As the last session began, the party had departed Whalespell to begin the long journey back to Evendor to meet with Anton. A journey that, with a little luck, would only take eight or nine days.
After the first day of travel, the party sat around the campfire enjoying a nice meal of grouse that Corvus had caught when Douglan fell into some kind of trance and began to glow with white light. Douglan awoke in a strange white room where, in a pool of water that sat in the middle of the room, he saw visions of Maggie fighting against the Githyanki. The pool disappeared and a being stood before Douglan. He knew at once it was Gath. The being asked him to take the Oath of the Protector and help Emathan against the challenges that lay ahead. Douglan agreed, and in a flash of white light, was returned to the campfire once again to the surprise and confusion of his companions.
The second day of travel proved to be more of a challenge. Early in the afternoon, the party was attacked by goblins riding worgs. The beginning of the battle took a grave turn as one of the worgs tore the head off of Douglan’s horse. Thankfully, they were able to quickly regroup and slay the remaining immediate threats. Several goblins ran and they gave chase ending in the goblin’s deaths, but only after Nightingale came close to death’s door himself.
On the third day, the party arrived in Langdale and headed straight to the Twin Rose Inn for a well-deserved rest. At the inn, they met four members of King Xanthrum of Easterly’s royal guard. The men told them news from the war in The Barrens between the Centaurs and the Iceborn Orcs. Under the leadership of a powerful orc known only as The Dark One, the orcs were getting the upper hand on the Centaurs which could soon see the war move into Easterly. King Xanthrum was concerned that Easterly would not be able to muster assistance with all of its internal fighting and had sent his men to ask for help from the kingdoms of the Protected Lands.
The next morning saw the party back on the road on a day that started off nice but turned cold, rainy, and miserable by the end. At the fork in the road that turns north toward Windrest, they came upon a camp of halfling gypsies that provides food and accommodations to travelers at their Dew Drop Inn; a collection of large yurt-style tents. During the evening, Thierry Riverhopper, the head of the gypsy clan, asked for their help in finding two of their men who had gone missing inside of a cave while out hunting. They agreed to help with a plan to leave at first light.