FIREDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, 11-13 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
Preparations for the expedition to Brinewall begin, as Sandru, Brixton, Zaphkael, Molindo, and Hanzo decide how best to spend the 2,000 gold pieces Ameiko has volunteered to get Sandru's caravan moving as soon as possible. In addition to the adventurers, Sandru, and Ameiko, the group will be joined by Koya (Sandru and Zaphkael's adopted mother), Shalelu the elven ranger (Molindo's adopted big sister), and two brothers named Bevelek and Vankor Brati, who will be helping to drive the wagons. With the decision to add a second supply wagon to the caravan, and the need for a cook, Brixton and Sandru end up hiring a middle-aged dwarven couple, Baradrum and Aggaela Korrick, a cook and wagon driver respectively.
Hanzo requisitions a special chest which keeps its contents frozen even in the warmest climates.
Molindo, preparing for the harsh climes of the north, and despite it currently being the middle of summer, buys a variety of cold-weather gear--just in case.
Zaphkael spends the three days brewing potions and scribing scrolls to prepare for the journey.
Finally, after much debate, the group settles on how many provisions and trade good they should bring with them, in the hopes of turning a profit at Roderic's Cove, the last village they will pass through before reaching Brinewall.
With everything arranged, the adventurers spend Sunday afternoon relaxing and enjoying themselves. The journey will take more than two weeks, by Sandru's estimates.
MOONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, 14-20 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
The first three days of the journey are uneventful, as Koya's divinations predicted. The caravan arrives at the village of Galdur on the shore of Ember Lake, and take the opportunity to restock on provisions.
The next day, the caravan enters the Churlwood. Their progress is slowed somewhat by the dense and winding forest. They reach the ferry to the village of Wolf's Ear, a somewhat disreputable hamlet, just before nightfall, and decide to visit. Brixton has the idea of potentially transporting prisoners for a fee as a means to pay for provisions, but while the local sheriff could actually use the help sending a pair of captured thieves to Riddleport, Sandru has made it very clear that he has no intention of passing anywhere near that hive of scum and villainy.
Three more days of travel through the forest bring them to Rodric's Crossing, the last bit of civilization they will see for some time. Brixton manages to sell the trade goods (mostly glassware from Ameiko's family business) for a decent profit, and provisions are restocked in preparation for the long stretch of empty road ahead of them. By Sandru's estimate, there should be nine days of travel between them and Brinewall.
MOONDAY THROUGH OATHDAY, 21-31 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
The day after leaving Rodric's Cove, Molindo asks Koya if she foresees any danger in their future. She replies that she hopes everyone in the caravan is wearing good, waterproof boots. Four days out from Rodric's Cove, they reach a ford in the Velashu River--which is flooded with rushing waters, rather than the placid flow Sandru expected. Sending Shalelu out to scout for an alternate ford fails to pan out, and the group finally decides to take the risk of fording the river anyway. After battening down anything that might get swept away, they slowly and carefully pick their way across, and arrive safely on the other side. At this point, unfortunately, it's too late to continue much further before the sun sets.
The next day, the group tries to make up for some of their lost time. Too focused on making progress to keep an effective watch, they ride right into an ambush. Human men and women in tattered leathers--either bandits or barbarians--crest the hills on either side of the caravan and rush in. Arrows zip back and forth, and steel clashes with steel. After several minutes of fighting, the bandits are dead or slain, though the caravaneers have suffered injuries and a few of the wagons are damaged. The group presses on for the rest of the afternoon, but decides to spend the next day conducting what repairs they can.
The rest of the journey to Brinewall proves uneventful; while the group sees occasional packs of wolves and even a wandering hill giant, none decide to pick a fight with the somewhat battered caravan. The final few days of their journey, however, see Ameiko coming down with some kind of minor illness. She looks tired and worn, but insists that she's fine and should get over this bug soon.
FIREDAY, 1 ROVA, 4711 A.R.
An hour or so past noon, the caravan arrives at a worn roadsign at a fork in the road. To the north, still hundreds of miles away, is Kalsgard, capital of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. To the west, only a mile or so distant, is Brinewall. They've almost made it.
Ameiko begins to shake violently, convulsing in her seat for half a minute before passing out. Everyone runs to her aid, with Brixton and Zaphkael calling on their knowledges of medicine and divine magic to deduce what has happened to her. They try carrying Ameiko away, but every step further from Brinewall sets her to spasming again. Koya produces a theory--that some spirit tied to Brinewall is trying to possess the girl.
Lord Brixton decides that the proper course of action is to take Ameiko further into the town to see if she begins recovering. He, Zaphkael, Molindo, and Hanzo decide to set off immediately while Sandru, Shalelu, Koya, and the rest secure the area and circle the wagons.
The road to Brinewall is heavily overgrown and does not seem to have been traveled in years. It's only half a mile or so before the path deposits the group on a small ridge overlooking the ruined town. Brinewall is abandoned and devastated, with collapsed buildings of crumbling brick and rotted wood lining the shores of both the town's harbor and a small inlet. A half-ruined lighthouse stands just to the west, and on the far side of the town, rising on a plateau that juts into the sea, looms a squat, solidly built castle.
The adventurers head into the town, with Molindo, Zaphkael, and Hanzo on foot while Brixton rides his warhorse with Ameiko slumped unconscious in front of him. The girl stirs as they descend from the ledge an d begins to mumble something in Tianese. Hanzo translates it: "Grandfather waits in the dark, but knows not who he is."
One of the first things the group sees is an out-of-place boat: a small longboat from the Linnorn Kingdoms, tied to a pier and partly submerged. The boat looks to be a recent addition to the town, perhaps having only been there for two weeks or so, and shows signs of damage from scorching lightning and rending claws. Any gear or valuable the longboat contained are gone, as are any signs of who the ship might belong to.
The group soon after finds a temple of Desna that seems to have been demolished by something huge and angry, though the nearby graveyard is oddly clean and well-preserved, as if someone has been tending to it these long years. Even the unlocked iron gates leading to it swing open easily on oiled hinges. Before they can investigate further, however, Molindo notices something odd on the other side of the town's lagoon--some sort of large, green reptile lying on the beach, half-submerged in the water. He also notices a pair of smaller creatures swimming in the water nearby when their red-spined backs breach the surface.
The group moves to investigate the beached creature. Zaphkael identifies it as a sea drake, an aquatic monster known for attacking fishing boats and breathing lightning. The connection to the Linnorm longship is obvious, and the beast seems to have been killed by several axe blows to the head. Molindo decides to push the beached monster further into the water, and does so with a mighty shove--but this immediately triggers a response from the red-spined creatures he saw before, which burst from the water and chitter up the beach towards the half-orc.
Recognizing the odd, shrimp-like predators as reefclaws, Molido charges in. He dispatches both of them (with the assistance of a well-aimed arrow from Hanzo) by the time the rest of his companions arrive to help.
After a bit more searching of the ruined buildings, the adventurers decide to head up to the castle proper. Brinewall Castle is a large structure, but not tall--it crouches on the plateau above the village rather like a large toad. Rather than a drawbridge or solid wooden doors, the castle's entrance is blocked by heavy iron gates. The gatehouse within is pitch black aside from the fading light pouring in through the bars. Molido, able to see in the darkness, approaches the gate and peers inside. Within, he sees a strange humanoid figure, like a muscular man with a bird's head, snoring gently with its feet on an old wooden table strewn with flecks of old meat. The half-orc pounds on the gate and demands entrance, causing the creature to fall backwards out of its chair and begin squawking a loud cry of alarm.
Zaphkael, unexpectedly, recognizes the bird-man's language: Aklo, a tongue he speaks. He joins Molido at the gate and addresses the creature in its chosen language. The bird-man, surprised at this development, steps near the gate and is joined by a companion.
The creature identifies itself as a "dire corby." It declares that the castle belongs to its master. When asked where he came from, the dire corby says that its kind always lived here, but the master made them free. They and their master were, apparently, also partly responsible for the destruction of Brinewall Village, though the master was the only one who remained here to rule. Thanking them for the information, Zaphkael explains all of this to the group and asks them to leave the castle be for now.
They return to the village, and, realizing that they hadn't investigated the lighthouse yet, decide to make their camp there and watch the entrance. A cryptic muttering from Ameiko suggests to them that there may be a secret entrance to the castle revealed by the low tide, so they prepare to wake early and search the shoreline for any such ways in.
At some point during the night, Brixton notices a rusted iron key sitting on a broken stone inside the lighthouse, which he is convinced was not there before. After confirming with Molindo that the key isn't an illusion, the paladin nervously picks the key up and examines it. It's in extremely poor condition, flaking at the touch, and likely to snap if used with too much force, but it does not seem to be enchanted, cursed, or otherwise nefarious. Satisfied, he returns to his watch, and the night passes uneventfully.
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