Chapter Summaries

Renato attended an open-air Storage Auction in the Governor's Special District to observe his mission target discreetly. When Jans failed to appear, Renato realized he probably would not complete the [Mission] by killing him that day, and the auction began with the notary explaining the rules.

• Renato sat among the bidders, planning to hide his real purpose by posing as an Adventurer interested in the auction.
• Barnaby told Renato that Jans had not appeared and that two sailors from the Pickle Barrel were present, though they probably were not the Saltbone Marquis's men.
• Renato concluded he likely could not kill Jans and complete the [Mission] that day.
• A notary arrived and began explaining the auction rules, including the five-minute inspection period and the ban on magic or damaging items.

Renato scrutinized the auction goods and dismissed the crowd’s hopes of finding valuable treasure, while Barnaby quietly spoke with two crewmen from the Pickle Barrel. The auction’s final, unexpected crate was opened, revealing an object whose identity was not yet described.

• The notary auctioned an Arcane Lock chest, and a merchant in a red coat bought it for fifty-two gold coins.
• Renato judged the chest’s likely contents too limited to justify its price and returned to his seat while Barnaby whispered with two crewmen from the Pickle Barrel.
• Renato inspected the auction’s later goods, rejected a corroded ingot as ordinary mithral, and found no items identified by his Adventurer's Guide.
• Four guards brought in a light crate discovered in a false compartment in a ship’s cargo hold, and a guard pried its lid open.

Renato recognized the twelve mysterious bottles at White Harbor’s auction as Bloody Marilith, a rare magical drink, and bought the entire lot after other bidders avoided it.

• The notary and guards presented twelve unmarked bottles as potentially dangerous alchemical materials or potions, but the crowd showed little interest.
• Renato inspected a bottle and used the Adventurer’s Guide to identify its contents as Bloody Marilith, which could enhance reactions and Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
• The guard captain asked the notary to keep trying to sell the cargo, but the notary refused and ordered the guards to clear the bottles away.
• Renato offered twelve silver coins for all twelve bottles and invited anyone to outbid him.

Renato considered the mysterious Zhentarim gift of magical wine and the possible threat posed by Bane’s Chosen One while Barnaby cultivated the Pickle Barrel crewmen. Selina returned to the inn bloodied, and Renato confronted her for leaving without permission.

• Barnaby drank with two Pickle Barrel crewmen, built their trust, and parted from them before heading toward the Governor’s Mansion.
• Renato drank a bottle of Bloody Marilith and found that it sharpened his senses, then decided to save the remaining bottles rather than risk drinking more.
• Renato considered how a gift from a Zhentarim Dread Lord to Bane’s Chosen One had ended up at the White Harbor auction, and weighed the danger of the missing cargo being traced.
• Renato wondered whether Bane’s Chosen One knew about the gift and how much influence the figure had in the Sea of a Thousand Islands.
• Selina returned to the inn with blood on her hair and a flame-bladed greatsword, and Renato demanded an explanation for breaking their agreement by going out without permission.

Selina told Renato that she had sensed a nearby Sea Elf kin and gone searching, but she got lost in the Dock District and lost track of him. She explained that Sea Elves could sense and communicate with one another through a bloodline ability, then offered to hunt for Renato as an apology for disobeying his orders.

• Selina told Renato she had sensed one of her kin nearby and went after him, but got lost in the Dock District and lost her target.
• Selina explained that humans had tried to hunt her, and she had killed them; she also said her kin seemed to be moving away from her.
• Renato asked whether Selina had used a tracking spell, and Selina explained that Sea Elves had a bloodline ability to sense one another and convey simple messages.
• Renato called Selina's ability telepathy, and Selina agreed that the word fit.
• Selina apologized for disobeying Renato's orders and offered to hunt prey and bring him fresh food.

Renato and Selina searched the Dock District for Selina’s fellow Sea Elves, but their quarry evaded them through hidden alleys. Renato realized Selina’s kin were deliberately avoiding her, and Selina nearly revealed that her mission was a duty before Renato let her keep her secret.

• Selina offered to hunt for Renato as an apology, but he declined and focused on her ability to sense other Sea Elves.
• Renato and Selina searched the Dock District using Selina’s telepathy, which could detect kin within about a hundred and twenty feet.
• Selina sensed her kin nearby, but Renato broke through a dead-end wall and found a hidden passage with footprints.
• Renato concluded that Selina’s kin had noticed her and were deliberately leading them away.
• Selina began to mention the duty she and her kin were born to fulfill, then stopped herself, and Renato did not press her for an explanation.
• Renato told Selina to follow human customs, and she responded with a formal maid’s bow and apology.

Renato and Selina tracked another Sea Elf to an abandoned courtyard, but discovered she had escaped through a narrow hidden passage. Renato turned his attention to a strange circular design on the floor and asked Selina whether it was a magic circle.

• Renato smashed through walls and fences to follow Selina's sense of their quarry.
• Selina led Renato into an abandoned courtyard and then into a decaying house.
• Selina lifted a stone slab, revealing a narrow passage, and identified a smear of blood as belonging to her kin.
• Renato concluded the Sea Elf had escaped through the passage and postponed the quest to find her.
• Renato examined an engraved floor design and asked Selina if it was a magic circle.

Renato learned that Selina was searching for multiple magic circles and suspected they were part of a large ritual, but he withheld his suspicions and chose to investigate further. He and Selina left the ruined house, planning to return with Captain De Leon in a few days to examine the array.

• Selina explained that the magic circle could send messages to her people, then claimed she needed to find more circles before it could reach a distant settlement.
• Selina blurted out that she could not activate the circle alone and said her hidden kin would need to activate the arrays for her.
• Renato suspected the circles might be preparations for a ritual against White Harbor, but decided he lacked enough evidence to confront Selina.
• Renato stopped pursuing Selina's kin for the day and suggested they return to High Tide for a meal and Barnaby's report about the Pickle Barrel.
• Renato told Selina to conceal the tunnel and courtyard entrance, and said he would bring Captain De Leon back in a few days to study the circle.

Renato met Barnaby in the Slums to learn about the Pickle Barrel’s crew. Barnaby reported that the ship had seventy-three crew members and began explaining why he believed many were pirates, but Renato pressed him for the evidence behind his claim.

• Renato told Massimo to have Pye suspend the search for the Sea Elf and watch an abandoned courtyard.
• Renato found Barnaby in a small Slums dwelling and asked about the Pickle Barrel’s identities and crew.
• Barnaby said the ship had seventy-three crew members, including thirty-three newly transferred from the Merchants' Guild, most of them specialists.
• Barnaby argued that the unusual recruitment of specialists instead of ordinary sailors suggested the Pickle Barrel was a pirate ship.
• Renato reminded Barnaby that he already knew the captain was a pirate under the Saltbone Marquis and demanded evidence that the other forty crew members were pirates.
• Barnaby began explaining that the newly recruited crew members had been forbidden to board the ship and were staying in White Harbor.

Renato learned from Barnaby that the Pickle Barrel’s old crew were kept aboard while its new crew waited in White Harbor, and he suspected the ship was tied to Myrkul’s underground followers. He ended the chapter wondering whether the old crewmen were still alive.

• Barnaby befriended two Pickle Barrel crewmen over drinks and heard their complaints about the ship and its owners.
• Barnaby told Renato that the Pickle Barrel’s captain had not appeared, its old crew could not leave, and its newly hired crew could not board.
• Barnaby reasoned that the old crew were likely pirate sailors working for the Saltbone Marquis, and Renato connected their strange appearance to Myrkul’s followers.
• Renato recalled that Myrkul’s sect had returned from hiding and was associated with deranged experiments involving the undead.
• Renato considered why the Pickle Barrel’s old crew would willingly remain aboard instead of going ashore and suspected they might already be dead.

Renato, Captain De Leon, Andreia, and Lectus inspected the abandoned courtyard where the strange Sea Elf array had been found. After Andreia challenged Lectus for letting Ironhook Gang members go, he explained why he judged White Harbor’s poor in light of the circumstances forcing them into crime.

• Renato and Captain De Leon returned to the courtyard, where De Leon continued trying to recruit Renato for his Fountain of Youth expedition.
• Andreia arrived, spotted the three Ironhook Gang thugs, and reached for her dagger before Renato explained they were hired guards.
• The thugs fled when they saw Lectus, whose reputation as a Paladin of Tyr frightened them.
• Andreia challenged Lectus for not bringing the criminals to justice, and Lectus acknowledged that their actions were still violence.
• Lectus explained that poverty, unjust laws, and oppression pushed many White Harbor residents into crime, and warned Andreia against demanding that everyone meet her own standards of courage.

Renato and his companions examined an intact but inactive ritual array, and De Leon suspected it might be linked to the deep sea. Lectus explained the sea elves’ collapse during the Age of Three Kings and revealed that Severino, the Storm Lord, had ruled Marispan for over three hundred years.

• De Leon examined the array and concluded it was part of a maintained, inactive ritual that might have something to do with the deep sea.
• Renato asked whether sea elves had created the magic, and De Leon doubted that the scattered sea elves could perform such complex ritual magic.
• Lectus explained that the sea elves’ leader, Taliel, died alongside Danakos at the Battle of the Three Kings, after which their kingdom collapsed and its people were driven from the shallows.
• Renato asked whether all three pirate kings had died and whether that had led to Marispan’s founding, prompting Lectus to explain that Severino, the Storm Lord, had won the struggle.
• Lectus revealed that Severino had ruled the Sea of a Thousand Islands for more than three hundred years, and Renato realized he shared his name with Marispan’s current king.

After the investigation of the unknown magic circle was put on hold, Renato focused on his life aboard the High Tide and considered leaving White Harbor for Marispan Main Island. He examined the holy sword oil Lectus had given him and paid the Paladin ten gold coins to avoid owing him a favor.

• Captain De Leon left the abandoned courtyard to coordinate repairs, and Andreia returned to the Hispaniola to rest.
• Lectus warned Renato and the others not to tamper with the magic circle because damaging it could trigger a ritual.
• Renato ate lunch aboard the High Tide and watched Selina practice eating lobster bisque before she curled up on the sofa.
• Renato decided to postpone investigating the magic circle and planned to visit Marispan Main Island after completing his quests in White Harbor.
• Renato examined the holy sword oil Lectus had given him, which could add radiant damage against undead and fiends, and paid Lectus ten gold coins for it.

Renato continued tracking the unknown Sea Elf and found that the repeated magic circles were likely deliberate messages, though he could not decipher them. After drinking his sixth bottle of enchanted liquor and watching Selina buy and devour a grilled fish, he prepared to resume their work in the Dock District.

• Renato and Selina found four more identical magic circles while pursuing the unknown Sea Elf, confirming that their quarry was leading them to the patterns.
• Renato concluded that the circles were probably the Sea Elf's message, but De Leon had told him they were not human-made and likely concerned the deep sea.
• Renato drank his sixth bottle of enchanted liquor and gained a permanent additional reaction per round, making his surroundings seem slower and clearer.
• Selina bought a grilled fish with copper coins and swallowed it whole while Renato watched from a nearby slope.
• Renato called Selina up to him after she finished eating and told her it was time to get to work.

Renato accepted a quest to kill Santos, a Bhaal pirate targeting him after Renato killed Ferreira, and decided to attack before the pirates could strike first. He reached the Old Fish Market with Selina and prepared to infiltrate the pirates’ warehouse at night.

• An Ironhook Gang thug summoned Renato to the Drowned Man tavern, where Pye told him that Bhaal’s followers had attacked a Dock District shop and were seeking revenge for Ferreira’s death.
• Renato accepted a quest to kill Santos, first mate of the Blood Drowning, for 200 gold coins and 2,500 experience points.
• Renato refused Pye’s offer to gather gang members for a morning assault and chose to strike the pirates that night with Selina.
• Renato and Selina reached the abandoned warehouses at the Old Fish Market, where the smell of stale blood revealed the pirates’ presence.
• Renato donned his Gish Cloak and signaled Selina to guard the rear door as he prepared to enter.

Santos completed a Bhaal ritual that greatly strengthened his regenerative power, then clashed with a Myrkul necromancer over their plans in White Harbor. The necromancer agreed to curse Black Blade Renato before the Pickle Barrel departed, but a black-armored warrior suddenly appeared in the warehouse.

• Santos absorbed the ritual blood and discovered that his wounds were healing rapidly and his severed finger was beginning to regrow.
• Santos demanded to know when the Saltbone Marquis's men would arrive, and a necromancer emerged through a magic circle and raised skeleton guards from the corpses.
• The necromancer warned that the Mage Tower could destroy the pirates' ships and said the Pickle Barrel would need to wait a month for legal passage through Gallows Bridge.
• Santos rejected the delay and demanded magical help killing Black Blade Renato, who had killed Ferreira.
• The necromancer first refused to risk trouble before the ship left, then agreed to investigate Renato and curse him before the departure.
• A black-armored warrior wreathed in smoke appeared with a rune-marked greatsword and struck through the warehouse's silence.

Renato infiltrated the Old Fish Market warehouse, where Bhaal’s pirates had gathered, and learned that their leader Santos was meeting a necromancer from the Pickle Barrel. After silently killing two sentries, Renato climbed onto the warehouse roof to enter unseen and launch a surprise attack.

• Renato used the wind and his enchanted armor to approach a shack beside the warehouse without alerting its occupants.
• Renato overheard two followers of Bhaal discuss Old Whale Santos negotiating with a necromancer from the Pickle Barrel and decided to pursue both men.
• Renato drank potions and coated the Silent Lady with Holy Sword Oil, drawing the sentries’ attention.
• Renato killed the first pirate with the Touch of Dakoul, then impaled the second through the chest when he investigated the shack entrance.
• Renato signaled Selina to wait by the rear door, then climbed onto the warehouse roof to seek an unseen way inside.

Renato ambushed the Bhaal-worshipping pirates and the Myrkul necromancer in the warehouse, killing Old Whale Santos but failing to finish the spellcaster. He left Selina to deal with the remaining pirates and pursued the wounded necromancer.

• Renato watched Santos and the Bhaal-worshipping pirates perform a bloody ritual, then learned they had asked a Myrkul necromancer to curse him.
• Renato cast Dakoul's Blessing and ambushed the necromancer, destroying skeletal guards and disrupting his spell, but the resulting blast hurled the mage out of the warehouse.
• Santos attacked Renato from behind, but Renato turned with a Whirling Slash, cut him in half, and beheaded him.
• Selina entered through the rear door and held off the pirates as Renato ordered her to finish them quickly.
• Renato used Misty Step to return to the roof and pursue the wounded necromancer.

Renato discovered that the wounded necromancer had survived and teleported away, but Selina tracked his blood scent through the Dock District. Renato followed her to pursue the necromancer before he could recover.

• Renato examined the shattered crates and blood trail, realizing the necromancer had escaped using a spell despite his severe wounds.
• Selina emerged from the warehouse unharmed, sniffed the blood, and confirmed that the wounded necromancer was still fleeing.
• Renato considered alerting Barnaby, Governor De Sousa, and Pye, but decided an immediate pursuit offered the best chance to catch the necromancer.
• Selina followed the scent toward nearby buildings, and Renato warned her to watch for ranged attacks and traps as he ran after her.

Renato and Selina tracked the wounded Myrkul Worshipper through the Dock District, but Renato decided to stop following his trail and attack his hideout instead. They headed for the docks to hunt the enemy aboard the Pickle Barrel.

• Selina followed the Myrkul Worshipper’s fading blood scent through the alleys while Renato guarded against ambushes.
• Renato concluded that the mage was using spells to heal himself and teleport through the Dock District.
• Renato suspected the wounded mage was heading toward the docks and ordered Selina to stop pursuing him.
• Renato explained that they would go directly to the enemy’s lair and attack the Pickle Barrel.