Cutting Off the Head of the Seven Snakes
Played on July 15, 2018
15-16 Tarsakh, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Village of Nightstone, The Sword Coast
Grat wasn’t sure if having the Zhentarims as allies was a good idea or not.
But for the time being it was an alliance that had its rewards. The Zhentarims had numbers. And he wasn’t sure if he, along with Daemarr and Belton, could keep Nightstone safe should any more orcs decide to attack the defenseless village.
The rest of the day, the Zhentarims busied themselves with cleaning up the village of dead orcs and goblins. A large funeral pyre was set outside of the village walls. Soon the entire area reeked of charred orcs and goblins.
Later, Xolkin sent Kella’s pet winged snake flying to Daggerford with a message. He said The Snail, the leader of a Zhentarim cell operating in Daggerford, would arrive within several days to help reinforce his soldiers after receiving the message.
Later, when Xolkin asked who the village’s leader was, Grat said it was Lady Velrosa Nandar. She took leadership of the village after her husband Lord Drezlin Nandar was killed a year ago when the elves from Ardeep Forest attacked Nightstone one night. Drezlin was among the many slain, shot and killed by elf arrows while standing on the roof of his keep. His widow, Lady Velrosa Nandar, made peace with the elves and promised to make no further incursions into the Ardeep Forest which had started the whole disagreement in the first place.
Everyone made their way to the keep where they discovered that a rock struck the bridge destroying a 15-foot-long section of it.
Xolkin yelled to get anyone’s attention in the keep. A male soldier Grat recognized as Torem Breck, a young human he was friends with, answered after opening the keep’s wooden gate. Torem would not speak to Xolkin so the Zhentarim had Grat speak to the guard.
Grat leaped across the gap and made his way into the keep. There, he met with Sydiri Haunlar, Alara Winterspell, Kaelen Zam, and Torem Breck to discuss the situation. They offered to follow Grat’s commands until a leader would be chosen to replace Lady Nandar.
When asked about what happed to Lady Velrosa, Torem explained that Lady Nandar was in the great hall when the roof collapsed during the attack. She was buried under the rubble and died before anyone could reach her. When told Xolkin and the soldiers with him were Zhentarims, the four guards said they would rather die fighting against them than letting Nightstone fall into Zhentarim hands. Grat said he would speak with Daemarr and Belton about what to do.
When Grat returned back to the others, Xolkin said he would have his soldiers fix the bridge so the four guards could join his soldiers in defending Nightstone. The keep would also offer a safe place should another attack occur.
When the bridge was finally repaired after midnight, the four guards joined Grat and the others.
Grat told the guards he had spoken with Daemarr and Belton and had come up with a plan to attack the Zhentarims in the morning.
**
After sunrise, everyone gathered outside the Nightstone Inn. Plans were made with Grat, Daemarr, Belton, and a Zhentarim soldier traveling to the nearby Dripping Caves to rescue the villagers while Xolkin and the others would remain in Nightstone.
Without warning, Daemarr shot Xolkin with an arrow that pierced the Zhentarim through his shoulder. Surprised and outraged, Xolkin ordered his soldiers to attack. Grat tried to convince Kella to join in their fight against Xolkin and his soldiers but she said she was loyal to the Zhentarims.
When the fight was over, all but two of the Zhentarims lay dead in the middle of the village square. The two surviving Zhentarims dropped their weapons after seeing both Xolkin and Kella slain by the forces of Nightstone.
In the fight not one of the Nightstone guards had fallen, although Sydiri was seriously injured. The others sustained minor injuries but fared well. Even, Rillix, the tressym Grat found lent its claws against the invaders, killing three of the Zhentarims who were mortally wounded in the fight.
Grat tried to get the two remaining Zhentarims to switch sides, but the soldiers warned them that The Snail would kill them all once he arrived from Daggerford. Grat realized it was futile trying to convince the Zhentarims of their mistake.
Grat ordered the Nightstone guards to imprison the Zhentarims and throw the dead Zhentarims in the pyre outside the village.
Despite their wounds, Grat, Daemarr, and Belton left Nightstone and made their way to the Dripping Caves.
They knew they would need all of the surviving villagers returned safely back to Nightstone before The Snail returned with reinforcements.
Dramatis Personae
Belton Cutpurse (Male Lightfoot Halfling Rogue)
Daemarr (Male Elf Ranger)
Grat Ur’Gray (male bugbear Eldritch Knight)
Kella Darkhope (female Chondathan human Zhentarim)
Xolkin Alassandar (half-elf leader of the Seven Snakes)
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
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