26 Growth 508

That evening, after ambushing a hobgoblin outrider, the party throws his body on his horse, Tag collects Regna’s hand, and they all ride back toward the trees, away from the fortress.

The party then debates whether to continue forward on this errand or head back to town to deal with Regna’s injury. In the end, they decide to head back to the city, soliciting grumbles from Rhain.

The party packs up and heads to Osandar at night. They decide to get a two hour head start on the hobgoblins, in case any more come. Then they pitch a camp and sleep for the night.

27 Growth 508

Lenoria performs her healing rituals on the party while Regna detects magic on the items they collected from the outrider. After distributing the items amongst the party, they decide to the leave the hobgoblin’s corpse behind. They continue on toward Osandar.

That night, they make camp and pass a quiet night.

28 Growth 508

Regna spends her morning attempting to identify the properties of the various magical items they have found. The party continues to travel toward Osandar.

29 Growth 508

As the party approaches the gates of the city, a makeshift gallows has been erected on the outskirts. A sizeable crowd has gathered to witness the hanging of a man. Tag asks a guard and learns that the man is Osar Gregorian; he apparently killed a woman and her two children. He was a spurned lover of the woman, who was returning to her husband, Kalos Ivanaian. He was out of his mind on blackroot at the time, but that’s no excuse for murder—not in Yulania. After witnessing the hanging, the party heads into the city and to the temple of Cereth.

Once they arrive at the temple, they seek out Gloriana, their friend the Aasimar cleric. She says that helping Regna is beyond her, but that she will get the Abbess—she’ll know what to do.

The Abbess, a stern, middle-aged woman, takes Regna aside and speaks with her. She lets her know that what Regna needs, a regeneration, is beyond even her power. They are going to have to contact the Bishop. The Abbess lectures Regna on the importance of second chances and then they fetch the Bishop, who is apparently residing across town.

The Bishop arrives and performs the ceremony. Soon, Regna has her hand back. In celebration, the party decides to head to the Maiden and Staff.

As the party heads into the tavern, another fellow is being forcibly shoved out by the barkeep—through the window. As the drunken man is picking himself off of the ground, the barkeep pokes his head out of the newly-broken window. “That’s coming out of your tab!” he snarls at the man and then returns inside.

The party heads in and are not impressed with the ramshackle, riverfront, tavern—especially not impressed with the bards who are playing on a stage buffered by chicken wire that is constantly being pelted with bottles, food, and other sundries.

Tag does some asking around and discovers that his previous drinking buddies, the half-elves Laris and Kronar, are out. However, he is cheered to find a table full of halflings to drink with and impress with his stories and his taste for Baijiu. The halflings: Covo, Silva, and Slade, are all game and they all drink various items from the menu, all trying to outdo the other. Soon they’re all calling out “Baijiu!” heartily. They also manage to draw the ire of a half-orc by the name of Kortos who challenges Tag to drink-off with his drink of choice, Bufo. Tag is disgusted by the drink, which has actual frogs in it, but manages to keep it down, impressing the half-orc—if grudgingly. Nevertheless, he outdrinks the half-orc, who passes out with his head on the table. Tag is jubilant, as are his halfling friends.

The rest of the party looks on in a mixture of amazement and bemusement, drinking their own drinks and keeping to themselves.

30 Growth 508

The party spends the morning selling off some of their bounty in the markets of Osandar and then head out of town back toward the fortress.

1 Illumination 508

The day is passed with quiet travel and a quiet night.

2 Illumination 508

As the sun sets on another day of travel, the party once again spots the fortress casting shadows from atop its hill. They pitch a camp on the west side of the fortress in a copse of trees.

3 Illumination 508

Early in the morning, while its still dark, the party moves to the eastern side of the fortress, at least a hundred feet from the walls. They then decide to go into the fortress through the open courtyard. They can go invisibly with the help of spells and potions and can hold each other’s hands along the way so that they don’t get separated.

They enact the magic and start running through the courtyard and down into the fortress proper. They head to the east wing and then to the southeast tower, where they encounter some hobgoblin guards. They manage to dispatch all of the guards in and on the tower, with Tag backstabbing the final guard. They quickly loot the bodies and lay low, awaiting their next move.