The party continued exploring the catacombs. They fought their way through a room of mushrooms and mold to find an old woman trapped in a magic field. After pushing the button to free her, they decided to make this their base of operations (so to speak) because they would return here to rest and bring any prisoners they rescued here until it was safe for them to leave.
Beyond a dangerous room filled with needlefang drake swarms and magic traps, the party rescued a dwarf who provided them with curiously detailed directions to where Jelissa, acolyte of Ioun, was being held. They concluded that it must be the stairs beyond the room where they fought the ettercaps and headed that way. After dispatching some more hobgoblins, they recused Jelissa, who latched on to
WRATHGAR, and proceeded north to find the remaining hostage.
The route they took to rescuing Young Master Thurann was a roundabout one. They killed more gnomes, zombies, tomb guardians, and a wight and his minions. One after another they fell until the party came to the fountain to which the boy had been chained.
Had been chained because they were too late and the undead had already torn him to pieces and feasted on his entrails. I suppose it’s not entirely a tragedy. He never had to learn that his father had been killed by ettercaps.
On their way out, they decided to clear the one last passage that lay unexplored. It contained a number of thin, stone columns, and an angry hobgoblin behind the doors on the opposite side of the room. The fight could charitably be called “One Sided” and “Very Dull”, but we’ll pretend it was an exciting battle between the villain of this module and our stalwart heroes. They found in the room beyond the rest of the relics that had been stolen from the Great Hall along with a letter that reads as follows:
Brave Sinruth,
The Red Hand will rise again! The other remnants take great cheer in your recent attacks on commerce coming into The Blight That is Brindol.
We’re particularly pleased with your ability to inspire a fighting spirit in others, whether they have true goblin blood or merely wish they did. To be blunt, we think you should have many more soldiers under your command. Many, many more.
And recent events have rendered some remnants leaderless. With a bold stroke on your part, the remnants would rally to the Red Hand you so proudly display.
As your bold stroke, do this: Attack the The Blight That is Brindol by night. Focus your efforts on their Hall of Great Valor, for it mocks the many hard-won victories by the first Red Hand of Doom. Take from them the spoils of war they shamelessly hang on their walls and bring those antiques back to Rivenroar.
Do this before the moon is next full. And with regard to your previous question, turning over captives to your unliving allies at Rivenroar is perfectly acceptable. War sometimes makes strange bedfellows, and we appreciate how you’ve united such disparate forces under your banner. Whatever prisoners you take from Rivenroar you can give to the wight.
Fight with the valor of your ancestors, Sinruth. And keep your hands stained red with the blood of the weak! I will visit you again next month, at a time of my choosing.
The Emissary |
The party is preparing themselves for the return to Brindol, having concluded the Rescue at Rivenroar.
