Hammer 11, 1489
Dre'zel my love,
As we headed to the Buried Treasures Inn, we found all the fisherfolk gathered around the Five-Tavern Center. Jojo helped Soupmeister Steve bring our six knucklehead trouts to the inn, everyone else was caught up in the merry-making that was being had at the news that the lake monster had been slain.
Concerned that dangers might still be afoot, I maintained my distance from the celebrations and hung back in the shadows of the Center’s perimeter, keeping an eye on Talyth, Saritu, and the surrounding darkness.
A tall, thin figure approached from the Inn, headed toward the Center. Determined to ascertain whether they were a threat, I revealed myself in the shadows, and a grey lizard-like head greeted me from a long trench coat. An awkwardly positioned hand emerged from the coat in a peaceful gesture, which I returned, to its bizarre pleasure. The creature introduced itself as Grazen and opened its coat to reveal a kobold resting on the shoulder of a rotting kobold zombie, which was, in turn, resting on the shoulders of another rotting kobold zombie.
I bid Grazen farewell, and it proceeded to mingle in the Center’s crowd.
After a while, the aroma of finely prepared trout began to waft through the town, and the previously desolate inn was soon packed with hungry citizens of Bremen.
Soupmeister Steve, with the help of the inn’s human proprietor, Cora Mulphoon, had prepared quite a delicious feast for the town.
Somehow, word of “The Morninglord” had already reached Bremen, and Ambrose once again found himself the reluctant celebrity.
During the feast, we learned that Cora’s son, Huarwar, had departed Bremen under mysterious circumstances just one month ago. I wasn’t able to hear everything over the inn’s now boisterous crowd, but from what I gathered, he was wandering outside of Bremen, presumably to search for the old dwarven Speakjer Dorbulgruf Shalescar, who seems to wander off and get lost with increasingly greater frequency. He returned to Bremen with a shard of black ice and began behaving unusually after that, even threatening his mother. Two days later, two teiflings came to town, and he left with them supposedly to a castle.
In the morning, Talyth spoke with the human necromancer, Vellynne Harpell, who claimed she also wants to stop Auril and the Rime. In response to Talyth’s insightful questioning, she admitted to being a member of an organization called The Arcane Brotherhood. Talyth indicated she might be able to locate the Codicil of White, which was of great interest to Vellynne, who seemed to believe it was vital in ending the Rime. The necromancer also expressed concern about the chardalyn dragon that the duergar were said to be creating. This was one of many sensitive stories Jojo shared with anyone who would listen.
Learning that clues might lie in Easthaven, Vellynne rushed off, rising on a sled pulled by zombie dogs driven by Graven and his kin. We agreed to meet her there in two days.
Meanwhile, Taimen had summoned a moose steed, which she dramatically named: Princess Skullcrusher. It was quite a magnificent beast.
We agreed to head to Lonelywood and, after saying our farewells, departed Bremen soon after.
During the two-hour trek across the tundra to Targos, Talyth explained her discovery of Asmodeus worshippers in Menzoberranzan and how it led to her self-imposed exile and the unfortunate capture of her good friend, Xadriia.
When we arrived in Targos, we split up to do some shopping. Looking forward to seeing Nimsy and her children once again, I headed to Keegan’s to purchase four scrimshander toys. Selecting four toys I knew each of them would like, I stashed each of them separately among my gear.
After an hour, we were on the road to Termalaine.
When we arrived, we spoke with Marta about a plan we had made. Taimen stayed with the new Speaker while the rest of us went to visit the Masthew residence, with Jojo leading Princess Skullcrusher along with us.
Oris opened the door and appeared almost frightened to see us, quickly calling for his mother. When Shaelen came to the door, she refused to let us in and insisted we speak on the porch, which made it all the easier for Princess Skullcrusher to listen in. We accused one of them of working with the Drow, and Shaelen was quick to place the blame on her son. After we explained that our intention was not to seek retribution, but only to ensure that such treachery never recur, the former speaker admitted it was her all along, explaining why she had thought she was doing what was best for Termalaine but had discovered the error of her ways. She also admitted to hiring two assassins, human twins, after we doubled our payment for handling the gem mine.
When we returned to Marta, Taimen had relayed the conversation she had heard from her steed. Marta assured us she would take proper precautions going forward.
It was early evening when we arrived in Lonelywood. I was leading my companions to The Lucky Liar tavern for a meal when I was called out by Speaker Nimsy Huddle. As I rushed to embrace my old halfling friend, her four little ones pounded all over me with glee. It was a delight to see them, and it felt like too long since the last time when they were barely bigger than Chwingas. Now they were twice that.
She invited us to her place, where we spoke of the druid and the moose while Junior, Scooter, Nooter, and Junior Jr. searched my gear for their new toys, and Nimsy graced us all with her delicious cocoa!
An hour later, we departed for Lonelywood. It took us about another hour to reach the last known location of the moose, and we easily found a set of moose tracks.
However, after following the tracks for an hour, we found an ordinary moose being ridden by seven Chwingas. They must have been spying on us because each of them was imitating one of us. After a brief encounter, the Chwingas fled on their moose.
We kept searching for another hour, until Steve, Taimen, and I were exhausted. Talyth cast Tiny Hut, and we all took shelter.
We were awakened in the night by two banshees, but they were dispatched before they could do any serious harm, and we rested until morning without further incident.
In the morning, we continued our search, and Talyth soon found larger moose tracks.
We followed the tracks for three hours until we found an elven tomb. As we approached and circled the area, Saritu detected magic from a row of elven statues, two of three sarcophagi, and a brazier in a gazebo. Two of the sarcophagi were open. The magic emanating from the closed sarcophagi seemed to come from a body within it, while one of the closed sarcophagi had a small magical object.
Closer to the nearby hillside was a tall gnomon surrounded by a circle of symbols carved into the stone around it. The symbols depicted phases of the moon. Across from the moon dial, a rough hole had been made in the wall, creating a dark opening that led into the hill.
Ambrose approached and was trampled by the white moose that charged from the darkness! As Jojo ran toward the beast, Taimen charged toward it on her own moose, brandishing the lance she had purchased in Targos.
From the shadows of the berm holding the sarcophagi, I loosed an arrow with Talyth’s Blessing and struck the beast between its horns, bringing it down.
As the best fell, there was a rumbling from within the hillside, as if of a cave-in.
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