From Ashes, A Fleet is Born
The war arrived not with a thunderous march, but with the wet, crimson kiss of fire upon the waves. The Zymagradi raiders, hounds of the north, descended upon the quiet fishing village of Tahtiranta, leaving naught but smoke and terror in their wake. Amidst the chaos, the village chief, the venerable Liquanu, gave the final, desperate order: Evacuate.
Thus began the long, harrowing odyssey of the refugees, led by four souls thrust unwillingly into destiny’s current: Keski, Guan, Berri, and Lars. They clawed their way to the harbour, their courage shining bright enough to save their kin—Baba Halla, Mari, and Alvi—and salvage precious supplies before the shore itself began to burn. Yet, the sea is a harsh mistress, and the tally of the saved was shadowed by the losses: many were gone, including the brave Liquanu.
In the flickering lamplight of the makeshift fleet, the elders, seeing the fire of leadership in the four young heroes, beseeched them to guide the remnants of Tahtiranta. But the ocean is vast and unforgiving to land-dwellers; their desperate navigation proved flawed, and they drifted in circles until fate nudged them toward a bleak, rocky isle.
The Surgeon and the Sutured Flesh
Upon the barren shore, a glimmer of hope. Berri’s sight magic pierced the distance, revealing a tiny fishing village and the promise of a sparse forest beyond. Scouting the vicinity, they found the wreckage of a dream: a wagon train, gutted and looted, with only the bodies of three peasants to tell the tale of its end. Lars, ever intuitive, knew them to be refugees who never reached the village ahead.
The trail of the fallen led not to a settlement, but to a clear pond, its base marked by an ornate slab. Lars found the true path: a hidden hatch behind a boulder, which Berri’s spell unsealed. The tight, suffocating tunnels swallowed them, leading to a raving, famished man named Aaro, whom Lars eventually convinced of his own reality and freed. Aaro’s frantic plea to save his wife, Mira, and child, Akko, spurred the heroes deeper into the dark.
The tunnels offered a grim defence: a pack of shuffling, hungry draugr. The heroes dispatched the undead fiends one by one, yet not without cost: a foul bite sank into Guan’s flesh, infecting him with the same terrible disease that would claim his soul should he fall.
Pushing through the danger, they found a chamber of true horror. Behind locked bars, a figure in a white coat worked with cold precision upon a fleshy mass of sutured bodies. Around him, forty souls were caged, silent, despairing prisoners. Lars, with a thief’s touch and a hero’s nerve, slipped past the guard, unlocked the doors, and struck the pale surgeon down in silence as the prisoners watched. The forty were freed, given temporary haven in the growing refugee fleet, and their gratitude brought precious gifts: a seasoned ship captain to guide their course, and fishermen to fill their empty bellies.
The Serpent and the Cannibal’s Feast
With a renewed purpose, the heroes returned to the caravan, joined now by John, a man of courage caught in the invasion’s chaos who volunteered his aid to their righteous cause. They pressed on to Taarakla, the fishing village of Berri’s vision.
The village was an image of desolation: empty drying racks, broken boats, and faces etched with a profound, consuming sorrow. Taavi, the village head, greeted them with cautious curiosity. At his mother’s insistence, he offered them a feast—a gesture of hospitality that felt chillingly out of place. Lars, speaking with a fisherman, learned the truth of the gloom: a monstrous sea serpent had turned the waves treacherous, devouring Taarakla’s fleet and its men.
The feast was laid—a luxury of stew, ale, and bread for the heroes, while Taavi and his kin ate only meagre berries and drank water. The food tasted of betrayal; a strange heaviness descended. Lars collapsed first, poisoned, as the others scrambled for escape. John, quick-thinking and fierce, forced the poison from Lars’s gullet, saving him from the deadly slumber.
Taavi and his people converged on them, revealing the dark truth: they had meant to subdue and, horrifyingly, cannibalize the heroes. Taavi’s remorse was born only of desperation; he believed the heroes no better than the fishermen lost to the serpent. Seeing an opportunity, Lars boastfully challenged the fearful village head: they would kill the sea serpent. Appealing to Taavi’s sunken pride, Lars secured a fishing boat and the headman’s reluctant guidance to the beast’s lair.
The journey led through heavy mist to a rocky atoll, down a treacherous cave entrance, past rapids, and up a daunting climb. They found the beast, roused from its sleep by Berri’s spellcasting, and the fight began. The serpent was a leviathan of immense strength, its hide deflecting their mundane blows. In a horrifying moment, it devoured Berri whole. But Lars’s desperate cries spurred the sorceress on; and with a miracle of willpower, Berri burst forth from the creature’s belly, emerging from its very insides, impossibly alive. The heroes triumphed, emerging not as mere refugees, but as proven slayers of monsters. Taarakla rewarded their heroism by dismantling a villager’s home, granting the caravan precious Lumber and Stone.
The Troll of the North Forest
With the Tahtiranta fleet settled outside Taarakla, Taavi approached with a new plea. The island could not sustain two peoples, and yet, tales of a fabled land of abundance had reached his ears. He offered the location of this promised land in exchange for a service: ending the aggression of the wildlings in the north forest, who now hindered the village’s logging and hunting.
The heroes ventured into the wilderness, tracking the strange creatures to a clearing, where they were ambushed. The ape-like wildlings fell swiftly, and one was taken alive. Lars, communicating through gestures across the language barrier, learned a truth deeper than mere hostility. The wildlings were not attacking unprovoked; they were bullied by a large creature demanding tribute and keeping them away from the forest’s deeper secrets.
The captured wildling agreed to guide the heroes to the lair. They found the tribute piled before a massive tree, from which a foul odour emanated. John, in his curiosity, investigated the offerings—and the ground itself erupted! A massive forest troll, its skin of bark and hair of leaves, had been perfectly camouflaged.
The battle was a savage, brutal display of monstrous power. The troll tore a tree from the earth and beat Lars into unconsciousness, smashing John into the ground. It was Berri’s magic that saved them all: a powerful spell, channeled and delivered to the troll’s gut, ripping the tyrant open. The wildlings, liberated, offered a medicinal poultice to the wounded Lars.
Returning to the village, the heroes informed Taavi that the forest was safe. Taavi offered lumber for the caravan’s next journey. But Keski, seeing the opportunity, demanded more: tents and blankets to brave the coming cold. Taavi reluctantly agreed, though the look in his eyes grew cold, a stark reminder that even between allies, the price of survival can be dear. The fleet had survived the burning shore, the draugr’s crypt, the sea serpent’s belly, and the forest troll’s rage. They had gained a new purpose and a new direction, but the long road to a true haven was only just beginning.
Relics, Tentacles, and the Witch-King’s Shadow
The scent of blood and pine still clung to the Tahtiranta fleet as they slipped away from Taarakla’s shore, leaving the uneasy peace of the forest in their wake. Their wounds had healed, but the ordeal had carved new lines upon their souls, none more so than on John, whose gaze now held a dangerous, piratical gleam—a shift in spirit since his head wound suffered in the clash with the forest troll.
Guided by the seasoned captain they had saved, the longships sailed north, drawn by rumors of a strange rock formation upon a hidden isle. The voyage was a baptism by the waves, forging their purpose, and culminating in the forging of a protective Serpent Scale Gorget, a trophy from their earlier victory over the Leviathan.
The Hollow Knight’s Treachery
The island was a bleak spire of stone, marked by a lonely cove where a bonfire’s warmth beckoned. Here, they met Sir Siegmeyer of Servasberg, a man encased in rounded, onion-like plate armor, who spoke of a relic needed for his church. Stranded and severely injured by pirates, the “Sir” promised riches for their help.
The hidden tomb was a death trap of ancient craft. Within the chasm, the heroes tiptoed past sleeping bats and navigated a bridge laced with hidden pressure plates. Deeper still, the path to the sarcophagus was guarded by two hulking stone sentinels. They were animated by a power unseen, and even as the heroes felled them, the stone figures rose again, their axes swinging with relentless, tireless malice.
It was Keski, agile and true, who saw the only path to victory. While the statues renewed their assault, she broke from the melee, darting toward the glowing cracks of the sarcophagus. With a savage effort, she pried the lid open and snatched the relic—a golden canister, filigreed and capped with a ruby. As the object left the tomb, the relentless statues crumbled and died for the final time.
As they fled the cursed tomb, tragedy struck, and Berri’s grimoire tumbled into the abyss.
But their victory was poisoned. Returning to the light, Sir Siegmeyer stood, his wounds a cruel illusion. His voice deepened, his form melted away, revealing a demon with sockets of blackest void. The invisible force of the fiend tore the golden canister from Keski’s grip. The relic opened, and a pair of rubies floated free, settling into the demon’s hollow eye sockets. With a searing whirlwind of fire, the creature vanished, leaving the heroes with nothing but the chilling knowledge of their deception, a pouch of gold, and a heavy tome bound in humanoid skin and chained shut with iron.
The Red Cave of the Brain-Eaters
The heroes, bruised but unbowed, set sail for the Frostfang Islands to replenish their meager iron supplies. Before they reached the shore, their longships were intercepted by a pirate vessel, faster and better-armed than their own. Bonnie, a scarred, hard-faced woman, demanded their food and gold. It was Lars, ever the quick-witted rogue, who saved them, trading information on a richer, juicier target for a mere two days’ worth of food and their freedom.
The Frostfang Isles were a desolate place of reddish-brown sand and murky water. Led by Alvi, the fleet’s craftsman, they found a promising cavern, its entrance small and dark. As they delved into the narrow, stooping tunnels in search of iron nuggets, a sense of giddiness and unease settled upon them.
The tunnels were a grave of dismembered remains. John, keen of mind, was the first to realize the true horror: a slimy, red octopus-like creature with blue rings was latched to the nape of Berri’s neck. Illusion had blinded them, making them see their friends as ravenous monsters. With a primal scream, John tore the mind-eater from his own neck and then from Berri’s, breaking the spell. Lars, driven mad by the illusion, fled into the darkness with their only light. Keski and the others pursued his frantic trail through passages lined with hatched, fleshy eggs.
Their chase led them to a large chamber dominated by a deep pool. There, kneeling at the edge, was Alvi, enslaved by another creature. As John freed Alvi, the true master emerged—a terrifying Aivomustekala, a Brain Octopus, all fleshy brain and toothed tentacles. Its psychic scream tore at their minds as it sought to drown Keski and devour Berri. Yet, the Sorceress of Tahtiranta had already mastered the art of survival; once more, Berri killed the aberration from the inside, ending the horror and securing the precious iron for their caravan.
The Unchained Secrets of the Witch-King
While the caravan toiled to mine the iron, the sea delivered a surprising boon: the elderly Fey mage Wiezen, a survivor from Tahtiranta thought lost to the invasion. With his knowledge, and with Baba Halla’s insistence, the heroes set sail for a new peril: the ancient Witch King’s tower, built impossibly from the sea floor, where they hoped to unlock the demon’s chained tome.
Inside the majestic but decayed fortress, they found the desiccated corpses of Witch Hunters, testament to a battle fought long ago. After fleeing a ghostly library, they descended into a ballroom where the undead Witch Hunters rose to meet them, their chainmail rattling the air. Guan bravely held the line, but not before Berri was struck down, contracting the same undead disease he himself had overcome.
Pressing onward, they entered the Witch King’s bedchamber—a stifling room that reeked of brimstone, where the windows showed a sky of pitch-black night. Two Blood Demons materialized from the air, one red-skinned with a purple gem, the other purple-skinned with a red gem, their hides impervious to mundane steel. Lars, observing the binding gems on their foreheads, realized the terrible truth: to banish them, both fiends had to be struck down at the same moment. Through a desperate, brutal magical assault by Berri and Wiezen, the two demons were simultaneously destroyed. The gems fell, violently harmonizing with the chained tome, which instantly unlocked, revealing the secrets of the Book of Damning Sight, a Legendary cursed Grimoire.
The Coup in Alakyla
Armed with the dark knowledge gleaned from the Witch King’s journals, the fleet turned toward Alakyla, a town rumored to be a rich source of tribute. Upon arriving, they found the refugee ship captain, Einar, bobbing alone, determined to rescue his daughters from the Zymagradi occupation.
The town was held in a grip of iron by Captain Dimitri and his soldiers. Led by Einar through the stinking depths of the sewers, the heroes emerged at the town’s tavern, where they met Katja and the elven rebel leader, Ilmatar. A bold plan was forged: the heroes would infiltrate the Zymagradi watchtower while Ilmatar’s gang caused a diversion.
Disguised in the ravaged red and yellow tabards of the Zymagradi, the heroes executed their brazen ruse. Lars and John, feigning authority, claimed to be delivering the “prisoners” (Keski and Berri) to Captain Dimitri. Their deception worked, and they crashed through the tower doors, immediately engaging Dimitri and his men. The battle was fierce, but John delivered the killing blow to the Captain before the Zymagradis overwhelmed them. Bloody and beaten, Lars threatened the remaining guards with the arrival of Ilmatar’s reinforcements.
Knocked unconscious by the Zymagradis, the heroes awoke outside of town, stripped of their gold. Yet, the mission was a success. Katja and Ilmatar confirmed the impossible: the Zymagradi forces had inexplicably retreated overnight. The town was free, and the caravan had gained a massive haul of salvaged supplies from the town’s liberation. The journey to a safe haven was not over, but the refugees had proven, once again, that they were not merely victims, but the architects of their own, and others’, freedom.
The Unkind Shore and Alvi’s End
The occupation of Alakyla had been broken, but peace was brief. The town, fragile and wounded, struggled to accommodate the influx of refugees. Mari, desperate for rest and stability, rallied many Tahtirantans to stay. But Alvi, seeing the town’s weakened state and the resentment of Ilmatar’s local gang, argued vehemently that this place was no true haven.
The leadership faced a brutal choice that threatened to split the fleet. It was the wisdom of Wiezen and the firm voice of Keski that prevailed, reminding the murmuring people that the town could not sustain them. Reluctantly, the Tahtirantans agreed to press on.
Yet, the fleet’s harmony had been fatally frayed. Alvi and Mari exchanged harsh words, and Mari fled into the forest, a familiar habit to seek solitude. Filled with regret, Alvi joined the heroes to search for her.
They followed the trail, finding a single shoe at a large boulder. Keski summoned a white rabbit whose magical nose followed the tracks, which soon devolved from hasty running into drag marks, surrounded by the prints of four men. Suddenly, their pursuit turned to ambush. The forest erupted with the charge of four Zymagradi deserters. In the savage fight, Alvi, the caravan’s steadfast smith and resource master, was struck down by an arrow, succumbing to the wound. Berri was left incapacitated, but Wiezen’s quick wits and voice persuaded one man, Yuri, to surrender, while the others were put down by the surviving heroes.
Interrogating the captured soldier, they learned the deserters had taken Mari and left her with a comrade. Yuri led them to her, and the final guard, Bogdan, immediately yielded. The heroes, weary of bloodshed, offered the two deserters a place as guards within the Tahtiranta fleet.
They returned to the quiet lament of the village, bringing with them the grievous news of Alvi’s death. That night, he was cremated by Baba Halla in a solemn ceremony attended by all, a life lost just as hope had seemed within grasp.
The Pirate’s Finale and The Labyrinth’s Escape
The fleet, heavier by one great loss, sailed eastward again. John failed to notice a familiar double-masted sloop until it was almost upon them—the ship of Bonnie the Pirate. Guan, quick and decisive, manned a salvaged ballista, firing a harpoon that snagged the approaching vessel. Aboard the pirate ship, a man with a salt-and-pepper beard, Commodore Reynard Cook, hailed them, claiming to be a naval attaché who had been stripped bare and set adrift by pirates.
The heroes aided Reynard in evacuating his injured men, but the rescue was cut short by the ominous sight of Bonnie’s new flagship—a three-masted warship, bristling with cannons.
Lars attempted parley. Bonnie emerged, chiding the rogue hero for giving her a better prize than he had intended, but refused to let them go. A brutal fight ensued on the deck of the sloop. Wiezen, channeling his arcane might, blasted Bonnie with a bolt of lightning, forcing her to flee below deck. Lars seized the chance, convincing the remaining pirates to surrender.
Wiezen followed the pirate captain below. Avoiding a snap pistol shot, he saw Bonnie surrounded by her last loyal crew, barrels of gunpowder strewn across the deck. With a ruthless, decisive action, the Fey mage detonated the powder. John slammed the hatch shut, and Wiezen was miraculously blown clear and tumbled onto the deck of the adjacent longship as the great pirate warship erupted in fire, splitting in two and sinking to the depths.
In the aftermath, the grateful Commodore Reynard Cook offered the heroes honorary citizenship of Somberrun. The offer hung heavy in the air, a gateway to a distant, stable life.
And so, Lars, the quick-witted rogue and master of words, chose to step away from the endless road of the refugee. He accepted the offer. Weeks later, a grand Somberruner ship arrived, and with an honour guard of marines, Lars walked across the deck, the first of his people to find a definitive, secure future.
Shadows of Haapsala
The air in the bustling port of Haapsala hung thick with the briny scent of the sea and the promise of trouble. Our heroes, fresh from commandeering a pirate ship—no less!—disembarked only to find Mari and the Caravan Fleet moored just outside the official harbor. Their status as refugees, not chartered traders, had earned them a cold shoulder and denied them entry.
The burden of negotiation fell upon the party. Mari, having rowed her longship closer, sought their assistance in swaying the stone-hearted Dwarven dockmaster, Sven Haraldson. Their arrival on the unauthorized vessel, however, drew Sven’s ire, and he hurried over to turn them away. After fervent pleading, the dockmaster vaguely proposed a task in exchange for entry, setting a meeting at his office under the cover of night to reveal the details.
A Nighttime Bargain
Under the cloak of darkness, the party met with Sven and learned of the true malignancy at the port’s heart: an influential Dwarven noble named Sigurd Sigurdsson. An ancient feud between their grandfathers, long forgotten by both, fueled Sigurd’s sabotage of Sven’s career. Sven’s desperate wish was to expose Sigurd’s corruption, noting how wealthy merchants magically bypassed his authority after a visit to the noble.
The target was Sigurd’s office in the Port District, and the reward was substantial: 50 gold pieces and full access to Haapsala for the entire Caravan Fleet. Sven even provided potential leads: Lesh, the Lagocavian owner of the Indomitable, or Yana, the Skirtling proprietress of the Formidable. Yet, without concrete proof, the dockmaster could not justify granting passage further into the town.
The Manor Heist
The company made their way to Sigurd’s dockside manor, perched on a small hill beside the town walls. Wiezen’s attempt to create a distraction by posing as a crazed old man was a miserable failure. It was John who slipped past the picket fence, throwing a grappling hook to an open skylight in the back of the manor.
Inside, John navigated the building, but the noise of his lock-picking attempt at a desk drawer was enough to alert the house. Hearing a door open down the corridor, he quickly pushed a couch in front of the office door and vaulted out the window. Below, Keski, hearing the landing, drew the guards’ attention by firing arrows at Wiezen and one of the guard dogs, felling the latter. One guard pinned Wiezen, while the others, hounds in tow, chased Keski into the shantytown. This chaos allowed John to make his escape with his prize. Keski, a swift runner and swimmer, managed to lose her pursuers by plunging into the ocean.
Upon their reunion at the dockmaster’s office, the stolen book was revealed to be a ledger of payments. Berri examined it, finding frequent entries for Lesh and Yana, and a decade’s worth of payments to a certain Bjorn Erikson, a councilor of Haapsala. Sven noted that this information on Bjorn was either “very valuable or incredibly dangerous”. The ledger alone warranted a Writ of Investigation for the heroes, granting them entry into Haapsala proper, but corroborating evidence from Bjorn, Lesh, or Yana was still needed to prove Sigurd’s corruption. The reward was immediately increased to 150 gold pieces if the PCs could incriminate Bjorn Erikson.
The Noble’s Den
Armed with the writ, the party entered the town, eventually heading to the gates of the Noble Quarters. After initial attempts by Guan and Wiezen to pass as hired cleaners failed, the production of the Writ of Investigation caused a panic among the guards. Stalling for time, the guards eventually relented, escorting the party towards Bjorn’s manor.
The heroes were made to wait in Bjorn Erikson’s lavish study. John, in a clumsy display, spilled mulled wine on himself to use the restroom as an excuse to explore, but a guard thwarted him, insisting on an escort. They noted the room’s ostentatious flair: expensive, untouched foreign books and a dominant self-portrait. Only biographies of successful people showed signs of frequent handling. Meanwhile, Wiezen engaged a guard in conversation, learning of Zymagrad’s bounties on war deserters and traitors—a dangerous revelation for Bogdan and Yuri.
Bjorn eventually arrived, a confident man who politely inquired about their visit. John suggested they were there to uncover corrupted officials taking bribes and denying Haapsala its rightful tariffs. Bjorn denied any issues with his domestic transactions, even offering to show the heroes his documents. He cunningly suggested Sigurd Sigurdsson might be one of the few nobles with the authority to veto Dockmaster Sven’s approvals.
As the heroes departed, a young maid named Astrid, no older than thirteen, beckoned to Keski. She confessed that she had a secret to share that night at her home.
Astrid’s Plea and the Second Break-in
That night, Astrid revealed she was originally a maid to Master Finn, another noble who sought Bjorn’s position as Haapsala’s Master of Coin. Finn had tasked her with spying on Bjorn, but she’d had little success in six months. She offered her help, providing Bjorn’s schedule and promising to unlock the back door of his manor. She also suggested they speak with Master Gunnar, a noble on friendly terms with Bjorn.
The next morning, at the break of dawn when Bjorn was scheduled to be out, the heroes entered the Noble Quarters by claiming they were investigating Finn, which relaxed the guard. They proceeded directly to Bjorn’s back door, entering as planned.
Their ascent to the second floor was ruined when they knocked over a vase, alerting a guard who angrily yelled Astrid’s name. The party managed to duck into the study as the guard stomped downstairs toward the kitchens. As they continued their ascent, they heard a loud slap and a yelp from below.
They looted a young man’s bedroom, finding little of interest, before encountering a guard sleeping right outside another door. John attempted to pick the lock, but the wood snapped, waking the guard. They immediately attacked the waking guard and quickly incapacitated the colleague who returned from downstairs.
Inside the last room, another gaudily decorated space, they found little aside from a striking portrait of Bjorn. Footsteps and a voice from below interrupted their search. John’s attempt to bluff the investigator away failed, and heavier footsteps approached the stairs. Hiding, they waited, but after a minute, silence returned. They emerged to find the corridor empty and the main doors wide open. Poking at the portrait once more, they found a secret button that opened a hidden safe, containing a leather-bound book and a bag of gold (20 gp).
Snatched the book, the party left the bedroom only to see the lower halves of several armored figures gathering outside the manor. The party leapt out the second-floor windows, circled the back of the house, and re-entered and exited through the front door, successfully losing the pursuing guards in the town’s commotion.
Betrayal and the Trial by Combat
The players immediately reported to Dockmaster Sven, who rewarded them with the full sum of 150 gold pieces upon hearing their tale. As Sven drafted the letter of free entry for the fleet, he worried their actions had given Bjorn time to work against them. Still, he intended to report the matter to the council immediately for Sigurd’s arrest warrant.
Following Sven into the Noble Quarter and the council chambers, they were met by an irate Madam Gerda, who presided over the assembled council. Sven recounted the evidence incriminating Sigurd, corroborated by Bjorn’s ledger.
But Gerda refused to listen. Bjorn had preemptively reported the assault on his manor and employees. Gerda called for Sven’s arrest for theft and slander, giving Bjorn full right to deal with the heroes as the victim. Keski’s questioning of Gerda’s one-sided defense only infuriated the councilwoman further.
Bjorn demanded the heroes’ execution the following morning. John and Wiezen, however, appealed for a trial by combat. Finn, a young male Human council member, stepped up to support the notion. Gerda conceded, and Bjorn invoked his right to choose his champions. Wiezen successfully appealed for a postponement until the following day to allow for rest, which Finn also supported.
Sacrifice on the Trial Grounds
In the cells below the council chambers, Finn Jarlson warned the heroes that Bjorn would likely field the best men-at-arms money could buy, including a mage. At the heroes’ request, Finn provided 3 potions of healing via a servant boy.
The next day, the trial began. The fight was long and brutal; the heroes faced heavily armored warriors who expertly protected a mage who flung fireballs and dispelled Berri’s enhancement magics. As the party took down two armored foes, a large fireball struck Wiezen, and a concerted move by two warriors brought Guan down.
Wiezen and Guan eventually succumbed to their injuries on the trial grounds. After finishing off the last of their opponents, the remaining heroes won the trial.
As Gerda began to leave, Finn reminded her of Bjorn’s due fate, and the guards hauled Bjorn away, abandoned by his last personal guard. The party collected Wiezen’s and Guan’s valuables before cremating their remains. Finn promised the heroes every creature comfort during their stay.
Troll Trouble and a New Task
In the following days, Berri and John were joined by two new caravan members: Leise, a Fey Knight and granddaughter of the deceased Wiezen, and Leohard, a Human Scholar, both eager to share the burden of adventure.
Vulf, the balding, middle-aged Dwarven harbor administrator, approached the party, urging them to help secure Dockmaster Sven’s release from incarceration. He argued that Sven’s absence allowed Sigurd Sigurdsson’s noble-backed corruption to go unchecked. The party, initially contemplating a swift assassination of Sigurd, wisely heeded Vulf’s advice and sought help from Councilor Finn.
Finn confirmed his agreement with the party’s sentiment, but the decision rested solely with Head Councilwoman Gerda. Finn led them to the chambers to beseech her. Leohard and John pleaded Sven’s case without success. Leise’s impulsive insult in response to Gerda’s stubbornness earned her a harsh slap from a guard.
Leohard’s intuition, however, sensed Gerda’s pride, realizing she would only rescind her decision through a bargain. Leohard offered the party’s services in exchange for Sven’s freedom. Gerda, having recently received news of a troll waylaying merchants and travelers south of Haapsala, ordered the party to deal with the situation.
The Troll’s Lair
The party gathered intelligence, learning from an injured fur merchant that the creature was only a day’s travel south and that its rapid healing foiled mundane weapons. The merchant suggested finding a local expert on the creature’s weaknesses. At the tavern, Leise refused to pay a tough-looking brawler for information, and they left.
Following the merchant’s directions, they found the site of a recent wagon train attack. Leohard inspected the area, finding drag marks that led him into a rocky field toward a wide cave opening. Leohard, sniffing the air, instantly recognized the telltale scent of the troll.
Led by Leohard’s nose, the party charged headlong into the branching cave network, catching the troll completely by surprise. The fight was swift. The troll managed to knock Leise down, but her armor protected her from its blows and a potentially fatal gold coin bullet it spat. Seizing the moment, Berri landed a solid punch to the troll’s jaw, decapitating it instantly.
Leise cut open the creature’s belly, finding a bag containing 2 gold pieces—treasure the troll had been consuming. With the troll’s head as proof, they returned to town.
Sven’s Freedom and a New Ally
The following evening, the party strode unannounced into the council chambers, holding up the grisly trophy for all to see. Impressed and satisfied, Gerda ordered Sven’s immediate release.
Finn suggested selling the head to a merchant he knew from the Far East, since Gerda had no need for it. The Salimar merchant offered 5 GP, but the scholar Leohard managed to upsell the value of the undamaged right eyeball, fooling the merchant into paying 7 GP.
Returning to the Dockmaster’s office, they found a newly freed Sven, cleaning the grime of his incarceration with Vulf’s help. As thanks, Sven offered a personal reward of 90 silver pieces and 3 copper pieces. Though the quest for justice against Sigurd and Bjorn has ended in blood and sacrifice, the Caravan Fleet now has safe harbor, and the heroes have new companions and new opportunities in the town of Haapsala. What dangers—and rewards—will the newly liberated Dockmaster Sven lead them toward next?
The Cult of the Star-Eater
The day began not with the promise of adventure, but with the grim shadow of worry. As the heroes rose, Baba Halla approached, bringing with her an eager, catlike Farangian mage named Mao who wished to join their company. Baba Halla’s news was troubling: three children from the fleet—siblings Valto (10) and Mirja (11), and 14-year-old Svea—had not returned to the longships for three days. The elders, dismissed by unhelpful locals, were now consumed by fear.
An initial attempt to track them using Keski’s new stray dog friend, Wolfie, failed to pick up a scent from Svea’s mittens. In town, the party noted a chilling sign: multiple recent missing persons posters on the notice board, all describing individuals likely taken while alone in isolated locations around Haapsala.
Guard captain Thora confirmed the kidnappings but was unaware of the missing Tahtirantan children. Desperate, Keski offered herself as bait, disarming to appear as a commoner while the rest of the party shadowed her until nightfall.
The Five Fingers and a Hidden Cave
As Keski wandered, nothing happened until Wolfie barked at the rooftops. Keski looked up to see a dark figure turn and flee. After a shout, John led the ensuing chase through the alleys, spotting the figure turning a corner. John’s flung grappling hook snared their quarry, a man who identified himself as Olaf. Leohard noted the tattoos on Olaf’s scalp—the sign of the Five Fingers bandit clan. Wolfie’s frantic barks confirmed the children’s scent clung to the captive.
Under duress, Olaf agreed to lead the party to their hideout, a two-day journey east of Haapsala to a cave set within a cliff face near a shallow beach with boats.
Attempting the false prisoner trick, the heroes had Olaf guide them into the hideout: a large cavern filled with raised stone pillars and platforms connected by wooden plank walkways. Empty cages littered the platforms, and bandits clustered around campfires. As Olaf led them up, Leohard noticed the bandit tapping the backs of his allies, and Berri saw the bandits slowly rising to trail them.
When Olaf delivered them to the third platform, insisting they enter a cage next to those holding Avasi and a Salimar, the party immediately struck. The surprise attack saw several bandits kicked to their deaths, but the sheer numbers of the Five Fingers made for a fierce fight, though the heroes prevailed. A single bandit fled deeper into the cave, pursued by Leise.
The prisoners begged for release. After refusing to listen to the Salimar merchant’s advice, they finally searched the bodies for a key. The grateful Salimar offered future discounts, and the Avasi pair—blacksmiths—were persuaded to join the Caravan. Looting the camp yielded 5 gp, a fur, a potion of healing, and four days of rations.
The Cryptic Cipher
Olaf had vanished during the fight. The party pressed on, ascending to the highest point and entering a pitch-black tunnel, illuminated by Mao’s magic. They chose the upward-sloping right fork, avoiding the stench of excrement from the left.
Their silent advance was ruined when Mao and Berri tripped, causing a commotion. A shush from ahead preceded the lights going out. Cover blown, Leise lit her torch and marched into a crate-filled cave. Combat erupted: a Coralaxi chief named Magnus and two bandits attacked Leise, pummeling her to the ground. The rest of the party rushed to save her, slaying the initial attackers.
Olaf, discovered taking potshots with a crossbow, was knocked out and taken prisoner yet again. With him proving useless and uncooperative, Keski unceremoniously threw him out of a crack in the cave wall into the sea below.
Ransacking the room, John found salted fish for the caravan, crates of clothing taken from everyday people—a grim sight, pouches of missed coins, and a roll of leather parchment written in code. Keski took keys from Magnus’s body.
Looking out the crack, Berri and Keski spotted a hole below them. John bravely lowered himself into the fetid pitch-blackness, wading through excrement in the latrine chute. Sorting through the trash, he found a relatively new piece of parchment—the cipher for the coded directions.
The Island of Anak-su-namun
Using rowboats and Mao’s translation of the recovered cipher, the party endured a three-day, cold, stormy voyage. John, exhausted, eventually passed out, with Berri taking the lead. The rains, mercifully, had washed away John’s foul stench.
They landed on a rocky island dominated by a large domed structure, finding nearly 20 beached rowboats. Keski used her keys to unlock the door. Inside, the architecture felt alien, with finely interlocking, glass-polished stone. Small cylindrical iron cages, holding bloodless, decayed bodies, hung above the central chamber. Empty iron cages, like those at the bandit hideout, filled the corridor to the right, showing they had been dragged in at least a week prior. Strands of red hair, footprints, and drag marks led deeper inside.
A solid door, lacking a handle or keyhole, blocked their path, adorned with carvings of people praising a creature with an elongated head and jaw—Anak-su-namun, an ancient entity from the stars. After struggling to push and bash it, they realized it only had to be slid open.
Into the Embrace of the Void
They descended stairs into a large hall where chittering and scratching echoed from the distance. Keski yelled the children’s names, and the chittering turned to cacophonous screeches and the sounds of claws scrambling toward them. A horde of robed, hairless, bony-crested humanoids pounced from the darkness.
Liese fled the chamber just as Leohard rejoined the party, having studied the ruins. They fought desperately toward a set of double doors, their only perceived escape. Berri and Mao struggled to wield their magic, finding their power surged erratically. Mao, first through the doors, was followed by John, who acted as a bulwark against the tide. As Berri darted through, Mao slammed the doors shut, collapsing the tunnel behind them.
They found themselves on a balcony overlooking a vast, canyon-like chamber. A colossal humanoid entity, curled in a fetal position, emitted a blinding radiance at the chamber’s heart. A host of people below, including the children, swayed in trance, prostrating before the entity Leohard recognized as Anak-su-namun. A lone figure in white robes fervently prayed upon a raised platform.
Mao and Berri felt a profound psychic strain emanating from the entity—a force that threatened a violent psychic backlash if they attempted magic. Following a circular corridor, John picked the lock of a set of double doors, revealing a room stacked with piles of forgotten clothes and items. They found 4 cp, playing cards, a small shield, 3 potions of healing, and 3 vials of stimulants.
The Rescue and the Desperate Flight
Rounding a corner, they crept past a twitching, misshapen creature. They spotted Svea in the back of the enthralled throng. The closer to Anak-su-namun, the more decrepit the entranced figures appeared, consumed by a visible purplish distortion in the air. When figures collapsed, robed cultists swiftly dragged the bodies away through side doors.
Splitting up, Keski and Berri’s path led them to a chamber where a massive horde of the creatures had amassed. They were forced to flee back toward John’s group.
John, Mao, and Leohard’s group stealthily passed creature-filled rooms, finding themselves behind the enthralled host. They spotted Svea clearly, and Leohard craned his neck to see the much younger Mirja and Valto deeper in the crowd. They moved quietly, dragging the children out with considerable difficulty.
As the swarm closed in, Leohard was nearly swallowed by the horde before John hauled him back. Above, Keski’s assassination attempt on the white-robed figure failed as her arrow slowed mid-flight and the figure teleported away, oblivious.
The party fled desperately. Berri was caught by the swarm near the fallen brickwork but was pulled free by a rope thrown by Keski. They burst out of the structure to find Liese preparing a rowboat. John furiously rowed them away, just before the swarm flooded the beach, forming a grotesque bridge of bodies.
Two creatures latched onto the boat. Keski pushed one off, but the other grabbed Mao, dragging her into the murky depths. John valiantly dove in, breaking Mao free from the death grip, and carried her to safety, sharing the precious air in his lungs.
The children were safe, but the horror of the Star-Eater’s cult now lingers in the heroes’ minds. What dark purpose do the missing persons serve, and will Anak-su-namun awaken fully?
The Liberation of Haapsala
The return to Haapsala was shrouded not in triumph, but in a pall of ominous, black smoke that coiled against the morning sky. John, first to spy the grim harbinger, watched with deepening unease as the docks came into view, silent and deserted, save for the occasional motionless form of a town guard. Even the Tahtirantan longships lay untouched, a disturbing stillness clinging to the port.
Rowing ashore, the heroes left the rescued children in the care of Mao, Leohard, and Liese to inspect the ships, while the rest of the company crept toward the deserted Dockmaster’s office. The interior was a wreckage of debris and scattered furniture—a clear tableau of a struggle—yet no bodies were found. Scaling the town walls, the true, chilling extent of the calamity was laid bare: the streets were a charnel ground, strewn with the dead of both the Haapsala guards and foreign Zymagradi soldiers. The city had fallen. Zymagradi patrols, accompanied by tall, unnerving humanoid automatons, now moved through the town. The final, desperate horror was the sight of screaming townsfolk being dragged, by force, into the council chamber building itself.
Beneath the Council Chamber
Determined to strike at the heart of the occupation, the party pressed through the battlements, fighting a brief and brutal skirmish with a Zymagradi crossbowman. John, with practiced grace, hurled his grappling hook to bridge the gap to the roof of the council building, allowing the company to descend silently into the heart of the noble quarters.
Breaking into the building’s underbelly, they found the basement had been converted into a wretched prison. Thirty cells, jammed with townsfolk, lined the dark corridor, and amongst the wretched crowd was Mari, her eyes alight with desperate hope. A swift, bloody pincer attack dispatched the Zymagradi guards. Though the locks were stubborn, Berri, channeling her dwindling magical reserves, prioritized freeing the disarmed town guards, who instantly armed themselves with whatever makeshift weapons they could find and ascended to retake the building. From the wreckage of a skirmish above, John expertly recovered a sparking automaton power source—a volatile trophy.
The Explosion in the East
The party retreated to the relative safety of the walls, intent on eliminating the Zymagradi grip on the town’s defenses. After a brutal fight at the eastern gatehouse, they captured two soldiers who proved unhelpful and uncooperative. In a desperate, bold gambit, Keski seized a captured horn and blew a piercing call. As Zymagradis rushed to investigate, John hurled the unstable power source from the walls. It detonated in a blinding flash of white light, the shockwave tearing half the gatehouse from its moorings as the party dove for cover. The resulting chaos was the signal they needed to draw more Zymagradis away from their goal.
Moving through the ravaged alleys towards the Town Center, John, draped in a captured Zymagradi surcoat, attempted to bluff his way past a patrol. The deception failed, and he was taken into custody. Mao, Berri, and Keski shadowed their captured comrade, using stealth to infiltrate the Town Hall.
The Traitor’s Confession and the Captain’s Death
Inside the Hall, John was brought before Captain Svetoslav. Bound and slumped against the walls were the captured nobility of Haapsala: Gerda, Sven, and the treacherous Sigurd. Seizing her moment, Keski loosed an arrow that found its mark in the Captain’s back. Wounded, Svetoslav fled on his armored boar mount, while John wrenched free to dispatch the remaining men and an automaton. John freed the nobles, and as they escaped through the windows, Keski rigged the fallen automaton’s power core, blowing the entire rear of the Town Hall into a choking cloud of smoke and rubble.
Councilor Finn led the heroes to a secret safe house. There, he confessed the bitter truth: Sigurd and Gunnar had long been accepting Zymagradi bribes, secretly enabling the enemy to smuggle in weapons and launch the devastating siege from within. The enraged heroes bound the two traitors. Finn, eager for vengeance, then departed to rally the few remaining loyal guards.
The party pursued the wounded Captain to the council chambers, preparing for the final, desperate assault.
The Fall of the Occupier
As Mao signaled Finn’s forces, the heroes stormed the chambers, Leise and Leohard rejoining them just in time. Svetoslav, astride his boar and flanked by his final guards and an automaton, was ready. He sounded the alarm, but as the party dispatched his guards, the distant din of battle rose from outside.
The ground shuddered, and the massive doors burst inward as a colossal mechanical crab, armed with a repeating ballista, scuttled into the chamber. Chaos reigned. Keski’s keen eye found a fatal weakness in Svetoslav, sending him toppling, and Berri’s furious blow exploded his boar mount. The party, pushed to the brink of death by the mechanical crab, tore it apart piece by piece, before Berri crushed the last automaton in a bone-shattering bear hug.
Stepping out, they saw Finn and his men losing the tide of battle. Liese, seizing Svetoslav’s corpse, hurled it into the Zymagradi formation. Leohard’s call for a stand-down was met with a defiant counter-rally, and Liese, in a reckless charge of furious conviction, was brought down by a volley of disciplined strikes from behind a Zymagradi shield wall. Finn’s loyal guards were crushed. But Liese, through sheer force of will, pulled herself back to her feet, her morningstar a whirlwind of destruction against the surging soldiers. The party fought with desperate ferocity, until Leohard’s final, perfect slingshot found its mark, and the Zymagradis broke and fled the city.
The Dawn of a New Nobility
With Haapsala liberated, the heroes used Svetoslav’s keys to free the remaining prisoners. Councilwoman Gerda, Dockmaster Sven, and Councilor Finn, the last remaining nobles of the city, emerged to offer their heartfelt gratitude.
As their reward, Gerda granted the people of Tahtiranta the right to settle in the freed city. The party, recognizing the scholar’s wisdom, nominated Leohard to represent their people on the Haapsala council. After a powerful appeal to the last councilors, Leohard was unanimously inducted as a noble.
The years that followed cemented the heroes’ place in the city’s history: Liese rose to the rank of Guard Captain, her ferocity legendary. Berri returned to her roots as a woodcutter, her powerful fists finding purchase in the raw wood. Keski found peace in the rhythm of the sea, mastering the waves as a fisher. And John, with an enduring, unspoken hope, occasionally sailed the seas in search of Olaf, though he always returned to Haapsala empty-handed. The long, weary journey of the refugees had finally reached its end, ushering in the new dawn of a liberated city.
The Heroes
Keski Yusuji: Salimar Hunter with sticky fingers and a knack for staying out of trouble
Guan: A soft spoken spear wielding Human Fighter
Lars Fairlie: A Human Thief with heart always looking to settle problems without conflict
Berri Ursidae: A Farangian woodcutter that fells trees and enemies with her explosive Mentalist punches
John: A Human Mariner on vacation turned refugee and eventually took on a pirate persona after a head injury
Wiezen: A wizened elder of Tahtiranta and Fey Mage unexpectedly reunited with his people
Leohard: The always curious and knowledgeable Human Scholar
Liese: Fiery and hot tempered Fey Knight and granddaughter of Wiezen
Mao: Quiet and reserved Farangian Animist that tends to her party’s wounds
The Caravan
Baba Halla: Elderly apothecary of Tahtiranta and a mother figure to the Tahtirantans that fled the war
Alvi: Tahtiranta’s Salimar Blacksmith who is surprisingly well read
Mari: Dwarven shopkeeper turned caravan quartermaster
Liquanu: Village Chief of Tahtiranta
Taarakla
Taavi: Chieftain of Taarakla
Zymagradis
Yuri: Deserter offered mercenary work with the Caravan
Bogdan: Deserter offered mercenary work with the Caravan
Captain Dimitri: In charge of the occupation of Alakyla
Captain Svetoslav Kabanov: Leads the Zymagradi forces that stormed and occupied Haapsala
Alakyla
Einar: A ship captain that fled with other Alakylan refugees but ended up captured by a madman before being rescued by the heroes. Returned to Alakyla alone to aid those that remained to fight back against the Zymagradis
Katja: The tavern proprietress in Alakyla that keeps a ear out for information
Ilmatar: Leader of a group of Alakylan youths engaging in resistance actions against the Zymagradis
Haapsala
Sven Haraldson: Dockmaster of Haapsala
Sigurd Sigurdsson: A corrupt minor noble nursing a familial feud against Sven. Is corrupt and in league with Bjorn and Gunnar on several treasonous actions
Bjorn Erikson: The corrupt Master of Coin and a councilor of Haapsala. Takes bribes from Sigurd to look the other way in the face of tax evaders
Finn Jarlson: An upstanding councilor of Haapsala that commands the respect of the guards
Gerda: The head councilor of Haapsala. A stubborn and prideful woman
Gunnar the Fat: Councilor of Haapsala. A corrupt friend of Bjorn that takes bribes from the Zymagradis undermining the security and neutrality of Haapsala