Talis' face took on wide-eyed look of fear at the news that her mother had been imprisoned by the Cult of the Dragon. She grasped the holy symbol of Bahamut and tried to do a Sending spell. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered that Bahamut wouldn't allow her to draw on his power to cast any spells other than healing ones.
"I have to contact her," she cried, digging for the holy symbol of Tiamat that she had removed and stashed in a drawer.
Mara grabbed Talis' arm and barked, "Talis! Don't! Remember your bargain with Bahamut!"
Talis looked at her miserably. "I have to talk to her! How can I do that without my Sending spell?"
"Otaaryliakkarnos said you will have to work through other people's Sending spells, and through your telepathic connection with the white dragons. Why don't you talk to Ralazrad and find out who among the white dragons is infiltrating the ritual site? Maybe one of them will be willing to relay messages for you."
Talis sent a telepathic message to Ralazrad explaining the situation and asked if Ralazrad knew which white dragons were infiltrating the ritual site. Ralazrad said she would query dragons she knew who didn't support Tiamat's summoning ritual and get information on which of their number might currently be at the Well of Dragons. She would give the names to Talis so that she could contact them and find out if one of them would relay messages to her mother.
Having done that, she paced nervously around the ship, muttering to herself.
"Oh, Mama! I'm so sorry I got you into all this mess! You might be killed, and it would all be my fault!"
Kellen gently put his arm around her and said, "I suggest you tell the whole story to Otaaryliakkarnos. An ancient dragon like her might have some very sage advice to give you."
Talis contacted Otaaryliakkarnos telepathically and Otaaryliakkarnos replied that she would be there as soon as she could. Kellen then asked Talis to come up with a short message he could send back to Naomi, her mother. Talis composed and Kellen sent the message, "Naomi, Talis trying to get help of white dragons in relaying messages to and from you. Making plans to free you from pen."
Naomi replied, "Kellen, tell Talis "Thank you". I will wait for word from you."
Otaaryliakkarnos arrived later that night, after she had done some consulting with the Waterdeep City Guard on ways she could help keep the city safe from attacks by the Cult of the Dragon. She offered to spend the night on the ship to comfort Talis and talk to her about ideas for freeing Naomi from the clutches of the cult.
"I am proud of you that you didn't use the power of Tiamat to try to cast the Sending spell," Otaaryliakkarnos told Talis. "That had to have been a very great temptation."
"It was," sighed Talis. "If it wasn't for Mara, I might have succumbed to the temptation, before I ever tried to think of alternative ways to approach the problem."
Talis slept fitfully that night, and Mara held her to soothe her anxiety.
"Don't blame yourself for all this," she whispered to Talis. "It's not your fault that the cult is so evil."
Early the next afternoon, Delaan Winterhound, the ranger who represented the Emerald Enclave in the Council of Waterdeep, came to the Mistshore and implored one of the people there to row him out to the ship where the party was quartered. Borovik saw him approaching and called out to the rest of the group.
"Visitor approaching," he shouted. "I can't tell who it is."
The party gathered on the deck and soon recognized Delann Winterhound.
"May I come aboard?" asked Delaan.
"Yes," said Borovik.
They helped him on board, then Borovik asked, "Why are you here?"
Delaan sat on the deck and motioned for the others to join him. He began, "We need to have a conversation about the dragon raids that have taken place in the Misty Forest."
Looking confused, Borovik asked, "King Melandrach assured us at the last session of the Council that the attacks had stopped after the elves of the forest increased their patrols. Why do we need to discuss it further?"
Delaan responded, "King Melandrach's son, Prince Alagarthas, has been coordinating the increased patrols. He disagrees with his father that the raids have ended, and he suspects they could begin again. Since his forces are spread thin, he has asked The Emerald Enclave to search for clues that would either verify or repudiate his fear. We found some people who report sighting a green dragon, accompanied by an elf who appears to be in command of the dragon. That elf may be one of the Cult of the Dragon Wyrmspeakers.
"We are continuing to investigate, but we ourselves are spread thin, and could really use your help. In particular, we would like you to visit a village called Althand. It's one of the few elven settlements that was still standing after one of the dragon attacks. There may be enough eyewitnesses to give you the information you need to sort this out. Are you willing to take on this mission?"
"What do you think, folks?" Borovik addressed the party.
"I'm in," Neega said, with gusto. "There may be battle to fight, and Hazirawn is anxious to taste more blood."
"If Neega's in, so am I," grinned Preston.
"You all will need a bard's buffs, so I'm in," Kellen nodded.
"I am, too," said Mara, "Talis, Honey, will you come along, or do you want to sit this one out?"
"I will, and I will devote every ounce of my magical energy to keeping you all healed," Talis promised.
Frostbite jumped up and down, "Can I come? Can I come?"
"Yes," responded Talis, "but you have to be careful. I don't want my dragon companion to die!"
Bree smirked, "I'm in, too. Poisoned dagger in hand."
"Okay, we'll take this on," Borovik told Delaan.
"Great!" he responded. "You'll have to travel overland since there isn't a portal to the Misty Forest from here. I'll bring for a map for you and arrange for your provisions to be procured. In a couple of days, I should be able to give you a departure date."
Dagult Neverember and the Lords' Alliance purchased rations and supplies for the party and checked out the condition of their horses. Delaan gave them a map which showed the turnoff from the Trade Way to enter the Misty Forest and the route to take once in the forest to get to the settlement where Prince Alagarthas currently resided. Messenger birds were sent ahead to prepare the elves for the arrival of the party. They were told to be ready to depart in a tenday. Talis and Mara informed the people of Mistshore that the party was being sent on a mission by the Lords' Alliance and would probably be gone for around 3 tendays.
Four days later Ralazrad telepathically contacted Talis and gave her the names of several white dragons infiltrating the summoning site. Talis began contacting those dragons to see if a plan could be worked out to rescue her mother.
They arose early on the morning of departure and set off south on the Trade Way. The weather was cool, but the sun shone brightly, so they were in good spirits. When they had left Waterdeep, Mara assumed a giant eagle wildshape and flew ahead to scout out any dangers on the road. They encountered no problems the first 2 days of the trip.
The third day, Mara was scouting ahead as usual. About an hour and a half into her flight, she spotted a creature that caused her to immediately turn around and fly back to the party as fast as she could.
Landing next to the party, she resumed half-elf form and cried out, "There's a wyvern a few miles up ahead!"
"Did it see you?" asked Bree nervously.
"I don't think so, but it might see the party as we head down the road. We need to be prepared for it to attack us."
The party proceeded cautiously down the road, keeping an eye on the sky. Frostbite flew close to the ground so as to minimize the possibility of him being spotted from afar. They reached a good spot for the noon meal without seeing the wyvern and stopped to eat a little. As they were finishing up, they heard a loud screeching some distance away. It seemed to be coming closer.
"I bet that's the wyvern," said Neega, looking in the direction of the sound. "Let's get the horses into that grove of trees over there so it will be harder for it to swoop down on them."
They took the horses into the trees and tied them up, far enough into the trees so they would be out of sight of the wyvern. Then they took up positions at the edge of the grove to see if the wyvern attacked them or passed by. The screeching cry came closer and closer.
Watch out for its tail," Mara warned. "It has a stinger that could poison you."
Neega took the front most position, with Mara and Frostbite close behind. Borovik, Bree, Kellen and Preston lined up behind that. Talis stayed to the rear because healing spells were the only ones available to her. Mara cast Protection from Poison on Neega, since she would be within melee range of the wyvern and would be most likely to be hit the with the stinger. They anxiously watched the sky.
Before long the wyvern came within view, and it was clearly looking for them. Its head swung from side to side as it searched, then faced in their direction as it spotted them. It flew straight toward them at a high rate of speed.
The wyvern made a beeline for Neega, who was at the front of the line. When it got within 80 ft, Kellen managed to fire off a crossbow bolt and hit. As it got within 30 ft., Mara cast her Blight spell. Although the wyvern managed to dodge and avoid full effect of the spell, it received a fair amount of injury. It screeched in fury as a withered spot appeared on its chest.
When the wyvern got within 10 ft. of Neega, it attacked her with a bite and with the stinger on its tail. Both blows hit, but Neega took only a little damage. She was resistant to the piercing damage, and the Protection from Poison spell blocked most of the poison of the sting.
Borovik made an arcane gesture and formed 3 flaming rays in his hand. He threw all 3 at the wyvern, hitting with every one. By this time the wyvern was seriously injured and looking winded.
"Die, filthy beast!" shouted Neega as she went into a rage and closed the distance to the wyvern.
She took 2 mighty swings at the wyvern, hitting with both. Hazirawn delivered a big load of slashing and necrotic damage to the wyvern and it fell unconscious. When the battle was ended, Talis came forward and healed Neega of the injuries she sustained.
"Wyvern blood! Wyvern blood!" Hazirawn chirped happily.
Neega then pulled out several of the wyvern's teeth.
"What are you going to do with those?" asked Bree in a disgusted voice.
"Make a trophy necklace," Neega replied with a grin.
Having dispensed with the wyvern, they remounted the horses and continued on their way. That night it looked like it might rain, so they pulled the large canvas enclosure from the Portable Hole to give shelter to the horses, then retired to the Leomund's Tiny Hut. Everyone was a little jittery after the battle, so Kellen played a soothing tune on his harp, channeling magic through it to calm their nerves.
After three more days they were in Daggerford and decided to spend an entire day there to let the horses rest. They took rooms at the Lizard's Gizzard. Kellen took the opportunity to report to Laeral Silverhand that they were in Daggerford and had a battle with a wyvern on the way.
Talis had been communicating with white dragons infiltrating the Well of Dragons, and they had decided that their first move would be to ask that they be assigned to duty guarding the 3 pens where prisoners destined for sacrifice were held. Their stated purpose was to keep the prisoners from starving, thus maximizing the number of sacrifices. In reality they would be watching over Naomi Kasterel, to make sure she wasn't being assaulted by cultists. The dragons informed Talis that there didn't seem to be a set date yet for starting the ritual, and the sacrifices would not begin until the ritual started. Kellen and Borovik used their Sending spells to relay messages to Naomi about what Talis was doing.
As Talis and Mara lay in bed that night, Talis cried on Mara's shoulder. "Lately it seems I just keep hurting the people I love. How could I have been so stupid? My momma is in a great deal of danger because of me."
"Honey, this isn't your fault, and you're taking measures to fix it. Taking the Cult of the Dragon up on their offer to take care of you and your mother seemed like a good idea at the time. I certainly didn't try to stop you. They didn't tell you about the evil deeds they would ask you to do when you first joined."
"You're right. But I should have known their reputation and been wary."
"Well, except for the free food my family gave you when you had no money to pay for it, no one else helped you and your mother. You no longer need their support and are in a position to extricate yourself from their clutches. I believe you will get your mother out, too."
Talis sighed and snuggled closer to Mara as she fell asleep. Mara sent up a prayer to Mother Moon, asking her to guide Talis as she navigated the challenges of her new journey in life.
The next day they rested in Daggerford, doing little beyond shopping for some tasty food items to augment the boring rations they ate on the road. That night, Kellen performed for the patrons of the River Shining Tavern. He sang ballads of the adventures of the Phandalin Heroes, as well as other ballads popular along the Sword Coast.
Early the next morning they saddled up and headed south along the Trade Way on their journey to the Misty Forest. As before, Mara became a giant eagle and scouted ahead. She returned to the group at the noon meal and reported that a large group of brigands were hiding in the brush several miles down the road. She suspected that they were looking to ambush caravans traveling to and from Baldur's Gate. After lunch, she elected not to become an eagle, and to travel as a half-elf to help the party in case of a battle.
As they approached the spot where the brigands were, Mara said quietly, "Just up there is where I saw the brigands hiding. Do we want to engage them?"
"Yes!" whispered Neega. "They may not attack us, but they certainly will attack any caravan passing by. I don't want to leave them here to kill and steal from merchants of the Sword Coast."
The area in question had a number of bushes and trees close by the road. The brigands were clearly hiding, hoping for an ambush. The party lined up in battle formation, with Mara, Neega and Frostbite in front. Kellen and Bree took up positions in the middle. Borovik, Preston and Talis brought up the rear. They walked cautiously forward, watching for any signs of movement in the trees or bushes.
A crossbow bolt flew out of a tree a little in front of them and to their right, striking Mara. Kellen and Preston saw the assailant briefly poke its head out to fire the crossbow and immediately responded. Kellen fired his crossbow, but missed, because the bandit was hiding in the tree branches and had heavy cover. Preston aimed his Wand of Magic Missiles and threw 3 bolts of force damage at the assailant. A cry of pain from the tree indicated that he had hit.
This was followed by a flurry of crossbow shots from the trees and bushes. Another crossbow bolt emerged from the tree directly to their right, grazing Kellen's arm. A bandit in the tree directly to their left missed Borovik. One hiding in a bush a little in front of the party to their left and another hiding in a bush a little further down the road on the their left missed Neega. Two bandits hiding in pockets between 2 trees dashed out and took shots with crossbows before retreating to their respective pockets. One hit Neega, but her resistance to damage ensured very little injury. The other one aimed at Mara, but missed. Another bandit just behind a tree to their left missed with a shot at Frostbite, as did another shooting from a bush on the right hand side of the road at the far end of the brigand band. A final bandit was behind some bushes on the left at the far end of the brigand band, and couldn't really see the party. It came out from behind the bushes and moved closer to get a line-of-sight, in the process losing its cover. The entire volley of crossbow bolts had produced very little injury to the party.
After the flurry of shots, Talis cast Cure Wounds at Kellen, removing the damage he had sustained during the crossbow assault. Bree had a line-of-sight on the close bandit off to the left who had tried to hit Frostbite. Since it wasn't under cover, it was a lot easier for her hit. Her arrow sank into its shoulder, causing it to cry out and stagger from the pain.
A bandit with studded leather armor called out orders to some of the brigand gang and stepped out from behind some bushes to their left, heading towards Neega. Although it didn't have enough time to get next to her and attack, it got close enough to throw 2 daggers at her. One dagger bounced off her armor. The second hit, but barely scratched her.
Mara concluded that this bandit must be the leader and she wanted to get it out of action as soon as possible. She assumed the earth elemental form and ran up to the bandit leader, attacking it twice with swings from her massive, rocky arms. The wily bandit leader managed to dodge both blows.
"Eat steel!" Neega shouted, as she went into a rage and closed the distance between herself and the bandit leader.
She took two swings with Hazirawn, and the bandit leader couldn't dodge these. It groaned as Neega's blows cut one of its legs and one of its arms. Now within melee range, the bandit leader attacked Neega with its scimitar and a dagger. Neega dodged the 2 attacks with the scimitar. Only the dagger attack hit but didn't do any more injury than the previously thrown dagger had. Neega, in response, again attacked the bandit leader, and one of her blows penetrated its throat. Unable to do anything but gurgle, it fell dead on the ground.
The party then saw a bead of flame emerge from a bush some distance down the road off to their left. It landed in the middle of the rear part of the group and exploded into a ball of fire. Agile Bree managed to evade any damage, but Frostbite, Talis, Borovik, Preston and Kellen all sustained serious burns. Every one of them cursed and cried, but Talis saw that Preston seemed to be in the worst shape of any who had gotten hit by the fireball. She cast Cure Wounds on him, using additional magical energy to increase the amount of healing. He thanked her and felt a lot stronger after that. He then used his Wand of Magic Missiles to target the bandit in the tree who had fired the first shot in the encounter. The 3 darts of force took the bandit out of the conflict.
Next, 6 darts of force flew from a nearer bush off to their left. Three of them hit Mara and 3 hit Neega. Neega cursed in Orcish, and Mara's earth elemental let out a loud, frightening bellow. Frostbite saw where the force darts came from, so he flew over to the bush, crushing the cover the occupant had when he landed. Seeing a mage there, Frostbite attacked with teeth and claws. The bite hit and blood flowed freely from a serious wound on its casting arm.
Borovik moved forward to where he could see the bandit off to the left, whom Bree had just injured. He formed fiery rays in his hands with the Scorching Ray spell, casting it using additional magical energy to increase the number of rays he could throw. Two of his fiery rays brought down the bandit Bree had injured. Borovik then turned his attention to the mage Frostbite was battling, whose cover had just been crushed. Two more of his rays caused the mage to fall unconscious with scorch marks on its chest and face. With his final ray, he targeted the bandit up in the tree just to his left, who had previously tried to shoot him. Despite the bandit being in heavy cover, the scorching ray hit. A scream was heard from the tree and a little puff of smoke rose from the spot.
A thug hiding in a bush beneath the tree off to their right from which the first crossbow bolt had emerged left its cover to get a good line-of-sight on Neega with its crossbow. Because Neega was distracted by the dying bandit leader, she didn't see the thug and didn't try to dodge its attack. The bolt hit, but Neega's resistance to damage meant the injury was minor. Kellen and Bree took shots at the thug, and both hit. The thug stumbled, bleeding profusely.
A second thug was hiding behind some bushes off to their left and ran out from hiding to get a clear shot at Frostbite but missed. The bandit across the road in between 2 trees then hit Neega with a crossbow bolt, doing minimal damage.
One of the bandits hiding between in pockets between trees, the one further down the road, again stepped out and unsuccessfully shot at Mara, then retreated back between the trees. This was followed by the bandit hidden in a bush off to their right at the rear of the brigands emerging from the bush and running up to Mara to attack with its scimitar. Although it hit, the tough hide of the earth elemental ensured that she took very little damage. The bandit who had run from behind bushed to get close to the action now also closed with Mara and attacked with its scimitar but missed. Mara slammed both bandits over the head with her powerful earth elemental arms. Both collapsed with severe head wounds.
The thug who had tried to hit Frostbite realized that Neega had just killed their leader, so it decided to target her. However, it didn't have enough time to get next to Neega and do a melee attack, so it moved a little closer and unsuccessfully aimed with its crossbow. Neega roared a curse in Orcish and closed on the thug. She connected with 2 powerful blows and killed it.
The bandit in the tree directly to the right of the party hit Kellen with a crossbow bolt. Talis noticed that Kellen had now taken a number of small hits and he was beginning to weaken. She cast Cure Wounds on him, using extra magical energy to increase the amount of healing. Seeking revenge for the attack on Kellen, Preston pointed his Wand of Magic Missiles at the bandit who hit Kellen. Three punishing darts force later it fell right out of the tree, completely unconscious. The bandit in the tree directly to their left tried to hit Borovik but missed. This bandit had tried twice to shoot him, so Borovik decided it was time to finish it off. He cast Magic Missiles and the 3 darts of force damage took it out of the fray.
Another bead of flame flew from a bush down the road off to their left. This one landed in the midst of the forward part of the party and exploded in a fireball, which enveloped Frostbite, Neega and Mara. Neega partially resisted the damage, but Mara and Frostbite took the full amount. Frostbite roared in fury and flew over to the bush the assailant was hiding in, crushing the cover as he landed. Another mage was responsible, and Frostbite lashed out at it. He hit with his bite and both of his claw attacks. A deep wound from Frostbite's teeth punctured one of the mage's arteries, causing rapid loss of blood and loss of consciousness.
The thug on their right now closed on Mara and attacked with its mace. Both swings hit but were unable to seriously injure the rock of the earth elemental. Kellen let loose a crossbow bolt at the thug, adding to its already substantial injuries. Mara delivered a mighty punch to the side of the thug's head, and it dropped to the ground.
The bandit in the bush next to the mage Frostbite just killed left its cover and attacked Frostbite. It hit and, although the damage was small, Frostbite's wounds were piling up and he felt a little unsteady. He turned and lashed out at the bandit with teeth and claws, sending it to the realm of the dead.
The nearer bandit hiding in a pocket between 2 trees on the right side of the road had figured out that Talis was the group healer and went after her. It shot at her with its crossbow but missed.
"Don't mess with our healer!" Bree screamed.
She targeted the bandit with her shortbow. Her aim was true, and the bandit shrieked as she left it with an arrow protruding from its chest. Mara stormed over to the bandit and finished it off with a smashing blow.
The other bandit hiding in between trees a little further down the road ran into the road to get a good line-of-sight on the rear of the party. It hit Bree but its weak attack produced little injury. Borovik ran up beside Mara to get a good line-of-sight on the bandit, then took it out with Magic Missiles. The final brigand had fallen, and the battle was over.
Hazirawn purred with contentment as blood dripped off its blade.
Mara returned to half-elf form, which restored her full health. She and Talis began healing up the injured of the party. First, Talis used Heal, her most powerful healing spell, to restore Frostbite's health. He nuzzled her thankfully as she stroked his head. Mara then cast Mass Cure Wounds at Talis, Preston, Kellen and Neega, returning them all to full health. Talis finished up by casting Cure Wounds on Borovik.
When they were healed up, Neega looked around at the bodies and said, "By the Sword of Tempus, Mara, you weren't kidding when you said there was a large group of brigands ahead! This almost looks like 2 bands that have combined."
"Yeah," griped Bree. "And who would have thought they would have had 2 mages in their ranks? This bunch really gave us a scare!"
"I can still feel the burning fireball! And Neega was burned, as well!" cried Preston.
Neega took him in her arms so they could comfort one another.
"Why do you suppose 2 groups of brigands would combine?" asked Kellen.
"Perhaps they thought that more caravans of looted goods would be coming through here and decided they needed a powerful party to take on the cultists guarding the loot," speculated Borovik.
They began to loot the coin purses from the bodies. The bandit leader had a large coin purse stashed in a Bag of Holding. It contained a Potion of Healing, 2 obsidians, a rhodochrosite and a hematite. In coinage they looted 6pp, 30gp, 1400sp and 2400cp from him. From the coin purses of the rest of the band they looted 178gp, 218sp and 128 cp.
"Hmmm. All these coins are a bit heavy," said Bree. "Why don't we put all of them into the Bag of Holding and then put the Bag of Holding into the Potable Hole?"
"No! Don't do that!" cried Borovik. "If you do, both the Bag of Holding and the Portable hole will be destroyed. Plus, their destruction will create a one-way portal into the Astral Plane that will suck us in!"
"Oh," mused Bree. "Then I guess we should put all the coins and gems into the boss' coin purse and put that into the Portable Hole. But we should still keep the Bag of Holding."
"It just occurred to me that the elves of the Misty Forest might be able to use these weapons and sets of armor from the brigands," said Borovik. "If they have suffered many raids, they may be short of battle gear."
"Good idea," agreed Neega. "We know we can put those things into the Portable Hole."
They gathered up 10 light crossbows, 2 heavy crossbows, 11 scimitars, 6 daggers, a set of studded leather armor, 12 sets of leather armor, 48 crossbow bolts and 2 arcane foci. They placed them all into the Portable Hole and Bree folded it up into a small, neat package, stashing it in her backpack. They attached the Bag of Holding to the saddle of one of the horses until they could decide what to do with it.
After the battle with the brigands, they remounted the horses and continued on their way. By nightfall they encountered no other enemies. After they had sent up the large tent to protect the horses and Kellen had cast Leomund's Tiny Hut, he sent a Sending message to Dagult Neverember, telling him they had encountered a large band of brigands that might have been formed by 2 separate bands merging. Dagult replied that he would arrange for more patrols by the Lords' Alliance in that area.
It took another 2 and a half days to reach the turnoff to enter the Misty Forest, and there were no more battles in that time. From there it was another day's journey to reach the elven settlement where they were to meet Prince Alagarthas. The party decided to head into the Forest after the noon meal, camp for the night, and then get to the village where Alagarthas was staying around noon the next day.
Just after lunch Mara assumed the giant eagle wildshape and rose into the air to see if anything dangerous might be following them. She spotted a group of 4 red dragons flying eastward, away from the forest. Oddly, they seemed to have large bundles strapped to their backs.
Returning to the party, she reported, "I saw a group of red dragons. They were flying off to the east and away from us, so I don't think they posed a danger to us. However, they all seemed to be loaded down with large bundles."
"To the east, huh?" mused Borovik. "I wonder if they were heading for the Well of Dragons."
"Wow! Maybe!" exclaimed Bree. "Maybe the bundles they carried were full of loot stolen from the elves!"
Talis looked surprised. "It's hard to imagine that dragons would put themselves in the service of humanoids. These particular ones must be true devotees of Tiamat to agree to tote the treasure to the ritual site."
That night as the party rested under the trees of the Misty Forest, they heard the sounds of the nocturnal forest beasts: owls hooting, raccoons chittering, frogs calling, foxes barking and the sounds of various creatures rustling through the leaves of the forest floor. Far off they could hear the howls of wolves. The wind carried the scent of pine trees to their noses. The tall trees blocked out the light of the moon and most of the stars, so the night seemed unusually dark and mysterious. The fog that they encountered when they entered the forest seemed to deepen as the night went on.
The party awoke the next morning to find the fog had thickened as they slept. As they began the last stage of their journey, they struggled to find the way in the low visibility. Fortunately, as the morning wore on, the fog began to lift and they could see better, although it never completely went away.
Around noon they approached the village where Alagarthas was quartered. Several buildings occupied a clearing under the canopy of enormous spruce trees. However, a much larger number of buildings were positioned high in the boughs of the trees themselves. Circular walkways and rope bridges allowed residents to walk throughout the village and from tree to tree. Those who wished to descend to the ground or ascend into the trees rode on platforms that were raised and lowered by way of ropes that looped over pulleys and were wound or unwound by manually turned wheels.
As they got nearer, they were met by a group of elven sentries, who eyed them suspiciously. The sentries carefully looked over the party, then saw that Talis and Mara were the closest things to elves in the party. Their commander turned to them and spoke to them in Elvish.
"What is your business here?" he asked gruffly
"We are adventurers whom Delaan Winterhound, of the Emerald Enclave, invited to help with the investigations of the dragon attacks on the elven villages. Delaan asked us to coordinate with Prince Alargathas," replied Mara.
"Yes," said the commander. "The Prince is expecting you. Come with me."
He and his troops led them to one of the lifts and motioned them all to enter. Then he rang a bell, and elves in the tree level of the town began turning a wheel to wind up the rope which raised the lift to the tree level. Once at the tree level, the party noticed that sentries were posted everywhere. They didn't know if Misty Forest elves were always this much on guard, or if they were on edge because of the dragon attacks. The sentries escorted them to a modest, but relatively large structure in the center of the town.
"This is where the Prince holds court, and this is where you will meet with him," the commander announced, as he led them into a large meeting hall.
He spoke to one of the sentries and explained that the adventurers sent by Delaan Winterhound had arrived and were ready to meet the Prince. He also ordered that the party be given food, since it was time for the noon meal. The sentry left to inform Alagarthas.
The party was seated at the table and was told that the Prince would be there shortly. Staff soon brought out food and wine for them. About half an hour later Prince Alagarthas entered the room and sat at the head of the table.
"Welcome to my court," he addressed the party in Common. "Delaan Winterhound tells me that you are the Phandalin Heroes, who have been participating in the Council of Waterdeep, to which my father is an ambassador."
"That is correct," said Borovik. "We are honored to be in your presence. We are here to offer our assistance in the investigations of the dragon attacks on your land."
"We brought you some gifts," Bree spoke up as she pulled out her Portable Hole. "We collected a number of weapons and sets of armor from a band of brigands we defeated on our way here. We carried them here in case you needed additional battle gear for your efforts to defend your kingdom."
"Marvelous!" grinned Alagarthas. "Our battle gear has been seriously depleted from defending against the raids."
Bree opened her Portable Hole and pulled out the scimitars, crossbows, maces, bolts, armor, daggers and arcane foci. Alagarthas handed them to a group of sentries and ordered them to put the items into the armory.
Alagarthas then got back to the matter at hand, "Our tribes don't normally like outsiders to come to our villages, but our need is great right now. I believe Delaan has briefed you on the situation. We put more patrols in place and the raids have stopped for the time being. But I am of the opinion that it is merely a pause, and that they will resume at some point. We need to find the dragon responsible and either kill it or chase it from the Misty Forest."
"Yes. Delaan has explained that to us," said Borovik. "He also said that there were reports of a green dragon, who may be under the command of an elf."
"Exactly, and we suspect that that elf may be one of the Cult of the Dragon Wyrmspeakers," responded Alagarthas. "We need someone to search for clues in the village of Altand. This is one of the few towns that wasn't completely destroyed in a raid and where there was a significant number of survivors. We would like for you to look for eyewitnesses among the survivors who actually caught sight of the dragon. Both the Emerald Enclave's and our forces are spread thin, so we have called you in to help."
"We are at your service. What is the timetable?" Borovik nodded.
"It's about a day's journey from here to Altand. I expect that it would be best if you left in the morning, so that you wouldn't have to camp overnight in the forest. That would also give us time to send messenger birds to the people of Altand, informing them that you will be arriving. We also need to arrange for a guide to lead you to the town of Altand.
"We will feed you an evening meal tonight and a morning meal tomorrow. We will provide sleeping chambers for you and take care of your horses for the night. This will also give us more time to talk with you. If I am not mistaken, one of you is a bard. We would love to hear some of your music. I also want to speak with your Druid, since Druids are highly regarded among the Misty Forest Tribes."
After their meeting with Prince Alagarthas, sentries led the party to an unoccupied dwelling that was large enough to accommodate the entire party. Elven residents of the town crowded around the dwelling to see the renowned Heroes of Phandalin. They stared at Frostbite, hardly believing that there could exist a dragon who wasn't immediately trying to kill them. Several people came up to talk to him, and he adored the attention.
Later in the day, Alagarthas invited the party to his dwelling for the evening meal. The feast featured a number of the dishes commonly eaten in the Misty Forest, as well as their local, uniquely flavored wine. He engaged in a spirited conversation with them, and the meal was a joyous affair.
During the conversation, Alagarthas mentioned that a bronze dragon had approached him several days ago, offering to help protect the Misty Forest. "He identified himself as Nymmurh, one of the dragons on the metallic dragon council, whom you recently visited. He flew in as a dragon, then assumed the form of an elf so that he could fit into our village and to avoid frightening everyone."
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Mara. "I think he's trying to somewhat soften the sting of the apology the council demanded from your father for the Dracorage Mythal. The offer to help is sincere."
Alagarthas nodded and grimaced as he remembered his father's rage upon hearing of the concession requested in return for the metallic dragons joining the alliance. "I will accept Nymmurh's offer, and I hope that relations between the elves and the metallic dragons can improve."
After the meal, Kellen went out onto a platform serving as a plaza in the center of the town and performed for the residents. He sang songs and played dances on his harp. As the townsfolk retired to their separate dwellings, they felt a lightness of heart that had been absent for months.
The party went to their quarters and prepared to sleep. That night the white dragons infiltrating the summoning site informed Talis that 6 of them had been assigned to guard the prisoner pens, 2 dragons for each of the 3 pens. By having dragons at all 3 pens, they hoped to disguise their intent to protect Naomi Kasterel. Now they were devising a plan to free Naomi. Talis began to feel a spark of hope that her mother could be saved. For the first time she offered up a prayer of thanks to Bahamut and she slept a little more peacefully that night.