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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rabbitbait" data-source="post: 6669911" data-attributes="member: 60100">Call in the King4th to 13th of Vult, 1036The heroes follow the river down through the frozen and snowy valley. As they walk, they notice the sky above takes on a pinkish tinge. They are pondering this when they hear a splashing, crunching sound.They see a halfling wearing Feathergale Knight regalia struggling to control a large rowboat. The fact the river is starting to freeze over also doesn’t help. They confront the knight and eventually realise that he is a deserter.His name is Tur Turro (Simon, replacing his character Aimn Lu) and his family had bought him a position with the knights in the hope of elevating their status in Sharn. However he found himself bullied and belittled and eventually realised that the knights were a front for something more sinister. He never discovered the detail of it other than it was something to do with harnessing the elemental power of air, but decided to escape at the first opportunity. This thought was hastened when he overheard some of the knights talking about ‘It looks like the squirt is on the road to be sacrificed’.Last night, some cultists had arrived at the tower, talking about an invasion of the temple and how they needed help to track the culprits down. It was getting too dark to mount a search, but the tower went into a frenzy of preparation. Tur Turro saw his chance to escape and climbed down the cliff at the side of the tower. He knew where a boat was kept and thought that would prevent him leaving a trail in the snow. However the boat was too big for him to easily handle and the river had iced over in places. As the night ended he hadn’t gotten far. The sun coming up revealed the spire still in sight. However he saw a group trudging through the snow. Knowing that it was likely to be those being hunted he rowed toward them to warn them and to seek their protection.As Tur Turro expained this to the group, Layna spotted shapes in the sky flying towards them – 5 vultures with riders. The group scrambled to hide, but too late – they had already been spotted. 2 of the vultures veered off, one to the east and one to the west, but the other 3 vultures flew directly toward the group.As the vultures got closer, the group saw that the middle figure was Thurl himself, the leader of the Featherspire Knights. Thurl shouted down to the heroes that there had obviously been a misunderstanding, and that the party should return to the spire. He would then explain what was going on, and how they had made a terrible mistake.[ATTACH]69465[/ATTACH]However the heroes were suspicious and did not buy his story. He cast a spell on himself and then began moving at an unnatural speed. A major battle ensued, with Thurl and a knight killed, and the other knight captured. Windharrow and Tur Turro both prove their worth during this battle. The heroes then force the captured knight to row them all down the river in the captured boat.As the day moves on, the sky turns blood red and lightning flashes between the clouds. A warm rain starts to fall, washing the snow away and making the water move more swiftly in the river. They make good time, and by the time the day ends they have made good time and are well away from the spire.The next morning the sky is clear, and it is a fine cold day. They continue down the river, passing a keep on the northern shore. Something about it, and it’s proximity to the Featherspire and the town of Womford makes them suspicious so they decide they will return to check it at a later date. They find their way to the Xandrar road, and sleep under a bridge for the night. There are a few minor earthquakes. It takes another day of walking to drum keep and then a day of riding to return to Xandrar.[ATTACH]69466[/ATTACH]On the way they see (normal sized) vultures circling over a point nearby. They check it out and find four shallow graves that have been recently created and have been disturbed by animals. They check it out and find the dwarven scholar from the delegation they had been searching for. They then dig up the other graves and find a house Deneith guard, a cultist from the temple they had just fled, and someone wearing armour that appeared to be made of a thin and strong stone. Very interesting.When they return to Xandrar they report to Sir Isteval and tell them of all they have found. They try and convince Sir Isteval to send troups to attack the Featherspire and the hidden temple. However Sir Isteval tells them that as the Featherspire Knights are beholden to the king, he needs to report their findings to the king before taking any action. He decides to take Mythorus (as a delegate of the heroes), Windharrow (as someone who knows about the cultists) and the captured cultists. They leave the following morning.The heroes stay in town for another day to recover and then return to keep they found (the Rivergard keep). They accost some mercenaries leaving the keep on the trail to try and find out information, but with no luck, so Tito and Aur Keer approach the front gate, while Layna and Tur Turro sneak round the side…..DM's notesI was off my game in this session (too tired), and since I actually had not much idea what would happen it made it tricky. I felt I missed a lot of opportunities. Never mind - at least they are at Rivergard Keep. However the plan to send in the troops to take down the spire and the air cultists is a logical conclusion from the characters. I'm not sure if it will advance the plot to let it happen and there are lots of ways of stopping it.What do you think? Send in an army, or have complications happen that makes the message ineffective?I had Morythus join Sir Isteval on the journey to the king as the player will be away next week, and this gives me an opportunity to do some playing with him via e-mail only. Windharrow is an NPC with all sorts of opportunities attached so I could do lots with him.</blockquote>

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