A group of four companions, recently arrived in Fort Whitevault, sat around a tavern table. There was little conversation exchanged. They’d already traveled a great distance together, each carrying the expectation of being given a first mission in the field from a superior agent from the organization to which they’d pledge their lives: The Spectre Society.
A figure wrapped in a long, black toga approached, a cowl obscuring his face. “I’ve come to deliver your mission orders,” he whispered.
“How do we know you’re from the society,” asked Siane, and burly lad in hide armor. Sancho, his companion, cast a disapproving glance as he fiddled with a dart. As recruits, they knew of the brands that all members bore of a skull and a triangle, often burned into a shoulder.
“You know me because I’m here, and I know you are Siane, Sancho, Pepito and Jonda. Four foolish adventurers,” he paused for emphasis, “who will travel north to the fishing village of Manustead to investigate why no ships have arrived from the north. Proceed to the wharf and board The Anslo Tasker.” The mysterious figure disappeared into the noisy tavern crowd.
Soon, they were standing on the deck of a small galley, braced by the spray of foam as the oarsmen drove them north. At the end of that day (5/23), they pulled into the harbor at Manustead, a fishing village on the island of Vaneroa. They were Siane, a human trained as a bounty hunter; Jemi, a necromancer whose mother was an elf; Sancho, a human trained in scouting; and Pepito, a halfling skilled in the arcane arts of thieving.
The next day (5/4), they asked about troubles in the village. The innkeeper explained the ongoing threat of wild lizardmen attempting raids that the local militia had well under control. He also mentioned that no ships had arrived from the north for weeks, which was unexpected. The village had erected a lighthouse at the end of a long peninsula, some fifty miles from the village to warn incoming ships of a dangerous reef. Perhaps the lighthouse had failed and the ships were wrecking themselves again.
The party took this news as a sign to investigate. They convinced a fisherman to take them out, a two day trip. They bought a loaf of sweet bread to offer to the family who tended the lighthouse. Two days later (5/26), the little fishing boat came as close as it could to the north side of the peninsula as it could while avoiding the rocks. They could see the lighthouse and beyond it, a few miles down the shore, was a wooden tower. The captain explained he could not drop them off at the lighthouse itself. He’d have to turn back and deliver them to a beach on the south shore. As he bid them farewell, he agreed to look for them again in a week during his next fishing expedition.
The four of them trudged up the beach and into the swamp that covered most of the peninsula. Mushy game trails wound their way between deep pools and broad hummocks from which proud trees sprung. Sancho lead the way, with the others hanging back fifty feet. They moved cautiously in the direction of the lighthouse on a soggy trail.
Presently, two figures were seen on the trail. The eyes of the strangers exploded from lax disinterest to directed fury. The others, hanging back, moved off the trail. Pepito blended into the tangle of vines and leaves. Sancho stood firm, calling out an abrupt greeting two the two strangers. They raised crossbows and let loose bolts that struck the young scout. His body twisted in momentary agony and crumpled into the mud.
Siane and Jemi jogged through the shallow water in order to flank the combatants. Siane scored a hit with a javelin. Pepito lept from the shadows, stabbed but missed. Jemi muttered an incantation. Icy tendrils extended from his fingertips. He grasped one of the foes, and the blue glow ran up his bare arm to his eyes. An unnatural chill could be felt in the sweltering tropical heat.
Pepito disappeared into the undergrowth once again. The two scraggly men dropped their crossbows and drew swords which they began slashing Siane. The hide-covered bounty hunter was having little luck with his trident. Pepito emerged from the shadows again, slaying one of their enemies. Unfortunately, the man who was suffering from Jemi’s chill spun around and crashed his cutlass down upon the halfling’s head, killing him instantly. Jemi hurled a dagger with sailed to the right and struck Siane instead.
Siane struggled to land a blow. The rabid enemy seemed to have fortune on his side. He landed another headshot to Siane who sprawled out on the swampy ground, unconscious. Now the battle was between the savage man with the cutlass and the slight half-elf armed with a sickle. They rushed at each other, both delivering masterful flows simultaneously. The wounds were equally fatal.
As suddenly as the violence arrived, it departed, leaving only the soft squeaks of birds in the distance and six corpses dribbling blood into muddy water.
The next day (5/27), a second fishing vessel delivered four more adventurers from The Spectre Society to the south beach. The elders knew fresh recruits were likely to die within the first few days of their first missions, and they took precautions by sending second parties. This group included Jonda, a halfling fighter; Dani, a human gladiator; Phusarelli, a halfling thief; and Abaus, another half-elf necromancer. The followed in the footsteps of the first party, though unwittingly, and soon found themselves face to face with a lizardman who they would later come to know as Gashox.
Dani took an aggressive swing at the lizardman who growled ferociously and stabbed his spear at Dani’s feet. Then, speaking in the common tongue, demanded “who are you?” This gave pause to their initial instinct to fight. Instead, they switched to diplomacy and soon had won over the lizardman from whom they learned that the family in the lighthouse had not been seen for some time. Together, all five of them went to the lighthouse, aided by the Gashox’s familiarity with the territory.
They found a gory scene at the lighthouse. The bodies of the family were found in a putrid state of decay, being dead for several weeks. Little of value remained. The lamp at the top of the lighthouse was smashed. Abaus gathered a pair of knitting needles. Phusarelli round a spyglass which he used to scan the surroundings. No visible shipwrecks were seen in the water. The wooden tower could be seen to have a large, brass bowl at its top. And figures could be seen intermittently moving about the beach. They surmised a group of miscreants had built a false lighthouse, perhaps to cause wrecks.
Now, they carefully considered what to do. Their mission was only to discover the cause of the missing ships, and they felt this had been achieved. Gashox, for his part, was bent on vengeance for the death of the lighthouse keepers. A stealthy assault on the camp wasn’t seriously considered. Instead, Gashox aimed to fetch a band of warriors from his tribe, the Utzcocaz clan. Jonda, Dani, Phusarelli and Abaus camped near the enemy with the understanding that the lizarman would return at dawn.
All but the halfling found dry spot on which to bed down. A few hours later, a hulking figure crawled out of the swamp into their midst. It was a giant raccoon, five times as big as a man and eager for a meal. It was surprised at the alert halfling, but unfortunately, Phusarelli was unable to make use of this advantage. The rest of the party woke up. They thought about running away, but instead chose to stand and fight. The raccoon concentrated its fury at Dani who soon died, his skull cracked open under terrible jaws. Jonda died as well, but Abaus injured the beast by causing its flesh to decay. Phusarelli delivered the death blow.
A few hours later, the lizardmen arrived and swept through the pirate camp. The two adventurers merely watched the carnage. When it had finished, Gashox offered to bring them safely back to Manustead. He hoped the villagers would look more kindly on the lizardman tribes going forward, for his tribe was not the one that sometimes attacked the human settlement.
End Notes
- Days
- 5/23 Agents in Ft. Whitevault are sent to Manustead
- 5/24 – 5/25 On a small fishing boat from Manustead
- 5/26 Doomed party meet two pirates and all die
- 5/27 Backup party arrives, investigates lighthouse, fights a giant raccoon
- 5/28 – 5/31 Lizardmen kill the pirates, take survivors back to Manustead
- Treasure:
- Knitting needles
- Spyglass
- Combat:
- Giant Raccoon 360 xp
- Characters (2 shares of 180 xp each)
- Abaus (half-elf, outdoors, collect macabre object) 193 xp
- Phusarelli (lucky, outdoors, agile) 185 xp
- Siane (dead)
- Jemi (dead)
- Sancho (dead)
- Pepito (dead)
- Jonda (dead)
- Dani (dead)