Session 6 - 7/31/19 - Anthony's Group

General Summary

The adventure began one night in Saltmarsh. Our adventurers were celebrating the christening of their new ship, The Rookie Mistake, when Ragnar approached, calling upon any adventurers still sober enough to take a job that had just presented itself. Ian Cognito, Lou Scannon, and Detective Rich Tapestry answered this call, as they had only just arrived to the party. Ragnar lead the ragtag trio bag to the Adventurer's League office where a weary man sat outside. Ragnar introduced the man, Someth Halfback, who pleaded for the adventurer's to find his missing children. In exchange, he offered a golden locket from his grandmother as payment, which Rich promptly plucked from the poor man's hands. The gang inquired as to where his three kids could have gone, but Someth wasn't sure, only able to suggest they check with the guards at the Western Gate, or perhaps some sailors down by the docks, as the kids were known to frequent those locations to ask about stories from beyond Saltmarsh. The gang, lacking tact or a general moral compass, made many a joke at the fate of the children, drawing the ire of Someth, who proceeded to try and hit Lou... forgetting that Lou Scannon was donned in a full set of plate armor. Someth broke his finger and the group proceeded to laugh and head out towards the Western Gate.
Approaching the gate, the gang noticed two guards on watch duty. They approached and hailed the guards, who introduced themselves as Garbanzo and Frankfurter. When asked if they had seen the Halfback children, the guards said that they hadn't, but they expressed their concern for the kids as they enjoyed telling them stories of their adventures. When asked if the guards could help in some way, they had to decline as the Saltmarsh Guard was currently understaffed. However, after a few unsavory comments from the gang, Frankfurter and Garbanzo turned towards each other and shared some hushed words, after which Garbanzo offered, or rather, insisted that he should go with the group. Ian Cognito, however, reminded him just how short-staffed the guard is, and reassured him that the gang could find the kids on their own. Relenting, Garbanzo demanded that group to find the kids, or he would find Lou.
The gang proceeded onward to the docks to talk to the local merchant sailors. At the docks, they noted that The Rookie Mistake was bustling with adventurers, some of whom were throwing up over the side. They longed to go back, but they had a job to do. Several docks over, at a much tamer, respectable port, was a group of sailors playing cards. The gang approached and immediately began to sling grievous accusations at the sailors as to their involvement with the missing children. Before a fight could erupt, however, the gang asked what they knew of the kids, to which one of the sailors shared that the kids had only stopped by briefly earlier in the day, but didn't stick around for stories as they were off to tell scary stories to their youngest sister, whatever that meant. The trio was pointed towards the North Gate of the town, but first, the sailors briefly convened and muttered some words to one another. Turning back towards the adventurers, one of the sailors, a burly half-orc, insisted that he should travel with the adventurers. Once again, however, Ian Cognito was... oddly persuasive, and talked the sailor down, insisting that just the three of them could handle the job. The sailors accepted, but threatened the group that they would hunt them down should any harm come to the kids.
With only a single clue to go on, the gang ventured over to the North Gate of Saltmarsh. Late in the night by now, the streets were silent and empty, but surprisingly, as was the North Gate. Rich Tapestry, ever observant, proceeded to walk into the closed porticulus of the North Gate. Looking around, the gang found the stairwell that guards use to reach the top of the town wall. Atop the wall, the gang looked over the wall to guage the height: about 25 feet. Neglecting a very prominent gate wheel immedietly beside them, the gang decided to tie a rope around a part of the wall and to rappel down. Rich proceeded first, during which Lou and Ian joked about cutting the rope. The two jokers proceeded to follow Rich down the rope. Outside the castle wall, they realized how dark it was, and produced their respective choices of light: Ian casting light on an unlit torch, Lou casting a rather phallic arrangement of floating lights, and Rich who lit a single candle. Before the adventurers could figure out where to go, they heard a shout from above. A guard had appeared, adjusting his cuirass. Seeing a rope tied to a stone along the wall and a band of ragtag individuals at the bottom of the exterior side of the wall, the guard demanded to know who they were and why they were attempting to break into Saltmarsh. The gang, ever-defiant, demanded to know who the guard was. Shouting ensued, and the guard eventually drew an arrow and loosed it upon Ian, nailing him in the shoulder. At this point, the gang ran off into the night, away from the town gate.
Along a main road, the gang trod onwards, realizing they hadn't much of a clue where to go. Thankfully, luck would have it that they stumbled upon what looked to be a set of small footprints that veered from the road off into the woods. What are the odds? The gang proceeded into the dark forest, doing their best to follow the footprints. As they proceeded, a bush rustled and out jumped a mean looking man armed with a club. It was at this point that seven more brutish-looking men revealed themselves, all armed and looking ready to fight. The leader of this bunch, known as Blue, demanded to know who they were and what they were doing in their stretch of the woods. The gang demanded to know the same. Shouting ensued. Eventually, it was sussed out that the band of men were poachers in the woods. The adventurers, thoroughly lost on the whereabouts of the children, asked the men if they had seen any kids coming through the woods. Blue claimed that they might, but that the adventurers would have to agree to not rat out the poachers to the city guard. Ian assured them they would never do such a thing. Satisfied, the men put away their weapons and pointed them to a location known as Dark Path Cave, an old cave once occupied by a band of drow rangers. It being the only unusual thing in this part of the woods made it seem likely the kids may be there. Before the adventurers could proceed onward, the poachers murmured to one another, shooting sideways glances at Lou, Rich, and Ian. One of them approached, a vicious looking man with a scarred face. He proclaimed that, having kids of his own, he'd hate to hear of anything bad happening to these missing children, and that he would like to accompany the adventurers to ensure the kids' safety. Ian assured him that the three of them could handle it, no problem. Begrudgingly, the band of poachers agreed to let them go. Before leaving, Blue asked if the gang had noticed signs of game from the stretch of woods they came from. The current location was apparently sparse of animals. Ian, ever honest, pointed them straight in the direction of the North Gate of Saltmarsh.
Now with a lead, the gang proceeded towards the Dark Path Cave, whereupon they found... a dark cave. Venturing in, the cave opened up into a large cavern in which they found a bridge crossing an underground river, several still-lit braziers, and a derelict guard outpost. Proceeding with minimal caution, the gang crossed over the bridge. They stopped in their tracks when they heard what sounded like a large creatures snoring. Putting up their guard, Ian thought it wise to throw a rock off in another direction as a distraction of some sort. The rock clambered across the floor, making a lot of noise, only made worse by the echos of the cavern. An agitated grunt came from within the guard outpost. Lou, tiring of this, proceeded to venture to the doors of the guard post and kicked one in with all his might, sending it crashing across the room inside, landing awfully close to the now-awake troll inside.
Caught in the presence of a very angry troll, Lou backed away into a corner inside the guard post. Rich, outside, proceeded around the side of the building and peered in through a collapsed wall, where upon he was horrified to see the troll demolishing Lou Scannon with a series of vicious bites and slashes. On the brink of death, Lou was granted some reprieve as the troll was distracted by a bolt of wild magic from Ian from outside the guard post. The troll turned its attention towards Ian, who now smelled very nicely of fresh lavender, and took to chase him. Inside the post, Rich brought Lou back to his feet with a healing word and noticed too that three children were frozen, huddled in the far end of the outpost in a dark corner. Lou went off to assist Ian while Rich approached the children and coaxed them into following him out of the cave. The troll had its own share of misfortune as it went to bite right on Lou's plate armor, shattering its teeth. In a rage, it swung a claw far too hard and recklessly, missing and dislocated a shoulder in the process. A lucky break for the adventurers as they didn't seem to be hurting the troll much otherwise. As Rich and the Halfback children ran across the bridge, Lou managed to find an opening and follow too. This, however, left Ian Cognito rather conspicuously trapped between the side of the bridge, the river, and the troll. Before he could act, the troll lashed out, maiming Ian and downing him. Just barely in range, Rich Tapestry cast another word of healing to resuscitate his comrade. The troll, having given up on the chase proceeded to sit and nurse its wounds by the guard post. Ian Cognito proceeded to swim across the river, not wanting to risk being seen crossing the bridge. Resisting the strong currents, he made it to the other side. In what should have been the end of this conflict, Ian Cognito found it wise to taunt the troll with several rude gestures, to which the troll stood back up, grabbed a door from off the ground, and threw it clear across the river. Luck would have it that the door narrowly missed all the adventurers and children, who then proceeded to run for their lives.
Back in town with the children in tow, the adventurers returned to the Adventurers' Association Office where upon a grateful Someth hugged his children and thanked the adventurers. Ragnar congratulated the trio on a job well done. As the gang proceeded back to The Rookie Mistake, an unease clung to the air, their egos bruised knowing the troll had almost bested them.

Rewards Granted

Every player character who participated in this session receives:

• 2 Apprentice-level Artifice Coins (provided by the adventurer's guild when you return from the adventure)
• 5 downtime days
• 50 gold pieces

Report Date

06 Aug 2019