As villagers arrive to the scene of the fire, they find the party of four broken and bruised.
As soon as they notice the fallen dwarves, the commoners make a call for the cleric, Garaele.
Garaele arrives with Daran in tow.
They walk slowly uphill, because Daran’s limp limits his speed, but arrive quickly enough.
As soon as she sees the ones in need, she proceeds to help them.
Daran stays behind to talk to Brannus and Kiara.
They discuss the events that have transpired, with special note to Iarno Albrek’s involvement.
Daran remembers the arrival of the wizard, subsequent disappearance, and the beginnings of trouble not long after.
Events begin to make sense, as the found information allows pieces to fall into place.
The references to the “Black Hand”, however, remain an unknown to him.
Daran eventually notices the “rescued” goblin, and is shocked to see it with the party.
Kiara tries to assure him that the goblin is not a problem.
Daran backs down, but remains very suspicious.
He warns the party: goblins are vicious, selfish, creatures; it might seem docile now, but he’s sure it’ll betray everyone eventually.
Meanwhile, Garaele has restored Sigmar and Dwolf to consciousness.
Her divine magic heals some of their wounds, but not all.
With everyone on their feet, the party decides to return to the center of town.
As they walk, they notice how the arson affected the town.
The Sleeping Giant Inn has been destroyed, and some adjacent buildings have been damaged.
The center of town is devoid of children and doesn’t have many people around.
The few villagers on the street seem to silently acknowledge the party’s deed as they walk.
Most businesses seem open, though, with the exception being the Lionshield Coster.
As the group reenters the Stonehill Inn, the barmaid is scared at the sight of the goblin.
Glasses and plates fall on the floor noisily.
Toblen emerges, a nervous expression on his face, to investigate.
He is not happy at all with the presence of the goblin.
Kiara convinces the innkeeper that the creature in tame, and requests that it be given a room.
Toblen refuses to house the goblin, but offers a single alternative: and empty chicken coop in the inn’s backyard.
He makes it clear, however, that the goblin will be charged has a regular patron.
It’s late afternoon, and finally the party rests.
Kiara has had a night filled with dreams and visions from her patron.
She wakes with words in her mind that she cannot contain.
After spending an hour ritualistically chanting them, an other-worldly power manifests in the shape of companion.
She feels a deep connection and kinship with this being, that has taken the form of a small house cat.
Before his rest that night Brannus delved into Urmon’s journal, re-reading the details about his quest and specially the section detailing the Lightbringer mace.
He fell asleep and dreamt of yielding the weapon, commanding it to glow as bright as a torch, unleashing its fierce power against foul undead.
During his morning communion with Pelor, praying for his guidance, he found that he could now manifest that vision into being.
Dwolf and Sigmar, still recovering from their wounds, sleep soundly through the night.
The party rises early in the morning, refreshed after their complete rest.
As they go down to the common room, the barmaid notices them and calls for Toblen.
Toblen approaches them and beckons Kiara to follow him.
He takes her to the chicken coop, that is now empty.
The goblin is gone.
With nothing to do about it, and wondering what to do next, the party leaves to face the day.
They find the town returned to almost normality.
They see Sister Garaele at her shrine, greeting her and chatting with her for a bit.
She is happy that the dwarves seem in good health.
Short on clues, they decide to check on the Redbrand prisoner they locked up the day before.
They find the townhall exactly how they left it: empty of people and activity.
Harbin is in his office and is not too happy to see the party.
He accuses them of being troublemakers, and threatens charging them for property damage.
The party requests to see the prisoner, but Harbin is not keen on it.
Kiara makes a bold move towards Harbin, which spooks the bureaucrat terribly.
He gives the keys to her and gets out of their way.
The party heads down to the cells, finding the prisoner where they left him.
They banter for a while, trying to goad the man into giving them information.
But the ruffian is having none of it, and does not play along.
Frustrated, the group leaves.
Still without a clear plan of action chosen, they ponder going to the ruins of Thundertree in search of the druid Reidoth.
They know Grunden is locked somewhere in some “castle”, but have no clue where it is.
Seeing Daran outside in the porch of his house, they decide to go and discuss this with him.
He agrees that it is a good idea, and points they towards the ruined town.
He advises the party to be careful: the roads are dangerous these days.
The party makes preparations and leaves Deepdale, planning on following the trail towards the east.
It’s mid-morning.
They don’t go far outside of town when they meet a group heading towards Deepdale.
They recognize Linene at the head, accompanied by a few men in a wagon full of crates.
She found her missing supplies in the cave the party pointed her to, and she is very pleased.
She thanks the party, throws a few coins their way, and exchanges a few words before parting.
The party keeps walking the path north, and eventually veer east on the intersection with the main trail.
They walk uneventfully for about an hour until they hear a noise in the nearby bushes.
Their goblin “friend” emerges from the thicket, with intentions of rejoining the party.
He explains that he left because he is afraid of the villagers. They don’t like him.
The party finally learns that the goblin’s name is Droop and he repeats that wants to help.
He has little information about the location of the castle the party seeks, but mentions that other goblins patrolling the road might know.
Droop’s insight proves almost prophetic.
After a few more hours of walking, the trail opens to the party.
They approach the outskirts of Greywood Forest, to the north (their left).
On their right the hills sprawl, with the crag of Wyvern Tor dominating the view towards the southeast.
It’s early afternoon when the party’s attention is drawn to Droop as he stops abruptly.
He heard something.
A group of eight goblins suddenly appear, surrounding the party, and immediately attack!
Most rush the party, shortswords and shields in hand, while two stay behind clutching their bows.
Kiara calls upon her dark master as tendrils of dark energy bubble up from the ground decimating most of the attacking force.
The party quickly dispatches the remaining goblins, but leaves one alive for questioning.
The goblin prisoner and Droop lock into a growling exchange, like dogs snapping at each other.
Droop is very keen of ending the prisoner’s life.
The party keeps them separated and drills the goblin for information.
After some back and forth, between questions and threats, the party manages to extract an approximate location of the goblin’s base of operation: a castle with Greywood Forest.
They debate what to do with the prisoner now, but their slow pondering is broken by Droop.
The party’s goblin stabs the helpless prisoner with no mercy.
The party is left wondering if they should now change the course of their trip.
The Draconus Dictum