Session 55: "From the houses of the holy......" or ".......see the white birds fly".

 15th day of Snowmoot:

Zindra identified tracks of a large group of about thirty bugbears and Medium humanoids wearing boots, that headed west into the hills. The group followed the trail for several miles to the banks of the Dessarin River in the middle of nowhere, but gouges in the bank show where several keelboats had landed.

The group returned to the ambush site.

Zindra offered to set up a false camp a short distance down the trail to the south whilst the others moved the wagon over a small rise and into a dell. Zindra and Garet did their best to hide the tracks of the wagon, which wasn't difficult as the ground was rock hard.

That night Bron sat honing his sword as the others looked on. HIs soldier skills were setting the tone for future camp activities. A decent enough meal was cooked and Grog offered to do the firs watch, followed by Zindra.

16th day of Snowmoot:

Zindra awoke, something was wrong, she knew it was early morning and Grog hadn't woke her for her watch. Leaving the tent she could see Grog fast asleep, chin on chest. Zindra awoke the others. Horse lines were checked, ok. Everyone started checking their equipment as Grog was woke up from a deep slumber. Zindra and Garet started checking him to see if he had been put to sleep by a dart or something. They could find no tell tale marks.

Grog didn't know what had happened but he had had the best sleep he'd had in ages. It was some while later as the camp was being packed up that Grog noticed the bag of holding was missing off his belt. A loud cry of anguish brough the others running as Grog informed them that most of their potions, the chimera skin, skulls, horn and teeth, plus rations, rope and a small amount of gold had gone along with the bag.

Zindra scouted for tracks and found the toe print from a piece of foot ware indicating a smallish humanoid, only 1, moving off to the south. Checking foot ware of the group she found no matches. The group hid the wagon, mounted their horses and with Zindra on foot began following the scant tracks south. For an hour she continued south, some 4 to 5 miles, then lost the trail. For an hour she circled outwards but she couldn't find the trail again. The group re-mounted and headed back to the wagon. They used Grogs' and Garets' horses to pull the wagon, whilst they rode on board. After travelling north for about an hour they re-joined the main trail heading southward towards Summit Hall.

As they approached in the growing dusk they could see the Hall perched high on a hill. Arriving at the Hall nearing dusk, it being winter was early in the afternoon, around 4pmish.

A middle aged man answered the gate bell and opened a small, sliding view port. After inquiring why they were here, and after a little confusion, he let them enter and showed them into the great hall.

                                                                        Map of Summit Hall

After an hour an old human woman entered. They could see the glint of armour under her over clothes. An although old held herself upright with pride. With her as she sat in an ornate chair was a young Elf, who looked like a wood Elf, possibly a ranger of cleric. On the other side was another human female who had the stern look of a cleric. 6 armoured knights with swords by their sides entered and took up position, 3 each side. They wore a red tabard with the sign of Tyr, a golden sword supporting golden scales.

She introduced herself as Lady Ushien Stormbanner, Grand Master of the Knights of Samular. Introducing the Elf to her right as Aerie Silverwing and the human to her left as the High Priestess Soniya Frey. She thanks the group for returning the body of the dead knight and informing her of their findings at the ambush site of the delegation from Mirabar.

Lady Ushien agrees that the elements are behaving unnaturally but has no further information as to why. She identifies the gold plated mask retrieved from the small cairn as belonging to a monk of the Sacred Stone. She gives directions to the temple of the monks.  The night grows longer as Lady Ushien excuses herself offering food and other aid to the group when they depart for Wormford in the morning.

17th day of Snowmoot:

In the morning food for 3 days, 4 potions, 50 feet of rope and a horse for Aeire were offered and gladly accepted. 

Around mid morning the hair on the back of Fargrims neck started to indicate danger. The riders split up left and right as a pack of large wolves erupted from cover and attacked the group.

As the wolf pack rush in Aerie Silverwing takes flight as her horse is taken down.

Grog casts spiritual weapon as the mule is ripped to pieces in front of him.

Zindra lets fly with arrows as her horse is attacked, Garet moves in to support Hagnulf, Fargrim dispatches a wolf, Bron moves to support as Aerie engages with arrows of death from above.

The fighting was individual, difficult and the group lost the mule and 1 horse. However the group found, to their surprise, that Aerie was in fact an Avarial Elf. An Elf that could fly, she had rained down death on the wolves whilst flying above the group. Garet took time to skin the dead wolves. He had some success managing to successfully skin 5 of the 10 dead wolves. The group travelled a short distance down the road and Zindra found a place to camp. Wolf, slow cooked over the camp fire, was the delicacy of the evening meal.

18th day of Snowmoot:

It was a cold, frosty morning as the group broke camp, mounted their steads, divided the mule load between them and continued towards Womford and the bridge over the river. The going was slow as the horses were hungry, tetchy and snow had started to fall. Towards the late afternoon they could see the tendrils of smoke rising from the hamlet of Womford. 

It had been a long while since Zindra had passed through Womford, she was sure the inn was called The Ironford Inn or tavern or something like that, she thought, well it had been a long time. (Now do I owe money here, Zindra thought to herself?)

Session 54: "Here's Beliard"....or...."Wonder if I've a bar bill here too?"

 13th day of Snowmoot:

                              

Bandur woke up tied to his horse as the group approached the village of Beliard in the late afternoon. Zindra told them that the village head man was the Constable Adam Burns, the only inn was the watchful Knight, run by Oliver Farring, quietly hoping to herself she didn't owe money here either.

Horses stabled, Zindra was pleased, it would seem by initial reactions, that she didn't owe any money here.

At the Inn of the Watchful Knight the group met Garet Jax, sent to assist the group via the teleportation circle in Axeholm. He also brought with him the Field Stone ( a device that would enable group members to rejoin the group in the field from Axeholm via the teleportation circle) and 4 return tokens, a 1 way/1 use token to return individuals to Axeholm.

After quick introductions the group decided to visit the village Constable and Grog would go to the temple. Nothing new was gained about the missing delegation from Mirabar but Grog had been asked to return to the temple of Tyr for more information the next day.

A quiet night.

14th day of Snowmoot:

The Constables was house revisited but had left the village. Grog found out that the books with the information in he required could be found at the  home of his order the Abbey of Summit Hall, there he should seek out the Grand Master Lady Ushien Stormbanner. He also learned that a hill to the south east of Beliard had a Red Larch tree growing upon it, or was that a hill in the town of Red Larch, the elderly high priest couldn't be sure.

Zindra had visited the wheelwright and confirmed the delegation had taken a number of wagons, one to carry the coffin of the dead knight, when they departed Beliard for Summit Hall.

Garet Jax, who had waited 10 days for the group to arrive, constantly saying they were late, had picked up from conversation overheard in the Inn that:

a. It was still the talk of the village after 2 months.

b. A number of ex-adventurers had settled in the village and that had added additional safety and bandit attacks were practically a thing of the past now.

c. The delegation from Mirabar included a renowned shield dwarf historian named Bruldenthar, who was transporting his collection of manuscripts to Waterdeep.

d. Three important diplomats from cities in the Lords Alliance were leading the delegation: a moon elf from Silverymoon named Teresiel, a shield dwarf from Mirabar named Rhundorth, and a human noble from Waterdeep named Deseyna Majarra. 

e. The delegation was also transporting the body of a knight who was killed fighting orcs in the Spine of the World. The knight was to be interred with honor at Summit Hall, the chapter house of an order called the Knights of Samular. It lies in the southeast Sumber Hills

f.  A stranger had been seen the night before the delegation left, wearing robes and a strange golden mask. The stranger disappeared before the delegation left and hasn't been since since.

They made plans to depart early the next day and search for the missing delegation. Fabien was exhausted from his escape and informed them he would follow on. Hagnulf too wished to rest awhile and said he would remain in Beliard with Fabien. 2 tokens were left in their possession so they could return to Axeholm if needed.

15th day of Snowmoot:

The group departed Beliard and travelled south for 3 hours when the hairs on Fargrims neck began to tingle. No sooner had he halted and was about to shout a warning than a blast of hot air struck his back. He could just see a winged creature fly past and over a hill. A number of the group had dismounted. Zindra headed for some trees, Bandur and Grog Bron had pulled his horse down. Garet dismounted and hobbled his horse. The beast struck again before leaping over the group into space, turned and ready a charge. Crossbow bolts and arrows thudded into the creature. Garet took aim and let fly a deadly arrow. With extreme prejudice his arrow struck deep and the creature dropped down dead. 

Trophies were taken as Zindra identified the creature as a Chimera. It was triple headed, Goat, Lion and Dragon heads. Teeth horns and skin were added to the bag of holding.

As they remounted and set off they could see a short distance away the dark shapes of birds circling. Spurring their horses over the hill they cam across a scene of utter mayhem. In a small dell a mile off the road, they found the remains of a battle. A dozen dead soldiers lay on the ground, dressed in black surcoats bearing the emblem of a red axe. 

                                  

Most appeared to have died from battle injuries, although some were  in small craters or jumbles of broken rock. Abandoned and looted wagons were nearby. A couple of broken trunks sat on the ground by the wagons. Two rock cairns—one large and one small—stood atop a hillside nearby.

Bandur and Grog, both native to the North recognised the red axe design as the emblem of Mirabar.  Grog checking the craters and rock jumbles identified them as the result from the effects of powerful earth-based magic. None of the Mirabar delegates are here, but almost all of their escorts were killed. The large cairn contained the bodies of five dead bugbears. They were dressed in black leather armor with a strange triangular symbol on it (the earth cult symbol). The small cairn contained the body of a human woman in monk’s robes, with a strange golden mask shaped like a snarling gargoyle face (a Sacred Stone monk killed in the fight). The mask is made of gilded tin and not particularly valuable. 

Zindra identified tracks of a large group of about thirty bugbears and Medium humanoids wearing boots, that headed west into the hills. The group followed the trail for several miles to the banks of the Dessarin River in the middle of nowhere, but gouges in the bank show where several keelboats had landed.

The group returned to the ambush site.

Session 53: "Onwards and downwards?"....or...."Look up or you'll miss it"

 11th Day of Snowmoot, Thunderday:

Burying the fallen crewman was impossible in the rock hard ground. The crew gathered stones and he was given a sailors funeral on the river. The group tired from a long night, and Grog and Bandur feeling slightly exhausted, they all succumbed and slept in the large rear cabin, well large for a barge.

Having slept for most of the day Pops and Lars got Boy to make the fire up and they produced a wonderful fish stew for supper. It was Zindra who stood up and drew her bow first as the dishevelled figure staggered into their camp muttering "Red Larch.....Red Larch", before collapsing at their feet.

                                                                 Fabien stumbles into camp

Grog responded by using his cleric powers of healing hand and some water. It wasn't long before the figure came round and started answering the barrage of questions. The figure, human, well dressed though very dirty, introduced himself with an accomplished flamboyance as Fabien, minstrel to the delegation of Mirabar. After leaving Beliard the group were attacked on their first night in the hills. Bound and gagged they were carted off towards the river. It was here that Fabien had escaped. Exactly how he did not say. He had seen that most if not all of the 'bandit abductors' had a distinctive tattoo on their forearm:

He also heard them mention Red Larch. Zindra only knew of the town of Red Larch on the south west edge of the Slumber Hills. But Fabien didn't know if it was place or person.

As it was unsafe to sail at night the departure for Stonebridge was put off until the following morning. Bandur, on watch, heard a wooshing sound, then found he was unable to move, he was pinned to the tiller by 3 daggers. Before he could utter a word 4 burly, armed men and a slender woman had climbed onto the stern with him. Bandur was asked who was on board, he tried to delay but found himself expertly disarmed as he reached for weapons that were no longer their. The 'Pirates' shouted out and the group woke up. 

Lars seemed to recognise them. The female addressed Zindra directly, "If I knew you were on board I'd have brought you a bottle or four". Zindra acknowledged the female (Zindra later told the tale of Ola, her parents demise at the hand of a noble of Neverwinter - Lord Arlon Bladeshaper, and their travelling knife juggling act), when Fargrim and some of the others mentioned their troubles with Lord Bladeshaper the 'Pirates' attitude changed. A hidden signal by the leader of this group heralded the arrival of 5 more skiff like boats and around 20 'Pirates'. They were after Tyr, he was supposed to have something for them. When hearing of his demise they settled for the skin of the giant crocodile and went on their way. Grog wasn't happy as he had spent the better part of a night skinning the corcodile.

12th Day of Snowmoot, Swordsday:

The 'Eel' was beginning to be harder to control. The river was unusually swollen and faster flowing than it should be for this time of year. Zindra shouted steer right, Bron had seen it too but Zindra couldn't reach far enough so he quickly got hold of her legs and held her as she reached down into the water and pulled something, blue in colour, on board.

Zindra said she was a Naiad, a water nymph. The Naiad was badly injured and again Grog and Zindra stepped forward and gave the Naiad healing. Once healed the creature introduced herself as Sirene, she and her sister were attacked by a Water Elemental. She had been separated from her sister but was too badly injured and had clung to the branch before passing out. (That's what Zindra had seen). Yhe Naiad commented that she thought the elements were out of cinque with nature. Unnatural things were happening. Before she dove back into the river she asked them to ass on her regards to Foldron, inn keeper at Stonebridge.

After a few more hours they could see an immense structure spanning the river ahead. Some 100 feet above the river and spanning the river by some 2 miles was a vast bridge. The bridge detail became more apparent when the barge docked at the small wooden dock below the bridge. 

Fargrim and Bandur stated with pride in their voices, Dwarf built, you can tell. As the bridge sloped down at each end the slope became steps. For its entire 2 mile length there was no support to be seen. Surely a wonder of Dwarf building and magic. 

Not far from the jetty was a homely, welcoming 2 storey building. Standing outside a jovial, elderly Dwarf stood, hands on hips and long ginger beard tucked into his belt.

Welcome to the Kings Stand the finest inn in Stonebridge. The irony that it was the only inn in Stonebridge was not lost on the group. Foldron stopped mid sentence introducing himself as he indicated to Zindra that before she could enter she had a bar bill of 50 gold to pay. Zindra entered into a game of chance where she lost twice, he bar bill now stood at 200 gold!

Fabien stepped forward and with great elegance offered to entertain, if Zindra's bar bill would stand in stead of payment. During the night Foldron, getting more and more inebriated, was impressed with Fabien and forgot all about the bar bill owed. Foldron regaled the group with the story of King Torhild Falmetoungues last stand, in the middle of the bridge against an Orc Horde that was laying waste to his kingdom. When all seemed lost Moradin, God of Dwarves, appeared by his side and fighting back to back they defeated the Orc Horde. However the King succumbed to his many wounds and fell frm the Bridge. He was buried by the surviving Dwarves but his kingdom still fell. Many have tried to find the fabled city of the Dwarves and although many have claimed to have found it none have provided proof.

The night passed slowly with mroe and more ale being drunk. Foldrons last story was that he had heard rumours of an ancient tomb filled with treasure and priceless artifacts, he couldn't remember where but it had something to do with hunting, halls and an axe.

13th Day of Snowmoot, Saintsday:

The group spent a welcome night in a warm bed for a long time. In the morning Foldron sent them on their way with a hearty breakfast.

Foldron remembered that Fabien had drawn a symbol on the table, the symbol of the tattoo he observed. Foldron told Fargrim and Bandur he was worried, that symbol hadn't been seen in over a thousand years it was the symbol of an evil cult, The Cult of Black Earth.

Beliard was some 15 miles along the road that wound its way through the low hills.  Zindra spotted movement and the group were ambushed.

Fargrim, boar mounted charged forward, narrowly missing a trap, his spiritual boar killing the archer.

Bandur followed. More assailants poured out of the trees as arrows and crossbow bolts criss-crossed the road from both sides.  Bandur was unhorsed, falling on some spikes hidden in the grass.

Fargrims' boar was dispelled by a crossbow bolt through an eye but landed on his feet. Fabien and Grog were assailed by 4 attackers, Hagnulf thundered into the trees to attack 2 more. 

Suddenly Bandur was plunged into darkness. 

When the darkness disappeared he dispatched the archer in front of him and still in battle rage charged to attack Fargrim. 

Fargrim knocked him out. Bandur woke up tied to his horse as the group approached the village of Beliard. Zindra told them that the village head man was the Constable Adam Burns, the only inn was the watchful Knight, run by Oliver Farring, quietly hoping to herself she didn't owe money here either.

Neverwinter Nights News Sheet 33

 

"Neverwinter Nights"

Published weekly                                                                                                   Issue 1491/33

Neverwinter Council decrees will be made public shortly.

From the Protectors Enclave District:

Trade route to Triboar City now fully open. 

The Docks District - Neverwinter fishing fleet:

The Council has failed to find any reason other than natural during their investigation as to why quotas are low. The advice by HIgh Priest Pyrman Yzen is to move the fishing grounds to a more productive location.

Blacklake District:

The Council have failed to raise sufficient funds from private enterprise for the rebuilding of the area to the south of the Blacklake District.

The River District:

Lord Neverember unveiled the rstored Dolphin and Sleeping Dragon bridges/. Lord Arlon Bladeshaper had donated a sum of money for the complete restoration of the Dragon Bridge from his own purse. 

High Sherriff appointed to the expanding town of Phandalin: 

With the road to Triboar now open, Lord Neverember has granted the position of High Sherriff of Phandalin to Lord Arlon Bladeshaper. Work has already started repairing Tressedar Manor and the walls of Phandalin. Lord Bladeshaper intends to take up residence as soon as the work is complete. In a statement to the council, "I look forward to taking up my position and ensuring the safety of the people of the town of Phandalin and the continued safety of travellers on the Triboar Road.

White Dragon Seen:

There are unconfirmed rumours that a white dragon has been seen in the mountain region west of Phandalin.