19/7/1491 Rest in hiding, then reach Starsong Hill at nightfall.
20-26/7/1491 Rest up at Starsong Hill with the Tiri Kitor, Bear enchants his armour to +1. Motter has the Armour of Kalborith (+2 full plate) resized to fit him. Malfurion gets Kalborith's +2 silver mace to wield.18.7.1491 Account, by Caileyanna Dusksong
We have just finished off our last hobgoblin in the bell tower and thank Sirrion for that. We were battered, as Egg’s account of events
details further; we take a short rest here afterwards. Tess is especially tired after we almost lost her, and, dead frogs notwithstanding,
decides to stay here a while and keep an eye out while we try to infiltrate the townhall next. A man short, I am relieved to see my dear
Malfurion rowing up quietly to us, with Motter beside him. They’re a welcome sight indeed, and when they arrive, they told us Killiar had
pointed them in our direction and that’s how they knew where to find us.
As much as I would like to take some time with my husband to tell him about meeting Ilian and news of Cirila, now was not the time. Egg had
spotted four ogres patrolling around the townhall. We aren’t out of the woods yet. I grab Malfurion’s hand, grab hold of my horn and focus
on the task ahead. Just think of the songs I could compose of our glory if we survive this!
It seemed foolish to row straight to the townhall from where we were, we would be spotted, even by creatures as dimwitted as the ogres.
After some deliberation, Bear decided to scout through the water for a way in from below the water. He changed into a crocodile (it’s always
a delight to watch him change into and conjure up beasts!) to scout ahead in the water, for a way in or for danger down below. Good thing
he did too. He smelled something acrid and foul and told us it was akin to the razor fiend we encountered before in the Witchwood.
Thankfully he was not seen or attacked by whatever caused that scent, and he scouted ahead for us. Attached to the townhall he found a
hatchery of some sort, where he found eggs with that same scent a lot stronger in there. He saw what he at first thought was a log move,
but thankfully he managed to duck out of sight before it could spot him.
When he made it back to us in one piece, we deliberated once more. We decided the safest way seemed to be to go around the hatchery to
approach the townhall from the other side where we’d be less likely to be spotted. I suggested we use the hobgoblin boats that were moored
around the bell tower, as they would attract less attention. We took two of these boats and went round as agreed. However as soon as we
approached the hatchery it would seem the creature within it caught our scent and started hissing and growling. Worried it would alert
anyone nearby, we went back to the nearest walkway we could land on, and by some miracle were not spotted.
Egg and Malfurion being the stealthiest, went up ahead on the ramp to see if the way was clear to get to the top floor of the townhall, which
seemed the safest way in. The wood creaked under Malfurion’s foot and my heart leapt into my throat for a moment, but thankfully no
alarm was raised. They peek in and see four ogres standing inside, and the interior filled with ogre nests that would make it hard indeed to
manoeuvre around. There were also two more ogres outside patrolling, just around the corner and we were not in their line of sight yet. Egg
motions to Motter to go pick off the two outside with him, while Malfurion looks at me. When I move to go to him, that same wooden plank
creaked even harder under my foot! The ogres look up; we are seen, and we surprise them by jumping straight into battle!
Malfurion tries his best to stun these brutes, but their thick skin makes it incredibly difficult and he fails repeatedly. Bear has far more
success by using ice storm and calling lightning down on them repeatedly. It wasn’t quick enough however; we hear them excitedly mentioning
both Saarvith and Regiarix. Malfurion and me look at eachother in alarm. The black dragon that took his brother and father! He is here?!
Before we could react to this at all, we see black claws and wings coming up from the hole in the floor, and suddenly we are not just facing
Ogres, but a juvenile black dragon as well. I start doubting whether I will ever get to complete my songs, and his fearsome presence makes me
cower in fear (it is shameful to admit but I will commit no falsities to my accounts), and to my horror the fiend claws and bites my husband
who immediately goes down. No!
As terrified as I am, I will not watch my husband die. I heal him, but we are outnumbered, and the ogres knock him down again in no time. I
look around me wildly. Egg and Motter are outside the townhall dealing with Ogres there, and we are dying! Bear! Help us! Bear comes to the
rescue by summoning a cave bear to protect Malfurion’s unconscious body. I look at him gratefully, but the poor bear is no match for a
dragon and was mowed down in one fierce attack. Then Malfurion surprises us all. In a miraculous death save, he jumps up, hits the dragon
right on the nose, then jumps down from the side to the floor below! I gasp, but before I can panic, I see him running around back to the entry
we came in from. If I wasn’t still trapped in fear, I would’ve sung in jubilance right there and then! I do manage to heal him up a bit. Thankfully
Egg and Motter have dealt with the ogres outside and come to our aid as well, and Malfurion comes back in to do his part. The boys
manage to push the Ogres down the stairs to the floor below, and then Egg, jealous of Malfurion booping the dragon’s nose, wants to do him
one better. He shield bashes the dragon back down the hole!
We look at each other incredulously and giggle a bit. But now what? Bear decides to do one of his delightful transformations again and
turns into a spider so he can sneak down there and look what they’re up to below us. Egg tries to distract the dragon by insulting him, and
the dragon responds with menacing threats. In meantime, Motter and Malfurion drag the dead ogres to block the two staircases, and I shake
the fear off me and recover my wits.
Bear comes back to tell us what he saw. The dragon stood at the ready for a breath attack, with 2 Ettins at the ready for attack on
either side. To make matters worse, he saw a hobgoblin archer that looked dressed like a leader and quite fearsome. There is another
hobgoblin as well, wearing strange red robes that he couldn’t identify. A caster of some sort; we wonder if this might be Saarvith. Of course,
the ogres we had pushed down were there too, and to top it all off, there was a giant eagle perched next to them. If we go down there, we’re
dead. What are we going to do? Despite our predicament, Bear did not fail to mention the sight of the dragon’s hoard right behind him. We
were determined to get to it.
Then Bear, genius druid that he is, comes up with a diabolical plan. He controls water, and floods the lower floor completely, in the hope of
either washing some away, or drowning them. Instead, most of them floated up to the hole in our floor or the stairs but Regiarix, one ogre and
the eagle seemed to stay down there. We did spot something large swimming away at some point, so Regiarix got away, but if we kept the
ogre and eagle down there long enough, we could drown them! Poor Malfurion is having a bad day, and the ogres knock him out again and the
one downstairs came up. Bear however, is absolutely shining, bringing down lighting to decimate them all. The eagle drowns below, but Saarvith,
who turned out to be the ranger, now he was mine. I exploded his head with my Eldritch blast and brought my unlucky husband back up right
after. That was a proud moment for me, sure to be embellished a bit in song later! As might a comical moment where we threw an ogre down
on top of the caster who was pinned down by this big brute’s body. We almost threw down a second ogre on top of the first, but didn’t
manage to, and the caster almost ran away. Motter managed to get to it however, and we were finally in a clear room, nothing between us
and the treasure we found.
Greed got the better of us, and we took the boats back to the shore after picking up Tess, to rest and divide up our loot. We completely
forgot the eggs and fiend that were sitting in the hatchery. That will be something we regret later if we don’t attend to it soon, I imagine, but
in the moment, we just wanted to rest and enjoy the spoils. We sleep a couple of hours to the next day.
18.7.1491
I divided up the gold and such, but then we had a closer look at the rest of the hoard. It looked like there was the arms and armor of a
Rhestiloran champion, which would be of good use to members of our party now. There was a horn of fog, that I immediately took a fancy to.
What can I say, I love blowing horns! But there was a sinister find there as well. A fine chained necklace, emanating necromantic magic as
Bear would tell us. He wanted nothing to do with it. There was a letter in the box with it. It was written in Goblin, but several members of our
party know that foul language and so we could translate:
Saarvith—
Take great care with the enclosed phylactery. I need not explain to you what the
Ghostlord would do if he knew where I had sent his little bauble for safekeeping.
Hide it somewhere safe—perhaps it could be trusted to your dragon friend’s keeping?
Keep it hidden until Brindol is taken. Should it fall into the hands of someone who
could return it to its owner, the consequences for our effort could be dire indeed.
—Ulwai
How troubling indeed! Who is this Ghostlord, who is clearly a Lich? Who is this Ulwai? Do the hobgoblins have an alliance with this Lich?
Could we disrupt it somehow, now that we have this phylactery? Also, until Brindol is taken? What happens when Brindol is taken? So many
questions fill my head, but my party is too tired to think of all this right now. Egg wanted to hold on to the foul necklace and so it is now in
his care. We are exhausted and need rest and recovery, so we decide to go back to Starsong Hill to have a proper rest. Bear enchants his
armor, while Motter adjusts the armor we found to his dwarven form. Malfurion enjoys the powerful mace we found.
We ask Sellyria if she knows anything about the Ghostlord and she tells us of some legends that are told in these parts. I make a mental
note to look into these further. Perhaps Trellara would know more. Sellyria did mention she has seen a map with his location in the
Thornwaste but this map was now destroyed. She mentions to try looking for a map in Brindol, and I intend to do just that. I believe this
Ghostlord to be critical in the war to come. But first we need to ensure the alliance with the elves, and with Regiarix and those mysterious
eggs still out there, I do not believe we have done enough to achieve that. I hope we are not too late.
While we rest, I start to develop a song of our latest adventure:
Ode to Bear
In the middle of an ancient ruin,
flooded by the reeking Rhest lake.
A plot of war was clearly brewin,
the fate of Elsir Vale at stake.
We find hobgoblins and ogres,
alongside some lizardmen.
Even a dragon as we progress,
hatching razorfiends inside a pen!
Overwhelmed and all but overrun,
surrounded by fiends everywhere.
Malfurion couldn’t pull off a stun,
Cailey couldn’t quite shake the scare
Despite it all our party is always brave,
standing tall in the face of such despair.
We would be sleeping early in our grave,
had it not been for our very own Bear!
Nature’s elements he loves them all,
ice and lightning did he forth call.
Protects the fallen with his beasts,
even if they end as the dragon’s feasts
And then as his final coupe d’etat,
controlling water to flood the lot!
Thanks to Bear we live to tell this tale,
and to fight another day for Elsir Vale
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