Inside the Inn
The Victims
The creatures clawing at the doors are not monsters at all. The cultists have used small tridents to impale six humanoids victims to the doors, leaving them to die as offerings to power their terrible ritual. The characters managed to save the villagers by carefully reomving the stakes that pin them to the walls. They then circle the building and find an entrance to the bedrooms and throw Fikke in there and following shortly after.
Inside the Inn
The cultists of Talos are performing a ritual inside the Wayside Inn. The doors and windows to the building are locked but can were opened. Magical runes, as per the glyph of warding spell, protect the cloak room and barn doors. If the party opens the doors without first removing or disabling the runes, they take thunder damage as per the spell. The Common Area and Courtyard. In the common area and courtyard, the ritual is underway to fully activate the statue of Talos, which is currently in the basement.THE RITUAL
Backes Dunfield leads the chanting in the common area as cult fanatics walk back and forth between the common area and the courtyard, making sure the ritual is progressing according to plan. Spread out between the two areas are cultists with tridents, guarding several bound victims who will be sacrificed at the conclusion of the ritual. The chanting from inside gets louder, how the weather gets darker and even more dangerous, and how terrible faces appear in the clouds. The ritual will be completed, and the adventurers must deal with the consequences. Upstairs. The cultists believe they cleared the rooms of all guests, using them as sacrifices to power their ritual. However, one sneaky individual avoided capture. In the posh room at the end of the hallway, a gnome apprentice wizard named Cray Underquill hides beneath the bed. She was traveling from Neverwinter to Waterdeep on an errand for her master, and she decided to stay the night. When the cultists began grabbing people, she used disguise self to imitate a cultist, and then snuck away here to hide. She thought about climbing out the window but is afraid the fall might kill her. She is willing to help the characters in an assault on the cultists, if only by lending her expertise in Arcana to figure out what’s happening with the ritual. Cray also reveals that not all the captives taken by cultists were impaled on the doors: the inn’s owner, Martisha Vinetalker, was dragged into the basement, and a local bard, Tarbin Tul was taken away on horseback. Cray thinks the cultists had strict orders to capture the bard alive, as she heard them talking about being careful with Tul.The Basement.
The basement houses the shrine to Talos, where the energy from the ritual is being focused. When the characters lower themselves through the trap door into the basement, use the following read-aloud text to set the scene: Crates, barrels, and other containers holding food and drink have been pushed aside to make room for a large copper statue at the far side of the room. The statue depicts a four-armed storm god holding lightning bolts in each hand. Before the statue stands Teega the smith. In the corner behind the statue, Martisha, the inn’s owner, is bound with rope. Her face is bruised and bloodied, but she bears no mortal wounds. Teega (female Illuskan berserker) stands proudly before the statue. The statue of Talos (see appendix A) moves toward the characters, its face twisted in rage.THE CONNECTION
The ritual has created a connection between Teega and the statue. Until the statue was deactivated, Teega did not die. Lightning flowing between the statue and Teega hints to a connection. Help. Martisha Vinetalker, owner of the Wayside Inn, is bound in the corner, watching the proceedings with a mix of anger and terror. If the adventurers free her, she joins the battle to help the party defeat the threat. Although she’s now a respectable innkeeper, Martisha is a former bandit captain whose weapons are close at hand.Aftermath
The characters defeated the cultists and the weather cleared. In a chest they find a map, some potions and a couple of gold pieces. The map shows a sketch of the
Conflict Type
Skirmish
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