What has gone before #0
It was time for the spring fair in Bythe, and the central plaza was full of the young and the restless. One of the standard competitions was about to start. A combination of fun and utility, if not cleanliness, the annual attempt to clear the sewers of braffins (alligators with poison spines) with the offer of one hundred silver per head drew the adventurous. As was usually the case, most groups consisted of friends who had agreed to hunt together for fun and profit. Also as usual, there were the groups that formed out of the outcast and friendless, mutually draw together by a need for companionship. One such group composed the party formed by the PCs, up until that point strangers.

Bullwinkle had the street smarts that would provide an edge in the hunt. A short cut through the backstreets of Bythe would get them to the waterfront ahead of the other fortune seekers. The group edged its way over toward the appropriate exit from the central, square. On the way, however, Legum bumped into a group he recognized from his stint on the Hectlac expedition to Tawhiem, A cluster of Ibisi tribesmen. He struck up a conversation with the apparent leader, Arab Myina. Arab Myina explained that they were here to determine whether the negotiations currently being conducted in Nol were giving the Tawhiem tribes fair value for copper, their primary export. The conversation turned to more interesting topics when Legum asked about the weather. The Ibisi worship Kekamar, god of winds, lord of storms. Arab Myina spoke of unexpectedly failing clerical spells and odd weather patterns. He likened them to the old legends from five hundred years before during the fall of Tawhiem. Legum suggested they meet again in a local tavern and continue the conversation at a later date.

As the group approached the central plaza exit, Guido recognized a familiar face. It was holder Montor speaking with a naval officer of some rank. Bullwinkle supplied the name; Hestor Matlock, Adrimal of the Bythe fleet. Bullwinkle also noted Captain Salskat of the Stangri Solution and a number of his men clustered around the two. The party inched closer to hear the conversation. Adrimal Matlock was complaining that the fleet had wasted a significant amount of time looking for a non-existent Stangri raiding fleet based on information from Montor. Montor replied that the ancient scrying device he owned was sometimes in error, but had proved correct many times. Matlock responded negatively, stating that it worked only on a few small raiding efforts, never on the big ones. Montor countered with the thought that the Stangri might protect the large raids better. As the group edged closer to the two quarreling men, a flamebolt erupted out of a nearby inn. Two sailors were down, but Matlock and Montor appeared untouched despite having been in the center of the beam.
The group was new to combat and each other. Most went to ground, laying prone and praying against another attack. Guido, Hammerhand, and Bullwinkle charged the building. Unfortunately, the unknown assailant escaped. Return fire caused the inn to begin burning, and only smoking scraps of paper could be recovered from the assassins hiding spot. The only clues found were a scrap of cloth from a cloak and the tread of boots that appeared to be standard naval issue. Unfortunately, this type of garb was also used by many of the inhabitants of Bythe' s waterfront. Afterwards, Guido spoke with Montor. Montor was impressed with the speed of the groups reaction, and suggested they stop by some time in order to discuss potential employment opportunities with him. Guido agreed and the group continued on to the Braffin hunt, already behind the other hunters by ten minutes.

On the way down a back alley, the party ran into a street gang. The gang was no match for the party, but Guido noted a sickeningly sweet smell that he remembered; it was "madweed" that the Urakai would use to drive themselves into a berserk, uncontrollable rage. The party continued to the waterfront.

The sewers were disgusting, but the group forged on. A group of subdwellers, the emotionally crippled group of homeless vagabonds living in the sewers, avoided the torches of the party. A single Braffin attacked, and was taken with minor injuries. As the party continued on, Ziwa began to feel chills of horror run through her. Suddenly Jake, on point, hit something solid under the water. Ziwa could barely contain her feelings as the group recovered the rotting body of an elf from the slime. This was obviously the elvish ambassador that had disappeared a few days before under mysterious circumstances. The elf had apparently been killed by a Braffin. The only thing of interest on him was a strange amulet made in the shape of an unknown symbol. Ziwa worked up her courage and removed it. She suggested that she take point and continue down the passageway. The group was suspicious and Mr. Magoo forcibly took the amulet away. He told everyone that it was a powerful magic item and he felt he should toss it away further down the tunnel. Ziwa shouted that the amulet was in control of him. She did not mention that the feeling she had as she held the amulet reminded her of a unknown unpleasantness from the nightmares that were all that remain of her childhood memories. As Mr. Magoo tried to take point, the party jumped him and put the amulet in a bag. The decision was made to return the body to the Elvish embassy immediately.

Baldar got his horse, and with the body tossed over the saddle the group headed for the other side of town and the elvish embassy. They made it about a quarter mile when they were stopped by Graffon Hold wardens. They were taken to Krusko, the Graffon hold head warden. Guide's friendship with Krusko was put to good use. Some of the Graff on hold wardens returned with Baldar to the sewer to search the rest of the area. A strange boat was found. As one of the wardens entered it, the top snapped down on him and the boat accelerated away under magical power before anyone could stop it. The powerful magic of the amulet and the boat convinced Krusko that this was a serious matter. Some of the Graff on hold wizards were put to work analyzing the strange device. Krusko stated, however, that the elves would not be informed unless authorized by others higher in the government hierarchy.

Later that day, Mr. Magoo went to see an old friend from the Hectlac cult named Brean. He described the symbol on the amulet and asked Brean to investigate. Then he returned to Graffon Hold to stay with the rest of the party. During the night, Graff on hold was raided. The guards and magic users around the area the amulet was in were killed horribly, and the amulet was gone. How this group circumvented the hold security was a unpleasant mystery.

The next day, Mr. Magoo returned to Brean's curio shop. Brean had disappeared. Searching for clues resulted in finding an impression on a pad, which was shaded with pencil to reveal the name of a ship, the Kethem Light Warship Sea Spray. The party turned to the Hectlac cult library of ship's logs to find out more. The Sea Spray had been decommissioned eighteen years before. Examining the logs revealed the last few entries in the log had been torn out. Discussion with the Hectlac clerics revealed that the book had been used by Brean, then a John Doe. Additionally, a "tracer" had been put on the log eighteen years ago and was renewed annually. The tracer resulted in sending a message to the person placing it when the book was checked out. The address was for a John Doe at the local office of Kethem Naval Intelligence, Kethem's internal and external intelligence agency. There was no John Doe at the office, however, and the party elected not to pry too deeply.

The Hectlac priest noted that a duplicate of the log had been made and stored at the temple in Hediro, a few days journey down the coast. This was standard practice since the razing of the Vedri library by Stangri raiders, but he hoped that the thief might have overlook the possibility. The intrepid band of adventures was hired on as bodyguards for a junior priest who would actually travel to Hediro and recover the pages.
Legum ran into Arab Myina before the group departed, and suggested he join them as see a little more of Kethem. Arab Myina agreed. On the road to Hediro, the party ran into a company of Kethem Guard Light Horse. The officer in charge explained that a number of Urakai slaves from a nearby mine had broken free and were loose somewhere in the area. Additionally, the II corps (responsible for this area) was currently 2000 troops light, and one of the frequent anti Guard flare ups in Hediro had most of the remaining 3000 troops there. Thus the road to Hediro was not was well guarded as normal and could be dangerous. The Hectlac cleric insisted that the group continue to Hediro, and finally the young officer agreed to accompany them to the outskirts of the city.

As the party continued down the old shore road (also called the ring road), a small village came into sight. It was quiet — too quiet. Guido snuck forward to investigate. As he edged his way across the barren front of the closest building to peer in a window, a hail of crossbow bolts from the inn across the street pinned him to the wall. Guido, sorely hurt, hurled himself into a ditch. The company of Light horsemen charged a group of Urakou (low ores) on the right, while the adventures ran toward the inn from which the deadly bolts had flown. Battle was joined with several Urakou, when the sizzling hiss of heat beams was heard. Twelve Urakai, eight on the side with the horsemen, four on the side with the party, joined the fray. Arab Myina cast a spell, and a cone of lightning enveloped two of the Urakai. This helped turn the battle around, and the party emerged victorious. The Light Horse lost twelve of sixteen men, but eliminated the last of the Urakai. The party immediately began to ransack the buildings in the town. The four remaining Kethem Guard men stopped this quickly. They failed to notice nimble Guido slide a dagger that his detect magic had identified into a slot in his belt.

The rest of the trip to Hediro was without serious incident. There were a few rotten tomatoes tossed at the weary horsemen, but no other unpleasantness. The dagger had a strange symbol in the hilt, but not even the Hectlac clerics could identify its meaning. The missing pages from the log of the Sea Spray were recovered. They spoke of finding a elvish boat adrift with only the dead to man it. Damage from fire beams and flame bolts criss crossed the wood. Carved into the mast, apparently by a crewman that had died in the effort, was the symbol that everyone recognized as the same symbol on the amulet. The elvish boat was towed in to an unidentified port. The rest of the log was uninteresting, speaking mostly of decommissioning and mothballing of the Sea Spray.

During the stay in Hediro, a muscle bound stranger joined the group in a drink at a local pub. Buying drinks for everyone resulted in rapid friendship, and Rocky signed on with the group for travel and adventure. The return trip to Bythe started the next day.

The return to Bythe was as exciting as the trip out. An overturned cart and a rapidly dying healing cleric alerted the party, and after following tracks up a river, battle with four more Urakai was joined. This time, things did not work out as well. A Urakai swung a mighty blow with his battle axe, and Bullwinkle's head flew off his shoulders. Arab Myina fared no better as a spear ripped through his body, killing him. The rest of the party suffered greatly, but fortunately the four Urakai had been damaged in their encounter with the cart, and this weakness allowed the party to triumph. A scrap of paper with a description the the cart and now dead guards as well as the time they would pass this location was found; underneath the writing was Urakai scrawlings that a read/speak languages revealed to be a translation of the same data. An amulet that looked to be of human manufacture was also found. Siban, the party healing cleric, recognized it as a healing amulet and used it to heal up the party. He also used a personal charged item to heal the unconscious Urakai in accordance with the charter of his religion.

The party returned to Bythe without further incident. The clerics at the healing temple were astounded with the group's story; they explained that the amulet was a very powerful clerical magic item that could cast a single cure light wounds per person per day, and that it was being transported to Bythe in order to carry it over to Kom, supporting the war against the Trolls. They offered to raise Arab Myina from the dead in return for this valuable service. Arab Myina was successfully raised, but would be unable to travel for two months and unable to participate in any serious activity for six months. He was very grateful, however, and was very pleased when Guido wrote a song on his behalf that spoke of his bravery fighting the Urakai in slightly exaggerated terms.
The question of what to do next arose. The group of adventures first went to see Lord Holder Montor to discuss the offer of employment he had made previously. Montor told them he needed a discrete group to make a run against a lessor holder named Bravin. Bravin lived on a small island south of Bythe. Montor suspected him of dealing with the Stangri. Bravin was also building a new type of ship in a covered dockyard, and Montor wanted to know the details of its construction. Any proof that Bravin was actually dealing with the Stangri would be icing on the cake. The party scoped out the island, but decided that penetrating the defenses of the place was out of their league. Mentor's offer was politely declined. The party began to look for other opportunities ....