A Dwarven Book and Shallow Graves
General Summary
24 Mirtul, The Year of The Scarlet Witch (1491 DR)
Sumber Hills, Dessarin Valley
Over two tendays had passed since the adventurers had uncovered the mystery of The Believers and the involvement of the Cult of the Black Earth led by an evil earth priest named Larrakh.
The butcher, Jalessa Ornra, had been acclaimed as the town’s temporary mayor, and her well-considered decision-making was winning over the townspeople. It seemed that soon she’d be chosen permanently as the mayor of Red Larch.
However, news of something more sinister was beginning to become known about the town: a trade delegation from the dwarven city of Mirabar had gone missing. Not much was known other than the delegation had been last seen in Beliard.
Also, while the adventurers were enjoying a lazy afternoon in the Singing Sword, the proprietor of Vallivoe's Sundries, Endrith Vallivoe, brought to the group's attention a book he said he had bought from a keelboat skipper in Womford. Endrith said he the skipper claimed to have a dozen beautiful old books written in Dwarvish, but was asking for a lot of gold coins for the collection. Endrith was able to afford one of the books but admitted he couldn't read Dwarvish so asked if anyone in the group could. No one could.
However, both Seeker and Peridot pretended to examine the book and claimed it was a dwarven wizard's spellbook. Endrith asked if Peridot could cast Identify on the book to determine its properties. Peridot agreed to do so for 150 gold pieces. Peridot then lied to Endrith about the book, who was happy to know he could sell the book at his shop for profit.
A few days later, a local shepherd named Loran Greenboot stopped by the Allfaiths Shrine where the adventurers were.
Loran said he had found four new graves in the Sumber Hills a few miles outside of town. He found the freshly dug graves two days ago. Loran claims he had been to the same spot over a month before and had not seen the graves then.
Harburk arrived moments later and asked the adventurers if they would travel the Cairn Road to Womford. She said bandits had been seen along the road making travel dangerous.
The adventurers agreed to help and asked Loran to show them the graves he had found.
Everyone gathered their equipment, took a supply of Crumblecake offered by Harburk, and followed the shepherd to the Sumber Hills.
The group had arrived on the barren hilltop some 16 miles from Red Larch late in the afternoon.
There, they found four freshly dug shallow graves. The earth scraped out for the holes was piled nearby, although hastily gathered stones covered the graves. The faint smell of death hung in the air, and several vultures circled overhead.
A search of the area revealed a confused collection of tracks, a few broken arrows, a discarded javelin, and a tattered gray cloak. It seemed as though a battle had been fought on the hilltop.
After moving the stones and uncovering the graves, the group found four bodies.
In one, they found a male dwarf dressed in artisan robes whom they deduced was a smith from Mirabar. A second grave revealed a female human warrior dressed in a black surcoat with a red axe, which they knew was the symbol of Mirabar's army. A third grave revealed a male human warrior dressed in a black cloak with strange stony armor. The dead warrior had the same mark they found on the Bringers of Woe they fought in the Tomb of Moving Stones. In the last grave, they found a male human in a white robe with black feathers at the shoulders. His robe had a mark on it as well, but it didn't match the one on the dead warrior.
A closer examination revealed that all died from arrow wounds or crushing blows.
Before they could decide what to do next, they heard a strange, croaking cry from somewhere above. Looking toward the northwest, the group spotted a trio of huge, winged shapes gliding toward them—giant vultures! Each bird carried on its back riders in dull blue armor with a dirty white cloak.
When the vultures arrived, they circled the adventurers and dove toward them threateningly.
The adventurers attacked in return.
The battle didn't last long. In the end, two of the vulture riders, along with two vultures had been slain.
One rider managed to fly off toward a distant stone tower. Loran identified the tower in the distance as Feathergale Spire. All he knew about the place was that "knights out of Waterdeep came up here sometimes, riding on flying monsters." He added, "They kept to themselves."
The adventurers searched the two dead riders. Besides weapons, they found one rider was wearing a suit that allowed him to somehow glide down to the ground after leaping off his vulture. A detect magic spell revealed it was magical. Peridot then used Identify to determine the suit's properties.
They also discovered a map tucked into the boot of the rider with the wingsuit.
With the sun beginning to set in the Dessarin Valley, the group considered their next course of action.
Rewards Granted
Wingwear
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
This snug uniform has symbols of air stitched into it and leathery flaps that stretch along the arms, waist, and legs to create wings for gliding. A suit of wingwear has 3 charges. While you wear the suit, you can use a bonus action and expend 1 charge to gain a flying speed of 30 feet until you land. At the end of each of your turns, your altitude drops by 5 feet. Your altitude drops instantly to 0 feet at the end of your turn if you didn’t fly at least 30 feet horizontally on that turn. When your altitude drops to 0 feet, you land (or fall), and you must expend another charge to use the suit again.
The suit regains all of its expended charges after spending at least 1 hour in an elemental air node.
Notes
Crumblecake
To the average citizen of Waterdeep, Red Larch is known only for crumblecake, a local specialty. This much-maligned but hearty food is useful on the trail: baked loaves of turkey and wildfowl scraps, nuts, and chopped roots and greens, mixed in a chickpea mash. It is bland at the best of times, but badly made crumblecake tastes terrible.
Report Date
26 Nov 2022
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