Thayne's Departure
After a night at the manor and a couple days on the road we arrive at Me’uiedra in the late afternoon. We purchase provisions and then spend the evening at the tavern. Thanye meets a few of the Realm’s guard: Brice, a forest elf; Breann, a human; and Angus, a human, where he instigates a friendly brawl between Angus and Grin.
We all head out back; and with Sothas refereeing, Grin trounces Angus. Afterwards, Grin showed Sothas the brand. He asked if we knew of Iarno. He seemed a bit concerned until Grin explained that Sildar gave him the brand and that we defeated Iarno. Sothas removes the magically removes the brand, and says we need to talk to Felix’s man. He leads us through the casino to a door in the back then down a stairway where we enter a room with a black cloaked figure with a steel mask at a desk covered in maps. Sothas introduces us with, “They wore the mark.” The figure wants to know when the orcs plan to attack, what are their movements and supply lines, etc. He says we need to see Felix and that we should be back for supper tomorrow and ask for Atticus.
We go and talk with the Realm’s guard again. They say Felix is travelling to Horresh about two days west with three more towns til Kuldera. He will spend two weeks visiting with the Duke then he’ll take the Old Road towards Haldenia. They say that Orlane is troubled and the swamp won’t stop growing. They described the eastern border as full of giant wild animals and they occasionally met far eastern elves. Some elves of the wood have a resin that creates ‘metal’ like weapons, metal ore there is very precious.
After a restful night at the inn, Grin wanted to check in with Olanys. The blacksmith was happy to see us, says Olanys favors strength-based weapons. She now sleeps through the night, but is still a bit defensive. Otherwise, business as usual. We head to the temple and Father William says he has heard of our adventures and is impressed, I’m granted the rank ‘Adept of Life’. He says that Orlane has unfortunately been too quiet.
We bide our time and talk with the Reeve. She says that spiders have been spotted outside of town. We fight five spiders, and rescue one survivor, Harry, from the web. He has a orchard to the south; says brandy is better than cider for trade. He knows of Edermath; says he hasn’t learned that you can’t just use apples, that you need to blend peaches and such. We return to the inn and a cloaked figure approaches Zera, agrees that his mission despite the outcome was completed and that his whereabouts will be kept quiet.
Felix approaches the town riding a giant lizard beast along with an army. He’s a tanned half-elf, with sun-bleached hair. We got to the inn and ask for Atticus, and we are lead to Felix. Felix tells us that he tamed the reptilian beast as his mount. He’s concerned when we tell him about the orcs, and he then asks us to get more information about the orcs; troop movements, numbers, etc. We call Bruglor with the sending stones. Bruglor tells us that Azarr Kul will come through the Elsir Vale, down from the Wyvernwatch and Wyrmsmoke mountains near Drellin’s Ferry. If they take the first town and have the river, the rest will be easy. He says that if we loose Brindol, it will be all he needs to finish recruiting more orcs and we’ll have an all out war. He has several Wyrmlords serving under him, their names are unknown. He says, ‘throw everything into keeping the vale’, but has no idea of the timeframe. Finally, Bruglor says he’s getting into bigger mountains near the dwarves, soon he’ll head either east towards the beasts or west to the giants in the next few weeks, whichever one will offer shelter from the coming tide.
Felix tells us he needs someone to gather intelligence and to slow the threat, because the Duke’s are slow to notice. There are several troops there, but few scouts. He needs reports, a few captives, captured intelligence (maps and such). Cpt. Christof commands down there, but isn’t capable. General Felix then asks Thayne if he was made captain if that would be enough for him to go to the Vale. Thayne decides he has to head south and is conscripted. Felix agrees that the forge is still of strategic value and assigns Atticus to aid us in our task.
Before he departed Thayne left each of us a note.
Sorren:
Please know that I did not make the decision to leave lightly. How does one choose between riding to almost certain death in order to stem the impending invasion to the south, or to secure a magical forge to properly equip the realm’s army to halt the approaching emerald deluge? In the end, I simply had to ask myself where I could make the most impactful difference against the rising tide. The ominous events of late seem to serve as some foul harbinger of the hungering chaos that seeks to consume our beloved kingdom. I have no doubt that our troupe will succeed at taking the forge, especially with you amongst their number. I cannot help but picture vividly in my mind our troupe being reunited in some glorious and grandiose battle, standing back to back on some field to the south, opposing the oncoming orc horde!
While I do not doubt that the day quickly approaches, I wanted to thank you (while I am able) for your gentleness and kindness during our adventures. It has truly been my honor to have been able to accompany you as we sought to make a tangible difference in our travels. Sadly, at present there is not one healing spell in the world that could cure this festering wound that eats away at my soul, as I lay here thinking about parting from our adventuring band.
I take great comfort in knowing that forces for good will vigilantly be working to frustrate those who seek to do great evil on at least TWO fronts, both at Wave Echo and in the Elsyr Vale. Until we meet again, dear friend.
Respectfully,
Sir Thayne Solosian of the Deelian Order, Captain of the Realm, Esteemed Member of the Flying Eagles
“I vow to defend and protect the weak, defeat chaos in all its forms, and uphold justice by being fair to all.”