Vander’s Story

While the rest of the party was undergoing the ceremony of Sharindlar’s blessing you were asked to a
meeting with Rillian Kingsbeard, your old associate. At the meeting Rillian discusses the plans being set
in motion as a result of the slaving rings re-emergence. Rillian tells you that Korgan is to be promoted to
a full moon-lit knight and part of his promotion will include an assignment to root out the slaving ring
and its associates in Khurtack. Rillian tells you that he believes by working this information about who
bought and sold slaves the remnants of this group can be expunged and its backing amongst the Drow
and Duergar can be discovered and rooted out. To that end he asks for your aid once again and offers
you the chance to become an auxiliary member of the order complete with a stipend to be paid for your
services in this matter. If you accept, he begins to talk turkey with you about the details of your
assignment. There are essentially three localities (four really, but others in the party will be looking into
the fourth area) mentioned in the journal of Emerald (The boss lady the group killed during the past
adventure arc) that point to areas where a human such as yourself might be helpful in tracking down
information. Those three areas are: Uppsala (A Rjuven Human Town that exists functionally independent
of Khurtack, but is considered part of the country nevertheless), Baltr’s Breath (a port town of mostly
humans), and finally a ruined castle in the Fjords of Aelfgar (A coastal mountain range inhabited mostly
by Humans) known as Fjellborg.

Uppsala is the jumping off point for many human sailors that frequent the Havvegg Islands, many of
whom are Viking raiders and other ne’er-do-wells. The journal mentions a “Blå Slange,” which you know
translates roughly as Blue Serpent, that was Emerald’s point of contact in that community. There is very
little to go on beyond that, but it appears as if this Blue Serpent was a supplier of slaves and not a buyer.
If you choose to travel to Uppsala Rillian informs you that the Brightmoon Order has no presence there
that could help you and the only help he can provide you with is to introduce you to Hogarth Rynjulf, a
local Sorcerer of some renown who was born in that community and might be able to offer you help or
information beyond what Rillian & the journal can give you.

Baltr’s Breath on the other hand is a town that is part of Khurtack proper and a Dwarf presence exists
within that community. There is, however, no currently assigned member of the order stationed within
the community. Rillian does have a contact person for you though if you choose to investigate this
community, an old, blind dwarf and former Sergeant in the Khurtack Militocracy that goes by the name
Throngrink who tends to a Shrine called “The Axe Held High.” The journal lists the name of a buyer
under the heading of Baltr’s Breath with the name O. Hagebak and a purchase of no less than fifty slaves
over the past year.

Finally, the ruined Castle Fjellborg is high in the mountains known as the Fjords of Aelfgar which make
up the West coast of Khurtack. In ages past this was a Rjuven warlord’s castle which had a reputation for
making raids down into Baltan human lands in the West before the peace was made between the
Rjuven and Baltan people (and before the Dwarves came to rule over these human lands). The ruins had
stood empty, more or less, for centuries, but recent reports from Militocracy patrols in the area have
recovered evidence that the ruins are being used once again. The militocracy can’t afford to occupy and
maintain these ruins so as to drive out whatever has moved in and occupied them but they did pass
along through the right channels this information to the Order. The militocracy regularly patrols the area
but they won’t commit resources based on what little evidence they have found that the place is being
used once again. The reason this site is relevant however is there was a note in the margin that read:
Fjellborg – Meet with Hailstorm Brotherhood. There is nothing else about the place, but it might be an
avenue worth exploring if you don’t mind doing some recon work in some bitterly cold mountains as
winter approaches (Rillian laughs at his own joke here).

If you agree to Rillian’s ask then I just need you to pick a location and we can negotiate an employment
contract or whatever if you want. Just let me know your response to this and I’ll continue Vander’s story
from this point. Thanks in advance, Michael.

Story Highlights for Vander:

 Vander gets introduced to Hogarth who is not really able to help beyond describing the
character and layout of the town from years ago, but with some successful conversation skill
checks he can give some info on a group called the Cobalt Coil and a token from his childhood
that he can offer to his sister if Vander can track her down. The token might be able to enlist her
aid in his task.
 The Cobalt Coil are a group of smugglers that sometimes deal with the trafficking of slaves both
into and out of Khurtack. Their leader is the Blue Serpent. The Coil lairs in a cavern that can only
be reached at low tide or by swimming underwater. There are too many of them to take by
himself, but he can find out this information and take it back to Rillian and the group as a future
hook