DLVSBS01E013 - "Rescue" report

After the interrogation of Stonebridge, the party returned to the Rosastra to wait until noon when they would meet Lord Wyndam for lunch. While Captain Phaendar retreated to his own thoughts, trying to understand what they could have done to prevent the attack to Kiranost, Elyadan strolled through Anir's End in search of interesting texts and became dismayed with the miserable living conditions of some of the town's people. He decided to buy a dozen silver worth of meals and distribute among the poor, but ended up mobbed by the starving and desperate people trying to get whatever scraps they could. However, before anything else happened, the situation was defused by the intervention of two Crystal Bats. Disgusted with the results of his good intentions, Elyadan returned to the Rosastra.

At noon, Wedge and Biggs came to the Rosastra to lead the party to the location where Lord Wyndam and his advisors, Pierron, Muskath and Tamara. They discussed Ballard Stonebridge's story and affirmed they believed to be true. Lord Wyndam confirmed to the party that the men Stonebridge was talking were indeed part of the organization known as the Crushing Wave as Ashryn suspected, and informed the party the cult was were led by a man named Braff Bardon - a self-proclaimed "priest of the waves and tides.

According to Wyndam, the cult occupied the allegedly haunted Vergaard Keep at the edge of Vergaard Lake, and took control of the small lake - driving many people away from the lake and into Anir's End with their draconian practices.

While discussing possible courses of action for the rescue of Karol of Jakarta from the Cult, Muskath told the party of a story of a village of plainsmen that resisted Braff and his cult, and was devastated by a raging storm and rising undead in the very same night - and affirmed that his investigations acquired reliable information that such a thing has happened before at least once over the mighty city of Jelek, reminding lord Wyndam and cautioning the party of the terrible and mysterious powers this cult is rumoured to wield.

Armed with information about the Cult and a possible location to Karol, the party arrived later that day (Bran 15th - 05/15) at Vergaard Lake, where they conducted a brief investigation around the keep and hatched a plan - they would breach the keep's walls through the lakeside gateway and infiltrate the keep's dungeon to find and rescue Karol.

During the evening, Elyadan etched a magic rune into Sara's silver sword, enchanting and naming it "Perseverance".

On the next day, the party left Vergaard Lake early in the afternoon to bide their time and wait for the evening to return and infiltrate the keep, using the lake itself to hide their presence from the cult. By a stroke of luck - or providence - the party found the entrance to a hidden underwater passageway from the courtyard's boat landing. Following the passageway, the party breached the keep's dungeon, found Karol, and freed three more prisoners: the humans Tep and Holgi; and the pointed-teeth aquatic elf Vothras. Once the party's four new companions were enchanted with the same Water Breathing spell that allowed the party to pass undetected under the lake's surface, they left through the underwater passage out of the keep, and into the safety of dry land. There, party and Vothras parted ways.

About six miles north and two miles east Vergaard Lake, the party prepared for camp and listened to Karol tell a very similar story as the one told by Stonebridge. During the ensuing conversation, the party learned the following:

That the Hobgoblins let it slip that they were hired by one Blun Steelgaze, an officer of the Order of the Dragon;

Blackloot Island has two outstanding features - a lighthouse, and a castle. Karol described that he had an ominous, hostile feeling when approaching those features and decided to not investigate further;

When asked about why he was imprisoned, Karol said that Braff wanted to know how Karol was able to navigate to and from the island. He also said that Braff seems to have some kind of issue with current Crushing Wave leadership and wants to find a weapon that is said to give its wielder some kind control over the seas so he can challenge the current leader. Apparently, Braff believes said weapon could be in the island.

The party decided their next course of action would be returning to Anir's End, and organize an expedition to Blackloot Island to stop whatever is that the ogre that was left in Blackloot wants to do.