18th (Full Moon) & 19th (Full Moon) day of Deepsnow 1492
Mission: To settle a score
Campaign: Find the daughter of Arven Glitterdale
Location(s): Black Maw Bog. Cormyr. Triboar
Present: Aerie, Anor, Bandur, Garet, Heimund & Droop, Karion, L'Aalratic Paskan
The Village of Cormyr
Bialaer: "I hope you slept well and Amarie I know tended to your wounds".
The group nodded there thanks.
Shyael: "Your 3 skiffs await, plus rations for 7 days, each Elven Weybread will last 1 day for the entire group. Aerie & Karion know what to do."
Amarie: "Ah our guests are ready to depart".
Aerie: "We thank you for your kindness and generosity, however Garet needs to travel to Triboar and then return to us."
Shyael: "We dare not tarry here long. You will see and island not far away."
Bialaer: "From there Garet can depart and return safely".
Aerie: "I have added the 10 vials of protection from poison in a small bag in the skiffs. Remember they will cure instantly any poison or if taken will protect an individual for 1 hour"
The group climbed into the 3 skiffs and turned to say farewell but Cormyr had vanished. Karion informed them it had entered the Fey and would appear elsewhere tomorrow, or the next day.
The island was a short row away. Once there the group had a chance to check through there equipment and prepare. Garet told them he was leaving and touched his pendent thinking of Triboar.
Aerie felt the sending stone tingle and she heard an unspoken message in her head.
Garet: "Aerie, the Lord is absent, travelling to Westbridge, news of daughter there, he returns in 21 days".
Aerie: "We'll speak with the Lord when he returns. This'll give us some time to warn Selene and William. Come back for now".
Garet had been gone for 3 hours. When he returned he told the group what had happened. He arrived in Triboar at the Temple of the Gauntlet. Inquiring of the Lord, Selene's father, he found out that he had left Triboar and would not return for 21 days. When he informed his staff that he would return in 21 days, as he had important information regarding his daughter and her fate. However the staff thanked me and added that if the information was about his daughter being seen in Westbridge, then he had already heard and travelled there yesterday.
Black Maw Bog
It took the group most of the day to find there way through the thickening trees with the skiffs. They certainly made the going easier. Nearing dusk they could make out the unmistaken shape of what must have been a giant oak tree, standing lightening blasted atop a hill.
Garet stealthily made his way to the top of the slope and took cover in the lightning blasted trunk of the once mighty oak tree. Aerie crept forward, her Sanctuary Prayer would take an hour. Garet kept watch but nothing stirred other than camp fires being lit all around the lake. Aerie had finished and the group moved inside the secure sanctuary of Aerie's Sanctuary.
Garet: "Well, how do I put this, frying pan and fire comes to mind. As it got darker camp fires started being lit around the lake edge, I counted about 50 in 7 distinct groups! The closest camp I could make out Goblins, 30 to 40+"
Anor: "If there are about 50 fires, how many goblins?"
Aerie: "if they are all goblins, if so how many shaman could there be?"
Karion: "We could use Aramil at times like this, even if he is a bit off with his fireballs".
A thought popped into Aerie's head, she reached down and slowly drew 'Watcher', it had a dull glow............!
Paskan: "Hey Aerie, nice sword it glows too".
Garet: "Damn, dragon!"
Aerie: "The glow is dull so I would think it is not near".
Anor: "Hopefully!"
The group scanned the local area before the sun went down.
Aerie informed them all there were strict rules for using the Sanctuary.
No-one must harm any avian creature, of any kind, otherwise they would be expelled and unable to use the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary would last for 8 hours, whilst inside the group would be invisible and unheard.
Just then the air popped and Bandur appeared.
Bandur: "Oh my this looks nice, so what's new guys?"
The group brought Bandur up to speed about Cormyr and where they now were and why. Bandur informed them that William had retuned all a fluster, something about bigger things happening in the swamp. Something about a pathway that shouldn't be there. They spent most of today packing up. William said he had friends south of Westbridge and they would stay there for a while before deciding where to go next.
The group discussed at length how they should proceed. It was agreed that Karion would transform into a small owl, whilst Aerie would use her wings and both would fly in opposite directions around the lake edge to find out the nature of the camp fires. Aerie and Karion were gone over an hour.
Karion: "There are a lot of camp fires around the left of the lake, I counted from closest to furthest, 40+ Goblins, they sit around camp fires not 500 feet from the top of the hill. Next camp there were approximately 100+ Orcs, I was nearly shot there! But I think the Orc who fired the shot was drunk as words were exchanged and a fight started soon after. I also scouted for about 10 minutes a pathway leading from this camp off to the south west, possibly to the palisade we attacked, there were no camp fires off in that direction. The next camp was the same 100+ Orcs but it looks like the island sandbars are connected by pathways. More disturbing there seemed to be a celebration going on here. A big orc standing in front of a Many Arrows tribal banner and a Shaman who was holding a swirling globe or orb of fire in his hands, I also saw 2 ballista off to one side. There was a lot of cheering."
Aerie look at Garet, they both nodded.
Aerie: "That sounds like a Devastation Orb to me".
Garet nodded. The mood turned sombre.
Aerie continued.
Aerie: "I flew the opposite way around the lake. It seemed there was a relaxed atmosphere in the camps I found. I can also confirm that apart from the Goblin camp to the 1st camp I saw there seemed to be a gap, no pathway. All the camps I saw were connected by a pathway. The first 2 were very large Lizardmen camps, approximately 100+ in each, the last was quite away around the lake and that camp had around 80 to 100+ Hobgoblins and they had 2 ballista too!"
Karion: "I flew over the mist shrouded island but could see nothing more than a group of 3 trees and the roof of a structure."
Aerie was quickly adding bits to her note book from Karions descriptions and then revealed a rough map of the lake, islands and encampments.
Bandur: "So 500+ enemy, at least 4 ballista, 1 Shaman a big Orc Leader and a Devastation Orb......whats new?"
Garet: "A Devastation Orb, are you sure of what you saw?"
Karion: "Yes".
Aerie: "Then they have one, one of those destroyed Bargewright and we destroyed the underground cult temples with the 4 we found!"
Anor: "Well that puts it into perspective, now just how do you suppose they got their hands on one, at least one, of those?"
Bandur: "Never mind that it's hard to imagine Orcs, Goblins, Lizardmen and Hogoblins all allied together".
Garet: "You're right Bandur, so what has brought them all here and why?"
Aerie: "Bialaer mentioned a great evil, centred on the lake, I think it's on that island".
Karion: "I could transform into a giant owl and carry Garet to the island. Aerie's map in her note book has a small copse of trees in the north west of the island. I land Garet there, he does his sneaky thing and I bring him back. We then make a plan as to where to go from there.
Anor:" Hit & run, hit & run. Take the fight to the enemy, return here each time".
Aerie: "And if they have at least 1 shaman who could detect magic, sense magical aura then how long before they find the Eyrie?"
Anor: "Aye your right lass".
Bandur: "My tummy's rumbling, I could just murder a nice chicken dinner".
Heimund: "Stop thinking food and start thinking how we execute the plan safely, so we can all go get a chicken dinner!"
Garet: "OK, Aerie take the central pendent, I will take your pendent. In an emergency, we are compromised in anyway we hit the pendents and we are back in the safety of the Eyrie".
Karion transformed into a Giant Owl this time and flew with Garet on his back to the trees on the north west corner of the island without being seen. Karion deposited Garet in the tallest of the trees. There being no room for him in giant owl form he landed on a smaller tree and changed back into Elf form and readied his bow.
Garet climbed down and made his way to building by shadow stepping..
Shadow stepping he nearly lost his footing and fell down the mist hidden steps. Garet then backed away his danger sense tingling, the hairs on the bac of his neck standing on edge. As he made his way down the steps 2 scimitar swings from left and right follower up by a bite deep into his armour but not breaking skin suddenly made him aware of his surroundings.
Karion, unsighted, hearing the commotion hit his pendent and arrived back in the Eyrie. Garet quickly followed.
Garet: "Dragon eggs, blue, at least 3, guarded by snake faced lizards, lots of them, hidden in the mists".
Paskan: "Come across those before, from what you describe sound like Ophidians, thralls of the Yuan Ti."
Aerie: "Wait, snake men, these Yuan Ti, guarding dragon eggs......above ground....don't dragons normally lay their egg clutches deep underground?"
Paskan: "I think you're right, something is definitely not right here".
Aerie: "This lot have been here for some time. They are established, secure, have built pathways connecting the camps with over 500 combined, thats some sized force and Karion has possibly identified the pathway linking the camps to the palisade we attacked. Garet overheard yesterday the palisade group were due to be relieved in 3 days, so thats possibly tomorrow earliest or next day latest."
Anor: "Hit em hard, make them bleed. Do we think they are linked to the Dragon Cult?".
Aerie: "Possibly. But for all these different tribal groups acting together, something big or powerful is controlling them. Remember the Cult need certain things, money being one of them. Perhaps the building holds treasure, who knows for sure."
Karion: "Also be good to find out who controls this land, is it owned by someone or just wilderness, we could ask in Triboar".
Heimund: "The Order of the Gauntlet, Master of the Temple, Raemdil Swiftbow, a Human Ranger could help".
Garet: "Met him twice, briefly, seems a decent sort".
Bandur: "Met him when the old group passed through Triboar, 4th day of Snowmoot, Thunderday, if I recall correctly. We learned that there could be a Red Dragon in Mount Hotenow, a Green Dragon in Neverwinter Woods, a Black Dragon in the Mere of Deadmen and a Blue Dragon in the desolate hills south of Yartar or along the rugged Sword Coast coastline.
He also told us that the Cult of Dragons aimed to bring back Tiamat from the nine hells, a ritual was required (but no specific details) and a place called the Well of Dragons where Tiamat would be summoned back to the prime material plane. It was also discussed that Lord Alarno Bladeshaper was probably a member of the Cult of the Dragon."
Garet: "and you are telling us this now Bandur!"
Bandur: "Well no one asked and I've been busy polishing and thinking of a nice chicken dinner".
Garet: "Options, 1 Aerie drops a fire ball on the egg clutch, 2 We attack the island, 3 We head back to Triboar with the information we have.
Aerie: "Triboar".
Anor: "Fireball".
Bandur: "Um, well, yeah, Fireball and Triboar".
Garet: "Triboar".
Heimund: "Pretty much what the majority says".
Karion: "Triboar".
Paskan: Triboar".
Garet: "Triboar it is then".
Droop: "What big man say" (then holds out his hand expectantly),
Heimund: "Droop, you don't get paid just for agreeing with me, now don't sulk, ok here's a copper piece".
Droop caught the coin deftly when Heimund dropped it and quickly deposited it in his belt pouch. (Droop smiled inwardly to himself).
They waited until morning, well until Aerie woke them up and told them the Eyrie Prayer was about to end. Aerie was also able to tell them that no alarm had sounded from the island and things had been normal around the lake.
She gave the central pendent back to Garet. They hid the skiffs by putting some large rocks in them and sinking them in the shallows at the rear of the Oak Tree Island. Ready Garet hit the pendent and thought of the stables in the Order of the Gauntlet Temple in Triboar, seconds later the others joined him.
Master Raemdil Swiftbow welcomed them to the temple and gave his blessing that they could find lodging within during their stay. Heimund thanked the Master and went off to talk with him. Servants took the group to the lodging house within the temple walls and where they could rest.
After they had settled and Heimund had joined them for the evening meal Aerie spoke up.
Aerie: "First up, I'd like to suggest Heimund updates his Order of the Gauntlet allies on the situation at the lake. I'll be honest, I don't know a whole lot about them, beyond them being a good faction. The more the right people know, the more support we can hope for.
That being said, the rest of the intel we need to gather, should be done as slowly, quietly
and as inconspicuously as possible. We have 19 days until the Lord returns, so we
have time to do it, and potentially inform this... council(?) Of the situation. Whether or
not we want to wait for the Lords return to bring up the lake problem, I honestly don't
know, and turn to you guys for opinions and suggestions; though we may want to wait
until we get more info on that symbol.
Back to Intel gathering. I'm suggesting we do it as subtly as possible for 2 reasons.
1: we don't want to incite concern (or worse, panic) by giving the wrong people
(the general public) too much information. A freaked out population will do nothing
but cause problems, and a headache for the Lords we're hoping to have on our side.
Terrified people also tend to blow things out of proportion and become paranoid- which
further hinders the investigation.
2: we don't want the people we're "hunting" cottening on.
They're just as likely to have eyes out on the street as any other 'shady dealer'.
So here's what I propose: Bandur, Anor, and possibly Heimund (minus Droop, I'm sorry
buddy, but not too many people see a...civilized(?)... goblin around these days) wander
around the market- each of you take a section. Browse around, and if you spot the symbol,
maybe ask a casual question in and amongst some other conversation- making a
purchase could help as the merchant's more likely to be in a "good" mood. Chatting
while they're looking for something as well, as they're distracted and possibly paying
more attention to the task at hand, than what they're saying. If questioned, easiest
way to dispel suspicion is to shrug and respond you'd never seen it before and found it curious.
With any luck we learn something that our nightowls (Karion [in owl form?] and Garet)
will be able to use. By that I mean deliveries they could watch/follow back, scheduled
meet ups- anything that could get us eyes on this mysterious suppliers goonies. This
could potentially lead us to warehouse with information, or just give one of our sneaky
guys a chance to overhear conversation.
Paskan, you're our scary guy. Unfortunately between your appearance and your apparent
perchance of getting angry, I'm not sure if you'd be suited for gathering intelligence the
quiet way. However, there's always the probability of a need to intimidate to crap out of
someone so they talk. Garet and I's methods for... information extraction... may not always
be the best or cleanest way to go about things. Scaring the stuffing out of a goon to get
name and/or locations, however... That being said, we need to avoid spilling blood at all
costs. We're not exactly working with the law here, and for all we know, they only consider
this supplier a legitimate business that brings in coin. The messier this gets, the more upset
these Lords potentially will be.
As for me, if the group's okay with this, I'll pendant to Axeholm and see what information
Aramil is able to provide on blue dragons. I'll take extensive notes- in common this time,
just for you guys- on what he shares, and copy what I can from whatever books or scrolls
he's working on. With any luck, Elminster may be there, and I'll update him on the situation.
If I return in time, I'll lend a hand where I can, though this could take me a few days, and
being honest; this intelligence gathering thing will probably be the same. This needs to be
a slow, inconspicuous mission, so we don't unintentionally tip the wrong people off.
Thoughts? Suggestions?"
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