Marco Volo 1: Departure
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Marco Volo: Depature is the first volume of the Marco Volo trilogy¸ designed for four to eight player characters of levels 6 to 8. This free-wheeling adventure begins with an intrigue-laden journey from Waterdeep to Shadowdale. The party is thrown into the company of one Marcus Wands (also known as Marco Volo)¸ a bothersome but likeable little rogue. In his guise of Marco¸ he gains unintentional help from the party members¸ leading only to their own arrests. To remedy that predicament¸ the characters are strong-armed into carrying an important letter to Shadowdale¸ and taking along Marcus as their guide.
Of course¸ things are nowhere near as simple as they seem.
Theres this little matter of the Dragonkings Eye¸ a powerful artifact from another plane. Naively¸ Marcus thought he could steal the thing and pin the theft on Volothamp Geddarm¸ the rougish author of many popular books about cities in the Realms. The notorious mage-assassin Felibarr Blacklance has been hired to hunt for the thief¸ and he is a man grimly determined to earn his fee.
Then theres the business about this letter thats on its way to Shadowdale. It is accompanied by a rare enchanted item that wizards and fortune hunters want to obtain at all costs.
A series of adventures ensues that takes the adventurers from Waterdeep to the Way Inn¸ by which time they will doubtless suspect there is more to Marco Volo than meets the eye. Amid the brawls and mistaken identities¸ the wild rides and the glowering villains¸ the characters never have a chance to slow down or catch their collective breath. What results is a light-hearted¸ picaresque adventure in the manner of Dumas and Sabatini¸ and a good time is had by all!
(Except by the bad guys¸ of course. Theyre never happy with how things are turning out...)