CotF - The Second Gen (Brads GM Notes - Part I)

First session:

Able visited his Uncle Zeke and discovered that someone was trying to steal a book full of recipes, both magical and mundane. Zeke said that a few days ago a visitor arrived in the dead of night inquiring about the book and offering to buy it. Later someone sneaked into Zeke's library and sorted thru the books where this recipe book was normally kept. In order to ensure the book was safe he asked Able and Evelynn to check on the book and retrieve it for him. He said the book went by ship to Tyr.

Evelynn and Able travel to Tyr and visit the Villa of the Lady Ashelle. Here they discover that the book never arrived at the Lady's villa. They travel to the nearby seatown of Traxum and discover that the Seaghost and Capt. Tillek have not been seen in months. Once back at the hotel one of Lady Ashelle's servants arrives out of breath. He reports that the villa was attacked by "feral men" and that some people were killed and injured. Lady Ashelle and the others hurry back but are waylaid on the road by dire wolves. They capture one wolf and determine that they were sent by someone. Who is not known.

Once back at the Villa they discover the damage is not too bad. A few drudges were killed and some men-at-arms injured. They said a small group of feral men with glowing red eyes attacked with claws teeth and broke into the library as giant wolves prowled around the outside of the villa. These men searched the library but did not seem to find what they were looking for. When the men-at-arms tried to corner them in the library the feral men disappeared.

Realising that this book was important the trio continued to search for it. They traveled along the coast of Tyr and Porthos until they reached Chiros. Here they discovered from the old sailor Pilius that the Seaghost had been pillaged by the dread pirate the Rake. The trio also meet a few potential allies. Sebastian, the son of Achmed Trokair, is an adventurous, but brooding young man with a less than stellar reputation. There have been claims that he is allied with evil wizards and is a thief. Others say those are much overstated tales and that Sebastian was just a youth at the time. They also meet his twin brother, Alexander. He is the ying to his brothers yang. He is outgoing and friendly, perhaps overly so. He was quite the reputation with the ladies. He also is a member of the Harpers Guild. He travels about singing the histories and stories while also entertaining. They are both investigating the Rake.

In a near brawl on the street they run into the dwarf Mordicai, the lady Tulena Slaughter and the kender Angser. A brawl nearly ensues when a Lnt from the man-o-war tries to press the lady and the dwarf into service. The others come to their assistance, saving the Lnt and his marines from being in the sickbay fro a week or two.

The Feltrest Navy is comprised of regulars and auxiliries. Many ships that port in Feltrest are often called up in defense of the homeland. In times of peace they are often available as mercenaries to the highest bidders. In the meantime they are privateers and adventurers. A man-o-war in Chiros had been hired by the Baron of Chiros and paid for by the many merchant and sailing guilds who were losing too much money to the piracy of the Rake. This was the third ship hired. The other two had both been defeated by the pirates when they attempted to storm the haunted island.

The island that the Rake uses as a base has always been plagued by stories of ghosts and taboos. Many ships disappear into that area and sudden mists and storms are common. The island is also said to be inhabited by snake headed people who can kill with a single glance.

The group of adventurers band together and hire a ship to take them to the Haunted Isle. When the man-o-war attacks the group sneaks onto a beach and begins to come up behind the pirate town. However, they are ambushed by Yuan-ti who drive them into some of the local wildlife. A huge tree with hundreds of vines drags some of the group towards its maw. The group bands together and drives off the Yuan-ti and defeats the tangle tree.

Second Session:

After the chaotic first encounter with the snake people Mordikai decides to try to set up some tactics. He tries to determine the strangths of his team. With some tactical guidance from Tulina the group comes up with a rough marching order and basic tactics. The party follows a game trail from the tangle tree.

The group reaches the Pirate village and begins to scout it out. They decide on a beach assault to get around the wall and to capture a catapult and crew. Capturing the crew doesn't work so well, so they burn the catapult. The Pirates are alerted to their presence and begin to form an attack. Wave after wave of Pirates is killed or wounded, the death cound around 20-30 pirates. After Angser puts a few arrows into teh Captain leading them the rest retreat or surrender. The marines have by this time taken the south wall and begin rounding up pirates as well.

A couple of the adventurers begin interogating the pirates and find out that the Rake has a hideout on the island. It is further in on the island and only the captains know where it is at. A few others search some fo the Captains Huts and do not find the book or any usefull clues.

During the assault Able had brewed up a local storm that forced the largest ship to the beach hoping that the Rake was aboard. He was not, but there was a mage. He was eventually captured, but knows little about the Rake and does not have any sort of book.

The party managed to save their boat and defeat the pirates, although the Feltrestians appear to be taking most of the credit for that. Now the party seems to have a pretty good idea of where the Rake is at. They just need to decide on how to get there. And hope he has the book and not someone else.

Third Session (7-12-8):

After realising how vulnerable their boat is the party decides to take measures. Angser and Evelynn volunteer to stay with the boat. However, the captain is having none of it and wants to leave. The danger of pirates and the snake people is getting to him. In order to hold the boat, Sebastian stays with the captain and convinces him not to leave. This works out well because Sebastian is already exausted from running around chasing pirates.

The rest of the group decides to head back to the Pirate town and follow the road towards the Rake's hideout. As they are passing the town they recognise a familiar face. Alexander Trokair is waiting for them and has a pair of horses and a wagon. Alexander snuck onto the Feltrest Navy ship, pretending to be an officer. He had been keeping an eye on the Feltrestians in order to make sure they did their job. Now Alexander procured the wagon and horses so they can carry back some of the Rake's treasure.

With the reinforcements the group travels the road. About halfway down the road they are ambushed by the Yuan-ti. The snake people use psionic and magical attacks and scare off Tulina and turn Gillian into a snake. They have less success on the dwarf and the druid. Things look bad for a bit, but the characters persevere and turn the tide even though Ashelle also got turned into a small snake. An abomination appeared to find out who the group was and what they were doing. When they found out the adventurers wanted to rid the island of the Rake they made a deal to let the characters pass.

Eventually the characters made their way to the hideout, an old temple in a small clearing. They snuck up to the building, but Ashelle's spying eyeballs set off an alarm and alerted the enemies inside. the pirates attacked and were soundly beaten back. The pirates retreated and prepared a better defense. After freeing some wenchs that had been slaves they eventually headed downstairs into the main lair. The fighting was hectic and dangerous. The group overcame a couple of pirates, but the wizard was causing some problems. He had spider climbed onto the ceiling and was beyond the reach of most melee attacks. Another pirate had turned invisible and hid near the stairs. The invisible pirate failed miserably on his ambush of Gillian and was beaten back. The sorcerer was finally dealt with by Ashelle and her magic.

Mordicai found himself dueling the Rake himself. The dwarf was in a tough battle and it took all his effort to beat back his attackers blows. He also found himself in a narrow aisle that didn't allow for much reinforcements or maneuvering. Slowly the Rake gave ground and Able came to help heal his friend. Then the Rake stepped back and transformed into a Blue Dragon. His lightning breath hit both Mordicai and Able who were stuck in the narrow aisle. Tulina and the others were still dealing with pirates. Able summoned an elemental to help in the fight, but it did not do much. Alexander was watching over the captured pirate, but with the new problems he called to Evelynn and went downstairs to enter the fray.

And getting late as it was the night ended.

Fourth Session (7-26-08):

Due to attendance we did a slight reality shift here. We determined that Evelynn had been with the party the entire time and was gaurding the wagon and horses when the dragon appeared. She was immediately summoned.

The battle with the Dragon started to get pretty hectic. Mordicai was having trouble and taking alot of damage and not able to inflict much. The elemental took alot of beatings as well, but it took an extra round or two for the Rake to kill it. This delay provided the time needed for the group to reorganise its efforts. Tulina started attacking the dragons flank with her magical blade. Able transformed into a giant wolf and when the elemental finally dies he started attacking from behind and tripping. He made one excellent trip attack that left the dragon on the ground and the group swarmed over him. He was able to get back to his feet, but the lost time took its toll and he was defeated by the heroes.

Then the looting started. (see picture above)

The Rake didn't have alot of magic and gold, but he did have alot of plundered loot. The group slowly inventoried the loot and determined the magical items and what they did. They also made arrangements with the ship captain to get some men to help carry all the loot and transfer it all back to town. Whatever the group didn't want the merchants would take off their hands and sell. The group was so battle worn and there was so much treasure that the party spent the night in the old temple.

The biggest suprise was yet to come. When the party got back to Chiros they had discovered that the Feltrestian Navy had already claimed the prize for the Rake! The head that adorned the pike in town square was of the captain that had fled from the battle. A hearing was called the next day to sort things out.

Fifth Session (8-9-08):

As the group sorted out their loots Sebastian got called away. Angser had strained his back trying to move loot that was too heavy for him and was laid up in his room. He still had plenty of treasure and had kender lasses lavishing him with attention. The loot distribution is here (Kept Treasure & treasures per GM). The most interesting item is a single magical bracer. Noone knows what it does, but it radiates strong protective magic, but only works as a pair.