Tales of Our Heroes

Volume I, Reckoning

• Timmy! - Mila, Magnus, Sid, and Lucky band together to rescue Timmy from a trio of kidnappers, an event that lays the groundwork for the formation of our heroic group
• Marriage and Mischief - Our heroes thrash some well organized thugs and save a friend's wedding from disaster while acquiring a fifth heroic pal, John Windsong (an NPC)
• Reckoning: Act I - Lucky leads his new companions to Riverton to delve into the mystery of the attack on the wedding
• Reckoning: Act II - Our intrepid heroes are attacked and limp into South Dock, where they make contact with Brother Shecky and Damien Swift
• Reckoning: Act III - Lucky disappears and is summarily rescued by his fellows and the group discovers a skilled Wizard involved in the scheme
• Reckoning: Act IV - The party scampers this way and that, trying to foil villainous plans at every turn
• Reckoning: Finale & Epilogue - Things come to a head in a final climactic showdown that nearly kills our heroes and leaves their close friend, Johann, dead
• Past Friends and New Beginnings - The party says good bye to their friend Johann (and adopted brother to John) and strikes out for Seahaven, in search of adventure

Timmy!

Lucky, now acting as the semi-resident local healer and priest for Muellerville, has also been a friend of Johann's for a few years and is to be a groomsman.  Mila, the town blacksmith, is invited along with the other inhabitants of the town.

Shortly after Sid and Magnus arrive at the main tavern in town, the Drunken Dragon, Timothy Müller stops by to greet "Uncle" Magnus and remind everyone in the bar to attend a prenuptial dinner party to be given that evening. 

Aprilis 7, 163 (Sat): The party goes without any complications, but shortly after getting to bed, Magnus and Lucky are roused by Johann with word that Timmy is missing.  They soon discover that Lizabeth, his nanny, is also nowhere to be found.  The bulk of the village assembles to address the problem.  They quickly deduce, with the help of Sheriff Cal, the Innkeeper Gabe (a former Ranger), and Lucky's knowledge of the characteristics of Ferryton cobbling, that two to three thugs from Ferryton must have abducted Lizabeth and Timmy.  Mila helps them find a source of horses, Mr. Strauss, and soon a volunteer party (coincidentally comprised solely of the PCs) is riding off to rescue the two. 

Aprilis 8, 163 (Sun): Just before dawn, as the quintet approaches Ferryton, they are ambushed by two of the kidnappers.  They fell Magnus with a grievous arrow wound, but Mila quickly dispatches the two thugs and the party rides on.  Upon reaching town with the bodies of their attackers, the band contacts the town Sheriff and explains the situation.  A helpful citizen reports seeing a man with a woman and boy in tow and the party rushed to the area in question. 

The Sheriff has Magnus taken to the local temple for healing.  A quick hunt follows and the thug is found in an inn.  The Sheriff and Lucky engaged the thug, while Mila and Sid return from investigating behind the inn.  The Sheriff is knocked down and almost finished, but luckily Lucky is able to deflect the blow, although he does not succeed in disarming the thug, as he had wished.  A few more blows are exchanged until Mila's massive, heavily armed frame bursts into the room.  The thug quickly surmises that surrender is a better option and throws down his blade.  Lizabeth and Timmy turn out to be mostly unharmed.  The grateful Sheriff arranges for a wagon to take the group back, but they still do not make it back to Muellerville for the original wedding time, which is rescheduled for the following afternoon.

The group is showered with praise and are upgraded to honored guest status.  They still had to return the horses, though.  The thugs were persuaded to offer up some explanation.  They tell of some wealthy and/or powerful person in Riverton that hired them to kidnap Timmy to stop the wedding from occurring.  The only rationale offered to the party is that the marriage will join the Müller family with the Rambeaux family, a powerful family in Riverton and perhaps a wealthy, competing family, e.g. the Crenshaws, would feel threatened enough to do such a thing.  Johann refuses to believe it, though.

Marriage and Mischief

A large breakfast starts the day, with the bride and groom's tables separated by a partition.  Afterwards, the bride and groom adjourn for final preparations for the wedding.  Lucky and Magnus, groomsmen both, accompany Johann, while Sid and Mila hang around to eat some more.  Lucky and Magnus are introduced to the third groomsman, John Windsong [soon to be the NPC party member]. 

Father McMurphy (FM), et al are summoned to the main house, first floor for final preparations & fitting, Rocko remains on the boat as a guard, and will not be in the wedding.  Meanwhile, a group of thugs take up position on the other side of the river, slightly downstream, five of them make their way across, surprise and subdue Rocko (he's pretty upset and embarrassed about this still) and lay in wait. 

FM et al are poisoned.  FM is knocked out when the poison starts to kick in, as are any others that seem to be shaking off the effect.  Those the poison does not kill are wounded horribly and most fall unconscious (nasty and expensive, but ingestion only). 

With the greatest threat neutralized, someone "that looked exactly like my matron" (Janine) replaces Janine's matron, leaving her unconscious in the closet.  The phony matron leads the bride to the riverboat, then four men charged with being a distraction subdue the remaining bridal party and leave them in the building, taking up positions in a copse of trees,  prepared to ride off with a dummy figure as a distraction.  The bride obediently keeps out of sight while accompanying the phony matron, believing she is innocently hiding from the prying eyes of her groom. 

Another group of five men hide by the mill, planning to abduct the groom. 

Janine is abducted on the riverboat, the Lucky Lady, and Lucky's Sacred Guardian spell goes off. 

The groom's party rushes to the guest house, minus Lucky, who rushes to the dock.  Magnus yells for Sid and Mila to join them, they do.  Sid is distracted by a suspicious noise [fumbled perception check] and moves back to the main house. 

The groom party sees the group of thugs that are in position to provide a distraction.  The thugs take off on their horses.  Magnus, John, and Johann follow on the Strauss' horses. 

Lucky discovers the bride and her abductors moving off from the Lucky Lady, engages them, and calls for help.  Sid responds quickly, then Rocko (awakened by Lucky's shouts), and finally Mila.  Lucky spots the five abductors in the boat, four rowers and one head thug.  Using Command, he convinces one of the rowers to "dive" overboard.  The head thug starts firing arrows at him, but Lucky drops him with a few shots from his sling.  One of the three remaining rowers pulls up the boats tarp and shields himself and his fellows from Lucky's assault. 

Sid arrives and starts searching the boat.  Rocko, the Lucky Lady's hulking, Half-Ogre bouncer, appears and Lucky tells him to "get them" and Rocko, not a mental giant, jumps into the river and starts dog paddling fiercely towards the thugs. 

Mila shows up and leaps in the river, flounders a bit, then takes off like a shot [Swimming skill and Ogre strength makes for a fast swimmer indeed].  Lucky starts ringing the Lucky Lady's bell to attract more attention, then returns to provide cover fire for Mila. 

Magnus et al notice the dummy body and break off their pursuit of the decoy party, returning as quickly as possible to the house. 

Lucky notices two archers lying in wait on the opposite shore to cover their comrades' retreat, but they are under cover. 

Mila, armored only in a wet dress, and armed with a throwing knife, gets to the shore as the remaining three abductors arrive and promptly throws one of them far into the river.  The archers step out and fire upon her and do serious damage.  She throws her knife and seriously wounds one which Lucky finishes off.  The other archer decides to save himself and flees on horseback. The remaining two abductors engage Mila, and she quickly finishes them off. 

Magnus arrives, charging John with guarding Johann.  The two of them ride off to secure the perimeter, leaving the five men at the mill with a more dangerous target than they expected.  The thugs sneak around with a ladder, while our Sid, Magnus, and Lucky tend to Father Mac et al, and try to abduct Clauss, the father of the bride, and their secondary target. 

Lucky hears a suspicious creaking from Clauss' room and he, Magnus, and Sid respond and foil their plans, quickly downing two of them.  Lucky finishes another two off with his sling, as they try to flee, and Magnus, in an exceptional demonstration of physical courage and/or foolhardiness, chases down the fifth, armed only with his dagger.  A few exchanges later, and the thug is laying at the feet of Magnus' who is still clutching his bloody dagger in a white knuckled grip when Mila arrives, ready to dish out a heaping helping of pain. 

Lucky binds the wounds of those thugs that are not beyond saving, and the party rounds up five remaining horses. 

Epilogue

The various big shots decide that our heroes should keep the five horses, and Herr Strauss offers to provide any additional riding equipment they may need.

Reckoning: Act I

Deep down, he is outraged.  He deals with scofflaws regularly and has helped many of them.  Usually, his temple/riverboat, the Lucky Lady, is considered neutral ground and its staff are extended a certain amount of protection/immunity.  The brazen killing and maiming of his people shocked and outraged him, but he quickly dealt with those emotions and put the responsibilities of his position above his personal desires.  Nonetheless, he feels compelled to take action to insure his people's safety. 

He and Lucky agree that the thugs must have had the assistance of a highly skilled thief or magic.  Just the switch with the matron would have been a difficult charade to pull off, in spite of Janine's youth, naivety, and distraction by the wedding.  Mac charges Lucky with going to Riverton and investigating further.  Mac will move the Lucky Lady to Riverton, but he instructs Lucky to leave immediately, on horse, feeling that time is of the essence.  He is given: 

• 2 Healing potions (return if not used)
• 2 Elixirs of the White Viper (can neutralize contact and ingested poisons, return if not used)
• a name: Damien Fist, aka Jack of Diamonds.  Damien is a regular customer/worshipper at the Lucky Lady and a good friend of Mac's
• a name: Brother Shecky.  Shecky is a low-ranking priest of Tyche, but he operates a shrine in Riverton and has a home that could accommodate Lucky and his friends for a short time.

The first day and night present no unusual occurrences.  Shortly after breaking camp and getting back on the road, the party rides through an ambush.  Sid and John notice it, but the rest of the party is oblivious until about twenty minutes later, when Sid passes on the information.  Concerned about the welfare of the returning Rambeaux wedding party, which should be about half a day behind them, John, the only skilled rider in the group, is dispatched to skirt the ambushers' position and warn the Rambeauxes while the other discuss tactics. 

As the party is closing in on a decision about how to proceed, John returns, breathless and wounded.  He reports having run into a scout and successfully killing him, but not before being wounded.  The party begins revising their plan in light of this, when they notice another scout watching them.  The scout makes a break for it, but John manages to run him down. 

The party quickly formulates a plan to sneak up on the ambushers and get more info, then rethink their position.  However, they will be in position to respond to a threat.  The party approaches from deep in the forest to the group on the north side of the road.  Things go well and Sid sneaks in closely without being heard, but just as he prepares to leave, one of the thugs turns quickly towards them.  Instinctively, Sid fires at him and the fight is joined.  John and Lucky lay down devastating missile fire as Mila charges in and carves up bad guys while Sid tries not to get killed and return fire.  Magnus tries to get into position for a spell, but the battle is dominated by missile fire. 

Our heroes, variously bearing light to grievous wounds, begin to fall back as the men from the south side replace their fallen comrades.  Just as things being to look bad, the thugs stumble upon their fellows' bodies as a lucky arrow from John drops one of them.  The thugs decide to make a hasty withdrawal.  The party, in no shape to push the advantage, await their departure . . . 

Reckoning: Act II

From this apparent leader, they party obtain 50 GP, a well made quiver with a stylized rose carved on a panel that slides away to reveal a set of lockpicks, and a curious medallion.  The medallion matches a pattern found tattooed on the inside of the right forearms on most of the thugs: 
 
 

Lucky loots the remaining bodies for their money, and the party travels on towards Riverton.  They arrive late in the evening and decide to set up camp in the edge of the woods, a few kilometers from both Riverton and West Dock.  Magnus casts Detect Magic and looks at the medallion and other equipment obtained.  He finds two enchanted arrows and discovers that the medallion is magical.  Also, a glowing word appears inside the malachite ring - bespat.  Magnus excitedly awakens the party and they discuss the new development.  Sid recalls that bespat is the Gonthe word for spider, and they decide that the medallion is protective, confers spider-like abilities, transforms the wielder into a spider, and/or is indicative of a spider cult.  After the excitement, they return to bed. 

Apollo 12, 163: As false dawn approaches, Lucky's watch is disturbed by the snap of a twig and the gibbering of creatures.  He turns to find Kobolds advancing on the party.  The battle is hard fought as our heroes struggle to clear their heads of sleep and bring their weapons to bear.  After a minute of confusion, Mila, Magnus, and John are near death, and Lucky and Sid are badly wounded.  The ten dead Kobolds and the foiling of the theft of their equipment is little solace to the group as they struggle to break camp and find relative safety. 

Desperate, they decide to head into South Dock and try to make contact with Brother Shecky.  With help from a fruit vendor, Barnacle Bill, seemingly a retired pirate, and his assistant, Pete, they are led to Shecky's shrine.  Shecky quickly sets them up in a nearby inn, River's Bounty.  He tends to the group, restoring Sid and Lucky to fighting form and then begins tending to the others. 

That evening, they are contacted by men claiming to be affiliated with The Jack of Diamonds (Damien Swift), and are told to expect a visit from him when they are better rested.  The men also post two guards at the bar to monitor the situation and prevent any unwanted visitors from bothering the group. 

Apollo 13, 163: The next morning, Shecky finishes healing the party and Damien visits them.  After some discussion, they conclude that Redjack is apparently leading a small band of thugs that are new to the area in the last year.  The thugs may be from the Malachite Ring, but it is uncertain how many, if any are genuinely from the organization.  Damien describes Redjack as not very bright, but ruthless and not in very good favor on either side of the law.  He makes side comments that suggest that he is either very keenly aware of Redjack or he has fought with him before.  However, Redjack has no fixed headquarters, but rather moves around from place to place. 

They finally agree that they will split up to look around the city, with two of Damien's men apiece in tow, to try and locate any of the men involved in the abductions and/or ambush . . .

Reckoning: Act III

Sid reports having seen a Kobold reporting and/or ordering supplies from someone on the second floor of the Greasy Swan (tavern).  He followed the Kobold, accompanied by one of his companions, Jacob, leaving Sam behind to watch for people following them.  They followed the Kobold down the trade road from West Dock to Riverton until it abruptly skulked off the road and disappeared into the trees midway on the road.  The trio returned to the Greasy Swan and Sid climbed the wall and scouted the building.  He saw a slim man in a deep blue robe, with long, straight black hair.  He appeared somewhat scholarly in manner and was apparently writing something, perhaps a letter. 

After hours of eating and talking, Lucky's absence begins to worry them.  They had no set meeting time, but they all seemed to assume that the investigations should have ended at sunset.  Suddenly, Will burst in to report that Pete, Lucky and he were walking down an alley by the Brimmin' Tankard when something happened and he woke up a few hours later to find Lucky gone and Pete dead.  The group begins to discuss how to proceed.  Should they sneak over the walls of Riverton to investigate the Brimmin' Tankard in force?  Should they check out the Greasy Swan and inquire as to why the apparent owner consorts with Kobolds?  Their choice was made when Danny walked hurriedly across the bar, breathless and reported following the thugs that accosted Magnus to the Greasy Swan and that the owner of the Greasy Swan, Finch, is an overweight, balding man in his forties. 

John, now decked out in his chain mail for the first time, and Sid went ahead with Will and Danny.  Magnus waited with Mila while she girded for battle.  Sid spotted a tail and sent Danny to take care of him.   Sid, Will, and John arrived on the scene and took out two men in the back alley of the Greasy Swan, presumably sentries, that were hiding in the shadows back there.  Soon the party was reunited just in time to fight off wave after wave of vicious, smelly thugs.  They killed a number of them and Magnus and Will fell, badly wounded. 

Sid made an attempt to enter the upper office by climbing on Mila's shoulders during a break in the waves of combatants, but he was rewarded by a blinding and dazzling spray of color from the window that knocked him unconscious.  Magnus spotted a crow seemingly watching the events and managed to hit it with an incredibly lucky throw of his dagger.  A strange sound was then heard and an eerie light filled the now broken window of the upstairs office. 

Mila managed to fight her way into the kitchen were she intimidated a thug into telling her Lucky was being kept in the pantry.  She freed Lucky, who helped Magnus and Will until they could get on their feet, barely. The group then retired to the relative safety of one of Damien's safe house, or at least that's what Danny calls it.  It was later determined by Magnus that the mage, Roland according to Lucky, had used a magical doorway to escape, a powerful spell that allows the user to travel a modest distance instantaneously.  A spell that Magnus was far from being able to master.  Although his words suggested otherwise, the party knew they had a powerful foe.

Reckoning: Act IV

A lengthy discussion ensued (in which a lot of roleplaying occurred) about the Malachite Ring.  The party discovers that the Malachite Ring symbol does not normally have the eight-pointed arrow.  The arrow symbol is the sign of The Reavers, a band of assassins that operated in Gonthe and elsewhere.  They were supposedly destroyed many years ago.  They also learned of a third organization, the Obsidian Ring, a band of mercenaries that was once in opposition to The Reavers.  They discovered a burn mark in the rough outline of the Ring's tattoo.  Jean-Claude explained that he was a member of the Obsidian Ring until he was captured by the Reavers and they burned his tattoo off with a hot iron.  Concerned for his family's well-being, he dropped out of the band and left for the Colonies to start up a business in his former profession, lumbering.  It was also revealed that there would be a party the next night to celebrate the marriage of Janine and Johann before they went off on their honeymoon. 

Culprits for the skullduggery going on in town with respect to the marriage were tossed about.  There was Red Jack, whom no one had seen.  There was the mysterious Roland.  Another possibility was the house of Crenshaw, the only legitimate entity that might be threatened by the union of such strong merchant houses.  Simon Crenshaw had been a suitor of Janine's at one time, but she had entertained him as a formality.  The boy had been too young and far too somber for her tastes. 

As if on cue, a scream interrupted their discussion and the party rushed out to find Simon Crenshaw, a young son of the Crenshaw house, abducting Janine, flanked by two motionless guards that appeared to be asleep.  Simon was stopped before he could make good his escape, thanks to a skillful arrow shot from Sid that unhorsed him and the apparently sleeping form of Janine.  As his dying action, he tried to take her with him, but a well-aimed throwing axe from Marshall sliced through the air between our dumbfounded heroes and dropped the lunatic, his dead body falling across Janine's unconscious form. 

Our heroes, along with Jean-Claude and Marshall, retired to the kitchen and cooked up a plan to have the guards fit for dress uniforms for the party, the premise being that they would see their right forearms and thus any tattoos present.  Any who protested would be suspect and Marshall could simply order them to comply.  Either way, obvious traitors could be ferreted out.  Concerned, Lucky asked that Marshall bear his arm.  He refused and a lengthy discussion of honor ensued, with our heroes being evenly divided on the issue.  Finally, Marshall placed the crest and brooch of the Rambeaux household on the table and took his leave.  In spite of this, the plan would be executed. 

Magnus, at the behest of his friends agreed to stay behind, rest up, and oversee the fitting session.  His ability to see magic could be especially useful there.  John, Mila, Sid, and Lucky would ride down the road to Muellerville to intercept Johann and escort him to Riverton, fearing that he may be in danger from attack.  As if in answer to their thoughts, the quartet did indeed surprise a group of about two dozen kobolds, apparently setting a trap of some kind along the road.  Our heroes engaged them, killing a few, and managed to force a retreat so that they could safely pass. 

Magnus, meanwhile, was awakened by one of the off-duty guards that they were told could be trusted, Nigel.  He told Magnus of people in the hallway.  They waited inside Magnus' bedroom door until the intruders passed, then jumped out and confronted them. One was taken prisoner, the other fled and was struck down by guardsmen.  Unfortunately, they had already done their damage - Jean-Claude was on death's door.  The high priest of Aristaeus came to his aid and Jean-Claude was safe.  Magnus and Josh took the captive to jail, where he was searched thoroughly for weapons and equipment and placed in a cell. 

Not too long after, screams of horror came from the cell.  The guard inside the main cell area door burst out and ran down the street.  Magnus and Josh caught a glimpse of the criminal seemingly throwing himself at the bars, trying to escape.  When they reached the cell, the man was dead from crushing injuries and there was no culprit in sight.  It was later determined by Magnus that the man had been the victim of a spell that called up large, black tentacles capable of picking up an huge man, tossing him about and crushing the life out of him.  A spell of a power not unlike the gateway that Roland had opened the night before . . .

Reckoning: Finale & Epilogue

Meanwhile, in Riverton, Magnus had returned to the Rambeaux estate to find Jean-Claude's son, Sebastian, taking care of household leadership.  He was not very kind to Magnus when he checked on Jean-Claude's health, bordering on hostility.  Magnus exercised his diplomacy skills, but was only able to bring Sebastian to a state in which he was not as open and gracious as Jean-Claude, but was also not hostile.  If anything, he had an air of beneficent tolerance of Magnus' intrusion into what he viewed a personal crisis.  With that accomplished, Magnus went off to a well-deserved rest. 

The remaining heroes safely returned to the estate that evening, with Johann in tow.  The party had been canceled in light of the previous night's attack and everyone set about discussing plans.  The plans were for naught, as that night, Roland attacked. 

[Unbeknownst to them, a group of 40 Kobolds attacked the main entrance of the residence wing, but Captain Marshall had been watching the movements of Roland's people and stopped them from breaking through, although the two guards at the entrance did give their lives.  Meanwhile, four skilled thugs had gained entrance via the back doorway and made their way to Johann's room.  Roland was simultaneously using a spell to Fly in through Johann's window.] 

Chaos ensued as the party awoke and responded.  The thugs were readily dispatched by Mila and John.  Magnus and Sid ran to and fro trying to identify and engage further threats.  Magnus, looking from an adjacent room, spotted Roland as he smashed through Johann's window.  Sid, also in the room, and he ran to Johann's room.  John, Mila, and Lucky charged in to engage Roland in the hopes of dispatching him before he could unleash too much magic.  He unleashed his magic and ten 10'-long black tentacles sprung form the floor of the room.  Lucky swiftly withdrew, but his companions did not fare so well.  Three tentacles were dispelled when they struck John, but the grounding of their magical energy barely knocked him out.  One tentacle grabbed Johann's bed and three more grabbed him.  Mila, afraid that more spells would follow, rushed forward in spite of the remaining tentacles and attacked Roland, wounding him grievously and foiling his casting of a spell.  Finally, three tentacles attacked Mila.  Two were dispelled, but a third managed to grab her. 

She railed against the tentacle and attacked Roland again, but her blows fell short of the mark as the tentacle thrashed her about.   Lucky worked his way past the tentacle holding Mila and struck Roland, missing. Sid got off a dagger at the tentacle, wounding it.  Magnus unleashed a dazzling spray of color, but the bulk of it was reflected back at him, leaving him unconscious and Roland unaffected.  Roland retreated and tried to fly to the roof, but Lucky, in an amazingly . . . lucky shot, crushed Roland's abdomen with his mace and dropped the fell wizard to the ground below. 

A trio of surviving guards finally responded and cut down the tentacle before it crushed the last gasp of life from Mila.  Sid rushed down and made certain that Roland's death was certain and not some crafty spell meant to fake his death.  Lucky tended to John and Mila, but there was no hope for Johann. 

Epilogue

As Lucky slaps Magnus back to consciousness, a call of alarm cuts through the fog of the party's battered sensibilities.  The voice of a guard is yelling from the entrance to this wing of the house.  The trio of guards that showed up in the bedroom are stationed over John and Mila while the party rushes to respond to what may well be another threat . . . 

In fact, it is not.  As Sid, Lucky, and Magnus exit the door, they see an intimidating sight - a badly wounded Captain Marshall lies just inside the entrance, with literally piles of Kobold bodies around him.  Their butchered forms clog the exit to the building as well as two flanking entrances.  If one had to guess, it would appear that the 
vermin scum poured through the main doorway and then also the windows of the rooms adjoining the main hallway.  There appear to be scores of the foul creatures.  Sid, a frighteningly smug expression on his face points 
out to Magnus and Lucky the discarded, shoddy weapons beyond the pile in the main exit and says, "Looks like there were more of the filthy vermin, but they fled." 

Magnus gestures to the the palisade of bodies "I can see why." 

Lucky, meanwhile is tending to Marshall and quickly realizes that he will be fine.  As if sensing the thoughts in Lucky's mind, Marshall smiles and says "You won't be rid of me that easily, young sir." 

"Sir, perish the thought", replies Lucky.  "I am glad to say that I owe you, and do hereby proffer, my most sincere apologies.  I only hope you can see your way to forgive me for my impertinent behavior earlier.  Your actions today have surely saved us all, and we are all in your debt." 

Magnus, after a flicker of thought says "This would appear to be the key to our victory.  With a small horde like this maintaining a safe perimeter, Roland could very well have dispatched the entire household.  Fortunately his tactics were too complex and fragile this time."  He nods to himself, "Arrogance is the bane of any tactician." 

Everyone works to secure the grounds and check on everyone else.  Sid, Magnus, Lucky, Sebastian and Marshall sit around the kitchen table, discussing the nights events.  As if out of thin air, Damien and two of his men appear.  Before anyone can proclaim their surprise, he tosses a small, slightly bloody satchel on the table.  Damien in an unusual, laconic display simply says "A gift from some dead kobolds" and leaves as quickly as he came. 

Sid carefully opens the satchel, keeping a wary eye for any unwanted surprises.  He finds none and opens the satchel, pulling out some papers.  They appear to be progress reports on establishing a business in Riverton.  To the unsuspecting eye, it would seem that someone plans to set up large cargo business 

A documents defies Sid's comprehension.  Magnus catches a glimpse and gently takes them from him, saying "The script of wizards."  The documents turn out to be a personal letter from Roland: 

Most Wise and Powerful Malikos,

The children from Muellerville have appeared in town and are disrupting things tremendously.  They consist of the Luckbringer, Caleb "Lucky" Small, the neophyte wizard, Magnus Morilus Faden, the Half-Orc warrior Mila Throga'ar, and the street punk, Siderite Tueftlerson.  The kidnapping of Caleb failed.  I believe they are receiving aid from Damien Swift, aka the Jack of Diamonds.

I have tried to not draw any unwanted attention, per your orders, but they have forced my hand.  Further, that moronic whelp, Simon, of the Crenshaws tried to kidnap then kill Janine Rambeaux.  The children stopped him, prompting the upstart Rambeaux family to take them in.

I now feel that the Rambeaux household has become to aware of our situation and will soon be mobilized to jeopardize it.  With the resources I have at my command, remaining covert and letting my actions be blamed on Red Jack is the best course.  I will leave shortly and dispatch the entire household.  This should also create some chaos among the underworld community, further strengthening our position.  I will then deal with Damien, removing our greatest threat to covert domination of this filthy, little, backwater village.
How I long for the sophisticated company I had grown so accustomed to in Seahaven.  I look forward to returning there when my duties here are complete.

Your humble student,

Roland d'Azure

Magnus finishes reading the encrypted letter, placing it on the table. He then looks about to his companions, attempting to read their reactions and intentions, then speaks, "It seems as though all of our conspiracy instincts were well founded, although what these villains had planned for Riverton I can only imagine," the party senses feelings of relief and concern in Magnus' voice. 

Our heroes wrestle with their future plans.  Father Mac offers to give Lucky some greater insight into his faith on the Lady Luck, an offer that would also delay Lucky's arrival in Seahaven anywhere from two to three weeks.  The party, eager to educate themselves before they die from ignorance, deliberates . . .

Past Friends and New Beginnings

Apollo 21, 163: In Muellerville, the party stops to pay respects to their deceased friend, Johann.  Magnus and Mila spend lunch at her house.  Magnus loses badly to her father at Chess but ends up "buying" some pearls for his spell casting at 20% cost.  The next morning starts with a solemn ceremony in which eloquent eulogies abound.  After the last somber word, given by Clauss, John stands up and pronounces "Enough sobriety, let us celebrate the life that was Johann's!"  A party ensues and there is much merriment.  Drunken proclamations of progressively greater accomplishments by Johann accompany pledges of lifelong friendships between mere acquaintances.  The day ends on a high note. 

Clauss informs the party of gifts bestowed.  Mila will receive a custom suit of armor, made by Finch McGillikey.  Talon Stoutheart has been commissioned to manufacture fine daggers for Sid and Magnus and a sword for John.  Malin Silverhair has been commissioned to make high quality bows for Sid and John. 

The group spends the night in Muellerville and departs the next day, sans Lucky, who will remain on the Lucky Lady with Father Mac to explore his faith.  Lucky plans to be delayed only about two weeks.

Apollo 28, 163: The party, sans Lucky, arrives in Ballast without incident and decides to wait a day so they can join a large caravan en route to Seahaven.  The weather is mediocre, and they do not make good time. 

Maiden 10, 163: The caravan has progressed slowly and is attacked this night by a large group of Bugbears.  Our heroes handily vanquish three of the huge beasts. 

Maiden 12, 163: Lucky arrives in Ballast and has the good fortune to join up with a medium-sized caravan as it is leaving for Seahaven. 

Maiden 20, 163: The weather was exceptionally clear and pleasant over the last week and the caravan and our heroes pull into Seahaven, sans Lucky.  They secure lodgings at the Cozy Hearth an Inn in a nice part of town that caters more to feeding and housing its guests.  Drinks are available, but there is not bar per se, just a dining area. 

Maiden 23, 163: The party meets for lunch.  Little has happened.  Magnus has been toiling arduously and has not yet been able to pursue identification of the magic items.  Sid has not tracked down any useful info.  Mila has entertained herself watching pit-fighting at Blackjack's Loins, a seedy, dockside bar. 

Maiden 25: Timotaeus takes Magnus aside and discusses his knowledge of Malikos.  He explains that Malikos is probably middle-aged and is not a member of the Octagon, although he had once tried and failed to gain control of it.  He was last reported to be searching the colony lands for artifacts and magical lore of the land.

Sid meets an old friend, Jake "the Shank," in the Bullseye, a tavern with an emphasis on darts.  His friend is pale and oddly quiet and distant.  He seems to drink pensively as if someone might punish him.  Sid notices two very large, burly men in hooded cloaks watching them, their hoods drawn over their heads.  One of them motions to Jake and they leave the tavern.  Sid tries to follow, but one of the thugs pursues him and when Sid tries to regain the trail, they are gone already. 

Maiden 26: Mila, Magnus, John, and Sid meet for lunch to discuss plans.  Lucky arrives while they are talking, shakes off the dust of traveling and orders up a pile of food and a sizable beverage. A young waif calls Sid out to meet someone that wants to see him alone.  He goes along with him, leading him down a twisting route of back alleys.  Of course, Sid knows exactly where he is, having spent many months taking such routes as a youth here.  Finally, he meets up with Jake.  Jake is pale and speaks of Ja'an Ta'Shok and before he can explain what he wants, his face takes on a very surprised look and the tip of a heavy crossbow quarrel emerges from his sternum, coming to a halt as the head clears his body.  He falls down, dying, revealing his assailant fleeing down an alley many meters away.  He murmurs some last words to him: 

"Seek . . . in the . . . . Lucky Penny." 

Sid fetches the party quickly, but Lucky is unable to save Jake.  They search his body and find a circular medallion of coral with a tooth, possibly a shark's according to John, but almost nothing else.  They drop off Jake's body at the temple of Osiris and go to the Octagon to divide up their magic items, which have been graciously identified by Timotaeus: 

• Medallion (from the body of the leader of a band of Malachite Ring/Reavers) - confers ability to magically jump and climb as if the possessor were a human-sized spider.  The abilities last for about one minute. Lucky took this as he wears no boot or gloves and the party felt that the Spider Climb ability will probably require bare hands and feet as the spell does.
• Bracers (from Roland's body) - protect the wearer as well as chain mail (AC5) and have some indeterminate ability related to missiles.  Magnus took these.
• +2 Longtooth (from Roland's body) - dagger that transforms to a short sword if held by a Gnome or Halfling.  It has the ability to cut through stone or wood effortlessly (under what circumstance it works is uncertain). Sid continues to own this item.
• Ring of Spell Turning (from Roland's body) - It has two charges left. Given to Mila.
• Dust of sleep (from Simon Crenshaw's body) - induces magical slumber to all those immediately in front of the user [the front three hexes, normally], can be thrown harder for more distant effect, but utility uncertain.  six uses left.  Given to John.
• Scroll of Protection from Poison (from Roland's body) - protects user from poisons taken in after reading it.  Given to John.