Session 4: Correnwald

**"Correnwald"** was the fourth session of Campaign 1. With the rescued civilians in tow, the party made its way deeper into the swamp to the town of Correnwald, where their original mission was complicated by the discovery of a tangled nest of political and criminal mysteries...

## **Session Notes**

### **Arrival**

Having dumped the captive Spittlebrick in the back of Arvin's wagon, the party (with Byron and Alice in tow) travelled the remainder of the Stumpmarsh Trail to Correnwald. Along the way, while the goblin petitioned unsuccessfully for his freedom, Byron explained that Luther Maldrud, the author of the incriminating letter from Spittlebrick's hoard, is a well-respected figure in the town, responsible for the treasury at Lord's Lodge. Arashi also picked a few giffle and bogroot plants.

Eventually, the lights of the town began to gleam through the swamp haze. Their first destination was Byron's smithy in the Planks district, where many of the buildings are sinking into the mud. Byron disembarked, thanking the party for their aid, and encouraged them to seek shelter at the Taproot Inn.

### **A Tale of Two Taverns**

Leaving the wagon at Byron's, the party split in two, with one group (Arashi, Cedric and Malaxus) seeking to reunite with Cedric's retainers at the Taproot Inn, while the other (Dilern and John, with Spittlebrick strapped to the latter's back) remained intent on investigating The Wheezing Beaver, a seedy tavern and brothel on the Puddle Docks.

The first group travelled via the herbalist's shop (where Arashi identified his plants) and bogroot patches to the Taproot Inn, host of the town's trademark Emerald Brew. They conversed with the bartender, Mirtie Hazelton, who told them of the recent arrival of a Kastalavic alchemist named Ilvayne Rosenstock, who allegedly used to create potions and concoctions for the Pontificate.

Meanwhile, John and Dilern travelled to the miserable Puddle Docks, passing a strange elderly man hauling a net full of dead, rotten fish, rambling under his breath about fire on the water. Entering the Wheezing Beaver, the pair realised that the tavern's clientele is primarily halfling and that folks of their kind are received with hostility by the patrons. However, their cold reception by the Bolger family didn't stop John from sampling one of the prostitutes (with a traumatised Spittlebrick dumped in the next room to sleep).

### **Siltwater Market**

The following morning, the party rendezvoused at the Taproot Inn to discuss their next moves and decided to take Spittlebrick to the sheriff's office to use as a witness to Maldrud's corruption. To this end, they set off through the Siltwater Market, Correnwald's mercantile hub overseen by a rickety guard tower. Most of the stalls sold ceramic goods, and their impoverished owners seized the chance to sell to the newcomers, pushing their wares with zeal and haggling down to tiny, pathetic amounts.

As they passed through the market, the party witnessed two men - one muscular, one ratty - in black tunics dragging a carpenter to the Stilts district. Cedric attempted to intervene, but was told to back off by the bailiffs, who insisted it was Lord's business. While ill at ease, Cedric and the party decided to stay their hand.

Following the incident, the party wandered over to a huge wagon owned by Victor, an elderly and eccentric travelling merchant. The wild-eyed gnome tried to sell them various items above their budget, but managed to fool John into buying a parrot for the mere price of one copper piece, even after the cover was removed to reveal the dead bird at the bottom of the cage.

Drawn by a purple tent with incense smoke drifting from it, the party entered to find Aggie, the town seamstress: an aged, blind old woman clutching a staff of pantano wood. The woman whispered under her breath as the party entered, warning them of ghosts in the swamp. When Malaxus inquired further, Aggie responded:

> *"Prisoners. Before the Pontiffs seized Alagost, this realm was cloven into many kingdoms. The Swamp Kings were many, and with lots of land over which to war. Their battles yielded slaves, and those slaves perished by the wagonload in the Hellmire. I hear them still, trundling into the swamp in the night. They are doomed to die again and again, sure as the moon rises and falls. If you disturb them, they turn foul as bog rot, and pull you into the mud to drown with them."*
>
>

Unnerved, but somewhat charmed by the old woman, Arashi bought some of her wares but was interrupted by a visiting lawman, who demanded to see Aggie's trade license. Cedric showed it on the blind woman's behalf, and identified the signature of Lord Selwyn Larassan on the license. The lawman moved on, satisfied, but the party began to suspect Lord Larassan of extortion.

### **Ogre Attack**

Leaving the tent, the party witnessed a wagon stamped with a green star - the symbol of the local Emerald Brewery - travelling along the marsh road into the market. As the cart reached the corner, a huge green arm lashed out of the trees, knocking the cart onto its side, spilling its cargo and killing the driver. The trees parted, and a massive, ten-foot-tall swamp ogre lumbered from the forest. The guard in the tower jerked awake, scrabbling for his bell, but a swipe from the ogre's club smashed through the tower's support beams, splintering them.

The party leapt into action, battling the attacking creature and seeking to protect a green dragonborn who was caught in the middle. The damaged tower collapsed, killing the guard and wounding John, but it was the ogre's poison breath that felled both John and Dilern and inadvertently killed Spittlebrick, who was still tied to the former's back. After a gruelling battle, the party slew the beast and revived one another while townsfolk converged on the market square.

The green dragonborn introduced himself as Ario Va'Kel, the town librarian, who assured them of a reward if they accompanied him to his library in the Stilts. Meanwhile, the town's gruff Sheriff, Wulfric Dagoban, arrived to question the party, and their heroism convinced him to offer his thanks and insist they go to the Lord's Lodge to receive Lord Larassan's personal gratitude.

### **Tealeaf's Bargain**

The party was then approached by a flamboyantly-dressed halfling man named Osborn Tealeaf, the proprietor of the Emerald Brewery, who was impressed by their dispatching of the ogre. He asked for their assistance in carrying the intact barrels from the fallen cart to the Brewery, where he presented them with a keg of ale, on the house, and a job offer, off the books.

Tealeaf explained that Emerald Brew is Correnwald's most profitable export, and with Lord Larassan reaping much of the profits thanks to his taxes and levies, illicit competitors are death to Tealeaf's business. The Swamp Snakes, a local gang operating out of the Wheezing Beaver, are brewing moonshine downriver and selling it in town at cheap rates. However, Tealeaf doesn't have any proof, and the sheriff won't follow any leads outside the town boundaries. Therefore, Tealeaf asked the party to take a vial of Hexenfeuer to the Snakes' distillery and destroy it, promising a handsome reward of gold and Emerald Brew if they succeed.

The party considered Tealeaf's offer, but didn't want to dilute their goals too early, given their investigation into Maldrud, and Cedric's remaining wish to speak to Father Anselm at the Sun Chapel. They assured Tealeaf they would return if their schedule cleared up.

### **Trouble at Lord's Lodge**

Laden with the rumours and politics of the town, the party finally headed up to the Sheriff's office, where they examined the noticeboard outside:

* A warning of goblins on the Stumpmarsh Trail, with notice of a reward for proof of the tribe's extermination.
* A scrap of paper stamped with a green star, with a job offer on it: "*SELLSWORDS WANTED! I need hired hands for a mission downriver. 150 thor reward. Inquire at Emerald Brewery for details. - Osborn Tealeaf*"
* A missing poster for Symon Vicario, assistant to Father Anselm at the Sun Chapel.
* A brief, official-looking note, reading: "*APPLY FOR TRADE LICENSES AT LORD'S LODGE*"
* *"There is a wild beast mauling and burning travellers in the swamps. Reward for its slaying - seek Sheriff Dagoban.*"

After claiming the 300gp reward on Spittlebrick's head, the party ventured across the rickety river bridge to the richest district of the town, where the Lord's Lodge and the mercantile elite live. The door to the Lodge was answered by its elderly chamberlain, who initially refused to allow them entry without an appointment. However, Malaxus was able to convince her to let them in by showing her Spittlebrick's corpse.

The chamberlain took them into Lord Larassan's audience chamber, where they found the half-elven lord smoking marshweed from a pipe while an unfamiliar, dusky woman with a white streak in her hair rubbed ointments into his temples. Larassan told the woman - Ilvayne Rosenstock - to leave, and demanded to know the reason for the party's interruption.

When they dumped the goblin's corpse on Larassan's table, the Lord feigned delight, and appeared outwardly disturbed by the party's accusations of Maldrud's corruption. John handed him the letter, and Larassan had the chancellor summoned into the room. However, Larassan then chastised the chancellor for signing the letter with his own name, before throwing the letter in the fire. He admitted that Maldrud had struck a deal with Spittlebrick on his behalf, asking them to harry travellers into the town, thereby giving him an excuse to raise defence taxes. However, he offered to forget the whole affair and forgo conflict if the party kept their mouths shut, to which the party reluctantly agreed. Disgusted, they left the lodge.

### **Anselm's Quest**

The party went to Ario's library, where they received a small reward of 50gp, plus a map of Correnwald, for saving him, and met his pet ochre jelly, Peat. From there, Cedric led them to the Sun Chapel to meet with Father Anselm, as instructed by Cardinal Rassian's edict.

The party entered the chapel, which appeared to be the newest building in town. Inside, they found a sullen-looking acolyte (Klaus) sweeping the floor while a white-robed Father Anselm knelt at the altar. Courteous but a tad haughty, Anselm greeted Cedric and the party fondly, offering them a libation of Kallantine wine while decrying the 'fetid bilge' drunk by Correnwalders. Over wine, Anselm explained his predicament, and the reason Cedric was dispatched to help.

The Ramman River, which runs through Correnwald, has been poisoned by something dire, resulting in fish turning up spontaneously burned and the water itself running foul. Fearing for the health of the townsfolk, Anselm sent his curate, Symon Vicario, into the Hellmire to locate the source of the corruption, but Vicario never returned. Without the proof to substantiate his own suspicions, Anselm pleaded Cedric and his band of sellswords to travel into the swamp and find Symon, alive or dead, and (in the case of the latter) to bring his body back to be anointed in the light of Helion.

When asked where to start, Anselm told the party that Symon travelled via the sunken graveyard, down a waterlogged road in the Planks district. With no further complications in the town, the party agreed and set off on their way...

## **Appearances**

### **The Party**

* Arashi Fulgar
* Cedric Goodfellow
* Dilern Lousseaghymn
* John
* Malaxus

### **New**

* Aggie
* Anselm
* Ario Va'Kel
* Creek
* Alchemist Ilvayne Rosenstock
* Klaus
* Kyra
* Luther Maldrud
* Mirtie Hazelton
* Osborn Tealeaf
* Otis Bolger
* Rollo Mudpot
* Lord Deacon Selwyn Larassan
* Tanda Elehen
* Victor
* Welwyse Bolger
* Wulfric Dagoban

### **Returning**

* Alice
* Byron
* Godfrey Gilhorn
* Mallim
* Mushroom
* Septimus Krane
* Spittlebrick †

### **Deaths**

* **Spittlebrick:** inadvertently caught in a swamp ogre's poison breath.
* **Unnamed Correnwald scout:** crushed by the fallen tower during the ogre's attack.

### **New Creatures**

* Ochre jelly
* Parrot (dead)
* Swamp ogre