Freeport Campaign

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 5100
• Treasure: 1074 gp; 1000 gp worth of jewelry (from Ssvalish); various Valossan artifacts, including furniture, jewelry, and books (value unknown); notes on the Valossan language; various mundane weapons (short bow, 2 light crossbows; warhammer; 2 short swords); various adventuring gear
• Magic items: Amulet of natural armor +2; dagger of venom; dusty rose ioun stone; +1 gnome hooked hammer; Cure Light Wounds potion; +1 ring of protection; Cure Moderate Wounds potion (x2); Bag of Holding (Type I); Potion of Vision; Spined Shield

The party examined the complex of buildings on the other side of the river, and soon discovered an improvised corral containing dozens of skeletons and zombies. Gor-bob called on the power of Pawgma to destroy most of the undead before the remainder broke through the walls to attack the party. Within a cave in the cliffs around the city, the party found a pair of ogre zombies guarding their master, a human necromancer. The mage and his guards put up a protracted fight, but eventually fell.

In examining the sorceror’s quarters, the group discovered a stack of maps identical to the one that led them to the city. Ssvalish thanked the party and offered them a portion of the lizard man tribe’s treasure, as well as any of the Valossan artifacts in the human’s quarters. The ghost agreed to permit the party to seek trade with the lizard men in the city.

The party loaded up the longboat with loot and headed back down the river. An unfortunate encounter with a shambling mound left most of the party unconscious, and when Spike spotted someone in a tree watching the river near the outlet into the sea, he and Balama decided to hole up until the rest of the party awoke rather than walk into a probable ambush. It took couple of days to get the party back to full health, but the time passed uneventfully.

Chow volunteered to reconnoiter the approach to Balama’s ship, and returned with news of at least one lookout on the party’s side of the river, opposite the location of the person Spike had previously spotted. He also reported one person standing on the boat, but he couldn’t verify the status of the person. The party acted on Will’s suggestion to send a battered illusionary version of the longboat ahead of the actual boat, while Chow crept to the base of the tree beneath the lookout. The ruse worked, allowing the party to surprise both the lookout and her compatriots on the ship, and quickly defeat the four would-be ambushers.

The group discovered Hurm, still alive, tied to the ship’s mast. The first mate seemed a bit embarrassed that the opposing elven sorceror had managed to ensnare him with a sleep spell, but otherwise none the worse for his captivity. The party loaded their loot onto the sloop, secured the longboat, and prepared for the journey back to Freeport.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 1025
• Treasure: None to speak of (yet)

The group sailed with Balama and Hurm aboard the Starchaser to the swamp island. Balama anchored the sloop and ordered Hurm to guard it while she accompanied the party into the swamp on the sloop’s longboat.

The group first encountered a trio of assassin vines along the banks of the channel. After nearly depleting their magical resouces in the battle, the group discussed heading back to the ship until morning. Eventually, they decided to try Will’s suggestion and used his summoned celestial dolphin to help them accelerate past a fourth assassin vine.

After the dolphin departed to its home plane, the party continued up the channel for a couple of hours, fighting off a gigantic snake before approaching the purported location of the city. As they got closer to their destination, a hail of javelins erupted from the jungle. The group soon spotted the lizard man patrol, launched a counterattack from the boat, and drove off the ambush. The last foe to fall appeared to be the patrol leader, whose shield Spike proceeded to affix to the bow.

The group continued cautiously up the channel and emerged from the jungle into the ruins of an ancient city, right where the map showed it to be. The party quickly entered a standoff with the lizard men inhabiting the city. Will used a combination of spells and fast talking to convince the lizard men to take the party to the city’s spiritual leader, who turned out to be Ssvalish, the ghost of a serpent folk priest who survived the Fall of Valossa. Ssvalish entreated the party to investigate the wizard living in the city on the other side of the river.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 200
• Treasure: None to speak of

Spike talked further to Carmina Dell’orto, Daughter of the Guild. She reiterated that she had no idea that the party had anything to do with Enzo’s tailor shop, or she would have steered the Daughters away. She agreed to talk to the leaders of the Daughters about Spike’s suggestion to maintain contact between the two groups, so as to avoid further unfortunate incidents, and perhaps to share information of a mutually beneficial nature.

Later in the morning, some of the group talked to the eminent orc sage Togar Irontooth at his Freeport Institute office. Togar shared some of his theories about the ancient orcish nation of Oracur, but confessed that he knew little of the contemporaneous Valossan empire. He suggested that the group consult with Husani, the Freeport Institute’s resident scholar of Valossan lore.
After the meeting with Irontooth, Will and Spike had lunch with Stannis Alensin, a diviner who works with the Sea Lord’s Guard. Will also attended to the letter from Merchant’s Guild regarding Enzo’s lapsed membership, and pursued an interview with the Dean of the Freeport Institute for possible future employment in some capacity.

Meanwhile, Chow disguised himself as a beggar and staked out a position near the Buccaneer safe house in the Docks District. He spent the day observing the house, but saw no one enter or leave. He did notice a few fellows paying a bit of suspicious attention to him, but the lookouts made no move to confront him until he was on his way back to meet up with the group. Two gang members jumped him as he left an alleyway, but he managed to defend himself, slaying one Buccaneer and leaving the other unconscious.

The group hired a rickshaw to transport the Buccaneer to the group’s house in Drac’s End. After the fellow awoke and realized his situation, he divulged some details about the safe house, its typical complement of thugs, and the location and protocol of the hidden entrance in the sewers. The Buccaneer, named Jeff, agreed that the party’s suggestion to sign on to a ship’s crew was preferable to his likely treatment at the hands of his fellow Buccaneers or the Sea Lord’s Guard, so the group escorted him to the Docks. They arranged a price with a captain, and watched as Jeff was taken aboard. As the party departed, Gor-bob paid the captain a bit of gold and watched as the fellow shrugged, stabbed Jeff, and dumped him overboard.

That business done, the group made their way to their usual haunt, the Indecipherable Scroll. Carmina showed up to hang out with Spike, and Torya Irontooth, half-sister to Togar (and Gor-bob’s recent dance partner), graced the party with her company, describing the preparations for her upcoming debut as a cast member in a performance at the Freeport Opera House. After a pleasant evening of conversation and mild scheming, the party retired for the night.

The next morning, they met Husani at his office. He spoke about the history of the serpent empire, verifying some of the information the party had gathered previously. In addition, he provided the party with a scrawled map to the alleged final resting place of the treasure of one William ‘Black-Heart Billy’ Bellmont. The treasure supposedly lay in a ruined Valossan city deep in a swamp on an island a day or two from Freeport. He requested that the party bring him any artifacts they picked up at the site.

After talking to Husani, the group met up with captain Balama Theron at the Dented Helm. As they were discussing their upcoming trip to Rana Mor at the behest of Captain Lydon, Balama’s first mate Hurm interrupted with news that the Blue Heron’s mast had broken. After a few minutes of cursing and yelling at Hurm, Balama agreed to take the party to the swampy island aboard her sloop, the Starchaser, in exchange for a share of any treasure found there.