1 - Fort Morninglord


The party descended to the edge of the crater that once was Elturel. After mingling with the survivors of the cataclysm, they decided to leave for Baldur's Gate the next morning, offering their services as armed escorts to those that can afford it. A family of three and a lone merchant agreed to pay 2 gp / person / day for their protection and sustenance.

The company was also joined by Emeryck, Galserys and Larkam. Emeryck wishes to get to Baldur's Gate as soon as possible to report the loss of Grad Duke Ultan Ravengard. Galserys has shown interest in tracking down the cult that has decimated her band of thieves. Larkam left for the same reason as most people in and around Elturel: without the protection of the Hellriders and The Companion the region will likely become unsafe to live in.

The first milestone on the road to Baldur's Gate is Fort Morninglord, an outpost of the Hellriders located on the banks of the Chiontar river. The party hoped to acquire provisions for the journey and a safe place to rest for the night when entering the fort. However, they did not find what they expected.

The main gate to the fort was open, no one to be seen. As they started exploring the abandoned fort, Tarhun saw a vision of a golden sun and heard a woman's voice beckoning him 'Find it!'. They first checked the gatehouse, whose door they found to be rammed down. Upon entering they saw two corpses in the attire of the Hellriders, who rose to their feet and attacked the party, calling out Tarhun to be a 'betrayor'.

After dispatching the undead, the explorers turned their attention to the main tower. As they were passing by a barred cellar window, a voice called out from the darkness below. He introduced himself as Nephyl, a prisoner locked up under false pretenses. He claimed to be the sole survivor of the events that transpired in the Fort a few days ago. In exchange for an account of what happened, Nephyl asked the party to free him from his cell.

Thus the company started to explore the main tower. Upon entering the lobby they were met with a mural on the hallway reciting the Vow of the Hellriders:

I solemnly pledge my soul and blood and blade to serve as a knight of Elturel and share the Oath of the High Observer in honoring the Gift of the Companion. I shall guard the realm of Elturgard and all those lands which lie under Elturel’s Shield, upholding the laws of Elturgard and the commands of the High Observer. I shall live my life in strict accord to the Creed Resolute, placing it and this oath above all other doctrines. I shall be bound to all others who swear this oath, declaring them now and forevermore, whether in life or beyond the veil of death, to be my brothers in arms. To ensure the perfect harmony of our brotherhood, I shall permit no difference in faith to come between us, but rather hold the Companion, which I shall never attribute to one god or another, as our common star.

After exploring a bit, the party headed to the cellar to free Nephyl. After doing so he recounted a short summary of what happened:
"A group of Hellriders arrived to the fort a few days ago. Shorty afterwards a big portion of the original garrison rode out, leaving the visitors with only a few of the original guards here. Some time has passed again, when a fight broke out in the tower above. I hid under the bed and luckily wasn't noticed as the attackers swept the fort. It seems that the recently arrived Hellriders had slaughtered those originally stationed here, and then left."


Angered by this story of betrayal, Tarhun lead the party to cleanse the tower from the undead, laying his former brethren to their final rest. The party emerged from the fight victorious, though badly battered and bruised. As the final zombie fell in the chapel, the fighter's gaze turned to the altar - an effigy displaying the symbol of Amaunator: the golden sun.

---

After the fight the party proceeded to explore the rest of the tower.
They found a sacrificial circle set up in the meeting room, which turned out to be a farce, probably left there by the attackers to set up the scene of the massacre as the workings of a cult.
They found a key in the quartermasters room, which opened the storage area in the basement.
The party also found the room of the fort's former captain, Ansell Lonestride. The room was in upheaval as if someone was searching for something inside. They found the body of Lonestride and took her signet ring, which opened a safe hidden behind the symbol of Amaunator in the chapel.

The notes describe how Ansell received a holy vision from her God Amaunator, suggesting that something is amiss within Elturel.

“It’s indeed concerning how much we deviated from our Gods during the past decades. Almost all shrines I encounter walking on the streets are dedicated to The Companion, but the true gods are all but forgotten. Even our Creed mentions to set aside our old beliefs in favor of The Companion.
I shall make sure to not to stray outside the light of Amaunator – the first act of which will be resetting the passphrase for the Vault.”

Another entry says:
“My quest to figure out the origins of The Companion have is more difficult than I anticipated. Everyone I talked to seem to give a slightly different account of the story.
It seems it has appeared about 2 weeks after the Red Coup. By then Ikaia’s forces had the city in a firm grip despite the best efforts of Lightfall and Kreeg. The populace of Elturel have rallied behind the two leaders of the resistance, but the vampire lords forces were too powerful.
It appears that the city was only saved from utter destruction by the appearance of The Companion, but it didn’t come soon enough to save Lightfall it seems.”

The last entry says:
“The more questions I have the less answers I find. Not sure who I can trust anymore. We pledge to uphold the oath of the high observer. But what oath does the high observer pledge?”

Based on these notes they also managed to guess the passphrase to the Vault, and found a Splint Mail, a Potion of Clairvoyance and a Scroll of Hold Monster inside.

After this the party concluded that the tower was thoroughly explored, and left to meet up with their traveling companions. Upon meeting a fight almost broke out between Calderis and Nephyl. As it turned out, Nephyl was the person who brought the bounty for killing the high-ranking person traveling from Elturel to Baldur's Gate, and for taking their shield. Calderis naturally thought that Nephyl is also responsible for the killing of her gang, which the tiefling denied.

As a token of good faith Nephyl told the party that he got the job of finding a hitman from a man called Coles in Baldur's Gate. Smokey usually operates out of a tavern in the docks called the Low Lantern. Nephyl wants to go back to BG to confront Smokey as he feels his employer had betrayed him. Should the PCs help him in this matter, he will also share more information regarding the attack on Fort Morninglord. The party didn't trust Nephyl though, and wanted to tie him up and take him to BG, which he obviously didn't agree to. As the players wanted to apprehend him, he escaped after turning invisible.

The next day the PCs packed up supplies and left for Baldur's Gate. On their way to the city more and more refugees banded to their little group, which eventually grew into a proper caravan. They also saw more refugees travelling down the river toward the Sword Coast. After the roughly 10 day journey, the party reached the gates of the city, outside of which a sizeable refugee camp has already been set up.

It seems that the city of Baldur's Gate harbors some distrust toward the people of the city where Grand Duke Ultan Ravengard has perished.

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Available equipment

4 - Hellturel