The party went with McBride and Keledek to interrogate a pair of orcs that were captured during the orc raid on Saltmarsh.
There was an open argument with Keledek over who would get to interrogate the orcs. It was agreed that Keledek would interrogate the prisoners in Orc, and the party could observe.
The party went down into the jail/dungeon. Keledek yelled at the orcs in Orc and they responded in kind to him. Keledek purportedly told the party what the orcs were saying, but Roark, the pirate, laughed and told River quietly that the Keledek was not telling the truth and that if she would free him, he would help the party with their problems.
The party learned that the orcs live in a cave near the Dunwater River and that they were ordered by their overlord to attack Saltmarsh and get the Conch, and also innocents they could capture.
The party found an orc-drawn map of the area that confirmed what the orcs had told them.
Kriik and Argone went to Conch Island and confirmed that the Conch had been stolen. They saw footprints in the sand that they recognized as having been made by an imp.
Ayesha detected an evil fiend eavesdropping outside the jail, and when the party investigated, they found more imp footprints.
Ayesha met privately with the orcs and Roark. She befriended Yumbal, an orc, who gave her his totem symbol (a black asp) and called her friend.
Ayesha negotiated with Roark, who said that he thought Andy was naive and that Skerrin was self-serving. He also stated that all pirates want the Conch back because their livelihood depended on the waters being fruitful and bountiful.
After much back and forth, she agreed to testify to the Town Council that Roark had provided important information on the death of Andy’s mother, Petra Solmor, last month, and to report that Skerrin was heavily involved in slaving trading. She was also going to make the case to the town council that Roark could be an asset to get the Conch back to Saltmarsh.
The party went to investigate Keledek’s tower, and found it to be heavily warded and reeking of magic.
The party learned that there are two types of slaves being traded – innocents and workers. Innocents are being taken inland by orcs and worker slaves are, at least in the Saltmarsh area, being used perhaps at the Dwarven mine (although, this was told to you by a notorious pirate— deception role anyone?)
The next morning, the party left Saltmarsh at 7 am and headed towards the “Kave” in the Drowned Forest indicated on the orc map in an attempt to recover Eric Pierce. They easily tracked the orcs through the woods until they came to a house with wolves eating dead bodies in the yard. The party killed two wolves and chased off the others.
