ToD - Chapter Summaries

[Daos]

Chapter One:
Convergence

It is Brookgreen 25th, 430 AC  and the party members are all traveling with a wagon heading toward Greenest from Gaarlus, which is being driven by a Neidar woman named Lilly. She announces that they should arrive in town just as night falls. Eliana hits on Conard, much to his chagrin. Iro, Caelin and Zakkoth discuss bad omens, insisting doom is on its way to Greenest. Garald and Perceval sit quietly and brood.

Conard downplays the threats the others speak of, and Caelin attempts to provoke him by calling him 'Knight' when he is still a squire, and accuses the Knighthood of failing at their duty to protect the people from a group called the Children of Takhisis. Meanwhile, Perceval speaks with Eliana, having noticed the blue scales on her skin despite how much she tried to keep them hidden. Eliana admits she does not know why they have appeared, but for some reason feels she'll find answers in Greenest. Perceval admits he is here to investigate a cult.

Garald interrupts Iro's and Zakkoth's conversation on divine omens to curse the gods. Meanwhile, Caelin slinks away to scout around the wagon. Eventually, the party reaches the town of Greenest and pulls up to the Silver Tear Inn in the town square. Caelin offers to help Lilly unhitch the horses while the others head inside. However, Perceval stays behind and speaks with Caelin, questioning him on what he knows about the Children of Takhisis. Caelin doesn't trust Perceval, and worries he might be a spy. But ultimately, the two agree to work together to find the cult.

Garald, also, falls behind. Having spent the last of his coin on the trip here, he has no way to pay for room and board. So he slips away, and searches for a nearby barn. He finds one, unlocked, and hides his possessions in the hayloft. He makes some noise on his way out, though, and he is caught by a seven year old girl. He lies to her, claiming to be a worker of her father's, and asks her to keep his presence a secret. He then returns to the inn and just sits to listen, and sometimes swipes food or drink from the tables of people who have already departed.

Caelin slips around back, posing as a peasant and knocks on the kitchen door. He tells the young man who answers he is looking for work, and hiding from his abusive father. The young man, Joran, sympathizes and agrees to fetch his boss, the innkeeper, Aleaha. Aleaha is likewise sympathetic and agrees to let Caelin work in the kitchen in exchange for a room tonight. Caelin uses this opportunity to spy, unseen, on the common room and try and subtlety pump Joran for information.

Inside the common room, Conard sits down with Markguth, one of the local guards. Eliana joins them. Perceval sits alone, keeping to himself. Iro sees a cleric of Habbakuk giving a lecture, and joins in. Zakkoth spots a female kapak and in a misogynistic fury, demands to know why she is allowed to roam about freely, drawing lots of attention. Markguth steps in, and Zakkoth backs off. The kapak retreats upstairs to her room. Zakkoth then asks the innkeeper about Leosin, a monk friend of his. She tells him that a group of monks arrived in town a few days ago, and are staying at the temple. Zakkoth tries to hit on her a bit, but she's turned off by his disgusting eating habits, and his tantrum earlier.

Iro gives the cleric, Falconmoon, and his little audience a dire warning of horrible things to come. Falconmoon has no idea what Iro is talking about, and assures him that Greenest is a safe, pleasant place. Iro then joins Zakkoth at the bar, to learn more about these monks. Apparently they are followers of Majere and claim to be on some kind of pilgrimage.

Conard and Eliana part ways, with Conard going to speak with a lone peasant woman who looked foreign, and Eliana going to flirt with the barlad. The peasant woman is Brina Kirstein, a farmer from an Abanasinian town called Sanctum. She explains her town was attacked by sligs, and they took her two children. She's been trying to chase them down ever since. Conard is flabbergasted by this, and swears he will do everything in his power to help Brina find her children, even get her an audience with Lord Nighthill, the governor of Greenest. Eliana, meanwhile, asks the barlad, Sergiu, about his past. He tells a sad tale; his family was enslaved by the red dragon Cinder, and all died. He managed to flee to Greenest, and they took him in. He now considers it his home.

Eventually, everyone retires to their rooms. Caelin is allowed to share Joran's room for the night. However, first he sneaks away to slip a note under Eliana's door. Garald returns to the hayloft in that private barn. All of them, however, are woken up harshly in the middle of the night by a thunderous explosion, a flash of light, and a dragon's roar. Looking outside, they see the town is on fire, raiders have invaded, and a large blue flies overhead, blasting buildings with lightning.

Conard bursts out into the hall to warn the others, and finds that the other half of the hallway has been destroyed, sealing the rooms. These included the rooms of Aleaha, Lilly, the kapak, Sergiu and Brina. However, Sergiu emerges from Eliana's room, along with her, quite alive. Iro, Caelin and Joran join them. Conard remains to try and rouse the others, while Iro and Caelin head downstairs. There they find a baaz attacking Brina, who is fending him off with a frying pan. Caelin quickly kills him, but loses his dagger in the statue that forms from his corpse.

Meanwhile, Garald spots four kobolds enter through the barn, fail to notice him up in the loft, and then make for the farmhouse. He calls upon the dark power within him, killing them all. He then rushes to the farmhouse, to find it aflame. He finds a man holding the little girl, Maddy, both covered in ash, and having collapsed on the front lawn. The man begs Garald to save his daughter, then dies.

The others rush outside to find the town in chaos, and the barn destroyed (which sadly, is where Caelin left most of his gear). Conard realizes they are still missing Perceval and Zakkoth, though, and returns upstairs. Zakkoth is trying to reach the female kapak, whom he claims his race 'cannot survive' without, and Conard is forced to practically drag him back downstairs. Perceval joins them, and they meet up with the others outside to find a band of kobolds chasing after a couple and their children. The party quickly intervenes to save them. Garald, still holding Maddy, arrives to help, as well. Working together, the party is able to kill the kobolds and save the family. They introduce themselves as Linan and Cuth Swift, and the party recognizes them as the couple they saw at the inn earlier. They and their three children are making a break for the keep, which is the safest place in town. The party agrees.

Protecting Joran, Sergiu, Brina and the Cuths, the party heads south to the other end of the town square. They find a building there being raided by another baaz and more kobolds. Iro entangles them in a spell, allowing the party to easily finish them off.

The party makes for the keep, but just as the entrance comes into view, they see a group of villagers making a run for it, with kobolds and a baaz on their tail. Iro uses another entangle spell to stop them in their tracks, and the party quickly finishes them off and then enters the keep just before the gate is closed.

Once inside, they are quickly approached by Markguth, who in an emotional rage, grabs Zakkoth by the collar, blaming him for the attack. However, a red haired dwarf steps in and sends the guard away. The dwarf, Escobert, claims to be the keep's steward and apologizes for Markguth's behavior. He also claims to be Lilly's uncle and asks if the party has seen her. Eliana answers with a technical truth; they haven't seen her since before the attack.

The party agrees to help Escobert lead the villagers down to the dungeon, where they will be safe if the dragon does a flyby. The steward also tells them that after they've had a moment to catch their breath, Nighthill has asked to see them. Once there, Caelin approaches Perceval and asks for help. He has information he wants to relay to Nighthill, but doesn't want to be the one to deliever the intel personally.

While Conard tries to learn Sergiu's intentions toward Eliana, which leads to a misunderstanding where Sergiu thinks Conard is declaring his own intentions, Caelin had a minor breakdown which grabs everyone's attention. He despairs that his former mistress, Frulam Mondath, a Knight of the Skull, is somewhere in the city coordinating the attack. He also claims that the Children of Takhisis' true goal is to somehow resurrect the fallen goddess. The others manage to calm him down with some reassurance and a hug from Eliana.

[Daos]

Chapter One and a Half
Greenest in Flames

After a short rest, Escobert comes for the party and escorts them up to the parapet, to meet with Lord Nighthill, an old Knight of the Rose and governor of this town. Nighthill is bandaged from fighting earlier. He tells the group he witnessed their fight and recognizes that they are outsiders, but asks if they would be willing to help. The party agrees, but Perceval insists they are promised a reward for doing so first.

Escobert then leads them to the armory, and tells them that the temple to Habbakuk is filled with villagers, but is currently under siege by the raiders. Conard and Caelin get into an argument on how to proceed (Caelin favoring stealth and intrigue, Conard wanting a more straight-forward approach), which led with Caelin leaving to the kitchen alone to grab some supplies while the rest went down to the basement. There is a secret tunnel leading out of the keep that the party can use to get in and out without using the main gate. The door is blocked since it's not been used for so long, so by the time the party clears the way, Caelin has rejoined them.

Escobert gives them a key to unlock the door and the sewer grate at the end of the tunnel, which opens up by the stream running through town. The party enters the dark tunnel, and find it infested with rats, that they manage to fight off.

Once they reach the end, they find the lock on the sewer grate rusted, but manage to force it open with the key. Caelin slips out first to scout around. He spots a patrol searching the nearby area, but about to move on. However, he joins them, pretending to be one of them, and demands to know why they are wasting time here instead of joining the assault on the keep ordered by Frulam. Zakkoth then jumps in to assist, but winds up blowing their cover and forcing a fight to break out. The party is able to defeat the group before any of them can run off to find reinforcements.

They hurry to the church and find it in dire straits. There is a large group, including a Dark Knight, at the front trying to break down the door with a battering ram. There is a smaller group around back, trying to start a fire at the back door, but mostly just making a lot of smoke. There is also a patrolling group that is moving around the perimeter of the church. The party comes up with a plan; Caelin will provide a distraction to the front group, while the party takes out the back group and slips in to rescue the people inside.

Caelin's attempt to bluff the dark knight fails, and he is put to work in helping batter down the door. While he does so (while trying to subvert it without being noticed), Frulam shows up to get a report on their progress. Fortunately, she leaves shortly after and never sees Caelin's face thanks to the cowl of his black cloak. Meanwhile, the others defeat the group in the back, but then find it difficult to get inside the temple. The people within won't open the door, and their best lockpicker is Caelin. So Perceval kicks the door open and the party rushes inside. The people trapped within, along with Brother Falconmoon, are scared, especially when Conard tells them they will need to arm themselves and fight their way to get into the keep's gate. Around this point, Caelin attacks the knight at the front gate to lead them away. Zakkoth goes to check on him around that point, as well. He attacks the patrol that is circling the temple to lead them away, as well.

The distractions work; the party is able to escort the villagers to the sewer grate and let them in through there. However, Caelin and Zakkoth both wind up leading their groups in different directions. Caelin manages to shake his group, and make his way to the sewer grate where he meets up with the others, still waiting for him. Zakkoth, however, is not so lucky. He leads his group to a burned out house and hides. But when he attempts to slip away, they spot him and attack. He fights, but they knock him out and capture him. Caelin attempts to lead the group to go after Zakkoth, but realizes he has no real idea where to even look and they turn back.

Once back in the keep, the governor summons them. He tells them he witnessed their rescue of the people in the temple and is glad nobody was killed. He then tells them that it appears that the raiders are preparing to burn down the mill. He explains that there won't be time to grow any more wheat before winter, so if the grain burns, the people will starve to death. He asks the party to deal with it, while he prepares to send a group of soldiers to occupy it once they win it back. Caelin is dismayed at the idea, asking that the villagers just trade for more wheat after the battle. But Nighthill points out the raiders are taking everything of value; they will have nothing to trade. Further, he spots through his spyglass that they appear to be dragging Zakkoth, knocked out and tied up, to the mill, as well. So the party agrees to head out there.

Along the way, the party makes some unintentional noise and runs into a patrol. Eliana tries to bluff them, and they ask her a question to confirm she is who she claims to be--'what is the name of our Wyrmspeaker?' Eliana namedrops Mondath and Cyanwrath, but neither is correct. The patrol seems to realize who the party is, but rather than attack, they play along, and let the party go. Eliana is surprised but pleased her ruse appeared to work, but Perceval worries it was a little too easy.

When they finally arrive at the mill, they find it has not yet been set aflame. In fact, the raiders seem to be really taking their time on this. Caelin puts it together, and realizes this is a trap; they are waiting for the party to arrive. The party sneaks up on them and attacks. They easily vanquish the group, while Caelin slips inside the mill and tries to untie Zakkoth. As soon as he does, fourteen raiders jump out of hiding to ambush the party. Caelin calls for the group to head outside, but Perceval remains to keep them bottle-necked, so the party isn't overwhelmed. However, this leads to Perceval falling. Fortunately, the party is able to mop up the rest and stabilize the fallen legionnaire before he dies. Shortly after, the governor's men arrive to defend the mill, so the party is able to retreat back to the keep to rest.

An hour late, their rest is disturbed when Eliana starts to feel pain in her scales. She warns the others the dragon is approaching. While they discuss it, the keep shakes and they hear the dragon's roaring above; it is assaulting the keep! Hurrying upstairs, they find Nighthill and Escobert. Nighthill tells them there is an old gnomish device on the top of the keep's tower. It was designed to fend off aerial assaults, but nobody has any idea how it works. Plus, it's gnomish, so it's just as likely to explode than work. Still, it's their best chance, so the party starts to make their way to the tower, crossing over the parapets. However, Caelin and Eliana start attacking the dragon, as does Garald. The dragon retaliates by blasting Garald with a bolt of lightning, disintegrating him instantly.

The rest of the party makes it up to the tower, but none of them can figure out how the machine works. They take too long, though, and the dragon returns for another pass. It blasts Iro, leaving nothing behind but scorch marks, but inadvertently, it charges up the weapon, as well. Eliana calls out to the beast, which seems to distract him. He looks at her as if she was recognizable, and strangely, Eliana feels the same way. "Khellendros?" it asks, before she slams the big red glowing button on the device. It blasts the dragon with some kind of energy. It is not lethal, but it does enough damage that the dragon flies off in retreat.

The party, or what's left of them, regroups with Escobert who thanks them for driving the beast off; although the weapon overheated and is useless now. But hopefully, the dragon won't return. He hands them four healing potions, but before he can say much more, there's a loud commotion over by the front gates. He runs off to join Nighthill, who is still on the parapets overlooking the gate. The party rushes after him.

Mondath herself, along with her first lieutenant, Cyanwrath, approach the gates.  Cyanwrath claims he has too many prisoners, and is willing to release a family--a woman and her children--if the keep sends out their best warrior to duel with him.  Markguth recognizes the family as his sister and nephews/nieces.  Nighthill decides he will face the dragonspawn, but Conard attempts to talk him out of it, citing that the town needs Nighthill.  However, Caelin beats them both to the punch and rushes out to face Cyanwrath.  Mondath recognizes him after a bit, especially when he starts yelling at her.  Although Caelin manages to draw some blood, he doesn't stand a chance and is defeated.  True to his word, Cyanwrath lets the family go.  The army then pulls out and heads out of town.

Using her potion, Eliana saves Caelin's life and he is carried back to the keep.  Escobert offers his room to the party to rest.  The party is quite exhausted and doesn't argue.

[Daos]

Chapter Two: 
Raider's Camp

The party wakes up the next morning and discusses what to do next. They want to get their payment from Nighthill, primarily. But they also want to see if they can find Zakkoth's monk friend and survey the town, as well. They find Nighthill still on the parapets, arguing with Escobert. The dwarf was trying to convince the lord to send some scouts to track the bandits, try and figure out where they came from and if they have a base in the area. But Nighthill was worried that they were too understaffed as it was, and sending away soldiers would be too risky. The party volunteers, but Perceval won't work for free, so he leaves after collecting his pay.

As the party discusses their next move, they are approached by a half-elven man whom Conard recognizes as Henry, a fellow Squire of the Crown. Conard asked him to take over for him, so he could leave with Brina to help her find her children. Caelin insulted the newcomer and stormed off, to Henry's confusion. The party decided to head to the temple to look for Leosin, Zakkoth's missing friend and to see if they could be of any help to the wounded.

Meanwhile, Caelin tried to search the dead, but found the villagers beat him to it. As he was searching, a half-kender woman, Chantilly, approached him and warned him off; as he was wearing a cultist's cloak, she naturally thought he was one of them. He yelled at her harshly and demanded to know who she was. Realizing she was just a scared girl, he backed off a bit. Instead, he sent her to find the others while he went after the army alone. He then started yelling at the locals in the area, claiming they were not acting grateful for all he had done for them.

Back at the temple, the party met a monk named Nesim Waladra. He explained that Leosin was their leader, and he was captured by the cultists. Leosin is not only a friend of Zakkoth's, but also something of an expert on the cult. He had been investigating them for some time now. He asked the party to try and find and retrieve him safely, if they could.

Meanwhile, in the town square, Chantilly decided that she would go with Caelin instead. She tells a random woman in armor to go fetch the others. The random woman, a warrior named Benyt, did no such thing and instead asked Caelin where the inn is. He points out the charred remains of it. By that point, the others had arrived, looking for Caelin. Benyt agreed to come with them for payment, so Caelin offered her the coin he had earned last night. Henry made a self-depreciating remark, and Caelin went off on him. Eliana asked Zakkoth to take the others to the keep while she spoke to him alone.

Once alone, Eliana pointed out that these people are here to help, and while Henry is also a squire, he is not Conard, and it's not fair to treat him as if he were. Caelin had a breakdown, claiming he was only afraid that more people would die, and explaining that getting revenge on the cultists was the only thing he had left. Eliana gave him a cool down hug, and promised to be there for him if he ever needed to vent.

Meanwhile, the others went back to the keep to see Nighthill again. Benyt formally asked for permission to investigate the cultists. Henry asked for an old map of the area. Nighthill agreed to both. Chantilly also donated five steel to the rebuilding effort, and the governor accepted. At this point, Caelin and Eliana joined them. The rogue asked Nighthill to loan out his spyglass, to better aid the party in the task he had given them. But Nighthill did not give them this task and he needed the spyglass in case another attack came.

The party then goes to the market square, or what's left of it, to see if they can find any goods or information. Caelin learns the raiders who died in the attack did not carry any food or water. This leads him to conclude, correctly, that their camp is less than a day away. The party reconvenes and Henry suggests they try using him as a prisoner to get into the camp once they arrive. Benyt points out they are just as likely to kill Henry than keep him prisoner. The party sets out, following the very wide and easy to see trail the raiders left behind the previous night.

After an hour or so, the party comes across a campsite for a handful of stragglers--both human and kobold, but they are sitting apart while eating their meal. The party discusses what they should do, and go around in circles before finally deciding to split up and tackle each side at once. Caelin and Benyt attack the humans and the rest of the group goes after the kobolds. Things are touch-and-go for a bit, and Caelin and Henry get hurt, but ultimately the party prevails.

One human and one kobold are taken alive and tied up. Caelin attempts to intimidate the human, who is quite fanatical, but it doesn't work out too well. Zakkoth then tries to convince the cultist that he is a double-agent working for the Queen by pretending to help the party. This manages to get the cultist to mention a rearguard up ahead, at which point Zakkoth immediately puts the cultist to sleep. The party takes a short rest, then discusses whether they should bury the dead or not. After a lot of going in circles, they decide to just leave them there. The living are left tied up but unconscious.

The party moves on and after a couple of hours, when they are closer to the mountains, they spot a place that would make a great ambush site. Caelin and Chantilly decide to sneak up to get a closer look. Once there, they spot a number of cultists waiting in ambush, including a few dark knights. Chantilly makes a noise by accident, though, alerting the enemy to their presence. Caelin then also makes a noise. A fight breaks out, but the pair manage to flee. The rearguard does not pursue, not wanting to give up their high ground advantage.

Reuniting with the others, the party decides to just go around the ambush area, then follow the trail the rest of the way. Upon reaching the camp, they find it nestled in a canyon, with two watch towers (one on either side). They discuss whether they should fight their way in, pretend some of them are prisoners, or just casually walk in and hope nobody notices. They also argue on whether to go in a group or split up into pairs. Then they argued about where to make the rendevous point to meet up at later. They then split into three groups: Caelin and Henry, Chantilly and Zakkoth, and Eliana and Benyt.

Caelin and Henry
The two decide to check out the north side of camp, but especially to scope out the two watch towers (one by the entrance, the other on the opposite side of camp) to find out how well they are manned and any other details. As they are making their way, a pair of hobgoblins approach. One, a man, is heavily drunk and being half-carried by the other, a woman. The male hobgoblin makes a sloppy greeting and hails Takhisis. Caelin yells at him, demanding to know why kobolds have 'taken' his and 'Mouse's' (Henry's) campsite. This confuses the hobgoblins, as the kobolds always camp near the entrance, with the mercs and low ranking cultists in the middle and the higher ranking cultists in the back. The female hobgoblin asks Caelin who he is, mentioning he seemed familiar. Realizing it would be bad if she figured out who he is, Henry intimidates the hobgoblins away. The two then check out the first watch tower, which appears to be manned by kobolds.

They start toward the second tower, but on the way spot some hunters selling meat to the cultists. One of them jokes that the hunters will need to bring the meat into the cave, which seems to frighten the hunters for some reason. This makes Henry and Caelin forget all about the second tower, and instead they hatch a plan to get into the cave, using the meat. Rather than ask the hunters for the meat, Caelin threatens to kill them if they don't bring it into the cave. This causes a big scene, where the hunters yell and shove the meat sacks into Caelin's and Henry's hands, demanding they do it instead.

Caelin and Henry take the meat to the cave entrance, where two guards stop them. Caelin explains that he and 'Meek' (formerly 'Mouse') were sent to bring the food to the babies. One of the guards steps inside, returns awhile later, and tells them they can enter. However, they don't get very far before they are set upon by Mondath, Cyanwrath and a number of knights. The female hobgoblin who recognized Caelin earlier is with them, as well. The two are quickly captured and sentenced to death come morning. Mondath tries to question them, but Caelin is defiant and Henry depressed, so she has her men take them outside.

Not too far from the cave entrance, a half-elven man is tied up to a stake, malnourished and sunburned, and beaten badly. The knights erect two more stakes and tie Caelin and Henry to them. The dark knights then leave, leaving two Lily Knights behind to guard them. Caelin and Henry learn that the half-elven man is none other than the monk, Leosin, whom they were asked to find back in town; and Zakkoth's friend.

The three whisper to each other about escape, but Leosin is not interested. He'll help the others escape, but claims he allowed himself to be captured on purpose to gather intel, and believes there is still more he can learn while a prisoner. Caelin and Henry aren't having it, though, and insist he will be coming with them.

Chantilly and Zakkoth
Chantilly and Zakkoth decide to go down the middle of the camp, and check out the cave at the very end. As they walk about, a half-elf in armor approaches and asks if they've seen any more stragglers on their way in. Chantilly questions him a bit, and learns he is a merc named Fennril (Fenn), who only signed up because his sister is a cultist and he wants to keep an eye on her. Chantilly realizes that his sister is probably one of the stragglers the party killed and feels immensely guilty. She encourages him to keep a watch out, and he agrees.

They continue through the middle of the camp, and see a group of draconians going over their loot. They decide to watch them, and are eventually noticed and called over. After a bit of conversation, one of the guards orders them to do some chores. They slip away when they get the chance.

They head for the cave now, as was their original plan. However, they spot none other than Leosin tied up to a stake, beaten and fatigued, on the way. Before they can really react to this, they see a large group of knights exiting the cave; they include Mondath and Cyanwrath, and they appear to be escorting two prisoners--Caelin and Henry! What's more, they are taking them right toward the stake. Chantilly and Zakkoth quickly take cover. The former suggests the latter go back to the rendezvous point and get the others, but Zakkoth refuses after seeing his friend. So instead, Chantilly goes and finds Eliana and Benyt, fills them in, and brings them back to Zakkoth.

Eliana and Benyt
Eliana and Benyt decide to take the south side of the camp. As they walk through the entrance area, they spot a kobold spill some wine on a black robed man. The man starts kicking the kobold in punishment. Ignoring the sight, the two women instead quietly discuss who could be funding this whole operation and why.

After the blackrobed man finishes abusing the kobold, he notices Eliana and comes over. He introduces himself as Colton, a Knight of the Thorn. Eliana introduces herself as Aria. He tries to flirt with her and convince her to join the cultists full-time, since the mercs will probably be fired when they're done with them. Benyt says she wants slaves, but Colton says the only slaves they have are used for manual labor right now. Eliana promises to meet with Colton during the feast that evening, and the two women excuse themselves.

Benyt asks around the various mercs, gathering information on things. They then manage to find where the villagers being held prisoner are. They are being used as labor, and then chained up at night outside. The two then head to the rendezvous point to wait for the others. They wait, wait and wait some more. The hour passes, and it becomes clear something has gone wrong. Eventually, Chantilly shows up, tells them that Caelin and Henry have been captured, and takes them to where Zakkoth is watching over them.

Reunited
At this point, the group has been reunited, except for Henry and Caelin, who are still tied up. The rest of the party just sits and watch, until the sun goes down. A feast begins among the different campsites, and the party reasons they can use it somehow to their advantage. They eventually come up with the plan to send Chantilly out to look for an escape route, while Eliana finds Colton and causes a distraction, so the others can free Henry and Caelin.

Zakkoth approaches the guards and says he is here to relieve them. But they don't believe him, as he's by himself, so he ropes in Benyt, as well. The guards are happy to be relieved, so walk away. Benyt and Zakkoth then watch as Henry and Caelin try to free themselves. Zakkoth then steps up to help untie the three men. Leosin is so weak, he can barely stand on his own.

Meanwhile, Eliana finds Colton (who is now with twins and trying to pull the exact same pickup lines as he tried on Eliana) and offers to put on a show, if they can get some music going. The twins get the music, and Colton is able to secure some fans for her to do a fan dance. The dance is quite popular, garnering everyone's attention. She tries to do an encore, but it fails to keep interest.

Chantilly heads off to find a way to escape. She discovers the entrance is now well-guarded and they are checking anyone coming in or out. So she instead scopes out the cliff walls and finds a good spot they can try to climb out of the canyon. She also goes to check on Fenn, who has grown worried enough that he wants to ask Mondath to put a search party together to look for his sister.

Eliana and Chantilly return to the others, and discuss their next step. Eliana still wants to rescue the villagers, but Caelin feels they should leave immediately. Chantilly warns them that the entrance is no longer viable, but suggests they climb the canyon wall. The party spends some time arguing over whether they should flee with Leosin or risk rescuing the other prisoners. Eventually, a baaz wanders upon them. Fortunately, Benyt quickly slays him.

This spurs the party to action, and Chantilly leads them to the south side of camp, where they just barely manage to climb the wall to the top. Just as they reach the top, the sun sets and the missing prisoners are noticed; the whole camp goes on alert. The party quickly beelines for cover, then starts making their way back to Greenest while the cultists are still occupied searching for them in the camp.

[Daos]

Chapter Two and a Half:
Spring Dawning

The party decided to just spend the day in rest, recovering from their ordeal.  But Chantilly got bored and slipped away.  While she was in town, she learned that the locals had decided to throw together a simple and impromptu Spring Dawning festival, to lift the sagging spirits of the town.  Excited, the half-kender reported back to the others, and they all decided to attend.

That evening, the entire group set out together, although they quickly split up.  Chantilly and Eliana went shopping for sweets from Joran.  The pair discussed magic, with Chantilly asking Eliana about how she learned magic, and telling her the story of her own mother who tried to become a mage and failed.  Eliana likewise told the story of her father and his own journey to become a mage.

Meanwhile, Caelin and Zakkoth caught up Benyt and Henry on the whole story of the past few days.  Caelin then noticed Markguth and his family, so went to speak with them.  Markguth introduced his sister, Celeste, and her children.  The family thanked the rogue for saving them.  Caelin then returns to the others and asks to make a toast for the departed Iro, but Henry and Benyt have no idea who that is.  Afterward, Eliana and Chantilly met back up with them.

Caelin spoke briefly of his own past, about his childhood in Palanthas and his mother, who was a drug addict.  He and Eliana then shared a dance while Henry worried about speaking to Nighthill.  Caelin suggested Eliana should go with Henry for moral support, and so they could have some time together, as she and Henry would make for a 'good match.'

Eliana is caught off-guard and a bit insulted by the implication, and storms off with Henry, practically dragging him off.  Confused, Caelin winds up sharing a dance with Benyt next.

Chantilly slips away from the group again, to search for a new cooking pot.  She finds something nice, but can't afford it, so tries to trick the shopkeep by claiming a rat was eating his food.  Surprisingly, a rat suddenly appeared by the man's lunch.  Although she fumbled the pot and was seen anyway, she managed to run away while the shopkeep was distracted.  The guards were summoned, but Chantilly managed to evade them by somehow transforming herself into the image of an old man.  Zakkoth threw off their scent further by pointing them in the wrong direction.  The draconian takes Chantilly's new ability in stride, finding it amusing.  He escorts her back to Caelin and Benyt.  Along the way, he answers her questions about his past--that he was from Neraka and lived in Teyr now.  Also, how Leosin saved him from taking his own life after he became disillusioned from following Mina (he left out that he was originally a cleric of Takhisis).

Eliana and Henry head for the keep, Henry confessing he felt he had failed because he did not rescue the prisoners back in the raider's camp, while Eliana tried to comfort him.  They found the governor, bandaged and limping, but otherwise alive and well, on his way out to make an appearance.  Henry asked Nighthill for new orders, but the govenor told him he should report to Frume for that.  So instead, Henry asked if he could include his report with Nighthill's when it was sent to Palanthas, and the old knight agreed.

The others decided to head to the temple to bring Leosin some ale.  They decided to let Zakkoth speak with him privately, and Caelin claimed the gods did not care about mortals anyway, which prompted a newcomer to ask him why he was in a temple then.  The newcomer was a dark haired ranger dressed in blue, who never gave his name, but Chantilly suspected she knew who it was.  Caelin said he was only there for Zakkoth's sake, and the ranger commended the rogue for his loyalty to his friends; he then gifted him a potion of healing, claiming he would need it soon.  He also spoke briefly with Chantilly about the Desolation, and how one day Kendermore may be reclaimed and made habitable again.  After he left, Chantilly teased Caelin for badmouthing Habbakuk in his own temple, but the rogue insisted the gods didn't see mortals as more than ants to be stepped on.  Chantilly disagreed, claiming the gods needed mortals just as much as mortals needed them.

Leosin promised Zakkoth he would see the entire group in the morning for their next mission, but he needed rest now.  The party then departed.

[Daos]

Chapter Three:
Dragon Hatchery

The next morning, the party met for breakfast in the castle's scullery, and were joined by Leosin. He told them he was heading to Solanthus to meet with Ser Frume, his Solamnic Knight contact. But he offered the party 150 STP each if they agreed to return to the raider camp and just keep an eye on it, for anything big happening. If anything does happen, head to Solanthus at the Black Tiger Inn to report it and receive their pay.

The party agrees, although Henry refuses payment at first, despite having basically no gear or weapons. The party elects Eliana to be their leader for now, and after a short shopping spree, they head out. Caelin scouts ahead, and it starts to rain. Chantilly introduces her new familiar, a bird named Gale.

They come across the campsite where they faced the cultists and kobolds. The kobolds were where they left them, rotting, but the humans they killed had been buried in crude graves. The party avoided the area where they encountered the rearguard entirely. Once they arrived at the raider's camp, they got as close as they dared and realized it was almost entirely abandoned. There were a few hunters by the entrance, but most of the tents were gone and nobody was really walking about the camp.

After some discussion, the party decides they need to get closer--and specifically, to check out the cave in the back. They confront the hunters, who don't seem interested in a fight but also don't seem to know much, either. The party tries to 'hire' the hunters to bring meat to Greenest, but they have a contract with the 'Skull Lady' for another week (the party quickly deduce they mean Mondath). Chantilly and Caelin go to scout out the cave entrance; according to the hunters, Mondath, Cyanwrath and some soldiers and kobolds still remain inside.

Caelin and Chantilly scout out the cave entrance and spot two Lily Knights guarding it, having a conversation about breakfast. They try to get the jump on them, but the knights quickly retreat deeper into the cave. Caelin and Chantilly chase them in, but Chantilly sends her familiar to try and retrieve the others.

Caelin and Chantilly chase the knights into another chamber, where they wait for the others to arrive. Instead of investigating, they decide to ignore it and take another route, through a mushroom garden. They avoid the trapped step and deduce which path to take. The next chamber is filled with bats, but the party is able to sneak past without waking them up.

Once past them, the party has three paths to take--north, east and south. They spend some time discussing these options. They spend so much time doing so, they don't notice Chantilly slip off on her own to investigate the south room. It turns out to just be a sort of natural walk-in fridge, filled with slabs of meat. She returns to the group, none of them even noticing she was gone.

The rest of the party decides to go north. Caelin finds some traps, and then slips ahead to find a group of kobolds approaching. He signals to the party, and they're able to get the jump on the kobolds, taking them down quickly. Afterward, they decide to check out the pit in the northern part of that chamber. Stairs lead down to it, but the stairs are covered in a cage with a locked gate (Chantilly finds the key nearby). The party tries to see deeper into the pit, but it's too dark and too big to see very far.

Giving up on that for now, the party instead tries the stairs the kobolds emerged from. Dim light is emitting from within. They find a trap on the stairs and avoid it, but make a lot of noise coming down, so the kobolds and urds inside the room (a barracks of sorts) hear them coming. A fight breaks out, and things are touch and go for awhile, but the tides turn when Zakkoth puts the kobolds to sleep. The party finishes off the urds, then debate on what to do with the sleeping kobolds--Caelin and Benyt believe they should be killed, while the others want to tie them up. They eventually decide on the latter, and Zakkoth tries (and fails) to charm one of them.

The party decides to dump the tied up kobolds in the caged pit they found earlier. However, when Chantilly unlocks it, one of the kobolds cries out and several immature guard drakes emerge from the shadows to attack. All but one of the kobolds escape in confusion, with Zakkoth incinerating the one who called out. The party works together and kills one of the drakes and gets the cage closed. The other two drakes run and hide in the shadows. The party tries to lure them back out, hoping to snipe at them from a safe distance. Eventually, they succeed, but once Caelin shoots one, they both flee back into the darkness and remain. Caelin then proclaims this a waste of time, and the party moves on.

While Chantilly scouts ahead in the next room, Caelin makes a plea to Eliana to allow him to kill Mondath once they find her. Henry and Eliana are reluctant to agree to this. Meanwhile, Chantilly finds a chest full of stolen valuables, swipes the contents, then reports back to the others without mentioning them. Caelin immediately moves to scout ahead of her, despite Eliana wanting him to stay back as he was still injured. So the others quickly follow after him.

Once inside the next room, Cyanwrath and four berserkers enter from the other side. The two sides banter, while Caelin remains hidden. Cyanwrath boasts that they've hit a number of towns on both sides of the border, but have now finished here and are preparing to move on. Chantilly suggests Langedrosa duel Henry, and the dragonspawn is amendable to that idea. But Henry refuses, so a full blown battle breaks out between both sides.

The party quickly decides the fight is mathematically unwinnable and call for a retreat, but several of them go down in the process. Eventually, Eliana surrenders the party, in exchange for their lives. Langedrosa is many things, but he always keeps his word, so he accepts. Cyanwrath summons Mondath and they debate whether they should just kill the party off this time, but Eliana convinces them she is worth a ransom as the daughter of a noble, so they decide to put the party in a heavily guarded pit.

The party quickly realizes that the pit contains three black dragon eggs, and deduces this is why the remnants of the raiders remained behind; the eggs will hatch soon. They manage to get out of their bonds and take a short rest, then try to decide their next move. Two drakes guard them in the pit, and four kobolds keep watch from the top of the stairs. The stairs have a cage around them, like in the drake nursery, and the key is at the top of the stairs.

They discuss their options, when they are interrupted by an alien voice above them. They only see stalactites, though. The voice refers to them as 'meats' and wonders if they seek help. When the party confirms they do, it wonders what they offer in return. It turns out to be a roper, a creature usually not known to be able to speak. Chantilly tells it of the meat locker she found earlier. She offers to share its location if the roper takes care of the kobolds guarding them.

The party decides on the plan; Chantilly will use her magic to grab the key and unlock the cage while the kobolds are busy with the roper. However, this goes awry when both Caelin and Zakkoth decide to try and steal one of the dragon eggs instead. While everyone else tries to rush up the stairs, these two are set upon by the drakes, and Zakkoth falls. Caelin leaves him behind and flees up the stairs, but Henry returns to rescue the old bozak. Meanwhile, the kobolds are no match for the roper, who just starts eating them whole. Once everyone is past the gate, Benyt shuts it, keeping the drakes from reaching them. Mopping up the kobolds is easy enough after that.

The party shows the roper to the meat locker, and Caelin returns Zakkoth's broken holy symbol. The group then heads for the exit. They just barely manage to stealth past the bats, then from there they are free and clear to the exit and escape into the rain, heading back to Greenest.

[Daos]

Chapter Four:
On the Road

After returning to Greenest and resting one more night in the castle, the party re-equipped, bought a pack horse, then began walking the road to Solanthus. It took four days, but they finally arrive in the city of Solanthus, former capitol of Solamnia and current capital of Heartlund.

The party makes their way to the Black Tiger Inn, where they meet with Ontharr Frume and Leosin Erlanthar. While Caelin busies himself with putting his horse into the stable and renting rooms for the week for the entire party, the others report. Henry is disappointed that he 'failed' his mission to stop the cult, but Frume points out that was never his mission in the first place. He was just supposed to gather intel, and he did. The party also learns that Mondath is not the leader of the cult, and in fact, reports to a black dragonspawn.

Caelin angrily interrupts, informing the party that the cult has spies and assassins on every street corner and if they do not shut up, they will all be killed. He also calls Frume, Henry's mentor and father-figure, a fool. He then storms off. However, Frume insists that Solanthus is safe and that the cult is not as widespread as Caelin seems to believe.

Later that evening, they all meet up again in a private room for their new mission. Leosin and Frume have learned that the cult is gathering their forces in Haltigoth and joining merchant caravans, presumably to transport their ill-gotten booty in plain sight. Again, the party's job is just fact-finding. They want the party to pose as guards, join one of those caravans and determine where the cultists are taking their treasure. However, the party is reluctant to do so. Zakkoth questions Leosin on why he saved his life in the past, and Leosin claims it was the right thing to do.

Eliana gives her signet ring to Caelin for safekeeping, and Henry does likewise with Chantilly. The party then chooses their aliases and brainstorm a bit on disguises.

The following morning, they set out, each with a riding horse supplied by Leosin. It takes six days of riding to reach the capital of Southshore, Haltigoth. There, they meet up with Ackyn Selebon, a contact of Frume's. Selebon helps set up guards with merchant caravans. It doesn't take long for the party to find the cultists, and after learning from Selebon which caravan they are joining, he sets them up with jobs as guards with the same caravan.

The following day, the caravan sets out, and the party each get to know their employers a bit better. After the first meal break, three adventurers approach, named Bondari, Nanoc and Tim. They boast of great feats, like dragon slaying and princess rescuing, but are looking for work in the caravan. The entire party is highly skeptical of them, some even outright suspicious, but as far as any can tell, they are not lying. Caelin tries to trick them into asking the cultists for work, but of course, the cultists turn them down. Ultimately, they actually wind up taking Caelin's job, and he's let go. He threatens them in the cant, but they don't seem to understand it.

The following day it rained throughout, so when night fell and the caravan came upon the Warm Haven, a roadside inn, it seemed like their luck was turning. However, they quickly discovered a party of four nobles had rented out all of the rooms, the common area and the stables. Eliana tries to appeal to their compassion, but quickly realizes that they are getting off on being jerks. Annoyed, the party decides to just deal with the rain.

A few days later, one of the travelers (a noble and his two bodyguards, on a carriage pulled by two horses) starts whipping his horses pretty hard. The entire caravan ignores them, except for the party (with the exception of Caelin, who after losing his job decides to just tail the caravan from a distance, then sneak into camp at night) who goes to investigate. Henry winds up intimidating the man into stopping. However, the noble, a man named Byrne (a cousin of Rowan, Eliana's old flame), misinterprets the threats as an attempted robbery. This leads to Henry insulting him, so Byrne calls for his bodyguards to protect him. The party continues to gang up on him, and forces him to abandon the horses and carriage and continue on foot. Throughout all of this, the caravan is continuing to move forward without them. Deciding the risk of blowing their cover or ruining their mission was worth it, they stay with the horses and brainstorm ideas to help them. They send Chantilly off to ask their employers not to fire them for abandoning their posts. She finds that Byrne is already telling them that the party are horse thieves. Chantilly defends the party, but the fact remains they abandoned their posts. The merchants decide to just sweep this all under the rug, providing the party returns the horses to their rightful owner and return quickly.

That evening, it rains all night. There is an odd whistling sound throughout the night. When the sun rises the next day, there are a field of cork-sized black mushrooms everywhere. When Chantilly tries to pick one, it explodes into a cloud of spores and makes a terrible sound, like a person moaning in pain. Henry starts destroying them, trying to carve out a path for the caravan. But after a couple of hours, his nerves are shot from the constant moaning and he finds it difficult to continue. The party tries to recruit Bondari, Nanoc and Tim to clear them away instead, but Achreny refuses to give them up.

Ultimately, Caelin, Benyt, Chantilly and Eliana decide to do it themselves, and work together to quickly clear a path out of the mushrooms for the caravan. Caelin mistakenly believes the mushrooms are deadly, and asks Green Imsa (a woman green head to toe) to brew an antidote, but the herbalist realizes they are not deadly, just hallucinogenic and anyone infected should be fine in a few days. Caelin sidles up to Green Imsa, complementing her herbalism skills and asking if he can walk with her, and even offering to let her ride his horse.

Ten days later, the party comes across a pair of women camping. They are twins, redheads, and quite attractive. Immediately, the party suspects they are bandits, con-artists, cultists or monsters in disguise. The older twin, Arietta, takes an interest in Caelin who wants nothing to do with her. The younger twin, Zelina, goes after Henry, who seems a bit more open to her attention. The young women are evasive about their past and where they are going, which only heightens the party's suspicions, despite the fact that they themselves are all lying about their own identities and pasts. Chantilly pickpockets a locket off Arietta while giving her a hug of greeting. Bondari tries to flirt with Arietta, but she shoots him down.

Arietta and Green Imsa start to argue over Caelin, who makes it clear he isn't interested in either of them. However, Eliana sees the two women fawning over him and storms off, joining Bondari's camp. Eager to redeem himself after Arietta shot him down, he tries turning on the charm. She quickly tires of it, however. She snaps at him, and he storms off, leaving Nanoc and Tim to try and win her over. But Caelin arrives and pulls her away to talk privately, to their disappointment.

Meanwhile, Zakkoth offers to play a knife-throwing game with Henry and Zelina, while Chantilly asks her employer to let her go investigate the twins, in case they are trouble. Zakkoth becomes upset when Zelina refers to him as 'grandpa.' Arietta gets upset when she notices her locket is missing, all she has left of her mother. Chantilly reveals she stole it earlier when she hugged Arietta. Arietta is not amused and demands Noohar punish the half-kender. Although Henry manages to talk him down from anything extreme, Noohar still insists that Chantilly not mingle with other campsites that night.

Four days later, the caravan comes across a lone wagon besieged by half a dozen hobgoblin bandits. Henry tries to rally the caravaneers to help fight them, but nobody is particularly interested in risking their lives for strangers. But the battle is happening in the middle of the road, so the caravan cannot proceed. The party is sent to deal with them. However, Henry uses his magic to cast bless on the party in full view of the entire caravan, revealing he has a divine connection to Habbakuk--something the cultists take note of.

Henry comes up with a plan involving the party riding their horses into battle and sending the besieged merchant and guards a note, but the others just ignore this and fight conventionally. They have no real problem, easily wiping out the entire squad. They are hailed as heroes by the caravaneers, and the merchant they rescued decides to join them until the next town to buy more horses and return for his guards and wagon.

A couple of days later, the caravan comes across what appears to be a human head sitting in the middle of the road. Upon closer examination, however, it's not a head--it's a person that has been buried in the ground from the neck down. The word 'oathbreaker' is painted on his head, and he's unconscious. Henry revives him and he, Benyt and Chantilly dig to free him. He claims his name is Mattias Black, and he was engaged to a woman but broke the oath when he learned her family were bandits and he was expected to join them. However, Benyt recognizes him as a fellow legionnaire. He then reveals the truth; he was sent on the same job as them. However, he was caught and the cultists turned the caravan against him, tricking them into thinking he was a thief. So he was left here to his fate.

A few days later, the party reaches the town of Northwal and the caravan decides to stay there for the day. Eliana speaks with Byrne, who is leaving the caravan, about why his cousin rejected his chosen bride. Byrne suspected he was waiting for someone else, but wasn't sure who. She also learned that apparently her parents think she was kidnapped.

Meanwhile, Chantilly and Zakkoth try to get to know some newcomers, Jamna Gleamsilver (a half-gnome) and Azbara Jos (a bald human). Jos is not interested in making friends, but Jamna is friendly enough.

A couple of days later, as the party is sitting down to a breakfast of hot oatmeal, Jamna approaches. She takes Eliana's bowl and uses her dagger to retrieve a small white bead from within the food. She explains it's a sliver of bone curled into a ball. You swallow it without realizing, then it uncurls in your throat, killing you. She warns that the others' bowls are probably likewise trapped, and they should speak that night.

When night approaches, the party meets up with her. She explains they have a common foe—the Children of Takhisis. The party doesn't trust her at all, except for Chantilly. She mostly coaxes information out of them while giving out very little herself, but she does drop that Jos is a Knight of the Thorn. The party is still distrustful and refuses to work with her, demanding she tell them more instead. So she walks off, but reminds them the cultists already tried to kill them once, and if they were smart, they'd take allies where they could.

After she leaves, Caelin suggests the party just kill the cultists now, beating them to the punch. But Benyt points out that if the cultists are dead, they can't follow them and find out where they are going, which was the whole reason they were sent here to begin with. Caelin relents, but also claims if he sees an opportunity, he might take it anyway.

A couple of days later, the party wakes up to a commotion. It turns out one of the cultists' guards is dead, run through with a short sword from behind. There is a lot of concern and worry among the caravaneers. Fenn immediately accuses Caelin, though. He claims the rogue was snooping around their wagons last night. The party quickly jumps to his defense openly but inwardly they all wonder if he actually did it or not. (He never actually denies it, just threatens anyone who says he did it.) Eventually, it's decided there isn't enough evidence to be sure, so the matter is dropped, especially after Jos intervenes and convinces Fenn to let it go.

However, while the matter seems settled, there is still a lot of hostility from the cultists toward Caelin, and vice versa. Further, there is a feeling of tension and fear in the air, as the murderer might still be amongst them, waiting to strike again...

[Daos]

Chapter Five:
Construction Ahead

The following day, the caravan reached a small settlement known as Fireshallow. It was here the cultists broke away from the caravan to join a different one. The party follows after them and realizes they will have to join this new caravan, as well. However, there are only five slots left, so Benyt and Mattias decide to report back to Solanthus while the others proceed. Chantilly doesn't wish to leave the current caravan, as she has grown attached to her employers. Benyt tells her off about this, and the half-kender storms off.

Zakkoth and Eliana go after her, while Henry and Caelin speak with the caravan master, Ardred Briferhew, to secure jobs for them all. After reuniting, the group splits up again to tell their various employers they are leaving. Afterward, Eliana and Henry go off alone in the wilderness, something that seems to annoy Caelin.

The following day they meet up with their new caravan. Fenn recognizes Caelin and the two nearly butt heads, but the others intervene and assure Ardred there's no problem. Ardred is too desperate to get going to care, so they move out. After about ten days, they reach the Carnath Roadhouse. As they stable their mounts, they learn from one of the stableboys, a lad named Wump, that none of the rooms have locks except for Bog Luck's (the half-ogre leader of this roadhouse) and the strongroom.

The party splits up at this point. Eliana goes to check on Caelin in the kitchen, which sort of serves as a tavern area for the visitors and workers. Henry wanders around the area. Chantilly speaks with Bog Luck about locking up her book in the strong room.

In the kitchen, Fenn is glaring daggers at Caelin so the latter decides to 'get this over with' and challenges Fenn to a duel. He accepts, and the two agree to meet in the courtyard in an hour. Henry overhears this and confronts Fenn, trying to convince him to call it off (despite Caelin being the one who issued the challenge). Fenn reveals he knows exactly who Henry and the others are, and blames them for the death of his sister. Henry decides that he will not allow Caelin to fight, but will fight in his place, instead. Eliana points out that this will only upset Caelin, as he feels inferior to Henry, and it will appear that Henry believes Caelin is too weak to fight for himself. Chantilly doesn't want a fight, because she doesn't want Henry, Caelin or Fenn to get hurt. She runs off after Fenn to, like Henry, try to convince him to call off the challenge he did not actually issue. But while Fenn is not the one who made the challenge, he is more than willing to finish it.

When it is getting near the appointed time, Fenn goes out into the courtyard. But Henry jumps in and starts the fight before Caelin can arrive by provoking Fenn. When Caelin finds out, he's furious and runs off, calling Henry a traitor. Henry ignores him and focuses on taking down Fenn as quickly as possible, although this means the others have less time to investigate the strongroom. Chantilly, Eliana and Zakkoth all slip away to break into the room, hoping to find something to help them in their investigation of the cult. They manage to find a fake chest that hides a trap door to a long and dark tunnel. Chantilly sends her familiar down it to investigate.

However, by that point, Henry has defeated Fenn, but revived him so he still lived. With the fight over, the distraction was also over, and Bog Luck noticed the warehouse was unlatched. He went to investigate, and then noticed the strongroom was unlocked, as well. Chantilly, Eliana and Zakkoth tried to hide in the tunnel. However, Bog Luck quickly realizes what is up and jumps in and attacks them.

Meanwhile, Henry decides to go find Caelin. Instead, he spots Jamna sneaking into the warehouse. He rushes in after her, making noise and drawing attention. So she quickly bars the door after he enters, and the two slip into the strongroom and see the trapdoor and can hear fighting, so jump in to help. At the same time, some of Bog Luck's allies—a trio of Jarak-sinn—show up, as well. The fight is long and brutal, but ultimately the party are the victors.

They realize, though, they cannot turn back now, as Bog Luck's men are searching for them. They have no idea where Caelin is, either. So with no other options, they decide to follow the tunnel.

[Daos]

Chapter Six:
Castle Naerytar

(Under re-construction.)

[Daos]

Chapter Seven: 
Hunting Lodge

The party finds themselves standing in the mountains somewhere, near an old hunting lodge. The party, however, immediately heads into the nearby woods to find a place to camp. Shortly after doing so, they hear a patrol consisting of trolls and drakes coming, so hide. Once the patrol moves on, they search for another spot in the woods but come to realize the woods are heavily patrolled so realize that isn't feasible.

The party returns to the cabin, and scouts out the perimeter, finding a kennel and some stables in the back. The stable is empty, and the party discusses whether they should crash there for the night or risk entering the lodge in their cultist uniforms instead. After more debate, they return to the lodge. They note the front door is ajar, so go inside. But there is nobody there to greet them. They search through several rooms, and while there is evidence someone has been about recently, they don't see anyone at first.

They find some elven plate mail displays, but decide to head upstairs and find an armory that is partially caved-in with a few weapons left inside. They poke around some more, searching various rooms but not finding anyone. They do find a master bedroom, though, and find a locked chest under it. But Chantilly is unable to pick the lock and they notice Jamna has vanished, as well. They find a couple of guest rooms and decide to take a short rest.

They move on and finally find some people in a conference room. Jamna, visible again, is speaking with a half-elf woman and three human men. The woman introduces herself as Talia the White and offers the party a deal. Henry is reluctant, but Eliana insists they hear her out. Chantilly notices that Talia has white scales on her, like the blue scales on Eliana and she asks her about them. In doing so, she accidentally reveals Eliana has scales. Talia is intrigued, and asks her about the dreams. Talia also expresses frustration that someone as important as her is left rotting in the middle of nowhere. So she makes the party a deal. If they kill Rezmir and bring her the black mask, in return Talia will give them a banner and a pass-phrase that will let them enter the flying citadel she fled to.

The party decides they will agree to do this, but want to take a long rest first. Talia warns them that Rezmir will leave soon. She is likely at the flying citadel parked over by the village of Mageholm. That citadel will depart soon, and the party will be unlikely to catch her then. They decide it's worth the risk. Eliana also inquires more about her condition from Talia.

Talia explained that during the Dragon Purge, dragons slew dragons, absorbing their souls and growing stronger. When the five strongest dragons, the Dragon Overlords, took over Krynn, they created skull totems to house this excess energy, to draw upon it in a world without magic. When the Overlords were slain, their totems were destroyed, and all of that energy spilled out into the world. Some of those soul fragments merged with living creatures, like Talia and Eliana, making them a fusion of mortal and dragon.

This news worried Eliana, wondering if she would continue to transform until she was more dragon than anything else. And whether Khellendros might somehow possess her mind in the process. But Talia couldn't be sure; this was all new, and the end result of the change was not yet known.

The party returned to the guest rooms to rest again. But Eliana was disturbed by what she had learned. What if she continues to change? What if she stops being herself? The others assure her that will never happen.

The party gets some rest, and the following day, they receive a banner and pass-phrase from Talia, then set off toward Mageholm. Before they go, she warns them that the village is under the Children's control and they should trust no one.

[Daos]

Chapter Eight: 
Castle in the Clouds

After half a day of travel, the town of Mageholm comes into view, as does the flying citadel, which remains docked just outside of the village. Before entering, Zakkoth offers to cast a spell on each of them to help protect them from death. Chantilly accepts, but Eliana decides to wait. Henry also accepts, until Zakkoth calls him 'little knight' for the nth time. He snaps and demands Zakkoth stop. The two argue, with Chantilly trying to defend Zakkoth and Eliana defend Henry. Henry decides not to take the blessing and Zakkoth is offended. Henry also reveals his father was associated with the Knights of Neraka.

The party enters Mageholm and looks around, hoping to buy some supplies. But there is no supply shop, or even an inn. They decide to try the tavern. They aren't very welcomed, and Zakkoth senses hostility from the barkeep and most of the patrons, although he senses fear from one young man but doesn't tell anyone. Henry tries to order rations, but they don't sell that. Chantilly is willing to sit down and eat breakfast, but the others drag her out and decide to just head for the citadel.

When they reach the gate, they find it guarded by two animated stone statues. Chantilly speaks the passphrase and they let the party pass. Once in the courtyard, there's nobody around (save for some ogre sentries up in the towers). So the party decides to check out the barracks to find someone who can just tell them where Rezmir is. One of the guards there directs them to the keep, but warns she is in a foul mood so they probably won't get a warm reception.

The party heads for the keep and Chantilly listens at each of the rooms. She deduces which room Rezmir is in and also discovers an empty guest room. The party retreats to the guest room to discuss strategy. As they spoke, the ground rumbled and the citadel rose into the air. Not sure how to proceed, they decided to have Zakkoth cast a Divination to learn more information.