Raiders' Camp

As the sun rises the next morning the extent of the damage caused by the overnight raid comes into clear view. Just about every dwelling in the town of Greenest has been burned, looted, or both. Corpses of those who couldn't take refuge in the keep are found lying in the streets and alleyways.

A grim and determined Governor Nighthill approaches you with a proposal. "I need to know why! Why were we targeted? For what purpose?" His voice rising in pitch and his face burning red with rage he pauses momentarily and takes a few deep breaths. "This wasn't the work of a mere raiding party, this was something else. I need information, I need to know if this is going to happen again."

With that he offers each of your 250GP to follow these raiders back to their camps and determine as much information about them as possible. "They left towards the southeast and their trail should be easy to follow, considering their numbers. If you're willing to take on this task, we will provide what provisions we can in order to help."

As you gather your supplies and prepare to set off a young man walks up to you, limping heavily on his bandaged left leg.

"I hear that you intend to follow the raiders and find where they've gone. I'd like nothing better than to come with you, but in this condition, I'd just slow you down. In the midst of this tragedy, there's no reason you would have heard about the fate of my master, Leosin Erlanthar, but it's important that you know. He is a monk from Berdusk. He disappeared last night after we fought a particularly savage battle against the raiders. A few others and I fought our way to the keep, barely. Leosin didn't make it at all. We went back this morning to look for him, but all we found was his broken staff and choker, which he always wore."

Pausing for a moment the man shifts his weight to his bad leg as if to test his wound. He let's out a slight grimace and disappointedly shakes his head.

"Anyway, Leosin has been investigating these raiders for months. I fear that he may have tried to infiltrate their group when they retreated, or worse, was captured and carried away as their prisoner. No one understands these bandits better than he, and his knowledge will be invaluable against them. When you find their camp please look for any sign that Leosin is there. One of my brothers has already departed for Berdusk to bring help, but it will be many days before it arrives. Anything you can do before then would be a godsend."

The young man introduces himself as Nesim Waladra.

Nesim describes the missing monk as an elf with dark hair which he wears parted to one side. He also has a goatee and "if it weren't for his ears you'd have a hard time telling that he's an elf."

Fully stocked and eager to get on with the task at hand you leave Greenest and head southeast along the same trail that the raiders had taken the night before. It's obvious from the beginning that you'll have absolutely no problem following the trail. The raiders have trampled a wide swath of grass through the rolling grasslands and although it's impossible to get a precise number it obvious that the ones that you saw were but a small portion of the total force.

The trail leads south about twelve miles, to a more rugged region where steep sided, rocky plateaus replace the gently rolling grasslands. The land between the plateaus is largely flat, broken only by outcroppings and wandering streams in steep sided gullies.

In the distance, just over some hills, the smoke from some sort of fire is clearly visible.

Kettyr can hear several distinct voices in the distance, catching an occasional word here and there, but can not make out what is being said.

Down in a low spot between the hills are a group of four humans and eight kobolds standing near a fire. It appears that the humans and kobolds distrust each other and are bickering a bit back and forth on the proper preparation of prairie hens and their respective cuts from last night's raid. The human are unarmed, their weapons placed against a rock, out of easy reach. The kobolds, however, are armed, their weapons hanging from their belts.

The bolt slams into the fire, sending hot embers and flames out in all directions. The two humans closest to the fire jump back, the bottom of their robes now aflame. The spectacle of the two frantically jumping around and swatting at their flaming clothing is more than enough to elicit high pitched cackling from the assembled kobolds.

Insults are quickly hurled back and forth between the two groups and things escalate. Punches are thrown, kobolds are kicked, thighs are bitten. It's an all out brawl!

The brawling participants don't seem to notice the Tayleron's arrow as it zips past the melee. Ygritte's blast of energy, however, does catch the attention of everyone involved as one of the kobolds cries out in pain and drops to the ground.