Freeport Campaign

The group got back to town before the storm. They talked to Mother Lorilee, the high priestess of Shalimyr (god of the ocean) to try to convince her to intercede on the city’s behalf. While the group was still in telepathic contact, Richard talked with Elise and Finn. Elise basically said, “To hell with Freeport – I quit. I’m going back to Montaigne,” but Spike and Richard tried to convince her to help stabilize the city. Finn gave some details about his capture and expressed a desire to get back to his city.

The group also presented evidence of Soderheim’s involvement in Elise’s kidnapping to the acting chief of the Sea Lord’s Guard, to the Captain’s Council (Marcus Roberts, specifically), and to a couple of the city’s judges. Roberts called an emergency public meeting of the Captain’s Council to “discuss storm preparations,” but when all of the Councilors except Elise and Soderheim showed up, he presented the evidence against Soderheim to the Council and the assembled rabble. Predictably, the Council complained and bickered. Marilise Maeorgan (younger sister of Melkior Maeorgan, who was killed at the Battle of the Lighthouse) pointed out that Elise could have staged the kidnapping to eliminate Soderheim as a rival, and the group pointed out that Marilise could have staged the whole thing as well. In the end, the Council eventually agreed that Soderheim should at least be arrested and brought in for questioning.

As the meeting was breaking up, 4 assassins stepped out of the shadows and attacked members of Elise’s faction. Two Council members died (Dirwin Arnig and Marcus Roberts), while the rest of the Council got away with treatable injuries. The Four worked with the gathered clerics and mages to kill 3 of the assassins and capture the fourth. The surviving assassin caved to Spike’s intimidation and admitted in a zone of truth that Soderheim had contacted the assassins and hired them while the Council was discussing the Councilor’s fate. With the city in turmoil, the Council in tatters, and the hurricane just hours away, Marilise followed Spike’s suggestion and declared martial law effective immediately through the end of the storm. Sister Gwendolyn (Council member from the temple of Shalimyr who survived the attempt on her life) seconded the motion, and a curfew was set for 6:00.

The acting chief of the Guard deputized the Four and they headed over to check out Soderheim’s residence. They gathered a stack of ledgers, journals, letters, and other incriminating documents to study while holed up to ride out the storm. Among the documents: further proof that Soderheim offered Fargas Ironfoot both Finn and a sum of 20,000 gp in exchange for the pirate’s kidnapping of Elise; indications that Soderheim had at least known about the planned riots; letters of pardon for various gang leaders, including Partch Carty, Mr. Wednesday, and Finn, among others, signed, “Arias Soderheim, Sea Lord of Freeport”; several payments to “Armada Shipping and Transport Company”; and several payments to “Mrs. Safe’s House.” The plan, should the party and the city survive the storm, is to present these documents to the Captain’s Council, the Sea Lord’s Guard, and the judges, and to put Arias Soderheim on public trial, assuming of course that he hasn’t fled already by the time the storm passes.

The Freeport Four rescued Finn and Lady Elise in a daring raid at Felix’s Resort, where Fargas Ironfoot and his cronies were having their way with the staff and guests. Richard instantly recalled himself and the two high-profile captives back to the Sea Wind, while the rest of the party made quick work of the assembled pirates. Unfortunately, a familiar pair of Crimson Fleet wizards teleported away with Fargas before the party could capture him. (One of the wizards departed with an unfriendly admonition for the doomed Bosun – “Good luck, asshole.”) The group sailed Fargas’s ship, the Widowmaker, back to Freeport after having cleared the Resort and the ship of crew (including pirates and a cabin boy who turned out to be a succubus, presumably feeding on the degenerate pirate who was violating him when Chow opened the door to the crew cabin). Amongst Fargas’s personal effects, the party discovered an odd map and a journal incriminating Arias Soderheim as the instigator of the kidnapping of Lady Elise. The elven shipping magnate and member of the Captains’ Council had apparently offered Fargas 20,000 gold pieces and the right to capture Finn in exchange for seizing Elise. The group noticed on the way back that the weather was changing, indicating that the hurricane bearing down on Freeport would probably arrive a couple of days sooner than anticipated.

More flavor text to follow, maybe…

The Freeport Four check in on some of their contacts in the city before investigating matters in the Temple District, where they interrupt a disturbing attack on the Basin of Shalimyr, hop through a portal in the Scriptorium of Tinel, and wonder in amazement at the third disappearance of the Eyes of the Sea Dragon from the Temple of Harrimast.

The Freeport Four mobilize to fend off a bulette attack, quell rampaging mobs, and put out numerous fires in the City of Adventure.