Book 2: They Watched the Stars

Chapter 1: Escape From Skywatch

At the Smiling Wolves camp the party has a chance to rest and recover. During the night Kalathel has a strange dream about a man in a white mask and tells the party about it. Sakuachi asks the Gatewalkers to find her missing companions, and Smiling Wolf leader Matz tells them that there are reports of people similar to her descriptions around Skywatch. The navigator Ulikuq has been seen near the Guard Post, the hunter Deniigi was spotted near the Mystic Market, and the storyteller Pamak was last observed leaving the city through Skywatch Gates. Matz offers the party a reward in exchange for finding the missing companions and dealing with any threats to the Smiling Wolves nearby. The Gatewalkers trade with a catfolk merchant named Katya, and Matz lends Hector 20 gold so he can buy a magic rune for his maul.

Kalathel makes some talismans from his esoterica and gives Sammakko a magic feather that can assist his sense of direction to help them navigate the city’s disorienting effect. The party find their way to the Guard Post with no issues. The door is locked so they smash through a shuttered window, surprising the four hobgoblin Obsidian Oath Raiders inside.

The startled hobgoblins rush to get their equipment but are no match for the Gatewalkers. In a rage Hector crushes the skulls of two hobgoblins with his maul, splattering blood everywhere. Kalathel looks on incredulously, but not to be outdone, he guts a hobgoblin with his star knife. All the while fire and lightning are blasting everywhere thanks to Sammakko‘s magic.

Downstairs in the Guard Post the party find another hobgoblin soldier along with Ghodrak the Quick, the leader of the Obsidian Oath Raiders, with Ulikuq in a cage with a broken leg. It doesn’t take long for the party to finish them off, even with one of the hobgoblins begging for his life.

Other than the equipment the raiders had, the only item of value left in the Guard Post is a magic staff. Hector writes “Vacancy” in hobgoblin blood on a banner outside the building as Sammakko makes a splint for Ulikuq. The party makes it back to the Smiling Wolves camp without issue. Sakuachi is overjoyed to be reunited with Ulikuq, and for dealing with the raiders Matz promises to provide the party with a raft suitable of navigating the Icerime river.

Treasure: 5 longswords, 5 wooden shields, 5 hide armor, 5 shortbows, 50 arrows, 1 leather armor, 4 hatchets, a staff of the Unblinking Eye, a small raft