The Third Trial: Under Siege

***Wir, Nymm 04, 993 YK – Sul, Nymm 08, 993 YK***

While still at the Great Crag, Nyrielle contacted Gin, passing him a note that indicated an assassin his father had been tracking, known by the codename of Specter, was in the area. She didn’t have time to talk, but told Gin to find her. Purchasing a drake and covered wagon, the party then departed for the kobold mines in the Byeshk Mountains. Along the way, they hunted a tribex to feed the drake and, in the process, Siegfired discovered that his summoned steed seemed to have been changed by his recent bond with the spirit of vengeance.

They arrived at the mine early in the day. Searching the exterior, they found the buildings abandoned and the wagons dismantled and burned. They managed to follow some track to a large mass grave a little distance away. They expected to find the missing kobolds there, but instead discovered only one kobold along with a handful of other humanoid bodies… each dressed to resembled a member of the party: Ixen, Josephine, Ekhaas, Gin (as Destir), Volik, and Rohagar. Clutched in one of their hands was a note that said: “We did what you told us to, but we lost ‘Siegfried’ inside the mine.” Each member of the fake party was killed with a single dagger wound to the base of the skull. Gin was aware that this matched the typical MO of the Specter, but didn’t inform anyone.

Uncertain what to make of the situation, the party cautiously entered the mine. They soon found that the kobolds had trapped the mine in anticipation of being assaulted and that one kobold in particular was moving around, harassing them when given the opportunity. The party noticed two things of note along the way: posters of Kethelrax in a war pose telling the kobolds to stand and fight, and sets of healing potions that had been laced with hallucinogens. After capturing the errant kobold, Nivan, they learned from him that the remaining kobolds were holed up on the bottom floor and had rigged a section of the mine to collapse if they were attacked. Though Nivan escaped, the party eventually found the fake Siegfried and realized that someone had drugged the kobolds, then sent the fake party to attack them in order to turn the kobolds against the real party. What they didn’t know was why. Having tried to parlay with the kobolds that had barricaded themselves away, but finding that it seemed to be a losing battle, the party retreated back to the surface before more harm could be done and slept the night.

***Mol, Nymm 09, 993 YK***

Come the morning, the party packed up their supplies and made to leave… only to set off a trap attached to their carriage. An explosive detonated, destroying the cart, killing the drake, and scattering the party. In the moments that followed, an assassin attempted to kill the party, but was quickly outnumbered. Instead of risking capture or death, the assassin used some form of magic to walk into the shadow of a tree and vanish. The party licked their wounds and salvaged what they could from the carriage before hiking toward a nearby ley line that Ixen had felt with the *Roadwarden’s Staff* he found in the Watching Wood. They arrived at the ley line at night, using the rest to recharge the staff’s energy. Overnight, Volik spotted someone flying on a wyvern from the general vicinity of the mine heading back toward the Great Crag.