Evil Eye Arc

## Background

The Evil Eye Arc was the first arc of Aberrant Realms. It began on January 6th, 2022 and concluded May 16th 2022. It centered around the establishment of the party, and the city of Lorthol and nearby areas. The arc saw the discovery and capture of Faeronox the dragon wyrmling, the party's combat in the Blink, and the introduction of Pewterfist, Tomularch, & Zog the Arrow, among many other new characters.

## Prior to Session One

The party has been aboard the Arghast  for two weeks. A small merchant ship, they have been taken on as shiphands by the vessel's jumpy captain Fevard. Fevard hired them all back in Zili, a small port town south of Bakuet, offering an impressive payday of 50 peepers each, the gold coin of the Eye Tyrant’s realms, as well as free passage as far away from Zili as you could hope to go, a commodity just as valuable to some of your number. The job seemed simple; the four of you would work in shifts, manning the dinky crows nest, swabbing the decks, raising the sails and generally doing whatever menial task Fevard ordered you to. However, you have been expressly ordered to never enter the captain’s quarters, and to never speak to the two burly half-orcs who stand guard outside it every day and night. Furthermore, if Fevard ever gives the order to go below decks, you are to do so silently until he tells you to come out. The voyage was to be a month long in total, with only two stops planned. The first of these came only a week in, when the Arghast docked on the Sangui Islands, a set of three tiny islands halfway between Karvhat and Ulcanyos, widely known as a slavers port. It was here that Fevard first ordered you below decks where you all stayed, cramped and uncomfortable, for a half day, until Fevard abruptly ordered you out of hiding, shouting at you to make haste with wild and fearful eyes. One of the orcs was gone, and the other now had a long slash down its arm and had lost much blood. On a moonless night, the Arghast slipped off towards the Sea of Aethar. After a day, Fevard reemerged, still shaking slightly. He claimed nothing was amiss, and that the ship would commence on its planned journey to its second and final anchorage, somewhere far to the north, with absolutely no stops in between. For four tense days, the Arghast continued its voyage, and Fevard became scarcer and scarcer atop decks, preferring to lock himself in his captain’s quarters. Then, on the morning of the fifth day, a storm began to brew in the distance, fast moving your way. The Arghast is no wavebreaker, it is but a small merchantman, not equipped for anything beyond coastal dalliances. Yet Fevard pressed on, ordering you all to angle the sails to take the ship deeper into the sea. That night, the storm struck. Massive waves crashed all around you, tossing the ship like a toy. Fevard and his orc fled to the captain’s quarters, bolting themselves inside, forcing the four of you to barricade yourselves in the ship's hold, and wait for a rogue wave to finally end your torment in one swift crash. But no wave came. Finally the ship stopped shaking, and the four of you passed out exhausted, only to awake in six inches of water, with small rays of sunlight filtering in from the countless holes peppered in the ship's hull. Peering out of the hatch, you see that the Arghast has come to rest in a majestic natural harbor, flanked on either side by mountainous forests of conifers and firs. The ship is horrifically damaged, and has developed a nasty starboard list. But the winds are strong today, carrying the doomed vessel right in the direction of a cliffside city fast approaching on the horizon…

## Part 1: Dragon Hunt

### Session 1

The Party enters Corsair's Cove aboard the Arghast. After getting their bearings, they begin to attempt to pilot the ship towards the harbor. They are interdicted by two sloops of Ogol Gold-Tooth's pirates, led by Pirys the Red. Pirys explains to them that Fevard is a wanted man in this ity for stealing Ogol's Gold fang in an unfair card game, and that he must be brought to "justice". The party agrees to hand him over in exchange for free passage, and docks in Ogol's section of the Grotto District. However, as they haul Fevard off, a strange green amulet falls from his neck as he in manhandled by Ogol's thugs. Horus picks it up, and as he does it glows white hot with energy, and something explodes out of the ship's cabin, blinding and shocking all those present. The party makes a run for it, and in a split second decision decides to assist Fevard, who has shook his captor. Grateful for their help, Fevard takes them to the Shipwrecked Shanty, and overturned reaver vessel that now functions as a tavern. Although he is initially obstinant in explaining what his cargo was, Seuvekh's charms make him more loose lipped and he lets slip that the creature on board was in fact a baby green dragon, given to him by an elven woman in Zili who mistook him for the original owner of the ship, which he had hustled in a card game. Realizing he had been charmed, Fevard grows angry at the party, but his outburst is cut off by the arrival of three of Ogol's thugs, led by a red orc with a bow and a mischevious grin...

**Session 2**

The red orc introduces himself as Zog the Arrow, claiming he never misses. He sends his bugbear thugs in to attack and stays back, firing at the party from a distance. This strategy is upset by the intervention of Yvorr Malmed, a bounty hunter who frequents the Shanty and has a personal dislike of Zog. With Yvorr's help, the party is able to turn the tables on the trio, killing the two bugbears. Seeing the table turn, Zog pops a magical shadow, and is able to land an improbable shot on Fevard from within the smoke, knocking him into the water below, where he is devoured by a large tiger shark. As Zog attempts to escape, he is bowled over by a large drunk man, with a silvery beard, enraged by Zog's destruction of his drink. This allows Delilah to apprehend him, and he is knocked out and thrown on a table. As the party debates what to do with him, they are interrupted by the arrival of Mannahym, the owner of the Shanty. He admonishes the party for wrecking his inn, and has them assist in cleaning up their mess.