The party found themselves looking at a pirate base, with two ships docked, one inside the cave complex, and one in the cove. Deciding to assault the base, the party sniped the lookouts, and then entered the base. Seeing that most of the pirates were in the tavern inside the cave complex, the party blocked all of the exits, and set it on fire (this should sound familiar, as my party back in the days of Tomb of Annihilation did the same thing!), and letting survivors jump into the shark infested waters off to the side of the tavern.
Having dealt with this, the party destroyed one ship. They also freed the slaves that were being smuggled out of this location.
After freeing the slaves, the party, having no further leads, decides to head to Luniaraysk, to deliver more food their way. Along the way, they meet two people, one who has, seemingly uncontrollable tremors, and the other laughing heartily sporadically. Highly suspicious of the situation, where the response of the two is “it happens sometimes.”
The party heads onward, only to find out that Luniarysk has been importing slaves to eat, thereby fending off the famine that they have been experiencing. Seeing also that there is a large black tower made of an unknown metal is in the middle of town that they had not heard about previously. Deciding to assassinate the mayor to stop the nonsense and slaughter of innocents, they do so, causing the crowd to panic and disperse.
Investigating the strange tower, the party discovered two things: the party was confronted with four very powerful evil adventurers, that had “saved” the town from starvation (and presumably led the town to cannibalism), and on top of the tower were four crystals that negated their magic abilities and items. After the confrontation, the party left hurriedly, knowing that they were no match with these adventurers. Worse still, the party was targeted by a rod of some kind that they realized had the capability of cutting off the world from deities, including Falinora. Stripped of their magic and protections, the party fled.
Leaving that place, and with less food than they came (they contacted the spymaster to have soldiers come and enforce the idea that cannibalism was in no way acceptable, and hopefully with more food.
The party traveled then, to Bobuch, where they found that The Priest had been, helping feed the town, keeping them from starvation. The party inquired about the strange crystals that fell from the sky, and found that they had been dropped 300 feet down an abandoned mineshaft. The party went down and, using the shatter spell, destroyed the crystals.
Meanwhile, The Priest met with the party, who assured them that the effects of the strange rod were not permanent and would subside in a matter of days. After that time, he was able to repair Avery’s broken hammer, Angelus. The Priest explained that this item was called the Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings. It’s appearance was unexpected and foretold dire consequences for the world. In fact, its presence cannot be seen by deities at all, and followers are only told of its appearance to be on the lookout for it and to seize it at all costs, to keep it from out of the wrong hands.
The party set back out, towards Pronk, having been told by The Priest that messengers sent to that town have not returned.
What lay in store for the Ingrates next? Stay tuned for another edition of “A DM’s Perspective”!
Until next time, Dear Readers…
The Daily Dungeon Master Blog 