Session 1 - A New World
General Summary
Aelius Evander, August, Carl, Daphy Wixx, and Grey Naythos have traveled on the Skylark from the Old World - Ulthos (called Erya by the elves), to the New World, known as Gethen. Six weeks it took to cross the Sashelas Ocean (the Sea of Ash).
Prior to arrival, Captain Vivian Dunley gathered the passengers on the deck, and asked them their plans. By and large, they told him they wanted to start over or make some money on the frontier. Grey told him he wanted to lose himself in the new land. The captain warned the new arrivals about trading with the natives - the treaty that ended the Goblin War and allowed the humans to settle the sword coast prohibited selling any of the natives iron weapons (or the metal to manufacture them).
As the Skylark made it to dock, the travelers saw a multitude of recruiters looking for workers - primarily fishers, farmhands and domestics. Interested in more lucrative and exciting opportunities, the five, who had become friendly aboard the vessel, headed toward a crowd of people gathered around a strange green reptile who was showing off his physical prowess to passers by and new arrivals. He was Kothar - a native lizard man - and he worked as a pit fighter at a sailor's tavern called the Scale & Tail. His presence at the docks was to advertise a fight that night against a mystery opponent. Kothar was reputedly undefeated.
The tavern is still quite empty when they walk in, so they share a drink, buy bunks for the night at the flophouse across the street, and chat up Miles Pinter, the tavern keeper, about the goings on. Miles tells them that if they're looking for employment, they can look at the bills posted outside the Council Hall in the main square. He adds that his employer and owner of the Scale & Tail is a man named Ferdous Crugg, and he may be looking for people to help move goods to neighboring towns.
At the main square, the five look around at the main town buildings. Aside from Council Hall, the square is dominated by three religious establishments - the Whitetower, the Courtyard of Fire, and the Serene Temple of the Ennead. The former two belong to sects of the new Pelorian religion, the latter represents the older pantheon promoted by the Erlkönig, which seems to be tolerated in this town. By the Council Hall, there are indeed notices advertising various work opportunities - mostly the same ones the scouts shouted about on the docks, but also some looking for saltern workers, and several notices looking for armed escorts for trading missions to neighboring towns. Most of the latter list Crugg as the employer.
Crugg's mansion is right off the main square, so they decide to pay him a call. A dwarf lets them into his private study, where they discover that Crugg is also a dwarf, and a member of the town council. The guests ask if he is hiring escorts, and Crugg replies that he may be looking for employees to help him move rum and tobacco to neighboring towns, but would like someone he can trust, and doesn't make decisions quickly. August compliments Crugg on his money, which appears to insult him, but Grey, who speaks dwarvish, compliments him on his beard, which gets him to relax somewhat. He asks where they are staying and tells them, upon parting, that he will be sending trading missions out within a week, and if he needs them, he will send a message at the Scale & Tail.
Having no firm offer and uncertain about the missions to towns that appear to be dominated by Pelorian sectarians, the travelers decide to look into other options. They stop into the Royal Swan - an inn for respectable folk, also nearby. While Carl and Daphy enjoy a few more drinks, the others find a pair of other council members - Philharmonius Fortune and Jasper Smiel - dining at the next table. The two explain about Crugg's domination of the reexport business and his rivalry with another councilmember - Alston Salley, who seeks ways to circumvent Crugg's monopoly. They indicate that Salley operates the town saltern, and has an estate just to the north of town.
Aware of some of the disapproving glances in their direction at a rather respectable establishment, and deciding to put their eggs in as many baskets as possible, the five next head to Salley's mansion. Prior to arrival, they concoct a story about representing a mercenary group called the Grey Company in order to look more sophisticated and official. Salley, a tall, gaunt man, seems amenable to employing people to seek out new markets, though he says that his hiring of employees is handled by an associate named Benny "the Cricket" - a local fishmonger.
At the fishmongers', there are a few suspicious types hanging about, but the man in charge is Benny - a short, fat, hairy, tattooed man in a leather vest and chains. He asks where the group is staying (they lie, saying the Merry Mermaid, an establishment owned by Salley). He then replies to their entreaties by saying that he might be willing to take them on, but first, wants to know who he is working with. He then asks whether they would be willing to make some trouble at the Scale and Tail by beating people and throwing them off the dock, so he can see what they can do.
The new arrivals thank Benny, say they will do as he asks, and depart back to the Scale & Tail. They have no intention of going through with Benny's plan, and in general, find the man very slimy. Though initially, they thought that the town was very respectable, they now find that there is conflict bubbling beneath the surface, and that there appear to be no good people among those who govern Saltmarsh.
They return to the Scale & Tail, which is beginning to fill up. As they order more drinks, an old-timer slips up and begs for a drink in exchange for a story. Grey gives up his ale, and the geezer, named Gifford Brimley, tells them about slipping into an old house a few miles up the coast. He calls the place the Helmont mansion, though it is more generically known as the Haunted House. Gifford was apparently collecting frogs and salamanders in the marsh (or so he claimed), and after walking into the place for respite after staying out too long, claimed to see bizarre lights, swarms of bats, and a cloaked man with dripping fangs who emerged from the cellar. At this, Gifford ran until he reached town. Most of the people sitting nearby place little stock in Gifford's tale, but they do confirm the mansion has a terrible reputation, and is widely considered haunted. The travelers consider traveling to the place and taking it over. They ask Miles who owns it, and he says he is not sure: it's been here almost as long as the town itself. In any case, they should ask the notary tomorrow, if they want information about its legal ownership.
The drunks around them are getting excited and rowdy. Soon, they proceed into the cellar, where a fighting pit has been erected. Kothar is introduced as the establishment's champion, and then, a crate is slid into the ring, and his opponent is revealed - a cockatrice from the Old World, that can reputedly turn its victims to stone. Without missing a beat, Kothar pins it against the paneling, and systematically tears it wing from wing, and even crunches up the remains in his jaws. The crowd roars its approval, money is exchanged, tumbler clash against tumbler, and the debauchery continues late into the night...
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Report Date
09 Jun 2021
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