As the adventurers progressed toward the raider camp, they spied a single cultist moving quickly across the open plain, heading north while clutching a satchel close to his side. They sprinted toward the courier in pursuit, overcome by curiosity of what news might be emanating from the target of their investigation. The man was resilient, breaking free from the pursuit not or twice, but three separate times. However, eventually Tross proved his tactical prowess, overcoming the runner's brute strength with a well-timed intercept course which brought him down. They quickly tied the man down, discovering a missive written in draconic within his satchel.
Rilos easily translated the text, which was written in his native language, sharing the following with the group:
"Rezmir,
"We have great success to report! I have updated Frulam on all of our forays and the great wealth we've gathered. Not only have we captured the riches of the Green Fields, but we've also forayed into Iriaebor, Easting, Proskur and even Priapurl and Eversult. Resistance was petty and the Queen's glory great. We have done much to restore the name of the dragon.
"Our path northward brought us to Greenest at the last, where we encountered some small resistance. A group of adventurers that our scouts somehow missed was seen making trouble in the town. We made every reasonable effort to capture any resistance, but these guests proved exceptionally wily. I believe the Greenest Keep hides some secret entrance which obscured their movements.
"This is a small matter, though, when compared to the failure of Lennithon. Their fortifications would have been a small matter for the old fool, but someone cast a spell near him and he was too scared to continue. He has sullied the name of the Queen! I tried to confront him, humbly, but Lennithon derided my concerns. He told me to consider the tragedy of Venomfang and then flew away! I was left to deal with the menace by myself. I am grieved to report that we failed to breach the keep.
"I raised these concerns with Frulam, who seems to think it is not worth further interest. I felt it was my duty to bring these failings to your attention directly."
Considering the implications of this message, Shay worked her best skills of persuasion on the captured cultist, convincing the man to divulge as much about the state of the cult in the Greenfields as he knew. He revealed that the raiders kept a rear guard to watch for any who might attempt to follow. He also showed his eagerness by telling her the raider camp was 100 kobolds strong along with 80 more cultists and common mercenaries mixed among the group. All of these were led on the ground by Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, the half-dragon champion who fell at the tip of Seraphina's blade. Langdedrosa served his role as a lieutenant to Frulam Mondath, who was the apparent leader of the raider camp. She operated under the authority of Rezmir, a wyrmspeaker of the black dragon mask. The courier was to deliver the intercepted message directly to Rezmir at Castle Naerytar, though he knew little of where that was located. His first task was to meet up with cultists in Baldur's Gate before proceeding north or passing off the important message.
Pleased with the cultist's wealth of information, but frustrated at his untoward advances, Shay left the man to Unka's greataxe, preferring to ignore the savagery of their duty to rid the land of these foul cultists. Tross contemplated the implications of the revelations while moving to a nearby strand of trees where he climbed up and successfully spotted a likely ambush spot for the rear guard. He clambered down and suggested the party should avoid this area, but entry to the camp was likely to be easy since the cult was using mercenaries to bolster their ranks. Seraphina needed hear no more, and headed to the camp straightaway without bothering to wait for her companions to pull themselves toward action.
All of them breached the raider camp without issue, spending their time wandering around the chaotic and busy bivouac. None of the mercenaries seemed to know much about the plans of the cult, and even fewer focused on anything aside from their enthusiasm for the money being earned in service to the cult. The cultists were less inviting, and the party worked to avoid them along with the stench of the kobold community which was itself separated from the main tent groupings.
Our heroes did find a series of posts driven into the ground with prisoners chained uncomfortably onto them. Among these unfortunates, they identified Leosin Erlanthar, the concern of Nesim Waladra. Seeing he was in no apparent immediate danger, the group decided to continue their exploration until the cover of night would afford them an opportunity to break the man loose.
Seraphina slipped into the suspicious cave at the eastern end of the horseshoe-shaped valley where the encampment had been made. She found a few guards and stumbled down a trap into a garden of imposing fungus. She immediately recognized dangerous violet fungus mixed in with more innocuous sources of protein. Finding nothing more interesting and sensing the danger of being in this place alone, she slipped quietly back out to join the others.
Shay investigated the repulsive smell coming from the northeastern corner of the camp where she found an open grave of discarded bodies. This would have been of little actual interest, but among the grisly mass of corpses she spied the bodies of three warforged who stared lifelessly toward the sky. Slipping stealthily into the pit, she examined these bodies very closely, but failed to find any means by which she might revive these unfortunates. Her investigation was rewarded, though, by the discovery of three gems socketed into their very bodies. She knew exactly what these were, having studied her shield at length and pried them loose so that she could make use of their power.
Tross, Rilos and Unka continued nosing around the camp, trying to garner information from the raiders. They had little luck determining the next target, but they did manage to stir up a friendly arm wrestling competition. Rilos had potential, but he stepped back at first defeat. Tross, on the other hand, was determined to demonstrate both his value and comradery, hoping his enthusiasm and pleasantness would inspire the mercenaries to speak more freely. Unka also joined in, but she lacked both social grace and experience with arm wrestling, thinking instead this was merely to be a display of dominance. She lifted Tross and flipped him onto the ground brusquely, but the warlock waved her off and continued his contests. They soon found themselves locked in an escalating wager with Babfist, the terror of Eversult. Wins on both sides of the table roused a hearty gathering of observers who cheered with glee until Tross accidentally wrenched the poor man's arm down with such force that it snapped bone.
At this, none more would join the contest and Tross busied himself ensuring the victim of his powerful display did not hold any grudge. On the contrary, Babfist thought the unfortunate injury to be quite amusing. He was confident it would not hamper his dealings with the cult. Although the jovial man willingly shared all that he knew, there was little more to be told beyond what the adventurers had already learned. So, they resolved to console themselves with simply completing their rescue effort. They rested for a short while in shallow depressions which pocked the walls of the camp, coming back together after night had fallen.
Rilos cast darkness over the prisoner area, ensuring nothing would be seen, while Tross moved in to free Leosin and cast invisibility upon the half-elf. Though the brutally mishandled Leosin could barely move, they made their way easily out of the camp under the cover of invisibility and the night's darkness.
Rilos easily translated the text, which was written in his native language, sharing the following with the group:
"Rezmir,
"We have great success to report! I have updated Frulam on all of our forays and the great wealth we've gathered. Not only have we captured the riches of the Green Fields, but we've also forayed into Iriaebor, Easting, Proskur and even Priapurl and Eversult. Resistance was petty and the Queen's glory great. We have done much to restore the name of the dragon.
"Our path northward brought us to Greenest at the last, where we encountered some small resistance. A group of adventurers that our scouts somehow missed was seen making trouble in the town. We made every reasonable effort to capture any resistance, but these guests proved exceptionally wily. I believe the Greenest Keep hides some secret entrance which obscured their movements.
"This is a small matter, though, when compared to the failure of Lennithon. Their fortifications would have been a small matter for the old fool, but someone cast a spell near him and he was too scared to continue. He has sullied the name of the Queen! I tried to confront him, humbly, but Lennithon derided my concerns. He told me to consider the tragedy of Venomfang and then flew away! I was left to deal with the menace by myself. I am grieved to report that we failed to breach the keep.
"I raised these concerns with Frulam, who seems to think it is not worth further interest. I felt it was my duty to bring these failings to your attention directly."
Considering the implications of this message, Shay worked her best skills of persuasion on the captured cultist, convincing the man to divulge as much about the state of the cult in the Greenfields as he knew. He revealed that the raiders kept a rear guard to watch for any who might attempt to follow. He also showed his eagerness by telling her the raider camp was 100 kobolds strong along with 80 more cultists and common mercenaries mixed among the group. All of these were led on the ground by Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, the half-dragon champion who fell at the tip of Seraphina's blade. Langdedrosa served his role as a lieutenant to Frulam Mondath, who was the apparent leader of the raider camp. She operated under the authority of Rezmir, a wyrmspeaker of the black dragon mask. The courier was to deliver the intercepted message directly to Rezmir at Castle Naerytar, though he knew little of where that was located. His first task was to meet up with cultists in Baldur's Gate before proceeding north or passing off the important message.
Pleased with the cultist's wealth of information, but frustrated at his untoward advances, Shay left the man to Unka's greataxe, preferring to ignore the savagery of their duty to rid the land of these foul cultists. Tross contemplated the implications of the revelations while moving to a nearby strand of trees where he climbed up and successfully spotted a likely ambush spot for the rear guard. He clambered down and suggested the party should avoid this area, but entry to the camp was likely to be easy since the cult was using mercenaries to bolster their ranks. Seraphina needed hear no more, and headed to the camp straightaway without bothering to wait for her companions to pull themselves toward action.
All of them breached the raider camp without issue, spending their time wandering around the chaotic and busy bivouac. None of the mercenaries seemed to know much about the plans of the cult, and even fewer focused on anything aside from their enthusiasm for the money being earned in service to the cult. The cultists were less inviting, and the party worked to avoid them along with the stench of the kobold community which was itself separated from the main tent groupings.
Our heroes did find a series of posts driven into the ground with prisoners chained uncomfortably onto them. Among these unfortunates, they identified Leosin Erlanthar, the concern of Nesim Waladra. Seeing he was in no apparent immediate danger, the group decided to continue their exploration until the cover of night would afford them an opportunity to break the man loose.
Seraphina slipped into the suspicious cave at the eastern end of the horseshoe-shaped valley where the encampment had been made. She found a few guards and stumbled down a trap into a garden of imposing fungus. She immediately recognized dangerous violet fungus mixed in with more innocuous sources of protein. Finding nothing more interesting and sensing the danger of being in this place alone, she slipped quietly back out to join the others.
Shay investigated the repulsive smell coming from the northeastern corner of the camp where she found an open grave of discarded bodies. This would have been of little actual interest, but among the grisly mass of corpses she spied the bodies of three warforged who stared lifelessly toward the sky. Slipping stealthily into the pit, she examined these bodies very closely, but failed to find any means by which she might revive these unfortunates. Her investigation was rewarded, though, by the discovery of three gems socketed into their very bodies. She knew exactly what these were, having studied her shield at length and pried them loose so that she could make use of their power.
Tross, Rilos and Unka continued nosing around the camp, trying to garner information from the raiders. They had little luck determining the next target, but they did manage to stir up a friendly arm wrestling competition. Rilos had potential, but he stepped back at first defeat. Tross, on the other hand, was determined to demonstrate both his value and comradery, hoping his enthusiasm and pleasantness would inspire the mercenaries to speak more freely. Unka also joined in, but she lacked both social grace and experience with arm wrestling, thinking instead this was merely to be a display of dominance. She lifted Tross and flipped him onto the ground brusquely, but the warlock waved her off and continued his contests. They soon found themselves locked in an escalating wager with Babfist, the terror of Eversult. Wins on both sides of the table roused a hearty gathering of observers who cheered with glee until Tross accidentally wrenched the poor man's arm down with such force that it snapped bone.
At this, none more would join the contest and Tross busied himself ensuring the victim of his powerful display did not hold any grudge. On the contrary, Babfist thought the unfortunate injury to be quite amusing. He was confident it would not hamper his dealings with the cult. Although the jovial man willingly shared all that he knew, there was little more to be told beyond what the adventurers had already learned. So, they resolved to console themselves with simply completing their rescue effort. They rested for a short while in shallow depressions which pocked the walls of the camp, coming back together after night had fallen.
Rilos cast darkness over the prisoner area, ensuring nothing would be seen, while Tross moved in to free Leosin and cast invisibility upon the half-elf. Though the brutally mishandled Leosin could barely move, they made their way easily out of the camp under the cover of invisibility and the night's darkness.