Freeport Campaign

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 2400
• Treasure: book entitled The Way of Yig, scroll of water breathing, 500 gp, Alistar’s journal, Amulet of the Serpent, the Jade Serpent, smaller replica of the Jade Serpent
• Unidentified magic items: incense, ointment, short spear, 2 potions

Recovered the remaining three items for Alistar’s ritual, and returned them to the shadow serpent priest. Alistar warned the party that the price for the Jade Serpent would be high, costing one member of the group some of his life essence permanently. Will volunteered to act as Alistar’s hands for the somatic portions of the ritual, and to provide a splash of his own blood to mix with the Venom of the Serpent. When the ritual was complete, Alistar proclaimed, “It is done!” and thanked the party as his shadowy form dispersed. The Jade Serpent rose from the center of the altar, and the party felt the building begin to shake. They grabbed the Scales and Amulet of the Serpent, and raced through the Temple and out of the serpent doors as the building began to collapse behind them.

Still bloodied and winded from their exertions, the party loaded up their boat and started rowing back through Black Dog’s Caves.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 1080
• Treasure: Unidentified magical saber, amulet

The group talked with Thuron about the Jade Serpent. He informed them that the item probably rested in the nearby sunken temple of Yig. The High Priest shared a page from a log written by the infamous pirate Black Dog detailing a huge stone doorway carved with serpents. Thuron suggested that the party ask around in town to find any of Black Dog’s surviving crew members.

The group poked around and discovered an old sea dog named Gareth living in the Old City. The party paid the wizened sailor a quantity of gold in exchange for the location of the strange door mentioned in Black Dog’s journal, and set off to secure a rowboat for the short journey up the coast of A’val.

Right around low tide, the group found the distinctive rock formation Gareth mentioned, and manuevered into Black Dog’s Caves. The strong current in the narrow tunnel beyond the cave entrance caused the boat to lurch violently, knocking Gor-bob into the water. The half-orc washed quickly into a large cave, and was immediately attacked by a large turtle-like creature. The party killed the tojanida before it could consume the cleric, but Gor-bob was not in very good shape after the encounter. With their friend safely back on board, the party examined the rest of the cave.
On a beach to the left of the entrance, Chow discovered an untarnished saber stuck in the sand. When he plucked the weapon from the beach, a ghostly figure appeared from the wall of the cave and set upon him. While the party attempted to dispatch the undead assailant, another tojanida attacked from the lake. Gor-bob soon dealt with the allip, and the rest of the party took out the turtle.

The group followed the first tunnel to the left out of the lake, discovering a small shrine to Shalimyr, the God of the Sea. The tunnel continued around to a grisly sight on another beach – three skeletons impaled on large stakes jutting out of the ground. The party opted to ignore this beach for the moment and allowed the boat to follow the increasing current in the tunnel. Spike navigated the craft past a lengthy side passage and into a tunnel whose entrance was boarded up, with the warning, “DANGER! KEEP OUT!” written across the barrier.

Beyond the rotted wood, the group discovered the massive serpent-carved doors mentioned in Black Dog’s journal. Will deciphered the Valossan script on the doors: “All those who would enter the temple must pass the test of the fangs. Reach into the mouth of Yig, and your courage will be rewarded.” Will placed his hand in the mouth of the poised cobra carved into the wall and winced as the snake bit him. When the rest of the party seemed confused by his reaction, Will realized that the bite was an illusion. He reached further into the mouth of the serpent, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door into the sunken Temple of Yig.

The first floor of the temple consisted of a single chamber dominated by a 15-foot high marble statue of a coiled snake. The continuous mural on the walls of the circular room was marred by scrawled Valossan graffiti: “Beware brethren, for Yig will abandon us.”

A ramp led from the first floor to the second, which was completely inundated with water. The party enacted some magical waterbreathing effects and plunged into the murk. Chow spotted a statue of a serpent person near the far wall. When he lifted the amulet he found around the statue’s neck, the rogue was attacked by a strange shadow in the shape of a serpent person. The party dispatched the shadow serpent, and followed Chow down the ramp to the floor. Incredibly, the water filling the second floor did not flow down the ramp, but simply stopped halfway down.

On the third floor, the group met another shadow serpent, a former priest of Yig named Alistar. The shadow informed the party that he could give them the Jade Serpent, if they would agree to act as his corporeal hands to recover four items from the rest of the Temple and help him complete a ritual of supplication to Yig. He believed that the ritual would appease Yig and allow Alistar and his shadowy brethren to rest after centuries of unlife. The party showed the priest the Amulet of the Serpent that they had found previously, and agreed to recover the Fangs of the Serpent, the Venom of the Serpent, and the Scales of the Serpent.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 300
• Treasure: Various finery commissioned for the Ball

The group interrogated the captured assassins, turned them over to the city watch, receieved invitations to the Grand Lighthouse Ball, commissioned the tailors at Enzo’s to create some magnificent suits for the occasion, invited various lady friends, and attended the Ball at the Sea Lord’s mansion in the Old City. After receiving the Order of Drac for defeating the evil Verlaine and his nefarious Brotherhood, the party rubbed elbows with the city’s upper crust, including most of the members of the Captain’s Council. The group turned down a request to help assassinate Milton Drac, but did learn numerous unsettling details about the Lighthouse. The Ball came to a close when an old man wandered into the ballroom, recited a prophecy from the scriptures of Yig regarding something called the Jade Serpent, turned into a snake, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke at the end of a guard’s spear. Thuron gave the group a meaningful look and departed, followed soon by the party members themselves.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 2270
• Treasure: Ring of mind shielding, amulet of natural armor +1, rapier +1, potion of cat’s grace, 2 potions of cure light wounds, masterwork longsword, masterwork short bow with 10 arrows, 5 flasks of alchemist’s fire, 20 pp, various incriminating documents, various Valossan books, The True and Secrette Historie of the Brotherhoode of Free-Port

Met Vivian in the sewers.

Found the “trap” – a rock crusher beneath Crocker’s Brick and Mortar.

Found the new temple to the Unspeakable One. Defeated several serpent men, a low-level temple attendant, and the “messenger” who had gotten away during the orc ambush. Found Egil bound to the altar. Also found a copy of a speech addressed to Sea Lord Drac, implicating the temple of Tinel, Verlaine, and the party as members of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, and painting the party as Verlaine’s murderers. Egil reported that he thought the real Brotherhood was planning to strike the temple of Tinel this very night.

The group followed a secret passage behind the altar up into a wine cellar containing numerous empty crates marked with the Bierce Vintners stamp. While investigating the first floor of the house above, the party heard a scream of agony from the upper floor. Chow ran up the stairs to find a puddle of blood seeping beneath a door. He burst into the room and was immediately stabbed in the back. While the party fought the assailant, another fellow emerged from an adjacent room and engaged Chow, who knocked the guy out with some drow sleep poison. The first assassin, mortally wounded by the rest of the party, attempted to flee through a window, and then smashed a flask of alchemist’s fire at his feet when it became apparent he could not escape. Gor-bob, who had attempted to knock the guy out, managed to put out the fire and stabilize the assassin.

While catching their breath, the party discovered a document signed by Councilor Verlaine deputizing the party and authorizing them to investigate the temple of Tinel. They checked for other samples of Verlaine’s writing and determined the document to be a forgery. The group also discovered a map of the Scriptorium of Tinel, with all the entrances marked.

The group made their way out of Verlaine’s house and took a couple of rickshaws to the Temple. On the way, they dispatched messages to Lady Elise Grossette and Stennis Alensin, informing them of the developing situation at the Temple. Also on the way, the group noticed a distinct lack of city guards in the streets.

Upon arriving at the Temple, the party and Egil informed High Priest Thuron of their various discoveries and theories about the Brotherhood and their imminent attack. Will, under the effects of a mind-reading spell, also asked Thuron if the name K’Stallo meant anything to him. Thuron wasn’t able to prevent a reflexive mental reaction: “Oh crap, they know.” He said that the name was indeed familiar, and promised to unravel that mystery if they all survived the night.

The party barricaded the two side entrances and took up positions near the main entrance as Brother Egil woke the other priests. After a few minutes, a group of bloodied Tinelites arrived the front door, reporting that they had been accosted while purchasing supplies for the Temple. The party and Thuron ushered them inside, while a couple of the priests went off to summon the city watch.

Gor-bob cast a minor spell of cleaning on one of the bloody priests and discovered that the fellow was unharmed. The atmosphere tensed when the half-orc knocked the priest unconscious, and only got worse when another priest yelled, “Here they come!” from the street. Within moments, a squad of serpent folk attacked the priests and the party stationed at the front door. Meanwhile, the bloodied priests positioned themselves oddly about the Temple. Soon enough, the tension broke as one of the priests attacked High Priest Thuron.

The party engaged the “priests” in a brief, confusing fight, defeating the imposters without much injury to themselves. The actual priesthood did not fare so well, as a few of the Brotherhood managed to get into the priests’ cells and slit a few throats before they were slain.

After the fight, Thuron escorted the party and Egil to the catacombs beneath the Scriptorium. There, he revealed himself as K’Stallo, a serpent person and a priest of Yig. At the final resting place of the true Thuron, the serpent man told the story of how he had found Lucius during the librarian’s wanderings, followed Lucius to the temple, and assumed Thuron’s identity upon finding the High Priest dead of a heart attack several years ago.

That mystery solved, the party discussed what to do about the larger riddle of the Lighthouse of Drac, and about the Sea Lord himself.

Rewards Earned

• Experience Points: 325
• Treasure: Ring of protection +1

Consulted with Reed at the Office of Public Records, and discovered that Verlaine’s men had been by to gather maps of the city’s sewer system.

Upon leaving the Office, the group was detained by Verlaine’s guard and informed that the Chief Councilor required their presence in the Courts.

After the interview with Verlaine, the party met Brother Egil on the street. The flustered priest informed the group that Lucius had gone missing again. Will attempted to check in on Lucius via the magical mark placed on the priest after the last abduction. The spell led the group right to the Scriptorium of Tinel, where they found Lucius working quietly at his desk. Suspicious, Will checked Egil for the mark placed on him earlier. “Egil” panicked and tried to flee the temple, but Gor-bob and Spike knocked him out at the exit. After some interrogation, the party figured out that the imposter had used a disguise and a potion to impersonate the group and lead them into a trap in the sewers beneath the city.