Summary
As the rest of the party prepared to head out to the dragon burial ground Pale Noon busied himself instructing the Winterhaven guards manning the walls on what they might expect. "Remember to keep vigilant and stick together. Be it humans or a dragon, safety is in numbers and try to flank as much as possible. Our strength is in numbers, don't forget it." Pale Noon nodded to his companions from the top of the wall as they set forth, and then returned to the manor house where Daelius still stood guard over the unconscious Bariwin. Lord Padraig paced behind his desk, upset by the surfacing of such evil in his town.

It was then that Daelius turned his attention from Bairwin and addressed Lord Padraig. "Good sir, it is possible that the name Bairwin gave as a co-conspirator to Rolen was false but we must pursue it. As I recall, Erik is the guardsman that took on Meek, and although I first thought him naive for trusting an obviously evil creature it is possible that he took responsibility for him for a far more nefarious purpose. Can we send one of your servants to have him brought down from the walls, possibly by the captain of your guard?" Lord Padraig barely stopped pacing and gave a quick gesture and command to the servant standing just inside the door, "See to it Francis."

A few minutes later Bairwin rolled over with a groan. Daelius dragged him upright and tried to begin questioning him, but was met with a cold silence when Bairwin realized the half-elf had already left. "What is a Paladin of Torm going to do that the Mistress of Night will not do ten times over to me if I do speak?" Frustrated at the lack of progress Pale Noon drew his scimitar and pressed it against Bairwin's exposed neck. "Shar is not here, but my blade is. Are you sure you wouldn't like to talk?" Visibly shaken, Bairwin did begin to speak.

Apparently Kalarel was within the ruins of Shadowkeep, an ancient Corymr structure in the forest a half-days march from Winterhaven. Shadraxil was imprisoned beyond the "shadow veil", and Kalarel sought to free her to bring darkness back to the Thunder Peaks. The message found within the secret chapel was said to have arrived the day before the caravan reached town, so at most five days remained before the ritual was expected to be completed. The interrogation began circling back to the cultists still remaining in the town, and it was then that Lord Padraig realized the very servant he had sent to fetch Erik was a secret follower of Shar.

Realizing there was little time, Daelius secured Lord Padraig's permission to execute Bairwin for his crimes and they began making for the back entrance to the manor to see the deed through. Just as they reached the door the servant burst through accompanied with two other crudely armed townsfolk and Erik. Recovering quickly from the surprise Daelius first shouted for Lord Padraig to stand well back and brought his greatsword down on Bairwin before the newly arrived cultists could free him, gravely wounding him. Pale Noon then stepped up behind him and slipped his scimitar under his arm and deep into his heart.

Seeing their leader killed, the cultists charged forward to confront Pale Noon and Daelius. Shifting in concert to flank enemy and then protect each other, the greater numbers of the cultists proved no challenge for the adventurers. Erik finally turned and ran, but was cut down before he could take more than a few strides.

Continuing to harbor his suspicions of Meek, Daelius set forth to discover what had happened with the kobold. The guards at the gate reported that Erik had escorted him out over an hour ago, and although a trail could be seen leading towards the forest the hour was growing late and the rest of the party had not yet returned. Deciding to wait for the rest of the party, Daelius and Pale Noon retired to the Drunken Druid Inn and after some failed joviality and flirtation settled into a corner table and began drinking the night away.

Experience

• 120xp (240/2) for human guard and 3 human rabble

  • Pale Noon, Daelius

Prior to heading to the inn for the night.

Daelius and Pale Noon walk over to the general store where the Temple to Shar had been located. Daelius leading the way pushes his way through a crowd of on-lookers who are curious what is going on in their town.

Daelius "Pale Noon, Bairwin had said the object that Fizzwig stole was behind the counter. Why don't you go have a look for it and let me know what you find."

Pale Noon "It doesn't seem like anything is here, maybe one of the other cultists took it before coming after us"

Daelius "No no, we checked their bodies. It has to be here....let me have a look"

As Daelius walks back he steps on a floorboard that appears to be lose and reaches down to pry it up. Beneath is an object wrapped in some sort of cloth. Daelius quickly unwraps it to see if it is indeed what Fizzwig had described to him back by Irontooth's cave. He pulls out a black stone with odd markings on it. There are indeed markings of Shar on this stone, however there also appear to be markings of an arcane nature that neither Pale Noon or Daelius can make out.

Pale Noon "Maybe Galstaff will be able to decipher the use of this stone, for now why don't you hold onto it Daelius and we will wait for their return."

Pale Noon heads over to the Drunken Druid Tavern to grab some dinner and mead while Daelius briefly heads over to the temple to pray and reflect on the days events. Sister Lenora gives him a quick nod but notices Daelius' stern looking face and decides to let him pray in silence.

Daelius enters the tavern and sees Pale Noon sitting in a corner enjoying his dinner. Daelius requests the same and makes a poorly formed joke about how she should not serve the monk when he returns. Paladins are not known for their humor, and Daelius is no exception and so he wanders over to Pale Noon to enjoy his own dinner. At this point Pale Noon checks the room for some pretty ladies but instead wanders over to a horse in front of the tavern and attempts to hit on it.

Daelius "Maybe we should just reside here at our table until the others return, it appears that the mead is impairing your judgment already."