Redcaps and the Infested Lighthouse

##### Completed on June 2nd

Morrow, Sister Lethe, Caranordir, and Lucien followed a series of leads in their search for the children of the Kenku bandits they had fought previously.

## Exploring Deepcove

The group arrived in Deepcove on June 1st, and immediately set about attempting to get their bearings, and find any clues that may lead them to the ones holding the Kenku children.

A fisherman who had just come off the lake mentioned that about a week previous, as he'd been passing the High Lighthouse of Silver, he'd seen something odd. A man had been stuffing what appeared to be a giant crow's head into a barrel, and the crow had been squawking in protest.

They chartered passage on a pair of boats via the man and a friend of his, expecting to need additional room, as the return trip would hopefully have a larger number of passengers.

## Investigating the Lighthouse

During the approach of the isle that the lighthouse was situated upon, Morrow noticed a small cave to the back of the place, and asked that the boats be steered towards it, so that they could approach more discretely. They paid the boatmen to wait, and proceeded to begin exploring the cave systems below the surface.

The caves housed a few nasty creatures, and after an initial scare with a giant octopus, tragedy befell the group. A group of Dark mantles descended upon them as they attempted to investigate a cavern, killing Sister Lethe, and badly injuring the others. After this, the group chose to rest, and gather themselves, as the path forwards was likely to be a violent one.

## A Slave Child and Secret Doors

The caverns below the isle provided access to the inside of the structures by means of a well. The remaining adventurers climbed up through the well and entered the place's kitchen, which was occupied by an older orc, and a young human child bearing the markings of a slave.

The slave child was named Syra, and after a little bit of indecision, she joined in on the effort to destroy the Redcaps, and rescue the Kenku.

The orc, Grog, was forthcoming, particularly considering the somewhat unhinged nature of the adventurers addressing him, and gave them information about the layout and membership of the surrounding area. The group used this information to ransack the room of Tonil, finding some interesting notes and a secret passageway leading up to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was home to an extremely odd discovery. A pair of Mordron, creatures of Order, had been being dissected or tortured or both, in the chambers of a man named Oros. In these chambers they also found the man's journal, which they took with them.

## Avoiding Half Measures

The adventurers allied themselves with the Mordron, though one of them chose to give up its life in order to restore the other to health, and agreed to help it find an individual that it referred to only as Orb.

Then they began gathering the accumulated fuel for the lighthouse, lumber, coal, oil, and began laying a fuse, leading down to the secret door at the base of the lighthouse.

From the top of the tower, Lucien and Caranordir let loose 2 fire arrows, attempting to set the rigging and sails of the ships at dock aflame, ostensibly as a distraction, but unfortunately, they were noticed, and the entire island began to rush up the hill to reach the lighthouse and deal with the intruders.

At this point, Morrow lit the fuse, and the adventurers retreated down the secret passage, trying to get clear of the incoming blast. The fuel detonated in a spectacular fashion, largely annihilating the upper levels of the lighthouse, and raining down a shower of burning debris upon the unfortunate gang members who'd so diligently attempted to chase the adventurers down. Severe losses were sustained.

And, as they descended the stairs, the party intercepted Tonil, who'd been attempting to recover his belongings before fleeing. After a few tense moments, in which his lieutenant was killed, Tonil attempted to flee. He was brought down by the combined efforts of Syra, Lucien and Caranordir, shooting him in the back.

## Concluding the Business of the Isle

Following the explosion, and the party's cleaning up of Tonil and his guards, it rapidly became clear that Tonil was the last surviving member of the Redcaps on the island. And that was a near thing. The party searched out and found the young Kenku, getting them free of the barrels that they'd been stuffed within, and began the process of attempting to reassure them before their voyage. Syra, Morrow and Lucien then went and had a brief conversation with Tonil, as he woke up, and determined that he was not the man they wanted, that Oros was the one actually running this operation, and that Oros had not been present on the island.

Oros's journal that the party had recovered indicated that he was working for an individual known as Yathron, and had been torturing the Mordrons because he thought they were in possession of a great weapon in their home plane. He'd also written about something referred to simply as "The Arm", and is planning to attempt to retrieve that as well.

Tonil, unfortunately, did not survive his wounds.