The lord nods and applauds the initiative.
"We shall feast! And following this, on your way!"
The long tables have been set, drinks from the local inn have been placed generously around and the talk runs about current events. The regulars, the city watch, are present and for a while tensions seem lessened as the notion and rumors of withheld food and resources had changed and those present fed themselves as morale rose. They were indeed eating on a warfield, but they took what they could. The issue of the invasion remained every present and as of such, a few guarded the outskirts with bows and handweapons to ensure a few hours of peace.
You set out and with the notion that you are onto something greater than yourself.
The trek is long, but you know that within the day you should reach the lower steps of it.
Before heading out you receive some insight on the location from the Sage, Valthrun whom studied it and shows you a map while detailing:
Thunderspire Mountain lies amid a wilderness of pine forests and rocky hills. The mountain’s pinnacle is usually wreathed in gray, foreboding clouds, but on rare clear
days, it can be seen from a great distance. The Trade Road, an old dwarf-made highway, passes near the mountain. It links the human town of Fallcrest (about a two-day journey west of the mountain on foot) with the dwarf stronghold of Hammerfast (three days
east of the mountain by foot).
In years past, travelers and caravans hurried past Thunderspire to avoid attacks from
monsters lurking in the ruined minotaur city. Today, this part of the Trade Road is reasonably safe thanks to the presence of the Mages of Saruun.
From the Trade Road, a steep cobbled path called the Vale Road turns north and then cuts into the mountain. The road rises through a valley with sparse vegetation and ends
at Thunderspire’s base. Small waterfalls and brooks wash down from the rocks above. A few shepherds, woodcutters, and trappers live in the vale. Their humble houses are made
of turf and fieldstone and are fitted with stout doors to repel predators, including bears, wyverns, and griffons.
You arrive, worn and fatigued, but with a tingling feeling of caution within.
A swirling thunderhead of black clouds, rumbling thunder, and bright flashes of lightning obscure the peak of the mountain ahead of you. This is the infamous Thunderspire Mountain, the largest of the Old Hills that cover the northeast portion of the Nentir Vale.
A cobbled path leads from the Trade Road up the side of the mountain to the Minotaur Gate, the primary path to reach the Seven-Pillared Hall as foretold by the sage.
Following it you notice that a path splinters into numerous passages a short way into the mountain. A wide tunnel with several smaller tunnels leading off it seems to cut a path toward the mountain’s deep center. As you make your way, you notice light spilling from a partially open door a short way down one of the side passages.
You hear coarse laughter and guttural voices up ahead.
A rough voice, speaking Common, says, “You’re ours now, halfling. We’ll easily get ten gold for you!” Another voice responds: “That’s a shame, ’cause I’m worth twenty. I’ll buy myself if you let me go.”
You notice a second voice pipe in.
"What about that...thing...The Githzerai slave..what is he worth?"
You hear a slap and the halfling squirms.
MAP: https://docs.google.com/drawin...Y6wdaYoFbJU6VCQ/edit
