The Search for Jaylin
Arc 4.
Harken and the locket
The party collected a bronze locket from Andrin to give the Septarch a scrying focus.
At the Hungry Hound they met Freya, a wizard from Koningstad who said she had ended up in Harken by way of a magical mishap. She was useful, and a bit odd, and they let her tag along.
The scrying
Back in Fallcrest, Voren scried Jaylin: an underground tunnel with iron cart tracks and a Brokenskull Orc standing nearby. He placed it at the abandoned copper mines in the Dawnforge Mountains, north of Harken.
Markus and the Iron Circle
On the road back to Harken the party met a troop of Iron Circle mercenaries led by Markus — the priest of Asmodeus who had escaped them at the keep. They recognised him and turned around rather than take the fight.
Banner confirmed Markus was one of the Iron Circle's leaders, which locked in what the party already suspected: the Iron Circle is behind the kidnappings and the Broken Spire operation. What they did not have was proof.
The copper mines
Into the Dawnforges. The party left their horses and spare gear at the mine entrance — a decision they would come to regret — and fought through Brokenskull Orcs and ogres to capture the orc leader Dorakor.
Under interrogation, Dorakor gave them the shape of the trade:
- Jaylin and other spellcasters were taken below. Someone was paying for them.
- The "crazy dwarfs" — Derro — had spellcasters of their own and were buying prisoners
- To reach the dwarfs' doors, the orcs had to cross an underground sea, guarded by something that demanded payment, usually a non-spellcasting prisoner
In the orc hoard they found a magical spear that radiates bad vibes. Nobody would carry it.
The lake, and the horses
Following the orcs' path, the party reached a massive underground lake with a large boat waiting on the shore. Not ready to negotiate with whatever charges in people, they withdrew.
At the mine entrance, the escaping orcs and ogres had taken all their horses and gear.
Jocelin's standing instruction dates from here, written in bold and underlined: NEVER LEAVE THE HORSES UNGUARDED.
Clearing the keep, again
The party bought a donkey in Harken and scouted back to Broken Spire Keep, where goblins and spiders had moved back in. They cleared it a second time, hid the treasure in the secret room, and went to Fallcrest.
- Uncle Bill identified the spear: powerful enchantments, and a bad feeling
- The Septarch scried Jaylin again: alone on a stone floor, underground, with a mind flayer present.
Claiming the keep
The party asked the Lord Warden of Fallcrest whether they could keep Broken Spire Keep. His terms:
- Eliminate the goblin and spider threat
- Hallow the shrine to Asmodeus
- Swear fealty
Do that, and one of them is deeded the Spiderfell and the keep. They agreed.
To the double doors
They recruited Sharwyn and Braford, hired three guards for the keep — Clem, Eric and Horace — and descended toward the double doors Dorakor had described.
The womp womp struck again right at the doors, stunning several of them for hours. When they came round, they used the two keys — one taken off bandits, one off Dorakor — and opened them.