Gnoll Camp

The party's plan of poisoning the food supply, causing a worg feeding frenzy, and setting fire to the gnoll camp became was set. The party recapped it once more to make sure they were certain. Sprinkling an injury poison over a food supply... perhaps not, unless gnoll etiquette demands that you stab yourself with your lunch. The rest, however, seemed sound.

Izz had a stroke of genius and suggested the chef's tent should be the source of the fire, ensuring the fire looked accidental and avoiding the tribe rallying against a perceived attack.

Merric hit a good shot on the string holding the worg food aloft, and Taern threw a fire bolt at the tent on Merric's signal. Gnolls immediately began to panic with nobody ever explaining that it was a fire. Some grabbed weapons, some ran towards the chaos, some ran from it.

The party - disguised as goblinoids - ran towards the fire in formation. Various gnolls took this purposeful run as being important and thus began following them to assist. The party broke double digits very briefly. A wolf leapt out of the holding pen and charged towards the party. The worgs followed suit and began running amok in the camp.

Jorund suggested that Grageon should tell the gnolls to assist at the fire while the party sought help from the tower. The gnolls did so, allowing the party to escape out of the other side of the camp. The wolf remained.

Gathering themselves off road, Taern attempted to befriend the wolf with some rations. The wolf transformed into an Aust and made him jump out of his skin. Some discussion about the intricacies of teleportation later, Taern renewed his Seeming spell to ensure Aust had a fitting disguise.

Signs of Jaric

Off the beaten track, the party noticed a recently used riverside campsite. Three bedrolls, an abandoned backpack, and a smouldering campfire. Izz and Merric scouted it for signs of life. They retrieved the backpack and Merric noticed signs of struggle: flecks of blood and a body being dragged towards the river. They returned to the party before investigating the backpack - it was full of Jaric's belongings, the first sign of him since teleporting north.

Aust checked out the blood trail. It ended at the river. Beneath the water, he found a number of discarded and extremely worn orcish weapons. Perhaps thrown away due to their state, perhaps evidence hidden in the water - either way, not a sign of Jaric.

Izz wondered what Izz would do in this situation. Misty step! He took a look around in a thirty foot radius to see if Jaric perhaps misty stepped out of trouble. No sign across the river, no sign in the northern clearing. In the treeline to the south he found a sleeping Crocotta - best described as the hyena version of a worg.

Grageon explained this was sign of plains gnolls who shouldn't be in the North, and a further sign of clans travelling here from afar. The party decided this wasn't a fight they fancied, packing up Jaric's belongings and sneaking back to the beaten path.

Kobolds and the Giant Egg

The party progressed onwards, the charred forest funneling them down a narrow and defensible path. Izz determined that the majority of tracks flowed towards the tower with very few heading back.

At the end of the path, it curved of into a clearing with a well established Kobold encampment in it. Many had the telltale stunted wings of the Dragonwrought (though none were quite as impressive as Merric's disguise). The creatures were in the midst of merrymaking - dancing, chanting, drinking - around a giant egg. Aust was sure this sort of egg wasn't natural.

The party asked Taern to discern the nature of it. With the support of Aust's pass without trace, he approached for a good look. Taern concluded that this was a dragon egg. Strange that the kobolds would have it and there would be no sign of the mother. He beckoned Aust closer to look at the fault lines which ran through the shell. A deep crimson glow, hinting at the nature of dragon held within.

Though tempted to deal with this evil - freezing the egg being the favourite subtle method of ensuring the dragon was never born - Aust warned against it. The party came north to retrieve a key. The dragon can be dealt with after the true mission is accomplished.

Chill Tower

The only thing standing between the party and Chill Tower is the lights spotted earlier. Now that the party was closer, however, they noticed something strange: the light cast on the ground seemed to be unintentional, and the lights atop the tower were of a magical origin which even Taern couldn't determine. The party decided to avoid stepping in the light.

Izz played his usual tricks - an ethereal head peeking through the front door - and disappointingly found what appeared to be a utility closet. There was, however, a lit brazier lighting the room. With signs of life, Izz poked his head back through and informed the party. They marched onwards.

Aust crept towards the inner door to peek through a keyhole. He pressed his forehead against the wood, straining to scan the room beyond. The door creaked open under the pressure. Before Aust sat an injured orc who carried a deep shoulder wound and flash burns on his face. The orc slammed down a tankard.

"Leave me!"

Aust conversed - through Grageon - for a while, drawing on the investigation he undertook in Neverwinter to determine the orc's allegiances and extract any useful information. The orc claimed to have chosen the wrong side, surprised that Dakgu lives on, and saddened that so few survived with him. A once-loyal member of the chill, he threw his tattered banner - a fist surrounded by a white cloud - to the floor.

Aust channeled some of his positive energy and bestowed healing upon the orc, returning him from the brink of death though doing little to repair the crippling damage caused by the wound. The orc immediately recognised this as a sign of an impostor - magic is the domain of powerful shamans, not of simple warriors - but accepted an ally of Dakgu as an ally of his. He pledged to die in the tower fighting alongside the druid.

Merric, having been uncharacteristically quiet since the river crossing, suddenly piped up.

You know, I have a grappling crossbow..."