DE Session 5: Enemies
Sire Drew Varant’s assignment is brought to Harting by a Sir Gallan Du’Cote of Lenbrook whom establishes a refrained distaste towards Sire Alek, the posting was signed by Viscount Fal Yancy. Ves is aided by Ra’jinn in discouraging a local guild master from harassing his long befriended colleague, Zira.
After hearing word that the deceased murderer Reauvan no longer resided within his grave, the heroes track him down to his former cottage. Believed to be some form of undead, they slay Reauvan & burn his corpse. Further investigation reveals Reauvan was affected by a sickness known as the grendle, that transforms anything infected through ingestion into a mindless unkillable creature. Reauvan received the disease from a sorcerously created changeling that snuck into the town as a merchant from Rasont, who “replaced” a maiden within the keep in order to approach the prisoner. Once confronted the changeling was destroyed by its creator. Fortunately, the heroes were able to use the amulet of Vashirr to scry the sorcerer briefly in hopes of tracking him down eventually.
Within a day word arrives that the caravan escourting Sire Drew towards Lenbrook (through Rasont) was attacked by brood, so the heroes set off to track down the beast-men. En-route they discover the trail of nearly 3 score of mounted riders headed north of Harting & follow that instead. The trail leads them for several days into the forest near the feywynn & the tracks of many manticores. They encounter the riders fleeing towards them, wearing the colors of Harting? Not recognizing them they capture one for questioning. Almost immediately two manticores show up headed straight for them & their prisoner! The beasts prove almost too much for the weary band & using the boots of Ellerah Jeb grabs the unconscious captive & flees the scean leading one of the feral monsters straight into feywynn territory, while the other is slain by the combined efforts of the remaining heroes. The creatures were under the control of the same sorcerer as before & the amulet was used to decipher more information about him.
Once all together, they interrogate the man. A war party of mercenaries was recruited at Rasont by a wizard named Hellious to ride to the lands controlled by Siduthanian elves & raid them bearing the colors of Harting. The heroes request upon the Feywynn to warn the Siduthan of Harting’s uninvolvement with the incident & race back home. With a full company, the heroes race off to intercept the fleeing mercenaries only to find them all (including Hellious) incinerated by the work of a powerful wizard.
With few other leads available the heroes re-continue their quest to track down the brood raiders. Within the north-eastern hills they find & barely manage to clear (survive) another lair of Jackal-brood led by yet another (even more powerful) goblin witch-doctor.
Ever weary they return to Harting for some much needed rest.