General Summary
As a confused warlock tumbled out of Vin's spellbook and Sigvurd closed the distance with the elementals, Zeke the paladin disappeared with a clang of plate armor. The party managed to turn the tide nontheless, and sent the Earl of Coalchester fleeing into the depths of the tomb.
They emerged joyfully into the cairn hills, glad to feel the afternoon sun on their faces. As they walked the familiar course into town, though, the dragon's devastation was an ugly reminder of the dangers still before them.
The party split up when they reached the village.
Lins Bogmar
Lins could see even from the outskirts that Allustan's house was now a puddle of charred wood and melted stone, utterly destroyed by Ilthane's acid. Recalling the wizard's connection to the governor-mayor, though, she headed toward the manor.
She found the doors propped open, the halls stuffed with citizens. They were eating, sleeping, and talking in hushed tones while the mayor's staff - and the mayor himself - bustled about wiping up muddy footprints, muttering about unwashed masses, and hiding silverware.
Allustan's red robes were easy to pick out, and the wizard was glad to hear of the party's success. He agreed they should gather the party before discussing the next move, though, and after sending a runner to convene her friends at dinnertime, Lins hugged their old friend goodbye-for-now, and headed to the Church of St. Cuthbert to assist with the wounded.
Scarcely had she arrived when a bundle of bandages was thrust into her arms. Lins found herself utterly occupied for the remainder of the afternoon with the heavy tide of human casualties wrought by the dragon's vengeance.
Vin Frostkeeper & Nemara the Warlock
Vin and Nemara made a bee-line for the Frostkeeper home, and were relieved to find it still standing. The dragon, apparently, had opted not to stop for a second pass. Nemara went straight to Vin's room to take a nap.
When Vin stepped inside, she found everyone home - packing. Her mother informed her that she had decided to move the family to the nearby town of Blackstone. Diamond Lake, she said, had been declining for a long time.
She worried about Nim and Bel's futures. After all, the village wasn't exactly bursting with good influences or opportunities for young boys. Moreover, the aftermath of the attack was certainly going to lead to either massive job loss due to mine closures, or masive wage losses if Smenk did his usual scummy gambit and bought them out. Either way, the situation had become untenable.
It was at this point that Nemara, rested, emerged to find her friend, and instead found herself in the corner, petting the dog while Vin argued with her mother.
Vin tried several tacks to keep her family in the house where she grew up. She argued that the dragon wouldn't come back, that there were plenty of other jobs, that Blackstone just sounded like a dour place to live.
It was during this conversation that Vin's banishment from the City of Greyhawk came out. Nemara interjected once to try and support her fiend, but finding herself pinned under Mrs. Frostkeepr's critical eye, a remark about revoking her "good influence" status shut her up. Just after, a knock at the door gave her an easy excuse - a village boy breathlessly directed her that Miss Lins Bogmar Requested Her and Miss Frostkeeper's Presence at the Governor's Manor at Dinnertime, an excuse she was happy to use.
Vin on the other hand, had gotten invested. She argued that they should move to the more populous, respectable town of Elmshire, or even Magepoint, but her mother tiredly reminded her that funds were tight, and that Vin had rather blackened their name in Elmshire, as well. Then Vin remembered her strongest argument: that she had hired a bodyguard.
Mrs. Frostkeeper was caught off-guard by this last point, and was yet more flustered - though anyone unfamiliar with the former heiress would have thought her cool as a cucumber - when Vin summoned Zaphrael to expidite his introduction.
The angel was able to assuage the Frostkeepers' safety concerns, but Aida pointed out that it didn't solve the problems with her father's employment, or her brothers' educations. In the end, Vin was forced to compromise. Her family would use the party's carriage to move, but would wait one week before doing so. Somewhat mollified, Vin gathered her things and set out for the governor's mansion.
Sigvurd Snake-in-Eye
As Sigvurd walked through the village, he saw several things.
He saw the melted and burned homes.
He saw people who used to live in those homes sleeping in alleys.
He saw Smenk's goons "moving them along" with clubs.
He saw Jalek increasing the prices at his flophouse, also flooded with newly-homeless citizens.
He saw the cathedral of St. Cuthbert, overflowing with wounded.
He saw the bar next door converted into a makeshift ward.
He saw healers and priests rushing about with black rings under their eyes.
And he saw the manors of the mine managers, all untouched, and bristling with redoubled security.
And then Sigvurd remembered, as he hefted his greataxe on his shoulder, that although he had no family in Diamond Lake, nor any home of his own, he still had some business to attend to. He made tracks toward Smenk's manor.
The gate-keepers lowered their pikes at him when he approached, but trembled in their boots when they realized the dwarf was not village rifraff, but an experienced adventurer who had probably bested foes far tougher than themselves. He cowed them into escorting him inside the manor, where Smenk was less-than-pleased to give him audience.
The corrupt mine manager was smart enough not to poke the bear, though, and spread his arms in a welcoming gesture, thanking the dwarf for his intervention with the cult at their previous meeting, and noting that he had come at an inopportune time.
The dwarf, however, had no time or patience for Smenk's false nicities. He demanded to know why, with the village in distress, Balabar's staff were not helping. The man grew so red, sweaty, and flustered that he rather resembled a stuck pig as he tried to explain how the profits from his soon-to-be-newly-aquired mines would trickle down back to the villagers through their honest labor.
But no excuse the manager made could satisfy Sigvurd, and the dwarf closed the distance between them, punctuating each of his demands with the flat of his axe on Balabar's head.
Smenk would send all but two or three guards to assist with Diamond Lake's relief efforts.
He would repurpose the freight carriages he used to move ore to the Free City as evacuation vehicles.
He would call on the Lords of Greyhawk for aid.
He would dedicate the whole of his assets to providing humanitarian relief to Diamond Lake's citizens.
Even with the edge of Sigvurd's magical axe under his throat, Smenk tried to negotiate, but in the end he was forced to choose between meeting the demands and losing his head, and he opted to keep his balding cranium attached to whatever he had where a spine should be.
His work done, Sigvurd chatted a bit with Smenk's man-eating apes on his way out, and decided to get some help re-homing them from the Bronzewood Lodge. Later, though. First, he had a dinner invitation at the governor's manor.
The party, reunited
As the sun set orange over the muddy lake, the heroes of Diamond Lake gathered in Lanod Neff's second parlor. They had learned much since they first plundered the Whispering Cairn in search of treasure. And now, armed with the legendary weapons of the Vaati, Allustan felt a change in the wind.
It was time, the wizard said as they took their seats, to take the fight to their enemies.
