Drowning in Blackwater

**Drowning in Blackwater** is a six-part campaign that is running in the fourth quarter of 2022. It is DMed by Chris Hislop.

## Player characters

* Prosp'rus, played by Emma Sheard
* Viorica, played by Ed Cartwright
* Frore, played by Mike Dopson
* Aldryn, played by David Shears
* Huxley, played by Liz Drake

## Plot

A group of Shepherds, including Prosp'rus, Viorica and Frore, are heading for the town of Blackwater in the Mere of Dead Men, who have called for aid after demons have started attacking towns up and down the Sword Coast, looking for the Wand of Orcus (taken by Ava and Ephemera after the events of The Reaping of Goldenfields). They are joined by Huxley, a bugbear wizard from Blackstaff Tower, and Aldryn, a cleric from Amn with a mysterious past...

Together, they defeat demons in Kryptgarden Forest, and continue up the High Road towards the Mere of Dead Men, stopping off in an abandoned pub to wait out a storm. While Prosp'rus and Frore discuss his curse (which he acquired at the end of The Reaping of Goldenfields), with Frore hiding some of the ill effects, Huxley asks Aldryn for guidance on a missing person he appears to have a strong emotional connection with.

On the road the next morning, Viorica practices his marksmanship with his new weapon, a rifle adapted from his sword cane which can also function as a bass flute, while the party turn off the High Road towards Blackwater. They hear a distant roar they struggle to identify, and decide to make haste to the town, with Frore flying ahead on Prosp'rus steed, Andi the Alicorn.

They arrive to find a small fishing village around a large central keep, with a breakwater bastion out to sea, and the party split to explore. Prosp'rus, Aldryn and Huxley head for the keep, and find a fish market inside, as well as the Tolstoff twins, Edgar and Katarina, who are confused at their arrival, but happy to welcome guests - their mother died around a week ago, which is blamed on the demons, and they are new to being in charge. In the meantime, Viorica and Frore (following an undead presence felt with Prosp'rus' *divine sense*) discover Old Branchfingers, an ancient treant guarding a holy pool to Eldath. Old Branchfingers explains that their pool of black water is where the villagers place things they want removed or forgotten.

Reconvening by the village pub, the Eel Buck, the party start to conjecture that the issues here actually have little to do with demons, and Aldryn casts forbiddance to make sure, while Viorica uses an *enthralling performance* to distract the townsfolk. In the meantime, Frore notices a large figure watching from the pub, and sidles over to say hello - but the figure steps away. Following them inside the pub with Huxley, they lose the large figure, but meet the owner, Wilhand, who reveals that they sent the note for the Shepherds. They are suspicious of a current guest, who is a priest of Cyric, and the party agree to check their room, where they find many glyphs of warding and a hidden tunnel. Following it, they are ambushed by the priest and a wererat, and the tunnel is collapsed on top of them.

Managing to escape through Huxley's magic, the party decide to rest before heading to dinner with the Tolstoffs in the evening, anticipating that they might need to recuperate beforehand. Inside the pub, they encounter Viorica's brother Cheydin Ravenshade, a priest of Gond, who appears to be working for the Tolstoffs. This is the first time that Viorica and Cheydin have spoken since the events of Baldur's Gate: Framed, and their sibling Thareval's death in Gloom Falls on Baldur's Gate - and the conversation is tense, with Cheydin urging their brother to leave Blackwater, before leaving in the direction of the breakwater.

At the same time, Frore reveals to Prosp'rus the extent of his curse, and Chauntea advises speaking to someone more powerful - Prosp'rus is convinced that killing Orcus is the easiest way to deal with it, but Huxley casts sending to the Blackstaff, who suggests they bring Frore to Waterdeep. Huxley also casts legend lore on Blackwater, and discovers that Old Branchfingers is holding old necromantic equipment in the pool, which belonged to the Tolstoff grandsire, a famous necromancer long disappeared. Retrieving the items from Old Branchfingers, Huxley casts legend lore again, and receives a vision of what the equipment was used for - a necromantic ritual that summoned a creature made of maggots, worms and other insects, which intoned an ominous "The Age of Worms is coming..."

Concerned, the Shepherds prepare for dinner with the Tolstoff twins, while Frore absents himself to explore Tolstoff Keep while the others keep the twins occupied. He find evidence that they are behind the strange disappearances, and explores secret tunnels to the catacombs below, finding a series of cells with the remains of Edwin Tolstoff's experiments, as well as the cleric of Cyric and wererat sacrificing villagers. At dinner, the Tolstoffs reveal their plan - to free their grandfather, trapped by their mother's plea to Orcus (who hates Kyuss, as he stole a significant portion of Orcus' own power), and allow Kyuss to return to the Material Plane. While the party vow to stop them, Katarin reveals it is too late - as Frore sees Edwin emerge from his cell.

A battle with the Tolstoff twins above and between Frore and those in the catacombs below begins, with Huxley teleporting the party below after Frore calls for help using their telepathic bond. The twins, the cleric, the wererat and Edwin escape as Edwin awakens an ulgurstasta, which burrows up from beneath the keep, summoning numerous undead to keep the party distracted - and then using a gigantic cannon (the load roar they heard when the entered Blackwater) to level the Keep with the party inside! The party barely escape through one of the wererat's tunnels.

From a vantage point outside of Blackwater, the party deduce that their enemies escaped to the breakwater keep, and that Cheydin is in charge of some sort of giant cannon there. Exhausted, they are approached by their various divine influences, who urge them all to stop Edwin (presaging his attempts to return Kyuss to the Material Plane as apocalyptic), and give them all epic boons. Unbeknownst to the rest of the party, Prosp'rus rejects the boon in favour of removing Frore's curse. Frore, in the meantime, is intimidated by Orcus, who also wants Kyuss stopped - and returns Frore's sheriff's badge, which he got from Ephemera in The Wreckage of Myth Drannor and promised to return.

The party travel to the breakwater, and Prosp'rus destroys the other party's method of escape (a hijacked pirate ship) by leaping onto it from 100ft up, smiting it in a single hit. While the others rush to approach, Huxley teleports himself and Prosp'rus inside the tower keep, where the cannon is held, and Edwin uses his non-corporeal form of maggots and insects to stop them from interfering further. Huxley is freed through Props'rus' cleansing touch, but is killed by Katarin when he tries to slow the party. The cannon is revealed through shutters on the base of the tower, but Cheydin (who is in charge of it) cannot bring himself to shoot at his brother - who, in return, uses an unseen servant to point the barrel straight up and fire, detonating and destroying the entire structure.

Edgar, the wererat, the minotaur and Cheydin are immediately killed by the blast, with Prosp'rus barely standing on 1hp (due to P's *relentless endurance* trait), and Frore, Aldryn and Huxley's body blown clear by the blast. Katarina barely survives the attack, but still stands, while Edwin must reconstitute his form. P offers Katarina a chance at redemption, which she accepts, and Aldryn revives Huxley, as they all stand together to watch Edwin use his form to dissipate into the dirt, asking them all to join him at Wormcrawl Island for Kyuss' return.

The party convene, placing the corpses of the wererat, minotaur and Cheydin in Old Branchfinger's pool, and revive Edgar so that they and their sister can stand trial for their actions. However, with Aldryn and Huxley departing to Candlekeep to research more into Wormcrawl Island, Viorica taking a break from adventuring and Prosp'rus leaving, only Frore remains to return the villains to Waterdeep. However, Viorica is given a final gift - a twig from Old Branchfingers, which appears to also be sentient, who is named Young Twigfingers...

## Trivia

* This show appears to run concurrently with The Wreckage of Myth Drannor, both being set two weeks after The Reaping of Goldenfields.
* The enemy party, a grim reflection of the party, were dubbed the Chucklefucks by DM Chris Hislop during the final episode.

## Twitch Clip Archive

* The Age of Worms is Coming
* Dint
* Ruined
* Very damp
* Squidge
* Viorica performs sound effects!
* All The Things That We Want To Forget
* Manacles
* Pub Etiquette
* What's wrong with my pants?!
* Sartorial Issues
* Ministry of Silly Faces!
* Old Saladfingers!
* An odd bit of architectural flirting...
* A well built woman...?
* Misplaced Faith?
* Unwillingly intelligent
* Consequences
* All the way down
* Perhaps a tad more info than we needed...
* Story time later?
* P hits

## Media

Drowning in Blackwater poster.A typical scene from Drowning in Blackwater.