20 Kythorn 1493
❧Greenest
Dusk
Imagine our horror when we reached Greenest only to find it under attack! The air reeked of smoke mixed with that telltale metallic scent that can only mean split blood. Columns of smoke were raising high into the sky while people were screaming and fleeing toward the center of town. We ran into a few kobolds that were attacking a family. After we dispatched the raiders, one woman told us that the Cult of the Dragon had attacked and started looting. She said that, while we could probably manage to make it to the keep, people in the inner city were trapped. The keep was the likely location of Governor Nighthill, the man in charge of this once quiet town.
Heading towards the keep, we rescued as many villagers as we could find along the way. As the keep came into view, we could no longer deny what we were seeing. A giant blue dragon was flying around the keep! I dare say that the desire to stand and gape at the horrifying sight was nearly overwhelming. In front of us, the keep gate guards were preparing to close the gates, so we all ran as fast as our legs could carry us. We made it just as the gates clanged loudly shut.
❧Greenest Keep
Evening
It didn’t take long for Governor Tarbaw Nighthill to find us and thank us for rescuing people. He also took the time to show us the keep’s defenses. It was not encouraging to learn that the keep was largely ceremonial and didn’t even have a way to send for help. We ended our little tour on the roof where the dragon made his presence felt. Kalama figured out that he was a lightning dragon, so he wasn’t immune to fire. That didn’t help us right then, however, so we got out of sight. The dragon seemed to calm down after that.
We began discussing how we could help the embattled town when Nighthill got word that the cultists had begun setting fires and there was a group of villagers trapped in a church. He introduced us to the captain of the town militia, who by the way was also the Dwarven Castellan of the keep, Escobert the Red. We decided that rescuing the villagers from the church should be our first priority. Nighthill asked if we could try to capture a cultist so they can question him. Before the two of them headed off to work on the defenses, Escobert handed us a key to some tunnels under the keep. He warned us that the tunnels hadn’t been used in a long time and might not be passable.
Jonathan, a boy of maybe 10, lead us to the tunnel with a quick stop to grab some pickaxes and shovels. It took a little finesse, but we managed to get the tunnel open. It looked like it used to be a 7-foot-tall aqueduct, but judging by the number of cobwebs, it hadn’t been used in ages.
Now, for the life of me, I cannot remember what we were arguing about, but it must’ve upset Lhel and T-Bone. I say this because we were barely 50ft into the tunnel when we were attacked by swarms of rats! At first, neither of them helped at all, but eventually, T-Bone waded into the fray. Lhel refused, even when he was being overrun! Not to worry, the rest of us handled it and we made it through to the end of the tunnel without further issues.
At the end of the tunnel, we used the key to open the door. The hinges needed some serious oil and the noise they made attracted a couple of cultists and about half a dozen kobolds. We killed them all and hide their bodies in the tunnel so they wouldn’t be found by any patrols. We relieved them of their gold but otherwise left them as they were. Before we left the tunnel, we donned cultist robes to help us get around more easily.
❧Greenest Church
Evening
2 groups were attacking the church, one in the front and one in the back. The group in the front had a battering ram and was trying to break the door in while the group in the back seemed to be getting ready to set the church on fire. Kalama and I pretended to be cultists and rushed into the clearing behind the church, calling for aid. We claimed we’d been attacked and Kalama barked orders at them to try to catch the attackers! Once they’d all taken the bait and run off, we rescued the villagers and escorted everyone to the tunnel as quickly as possible. As they headed on up to the keep, we took the opportunity to catch our breath.