(G78 12/02/10 OR - GF, AP(GM), ON, SS, CH)1

And there, dear reader, I must leave the Wyvern and her adventures for the time being and once more
go back to Seawall Pass.
At some point I may well get back to the Blue Nixie and tell you about my very (more?) interesting
adventures while on board, but for the time being I'm afraid you must content yourselves with the somewhat
more prosaic dealings of the 'Bent Goblin Gang' or 'King Banjax and his Entourage' if you prefer.

So, to begin were I left off,

(day 11)

On their way though the swamp, the happy band chanced upon a lizard woman called Shikash. She shared lunch
with them and told of what she knew of the lighthouse.
It seemed pirates had attacked the real lighthouse and put it out of commission. Not only that, but they
had deviously erected a decoy lighthouse about a third of a mile inland to the purpose of luring unsuspecting
ships onto the reefs.

They decided to head to the real lighthouse first and with Dana, Bok and Shikash to the front, Banjax, Wulfgar and
Fredorrick followed.

As they approached, they saw two pirates guarding the lighthouse. Throwing caution to the wind Shikash attacked
and killed one with a javelin. The other, taken off guard, was also killed in the resulting fight.

Cautiously they searched the lighthouse, but found not much more than death and destruction. Fredorrick arranged
the burial of the lighthouse's family. Banjax meanwhile, had found a telescope in one of the rooms and moved
it into another so he could spy on the fake lighthouse that was about half a mile away.

He saw a total of seven figures, two of which were female and one of whom was a dwarf. He saw also that there
were several tents, a central cooking area with a big stew pot boiling on the fire and the fake lighthouse
itself which was made from strong scaffolding that towered near sixty feet tall.

He relayed this information to the others and Wulfgar suggested poisoning the stew, and Fredorrick agreed
this was a jolly good idea, and should be done just prior to an attack.

Banjax, sensing an opportunity to redeem himself in the groups eyes perhaps, volunteered for the task. As the
poison (a mixture of all the most unpleasant things that they could find - human waste and corpse juice) was
prepared the nefarious bard stripped one of the pirates and wore it as a disguise.

As twilight turned into night, he wandered nonchalantly into the camp and without helped himself to a bowl of
stew. There were others nearby, but in the gloom they did not notice him as he poured the gunk into the pot
and covered the foulness with a 'Prestidigitation' spell.

As he wandered off again he also took the time to say, 'Stew's good tonight' to the pirates who, fooled by
the spell, greedily tucked in.

Needless to say, within not much more than an hour, they were either doubled up in pain or voiding themselves
in the sand dunes and it was then that the heroes attack.

The fight was short and brutal, Shikash killed one with her javelin and Banjax shot one down from atop the
lighthouse. Dana snapped a pirates neck and soon all the others were slain except two that were in no
fit state to fight.
The dwarf and a woman named Erqua who was the leader of the band were taken prisoner.

Banjax took her into a tent and made her into his best friend with a 'Charm' spell and learned everything
he could from her. She had been hired by someone in 'Darth's Dolphyntyde' on Wastrel Alley, in the Dock
Ward of Waterdeep. She also had a letter on her, which revealed a few more cryptic clues.

Once he had learned all he could and passed it on to Fred, the irascible bard had his wicked way with her!
Not only that, but Bok skulked in behind him to add even more half-orc'ed insult to injury.
Needless to say, she was not best pleased when the 'Charm' spell wore off.

The fellows spent the rest of the night sorting through the pirate loot and dismantling the fake
lighthouse.

(day 12)

Everyone except for Wulfgar, who remained to guard the loot, rowed back to town in the row boats the
pirates had been using to raid the wrecked merchant ships.

They passed on their news and prisoners then retired to the Bent Goblin.

Fred went to talk to his mentor and learned something about the 'Vanguard of the Snake God' while
Banjax sung a few songs to impress the ladies and made friends with a lass called Jemima.

(day 13)

A day of buying, selling and general preperation for a journey north.