Arriving in Red Larch

Our Heroes Journey to Red Larch

After saving the town of Phandalin, cleansing Wave Echo Cave, resting, and working through the winter, the party is again approached by Gundren Rockseeker for a favor. The dwarf asked if the characters could escort a wagonload of valuable ore from the newly reopened Wave Echo Mine to Bethendur's Storage in Red Larch, where it should be picked up by a caravan bound for Secomber. The dwarf has heard that the market for platinum ingots is quite good in more easterly lands and anticipates a tidy profit.

Our party agreed and said their farewells to the town of Phandalin and the residents they have grown to love. As a parting gift, Alexander gave Nephis Felone, the captain of his guard company, his trusty, haunted steel, the longsword Alexander had recovered from the dead wight, Captain Balker, so many months back in the town of Ebisu. Nephis promised to keep Phandalin safe.

Alexander says farewell to his trusty guards and a weapon that has served him well.

On the Road to Red Larch

The party traveled casually along the Triboar trail with little difficulty. They stopped in Conyberry for laughs, remembering the series of events that orbited this town: Agatha the Banshee, that weird necro and his zombie companions, the battle with the Orcs of the Many Arrows tribe in Wyvern Tol, and the sudden disappearance of that creep, Harold Grayspear, the flutist.

When they reached Triboar, they turned south on the Long Road.

Here's what happened when they turned south:

The party spent six days and nights on the road.
During one of their overnight camps, they were ambushed by two Ankhgs, whose sudden emergence from beneath the ground had been preceded by increasingly powerful tremors; the party fought the monsters off.
There was intense lightning above the Sumber Hills to the south. A dry hot wind parched them by day, and sudden squalls by night.
They came across a friendly settlement where they rested for the night, speaking with the matriarch, a halfling named Chickle Tillamook. These peaceful folk raised cattle and had a few fields of crops scattered around their town. They shared terrible rumors of monsters and bandits stalking the Sumber Hills. Times had been tough for them. The winter had been bitter. Alexander gave them a bag of 20 gold pieces, which they reluctantly, yet gratefully accepted. The party will have friends here whenever they choose to return to this settlement.
The wagon broke down and the party walked the rest of the way to Red Larch.

Ankheg attack!

The party visits a quaint little settlement and hears odd tales

The Party Arrives in Red Larch

Red Larch has been an important stop on the Long Road for two centuries now. It was named for a distinct stand of red larch tress that were cut down when the hamlet was founded.

The party arrived in Red Larch and uncovered a weird plot. A group of a dozen or so town elders named "The Believers" had been secretly influencing town decisions for the "greater good" (especially for its members and their businesses) for a generation or two.

"The Believers" formed years ago when local miners discovered a secret underground chamber beneath the town. Strange things happen in the chamber, such as heavy stones levitating and moving about when no one is around. The miners began using the chamber to honor those who died in quarry accidents and to appease Beshaba, goddess of misfortune and accidents. The believers gather secretly at the tomb once every nine nights to see if any stones have moved--and if any have, they covertly meet the next night to discuss what the movements mean, and what is to be done. They keep the tomb and its strange secret to themselves.

Recently a weird priest in stony garments named Larrakh had come to town, manipulating members of the Believers into doing darker and darker deeds, including kidnapping and murdering three random travelers within the last month.

Who They Met

Potential Allies

Imdarr Relvaunder

Imdarr revealed himself as an ally to the Order of the Gauntlet and warned the party to be weary in Red Larch. "Strange goings on these days."

Lymmura Auldarhk

Haeleeya Hanadroum

LiKi and Haeleeya consulted in private.

Struck by her beauty, Leopold asked if Haeleeya would come watch him perform at the Helm. She agreed, and the two have since been seen spending a lot of time together.

Harburk Thuthmarillar

Harburk hired the party to clear out a bandit camp which they were able to do in short order. They also freed a caged bear during this encounter.

Other Notables

Kaylessa Irkell

The party investigated Lance Rock, discovering that a crazy young nobleman who had taken up with necromancy was holding court over his zombie "subjects." This Orieoth, seemingly serving a self-imposed exile, did not appear to be connected to the broader troubles in Red Larch or the Dessarin Valley.

Thorsk Thelorn

The party purchased a top-of-the-line wagon from Thorsk, then hired him to send a team to retrieve the ore from their broken down wagon, strip it of any useful parts, then burn it to the ground. Apparently Alexander was past the point of frustration with this older model and eager to move on to a Thelorn wagon.

Asdan Thelorn

Local rascals

This group of young ruffians are dedicated to the Thelorns. They perform odd jobs for them and guard Thelorn's Safe Journeys in shifts. They are resourceful, clever children.

Stannor Thistlehair

Kahntun saw this dude brooding in the corner as Leopold was performing at the Helm at Highsun. Our paladin took a seat at the bar beside the halfling, bought him a few drinks, coughed up some gold, and learned from Stannis that there was a secret entrance to a mysterious cave where he worked. What's more, strange, cloaked and hooded figures would come secretly in and out of this entrance in the evenings.

Garlan Harlthurl

Garlan was excited to see Leopold enter with his lyre. Until recently, a flutist and his band, the Wyndwards, were performing to significant acclaim at the Helm. They learned that he recently was seen travelling east toward Feathergale Spire. Word was that he had gotten a gig performing for the knights of the Feathergale Society.

Leopold was happy to perform, which he did masterfully, attracting the attention of three local beauties . . . whom he did rakishly.

Mother Yalantha Dreen

The party heard unsettling rumors from the patrons at Mother Yalantha's.

"I'm Grund" (everybody get down on the floor)

"yarp."

Maegla Tarnlar

Phaendra Chansyrl

The Earth Opens Up!

As the party returned to town after their dealings with Orieoth (that weird necro; we skipped this encounter because it was level one shit), the ordinary afternoon in Red Larch was broken by a tremor. A second later, four small children and the old cart they were playing on slid down into the sinkhole that had just opened up. They disappeared from sight, shrieking for help.

A distraught woman ran out of a nearby house, sprinting to the edge of the hole, which crumbled away, spilling her in as well. More people ran from other homes. Calls of "a rope! a rope!" and "get a ladder!" filled the air.

Alexander, hero that he is, rushed forward, but in his haste lost his footing and slipped into the depths below. He was ok. So were the four children and the woman. He called up, assuring those above that it was going to be ok. As Leopold was lowering his rope into the hole, more townsfolk rushed up from all sides, staying clear of the edge. Among them were seemingly important people. One of them, a bitter old man with reeking breath screamed "Leave it to us! We will tend to this matter! The children won't be harmed by being down there a little while, but no one must go down. Keep back!" The other two seemed nervous, but less assertive. The party later learned that the bitter man was Ilmeth Waelvur, Operator of the disreputable Waelvur's Wagonworks. Stannis had told Kahntun about the secret entrance to a cave in Ilmeth's workshop.

The other two, Albaeri Melikho, owner and overseer of Meilikho Stoneworks, and Aerego Bethendur, owner of Bethendur's Storage, quickly slipped away during the commotion, leaving Ilmeth sputtering with rage (a rage that our party ignored utterly). After a short while, each of the children and the women were hoisted up from below. At this point, our adventurers climbed down.

The mysterious "bringers of woe" had been lurking in the shadows in and around Red Larch for the past month or so.

The party made its way carefully through the Temple. In a northern chamber, they stumbled on a grisly scene: three giant rats gnawing on three corpses in various states of decomposition. By their garb, the victims of bludgeoning and slash attacks appeared to be travelling mummers (crusty jugglers).

Next the party fought off an ambush from the "bringers of woe," zealous, masked cultists who had been haunting the town of Red Larch for the past month. LiKi found a new dagger, they surprised the simpleton, Grund, got information out of a young child and an old feeble "Believer" named Baragustus. Here's what they learned:

The stones in the main chamber were moving more frequently recently.
The newly-arrived earth-cult priest, Larrakh would read the omens that the movement of the stones suggested. According to his proselytizing, dark times have arrived and salvation could only be sought in spiritual and material devotion to "the mountain that walks," Ogrémoch.
Larrakh had been pressuring"the Believers" into committing darker and darker deeds (like kidnapping and murdering crusty jugglers).
"The Believers" were going along with this, but some were beginning to express growing discomfort.

After this, the party confronted Larrakh in the Chamber of Moving Stones. He fought to the death. The party found four Mirabar trade bars on him, each a foot-long spindle of iron, like two long, four-sided pyramids joined at the base. These bars were genuine, so they made a distinctive tone when struck. They are worth 5 gold pieces each. Kahntun recognized these bars as the official currency of the famed Dwarf Kingdom of Mirabar.

The earth cult priest Larrakh's control over "the Believers" was brought to a sudden end by a ferocious slash from Kahntun's sword "Talon."

Known Believers

Ilmeth Waelvur

Albaeri Mellikho

Aerego Bethendur

Baragustas Harbuckler

Feeble old man found guarding the Chamber of moving stone.

Rumors of Evil

The wagon-load Gundren asked the party to safeguard was picked up by his agents from Bethunder's storage and sent on its way to Secomber. The party settled into the town for a tenday, enjoying their new-found fame. Harburk continued his investigation into "the Believers" conspiracy, but as you can imagine, members were hesitant to talk. So the investigation was slow-going. But, as the party soon discovered, a new, broader conspiracy was afoot.

The now-familiar rumors of bandits and monsters stalking the Sumber Hills persisted, but new whispers emerged. An important delegation from the city of Mirabar had disappeared. This well-armed caravan of nobles' sudden disappearance was unusual, even in these dark times.

Brother Eardon

The party learn of the Mirabarian party's movements from Brother Eardon and the caravan guard, Zomith. Kahntun's awkward flirtations were summarily dismissed by the burly, inebriated, half-orc. But it was clear that the caravan was last seen in Beliard, just west of the famed Stone Bridge. The party were considering following up on these leads when they met a shepherd named Larmon Greenboot who had an interesting tale to tell . . .

Zomith

Larmon Greenboot

The shepherd Larmon Greenboot lead the characters to the site of shallow graves. On a barren hilltop a few miles from Red Larch, the party found four freshly dug shallow graves. The earth scraped out for the holes was piled nearby, although hastily gathered stones (what's with all these stones?) covered the graves. The faint smell of death hung in the air, and several vultures circled overhead.

LiKi was curious, but hesitant or too skeeved out to disturb the graves. Leopold and Alexander had no such reservation. Kahntun let out a foppish "I declare!" as our less-proprietous adventurers went at investigating the graves. Kahntun looked away, knelt down, (sorry for all the oxford commas Scott; I can't help it!) and prayed.

From their excavations, they found one male dwarf dressed in artisan robes, (LiKi correctly guessed this to be a smith from Mirabar), one female human warrior dressed in a black surcoat with a red ax (which Kahntun recognized as the symbol of Mirabar's army), one male human warrior dressed in a black cloak with strange stony armor (another earth cultist?), and one male human in a white robe with black feathers at the shoulders. All died from arrow wounds or crushing blows. Leopold conducted further investigations and found a confused collection of tracks, a few broken arrows, a discarded javelin, and a tattered gray cloak. It appeared that a fierce battle had been conducted at the site. It was also clear that the party had discovered at least a small contingent of the missing caravan from Mirabar. But what were they doing here? Where were the going? And with whom??

The party had a good view of the surrounding hills from this vantage point. Several miles to the west they could make out the tiny outline of Red Larch, and the thin dark marking the Long Road. Several miles to the north, they saw a slender old tower circled by large birds. LiKi stared, contemplatively at the feathers clinging to the cloak of one of the deceased skirmishers and muttered aloud, "well . . . I guess we should go introduce ourselves to this 'Feathergale Society.'" After a short pause, she smirkishly added, "and maybe we'll get a chance to take in a performance by a certain renowned flutist!"

TLDR:

The party broke up a secret cult in Red Larch.
The party is looking into the disappearance of a missing caravan of dwarvish nobility from Mirabar.
Their investigations are leading them toward Feathergale Spire; they want to learn more about the apparent battle to which these shallow graves alluded.