KWN.2.3 Mist and Mausoleum

Session Preface

"By the gods, what have I done?"
The guard, sweat dripping down his forehead and his cloak splattered with wet blood, repeats himself yet again.
"Last I recall, we were outside. Keeping watch over the, and then, now, I don't know. Norwin and Arnald are dead. I. I need to report all of this to Brammus."
As the Silverwatch continues muttering to himself, the door behind him swings wide on its hinges, nearly hitting him.
"We'll deal with Brammus in a moment. On your feet, Tarth." Captain Grapeshot, his eyes blinking away sleep takes the room in with a sobering grimace and a sharp inhale. His eyes fall on the three of you. "First, I need a fucking explanation."

Session Summary

Hesitant to trust even Grapeshot given recent events, the party divulges only the necessary information regarding their recent events and the discovery of Dulgram's withered remains. The captain and party agree this likely to be a series of attacks instigated by revenge, a small comfort implying it is at least contained and not a mass-murderer at large. Much less comforting, however, is someone's ability to mind control citizens, spells which should not be possible to cast within the walls of Silverymoon. With this in mind, they determine they must act quickly and cover ground exploring different leads simultaneously. Grapeshot sends his men to Brammus' residence and begins putting out word to find where he might have gone into hiding while the party makes plans to go speak to the leader of the Zhentarim, Viper Hornblade, who may be in danger due to these threats.
As the evening goes on, both Pax and Aethuriel spend part of the night patrolling and investigating the city, keeping careful watch over guards and those entering the city from the south to see if there are any other strange occurrences or others under the influence of a charm or spell. In the morning, the three companions gather and decide to first pursue more information regarding the disturbed graves to the south of the city. In the massive burial ground, the party finds the Helmite mausoleum, discovering it to be seemingly undisturbed, but empty of any remains. The only thing they do find is the scuffed remains of a teleportation circle in which some of the runes are written in infernal and roughly translate to "Crypt of the Hellriders."
Recognizing the name of the Hellriders as an order of holy knights based far to the south in Elturel, the party begins to consider the larger machinations that may be in play, even beyond only the current investigations in Silverymoon. Pax shares with the party that this is the third instance of similar events - one reported in Mirabar by a fellow Blood Hunter, another south of Sundabar discovered with Gauntlet Safir, and now here in Silverymoon. He goes on to explain that in Sundabar, the necromancer had been disrupted, but escaped nevertheless.
By midday the party returns to Silverymoon. Not wishing to complicate matters by meeting with the Zhentarim, Pax decides to go and visit Grapeshot while the other two companions seek out the Viper in his master suite at the Golden Oak. Climbing the spiraling stairs around the tavern's namesake ancient tree, the party are greeted by a butler who ushers them in to join the Viper for his morning tea. After an initial misunderstanding, Tristain explains to the Viper the details of their investigation and the danger posed to the Zhentarim. Seemingly already aware of much of this information, Viper Hornblade requests the party investigate the only through-line between the victims, which is that they were all on a job to recover goods from a waylaid Adbar Trading Coster cart and were found dead after they returned. After negotiating a price of 85g per person and double for ending the threat, the parties shake hands and the Knights go to seek out their companion to investigate this new lead.
Meanwhile, Pax learns from Grapeshot that Brammus had kept a second shift schedule, a fake, which seemingly allowed him to coordinate the sabotaging of the artillery. Feeling the weight of the innocent lives taken in self-defense, Pax offers his condolences, seeks to learn about the two dead Silverwatch, and offers coin towards their rites and families' wellbeing. Grapeshot thanks the Blood Hunter and ensures that he'll keep them informed in anything comes up from his internal investigations.
With still hours of light left, the party departs the city headed eastward in search of this waylaid cart. The Silverymoon Pass, running between the city and the dwarven strongholds, lies mostly empty thanks to the destruction of Sundabar and the ongoing conflicts further east. As the sun sinks below the mountains, the party finds a small campfire by the side of the road, where a boisterous and burly fellow in rags threatens them, demanding coin or supplies, blaming them for his family's death and the destruction of his home. When the Knights offer them a bit of coin, the vagabond's compatriots try to smooth things over, thanking the Knights for their generosity and offering to share their fire. Wary of the entire situation, the party continues on their way, checking to make sure all of their possessions were still on them as they walked away. Further down the road, the party makes camp, sharing shifts of keeping watch over an uneventful evening.
By the second day, the party tracks down the cart in question, finding it toppled over north of the Pass. In investigating the scene, the party realizes the cart had been lifted by a pair of large creatures and seemingly shaken out for ransacking. It had also been picked clean a second time by much more careful individuals. Finally, a pair of dwarves had apparently died in this attack, their bodies eaten by something feral and ferocious. Most curiously, a fresh and shallow grave had been buried for an individual whose decaying flesh matched that of the Zhentarim victims in Silverymoon. This time, the carved message read, "Death is the debt for disturbing the dead." With this discovery, Pax recalls the legends of one Deckon Thar, a bandit who supposedly kept a secret fortress in the shrouded valley where he and his treasure hoard remained buried. Following the trail of where this body had been carried or dragged from further north, the party marches into a thick and foreboding mist in search of more answers. Another day of dreary and tense travel passes by, the thick fog preventing the party from seeing or navigating more than a few strides ahead of them at a time.
The next morning, shortly after packing their camp, Pax, leading the way, finds himself on the edge of an unexpected precipice when the ground gives way beneath him. As he slides down the side of the slope, kicking gravel and stone in all directions, a monstrous screech cuts through the air, seemingly from everywhere at once.

Session Overview

Date Played:
Jan 12, 2021
Party:

• Aethuriel
• Pax
• Tristain

Time Passed:
Elesias 16, 1493 (PM) - Elesias 19, 1493 (AM)
NPCs:

• Captain Grapeshot
• Tarth (Silverwatch)
• Viper Hornblade
• Maver, Keth, Vom, and Jeanine (Campfire)

Loot: