Roster
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Warlock’s Retreat
Date: Mar 4th, 2026
Summary
The party sat uneasily at the Snoring Water tavern, nursing their drinks beneath the weight of a tarnished reputation. Rumors had spread through Eastguard that Brittany Marginsong, the respected keeper of Bindings and Whispers, had placed her trust in thieves — and the townsfolk made their displeasure known with cold stares and hushed whispers. The group had stolen a journal when Brittany had only asked them to handle the matter delicately, and now the whole town bore the consequences of their recklessness.
It was in this tense atmosphere that a mysterious man approached Jack Dagger and delivered a coded message, speaking of “The Inkbinder” meeting in “the garden” before the rain. After some careful deliberation, the party deciphered the cipher: Brittany was requesting a secret meeting at her shop, and she needed them there soon. Not wanting to draw further suspicion, the group agreed to travel separately, spacing their departures to avoid the appearance of a coordinated gathering.
One by one, they slipped through the streets of Eastguard and made their way to Bindings and Whispers, ascending to a magically concealed patio that was far grander on the inside than the modest exterior suggested. Brittany was waiting for them, and she wasted no time making her feelings known. She was furious — not just at the theft itself, but at the ripple of consequences it had sent through her carefully maintained standing in the community.
However, Brittany was a pragmatic woman, and she had not called them there simply to scold them. She explained that a war was coming to Eastguard, and that the town had no meaningful defenses against it. She had learned of a journal belonging to a deceased warlock named Arden Voss, who had spent his final years researching a method of cloaking an entire city from view — much like the hidden patio they now sat upon, but on an incomprehensibly grander scale. She tasked the party with retrieving this journal from Voss’s abandoned stone retreat on a cliff to the north, framing it not as theft but as the recovery of an ownerless relic.
Before the group could depart, the sound of heavy boots filled the streets below. A large company of mercenaries bearing a distinctive Blackbriar patch marched into Eastguard, sending citizens fleeing behind locked doors. Their leader, a man in black robes, conjured a terrifying sphere of void above his head — a swirling darkness filled with faint, cold stars — before dismissing it and calmly announcing that his company had arrived to provide “security,” and that the town’s merchants would be expected to pay for the privilege. Recognizing the warlock’s power as something far beyond what they could challenge directly, the party slipped away through the harbor and headed north.
The journey took the better part of an hour, and the smell of sea salt grew stronger as the party climbed a natural mesa rising above the coastline. At its flat summit sat the retreat: a stone-walled enclosure containing a neglected pool thick with algae, a stone horse statue, and a sturdy building beyond a closed iron gate. Jack Dagger moved to scale the gate dramatically, only for it to swing open on its own, sending him tumbling to the ground in an undignified roll. Collecting himself, he led the group up the yellow brick path to the building’s double wooden doors, which he made short work of with practiced ease.
Inside, the party split into pairs to search the darkened rooms. Brynnan detected traces of conjuration magic and claimed a low-level spellbook from the main room, while another party member discovered a cryptic piece of parchment hidden beneath a pillow in the bedroom: “To preserve a thing, remove it from harm.” Titus explored the storage room and found crates filled with blank parchment and vials of ink, helping himself to a generous supply of both. Sir Jangle searched the study and found nothing but aging books and gibberish pinned to the walls. As the group reconvened, both Brynnan and Titus sensed something far more powerful emanating from beneath their feet — an overwhelming presence of necromantic energy radiating from below.
They found the stairs and sent a lizard familiar down first, its small body illuminated by a conjured light as it revealed what lay below: a messy desk, a well-preserved corpse laid out on a stone slab, a stack of encased bodies in the corner, and at the center of the room, a rotating arcane cube hovering above a plinth etched with a four-pointed sigil. Three of the sigil’s triangular indentations were shaped to hold objects, while the fourth bore only the image of a small footprint. The party descended cautiously, and Titus and Brynnan began combing through the desk, uncovering a cryptic notebook bearing the phrases “anchors drown cities” and “shelter is not stone.” Vonmese examined the well-preserved female corpse and found a piece of jewelry on her body styled in a fashion from before the Cataclysm, while others began searching for objects that might fit the strange indentations on the floor.
What followed was a long and chaotic puzzle. A toy ship was found among old scrolls and potion bottles and fit snugly into the trapezoid indentation, causing the cube to pulse. A toy tower was discovered and placed into the triangle, dimming the cube further. A brass key, hidden beneath a skull on the desk, fit perfectly into the oval indentation, nearly extinguishing the cube’s glow entirely. But when Jack Dagger reached for the journal, a powerful electrical shock repelled his hand — the footprint indentation remained unsatisfied. Torn scraps of parchment scattered around the room eventually revealed the full inscription when assembled: “Stability — the instinct to fortify. Transition — the decision to move. Protection through relocation.” Flipping the assembled sheet over revealed the answer in pictures: an anchor, a door threshold, and a ship — the tower first, then the key, then the ship. In a moment of grim necessity, the party also dragged the mummified woman from her slab and positioned her feet over the footprint, accidentally dropping her midway through and resetting the puzzle before finally managing to hold her in place. When the last item was placed in the correct order, the arcane cube exploded into a thousand shards of brilliant light, and Jack Dagger reached in and claimed Arden Voss’s journal at last.
The triumph was short-lived. As the party stepped outside into the afternoon air, they heard the unmistakable sound of armored men approaching. Sir Jangle peered over the perimeter wall and spotted six Blackbriar mercenaries — the same company that had marched into Eastguard — closing in on the retreat. The group scrambled to form a plan, with Jack Dagger suggesting he flee with the journal while the others created a distraction. Sir Jangle climbed onto a bench and attempted to sow confusion among the mercenaries with a whispered suggestion, but the magic failed to take hold. A mercenary scout immediately spotted his head above the wall and put an arrow through it, leaving Sir Jangle bloodied and scarred before the fight had even properly begun.
Combat erupted in earnest. Jack Dagger scaled the towering horse statue and returned fire with devastating precision, while Brynnan conjured a rolling sphere of fire and sent it careening into the mercenary ranks. Vonmese activated his arcane armor into its most imposing configuration, strode to the front line, and bellowed at the biggest mercenary he could find: “Lad, I’ve been looking for trouble all day, and I think you found it.” Titus conjured a terrifying illusory knight that drove one of the mercenaries to the edge of madness, and Sir Jangle, still bleeding from his head wound, turned his voice into a weapon — whispering something dark and terrible into the scout’s mind that caused the man to crumple to the ground, dead.
The battle was brutal and costly. Titus was struck down by a crushing mace blow and lay unconscious on the ground until Sir Jangle’s healing words pulled him back from the brink. Vonmese unleashed a terrifying transformation, his eyes becoming dark pools of shadow that sent a nearby enforcer fleeing in blind panic. Bimmi Brewfett chased down a bloodied, fleeing mercenary and finished him with a decisive blow. One by one, the Blackbriar soldiers fell — to arrows, to fire, to whispered horrors and steel — until only the sergeant remained, battered and surrounded. Sir Jangle scaled the perimeter wall, inspired himself with a surge of bardic courage, and drove his rapier into the man’s back. Jack Dagger finished the job with a carefully aimed shot, and the last mercenary collapsed to the ground. The retreat fell silent, the journal safely in hand, and the party stood bloodied but victorious on the clifftop above the sea.
Short
The party found themselves in poor standing with the people of Eastguard following their reckless theft of a journal, a misstep that had damaged the reputation of Brittany Marginsong, keeper of Bindings and Whispers. After receiving a coded message, the group convened secretly at Brittany’s shop, where she scolded them but quickly turned to more pressing matters. She revealed that a war was approaching and that Eastguard had no defenses, tasking the party with retrieving the journal of deceased warlock Arden Voss, whose research detailed a method of cloaking an entire city from view. Their urgency was compounded when a company of Blackbriar mercenaries marched into town, their robed warlock leader demonstrating terrifying magical power before demanding payment for “security.” The party slipped away through the harbor and headed north to Voss’s abandoned clifftop retreat.
At the retreat, the group searched the building and uncovered traces of powerful necromantic energy below, leading them to a basement containing a hovering arcane cube, a preserved corpse, and a sigil with four indentations requiring specific objects. After a long and chaotic puzzle — involving a toy ship, a toy tower, a brass key, and the unsettling use of the mummified woman’s feet — the party solved the sequence and claimed Voss’s journal as the cube shattered in a burst of light. Their victory was immediately tested when six Blackbriar mercenaries closed in on the retreat. A fierce battle erupted, with Jack Dagger firing from atop a stone horse statue, Brynnan unleashing a rolling sphere of fire, Vonmese intimidating foes with a terrifying shadow transformation, and Sir Jangle whispering a mercenary to death despite suffering a serious arrow wound early in the fight. Titus was struck unconscious before being revived by Sir Jangle’s healing words, and Bimmi Brewfett delivered a finishing blow to a fleeing soldier. One by one the mercenaries fell, until Sir Jangle and Jack Dagger combined to take down the last man standing. The party emerged bloodied but victorious, journal in hand, on the clifftop above the sea.
Classic
Last we left off, our party found themselves nursing bruised pride alongside their drinks at the Snoring Water tavern, the cold eyes of Eastguard’s citizens a constant reminder of the recklessness that had cost them dearly. A stolen journal — taken when discretion had been asked of them — had frayed the carefully tended reputation of Brittany Marginsong, keeper of Bindings and Whispers, and the town had not forgotten it. Yet it was Brittany herself who reached out through shadow and cipher, summoning them one by one through the streets to a hidden patio above her shop, grander than any exterior could suggest. There, rather than simply condemning them, she laid before them something far more urgent: a war was coming to Eastguard, and the town had no walls worth speaking of against it. She spoke of Arden Voss, a deceased warlock who had spent his final years researching a method of cloaking an entire city from sight, and she tasked the party with recovering his journal from an abandoned stone retreat on the cliffs to the north — framing it not as theft, but as the recovery of something that belonged to no one living.
Before they could depart, the streets below filled with the thunder of armored boots. A company of Blackbriar mercenaries marched into Eastguard, their robed leader conjuring a swirling sphere of void above his head — a darkness filled with cold, distant stars — before calmly announcing that his men had arrived to provide “security,” at a price. Recognizing power well beyond their ability to challenge directly, the party slipped away through the harbor and made for the cliffs. At the summit of a natural mesa above the sea, they found Voss’s retreat: a stone-walled enclosure, a neglected pool, a stone horse, and a building full of secrets. Within its darkened rooms, they uncovered traces of conjuration magic, a cryptic spellbook, hidden parchment bearing the words “to preserve a thing, remove it from harm,” and crates of blank parchment and ink. But it was what lay beneath their feet that truly demanded their attention — an overwhelming pulse of necromantic energy radiating from below.
Descending into the basement, the party found a hovering arcane cube above a plinth etched with a four-pointed sigil, a well-preserved corpse adorned with pre-Cataclysm jewelry, and a desk scattered with cryptic notes bearing phrases like “anchors drown cities” and “shelter is not stone.” What followed was a long and chaotic puzzle of toy ships, toy towers, brass keys, and assembled scraps of parchment — and, in a moment of grim necessity, a mummified woman pressed feet-first to a footprint indentation in the floor. When at last the sequence was completed in the correct order, the arcane cube shattered into brilliant light, and the journal of Arden Voss was claimed. The triumph, however, was short-lived. Six Blackbriar mercenaries closed in on the retreat, and what followed was a brutal, costly battle — arrows and fire, whispered horrors and steel, Titus struck down and dragged back from the brink, Sir Jangle bloodied by an arrow before the fight had truly begun. One by one the soldiers fell, until the last mercenary collapsed to the clifftop ground, and the party stood battered but victorious, the journal safely in hand, the sea wind cold against their wounds. And so, we pick up now, as our weary group must find their way back to Eastguard — journal in hand, Blackbriar blood on the stones behind them, and a town still very much under threat…
Middle English
Lythe and listin, good folk all, To tales of shame and glory’s call; At Snoring Water, dark and drear, Our heroes nursed their shame and fear. For Brittany’s trust they did betray, And stole her journal in the fray— The townsfolk’s eyes grew cold and hard, And whispered curses through the yard.
A messenger came, cloaked in night, With cipher’d words of hidden might: “The Inkbinder calls in garden’s shade, Before the rain, a secret trade.” They deciphered well the coded way, And slipped through streets without delay, To Bindings and Whispers, grand and tall, Where Brittany awaited in her hall.
With fury burning in her eyes, She spoke of war and darker skies: “A warlock’s journal, lost and old, Holds secrets worth far more than gold— Arden Voss did seek to cloak Our city whole, a mystic yoke. Retrieve it from his northern keep, Upon the cliffs above the deep.”
But hark! What sound doth shake the street? Black-robed warlocks, mercenaries fleet! A void-sphere conjured, dark and cold, With starlight trapped within its fold. The Blackbriar company came to stay, And claimed the town would have to pay. Our heroes fled without delay, And northward took their desperate way.
Upon the cliff, through trial and test, They solved the puzzle of the blessed: A ship, a tower, key, and more, And corpse placed on the ancient floor. The journal claimed, they turned to face Six soldiers in that cursed place— With fire, steel, and whispered dread, They left the Blackbriar soldiers dead.
Snarky
When last we left our intrepid band of misfits, they were busy making friends the only way they know how — by stealing things and letting an entire town suffer the consequences. After fumbling a simple errand for Brittany Marginsong and turning Eastguard’s opinion of them from “questionable” to “actively despised,” the group found themselves summoned to a secret rooftop meeting that was somehow fancier than anything they deserved. Brittany, to her credit, kept the scolding brief and got straight to business: a dead warlock named Arden Voss had left behind a journal detailing how to cloak an entire city from view, and with a terrifying mercenary company called the Blackbriar — led by a robed warlock who casually conjured a void of cold stars just to say hello — marching into town and demanding “protection money,” that journal had gone from academic curiosity to urgent necessity. So naturally, the party slipped out through the harbor and headed north to a clifftop stone retreat, where Jack Dagger dramatically attempted to scale a gate that immediately swung open on its own and deposited him face-first on the ground. A strong start.
The retreat itself was a masterclass in chaotic archaeology. Between Brynnan snagging a spellbook, Titus helping himself to an entire crate of ink and parchment, and Sir Jangle finding absolutely nothing useful in the study, the group eventually discovered the real prize: a basement full of necromantic energy, a hovering arcane cube, a well-preserved corpse wearing pre-Cataclysm jewelry, and a floor puzzle that required them to — and this cannot be stressed enough — drag a mummified woman off her slab and hold her feet over a footprint indentation. They dropped her once, reset the whole thing, and had to start over. But persevere they did, and when the cube finally exploded into light and Jack claimed Voss’s journal, it felt almost earned. The feeling lasted approximately thirty seconds, because six Blackbriar mercenaries were already closing in. What followed was a gloriously messy clifftop brawl featuring a horse statue sniper, a rolling fireball, an illusory knight, a whispered word that killed a man outright, Titus getting knocked unconscious and dragged back from the brink, and Sir Jangle — bleeding from an arrow through the head — somehow finding the composure to deliver the penultimate blow on the last man standing. The journal is theirs. The party is battered. Eastguard still kind of hates them. Business as usual.
Limerick
At the Snoring Water, cold stares filled the air, The town blamed the party for Brittany’s despair. They’d stolen a tome, Now reaping what’s sown, But a cipher called them back to her lair!
At Bindings and Whispers, she scolded them well, Then spoke of a war and a city to fell. “Find Voss’s lost journal, His magic’s eternal — A cloak for this town under which we can dwell!”
Black-robed and bold, the Blackbriar came marching, A void sphere above him, the darkness arching. The party slipped free, Out north by the sea, To a clifftop retreat, their mission not parching!
They puzzled through anchors and towers and ships, A mummified woman dropped twice from their grips. The cube burst to light, The journal in sight — Old Voss’s great secret now rested in Jack’s fingertips!
Six Blackbriar soldiers came closing the gate, Sir Jangle took arrows — a bloodied debate! With fire and steel, And whispers that kill, The last mercenary met his grim fate!
Memorable Moments
Jack Dagger attempts to dramatically hop the iron gate of the warlock’s retreat, only for it to swing open on its own, sending him tumbling off in an undignified roll.
The party assumed the worst and prepared for a locked gate, only to find it simply wasn’t latched
“Lad, I’ve been looking for trouble all day, and I think you found it.” — Vonmese Tunmiar
Striding up to the biggest mercenary in dreadnought mode after activating his arcane armor, delivering the line before swinging
Sir Jangle’s Dissonant Whispers overwhelm the mercenary scout who shot him in the head, causing the man to collapse and die from sheer psychic trauma.
Sir Jangle had just taken a critical arrow to the head moments before, making the instant kill feel like immediate, satisfying revenge
The party resorts to dragging a mummified corpse across the basement floor to use her feet as a pressure plate, accidentally dropping her and resetting the entire puzzle.
After an elaborate puzzle, the final step required standing a dead woman upright — leading to a chaotic and undignified struggle with dead weight
The arcane cube explodes into a thousand shards of light as the final puzzle item is placed correctly, and Jack Dagger reaches in to claim Arden Voss’s journal.
After a long and chaotic puzzle involving toys, a brass key, torn parchment clues, and a mummified corpse, the reward is finally in hand
Scenes
A Coded Message at the Snoring Water
The party gathers at the Snoring Water tavern where Jack receives a cryptic message from a mysterious messenger.
- The party relaxes at the Snoring Water tavern while dealing with a tarnished reputation in Eastguard, as rumors have spread that Brittany trusts thieves.
- A man approaches Jack and delivers a coded message referencing ‘The Inkbinder’ and a meeting in ‘the garden’ before it rains.
- Jack and the party decode the message, realizing Brittany Marginsong wants to meet them at her library soon.
- The group discusses how to reach the library without drawing further suspicion, eventually deciding to travel individually or in small groups at five-minute intervals.
Meeting at Bindings and Whispers
The party meets with a frustrated Brittany at her shop to discuss a way to redeem their reputation.
- The party arrives at Bindings and Whispers and meets Brittany on a magically cloaked patio that is larger on the inside than it appears from the outside.
- Brittany expresses her deep displeasure regarding the party’s previous theft of a journal, which has ruined her reputation in town.
- Brittany tasks the party with retrieving a magical research journal belonging to the late warlock Arden Voss from an unoccupied stone structure on a cliff to the north.
- She explains the journal contains research on how to cloak an entire city from view, which is vital for Eastguard’s defense against an approaching war.
- The party accepts the mission, framing it as ‘retrieving a relic’ rather than stealing, since Arden Voss is dead and no one owns the journal.
The Mercenaries Arrive
A hostile mercenary company enters Eastguard, using dark magic to intimidate the citizens and demand payment.
- A large company of mercenaries wearing leather armor and a distinctive patch enters the town, causing citizens to flee and shut their doors.
- A man in black robes leads the group and conjures a terrifying black sphere of void magic filled with faint stars above his head, recognized as high-level warlock magic.
- The warlock leader dismisses the sphere and announces to the town that his company has come to provide ‘security,’ demanding a convenience fee from the merchants.
- The party decides to avoid a direct confrontation with the high-level warlock and instead heads to the harbor to pursue the journal mission.
Arrival at the Warlock’s Retreat
The party travels north from Eastguard to a secluded stone structure on a cliffside to retrieve a magical journal.
- The party travels about 30 to 40 minutes north along the coastline to a mesa overlooking the sea, smelling salt in the air.
- They discover a stone-walled building with an iron gate and a yellow brick road leading to the entrance.
- Jack Dagger attempts to hop the iron gate, accidentally triggering it to swing open, causing him to tumble off.
- The party observes a neglected pool with green algae and a horse statue with no inscriptions inside the walls.
- Jack Dagger successfully picks the simple lock on the double wooden doors to the retreat.
- Vonmese enters first and casts a light spell on his mace to illuminate the dark interior.
Searching the Retreat
The party splits up to search the various rooms of the first floor for the researcher’s journal.
- The party divides into teams to investigate the office, storage rooms, bedroom, and main room.
- Brynnan casts Detect Magic and discovers traces of conjuration magic, locating and claiming a low-level spellbook.
- A party member finds a cryptic piece of parchment hidden under a pillow in the bedroom bearing the message: ‘To preserve a thing, remove it from harm.’
- Sir Jangle searches the study but finds only useless aging books, scrolls, and gibberish pinned to the wall.
- Titus explores the storage room, discovering crates containing twelve ink vials and reams of blank parchment, taking some for himself.
- Brynnan and others detect a strong presence of necromancy and enchantment magic emanating from beneath the floor.
- The party discovers a room with stairs leading down into a hidden basement.
- A lizard familiar is sent down the stairs with a light spell cast on it to scout, revealing a desk, a dead body on a slab, a rotating arcane cube above a plinth, and a stack of encased bodies in the corner.
The Warlock’s Basement
The party descends into the basement of the retreat, discovering a macabre laboratory filled with strange artifacts and a well-preserved corpse.
- The party cautiously descends into the basement and discovers a desk, a well-preserved female corpse on a slab, and a series of sarcophagi stacked in the corner.
- Titus and Brynnan investigate the messy desk, finding a cryptic notebook with phrases including ‘anchors drown cities’ and ‘shelter is not stone.’
- The group examines a central magical apparatus featuring a floating arcane cube and a sigil on the floor with four shaped indentations — an oval, a triangle, a trapezoid, and one bearing a footprint image.
- Vonmese investigates the well-preserved female corpse and finds a piece of jewelry styled from pre-cataclysm days on the body.
- The party begins searching the room for objects that might fit the indentations on the floor to unlock the floating cube.
The Warlock’s Puzzle
The party solves a complex mechanical and magical puzzle involving symbolic items to unlock a protected journal.
- A toy ship is found among scrolls and old potion bottles and fits into the trapezoid-shaped indention, causing the cube to pulse briefly.
- A toy tower is found and placed into the triangle indention, causing the rotating arcane cube to dim to half brightness.
- A brass key is discovered hidden beneath a skull on the table and fits perfectly into the oblong oval indention, dimming the cube and its symbols almost completely.
- An attempt to grab the journal results in a painful electrical shock, revealing a protective shield is still active due to a fourth footprint-shaped indention.
- Torn scraps of paper are found around the room with inscriptions — ‘the instinct to fortify,’ ‘the decision to move,’ and ‘protection through relocation’ — which, when assembled, reveal the correct order on the back: an anchor (tower), a door threshold (key), and a ship (shelter/relocation).
- In a macabre turn, the party attempts to move a well-preserved mummified female corpse onto the footprint indention, accidentally dropping her and knocking the key out of place, reactivating the cube.
- After recovering the key and repositioning the corpse’s feet on the footprint, the party places the items in the correct order — tower first, then ship, then key — causing the arcane cube to explode into a thousand shards of light.
- Jack Dagger reaches in and retrieves the magical journal, completing the mission.
Ambush at the Warlock’s Retreat
Upon exiting the warlock’s retreat, the party is confronted by a squad of Blackbriar mercenaries.
- The party exits the building and hears the sound of approaching men in heavy leather boots.
- Sir Jangle Merrigold peeks over the perimeter wall and identifies six mercenaries wearing the Blackbriar logo on their shoulders.
- The party attempts to coordinate a plan, with Jack Dagger holding the journal and others considering how to draw the mercenaries away.
- Sir Jangle stands on a bench and attempts to cast Suggestion on the mercenary leader, but the spell fails to take hold.
- A mercenary scout immediately fires a shortbow at Sir Jangle’s exposed head, landing a critical hit that wounds him and leaves a scar.
- Combat begins as the party rolls for initiative.
Skirmish at the Warlock’s Retreat
The party engages in a fierce battle against the Blackbriar mercenaries outside the stone-walled retreat.
- Jack Dagger climbs atop the twenty-foot horse statue and fires a precisely aimed arrow at the scout who shot Sir Jangle, dealing massive damage.
- Brynnan conjures a Flaming Sphere and rolls it into the mercenary leader, scorching him as he fails to dodge.
- Vonmese activates his arcane armor’s dreadnought mode using his smith’s tools and moves to the front line to intimidate the attackers.
- Titus creates a Phantasmal Force in the shape of a knight that begins dealing psychic damage to the mercenary leader, who believes the illusion is real.
- Sir Jangle uses Dissonant Whispers on the scout who shot him, causing enough psychic trauma to kill the mercenary outright.
- A mercenary enforcer charges and strikes Vonmese with a longsword, knocking him back ten feet.
- Another enforcer moves to engage Bimmi Brewfett, slashing the dwarf with a scimitar.
- Titus is struck down by a powerful mace blow from an enforcer, falling unconscious.
- Sir Jangle uses Healing Word to revive Titus, bringing him back into the fight.
- Vonmese unleashes his Necrotic Shroud, his eyes turning into dark pools of darkness and radiating a terrifying aura that frightens a nearby enforcer.
- Bimmi Brewfett chases down a fleeing, bloodied mercenary and delivers a final killing blow.
- Titus uses Misty Step to teleport toward the gate and bolsters himself with False Life.
- Jack Dagger delivers a series of devastating strikes, critically wounding multiple enemies with his daggers.
- Sir Jangle scales the perimeter wall, inspires himself with Bardic Inspiration, and drives his rapier into the final mercenary sergeant.
- Jack Dagger fires a lethal shot from a steady aim, killing the last mercenary and ending the battle.
NPCs
Brittany Marginsong
The owner of Bindings and Whispers who is deeply offended by the party’s previous theft of a journal, which has damaged her reputation in Eastguard. She tasks the group with retrieving the magical research journal of the deceased warlock Arden Voss, explaining that a war is coming and the journal’s city-cloaking research could save Eastguard.
The Messenger
An unnamed man who approaches Jack at the Snoring Water and delivers a coded message using the cipher system involving ‘The Inkbinder,’ arranging a secret meeting with Brittany.
Arden Voss
A deceased warlock whose former retreat the party explores. He conducted research on protecting an entire city by making it invisible, and left behind a journal containing this research, protected by an elaborate magical puzzle.
Varric Morne
A man in black robes leading the Blackbriar mercenary company into Eastguard. He wields high-level warlock magic, conjuring a terrifying black sphere of void and stars to intimidate the townspeople before demanding a ‘convenience fee’ for protection services.
Blackbriar Mercenaries
A company of soldiers wearing black outfits with a distinctive Blackbriar logo patch on their shoulders. The group includes a scout armed with a shortbow, several enforcers with maces, a veteran with longswords, and a sergeant. They track the party to the warlock’s retreat and engage them in combat.
Locations
The Snoring Water
A local tavern in Eastguard where the party gathers to drink and where Jack receives a secret coded message from a mysterious man.
Eastguard
An idyllic town with clean streets and green grass, currently distrustful of the party due to rumors that Brittany trusts thieves. The town is also being extorted by a mercenary company demanding a convenience fee from merchants.
Bindings and Whispers
Brittany Marginsong’s book shop, featuring a magically cloaked patio that is larger on the inside than it appears from the outside. The party meets here in secret to receive their new mission.
Warlock’s Retreat
An unoccupied stone structure on a mesa cliff near the sea, north of Eastguard. It features a yellow brick road, a neglected pool with algae, a horse statue, and a hidden basement filled with necromantic energy. It was formerly used by the warlock Arden Voss.
Warlock’s Retreat Basement
A dark, magically charged subterranean laboratory containing a central plinth with a rotating arcane cube, a well-preserved human corpse on a slab, a stack of encased bodies, and a messy desk. The site of the puzzle that protected Arden Voss’s journal.
Items
Low-level Spellbook
A book containing basic conjuration spells found in the main room of the retreat. Brynnan detected its magical traces and claimed it.
Cryptic Parchment
A loose sheet of paper found hidden under a pillow in the retreat’s bedroom, bearing the cryptic phrase: ‘To preserve a thing, remove it from harm.’ It hinted at the nature of the puzzle protecting the journal.
Ink Vials
A collection of twelve vials of ink found in a crate within the storage room. Titus took ten of them along with reams of blank parchment.
Mechanical Ball
A small mechanical toy found under a table in the study, pocketed by a party member though it proved to have no significance to the puzzle.
Cryptic Notebook
A notebook found on the messy desk in the basement containing the phrases ‘anchors drown cities’ and ‘shelter is not stone,’ which served as clues for the puzzle.
Pre-Cataclysm Earring
A piece of jewelry found on the well-preserved female corpse in the basement, styled in a fashion from before the Cataclysm. It was examined to see if it fit the puzzle indentions but ultimately did not.
Toy Ship
A small toy found among scrolls and old potion bottles in the basement. It fit into the trapezoid-shaped indention on the puzzle floor and represented ‘transition — the decision to move’ in the puzzle sequence.
Toy Tower
A miniature tower found during the search of the basement. It fit into the triangle-shaped indention and represented ‘stability — the instinct to fortify,’ serving as the first item placed in the correct puzzle sequence.
Brass Key
A metal key found hidden beneath a skull on the basement table. It fit into the oblong oval-shaped indention and represented ‘protection through relocation,’ serving as the final item in the puzzle sequence.
Torn Inscriptions
Scraps of parchment found around the basement laboratory that, when assembled, revealed the phrases ‘the instinct to fortify,’ ‘the decision to move,’ and ‘protection through relocation.’ The back of the assembled sheet depicted an anchor, a door threshold, and a ship, revealing the correct order for the puzzle.
Arden Voss’s Journal
The primary objective of the party’s mission. A magical book protected by a rotating arcane cube and an electrical shield in the basement of the retreat. It contains Arden Voss’s research on how to cloak an entire city from view. Successfully retrieved by Jack Dagger after the puzzle was solved.
Horse Statue
A twenty-foot tall stone statue of a horse located within the retreat’s courtyard. It had no inscription and was used by Jack Dagger as a vantage point for archery during the mercenary ambush.
Arcane Armor
A specialized suit worn by Vonmese Tunmiar that can be activated using smith’s tools into a ‘dreadnought mode,’ expanding his presence and making him more imposing on the battlefield.
Blackbriar Patch
A logo patch worn on the shoulders of all members of the mercenary company, identifying them as part of the Blackbriar group.
Spells
Hunger of Hadar
A high-level warlock spell manifested as a black sphere of void filled with faint stars, conjured by the mercenary warlock leader above his head to intimidate the citizens of Eastguard. The party recognized it as far beyond their ability to counter directly.
Light
Cast by Vonmese on his mace to illuminate the dark interior of the retreat, and later cast on a lizard familiar to scout the basement before the party descended.
Detect Magic
Used by Brynnan to locate magical traces within the retreat, leading to the discovery of a spellbook in the main room. Later used by multiple party members to sense the overwhelming necromancy and enchantment magic radiating from the basement.
Suggestion
Attempted by Sir Jangle Merrigold on the mercenary leader as the group approached the gate, trying to convince him his friends were stealing his money. The target resisted the magical influence, immediately alerting the mercenaries to the party’s presence.
Flaming Sphere
A five-foot ball of fire conjured by Brynnan that was rolled into the mercenary leader, scorching him as he failed to dodge. The sphere remained on the battlefield throughout the fight, blocking movement and burning enemies who ended their turns near it.
Phantasmal Force
Cast by Titus to create an illusory knight near the mercenary leader. The target failed his intelligence save and believed the illusion was real, suffering psychic damage each turn as the phantom appeared to slash at him.
Dissonant Whispers
Used twice by Sir Jangle Merrigold during the battle. The first casting overwhelmed the mercenary scout who had shot Sir Jangle, causing enough psychic trauma to kill him outright. A second casting later in the fight forced another mercenary to flee in terror and take significant psychic damage.
Hellish Rebuke
Cast by Titus as a reaction after being struck by a mercenary enforcer, surrounding his attacker in dark, vengeful flames.
Healing Word
Used by Sir Jangle Merrigold to revive the fallen Titus after he was knocked unconscious by a mace blow, and again later to mend Bimmi Brewfett’s wounds during the battle.
Necrotic Shroud
A terrifying transformation used by Vonmese Tunmiar, causing his eyes to turn into dark pools of darkness and projecting an aura of fear that incapacitated a nearby mercenary enforcer until the end of the next turn.
Misty Step
Used by Titus to instantly teleport himself toward the gate, repositioning safely during the heat of battle after being revived.
False Life
Cast by Titus as a bonus action after repositioning, granting himself ten temporary hit points to bolster his survivability for the remainder of the fight.
Bardic Inspiration
Used by Sir Jangle Merrigold to inspire himself before his final assault on the mercenary sergeant, granting a bonus die that could be added to any d20 roll within the next hour.