Morrow's Savage Tide Adventure Path

Morrow's Savage Tide Adventure Path takes place fifty years after Swashbuckling in Freeport in the same campaign world. In fact, most of the PCs in Savage Tide are the grandchildren of the PCs in Swashbuckling in Freeport.

I'm going to try to get the players to contribute updates for this story hour written from the perspective of their characters. With any luck, I'll be able to offer multiple perspectives on the events of the campaign. I'll add DM commentary from time to time. Enjoy!

Elyosha Tatanya Fyorovna (NG Elf Druid)

Elyosha Tatanya Fyorovna (Lady Fyorovna to those who wish to show
respect, Elyosha to friends, Elyoshenka to her grandmother) is a
refugee druid from Druzistan. About two years ago, the landed elite
and wealthy manufacturers of Druzistan joined together to install
Yefim Novy, a charming yet despotic half-elf, as the Supreme Leader of
the arctic nation. Those groups have benefitted greatly from his
Efficiency Initiatives and strong leadership style, but the druids,
fey, barbarians and others who resist his dictatorship have been
driven into hiding or out of the country altogether. Elyosha was
secreted out of Druzistan in order to spread word about the secret
pogroms taking place there among the educated of other nations, in the
hope that they could help. She also seeks to improve her own druidic
skill so that someday she might return to her country to aid the
resistance.

Sadly, she did not find the warm welcome among the better families she
had hoped for. This far south, no one has even heard of the
prestigious university where she took her double degree in botany and
divination, much less her family's storied legacy as powerful shapers
of natural magic. She is living rough outside of Sasserine. She may
just have had the breakthrough she was hoping for, however, for she
managed to calm and heal a dangerous wounded crocodile that was
terrorizing families on the east side of town.

Dexter (CG Half-Orc Barbarian)

Dexter Black was born into a life of servitude to an orc servant woman named Fema Fraksha. They served together in the house of a wealthy family in the Sunrise section of Sasserine. He led a sheltered life compared to most young half-orcs. His mother told him his father was the grandson of a heroic pirate named Nate Black. Sometimes she would sing him songs about his heroic ancestor, but she spoke little of his father. From time to time his mother's friend Misa would visit and Dexter would play with her son Garnham, who she told him was his half brother. When he was about ten he left the home of the family he and his mother had served all his life when he was apprenticed to a master carpenter named Rook.

Ashe got older he started to get into trouble. People would pick fights with him for no reason. He usually won. Whenever it seemed like he was about to lose, a wild energy would overtake him. He would get his second wind, and start fighting with renewed vigor. Eventually the few ruffians who made their way to Sunrise learned to leave him alone.

At 21 years of age Dexter is good natured, and still a little naive. As a journeyman carpenter he still lives in his master's home, still visits his mother once a week, and sees his half-brother Garnham when he can. He spends most of his days harvesting lumber for his master or selling his master's wares in their small shop. He spends his evenings with his friends, sitting outside one of the taverns of Sunrise where for some reason the tavern keepers let him drink for free as long as he sits outsider near the door. His life has settled into a comfortable routine.

"Maybe too comfortable," he said tohimself in a rare introspective moment, patting himself on his slowly growing potbelly. The crowd in the tavern broke into a song about a great pirate who stole a cannon from a war vessel, and sold it to feed hungry children living in an orphanage. Dexter thought about his great grandfather's exploits, and his own life, and felt like maybe something was missing. Maybe someday he could be a great hero too. His master would laugh whenever he talked like this, and send him out to gather lumber.

Dexter looked down at his axe, which he had leaned up against the wall. There was a small old woman standing there. She was smaller even than his axe. When she held out a letter to him he squatted down so he could look her in the eye. "What's it say?" he asked, adding "I don't read." She read it to him and he thought about it. "Okay. Tell your boss okay, I'll be there." He smiled, "Thanks". As the old halfling woman walked away Dexter quietly whispered tohimself "Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane, Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane..." He didn't want to forget the address.

Garnham (LN Human Rogue)

Misa was a dancing girl in one of the seedier dance halls in Shadowshore when she met Garnham's father. He made many promises to the young woman and soon the pair became lovers. One afternoon while in the.. shall we say heat of the moment.. a large orcish woman burst through Misa's bedroom door and violently accused him of cheating on her. He had time to gather his rapier or his pants as he bolted for the door. A true gentleman he choose to preserve his dignity. The orc-blooded woman gave chase, but he quickly lost her in the streets.

Misa and the orc actually bonded over their disdain for the wretched cheater. A few months later they discovered that they shared similar mementos from their times together.
Misa gave birth to Garnham. The orc birthed Dexter. The two boys weren't raised together, but they grew up together.

When he was ten Misa started running contraband between Shaowshore and the Champion's district. Her contact was a brutal man named Barker. He discovered that she had skimmed some off the top and came to her in her small home, threw her down and slit her throat.
Unknown to him Garnham was in the other room. He quietly crept up on Barker and stabbed him in the neck with a bread knife three times.

Shortly after that he was taken in by Rhyner another criminal and rival to the deceased. Rhyner taught him the business of being a rogue. Garnham never got involved in violent crime, but has killed two others in self defense over the years. Through all this Garnham still has the rapier his father left behind, badly in need of serious repair.

Margaret Teech (N Human Cleric of Aster, God of the Undead)

Margaret's father is the son of the legendary pirates Catherine "Bloody Cate" Sullivan and "Bonny Bill" Teech. Her mother is the daughter of Bloody Cate's long time ally, the wizard Miranda Swallows. Margaret was raised in Sasserine. Her parents were devoted followers of Aster, so it seemed only natural when Margaret chose to enter the priesthood.

Only sixteen, Margaret is optimistic and naive. She aggressively proselytizes for Aster and doesn't understand why some people become upset when she suggests that their dead loved ones might be happier as undead. Margaret is unwavering in her beliefs - she's right and doesn't mind if she has to break a few heads to get her point across.

There is No Honor Part 1 (Dexter)

Bern whistled quietly to himself as he wiped down the bar in his nearly empty tavern. As it was not yet midday his only clientele were a handful of truly dedicated drunkards. He might as well have been alone. When the double saloon doors slammed open simultaneously and an enormous axe-wielding half-orc stormed into the bar Bern's first instinct was to dive for a weapon, but he recognized Dexter and stopped himself mid-dive. "Dammit Dexter, you scared the piss out of me, what the hell are you doing here so early?"

"Sorry Bern" Dexter practically bounced in his bar stool in barely contained glee.

Eyeing Dexter up and down and noting his new armor Bern replied "It's okay. What's gotten into you? I hear you don't work for Rook no more."

"I got a new job"

"Doing what?"

"I'M A HERO!" hebellowed, exploding off his seat, sending the barstool skittering across the floor and out the door.

Somewhere in the dark bar a drunk slumped out of his chair and onto the floor in shared excitement. Another snored a throaty cheer in Dexter's honor.

Bern looked up at Dexter's gleeful addled smile, stood up on his toes so he could lay a hand on his massive friends shoulder and said "Okay, well sit down, I'll pour you an ale and you can tell me all about it. And take it easy on the furniture."

Dexter sheepishly retrieved the barstool, sat back down, swallowed half a pint in one gulp and leapt into his tale.

"Me and my brother Garnham and this elf lady with a fur hat and a pet dog and a really long name that I can't remember so I just call her ma'am and this girl named Maggie who works for the church of Aster saved this young noble girl from this guy who stole her money and we think maybe hurt her parents and so she hired me and I gotthis armor and we went down into the basement of this castle and OH there was a boat and I fought these thugs and they shot me with arrows but it didn't hurt and then there was a big spider and a fire but it went out and we got her stuff and I killed a couple guys and I felt pretty bad about that but then we went to the basement and there was a big snake and it was made out of METAL and it bit me but it didn't hurt and we got her money back only not all of it and her brother is up to no good and Garnham found some paper that I couldn't read and he didn't tell our boss about it but she wasn't mad and now we think maybe her brother is up to no good because her parents died and they were on this boat and it caught on fire and they died and everyone thought it was an accident because their boat caught on fire while they were in it and they died because they got all burned up and DIED and her brother is missing and now I work for her isn't thatGREAT?"

"Great. Have another beer."

There is No Honor Part 1 (Garnham)

The following is translated from the Vallosan.

From the Journal of K. Garnham Apprentice Seeker

This may prove to be my first entry in this blasted thing that is, in any way, interesting.
A few days ago I received a the following message:

Greetings, and I trust this missive finds you in good health. My name is Lavinia Vanderboren, and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think that I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response to this invitation, and I hope to be speaking to you soon.

Lavinia Vanderboren

It was delivered by an elderly halfling woman named Kora.

I accepted.

I made the usual inquiries, but had no luck in finding out anything about Lavinia Vanderboren or why she would need the services of a small time crook such as myself.
I hadn't even entered the house when I came across my brother Dexter entering through the same gate having received the same message.

My brother believed he was being called upon for carpentry work. I do not think that he is aware of just how deadly he can be. He is, in many ways, so much better a person than I am.

The pair of us were brought into a sitting room by the same elderly halfling lady who had delivered our invitations. Already present was a young woman in the priestly gear of Aster. Dexter lit up at the sight of a priest of his favorite faith.

Her name is Maggie Teach. Looks to be sixteen. Idealistic. Very... earnest. Still, she saved my life later that night, so maybe there's a place for earnest in the world.

We were next introduced to Aliosha. An elven woman of good bearing with foreign accent and clothing. She was introduced as Lady and preferred to be called that when I asked for a shorter form of the 20 or 30 syllables that seem to form her name. Her bearing suggested dignity, but her clothing was not in proper repair. She has a wolf named Bolk as a traveling companion.

Before our hostess arrived a group of four adventurers passed by the room we were in. One of them looked us over and said "So you're the help Lavinia's hiring to do the chores." or something close to that. I instantly disliked that man. Were they another group who turned down the offer we were about to hear? Or something else? Time will tell.

The only servant visible was Kora and it was obvious that the room was underfurnished. Signs of poverty in a prospective employer is never good. We were than introduced to our hostess. She is slightly older than I and Dex with excellent bearing. Quiet beautiful.

After dinner we were told that Lavinia's parents had died recently. Her inheritance was in a magically locked vault under the palace. The only keys to the vault were a pair of magic rings owned by her parents. Her mother lost hers before the accident (!!!) and her father left his aboard the family's ship the Blue Nixie.

The family owed docking fees for the Nixie in the amount of 500 platinum. The harbor master was(is) too old to do his job, so he'd hired on some outside help. One of those persons was Solar Vark. Vark was the person that Lavinia gave the fees to. He pocketed the money and told her to shove off. She wanted us to reclaim the money, ring and teach Vark a lesson.

We accepted.

We bought a few drinks and some information. Vark had a bad reputaion. He also had moved the Nixie from it's usual berth to a point a bit further along the docks. There were reports of people moving about on board. We also discovered the circumstances of Lavinia's parent's deaths. A new ship they had purchased had burned to the waterline with them on board.

We made our way to the docks. A borrowed rowboat got us to the Nixie. I scouted ahead. There were three guards on deck. It was a quiet night and I could make out the sounds of a couple having sex in a cabin towards the rear of the ship. Also the sounds of snoring. A creaky set of hinges gave me away as I entered the antechamber outside a pair of rooms. While the guards came closer I entered the snoring filled room.

My companions, having heard the guards take notice, climbed up and confronted them.
I managed to sap one of the sleeping thugs before the other woke. I then drew first blood on the other thug forcing him to surrender.

It turns out that Vark was one of the sex partners that I had overheard. By the time I finished with the two thugs he and his woman had joined the battle against my teammates. Vark had joined in hand-to-hand while the woman was further back using a light crossbow.
In retrospect I should have used my bow from cover, but I moved forward to engage her with my rapier. I managed to sneak up on her, but missed my shot. She, on the other hand, hit one of my favorite arteries.

By the time I came conscious, thanks to Maggie's magic, my companions had beaten or driven off the remaining force. Vark was captured alive. Another guard who was in the hold had tried to start a fire and was killed by the cargo. Vark was using the Nixie to hold contraband animals. A giant spider-thing had gotten loose and killed the woman as she was setting the blaze. We killed the spider before it could eat Bolk.

They took Vark back to Lavinia while I got in contact with R about the animals.
We were offered longer-term employment by Lavinia. She asked us to join her when she went to the vault. In three days we were patched together and went to the vault. There I noticed her house symbol. It was on the vault door-the Seeker symbol. So many questions.
In addition to the rings there was a guardian construct resembling a snake. We, mostly Dex, beat it down.

Then there was a very large locking mechanism. Aliosha figured out the trick to the lock and we were in the vault proper.

Which had, of course, been ransacked.

Lavinia spent about an hour going through what remained. Afterwards she tore somebody a new one. He claimed that the only person to be in the vault since her parents had died was Lavinia's brother Vanthus. He had the ring and was known to be a member of the family so he was allowed through. It turns out that he's been "missing" for about a month. She said that had been acting differently, even hitting Lavinia before his vanishing. She wants us to find him and bring him to her. She hopes that she can find out what's going on. The only lead we have right now is an unknown lover that Valthus has in Azure district.

More later.

There is No Honor Part 1 (Margaret)

I was looking forward to beginning a rewarding career in the church of Aster, but I've hit a bit of a detour. It started when I was invited to Lady Vanderborn's house. I thought she wanted to make a donation or something, but I was mostly wrong.

Two boys showed up shortly after I did. They were very nice and seemed to know each other,but I didn't know they were brothers! I'll need to hear more of that story, I think. I'd really like to meet their father because I'm sure he's a kindred spirit, having had lovers of different races. I plan to have lovers of every race, and I should probably spread it out evenly between them, and I'll have to try to keep the numbers pretty even between men and women, and between those of different life preferences, so I should probably make a chart...

Anyway, then this real nice lady with a foreign accent showed up. Apparently, there's some really awful opression going on in her home-land, so I think that once I'm a more powerful priestess, I'll really be able to help her out.

So then Lady Vanderborn showed up, and she wanted to hire us to find out what was going on with the ship she inherited from her parents. They died recently, but apparently, Lady Vanderborn hasn't even considered bringing them back, and it's not like they've experienced undeath yet, so how could she possibly know their preference? She seemed mad when I suggested animating them, but I think she overreacted and was a bit rude. I was just trying to be helpful. If she continues being mean to people who are trying to help her, I don't know how long I can continue to work for her. Mother Anna told me that I should go out and experience the world and stuff, but intolerance is something I cannot tolerate.

So we rowed out to the Blue Nixie, and snuck onboard. Apparently, this guy Vark had tried to steal Lady Vanderborn's money AND her ship so that he could illegally trade exotic animals. We tried to take the ship with as little bloodshed as possible, but when dealing with thugs who have no regard for personal property and no respect for the freedom of wild beasts, there is no reasoning. I could have died. So, we took the ship back, found the money Vark stole from Lady Vanderborn and the ring she was looking for, and we claimed our reward.

Then, Lady Vanderborn asked us to go to her vault with her, and with good reason. There was a really big silver snake in there, and it tried to eat us! And then, there was this really complicated puzzle, and Lady Aliosha figured out how to turn the room around so the walls opened up! She's really smart. But then, Lady Vanderborn said that most of her stuff was missing, and the vault guys said that her brother had taken stuff out of the vault, but he's been missing for a week, so who knows what happened to him! I guess we know what we'll be working on next...

There is No Honor Part 2 (Garnham)

The following is translated from the Vallosan.

From the Journal of K. Garnham Apprentice Seeker

The search for Vanthus took several interesting turns.

I received confirmation from R. that the elder Vanderborens were Seekers. Apparently children of members aren't offered membership until the children reach the age of twenty-three. I'll have to remember that if I ever have kids.

The lead on Vanthus' lover in the Azure district lead us to a name and an occupation, but little else. Her name is Brissa and she's an artist. Of course the man who described her as such used the word "artist" in the way most people say "whore." Elyosha and I played man and wife for a few hours looking for anyone who had any of Brissa's work to sell. No dice.

We did find out that Vanthus was seen with a known smuggler named Penkus in Shadowshore. Apparently whatever they were doing involved them doing something to irritate the owner of "It Still Floats!" a used boat shop.

We continued to search for shreds of information when we were approached by a shabby man claiming to know where Vanthus was hiding. He generously offered to tell us for 5 gold. We greased his already greasy palms and he said that Vanthus was holding up in the old smuggler's tunnels on Parrot's Island and for an additional 5 gold he would take us to them. My brother put the fear of Dexter into the enterprising informant and we soon found ourselves on Parrot Island, He led us to the opening of a series of tunnels, cleverly concealed beneath a large rock.

Elyosha's wolf confirmed that Vanthus had passed that way recently. We left the wolf on guard and proceeded down. We had gotten to the first of a series of doors when we heard a commotion coming from above. Racing back we heard the sounds of a struggle and found the rope had been severed. Elyosha yelled orders to her wolf while Dexter and I climbed up the back-up rope that we had secured before going down. We hadn't gotten too far up when the corpse of our informant came hurtling down on us.

I, of course, ended up on the very bottom of the pile.

We started up the rope a second time. Before we reached the top we heard "this'll teach you to mess around with my sister, say hello to Penkus' ghost for me" or similar, just before the rock was returned to block our escape.

Maggie climbed up to help shift the rock, but we ended up taking another tumble. As we were picking ourselves up Dexter gave Maggie a slap on the ass and she responded favorably. Overwhelmed at the possibilities I throw up my hands and hope they enjoy themselves.

We proceeded to make our way through the tunnels which were, of course, crawling with zombies. Not just any zombies, but zombies with gigantic mouths who grabbed you and pulled you close for a little nibble of flesh.

The tunnels were flooded in parts. At one point we came across a pool with a (nonmoving) corpse floating on top. We fished it out of the water and were searching it when we were attacked by several very large crabs. We won the battle and as reward had both the fine silver dagger that lay at the bottom of the pool and fresh crab meat. I don't think there is anything more satisfying than sinking your teeth into the flesh of some critter that had, minutes before, tried to eat you; relishing the sweet flesh as it glides over the pallet and going in for another bite.

We spent the night sealed up in one of the rooms to give ourselves time to rest and heal.
The next morning we returned to the tunnels to find more zombies and a zombie priest of some sort. It was a hard fight, but we won again.

The zombie priest had, apparently, brought his remaining forces with him; we encountered nothing else.

We knew there was sea access in some of the flooded areas so Dexter swam out and did recon while tethered to a mooring rope. He found a promising spot and we all swam for it.
At the other end we discovered Penkus' disease-bloated corpse. The shade of the old bastard told us that Vanthus had gotten him out of the way to take his place beside the Lady of Dragons. He also told us where to find Vanthus.

Elyosha's Elven eyes found a secret door that led to a small fortune in coin, gems and magic items.

Dexter performed another recon and discovered the path that led to open sea. After some rest and the consumption of swimming elixirs we made it back.

Now we have to plan our confrontation with Vanthus.