After the heroes had dispatched the marauding orcs for the homesteaders they had directed the team to the most southern ranch in the area… old Harken’s place. There they meet an eccentric loner who raise horses in lands overrun by orcs and ogres.
They picked up horses but the party decided to split in two… one group, led by Brak Blood-Bear and including Evendur Buckman Cedric White, Alegast and a female werebear that they had meet would return to the port city of
Elreed in an attempt to free the females mate.
The rest of the party would continue to
Port Fury to confront the Slavelords. This group included Tirion Cayde, Levanna, Kelvyn Black and joined by a female elf ranger and her panther companion Quellathe Meliamme and Naeris.
Harken had told the heroes that they would find allies in the city at the
One-Eyed Pig and he also gave them a Sending Stone that they could use to get in touch with him if need be. He said there was a band of heroes and resistant fighters who came his way fairly often. They were fighting against a powerful necromancer who was allied with the Slavelords to the west of Port Fury, and they might be able to help at times if they heroes requested it.
The heroes made their way south, through the broken hills of the land for the next two weeks before setting eyes on the fell port city. At least half of the city was still in ruin from the
Night of Bloody Spears as the orcs called it when they overran the city twenty years ago. But parts of it had been rebuilt and repaired.
The port looked reasonably well with four black ships in port and at least a half a dozen moored in the bay. It also appeared that the port side of the city was the most heavily populated part of the city. The western half (inland) was still mostly destroyed or only partially rebuilt along the outer wall. Most of the middle of the city appeared to be where the humanoid invaders had set up their tents and were living. Orcs of the Red Skulls tribe, Gnolls of the Black Tongues and the Night Raiders tribes, and Hobgoblins of the Iron Masks. There were other minor tribes there also but they seemed to be close to one of the major tribes, probably in alliance or subjection.
The western wall had been mostly repaired and there were a number of large inns and a stable, with many human and demihuman residences during the day. The heroes snuck down into the city and stowed some gear in an abandoned building. They set out to do some quick recon and connect with the other heroes that they had heard about here.
Gathering what info they could they discovered that the city was indeed a stronghold of the Slavelords, although no one mentioned them by names. They did hear about the cities not so secret police called the
Eyes and were warned to stay clear.
The heroes decided to have lunch at a place called the
Quiets where the food was expensive but excellent. The cliental was very quiet indeed, speaking only in hushed whispers. The staff did not speak at all, instead handing the heroes notes and nodding to any request. As they were getting ready to leave they get a request to dine with the master of the place that evening and they accepted.
They found the other heroes, Uhtred a dwarf warrior and Gilliam a half-elf bard, at the One-Eyed Pig and went upstairs to discuss their plans. It seemed that there was a caravan camped outside of town from
Ket, a notorious lands to the northwest that traded in demihuman flesh (slaves).
The heroes decided to check the camp out and sneaking in show that indeed the merchants were carrying slaves and excepted more to be delivered soon. Sneaking back out those that had remained behind had examined an old abandoned temple just outside the city gates. They decide the temple was not so abandoned after all and that magic was being used to sweep away any tracks around the building and that there were lookouts on the roof.
After their dinner at the Quiets, where their host had made no appearance but the group decided was probably a Mind Flyer, the heroes went to bed. The next morning the bartender told Gillaim that there had been people asking about them the night before. One was the murder that they had had dinner with, inquiring about the ladies of the party and the other from one of members of the Scarlet Brotherhood who seemed interested in the party’s wealth.
The heroes decided to check out the temple that morning and after a quick breakfast headed to the gates. The decided to go though one of the side doors that appeared to have little if any traffic. This passageway was locked but Kelvyn was able to get it open without problems. Inside was an old abandoned stable and another locked door that Kelvyn again opened without difficulty.
This door lead into an overgrown cemetery that the heroes believed once was dedicated to Pelor, the god of light, but had long been desecrated and abandoned. Through another set of doors the heroes descended into a large room with a collapsed floor and were set upon by a mutant Shambling Mount or Sundew (both meat eating plants). A quick and violent encounter ended with the heroes destroying the creatures causing it to fall back into the pit that it had crawled out of.
With light from the humans of the group the floor below was about fifteen feet and covered with garbage and mushrooms and the weird sundew/shambling mounts body. There were a small wooden plank that lead across where the floor had caved into the floor below, but no one by perhaps Levanna would be able to stand on the board without it collapsing.
Lucky, Uhtred eye for stonework noticed that one side of the wall of the collapsed floor was still partially intact and that would be able to support the weight of anyone of the party. He could also see a heavy wooden door on the opposite wall of the room.
And this is where the story beginnings anew…
| GM: | Sorry again for the delay. Right now everyone needs to make a perception roll if they want to look around. If you want to check out the collapsed floor and/or garbage let me know and make a roll. Searching might take time.
There is no roll to move across the floor by the wall that had not collapsed in you can without making a check if you move at ½ Speed Move. If you want to move your full Speed, make an Dexterity (Acrobatics) check of a 12. If you take a Dash across it, the Acrobatics check is a 15 |
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