S4E3 (Pirates of Salt Bay episode)

"S4E3" is the third episode of the fourth and final season of Pirates of Salt Bay. This episode aired live on September 8, 2020 on the Saving Throw Twitch channel, and is archived on the YouTube channel. Of note, this episode was streamed remotely due to precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary
The Baes arrive at the island of Freyr to do a job for Trislynn - investigating some goliaths who kicked Bael out of his home. They realise the situation is more complicated than anticipated when they discover a screaming man who doesn't bleed when stabbed.

Full Synopsis
Trislynn, Hank and Eoj disembark at the island of Freyr, accompanied by Tomi Gallows and Bael and Raya Kiori.

At the docks, Raya draws the attention of Brae, and when she explains that they plan to solve the goliath problem, Brae invites herself along.

The group is going into town to investigate the situation when they notice a man staring at them unblinking from inside his house. As they get closer he begins to scream and beat his head against the window and a fight ensues.

The man doesn't bleed from the wounds they inflict, and when they kill him the body quickly decomposes or dehydrates as if it were preserved in extreme cold.

Hank recalls tales from his childhood of entire towns struck by extreme cold sickness when there were dark wizards present.

Eoj recognises a toothpick sized shard of mineral stuck through the man's hand as chardalan, a component that is perfect for making magical tools that isn't quite a crystal, metal or rock. Chardalan is formed when extremely powerful necromantic energy is unstable and explodes, forming shards and spires. As far as Eoj knows, the only recorded location of chardalan is in Icewind Dale.

Travelling to Mercy Bard College for more information at the recommendation of Brae and Raya, they discover Dean Bowden Brightmast impaled by a stake-sized portion of the chardalan and find that he isn't dead but frozen in time, in the moment it happened. Brae manages to communicate with him and learns that he was attacked by Goliaths speaking Vidalkin, and that the current disaster was somehow brought about by secrets in the past of Clan Alcorin who used to rule the island - and who were the Dwarven clan that took over from Hank's family when they were all presumed dead.

The Dean tells Brae she will need to go down into the catacombs to find the goliaths, and so the group venture down. They find a huge group of children, orphans who live in the Bard college who the dean sent down to hide when the goliaths arrived. Brae uses a spell to send the entire group of kids to safety, and the Baes continue hunting the goliaths.

They find them in the ossuary of Clan Alcorin, digging through remains and finding what they were seeking, and so the group attacks, taking the goliaths by surprise. They almost manage to kill them all, but the leader wearing blue robes disappears, promising he will be back to deal with them another time.

He leaves behind a gold coin which doesn't bear the image of Lord Neverember as it should, but of the seventh Blackstaff Lady Vajra Safahr - looking older than she presently does. It is a coin from the future.

Locations

 * The Island of Freyr

Main Cast

 * Aabria Iyengar as the GM
 * Eoj Reymurts, played by Teri Gamble
 * Trislynn Orana, played by NegaOryx
 * Dirty Hank, played by Eric Reichert

Absent

 * Havana Mahoney, who plays Addi Balmyar, was absent for this episode

Guest Cast

 * Tomi Gallows, a Human Rogue pirate played by Dustin Fletcher
 * Brae Gol'bck, a Triton Bard played by Mika Midgett

New

 * Dean Bowden Brightmast - A dark skinned human man in his early 60s, slightly chunky with a beard, curly mop of hair and nice robes.

Recurring

 * Raya Kiori - Wife of Bael Kiori, an old friend of Trislynn's. She is part of the ruling family of the island of Freyr, currently in exile of sorts. (she/her) Introduced S4E2
 * Bael Kiori - An old friend of Trislynns, he was the former lover of Trislynn's sister Malina, is currently a pirate while he and his wife Raya are in exile from the island of Freyr that their family rules. Introduced S4E0