The party of adventurers arrive at Nightstone to find the village destroyed under mysterious circumstances. After chasing away a band of goblin looters, they visit a nearby cave to search for the surviving villagers.
Player Characters: Kane, Mister Mo, Old John, Sister Mary, Strong Palm Ian, Tarancha, Vincent
1.
When Old John left his home in Neverwinter, he set out for the city of Waterdeep with high hopes for a fresh start in his old age. He remembered his friend Yngmar Stonefist who had met an untimely death 11 years ago. As Old John recalled Yngmar’s many tales of his quests, he wondered what wondrous adventures awaited him in the City of Splendor.
He never expected to find himself in a wagon serving as a bodyguard for a nun on her way to a backwoods village called Nightstone. And with a party including an elf, a half-elf, an orc, a half-orc, and even a kobold no less!
Truth be told, Yngmar was also a half-orc, and many a tale of an adventuring party told of men traveling with half-orcs, or elves traveling with dwarves. But for a man like Old John who had spent the whole 55 years of his life in one city, the sheer diversity of this group may have come as a bit of a shock.
If he was startled by the party composition, John did not show it. The old man always kept a watchful eye on the world around him. Living and working in the markets of Neverwinter until his mid-5os had given him experience and intuition that would serve him well in his new life as an adventurer.
Meanwhile, the elf sage Vincent who traveled with Old John was greatly pleased by his new companions. In his youth, Vincent had been rescued from a monster by a traveling drow. Ever since that fateful incident, Vincent had done his best to cast aside his prejudices and feelings of animosity toward others, dreaming of a world in which all people could live in peace and harmony. The fact that such a diverse group of adventurers could travel together might be proof that the world of Vincent’s dreams would soon become a reality.
2.
From a distance, Nightstone looked like an ordinary settlement. Beside the keep that overlooked the village, the windmill and roof of the inn could be seen over the palisade walls, and the bell of the temple could be heard from a mile away. But as the party approached the village, they realized that the bell was ringing without cease, and it soon became apparent that something was not right.
When the party neared Nightstone, they saw many large boulders half buried in the earth all around the village. No guards could be seen on the watchtowers or the walls of the keep. When the heroes looked closer, they could see that parts of the keep were in ruins, as if great boulders had fallen upon it from the sky.
The heroes found a survivor half buried beneath a boulder outside the village. He was a tiefling wearing a pair of winged boots and plate armor that had been badly crushed and dented.
“Oww, my head… This doesn’t look like the valley of Barovia… Oh, who might you be? My name is Kane. All of my friends have left me, so I’m feeling quite lonely. Would you like to be my new friends?”
The tiefling named Kane began to say strange things as if he was drunk. From the parts that made sense, the heroes gathered that great boulders had fallen from the sky like hailstones and destroyed the village of Nightstone.
Tarancha set her wagon inside the village, and the party began to search for more survivors. But all they found were the bodies of villagers who had fallen victim to the boulders that fell from the sky. Yet the village was not wholly empty. For Nightstone had been invaded by goblin looters!
When the goblins discovered that powerful adventurers had arrived, they became to flee while raining down arrows upon the heroes. Many of the goblins panicked and fled in different directions, but a handful of goblins made a tactical retreat by stealing Tarancha’s wagon.
“My wagon! You dirty goblins!”
As the heroes chased away the goblins, they took several captives. Two goblins were captured while swinging upon the temple bell. Another goblin was caught while dragging a bag that was too heavy for her to carry, unable to abandon her loot due to her misguided greed. The party learned from the captured goblins that the goblin tribe found the village empty and came to loot the place. The villagers were already gone when the goblins had arrived.
The only other person remaining in the village was a patron of the local inn. She was a woman named Kella who claimed to be an itinerant monk, much like Strong Palm Ian. But Old John’s keen eyes discerned that she was being dishonest. In truth, Kella was a spy working for the Zhentarim, also known as the Black network, which was the largest criminal organization in the continent. Kella served a Zhentarim boss nicknamed ‘The Snail’ based in the town of Daggerford. She had been sent to Nightstone to turn the place into a base for the Black Network.
When the heroes learned the truth, they took Kella prisoner and tied her up along with their goblin captives. A search of Kella’s belongings revealed a small note with a brief message.
“On our way.”
Having completed their search of the village, the heroes turned their attention to Nandar Keep. But by the time they arrived in the keep, it was too late. For Lady Velrosa Nandar had already passed away.
“Oh no… We are too late…”
Velrosa’s body was attended by four guards who remained in the keep. Velrosa had been buried beneath the rubble when the castle was struck by falling boulders. Although she was rescued from the debris, she succumbed to her wounds shortly thereafter. The guards stayed with Lady Velrosa while the rest of the villagers followed the dwarf innkeeper and sought refuge in the nearby caves.
With a heavy heart, Sister Mary performed the last rites for Velrosa, who had been like an aunt to her, and the other dead villagers who were found in the ruins of Nightstone. Overwhelmed with sorrow, the guards that had attended Lady Velrosa failed to notice that the ring upon her finger had gone missing. When the funeral was finished, the heroes and the guards of Nandar Keep set out for the caves to search for the survivors from Nightstone.
3.
The party learned that the nearby caves in the woods were being used as a base by the goblins. The goblin prisoners, being fearful of the adventurers, told them all that they knew. The goblins inside the cave were numerous, and they were accompanied by their goblin boss and a pair of ogres.
Old John led the kobold rogue Mister Mo and the half-orc monk Ian who entered the cave first. Being the stealthiest members of the party, they planned to sneak inside quietly and scout out the place.
After several minutes had passed, Old John limped out of the cave with goblin arrows in his back. Mister Mo and Ian were nowhere to be seen. Evidently, the goblins were lying in wait and ambushed the scouting party as soon as they entered the cave.
Upon hearing this report, the orc barbarian Tarancha lost her patience. She charged headlong into the cave to rescue her companions.
In the darkness of the dripping cave, a fierce battle was waged against the goblin tribe and their ogre brutes. But in the end, the heroes were victorious. They defeated the monsters and rescued their companions and the villagers of Nightstone who had been taken captive by the goblins. They even liberated Tarancha’s wagon which the goblins had stolen at Nightstone!
4.
The heroes and the villagers rested in the cave for the night and returned to Nightstone on the following morning. But much to their dismay, they found that Nightstone was no longer empty. It was occupied by seven bandits wearing black clothing and armor who stood upon the watchtowers. Their leader appeared to be a youthful and prideful looking half-elf.
What was worse than the bandits occupying the village was the large band of orcs that stood outside the walls. There were 22 orcs altogether, all of them wearing dreadful necklaces made of elf ears. Among them, there was a one-eyed shaman and a warlord who was bleeding from wounds made by elven arrows.
The half elf in the watchtower called out to the heroes and made a bold proposal.
“You must be the former residents of Nightstone. I invite you to return to your village, provided that you clear away this rabble of orcs first and agree to live by our rules from this day forth. If you cooperate, you will find that the Zhentarim can be very generous.”
The leader of the orcs saw Tarancha the orc barbarian and Kane the tiefling and shouted a proposal of his own.
“Hail, chieftain! You must be a mighty warrior to have caught all those prisoners by yourself. Help a fellow orc and save us! We are being chased by the wicked elves of the forest. We came to this village expecting easy pickings, but we found these Zhentarim bandits squatting in the place. If we join together, we can get rid of these thugs and take over the village ourselves. What do you say?”
The heroes were not inclined to ally themselves with either the Zhentarim or the orcs. In the end, they were forced to abandon Nightstone and return to Waterdeep with the villagers who were unable to reclaim their homes.
Perhaps feeling some pity for the orcs who were being pursued by the wood elves, the party informed them of the nearby goblin cave and told them that it was currently uninhabited.
“Thank you, chieftain! We will not forget out debt to you! C’mon lads, to the cave!”
Adventure Name
Storm King’s Thunder
Chapter 1. A Great Upheaval
Session #1
Rewards
4 Achievement Points
4 Treasure Points
10 Downtime Days
1 Renown
Level-Up Gold
Level gained: 2nd-4th – 75 gp
Level gained: 5th-10th – 150 gp