Rescue Hindmarsh Herb Gatherers

Cathance and Fine Branch had returned late the prior evening and talked to Arnari for a while.  Fine Branch was interested in further missions, though, and would join Dryali, Tahu, and Terrance later in whatever they could get assigned from Arnari.

Terrance, Tahu, and Dryali finished their breakfast and rose to go upstairs to Arnari's office.  But as they approached the stairwell, a very angry-looking patron in the front of the tavern waved them over.

Terrance said, "Wow lady, you're really angry!  What's up?"

The human was near shaking with rage.  "I'm really angry, because a friend got beat up, and knows who did it, but can't get the City Guard to do anything about it," she declared. "I'm looking for someone to return the favour."

Terrance crossed her arms in front of her.  "Why?"

The human said, "Maybe my friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time?  Maybe it was a grudge."  She paused, and continued, "I'll give you 200gp now!  They wear blue bandannas."

Dryali's eyes narrowed.  People in the front of the tavern trying to hire Freelancers often lied, but he really couldn't tell if this person was lying.

Tahu interrupted Dryali's train of thought.  "What does your friend do for a living?" he asked pleasantly.  The human hesitated.  "He was a shopkeeper…?  Sometimes, he did random work around the docks," she told him.

Tahu kept his patience.  "When did this happen?  At work?  At a bar?"  The human was on firmer ground, here.  "On his way home through the Trade District, he got the shit kicked out of him late one night."

Never mind the docks aren't anywhere near the Trade District.  Dryali asked dryly, "What if there's more to it?"  Terrance asked, "Do you want us to find out anything?"

The human scowled, "No, I just want revenge."

Tahu was puzzled.  "Why aren't the guards doing anything?"  Dryali was curious.  "What did they say?"

This just made the human angrier.  "The guards are corrupt!  They don't care about poor people!"  Terrance cocked her head slightly.

Dryali asked, "What's your friend's name?"  He continued, "What's your name?  We can't keep calling you Angry Lady."  Of course this made her scowl, but she said, "I'm not willing to risk my friend.  But, I'm Leticia."

Dryali said, "Okay Angry Lady, I mean, Leticia, we'll see what we can do."  Terrance jumped in, "He means, we'll consider it."  Dryali glanced at her, then said, "O yah!  How long ago did this happen?"

Leticia replied, "It took a while to gather this much money, so… maybe an eighth?"

Dryali almost squeaked.  "Fourty-five days?!  He's still injured?!"  The others said, "Let's go," but Dryali went to the bar and got a glass of red wine before ascending the stairs.

Dryali walked into Arnari's office to see Tahu and Terrance were seated, long legs stretched out in front of them, and Arnari muttering peevishly about paperwork disarray.  He waved his wine glass in her direction.  "Hey, what's shakin'!!" he greeted Arnari.

Terrance asked about the blue bandanna gang.  Arnari had not heard of them, and added, "Sometimes, people will form a group.  If they become a problem, we'll need to investigate."  Then she started listing available missions.

• Clean up the magical pollution on the Pirates River.  The wizard Gwidion had been dumping failed potions into the waterway and is paying for this.  Pay is 50gp/person plus 1 uncommon potion, for example animal friendship, greater healing, resistance.
• Do some tracking to find Ethan and Mansel of the Daystar Cult.

Dryali interrupted, "Murdalize them?"  Arnari shook her head.  "We need to find Ethan's boss."

• Also, find bullywugs near Hindmarsh, and rescue the captured herb gatherers.
• Also Hindmarsh: track down Jamie.  Bryseis tells us Jamie was rescued by a halfling, about 16 days after the Planting Holiday.  Jamie, the halfling, and one other person are in cahoots, and report to someone in Hindmarsh.

This reminded Dryali and Tahu of their trip to Stormhaven, and they relayed to Arnari and Terrance the entire thing with the stalking halfling.  Also Dryali and Terrance had recently been to Hindmarsh, and The Tipsy Tornado had some notable customers in its taproom.

Dryali thought about this adventure, and said, "Bryseis is going to great lengths for dick graffiti!"  Arnari retorted, "It was broken windows, too!"  Dryali scoffed, "Still," and Arnari exclaimed, "Pirates are bad!"

In the ensuing silence, Tahu said tentatively, "So, no wizard."  Dryali replied, "Nah."

The door opened, and Fine Branch walked in.  "Hi, guys."

The rescue mission was funded by Hanohano, who was also paying travel, room, board, and 150gp/person.  So they took that one.

Despite trying to exit Freelancers Tavern without being seen, Leticia totally spotted Dryali leaving, because he again crit failed at any kind of stealth.  Must be his pearly spiky hair.

Hanohano was more than happy to send the Freelancers along with one of his wagons on an all-expenses paid trip to Hindmarsh.  He assured them they would have a guide, and rousted Pike to gather his things and head back with them.  Fine Branch rode his hippogryph Nighthawk, keeping watch from above.

As the wagon rumbled westward out of Cliffshadow, through the Trade District, Terrance, Tahu, and Dryali looked around intently.  They saw no signs of anyone at all wearing blue bandannas.  "Angry lady was pulling our leg," Dryali said to the other two.  They nodded.

After an unremarkable ten days on the road with Pike the Reticent, they rolled into Hindmarsh in the afternoon.  Terrance was overruled on choice of inn; Fine Branch and Tahu both preferred The Anchor and Plough, so they got rooms there.  They then checked in with Vaughn.

"We know, roughly, where to go in the marsh," Vaughn told them, "Hirrathak will guide you."

That left them at loose ends until the morning.  Terrance decided she wanted to go to the gladiator pit again.  Fine Branch, having not been to Hindmarsh at all, went with her, curious.  Tahu was hesitant.

Dryali wanted to see – he had a hunch – whether the person he'd noticed in the tavern on his last visit to Hindmarsh, with Raquelle but with an illusion, was actually Jamie.  The others were intrigued, so they checked the fight schedule:

• Bullywug v Dire Wolf
• 2 beasts: Winter Wolf v Displacer
• 2 Burly fighters:  Burl Ives v Bear Hogan

There was time, so they decided to go to the taproom in the Tipsy Tornado first, and then to the fights.  The taproom was crowded; the Freelancers were not the only people with this idea.  A variety of people were there imbibing various spirits.  However, Raquelle and her entourage were not there.

The gladiator pits charged 2sp for admission.  Bookmakers worked the crowd, gathering wagers.  Dryali, surprised the Bullywug had survived this long, dropped 20gp on him.  A mistake; the Dire Wolf won.  It turned out that Dryali wasn't alone; Raquelle was also there, with her entourage, and also unhappy the Bullywug had lost.  Her helm was off, and she had black hair and grey eyes.

For the beast fight, Dryali dropped 10gp on the displacer beast, only to see it lose to the Winter Wolf.  The fight was interesting to watch, as the Winter Wolf exhaled snow and freezing wind, and the displacer beast always looked like it was in the wrong place.

For the last fight Dryali was more cautious, and put 5gp on Bear Hogan.  But he won, and it paid double.  The fight was far less interesting to watch though, so he watched Raquelle and her crew of 5-8 people.  Most were burly fighter types, but the blonde female human was sitting next to her.  Fine Branch and Tahu saw them too, but did not know what to look for.  Dryali saw the blonde had illusion magic, but could not tell anything beyond that.

The Freelancers left after the fights concluded, and went back to the Anchor and Plough taproom.  They had a final drink, and went to their rooms to sleep despite the ongoing carousing below.

The next morning, Terrance, Tahu, Dryali, and Fine Branch went to the House Ha'aheo warehouses in the south of Hindmarsh.  There they met with Vaughn Quickrain, and Hirrathak, the Black dragonborn marsh guide.

Hirrathak was fired up. "Let's get on our way," he said.  "I think I know where to go!  I don't want to get in a fight myself, but I can get you there," he added confidently.

Dryali looked from one to the other.  "What are we doing there?"  At their puzzled look, he expounded, "Rescue?  Slaughter?  Capture?"

Vaughn drawled, "Well, if you just free captives in the evening, you need to sabotage or will get recaptured."

Anyhow, they took off for the marsh: Hirrathak, the four Freelancers, and the hippogryph Nighthawk.  It took them a day to get there, and they camped near (but not in) the marsh on the first night.  They set a watch, but nothing disturbed them.  The next morning, Hirrathak led them into the marsh.

The first day in the marsh, there was no trouble; Tahu, Dryali, and Terrance kept watch, and nothing disturbed them.  In the morning, Hirrathak told them they were less than a day from the place of bullywugs.  They proceeded under his guidance, until they were perhaps a mile west of the … village?

Terrance pulled out her flying broom, exclaimed "To the trees!" which made no sense to anyone, until it became obvious that was the broom's flying command.  Then she and Fine Branch, on Nighthawk, flew over to scout.

They discovered a compound with palisades 6' tall.  Five giant toads were in strategic positions: two each at the barricaded entrances, and one in the center.  Behind the westernmost palisade, dug into solid ground, was a pit covered by a grate; it appeared this held captives.  There was a crude building and some tents.  Six bullywugs were in evidence, armed with spears and slings.

The openings faced south, and to the northeast, on the other side of the tents, the solid ground gave way to swamp water.

On return to the others, Fine Branch declared, "It's not a village; it's a forward encampment!"

They sketched out a rough plan:  create enough distractions for Tahu to sneak in and levitate the grate off the pit, and get the captives out.

Planning wasn't exactly a strong suit for Fine Branch, Dryali, Terrance, and Tahu.  At least Dryali remembered to make a force ballista in advance.

Fine Branch flew up over the encampment on Nighthawk, and dropped his doppelgänger next to the central campfire.

• He dropped a spiritual weapon - shaped like a shovel - outside the palisades, out of sight of anyone within, as the doppelgänger exclaimed in a sales voice, "Wow, you look like you are really moisturized!  You want to buy this powder!"
• The bullywugs looked up at the doppelgänger, ribbeting.
• Terrance flew eastward over the north end of the camp, and shot the giant toad nearest the grate with her short bow.
• Tahu crept over the eastern palisade, unnoticed by the encampment.  He levitated the grate off the pit, and pushed it out of the way to discover the pit was actually a 10-15' deep well, and within were a male human, a female half-elf, and a male Rain sagani.
• Dryali used firebolt to set the central tent on fire.  He moved the force ballista into the western barricade, and it shot the same giant toad Terrance had shot.

Fine Branch, circling above, brought The Cat's bane down on the three toads nearest to the grate.  His spiritual weapon moved to the center, and smacked the giant toad there with the flat of the shovel.

• The two bullywugs[1][2] on the easternmost palisade and one[3] near the compound center  moved to put out the fire Dryali had started.  The remaining bullywug[4] near the center attacked the doppelgänger with their spear, which of course did no damage.  "Ow, that was rude!" the doppelgänger exclaimed.
  • The last two bullywugs were looking around, confused at the source of the chaos.  One[5] remained confused, but the other[6] noticed the arrow in one of the giant toads.  The bullywug headed over to look, saw Tahu, and used a sling to send a bullet whizzing by.
• Terrance shot them from above with her short bow.
• Tahu paused helping the captives climb out of the well, since he didn't enjoy the slingbullet coming that close; he turned and threw a dagger in response.  He hit his mark, and the bullywug went down with a fatal blow.  Then he finished getting everyone out of the well.
• Dryali had the force ballista shoot the giant toad again, then stepped south for a clear shot, and sent a firebolt into the easternmost tent, lighting it on fire too.
• The injured giant toad finally noticed Tahu, and bit him.  The giant toad in the center also came over and bit Tahu, picking him up in its mouth.  The other giant toad in the palisade opening noticed Dryali, and hopped over to bite him too, but Dryali dodged out of the way.

Fine Branch's spiritual weapon moved to the giant toads attacking Tahu, and whacked one of them.  The doppelgänger clapped its hands in delight, and a high-pitched bell rang as toll the dead struck the giant toad holding Tahu, with necrotic damage spreading across its skin.

• Two bullywugs[4][5] moved to put out the new fire.  The other three[1][2][3] were on the old fire, ribbetting at each other.
• Terrance leapt off her flying broom onto the back of the giant toad holding Tahu.  She looked spectacular as she simultaneously stowed her broom and drew her scimitar to attack it, but that was too much to manage and she failed to actually land an effective attack.
• Tahu wiggled out of the giant toad's grasp, and attacked it with a short sword.  It was distracted by Terrance on its back so Tahu's attack was extra effective! 
• The force ballista shot at the same giant toad, but missed.  Dryali sent a firebolt into the giant toad that had tried to bite him.
• The giant toad tried and failed, again, to bite Dryali.  The giant toad that Tahu had attacked also tried and failed to bite Tahu.  One of the uninjured giant toads moved westward, towards Terrance.

Fine Branch's doppelgänger looked at the moving giant toad, and declared, "You really ought to be spayed," just as the shovel spiritual weapon crit it.  He had Nighthawk circle over the northwest tent, and hit the remaining uninjured giant toad with  a guiding bolt.

• The bullywugs had all noticed Tahu and Terrance now, and started moving towards the melee with them and the giant toads.  One[2] sent a slingbullet whizzing past Terrance.
• Terrance swapped weapons to rapier and impaled the giant toad underneath her.  She leapt off and thrust at the "spayed" giant toad, but missed.
• Tahu disengaged from the "spayed" giant toad and moved towards the giant told that had just been bolted, but missed.
• Dryali saw how the bullywugs had clumped together, and cast shatter, killing 3 of them [1][3][5] and injuring another[4] as well as the "spayed" giant toad.  The force ballista fired at the injured bullywug[4], staggering them.
• The giant toads on Terrance, Tahu, and Dryali all tried to bite them, and missed.

Fine Branch's doppelgänger asked the injured bullywug[4], "Can you dig it?!" and then the spiritual weapon killed them.  He then hit the giant toad facing Terrance with a guiding bolt.

• The remaining bullywug[2] ran to the east end of the encampment and dove into the swamp.
• Terrance struck the "spayed" giant toad twice with her rapiers.
• Tahu hit the giant toad who'd missed him with his short sword, then drew the other short sword and hit it again for good measure.
• The force ballista also hit the same giant toad, staggering it.  Dryali followed up with a firebolt, despite the distraction of a different giant toad attacking him, and killed it.
• The giant toads on Terrance, and Dryali both tried to bite them, and missed.

Fine Branch's spiritual weapon killed the giant toad attacking Terrance.  He had Nighthawk divebomb the bullywug fleeing in the swamp.  A faint bell sound indicated he'd used toll the dead on them, but they still fled.  Nighthawk used his beak, knocking the bullywug out.

• Terrance crit the remaining giant toad attacking Dryali, and then struck a glancing blow with her offhand.
• Tahu killed that giant toad.

The rescued captives were all so profoundly grateful.  "Thank you for rescuing us, we were so afraid we'd never see civilisation again!"  Fine Branch headed over and sent a prayer of healing to The Cat, healing all.  Then the Freelancers searched the camp.

Dryali checked the well for other prisoners, then asked those who were rescued if they knew of others captured.  "There were more people taken deeper into the swamp, but we're not sure where.  They know," indicating the bullywugs.

Terrance cast detect magic, and swept the encampment.  She found four items in the central shack:  a pair of bracers, pair of lenses, a headband, and a stone.  She also found a sack, with 170 gp and 9 gemstones, worth 50gp each:

• Chalcedony
• Citrine
• Jasper
• 3 Onyx
• Quartz
• Sardonyx
• 2 Star Rose Quartz

The magic items would keep; they tied the bullywug up, got him on his feet, and headed back to Hirrathak.  From there Hirrathak led them back out of the marsh.  While making their way towards the marsh's edge, they tried to talk to the bullywug, to find a common language.  Nothing worked, not even Aquan; all they got was ribbet.

The next day was the Calm Holiday, and it dawned with them still in the marsh, although about halfway to the edge.  They got back to solid ground mid-afternoon, and Hirrathak immediately chose a campsite.  Surrounded by greenery, they took the time to honor Te Mārie.  As the Freelancers set up camp, Hirrathak carefully unpacked enough tea service to hold a ceremony so that everyone could properly honour the holiday and acknowledge Serenity.  Even the bullywug took part.

Back in Hindmarsh, they brought the bullywug and rescued captives back to Vaughn Quickrein, who was happy at their return; they were trusted herb gatherers.  After the Freelancers described what transpired, he agreed they had not found the village, and told them, sadly, it would take a day to find a person to assist with interrogation.

In the intervening day, Dryali cast identify on the magical items, to find they were bracers of archery, headband of intellect, eyes of the eagle, and a stone of good luck.  After a period of discussion, Terrance took the bracers, Fine Branch took the headband, Tahu took the stone, and Dryali took the eyes.

The following day, they all met up again at the House Ha’ahaeo warehouse, with Vaughn and a compatriot in robes who was able to cast comprehend languages on everyone.  Fine Branch cast zone of truth, as well.  They confirmed the encampment was a forward base, and there were other camps and a village.  The bullywug yielded the location of another forward camp.

Fine Branch asked, "Are you willing to go back [to your village] and persuade others of the errors of their ways?"  He was specifically referring to enslaving the herb gatherers.

The bullywug replied, "We could cease seizing more slaves."  He shrugged non committally, adding, "Not willing to give up existing ones."  It was clear he considered these rights of war.

Fine Branch did his best to look threatening.  "We could take them!"  The bullywug was unimpressed.  "The village were defended."

Fine Branch changed his tone to indicate disbelief. "I'll make you a deal.  I'll take you to the village, and you show me the defenses."  The bullywug, buoyed by the prospect of returning home, readily agreed.  "Sure."

Vaughn shifted nervously.  "That could be a long flight, and there is nobody to guide you," he pointed out.  "Leave him with me, and we'll get more out of him.  You go back to Cliffshadow and get word to Hanohano."

Fine Branch reluctantly agreed, but he and Tahu were not ok with selling the bullywug to the gladiators, like Terrance and Dryali had done with the prior captives.  The latter two exchanged a glance and a shrug with Vaughn.

However Vaughn prevailed, and in short order, the Freelancers were escorting Pike and a full cart of rare herbs back to Cliffshadow.

• Tahu → lvl5!