Swashbuckling in Freeport Returns

Cast

Unlucky in love, Catherine “Sully” Sullivan (CN human fighter 10) ran away from home to escape betrothal to a boorish suitor. She soon became a pirate, serving happily aboard the Red Lady until her lover, Captain William “Bonny Bill” Teach, was slain during a mutiny lead by his first mate, a vile dwarf named Dirty Steve. Sully and her friend Nate Black were marooned as punishment for opposing the mutiny. They eventually escaped their island exile and made their way to Freeport. Now the Captain of the Albers, Bloody Cate is known far and wide as a ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate served by a loyal group of female warriors, the Devil’s Concubines. Sully laments the loss of another love, Buster Wallace, a member of the Captain’s Council of Freeport. Unable to give up her life at sea, Sully left Buster, but her feelings for him are still strong. She was angry and hurt when he married another and fathered a child. Sully recently acquired another nickname, One Eyed Cate, when she lost her left eye battling a vile aberration known as an Ocularon.

Nate Black’s (CN half-elf bard 6/ Freeport pirate 4) father, Horatio Blackthorne, was a respected captain in the Thonian navy until he was betrayed and framed for piracy by his friend Captain John Flint. Blackthorne and his crew were hanged and young Nathaniel was sold into slavery. Nate escaped, eventually joining the crew of the pirate ship the Red Lady, where he served until he and his friend Sully were marooned after taking the wrong side in a mutiny. The pair eventually made their way to Freeport, where they acquired their own ship. Nate now serves as the first-mate of the Albers. His constant companion, Spank the monkey, is always ready to provide a little comic relief.

It was no surprise that Bronson (N human cleric 10), second son of a well-to-do family, chose to enter the priesthood. His family was shocked, however, when rather than join the influential temple of Maal, god of justice and Judge of the Dead, Bronson instead chose to join the small cult dedicated to Maal’s son, Aster. Bronson’s family was even more troubled when he became obsessed with Aster’s most radical teachings, that even the most unnatural of creatures, the undead, are deserving of protection and guidance. Bronson left his home to found a temple of Aster in the pirate city of Freeport. He has gathered a small but growing following among the living and the undead of Freeport. Recently Bronson has begun to turn more and more responsibility for the running of the temple over to his assistant, Elias Scrimm. Bronson has begin to hear the siren call of undeath and explore the path to lichdom.

Tavaari Naaldren (CN half-elf rogue 4/ sorcerer 6) is the illegitimate son of the former empress of Thonia and Lorrem Erendyl, the Prince-Ambassador from the elven kingdom of Alfheim. Tavaari lived his earliest years as the son and heir of the emperor until his parentage was discovered and he and his mother were cast from the palace. He was raised by a small elven clan on the borders of the empire until wanderlust called him, eventually leading him to the city of Freeport. Tavaari heads a growing criminal organization involved in smuggling and the buying and selling of information and influence. His organization recently expanded into the production of a popular new drug, White Smoke. Tavaari’s familiar is a cat named Kitty.

Queg (N spell-stitched bone half-orc ranger 6) was a harpooner on a whaling vessel before his ship was destroyed and he and his fellow sailors turned into undead monsters by the vicious necromancer Remy Deadarm. Queg served aboard Deadarm’s ship, the Dreadnaught, for several years. Eventually Deadarm’s control slipped during a battle and Queg cast himself overboard. Free of the necromancer’s control Queg traveled to Freeport. He was taken in by the temple of Aster, and soon entered the service of the temple’s chief cleric, Bronson. Queg’s animal companion is an eagle named Ishmael.

Miranda Swallows (CN wizard 8) was sold into prostitution at age 14. Brilliant, eager to learn, and extremely persuasive, Miranda picked up various skills from her clients, from languages to cigar-rolling to magic. Unfortunately, shortly before she as ready to use her new abilities to escape her life of servitude Miranda’s spellbook was stolen by the infamous bugbear pirate Captain Mange. Determined to escape her cruel masters and regain her spellbook she ran away with one of her former clients, a vile and misogynist merchant captain named Touchole. Life with Captain Touchole was nearly as insufferable and degrading as her previous career, but new hope dawned when the vessel was seized by the pirate ship the Albers and Touchole was slain. Miranda joined the crew of the Albers and discovered respect and friendship that she had never experienced before. Eventually she revealed her history to her new captain, who helped her acquire a new spellbook. Now Miranda is Bloody Cate’s loyal cohort and a member of the Devil’s Concubines. Miranda is a master of enchantment and evocation magic. Her familiar is a sarcastic quasit named Daniel.

The mercenary Jack Naaldren is in fact M’ord (CN serpent folk swashbuckler 6), one of the shapeshifting serpent folk. An accomplished swordsman, M’ord recently became the trusted cohort of Tavaari Naaldren.

Season One Overview

Nate, Sully, and Bronson traveled to Freeport aboard the merchant ship the Albers. Their ship encountered a ghost of Edward “Ned” Fletcher, captain of the Stingray, which had recently been sunk by sahuagin raiders. The ghost recruited the trio to retrieve the Stingray’s cargo, a gem called the Eye of the Sea Dragon, and return it to the Temple of Harrimast in Freeport. With Fletcher’s guidance they retrieved the Eye from the lair of the sahuagin.

Carrying the Eye nearly spelled the Albers' doom, as the gem proved to be cursed, first killing the Albers’ captain and later attracting the ghost ship Sea Maiden. Nate, Sully, and Bronson defeated the undead crew of the Sea Maiden and saved the Albers from becoming the next victim of the curse.

The trio was relieved to reach Freeport and be rid of the Eye of the Sea Dragon and the ghost of Ned Fletcher. Peg-Leg Peligro, High Priest of the temple of Harrimast took the Eye and locked it with its mate deep in the vaults beneath the temple. (A combination of Maiden Voyage from Atlas Games and “Dead Man’s Quest” from Dungeon #107)

The trio took part in the annual Freeport celebration known as Swagfest. There they saved Captain’s Council hopeful Captain Lydon from an assassination attempt and battled a shapeshifting spider creature beneath an abandoned house. (Holiday in the Sun, Green Ronin Publishing.) Later they investigated reports of a haunted dock, only to discover that the haunting was caused by a form of psionic coral growing in the harbor.

Shortly thereafter the trio was joined by Tavaari Naaldren and recruited by Brother Egil of the temple of Tinel (god of knowledge and magic) to locate his friend Lucius, a scribe at the temple who had been missing for several days. The party’s investigation lead them into conflict with the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, followers of the mad otherworldly entity known as the King in Yellow or the Unspeakable One. The party saved Lucius and slew the cult’s master, a shapeshifting serpent person named Milos. (Death in Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing)

The quartet discovered that the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign was larger than they first suspected when the cult sought revenge for the killing of Milos and the exposure of their hidden temple. The Brotherhood attempted to frame the party for the murder of Verlaine, a member of the Captain’s Council, and the destruction of the temple of Tinel. The party survived and thwarted the cult, but were unable to prevent their attack on the followers of Tinel. Many clerics, including Brother Egil, were killed before the cultists were defeated.

In the aftermath of the battle the head of the temple, Father Thuron, revealed that he was actually a serpent person named K’Stallo. Millennia ago the Unspeakable One had been responsible for the destruction of Valossa, the empire of the serpent folk. Their homeland sank into the sea and the serpent folk were maddened and scattered, never to recover their former glory. K’Stallo was the last cleric of Yig, the ancient snake god who was patron of Valossa and a sworn enemy of the Unspeakable One. Together the party and K’Stallo uncovered evidence that the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign was lead by none other than Milton Drac, Sea Lord of Freeport. (Terror in Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing)

The quartet was invited to a grand ball at the Sea Lord’s palace and awarded the Order of Drac in recognition of their efforts to defend the city. The party made contact with members of the Captain’s Council who opposed Drac and discovered evidence that Drac planned to use the newly constructed lighthouse in Freeport’s harbor in a scheme to infect the people of Freeport with the Unspeakable One’s madness.

K’Stallo concocted a plan to stop Drac’s plan using an ancient Valossan artifact, the Jade Serpent. The party retrieved the Serpent from an ancient forgotten temple of Yig. They took the artifact to the lighthouse and used it to slay Drac and his minions.

While waiting for their allies on the Captain’s Council to decide on a suitable reward, the party, newly joined by the undead ranger Queg, explored the caves of the legendary pirate Black Dog. There they encountered and destroyed the specter of Black Dog and retrieved his treasure for themselves. (Madness in Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing)

Soon thereafter the party investigated reports of a haunting at the Freeport Opera House. They encountered the restless spirit of Fiarella Donadrien, a famous elven playwright, and helped her find peace by ensuring the completion of her final opera.

In recognition for saving Freeport from the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, their allies on the Captain’s Council granted Bronson land in the temple district, Tavaari the abandoned house that once hid the subterranean temple of the Unspeakable One, and Nate and Sully the Albers, the very ship that had once brought them to Freeport. Only days later, Sully’s brothers came to Freeport in an effort to bring her back to her betrothed. Unwilling to face her family, she and Nate left Freeport aboard the Albers.


For more about the party's early adventures, see the first Swashbuckling in Freeport story hour.

Season Two Overview

Four years later the party found themselves working together once more when they allied with their old friend Captain Lydon to search for a fabulous treasure. Lydon had a map that purported to show the location of the legendary island of Yarashad, where the pirate god Harrimast had hidden a mountain of treasure. The party clashed with the followers of Yarash, a nearly forgotten ancient demon who had been Harimast’s first mate before becoming his sworn enemy. While the party succeeded in overcoming the followers of Yarash in each encounter, the cultists did manage to steal the Eyes of the Sea Dragon from the vaults beneath the temple of Harrimast.

The party allied themselves with Ezekiel Carthy, an ancient man who a century before had been one of Yarash’s agents, the dreaded Full Fathom Five. Carthy had reconsidered his allegiance and lured the other members of the Five into Hell’s Triangle. Carthy was able to use Yarash’s sextant to guide the Albers through the Triangle, but only at the cost of his own life.

The party also battled Captain Morgan Baumann and her crew, who also sought the treasures of Yarashad. Baumann’s ship, The Kraken’s Claw, succeeded in following the Albers through Hell’s Triangle. Beyond Hell’s Triangle the Albers found the Isles of the Damned, where they battled the remaining members of the Full Fathom Five for a series of artifacts which they hoped would allow them to access Yarashad itself.

On the first Island, the Isle of the Undead, the party discovered a vast subterranean complex. There they met Sonsimoth, a goat headed ibixian vampire. Sonsimoth, chafing at his enforced servitude to the morhg cleric Daen Danud, helped the party bypass Danud’s minions and battle the undead pirate in the heart of his lair. The battle was brutal with many of the group falling to Danud’s mighty blows and his paralyzing touch before Sully finally struck him down. Now in possession of Yarash’s bell the party returned to the Albers just in time to save it from being overrun by a swarm of zombies.

Next the Albers traveled to White Gorilla Island. There they received confirmation that The Kraken’s Claw had followed them to the Isles of the Damned when they met a tribe of goblins who were already in negotiations with Shantar Frosse, Baumann’s first mate. The party allied with the goblins and sent Frosse away disappointed. The goblins' most gifted ranger agreed to show the party a hidden entrance into the temple palace of Ahunatum, Queen of the White Gorillas.

After a daring chase through Queen Ahunatum’s mines pursued by formidable white gorilla warriors the party traveled through tunnels deep beneath the island. There they encountered a floating monstrosity called an Ocularon, which stole Sully’s right eye before the party was able to dispatch it. They entered Ahunatum’s temple palace and battled the beautiful vampire swashbuckler and her white gorilla minions. Ahunatum, formerly Black Jenny Ramsey of the Full Fathom Five, fought a long and vicious battle but was eventually overcome, allowing the party to claim Yarash’s hook.

Sailing away from White Gorilla Island the Albers witnessed The Kraken’s Claw fleeing from the Black Jenny, the ship of the wight swashbuckler Zoltan Zaska, the next member of the Full Fathom Five. Bronson used Yarash’s sextant to summon a mighty storm and drive off the Jenny before she could turn on the Albers. Later the Albers caught up with Zaska. Bronson, Nate, Sully, and Queg dimension doored onto the Jenny to take the fight to Zaska and his half golem minions while Tavaari commanded the Albers as it harried the Jenny from a distance. Zaska fought a valiant battle amidst the rigging of the Jenny, but ultimately fell to the party’s combined might. With Zaska’s death everything that he had created with Yarash’s pistol was destroyed, including the Jenny.

Finally the Albers sailed to Crystal Lake Island, where the party slipped past the tribes of cannibals to find the lair of the ghoul sorceress Mo’ab Varion in a cave system beneath the island’s sacred central lake. There the party battled a tribe of dragon worshiping koa toa’s and their powerful guardians, including a young black dragon and a draconic erinyes called from the lower planes. Compared to the epic battle with her followers, Mo’ab fell easily. Bronson’s command over the undead had reached such heights that Mo’ab was forced to cower before him and was quickly struck down.

When the party reclaimed the final artifact, Yarash’s spyglass, from Crystal Lake Island, Yarashad reappeared. However, before the Albers could sail to the final island, they had to once more confront Morgan Baumann and The Kraken’s Claw. This time Baumann proposed a truce, agreeing to never bother the party again in return for safe passage back through Hell’s Triangle.

The party traveled to the interior of the island and braved the threats of Yarash, now an impotent black iron statue surrounded by the treasures that Harrimast had dumped on his resting place. Most prominent among the treasures was the legendary pirate ship, the Acheron. Careful examination revealed that the ship was a magical folding boat. Defying Yarash’s promise to escape and have his revenge, the party battled the treasure’s guardian, a massive golem constructed of treasure itself, and escaped with a king’s ransom in gold.

Using Yarash’s spyglass and sextant the Albers, Acheron, and Kraken’s Claw sailed back through Hell’s Triangle and returned to Freeport. (A modified version of Black Sails Over Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing. The Kuo toa complex on the final island was taken from “Zenith Trajectory” from Dungeon 102)

Soon after his return to Freeport the party became enmeshed in a plot by Dutch Tellinghast, the former head of the Sea Lord’s guard, to consolidate the criminal gangs of Freeport using a new magical drug called white smoke. Tellinghast and his partner, a gnome enchanter named Mentirre Aboir, widely distributed the mind numbing drug and then Aboir used his spells to control the gangs. The party slew Aboir and his allies and apprentices, but Tellinghast escaped. (Gangs of Freeport, Adamant Entertainment)

Interlude

A trio of adventures: the drunkard Cole (CG human ex-Monk 6/ Drunken Master 4), Arla Fairwind (NG half-elf Druid 10), illegitimate daughter of an elven prince, and Burne Travers (CG human Barbarian 10) the boisterous swashbuckler, hunted the mad bard Sophia Lasilaran. Lasilaran and her companions, The King’s Players, performed the sanity shattering play The King in Yellow in ever larger venues in the hope of opening a permanent portal to dread Carcosa. The path started in Hallowfield where the madness induced by The King in Yellow had wiped out the entire village. The trio then tracked the King’s Players to the town of Lamid where they met the Constable, Evan Sullivan (brother of Catherine) and battled the Players’ maddened, mutated victims. Finally they defeated Lasilaran and her cohorts in Freeport itself, nearly destroying the Freeport Opera House during the epic battle. (“And Madness Followed”, Dungeon #134)

Session 23 – The Styes (Dungeon #121)

Nate Black sauntered along the docks, humming one of his most popular compositions, She’s Only Bloody Cate Once a Month. He’d just spent several diverting days in the company of a truly delightful young woman named Lysa, but it was time to put aside his pleasures and return to his duties as first-mate of the Albers.

Several weeks had passed since the battle at the Freeport lighthouse where Mentirre Aboir the gnome enchanter behind the production of the mind-numbing drug, white smoke, had been killed. It was a shame that Dutch Tellinghast had escaped, but the death of Aboir was still a victory. It had been the demise of Patch Carthy, leader of the Buccaneers, that had sent the Freeport underworld into turmoil. Nate wondered idly if the former gang leader had been a descendent of Ezekiel Carthy of the Full Fathom Five.

Nate regretted that he could take so little credit for the party’s victory. He had missed most of the battle because he had been chaperoning Tavaari to the temple of Harrimast to remove Aboir’s feeblemind enchantment. Bronson and Sully had recklessly gone ahead to confront Aboir and Tellinghast without their companions. He’d have to expand upon his role when he composed a song to chronicle the events.

The others had been quite busy since the battle. Tavaari was taking over the production of white smoke and negotiating with the local druglord Kedward Bone to distribute the stuff. Bronson was crafting magic items and attending to his temple. Even Sully had days full of jealous plotting against Buster Wallace’s wife, Margaret, and their new daughter. With the others attending to their own concerns Nate had been at loose ends until he met Lysa.

Nate was so caught up in his musings that he didn’t notice he was being watched until two large figures slipped out of the alley and blocked his path. His hand slipped to his cutlass, listening to footsteps approaching from behind to cut off his retreat.

“We’ll be having your purse, now. And that fancy jewelry, too.” Nate took a deep breath and was about to draw his blade when one of the thugs before him grabbed his companion’s arm, “Wait, that’s Black Nate.”

Nate smiled thinly as he heard nervous shuffling behind him. He lifted his chin so that his face caught the light. The thugs before him backed off nervously, “Sorry,” they muttered. As he walked away Nate heard a whisper, “I thought he’d be taller.”

Nate’s companions stood in the shadows watching Dory’s warehouse. The streets of the Warehouse District were largely abandoned at this hour. They could proceed with little fear of witnesses.

It was unthinkable that their old friend Lucius the scribe had been the Lantern Man, the murderer who had stalked Scurvytown and the Docks for months. Lucius certainly had his problems. There was a period of his life he couldn’t remember, several years spent wandering that he was never able to recall. The party had first met him when his dreams of alien vistas brought him to the attention of the vile Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. He was a quiet soul, haunted by his memories and by the death of his friend Brother Egil. He was not capable of violence.

The party didn’t know how Mr. Dory was involved in the Lantern Man killings, but the information they had gotten from Brother Norton and Constable Jute of the Sea Lord’s guard made it clear that the influential merchant didn’t want anyone looking to closely into the Lantern Man killings or Lucius’ hasty execution.

Miranda’s familiar, the quasit Daniel, had scouted Dory’s warehouse the night before. The massive building offered little of interest and the trio of manticores the prowled the structure after dark dissuaded the group from exploring further. The ships hulk which hung suspended for a great rusted crane on the roof of the warehouse was much more intriguing, made even more so by the trio of creatures, part-fish part-man, that lurked in the shadow of the crane. What were they guarding?

Bronson nodded decisively and cast a spell. He reached out to Queg, Tavaari, and Jack and dimension doored them to the deck of the hulk. Born aloft by Miranda’s spells Sully and her cohort flew to join their companions, careful to keep the hulk between them and the fish-men guarding the crane.

Tavaari went to work. With the assistance of the magic tools secreted in a hidden pocket of his newly acquired vest of escape the half-elf quickly bypassed the lock protecting the single entrance into the bow of the vessel. Quietly he opened the portal and his companions slipped inside. They strained their eyes to see the corners of the room entered, lit by the glow from Bronson’s holy symbol. Through the pool in the center of the room they could see that the hold of the ship was full of water, heated by several stoves scattered around the room. The result was that the interior of the ship was full of hot billowing steam. Before the party could even register the trio of figures rising from the pool in the center of the room they were met by a hail of arrows.

The shafts struck home and another volley followed them as the party scrambled to strike back against the amphibious archers. Sully stepped to the edge of the pool, her blade dancing. With a word Bronson blinded one of the creatures. The battle against the strange fish men quickly carried into the next room. As the party continued to engage their amphibious opponents amidst the warm mist and dripping water the more sharp eyed among them noticed a lightly armored figure with slick translucent skin attempting to hide in the shadows. The figure’s face, veins and muscles clearly visible working beneath its surface, hardly had time to register surprise and dismay before he fell beneath the party’s blades. The fish men proved more resilient, but they soon fell as well.

As the last fish man fell Nate Black nonchalantly stuck his head through the door. “Hello. Miss me?”

“How did you get up here?” asked Queg.

Nate twitched the cloak on his shoulders, “Cape of the Mountebank. Don’t leave home without it.” He nodded to Tavaari. “I got your note. It took a little while to get here from the docks, but here I am.” Then, as if it had slipped his mind, “Oh, you guys do know that there are several fishy-looking fellows climbing across from the warehouse right now? And I mean literally fishy-looking.”

As the others readied their weapons and searched for spell components, Nate passed a sealed note to Sully. “This was waiting for you at the Albers. Careful, it’s damp in here.”

Sully tore open the letter. It was dated twelve days ago.


Dear Catherine,

Dirty Steve is in Selba. The Red Lady is in port posing as the merchant vessel Scarlet Courtesan out of The City. I don’t know how long the Lady will stay, come quickly if you wish to catch her.

Your Brother,

George


Sully looked grimly at her companions, “We’re going to Selba.”


Supporting Cast

Mentirre Aboir - Gnome enchanter (dead)
Kedward Bone - Wizard, diabolist, and drug lord
Patch Carthy - Bo’sun (leader) of the Buccaneers (dead)
Mr. Dory - Mysterious merchant
Hamid - Ill-fated assassin (dead)
Constable Jute - Sea Lord’s guard
Lucius - Scribe (dead)
Lysa - Nate’s latest mistress
Brother Norton - Cleric of Tinel
Elias Scrimm - Cleric of Aster
Dirty Steve - Captain of the Red Lady
George Sullivan - Sully’s brother
Dutch “Boss” Tellinghast - Former Commissioner of the Sea Lord’s guard

Session 24 – The Styes (Dungeon #121)

“I just don’t get it,” muttered Nate. He played a quick tune and felt the enchantment reach out from his magic fiddle to envelope the fish man. The strange creature wavered briefly, but ultimately overcame the urge to dance a jig in the middle of the battle. He knew this all had something to do with the Lantern Man killings and their old friend Lucius the scribe, but he was a little vague on the details.

Now he had his friends were battling a band of fish men atop a ships hulk suspended from a crane. He wasn’t too worried about the fish men. They were skilled, but Sully had already dispatched one and Miranda had effectively neutralized another with a ray of enfeeblement. What worried him was the crashing and yelling sounds from within the hulk. Tavaari’s man, Jack, had stayed behind when the others had rushed out to battle the fish men. It sounded like he’d gotten himself into a little trouble.

Queg fired another pair of flaming arrows at one of the fish men, but the missiles flew wide. The undead warrior snarled in disgust. He dropped his bow and took up his harpoon, turning toward the hulk. Jack must be right about… there. He struck the ship a mighty blow with his harpoon, opening a large hole in the old, damp wood. Through the hole Nate could see a horrid flesh golem stitched together from pieces of sharks and other large fish. Attached to its shoulders was the head of a beautiful woman. The creature was hammering Jack with mighty blows. The warrior’s rapier seemed to have little effect on his adversary. The golem was not Jack’s only foe. A bloated, waterlogged animate corpse stood near where Jack and the golem battled and pelted Jack with vials of acid.

Nate took a quick look at the fish men. Sully had them well in hand. He quickly moved to stand by Queg, unsheathing his new magic blade, the Corsair’s Cutlass. The wood crumbled against his blows. Soon the hole was big enough for Queg to strike the golem, distracting it from Jack.

Through the hole Nate saw Tavaari and Bronson enter the room to assist Jack. The bloated undead turned to the pair and cast a spell. Tavaari instantly froze, his limbs pinned by the spell. Bronson regarded his adversary calmly and drew a great golden bell from his backpack, the Ship’s Bell of Yarash. Bronson struck the bell and his own power combined with those of the artifact. A look of consternation and fear crossed the undead spellcaster’s bloated face before the power of the artifact seized control of its mind.

Nate noted that Sully had finished off the last of the fish men and was rushing to help her companions. The golem roared in defiance and redoubled its attacks, but the combined might of Nate’s companions soon took it apart, piece by piece.


Mr. Dory attempted to negotiate his release, but with his will firmly under Bronson’s control he offered little resistance to the party’s interrogation. He admitted being a member of the Cult of the Yellow Sign, allied with a mysterious figure he knew only as the Whisperer. The Lantern Man killings were orchestrated to provide some kind of spiritual sustenance to something called the “Spawn of the Unspeakable One”.

Dory admitted that Lucius had been under the Whisperer’s control when he performed the killings. When Lucius was captured Dory was forced to arrange for his quick execution and begin hunting a replacement. In the meantime the Skum were continuing the killings in the hopes of keeping the fear of the Lantern Man high.

“Skum! I knew those fish men looked familiar!” exclaimed Nate. “If there are Skum around I guaranty there is an Aboleth involved somehow.”

“What’s an Aboleth?” inquired Bronson.

“A nasty aquatic aberration. Big fish who can create illusions and enslave your mind.”

Bronson turned back to Dory, “Where can we find this Whisperer?”

“The cult has a temple in Scurvytown. I can give you directions.”

Sully had been quiet for much of the interrogation, “Okay. It is after midnight. I’ve sent word to Pete to prepare the Albers, but he’ll have to collect the crew and finish restocking the supplies. We won’t be able to leave for Selba until tomorrow evening. I say we get some rest and deal with this Whisperer in the morning. We’ll save Freeport – again – before lunch and still have time to hunt down Dirty Steve.”

Bronson nodded, “I’ll take Dory here and lock him up in my temple. He can spend his time copying Aster’s holy texts. Maybe he’ll reconsider his alliance with the King in Yellow. We can decide what to do with him when we get back.”

Tavaari added, “I’ll send some of my men to scope out the temple. Let’s meet at my place in the morning.”

The party made short were of the Skum guarding the temple and burst inside. There they had found a larger room, the air heavy with the stink of rotting fish. At the far end a set of stairs descended into a pool of dark water. Suspended above the water by a web of ropes was the rotting body of a great shark, a dozen human heads stitched to its flesh. Standing before the pool were a trio of robbed figures. One, a woman who wore heavy armor under her yellow robes seemed familiar. Her voice took on a nasal whine. “Oh no, not them again.”

The woman quickly cast a spell and disappeared. “Batora?” asked Bronson. The party had encountered the cultist before. She was making a habit of slipping through their fingers.

The corpse of the shark began to struggle and roar. The ropes snapped and the thrashing form leapt into the center of the room. The party moved to attack as their robed adversaries began to cast spells.

Sully and Nate moved to engage the shark while Tavaari slipped into invisibility and Bronson began to cast spells. Their cohorts proved largely ineffective. Queg’s arrows continued to miss their mark. Jack fired his bow with better aim but little effect. Miranda seemed to have difficulty juggling her spells. Her opponents had no such problem, striking her with a volley of magic missiles. Things only got worse when a lucky spell from one of the cultists succeeded in blinding Bronson.

Sully suddenly had an epiphany, “The shark is an illusion!” To demonstrate the fact she stepped through the thrashing creature to stand between the cultists behind it. Nate stubbornly ignored Sully’s actions and continued to attack shark. Queg moved to assist Sully, driving the cultists back towards the pool.

Tavaari became visible as he attacked one of the cultists, surprisingly missing his target by inches. The cultist stepped away, spoke an incantation, and Tavaari, too, was blind. The half-elf groaned in frustration and backed away from the melee, feeling for a wall.

“Wait. They’re illusions, too. What is going on here?” exclaimed Sully, even as she swung another blow at her illusionary opponents.

The answer was quick to arrive. The illusions disappeared as a great tentacled fish surfaced at the edge of the pool. The creature’s tentacles lashed out, striking Sully and Queg vicious blows. They were both covered with slime, which had little effect on the skeletal warrior but seemed to be doing something unpleasant to Sully’s flesh. Her skin was rapidly becoming slimy and translucent.

Nate, delayed by his battle with the illusionary shark, rushed to help his companions. His cutlass crackled with energy as it pierced the aboleth’s flesh, but it seemed too little too late. With Bronson and Tavaari blind and Sully undergoing some kind of transformation the battle seemed nearly lost. Miranda’s flaming sphere singed the aboleth doing some minor damage, but Queg had difficulty piercing the bony plates protecting the aboleth’s hide and Jack seemed oddly timid after yesterday’s beating at the hands of the flesh golem.

Then something unexpected happened. His companions had nearly forgotten Bronson until they heard the blinded cleric speak an incantation in a strong, firm voice. A white hot pillar of divine flame engulfed the aboleth, missing Sully, Queg, and Nate by inches. The creature screamed in pain as its skin burned away. Sully took the opportunity to dive out of the aboleth’s reach. She snatched a small jade jar from her pouch and began slathering a thick ointment over her skin. The transformation began to reverse immediately.

The aboleth, mad with pain, reached out with its alien mind and attempted to crush Bronson’s will with its own. He felt his resolve crumble beneath the onslaught… and then nothing. The protection from evil abjuration he had cast before the battle shielded his mind from the creature’s commands. Nate and Sully moved quickly to counterattack. In moments the writhing monstrosity's struggles ended forever.


Supporting Cast

Batora - Member of the Brotherhood of the Yellow sign
Mr. Dory - Reclusive undead merchant and cultist
Lucius - Scribe (dead)
Sgothgah, The Whisperer - Aboleth savant and cult leader (dead)
Dirty Steve - Captain of the Red Lady

Bronson and Queg

Bronson, male human cleric of Aster 10: Medium humanoid; HD 10d8+30; hp 75; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 17; Base Atk +7; Grp +7; Atk +8/+3 melee (1d6+1 and 1d6 electricity shortspear); SA rebuke undead, spontaneous casting inflict spells; SQ spells, Undeath and Travel domains; AL N; SV Fort +10, Ref +1, Will +13; Str 10, Dex 6, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 22, Cha 19.
Skills (ranks only): Concentration 13, Diplomacy 3, Heal 2, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (religion) 7, Profession (sailor) 1, Spellcraft 9, Survival 1.
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Turning, Improved Initiative, Improved Turning, Quicken Turning, Undead Leadership.
Languages: Common, Infernal.
Spells Prepared: 0 – cure minor wounds (x2), detect magic (x2), guidance, read magic. 1 – cure light wounds, detect undead, magic weapon, protection from evil, shield of faith, one slot open, and longstrider. 2- cure moderate wounds, lesser restoration, shield other, silence, spiritual weapon, and desecrate. 3 – cure serious wounds, dispel magic, searing light, water breathing, and fly. 4 – cure critical wounds (x2), dismissal, summon monster iv, and dimension door. 5 – break enchantment, mass cure light wounds, flame strike, and circle of death.
Equipment: +1 shock shortspear, +2 mithril chain shirt, +1 buckler, +1 ring of protection, +4 periapt of wisdom, +2 cloak of charisma, pearl of power (1st level), ship’s bell of Yarash, Heward’s handy haversack, nycoptic manuscripts, scrolls of break enchantment, resurrection, revivify, and searing light, wand of animate dead (2 charges), dust of dryness, elixir of swimming, potions of cat’s grace, spider climb, protection from arrows, and resist fire, Qualls’ feather token - bird, Order of Drac (gold medal with pirate ship engraved on it), traveler's clothes, courtier's outfit, vestments, masterwork dagger, leather pouch, holy symbol, spell components pouch, waterskin, flint and steel, platinum ring (50 gp), diamond worth 5,000 gp, 20 onyx gems, 5 black pearls, 25 gp worth of silver dust, and ointment for true seeing.


Queg, male spellstitched bone half-orc Ranger 6: Medium undead; HD 6d12; hp 57; Init +5; Spd 30 ft.; AC 22; Base Atk +6; Grp +12; Atk +10/+10/+5 ranged (1d8+7+1d6 fire, longbow) or +12/+7 ranged (1d8+7+1d6 fire, longbow) or +12 ranged (1d10+7, harpoon) or +13/+8 melee (1d10+10, harpoon) or +12/+12 melee (1d4+6, claws); SA favored enemy (magical beast +2, human +4), spell-like abilities; SQ damage reduction 5/ bludgeoning and magic or silver, spell resistance 9, darkvision, wild empathy, immune to cold, turn resistance +4, animal companion (Ishmael, the eagle); AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +5; Str 22, Dex 20, Con -, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
Skills (ranks only): Jump 2, Knowledge (dungeoneering) 5, Knowledge (geography) 9, Knowledge (nature) 5, Move Silently 3, Profession (sailor) 5, Spot 9, Survival 9, Swim 5, Use Rope 2.
Feats: Endurance, Exotic Weapon Proficiency – Harpoon, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Track.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1- Ray of Enfeeblement, Obscuring Mist. 2- False Life, Melf’s Acid Arrow.
Spells Prepared: 1- Longstrider and Entangle.
Languages: Common and Orc.
Equipment: +2 studded leather armor, +1 harpoon, +1 flaming mighty composite longbow (+6 Str), +2 mummy wrappings of ogre power, Quall’s Feather token - bird, golembane scarab, ring of turn resistance +2, quiver of Ehlona, traveler’s outfit, 100 ft. of silk rope, grappling hook, sextant, 50 arrows, vestments, platinum ring (50 gp), spyglass, 22 sp, 336 gp.

Session 25A – Black Sales Over Freeport

The Acheron left Selba sailing south with the wind at its back. Sully stomped back and forth across the quarterdeck, cursing under her breath. The Albers and the Acheron has arrived in Selba the day before, only to discover that the Red Lady had left only days after George had dispatched his letter. Worst of all, she had been bound for Freeport.

It seemed to be Sully’s lot to always be one step behind Dirty Steve, always cursing her luck as he slipped through her fingers. She couldn’t afford to lose him again. Her own hatred for the man who had murdered her lover was enough to inspire her to sail to the ends of the earth to have her revenge on Steve, but now he had thrown in his lot with the Cult of Yarash. The lives of the people of Freeport, and everyone else who sailed the seas, might depend on catching the Red Lady before the cultists could enact their last mad scheme to free their demonic patron.

So enthralled was Sully in the maze of her own hatred that she had little time to consider the other piece of information that her brother George had been able to provide. Her companions, however, were not so single minded. Fishermen out of Selba had spotted Thonian warships sailing south toward Freeport only days after the Red Lady left port. If they were headed for Freeport they could arrive any day now. Bronson cast sending to inform Captain Lydon. He would warn the city. They would mount a defense. But could Freeport’s fractious captains overcome their personal enmities quickly enough to defend the city, or was it already do late? Would the Acheron sail into Freeport harbor to find a smoking ruin?

The party had left the Albers in the care of Old Pete, to follow as it could. The old ship was too slow for their current purpose, but the Acheron flew across the water. They had recruited additional crew in Selba, battle hardened and ready to fight. If only they could arrive in time.

Dirty Steve had prepared for this day for a long time. Since the day he had sworn his soul to Yarash and murdered his captain, Bony Bill, he had prepared. All the pieces were now in place. The battle raged around the Red Lady. Steve didn’t quite know how the cultists of Yarash had inspired the Thonian senate to order an attack on Freeport. He imagined that the brutal raids that the Red Lady had made under the flag of Freeport hadn’t hurt, nor had the city’s refusal to side with Thonia against the fleets of the Atlantian Empire. It was a shame that the people of Freeport had been able to raise a fleet to meet the Thonian armada. He would have enjoyed seeing Freeport burn. But no matter, this would do nicely.

The battle raged around the Red Lady, Freeport and Thonian vessels wheeling around, firing massive broadsides, attacking and veering off once more to prepare for another pass. Steve looked with satisfaction at vessels consumed in flames, burning men leaping into the water. Elsewhere vessels broke up and sank, pulling their crews with them down into the deep. The Thonian vessels clearly had the advantage of technology, weaponry, and discipline, but they were badly outnumbered. To Steve’s trained eye a Freeport victory seemed likely. But, oh, the casualties would be heavy.

Nara was ready. The wild eyed cleric had been chanting interminably over the two stones she held. Now they burned with blue fire. She considered them briefly, then dropped them over the side. They traveled in a long arc away from the Lady before dropping into the water. Steve watched them get smaller and smaller as they sank into the depths. Nara turned to him, “The Sea Dragon comes.”

Indeed it did. The Sea Dragon would be here soon and it would make its way among the battling fleets, sinking ships and swallowing men whole. When it had consumed enough souls, gathered enough energy, Yarash’s prison would be torn asunder. The seas would run red with blood. Dirty Steve smiled.

Three brightly burning blue objects shot over the Red Lady’s main mast. They flared briefly and then dived after the gems. Yarash’s artifacts were going to join the Sea Dragon’s Eyes. Soon now, very soon. Already a whirlpool was starting to form, a vortex leading down to the place where the Sea Dragon would emerge. Soon.

Two more spots of blue flame streaked in low over the water from the direction of Freeport and joined their fellows. Then a voice cried from the crows nest, “Ship off the starboard bow! She’s coming in fast.”

Steve snapped is spyglass to his good eye. A brig, a fast one. He didn’t know her. He growled in frusteration and lifted his eyepatch. Beneath the patch, where one might expect a glass orb or an empty socket rested a dried, mummified eye– not his, but it would serve. He felt a burning sensation as the magic of the eye took hold. He could see the vessel perfectly, the Acheron. What sorcery was this that allowed her to sail with no men in her shrouds, with her lines seemingly adjusting themselves of their own accord?

His gaze dropped to her deck. He could make out the faces of the figures there. Sully! And Nate Black! They were persistent. He did not know what had inspired him to maroon those two rather than keelhauling them with Bonny Bill. Letting them starve to death on a deserted isle had seemed a fitting end, but somehow they had escaped. Steve hadn’t even known they lived until they had killed his first mate, Artemis Bones, in Freeport. Now was his chance to rectify his mistake of so long ago. Today Sully and Nate would join Bill in hell.

“Run out the guns! Nara, Rufus, get below. Prepare a little surprise for our guests. Blood, lads, blood for Yarash!”

Rufus Rumblebelly was not a good man. The halfling sorcerer was never happier than when he was causing pain and suffering. Best of all he enjoyed clearing the decks of enemy ships with a series of well placed fireballs. He stood below decks, braced in front of a gunport. To his right gun crews readied a pair of cannon, waiting to for his order. To his left stood Nara the cleric. “Steady men… Steady… Fire!”

The guns crashed and smoke obscured his view of the Acheron. He turned to Nara. “Whenever you’re ready.”

The cleric and sorcerer both peered through the smoke. The wind tore it aside and the Acheron was visible once more. Nara began to cast. A split second later Rufus began his own spell. Nara’s Ice Storm engulfed the bow of the ship followed by Rufus’ fireball. Rufus cackled as ice and then fire did their work. The ship was damaged, the sails afire, and at least half a dozen figures had been struck by both spells. He caught his breath. Were they all still standing? Who are these people?

Rufus had only a moment to recognize the glowing bead of energy streaking from the figure in the bow of the Acheron toward the Red Lady. Only a moment to realize that it was coming directly at him, that it was going to pass though his gun port and explode in the center of the…

“Oh no.”

Rufus Rumblebelly was consumed by fire and pain. Rufus Rumblebelly was not a good man. No one will miss him.
Dirty Steve snarled and raised his urugosh to a guard position. The Red Lady’s initial volley had hurt the Acheron badly, but the return fire was devastating. Most of his men were dead, including his first mate. There was a large fire below decks. If there wasn’t anyone alive down there to put it out it would reach the powder magazine in minutes. The Acheron was now right alongside. Bill’s wretched woman, Sully, was even now charging across the deck at him.

He blocked her first blow but another slipped through his guard. The bard, Nate Black, was flying toward him, moving over the waves to come at the Lady from the stern and flank him. Steve moved like lighting, a dance of death, faster on one leg than most men on two. He landed several telling blows on Sully and spun to drive back Nate with a vicious blow to the shoulder. He caught Sully’s eye “I killed your lover. I’m going to sink your ship. Now I’m going to kill you. I’ll keep your skull on a shelf right next to Bill’s. When I’m through the seas will run red with blood.”

Sully responded with a grim smile and a series of blows. More than one slipped by his guard and hit home. Steve spit blood and, smiling grimly, nodded toward the rapidly expanding whirlpool. Sully, her falchion moving like lightning to ward off his blows, followed his gaze just as a massive creature rose from the center of the whirlpool. A great scaled serpent, its eyes sapphires burning with blue flame. The Sea Dragon’s head rose higher than the tallest mast. Between its eyes was a brand, five stars above a human skull, the symbol of Yarash. It’s huge jaws could scoop a man out of the water and swallow him whole. It’s great coils could crush a ship. It looked toward the Red Lady. Steve could have sworn that it was gazing right at Sully, that it looked at her with recognition. It swam toward the Acheron

Nara clambered up the ladder out of the flames consuming the decks below. Her armor was red hot. The smoke had blackened her face and the fire consumed half of her hair before she was able to cast a spell to protect herself. Now she was bristling with magic and her cutlass was thirsty for blood. These enemies of Yarash would die. The Sea Dragon would consume the souls of the Thonian and Freeport sailors and their energy would sunder Yarash’s prison. Nara never questioned her imminent victory, even as Bronson’s dispel magic began stripping away her enchantments. Not even as Queg and Jack moved to engage her.

Many of Nara’s spells remained and she fought like a demon, her heavy cutlass battering down the defenses of her enemies. She laughed and her mad eyes flashed as her blade pierced flesh and bone. Over the heads of her enemies she could see the Sea Dragon’s mighty coils wrap around the Acheron. She saw a mast fall and boards in the deck spring from their places as the great serpent squeezed. She saw the crew of the Acheron fight back. First Tavaari’s fireball and then Bronson’s flamestrike inflict horrid burns on the huge monster.

As she continued to trade blows with her adversaries Nara saw Dirty Steve fighting fiercely, his deadly blade never pausing as it fended off the Nate and Sully’s blows and inflicted telling wounds. And then it was over. One moment Steve was hammering through Sully’s defenses, and the next Nate’s blade, crackling with lightning, was slipping under Steve’s guard, through a gap in his armor, and into his heart. Even from a distance Nara could see the surprise on Dirty Steve’s face as he fell.

Sully screamed in anguish. For one man to be the target of her fury for so long, and to have him killed by another… She hacked at his lifeless corpse, wailing. Nate was already moving. His blade still crackled with lightning as he took to the air, sailing directly at the Sea Dragon. He dodged and weaved as his companions continued to rain down flames on the great serpent. He danced nimbly aside as the Dragon’s jaws slammed shut mere inches from his face. Then he darted in and drove his blade under its chin and up into its skull. Energy crackled across its great head and its gemstone eyes went dull. The great serpent fell.

Nara gasped in shock and disbelief. She was so surprised that she didn’t even register the pain when Queg’s harpoon ripped open her belly and spilled her lifeblood across the deck.

Nifur Roberts brushed her long blond hair out of her eyes as she yelled at her men. The ring of unseen sailors burned. This was her first command and she wasn’t about to lose the Acheron. Her sailors, both flesh and blood and those who were merely eldritch extensions of her will, were cutting the Acheron away from the burning wreck of the Red Lady and raising enough canvas on the remaining masts to get her away before the fire aboard the Lady ignited her powder stores.

Sully, her strength still enhanced by magic, was moving a large chest across from the Lady while her companions hurriedly secured a few items from their fallen foes. Her face was twisted with grief and rage and her eyes were like those of the dead. She had already retrieved Bonny Bill’s skull. As soon as the last of them were across the crew pushed the Acheron away from the Red Lady’s side and set out all the canvas they had. As it was when the ship went up Nifur could feel the heat on her face. The remnants of the Lady were pulled down into the already slowing whirlpool as the Acheron turned toward Freeport.

In the Acheron's wake the remaining Thonian and Freeport ships parted, each ship abandoning the battle at the same moment, as if by general consent.


Supporting Cast

Artemis Bones – Cultist of Yarash and first mate of the Red Lady (dead)
Nara – Cultist of Yarash (dead)
Lazy Eye Larry – New first mate of the Red Lady (dead)
Old Pete – Bo’sun of the Albers
Nifur Roberts - Crewman of the Albers and member of the Devil's Concubines
Rufus Rumblebelly – Ship’s mage of the Red Lady (dead)
Dirty Steve - Captain of the Red Lady (dead)
George Sullivan – Brother of Sully
Jack Sullivan – Son of George and Pansy
Pansy Sullivan – Wife of George, former member of the Devil’s Concubines
William “Bonny Bill” Teach – Former Captain of the Red Lady (dead)

Session 25B and 26A – Porphyry House Horror

As Sully’s falchion went flying from her hand she wondered how things had gone so wrong. It was supposed to be an easy job. After killing the gnome enchanter Mentirre Aboir and thwarting his plan to take over Freeport’s criminal gangs, Tavaari had taken over the production of white smoke, the drug that had been central to Aboir’s plan. In order to distribute the drug Tavaari had allied with Kedward Bone, a local drug lord. When Bone had come to Tavaari with reports of a dangerous new drug being produced in a local brothel it was an easy sell. Porphery House was importing components from the Abyss. Whatever they were up to had to be very, very bad. So Nate and Sully agreed to help Tavaari kill them and take their stuff. It would also mean a sizable pay-off from Kedward Bone, who was willing to pay handsomely to remove potential competition.

Bronson was busy with his own interests. Apparently the cracked clay jar that the party had retrieved from the Red Lady was actually the remains of the phylactery of a destroyed lich. The egomaniac had carved his life's story on the outside of the phylactery. It might keep Bronson distracted for weeks.

Things first started to go wrong after Nate used his lyre of building to dig a tunnel into Porphyry House in the middle of the day. A daring, daylight raid- they wouldn’t expect it. The party entered a large, lavishly decorated hall containing several heated baths and scattered with comfortable cushions and rugs. Tavaari quickly discovered that the doors out of the room were fitted with truly amazing locks, beyond his ability to bypass.

As the partied argued how to proceed. The heard the sound of approaching guards. Soon they were involved in a heated battle with human and elven guards. Tavaari had used a grease spell to delay some guards and an approaching stone golem and had locked the door against them, but more guards had entered through another door.

The lightly armored guards proved little challenge. However, they were accompanied by skilled warriors wearing elaborate ceremonial full plate that revealed as much skin as it covered and alabaster masks with the faces of beautiful men and women. They wielded their gleaming halberds with considerable skill. They swarmed over Sully and one even succeeded in knocking her sword from her hand. Perhaps worse still, they were supported by a female spellcaster whose undulating serpentine dancing inspired the warriors to greater feats of prowess, and who harried the party with spells. Her enchantments held Jack paralyzed and had deafened Tavaari.

As Sully attempted to avoid a rain of blows and retrieve her weapon, Bronson arrived. He and Queg climbed up through Nate’s tunnel and joined the battle. Queg unleashed a rain of arrows. Bronson cast a spell, causing the water in all of the pools to raise into the air, and then rush across the floor. Many people, both friend and foe were knocked to the ground by the rush of water. Jack, still paralyzed and unable to stop himself, was knocked face first to the floor. Sully stepped on her blade before it could be washed away and held her footing even as several of her opponents fell.

"I started to feel guilty for leaving you to do this without me," explained the cleric. "I'll help you get rid of this new drug and shut down the brothel, but Kedward Bone is a really bad guy. I'm not comfortable helping him." In the midst of battle, the party was in no position to argue Bronson's point.

Bronson raised his holy symbol and called forth divine power against any undead in the area. To his surprise there was a shriek from the balcony overlooking the hall. His eyes caught a scantily clad figure hiding watching the battle. She must have been an inhuman beauty once, but now her flawless skin and batlike wings were rotted an decayed. Her once lustrous hair was dull and brittle and her eye sockets swarmed with beetles and maggots. She stood frozen, fully under Bronson’s control.

The tide seemed to turn. Jack shook off the enchantment pining his limbs and regained his feet. Sully retrieved her blade. Nate struck down a warrior and Tavaari called forth a fireball.

More opponents joined the fray. Four lightly armored archers entered the balcony followed by a creature that looked like a large serpent with two burly, humanoid arms. Its eyes betrayed fiendish intelligence and it wore spiked armor and bore a large, wicked looking falchion. The archers fired a volley of arrows. Tavaari responded by conjuring a pool of grease at their feet, sending several stumbling to the floor. Sully struck down a pair of her opponents as her companions moved to aid her. Queg fired another volley of arrows. The normally taciturn ranger cried, “Beware, they’re Yuan-ti!”

Most of the party knew little of the Yuan-ti, an unholy amalgamation of human and serpent, but Nate had heard of them. Some said that they were the result of interbreeding between humans and serpent folk, the Valossans, in the ages past. In any event they were vile creatures, many of whom looked enough like humans and elves to disguise themselves and move about undetected. As Nate mused an immense viper joined the Yuan-ti on the balcony. It possessed a dragon-like head with a narrow snout and great wings tipped with small clawed hands. Its long fangs dripped with poison.

Bronson called down a column of holy flame on the balcony, killing several of the archers and severely burning their leader and the great viper. The others continued to battle the heavily armored warriors, killing several of them.

The great viper glided from balcony to floor and breathed, unleashing a great acidic cloud which filled a large portion of the room, burning friend and foe alike. The Yuan-ti abomination cast a spell and climbed from the balcony to floor, drawing his massive blade. Miranda responded by calling down an ice storm. The cold and crushing hail struck down several Yuan-ti warriors and the great viper.

The party let out a cheer. In short order they struck down the female spellcaster and the last of the warriors. They turned their full attention to the snakelike Yuan-ti abomination. It succeeded in doing considerable damage to Sully with its falchion. She gave as good as she got, ably assisted by Tavaari, who reappeared from invisibility at an opportune moment to fire a trio of scorching rays, catching the unprepared Yuan-ti in a vulnerable spot. The abomination soon fell.

The companions stopped to catch their breath, standing in ankle deep water clouded with their own blood and the black blood of their foes. They listed to the stone golem outside the room as it pounded rhythmically on the stone door that separated them. Wordlessly they collected the equipment of their fallen foes and exited through the tunnel.

Supporting Cast

Mentirre Aboir - Gnome enchanter (dead)
Kedward Bone - Wizard, diabolist, and drug lord
Wilarue - Undead succubus

Session 26B and 27A – Porphyry House Horror

Wilarue the undead succubus proved a valuable, if reluctant, informant. The Yuan-ti of Porphyry House were lead by a halfblood named Wulvera. She had developed demon’s breath, a drug which temporarily turned those who took it into murderous half-fiends. Porphyry House was scheduled to hold an invitation only orgy in a few days. Wulvera intended to sacrifice her guests to her demonic patron and use the resulting energy, combined with the drug, to turn everyone in Freeport permanently into fiendish creatures.

Bronson argued not only that the Yuan-ti of Porphyry House must be destroyed, but that no information or samples of the drug should be turned over to Kedward Bone. Such was Bronson’s antipathy for the drug lord that he managed to sway the party toward turning on the wizard and eliminating him once the Yuan-ti have been dealt with.

Wilarue revealed that in addition to the Yuan-ti guards, most of whom the party had killed, Porphyry House was guarded by stone golems and several demons, including ape-like Bar-Lgura, a demonic construct called a Retriever, and an Orlath demon named Arathanthus. The forces of Porphyry House were lead by Wulvera and three Yuan-ti abomination clerics, one of which the party had already killed.

Wilarue did not rate the party’s chances of success very highly, assuring them repeatedly that they would die horribly. She admitted that Arathantus was probably even now scrying on the group. If the party did not strike soon the Yuan-ti and demon’s would undoubtedly bring the fight to them.

Under close examination the succubus revealed that there was a back door to Porphyry House, a tunnel that lead out in a small cove north of Freeport. The party rested, prepared, and the next morning set out in search of the tunnel. With Wilarue’s help they found it, carefully disguised by an illusionary wall. Little was said as the party grimly stepped through the wall and into the dark tunnel beyond.

The tunnel ran for nearly a mile before Wilarue motioned Tavaari, in the lead, to stop. “Go no further,” she explained, “The secret door is here. Further down the tunnel are a series of deadly traps.”

Wilarue lead them to a huge dark chamber, its opposite end obscured in shadow. Close at hand an iron spiral staircase climbed up beyond their light. “Here it begins,” said Wilarue, pleasure evident in her voice.

Out of the darkness stepped an enormous metal spider, twice as tall as a human, its forelegs ending in massive cleavers. Four bulbous eyes, malevolent gleam in each one, rose out of its carapace. Flanking it were a pair of ape-like demons with blood red fir and gleaming fangs.

Tavaari called forth a fireball. The retriever stood unmoving, letting the flames wash over its metallic hide. The Bar-Lgura dodged nimbly aside. They appeared quite agile and somewhat resistant to flame. They blinked out, one reappearing right next to Tavaari and quickly tearing into him with its wicked claws. The other did not reappear. Bronson spoke a few words of power and made a decisive gesture and the Retriver disappeared, dismissed back to its native plane. The party let out a sigh of relief. Left alone, the remaining Bar-Lgura did not last long.

The party soon found a stairway leading deep into the bowels of the earth. The walls and stairs were slick with slime. Nate, Bronson, Tavaari, and Miranda drank potions of spider climb while Sully and Queg were enchanted with the ability to fly. Only Jack was left to make his way down the treacherous steps unaided. His superb balance served him well as he made the treacherous journey down, down, down.

At the bottom of the stairs the party found an immense cavern carved to mimic a cathedral. The walls and ceiling were inlaid with porphyry tiles and festooned with crude fetishes. The floor was hidden by tick algae-choked water. A low island dominated the center of the chamber. A trio of Yuan-ti abominations stood before a gore splattered altar in the shadow of an immense statue of a two headed tentacled monster. Two of the abominations were armed and armored like the one the party had battled the day before. The final abomination wore no armor and carried only a longbow. His head, arms, and chest were covered with a network of fresh scars and his coloration and features were disturbingly similar to the cleric who had fallen to Sully’s blade the day before.

Lurking behind the statue were a trio of apelike Bar-Lgura. Floating nearby wise a heavily scaled female half-blood Yuan-ti, wearing a diaphanous gown and clearly armed with powerful magic. Three gemstones floated lazily in the air around her head and she bore a wiked looking scimitar in one hand. This was Wulvera.

The party moved to attack, but they had hardly advanced into the room when Arathanthus rose from the his hiding place beneath the water. The Orlath demon was a great slug-like creature with eight arms grasping deadly blades and two undulating necks topped with the heads of apes. As he rose into view, dripping slime and foul water he spoke a single word. It was not in any language any of them understood, but the blasphemous utterance shook them to the core, leaving them dazed and weak. Jack found himself completely unable to move.

Nate, who clung to the ceiling outside the range of Arathanthus’ magic, moved to draw fire away from his allies. He succeeded, perhaps too well, weathering a withering series of spells and arrows from the abomination clerics. Only his keen reflexes and the forethought that had inspired him to imbibe a potion of protection from arrows before the battle protected him from grievous wounds.

Sully, dazed but still able to defend herself, attempted to ward off a series of blows from Arathanthus. Wulvera moved to touch Bronson, draining his health and vitality.

The party came to their senses and sprang into action. Sully went head to head with Arathanthus, striking mighty blows against the demon while dodging a rain of steel from his many blades. The orlath demon was further bolstered by one of the abomination clerics who stayed nearby healing his wounds.

Tavaari was momentarily held, but overcame the Yuan-ti’s enchantment and responded by blanketing the field with fireballs and scorching rays. Nate provided support, skittering along the ceiling and harrying his opponents.

Bronson survived a brutal attack from the Yuan-ti’s halfblood leader, Wulvera, and responded with an effective series of attacks of his own, battering Wulvera and Arathanthus with a flame strike.

Queg ably assisted Sully against Arathanthus, skewering the orlath demon with his harpoon. Thereafter he turned his attention to the abomination clerics, raining arrows down upon the field of battle, but had difficulty piercing their thick hide and armor.

Wilarue proved a potent ally, charming two of the Bar-Lguras, effectively removing them from the battle, and even making a devastating series of attacks against one of the abomination clerics with her claws. Miranda, too, truly proved her worth. Her haste spell proved decisive, and a well timed ice storm successfully drove off the last Bar-Lgura and scattered the abomination clerics.

Soon Sully shook off the weakness caused by Arathanthus’ blasphemy spell and struck him down. Wulvera chose Sully’s moment of distraction to strike her from behind. When her desperate ploy failed Wulvera herself fell beneath Sully’s blade.

One of the abomination clerics, separated from his fellows by Miranda’s ice storm and harried by Tavaari’s scorching raysattempted to dispel the rogue’s spider climb and bring him within reach. Ironically, the dispelling removed Tavaari’s protection from evil abjuration, but had no effect on the magic allowing the half-elf to cling to the ceiling. With Tavaari firmly out of reach and most of his ranged attacks expended the abomination cleric ultimately fell to the rogue’s attacks.

The abomination cleric which had supported Arathanthus decided to neutralize the threat posed by Sully’s brutal attack. He used his psionic power on the warrior to create in her mind a potent aversion to serpents in general and Yuan-ti in particular. Sully found herself unable to approach her foes. The cleric may have underestimated Sully’s companions, however. Immediately after removing her from the battle field he was nearly felled by Bronson’s slay living spell. While the abomination survived the potent magical attack he was considerably weakened, and soon fell to the concerted attacks of the rest of the party.

Bronson and Tavaari lead the charge against the final Yuan-ti. Tavaari imbibed a potion of fly and moved to attack. Unfortunately his tactic brought him close enough for the Yuan-ti to use his natural baleful polymorph ability. Tavaari was unable to resist the potent ability and was instantly turned into a serpent. Determined to end the battle Bronson cast one of the most potent spells in his arsenal, harm. The cleric leapt from the ceiling overhead and landed squarely on the Yuan-ti cleric. Upon contact the spell snuffed out the abomination's life.

The party paused, silently peering through the shadows of the unholy cavern, not quite believing that all of their foes had been defeated. What god had smiled upon them this day, to lead them to victory in such an awful place?

Bronson quickly retrieved serpent-Tavaari and used a break enchantment spell to return him to his natural form. When they pulled Jack from the water his legs were covered with tiny snake bites and he had begun to swell from the venom. He would live, but he would be very sick. The party gathered the treasures of their fallen foes, picked up their fallen companion, and began the long trek back to the surface.


Supporting Cast

Arathanthus – Orlath demon (dead)
Wilarue - Undead succubus
Wulvera – Halfblood yuan-ti bard, Thrall of Demogorgon (dead)