Aleria Campaign / The Seekers / The Hydra's Fang / Eire the 5th through the 7th, 3592 CE / 9-29-19

Three Seekers based out of Lokar (Brascal, Plith, and Carsola) have been sent on a mission by their commander Lt. Sloanan to the coastal town of Ortok. They are to meet with an informant named Lumbar Stoikal, but are intercepted when they reach town by Shrike, another Seeker agent. He informs them that Lumbar was supposed to help them procure some ancient tablets that may date back to the Council of Passing Shadow from a privateer named Darius D'mur, but appears to have double-crossed the Seekers and to be working for Darius now. The party recalls that the notorious pirate Darius is actually the son of a high-ranking Xelish noble and received his commission initially to hunt pirates for the Xelish navy with his ship, the Hydra's Fang. However, he has gone rogue, raiding seaside towns in New Nalizant, risking war between the two nations. It was during one of these raids on the town of Whitestone that he slew a local wizard named Myraxus and procured the tablets. The party heads over to the import/export shop of Lumbar Stoikal, but when they arrive, it appears the shop has been broken into, with two of Lumbar's henchman lying dead of sword wounds. Breaking into the back of the shop, they find a teenage girl crying over Lumbar's lifeless corpse and claiming to be his daughter, but discover quickly that it is Darius's wizard, Katya, in disguise, as she calls for pirates hidden in the shop's storeroom to aid her in ambushing them. The Seekers dispatch Katya and one of the pirates, sparing the other for questioning. He reveals that Darius slew Lumbar when he demanded repayment on old debt, but further questioning also gets him to admit that Lumbar was actually working for the mysterious Society of the Asp, playing Darius and the Seekers against each other. The Seekers pursue Darius's path through the underdocks, a maze of docks and sea caves lying underneath the town's boardwalk area. When they reach the dock they believe Darius used to take a boat back to the Hydra's Fang, they are confronted by two Asp Society Enforcers and their pet sea-cat. After slaying one of the enforcers and their monstrous beast, they tie up the other before taking a boat to pursue Darius. Reaching the Hydra's Fang, the Seekers fail in bluffing their way onto the ship, at which point they attempt to board with rope and grappling hook. As arrows rain down on them, Brascal manages to get over the top, slashing Darius across the throat and inflicting a mortal wound before being taken down by two of his guards. As Sir Plith tries valiantly to come to the dying fighter's rescue, Brascal rallies the last of his energy and chargers through the attackers, slaying two more of them before he plummets to a watery grave in the bay. Meanwhile, a pack of sahaugin have begun assaulting the Hydra Fang's crew, providing a welcome distraction. Sir Plith and Carsola fight on valiantly, but they are overwhelmed and succumb to their wounds. When they awake, they are being administered healing potions by the remaining sahuagin, who inform them that they were seeking vengeance for their fallen friend, the wizard Myraxus. The sahaugin then depart with Darius's head, leaving Sir Plith and Carsola on the Hydra's Fang, surrounded by corpses. Investigating the ship's hold, they find the chest with the tablets guarded by a lacedon whom Darius had been keeping prisoner. However, the lacedon agrees to a truce in exchange for being able to leave the ship in peace, allowing the surviving Seekers recover the tablets. Back in Lokar, Brascal is given a hero's memorial in the cemetery of the Cathedral of the Moon. In the end, the Seekers not only gain the salvage of the Hydra's Fang, but also have earned the good will of both Xeliash and New Nalizant. On the other hand, the tablets themselves turn out to be fakes, one last trick played by Myraxus on the evil Captain Darius D'mur, and they have now gained an enemy in the Society of the Asp.