Mordecai Slipsnare is being held at Floivin Penitentiary for a misdemeanor, after being fired as a line cook from the Seven Flood Inn for jokingly food poisoning some of the patrons, one of which was the wife of Lt. Emmeridge of the Eidolorn Guard. Though more of a prank than a serious crime, his act was nonetheless looked down up, and he is being held alongside a savage but handsome gnome who was busted for defecating in a public fountain. The Guard decide to turn Mordecai over to the Church of Eleste for community service, and Pockny Hosspotch is dispatched to oversee him. Mordecai is thus sprung from his cell, and meets the rest of the PCs. Apparently Lt. Banghorn recommended Hosspotch as he though they might require some assistance. Imperion of the Chaste Cloak is not among the PCs, as he has returned to scout out Halehusk for signs of Shalabarr Klasp.
A courier named Bispin sends word that the PCs are wanted in the Westermarch Concourse, where they are surprised by a very well disguised Lt. Banghorn, dressed as a flower girl...err, flower hag. Pockny claims not to be fooled, but he failed his check just like the rest. Banghorn informs the PCs that he's heard word of an informant at the Twin Lizard Tap, one Dereleck who may have a lead on the activities of The Score. Mordecai proceeds to sup on one of Banghorn's cabbage breasts, and the PCs head to the East of the Keep to the Tap. There they meet the curious Dereleck, who speaks of a criminal named Cheeky, who lives in or near the village of Hobfast, and may have some dealings with The Score. The party departs swiftly with Tundra Wolf in tow.
After a few hours of travel, the PCs arrive in Hobfast. At Swampers' Swap, the local indoor market, Pockny, though disguised in common clothes, is quickly picked out by a 'cousin' Belgin Hosspotch, who insults Pockny and warns him against going to visit Grandmother, who he claims will not except the pariah priest of Eleste in her presence. The PCs manage to squeeze out some information that a lead might be handy at the local inn, The Crimson Harpy. The PCs meet Vaygus Slimm, a local fisherman of repute. Within the Crimson Harpy, Mudghol meets the barkeep Garlo, a fellow half-orc in the employ of the Hosspotch. Navan becomes 'acquainted' with a Braulish foreigner named Drado, who offers sexual deeds to the woman. After more castigation at the tongues of local halfings, Pockny storms off to speak to Grandmother, though he has been forbidden by his cousin!
The PCs chase after the cleric, in particular Tundra Wolf. They convince him that they need to seek information elsewhere, and that he might be harmed by his extended family if he tries to speak with Grandmother. Convinced, Pockny gives them an hour to inquire about village before he demands they leave. They encounter a dwarf frog vendor named Rutteneker Roy, who Mudghol is quick to offend. They meet up with Captain Reckon, the alcoholic constable of Hobfast. He takes a liking to Mordecai, and trades his flask to the elf for some vintage cigars. Reckon tells them to ask around, but he's got a 50gp price on Cheeky's head if they can bring him in alive. The PCs visit the Shrine of Crake, and meet one Frynne Hosspotch, who tells them where Cheeky, a fellow Crake worshiper, hides out in the Tooth Marsh...for a donation.
The PCs journey for several hours until several of them discover the low, hilly region of the Marsh where Cheeky's hideout is supposed to lie. The entrance, a hedge of thick thorns, is marked by two orange-stained cloths. While figuring a strategy, Pockny simply cuts a small door through the hedge with his sword, and the party enters. They are surprised by a trio of goblins who they quickly dispatch with sleep spells and a knockout attack, but it's too late...the main body of Cheeky's gang, hiding deeper in the caves, is alerted to their presence. A large scale battle erupts against a hobgoblin, a pair of guard dogs, an ogre, and four more goblins. The PCs are unable to rout the enemy, and in the ensuing melee, Pockny and Navan are slain, while Mordecai and Tundra Wolf are knocked unconscious. The ogre, a dog and two goblins are also slain, and the hobgoblin, 'Ironballs' is sent fleeing by magic through the caves, but Mudghol is left standing to fight a TERRIBLE MELEE against a goblin and guard dog! He survives victorious after many exchanged, failed blows, thanks to his Toughness feats (in your face, Scott) and manages to drag Mordecai out of the caves and stash him in a copse of trees.
Ironballs and the two surviving goblins launch a pursuit after Mudghol after stripping their fallen comrades of their loot, and the unconscious Tundra Wolf of his weapons. Ironballs plans to interrogate Tundra Wolf after he tracks the half-orc through the Marsh. Mudghol gives them the slip, as the goblins are inadequate trackers, and manages to circle back and drag Tundra Wolf out from the cavern. He leaves the dwarf's unconscious body with Mordecai, and sneaks back to Hobfast to inform Captain Reckon he knows where Cheeky can be found! Reckon and four of his Eidolorn Guard accompany Mudghol back, and the guards are given the task of returning Tundra Wolf and Mordecai to the barracks where they can rest. Reckon and Mudghol re-enter Cheeky's Hollow, to search out the place. They discover that 'Cheeky', who they had not seen, and the surviving goblins have since stripped the place of wealth and fled after being compromised.
However, they could not carry everything with them. After triggering a rubble trap and stepping right through it, Reckon discovers a cache of counterfeit copper, painted with gold, and some cheap, fake furs! The discovery of two false wall, camouflaged curtains reveals an empty treasury which may have held something of actual value before Cheeky and his surviving gang members fled. In another corridor, Mudghol discovers a planning and counterfeiting chamber, with buckets of golden paint, maps of local territories, and a basket of scrolls. One of the scrolls contains a role of names, each notated with an initial, which Mudghol suspects may be linked to The Score, since one of those names belongs to: Klasp. The only item of value left behind was a jeweled ivory rolling pin which the ogre stashed in the main cavern.
Mudghol and Reckon return to Hobfast, to tend the fallen men and make further plans.
PCs: Mordecai, Mudghol, Navan, Pockny
NPCs
Belgin Hosspotch (halfling male): A 'cousin' of Pockny Hosspotch, Belgin considers himself rather a 'prince' among his kind. He wears fancy breeches, jerkin, cloak and boots, slicks his hair back and carries an ivory and silver walking staff. Belgin is rather rude to his 'cousin' but helps to steer the PCs away from Swampers' Swap, and out of his hair.
Bispin (human male): A young, fiery haired courier boy of Flovin Keep, sometimes used by Lt. Banghorn to deliver messages. Pockny tips the boy well, but will never see him again.
Captain Reckon (dwarf male): Burly dwarf constable and leader of the Eidolorn Guard at Hobfast. He's burly, with a military cut gray hairstyle and thickly cropped, square jawline beard. He's red-faced and quick to anger, and wields a dwarven two-handed axe and several short blades at his belt. He's also a reputed alcoholic with a taste for the finer things in life, which Mordecai shares with him. Reckon does not take well to Mudghol, and hints that he may have a racial problem with orcs and their half-spawn in general. Nonetheless, when beseeched for aid, he comes to the assistance of Mudghol.
Chef Bowler (ogre male): An ogre with cooking skills that catered to the counterfeiter and criminal Cheeky and his gang. Bowler was pretty mean with his bludgeoning, rolling pin, and was partially responsible for the killing of Pockny Hosspotch and Navan Blacksister at the Battle of Cheeky's Hollow. However, he himself was felled in the melee.
Derelech (human male): He's an informant that operates out of the Twin Lizard Tap outside the East gate of Floivin Keep. Cloaked, dirty, dark-haired, and wearing an eyepatch over his right eye. His left eye is red and green, as if he bears some affliction. He speaks in a snakelike voice and brooks no trouble from bullying half-orc wizards.
Drado (human male): Encountered at the Crimson Harpy. A large human with the accent of Braul, he carries a massive greatsword wrapped in fine furs that sparkle in torchlight. He also wears a half-corrded Chain Mail shirt with the crest of a blood-red falcon upon it. Drado doesn't appreciate anyone in his business, and rebukes Navan's questions, though she is kind to offer him another round of his drinks. He offers her sex in return, but answers no other questions.
Frynne Hosspotch (halfling female): A stunningly attractive but child-like cleric of Crake, she tends the shrine in Hobfast. Despite her youthful face, she has streaks of white in her curled brown hair and bears a simple peasants' cloak. She knows a lot about the people who visit the shrine, including the location of Cheeky in Tooth Marsh. Pockny found it strange that he had never heard of or seen this woman before, despite their shared family.
Garlo (half-orc male): He's the barkeep at The Crimson Harpy in Hobfast, and a loyal servant of the Hosspotch family. He wears his hair in a mohawk and bears an eyepatch. As a former slave at Sothos Karr, his left eye was branded by a slaver's hot poker. Garlo takes to Mudghol readily, but is not fond of Pockny, who is a pariah to his employers.
Ironballs (hobgoblin male): Nicknamed for his preference in fighting with a flail, Ironballs is the chief of the mercenaries under the criminal Cheeky's employ. A cause fear spell sent Ironballs fleeing through the caverns during the Battle of Cheeky's Hollow, and thus he was not slain when Mudghol escaped with his friends' bodies. Ironballs is still at large with several of his goblin soldiers.
Rutteneker Roy (dwarf male): A sad old dwarf who sells frogs on the streets of Hobfast, his beard is so filthy and long it hangs to the ground and tracks mud. He sells a variety of frogs and toads, including the Common lakeside specimen found about Udders Well, and the Pearl-Toothed Leopard Toad, native to the Tooth Marsh. Mudghol discovers through his misuse of an unseen servant spell to drop a toad on the old dwarf's head just how quick Roy may be to anger, when the old dwarf converts his bucket prop to a quarterstaff and chases the wizard off.
Smecksley (human male): A gaunt, nervous human guard, probably no older than a teenager, who is assigned to follow the PCs about Hobfast to keep them out of trouble, by Captain Reckon. Smecksley quickly disappears into the background and does not accompany the PCs out of Hobfast when they head for Cheeky's Hollow.
Vaygus Slimm (human male): An arrogant but attractive young man in his 20s, with wispy blonde hair. He carries a very expensive fishing pole with a Golden Lure attached, and claims to be the Champion of the Angler's Guild at Hobfast. He claims to know the best fishing spots in all of Floivin Province, and from him the PCs learn of the mythical giant hornpout Old Blindeye that purportedly lives in the depths of Udders Well, though Slimm has not seen or caught it.
And here is the map of Cheeky's hideout in the Tooth Marsh.
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