gone, agreed to seek out the librarian and help him with a conundrum.
Discipo Domer, the near-deaf librarian, wanted the party help him by ridding the library of a paper golem infestation - and a mimic.
Following multiple close calls, the Zerkan and Free decided to split off, and entered a room - which turned out to be a gargantuan mimic. Due to Free, cleverly using thaumaturgy, he managed to alert the others - and, due to some fool's luck, they all managed to defeat the mimic.
The townmaster gladly informed the party that the Bladewardens had headed to the Hedge Wizard's Tower.
14th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
Upon entering the Hedge Wizard's Tower, it seemed no one was present. Upon entering the basement, Caspian was ambushed by Everseers. After defeating two groups of Everseers, the party managed to reach the deepest part of the basement, where they met the apparent leader of this group - a wizard. The wizard, known as Bezdo, promptly dimension door-ed out, leaving his goons to fight the party. The party managed to scrape by, and found a jail cell - which they managed to lockpick. They found a wounded man, Captain Rowe, and a woman, Sacra - as well as two other dead men.
The adventurers managed to stabilize Sacra, and started to help them leave - as Rowe stressed more Everseers might come.
The adventurers, save for Zerkan who had found a comfortable couch, decided to head upstairs where they fought an animated armor, a rug of smothering and a few flying swords. Soon they reached the peak, and were attacked by swarms of paper golems. Orm was saved from the brink of death, and the party barely survived the encounter. They found the dead Hedge Wizard.
The party then escorted the shattered Whistling Sword unit to Aveva, but not before Orm could chew out Zerkan, who just aloofly grinned.
15th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
After briefing with Captain Rowe, the group realized the everseers had gone to Durea. The brave adventurers decided to follow, trying to find a way in.
Following lots of discussion about tree physics and mathematics, the party waited for nightfall, after which they had Orm throw a rope from a nearby birch tree on top of Auracus' mighty wall - with which the party managed to climb to the top.
The party spent a night on top of Auracus' wall.
16th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
Down, in the ash-laden wasteland, the party encountered ashen imps and ashen quasi-elementals who they managed to defeat without too much trouble.
After a solemn investigation of the once magnificent town, and a short rest, the party set direction towards the Durean keep, upon which they encountered the Everseers, led by Bezdo the Blind.
The Everseers had seemingly found a relic fragment, and Bezdo attempted to harness its powers.
A difficult skirmish took place, as the Everseers attacked the Party, while Bezdo tried to channel the dark powers of the relic fragment, but to no avail. With his henchmen defeated, Bezdo took his own life before the party could question him, insanely shouting about a "True Vision".
They then saw another hooded Everseer, but before they could engage, a large figure slaughtered him in a single swing of his smoldering greatsword. The figure, a man with charred skin and burning eyes demanded the relic fragment under the threat of obliteration.
The group were inclined to do as he said, due to their weariness following combat, and the dreadful aura that he emitted. Caspian experienced an odd feeling he couldn't put his finger on. The man then put his greatsword, adorned with fiery primordial runic symbols, to the fragment, which disintegrated and disappeared.
The Adventurers speculated he might have absorbed it's power, but exhausted, they decided to rest. Caspian seemed a bit shook.
17th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The party, still in Durea, searched the abandoned castle and found a journal belonging to Amos Proudwind.
As they planned to leave Durea, Caspian told the rest of the party that he had to burn down the ruined ash-covered town.
Harnessing some unknown power, he managed to light a great fire. The fire, like a pack of rabid wolves, consumed even stone and ash, leaving nothing unlit.
The party climbed the wall (with some problems) and then left for Aveva, where people gathered in the street to see the blaze.
Later, the very same night, Caspian revealed to the party about the Ashen Wolf - an otherwordly patron whom he served in exchange for his magical powers.
18th of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The party took to the road, heading for Naveth.
23rd of Calum, 934. f.Ma.
The adventurers passed by the Imperial Crossing.
Loyum of 934 f.Ma.
4th of Loyum
The party arrived in Naveth - no longer under suspicion for the murder of the Mardamo.
They shared drinks with Marcus and - after lots of internal arguing about paying for their room - they went to bed. Myles received another letter from Marcus.
5th of Loyum
Myles and Caspian discussed something in private.
In the evening, the party debriefed with Welenath who promised to tell them about the Nine Blades before getting interrupted by the barmaid, Jovia.
The Copper Hammer had returned in shambles - a day or so earlier than expected. Among its passengers were Captain Avus Proudwind and a mysterious hooded figured, dubbed Master Irons.
The adventurers attended a meeting with Avus, Marcus, Welenath and Master Irons - who was revealed to be a disguised Rewyn Silversteel.
They learned of insurgency in Ondossin - and learned about a revolutionary called the Lynx. The only thing of value Rewyn and Avus learned was a mysterious name - Thessalia Noxwood.
Rewyn told Caspian that he had heard of Saria working alongside the Lynx, fueling an Orethan rebellion.
Rewyn advised the party against going to Ondossin due to the dangerous revolts and Imperialst measures to strike it down.
6th of Loyum
The party set sail towards Shinewater, having managed to get a ride with Captain Bolvic Freearm on the Golden Falcon, whom they promised to get his pocketwatch back from the Pirates inhabiting Shinewater.
Chapter III - Shinewater
Key Events
- The Adventurers arrive in Shinewater
- The Adventurers meet the Crooked Quintet, Myles' former criminal crew
- Suvie Rosenhall is rescued by and joins The Adventurers
- Caspian leaves the Adventurers, as he is summoned elsewhere by the Ashen Wolf
- Lord Boris Blackwell is defeated and Simon 'Strongarm' Steele is freed
- The Adventurers learn Blackwell is in cohorts with B'hogg and someone called Thessalia Noxwood
- Orm, loving the constant tavern brawls, decides to stay in Shinewater, leaving The Adventurers
- The Adventurers set their sights on E'Cze, but learn that it won't be easy getting there
Loyum of 934 f.Ma.
"Shitewater"
10th of Loyum
At noon, Myles, Free, Caspian and Orm arrive in the bustling outlaw town of Shinewater, affectionately called Shitewater by its' residents. They don't even get off the docks, before a hustler tries to con them out of their gold by getting them to buy a permit. Captain Freearm informs them that he will be back on the second day of next month, as he won't be staying in Shinewater.
As Myles leads them to the Maiden Wench, a tavern which served as the stomping grounds for his former criminal crew, they meet an odd man called Nybrin Delgot. The man tells them he wanders all of Veracia in search of stories, and offers them each a magical ring in exchange for a story, the more secret and personal the better. Caspian, who despite his own judgement, tells the man about the Ashen Wolf. Nybrin Delgot is extremely delighted and as thanks, insouciantly undoes the curse on Caspian's snowball ring before walking away.
Arriving at the Maiden Wench, the party meets Bijou and Leara, two figures from Myles' past. Myles reunites with Edmund 'Eddie' Cooke and William Shaw and introduces his new companions. After some catching up, Eddie briefs them about the situation. The last living member of the quintet, Simon 'Strongarm' Steele, has been captured by local crimelord Boris Blackwell.
A tavern brawl breaks out as a sort of intermission to Orm's absolute joy, and he joins in.
The Adventurers learn that the Crooked Quintet had a run-in with Boris Blackwell a while back. They had planned one final big heist, where'd they steal every valuable he owned. The mission backfired, and the youngest member of the quintet, Jasper 'Rook' Clarke, died, while the others escaped. Myles, knowing Blackwell would be searching for them, fled Shinewater using the Morrow Company. Since then, Blackwell has consolidated more and more power in Shinewater.
The two groups begin formulating a plan, the first step of which is to break out Blackwell's former guard-captain, Jacob Norham, from The Shinewater Citadel, a high-security prison on the island in the middle of the mouth of Shinewater called Lockup Rock.
Under the cover of nightfall the Adventurers get to action. Free and Myles disguise themselves as guards using illusion magic, pretending Caspian is their prisoner, while the absent-minded Orm pilots the escape vehicle, an old wooden dingy. They stealthily row out to Lockup Rock and fool the guards, easily finding Norham, as well as a girl called Suvie Rosenhall.
At the same time, a prison break occurs and a group of prisoners run towards the entrance. After confronting them as guards, they learn the key is with another inmate who began acting attacking the others, shouting inane nonsense. They agree to let the prisoners escape and investigate the isolation cell, in which the other prisoners threw the crazy inmate.
Entering the cell, they encounter a terrifying eldritch creature. They manage to defeat him, but not before it did something to Caspian through its terrifying gaze. Following this, Caspian becomes quiet, drawn back and inattentive. After retrieving the key, they free Norham (who recognizes Myles as the magical disguise ends). While freeing Suvie, they are attacked by the prison warden, Krasik, who almost manages to defeat and recapture them.
Exhausted, they all return to the Maiden Wench, where they immediately begin interrogating Jacob Norham, who manages to give his liberators some useful intel. While planning, Caspian suddenly has a heartfelt moment with his companions, where he explains that the Ashen Wolf abruptly has asked him to return to Wolfden, his childhood home. He didn't explain too much, but said it was a journey from which he potentially wouldn't return. He left Free with his lucky belt and Myles with his magical ring. As Caspian left, Myles and Free drank a glass of milk in his honor.
12th of Loyum
The following day Myles, Free and Suvie set out on executing the next steps of the plan. Myles and Free managed to fool the local armosmiths to give them guard uniforms (so they wouldn't have to rely on fleeting magic), while Suvie managed to get inside the inner sanctum of the magician's hall, where she found a map over Shinewater's sewers - as well as another book that caught her interest called "Runes and Their Meanings".
After a rendezvous, the Adventurers continue discussing the plan. They put the idea of distracting the guard and sneak past them on ice, as they instead decide to investigate the sewer map Suvie found. Through great use of [Knock] and [Mage Hand], they manage to navigate to what seems to be the larder of Blackwell Manor. Joyed to have found a relatively sure way into the manor, they return to the Maiden Wench to rest.
13th of Loyum
The 13th of Loyum saw the day of the Big Blackwell Heist, as the following day would be the day that Blackwell would move Strongarm to an unknown location outside Shinewater. The Adventurers, together with Eddie and Shaw, awaited nightfall and with no more time to waste, entered Blackwell manor through the sewers. They managed to sneak through the entirety of the manor without being detected, and when they opened the door to Blackwell's study, they found Strongarm sitting in a chair, in the middle of the room.
While untying him, he began explaining how he wound up captured.
- "I went to see Rook's mum. Someone had to tell her that her son died, and the lot of you were gone with the wind. When I told her, she started to cry, scream, begging me to tell her how and why her little boy had died... What the fuck was I supposed to tell her!? [to Myles] What would you have done? No, I don't think you'd have told her anything. But I did. I told her the truth. Her boy died, because the rest of us got fucking greedy! We pressured him to join us on this stupid fucking heist. We killed him. We killed Jasper 'Rook' Clarke. He was just a young lad, whole life ahead of him. We never should've crossed the guild, and we never should've fucked with the most powerful cunt south of the High Road!"
Simon further explained, he'd made a deal with Blackwell, wherein he'd provide her for the rest of her life and he'd bring the rest of the Crooked Quintet to him, but is interrupted as Blackwell emerges from above on an upper level, clapping. He starts a hate-filled monologue, but becomes shocked to see the "Rosenhall Runewitch" with them. He explained that Myles had stolen a "secret" from him (prompting surprise from the other members of the Quintet). Suddenly, he shoots Strongarm with a crossbow bolt as a bunch of his guards enter the room, alongside an bloodwitch and a heavily armored soldier, both of Okorthal origin.
The battle rages on, but the team manages to take out Blackwell's goons. Blackwell is shot in the hand as he escapes, causing him to drop his peculiar hand-crossbow, Dagonet, which Myles snatches up. Deciding against chasing Blackwell, they tend to Strongarm and loot Blackwell's manor, written in Dreadtongue, before fleeing.
As they return to the Maiden Wench, the Crooked Quintet decides to forgive Strongarm. Myles and Simon share a heartfelt moment, before the latter walks away.
As the rest of the Adventurers go through their loot, Free reads a letter sent to Blackwell from a Thessalia Noxwood. The letter implicates both Blackwell and, to his shock, B'hogg, his former slavemaster, to both be involved in a slave trade. Blackwell kidnapped people who visited his brothels and sold them off to B'hogg, in exchange for soldiers. It is revealed that Noxwood is behind both Blackwell's and B'hogg's rise to power, and that Blackwell was on his way to visit B'hogg. The party draws the conclusion that he has fled to the city-state of E'Cze, one of the Unbound Cities, ruled by B'hogg.
20th of Loyum
The Adventurers spend time resting, trying to figure out what to do next. Free and Myles are on the same page, they want to go to E'Cze. They remember they still have to get Captain Freearm's pocketwatch back, and figure that they can ask him to ferry them over to Wiseria. Before they have time to do anything, they get a letter from Welenath who wishes to see them, explaining they've gotten another lead on a dark relic fragment. Additionally, an acquaintance from Rewyn's past has asked them for help. He also goes on to mention they should discuss whether their "group" should relocate their base of operations, with the Marenthian Civil War raging on.
Orm, who's been notably absent, partaking in tavern brawls and street fights instead of joining in on the cloak and dagger heist, confesses to the rest of the Adventurers he much prefers this type of life to adventuring. He decides to leave the Adventurers, but hopes to see them again.
With a lot on their minds, they head to the maritime district of Shinewater and go to the Hammered Kraken, which is the local pirate watering hole. They meet the bartender, Jackdaw, who explains Captain Freearm lost the pocketwatch in a fair game of Liar's Dice. While negotiating for the return of the pocketwatch, they are surprised by Captain Zeeyah Morgath who calls out to them.
Nonchalantly ignoring their mutual past, Zeeyah Morgath asks them to join her in finding the Burning Leviathan, a near-mythical pirate ship, said to be able to sail through any sea or storm. She regails them with the stories of the legendary Captain Đrach, claiming she's gotten her hands on a map that will (eventually) lead to the Burning Leviathan, but refuses to tell more in public. The Adventurers reject her attempt at recruiting them, and Myles manages to gamble back the pocketwatch before they leave.
They decide to wait for Captain Bolvic Freearm's return.
Folum of 934 f.Ma.
2nd of Folum
The party gives Captain Bolvic Freearm his pocketwatch back, and ask him whether he could take them to E'Cze. He explains that nobody in their right mind, including him, would dare sail there, as not only are the seas very dangerous for your average navigator, the High Elves who are constantly warring with the Drow pirates, both continuously clash around these seas. Disappointed, they set sail back towards Naveth, unsure of how to proceed.
Chapter IV - Steinheimm
Bonus: The Coliseum Challenge
Filler - this isn't necessarily canonical to the overarching story. (But it's pretty cool still).
Key Events:
Myles, Suvie and Free somehow found themselves in the Steinheimm Coliseum in the Rusts, taking on the Coliseum Challenge!
They managed to defeat four skeletons, two ghouls and a ghast without any bigger issues - but they did use a lot of spells.
In the second challenge, they faced of against a Blue and a Red Guard Drake. These resilient creatures took longer to defeat, but in the end The Adventurers were victorious - only destroying a column in the process.
During the intermission between the second and third challenge, the announcer suspiciously began complimenting Myles a lot more.
The third challenge - a Marenthian Gladiator named Manlius Rex managed to knock out Myles as Free grew annoyed at the constant barrage of compliments everyone - including the challenger mid-combat - were throwing Myles. Myles was knocked unconscious, but Suvie and Free managed to defeat the Gladiator.
Yet again, including the defeated Gladiator, the announcer and everyone in the audience praised Myles' strategic style, acting as a distraction so his 'two henchmen' could defeat the gladiator.
In the fourth and final challenge, two minotaurs were let in the arena - who, upon seeing the red-skinned tiefling Free, instantly began targeting him. Free was eventually downed, but Myles and Suvie managed to incinerate the beastmen.
As the crowd began to throw gold and jewels at the Marvelous Magnificent Mellow-Voice Myles (and the two other ones) a terrifying shadow was seen soaring through the skies (even though this challenge took place deep inside a mountain.
Alas, it was an Ancient Black Dragon, who had come to make the Coliseum, now flooded with gold and jewels. The coliseum was its lair all along!
the red skinned horn guy got terrified!!
the girl got melted into goo
the red one withstood two acid breaths thanks to the incredibly considerate (and handsome) Mellow-Voice Myles of Shinewater's healing and encouragement.
The foul beast defeated the other guy, but used a dastardly trick to summon insects with giant fangs and stingers that tried to attack the unbelievably ruggedly handsome bard Mellow-Voice Myles of Shinewater's ruggedly handsome face!
With everything left to lose, our brave hero brandished his legendary hand-crossbow, Dagonet, and shot the Ancient Black Dragon with a deadly bolt with deadly accuracy, instantly killing it dead.
Suddenly, Marcus Valiso interrupts the incredibly tall tale and confronts Myles about lying, but grows increasingly unsure as Suvie and Free don't even bother reassuring him that Myles is indeed lying.
Rewyn, having been asked to verify the potential vericity of Myles' story, courteously agrees that it is within the realm of possibility, before ordering another glass of red wine and returning to some conversation with Welenath.
The night ends in Naveth, as Avus passes out by the bar, mumbling something about Dragons and the Silver Isles.