The Weight of Rubies

A. Meeting Strahan Brano

As they travel through the marsh on their last day towards the east side of the peninsula, the party hears men screaming ahead. They hurry through the trees and come upon a scene with two giant alligators. Just as they reach the clearing, the larger of the two tosses back its head, gulps down a victim, then slips into the water. The second alligator has grasped another armored man by the lower legs and is dragging him towards the water’s edge. A third man, wearing leather armor, draws his bow to fire wildly at the second alligator.

The PCs kill the alligator, and Boeden pries open the dead beast’s jaws so Athron can pull the man out and heal him. When Cassick asks, the ranger says that he and his friends were out hunting when they were attacked. When asked if he knows anything about missing ships, he glances at Boeden, but denies any knowledge. Nearly everyone in the party knows he is lying, and they decide to let him go and follow him. He carries off the injured man, heading north. Shortly after, the PCs find the other man dead, hidden in the underbrush. However, the ranger cannot escape, and is surrounded by the PCs.

Strahan Brano tells them is native to the area, and was hired to lead a party to the lighthouse overland, without knowing what their intentions were. They killed the lighthouse keeper and extinguished the lighthouse fire, then set up a false tower on the beach to cause ships to turn towards shore too soon.

The ships struck the reef and sank, pirates killed all the survivors. He deliberately led his two companions to the alligators, and tells Athron that he showed them the mercy they deserved. There are eight left in the camp, a priest and a woman in the sea caves, and something unknown to him in the lighthouse – but the pirates take dead bodies to the lighthouse for some reason. He agrees to lead the PCs to the camp, but refuses to take the gold from the dead man’s belt pouch.

B. Ambush.

Knowing from Strahan that another patrol will be sent to search for the ranger and the others, the parties select a good spot to stage an ambush. Strahan lures in I’loz Apri, an elf, and the party readily disposes of him and his three human guards. A search reveals that I’loz’s scabbard bears a mark of a diamond surrounding the outline of a hawk, and each of the guards has the same design tattooed in red on the inside of his left wrist.

C. The Camp.

The party scouts the camp at night. Cassick and Vermillion charge into a large tent, catching the inhabitants – Erqua Ashilim, a half-Shal sorcereress, and her halfing servant – by surprise. The halfing is killed, and the other PCs dispose of the two remaining guards outside. Athron kills the second while he stands at the tent-flap by crushing his skull with a mace. Seeing the writing on the wall, Erqua surrenders.

Erqua tells the PCs that Lykast, a hag, who “likes pretty things” has been given the lighthouse for her abode. She tells Boeden that he may find pieces of the Jotunn ship’s captain in the lighthouse, and informs Athron that the priestess of Hamal has been taken by the cleric Junpart and his consort Surema Shal Ashili to the sea caves.

In the interim, Boeden has taken down the burning false tower so no other ships will be drawn towards shore that night. The party decides to go to the caves first, in the hopes of saving Retta Pierce. A search of the camp reveals crates for which salvage payment can be received – including two chests of silver ingots bearing Arkus’s stamp that will give them 6000 gp.

DM’s Note: This photo used under Creative Commons license.