Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Tabesha'l points at the X with a perfectly manicured finger.

" Tis this-here mark we were truly wondering about, Master Fartheen: is this any place of interest thou wouldst have perchance heard about ? I in particular would also be very interested on any information thou might detain on a place called the Tower of Storms, a den of ghosts and mystic secrets that must be erected right about... here ," she adds as she points at an area of the map indicating the approximate location of the haunted lighthouse, " I have good reason to believe a half-elven blood who goeth by the name of Duncan Dornedain was traveling in this direction a little while back."

Her eyes harden as she concludes: " He sometimes goeth by the monickers of Dun Scarletbone or Raith Boone, and was traveling with another fellow, one Gunther Lowell, himself most likely hailing from Yartar."

"Raith Boone? Raith Boone...Raith Boone..." repeats Mordecai with a puzzled look on his face, as if trying to remember where he had heard that name. He looks back up at Tabesha'l and shakes his head: "Bah, I know I heard that name before, but I just can't quite see through the drunken fog to place it."

Looking back at the map, the man looks closely at the X to which Tabesha'l is pointing. "Hmm...well even though the map is crudely drawn," he goes to one of the racks and fishes out another map of the same area of the Sword Coast and unrolls it, then continues: "...it is actually rather spot-on in terms of scale," he says as he flips the good map back and forth over the top of the hand-drawn parchment to show that they both are proportionally identical.

Mordecai then takes a set of calipers from a drawer and sets the two points of the instrument on the hand-drawn map at the supposed Phandalin and the X. He uses a protractor to measure the angle and then flips over to the more detailed map he pulled from the shelf. He places one caliper point on Phandalin and the rotates the other until the angle matches the measurement he took. The second point of the caliper came to rest on a black square box labeled Icespire Hold.

"There you are...Icespire Hold. It's an old dwarven outpost fortress that was built many years ago by a warlord named Delsendra Amzarr. Her clan kept the orc hordes of the Sword Mountains in check for many years. The orcs got smart and encircled the place, preventing Amzarr and her clan from leaving and eventually the clan starved. Then the orcs just walked in, threw the bodies into the ravine and established the fortress as their new stronghold."

"As for the Tower of Storms...your approximation is correct, but you won't find it on any map, at least not one that I have here. But I...I don't know of any reason why you would want to go there..." the man says with just a tinge of fear in his otherwise confident voice.

Vaxis pauses in his polishing, switching from his shield to his mace. He glances at Mordecai before going back to polishing.

"To be cleansed. We require equipment to take down this dragon that terrorizes this area. The fiend must be brought low. Any assistance that can be having rendered by you and your colleages would be having appreciation."

"Aye, well then be sure you stop by and see Ghelryn over at Foehammer's Forge before you leave then. He has made splendid suits of ceremonial armor for King Morinn and Queen Tithmel of Citadel Felbarr. The Foehammer name is synonymous with top-quality goods throughout the Dessarin Valley," Mordecai points out.

"Come now, gentlemen - and lady...surely you have further inquiries before we adjourn? Please tell me you did not slog all the way from Phandalin to Triboar just to have me point on a map for you. I would accompany you on your journey, however I am afraid that my team and I are otherwise committed over these next several days, but I know much of this land and it's people. What other bits of lore and legend have captured your curiosity, hmm?"

Minsys perked up at the mention of Foehammer's Forge.  A weapon smith.  Thats what's what he had been waiting for.  With a smile he pushes off of the wall and says, "I'm gonna to this Foehammer.  I'll meet you at tavern."  He then heads out the door if there are no objections.

When Minsys leaves, Connak speaks up.  "The map wasn't drawn by that orc-blood..." as he points where Minsys left, "... but to the best of our knowledge, by full blooded orcs.  The 'X' is a curiosity indeed, but we would like to know if there's anything about that map that would hint at where the orcs might travel to if, by chance, they were pushed out of Icespire Hold.  Where would they raid, or where would they look to set up a new fort?  What does the map tell you, assuming it was drawn by orcs for orcs?"

"Ah, now there's an inquiry with some teeth on it," the adventuring guide responds. If an army were powerful enough to force the orcs out of Icespire Hold, I surmise that they would split into groups to raid the countryside and then rendezvous at some central rallying point later. Highly-defensible mountain caves are their preferred habitats, but when such accommodations are unavailable, they will typically look for someplace deep in a large, dense forest."

Looking back at the various places marked on the map, Mordecai continues: "If an orc drew this map, then the circles are likely where they intend to either raid or rally. Based on their locations, I would judge that the one just east of Phandalin is the gold mine at Mountain's Toe. To the upper right the old shrine of Savras just outside Conyberry and Kalazorn's ranch. The point to the West nearest to Leilon could be a number of small tombs, mines and caves in the pocket canyons of the southern Sword Mountains. I would wager that the location in the Neverwinter Wood is where they would gather after the raiding is done."

The man pauses there to allow the group some time to digest the information he provided. He sits down in ricketly chair, pulls a pouch from an interior pocket and begins stuffing a small, ivory pipe with a pinch of some blueish-purple herbs. 

Connak nods.  "Ok, so assume we took out the orcs that intended to raid the Shrine of Savras and Kalazorn's Ranch.  That means there would be another band raiding the gold mine and another band somewhere around Leilon.  If we could hit one of those two bands and take them out, then we could catch up to the third in the Neverwinter Wood."  Turning to Mordecai, Connak asks, "Based on distance and terrain, which of those two locations could we get to faster?"

"Why would the orcs be interested in setting up a camp near a shrine? I've never heard of them being interested in any god other than Grummush. Is there something else of interest there? Or something worth investigating?"

TO CONNAK AND ANDO: "As the crow flies, the shrine of Savras is much closer to Triboar than the gold mine. Had you gone south at Conyberry, instead of east to Kalazorn's ranch, you would have run right into it. Orcs aren't much for Savras worship, but if the tales are true, then the entire wealth of Conyberry was hidden somewhere at the shrine just before the barbarian hordes laid waste to the town. The orcs in this case may know this and are seeking to fund something bigger than your standard raiding party, or it's entirely possible that they just plan to glorify Gruumsh by defiling the shrine of another god."

Taking another look at the map, Mordecai takes a few additional measurements of the unidentified location in the Neverwinter Wood. He then pulls a few dusty old volumes off a shelf in the corner, and starts flipping pages back and forth and cross-referencing the entries to one another and to the spot on the map. While still looking down at the text, he says: "A few centuries ago, a half-elf wizard built a large stone villa in the Neverwinter Wood, not far from several ruins that piqued her interest for further study. But, in the course of excavating the ruins for magic items, she disappeared. Her woodland manse fell into disrepair, then eventually into ruin. A man named Falcon operates a hunting lodge east of there and often takes his patrons on guided tours of the old place. He may know more about that location, or perhaps may even be in danger if he journeys there and is found by an orc contingent..."

Connak looks to the others, staring questioningly at a silent Tabesha'l.  "We can swing by the Shrine of Savras, just to be sure there isn't another force of Orcs there.  Then we can go find this Falcon character and take a look at the ruins."

The elven enchantress had seemed to pay little to no heed of what was just discussed, absorbing herself in the contemplation of the various maps and dusty tomes strewn around the room, yet she replied readily to Connak's suggestion, addressing the whole group as she swung around to face them in a swirl of blue and purple satin cloth:

" Indeed, Thuniviel hath the right of it: even if the grizzly affairs of yon orcish fiends would, under more 'regular' circumstances, not concern us overmuch, their accumulated presence in these lands in a time such as this doeth not bode well, neither for our immediate plans nor for the well-being of the surroundings settlements. As for these ruins, they do sound fascinating, to say the least. The stories attached to yon wizardess do sound familiar to my ears, yet I cannot for the life of me pinpoint an exact historical reference..."

** Tabesha'l attempts to remember from her studies any mention of who this ancient wizard could have been and if any legends, magical spells, items or historical accounts are connected to her: History 18 **

Vaxis frowns a bit.

"This Falcon person may indeed be in trouble, if what you say is true. I say we are having swinging by his abode, make sure he is alright before checking out the Shrine, much like friend Connak said."

He starts putting everything away, his armor and shield SLIGHTLY more shiny.

"I stand ready when you are."

Tabesha'l is unable to recall any additional information about the ruins Mordecai mentioned or the name of the wizard who went missing while excavating them.

"Right then, if I have fulfilled Sheriff Kalazorn's request to aid your in your research, then I believe I shall hasten to the Talking Troll for some mild debauchery, excessive drinking and perhaps a relaxing tavern brawl before the men and I depart for Neverwinter this evening. You are all welcome to join of course, but should warn you that the Troll is not a, uh...place where visitors of Triboar often go. At least not on purpose. Or more than once..."

He smiles apoligetically to the others looking for signs of interest, but if he finds none then he moves towards the narrow stairwell and makes his way outside and towards the disheveled-looking establishment to the north.

Connak looks to Vaxis, "Well, off to save Falcon, then we swing back to see if there is another band of Orcs at the Shrine of Savras."

" Doest thee propose we hasten forth right this very minute ? I shall require a small amount of time on my own before we depart," Tabesha'l says, as she pulls out the grimoire she found in Kalazorn's ranch and flips through the pages, finally settling on a series of arcane drawings, "... furthermore I expect we all deserve a night's rest before proceeding back into yon wilderness, do we not ? In any case, I desire to attend to some small matter of magical study. I shall join thee all forthwith, wherever thou decidest to take thy steps."

Connak rolls his eyes, "Forthwith!  But not right now."

Turning to Vaxis, "Think Falcon can wait to be saved so Tabesha'l can get her beauty sleep?  You two can decide, I'll go find Minsys and let him know what is going on."

Minsys continued to wonder around town.  He grumbles as walks and looks up to above the roofs for signs forge smoke.  He kicks a stone and curses himself for not getting directions.

Mordecai disappears around the corner and into the Talking Troll. Sounds of a bar fight - breaking glass, smashing furniture and raucous shouts - can be clearly heard from outside. As he enters, a cheer goes up: "Mordecai!!!" to which he responds: "My boys! Started without me, eh? Fine then, who wants their arse kicked first?" The sound of the angry scuffle quickly transforms into laughter and joyous whoops.

At the north end of town Minsys finds a modest brick building with a tight curl of black smoke rising from the top. The rhythmic clang of a hammer against metal can be heard issuing from within. Entering the building, he finds an elderly dwarf in a thick leather apron slamming a sledge against the tip of a red hot spearhead. Beautiful pieces of armor and weaponry of all types adorn the walls which circumnavigate a large forge in the middle of the structure.

Near the Northshield Inn, Tabesha'l spots a quiet garden contained by a row of high hedges. The perfect place for her to cast a ritual spell in relative privacy.