Dead Sea Almanac - April 20, 2019
This Week's Biggest Story
This week's biggest story is undoubtedly the springing of a large number of slaves from the mines to the north of Westport by the outlaws known as the Jolly Good Fellows. Assisted by the players if you ran that adventure, and by their new ally Captain Clarke (who will return), the Fellows freed some fifty-something slaves and managed to get the villainous Robert Marston imprisoned for his crimes, despite his obvious collusion with the empire. If you missed the adventure when it dropped last Sunday, you can still grab it from our site at any point, free of charge.
Soulsword Renegades
If you missed this week's Soulsword Renegades, here's a quick recap. Rather than jump into combat or solve daring puzzles, our heroes spent the week being invited into the Church of Everliving Flame, a peaceful group of worshippers whose ranks include the mellowed-out Chaos. There, we got to see Rhymer discover a newfound love of the 300-piece organ and Emma embrace her softer side, finally starting to relax in a new party of heroes. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, but sometimes as a hero you don't appreciate that until you see the people it affects.
The Abduction of an Archaeologist
If you've been following the developing story in Anak, you'll know that this week an archaeologist went missing and is suspected to have been abducted by outlaws. Keep an eye on this story as it develops - it will be important to the adventure of All the King's Men, slated to release in one of our upcoming supplements. For now, suffice it to say that Seya's tomb, the mysteries within, and the riches they eventually lead to are topics in which your players are apt to take an interest.
The Continuing Crisis in Atlantis
The crisis in Atlantis, meanwhile, continues to develop, and is coming to a head. Leading in to our supplement tomorrow, The Atlantis Syndrome, the city has been declared a Class One Quarantine Zone by order of the Atlantean Crown. We met the queen in person a little bit more closely on Monday, and tomorrow we'll get to see some favorite characters return - both Captain Clarke and Dr. Angela Straiting will make important appearances.
The Shadow and the Reaper
We introduced a character this week known as Shadow, and continued tracking with her quarry, the man known alternately as Marcus Linacre and The Reaper. A serial killer by trade, he's wanted by the Queen of the Drow for the death of one of her Assassins, and the Assassin pursuing him takes it personally. Your players might have already helped Shadow out, but if they didn't, you can find a quick aside for doing so in this week's Distractions and Diversions sidebar.
Tales of Dragons
In case you missed it, Tuesday also featured tales of Dragons, and there's plenty more lore where those tales came from. If you want to know more about dragons, hit up Wolf or one of our other writers any time that they're off-stream. Rumor has it Wolf even has entire segments he can send you based in some of this lore, so be sure to let us know.
Mayor Edsford Wins the Election
The honorable Mayor Edsford, our first ever Friday Hero, is glad to have won the election and delivered his people from the hands of the villainous Robert Marston, and he couldn't have done it without your help. If you were part of that little adventure, and you enjoyed it, don't worry - the Fellows and their various affiliates will be making a reappearance soon, both in the Almanac and in future adventures we have coming up.
Cupid's Liquor
No, it's not Valentine's Day, but it sure is spring. If your players missed the remarkable beverage known as Cupid's Liquor from this week's Thursday Brew, be sure to head on over and check it out - it's good for a round of laughs at any table.
The Introduction of Ellen Wraithsform
This elusive character has the ability to walk through walls, and you can sure as hell bet she'll be coming back in future issues. Keep an eye out for our very own intrusive security expert, and the havoc which inevitably results. She's sure to upset more than a handful of important individuals with secrets they need kept, so watch for events to boil over in the near future.
Lathan's Return
Lathan the fey has been at it again this week, and it's almost certainly his fault that the fire elemental is now big and rampagey. You can send your players to deal with if if you want. It's either a regular Fire Elemental from the basic rules or a Fire Elemental Myrmidon from Princes of the Apocalypse, depending on what level of challenge your players are ready to handle.
Wolf's Corner
Lathan is pretty good at getting himself into trouble - or at least causing it for the residents of nearby towns - and Malfavhar has been trying to get him to "un-reside" in his tower for the better part of a century. He'll be back almost every week going forward, as an ongoing minor distraction for your players that keeps with continuity.
Distractions and Diversions: Shadow's Tale
Finding Shadow
Shadow is locked in the town gaol and requires someone of good character to vouch for her and pay her bail - fifty gold pieces. If the player characters participated in the activities of the Jolly Good Fellows in the past week, they're automatically considered to be of good character, and can have her for twenty-five GP if they promise to keep her out of trouble.
Finding the Reaper
The Reaper is holed up in a warehouse guarded by Skelt's Crew; Shadow can track him to the location for the heroes if they trust her enough to follow.
Skelt's Crew
Skelt's Crew are mostly thugs and brigands from the dock and fishery quarters, though some spill over from the tannery district as well. They're rough, working men, but they have no real training in how to fight. There's eight of them at the warehouse, including a slightly tougher lieutenant, but the heroes should make fairly easy work of them.
Fighting the Reaper
The Reaper himself is a more formidable villain; he's a heroic character of level roughly equivalent to the Player Characters. He's a dexterous Rogue, so make him hard to hit and relatively light on hit points, with a preference for double-attacking with his twin bone knives. He also gets a legendary action - he can move half his speed and attack a player as a reaction during their movement.
Lincare isn't interested in surrendering and fights to the death; if the players try to take him non-fatally he cusses them out and takes every opportunity to get himself killed trying to escape. He fears the hangmans noose but not the hero's blade or arrow, and he acts accordingly. In his own weird belief, he wins if he dies fighting. Shadow, of course, is happy to oblige him, even if the players might not be.
The Reward
There is, of course, a 200 GP monetary reward for the kill or capture of the Reaper. More than that, the heroes have earned Shadow's gratitude, and that can be useful to them. She's a skilled assassin and has connections in the underdark, including with the queen of the drow.
Upcoming Products
Release Date Product Sunday, April 21 The Atlantis Syndrome Sunday, April 28 All the King's Men Sunday, May 5 Five Leagues Under Sunday, May 12 The Shooting Star
Release Schedule
Dead Sea Almanac
The Dead Sea Almanac releases Monday through Saturday, with Saturday's edition being a special look back at the week and forward into the future of the company. Watch for our more in-character content on weekdays and an out-of-character aside on weekends.
Sunday Supplements
Supplements of varying length and type are generally released on Sundays. The next few are generally listed in Upcoming Products, but watch for the occasional surprise as well.
Soulsword Renegades
There will be no Soulsword Renegades this week, as it's a holiday weekend. Other weeks, you can find us at 10:30pm Eastern on the Silver Soul Gaming Twitch channel, SilversGames.
Fox Den
The scheduling on the Fox Den has been shaken up a little with Vlastilon's new day job - we may have a special session today, so watch for an announcement on our Discord (https://discord.gg/YK5Bfga)!
City of Echoes
We're getting closer on City of Echoes, and we have a preliminary time - Thursdays, from 5:30 to 9:00pm Central Time. Watch for an upcoming announcement on when our first stream will be!
Reader Hour
In lieu of a traditional reader hour this week, feel free to ping the staff with any questions you may have about our products, our characters, or our upcoming plans. We're more than happy to help you out - or engage in a discussion about mana tunnelling. You know, whatever floats your boat.
Intentional Gamemastering
If you want to know about our new initiative, reach out to Lone Wolf or Steph Skiles, either of whom can provide you with further details. We're excited to be the nexus of the growing movement, and will have a more formal announcement for you soon.