FRUA: Neverwinter Nights, Chapter 5: Beginning Anew, Again

Sit down, make yourselves comfortable. Tonight I will spin you a tale of a place we've been many times before. That is, the great city of Neverwinter. Although the city is a safe haven for many folk, including the crafstmen it is known for, Neverwinter also always seems to be in a fair bit of trouble. This trouble is just what our intrepid party of adventurers seeks.

Once again this is not the Neverwinter I'm playing. Maybe in ten years? Source.

They grew up far to the east, in the besieged city of New Phlan. Their heroes were a small party, not unlike themselves, who came from nothing, but eventually overthrew the evil warlord who sought the dominance of Phlan, Tyranthraxus.

Spoiler alert! Actually, if you're reading my blog, I assume you know about this already. Source.

New Phlan was experiencing a time of prosperity and peace, hardly suitable for adventure, so our party moved west, to Neverwinter. News had traveled on the lips of merchants and refugees that the City of Skilled Hands was besieged on all sides by evil humanoids, pirates, and worse... dragons!

Our party, who had named themselves "The Company", was led by the paladin August Star. He was a patient man, especially for a holy paladin, who had begun losing his dark hair at a young age. His patron was Lathandar, the Lord of the Morning. 

Avrilenne was August's hard headed sister, a warrior cleric of Tyr, the god of justice.

Marcus Heartshield was a ranger. While he felt at home in the wilds, as a devoted follower of Chauntea he also cared dearly for civilization. However, he believes in striking a harmony between the order of civilization and the wilds of nature.

The suavest member of our party was certainly the swashbuckling elf Ranzo Ray. He was multi-talented, a former sailor who had tired of life at sea. In addition to his skills learned at sea, he learned magic as a youth among his people.

Adon Sapphire was a dwarf who grew up on the mean-streets of New Phlan's slums. His hard living has given him a number of skills, including those of a somewhat less than legal nature.

Last of all was Aria Darkstar, a mysterious woman with long, shining black hair. She was an often quiet magic-user. Although the others had known her long, they never could tell her motives.

I used Wizard's Character Name Generator to get some inspiration for the new names.

You may notice a similarity to our last heroes, but it is simply coincidence, before you is a whole new group of adventurers ready to test their mettle in Neverwinter.

They entered the gates of Neverwinter with a glint in their eyes, and payed their respects to Lord Nasher, as the guards suggested they do.

I believe it is a nod to Gateway that this game has a boat rental shop, but you can't use it! Renting boats plays a big part in Gateway to the Savage Frontier.

I won't bore you with the details of our new heros' cleaning out of the immediate surroundings of Neverwinter. Just like the adventurer's I've told you of before, they systemically searched the wharves and warehouses. Through sheer determination, they defeated both the menacing minotaur and troll of Southwall, hidden behind their secret doors.

They headed north to Windycliffs, where they faced their greatest challenges yet. Kraken spies led a trained mammoth. A harpy sang songs which could charm the listener into turning on their allies, and a banshee's screech could cause instant death to the listener! They braved all these hazards, and reaped piles of gold and gems as a reward.

The aftermath of one of the battles with the mammoth. I thought I was going to sneak away with Aria getting the 4,222 XP. However, Ranzo had been killed during the battle. Even if I had the coin to raise him, this game implements the pnp rules accurately; elves cannot be raised from the dead.

After their adventures in Windycliffs, they headed north, on to Port Llast. They had heard many rumors that the pirates of the north, from Luskan, were the source of many Neverwinter's troubles. Perhaps they could find out more in Port Llast. The talk of the town was the Gallant Prince, a ship that had left the harbor, and then returned most mysteriously, apparently absent of crew.

Nothing could guarantee more that the adventurers most certainly will check below decks! 

No one in The Company was at all surprised when they found that the tattered Prince was indeed occupied. It was not sailors they found though, but hellhounds, skeletons and zombies. The captain's quarters were ransacked, but they did find some clues on the upper levels of the ship.

Our party stepped onto some sort of levitation circle, raising them to a hidden mezzanine above the captain's room. They were immediately assaulted by humanoids with green, taught skin and loincloths. Avrilenne immediately recognized them as flesh hungry ghouls, and used the power of Try to turn the hungering dead away.

At the end of the passage was a disturbing sight, a man was there, chained up. He said he was the last of the sailors who had left on the ship. He was no ordinary prisoner, though, as he appeared to be very slowly transforming into stone.

"They... they... use magic to keep me like this," he began, "The pirates from Luskan, I saw their insignia. They brought with them hideous women, medusa... they, used their magic to make me like this. Then, the pirates..." he was then silenced as he turned to stone completely before their eyes.

A guy like this was on the Gallant Price in Gateway as well, another connection.

"This torture is inexcusable," said Avrilenne, "Justice must be brought to these pirates and their minions, in the name of Tyr."

Adon nodded,"Why not? We haven't any other leads."