Roster
Present
Impact of the Black Briars
Date: Apr 22, 2026 — Session 5
Summary
The night began quietly enough inside Brittany Marginsong’s home — until it didn’t. Jack Dagger had been pressing Brittany for the truth behind the sorrow she carried, and she answered with more than he expected. She told him she predated the Cataclysm. She identified the preserved body the party had recovered as Penlai, a priestess of Mishakal and one of the very few people she had ever fully trusted. Before she could say more, the town’s alarm bell cut through the night.
The Black Briar Company was coming from the south.
The party watched from the street as raiders poured through the South Gate — led by Varric Morn in black robes, a scarred commander at his side, and a hammer-wielding enforcer carving a path through the crowd. Squads fanned out across the Market and down Scholarly Way. The message was simple: one hundred gold per merchant per week, or suffer the consequences. Jack Dagger found a Black Briar uniform in Brittany’s back room and slipped it on, but an allied crossbow bolt found him anyway before the misunderstanding could be sorted.
The confrontation reached its ugliest point when a squad descended on Cody Carpenter’s shop, beat him in the street, and dragged his wife and child toward the gate. A party member paid the hundred gold. The family was released. Varric extended his deadline to one week and marched his company out — noticeably thinner than when they’d arrived. Sixteen of his fighters never made it back to the gate. The party tracked that absence to Aemon Cobb’s shop, where they found Aemon behind his counter, entirely calm, with sixteen bodies on his bed.
In the aftermath, Jack Dagger returned to Brittany Marginsong and pressed harder. She told him about the ward — Eastguard’s incomplete magical protection — and a rumored item in an underwater temple that might be the key to finishing it. She pointed him toward Dera Nightfall for anything they’d need to breathe underwater. That night, Jack spent hours in the library, piecing together the location of the sunken city from old charts and older stories. He surfaced with a rough map and a name: the oracle of Itzan Klertal.
The party pooled gold for a reduced order of water-breathing potions from Dera and set sail. A storm forced them to shelter at the abandoned warlock retreat north of town. Once the weather broke, they returned to the boat — only to realize their map wasn’t precise enough. They turned back toward Eastguard to find better charts.
Short
The Black Briar Company raided Eastguard, extorting merchants at a hundred gold a week and putting Cody Carpenter’s family in the street. The party paid the ransom, watched the raiders leave sixteen men lighter than they arrived, and found Aemon Cobb behind his counter with sixteen bodies on his bed and no particular explanation. Brittany Marginsong revealed Eastguard’s incomplete ward and pointed the party toward an underwater temple rumored to hold the key to finishing it. After a rough start — a storm, a wrong map, and a hasty retreat — the party turned back to Eastguard for better charts.
Classic
Last we left off, the night had barely begun when the alarm bells started ringing. The Black Briar Company hit Eastguard hard — squads through the gates, demands from Varric Morn, and a family dragged into the street before the party could think. What followed was the kind of session where nothing goes quite right and somehow the party still ends up ahead: Jack Dagger got shot by his own side in a stolen uniform, someone paid a hundred gold to keep a carpenter’s wife alive, and Aemon Cobb quietly dispatched sixteen armed soldiers without spilling a drop of his own blood.
Now the party sails toward a sunken city with a rough map, water-breathing potions, and the weight of a promise to finish what Brittany Marginsong started. The retreat was temporary. The destination is still out there, somewhere beneath the New Sea.
Snarky
The Black Briar Company showed up, did their whole intimidation routine, collected their extortion money, and left — minus sixteen soldiers who made the mistake of walking into Aemon Cobb’s shop. Aemon said nothing useful about it. The party said nothing either. This is how Eastguard handles problems apparently.
Jack Dagger stole a uniform, got shot by a friend, paid a ransom for a carpenter’s family, then went to the library for several hours and decided the party should go find a magic quill at the bottom of the sea. Bold pivot. The water-breathing potions cost a fortune, the map was wrong, and a storm sent them back to square one. Classic.
Limerick
The Briars came marching through the South Gate, Demanding their coin at a murderous rate. Jack wore their kit, Got shot for it, And Aemon left sixteen men meeting their fate!
Then Brittany whispered of wards incomplete, A sunken city, a temple beneath. Jack charted the deep, The map was too cheap, And the storm sent them back — what a feat!
Memorable Moments
The party discovers that Aemon dispatched sixteen Black Briar soldiers alone, inside his shop, without a scratch.
After the raiders withdrew, a squad was unaccounted for. The party opened Aemon’s door to find him standing behind his counter as though nothing had happened.
“Sixteen bodies on my bed.” — Aemon Cobb
Delivered with complete calm.
Brittany reveals she predates the Cataclysm and identifies the preserved body as Penlai, a priestess she once trusted completely.
A moment of rare vulnerability from a woman who has carefully hidden the depth of what she knows and how long she has known it.
Jack’s disguise backfires when a hidden ally shoots him with a crossbow, mistaking the Black Briar uniform for the real thing.
The hazards of improvised espionage.
Scenes
The Alarm Bell Rings
Brittany’s revelation is cut short by the Black Briars’ arrival.
- Jack Dagger learns Brittany predates the Cataclysm.
- She identifies the preserved body as Penlai, a trusted priestess of Mishakal.
- The town alarm bell rings before she can elaborate.
- The party rushes to Main Street.
The Raid
The Black Briars sweep through Eastguard demanding tribute.
- Varric Morn leads his company through the South Gate.
- Squads split toward the Market, Carpenter’s shop, and Scholarly Way.
- Demand: one hundred gold per merchant per week.
- Jack Dagger dons a Black Briar uniform from Brittany’s back room.
- An ally shoots Jack by mistake before the error is caught.
The Carpenter’s Family
The raid reaches its cruellest moment on Main Street.
- A Black Briar squad beats Cody Carpenter and seizes his wife and child.
- A party member pays one hundred gold.
- The family is released.
- Varric extends the payment deadline to one week and withdraws.
Sixteen Missing
The party investigates the gap in the Black Briars’ headcount.
- The raiders leave noticeably short-handed.
- The party traces the missing squad to Aemon Cobb’s shop.
- Aemon is behind his counter, uninjured, sixteen bodies on his bed.
- He offers no explanation.
Brittany’s Briefing
Jack returns to Brittany and learns what the party is really after.
- Brittany explains the ward around Eastguard is incomplete.
- She names a rumored item in an underwater temple as the key.
- She directs Jack to Dera Nightfall for water-breathing supplies.
- Jack spends the evening in the library, researching sunken ruins.
- He maps the approximate location and learns the name Itzan Klertal.
Sailing and Setback
The party equips and departs, only to be turned back.
- The party purchases a reduced order of water-breathing potions from Dera.
- They set sail north along the coast.
- A storm forces them to shelter at the abandoned warlock retreat.
- When the weather clears, they return to the boat.
- Their map proves too imprecise. They turn back to Eastguard for better charts.
NPCs
Varric Morn
Commander of the Black Briar Company, black-robed and unhurried. He framed extortion as protection and held eye contact a beat too long. He left one week’s grace on his deadline and walked out of town without realising his headcount was short.
Aemon Cobb
Ran the shop. Said nothing. Sixteen bodies.
Brittany Marginsong
Revealed that she predates the Cataclysm and that the preserved body is her old friend Penlai. Shared the first real detail about the ward: it needs something from the deep.
Cody Carpenter
Beaten in the street. His wife and child returned after ransom was paid. He noted that a hundred gold a week would bankrupt him.
Dera Nightfall
Supplied water-breathing potions at a steep price, reduced after negotiation.
Locations
Eastguard
The raid unfolded across the whole of Main Street, the Market, and Scholarly Way. The town paid. The town survived.
Aemon’s Curiosities and Pawn
Sixteen Black Briar soldiers entered. None left.
Eastguard Public Library
Where Jack Dagger spent the evening tracing the location of a sunken city from old records and older rumors.
Abandoned Warlock House
Storm shelter north of town on a sea cliff. The party discussed claiming it as a base.
Items
Water-Breathing Potions
One hour of underwater breathing each. Purchased from Dera Nightfall at one hundred fifty gold per potion.
Black Briar Uniform
Pulled from Brittany’s back room and worn by Jack Dagger as a disguise. It worked on the raiders. It did not work on the party.