A Stop at Thundertree

Diplomatic action

The party meets Reidoth and interrogates some members of the Cult of the Dragon.

In the morning, Trinn makes Garret invisible and he heads to Thundertree to investigate. He arrives at the targeted building in the southeastern edge of the town and scouts it out. Seeing 6 people inside, 5 of whom are still asleep, he decides to sneak into the room where many of them slept and search their belongings. He manages to find 7 diamonds worth 100 gold each among their basic survival gear. He quickly retreats to inform the party. The party decides that they need to interrogate one of the cultists, but suspects that they are working for the dragon and do not want him called down from his tower. The party decides that they'll kill the 4 sleeping in the main room and capture the two in the other, but Garret has already gone back inside to steal more of their stuff.   Marri'Elle and Valamin setup outside the smaller room while Trinn and Reginald ready outside the main room. Trinn casts fireball, instantly killing the 4 in their sleep while Marri'Elle and Valamin burst in knocking the others unconscious. Garret is consumed by the flames and is badly hurt, but manages to make it out alive. Marri'Elle grabs both cultists and Garret and ferries them back to the woods where Trinn sets up another magical hut.   They wake one and begin interrogating him, only to get some troubling information. They worship all dragons, not just the chromatics, and fear their power. They are on a mission to make an offering to Venomfang (7 diamonds), but he refuses to meet with them. They are part of the Cult of the Dragon, and their missions have been to find and appease the few remaining dragons of the land in order to be spared when the dragons rise again. Ultimately, he knows very little about the cult, and Trinn's fireball killed the leader of the small group. Feelings of regret wash over some of the party as they release their captives and plan their next move.   Trinn and Garret rest at the camp while Marri'Elle, Reginald , and Valamin opt to further investigate Thundertree. The three cautiously look around the buildings next to the cultists' hideout as Reginald strolls down memory lane. Valamin brings up the heirloom in the apothecary shop that Mirna mentioned after they rescued her and her daughters from the Redbrands. Reginald points out that the old apothecary is just near the cultist building, so they make their way there. Inside they find a hidden compartment with its hinges and lock rusted away. Inside they pull out a small jewelry box which Valamin tucks into his pack.   They want to talk with the corpses of the dead cultists, but Reginald has not prepared the correct spells, so the three board up the cultist house and return to camp to inform Trinn and Garret. The three party decides to venture in to the forest to potentially find Marri'Elle an animal that she can train. Trinn lets them borrow Athena to help search, and they spend a few hours out in the woods searching for packs of wolves. The come across a few wolf cubs, and Marri'Elle can't bring herself to kidnap a pup from its mother, so they abandon the quest for now and head back to camp for the day.   The next morning, the three wake up early and decide to play a prank on Trinn and Garret; they completely cover the dome in as much mud and leaves as they can find, completely obscuring any visibility. Afterwards, they head back to Thundertree to question the cultist corpses. Unfortunately, they are not able to figure out which was the leader and ultimately gain very little useful information. However, they did learn that there are more cultists in Neverwinter.   Some exploration of other nearby buildings, away from the dragon's roost, yields a bit of gold after killing some giant spiders and some undead. The three do notice a patch of brush full of twig blights, which Marri'Elle knows to only be hostile if you get too close. This is demonstrated by tossing the giant spider corpses into the brush only to see them smashed to pulp violently by the twig blights.   They also run in to Reidoth in a the most intact remaining house, heavily boarded from the inside. With him, they discuss the possibility of confronting the dragon, hopefully peacefully. Reidoth agrees to assist them, and will begin to do some more reconnaissance to assist them. Afterwards, Reginald leads them to his childhood home, unfortunately now in ruins just as the rest of the city. A nostalgic tour fills him with happiness and he manages to recover a medallion from his parents with the symbol of Palien, a local hero, on it. After the tour, they head back to camp to check in on Trinn and Garret.   After discussing with Trinn and Garret, the party decides to interrogate another of the dead cultists and luckily this time it is their leader, Favric. Their five questions were much more lucrative this time as they found out more information. He confirmed that there is a large group of followers in Neverwinter, and that Arkris Vepokar of the Cloak Tower is one of them. Also that the cult has made offerings to two other dragons.   After the interrogation, the party took a vote and decided to engage the dragon as peacefully as possible, despite Trinn's constant protest. They reconnect with Reidoth and head up the ascent to the dragon's tower. Halfway up, they are greeted by Venomfang's reptilian voice, asking if they seek his treasure and how foolish they must be to do so. Aside from Garret's mumbling, the party claims no desire for his treasure and just looks for answers to questions they have. Venomfang condescends to them and says that without proper payment of treasure and magic, he has no interest in dealings with such minor creatures. As the party continues to inquire, Venomfang retreats to his roost and stops responding to them. Alive but disheartened, the party makes their way back down the path and bids farewell to Reidoth, setting off back towards Neverwinter.   They arrive in Neverwinter that evening, and Trinn's recent silence has become even more apparent. Upon their arrival Trinn heads solemnly to the House of a Thousand Faces, the rest of the party in tow. He hands Theryis a folded piece of paper detailing what they found out that would be relevant to her and the Harpers. Afterwards, he rents a private room for him and the group where he orders a disproportionately large amount of ale for himself and whatever else the party wants. While drinking heavily, Trinn laments his inability to protect his friends and feels that he shoulders the responsibility of protecting everyone. The rest of the party tries to console him by saying that everyone works to protect everyone in the group.   After a lot of drinking, the party heads back to Trinn's estate, Marri'Elle shouldering the drunk Trinn.