Clouds 1472.10 - 1472.11

In early autumn you arrived in 2 (or 3) distinct groups in the:

foothills of the Worldspine Mountains; in the
walled town of Heves; in the
Demesne of Racalmas; in the
Barony of Janoshalma; at the
edges of the Vesperin Kingdom.
The nearest major city is Calaunt some 100 miles away.

About the town of Heves and it's demense:

a walled town that is overlooked by Racalmas Keep (ruled by the knight Sir Racalmas, who in turn owes his fealty to the Baron Tura
has a standing population of 1500 contained within 5 villages + 20 hamlets within 2 miles;
is in the alpine area of Vesperin and is at a height of 5000 ft;
is on the slope beneath snow covered higher peaks and on the southern side drops away sharply to high mountain valleys broken into an open field system;
it is the last major settlement before entering the mountains;
several overland paths that cross lead from town, all of which are impassable come winter
there is farming and mining in the area
the mining is on human lands which are on long term lease to the Dwarven Rutgher Clan. Humans also work the mines which are a mile from the town which is serviced by a small village and barracks.
the marketplace is bustling with produce as the harvest in full swing and there are also products available from craftspeople for domestic use
some dwarves, gnomes and halflings are present but no elves.

Sir Racalmas has a small retinue with him at all times. His banner is rectangular white with a central silver rectangle, surrounded by golden unicorn horns and 4 bolts of lightning. A wind drake and a number of other creatures enslaved to the Cloud Giant Oligarch Auron have escaped their high mountain prison. The female Wind Drake is named Dhanyatha and she is the first female child of Wind Drake Lore Keeper. Years before she was given as tribute to the Oligarch years ago in order to spare more wind drakes being captured and made to serve. When she escaped she was pregnant and lay a clutch of eggs in the cellar of disused barn in the town of Heves. As she is indebted she knows the Oligarch will claim her children if they are born into his captivity so she fled solely for the purpose of giving birth to her brood. Her destination was the mountain known as Kord’s Inrun which is twenty miles overland from Heves. In the coming 2 weeks wild wind drakes would use the caldera near the peak of Kord’s Inrun as a resting place as part of their migrations. If she can get her brood to Kord's Inrun they could be returned to the wild wind drakes. She always intended to return to the Oligarch. She found shelter in an abandoned barn at the edge of the town to give birth and was intending to leave as soon as she had the strength to protect the brood when the Oligarch's stablr caught up with her. The Oligarch's Stabler Iecar was sent to retrieve the wind drake and other creatures that have escaped. There were huge cumulus clouds on the horizon rumble, warning of a distant storm. Within moments wind erupted, birds scattered, smoke pixies were flung about and people knocked over as powerful invisible presence moved swiflty among the crowded marketplace. The wind was so strong it meant the following: disadvantage on ranged attacks & perception relying on hearing, fog & open flames dispersed, non-magical flying impossible Dhanyatha moved swiftly to lure the invisible presence away from her hatchlings away. The storm closed unnaturally fast and 4 wind drakes appeared. One crashed into the upper floor of a smith that overlooked the town square The high winds dispersed with the arrival of the stabler Iecar and a cloud giant warrior emerging from the rolling cloud that poured into the town. A fight took place between the 5 wind drakes causing damage to buildings and harming standers-by The invisible presence restrained Dhanyatha and then gave her into Iecar's custody - the invisible presence cursed the clod giant in Auran before vanishing. As she was taken away she reached out telepathically to a number of people (including party members) seeking help in saving the hatchlings. This included others such as . Her telepathic messages received by different party members included:

an image of an abandoned farmhouse at the edge of town
a telepathic plea "Save them" accompanied by the image of 3 tiny wind drakes
a telepathic term “Naj Kumarin” accompanied with the image of a dimly lit and damp room with a small window
the image of Kord’s Inrun and swift figures swooping
an image and sensation of the in melting away in 1 week's time
an image of an old cloud giant watching a distant mountain
an image of standing stones near the village and an open stone lid
Daros, an ambitious Fang in the Zhentarim and a small band of dangerous mercenaries/fortune hunters also heard the plea. He swiftly organised the mercenary warband and made preparations to leave town in search of the hatchlings.

As a group you coordinated efforts and intelligence, found the hatchlings (who were very cute) and headed to the stone circles where you fought off will o the wisps and found the following in a hidden pit beneath one of the standing stones which came with a brief telepthic message "to help in your efforts":

Scale Armour +1
Boots of the Winterland
Potion of Growth
Potion of supreme healing
Oil of etherealness
Scroll - Darkvision
Scroll - Mage Armour)

You also put together the following information before heading off into the cold mountains to Kord's Inrun

Several traders have returned from both northern passes. What has been talked about and seen includes:
figures and lights moving about in the woods at night
2 beaten up individuals from an adventurers group left Heves 2 weeks ago returned a few days ago having lost 4 other party members to a band of zombies
Several other travellers and outriders (including 2 veteran woodsmen) have reported strange sounds and having been followed
Hobgoblins have demanded tribute from those using the Tolna pass and have confiscated weapons & items and taken prisoners for ransom - those resisting have been killed
A month ago a caravan with 20 heavily armed guards were ambushed and destroyed. A young boy was spared
A giant ghostly humanoid striding the remote valleys at night
With equinox approaching no one will stay out past last night for fear of undead
2 other groups have left to investigate since the 2 beaten people came to Heves but have yet to be sighted.

The 2 main routes access Kord’s Inrun was the main travel pass through the mountains and taking a small detour across open wilderness (3 days) or a wilderness trek using a ridge line slightly west and north of the town (4 days). The main pass to the north was being threatened by Hobgoblins (the Agron Legion), who the Zhentarim trader was sent to negotiate a deal on behalf of Sir Racalmas (learnt from previous session). The party chose to take a more difficult and less travelled path as you weren't entirely convinced the hobgoblins would

let you pass even if you did pay their toll; and/or
let you cross their territory when you had to leave the pass; and/or
play as nice as hobgoblins ever play as you were all convinced they were being paid off by the Zhentarim Trader

Along the way to Kord's Inrun (which took 4 days) some of the random sights you took in were:

Waterfalls
Ancient lava trails
Glaciers
Icy streams
Abandoned villages
Burnt Towers
Recent campsites - previous adventuring parties
Broken bridge caused by uplift (15ft)
Great stone arch standing with nothing else around it - no mortar - with square animals engraved (your first Carkade artefact)
Gorges

You had a brief run in some goblins who were trailing you, including the wolf flicking one of them into a deep crevasse. There was a fight with a skeleton warband that included Orc berserker skeletons, cavalry skeletons, archers and warriors. They were lead by a mummy who stayed in the background during the fight on the bridge. Kunoh was knocked off the bridge but rescued from a fatal fall by a fast acting Ephut-Ki. At nights you saw people pulling carts headed towards what you'd learn was a Carkade ruin. You passed the walls of the ancient Carkade fort that had a battalion of skeletal guards watching you as you all passed and as you approached the valley near Kord's Inrun hobgoblin bodies strung up as a clear marker between the territories of the undead and the hobgoblins. Kord’s Inrun is a huge peak some 16000 ft at it highest and 12000ft accessible at the caldera (which was where you needed to be). The mountain is used as a temporary rest stop by wind drakes as part of their global migration. It is one of the rare times the drakes spend time on land. It is steep and treacherous to access and required climbing skills to reach the caldera. BUT before you reached the mountain, you had to cross a mountain valley containing several temporary hobgoblin fortifications, army pickets and patrols. In a daring effort you managed to subdue the first hobgoblin sniper but all descended quickly into farce as a most excellent Benny Hill chase scene saw the party fleeing from the entire hobgoblin legion at night across the valley. After the Benny Hill escapades with much hilarity and one of the great chase scenes ever in role-playing, you climbed Kord's Inrun, lost the dwarf to some fallen dwarven watchtowers from a century ago and reached a huge caldera where you were accosted and confronted by a large flight of wind drakes. You returned the hatchlings to their grandfather Nayan (who is the Lore Keeper for his flight) who then offered you all a blessing which was gladly accepted. The blessing gave you all the ability once between long rests to add +2 to any savings throw or ability check (can be added after the initial roll). The wind drakes offered to fly you out of the caldera which you accepted and each of you was bodily encased by a transparent wind drake and flown to the Carkade ruins. In the few days since you had seen it, it was visibly clear that the walls had been mended and there were more levels of courtyards and buildings cascading down the edge of the mountain behind the main wall.