The module Death in Freeport was one of the first d20 modules released by Green Ronin for D&D 3rd Edition at Gen Con in 2000 which is where I got my copy. It was later released again as part of the Freeport Trilogy 5th Anniversary compilation for the 3.5 rules. I ran the adventure using the Pathfinder rules. The characters were created using PF but for most of the NPCs I did little to convert them fully to PF. Where a PF version of a monster or basic NPC existed in the Bestiary or Gamemastery Guide I used that over the original stat block. General warning – there are a lot of spoilers for this module below.
Session notes – Friday 8/19/2011-Saturday 8/20/2011
Party:
Alaina, Human Rogue (Keith)
Betadrome, Human Evoker, “The Wizard” (Keith)
Krodin, Human Corsair (Derrick)
Malevir, Half-Elf Sorcerer (Tom)
Rollo, Gnome Fighter (Tom)
Thorgrim, Dwarf Cleric of the God of Valor (Derrick)
Welcome to Freeport
The party arrives on the docks in Freeport and quickly becomes the target of an attempt to press gang them. The scurvy dogs who try end up finding themselves outmatched and those not knocked down run for the hills.
After the incident, they are greeted by a priest named Egil who has a job proposal for them and offers to buy them drinks at the tavern known as the Bilge Rat if they’ll hear him out. He’s a brother at the Temple of the God of Knowledge (known as Seltrok) and is seeking a missing friend of his named Lucius, a librarian at the temple. The party stuck in Freeport without employment agrees to the offer.
Investigation Begins
Egil informs them of a quiet inn called the Scholar’s Quill where they can stay. The Innkeeper Desy runs a pretty tight ship and for a gold piece per day the party is given rooms and meals.
A search of Egil’s friend Lucius’s house turns up a few things. A to-do list Lucius wrote provided some insight into his activities. The party also turned up a diary in the false bottom of the drawer in the desk. They find a hatch in the back of the house that leads down to the basement. This revealed little except for some new shelving that was empty (something missing?).
A Pirate’s Life
The party discovers that the Captain Scarbelly mentioned on the list is an orc pirate and his ship the Bloody Vengeance is currently in port. Scarbelly is rumored to have killed 29 men in hand-to-hand combat so he doesn’t sound like one to take lightly. He and his crew have mostly stayed on board the vessel. There are 10 orcs along with the captain and his brutal first mate named Aggro. The party decides to setup a diversion of a fire on the docks at night and while that was happening, the rogue Alaina, swims out stealthily, climbs on board and sneaks into the forecastle cabin where she finds some coins and a magical staff of defense whose specific powers couldn’t be identified by the party casters. (DM note: The staff apparently was created by at least an 11th level caster.)
Later, the party confronts two thugs who were spying on the Scholar’s Quill. After this, the party decides to keep their old rooms but get another spot across the way to watch who’s looking for them.
Temple of Knowledge
The party went to the temple to report to Egil. The head priest of the temple, Thuron, seems suspicious to the party (“a dirty bird”) from what they hear as is his right hand man, Milos (probably a “Nazi”, nicknamed Mogwae by the party). They party is denied access to meet with Thuron who is apparently busy working on the upcoming dedication of the Lighthouse of Drac. Milton Drac, the Sea Lord and top dog in Freeport, has been constructing the immense lighthouse overlooking the harbor for ten years in honor of his ancestors who founded the city. The lighthouse is due to be completed shortly and opened to much fanfare.
The party was granted an audience with Milos where they asked him about the staff (claims he doesn’t know about it) and name dropped Lucius. Milos claims that Lucius is an excellent librarian that made some poor choices. He was gone from the temple for four years but returned last year. Milos indicates as they talk that Lucius has appeared worn down lately and asked a lot of strange questions. According to Milos, Lucius had violated the inner sanctum and was expelled before his travels but was let back in upon his return because he supplied the temple with an interesting collection of books he acquired during his worldly travels. He hasn’t been to the temple in a few days. Milos seems to think that Lucius is ok and just sleeping off a hangover somewhere.
Norton, Milos’ assistant shows the party where Lucius had been curating in the geography section.
Boat Ride
After leaving the temple, the party hires a small boat manned by a fisherman and his son to take them out to the lighthouse to investigate. The party seems to have been followed part way but didn’t see who it was. The party notes something odd about the construction. On the return to town, the party’s little boat is overtaken by Scarbelly and the Bloody Vengeance. The orc captain seems to believe that the party stole some things of his but via some negotiations and discussions the party agrees to search for a staff for Scarbelly (the one the party in fact stole) and in return he’ll provide some information he has regarding Lucius. Scarbelly decides to hold the fisherman, his son and their boat as collateral.
The Yellow Shield Gang
Upon returning to shore, the party is heading back towards their lodging when they get jumped in the street. Crossbow bolts fly and a group of warriors carrying yellow shields come from the alleys to attack them. Krodin whacks a horse on the rump to see if it will run down some of the gang with a cart it is attached to but the enemy dodges the runaway beast. The party ends up winning the fight in the end and takes the gang’s gear. Among the items taken were an ivory hilted dagger with an L in the hilt, a silver ring and a crumpled piece of parchment with an address on it located down by the docks. They interrogate the leader, a man named Rittoro who along with his sorcerer Belko were hired by someone named Enzo to take out the party. The gang was supposed to meet Enzo on the docks at the Black Gull Tavern at 7pm to get paid.
The Cowardly Cultist
Sending the gang on their way, the party heads down to make the rendezvous with Enzo. He’s a coward as it turns out and some mild interrogation pretty quickly gets him to spill the beans. He was hired by “The Master”, the leader of a cult called the Brotherhood to have the party killed in order to prove his worth. It’s clear that Enzo is just being used as a pawn, lackey and errand boy to do dirty work for the cult. Enzo reveals that he is supposed to go to a small house in Scurvytown to confirm that the job to eliminate the party is done. Enzo has been periodically taking food to this house and the party ponders if this is to feed Lucius.
Dark Temple
When the party arrives they find the structure empty. A trap door in the floor is discovered that leads down to a wine cellar. The room has nine barrels, some full, some empty. The third barrel on the left turns out to be hollow and lead to a tunnel behind it. At this point the party sends Enzo packing after they leave a note behind telling that the job is complete.
The party proceeds to head down the tunnel which goes down a flight of stairs until reaching a small T shaped room with two doors ahead and to the right. Despite his stone cunning, Thorgrim fails to notice a covered pit and falls into it. The party extracts him. They listen at the two doors and find that the one on the right opens to an octagonal room that is some kind of vile chapel or ritual chamber of sorts. The party turns and goes through the other door which leads to a hallway with doors to the left and right before it bends out of sight. Upon opening the left door, they discover a small rectangular room with garish purple curtains. But the décor isn’t the worst part. Skeletal figures spring to life and attack the party. Meanwhile from behind, lizard or serpent creatures of some kind with poisonous bites step out from a secret door in the T shaped room. The battle is tough but all of the party survives. The skeleton room contained four chests, two with magical auras. In addition to some mundane treasures, the party finds a bottle, a heavy shield and a magic spear.
The party then explores across the hall and finds a small octagonal room filled with books and scrolls of “dark blasphemous crap”. Among these is the Book of the Unspeakable One. There are also a couple of letters discussing progress on the lighthouse. The party theorizes that it’s to be some “Soul Sucking Ziggurat”. They find a letter from someone named Natal indicating that “The Brotherhood is counting on you”.
The party goes back to the T room and enters the secret tunnels. They find a second secret door that would have opened into the skeleton room and then further down a large cavern with a side tunnel to yet another secret door. This third door opens into what appears to be the main temple. The Temple of the Unspeakable One is a large chamber with six pillars and a black basalt altar. Three hooded figures are in the room and one is revealed to be none other than Milos. A tense battle ensued with Milos casting spells that held the gnome and caused other damage. In the end the party killed the assistants and backed him up behind the altar and finished him off. As he died he underwent a horrible transformation and turned into an ophidian serpent man similar to those that attacked the party before.
Tied up below the altar was a man who turned out to be the missing Lucius. He tells that he was sent to the small brick house where he was overpowered and tied up. The party arrived just in time for surely he’d have become a sacrifice to the dark god of this temple.
Epilogue and Experience
After safely returning Lucius to town and reuniting him with his friend Egil, the party ties up some loose ends. They take the staff back to Scarbelly to exchange for the information about Lucius’ time with the orcs. It turns out the information he yields is nothing really new at this point. Lucius had come by the orc to find out about his time on the Bloody Vengeance of which he didn’t remember. The captain indicates that the librarian and ridden with them and mostly stayed out of the way. Surprisingly, Scarbelly honors his deal and returns the fishing boat and his two hostages.
Given the infrequent running of the Freeport adventures, I’m going to use the fast Pathfinder experience track (1300 XP for 2nd level).
Combat Experience (per PC):
Press Gang (8) – 280 XP
Thugs (2) – 130 XP
Yellow Shields (4) – 100 XP
Belko – 35 XP
Rittoro – 65 XP
Serpent Men (5) – 125 XP
Skeletons (8) – 200 XP
Milos – 135 XP
Assistants (2) – 50 XP
TOTAL = 1120 XP
Roleplaying Experience (per PC):
Stealing staff from Scarbelly and dealing with him without a fight – 500 XP
Setting up second lodging to spy on first – 50 XP
Checking out lighthouse – 25 XP
Recovering Lucius – 100 XP
TOTAL = 675 XP
GRAND TOTAL XP/PC = 1795 XP
This is awesome! There were a lot of "dirty birds" in the adventure so far. I especially like our assumption that the lighthouse is a soul sucking ziggurat, haha. Can't wait for the next installment.
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