20 - 8/20

With the Hobgoblin forces routed, the group sat down to discuss their plans going forward. After much deliberation, it was decided that after interrogating Scarvinious, the bugbear leader, the group would gather all of their companions and supplies and venture south to Vraath Keep.   Scarvinious proved a cooperative captive and divulged some interesting secrets about The Hand of Doom. It appeared the five hands were mostly led by the Black Hand, who were the special operatives of the armies. After conquering the region, they would be free to enact their plans without interference, whatever that may be. The group also learned a Behir was in the region, and that The Black Hand was interested in The Sapphire Isle, but that may have just been because they are the ones who investigate all points of interest.. He also divulged that this was an important pass in preparation for the invasion north.   With enough information gathered from their captive, Theta betrayed the bugbear and slew him and begun preparations for making new zombies. Shane and Valerie along with Hildas familiar Nera went back down to the shrine of Solanus and decided to do some scouting. The dragon and its horde along with the Kuo-Toa appeared to have left, so the pair decided to take this opportunity to see if anything valuable was left behind.   A mysterious skeleton with an orc tooth, as well as a strange black egg was discovered in the previously unexplored rooms, but a pair of Grick attacked them while grabbing them. Nera also found that one of the rooms neighboring the Dragon's Lair had a lot of stirges in it, but the familiar quietly slipped away before alerting them.   Satisfied with their brief exploration of the dungeon remainder and with two items of interest, the two retreated back to Whiteridge. The day had been much better than the prior, and everyone got a nights rest in preparation for their morning departure.