Letter to the Lord and Bard of Moreislor

The 15th of Eleasis, the year of the 12 warnings, 

Aberrard, with the courage of Torm, humble fellow of the Order of the Valiant of Waterdeep, on his behalf and that of his brother, to the Virtuoso tale spinner Garennin, Lord and Bard of Moreislor, I give you our kindest greeting father.

Because we know that you desire to hear from us and to learn the state of our prosperity, we think it fitting to first tell you of this.

We have been given the duty to uncover all we can from an enemy of the city of Greenest. These enemies are fierce and bountiful. One among them took your second son down without any effort on his part, yet my fall brought safety and refuge to hostages. It was not in vain father. Torm requires of his followers that they should give their own lives if it can save one or many others from pain and suffering at the hands of evildoers.

I promise you that I shall cross swords with the sky coloured Dragonman calling itself Langdedrosa Cynwrath again and perhaps, Torm willing, I can give him a fight worthy of one of your stories.

Our party leaves in the morning. I know not what awaits us. The assailants did have a Dragon with them when the city was pillaged and looted.

You will be pleased to know that I always listen to your tales when you entertain guests at Moreislor, and that I remember one particular story about the Dragon Queen, Tiamat. The villains of this story stole loot for Her Hoard. I suspect and believe without a doubt that the Cult of the Dragon is most definitively behind the attack, and I fear if they remain unchecked, there will be future raids upon villages and towns of the good folk in this part of the Sword Coast.

My brother, your third born, is well. He still has some difficulty making positive first impressions. He has made the castle guards in Greenest uncomfortable and suspect that he is up to no good.

Torm has granted him courage on more than one occasion, I need not worry about his safety during a fight, and Leo holds his own and can fell an opponent with his arcane crafts. I watch him as you have instructed, trying to discover how and where his arcane power comes from. I never have seen him read a tome or scroll; it is as if he instinctively knows secrets that I fear should remain hidden from the Realms.

He sometimes whispers into the night when he sleeps as I take first watch. I can never make out what he is saying. I think it is not a tongue I have ever heard before.  He seems to be in some nightmare, which he does not wish to escape from. It often gives me chills when I hear speak this outwardly tongue, but then it keeps me sharp and aware during my turn as watch.

We both would like some news from Moreislor. How is Mother and how is your First born?

In brief therefore, Torm willing, we shall return to you. We render to you the gratitude which you deserve for your care of your sons and our mother your wife; and for the very great fidelity which you have shown to us. And with the full intention of worthily rewarding you with new stories to tell, we ask you to pray for our safe return.

We are and Always Will Be!

From Greenest to Raider Camp

Before we set out from Greenest, Aberard does a bit of cogitation upon the subject of the attackers, and shares his wisdom:

The cult seems to refer to a Queen, and the cult worships Tiamat - whose many heads represent the various chromatic dragons. I'm assuming the Queen and Tiamat are one and the same, but I'm not certain yet. It is said that Tiamat has been imprisoned in the 9 hells for aeons! I'm sure she is a bit disgruntled, but it was surely for the best...

Not long after leaving Greenest, we come upon a small group of humans and kobolds, a small group of the raiders. No challenge for our merry band! I did receive my first wound though! Great joy! I remembered my lessons on meditation, and put them to good use. We interrogate one of the humans, and Leoben intimidates one to spill his beans. Unfortunately, he also spilled the contents of his bladder, and we had to move on. I can't recall anything important being revealed - I just think Leoben likes to bully people, but I'll reserve judgement.

We follow the trail, and we come upon an obvious ambush. Actually, I found the ambush. But if I must be truthful, I stumbled into the ambush. But I did manage to expertly deflect a crossbow bolt directly back at its shooter! Of course, the next two bolts were not deflected at all... Things went dark for a while.

By the time I was revived, it seemed Leoben had brokered some kind of truce. But of course, that was just a ruse to get closer to the ambushers! The battle was not very long, but one of their leaders managed to escape.

The next day, we arrive at the raider camp. It appears very defensible! Leoben and I decide to infiltrate the camp, wearing some black robes with purple trim that we liberated from the ambushers. We had some difficulties getting any information at all, but we did manage to get a few tidbits: There appears to be some sort of dragon (or draconic at least) creature in the caves at the back; There is someone named Rezmir (half dragon) who seems to be in charge here...

We are able to confirm that Leosin is here, but I can't find him! In the end, Leoben and I decide to leave, regroup with our companions, and discuss a better course of action that we can take as a group.

As told by Aoth,

Initiate to the Order of the Setting Sun

Setting Out

The adventure started in the town of Berdusk where we have all been contracted to escort [military] supplies to the keep in the town of Greenest. We all met up at the Silver Spoon Inn to meet the drivers and each other. The Drivers were very clear that if anything happened to them that there would be no compensation upon arrival.

The trip to Greenest was very boring with Leoben going out of his mind by the boredom. He was eventually kicked out of the cart for pulling pranks on the driver after the first day. Upon arrival to the town at sunset you see black smoke rising from several building with people running from human and kobold raiders. To top it all off we see a Blue Dragon unleash a lightning bolt on the keep in the center of the town that is still holding!

Sir Aberard commands the drivers to move forward as the group decides to head to the keep, believing there is enough chaos to make it through. Once we are within site of the keep you come to the rescue of a family being pursued by kobolds. Our party jumps to the family's defense and quickly dispatches them thanks to a sleep spell from Leoben.

Once in the keep you meet Governor Nighthill and Castellan Escobert the Red. They both ask for our assistance in helping get as many townsfolk to the keep as possible. No sooner than we agree, the force breaks into the keep through a side Sally Port entrance. Vladmir bravely slays an Ambush Drake while the rest of the party slays the remaining forces to secure the Sally Port once again. The party helps the townsfolk survive the rest of the night by chasing off the Blue Dragon, rescuing townsfolk from the isolated town Chapel and capturing two prisoners due to Aeoth’s martial prowess.

With dawn approaching and the fighting dying down, a Blue Half-Dragon called Langdedrosa Cyanwrath approaches the keep flanked by many humans and kobolds with the family of one of the militiamen hostage, issuing a challenge to duel threatening to kill the hostages if no one accepts. Sir Aberard bravely steps up to save the innocent family and fights fiercely wounding Langdedrosa before being run through by his greatsword. Langdedrosa retreats at this point letting the hostages go while laughing at Leoben’s outrage at seeing his brother fall reminding him of a previous battle. Healers rush out to collect the hostages and Sir Aberard restoring him to full health with their magic.

The next morning the Governor asks us find the raider’s camp and collect intelligence offering to pay us 250gp each if our mission is successful. The party agrees and  Leoben asks to interrogate the prisoners as the Governor wasn’t able to get any information from them. Leoben discovers one of them is a cultist from the Cult of the Dragon and threatens physical torture on the Cultist if he doesn’t share any information. The Cultist refused to talk so Leoben follows through on the threat and removes a finger. The guards come running at the screams and summons the Castellan who ejects Leoben from the prison and has him escorted back to the party. Based on the reaction from Sir Aberard it doesn’t look like this is the first time this has happened.

During the interrogation Nesim Waladra, a monk from the same monastery as me (Aeoth), discovers I am town and visits the group in the keep. He informs me that Leosin Erlanthar disappeared during the raid last night while the group was protecting villagers traveling to the keep. This morning they searched for him and only discovered his broken staff and torn choker that appears to of been ripped off. Of course I agrees to try and locate Leosin in the army camp while Nesim travels back to the monastery to give a report.

As told by Aoth,

Initiate to the Order of the Setting Sun