Storm King's Thunder: Session 11. On The Road

After the battle the Legends spoke to Darathra, who thanked them profusely for saving the town. She commented that the fire giants attacking Nightstone and then Triboar was extremely strange and felt the help of the Harpers would be needed. To contact the Harper network she gave them a platinum badge engraved with the symbol of Triboar (Three boars) and bid them travel to the city of Everlund in the east. They would need to go to a tavern named “Danivarr’s House” and meet a cross-eyed half-orc barkeep named Thel Drenev and ask for “a bottle of Silverymoon’s Finest, the type that’s best enjoyed with friends”. They would need to then present the badge and after a few more code sentences he would introduce them to the Harpers. She also gave them the deed to the Applegate Manor, suggesting they use it as a base of operations. There was one servant remaining: a dwarf named Kazrik Barrelwright who could show them around.

The Legends set to see if there were any clues to the reasons for the Fire Giants invasion on the bodies. They found several interesting treasures, including an adamantine rod (apparently magical). Amadeous and Maganose investigated this, unsure of it’s purpose but they were able to ascertain that it was enchanted with divination magic and appeared to still be partially active: tracking something in the south of the town. Zephyra’s sending stone messaged to say they would arrive tomorrow.

Ghelryn caught them, praised them on their courage and gave them a letter of commendation to the King Morinn of Citadel Felbarr, who would certainly want to assist with their quest. Wanting to rest, they went to the Applegate Manor and met Kazrik. This sober middle-aged dwarven servant showed them around the various rooms and said that at present there was a storeroom that he could continue to use for buying and selling goods, if they wished. This would generally yield around 50 GP per fortnight, but his rate of pay was around 10S/day (as he lived on the premises). Maganose insisted this be increased to 20S, for which Kazrik was extremely grateful. He suggested further facilities could be built and explained their purpose and the party opted to build a garden that could be used for growing medicinal herbs, food or poison ingredients. Korrak and Darius retired to bed to tend their wounds and rest but Amadeous, Maganose and Carlan decided to follow what the adamantine rod had been tracking. It led them to a small graveyard in the south of town. They found the grave of the town’s founder with a monument statue. This statue of a man holding a spear was made of stone, yet the spear was made of the same substance as the rod. It did not appear obviously magical and after some investigation they freed the spear from the statue. Maganose looked at it, reading the partially obscured text “#ODIN#OD”. This appeared to be a reference to the “Vodindod” mentioned on the obelisk in Nightstone: possibly a component or part of a weapon?

In the morning Zephyra arrived in her flying tower and Hewen apologised for the lateness and was also frustrated at missing the battle. As they had been travelling to Mithral Hall, Hewen said they could drop the Legends off at Mithral Hall or the nearby village of Rivermoot. While still not close, this was a shorter journey than travelling the road east. Taking a wagon and horses, they travelled on Zephyra’s tower and three days later reached Rivermoot. They bid farewell to Zephyra and Hewen and were teleported down in Rivermoot. This was a very small village:only 1 small tavern and fishermen’s huts so they chose to travel southeast on the road straightaway. In the afternoon they sensed danger on the road ahead: Kade scouted out the road and saw that a trader’s cart had apparently been ambushed by orcs and hill giants, who where now picking through the remains for food. They attempted to sneak up in ambush but were apparently detected. Seeing the danger they were in, they immediately engaged the raiders in combat. Fireball, arrows, bolts and giant waste flew through the air. After a short but brutal skirmish the orcs and giants lay dead. There was little valuable on the raiders: the owners of the cart appeared dead (cold to touch according to Korrak) so the party respectfully buried them and continued on, not wanting to encounter more.

In the evening they arrived at Zymorven’s Hall. This large village was inside a small castle. They paid the gatetoll and rested for the night in the “White-Winged Griffon” Inn. Maganose insisted upon having a wash, but realised in the morning that he had forgotten to launder his robes. This shocked Korrak, who insisted that he washed his loincloth every night. While Korrak was a barbarian, Korrak was always clean. They then head south further, electing to leave early with the hopes of reaching the city of Silverymoon by nightfall. They had a short conversation with a knight on the road, who described the city and some local news.

By evening they reached Silverymoon. This beautful city, known as “The Gem of the North” had elegant spires and towers, with a magical bridge spanning the river Rauvin that ran through the city. A gateguard sold them a map and described the city and it’s features to them. They decided to let out a room in “The Golden Oak” Inn for the night: an earthy, cosy place with an oak tree planted in the centre of the building and exiting through the roof. After a night’s rest they decided to hit the shops for some shopping.

They decided to visit an armourer’s called “Phlamryn’s Shields”. Outside a man exaggeratedly sighed and moaning about being in love but unable to express it. He accosted Korrak and bid him deliver a letter to “the fair lady in the shop”. He happily paid 2S and they went in. They gave the letter to the female dwarf shopkeeper, who opened it and tried to slap Korrak, calling him a brute and a beast. The letter read:

“Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I saw a fat cow, And I thought it was you!

 Regards, Sevantes XXX”

They collectively apologised, and Carlan manage to convince her that a man outside had duped them. He must have seen he was new to the area and taken advantage of Korrak. She was slightly mollified by this and conducted some business. They did some buying and selling but resolved to earn some coin as they needed finer equipment. Carlan commissioned the smithing of a gilded rose, which would take a day for Phlamryn to craft.