Ebea One Shot Session Report
Premise
On Harvesthaul 18 in 723, William Dawncrest, the son of the Governor of Starharbor, went out to play with his friends, slipping his bodyguard, Ser Roxley, in the process. Unlike the other times he had slipped his guard, he did not return home that evening. Greatly worried, his father, Henry Dawncrest, sent out a call to capable adventurers in town, to help find his son.Meet the Heroes
In the early morning of Harvesthaul 19, three adventurers found their way to the Governor's mansion: Lazooti Rallo, a Geckoid working with the Finders of Fortune - who incidentally also was the person thought to have stolen the shard of Dawnbringer just two tendays prior. Theddul Granitebringer, a dwarven fighter and scholar alike, who hailed from the secluded Dwarven Tribe of An-Karesh. And finally, Philomena Manamix, a Geckoid capable of casting powerful spells, who is bound to her levitating wheelchair due to her weak body.Bullying butlers, bodyguards, and children
After making their way to the manor and exasperating the butler by asking for ale at 07:30 in the morning, they finally were introduced to Henry Dawncrest and Ser Roxley, who briefed them on the situation. Although the Governor eyed Lazooti with suspicion, he gave the party leave to retrieve his son using any means necessary. After having her competence questioned by Lazooti, Ser Roxley escorted the party to the Western city gates, where William and his friends often liked to play. When approaching the gates, they were swarmed by William's friends, who were very concerned about their friend, as they thought William and Thomas - an older kid usually watching over the younger children - had left, because William was not feeling well the day before. After some convincing from Philomena, they admitted that - despite explicit warning not to - they had snuck down to Mistbay the day before. They were playing catch and noticed that the other two were not there anymore around noon. Ser Roxley points out that the tide changes around that time and the party makes their way down to Mistbay. Lazooti and Manamix make their way there by the small path in the cliffside the children amitted to using and Theddul and Ser Roxley by carriage. Theddul also sent his familiar, a giant toad, with the two Geckoids, much to the dismay of Manamix, who had the toad dumped on her lap at one point.Beach episode at Mistbay
While making their way down the narrow path on the cliffside, the Geckoids spotted some caves dotting the cliffside further out. The party met back up at Mistbay, where they discovered a kid's shoe in the sand. They also found a small cave that was accessible due to the low tide and looked at least partially man-made. They spotted two skeletons that looked like they had been there a while but nothing of use to find the two missing children.Plenty of fish and useless guardsmen
Suspecting foul-play, the party took the carriage back to the city and made their way to the harbor, where Lazooti promptly started talking to two fishermen. The fishermen informed him that they had been finding a suspicious amount of human-looking bones in their nets the last few months and that they had informed the city guard accordingly. Lazooti offered them 10 gold for however many fish that would get him, as well as for their information and the option to hire them later, in case the party needed a ship to check out the other caves Manamix and Lazooti had spotted. Since he could not carry around that many fish, he informed the fisherman to just give 10 gold worth of fish out to the citizens for free. Meanwhile, Theddul had managed to find some ale. After talking to the fishermen, Manamix and Lazooti entered the Harbormasters office to ask whether he had seen either of the kids or if there had been any suspicious activity. However, apart from the bones showing up in the fishermen's nets, he could think of any suspicious activity. Finally, the party confronted a guard, asking him if anything was being done about all the bones and whether there had been an increase in missing people. The guard pointed out that their resources were stretched thin with all the bandit raids and wars going on and that since no one of importance had gone missing so far, it was not a high priority.Dungeon-crawling time
Out of other options, the party went back to the two fishermen, who took them to a cave the Geckoids had spotted earlier. Inside the cave, they soon encountered Grindylow, small greenish creatures with wickedly sharp claws and teeth. They also found quite a few gnawed on bones. As they made their way further into the cave, a shrill shrieking sound suddenly started ringing through the cave. After having taken care of the Shriekers, the party was ambushed by a small group of Grindylows, who had been attracted by the screaming. Eventually, they get to the end of the cave, where they find a Naiad and some more Grindylow. The Naiad insisted that they have not abducted anyone and only took the wayward souls who had wandered into the ocean and would have died either way. She did, however, refuse the party to look around the last area, which ultimately lead to battle. The party managed to kill the Grindylows, knocking the Naiad unconscious in the process.Booty, bones, and bodies - dead and alive
Having a look at the last room, they found William, however, there was no trace of Thomas. There also was a treasure chest, which Lazooti had a look at, finding enough bones to form roughly 30 left hands, a doll, two rings, some coins, a couple of small buttons, a locket with a severely waterstained photo of two halflings holding hands inside of it as well the shard of Dawnbringer he supposedly had stolen. He pocketed the shard without anyone else noting, and picked up the locket. Meanwhile, Ser Roxley and Theddul tended to William, who was cold, wet, and shaken up but overall in good health. He asked the party if they had seen Thomas, who had tried to pull him out of the ocean. Having no other lead as to his whereabouts, the party woke up the Naiad, who told them to check the crevice in the corner, as the Grindylows had brought in William that way. Theddul sent his familiar into the crevice, which lead to a small alcove in the ocean. The severely mangled and gnawed on body of a child was floating in there. As the child was missing a shoe identical to the one the party found at Mistbay, they were sure they had found Thomas. Before leaving, Theddul killed the Naiad to prevent more people from going missing and getting eaten.Harbingers of news both good and bad
They convinced William to return to Starharbor by telling him Thomas would be there. The kid eventually gave in and the party returned to the city, child in tow. At the mansion, Henry Dawncrest was overjoyed the party had returned his son alive. The party hinted at Thomas's demise, causing the Governor to sent his son for a bath. With his child out of earshot, the party told the Governor they had solved the bone problem and found the body of Thomas in the process, leaving the Governor to inform his son about his friend's death. Lazooti also showed him the locket he had picked up, offering to send it to the mage's tower. As a reward, each member of the party was given a reward of 250 gold pieces and access to the mage tower in Starharbor.
by FenDawnchild
by FenDawnchild
