As the last session began, the party stood outside of the Whitfield home. After several failed attempts to get Melania Whitfield to open the door, the party noticed that smoke was beginning to come out of the rafters. The house was on fire. Nightingale heard a second voice inside of the house speak to Melania then all went quiet. As the party tried to determine if Melania was escaping the house, they were attacked by five Dooms. The party did very well at holding their own against the attackers but were still relieved to see four Vanguard knights come galloping up the road toward the house. The remaining Dooms tried to run but were quickly captured by the knights. A search of the area showed no sign of Melania or the other person that was in the house with her. The knights relayed that they had spoken to Allanon and Brash at Tionchar Winery and were dispatched to check on the party. During this conversation, the knights revealed that they were in the process of setting up camp at the winery.
With things under control at the Whitfield’s, the party rode back to Tionchar Winery with two of the knights while the other two watched over the area. Upon arrival, the party met with Barlor Norwood. The captain of the guard assigned to Tionchar Winery. Barlor explained that the Vanguard High Command had decided to give protection to the winery until they could better understand the threat the Dooms and the Gith presented and what needed to be done to control the situation. Douglan carried on to see Anton while Nightingale wandered off to spend some time by himself.
Douglan spoke with Anton about what had happened over the past weeks looking for assurance from him that there would be no more lies. Anton promised there would be only truth going forward, and that he had never wanted to lie. Douglan informed Anton that Nightingale and he would begin their travels into the Wilds to acquire the Sickle of the Harvest Moon the next morning. Anton asked to meet with them in the morning before they left to discuss their travel plans.
As Douglan prepared to leave, Thungus Stonebrow asked to speak with Douglan. He told him that earlier in the day, two of his men were at The Broken Flagon and had overheard two half-orcs asking about Douglan, Corvus, Nightingale, Kory, and Bashir. Thungus’ men believed that the two were bounty hunters. Douglan spoke to Nightingale about the news. They decided that it reinforced their need to depart for The Wilds and retired for the night.
In the morning, Anton relayed to the party that they had received a message early in the morning. The message was from Allanon and Brash stating that they had decided to carry on to the Kingdom of Alagon to see if they could find more of the men who had attacked Brash’s village. Anton asked the party to accompany him to one of the wine cellars. There he brought them into a secret room where he suggested that they travel to Vargas by boat, and once there, secure passage on an airship to Coldhorn deep in The Wilds. He gave Douglan an Adamantine Breastplate that Douglan’s wife had made for him, and he gave Nightingale a Rod of Healing to help ensure that the two came back from The Wilds alive. The party then departed for the City of Evendor to finish up some business before securing passage by boat to Vargas.
In the City of Evendor, the party first visited with Ranier Aldawin at The Vanguard Keep. The party updated Ranier on what had happened at the Whitfield; most of which he had already been informed of. Ranier told the party that Duran and the other Doom had been transported to The Vanguard High Command in the City of Alagon. He did not know what would happen to them after that. Nightingale asked if Ranier had a way that the party could keep in touch with him during their travels into The Wilds. Ranier informed that party that they could speak with The Vanguard anywhere and the message would be relayed to him. He promised that if the party returned in the morning, he would provide them with a token that would ensure that The Vanguard would always assist them. Nightingale inquired if The Vanguard knew anything further about the concerns with King and Queen Evendor. He did not but was interested to learn more to see if they could help. The party agreed to speak with Lord Falmorn Riovar to see if they could find out more and relay it back to Ranier.
Next, the party traveled to the Watchtower Theatre to speak with Starling and Wren. Starling updated Nightingale on their conversation with the Penumbra College. The Penumbra College informed Starling that they would be sending two Sparrows to evaluate the threat at Tionchar Winery and that Nightgale should pursue finding the sickle that Anton needed. While there, Nightingale and Douglan donned disguises to help avoid the bounty hunters that Thungus had warned them about. Starling and Wren promised to send decoys to The Broken Flagon to help draw the bounty hunters off the trail. At Nightingale’s request, Starling sent a message to Lord Falmorn to request a meeting. It was agreed that he would meet them after dark at The Fortune and Luck House of Smoke.
The party departed the Watchtower Theatre and headed to the eastern docks. There they secured passage to Vargas on the Raven Song which departed at first light the next morning. After a long supper on the docks, the party headed out to meet with Lord Falmorn.
At the Fortune and Luck House of Smoke, the party met Elim Brushbelly; the proprietor of the business who made the two very at home with fine tobacco and expensive brandy. As promised, Lord Falmorn was waiting for them. He told the party that he was struggling to understand what was happening at the castle. Things were very tense since the assassination attempt. An attempt that he still knew very little about. He did not want Douglan or The Vanguard to get involved at this point. He just wanted them to know what he was working on in case anything should happen to him. After a few hours of discussion and laughs about the old days, Douglan and Nightingale departed to find accommodations for the night.