Seven of the contingent's eight members passed through the gates of Hillsfar on Midsummer's Eve with minimal questions from the guards. Once inside, the friends found their way to The Tangled Vine Tavern, where they drank heartily, conversed with numerous patrons, and met a young, flaunting woman named Cahylie, who openly propositioned herself to Mercurius.
Brother Bevue entered the city separately, distantly behind his companions, and found his way to a modest temple known as the Monastery of the Hallowed Pale. Leras, its caretaker, bid the humbled priest to stay for the evening, and he did, attempting to learn what he may of Hillsfar and its recent dealings with the wild elves of Cormanthor. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the contingent stowed the horses and caravan at a local stable, and sought rest at a low-key inn and alehouse called Ye Olde Trip to Cormyr.
The next morning, Achran reconvened with his companions, then set off again on his own to tarry about the city and gather more information. Markel and Hadrian visited a local shrine to Mielikki, where they met a traveling forester, Fiernoth Freemantle, hailed from Elventree. Luna, Vennel, Lefwain, and Mercurius ventured about the city and located Penrith's brother, a masonry worker named Heseail, while Soltrius peddled his trade-goods in at Hillsfar's market square.
As latefeast neared, Luna and Lefwain headed out to a dinner meeting with Heseail, where they informed the mason of his brother's whereabouts, and of the Sy'Tel'Quessir's attack on the Red Plume camp. Achran, still wandering alone, found himself approached by a pair of soldiers, then escorted into a nearby barrack. To his surprise and utmost horror, Nemmish, the Red Plume wizard thought dead in the forest, was there waiting for him. The evil mage infiltrated the priest's mind with his spells, ere he cast him back out onto the streets. Panicked, Achran fled back to the inn, only to see that his friends were nowhere to be found.
Finally, the priest spotted his companions in the market, and ushered them into a nearby pub where he offered up his tale. The friends headed back to the wagon, but when they arrived, they found that Soltrius, too, was missing. As they scoured the bustling square, Cahylie revealed herself from the shadows, informing the contingent that she had watched Soltrius leave with a man disguised as Mercurius. The friends took to the streets, now fearing too for the safety of Heseail. They hadn't gone far when they were ambushed in a dark alley by a band of crossbow-brandishing sellswords who displayed no outward signs of allegiance to Hillsfar or the Red Plumes. The hoods were defeated, though when questioned, they revealed only that their hirer was a dark-robed mage, previously unknown to them.
Still having no lead, the companions returned to the market, where Cahylie came to them again, this time bidding them to meet her outside a little-frequented taproom on Pale Moon Lane. They convened there, and Cahylie, obviously more than a common barfly, ushered them through the entrance to her secret hideout. Inside, she offered the friends a place to rest, and promised to help find Soltrius. She also introduced them to a half-elven boy named Seminser, quiet and apprehensive, who seemingly had lost his way.
At dawn's first light, the companions were awakened by a gnome called Throttle, who claimed himself an associate of Cahylie and confided that Soltrius was being held in Hillsfar's dungeon, located in the basement level of a nearby gatehouse. The friends ventured there and milled about the building's exterior. Before long, a pair of city watchmen asked Luna and Lefwain inside for questioning, inquiring as to the whereabouts of "a laborer named Heseail." Shocked, Luna offered up her story in truth; when the guards called for their captain, the duo was arrested and imprisoned in the dungeon where Soltrius was being held.
With the help of Lefwain's lock picks and a raucous dwarf jailed in a neighboring cell, the friends managed to escape, just as the others located them by way of the city sewers. Together, they all made their getaway, emerging hours later in Hillsfar's dock ward, far removed from the gatehouse dungeon.
After cleaning themselves meagerly and purchasing a change of clothes, the friends returned to Cahylie's hideout, where they plotted to leave the city. With the help of Cahylie and Throttle, they departed through Hillsfar's east gates that very eve, riding for Elventree on a promise to seek out the high herald called Moonsilver, hoping that she might be convinced to parley with the Sy'Tel'Quessir. Seminser and Spitbeard, the rough-and-tumble dwarf from the dungeon, rode with them, the former hoping to find a new home among the villagers of Elventree, and the latter for reasons known only to the gods.
Brother Bevue entered the city separately, distantly behind his companions, and found his way to a modest temple known as the Monastery of the Hallowed Pale. Leras, its caretaker, bid the humbled priest to stay for the evening, and he did, attempting to learn what he may of Hillsfar and its recent dealings with the wild elves of Cormanthor. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the contingent stowed the horses and caravan at a local stable, and sought rest at a low-key inn and alehouse called Ye Olde Trip to Cormyr.
The next morning, Achran reconvened with his companions, then set off again on his own to tarry about the city and gather more information. Markel and Hadrian visited a local shrine to Mielikki, where they met a traveling forester, Fiernoth Freemantle, hailed from Elventree. Luna, Vennel, Lefwain, and Mercurius ventured about the city and located Penrith's brother, a masonry worker named Heseail, while Soltrius peddled his trade-goods in at Hillsfar's market square.
As latefeast neared, Luna and Lefwain headed out to a dinner meeting with Heseail, where they informed the mason of his brother's whereabouts, and of the Sy'Tel'Quessir's attack on the Red Plume camp. Achran, still wandering alone, found himself approached by a pair of soldiers, then escorted into a nearby barrack. To his surprise and utmost horror, Nemmish, the Red Plume wizard thought dead in the forest, was there waiting for him. The evil mage infiltrated the priest's mind with his spells, ere he cast him back out onto the streets. Panicked, Achran fled back to the inn, only to see that his friends were nowhere to be found.
Finally, the priest spotted his companions in the market, and ushered them into a nearby pub where he offered up his tale. The friends headed back to the wagon, but when they arrived, they found that Soltrius, too, was missing. As they scoured the bustling square, Cahylie revealed herself from the shadows, informing the contingent that she had watched Soltrius leave with a man disguised as Mercurius. The friends took to the streets, now fearing too for the safety of Heseail. They hadn't gone far when they were ambushed in a dark alley by a band of crossbow-brandishing sellswords who displayed no outward signs of allegiance to Hillsfar or the Red Plumes. The hoods were defeated, though when questioned, they revealed only that their hirer was a dark-robed mage, previously unknown to them.
Still having no lead, the companions returned to the market, where Cahylie came to them again, this time bidding them to meet her outside a little-frequented taproom on Pale Moon Lane. They convened there, and Cahylie, obviously more than a common barfly, ushered them through the entrance to her secret hideout. Inside, she offered the friends a place to rest, and promised to help find Soltrius. She also introduced them to a half-elven boy named Seminser, quiet and apprehensive, who seemingly had lost his way.
At dawn's first light, the companions were awakened by a gnome called Throttle, who claimed himself an associate of Cahylie and confided that Soltrius was being held in Hillsfar's dungeon, located in the basement level of a nearby gatehouse. The friends ventured there and milled about the building's exterior. Before long, a pair of city watchmen asked Luna and Lefwain inside for questioning, inquiring as to the whereabouts of "a laborer named Heseail." Shocked, Luna offered up her story in truth; when the guards called for their captain, the duo was arrested and imprisoned in the dungeon where Soltrius was being held.
With the help of Lefwain's lock picks and a raucous dwarf jailed in a neighboring cell, the friends managed to escape, just as the others located them by way of the city sewers. Together, they all made their getaway, emerging hours later in Hillsfar's dock ward, far removed from the gatehouse dungeon.
After cleaning themselves meagerly and purchasing a change of clothes, the friends returned to Cahylie's hideout, where they plotted to leave the city. With the help of Cahylie and Throttle, they departed through Hillsfar's east gates that very eve, riding for Elventree on a promise to seek out the high herald called Moonsilver, hoping that she might be convinced to parley with the Sy'Tel'Quessir. Seminser and Spitbeard, the rough-and-tumble dwarf from the dungeon, rode with them, the former hoping to find a new home among the villagers of Elventree, and the latter for reasons known only to the gods.
0 adventurers hailed: