GoSR-Session 1 : Return to Saltmarsh

After a several month break, the party returned to Saltmarsh. Bow Bow, Molly, Grey, and Oceanus shared there experiences in the region over the last weeks.
Bow Bow had been helping Wellgar Brinehanded to recover sailors lost at sea. On one such strip he learned the location of the Golset Beacon a supposedly haunted lighthouse.
Molly had built a working relationship with Ingo the Drover, acting as a ship guard for salvage vessels in the region. She learned the location of The Wash, a graveyard of ship on a patch of sandbar out in the bay.
Grey had been taking trips into the marshes to hunt for a rare woodworking material called Vastwood, for the carpenters guild. In his travels through the swamp he found a strange pristine garden, guarded by a magical barrier.
Oceanus had formed a friendship with Manistrad Copperlocks, and had helped track down a thief who had stolen a shipment of equipment from the mine. He tracked the criminal to a beach shack some miles east of the mines. There he found Bottlehead Beach, and dug up a healing potion.
While drinking and reminiscing together, the party overheard that an enemy from their past had been seen around town once again. Rumor was, Ned Shakeshaft was back in town.
The party had a score to settle with the wily conman, so they set out to look for him. After asking around town they came to the The Empty Net. The barkeep, Kreb Shenker, told them that Ned had been in just the night before, and had been acting oddly. He refused a drink, and simply emphasized to Kreb that he was now hiding out at the Tower of Zenopus. This was a shock to Kreb, as the ruin of the old wizards tower has always been shunned as a cursed place.
Curious, the party decided to investigate further. Bow Bow had earned a favor from the local priest Wellgar Brinehanded, and could call on him to perform a powerful scrying spell, leting them spy on Ned wherever he was. But to do so they needed something that had belonged to Ned.
With some quick thinking they recalled that Ned had paid Kreb from information the night before, and that his coin was probably still in the bucket Kreb always keeps tips in. To retrieve the coin Oceanus entered the Empty net and put on a distracting musical performance, meanwhile Molly snuck behind the bar and swiped all the coin she could find and brought it out to where Bow Bow and Grey then examined the coins and figured out which one belonged to Ned. Unfortunatley for Oceanus, his song had pulled on old Kreb's heart strings, and the crusty old sea-dog refused to let the elf leave without more music. They snuck some oceanic drugs into Kreb's drink, putting him to sleep and letting the elf escape.
With the coin in hand they returned to the temple of Procan to preform the scrying spell. Wellgar performed the proper rituals over a clear silver basin of sea water, and after a time a dark image came into view. They could see a figure, but instead of the greasy face of Ned Shakeshaft as expected, they saw the pathetically grinning face of an imp! The creature was groveling and whining to it's apparent master, who could be heard but not seen. The imp confirmed that it had done all that it's master wished. It had disguised itself as Ned, had gone into town and asked leading questions about the Tower of Zenopus, it had left clues and coin around.
Seeming satisfied, the apparent master praised the imp and gave it a promised reward, a severed human hand, tossed to the imp who began to eat it with glee.
Disturbed by these rvelations, the party was discussing what to do when a messenger from the town council arrived and told the party the the council wished to meet with them immediatly.