Archmage Halstead: Living on a Prayer

 

Living on a Prayer

     After resting the night to gain their full capabilities and being careful to not be found in the house of the dead Werewolf captain Sufocan, the Wizlards decided that they would try to disguise themselves as pirates and explore the town to find the possibility of Abe’s daughter being here.  They successfully snuck across the top walled in portion of the town going from house to house and shadow to shadow only drawing a casual inspection by the guards in the two guard towers where after a minute or so they turned and left thinking the sounds they heard were a figment of their imagination.  They moved to the opposite side of the upper level from the black house that they started in and found a fence bordering a 10-foot drop in elevation to a lower level.  They hopped over the fence and to the lower level not drawing attention and found themselves among what looked like many midsized abodes that maybe housed pirates. 

    

     They started to explore the town and found a blacksmith named Lafitte.  His shop seemed to house the normal basic weaponry and armors along with general implements that the town would need ranging form hinges, to nails, to horseshoes, etc….  He was working on a large ram with crossed thunderbolts he was working on but not much else of interest.

     On the other side of the intersection was the whorehouse that was owned by the sister Dornas Killthross of Dhargen Killthors owner of the Spire of Sin.  He had asked you to steal the blood sapphire hanging over the fireplace.  In there you saw the Sapphire hanging on the wall and a few ladies of the night, one with a large bruise on the side of her face, roaming the floor along with some customers.   It was around lunch time and there was a small crowd in the establishment.   When talking to the prostitute you found that the man who looked like Rardor was indeed his father the Duke Harrowfire.  He had been here a couple of weeks and was a hard man as evidenced by her face.   He had told her to act like a good little whore just like the woman who was to marry his son would.  There was a large Ogre who was serving as the guard by the fireplace wearing a hammer at his side.  Lilly and the Ogre struck up a conversation and he talked about the madam that owned the whorehouse and you found out that the Doctor Sorien would treat anyone who was sick.  The Ogre indicated that if they were less busy after the lunch rush.   After gaining some information the party decided to come back later and try and steal the Sapphire when things were less active.

    Down the street was a church dedicated to the sea bitch Umberlee.  Inside were several priests and an altar to the mistress of the seas.  As they wandered one of the priests pulled them to the side and talked to them.  He noticed they looked a little like outsiders he had not seen before, and they claimed to be new to the town and pirate community.  He said if they went to the Isle of the Abbey that he had a brother who was sent there named Odium that was looking to make a name for himself in the name of Umberlee and that there was an elf named Bayleaf that was not what he seemed.

     You continued down the street, hanging a right and moved towards the waterfront.  Near the piers on the left was a warehouse which seemed to have things being unloaded from the ships (crates, and barrels and other goods that would have been won through piracy.  As you snooped around the perimeter of the warehouse you sensed that there was movement from several shapes on the upper catwalks that made strange scraping sounds almost.  Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor and quietly snuck back to the outside to keep investigating the town.

As you came back away from the water a building across on the opposite side of the street from the warehouse seemed to be a magical shop found the doctors’ abode which housed what seemed to not be a doctor at all but a spellcaster.  After talking to him for a while and him getting suspicious a battle unfurled with him and what seemed to be a constructed Golem he used as his guard.  He and his minion were finished off without a huge issue.  His abode was searched and several items were found but maybe the most important thing found was a small key that maybe would unlock a necklace that controlled Maura.  A more thorough inspection also revealed a basement chamber where they found caged  humans which under further questioning seemed to be the missing farmers from the raided settlements around Saltmarsh.  You hid the Doctor’s and Golem’s bodies here and had them stay here for the moment while you tried to find a way for them out of town.

     Going further up the street towards the upper level of the city, you saw a sawmill that looked like it cut many planks and things that would be needed for the pirate fleet.  As you walked by and took a glance inside you saw a lizard folk with the tell-tale markings of Wynce’s tirbe.  He hissed at you to come closer and seemed to be the only person who noticed the clamor at the Doctor’s.  He claimed to be a double agent working for Othokent spying on the pirates.  After further conversation he mentioned that he could get you guys out through secret tunnels in his mill that would go under the walls to the woods beyond if you had a way off the island.  You guys mentioned the prisoners and that you had further business in town, and he told you to bring them by and he would get them out of town and to a safe place.  You thanked him and brought the townsfolk to him to leave in his care.

       When the Wizlards returned to Below Decks there was not a lot of activity, but there was an attractive female elf sitting at one of the tables drinking.  After approaching her and having a conversation, you found out that she was serving as an officer on The Salted Glade which was indeed the Duke Harrowfire’s vessel.  She seemed to not have any extreme loyalty to the pirates or the duke and you gained some information on the Duke, the upper levels of the town, some of the other pirates including Jon Bovi and Maura and how the necklace worked.  You found out there were two keys to remove the necklace, one that you now had possession of and one that Jon Bovi kept on himself at all times.  The necklace had to be charged every night and that Maura would go to the Gazebo beside the small pond in the upper level sometimes with Jon Bovi and sometimes alone to gaze into the water for a while lost in thought and that there was unbeknownst to her a charging apparatus that would keep the necklaces power charged and that Jon Bovi had a matching charging device on his ship the Steel horse.  At this point, you decided to try and pilfer the blood sapphire at and as Lilly distracted the Ogre you guys snuck around to the side and tried to pull the Sapphire off the wall.  A thin wire was missed, and as the Sapphire was pulled off the wall it snapped setting off an alarm.  The Ogre and Lilly squared off while footsteps were heard rushing from the upper level.  Ellie and Abe went to engage and hold off what was coming with Leyash and Cascadia in the room.  At the top of the steps appeared owner a female drow that muttered some words and threats and a large bony demon appeared inside the door to the lower level and moved to engage the party Leyash and Ellie.  The fight progressed on three fronts with the Ogre falling first, followed by the conjured demon, and then the whorehouse owner.  Leyash fell unconscious in the fight but was revived by Lilly at the end of the fight.   At this point you pocketed the Sapphire, took the hammer, and skulked back to the shadows of the buildings around the houses where you came down from the upper levels at.  No one seemed to be drawn to the ruckus at Below Decks, and you guys regrouped to decide on another course of action as evening set in.  You knew you only had about an hour till Maura would be at the Gazebo but you also knew a lot of your abilities were depleted.  You decided to risk a quick hit and run mission and try and grab her and get out before others noticed.

     You snuck around to the upper level of the city and positioned yourself around houses and the pond and saw Maura on the decking staring into the pond.  You noticed that Jon Bovi and what looked like a wizard that could only be Sambora Gibson were talking to the Duke by Jon Bovi’s house and about 80 feet away.  You decided to make a rush for Maura and that is when the best laid plans fell apart into a jumble of unanticipated events.  The attempt to place the key in the lock failed and Maura called out to alert the others.  Another attempt failed and she pulled out weapons to fight you and the duke, Jon Bovi, the wizard and guards started to close in on the group.  A couple of guards were dropped and just as shot rang out from an unseen place in the night piercing into the shoulder of Abe (I think) making things look very grim, Lilly called out to everyone to come to her and grab a hold of her.  You all successfully did this, and she grabbed onto Maura successfully and activated the pendent that teleported you to a room with rocky walls and crossed lightnin    g bolts in a blue background on the floor where you had discovered her background on a previous trip.

     The magic of the necklace seemed to be less strong here and after some convincing Maura agreed to let you remove the necklace.  Once the necklace was removed the fog in her mind slowly receded and she recognized that Abe was her father as they reunited.  She recalled that she had been thrown from the Annabelle Lee in a pitched battle with the Steel Horse and thought she was going to die in the sea as Shiela Copperlocks and the ship had to limp away from the horse.  She was picked up by Jon Bovi nearly dead and nursed back to health and then she did not remember much else from there.  Lilly explained to her that she and the group hash had been here before and they were safe for the moment although others in the group were not sure.  You followed Lilly and you moved forward to a room that had four exits from it.  You went left and found the pool of water holding the chalice and remembered the mural on the wall of the sea and ships being attacked by dragons from the sky and tentacles from the deep.  The water once again seemed to restore some of the health you had lost as before when you had been here.  You moved to the room with the chair and the open side of the wall which still showed the keep/fortress you saw that had white cloaked figures still patrolling the walls.  The force field was still active, and the walls had the images of dragons and krakens twined together plummeting from the sky towards the sea.  You went past the glyped room looking for the host who told the Wizlards to leave before and he was nowhere to be found.  After discussing what to do a little, you moved to the pedestal room with the Aasimar statues and saw that there was one that remained.  You rested keeping a guard which nothing happened during and decided to use the construct to leave the mountain.   After Lilly climbed in and everyone held on, you started to phase out of existence.  At this point you heard rumbling and saw the floor started to break apart that was in the center of all the statues when they were actually there.  As the floor broke away a blue and beige dragon burst through the floor and that is where we left things.

     As always questions are abound?  Does the sea elf settlement at the Oasis actually exist?  Where is the mountain and fortress with the white guards?  What is the connection between the Solmor’s and the Sea Princes?  What is happening in Saltmarsh with the prince and his disciples?  Does the church in Seaton have any connection to who is hunting Ellie?  Who is trying to kill Lilly and now the party by extension and why?  When will the assualt on the Sahuagin and the Baroness be ready? What is the deal with the Isle of the Abbey and the dubious clerics who inhabit it?  What did you release?  Where are you phasing too and what awaits you there?   And I am sure many more. 

 

     Looking forward to the weekend of gaming and company.   Don’t know if we will wrap from this weekend or not but we are getting close with the amount of time we will spend upcoming.  It won’t be more than another session probably if this weekend does not do it.  Be ready for level eight rather quickly and level 9 during the weekend.  Till then my friends.

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