Part One; Kobold Siege
The adventure began when Marla of the Great Church, worshipers of Palor, asked Raf and his Companions to travel to Winterhaven to investigate possibility of cult activity around the area involving the dangerous Death Priest Kalarel.
On the road to Winterhaven, Guardian Force (a local arm of Acquisitions Incorporated) were ambushed and managed to fight off eight Kobolds.
At Wrafton’s Inn in Winterhaven, the party learn of an old keep in the area that is now probably a goblin lair but no one in Winterhaven knows of a cult.
They do learn however, of the growing Kobold activity in the area. They are getting more violent but the villagers won’t fight back unless the town itself is attacked. Lord Padraig, distinguished mayor of the town, pays the adventurers to investigate.
After a little rest and some more investigation the party encounters the Elf Ninaran. New to the village, she says she has seen cult members come and go from a waterfall cave near a cliff.
They travelled to investigate the cliff and are again ambushed by five Kobolds. Jodric bravely charges into the enemies and with support fire from the rest of the group, the would be ambushers are quickly dispatched.
Outside the cave, a fierce battle erupts when Guardian Force are set upon by over a dozen more kobolds. After Diablos senses a magical circle in a clearing the group decided to attack the Kobolds from a western flank. Jodric and Diablos lead the charge against some of the ranged attackers while Raf’s impressive longbow skills and Illara magical firepower kept a horde of minions at bay.
Unfortunately one Kobold escaped and disappeared into the mists of the waterfall.
The group pursues, determined to rid the area of the Kobold blight and walk into an even more dangerous fight consisting of a further fifteen Kobolds and the fearsome Goblin, Irontooth.
The battle is fierce and heated and part way through the mighty warrior Jodric is stuck down, nearly losing his life. The group pull together and while Diablos and Illara fend of attacks from Irontooth and the last few Kobolds Raf weaves his own special magic’s to restore a measure of strength to the stout Dwarven adventurer.
The group pull together for one final push and their combined effort fall Irontooth and his minions and the group integrates him for information on Kalarel.
They learn Irontooth does indeed work for Kalarel and that he is in turn working for the Demon Lord Orcus. As a devout worshiper of the Raven Queen Diablos is enraged that Orcus is daring to rear his demonic head once again and suggests the group heave back to Winterhaven immediately so they can take action.
Illara recovers information on the corpse of Irontooth that a spy informed him and Kalarel of the arrival of the adventures and the group head back to town with caution.
Returning to town the adventures find it almost deserted. Concerned they seek out Lord Padraig for more information and their reward.
After paying the adventurers he informs them that an important man of the town, one Douven Staul, has gone missing. Douven is a key figure for Padraig to rally the townspeople to Winterhaven’s defence and without him the town’s forces remain scares and weak. He convinces the band to investigate his disappearance and are told he was last seen at the Dragon graveyard not too far out of town.
Upon arriving at the burial ground the group spot a band of Gnomes and Drake Guard digging in a small quarry. The unmistakable skeleton of a large drake or dragon fills the whole pit and once they approach to descend they are greeted by a seemingly friendly Gnome. The wise elf Raf immediately sense the Gnome is lying and is hiding something in the quarry and still enraged by the knowledge Orcus is active again Diablos leads the group into an unprovoked attack against the archaeological team.
Guardian Force easily overcomes them and after exploring the site they find Douven Staul a prisoner. They quickly free him and escort him back to town to help rally the Winterhaven Regulars.
Back at Winterhaven the group see Lord Padraig and Douven immediately begin preparations for the towns defence. After digging around the town for more information of the death cult the group are told that Ninaran left town shortly after telling them the location of the waterfall.
The group scout around town more and are told by Padraig that he has sent for Quid, a specialist trader in adventurer’s equipment but he will not be in Winterhaven for a few days.
The adventurers agree that they should press forward with their investigations of the death cult and decide to head to the keep.
