Storm King’s Thunder: Session 20. Alvyn, the stableboy with a past

6^-th-9^th Alturiak 1458DR 

Having finished their shopping in Amphail, the Gilded Griffons decided to travel further north. After some asking around they found that a local named Minnivarr ran a coaching service that would take passengers up and down the Long Road. Minnivarr was an older male elf who happily agreed to take them to Red Larch further up the road. Fenris recognised his name and asked if he had a brother named Minnibarr -which he surpringly did, though they had not seen each other for some time.

It being late morning, they elected to travel immediately and after hitching up the carriage, Minnivarr took them out of Amphail and up the road towards Red Larch. By late evening they had travelled some 20 miles and Minnivarr informed them they’d have to stop for the night. By late night, Fenris detected an intruder approaching the camp. Casting Pass Without Trace he scouted around the edges of the camp and saw a huge figure approaching: a Frost Giant. He called out, asking who they were and the giant replied, identifying himself as Harshnag and and said he did not mean harm but approached as a friend. Fenris had not met Harshnag before but he claimed to know the rest of the party and after some discussion Fenris agreed he could come back to the camp. The other Griffons woke up and were pleased to see Harshnag again. They updated him on their recent adventures and he informed them that he had been asked to travel the Long Road to keep it safe but was now on his way back down to Waterdeep. He shared some food with them and asked if he could stay by the fire for the night, to which they agreed.

After a poor night’s sleep (it emerged that Harshnag snored like a thunderstorm) they went their separate ways and Minnivarr took them further up the road to Red Larch, which they arrived to by late evening. Tired from the day’s travel they paid the stableboy to take care of their horses and went in to book rooms. Alvyn the stableboy had been working for much of the day and Fenris insisted that he come in for a drink with them. Alvyn was somewhat wary: he was only 10 years old and not generally allowed in the taproom but after Fenris insisted he reluctantly agreed. The taproom of the Red Larch Rambler was busy that evening but they soon found a table and ordered drinks and food. After some time (and a few rounds of ale) it became apparent that Alvyn had mislead them as according to the barmaid Alvyn was frequently in the taproom and was a bit of a local hellion. Maganose thought he heard a nearby drinker mutter about Alvyn, to which Alvyn rushed over to argue with the man. They soon came to blows as Alvyn picked a fight with him but was driven off by a slap from the angry patron. Korrak was incensed at seeing Alvyn laid out and marched over to start his own fight, which resulted in the man out cold on the floor. After a growl from Korrak, the rest of the room decided better of it and went back to their own conversations. After some time Alvyn came to and decided to head home so the Gilded Griffons headed off to bed.

In the morning they were tired of paying for passage so after breakfast headed to a small ranch and purchased mules, with Amadeous insisting upon a military saddle and naming his mule “Tiberius”. Saying farewell to Red Larch and head further up the Long Road, reaching the small village of Westbridge by late evening.

Deciding it was too late in the evening to head to Kryptgarden Forest, they found a local inn named the Happy Halfling so they could rest for the night. Inside the 6 foot tall, green and tusked innkeeper greeted them and welcomed them, introducing himself as Ghalver. They booked rooms and ordered food, asking if Ghalver was the owner and with a scowl he said he was indeed the happy halfling that the inn was named for. They were confused that he was a halfling, given his appearance but he informed them that halflings come in all shapes and sizes and he had been a little unwell lately. Thinking better of it, after dinner they headed off to bed.

The night lead to fitful dreams and visions of green eyes watching them from the dark, finishing with a voice hissing that they needed to “WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!”. Waking up with a start they heard screaming outside and saw villagers fleeing a horde of zombies approaching the village, apparently lead by a shadowy figure further up the road.

Charging out to fight out they cut down a horde of human and ogre zombies, but saw further creatures shuffling towards the village. They were soon reinforced by wights that wounded Fenris and Maganose, so they fled inside the Happy Halfling’s taproom and fired spells and arrows out from the window. As more zombies fell, the huge figure of a barrowghast barreled down the road towards Korrak and Amadeous, horrifying them with it’s rotting stench. As the Gilded Griffons fought on, the shadowy figure of the Wraith leading the horde swooped down towards them and appeared determined to put an end to them.