Chapter Two

Previously in Chapter One

### Phandalin

We rejoin our heroes tale a few days after the events of Wave Echo Cave. Gundren has been laying the groundwork for the reopening of the mine and Sildar has been hard at work preparing to incorporate Phandalin as a protectorate of Neverwinter. Meanwhile, Diva has been brewing hooch with Tolbin Stonehill the innkeeper of the Stonehill Inn, Melech has been exploring their newly earned property at Trescendar Manor and Vohrun has been testing out a few variations of the trio's tale to patrons of the Inn. One evening, while having dinner they are paid a visit by Eamon Targ, a paladin of Torm and a friend of Vohrun's and Sister Helga, a member of Diva's order. The sister passes along her message as best as her rattled wits allow, Matriarch Benezia will be at a place called Stoneshaft Hold one week hence and has requested Diva's presence. Eamon had made his way to Phandalin to check on Vohrun's progress investigating Thayan Red Wizard activity in the area. The group determines that the wizard was likely after the arcane cypher they now hold and that it may be somehow related to the "Nightstone" a similarly marked obelisk in a town of the same name near Waterdeep. The party has a discussion of the merits of following up on this task, but eventually, with a small amount of contempt, Eamon agree's to compensate them to enlist Melech's support.

The party says their goodbyes to Eamon who immediately departs once more for Neverwinter to inform his superiors about the developments. Tolbin Stonehill offers the party some directions to Stoneshaft hold (Thornhold). Diva proposes rebuilding Tresendar Manor, potentially to serve as a home to the dwarven miners who will be coming to the town in the coming weeks but the party is split on the matter. Vohrun, in particular doesn't seem to want to be tied down to the small village. Gundren, who overhears the conversation offers to enter into an arrangement with the party, he will funnel their earnings from the mine into the restoration of the Manor. He gets lodging for his workers out of the deal and the party stands to increase their earnings by reinvesting the take he would have otherwise set aside for them. A brief visit later to Halia Thornton at the Phandalin Miner's Exchange confirms that Gundren has indeed listed them as co-owners of the mine.

### Journey South and the Carnath Roadhouse

The following morning the party sets out overland to Leilon where they briefly meet Boris, the half-orc chief of security for the Elderman Caravan company. He somewhat rudely questions the heroes fear of the ominously named Mere of Dead Men and they tell him to go screw. After taking in a lunch of the famous Leilon Mud-Crab Stew the party departs to circumnavigate the Mere. After two days of wet and uncomfortable travel they arrive at the Carnath Roadhouse, a caravan waystation on the edge of the swamp. Melech resorts to a magical suggestion to convince Ardred, the captain of the roadhouse guard to comp them their room for the night. Inside the roadhouse the party meets Gristle Pete, a cook of questionable talents and hygiene. Pete apparently has had his fill of swamp living so Melech offers him a position at the soon-to-be rebuild Tresendar Manor, an offer than Gristle Pete accepts. Full of Pete's adequate, though uninspired stew, the party turns in for the night.

They awaken a few hours later to chaos outside of the room, The guards have spotted a figure coming towards the roadhouse from the swamp and it quickly begins to batter in the gate while simultaneously rotting the wood away. The party takes positions near the gate while Diva rallies the guard of the roadhouse. Vohrun, not wanting the foe to make their entrance on their own terms blows the weakened gate off of it's hinges. Beyond the gate is a shrouded horrific form which Vohrun identifies as a Bodak, a manifestation of unadulterated necrotic energies. The mere presence of this beast causes the hero's skin to burn and scar, it slays two guards instantly just by meeting their terrified eyes. The party bombards the beast with spell after spell which the Bodak endures in turn. Diva's final spell fells the beast as she summons an aura of tiny angelic beings from the realm of Berronar Truesilver which pour into the beast, shredding its form and burning away it's dark essence with radiant light. The Bodak disappears into ash and dust, which Melech preserves for posterity after realizing that the ash may be a small remnant of Myrkul, the old god of death who perished in the Time of Troubles several years ago. When all is still and everyone at the roadhouse takes a moment to collect themselves in the pouring rain the heroes hear the voice of Ardred shout out "Hey!"

We resume with our heroes standing in the rain after vanquishing the Bodak that wandered out of the Mere. Everyone in the encampment seems to be in a state of shock. Vohrun speaks to Bog Luck to try and determine whether he has any insight into this creature's attack. Bog proves unhelpful, stating only that he purchased the roadhouse at a steep discount three years ago in the immediate aftermath of the Time of Troubles, a period when the gods were forced to walk the earth. After a night sleeping in a magical circle of protection summoned by Diva the party departs the roadhouse in the morning, finding that it was largely abandoned in the night except for Bog and a few of his men.

### Thornhold

The party journeyed the rest of the way around the Mere without further incident arriving at Thornhold, the redoubt of Clan Stoneshaft. The castle appeared to be of human construction but was run entirely by dwarves of the Stoneshaft clan, the warriors of which wear intricate suits of exceptionally heavy looking full plate armor.

The representatives of the clan were somewhat secretive about the contents of the castle but welcomed the party to the traveler's inn, the Burning Beard. The party took time to spread the gospel of Diva's Hooch to the assembled guests of the Inn, accompanied by a jingle of legendary skill performed by Vohrun. After a imbibing a sizable quantity of the soon-to-be patented Ale+Vodka concoction the inebriated members of the party were met by Matriarch Benezia, one of the leaders of Diva's order. After cutting through a veneer of drunken dickery she impressed upon the party the importance of accomplishing her vision, a rebuilt dwarven nation in the north in the style of the ancient lost nation of Delzoun. Her goal is to reclaim each of the lost dwarven holds and repopulate them, but she is wary that in accomplishing this goal the dwarves may overextend themselves, leaving them vulnerable to their enemies. To this end she has requested that Diva serve as an agent of her's throughout the north, interceding in events to make sure that no threats come to harm the budding dwarven nation.

### Waterdeep

The party resumed their journey southward along the sword coast navigating the narrow road between the sword mountains and the sea. Eventually the rocky coastline gave way to a vast expanse of farmland leading up the city of Waterdeep. After a brief interview at the gate the party made their way through the city to perhaps the finest inn in the North, The Jade Jug. At the Inn the party was attended to by the concierge Octavious who assured them that during their stay their every need and desire would be anticipated and provided for, a promise which proved to an understatement. Diva and Vohrun returned to their rooms while Melech went for a sojourn around the city, returning and requesting some reading materials from Octavious.

Our heroes awake from some well deserved rest and pampering at The Jade Jug. After a luxurious breakfast they ready their departure for Nightstone. In the lobby the group encounters a recent acquaintance of Melech's a young man named Alexander who has arrived to collect a sonnet of Melech's composition. Unsure of the meter for the prose the young man asks for a performance of the piece which Vohrun expertly provides. Grateful the young man departs and Octavious brings Melech a contract to sign from parties unknown to the rest of the group. After sealing the contract and paying for their lodging the group departs the city.

### Nightstone

After a two day ride the group draws near to Nightstone, hearing a church bell tolling incessantly over the light twilight rain. Initially sensing so signs of life from the town the trio passes by the unguarded gates finding numerous stones have fallen throughout the enclosed bailey. Venturing into the center of town the three are beset by a pair of Worgs and a number of Orcs. With a mixture of martial prowess and magical might the trio defeats the foes before them only to hear the temple bell, still tolling, ripped from it's steeple into the temple interior. Diva boldly kicks down the door of the sacred place to investigate finding a massive Ogre has armed himself with the bell as a massive flail. Diva holds her ground as the Ogre clumsily swings the bell as an impromptu weapon. With each missed blow the Ogre further damages the already compromised roof until it collapses in on the beast. Diva and Vohrun manage to escape the collapsing structure unharmed.

With all their foes laid low the party splits up to investigate the abandoned town:

- Diva patrols the perimeter of the stockade alone investigating the windmill along the way. She finds a number of homes in various degrees of damage and one undamaged home with strange lettering carved into the frame. Eventually she encounters a lone orc examining its newfound loot who she magically compels to flee.

- Melech investigates the open hole in the middle of the square before entering the Nightstone Inn. heading upstairs he finds a stout wooden chest that he kicks down to the lower level in an attempt to break open. Further exploring he finds a Human woman named Kella who tells him the town was shadowed by a large cloud immediately before the boulders started to rain from the sky. She says she was knocked unconscious early in the attack and doesn't know what became of the other villagers. When she awoke her flight from the town was interrupted by the arrival of the Orcs.

- Vohrun patrols around the north side of the Inn by the graveyards. He eventually picks up the trail of an Orc that fled their previous encounter when he bewitched it. He follows the orc's trail into the Inn finding it dead with a crossbow bolt to the neck. He then hacks apart the chest that Melech kicked down into the kitchen, finding within a suit of chainmail armor sized for a dwarf as well as a bag of a coinage and a potion of unknown properties.

After searching the village the party regrouped in the center of town. Making their way south to the keep they find the causeway leading to the gatehouse has been sundered. Vohrun takes the lead leaping across the gap agilely to tie a rope down to aid his companions. Melech follows but misses the jump, nearly falling into the moat below if not for his tail. His gyrations to get back to the post nearly pull Vohrun into the moat after him, but Vohrun is caught at the last moment by one of the defenders of the keep who keeps him from falling. After Melech makes his way across the ever stalwart Diva casually leaps across the gap and wonders what all the fuss was about.

The party is lead inside the keep by the guard Torem who fills them in on the events of the last couple days:

- A day before the party arrived the village was cast into shadow by a floating fortress resting on a cloud. Boulders began to rain down on the keep and village, thrown by blue skinned giants the party assumes are Cloud Giants.

- After the keep was severed from the village the guards in the village led the people out of the town and away from the bombardment, Torem saw them head north but doesn't know what has become of them.

- Once the villagers had fled 4 giants floated down from the castle, seized The Nightstone and floated back to the castle which departed the area to the North.

- The guards spent the rest of the day and much of the night tending to their wounded and digging out the body of Lady Velrosa Nandar, the lord of the town who was killed in the bombardment.

- The following morning as dawn broke the Orcs, Ogre and Worgs the party encountered arrived in the village and began to ransack it, ignoring the keep and it's remaining defenders.

The party posits that something the Lady brought back from Waterdeep may have drawn the attacks and asks to search her quarters. Inspecting her possessions and letters they find nothing to support their theory and decide to head northward in the direction the villagers fled and the castle flew off to. Leaving the keep they hear one of the guards raise an alarm behind them, they inform the party that a larger force of Orcs is approaching the town from the north.

The party rushes to the gate where Diva shows Melech how to raise the drawbridge while Vohrun begins to sing the Song of War. Firing a pair of fireballs from the guard tower Melech incinerates the bulk of the Orcish warriors leaving a small platoon and the three leaders of the raiding party. The leader of the orcs summons a pair of ghostly spears to harass Melech and Diva who retaliate with magic of their own. Vohrun not wanting to be left out of the fray drops the drawbridge and kicks open the gatehouse doors. Melech leaps from gatehouse driving his sword through one of the Orcs but their retaliation is swift bringing him quickly down nearly to his knees. Vohrun blasts the orcs with a Shattering tone from his lyre while Diva heals Melech and continues to harass the leader of the war party. All looked grim for a moment when the rear line of orcs suddenly fell dead, each pierced by an arrow shot from unseen bows. Vohrun holds his ground against a massive Orc, weakening him with a dread curse while Melech blasts one of the remaining orcs off of the bridge and cuts down the wounded leader of the War party. Diva magically compels the remaining Orog to go for a swim which he dutifully obeys, drowning under the weight of his armor with Vohrun's curse enfeebling him.

After the last foe is felled the party is approached by the source of the arrows, a wood elf scouting party headed by the very matter-of-fact Rond Arrowhome. He informs the party that the Orcs moved into the Ardeep forest in the last two weeks where hundreds of their number were slain by the Elvish defenders of the wood. Rond has been pursuing the stragglers and trailed them to Nightstone. He allowed the Orcs to dash themselves against the defenses of the town, saving the Arrows and Elvish lives it would have taken to dispatch them himself. He told the party that the missing villagers tracks led to the north but did not enter the forest. Giving them instructions on the proper etiquette to contact him without being slain by the defenders of the wood he departed as quickly as he arrived.

The party followed the northward tracks of the Villagers and the southward tracks of the Orcs which both lead to a cave on a hillside near the edge of the Ardeep forest. Venturing inside the party notes an Ogre bathing in a mud pit. Melech lures his away with an illusion of a seductive female Ogre. The brute sees the party but is overcome with lust and pursues the apparition anyway. The Ogre is pursued by an actual female Ogre who runs by the party who had since hidden themselves from view.

The party continued their infiltration of the wet caverns they tracked the villagers of Nightstone. Melech took the form of the leader of the Orc war party that had raided Nightstone and entered the caves and immediately ordered the orcs therein to fetch his "prisoners" Vohrun and Diva. Diva went along with the ploy but Vohrun resisted capture but was overpowered by the two muscular brutes. Melech had the orcs bring them to the depressed caver where the prisoners were held. He then proposed that they have Diva and Vohrun fight for his amusement. When one of the guards left to fetch the Warchief the other was flung by Melech using an Eldritch blast into the deep hole in the middle of the prisoner's cave. This triggered a torrent of bats to burst forth from the cave below filling the cavern blinding the heroes in a storm of leathery wings. Diva summoned forth her guardian spirits creating a zone of safety for the trio. At this point they were confronted by the wounded Warchief of the Ear Seeker Clan, Gurrash. Gurrash challenged the Melech to one on one combat which Melech accepted. Once the melee had begun Melech was taken aback by the immense strength of the massive wounded Orc. Vohrun and Diva joined the fray which drew the other Orcs into the battle as well. Vohrun shook the cave roof, sending a rain of falling rocks down among the combatants, slaying two of the Orcs outright. The Warchief's vicious blows brought Melech to the brink but Diva's healing and his own ability to draw strength from the fallen kept him upright. Eventually all of the Orcs were felled and Gurrash knelt defeated.

He indicated that the Ear Seekers had been driven from their home in Forlorn Hills to the north and had traveled south seeking a new home. Arriving at the Ardeep Forest they were continuously ambushed by the Elves of the Ardeep, who picked off their young, week and elderly to slow the Orcs down and thin their numbers. The Orcs sought shelter in the wet cavern and while recovering from their ordeal found the villagers of Nightstone fleeing the town. After interrogating them and learning of the defensible yet unguarded town the Warcheif sent his lieutenant Nogra to seize it for the tribe. Melech wished to leave the beaten Orc to dwell in the destruction of his tribe but Vohrun didn't want to leave a loose end to bite them in the future. They settled on a gruesome compromise. Diva held the bloody Warchief down while Melech put out his eyes. Diva aided the villagers, binding their wounds the best she could while Vohrun and Melech probed the rest of the cave. Vohrun found a number of crude bone carvings and charms and recovered a young woman named Daphne from a crude cell in another portion of the cave. Melech, exploring another tunnel was trapped within it by a Black Pudding creature which oozed out of a hollow stagmite, separating him from the others. Melech attempted to fight off the creature, joined in short order by Diva and Vohrun. The party put down the Pudding but not before it destroyed Melech's armor and knocked the teifling out in a shallow pool. Diva resuscitated Melech and found a replacement for her own damaged shield.

Leading the villagers back towards Nightstone the party encounters a series of large tracks. Vohrun follows them finding what became of the two Ogres Melech tricked out of the cave. The female had apparently overpowered the male Ogre and was dragging him away for unknown purposes. Choosing to let sleeping Ogres lie Vohrun returns to the group and the trio lead the people back to Nightstone. Arriving back in town they found it occupied by a small force of armed men led by the half-elf Xolkin Alassandar. Xolkin's men attempted to disarm the guards of Nightstone leading to a tense conversation with the party. He claims to be representing interested parties that want to restore Nightstone and replace the "Ineffective" leadership of the Nandar family. He offers the party a significant portion of gold, 500 each, to be paid out by Nelkin "The Snail" Danniker in Daggerford in exchange for their rescue of the villagers and their support of the transition in management in Nightstone.

Vohrun seeks the counsel of Morak Ur'Gray, the owner of the Nightstone Inn who caught the parties eye in the cavern as a natural leader of the townsfolk. He reminded the party of what the guards in keep had told them the previous day, that the late Lady Nandar has a son, James Nandar, who is due to arrive from Waterdeep any day. The party retires to the Inn and begins to formulate at attack on Xolkin and his men while they bind their wounds.

After laying the groundwork for a plan which involved Diva cutting off access to the keep, Melech distracting Xolkin and Vohrun creating a diversion by lighting the temple on fire the party set out from the Inn. The plan quickly changed when Diva snuck through the stable and had a stroke of inspiration. Chasing the horses out of the stable she created a diversion which Melech enhanced with a small army of phantasmal Orcs. Vohrun cast silence to prevent Xolkin or Kella from directing their men, contributing to the chaos. The situation spiraled out of control with Xolkin's men eventually realizing the Orcs were illusory and the party was behind it, accented by an ax in the back from Vohrun. Diva brawled with one of the thugs while Vohrun, Melech and Morak tried to thin the numbers of Xolkin's Men in the square. Melech bewitched Xolkin, forcing him to kill his confidant Kella. Pelted by arrows from all sides Melech sought cover while Vohrun worked his way around the temple to deal with the archers in the gatehouse. The tide swung in the party's favor as Diva joined the main fray, drawing the attention of several of the thugs while Vohrun dispatched the archers in the tower.

Sensing the fight was turning against him Xolkin fled for the keep. Melech shot the planks off of the bridge, forcing Xolkin to take a running leap to reach the far side. A second round of blasts sent the bandit leader into the moat below. Vohrun coaxed his horse over the gap while Diva and Vohrun arrived at the other end of the bridge. Diva magically coaxed Xolkin closer, cutting off his escape. Defeated Xolkin allowed himself to be apprehended by the party.

The party brutally interrogated Xolkin, cutting away at him with blades and closing the wounds up again to cut once more. Melech took a smirk from the man to mean that their promised pay from Nelkin "The Snail" would not be forthcoming. Diva compelled him to divulge his allegiances. He indicated that he did indeed work for Nelkin, who in turn served the Zhentarim, a shadowy network of criminals, spies and power brokers. After that information was gleaned the party slew Xolkin and all but one of his men, who they sent to the Snail with a warning not to come after them.

Several days later James Nandar arrived at the town, distraught to learn of its condition and the death of his mother. He accepted the help rebuilding that Diva offered, promised to put in a good word for Melech's mercantile efforts and offered a suggestion on where to find more information on the Nightstone, the House of Knowledge in Neverwinter. That building serves as a temple of the god of knowledge Oghma, and is also one of the premiere libraries in the north. He also bestowed upon the party a family heirloom, the Ring of Ram, which Vohrun graciously offered to return one year hence.

### Return to Waterdeep and an Untimely Death

The party departed Nightstone and made the two day trek back to Waterdeep. After checking in at the Jade Jug, Vohrun asked Octavious if he could acquire some more history on the nature of the conflict between the Nandar family and the Elves of the Ardeep Forest. The party then ventured out into the city with Diva and Vohrun accompanying Melech to his meeting with Boln Condar, a bondholder of the Lionshield Coster. Boln Condar gave some insight into the structure of the company and what was required to acquire a bond, namely purchasing them at auction in the city of Yartar. Melech leveraged the help the party had provided the Coster, both in Phandalin and Nightstone to request preferred status for his business partner Captain Brynn of the Squall Son.

Returning to the Jade Jug the party set down for a meal of roast boar but Diva found her food to be vile, despite assurances from Vohrun that it tasted find. She eventually realized that Melech was bewitching her tastebuds, which he revealed was payback for her knocking him down while galloping by on horseback during the pursuit of Xolkin.

That evening Melech felt the stirring of the black heart he received from his patron and followed the heart to a warehouse in the south ward but was rebuffed by a pair of goons and their boss Bren. Melech returned to the Jade Jug and enlisted Diva and Vohrun's services to investigate the warehouse in the daylight hours. Arriving there and breaking in they found it unoccupied but found a trace of a powerful narcotic known as "Traveler's Dust" in the floorboards.

They headed to the Sailor's Own, a seedy dockside bar that Melech had visited before and found among the vagabonds and drunks Liam, the first mate of the Squall Son. Liam told them of an addict that they fired from the ship and by following his story they eventually found his dealer, a man named Soldor. Soldor pointed them in the direction of his supplier Bren, who was oddly enough once more at the same warehouse. The party interrupted a deal Bren was conducting with a young nobleman who turned out to be none other than Nathan Falcrest, Perin Falcrest's younger brother. The situation devolved into a melee with Vohrun blasting the area with concussive force, spraying the contraband into the air. Bren made his escape but Nathan and his head bodyguard, a swords-woman named Agatha were captured. Agatha displayed little loyalty to boy and was promptly released by the party.

The party argued over what to do with their remaining prisoner who did not appear to have the capacity to lead them to Perin, as Melech desired. Melech and Vohrun argued about the nature of personal responsibility with Vohrun advocating choice, even to imbibe deadly drugs, as an expression of free will while Melech countered that this was an illusion born of privilege, and that to the wretches whose whole life was poverty and deprivation it wasn't much of a choice at all.

Melech prepared to hang the boy from the rafters while Diva headed downstairs disgusted with the entire matter, it was then she heard a large number of footsteps approaching the building....

The party found themselves in the second story of the warehouse surrounded by dead criminals, bodyguards and their captive Nathan Falcrest when Diva noticed the sound of numerous people converging on the building. Melech quickly made up his mind on the fate of Nathan and pressed what turned out to be a lethal dose of Traveler's Dust. The party bolted out the back door of the building, feigning a panicked Melech with Diva and Vohrun in pursuit. Mages of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors attempted to subdue the party using a number of spells. While they shrugged off the attempts to override their minds the party was left trapped within a dome of force. Thus entrapped they were interrogated by Brienna (last name unknown), one of the mages. She, very politely interviewed the party, pointing out a number of gaps or contradictions in their story. Eventually the party was cuffed with bracers that, as Melech found out, are designed to thwart spell-casting.

The party was stripped down and placed in adjoining cells. Eventually they were interrogated by a man named Bernard. He challenged Melech's assertion that he worked for Nathan by revealing that he was responsible for hiring Nathan's entourage. Melech, disguised as the deceased Xolkin, eventually told Bernard that he was hired by a teifling named Melech. The day after Bernard's visit the party was visited by another man, Tylander Roaringhorn, the patriarch of the Roaringhorn noble house. He revealed that he had purchased the party's equipment at auction, and in so doing, found their Harper's coins they been given by Sister Garaele. He indicated that they had been tried and convicted in absentia and their identities (false as they might have been) were purged from the records. When Vohrun raised their greater mission he seemed intrigued, revealing that he had heard whispers of other Giant activity throughout the north, and an attack on Goldenfields in particular. He told the party to keep their chin's up and proceeded to depart.

That evening the party, as well as the swordswoman Agatha were hung from the gallows. Melech and Diva died instantly, Vohrun held on long enough to make out a gleaming set of white teeth smiling in the crowd. Following their execution the party went through the void, eventually reforming themselves on a grey plain that Vohrun identified as the Fugue plane, where the dead are judged by Kelemvor, the new god of the dead before being sent to their gods. When speaking Vohrun's voice was curiously echoed by the voice of an old man. The party journeyed towards the City of the Dead, joining the throng of the other dead souls walking across the plain.

Approaching the city they were met by a spirit which informed them of their judgments. Diva was claimed by her goddess Berronar Truesilver, Melech was claimed by his patron Mephistopheles, and Vohrun was judged to be faithless and was invited to spend eternity in the Grey City. The spirit then pointed to Vohrun again and said "False one - you shall be dust". With that the spirit began to tug and pull at the ghostly robes that enshrouded Vohrun in this place. The spirit tugged the robes away from Vohrun, revealing the shadow of an elderly human man with a tonsure who clawed desperately to stay with Vohrun. Before the last link of the old man's shadow and Vohrun could be severed a beam of light shown down through the clouds and the party awoke back in the land of the living.

They had been raised from the dead by Baxtor, the priest of Kelemvor who oversaw their execution. He passed on to them a letter from Tylander Roaringhorn inviting them to join him in Amphail, a town to the north.

### Journey North and a Feast Interrupted

The party, weak from their ordeal fled the town and headed north, stopping briefly in the small village of Rassalantar before continuing on to Amphail. At the inns along their journey they heard two rumors; that Caravan's had gone missing along the high road, and that at least one nobleman, possibly others had gone missing in the city of Yartar.

The party emerged from the Inn in Amphail to find the town bustling with people preparing food and wares for what turned out to be a lavish birthday celebration for Tylander Roaringhorn. The trio rubbing their noose scars settled on a group moniker, "The Hanged Three". Arriving at the birthday celebration Vohrun immediately got the party started with a rousing song. The party met with Tylander who was overseeing the preparation from a large armchair. He thanked the party for seeking him out and asked them to perform a simple task for him in exchange for his recovery of their possessions. He asked that they travel ten days north to the town of Triboar. There they are to seek out the Lord Protector, a woman Ty described as another "Friend" of his. He fears the giant attack on Nightstone represents a sudden an unexpected escalation in the activity of the normally reclusive giants. The party agrees to seek her out and report back if needed. Following that the trio rejoin the festivities. Vohrun performs a three-song set to the delight of the assembled guests, starting with an impromptu composition for the event. Following the final song of the set the entry for the Pie Eating contest is announced and Melech and Diva, along with a pair of locals opt to compete. The results are...messy. In the end the locals emerge victorious in a tie, but no-one can really be called a winner in the ensuing display. Diva takes a turn as a bar back spreading word of her hooch ever wider. The main course is served shortly thereafter, consisting of numerous whole roasted pigs along with a variety of of all manner of other sumptuous favorites.

As the trio and the other guests gorge themselves Diva and Vohrun note a curious vibration. Shortly thereafter the screams of guests give veracity to their fear..the Giants have come. Springing into action the party does their best to defend the guests from the pair of dullard brutes who charge full speed into the grounds. Vohrun charges the brutes, slamming their legs with a ghostly ram projected by the ring he received from James Nandar. This buys the guests precious seconds to flee the area as Diva prepares to douse one of the giants in hard spirits. Melech, practiced seducer of brutes, conjures a phantasmal female of the species to lure one of the giants away from it's intended path. This works for a moment but the lustful giant stumbles into the illusion, revealing it. Meanwhile Diva has doused the ground around the giant with booze as Vohrun uses a shatter on the beast, collapsing the nearby tents onto it.Then the gaze of the all-seeing deity of this world was drawn elsewhere, what happened to our heroes is a story for another day.

The party continued their defense of Tylander Roaringhorn's birthday celebration. One giant had been frightened away by Vohrun's fear spell but another remained in the center of the grounds. Diva hurled another barrel of spirits into the giant, dowsing it completely. When the giant charged the liquor tent and began to grab the assembled libations Diva set the entire tent alight. Melech and Vohrun moved quickly to collapse the burning tent onto the giant, causing it to burn further and it attempted to free itself. Melech charged the brute screaming like a madman. This show of dominance, combined with Dissonant Whispers provided by Vohrun convinced the Giant to join its companion in fleeing to the north. In the aftermath of the attack the party headed northward on horses provided by Lord Roaringhorn. Along the way they were met by a rider approaching from the south, a friend of Vohrun's from Neverwinter, Rhenda Thistlehill. The spunky gnome Paladin of Torm shared that she was sent by Eamon Targ, who had implored the party to investigate the Nightstone, to function as a bodyguard for them. After catching up with Vohrun and being introduced to Diva and Melech the four continued their way north.

In the Sumber Hills, north of Red Larch the four were attacked suddenly and brutally by a mage flying on the back of Wyvern. The resulting battle was fierce and bloody. The mage roasted the most of the party with a fireball, severely wounding Melech, Diva and Rhenda and killing their horses. The mage managed to counteract the affect of a spell cast by Melech and returned fire with magic missiles and Vohrun. The tide of the battle turned when Diva blinded the Wyvern and beat the mage out of her saddle with a spiritual hammer, dropping her dead to the ground. The party then converged on the now grounded wyvern, lashing out at it again and again while dodging it's frantic defensive blows. The Wyvern lined up a killing shot with it's poisoned stinger on Melech but he was saved as Diva's spiritual hammer crushed the beasts tail a moment before the blow would have landed. The Wyvern succumbed to its injuries and Diva acted quickly to raise the mage from the dead before her soul slipped too far away. The party searched her belongings, seizing her valuables and finding a small note that stated:“LD, I need you to pause your operation on the High Road and intercept two dwarves and a tiefling that were last seen leaving Rassalantar and headed north on the Long Road. They match the description of the three XA described in his final report. We are reasonably certain they killed the Seven and your sister. We need to find out if XA compromised us, take one alive, kill the rest, then get back to the operation before the Margaster’s get wise. ~ND”. The party interrogated her upon waking, surmising that she was sent by the Snail to eliminate them. Vohrun convinced Melech to spare her his usual tactics and they ended up releasing her and putting her on their remaining horse with a peace offer for the Zhentarim, aiming to avoid further bloodshed.

### The Battle of Triboar

The party proceeded further northward, eventually arriving at their destination, the cross-roads town of Triboar, a popular way-station for Caravans. Approaching the simple stone keep in the center of the town they see an armored woman conversing with two people they recognize, Sildar Hallwinter and Sister Garaele engaged in a heated discussion with an armed woman, Daratha Shendrel, Lord Protector of Triboar. Though their discussions with the three the party gleaned some important details. The Black Spider had escaped his cell in Phandalin and hasn't been found. Halia Thornton was found dead at a campsite outside of town. After an exhaustive search of the area Sildar and Garaele came to Triboar to request aid in the search. Daratha is unwilling to commit any of her men to the search as they all dealing with probing Orcish raids on outlying ranches. The party retires to the Northshield House, run by the stern former adventurer Urgala. She keeps an ordered house but was willing to share some advice with the party, if they are looking to track the Black Spider a renowned ranger and tracker named Olin frequents a grove west of town that is sacred to the God of Trackers and Rangers Gwaeron Windstrom. The party rested the night and in the morning parted ways with Sildar and and the Sister and made their way east towards Yartar, stopping by Merry Meadow Ranch to investigate the Orc Raid.

Arriving at the ranch the part found a scene of carnage. The ranch hands and many of the animals were cut down and the buildings were smoldering ruins. Some of the dead were mangled beyond recognition and one horse was skewered upon a massive cooking spite, 10 feet in height. Several of the bodies looked to be member of "The Twelve", Triboar's mounted Calvary. Gathering stray horses the party raced back towards the town, sounding the alarm with Daratha. As they contemplated evacuating the citizens a boulder striking the tower announced that it was already too late. Without "The Twelve" the part was joined on the battlefield by Rhenda, Daratha, Sildar, and Garaele, as well as several of Triboar's citizens who answered the call to defend their homes:

- Urgala Meltimer, the stern innkeep and former adventurer.

- Othovir, a harness maker with previously hidden Sorcerous powers

- Ghelryn Foehammer, a dwarven smith with a deep hatred of his racial enemies Orcs and Giants.

Opposing the ten heroes are a pair of massive armored fire giants, orcish raiders, riding on axebeaks, armored orcish bruisers and a gaggle of small fiery fiends. As the attack began the Orcs dispersed through the town, chasing down villagers and causing chaos while the giants moved methodically west. Most of the defenders staged themselves near the edge of the town center while Urgala and Ghelryn attacked Orcs at the outskirts of town. As the defenders clashed with the onslaught of foes they observed a number of crucial facts:

- The giants are impervious to fire, but seemingly uninterested in the defenders

- The orcish outriders are quick on their mounts but are poorly armored

- The orcish bruisers are heavily armored and brutal close quarter's fighters but are slow moving

- The fiery beings accompanying the host can light both building and people alight by their mere touch, and worse yet, they explode in a ball of flame when slain.

The exploits of this battle are too numerous to enumerate but a few moments stand tall:

- Sensing the Giants are preoccupied the defenders focus on slaying the Orc, Orog and Magmin raiders.

- Ghelryn Foehammer slays the magmins terrorizing the northern reaches of the town and charges after the giants

- Urgala wounded from her continued defense manages to slay the last of the magmin's threatening her Inn with assistance from Diva and Rhenda

- Othovir watches his livelihood go up in flames and brings his vengeance down upon the raiders.

- Sildar and Notch clear out another pack of the Magmins before grabbing Diva and Rhenda aloft to rejoin the main fray.

- Vohrun, Sister Garaele and Daratha stay near the center of town, taking opportunities to down Orcish raiders wherever they can.

- Melech flies over the fray, blasting and occasionally swooping down to engage the Orcs.

When the Orcs and Magmins are no more the assembled defenders bring their assault to the giants who have begun digging into the earth, following the direction a long metallic rod held aloft by one of them. The party gains an advantage on one of the giants, with Diva blinding while Vohrun sets the giant aglow, making it an easy target for numerous blows. The wounded giant rages and in its attacks drops both Sildar and Rhenda to the ground where they are rescued by Diva and Ghelryn. Diva channels her power to repeatedly issue commands to the giants with an authority far beyond her own. She distracts the giants by ordering one to kiss the other, resulting in a surprisingly tender embrace that stuns the assembled defenders and giants alike. Then she orders the other giant to betray its fellow resulting in a stunning turn of events. One giant is felled and the other, though wounded reaches down and pulls up the object of its search, a massive "C" shaped band of Adamantine. The defenders pursue the giant, which doesn't get far as it is repeatedly commanded by Diva to drop the artifact. In the end the last giant is brought down by Orthovir, who enraged by the loss of everything he held dear channels a bolt of lighting through the artifact, stopping the giant's (broken) heart.

After the battle concluded and the fires in town had been extinguished the party took stock of their situation. They investigated the massive "C" shaped band of Adamantine the giants had pulled from the earth below Triboar. The runic writing along the length of it was found to include familiar letters to Diva and Vohrun but in a different language. How the smaller rod, which still weighs over a hundred pounds led the Giants here remains a mystery. Vohrun sang a mournful song for the dead and was comforted by Rhenda, who shared the story of her's father's passing as a lesson on the beauty of a duty fulfilled, and on how to take pride in a victory, even when it feels like a defeat. Daratha doesn’t have much contact with her fellow Harpers, but it strikes her as odd that fire giants would make it this far into the Dessarin Valley without her receiving some kind of warning. She wants to make sure her organization is aware of the gravity of the situation. She gives the party a badge bearing the Triboar insignia (three boars charging forward) and urges them to travel east along the Evermoor Way, visit Danivarr’s House in Everlund, and give the badge to Dral Thelev, the proprietor.

Knowing the party will need the best dwarven arms to defeat giants, Ghelryn Foehammer tells them about one of his ancestors, Durgeddin Foehammer. Durgeddin was known as the wrathful smith. After the dwarfhold he grew up in was sacked he founded a new hold named Khundrukar at a mountain called the Stone Tooth in the nearby Starmetal Hills. There, consumed by his anger he forged great blades and hammers to strike down the foes of dwarvenkind. One hundred years ago the hold was lost to an invading force and the secret of Durgeddin’s wrothful weapons was lost with it. Ghelryn provided directions to the Stone tooth but he cautions the party that an expedition sent there over a half a century ago never returned. The party argued about what to do with the giant artifacts. Melech was determined to profit from Artifact but was overtaken by the boisterous argument of his dwarven companions. Diva intended to have it seized and protected by the Faenor, the worshipers of Berronar Truesilver. Vohrun suggested it would be better off being held by their allies in the Harpers, a group that protects the realms from the shadows, but whose secretive methods can lead to distrust and suspicion. In the end an agreement was not forthcoming, Diva felt betrayed that her fellow dwarf did not share her dedication to the traditional hierarchies of dwarven authority. Daratha offered a compromise, that the Lords Alliance, a coalition of many of the cities and territories in the north, represented locally by Sildar Hallwinter, should maintain control of the artifact since it was found within their purview.

Continued in Chapter Three...