Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Chapter 2: We Banish Pests!

Last we left off, our party had followed Krevish to meet this man at a secret hideout.

The big man was silent as he looked the party over, obviously not at all sure if he was okay with their presence at his door. Krevish seized the oppourtunity, he hopped up and down enthusiastically,"It's okay Captain! They saved my life, they could have just kept on walking, but they stopped and risked their own lives to save mine, and that was really nice of them, so I think you really ought to give them a chance to carry out a mission for us because they've earned a chance, don't you think?"

The captain rolled his eyes, "Alright Krevish," he sighed,"If you'll just be quiet, I'll give them a chance."

Krevish, with a smile from ear to ear, nodded his head rapidly. "As you know," the captain began,"The Temple of Bane is dedicated wholly to the cause of evil and strife. One cleric of the temple has been causing great disruptions up north in the town of Nesme. We believe that to save Nesme from civil war, he must be stopped. If you can find him and carry out the mission, you will have proven yourselves as useful as Krevish seems to think. Well, almost as valuable anyway."

The captain patted Krevish on the head like a child, then held up a mirror like device that showed the man they were to find, as if he was being reflected in its surface. After the party was dismissed, Krevish said, rubbing his hands together nervously, "May I come with you? Please-o-please! You've done so much to help me, and I'd love to be able to repay you, ya know, you deserve my help."

Although not everyone in the party was thrilled, it was decided that having an extra hand wouldn't hurt, and thus Krevish became the newest member of their adventuring company.

The party gets their target.

Since Nesme was up the river, it was decided that a river boat rental would be the most desirable mode of travel. Nesme was on the edge of the marshland known as the "Trollmoors", and no one was eager to find out if it was just a clever name. 

Heading through town to find a place to rent a boat, while crossing the river in the middle of town, something was amiss. The crowd in the plaza shrunk in front of long shadows that approached, along with the sound of hooves upon the cobblestones. The party backed up against the stone buttress at the end of the bridge, waiting to see what frightened everyone so badly. Soon, they appeared, two riders in long, black, hooded robes. They crossed through the town square at a gallop, pounding past the bridge, and through the city gates. Slowly, the people in the square resumed their normal activities, but now they were all in a bit more of a hurry to be somewhere else.

Avrilenne, the somewhat more hard-headed sister to our paladin leader, leaned in to her brother's ear, "August, it was hard to tell with the helmets, but were those men in the tavern last night?"

Augustar thought for a moment, than responded, "It's hard to say, but they certainly looked familiar to me. I do think you're right, sister."

For a moment, he thought to ask someone if they knew who these riders were, but, to his surprise, the square was now deserted. The moment having passed, the party rented a boat, and rowed up river to the town of Nesme.

Taking a boat from Yartar.

The party found that Nesme was in dire need of adventurers. The harbormaster was panicking, saying that the warehouses on the river had been overrun by lizard men on one side, and frogs on the other. His cries of "It's not my fault!" only made him seem somehow culpable. The town was also having another problem, with barbarians. The party also discovered a team of spies hiding between the local temple, probably to assassinate the high priestess. Yes, Nesme was certainly in need of adventurers.

There was a peculiar shop in town, it's sign reading "We banish pests." Investigating, our party found the shop to be basically abandoned. There was something of note. Searching the shop from top to bottom carefully, Aria, one of the party's magic-users, found that a candlestick set in the wall seemed loose. Pulling it, the nearby wall rotated to reveal a secret passage! After multiple battles with guard posts of evil humanoids, our adventurers found themselves staring at a familiar face... the man they were sent to kill.