Finally Reached The Gatehouse Gamelog

So my game which from 3rd level turned into an exploration-bastion-trade game vs a combat one continues. I let them know reaching the gatehouse is a campaign and level up goal (I don't do xp). This session they were invited to start any population centre but they went home to their fort and got their followers ready, some divination, alchemy labwork and building stone walls over two weeks. 

The scavengers guild now has a boating-based gang at the ferry by Flatspur and made a stone wharf and fortified custom house. By the players fort the new turnip cult has settled in.

Finally got underway on a raft.

Sky Giant Nebos 4th Lv and his Lv2 jester
Light priest Lv4 and his pair of Lv2 acolytes
Nameless rogue Lv4 and his followers a lady Rake and Rat Sonja a 7 foot tall rat-folk

Early on saw a sunk jollyboat with bones sunk in the shallows. The giant lifted some rocks, had ropes tied to him, and dropped into the deep to search. He found a chest of Slaver Silver and a dozed human remains. Took a skull and the priest suggested going to camp at the ichor drilling platform which he missed last trek anyway. Found signs someone else had explored since the friendly scavengers stripped the place with their new boating skills. The skull eventually by divination told a sad story of mistreatment of slaves 10 years ago on Bandit Island. They also did some history divination of the rig and found it was 200 years old and used to trade ichor. Built by they black sphere cult and various peoples had lived and died here since. Party very interested in wiping out slavers in the future.

They also saw smoke and lights on shore an unknown Bulwark. So in morning returned the skull and blessed the dead. Then went to spy on the bulwark full of mercenary guildmen of the eastern continent, foreign merchants and was run by the Mayor and his militia. No-Name went and spied on drunk guards, saw a slavers guild hall and other businesses. The mercenaries wore floppy velvet hats and torn shirts with puffy sleeves, but were huge grizzled murder hobos.The town was called pickleton.

They fled and eventually reached near destination when they met a frog folk bard in fancy clothes. The jester charmed him with a saucy slanderous song so he stayed longer to talk of frog fol politics. He was sent to tell the party from the friendly frog king that the frog folk kin on the plateau are not nice and worshipped demons. The frog bard also said he was spying on Pickleton and believed foreign mercenaries were here to learn about ancient guns to dominate their homeland. They bid farewell and arrived in Marsh Town. The green-skinned abhuman folk seemed to be part plant folk. They were welcomed and discussed the West path or the East path on the plateau at a feast. The druid did some scrying for the party and warned them of mutants, cults and lamprey folk.

The west has kobolds with flint weapons but use hang gliders and kites to move their troops around the cliff and attack. The east has giant fly riding kobolds. They didn't like the sound of flies but the Frog Kings palace was close to the east path. So they visited the frogs and their king offered frog skirmishers and archers to help.

The squadron of flies came and buzzed about with kobolds firing tiny arrows. The flies if their masters were killed would zoom in to attack the party in melee. The party arrived at the plateau. They saw colourful piles of garbage and chemical pools to the south and ruined buildings to the north. They were huge concrete and pipe mazes that once made thousands of tons of potions in the past. They explored a bit and avoided a pool of toxic mutant frogs and broke into a factory via an alchemy puzzle and a lock mechanism. Was a mess of tools and parts and drums inside and found a frightened worker automaton. He was quite helpful but for centuries of neglect without orders, he had gone feral and had built a tiny model town of robots to play with on one floor. They discovered with a ton of pine resin and the automaton's help they could make almost 4 tons of "stench-rid" a potion according to ads and labels on bottles made you impervious to miasmas, stinks, smog and poison gas.

From the roof, they saw other alchemy factories and then alchemists towers and the gatehouse entry (5th LV!) awaited with some kind of guards. They rested and went the southern route past the factories and saw some mutant hillbillies searching the alchemical waste mounds. Met some bugs too and mechanical gorillas and finally confronted the orcs guarding the entry. There was a water canal exit and two other doors going inside. The orcs boasted who they were and warned the adventures. The Jester performed his song about the flatulent Black Sphere Wizards who like to smell farts and the orcs were amused and said their king would like this. So they were marched through three courtyards of orcs and mudhogs and bitter gourds growing under the magical ceiling lighting 16 foot up.

They met the king and ate with the orcs who liked the Jester and offered the party aces to the mountain for half of all the loot they brought back. They agreed to this fair deal in a orc-filled palace and the No-named man was sure he could steal anything and get past the orcs.

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So they had a deal and a safe factory hideout on the Plateau and got back to Marsh Village. The man with no name has been working on swimming as he was impressed by how easily good swimmers escaped the party massacres of river pirates and slavers.

Everyone has new followers and the priest told everyone to get all you can the sooner the better. New spells will be kicking in now. 

The party sure hates slavers and pirates and this is good.
They could cripple the slavers continent-wide if they tried.

All have a few magic items. 

This orc deal will possibly go badly.