Chapter 1: Just another day

It was a pleasant morning in the city of Ventasca. The hustle and bustle of Randwynn’s capital drowned out individual conversations, giving the citizens a sense of privacy in an otherwise very crowded place. Amidst the crowd, one group in particular stood out from the rest—a triad of adventurers—seemingly in a rush to get to the docks in time.

“The Azure Harbor is currently undergoing maintenance.” a dockworker said. “All cruises will be delayed until noon. We’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”

A short, drow woman rolled her eyes in disbelief.

“Preposterous.” the woman said. “You cannot get anything done in this city.”

“Come on Rev, we’ve got time.” said her much, much taller, fire genasi friend.

“It’s a perfect excuse to go explore the city! What do you say, ‘Nella?”

The last of the three adventurers, a blonde high elf, reared her head out from the map she had previously been absorbed in reading.

“Right, but…” She sighed. “If we don’t get there before noon, we might run into the storm that’s coming from the south.”

“That, and the darkness.” Reverwyn added.

“First of all, the storm is not even close.” the genasi exclaimed. “Second of all, in any case of darkness, I’ll just cast one cantrip and we’ll be perfectly safe!”

“Sylphie… Have you read about Old Soloastria like I asked you to?” Ornella inquired.

“Well, no, but…” Sylfira said.

“It’s not your everyday darkness out there, love.” the elf interjected. “It’s not magical either, so not even warlocks can see through that stuff.”

“And as if that wasn’t bad enough; you stay in that thing too long and it kills you, somehow.”

“And it WHAT?” Sylfira gasped.

“I haven’t gotten to the bottom of this yet, but” Ornella said. “I don’t think it’s the dark itself that kills you, y’know? There’s something in there, I’m betting on it.”

“That’s one of the questions I want to answer in my research paper, actually.”

“And you’re sure that this research paper of yours is worth it?” Sylfira asked worriedly.

“Oh absolutely!” Ornella replied. “Exploring Old Soloastria is a risk many a folk aren’t ready for, but if I manage, this will be the MAGNUM OPUS of my career in anthropology.”

“Alright, her I understand, but you?” Reverwyn interjected.

“Why are you even here, Sylfira?”

“To spread the good word of Suryalus, of course!” Sylfira said happily. “Other than that, I’m treating this trip as my vacation break from church duties. Temples get boooring, y’know?”

“Of all the people I could have gotten stuck with…” Reverwyn groaned, but her nagging was interrupted by the sound of an explosion going off in the distance.

The panicked masses quickly flooded the streets as magical alarms started loudly blaring.

“Attention all citizens, please remain calm.” A voice spoke from the alarms. “A terrorist is being detained by the city guards at the Biancorossi Family Estate. Keep your distance from the building and notify the milizia if you see any suspicious activity.”

Ornella’s pointy ears wriggled in excitement.

“That’s it! This is our best shot at leaving early!” She exclaimed.

“In what plane of existence is that the case?” Reverwyn asked.

“The Biancorossi are rich, influential fellas here in Randwynn.” Ornella explained. “If we can stop the terrorists before the guards do, they might lend us a private ship cruise as a favor!”

“Have you lost your mind? They will do no such thing, you lunatic.” Reverwyn said.

“We will get medals at best, and perish at worst.”

The eager elf explorer stood transfixed on the columns of smoke coming from the city’s noble district. Finally, she retorted:

“I like those odds.” she smirked as she grabbed Sylfira’s hand and started heading towards Ventasca’s Distretto Nobilitas. Reverwyn let out a long, frustrated sigh and followed them shortly thereafter.

After a while of running, our three heroines have made it to the entrance of the Biancorossi Estate. The sounds of explosions and fighting have long subsided by then. The only things that could’ve been heard from the inside of the building were guards arguing on who should go upstairs first.

However, before our heroes could go in, they were halted by a lone guard who stood by the entrance to the manor.

(Map credit goes to “The Party of Two”)

“Oi, haven’t you heard?” he grunted. “There’s a dangerous group of terrorists prancin’ aboot. Go home or get hurt!”

“Relax, we’re here to help!” Sylphie said.

“Actually, we’re on the Biancorossi’s payroll.” Ornella corrected her friend.

“We were hired as mercenaries for the Biancorossi family in case of emergencies just like this one.” she said. “Let us pass, and we’ll take care of the threat.”

The guard hesitantly opened the door, but then promptly slammed it shut after coming to a sudden realization.

“Now hold on a minute…” he muttered. “Mercs, eh?…”

“Nice try.” he sneered. “Haven’t you heard?”

“Adventuring mercs oughta wear badges of the contractor they’re serving!” he said with confidence. “Sorry lasses, newest policy by mandate of our great Sovrano.”

Ornella succeeded on her Deception check with a roll of 18:

“Haven’t you heard?” she retorted. “Clause 2:13 of the Randwynn Mercenary Codex states: Adventurers serving as mercenaries are exempt from having to wear uniforms in case of emergencies.”

“As far as I know, this is a prime emergency.” She smirked. “Now go on git before I report you for interference. Wouldn’t wanna lose your job, now, would ya?”

“Tsch. Go on then, lasses.” The guard replied.

“Break a nail.” He murmured.

Our trifecta of heroes entered the building.

“…You know the rulebooks around here?” Sylphie whispered nervously. “Scratch that, since when do you even know mentaventian elvish?!”

“I don’t.” Ornella replied. “And neither does the guard, apparently.”

The party advaned further. Seeing four guards hidden behind cover and one in the process of bleeding out on the stairs, Sylphie wanted to do something about it, but one of the guards shushed her, signalling to get behind some cover.

Before she could react, a slender figure peeked from the top of the staircase, almost immediately firing two arrows towards the party. One missed, and the other hit Sylphie in the leg for 6 points of piercing damage.

“Eek!” She screamed.

“Fucking hell, get behind me already!” One guard shouted.

“There’s about five of them upstairs.” He said. “And this son of a bitch is damn good with bows”.

“Great plan, Ornella. Just waltzing through the front door without strategy! Now what do we do?” Sylphie whined.

“Relax Sylphie.” Ornella replied. “It’s nothing we can’t deal with.”

“That being said… Any ideas?” she asked.

“Leave it to me.” Rev whispered. “I shall make it quick.”

Reverwyn succeeded on a Stealth check with a roll of 26, beating the Terrorist Scout’s active Perception check of 23.

As she made her way up the stairs, she hid behind the balustrade to ambush the unsuspecting sharpshooter.

Reverwyn landed her attack roll, swiftly yet discreetly driving her rapier through the terrorist’s head, dealing 13+6 piercing damage with her sneak attack. The scout’s lifeless body collapsed and tumbled down the stairs. The guards reared their heads out of cover to see if the way ahead was clear, promptly advancing to the next floor.

“That was… frighteningly efficient.” Ornella said. “Good on ya, Rev.”

“I told you not to doubt me.” Reverwyn scoffed.

Advancing upstairs, screams could be heard coming from the Biancorossi family bedrooms. The terrorists seemed to have advanced their plot into a hostage situation.

“Please, help us!” A troubled woman yelled.

“Shut yer ass up or I’ll slit yer throat, y’hear?” A raspy voice snarled.

Ornella moved a little closer to better hear through the commotion.

“That must be Alandra. The Biancorossi are down this hallway!” She exclaimed.

Right after she gave her position out, Ornella was promptly shot at by a peeking terrorist. One of the two crossbow bolts had successfully hit her, dealing 4 points of piercing damage.

“Shit, they’re onto us! Give ‘em hells, boys!” A guard yelled.

Time to roll initiative!

While the guards rushed to detain the nearest terrorists, Ornella used her action to summon a wildfire spirit on the flanks. The fiery elemental pelted the thugs with seeds of flame, hitting one thug for 3 measly points of fire damage that he shrugged off with a smirk.

“They’re tougher than I expected.” Ornella said, surprised.

“My turn.” Said Reverwyn as she readied her crossbow. “Say goodnight, scum.”

Thug no. 2 was hit once again. Left at 12 out of his initial 32 hit points and with his limping leg halving his walking speed, he surrendered to the guard next to him.

With only 3 terrorists left, our crew confidently pushed forward. Sylfira brandished her flaming mace and exclaimed “Guiding Bolt!” as a streak of light sparked out of her weapon. On its way to its target, it took the shape of a large missile of light, creating an outline of the terrorist upon hitting him. The terrorist leader seemed confused as to why he suddenly started glowing.

“He’s easier to hit now! Have at him, Rev!” Sylphie shouted, but not before seeing one of the thugs carrying a hostage towards the bedroom balcony.

“Hey, leave her alone!” Sylphie shouted again.

As this was happening, a loud cracking of bones could be heard in the neighboring hallway. Thug no. 2 had apparently faked his earlier surrender, and sneakily caved Guard no. 4’s skull in.

“We’re losing men!” Guard no. 5 yelled to his allies. “Whatever happens, don’t let them escape through the balcony!”

“Got it!” Ornella responded by casting Thorn Whip to pull back a thug that was trying to escape with the other two hostages. Her wildfire spirit then pelted the bastard with a CRITICAL HIT on her flame seed, dealing 16 points of fire damage, to which the terrorist retaliated by missing completely and making a fool out of himself.

Reverwyn then snuck up on the thug highlighted by Sylphie’s Guiding Bolt, striking with advantage and dealing a total of 12 sneak attack damage while also leaving the terrorist with a little surprise:

“Running away is of no use to you now.” “I have already cast Booming Blade on you. If you move, you are dead.” she said, menacingly.

“That’s fine by me.” the thug replied.

“I ain’t no pussy, I can die for a cause if I oughta.”

“And by the looks o’ things…” He said. “Yer out for revenge too.”

Reverwyn felt a shiver run down her spine, as if the thug saw right through her. But just then, one of the Biancorossi yelled from a distance:

“Get away from me, scum! Let me go!”

“Ah.” the thug breathed a sigh of relief.

“It seems we’re winning, lassie.” he told Reverwyn. “As long as we bring ‘em to our client, that is.”

“We’ll teach these snobs some proper fuckin’ manners.” he smirked. “This country is due for a revolution!”

“Me though?” he said as he took a confident step back, triggering the effect of Rev’s Booming Blade cantrip.

“My job here is done. Good luck with your revenge, kiddo.” The thug smirked, right before taking 7 thunder damage and exploding into a pile of gore.

Reverwyn stood still above his corpse for a moment, contemplating how on Astoria could he have possibly known about her quest for vengeance. Did her face give it away? Is the lust for vengeance a visible, recognizable mark on oneself?

Whatever the case may be, Reverwyn simply muttered something along the lines of “Kiddo? I am not a child, you bastard”, as if her ego was hurt.

She then promptly got back into battle, only to see Sylfira running towards the bedroom balcony.

“We have to stop them!” she said.

But even with Alandra and Enzio III rescued, one of the thugs had locked himself on the balcony with Scylera II Biancorossi, the matriarch of the family and its current most important figure. The usually powerful wizardess Scylera had been gagged to prevent her from casting spells with verbal components. Powerless against her assailant, she awaited imminent rescue.

“We have you surrounded!” one guard said.

“And your associates have been captured!” the other guard said.

Through the door, a muffled voice replied:

“Any minute now and my getaway is here. You’ve lost. Deal with it!”

Just as the thug said it would, his getaway had arrived—in the form of a hippogriff, no less—suddenly making the situation even more dire.

But then, just as the hippogriff was about to take off, Ornella leaped from the other balcony, using her wildfire spirit to teleport her on top of the flying beast.

She managed to successfully wrangle it with a roll of 21 on her Animal Handling check.

As the thug tried to push her off with an Athletics check contest, his measly roll of 13 was bested by Ornella’s NATURAL 20!

She instinctively kicked him off of the hippogriff. The thug then promptly fell to his death down below, landing on the speartip of the guard who stood by the entrance earlier, possibly traumatizing said guard in the process.

The wrangled hippogriff gently carried Lady Scylera back to safety.

“T-thank you, genuinely, thank you!” Alandra cried out of happiness. “I really thought-”

“Rest easy, Alandra.” her older sister interjected. “I have a penchant for avoiding death, you see.”

The three Biancorossi siblings exchanged a hug, with the older then approaching her savior.

“Tell me your name, adventurer.” she commanded.

“I’m Ornella. Ornella Fievarne.” the elf replied.

The guards looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces.

“But… That means…” they said together. “You are NOT lady Scylera’s mercenaries!”

“We should have you arrested!” they shouted in unison.

Lady Scylera turned around to give them a humbling roundhouse slap with her mage hand.

“Mind your manners, you dense coneheads!” she snapped. “Arresting heroes… You will do no such thing, understood?!”

“As for you three, I owe you a favor.” the lady said, turning to face Ornella and her friends.

Ornella then gave Reverwyn a smug “I told you so” kind of look.

“Umm, excuse me.” Sylphie interjected. “Why were these thugs after you in the first place, Lady Biancorossi?”

Lady Scylera twirled her curly hair—completely disinterested—she replied:

“The usual, dearie.”

“Someone wanted me captured, and that someone promised to pay these thugs a handsome reward, it seems.” she explained.

“One of them was, and I quote, in it for the cause.” Reverwyn added. “Out for revenge, even. Would you happen to know anything about this?”

“No. I could not care less about some vengeful lowlifes.” Lady Scylera scoffed. “To them, it’s their life mission to bring me down. To me, it’s just another day.”

Surprised by the apathy in her answer, our three heroines nonetheless kept their cool and continued the conversation.

“So, about that favor…” Ornella broke the awkward silence. “We really, really need a boat.”

“See, we had a cruise for Old Soloastria, but Azure Harbor is still under maintenance.”

“If it isn’t terribly inconvenient…” she started.

“Could you perhaps, by any chance, possibly… sponsor us a ship?” Ornella whimpered, unsure if her deal sounded reasonable.

Lady Scylera looked at her siblings, Alandra and Enzio, who nodded their heads in agreement.

“Fine.” she said, rummaging through drawers in her bedroom until she pulled out a sack full of platinum coins.

“Go buy yourself a private boat and sail wherever you please. Just don’t impersonate mercenaries anymore.” she sighed.

And with that, our three heroines have secured themselves a transport to the continent of Old Soloastria.

But the session is not over!

Time to see what the other three adventurers have been up to, those being: Enix, Hulrik, and Aureus.

Chapter 2: Educated Guess

The maintenance of Azure Harbor in Ventasca had been greatly exaggerated. In fact, it was completely redundant and unnecessary. So then why?

A private investigator under the name of Yorvik Yorbarum had found the real reason behind the maintenance: It was a cover-up for the Fioran Krew – a cyclopean criminal organization hellbent on hijacking Randwynnian and Hessandrelian trade routes.

He discovered that harbormaster Lorenzo Gascogne had been replaced by a Fioran Krew–aligned doppelganger, who aims to spread the organization’s influence by infiltrating Azure Harbor and manipulating its trade from the shadows.

Planting espionage devices, hiring Fioran agents as dockworkers, stealing from cargo ships—the actions of Fioran Krew would slowly bleed out Ventasca’s trade–focused economy if left unchecked.

The discovery was so groundbreaking that Yorvik had gone missing shortly after coming to realize it. Luckily for him, his best friend and fellow private investigator had arrived in Randwynn to continue his investigation.

Nikotynievich Jr. Brooks, a bugbear mastermind rogue, was just visiting New Soloastria to attend his daughter’s magical college graduation.

Intrigued by the lack of Yorvik’s presence at the ceremony, Niko Jr. remembered what the dragonborn had previously told him about his investigation in Ventasca.

Nikotynievich quickly deduced that Yorvik must’ve been found out, and so a rescue operation had begun. Having been successful in finding out who captured Yorvik, private investigator Brooks was unfortunately unable to locate the Fioran Krew hideout.

Not all hope was lost, however, as shortly before returning to his office in Bay City, Free Colony of St. Hilmone, he had ran into a group of adventurers willing to rescue his friend from the Fiorans: A tiefling paladin, a dragonborn wizard, and a dwarf fighter. Needed back home in his office, Nikotynievch entrusted the whole ordeal to these three adventurers and promptly sailed home on his private vessel, but not before giving them a sending stone for easy two–way communication.

And so it began.

“We’ve been on their tail for hours now.” the tiefling said.

“Are you sure the convoy was heading this way?” he asked in a doubtful tone of voice.

“I wasn’t sure, I made an educated guess.” the dragonborn replied. “That being said, if our map is correct, then I believe the crossroads ahead must have at least one dead end.”

“And that dead end…” he said, followed by a dramatic pause. “Is right where we’ll catch them taking a pit stop!”

“But they must be in a hurry, right?” the dwarf questioned.

“Surely they wouldn’t stop in a place like this.” he said. “That’s just asking for trouble.”

“My guess is that they haven’t checked in on their loot in a while, otherwise we would have ran into them by now.” the dragonborn suggested.

“Another educated guess, Aureus?” the tiefling interjected.

“No, just a hunch this time.” Aureus replied.

“That’s a good point, come to think of it.” the dwarf admitted. “They have to do an inventory of their wagons at some point, even if just to make sure they haven’t been robbed on their merry way back home.”

“So how do we go about this, Hulrik?” Aureus asked.

“Aureus, you’ll stay further behind and watch our back.” Hulrik said. “If a fight breaks out, you’ll be our artillery.”

“Enix.” the dwarf spoke once more. “You’re coming with me.”

“I’ll opt for a stealthy approach on the right, and you’ll take the left flank.” he explained.

(Map credit goes to “Tehoxmaps”)

While peeking, Hulrik noticed four bandits, each performing an inventory on way more wagons than they’re able to manage.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” he mumbled to himself. “They don’t even have horses with them.”

“This seems like an ambush.” Aureus noted.

“Maybe they knew we were after them?” Enix added.

“Only one way to find out…” Hulrik said as he rolled forward to the bushes nearby.

Hopping from bush to bush didn’t do him any good, as he rolled a NATURAL ONE on his Stealth check. His attempt at sneaking had alerted every bandit to his position.

“Gods, that was terrible.” he thought to himself. “Get a grip, old man…”

Time to roll initiative!

Just before the fight, a hooded figure suddenly emerged from the shadows—a Fioran like the other bandits, no less—albeit more skilled in stealth and long–distance fighting.

The cloaked rogue surprised Hulrik, firing off two arrows with advantage. Luckily, none of them were even close to hitting. Meanwhile, Enix had rushed the flanks as he was instructed to.

Thanks to his unique, dexterity–based longsword fighting style, he landed a devastating blow of 8 slashing damage on Fioran no. 2.

The other nearby bandit swooped in to gang up on the young paladin, hitting him for 7 points of slashing damage in return.

Were Hulrik’s tactics flawed, or was Enix too cocky? Either way, it was his and Aureus’s turn to strike.

Hulrik expended 2 charges to use a special property of his Handy Handaxe, that being Sharpening Strike.

With a whopping 12 points of slashing damage combined, Hulrik knocked out Fioran no. 4.

“Finish the job!” Aureus shouted from a distance.

“No!” Hulrik replied angrily. “We don’t kill sentients, damn it!”

“Spells are hard to make non-lethal, but sure, whatever you say.” Aureus scoffed as he prepared to make his move.

“Magic Missile!” he shouted, sending one missile after Fioran No. 2, immediately knocking him unconscious, and two missiles at the Fioran Rogue, who seemed to be badly hurt by them.

“Get him, lads!” One of the Fiorans shouted, promptly hitting Aureus with a hefty crossbow bolt, dealing 9 points of piercing damage.

“Fucking hells!” Aureus screamed. “Hulrik, cover me!”

“Watch out! An ambush!” Hulrik exclaimed, as four more bandits emerged from the shrubbery—two for each side of the road—obstructing the way out.

Vastly outnumbered, our heroes had to readjust their strategy.

“Take cover behind the wagons!” Hulrik shouted while simultaneously dodging two arrows.

Two other bandits rushed towards Aureus, who somehow managed to dodge both of their attacks as well as an arrow heading his way.

“I’m in a precarious position here!” he yelled for help.

Meanwhile, the Fioran Rogue had successfully snuck to the other wagon with a roll of 15 in Stealth, beating Hulrik’s passive perception score of 11. He then promptly fired two arrows at advantage, this time missing only one, dealing a combined 9 points of piercing damage to Hulrik with his sneak attack.

“Bloody hells, to think a cyclops could sneak past me….” Hulrik thought to himself. “Maybe I really am getting old.”

Desperate to make a difference, Enix smacked Fioran no. 1 with his longsword as hard as he could. Seeing that the bandit was still hanging on, the tiefling shouted:

“Divine Smite!”

…as a flash of light went off, the cyclops bandit was sent flying back with a nasty burn wound, subsequently falling unconscious.

“Hang in there, Aureus. I’m coming!” Enix shouted.

“Move over, I got this!” Hulrik interjected by slamming himself into one of the Fiorans that surrounded Aureus, knocking the bandit out with one hit of his Handy Handaxe. Using his bonus action, the dwarf healed himself for 5 hit points with Second Wind.

“Thanks. Now let me try this again: Magic Missile!” Aureus said, as three more missiles were fired into the air. All three hit the same bandit, making him stumble a few feet back.

“Now would you please… get… off me!” Aureus grunted, as he used his bonus action to shove the nearest bandit away, and then swiftly ran to hide behind one of the wagons.

Cyclops bandit no. 9 struck Hulrik with a CRITICAL HIT, or at least he would have, if Hulrik hadn’t expended a charge to use the Parry-Snatch reaction on his Handy Handaxe!

The poor Fioran’s scimitar was parried, intercepted, and thrown away by Hulrik as if it were a children’s toy

While that was going on, the unreasonably effective Fioran Rogue succeeded on a Stealth check once again, firing off two arrows at Enix from hiding, landing only one of them, albeit still dealing big damage. Miraculously, Enix survived on 5 hit points remaining, even after sneak attack damage.

“Gods!” He exclaimed. “For the love of all that is holy, someone shoot this guy down!”

“How’s a cyclops even this accurate to begin with?” Enix thought to himself.

“I’ll go get him, you handle the others.” Aureus responded.

“Fine by me. Let’s go for a spin then!” Enix said, as he dealt 9 points of slashing damage to Fioran no. 6 and expended a charge to use his Sword of the Novice’s special Whirlwind attack, damaging Fioran no. 9 as well.

Just as promised, Aureus then fired off a Fire Bolt at the Fioran Rogue, dealing 7 fire damage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop the annoying sharpshooter from getting to his turn.

The cyclops marksman failed to hide this time around, but didn’t miss his shot on Enix, dealing 10 points of piercing damage and knocking him out cold from shock. Because the tiefling paladin had only 5 hit points remaining, he failed his first death saving throw by virtue of taking twice his hit points in damage. A really bad omen for our heroes.

“Enix!” Aureus and Hulrik shouted in unison.

Enraged and not holding back anymore, Hulrik lunged with his weapon at Fioran no. 9, killing him with one swift blow to the head by delivering 17 points of slashing damage. He then expended a charge to use the Warrior Heart ability, recovering 17 hit points back.

Back at full health, Hulrik was ready to end this, and so was Aureus.

“My final spell slot…” the dragonborn murmured worriedly. “Please, for the love of Mystra, let it hit…”

“BURNING HANDS!” he shouted with a hint of desperation in his voice.

The subsequent cone of fire caught all three bandits that stood in its way. Having failed their Dexterity saving throws, they all took 12 fire damage each.

Burned to a crisp, the bandits have been defeated. The remaining Fioran Rogue surrendered willingly.

While Aureus was helping Enix back up, Hulrik began interrogating the ever-so-annoying cyclops marksman.

“Where is your base?” He asked somewhat politely, but the rogue spat in his face in response.

After rolling an 18 on his Intimidation check, Hulrik grabbed the Fioran bandit by the collar and pinned him by the face to the wagon that Aureus had just set on fire a moment ago. As the burn severity on the cyclops’s face started ramping up, he quickly yielded.

With a severe burn now covering half of his face, with skin on the cheeks still sizzling and bubbling like grotesque pimples, the rogue spilled the beans, agonizing over every word that came out of his mouth.

Hulrik mercifully knocked him unconscious and bandaged his charred face, throwing him on the back of one of the wagons.

“We’ll have someone pick them up once we’re done. For now, we should rest.” the dwarf said, as he began rummaging through the wagons for camping supplies.

One short rest later, our heroes were ready to infiltrate the Fioran Krew hideout and bust Yorvik out (hopefully avoiding ambushes this time around).

(Map credit goes to “Mappith”)

“Okay then!” “We’ll run in spells–blazing, grab Mr. Yorbarum, and run like hells.” Enix suggested.

“You sure we could outrun their rain of arrows?” Aureus replied. “I’m afraid I don’t have any spells for that.”

“Quiet, you two!” Hulrik shushed his party members.

“I hear planks creaking up there.” he whispered. “It must be one of their vantage points.”

“I know I almost cost us the last battle with my lousy sneaking, but I have an idea you should trust me with.” Hulrik assured his teammates.

“If I can roughly estimate how high I’d have to aim, I could lodge my hatchet into his forehead with a simple toss.”

“As gruesome as it would be…” he sighed. “We’re not pulling our punches today, boys.”

“You got this, Mr. Gufrisson!” Enix whispered excitedly.

Hulrik impatiently waited for the moment the Fioran scout would move.

“Come on you one-eyed bastard, take a walk…” the dwarf mumbled to himself.

As the planks began to creak again, Hulrik quickly adjusted his aim and dashed out of cover, throwing his hatchet in the process. The Quickdraw Twang ability of his Handy Handaxe allowed him to deal a whopping 24 points of slashing damage after landing a CRITICAL HIT with his throw.

The Fioran’s dead body fell down below, luckily not making enough noise to warrant anyone’s attention.

“You should throw that thing more, that was sick!” Enix said.

“Don’t glorify murder, Enix.” Hulrik lectured the young paladin.

“Problem is…” Hulrik sighed. “I wasted a good hatchet.”

“We’ll grab it on our way out.” Aureus said. “First things first, let’s find Mr. Yorbarum before it’s too late.”

“You’re right. Let’s go.” Hulrik responded.

After straining his eyes for a bit, Aureus found their target.

“There he is!” he exclaimed.

“Keep it down!” Hulrik shushed him. “Where do you see him?”

“It seems like he’s in… a cage of sorts.” Aureus answered. “There’s one Fioran watching over him.”

“Hmm…” Hulrik began analyzing his options, before coming up with a new plan.

“Enix?” he asked.

“Yes, sir?” the tiefling replied.

“Ready your sword.” Hulrik said. “I’ll make some noise while you and Aureus prepare for a stealth takedown.

“If any Fiorans pass by the tunnel, you’ll knock them out with a swift sword hilt to the back of the head.” He explained. “Or a quarterstaff. Whatever.”

“Yes, sir!” Enix said excitedly as he got into position.

Hulrik pulled out a battleaxe from his backpack and began running its edge across the cavern walls, slowly walking back towards the hideout’s entrance.

The Fioran that was watching over Yorvik became wary, claiming he had heard something by the entrance, but his friends wouldn’t listen. He decided to investigate the noise all by himself.

With a roll of 24, Enix succeeded on his Stealth check, and hit the bandit in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out non-lethally.

In the meantime, Aureus had cast a Mage Hand to retrieve the cage key from the unconscious Fioran’s pockets.

“We got the key!” he exclaimed.

“We don’t have much time before they notice.” Hulrik said. “Judging by the ambience, I’d say there’s about six of them left.”

“Rough estimate?” Aureus asked.

“An educated guess.” Hulrik smirked.

Suddenly, one of the bandits started coming their way, still unaware of their presence.

“Everybody hide!” Hulrik ordered.

Upon discovering the unconscious body, the Fioran yelled out:

“Oi, we’ve got a situation ‘ere!”

Shortly thereafter, he too fell senseless, as Enix had passed his Stealth check with a roll of 16, once again delivering a swift blow to the back of the bandit’s head, knocking that one out cold as well.

“We can’t keep doing this forever.” Hulrik sighed.

“Aureus.” he said. “Free Mr. Yorbarum.”

“Enix.” he continued. “You’re coming with me.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Enix nodded, following Hulrik further into the cave.

With Mr. Yorbarum now free, him and Aureus began searching for his lost spellbook.

A while later, Hulrik and Enix returned from the deeper part of the hideout, sweaty and exhausted, all while carrying a bundle of bound-together bandits.

“P-Piece of cake!” Enix stuttered, as the weight of the tied-up prisoners was making his back ache.

“That was all of them?” Aureus said in disbelief.

“They didn’t have their equipment on them.” Hulrik answered. “Playing cards, getting drunk—safe to say they didn’t put up much of a fight.”

“Except for the ones that did.” Enix interjected. “Stupid crossbows…”

“By the way, did you get your hatchet?” he added.

“Yes.” the dwarf said while brandishing his trusty handaxe. “It’s time to go, lads.”

And so, the three heroes and Yorvik Yorbarum used the bandits’ horses and wagons to safely return to Azure Harbor, where Mr. Yorbarum halted the celebrations thanks to a terrifying realization:

“That ship!” he said, pointing at a private vessel made of blackwood.

As the ship’s sail rolled up, Yorvik pointed out its vandalized symbol.

“That’s… An old Hessandrelian coat of arms.” Aureus argued. “Probably just a repurposed vessel from the old mercantile wars, hence why they covered the symbol with gibberish.”

“That’s no gibberish!” Yorvik objected. “It’s thieves’ cant for ‘Krewship’, a subtle mark of hijacked Fioran Krew vessels!”

“The harbormaster is a Fioran-sworn doppelganger! This is all his doing!” he continued.

“That’s…” Aureus scoffed. “You seem to be reaching quite-“

“You there!” Yorvik interrupted Aureus by shouting at the boarding passengers. “Stay away from that ship, it’s dangerous!”

The harbormaster, having just returned injured from the earlier explosion in the nobility district, turned his gaze towards Mr. Yorbarum while limping towards his watchtower.

“S-Somebody call the guards! This raving lunatic is disturbing peace!” he exclaimed. “He’s probably with the terrorists, I bet!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Yorvik yelled. “Magic Missile!”

As two initial darts of force hit harbormaster Lorenzo in the back, he turned around, only to witness the third one fly right into his face. He fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Just as the milizia units who arrived at the scene were about to subdue Yorvik, Lorenzo Gascogne’s body started twitching and snapping, morphing into a different, yet still humanoid shape—that of a doppelganger.

The fake harbormaster’s dead, motionless body had reverted to its original form. Seeing it happen live, the three passengers of the hijacked vessel had decided to abandon the ship.

“What in the hells is going on here?” A blonde elf passenger said.

“The Fioran Krew have infiltrated Azure Harbor. Notify the Council of Arcane Matters!” Yorvik explained.

More milizia arrived, followed by the ever-so-intimidating Verdant Watchers—the elite knight order that serves as Randwynn’s secret police. Having swiftly arrested every crew member of the blackwood ship, the milizia refunded the cost of the cruise to the three confused passengers who got caught up in all of this by complete accident.

“Like I said,” a drow woman scoffed. “you cannot get anything done in this city.”

Hulrik approached the elven passenger from before.

“That ship.” he said. “Where was it heading?”

“Allegedly?” the elf replied. “To Old Soloastria.”

“I don’t even want to BEGIN to imagine where we would’ve ended up if we set sail.” she sighed.

“Well wouldn’t you know, that’s where we’re headed too!” Enix broke the tension.

“You got your money back for the private cruise, right?” he added.

“Now that the harbor is open again, maybe you three could, I don’t know…” Enix started insinuating something.

“Ferry us there?”

His question was met with silence from both the high elf and the drow, up until a tall fire genasi stormed into the conversation.

“Oh yes, totally!” she exclaimed. “The more the merrier, right girls?”

“Ugh.” the drow let out an exasperated sigh.

“I could get you hotel rooms in Bay City.” Yorvik interjected. “I’ve got friends in high places back there.”

“Come on, Rev!” the genasi cleric pouted, growing impatient. “‘Nella, you too!”

“Would it kill you to make some new friends?” she asked her teammate.

“I suppose… It wouldn’t hurt.” The elf replied. “They helped us out with the boat, after all.”

“Very well then.” she said. “My name is Ornella. Ornella Fievarne.”

“The big girl is my best friend, Sylphie, and the small one over there-” she spoke, but was interrupted by Reverwyn:

“I am anything but small, you puny surface–elf.” she scoffed. ”I merely happen to be… vertically challenged, in this new form of mine.”

“Right… That’s Reverwyn, our most recent ally.” Ornella explained. “We just met a few weeks ago.”

“Nice to meet you, Reverwyn.” Enix said while approaching her, trying to be friendly.

“Do not trust a word this darthiir says. Ornella is egregiously reckless and stupid.” Reverwyn said.

“Hey, no slurs! We talked about this!” Ornella reprimanded her teammate.

“That being said…” Hulrik interjected. “How about we go for a drink at the Ol’ Rimmendel before discussing the logistics of our, uhh, shared cruise?”

“You know, to get along and all…” he stammered.

“Outgoing, aren’t we? I like that.” the elf girl chuckled. “Say, what was your name again?”

“My name is H-Hulrik. Hulrik Gufrisson.” he said, albeit a bit flustered.

“Very well then, Mr Hulrik.” Ornella said. “Let’s get shitfaced together, Randwynn-style!”

Ornella strutted proudly towards her alcohol-rich promised land, almost drooling at the thought of Randwynnian beverages. Like for any other proper Felkish woman, pub-going is amongst Ornella’s favorite past-time activities, and since the Duchy of Felkland doesn’t exactly have the best beers and wines around, getting to taste the famous mentaventian elvish liquor is naturally the highlight of her day.

On the party’s way towards Rimmendel Tavern, Aureus bent down and whispered to his dwarven ally:

“Can it be? Can it really be?”

“What do you mean?” Hulrik asked, confused.

“You never drink. Why’d you suddenly suggest doing so?” Aureus inquired.

“Oh, I’m not gonna drink, don’t worry. I just-” he answered nervously.

“Then can it really be that you finally fancy someone?” Aureus interjected, teasing the dwarf a bit more, making his cheeks red.

“No…” Hulrik whimpered. “I’m just getting her a drink, that’s all.”

“C-Common courtesy, you know?”

“Mhm. Sure” Aureus chuckled.

“Then again, maybe I-” Hulrik mumbled, but was cut off.

“‘Oi, what’s the hold up?” Ornella interjected by shouting from the tavern’s doorway, two mugs of beer already in her hands, one completely empty.

“Hurry up, ‘fore I, hicc-” she hiccuped. “”Fore I drink ‘em out of business!”

She slid back into the tavern in a drunken stride and with a wide grin on her face.

“‘Nella! You promised to drink responsibly!” Sylphie said, running after her friend.

“Gods, we have not even set foot in there and she is already drunk.” Reverwyn scoffed once more.

“Weak alcohol tolerance?” Aureus asked.

“No, quite good actually.” Rev responded. “She just drinks in excess.”

“That sounds like fun. Let me try too!” Enix said, running into the tavern eagerly.

“Wait! Get back here, boy! Aren’t you too young to drink?” Hulrik ran after him.

And so, the two adventuring parties became one.

It was getting dark, but nobody seemed to mind. Playing cards, sharing stories, raising a toast to their future travels together…

Six adventurers at level 2—blissfully unaware of what awaits them on the continent of Old Soloastria—they end their first session by booking rooms at Rimmendel Tavern and ungracefully falling into alcohol-induced sleep.

To be continued.