Chapter 16 - The Assault on Kirkwall

General Summary

It was a still voyage down the Silver River for the party. The Heroes of Southern Star noticed a viking ship in the distance, coming right toward them. Slytoff and Gilliam headed toward the coastline to avoid the ship, while Riley sent his specter to investigate the ship. While Slytoff sent his burning boat down the river as a distraction, the specter attacked the captain of the ship through the floorboards. This led the Danen Vikings to target Riley, Tequila, and Wulfric once they jumped onto the viking longboat. The three battled thirty men, becoming quickly overpowered while Slytoff and Gilliam picked the vikings off along the shoreline. Quickly being injured by a group of 10 men, Riley conjured his powers over fate and, with extreme luck, managed to hypnotize the entire crew of vikings. With nobody rowing, the ship began to go downstream, and the party escaped while Slytoff blew a hole in the ship with a shatter spell, and Gilliam fired arrows through the ship's sail.
The ship crashed against some rocks downstream, drowning the remaining vikings and leaving the party to plunder a remaining treasure chest. Among a horde of silver and gold, the party found a Danen silver cup. Because of the boat crash, the party figured it wasn't safe to keep travelling by the river, and as such made camp as night fell into the forest. During the night watch, Slytoff Han found a shooting star, and wished for better armor. As morning came, the party continued toward Kirkwall. Gilliam, doing some scouting ahead, saw the city in smoke as a large, winged creature was found in the center, along with Danen ships. The party feared it was a dragon.
The Southern Stars wasted no time getting to Kirkwall, and were intercepted by Dragonlord Franklin Millerstone. He requested the party for aid, as the Danen and the Black Dragons had assaulted them and drove them away from the city. Lord Millerstone noted the local sorcerer, Hamill, had been captured and imprisoned in the city hall's tower. The Southern Stars gladly stated they would help, as long as they were supplied food and a place to rest. The encampment of Kirkwall's citizens gladly let them stay. In the midst of this, Slytoff would get a message from Lord Wickam, via the Sending spell, asking for their aid in securing the Silver River. Slytoff responded it had been dealt with.
In the camp, Slytoff and Riley would interrogate an old woman named Helena, who didn't seem to like his snooping. However, after some convincing, Helena told them bad news: as they were gone, the city of Silver Town was assaulted by the Danen. They had been trying to secure the river, so Silver Town, and now Kirkwall, were taken under siege. This led to Gilliam trying to interrogate Lord Millerstone, wondering if he had honest intentions. With the help of his zodiac boon, Gilliam realized Lord Millerstone was a patriot. However, the party also realized he was related to Qenlynn Millerstone, who was his cousin. Franklin Millerstone confessed his cousin was distant ever since she left Cemedri Magicus, and alienated her family. She once approached Franklin to join her draconic cause, but he refused, and as such she retaliated. Now, she was headed to Keller's Coast.
The party took Lord Millerstone's instructions of attacking the City Hall at night. Gilliam first scouted ahead, finding the cell on the 4th story where Hamill was located. Hamill mistook Gilliam for a bird, at first, but then realized he was help. Hamill was confined in an anti-magic cell. Knowing this, Gilliam tied up his hempen rope to the side of the building and allowed the party to climb to the second story. Riley was first, getting to the balcony and finding some Danen and Black Knight guards. They at first thought Riley was an intruder, but with a strange lie, Riley said he was delivering a surprise party for Dragolok Charles Sherwood. His lie fell through, however, when the Danen guards recognized his tabard, and tried to kill them.
Eventually, the whole party got in on the attack. Tequila morphed part of the wall to become a stone mace and hit a Black Knight. Gilliam slew the first knight, piercing it through the side and through his head. Riley noted he'd use his green flame blade to light the candles for the birthday cake while killing a barbarians. Riley killed the last knight, whispering to him "you should have kept the surprise" as the knight was stabbed by Fatebender. Once the fight was over, Gilliam realized they had another floor to get to...

Rewards Granted

Once the party assaulted the Viking ship, they were treated with the crashed remains of a treasure chest, containing the following:

• 367 Gold Pieces.

• 1460 Silver Pieces.

• One Danen Silver Cup.

Character(s) interacted with

• Dragonlord Franklin Millerstone, the cousin of Qenlynn Millerstone. He is a patriot, and was more than willing to cooperate with the party.

• Helena, an old Keller woman.

• Multiple Danen vikings, being manipulated by the Knights of Black Dragon.

• Hamill, a Half-Elf Wild Mage who worked for the town to help them with magical understandings. He was captured by the Knights of Black Dragon.

Date (in world)

May 20th-21st, 5689.

Report Date

08 Apr 2020

Primary Location

Kirkwall

Ailfir Von Donnerbach by Gerry Arthur

Franklin Millerstone was the descendant of Sir Millerstone, a dragonslayer during the reign of Queen Dariah who liberated Kirkwall from a previous Dragon attack.

Player Characters

Riley Woodhame: Riley Woodhame, human fighter and warlock, is a member of the Hearthstars (an organization based on gathering information under Amagus' teachings). His search for power and knowledge led him to find the Lady of the Lake, giving him an inkling of control over his own fate.

"The Amazing" Slytoff Han: Slytoff Han is a magician! A gnome wizard, he seeks to find funding to create a magic show and has traveled around County Ellis to show off his skills for potential audiences.

Wulfric Cisboren: Wulfric is a human fighter, who hails from Obesfeld, and a former housecarl. He appears to be a man of the north, covered in furs. Recently he has been talking more in a Norden accent, and has been behaving more like the Dwarves of North in his fighting style.

Gilliam Wulfstan Maydestone: Gilliam is an aakocra swashbuckler, as well as an urchin that grew up in the city of Ebenwald. With his skills with the blade, he seeks higher up contracts to fill his pockets.

Tequila "Teq" Cambow: Teq is a cleric of Amagus, devoting his life and services to the god. He was introduced to the party by the local bishop of Silver Town, searching for field experience and for building his faith.