Chapter 1 - The Beginning

As you travel through the rest of the day you only briefly see another patrol of bullywogs. You are able to wait out their passing and proceed on. As night sets you keep a good pace although fatigue is slowly setting in. Keeping along the rivers edge makes the travel faster and easier, but as two bugbears step out of the woods on either side of your party you think maybe caution may have been a better solution.

The two hulking fur-covered beasts sneer and demand gold for passage. 300 gold pieces.

As you are conversing a few more bugbears step out from the woods. You quickly become woefully outmatched. Most carry large spears and swords, some still stained with blood. As Ütés calls out Crolwell's name a strange blue glow starts to form in the treeline behind the group of bugbears. As it gets brighter and brighter you have to shield your eyes. Even indirectly the light fills your senses and overpowers them.

Just as you think the light can't grow any brighter, just as the night seems to turn to the brightest day, there is an incredibly loud ringing in your ears. The bugbears themselves are on their knees clutching at their ears, some are scratching deep ruts into their faces that soon begin dripping blood.

Then in an instant the light is gone, you find yourself on the ground, but no worse for wear. Looking around you see all of the bugbears are charred and smoking on the ground. All of them are dead. Looking at your own party you see everyone else standing back up, just as awestruck, except for one. Crolwell. He is standing where he was, seemingly unscathed, but looking closer you see he is not just unscathed, he is weeping.

As most of the night is spent chasing Crolwell down, and then sprinting off after again as he starts talking of bards and daggers and becomes overexcited, you actually make incredibly good time. You don't encounter another force before day breaks. Exhuasted from your journey you come around a bend in the river and see, just in the distance, the walls of the city of Neverwinter. Banners wave at the top of guard towers set along the walls and foot traffic heads in and out of the bustling city. As you finally breathe a sigh of relief to be nearly out of the woods you feel as though you have become stronger after so many hardships. You hope to rest for the night soon so you can reflect on what you have learned and your own mistakes.

[ GM: You have all reached level 2. ]