The party sent Landor to the blockade north of Southaven as a distraction while they slipped down the River Aramond under cover of trees. Along the way they nearly stumbled upon goblins engaged in compromising activities—Lirielle stepped on a twig that almost gave them away, but the distracted guards returned to their business.
Reaching Aramond’s Lookout, they found dozens of tents and an ogre guarding the gate. Ferinthria made Momeline invisible and Lirielle used magic to imitate a goblin’s voice, calling guards away from a side entrance. Momeline’s invisibility dropped just as she reached the door, forcing the party to rush across open ground as the guards returned. They made it through with seconds to spare.
Inside, they found Ghorzak the Red with Zigra and a strange scaly humanoid. Zigra accused them of causing her father’s death, but they convinced her they had protected the goblin women and children. She believed them, but Ghorzak’s patience snapped. He threw Zigra against the wall and called his guards to arrest the party.
Momeline turned to the goblins and convinced them to protect Zigra instead. Zigra gave the counter-order: arrest Ghorzak. The goblins chose her.
The scaly creature transformed into a serpent and fled through an arrow slit. Talan Windfern wild shaped into a bird and chased it but returned moments later, unconscious and poisoned. Ghorzak decapitated two goblins and charged the party. Velara wrestled the snake-creature while the others fought. A cultist joined the battle, but when Ghorzak fell, he fled. Momeline, Ferinthria, and Dravencoles gave chase.
Lirielle stayed behind and tried healing potions on Talan, but they didn’t work. Zigra’s magic failed too. Ferinthria sensed something wrong, abandoned the chase, and channeled holy energy into him. It worked, barely. They called Dravencoles back, and the paladin’s radiant magic pulled Talan from death’s door.
In another chamber, they found the fleeing cultist with a more powerful companion casting a dark ritual. Before they could reach him, he dissolved into black smoke and escaped.
The party spoke with Zigra, who agreed to leave Windcrest Valley and return to the Pale Mountains—though her promise to kill dwarves there left them uneasy. Lirielle stuffed the serpent-creature into her component pouch to prevent its escape.