Treasures of the Savage Frontier, Chapter 4: Fool Me Once... Shame... Shame On You

The street was filled with the sounds of merrymaking as they entered the small town. Their destination was where the cacophony came from. It was a tavern, whose signage showed a carved stag, apparently charging, with it's impressive rack ready to strike an unfortunate opponent. The letters beneath the stag read, "The Rutting Buck".

Opening the door was to invite chaos, as the sound of clanking mugs, chatter and laughter filled the air. The tavern was filled wall to wall with patrons. A soldier in blue approached, his tabard marked with the crescent moons of Waterdeep. Pleasantries were exchanged, and the party sat down to eat.

They were all soon gorged on the rich meal of turkey, green beans, and potatoes. The usual post meal drowsiness set in. The drowsiness didn't stay just that, though. Chode's eyelids got heavier and heavier, "Oh great Dumathoin, not again," he said, just before his head hit the table.

  

Amanitas directed us to our first quest. Ambassadors from the cities of Neverwinter and Mirabar were on their way to Waterdeep. We were to meet them in Leilon and act as escort the rest of the way. On the way there, I was looking for an inn and training hall; so stopped in Daggerford.

Generally speaking, I like open-world games, however, this area highlighted one of the things that sometimes annoys me. There was trouble in Daggerford, all the men had been captured by the Zhentarim and taken to the castle in the center of the city. I could ignore that, but then I was approached by a woman who desperately needed help! I'm thinking, "I'm just trying to find the inn lady..." but I can't leave a person in distress.

She took us back to her house, then said her sisters would like to thank us as well. Their pretty faces then melted into a green-hued, boiled mess. It was a coven of green hags. I should know better than to "get involved" with strange women on the street. One cool thing I did not expect is that the hags can use their "change form" power in battle. One of them turned into a sorceress.

After this little incident, I decided it was best to get out of Daggerford and away from their troubles for the moment. I headed back to a town I'd already been to, to train. After this, we traveled to Leilon. Our assignment was to meet the ambassadors at the classy "Rutting Buck" tavern, where it sounded like our targets were no strangers to partying.

Upon entering the packed, raucous tavern, we were met by soldiers in the livery of the city of Waterdeep. The soldier who met us, swept his hand across the room, yelling, "Hey everybody! Look, it's the Heroes of Ascore!" This attention immediately made us all uncomfortable. It's never good to make announcements like that when people are out to kill you. Just ask Frodo about his trip to The Prancing Pony. The soldier then invited us to sit down and break bread with them. We accepted the offer.

You can probably see where this is going, my trepidation was founded. You can imagine Chode Hammer's distaste at falling for the same trick that got them back in Yartar, so early in their adventuring careers.

Chode Hammer offered to us one of his "tricks" to get them out of their new prison; a locked room. He used his sword on the stone to create some sparks, lighting the hay laid about on fire. They wafted the smoke towards the door, and everyone started yelling "Fire!" The ruse worked as Waterdhavian guards and cyclopskin charged in soon after. As they had neglected to disarm our heroes, they were overcome. After the battle, a clue was found on the bodies of the guards.

The first hint of the larger plot.

After fighting a couple more battles, we emerged into an abandoned farmhouse on the edge of town. The tavern where we had been drugged was now empty! The enemy is tricky indeed. Seeing the tavern empty, we remembered we could contact Amanitas through the crown to find out what to do next. He mentioned that soldiers wearing the uniforms of Waterdeep had been raiding the farmsteads outlying the city, causing obvious distress.

At the gates of Waterdeep, we are challenged by guards, who are hopefully real this time. We tell them we have a letter to the Lord of Waterdeep from Amanitas (Do we? I don't remember that.) We are taken before the head of security for the ward we entered, and it turns out our letter was switched by our captors, and it warns we are spies! Uh oh... we are to be tied to the "anchor of justice" and dropped into the bay; not a good end for our heroes! This is one of a few moments where the game moves too quick for me... so much happens so fast its a little overwhelming at times. I'm used to getting some time to think in my D&D/Gold Box games. In this one, scripted events send you all over the place.

Struggle though they might, our heroes were overwhelmed and dragged down to a weathered wooden dock. "This is not justice," yelled Avrilenne, "it is a lie!"

One by one, they were chained to heavy stones, and pushed off the end of the dock. Avrilenne felt fear grip her heart as she went for one last desperate breath as the chill waters enveloped her. She struggled to free herself, but every movement only seemed to lesson her small supply of air. Soon, the murky waters began to fade further and further to blackness.

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