DM’s note:  A LOT happened in this session ---but absolutely no combat took place.  The session log is very long this time --- I think I got it all correct; the order of events may have changed, but the details have (hopefully) stayed the same.

After resting one night in the caves formerly occupied by Melkor and his minions, the group departed the cave by the long tunnel leading to the surface on Wodensday, the 7th day of the Month of Sept.  They callously left the burned corpse of their former companion, Philgo, in the tunnel where he died.  They divided up the loot before they left.  Trygvie took the silver medallion they had found on one of Melkor’s companions that bore the mark of a flaming eye, a wand of webs, a scroll, a spellbook, a pearl pin and some gold.  Mace took a magic darkwood shield and some gold.  Malus took the magic axe, some gold and an ivory box.  Kane got some magic potions and some gold as well as the magic bastard sword (which he hopes to sell or trade at some future date).

They returned to the grove of trees where they had left some of their companions several days earlier.  Cullen De Filch (a human thief), Whisper the Halfling (a halfling thief). Ott Ahhht (Dwarf Barbarian), Wilbered the Silent (Human cleric) and Mandrake (human magic user) were there, along with a new companion, Cassandra Belladonna (Human female bard -- Bill’s new character).  The companions remembered Cassandra from the Village of Signpost which they had left days earlier; Cassandra had been entertaining the locals with music in the local Tavern in Signpost when they had stayed there.   Wilbered the Silent healed up Mace’s serious wounds with healing spells as the group got aquainted.

Cassandra delivered the unfortunate news that Signpost had been overrun by Goblins and Sir Sven Svenson, hero of the town, had been killed.  She had fled the town after Sir Sven had been made helpless by a spell from an evil magic user and slain by a horde of goblin
s and the local defenses collapsed.  Cassandra had been evading goblin patrols and hiding in the woods when she encountered Mandrake and Ott Ahht and the others; when Mandrake had told her that they were awaiting the return of some companions, she agreed to stay.

The group seemed a little large and unwieldy.  When Ott demanded the sword Darkcleaver back from Mace, bad blood developed between them.  Malus was still sore about the dispute he had over the division of treasure previously and Kane bluntly told Mandrake that he didn’t think Mandrake was "good enough" to travel with them.  A rift developed between the former friends -- Whisper, Cassandra, Kane, Mace, Wilbered and Trygvie gathered in one group and Ottt Ahhht, Malus, Mandrake and Cullen De Filch formed another group.  With harsh words, the two groups went their separate ways.

As Malus led the other group south and west, the main group elected to travel east, towards the coast, and then swing south, avoiding Signpost and the Goblin hordes, and attempting to reach a small town that Cassandra had heard of but never visited -- a place named Marshville.  Cassandra was certain that they could catch a ship to Blackmoor in Marshville.  The others were eager for a rest in a good inn and a chance to buy some supplies so they agreed.

Travelling east, they saw smoke rising from the direction of Signpost.  After a day and a half of travelling overland, they sighted the coast and turned south.  They soon reached the edges of the Gray Swamps... the swamps appeared treacherous, so they cut back to the east to catch the road south which would lead them to Marshville.  The Marsh Road was built upon an earthen embankment through the swamp; on either side of them, as far as the eye could see, were marsh reeds, pools of water, stunted trees and rushes.  After a few hours travel south on this road, the sharp eyed Trygvie saw a group of humans with weapons coming towards them on the road ahead.  The players all scrambled into the weeds of the swamp and into the tall grass at the side of the trail and hid there.

As the humans came closer, it was seen that there were about twenty soldiers dressed in black surcoats marked with a white tower.  The soldiers carried halbards, swords and crossbows  and were led by a warrior bearing a black shield marked with the white tower symbol.  The soldiers paused and the leader called out, asking the players to come forth; apparently they had been seen.

After a brief parlay, the warrior in black introduced himself as Arfen and stated that they were patrolling the roads north from Blackmoor, attempting to keep the roads clear of Goblins and orcs until sufficient resources could be engaged to retake Signpost.  He allowed the characters to pass south on the road, confirming that it led to Marshville and Blackmoor, but warned them to keep an eye out for Goblin raiders.

After a few more miles on the Marsh road, the players came upon a fork in the road.  One branch continued south and the other went east.  A stone had directions carved on it; an arrow pointing south said "Blackmoor."  An arrow pointing east said "Marshville" and an arrow pointing North said, "Wolf’s Head Pass."  In a whimsical mood, Kane asked the burly Mace to help him turn the stone in order to misdirect others.  Wilbered objected loudly, saying that with Signpost overrun with evil humanoids, misdirecting travellers was not only mischevious, it was evil since it would probably result in death for the unfortunates.  Shamed by the lawful cleric, they put the stone back and proceeded down the road east to Marshville.

The road to Marshville was similar in character to the road they had previously been on --- a raised earthen embankment running through the swamp.  A sluggish river wound it’s way east along the road.  As they walked east, they came upon a dirty old man poling a flat bottom boat through the swamp.  The old man asked them if they were going to Marshville and they replied that they were.  He warned them that the swamps were treacherous and they should stick to the road.  He further stated that if they were going to Marshville they should be warned that the people were under a curse and that they should not be trusted.  The old man suggested they look up a friend of his --- an old woman named Essie who lived by the docks.  When the players asked him who he was and if he could give more details about dangers in Marshville, the old man replied that he didn’t know more other than these people were under some sort of curse from the sea.  The old man poled his boat away, saying he was under a religious vow and now had to go off and meditate.

It was late afternoon on Thorsday, the 9th of Sept when the players reached Marshville.  Marshville is a harbor town on the Black sea. A single high and craggy hill towers over the town; a desolate looking fortified manor house on the summit.  Across a sluggish, reed choked river stands a weed grown temple.  The majority of buildings in the town proper are of weathered grey wood; over half appear empty and abandoned and, other than the sea shore, the town is surrounded on all sides by the gray swamps, making it a dreary  place to stay.
 

The temple caught their attention and the group crossed the bridge at Kane’s urging.   The temple was of stone and decorated with carved fish and octopi.  Weeds and moss were sprouting out of the cracks and the temple had an ignored, abandoned look.  There w
as a pedestal atop the building that apparently had once held a statue of the god -- it was now empty.  The doors were open so they entered.

Inside the temple was empty of worshippers.  The altar was layered with dust and the walls were decorated with painted frescoes of fish and octopi.  A statue of a bearded man with a trident and conch shell stood at the front of the room and two curtains led to the next room.  Kane and whisper peeked into the next room and saw only a dust covered table and dust covered blue ceremonial robes hanging on the walls.  Wilbered the Silent though it strange and shameful that fishermen would ignore their sea god and fail to clean or maintain his temple.

The players returned across the bridge and proceeded directly to a building marked "Booral’s Trading Post."  Entering, they were greeted by a lank haired old man, Booral himself.   Booral stated that a ship was expected in port in 5 days or so, and that players would be able to get passage on that ship to Blackmoor if desired.  Mace purchased some rations and spoke to Booral about buying some pearls the next day.  Booral agreed to have some of the village’s best pearl divers meet Mace at the trading post the next day in order to allow Mace to turn some of his bulky coin into pearls.  The party asked some blunt questions about the curse and Booral denied all knowledge.

The party proceeded to the town’s single run-down inn, "The Smiling Mermaid," where the innkeeper, Gunko Divlop, offered them fried fish, boiled fish, fish soup, fish beer, etc.  By this time the group had begun to notice that there seemed to be no dogs, cats, chickens, cows or horses in town... a pretty remarkable thing since most villages have at least as many domesticated animals as people.  With the exception of Booral the trader, most of the folks in the town appeared to be of a degenerate genetic type, with broad, coarse features, rough textured skin,  long, broad hands and feet, wide set eyes and a shuffling gait.  The players had to agree that the villagers, on the whole, were some of the ugliest people they had ever seen.   Gunko Divlop and his two daughters were pretty typical Marshvillers, with the coarse, unnattractive features that seemed typical of the locals.

Mace attempted to bribe Gunko to find out more about the curse and the missing statue atop the temple.  The innkeeper accepted coins, stating that the statue of the god at the temple had been taken down for repair.  When the subject of a curse was mentioned, he snorted and said that those were silly wive’s tales.  Asked why the townspeople didn’t own dogs or horses, he replied that they were sea faring folk and got everything they needed from the sea.

An elderly local who smelled of cheap liquor approached the PCs and befreinded them, introducing himself as Adok Guffle.  After chiseling free drinks out of the players. Guffle dropped dark hints about a curse from the sea and pointed out other than himself, the trader and the old woman who lived by the docks, there were no old people in town.  He stated that people tended to dissapear before they got old.   Adok Guffle was both old and apparently in a permanat stae of intoxication, but he bore no resemblance to the locals with their wide, flat faces, long arms and strange gait.

The players decided to visit Essie, the old woman who lived by the docks.  After plying him with a few more drinks, the old tramp agreed to lead them to her house.  Guffle led them through the near deserted streets, passing 2 long low sheds near the docks by the sea.  The oldtimer mentioned that the sheds were the place where the locals repaired their boats but in recent months they had kept the sheds locked up and carefully watched.

The elderly woman, Essie, proved friendly enough but could add little to the player’s questions other than hinting that characters should not trust Booral, the trader.  She added that the locals had stoped worshipping Neptune about fifty years ago when the Baron who lived in the manor on the hill, Baron Obed de Mornay, returned from a distant port with a new god.  Fishing had been bad and trade had fallen off; when the Baron brought his new god fishing improved and the pearl divers began finding more and more pearls.  There was also a local industry where divers found nuggets of pure gold on the sea floor which were traded with Blackmoor.  Essie was already old and set in her ways at that time --- she was not invited to worship this new god and she did not know anything about it.  She was basically tolerated in the community since she made and sold good herbal remedies.  She offered the players medicines which would cure coughs, the sniffles, balm for scabs, etc., but did not have any magic healing potions --- just common remedies.  She also mentioned that she could make a potion of rare and secret ingredients that would allow the drinker to breathe under the water.

Conversation with Essie revealed that the Baron Obed de Mornay had not been seen in public in nearly 30 years --- rumor had it that he was quite sick.  Essie also noticed that the villagers who worked in the boat shops by the docks did not seem to be building any new boats but had been bringing a lot of iron into the shops in the past weeks and months and the sound of hammering could be heard from within all day.

The players returned to the inn and took rooms for the night.  One of the innkeeper’s rather homely daughters led them upstairs to the rather shabby looking rooms.  The players noticed a flight of stairs leading up to the third floor and a few of them went up to investigate, finding a dormitory type room with straw stuffed mattresses and a locked door.  The daughter followed them up, seemingly to keep an eye on them.  They asked he what lay behind the locked door ? the daughter said it was just storage.

The players returned to their room and later, the monk and Whisper the Halfling returned to the third floor.  The daughter followed them up, and, in a truly bizarre moment, the monk held the halfling down on one of the mattresses and lay down upon the little fellow.  Exactly what the monk’s intentions were wasn’t clear ? but the innkeeper’s daughter came up the stairs, saw the Monk and the halfing in their rather bizarre embrace, and she ran back downstairs for her father.  The halfling was pretty insulted by the monk’s actions but agreed to pick the lock on the attic room anyway.  After the lock was picked, the halfling and the monk peeked inside to make sure there were no hostile creatures waiting, then slipped inside and locked the door behind themselves.

The room had some large piles of bedding, a large wooden chest and several empty wooden bathtubs.  The halfling pressed his ear to the door they had just entered and heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  Both the monk and the halfling hid behind the piled mattresses and blankets.  They heard the door open and heard the innkeeper and his daughter enter the room.  The two adventurers stayed in their hiding place and the innkeeper was heard to remark that the visitors must have returned to their room.  The innkeeper and his daughter closed and locked the attic door and returned downstairs.

After they were alone again, the halfling (keeping a distance between himself and the monk) began to investigate the chest.  A needle poked out of the lock and stuck the halfling in the hand.  The halfling keeled over with a thud.  The monk discovered that Whisper was still breathing but unconscious.  He pried open the halflings mouth and poured a magic potion down the Whisper’s throat.  The halfling was revived and, after eyeing the monk suspiciously and checking to make sure his clothing was not in dissaray after having fallen unconscious in the monk’s prescence, the little fellow returned to working on the lock of the chest.

After the chest was opened, they discovered three tall and pointy crowns made of silver and decorated with gold leaf that featured a fish and octopi motif and three loose green robes.  They bundled these objects together and went back to their room.

The bard thought that the crowns looked like something mentioned in an old fable about a race of hostile people who lived beneath the sea but she didn’t have any specific information on the subject.

Later all of the players, including Whisper and Trygvie, went down to the taproom.  Wilbered the Silent elected to stay in the room and meditate.  It was early evening and the taproom had about twelve of the fishy smelling unattractive locals as well as the innkeeper and one of his daughters serving drinks.  The crowd eyed the players suspiciously and the innkeeper whispered into the ear of one of the locals as they entered the room.  The local drunk, Adok Guffle, who had befriended the players earlier, could be seen sleeping in the corner.

The Bard attempted to entertain the crowd, asking to trade tales.  The locals listened to one of her tales but offered none in return.

Mace Blackstar bought a few drinks and attempted to get a reaction from the innkeeper by stating that the innkeeper and his family were, in reality, not what they seemed.  He sarcastically called the innkeeper "your majesty."  Gunko Divlop angrily denied knowing what Mace was getting at and moved away to serve another customer.

The players decide to go out into the night and explore the sheds down by the docks.  As they got up to leave, the locals asked them where they were going and the players replied that they were going to enjoy the night air.  The vast majority of the locals got up and followed them, calling out to other townspeople to come and see the out-of-towners with their strange ways.  Although the townspeople were not overtly hostile, they wanted to make it clear that they were keeping an eye on the group.

As the party proceeded to the docks area, both the Monk and the Halfling attempted to give the locals the slip.  Whisper the halfling dissapeared into the shadows at an opportune moment.  The monk attempted to step into the shadows and hide but one of the locals walked right up to him and stared at him; apparently the attempt had failed.

The players proceeded to the docks where the monk engaged in a swimming and diving contest with the locals.  The monk attempted to see if the locals had gills or webbed feet but they did not ? however, they seemed unusually good swimmers.  The bard went to Essie’s house and pounded on the door until the old woman let her in.  Essie did not seem pleased to have a visitor in the middle of the night.

Finally, without the halfling, the players returned to the Smiling Mermaid Inn.  Wilbered stated that while the players had been out, someone had attempted to enter the room where he had been meditating.  Wilbered had called out as he heard someone trying the door and then heard them running down the hall.  He opened the door and saw no one.

The halfling then climbed in the window.  The little chap said he had jimmied open a window and entered one of the sheds down by the docks ? he had found a large workshop with a few old boats that looked like no one had touched them in a long time , a iron forge and a huge store of crossbows, tridents, spears and daggers that appeared to have been fashioned recently.

The players then retired for the night.

The next morning they arose, left the inn and crossed the bridge, climbing the hill to the large fortified manor house on the hill.  Over the door they saw a carved coat of arms of a fish wearing a crown.  A bell pull hung beside the door.  After ringing and waiting and ringing again, a small window opened in the door and a pair of eyes peered out.  "What do you want?" the guard demanded.  The players responded that they wanted to see the Baron.
"His lordship is indisposed," the guard growled, "so come back some other time."

Here the game session ended.

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