- Back to Part 6 of the Chronicle.
- Velwyth. 13th January 1098TA - The Duke's Messenger.
- Eastern Velwyth. January 1098TA - Assault on Durbrant Caverns.
- Durbrant Caverns, Eastern Velwyth. Mid January, 1098TA - The Duke's Daughter.
- Kirkwell Monastery, Eastern Velwyth. February, 1098TA - Into the Depths of Gwelith.
- On to Part 8 of the Chronicle.
Wolf Lake, Velwyth. 13th January 1098TA - The Duke's Messenger.
A week or so after returning to Wolf Lake, one of the Guides on watch spotted camp-fires in the distance. A group of goblins had camped in the valley below. Vikko sent the party to investigate. They stalked down the valley and attacked the goblins. Owen fought his way into the main tent and saw two goblins torturing a human. Before he could stop the goblins they killed the man and turned to attack him. Owen saw one of the goblins tear up a letter of some kind and throw it on a brazier. Quickly Owen kicked the brazier over, sending the charred fragments of the letter flying across the tent.
The party killed the goblins and carried the dead man back to Wolf Lake. Vikko identified him as a Guide. They reassembled the torn and burnt letter as best they could. It appeared to be from the Duke of Sutherland to Vikko and the Guides who may be at Wolf Lake. Sutherland’s county town had fallen to the goblins but the duke, his family and a number of his staff had escaped to the hills to the south. The Guides had discovered important documents concerning a traitor working forr the goblins. The Duke wanted to get the information back to the King.
<link to reconstructed letter>
Vikko guessed that the Duke would be taken to another Guide safe-house, an abandoned mine called Durbrant Caverns. He asked the party to try and rescue the Duke. Worried that goblins may begin to scout the area for their dead companions, Vikko also ordered the remaining Guides and family to head east to Kirkwell Monastery, a remote citadel north of Malham. The party should attempt to rescue the Duke and his entourage and then escort them to Kirkwell.
Eastern Velwyth. Mid January 1098TA - Assault on Durbrant Caverns.
The party set off across the counties of Moorland and Sutherland. It soon became apparent that the goblins had come to the area to stay. They were taking over the farms, villages and towns abandoned by the fleeing humans.
They soon arrived at the Durbrant Caverns. Goblins were besieging the entrance, trying to smoke out the Duke’s party. The party assaulted the goblins killing the majority outside and killing the remaining few inside the caverns. They met up with the Duke’s party and the remaining Guide, Alais Adnay.
Barryn Farroth was a man in his fifties. His first wife died in childbirth and his second was killed during goblin raids. His only surviving heir was his daughter Carley. Physically she was 16, though her mental age seemed to vary from 6 to 30. In Sutherland she was referred to as ‘god-touched’, a euphemism for someone suffering from madness.
Durbrant Caverns, Eastern Velwyth. Mid January, 1098TA - The Duke's Daughter.
Carley Farroth had always been prone to occasional bouts of ‘speaking in tongues’, especially during times of stress. The gibberish she muttered was often in some ancient language that no one understood. Since entering the caverns she had had several lapses into delirium. They became more frequent when the goblins began their smoke fires. Alais had been making note of the girl’s ramblings. Some she recognised as ancient Annan and some were in the local tongue.
They spent the next couple of days at the caverns, allowing the Duke’s party to rest and recover. The Duke was adamant that the ‘information’ he had must be handed over to the king, and they should head to the Wall and the west. Alais gave her backing to the party: return to Vikko for further instructions.
The first night after freeing the party Patrick, who shared a tent with Durban, was woken during the night to find Carley trying to get into bed with Durban. He forced them apart and dragged Carley back to the Duke’s tent. He told Durban to keep his hands off the Duke’s daughter, they needed to get across Sutherland and Moorland without any distractions or arguments between the party and the Duke.
Patrick told the rest of the party what had happened and they enlisted the help of Alais to keep Carley and Durban in check. Despite their best efforts, Carley still managed to get into Durban’s tent on several occasions and only the hard work of the other party members was able to stop Durban from bedding the Duke’s daughter.
Kirkwell Monastery, Eastern Velwyth. February, 1098TA - Into the Depths of Gwelith.
After a couple of eventful weeks the party arrived at Kirkwell Monastery with the Duke of Sutherland and his entourage. After discussion with Vikko it was decided that the information held by the Duke must be handed over to the King. The party met with the dwarves of a nearby mining complex. The dwarves knew of several ways to traverse the mountains using underground tunnels.
The party had two days to prepare. Part way through the second day, they were approached by Vikko and asked to delay their departure for a couple of days. Two days later he told them that they were to depart without him. He gave them a letter to deliver to a semi-retired Guide named Samuel Inglass who lived in Deep Hollow and ra a hostel for the organisation. Samuel would be able to get them access to the higher authorities. He sent the Guide Alais Adnay along with them for help.
Vikko would not tell them anything about his reasons for staying behind, but it was obvious that he was planning something here in the east with the remaining Guides.
Carley’s Parting Gift to Durban.
The party were briefed by the dwarves, but as they were about to depart, alarm bells began to ring throughout the mining complex. A dwarf scout informed them that goblins were assaulting the mine entrance. The dwarven leader told the party to start off on their own. He gave them a simple map of the caverns and told them to follow the dwarf trail signs.
