Meeting Commander Strong Report

General Summary

Previously: The Statue of Destruction
The party trek to Fort Locke, where they see the damage dealt by Gorthok. The commander of the fort, Dame Rachel Bloodworth-Strong, thanks the party for their efforts, and allows them to check the three cultist corpses they have: A dwarf, a genasi and a lizardman.
From Martisha's list, they recognise the dwarf as Haradwink Forgeblaster, the lizardman was noted to be called Blugh the Flatulent, and the Genasi was called Dampfred Waterford. Blugh has two bottles of red liquid, which the party takes, and a whoopee cushion. When Emmalou asks about the scrolls and documents we discovered at Wayside Inn, the party looks closer at one of the scrolls which turns out to be a scroll of Call Lightning.
Commander Strong talks to the party about the tower, saying they regularly send out patrols to shut it down, but it keeps coming back. She reminiscies that decades ago there used to be a powerful bronze dragon living somewhere on the coast, who used to deal with this sort of thing. It used to polymorph into a humanoid and sail up and down the coast as a good-aligned pirate captain, but has since retired. Other soldier/guards give supplies and recommend stopping by the Wigglehoof Ranch, a gnome settlement, for some proper artificing and lightning rods.
After some discussion, the PCs move onward along the trail of the remaining cultists. They skirt the edge of the Ebon Downs, an area of hills and moorland separating the saltwater Mere of Dead Men and the freshwater Silvermist Swamp. The party are approaching the area where they might find the Wigglehoof Ranch. As twilight hits, however, they see a small humankin town of old ramshackle buildings, there is no firelight or torchlight visible, but on approach, there seems to be some illumination from inside the houses. There is also no smell of woodsmoke or the like, apart from a tiny scent when Anathema approaches nearer the town.
With nothing telling them either way what is waiting for them, the Party is reluctant to approach.
Next: Grimhollow