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.