16.2.1 Expedition to Redlake Fort

Expedition

Trunau’s Council of Defenders is worried that the town’s orc troubles are far from over. To that end, Halgra asks the Heroes of Trunau to go to Grenseldek’s lair—an abandoned outpost near the River Esk called Redlake Fort—and deal with the giant chieftain and her orc tribe before they can attack Trunau again.   We leave an hour after noon. we ride north upon the council's yak's along the trail for six hours, spend the night camping out.

Thanks to the PCs, the orcs’ hill giant chieftain, Grenseldek, was unable to recover the items she sought from Uskroth’s tomb, and the council fears another attack on Trunau in the near future. To that end, Halgra asks the Heroes of Trunau to go to Grenseldek’s lair—an abandoned outpost near the River Esk called Redlake Fort—and deal with the giant chieftain and her orc tribe before they can attack Trunau again. Due to the PCs’ recent heroism during the orc raid and in Uskroth’s tomb, Halgra believes they are best suited to this task, as Trunau’s militia and citizenry are needed to rebuild the town’s defenses after the orc attack. Halgra is willing to offer the party a reward of 1,500 gp to put an end to Grenseldek’s aggression.     With her help, Silvermane tells the PCs about the Vault of Thorns, a demiplane created by the druidic Council of Thorns, of which he was once a member. The entrance to the Vault is located within Ghostlight Marsh, a swamp to the northeast surrounding the conf luence of the Kestrel and Esk rivers. Silvermane informs the PCs that the Vault contains a cache of items that can help in their fight against the Twisted Heart menace, though he has no specific details about the items. To find the Vault of Thorns, the PCs should look for a marker in the form of a circle of thorns carved into a stone near the banks of the River Esk.   This marker will put them on the right path through the swamp to find the Vault, but the entrance to the demiplane is hidden. At this point, the elf produces an ancient, leafembossed brass lantern called a ghostlight lantern (see the sidebar on page 9). According to Silvermane, if the husk of a dead will-o’-wisp is placed inside the lantern, the lamp will produce a beacon that points to the circle of standing stones that marks the Vault’s entrance. Once the PCs reach the druidic circle, they need only wash the supernaturally fueled lantern’s light over the central standing stone to open the portal into the Vault of Thorns.   Halgra informs the PCs that she has already secured passage for them aboard a keelboat that regularly plies the rivers of southern Belkzen. The riverboat’s captain, a half-orc named Raag Bloodtusk, has agreed to transport the PCs to Ghostlight Marsh and then up the River Esk to a location near Redlake Fort in exchange for the PCs’ efforts in helping sail the boat and defending it from any dangerous river denizens. Halgra explains that overland travel to Redlake Fort would be foolhardy and dangerous, as it would take the PCs right through the orc-infested Hold of Belkzen. Bloodtusk’s riverboat, on the other hand, is well known among the orc tribes along the river, and the gladiator-turned-riverboat-captain enjoys rights of safe passage from these tribes’ chieftains, which makes a river journey far safer than traveling overland. Before the PCs leave, Halgra gives them a letter of introduction to give to Bloodtusk, who is waiting for them on the southern bank of the Kestrel River.