FRUA: Neverwinter Nights, Chapter 7: The Llast Spider Fighter

While exploring the tattered shell of the Gallant Prince, The Company had discovered a pile of brass buttons that seemed to have been dislodged from a uniform in battle. The man they had found, who had turned to stone in front of their eyes, had mentioned that he had seen the coat of arms of Luskan on the pirates who boarded the Prince. After examining the buttons, Aria Darkstar, the raven-haired sorceress observed, "I'm not completely sure, but this emblem is tugging at my memory, I bet its the Luskans. Perhaps we should take them to Lord Nasher to be sure?"

After a short discussion, it was agreed they would do so.

Lord Nasher was supposed to give a reward for finding the buttons, but it wasn't implemented correctly in the module.

Showing the buttons to Nasher's retainer, they were immediately granted audience. "This proves it," Nasher said, examining the items, "The pirates of Luskan are indeed the culprits in the looting of the Prince. You have done a great service to the North by defeating the monsters that had taken up residence in the Gallant Prince. I wonder, would you be willing to explore the rest of the harbor? It has been closed down for years and generally assumed abandoned, but it could make a suitable hideout for the Luskans. Once that area is safe, move north towards the city itself, and see if you can find anything that might help us combat this menace."

"Aye, it would be our honor, my lord," said August Star, bowing.

It was late evening when they arrived at the gate to the harbor, the chill bite of the ocean was in the air, and all was silent besides the gentle lapping of the harbor waves. "Why did we come here at night?" asked Avrilenne, "It looks like we're headed into a ghost town."

No one answered her.

Lord Nasher's instincts were correct, the "abandoned" harbor indeed had plenty of occupants. While exploring the abandoned buildings The Company was attacked by roaming bands of cockatrices and margoyles. The cockatrice, a combination of rooster and snake, would be humorous, if it were not for  their ability to turn the victims of their touch to stone! 

Avrilenne was stoned, but spontaneously healed with 1hp afterwords. A character can't die in random encounters, to emulate the original game.

There were two strange figures they encountered on the south shore of the harbor, who alluded to a group of three switches that would allow them to cross the water. The first was an orc, who sat with his sword across his lap. He was no typical orc, as he did not wish to dive into battle immediately and give up his life. He offered information about the switches for a piece of jewelry, but the party had only gems to offer. The orc declined.

A friendly orc! (F)ight (L)eave

The other was a woman, who asked them fervently to succeed where her protector had failed. She told them they must find three switches to allow them to "walk safely." Ranzo noticed the sound of footsteps behind them, which was followed by a dagger in the dark! He turned to see if the woman was alright, but she was gone. The thrower of the dagger was not to be found, all in all, it was a very eerie experience. "I believe she was a ghost," said Avrilenne, "thankfully not of the malevolent sort."

Continuing on after their encounter with the assumed ghostly visage, there was no time to relax, as they found out while exploring a long abandoned building labeled as "Colwyn's Fish Emporium." The place thankfully no longer smelled of fish, but it was covered wall to wall in thick, dusty, cobwebs. "Uggh.." Aria shuddered as they slowly cut their way through the webs, "I hate spiders."

"I don't mind them if the're not of the giant variety," answered Ranzo.

No sooner had he finished, then a group of large, hairy web spinners descended from the shadows all around them. Both Ranzo and Aria yelled in fright at their sudden appearance. Before the party could settle themselves, three of their number had been bitten by the monstrosities and fell unconcious from poison. It was only due to Aria's and Ranzo's covering the whole area in stinking clouds that they made it out alive. After setting up make-shift litters, it was time to head back to Tyr's temple, The Hall of Justice, in Neverwinter to cleanse their bodies of the deadly poison.

It looked something like this. Source.

Upon their return from that endeavor, they all promised to be a little more wary of spider webs. The last area the party found to explore on the southern side of the harbor held a drawbridge, which was currently useless to them, as it was in the "up" position. It didn't take a genius intelligence to realize lowering this bridge must be the function of the switches they had been told about. Although the bridge was impassable to them at the moment, there was a boat tied to a pier nearby. It was barely seaworthy. A substantial puddle in its center was a testament to its leaks. Lacking other options, the party reluctantly boarded it, and paddled through the shadow of the Gallant Prince to the north side of the harbor. The gentle waves were comforting, in this otherwise very dangerous place.  

  

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