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Message: <blockquote data-quote="peteyfrogboy" data-source="post: 1322030" data-attributes="member: 5677">Tall TalesSnick Coincatcher stood just inside the door of the Comely Mermaid, scanning the late night crowd. He scowled at the low murmur that was the tavern's only noise. Those who didn't know him well would have been hard pressed to notice any change in his usually sour expression. The sound of lute strings being tuned caught the pawnbroker's ear. He made his way through the crowd toward the far side of the room. The rain had driven many people indoors who would normally have spent the night on the street; a few pennies would buy them some stale beer and a dry corner for the evening. Though he lacked the height and bulk of many of the people around him, Snick had long ago learned how to put his bony fingers and elbows to use one the more sensitive parts of the human anatomy. A path cleared before him as he made his way toward the sound of impending music.As he reached the wide hearth that doubled as a small stage, Snick's scowl deepened. The gangly youth tuning his instrument was not who he was expecting to see. He leveled his gaze on the bard for a moment with no effect. A silver noble tossed into the boy's empty hat gave better results: the bard's head popped up with a broad grin on his face. "A request, milord?"  he asked brightly. "John Bunden at your service."Snick spoke in his cold, raspy voice: "Where's Delthic Duin?"John's smile wilted. "Ah, um... you haven't heard?""It's been a busy week." Snick glanced pointedly at the heavy silver coin in the bard's hat. "I trust you'll enlighten me?""Of course." The smile returned as John found himself in slightly more familiar territory. He set the half-tuned lute down beside him. "I haven't had a chance to put music to the tale yet, but I know as well as any the strange tale of the Saviors of Freeport." Heads began to turn toward the young bard as his voice projected out into the room.Snick raised an eyebrow. "'Saviors of Freeport'? Who the hell are they?""Oh, they've made quite a name for themselves lately. Giving us bards a lot of material of late. The pirate princess Rachel Caldwell, the mysterious Manhunter Nevroth, and Parika the bold treasure hunter.""I might have known she would be mixed up in this," muttered Snick. "As I recall, she's not that bold." He shook his head. "Go on.""I'm sure you must have heard about their daring rescue of the greatest songstress in the land, Avandrae Sialentha?""Of course." The opera had been the talk of the town for a couple of days, before it was supplanted by more pressing news. "Delthic went with them, as I recall."John shook his head sadly. "Alas, our great colleague went with the Saviors on their quest, but he did not return. Felled by Kharton, the giant of the Tanglewood, was he. A sad story, and a great loss to the College and the city.""And to others," said Snick quietly. He had learned what he needed to know, but he felt compelled to at least get his noble's worth out of this beardless bard. "So what happened after they returned?""Ah, yes. Well, the Saviors' great deeds had not gone unnoticed by the Captain's Council, and Sea Lord Drac himself summoned them to his palace to make them companions of the Order of Freeport." The mention of the Sea Lord's name caused many hands in the audience to make subtle warding signs. "The affair was as grand as any in living memory, with all the shining lights of the city collected in a single place. A darkness fell, however, as the hour grew late. A mysterious prophet appeared at the grand ball, bringing portents of doom. Only one hope was left: an ancient pagan artifact, carven of jade in the shape of a serpent. It was the blackest of magic of which the prophet spoke, and it could be countered only by the same."Snick mentally calculated the current market price of jade statuary. "I assume the 'Saviors' took it upon themselves to find this artifact, since there's been no doom recently?""Indeed they did, milord. It was no easy task, to be sure, for the treasure was hidden beyond a place that is a legend all on its own: Black Dog's Cave."A pained howl echoed from out in the audience. Heads turned toward a crippled old sailor deep in his cups. "Aye, so it were. If I'd known the scurvy dogs'd clean the blasted place out, I woulda charged them more to tell 'em where it was! Now I've no more livelihood and am reduced to a mere beggar."The more socially conscious denizens of the Mermaid flung a few pennies toward the old pirate, but most returned their attention to the real story. "Indeed, they did find the cave of that murderous pirate Black Dog," continued John, "and within they faced deadly traps and the uneasy dead. Past all these dangers they fought, and found the very hoard of Black Dog himself. The angry spirit of Black Dog was not about to let his gems and jewels go without a fight, and he nearly flayed bold Parika's soul away. The Saviors were victorious, however, and came away with a king's ransom in glittering treasure."The bard paused for a moment for a drink of wine. "Now, I must add that the three Saviors were accompanied by two others they had rescued from the giant of the Tanglewood. The one was a vicious woman of the Wild Lands, with fangs for teeth and fire in her hands. The other was a devout priest, bringing the light of the Bright Lord into that dark place." John had originally heard the story with a Surian holy man in that role, but he didn't see any need to add yet another unbelievable character into the mix. Everyone loved a tale of a heroic priest, but a Surian saving the city was a hard story to sell."Even though they had all the wealth a man could ever need, still they had not found the object of their quest. Spurred on only by honor and duty, they descended yet further into an ancient hive of serpent men, braving yet more dangers in search of their prophesied prize." The stories of serpent men had been making the rounds of late, and they were always a good addition to a tale. For once, though, they were actually involved. "They faced terrors and challenges, ghosts and riddles. The hours became like days in that dark vault, but the heroes' resolve did not fade. On they fought, finally extracting the gleaming serpent of jade from the claws of those monsters and returning to the light of the world above."As they emerged from that pit of horrors into a gray dawn, they could see a vast armada of ships in Freeport Harbor. The hundreds of ships were eagerly awaiting the night's festivities: the dedication of the great lighthouse." The bard smiled, bending over to pluck the shining silver coin from his hat. He slipped it into his purse. "But that, milord, is another story."DM Notes:* I ended up taking the option of stopping time within the serpent temple so they wouldn't mess the lighthouse dedication. Not only did the party need to stop and heal several times, but Parika was suffering from four negative levels inflicted by Black Dog's spectre. I didn't want her to have to go through the entire temple as a 1st level rogue, so I suspended the saving throws for the level drain as well until they emerged from the temple.* Honestly, I'm pretty burned out on this game at this point, but I don't want to leave the story unfinished. This installment brings us up to the current point in the game. I estimate one session left to go, and one more story hour update. Most of the action is very much glossed over in this update (and the previous one), but, like I've said, I find it hard to get motivated to write up modules.* As far as the campaign goes, the end of Madness in Freeport will mark the end of the first part. There will be a hiatus for a while, after which we should be returning to the next part of the story. The tentative title of the next part of the campaign is Bloodlines of Freeport, and dangling plot hooks will be yanked on.* During the hiatus the group will be changing gears and playing a Star Wars campaign. Nevroth's player will be running the game (we've actually played one preliminary session already), and the story hour can be found <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74203" target="_blank">here</a> .</blockquote>

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