On the advice of Amanitas, our party decided to return to Yartar. They sought the hidden base of the Kraken society. Something was definitely afoot, as they were routinely ambushed by Kraken spies openly in the streets! They visited the Waterbaron, the leader of the town to see if they could find out some information. He had clearly been threatened into silence, saying that the party should leave Yartar immediately before something horrible happened.
Our adventurers investigated the town, not turning up any great clues. The local populace complained that business was in decline due to the current threats of trolls, orcs, and of course, the Kraken operatives.
As they turned a corner, there was a wagon with a broken wheel in front of them. Augustar immediately moved to help the man. Aria looked around a bit confused, saying that the street suddenly seemed quite crowded.
Soon the party was separated as they were completely engulfed by a shepherd guiding his flock of sheep through the street. "August!" Aria called out, "Get over here, something weird is going on," but he was too far ahead to hear her.
Shadows billowed up around them as cloaked reached out from every direction. The party was quickly overwhelmed before they could draw weapons or cast spells. They were drawn, one-by-one, into a nearby doorway, then down a narrow staircase.
As he was talking, each member of our party realized in turn that they had seen this man before. He was present in the tavern their first night in Yartar, and again the next morning he road through the square. They began to think he may be significant to their quest, perhaps he was none other than, "Vaalgamon will not be bothered with your petty insignificant selves. Did you really think you could change even the most miniscule bit of my plans for conquest?" the cruel looking man said, "I will leave the trivial tasks of arranging your deaths to my Kraken hosts."
With a flourish of his cloak, he swept out of the room, letting the heavy wooden door slam behind him. They were now alone, locked in this room.
"Well, I think on some level he fears us. I don't believe the hogwash about us being an insignificant threat for a second. Otherwise he would have just killed us right then and there," observed Avrilenne.
"Well he should fear us," grunted Chode.
"Hey, um, guys?" it was Krevish.
"Heh, afraid of spiders are you little man?" replied Chode, preparing himself to negotiate the obstacle.
Soon after the door was unlocked, they heard the screams of what sounded like a young woman in great distress. They opened the door to find the source of the sound was... Chode Hammer, frantically trying to dislodge the many small black spiders that were now crawling up his trousers. Krevish crossed his arms and nodded his head with a knowing smile.
Our party emerged to find themselves in what appeared to be an underground hideout. The walls were plain, generally not giving any indication that this was a Kraken hideout. That is, except for one feature.
Our adventuring company thoroughly searched the hideout, clearing it of Krakens and lizard men. They found a magic-user's scroll hidden in a library, and a shimmering magical dagger lodged between crates in a storage room. Last of all, they found the leader of this despicable cell of spies.
Well, it wasn't quite last of all. After easily dispatching the Kraken leader, they faced their greatest challenge yet. First, however, they plundered the Kraken captain's treasures. Included was Chode's magical blade with the gold braided handle, that had been stolen that fateful first night. As Chode gratefully drew the blade, still shining sharp and true, he exclaimed, "Whatever evils might stalk the Realms, at least we know there is still justice in this world."
The only remaining path, took them over the massive tank that remained in the center of the hideout.
With a cry of panic, the whole party was soon trying to find their bearings. Water stung their eyes and nostrils. From the murky depths came massive tentacles! The giant squids were merciless combatants. They seemed very resistant to the mage's stinking clouds, and long range weapons proved useless in the water. Although more than one of them emerged from the tank with bulbous circular purple bruises, and Lady Deschanel had fallen unconscious, they were victorious.
From there our heroes would travel west then north. Through the magical city of Neverwinter, past Port Llast, than on to their target, the pirate city of Luskan. There they would seek the Hosttower of the Arcane. As far as they could tell from Amanitas's riddles, a statuette would be found there.
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