Session 6 Summary

Moving On

After returning to Winterhaven, the heroes took a moment to relax and talked with Lord Padraig about what to do next. The heroes (sort of) recalled that earlier, they had found a note on the hobgoblin warlord talking about slave trading. Lord Padraig was aware of this happening to the far North, and expressed his concern about it spreading southward, toward Winterhaven. The heroes took the hint and agreed to travel to Thunderspire Mountain, where the slave trade was rumored to be based. Of course, Lord Padraig knew exactly what motivated the heroes, and offered them a monetary reward to be determined at a later date. As the heroes left Padraig's manor house, they ran into Bairwin Wildarson, owner of Bairwin's Grande Shoppe. The heroes remembered buying some stuff from him at some point, but had figured that he was just another unimportant NPC. Bairwin expected this, so he was not offended when the heroes didn't recognize him. Bairwin went on to tell the heroes that he had "accidentally overheard" their discussion with Lord Padraig, and that he had a proposition for them. He then told the heroes about his dealings in the Seven-Pillared Hall, the underground city inside Thunderspire. Bairwin frequently traded with someone named Gendar there, and asked the heroes to transport a small case to him for trade. After handing the case over, Gendar would give them a payment, which they would then return to Bairwin in exchange for a cut of the money. The heroes were immediately suspicious of the poor merchant, as was to be expected of them, considering their treatment of Valthrun the Prescient in the past. One of the heroes asked why Bairwin couldn't just go to Gendar himself, and Bairwin admitted that he owed some money to some people in the Seven-Pillared Hall and would be in great danger. The heroes also asked what was inside the package, and Bairwin said it was an ancient ceremonial knife that was useless as a weapon but very desirable for collectors. The party, ever suspicious, made Bairwin get the dagger out of the box and show them because they didn't trust any of the nice villagers from Winterhaven for some reason. The Judge declared that he wanted nothing to do with these shady business dealings, but the rest of the party was in agreement that this would be an easy way to make a quick buck. Just give the package to this person named Gendar and bring the money back to Bairwin. The party, confident that they had new ways of making money off of the Winterhaven residents, set out for Thunderspire Mountain.

The Trade Road

The heroes traveled North for a few days along the Trade Road, after initially passing by the path to Shadowfell Keep once more. The trip was mostly uneventful, until the heroes approached the intersection at the Vale Road, which led into Thunderspire Mountain. Unfortunately, the heroes spotted some large humanoid figures at the crossroads loitering around. The heroes approached and were greeted by a group of bugbears. The bugbears pleasantly requested a small fee for the usage of "their" road, but the heroes were not interested, as money was the party's ultimate goal. After a few quick words, it became clear that terms could not be agreed upon and a fight broke out. The Judge ran up and engaged the boss bugbear, while Merryweather stepped around behind him and stabbed. Travok turned the ground to ice beneath the bugbears, causing many of them to slip and fall. Unfortunately, Merryweather stood right in front of the bugbears and they were able to surround him and repeatedly bash him with huge clubs. Luckily, Chase yelled at Merryweather to "Get his head in the game" and he was ok. The bugbears swung their clubs ferociously, but had basically no strategy and the heroes slew them. After looting the corpses, the heroes traveled east along the Vale Road for a few more hours, before finally reaching the entrance to Thunderspire Mountain. The mountain itself was tall enough to reach the clouds, and it harbored a perpetual thunderstorm at its peak. The foreboding tunnel opening was flanked by huge minotaur statues, although not the kind that attack people.

Into the Mountain

The heroes boldly entered the mountain and set out along the Road of Lanterns, which just so happened to be lit by many green lanterns, and also contained 77 statues of demons. The main road was quite large and split off into innumerable unlit side passages, which the heroes avoided. After a brief walk, the heroes heard some muffled voices and saw light from underneath a door down one of the side passages. The heroes decided to investigate, and heard someone talk in a crude dialect about selling someone into slavery. A different voice responded that "he'd pay twice that amount." The heroes remembered that they'd come to Thunderspire to break up the slave trading ring, so they opened the door and prepared for a fight. The party appeared to have interrupted some hobgoblins surrounding a halfling. The hobgoblins immediately attacked - the four tough ones in front with the caster in the back. The halfling immediately ran away from the hobgoblins and hid in the back of the room. The party was unable to enter the room, as the slavers formed a blockade in the doorway. The caster got off a few spells, but the heroes simply overpowered the wall and ended up slaying all of them.

The halfling emerged from his hiding spot and thanked the heroes profusely. He introduced himself as Rendil, part owner of the Halfmoon Tavern in the Seven-Pillared Hall. The heroes then asked Rendil a few questions about what was going on. Rendil explained that the hobgoblins were part of the group of slavers known as the Bloodreavers, and he had been spying on them. He said it was unusual for them to be this close to the surface, so he was curious. Unfortunately, he was caught, and they had planned on selling him into slavery. He thanked the heroes again for their help, and also urged them to come visit his tavern and he'd buy them all a drink. Rendil then excused himself and the heroes continued down the Road of Lanterns.

The Seven-Pillared Hall

The heroes finally arrived at a giant subterranean cavern filled with what looked like a shady town. The heroes went about town, introducing themselves, looking for work, and also looking for trouble. Among some of the people around, the heroes met Ulthand Deepgem, the owner of the Deepgem Company (who also asked them to find his missing pet boar), Charrak, a pitiful, sniveling kobold beggar, and Surina, an insane dragonborn obsessed with slaying all gnolls in existence. The party made a point of finding "Gendar's Curios and Relics" to hand the package over. Upon entering, they introduced themselves to Gendar, a filthy drow and slick salesman. Gendar was very friendly, but seemed hesitant to take the package. You see, Bairwin owes him a favor, and for him to accept this trade, he's going to need the favor to be repaid. The heroes were not happy about this at all, but grudgingly accepted the task of finding Gendar's lost scepter. Gendar seemed to remember it being in the Chamber of Bone, and directed the heroes accordingly and they left in a huff.

The heroes eventually returned to the Halfmoon Tavern to find Rendil, as he had promised them a free round of drinks. As they entered, Rendil greeted them with an enthusiastic "'Eeeeeey!" The heroes sat down with him and discussed the problem of the Bloodreavers. Rendil informed the heroes that he did not want them to spread, and the fact that they were so far out from their lair worried him. Rendil went on to say that the Ordinators of the Seven-Pillared Hall tolerate their slave trading as long as they don't disturb the peace in town, although no Bloodreavers actually reside in town. Finally, Rendil disclosed that he'd like the Bloodreavers out of town for good, as they were a detriment to business and were just generally nasty. The heroes, realizing that they had two people who wanted the Bloodreavers gone, decided to get down to business and accepted Rendil's request. Rendil, delighted, told the heroes to go to the Chamber of Eyes, where the Bloodreavers had set up camp. He also recommended Terrlen Darkseeker as a guide, as he knew the entirety of Thunderspire Labyrinth very well. Just then, an ogre entered the tavern who appeared to be looking for trouble. The ogre walked over and commented about someone leaving their drink on the counter, and then knocked the tankard onto the floor. The Judge, having no patience for bullies, immediately stood in the ogre's way when he began to walk towards some more tankards. The ogre stood in front of him and began to taunt him saying things like "Who's this guy?" and such. When it became apparent the Judge would not move, the ogre tried to muscle his way past, hitting the Judge with his shoulder as he tried to pass. Fortunately, the Judge was ready for this and almost knocked the ogre over. The ogre, very pissed, sat down at the bar and quieted down. The heroes asked what his deal was, and Rendil told them his name was Brugg, and that he worked for the Ordinators, collecting "protection" money. He warned them not to attack Brugg, or they'd surely die at the hands of the angry Ordinators. He went on to say that Brugg liked to antagonize the Halfmoon Tavern because they are free from having to pay protection money for reasons unknown to the heroes. However, Brugg never really causes any harm to them or to their establishment.

Finished talking about business, the heroes went around the tavern, talking with people and introducing themselves. In particular, Merryweather spied Rendil's sister behind the bar, and moved in. He said that she "had a nice head on her shoulders." She was immediately frightened of the incessantly creepy Merryweather, and the other heroes became alarmed at seeing this. Disappointed, Merryweather left her alone and amused himself while the heroes spoke to Terrlen Darkseeker about leading them to the Chamber of Eyes. He agreed, saying that "your first expedition is free!" The heroes also talked to Harwin, a trader, about the bugbears outside on the Vale Road. Harwin spoke about his caravan, and having to pay off the bugbears, and what a pain it was. The heroes, seeing the opportunity to cheat a poor trader out of some money, agreed to do something about the bugbears for a price to be agreed upon later, as the caravan wasn't leaving for a day or two. Harwin didn't need to know that his problem was already solved. Finally, the heroes went to bed for the night, after a long day of socializing. In the morning, Terrlen was ready for them, and they set out for the Chamber of Eyes.

The Chamber of Eyes

The trip was uneventful and quick, thanks to Terrlen Darkseeker. Strangely, the heroes noticed that Terrlen began to look a little pale and sickly as they neared the chamber, but he insisted he was fine. Also, he said that he'd wait outside for the heroes, as he wasn't much for combat. The party entered the Chamber of Eyes and was met by a tall balcony and a large door. Sticking to what they knew, the heroes kicked in the door and charged in, engaging some weakling goblins. The heroes smashed them, and rampaged into the sleeping quarters, where some bandits were playing dice. The heroes took them by surprise, and massacred them. At one point, Travok managed to shove a goblin into a fireplace, and the poor goblin burned to death, his screams echoing through the halls. The heroes noticed a secret door, and went through it, coming up from a grating into the true Chamber of Eyes, a huge shrine to Torog, the evil god of the Underdark.


The room was covered in eyes and housed a large statue at the end, where the Bloodreaver boss, Krand, stood. The heroes engaged Krand, and more and more Bloodreavers ran through the doors to join the fight. A large dire wolf attempted to squeeze onto the thin platforms, but had a terrible time with it and was pretty much useless. The heroes felt it would have been a more difficult fight had they approached from the main entrance. It was tough battle anyway, and Travok became frustrated at the enemies when he cast a huge stinking cloud and Krand simply commanded all the enemies to move out of it. However, the boss was eventually taken down and the heroes cleaned up the rest of the Bloodreavers. After searching around, the heroes discovered a note detailing slave trade between the Bloodreavers and someone named Murkelmore Gimmerzhul. The heroes must now return to the Seven-Pillared hall and find out who Murkelmore Gimmerzhul is.