Hargreave's Wharf (campaign)

## Hargreave's Wharf

**Hargreave's Wharf** was a one shot DMed by Shane. The party saved a mysterious duergar village from an even more mysterious monster.

## Synopsis

It is a stormy night on board the *Dusklight*, travelling from Markwater to Blackhaven. Juniper Crescentwing and Theodore Tel-Arama had paid for passage, while Pauline had stowed away. The first mate Gutter asked Crescentwing and Tel-Arama to find Tobias, who was not helping the crew weather the storm above deck. Journeying to the lower decks, the pair found Pauline and Tobias, who now had a corrupted and monstrous form, and who had destroyed much of the ship's cargo. The trio fought and killed Tobias. This attracted the attention of the rest of the crew, who then came below deck. After finding out what had happened, Captain Amelia Waxwood announced they would be docking at the next port they saw, to repair the ship and resupply.

The *Dusklight* docked at Hargreave's Wharf, a small duergar fishing town. The crew and the party were coldly greeted at the docks by Sheriff Algernon Loveless, who informed the party they could stay at Agatha's inn. The trio returned to the *Dusklight* the next morning, only to find that Captain Waxwood had disappeared. Gutter and Cuthbert advised that they search the captain's quarters for clues, but they found nothing other than a diary entry expressing an unrequited love for Gutter (who the party could tell was gay). They then went to see Sheriff Loveless, who advised them to check the nearby caves, as he believed that's where the old lighthouse keeper, Wilkins, was last seen. In the sheriff's office they also learned of the town's history- the duergar had moved to Hargreave's Wharf after mass bloodshed in their old town, Ebonhurst. It was believed the madness that drove this violence had been driven by something called the Harbinger. The party visited the new lighthouse keeper, Helgi, before travelling to the caves.

Inside the caves, the trio is faced with a bizarre network of pathways and tunnels which seemed to defy the laws of physics. The mental toll of trying to make sense of these otherworldly caves, combined with the haunting descriptions of the fall of Ebonhurst she had read in the sheriff's office, overwhelmed Pauline, who went blind. Journeying further into the caves, the group encountered a doppelganger of Crescentwing, and an abomination resembling Wilkins the lighthouse keeper fused into the cave wall. getting past this creature, the group found the corpse of the real Wilkins, and Captain Waxwood, suspended in the air, with her life force being drained by an unknown source in the dark end of the cave. The group managed to get Waxwood down, and were then joined by Skulk, a kenku who had been present in Agatha's tavern. Skulk explained that the Harbinger was attempting to drain Waxwood of her life force so that it could become strong enough to attack the town, and that its master, Vol'zath, would be able to use the power of the souls the Harbinger harvested from the town to enter the material plane. There was then a flash, and the party blacked out.

When the trio awoke, they were outside the caves again, with Waxwood and Skulk having disappeared. They could see that the town was burning, and that several miles out to sea a number of colossal tentacles were emerging from a tear in the sky. They were then attacked by crazed versions of Gutter, Agatha, and Loveless. However the party was able to realise this was merely a nightmarish vision, and were able to will themselves back to the real world, where they found the Harbinger draining Skulk by the lighthouse. They engaged the Harbinger in combat and managed to defeat it.

Afterwards, Skulk lauded the party for their efforts, and revealed he had secretly conscripted the trio to his cause by corrupting Tobias, thereby forcing the *Dusklight* to dock at Hargreave's Wharf. He expressed pleasure that his master would be pleased, bid the party farewell, and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The party explained what had happened to the townspeople and the crew of the *Dusklight*, and left Hargreave's Wharf the next day. In the days, months, and years afterwards, the trio would struggle to remember exactly what had happened in Hargreave's Wharf, or even find it on a map. However sometimes they could swear they could see the red shimmer that signified the dark magics they had encountered there.

## Player Characters

* Juniper Crescentwing
* Theodore Tel-Arama
* Pauline

## Important NPCs

* Crew of the *Dusklight*:
	+ Captain Amelia Waxwood
	+ Gutter
	+ Tobias
	+ Cuthbert
* Residents of Hargreave's Wharf:
	+ Sheriff Algernon Loveless
	+ Agatha
	+ Walter
	+ Claudia
	+ Helgi
	+ Wilkins
* Skulk
* The Harbinger of Vol'zath
* Vol'zath (appears in vision only)

## Locations

* The *Dusklight*
* Hargreave's Wharf
	+ Agatha's Tavern
	+ Hargreave's Wharf Lighthouse
* The Harbinger's Caves
* Ebonhurst (mentioned only)
* Markwater (mentioned only)
* Blackhaven (mentioned only)