Play Session 2/7/22 - On the Road to Altand

The Worthingham Defenders had hardly started along the southward road toward the Misty Forest which was still nearly two hundred miles distant when they heard an eerily familiar sound that shook the area. The Draakhorn had sounded. The group looked at each other hesitantly at the foreboding sound. At just that instant, a herd of elk bolted from a nearby forest straight for the group knocking over and injuring a couple Defenders. Jilfaen transformed into a giant eagle and took to the skies to survey their surroundings carrying Robin with her as another set of eyes. Jorn picked himself up off the ground after the elk stampede holding his elbow. He had landed hard on it trying to brace himself from the fall. Other than the elk, nothing else seemed astir until the group eyed a horse and rider coming full speed toward the group. They allowed the person to ride up and pulled their wagon off to the side of the road in case the person was in haste riding past them. It turned out to be Dala Silmerhelve. She rode up and hailed the group asking them to reconsider their current direction. She seemed to think that finding the Draakhorn was more important than their current mission. The group was hesitant though having just given their word that to the council to help Altand. Seeing that the group was determined, she wished them well and set off back down the road toward Waterdeep. The group continued on their journey as before except more warily. A few hours later the group saw something that shook them: a red dragon was flying in their general direction, but passed overhead without so much as seeing them. It seemed to be on a mission having heard the Draakhorn. This sight disheartened Jorn. Though he wanted to keep a stalwart outward appearance, inwardly he was keenly aware of what atrocities dragons had performed through the ages. Most who tangled with them did not survive to tell the tale, and Jorn was as much a realist on their chances as anything. Gojira picked up on the group's melancholy and rallied them with a speech augmented with his charasmatic abilities.   The group had barely continued down the road toward their forest destination before the sun was getting low on the horizon. The group began to look for a spot to camp and came across a badly wounded hunter who had been stripped of his weapons and left for dead. Some of the group's healers magically patched the wounded man and asked him about his plight. He began, "Thank you for aiding me... I was ambushed by..." The man stopped cold and blanched white at the sight of Gojira. He screamed and began running away as if recognizing his enemy in the eyes of his newfound friends. The group caught up with him though and was able to "persuade" him to stop for a moment and talk. "Why are you travelling with him?", the hunter asked while looking at the dragonborn. Jilfaen cozied up to Gojira and told the hunter not to judge a book by its cover. Not all dragonborn are the same just like not all humans are the same. The hunter calmed down some, and the group learned that his name was Odrin. His group was hunting game when they were attacked by a red dragonborn and some kobold followers. Odrin had only escaped by playing dead and then quietly crawling away after being stripped of anything of value by his assailants. Jilfaen cast Speak with Plants to see if she could learn any more about the events that had transpired in this location. The trees said that there was one dragonborn and five kobolds who had attacked. They also shared that over the last several days they'd seen about seven dragons flying southeast over the last several days. This news did not bode well. Not for the last time did Jorn think that he would not ultimately seen the end of this mission. Odrin agreed to camp with the party and then make his way back to his family come morning. Right before bed, Jilfaen cast another spell and found an owl to send back a message to the council. Joseph the Owl flew off with the news about the seven dragons flying toward the southeast. The group slept while keeping watch all evening.   The red sky the next morning was a foreboding sign to those that believed in fate. They said goodbye to Odrin and the hunter left with a mundane weapon for protection from Jorn along with a parting remark from Gojira, "Nobody knows how long they have with family. Go with our blessing."   The group set off on the road.