The session began in Braylor’s Boathouse surrounded by light and merriment the group had just ordered their meals and then were suddenly taken with the idea of joining a fighting ring on the eastern coastline. They left Agnes to cook in the inn for the night and Tubs to wait on their food.
When the group arrived they found a rough ring drawn in the sand and somewhere between 100-150 people gathered around. There were two goblins named Greedo and Gilda organizing the fights and taking bets. Kerzha and Loris both signed up to fight.
Kerzha stood toe to toe with Jethro Thunder Beard, and after a few rounds of back and forth she knocked him briefly unconscious, then helped him to his feet.
The group placed several large bets on Loris who faced a skinny redheaded teenager going by the name “Johnny Fish”. While Johnny definitely got in more hits, he was ultimately bested by a kick to the kneecap that dropped him to the sand. It was a very close fight! The group left the fights in high spirits and met with Tubs on the Great Stone Bridge headed back into town. As they began to eat their meals they suddenly became aware of an unusual orange glow that was dominating the marina. Their ship was engulfed in flames!!!
They ran to the docks but were unable to save the ship from the roaring flames, they managed to prevent the docks from being lit but unfortunately they had to watch a ship that had been home to many of them for several months burn, break and sink below the waves.
The group took a moment to survey the crowd. Keljor spotted a shady looking man duck behind Braylor’s Boathouse and disappear into the alley. After a tense pursuit and a few excellent examples of stealth and perception Keljor tailed the man to a suspicious shack deep in the ghettos a few blocks to the north. He made note of it’s location and returned to the group.
Ayla reported the creepy individuals to a local guard but they didn’t seem to be very impressed with her information. They promised to increase patrols for at least a week and “Do their best” to catch those responsible.
Keljor and Kerzha decided to sleep on the beach east of town at the fighting ring so they hike just outside town and have a relatively undisturbed sleep. Kerzha has a vivid dream depicting a massive monster made of shadow that she cannot harm through the aid of her God but a small shadowy ball of power seems to empower Kerzha’s lighting to deal damage to the creature. An outline of a thin female elf is briefly glimpsed “holding” this shadowy ball of energy. Kerzha awakes feeling empowered and filled with strength, resolve and energy.
Halfway across the city the rest of the group were crowded into a single room in Braylor’s Boathouse. Tubs awoke suddenly to a dagger plunged into his chest, twice. The moment of the second strike Tubs lost all control of his body and began to rage and attack the nearest target deeply wounding Agnes. Loris immediately attempts to charm the entity possessing Tubs and fails, but the spirit controlling him is slightly weakened and Tubs just barely managed to summon his own rage from within and break his possession. The shadowy assassin immediately fleas the scene and disappears in the general direction of the cultist house.
The group decides to switch to a new room and barricade the door and window. Thankfully… Nothing else happens in the night.
The next morning the group leaves as soon as Keljor and Kerzha regroup with them. The group heads directly to the cultist house that Keljor had found the day before.
It is decided that Loris will put on a cultist robe and use disguise-self to attempt to infiltrate the house. Ayla took a nearby rooftop, and Keljor quietly climbed on top of the cultist’s house.
Loris deceived her way into the dimly lit, dirty shack and had a conversation with the cultists which reveled that they knew of Xershain and his ship and they had sent out agents to “deal with both”. The cultists revealed that they had received word from someone named “Iris” who offered aid and wanted the cultists to move toward their goal with haste. Loris asked to see the letter but was informed that the written message had been safely burned. A torn, opened pink/magenta envelope was still visible on the small table nearby.
The cultists asked a few questions of Loris who ably deflected the questions without really answering much. She gave a brief description of the party and showed her necklace and “Dagger of Coral” which earned her the respect and even admiration of the creepy mutated cultists.
At last they allowed her to leave saying that they needed to stay and await orders.
The group then decided to split up and pursue several different paths. Some went shopping, Fern, Tubs and Kerzha went to Braylor’s Boathouse in search of witnesses or guards that might be able to shed more light on what happened the night before Ayla, Loris and Agnes went to an appointment to see “Senior Smelter Silver Spruggle”.
Ayla led the group to a massive refinery complex just on the east side of the great Stone Bridge. The guards at the outer gates had them escorted to the main office where they met the head receptionist named “Sienna”. She appears to be an eladrin, the same kind of rare elf as Loris. She is beautiful and very well dressed but seems to have an attitude equivalent to a bored, indifferent teenage girl. She allows them upstairs to meet with Spruggle who is a mustached gnome wearing a coat and top hat. Ayla presents him with the information that his dwarven steel has been found in the hands of cultists. He seems entirely undisturbed by this news and calmly claims that he smelts ore and sells to buyers. He is unaware of any cultist influence and is simply running a business. He seems to be pretty honest, at least about not directly and intentionally dealing with cultists.
The room they stand in is filled with Many interesting and wonderful things which Agnes and Loris look at while Ayla takes a few minutes to talk about her enchanted weapon and a similar weapon that Spruggle keeps in his collection. Sienna is summoned upstairs to “Identify” the magic(s) on Ayla’s weapon and says that it is Very Old, very similar to Spruggle’s weapon by type of enchantment but has been slightly altered at some point to increase it’s efficiency. Once her task is complete Sienna asks Loris to go to lunch with her and offers to buy her an outfit because “Darling, we simply must do something about… this” she said while gesturing to Loris’ dirty assortment of furs and cloth that she had been wearing for weeks while adventuring. Loris accepted and was being escorted to the “High District” by Sienna as Agnes and Ayla began to look into pursuing another possible lead in who was funding the cult. Suddenly Agnes received an urgent “Message” from a frantic female voice in her head saying:
“Agnes? I just watched Xershain die. Wallace escaped. Assassins of the Cult found us. I translated the letters. Now hidden behind Qanna Outpost.“
Agnes looked at Ayla and informed her that they need to regroup before checking in on this lead.
Meanwhile in Braylor’s Boathouse Fern, Kerzha and Tubs interview a couple captains of other ships who offer their condolences and both admit to have seeing either Xershain or Wallace yesterday but neither had agreed to buy Xershain’s ship after being asked so suddenly. Neither knew where to find Xershain, he had indeed disappeared. With their interviews complete they went upstairs to a game-room/lounge that offered shuffleboard and darts. Tubs just barely beat Kerzha at a quick match of shuffleboard.
With the day half spent and the heroes scattered across the city what else may the future hold? Only time could tell…