Session 7: Fighting Back - Part 1 Report

General Summary

The party headed south from Greenest charged with recovering goods, prisoners and finding out whatever they could about the location, layout and makeup of the raider camp.
The sun was shining as the party set off, the rain of last night had cleared away and after a good night's sleep they moved forward with a newfound sense of purpose.
After a few hours of travelling the companions moved from the rolling grasslands into a rocky region. Large boulders marked the landscape and it became more hilly. Deep ravines dug into the land here and the party took their time when moving through them to avoid potential ambushes.
As they moved along they heard voices up ahead.... A group of stragglers from the main group of cultists were camped by some scrubby trees and human cultists and kobolds were bickering and squabbling there. They failed to notice the companions moving towards them with the distractions. The Giant and Khorg wearing the cultists robes approached boldy and the cultists believed them to be allies, Citrus and Picasso hung back and watched from the treeline. It quickly became clear that the cultists and kobolds were not friends and were watching each other closely. The Giant made enquiries about the location of the cultist camp and managed to determine that it was about 5 miles further on to the South, a 'rear-guard' was also mentioned. After sharing some food with the cultists Khorg and The Giant made their excuses and headed off. As they departed The Giant could not resist sowing seeds of discord with the kobolds, whispering to them in Draconic that the cultists intended to kill them. The kobolds needed little incentive and leapt upon the unarmed cultists. The party did not look back they walked on...
Another few miles on the adventurers looked out across a rock-strewn valley, the keen eyesight of several of the party picked out glimmers of metal on both sides of a distant ravine, it was decided that this area was best avoided and the party made a detour to the East, this added about an hour to the journey but eventually they saw the cultist camp in the distance. Joining a tired and dirty procession of humans and kobolds they were unchallenged as they slowly moved into the camp, a steady procession of cultists, guards and mercenaries streamed in to a deep chasm, many tents of varying colours and quality could be seen dotting the landcape here, the smoke from multiple campfires giving off a greasy but appetising smell as the victors stripped the land and ate heartily after their busy night.
There were few sentinels in the camp, it seemed the cultists were not expecting an attack so soon after the Greenest raid. A large encampment of kobolds gave way to the human section of the encampment and cultists wearing various different colours could be seen here mingling with other humanoids in more plain clothing and mismatched armour and the companions did not really stand out amongst this disparate groups. The companions made enquiries about joining the cultists and were pointed towards a tent where mercenaries where being recruited. They were quickly taken on by the bored looking recruiter. As they moved away, The Giant spotted a grand tent being guarded by several large, well-armed and armoured human guards, he attempted to approach but was seen off by the guards before he got too close.
To the South-East of the camp there were a group of frightened and ragged humans cleaning and polishing armour and weapons, they were surrounded by several guards and were infact Greenest townsfolk captured during the raid, one of the prisoners was tied up here.
The Giant spotted a familiar figure leaving the large tent and making his way towards a cave at the back of the encampment. It was Cyanwrath, the half-dragon who had defeated him in single combat during the conflict. He made his way towards Cyanwrath burning with anger and seeking revenge but as he approached the half-dragon he decided to bide his time and shadow his enemy and his human partner. They headed into a large cave opening at the back of the encampment and The Giant tried to follow them in, however he was spotted by the human and Cyanwrath turned around, he mocked The Giant and called the guards. The Giant fought against his captors but was restrained and led towards the other prisioners. The rest of the companions stayed back and watched the events as they unfolded. The Giant soon found himself tied next to the other bound prisoner. This was Leosin Erlanthar, the druid master that the party had been asked to look out for by Nesim Waladra. He had been beaten but was conscious and greeted The Giant, he had information about the cultists that he needed to get to the leadership of Greenest and distant Waterdeep.
The other companions watched the guards and prisoners, Picasso lurked under his shell causing some confusion and consternation among the guards. Citrus struck up a plan and creeping behind an empty, nearby tent he quietly cast a fire spell and set the tent on fire. Guards rushed forward in an attempt to quell the fire and Citrus was caught by a guard but managed to slip away in the ensuing panic. The Giant took the opportunity to slip his bonds and free Leosin and they quickly made their escape with Khorg and Citrus in tow. Meanwhile, Picasso continued his search for pork and was away on the other side of the camp when the escape occurred.
The others made a break for a nearby cave fighting a running battle with several guards on the way. Dispatching their pursuers they quickly dragged the bodies into the dark, seemingly empty cave....

Missions/Quests Completed

Episode 2 - The Raider's Camp

Character(s) interacted with

Langdregosa Cyanwrath
Leosin Erlanthar

Campaign

Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Protagonists

Picasso

Citrus Dirtfeet

The Giant

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Report Date

22 May 2019

Primary Location

The Sword Coast

Secondary Location

Greenest