Session VI: Don't Get Hexed

An Audience for an Audience

The party made dock in Looter's Cove. The harbor around them was recently damaged, and the walls of the town that divided the docks and the town interior also had notable dents and fractures.
Knowing Noblewitch Clarissa seemed to be the main cause of Hex's presence, Corellia, Zephyrion, and Aria split off to talk to Osaidus about earning an audience with her. Vox and Arves, meanwhile, slogged their way through customs into town to explore.
Osaidus specified they'd only earn an audience if Pirate Lord Weaver permitted it, and still in harbor, was convinced to talk to the Pirate Lord and see if the party could earn an audience with him first. Afterward, the three picked up their slack and went into town after the other two.

The Nenar Sellswords

Distinguished by the blue tribal paint on their skin not covered by their medium armor, the sellswords are turncoat Nenar tribespeople, drawn in from the allure of mercenary work, piracy, and money. Unlike most Nenar, who put a large precedence on religion, the sellswords do not associate with Hwesta or any god. They work for the side that gives them the most money, which at the moment is Pirate Lord Weaver, who employs them for Noblewitch Clarissa like her own personal police force.

Exploring Looter's Cove

Inside Looter's Cove, the party could see Clarissa Manor upon a hilltop that overlooked town. Arves asked around for any magic vendors and inns that would be the first places to visit. He was told of the Helldiner, a popular tavern in town, and Aaron's Quarter, a small market of magic owned by the man of the same name.

Aaron's Quarter

Aaron's Quarter is an open market-like magic shop, with different stalls set up around a square courtyard. It is run by Aaron Foxweather and his two stone golem bodyguards, Muji and Jimu. Unlike in Manmoga, the party found a much wider assortment of magical artifacts for sale.
From the money the party had managed to accrue, they bought out nearly his entire stock, to his utter amazement, as well as commission him for two things: craft for Arves an item which would allow him to periodically ritually cast his spells, and for Vox a magical elven greatsword, able to be one-handed. In total, both commissions would take twelve days and be finished by Eadriscus 27th.

The Helldiner

The popular inn of Looter's Cove, pirates and other crews frequent the place, because of Orivear Graydigger, the owner, and the side business that he runs. When the party walked in, they talked with Orivear and learned of the Hellshafts.

The Hellshafts

Deep beneath the tavern ran an endlessly wide and endlessly deep network of Pallusian caves and ruins from the Old World, filled with dangers and treasure around every corner. A massive sinkhole in a large guarded viewing room in the back marked the way down into them, fitted with a dwarven pulley and steam elevator.
Purely a "daredevil" sport, up to teams of four can take on a task to dive down into one of the twenty prescribed levels to explore and loot whatever they so desired, but they'd also have to defend themselves from its monsters. Any who made it back to the shaft and returned to the surface would be honored as official helldiners, and their names would be etched into plaques on the wall. The inn would keep a small cut of the money the group earned, but nothing else.
A record plaque was on the wall above all the rest, honoring three helldiners who had made it past the tenth level, the farthest any group had ever gone. The three names were Valdi Heavywood, Jyrus Coopel, and Daggon Strongwillow. Recognizing the last name, the party wondered if that was the same Daggon as the one back in Manmoga.
The party agreed to keep an activity like this in mind for the future.

Clarissa Manor

A luxurious manor guarded by the bulk of the Nenar Sellswords, Clarissa Manor is the personal residence of Noblewitch Clarissa.

Meeting Pirate Lord Weaver

When the party returned to the docks late in the evening, they learned from Osaidus that the Pirate Lord would be allowing a short audience from the group taking out an official bounty on Hex. Learning all other ships in port would be leaving tomorrow afternoon for Keelhaul, the party quickly went to Weaver's flagship, the Ja'alath Hellflower.
Led on board, they saw a crew comprised mostly of gith. The ship's first mate was even a githzerai spellcaster named Danuthi. The first mate led the party to Weaver's quarters. When they entered, the saw a well muscled githyanki sparring against a wooden dummy with a magically psychic greatsword.
Weaver was very strict and direct, and ordered the party to explain why they wished to meet with Clarissa. Corellia explained the party's plan.
They knew when Hex appeared from thin air, her ship would fire at port, and vanish in a veil of darkness once pursued. They also knew on every night the town had sent out patrols, her ship never showed up. Corellia proposed to use Clarissa as bait to keep Hex's ship around. The party would signal Hex that Clarissa was on board and would ferry her over to the other ship — Fannik would even be her bodyguard — and if diplomacy of some sort didn't win out, the party would at least have the advantage of striking on Hex's ship. Knowing Danuthi could use teleportation magic, Corellia even suggested Weaver could use Danuthi to get Clarissa out if things got dangerous.
Weaver was absolutely against the plan, at first, as he was not going to entertain the idea of placing Clarissa's life in danger, but after being convinced none of his or the town's other plans had worked up until this point, he relented. However, it would still be up to Clarissa to agree to the plan, also, and Weaver agreed to talk with Clarissa and grant the party an opportunity to see her.
Afterward, they were ordered off the Hellflower, and went back to their ship to wait for Weaver's return. He returned when Danuthi teleported with Weaver onto the New Management II's main deck. Clarissa had agreed to meet the party, and they traveled to her manor in haste.

Meeting Noblewitch Clarissa

The sellswords guarding the manor stripped the party of all weapons — and spellbooks — before they were allowed entry. A halfling servant name Harrus Goldtucker, skin a vary fair white and dressed very cleanly, answered and led everyone to the main room where Clarissa lounged and knitted.

The main room was warm and dimly lit by a hearth, surrounded by cushioned chairs and loveseats. On the wall above the hearth hung a gigantic portrait. It was of a man wearing the regal clothes of a Ravennian naval officer, with a black beard laced with gold rings. The name at the bottom of the portrait was Harwood Abram. Two other servants were in the room. They were Ornnus Vonn and Elizabeth Vonn, human brother and sister.
After she was finished with her formal greetings, the party relayed everything Corellia had told Weaver, and like him, she was initially very

against the idea of being put on the proverbial fishhook, and even surprised they convinced Weaver to consider it. When Arves pressed her asking what Hex wanted with her, Clarissa pleaded she had no idea; Arves could not tell if she was speaking the truth or not.
After a little bit of discussion, Clarissa too was convinced to go along with the plan as long as this would be done during the night, a condition that confused the party. They told her to arrive at their ship, she prepared her carriage to leave, and the party returned to the New Management II.

A Plan in Place

Clarissa arrived with Harrus, and she and Danuthi both boarded the New Management II. The party hoisted a white flag up the mast, and Arves stood in Fannik's palm while he wrote with his magical quill upon the town's wall a message for Hex: "Clarissa is on board the ship with the white flag."
During the writing, Fannik asked Arves if the party could really trust a vampire like Clarissa, a deduction that surprised him, but Fannik made it sound obvious. Thinking it through, Arves felt the dots connect. Fannik even deduced Harrus was likely one of her spawn. It was a shocking revelation, but something that would have to be dealt with after the bounty was done and over.

Out in the Water

Everything in place, the party waited out at sea for hours. It carried into the very early hours of the next morning while they hoped Hex would show up, and for a moment, it seemed as if this would all be a waste. Until it wasn't.

A looming darkness seemed to descend from the sky, covering the water, and from that darkness a sudden veil was torn and a ship came barreling through it. It bore torn dark sails and strange occult symbols painted across them. Its port side faced the party's ship, and without skipping a beat, a line of smoke erupted from the side of the ship, and cannon fire tore into the helm of the New Management II.
Would the party's plan fail after all?

To be continued...

Report Date
March 16th, 2024
In-Game Start Date
Eadriscus 15th, 1301 AC
In-Game End Date
Eadriscus 16th, 1301 AC

Player Characters

Zephyrion Skyblade - An owlin fighter.
Vox - A hill dwarf, emerald kobold, ancestral guardian barbarian.
Corellia Emberfin - A tiefling-triton fighter.
Arves - A vedalkin scribe wizard.

Non-Player Characters

Aria Swiftblade - A fairy champion fighter wielding duel battleaxes.
Orivear Graydigger - The duergar owner of the Helldiner.
Aaron Foxweather - The human owner of Aaron's Quarter.
Pirate Lord Weaver - The githyanki pirate lord, an exile from Shiq'Gith intent on forming an empire.
Noblewitch Clarissa - An elven noble — vampire in secret — who runs Looter's Cove like a regent.

Magic Items

Belt of Never-Ending Daggers

Wondrous item, uncommon, 800gp (requires attunement)
This belt has numerous sheathes patterned across it. Each sheath has a conjuration glyph inscribed on it, and a dim blue glow occupies each sheath.
Dagger Attunement (A). This belt has ten sheathes. If a dagger is sheathed in this belt for at least one hour, it becomes bound to the belt. You can perform a one-hour ritual to unbind the dagger from the belt. While a dagger is bound, you have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with it, and when you make a thrown attack with it, it immediately reappears in its sheath after the attack finishes. The dagger also reappears in the belt anytime it is outside its sheath and not in your hand.
Ascended. While you are attuned to this, you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with daggers.
“I was in the season of giving, so I gave everyone a stab wound.”

~ Benny “Big Thief” Marcus

The Doomerang

Boomerang (dagger), uncommon, 875gp (requires attunement)
This metal boomerang is unrealistically sharp. Transmutation glyphs are inscribed all over its surface.
Unrealistically Sharp. This weapon deals an additional d4 of piercing damage on a hit.
Return (A). Whenever you make a thrown attack with this weapon, it returns to your hand immediately after the attack.
Doomerang (A). Whenever you roll damage with this weapon, if you roll a 4 on one of this weapon’s d4 damage dice, roll an additional d4 of damage; this bonus die is also affected by this property.
Ascended. While you are attuned to this, this weapon deals an additional d4 of piercing damage on a hit.
“Remember, life is a boomerang. You get what you give.”

~ Someone who died to the doomerang, probably

Necklace of Intelligence

Necklace, uncommon, 825gp (requires attunement)
This necklace is made of tiny emerald chain links. Very small divination runes are inscribed into each link.
Better Intelligence (A). While you wear this necklace, your Intelligence score increases by 1, as does your maximum for that score.
Ascended. While you are attuned to this, your Intelligence score increases by 1, as does your maximum for that score.
“Now I understand. I should not have said no to my wife.”

~ Unknown artificer