Awakening of the Dragon Empress

During a vicious thunderstorm, five heroes, unknown to eachother seek shelter in The Broken Tower.

The heroes attend a seasonal feast in the village of Halfhill. During the feast, a band of goblins attack the village's granaries. The heroes boldly fend off the goblins, but the feast is ruined.

The heroes manage to find the leader of the goblin band; a goblin shaman. A vicious fight ensues but the heroes manage to overpower the goblin shaman as it tries to flee. The heroes claim its possessions as their treasure.

The heroes seek more information about the beast of Dundaere. They question townsfolk and farmers surrounding the village of Halfhill. They manage to track the creature to a small bluff a few hours outside the village.

The heroes tracked the Beast of Dundaere to a bluff, where they confront it. The beast turns out to be a hungry, yet very active wyrmling, a baby wyvern. This unheard of, no dragons have been known to exist, let alone be alive since the event of the The Dragonscourge. The heroes battle the wyrmling in vicious combat. At one point the wyrmling seemed to gain the upper hand, yet fails to capitalize its advantage. The dragonling now lies dead, but rustling in the bushes below catch the heroes off-guard.

During their stay in Fellwind they visit the smithy who issued the proof of purchase they found after the dragonlings demise. It belonged to an apprentice mage named Brander Ash. He learned at The Basalt Tower under tutelage of Callirian Stone. Callirian stone is the de-facto court mage of Fellwind. Callirian stone tells the party that Brander Ash was keenly interested in the magickal art of Dreamwalking. The half-elf magi also tell the party he knows Brander Ash broke into the Basalt Tower, stole supplies and most likely fled towards the mountains to the north.

The heroes walk right into a trap. A sizable force of Iron Orcs hold ground in the mountain pass, seeming crossing the border into the Kingdom of Aedeyne. With help of magick spells an avalanche is created. The heroes manage to escape most of its wrath but are now stuck in the pass, with Hilde stuck on the other side. Even worse, an iron orc force engages the party.

The heroes spend their time together with Sigrid the Ranger effectively and partially clear the pass of Iron Orcs. They discover that the iron orcs have reinforced the old, run down Fort Braemar from where they exert control over the area. If the heroes are to clear the hostile force, they will have to take the fortress. All these fights have raised a question though. How did Brander Ash pass through these mountains? Did he somehow evade the sizable iron orc force? Or is he somehow aligned with these vicious, foreign invaders?

The heroes start the assault on Fort Braemar by scaling the rocky cliffs. The battle proves difficult, as the iron orcs put up a formidable defense in the crumbling fortress. Eventually the fort is cleared except for the dungeon.