FCG set off early the next morning in pursuit of the Myriad, hoping to locate Heidi’s missing chalice before they returned to Rosohna. They retraced their steps, starting from the Cloistered Fiddle and followed the path through the winding alleyways through which Malcolm had chased the thief the night prior. FCG arrived at the same dead end Malcolm did and decided to question a few of the nearby shopkeepers who were just setting up for the day. Many scoffed at the notion of finding a single thief in a city riddled with Myriad corruption. However, when pressed by Malcolm and Triple J, one fisherman suggested that the party do some fishing of their own and make themselves robbable targets for any thief. While initially enticed by the idea, the party struggled to come up with a solution that didn’t involve one of them actually getting robbed and decided instead to reach out to their primary contact within the Myriad, the Gentleman, via a sending spell. The Gentleman told them of a Myriad safehouse in Port Damali known as the Blushing Bullywug, as well as the password for entry, “I’m here for the Tuna.”
The party eventually found there way to the Tumbledowns and the Blushing Bullywug, which turned out to be rather rancid strip club, featuring performers of reptilian nature. Triple J, disguised as the Gentleman, told the barkeep they came for the tuna and was given a key to the club’s private lounge. Within the back room, FCG discovered a handful of hungover and sleeping Myriad thugs, including the thief in question, Vepper. Malcolm nudged the sleeping halfling awake with his steel boot. Groggy, Vepper rubbed his eyes as he roused. The haze faded from Vepper’s mind quickly as a look of recognition at the sight of Malcolm crossed his face. The rogue bolted for the door, dodging spells from Endrin along the way, and ran out into the back alleyways. Endrin cast haste on Malcolm as the fighter gave chase. The added speed was not necessary however, as Eris commanded Vepper to return to them. Unable to resist the princess’ charm Vepper slowly began walking back towards the party where he was quickly tackled by the sprinting Malcolm and trapped under Eris’ boot.
The party interrogated Vepper and learned that Vepper was hired to steal the chalice by a member of the Claret Order. FCG also learned that the Claret Order had set up operations in the Vezdaweald, a tropical jungle, often used for logging, just across the gulf from Port Damali. After extracting what they could from Vepper, the party headed towards the docks in search of more information. Ultimately, the group decided they needed to go to the Vezdaweald to investigate further. The party came across a logging company, Splintered Way, that was about to make the trip, via Keelboat, to the jungle in order to pick up a haul of logs. The party booked passage for a small fee and set off across the gulf.
The journey was beautiful and sunny for the most part and had Malcolm reflecting upon his time as a ship’s captain up near Eiselcross. The fighter’s day dream was interrupted however, as a multitude of harpoons came bursting up from the water and onto the ship, impaling Endrin in the process and yanking him down into the water. The culprits behind the attack revealed themselves to be a group of merefolk-esque merrow. Endrin’s blood in the water attracted a small group of reef sharks who attacked in a Frenzy. Eris rushed to Endrin’s aid, extending divine wings to glide just above the surface. Malcolm granted everyone in the group the gift of water breathing with his arcane tattoo and jumped into the water to confront the merrow. Triple J, meanwhile, manned the boat’s mounted ballista to combat their attackers. Two more merrow emerged from the depths, their hands aglow with crackling lighting. The spell slinging merrow unleashed blasts of lighting towards the party as well as sought to paralyze the members of FCG. Despite the surprise aquatic assault however, FCG quickly turned the tides on the merrow. Malcolm dove beneath the waves and slew many a merrow in their natural terrain. Triple J’ circle of power and use of bardic inspiration fortified the party’s defenses despite getting pulled into the water himself. Eris smote the merrow with thunderous fury, as well as unloaded a barrage of arcane missiles from her magic cloak upon the merefolk. Endrin, managed to take to the skies from where he crushed all of the sharks with a single spell and then proceeded to play a game of arcane fueled cat and mouse with a merrow spellcaster who was darting in and out of a fog cloud. Ultimately, the merrow were all turned to chum and the party continued on their way to the Vezdaweald.
As the sun was setting, the party arrived on the white sandy shores of the Vezdaweald, a tropical tree line and flora covered peaks laying just beyond. The ship’s captain and Splintered Way owner, Jimmer, was shocked by the fact that neither his loggers nor their harvest of logs were anywhere to be found on the beach. Four boats tied to some nearby trees denoted the fact that the party had arrived at the correct meeting spot, and thus, Jimmer surmised that something had gone awry. Jimmer offered the party 100 gold pieces each to discover what had befallen his men and to recover the log shipment if possible. Heading into the jungle anyway, FCG agreed to investigate if they happened to come across the loggers.
The party headed into the tree line in search of the loggers as well as any clues about the Claret Order. As the sun finally set and the jungle grew dark, the canopy grew bright with millions of glowing insects, forming a twinkling starscape above them. Not all of the bugs were beautiful however, as FCG found themselves slapping at biting mosquitos. A few miles into the jungle, the party came across a clearing of chopped trees and a campsite at the edge of a small lake. Upon investigating the campsite, the party discovered a multitude of humanoid statues depicting the figures of what the party deduced to be the loggers. As the FCG began piecing together the loggers’ fate, they found themselves slowly being surrounded by a group of basilisks.
