Backstory: In Ages past, some empires were mentally run by Kopru, which are chaotic-evil hot-water creatures chosen of Demogorgon, demon lord of madness. In the last century, there were stories that the pirates who inhabitated the area now known as the town of Hotton were lead by a cleric of Demogorgon. In current times, followers of Farnaz, demon lord of cooperation between demons, arranged for a devious [ironic word] scheme by which three kopru were brought to the small town of Hotton in the Northlands as the launching point of a wider control of land. A message was sent to a ship of the Hand of Hendus to entice them to pick up some interesting cargo, but the cargo was actually three kopru, who took mental control of the captain and crew. With three prepared Wilbar’s Fish & Critters’ hot-boxes, the ship transported the three kopru to to the town of Hotton, where this new little cult quickly took over the town, nine people each night. This scheme was all timed while the local high priestess of Thim was away from Hotton. Only two people were known to have escaped: one is an aquatic elf who was first mate on the ship; and the other being a seeming human “Tom” who was a separate member of the Hand of Hendus with a mental defense spell that protected him from the indoctrination magic ritual.
(Warning: Backstory admittedly includes some little assumptions.)
The cleansing of Hotton
Adventure synopsis: The Stompers were returning from their latest adventure of destroying an Orcus-worshipping band of ogres when they stumbled across a running man “Tom” who had escaped indoctrination into the cult. He told them about the smiling cult in Hotton and was thoroughly scared of it and the town guards chasing him. The Stompers believed him and let him go after hearing his story. The Stompers tried to avoid interaction with the town, though Tove was seen during his excursion to explore, which netted valuable information. The Stompers explored the geyser vent just outside town because “Tom” had mentioned heat in the vile ritual, and Sabine the dwarf found in the geyser channel a secret door leading to a secret old pirate lair.