Dealings with a Mage

## Synopsis

The Guilds of Sunward have hired the Whispering Cutlass to venture to the east and make a deal with the Wizard Lord Uloreen.

The Guilds hired the Whispering Cutlass to find their prized ship, The Coral Breaker. After tracking it down, it was found in the possession of Lucia Bonebeard, a pirate of the Alune coast.  Lucia said she is willing to return the ship in exchange for a map that is said to be owned by the mage Uloreen.

Many rumors surround the mage, some worrisome.  Uloreen recently ascended to the Lord of the province through questionable means. He is said to have a great rage that lives inside of him.

You are tasked with heading to the Borderlands, gaining an audience the Uloreen, and obtaining the map that Lucia Bonebeard desires.

## Mercenaries

Nyx - Tiefling Fighter (Sponsor: Poligum of the Plants)

Grorg - Bugbear Ranger (Sponsor: Faithful Boar)

Kayn - Human/Fallen Aasimar Paladin (Sponsor: Rose Tanzanite Brynnwolf)

Gnarlap - Silver Dragonborn Warlock (Sponsor: Reyak the Revealer)

Relc - Wood Elf Fighter

## Adventure

### Travel:

The group headed out from Abishot, heading north towards Ivaio. As night grew near, the party joined the campsite of a travelling troupe led by Asheed, a friendly them who told stories of the Fallen Marsh and Inzet. We were told the Fallen Marsh used to be all cliffs and bluffs, but the mechanics of the Serpent Cult brought them to sea level, forming a marsh. The people in the marsh are said to have a connection to primordial magic and ride alligators through the swamp.

Inzet, on the other hand, sounds like a paradise. Uloreen has attracted many people to the city with deep pockets and a willingness to pay well, and the city is quickly growing. Additionally, he is seeking to block out the Dread Hounds, building towers along the border to keep them out, but losing many men to attacks as he does so. Rumors also say he does not follow the customs of foreigners working in his land, destroying all the bodies before the corruption of the Dread Hounds can spread. Additionally, it seems the beasts come with the sandstorms that wrack the region.

Before the party slept for the night, Asheed told them to seek out an oddity shop run by Yestem in Inzet, and told them the secret phrase to show he sent them. "There are many songs to be sung, but only so much sun in the day." As the party moved on, traveling past Ivaio on the way to Midwind, they camped for the night. Relc, the newest member of the Whispering Cutlasses, met an old woman, who gave him some silver for a drink of water. She smelled of Freesia, but kept travelling through the night.

The Party continued on, spending one more night on the plains before arriving in Midwind, a dour seeming town filled with quiet faces. As the party rested at a tavern, they met a frog-man who played them in a game of dice. After taking their money, the frog-man told them a rumor he'd heard of Uloreen: He wasn't destroying the bodies, he was keeping them, lined up along walls in a catacomb. Unnerved, the party slept in the inn, leaving the next morning for Inzet.

Upon attempting to leave the city, the party was accosted by a group of people from the Screaming Sabres, a mercenary company based in the Sorrow Woods. Their leader tried to talk down to the party, but Relc punched him in the face. As the leader tried to rile up his goons, Gnarlap prestidigitated a smell of excrement from him, and the leader, embarrassed and being laughed at by his own men, tried to prove he had not shat himself. Upon his pants hitting the ground, Relc fired an arrow, pinning his pants, and the town guard descended, fining the Sorrow Wood mercs for various infractions, and the party continued to Inzet.

### Inzet:

Arriving in Inzet, the party was immediately accosted by local foreman trying to slot them into needed jobs. After defusing that situation, the party entered the town, as the shift ended and the people were heading to their nightly parties. Finding the oddity shop closed for the night, the party entered a tavern, where the young workers were partying it up on a Tuesday/Thursday. As Grorg and Relc got hammered with the partiers, Kayn sat outside, observing the stars, his mind filled with memories of Tarmak and his potential rescue. Gnarlap sat at a table alone with a drink, thought filling up with plans. And Nyx chatted up a loner on the outskirts, learning more about Inzet and Uloreen.

After the party slept off the night's drinks, they headed for the oddity shop. Each was told to make a request, and the owner would give them what they needed, for a price. Grorg received massive worms for fishing, Nyx received a perfume that would make someone tell them their deepest desire, Relc gained a key to a vault, Kayn received a compass that could locate what he wanted to find, and Gnarlap received a small, silver mirror. After paying, they headed to meet Gates, the right-hand-man of Uloreen.

Gates told them he could get them in to meet with Uloreen at lunch time. With time to kill, the party headed to the lake to fish. With help from Relc, Nyx, and Gnarlap, Grorg was able to pull in a coinfish, two feet long and 5 feet tall. Bringing the fish with them, the party went to meet Uloreen.

Each member of the party, except for Relc, made an offering to Uloreen, though he said it wasn't necessary. The party learned that his greatest wish was to create a land where the mages weren't feared. Sitting to discuss the terms of the meeting, the party told Uloreen what the Guilds of Sunward were seeking, and he seemed surprised. The name of the pirate seemed to be one he recognized, but he did not divulge any information. He promised to give them the map, if they did two things for him. First, they had to clear out one of his towers, which had been attacked by the Dread Hounds and a Spawning Pool had been created. Second, using their official capacity as members of the Whispering Cutlass, they had to promise a future favor to him. The party agreed, and off they went.

### The Tower:

As the party approached the barren land around the tower, they found it surrounded by a horde of Dread Hounds. With a plan set and the party splitting to pincer the horde, they moved forward. Nyx set up as bait to draw them away from the tower, and with a clamor of noise using their shield, The horde was roused and rushed the party. In total, there were over forty Dread Hounds, though the party dealt with them with ease, as Nyx didn't miss a single swing with their axe, Grorg unleashed the true strength of a sneaky Bugbear, Relc showed his prowess with a bow, and Gnarlap showed off a new magic, not seen by anyone in recent history. As the party descended into the basement of the tower, they found the Spawning Pool, along with it's guardian, a much larger, mature Dread Hound. Luckily, Kayn was able to slice off one of it's arms, Nyx killed it, and the pool was burned. The party built a pyre out of the bodies around the tower, and burned them. Then, they returned to Uloreen.

### The Return:

Returning to Inzet, Kayn fashioned a pauldron out of the skull of the mature Dread Hound, and the party returned to Uloreen. As each signed the document confirming the favor owed, Uloreen handed over the map. Along with that, he requested that we tell Adrian (THE DUSHAH) that his debt was paid. As the party returned to Abishot before sending the map on to Sunward, one thing was very evident: Uloreen was very old, and seemed weak.

## Outcome

The party gained the map they seeked, promising Uloreen a favor from the Whispering Cutlass in return. Additionally, Gnarlap figured out the Dread Hounds were weak to fire, something that could be useful in the future.