Daggerford: We Didn't Start The Fire

Game Date: 5/15/2021

Location: Roll20
Campaign: Daggerford, Session 16

System: D&D 5e
DM: Mike

The Party:
Azul (Cliff) Dragonborn Fighter

Khemed (Rusty) Half-Elf Wizard
Navine/"Spider" (Steve) Elf Rogue
Vanya (Matt) Half-Elf Bard

The Session:

After last session's climactic ending resulting in two character deaths, we started this session with some downtime.  We sold some loot, bought some potions, made some contacts, and regaled the townsfolk with tales of our recent adventure.

There was a commotion from Daggerford's East wall.  The sky to the East was orange, from a distant wildfire.  The town prepared to receive refugees from Laughing Hollow.  

That night we attended a party hosted by Daggerford's royalty.  We were asked for a status update on our hunt for the Red Wizards, but we steered the conversation over to the situation in the East.  We were then tasked to look for an anvil-shaped altar under Mt. Illefarn.  We were given a guide, Navine.  

We were sent to see a clan of Dwarves, in order to have our weapons and armor repaired, and to get more details about Mt. Illefarn.  While speaking to the aged Dwarf leader, he died in front of us.  His compatriots scrambled to figure out who was next in line, and they finally cast "Speak With Dead" on the Dwarf king.  He made a much better impression dead, and gave us some cryptic hints about what we might expect to find under the mountain.

He told us that his brothers (Korin and Derwin) still live in the halls under the mountain.  He told us to contact someone named Alagarathas in Laughing Hollow (son of the great Elf King Melandrach), and he told us that "The owls are not what they seem."  

We got on our horses and left for Laughing Hollow.  The roads were crowded with evacuees headed for the safety of Daggerford.  We came across some Elves fleeing from an Orc war party, accompanied by an Owlbear.

Vanya started things off with a Shatter spell, hitting all the enemies and killing one.  Then Khemed hit the Owlbear with Tasha's Mind Whip.  A fleeing Elf finished off another Orc.  One bloodied Orc charged Azul, who finished the Orc off.  The Orc chief ran off, leaving us alone with the Owlbear.  Azul made quick work of the Owlbear with a riposte reaction, and we checked up on the Elves.

Having comforted the Elves, we continued East.  From a distance, we could see the Orc chief calling for reinforcements.  Vanya warmed up her guitar, which can cast Call Lightning.  A couple of trolls showed up, accompanied by three Orcs.  Khemed fired off a Chromatic Orb at one Troll, just missing.  As one Troll rushed toward the party, Navine hit it with a powerful Sneak Attack.

Vanya kept calling the lighting on each round, dropping the first Troll.  The second Troll closed the gap, and more Orc reinforcements showed up.  Vanya and Azul temporarily dropped the second Troll.  He got up a few times, but eventually Khemed finished him off with a Firebolt.  Navine intimidated the final bloodied Orc, who surrendered.

We interrogated the Orc, but he didn't know how the wildfires started.  His warband just took advantage of a bad situation, by attacking the fleeing refugees.  We went ahead and ended the session, and we'll continue our journey in a fortnight.