Elient 4, 1361 DR

The gate shimmers for a moment as Corym, Krackor, Torvek, Kali, Kitheras, and Kora step through. The opalescent sheen lasts for a few breaths after the last of them arrives, before the gate closes once again. Though they can't see it, they know that Tarron is removing the gate's keystone back in Myth Drannor, returning the gate to an inoperable state.

On this side of the gate, the room is just as dusty as Torvek's wizard eye had shown. It's been well stocked, and the oil on the blades  in the various weapon stacks is still shiny, but there are no other signs of anyone being here recently.

You poke your heads into the other rooms as you head out, and find more of the same. Various crates and barrels and dust, no recent signs of habitation. The illusion at the entrance is quality work, but doesn't impede you from walking through, or re-entering.

Outside, the forest is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. After the utter silence of Myth Drannor, it's nice to stand amongst trees and hear the chirp of insects and the faint stirrings of birds as the night just begins to give way to dawn. And after the gloomy depths and towering heights of Cormanthor's depths, this open forest with dense undergrowth is downright inviting.

Still no particular idea where you are at the moment, but at least Kitheras is able to quickly fix cardinal directions. There's a new day dawning, and a whole new land awaits you.

((ooc: I'm going to pause the opening spiel here, so that folks who want to interact with each other or the hideout can do so. The next post, with Kali's contact, will happen once everything is wrapped up.))

Right about the time the group had gotten tired of poking around in the hideout and was about ready to pick a direction and start walking, Kali heard a sharp ringing in one ear. A moment later came a voice, one she hadn't heard in moons, but had no trouble recognizing.

"Kali? Oh, thank the gods. Bari says he's found you." It's Sperren Rowanmantle. One of Cormyr's seemingly-endless younger noble sons, Sperren is a light in any room he enters, a merry voice in any chorus, and dumber than a box of rocks. Without the help of his long-suffering valet, you would be worried of him being able to get dressed. You're pretty sure that "Bari" is Barend Thormon, the Rowanmantle house wizard. Which at least means whatever comes next is will most likely be accurate, and might even have house sanction.

"Tosta's been attacked." Tosta Rowanmantle, Sperren's older sister, who has all of his love, not to mention all of the sense he was born without. "She was in Triel, the whole town was sacked! You're just south of there. Can you go and help her?"

That's it. The message ends. So very much like Sperren. Likely there would be a reward. Certainly you're not going to get any useful details from him. But hey, at least now you've got a vague idea where you are. And if you speak, they'll probably hear you in Cormyr.

Kali stopped suddenly in her tracks as she heard the piercing sound resonate in her ear.



The moment that she heard Sperren's voice echo in her head she rolled her eyes but smiled. She couldn't help but envision the poor harried Bari helping this lovely doofus get in touch with her.



Kali's brows furrowed at the news. She remembered Tosta being quite shrewd and the fact that she was attacked worried her greatly. Not only that, it sounds like an entire town was destroyed. She thought carefully before she spoke.

"Any more details than a town being destroyed? I'll see what I can do, but I need more details. Get back to me if you can. Sending my love to you and Bari."

Kali

There's no response from Cormyr. But you weren't particularly expecting one; the magic is difficult, and Sperren probably wanted to pester his sister. Though he's never spent a day outside his highly-cultivated life, you know he's never going to let her hear the end of this.

After a long, not totally unexpected silence, Kali cleared her throat to address the group.

"Well, that was unexpected. I found us a job.

I just got a message from one of my contacts. He's a loveable dope, but his sister, Tosta, has proven herself to be a sharp and capable contact. Apparently, the entire town of Triel has been pillaged, and Tosta is missing. We are, apparently, just south of there.

I have no doubt that the reward is going to be considerable based on my past dealings with him and more importantly, his..."? Kali paused to think of the correct word. "Babysitters? No. Guardians. Let's call them that. To be honest, I feel compelled to go check this out, and I am hoping that I won't go alone. It's up to you though."

"I thought this forest looked familiar!" Kora exclaimed. "This is the Reaching Woods. If we're near to Triel, this must be part of its northern branch. Home would be to our east, Scornubel to the south, and Triel..."

She spins away from the rising sun and points. "West. North, too, but mostly west. Depending on how north we are, we'll either hit the Trade Way, or the Dusk Road. Either one will lead us to Triel."

Corym speaks to Krackor out of the side of his mouth, "The Dusk Road hasn't been the most pacific path for us, has it?"

The noble elf seems pensive and tries to recall his familiarity with the surrounding area.

"The Hellriders of Elturel generally patrol as far out as Triel.  Strange that a force with such strength could move past without alerting them. Kali is right--we should investigate, and avenge Triel if we can."

"Torvek, if you have a wizard eye prepared you can get a bird's eye view and help us more precisely place ourselves. Maybe even forewarn us of danger."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:00, Wed 19 July 2023.

Musing on the happenings of the past and figuring out how far from home they were, Krackor nodded to Corym. "But we would be going the other direction from the river we had trouble with. I don't know much more but we need to figure out what we have with us now and how to get there quickly. I don't suppose you have any of those Mount spells ready do you?"

Knowing they were going to be somewhere, he hoped that the Wizard come trickster would have prepared that spell more than once.

"Captain, it is your call and I am prepared for the journey, what say you Mistress Lightbearer?"  Always protective of his apprentice warrior, he checked she was OK after realising where she was. "Will you be OK Kali?"