Original game date: May 12, 2018
The caravan decides to return to Baldur’s Gate as quickly as possible but booking passage by ship down the River Chionthar rather than travel over land.
The Sea Goat
The river Chionthar is a large, heavily trafficked river that is considered quite safe. The caravan books passage on The Sea Goat, a slow moving barge captained by a female gnome named Nissa Stumbleduck. She is assisted by her son Adric, who is an Artificer who manages their defenses, which include a swivel-gun.
The caravan are the only passengers, except for two late arrivals who talk their way on board – a friendly and cheeful halfling named Reed Underhill, returning from a family wedding, and Marlon Rivers, an eccentrically dressed Gleeman who performed at the wedding and is traveling now to Baldur’s Gate for the funeral of his former teacher, Fargold the Bold.
Artificers’ Confab
Traveling down river, Aesar has the chance to speak with Adric about his inventions. Adric explains that he learned by watching the seasonal public displays outside the Hall of Wonders in Baldur’s Gate. One inventor, an elder gnome named Winrick Doublelock, gave him his start. He owns a shop called Clocks, Locks & Sundry in The Menagerie District, north of Little Gnometown.
A Peaceful Journey Cut Short
The journey begins peacefully, with Grellosh and Reed Underhill both enjoying some fishing, while Aesar and Adric tinker.
One the second day, a small galley passes them, the “captain” (Lars Bottler) becoming interested in the gun that Adric is working on, approaching and shouting questions as they size up the ship. There are 2 Dragonclaw cultists on board, and Aesar spots one who was at the attack on Greenest and who collided with Aesar in the fog during the prisoner rescue. An hour later, another ship approaches with the real Captain (Davey “The Red Patch” Knabbler) and the sloop can be spotted having turned around.
The party and their allies fight off the pirates, destroying one ship and capturing the other before scuttling it. From the fallen they loot a wizard’s Wand of the War Mage and spell book. They also retrieve two Sending Stones but they are not a matching set. There is correspondence referring to orders from “The Admiral”, and a captive tells of a hidden cove along the river, and a shipping hangar in Baldur’s Gate (Greyfriars Shipping) where they recently took on the new cult members, suggesting that the cultists who attacked Greenest have already reached Baldur’s Gate.