Characters: Julian, Tulgar, Cael, Balin.
NPCs: Grezalgog: Greater Stone Giant, Black Raven Tribesman, Giant Black Ravens,
L 7 Mirtul 1374 - L 8 Mirtul 1374
5250 XP
The party healed their grievous wounds from the battle with the Black Raven Giant tribesman and began searching for tracks of passage. The night sky was dark and the storm horn crags were not favorable for tracking. However, fortunately for Balin and the party, mountain giants are quite easy to track regardless! Their massive footprints lead the party to a series of large caravan entrances, high in the mountains which out to the south over Cormyr. They cautiously entered and were hit with a terrible festering smell, giant black raven feathers littered the area. Tulgar realized something critical in that since he had been responsible for the death of their chieftain he could rename himself the new chieftain as long as no other barbarian warrior challenged him. Though it was a great risk, the thought of battling an even greater number of the powerful Black Raven warriors drove him further into the cave alone. Tulgar boldly announced his presence by throwing the massive ear of their chief onto the ground and with a great Uthgardt roar and proclaimed himself to be the slayer of their leader and the new chief of the tribe. Staring at him was a large group of giants, and oversized humans clad in crude raven feathered clothing. From deeper in the cave the party heard the loud squawking of many ravens. One great stone giant stood up and announced himself as Grezalgog, challenging Tulgar's inheritance of the tribe. The remaining Uthgardt barbarians began to smash stone upon stone in a deafening rhythm. Battle between the two great warriors was joined.After only a couple blows from their spiked weapons, both warriors were in grave condition. Tulgar called upon his ancestral weapon Gar and struck first, killing Grezalgog. The smashing of stones halted and the remaining Uthgardt tribesman dared not challenge the warrior Tulgar whom had slayed their 5 strongest warriors and giants. Reluctantly at first, the tribe clothed him in black feathers for Tulgar had clearly earned his place of honor. The barbarians of the Black Raven tribe offered a giant-sized meal to their new chieftain and the rest of the party. The Black Ravens were crude and violent, however Tulgar saw in them the honor of Uthgar himself and new that their evil ways could be redeemed. Balin spoke with the raven mounts and found them to be intelligent, crude, and sarcastic tricksters. During the remainder of the night more Black Raven scouts came into the cave from their patrols reporting the movements of various merchant trains and Purple Dragon regiments. Tulgar spoke with the Black Ravens concerning the draconic symbol he had found on their chieftain. The ravens said that he had been regularly meeting recently with a shadowy figure clothed in purple robes. That individual had given them much intelligence, magical items, and resources necessary to increase their raiding considerably. Whom this person was however, was something their chieftain had kept a secret. Tulgar used his first power of the tribe to command them to cease their attacks on merchant caravans and Purple Dragons and instead focus on tracking orc movements and orcish supply wagons. The Black Ravens agreed, for their hatred of orcs equally matched that of the weakening humans, and Tulgar had pointed out their rising strength to be a direct threat to the Black Raven tribe.
In the morning the party said goodbye to the Black Raven tribesman and Teleported to Suzail once more. There in the beautiful royal court gardens they sought out Alaphondar at his tower in the great Library of Suzail. After a thorough security check the party was welcomed into to a private viewing area where, fine wine, cheese, and prepared cart of literature awaited. During the meeting the party explained their findings to the old Royal Sage about Dhedluk and their conversations with Lord Woodbrand of Waymoot. Alaphondar described to the party that the symbol seemed to reference a secret society in Cormyr's legendary history known as the Knights Draconis. Although no formal proof of the organization existed, there were a number of tales and personal accounts that continually references it. The Knights Draconis was said to be an organization started early in Cormyr's history with the goal of helping the Purple Dragon. Alaphondar did not pause but did restate that those whom believed in the Knights Draconis also believed that the Purple Dragon was real. Hundreds of accounts of wood cutters, fisherman, and other nature-folk have been recorded though many are wrought with misinformation and unreliable. The Sage himself felt that based on the type of tattoo, and Thiombur's indulgences in legend as a warrior-poet, it was likely he had it done to honor the myth itself. After Alaphondar's purely scholarly account of the Knights Draconis he answered the party's questions pertaining to recent parliamentarian matters. Then after much discussion the party decided to visit Alusair and the other royals to inform them of what they had encountered in the Storm Horn Mountains west of Castle Crag.Entering the court again, the party hoped there would be a more order than what they had seen the previous day. However, to their chagrin they found the royals in court to be quite unsettled, Alusair was in her chamber. The party waited at her door until her meeting was through and could hear the sounds of a powerful male yelling defensively. The door suddenly opened and a strongly built man dressed in red parliamentarian colors stormed out, his uniform was recognizable as that of an admiral. Alusair furiously described to the party that Ayesunder Truesilver, the Warden of the Port of Marsember and Admiral of Cormyr's Royal Navy had just threatened to blockade Suzail if Alusair contested the inheritance rights of current Stag Steads Lord Fletcher Hawksongs, a young and arrogant Parliamentarian leader. Alusair had outright refused saying that Waymoot would remain a royalist town and Fletcher would be killed on site as a traitor. Lord Woodbrand of Waymoot had been found dead and hanging from the rafters of his moothouse, his wife also killed. With Woodbrand dead and Hawksongs claiming his rights to the Waymoot rulership Alusair was tied once again. She asked that the party go quickly to Waymoot and investigate what had happened to Woodbrand and the state of affairs in the town in general. The party agreed and Teleported at once to the front entrance of Woodbrand's moothouse in Waymoot.
