Chapter 2: The Kidnapping
The Bone Collectors, as they came to be known in the city, once again found themselves employed by the Constabulary and Inspector Aberdeen with the aim of solving a murder. This time, the body remained at the crime scene--the city orphanage run by the order of Ing. They met with one of the order's monks at the ophanage (a long-haired man dressed in feminine attire common among followers of the goddess of motherhood, whom they refer to as "mother Ing"). He led them to the victim, a monk named Eomer, in one of the larger dormitories. The orphanage was run down, with rainwater leaking through the rough in several locations. Vonzorn asked the how expensive repairs would be but received no clear answers from the monks. The monk told them about the child the murderers had abducted in the night, a girl named Thal who had arrived alone at he orphanage around 5-6 years ago. They believed her to be around 8 years old. She was troubled, and several other children had died in incidents involving her (after they bullied her).
Insifinius examined the corpse with the help of Dura. They found that his head had been crushed by a mace, and his robes were stained with soot from his assailants. Inside his mouth, they found blood and a bronze draconic scale (small enough to belong to a dragonborn). As they began their ritual to awaken the corpse, the monk accompanying them grew offended and quickly left. Their questioning revealed that several people had broken in to abduct one of the children, several of them being dragonborn. They wore robes with rough-stitched images of dragons on the chest and referred to the child as "the vessel."
After questioning the monks more and learning little, the group visited the Arcanatorium to ask about the iconography and events surrounding dragon cults in the last 5-6 years. They learned about the assault on dragonwatch by the cult of scales (also known as the cult of tiamat) that nearly destroyed Dragonwatch around 6 years ago. With this information, they traveled outside the city to a nearby temple of Bahamut. The monks there were wary of strangers after having been the victims of many assaults following the attack on dragonwatch by those ignorant of the differences between the two dragon deities. After speaking with the head priest there (a silver dragonborn named Halyn), they learned that followers of Bahamut had not had their prayers answers in the last year (since the attack of the mind flayers). In that time, cults of Bahamut has sprung up seeking answers--some of which had turned violent. The priest knew of one such cult operating in Dragonwatch.
With that information in hand, the group returned to the city and began asking around about the cult. They quickly learned about a group proselytizing in the slums who matched the descriptions from the murdered monk. In the slums, they found one of the cultists and followed him to a hideout in an abandoned building. The group devised a plan to attack from the front and back doors to gain the advantage of surprise. The attack did not go as planned, however, but they eventually gained entry into the abandoned tenement. The cultists immediately attacked back, and after a protracted battle they slew all but one of them and knocked the last cultist unconscious. They brought her back to their home in the merchant district and questioned her, learning about a hideout in the seawall mountains to the west of the city. They also learned that the cult aimed to sacrifice the child in 2 days' time on the night of the rose moon in order to bring back their dragon queen Bahamut. The group returned to Investigator Aberdeen at the constabulary, bringing along the unconscious cultist with them. He welcomed their return and charged them with finding the orphan and rooting out the cult in the mountains. The cultist was arrested and charged with the murder of the priest and the kidnapping.
After purchasing supplies for the journey (climbing kits, a wagon and horses to pull it) the group set out into the countryside to the west of Dragonwatch. The road took them through country roads and along the kingswood, where they camped for the night. The next day, they reached the base of the mountains and settled their horses there before beginning their climb. The trek proved difficult and they encountered a chasm that required the climber's kits (though Kor'Gath simply transformed into an elk and leapt across). Near evening time, they reached the mountain peak and found a cave entrance heavily guarded by cultists. They waited for night, then began their descent into the cave. Along the way, they battled more cultists including hideous draconian creatures unlike anything they had seen before. Fighting their way down into the cave drained them, and they were forced to take a break before entering the cave. During the break, they used the rod of Arawn to ask one of the cultists questions about the cave to prepare (and learned their leader's name: Grung Fitzcrackle).
Before heading inside, they tried to disguise themselves as cultists using their robes. The ruse worked for a time, until they encountered an arcane rune trap and set it off. The cultists questioned why they were not holding the protective runes that would prevent such a thing from happening, and the deception was discovered. Battle ensued, with Caspian taking the brunt of the attacks as he held off several draconians who joined the fight from elsewhere. Finally, they defeated all of the cultists and ventured further (after finding protective runes of their own). They discovered a chamber where the head cultist and several draconians surrounded a cage with a small girl inside. Draconic runes glowed in a circle beneath her, and beneath the icy ground they could see the partially decomposed corpse of a large silver dragon. They again used their disguise to try to lure the cultists out, but were only successful in luring one of them out. After dispatching him, they returned and surprise-attacked the group. Their leader proved to be a powerful spellcaster, and along with the remaining draconians and cultists they made for a difficult battle. Yet, the group managed to vanquish them and freed the girl.
As they did so, visions flashed before them. A massive 5-headed dragon appeared before them, and they witnessed the events of the demise of the cult of scales 5 years prior. They also witnessed the arrival of Bahamut in avernus, who slew both armies and forced Tiamat's lieutenants to flee. With her sister alone and still in bonds, she utterly destroyed her with her breath of blinding white flame. They spoke with the girl, who revealed her name to be "Thal." The group learned that her mother had died when she was young in the sadim desert at the hands of raiders. She had made her way to dragonwatch and been adopted by the orphanage there. The cult had hoped to sacrifice her and bring back bahamut.
After finding a hidden chamber with the cult's treasure hoard and an escape tunnel, they left the cave and camped elsewhere in the mountains for the night. In the morning, they began their journey back to Dragonwatch. The girl remained incredibly shy and reserved, and squirreled away food when they fed her. Back in dragonwatch, they returned to the constabulary and were paid for the successful completion of the job. Aberdeen suggested returning her to the orphanage, but the group decided to bring her to the temple of Bahamut instead. Thal also did not wish to return to the orphanage.
At the temple, they spoke with head priest Halyn and learned that her soul was inextricably tied to Tiamat's spirit. He posited that when Tiamat was destroyed by Bahamut, her soul wandered the void between realms until it discovered Arlyss and latched onto Thal's soul (likely at the moment of her mother's death). He suggested that Tiamat had manipulated the cult of Bahamut into doing her bidding, hoping they would slay the child and unleash her upon the world. He warned that Tiamat's influence could still be felt despite her imprisonment within Thal, and that Thal may be able to tap into incredibly powerful abilities during strong emotional moments. After several days of research, Halyn and his monks discovered a prophecy and stated that "a vessel of the dragon queen will be cleansed of her taint when each of her children are struck down by her hand." Thus they devised a plan to hunt down one of each of Tiamat's brood (white, black, blue, green, red) and have her deliver the killing blow. They would have to find them in places where they would be the most powerful (the north, saltmire, sadim desert, the greatwood and dragon's end)...
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