Archmage Halstead: The Second Session

[From his popular memory stone "Stranger Things Have Happened: Saltmarsh Session Two"]

     The strangers awoke in the morning, minus Adamas.  Not knowing what to make of his apparent death they decided to continue with their mission and traverse further into the swamp in search of the criminal Whitecrag and Ned.  After about 30-40 minutes of travel, they found evidence of a meeting between two groups that were coming north to Saltmarsh and that were going south from Saltmarsh.  The tracks jumbled together as in a meeting and then they turned back to the south deeper into the Mere of Dead Men.  As they were investigating the tracks Adamas appeared from the woods saying he had been out scouting ahead and stumbled upon the same tracks.  After greetings were exchanged, the party rejoined and decided to continue deeper into the swamp. They stumbled upon an orc patrol talking about pleasing their master and hid (or so most of them thought) in the woods other than the stone wall of Adamas in the middle of the path.  The orcs parlayed with Adamas telling him to move (with the full intention of closing the distance and surrounding him when they noticed a shucking and jiving Leyash unsuccessfully hiding behind a tree).  The battle was joined.  It was a fight, but with all their skills on display (Ellie’s wielding of swords and magic, Abe’s continued support using his magical skills, Adamas’ sword and shield, and Leyash’s in your face magic) they defeated the orcs and did not let the captain get back to inform Whitecrag.    

     The strangers took a quick rest and continued into the swamp where they found a large bamboo walled camp with lookouts posted in the battlements.  Ellie sneaked up to the wall and Leyash tried to continue to recognize his inner rogue and worked up the opposite side.  Adamas and Abe approached the gate to parley, the parley seemed to be going somewhere and the guards were going to open the gate and take Abe and Adamas to their leader to talk when the not so sneaky Leyash was discovered, and the battle was joined.  The battle swayed back and forth with Whitecrag, Ned, and the Orc Captain leading their forces against the strangers.  Both Abe and Ellie appeared in dire straits at times, but Adamas and Leyash both came through with timely saves and after Whitecrag was felled a running Ned was just caught and disposed of at the last minute.  The party found some money, a nice scimitar, a potion, and a letter that asked Whitecrag to accept Ned into his service signed by just the initials GP.  The strangers started to suspect Gellen Primewater of dirty deeds done dirt cheap. 

     After a long rest at the Whitecrag hideout, which let them feel much stronger, they started to work their way back out of the swamp.  They came to the Y which had wagon tracks on it and decided this might be the missing caravan from Neverwinter.  About 45 minutes down the path, they came upon a broken-down wagon and what looked to be mostly skeletonized bodies facing the tree line wearing the tabards of Neverwinter guards.  As they approached, the bodies turned to attack with three of them sprouting flames.  The battle was mostly one sided and the skeletons were disposed of.  A search of the site found a wedding ring in one of the skeletons pockets and a letter telling the captain that the shipment of money was to be brought to the sea and he would be rewarded when he looked up his contact in Saltmarsh again signed by just the initials GP.  This further cemented Gellen as a nefarious individual in the stranger’s minds.  They followed the tracks to the coast where the path turned further to the south along the coastline toward Thornhold.  They found a beachhead at the coastline which showed evidence of the wagon tacks and boats connecting and the cargo being offloaded to a ship or ships off the shore.  No signs of the ships were present other than normal shipping traffic in the Sword of Seas.  Apparently there had been enough time for Captain Iylmar to complete his mission.

     The strangers came back to Saltmarsh to report their findings.  They went to Ander’s house and were escorted back to his meeting rooms by his butler.  While they waited, they found a letter outlining a secret relationship between Anders and Cassandra in which he outlined his love for her and wished there was a way to move their relationship forward and checked his handwriting against the letter noticing his flourished style did not match. Once he appeared they relayed their trip to the swamp to him and he told them he would set up a council meeting in the morning where they could report their findings.  They voiced their suspicions of Gellen and he said that Gellen had some shady background, but was the most popular member of the council with the town and would claim he was being set up.  He said his word would not be as impactful as he would like, being the youngest member of the council and that he often rode the line between traditionalist and loyalist views as the sway vote depending upon what suited his interests the best.
       The party had the freedom to roam the town again in the late afternoon and evening and split the party to visit Captain Xendros and the seedier tavern the empty nest.  At Xendros’s shop she once again proclaimed her ability to provide wares to the party and while Adamas very leerily waited at the door she outlined some background to Leyash that aquatic elves were a rarity in Saltmarsh since the destruction of their closest city Aquarias by one of the few Krakens of the Sword Coast.  Leyash also asked about the queasiness that elves feel on the bridge and was informed the bridge was long ago cursed by an evil magician that had a hate for all elves named Zenopus.  He had a tower on an island north of the new mine in the Sea of Swords.  Abe and Ellie found Squeeg their old drunken friend and tried to mine him for information but all they really got was drunken babble.  They then talked to the bartender and didn’t find out a lot of information other than the town released a weekly newspaper called the Saltmarsh Gazette which sometimes had valuable insight on what was happening around town.

      As they returned to the Snapping Line for Abe to perform his set and get a night’s rest, they picked up a copy of the Saltmarsh Gazette.  Leyash once again felt himself pulled to Hannah Rist, the owner, and found her in her typical evening seat in the corner of the tavern reading.  With a bit of inspiration from Abe’s song he seemed to spark some interest from Hannah, and they decided to take a walk along the harbor for the evening.  The walk was going well and from the shadows of the building a green acid like arrow streaked out towards them connecting with Leyash.  Leyash and Hannah started a hurried retreat to the line as a second arrow impacted Leyash.  About ten feet from the bar a third arrow dropped Leyash to the ground upon which Hannah picked him up and carried him into the Line.  Leyash was brought back to consciousness by Adamas, and a search was on for the attacker.  They found a webbed footprint in a puddle at the back of the tavern but had no other success in tracking down the assailant.  Leyash looked to cement the evening with Hannah, but she pleaded patience and kissed him on the cheek goodnight.

      After breakfast the council meeting was called.  The council relayed their concerns of one of their missing ships and being down to two harbor defense ships.  The party was paid for the Whitecrag mission and then they brought forth their concerns of Gellen Primewater and being behind the movements of the Scarlett Brotherhood, Whitecrag, and the missing caravan. Gellen of course claimed that he was being set up, and as things seemed like they may get more heated in the room a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the harbor.  As they ran to the upstairs window which gave a view of the harbor, they saw one of the ships on fire and listing and the other ship in a duel with a large sailing ship that all assumed was The Sea Ghost that they had been looking for.  More explosions came from the front gate and Eliander tasked the strangers with protecting the council while he took himself and his guards to the gate.  Shortly after he left the party spotted two Jolly boats full of attackers approaching the docks in front of Gellen’s house.  A pitched battle ensued with Manistrad’s help, Leyash, Ellie, and Abe outside and Adamas and Jom holding the door to the council.  The strangers held their own against bandits, bugbears, hobgoblins, and Sanbalet oh my!!  Jom joined the battle after Gellen said he would defend the council members and suggesting his friends may need his help.   At the end of the battle a female wood elf vaulted from Gellen’s deck into the fray engaging a hobgoblin and trying to get to Gellen.  This elf Tylsaria was the leader of the Black Blades and after finishing the hobgoblin moved to the chambers and the hallway to the council.  Adamas adamantly refused entrance and after harsh words between the two they erupted in a fight in the hallway.  With neither party backing down and death seeming imminent, Ellie intervened, and the conflict was stopped.  After everyone was brought back from unconsciousness and emotions calmed, Tylsaria went to Gellen’s side, and Abe seemed to feel that Gellen’s claim of innocence was legitimate.  There seem to be many questions that need to be answered.

   Is Gellen in league with the attack and the brotherhood?  Do you pursue the Ghost and with what?  What is going on in the outlying farms?  Who is behind the attack on Saltmarsh?  Who attacked Leyash and Hannah Rist?  Where is the money for the warships?  Who can you trust in town and what relationships do you want to build?