The two days of travel through the mountains were arduous, but passed without incident.
On reaching Overlook, we entered the city to scenes of great excitement; many of the townsfolk had heard of our success in the Nexus and clapped and cheered as we passed by. Some of us were more comfortable with this than others – Garig in particular seemed unsettled by the adulation of the crowd and reacted impatiently; either way, we were quickly ushered to High Hall, where we were told that Morgoff Stonefist, the leader of the Council of Elders was to address the crowd.
Morgoff spoke of the success of the campaign on both fronts; our work in the catacombs and ultimately in sealing off the Nexus had prevented a great many of the Horde from joining the fray. The defenders of Bordruns Watch had also held off those remaining Orcs, a task apparently made easier by our defeating their ferocious leader, Tusk. The distinguished Dwarf spoke eloquently of our heroism and of the contribution we had made to the continued survival and prosperity of the people of Overlook; we were rewarded for our contribution in several ways, not least with the presentation of a Healers Sash, an item with great healing power. We elected that Grogar should wear the sash, an honour that he accepted with his usual humility and good grace. We also received a considerable sum of gold and a medallion apiece conveying upon us the freedom of the city. Despite the feigned grumbles of some of my colleagues, I know that all of us felt pleased and proud at the success of our venture; the Company of the Free had begun to shape its legend. As we filed out of High Hall, we noted with amusement that Grogar had been ambushed by Myra Edgerton, the rotund half-elf woman who had taken a shine to him before we left town; it seemed a further assignation was being planned for the following evening.
After the ceremony we sought out the Freeriders, the adventuring band we had become acquainted with, and retired with them to a local alehouse to toast our safe return and compare notes; it soon became obvious that both our parties felt that there was more afoot than had originally met the eye. The Orcs we had fought kept strangely powerful bedfellows, the Shadar-Kai witch backing up Tusk for example, and they seemed unusually well armed and armoured – our fellow adventurers noting that they had observed some lowly Orcs using Shadowsteel weaponry; this was incongruous to say the least.
The morning after a night of the type of determined drunkenness that can only be precipitated by having defied certain death, we were once again all business, scouring the shops of Overlook for items that we would need for our upcoming adventures. As we did so, we began to hear disturbing rumours about the unusual levels of organisation and readiness the attacking Orc force had displayed; furthermore, there were suggestions that even as the threat at Bordrins Watch had ended, another force was rising up from the once disparate rabble of humanoid monsters inhabiting the mountains. Once again, this force was rumoured to be sporting good quality arms and armour…..
As we questioned the citizens of Overlook, one name repeatedly came up – Modra. We recalled the name from the sending stone we had retrieved from the body of Jen, formerly of the ill-fated Farstriders; “Find Modra” the message had said.
Our investigations revealed that this Modra was a Dark Creeper, a breed we had more than enough trouble with to date, and that he was a well-known figure in the criminal underworld of Overlook, specializing in the procurement and supply of high grade weapons and armour through the black market. We were able to learn that in the weeks and months prior to the Orc invasion, this Modra had been busy recruiting people with experience of mining the Thunderpeak Mountains and later, brokering a deal for weapons of war with a Shadar-Kai witch; could this be the Shadowsteel connection the Freeriders had pointed out? Either way, the rumours agreed that Modra had not been seen since just before the raid on Bordrins Watch and that at that time, he had gone to ground – apparently, a deal had gone bad and someone was out to get him.
As the rumours and stories we collected began to coalesce, we were attacked in an alleyway in a less salubrious part of Overlook; the attack was little more than an annoyance, coming as it did from only a handful of assailants, but served as a reminder of our antagonistic relationship with the dominant criminal gang of the city, The Lost Ones; we quickly defeated the insultingly few enemies, keeping one alive for questioning – he had little of value to say however, and was quickly dispatched with a dagger to the throat by Nalklyr. However, we did find a note penned by the elusive Modra. It seemed he was desperate to acquire the strange brass key which we had found on the dark creeper in the tunnels of the Nexus.
Grogar returned from his romantic evening with Myra, with yet more information pointing to this Modra character; frustratingly however, despite the numerous leads we were picking up, none gave a clue as to his whereabouts. The frustration ended however when we bumped into the sister of the Farstriders Jen, searching the taverns and inns for news of her sisters whereabouts; we passed on the sad news of her sisters untimely demise and she in turn told us of a titbit she had picked up from a drunken dark creeper. Evidently, Modra was indeed being hunted and had mentioned an almshouse in Tradetown called the Happy Beggar. At last we had a place as well as a name, and after comforting the poor woman, we headed to Tradetown without delay.
The almshouse was not easy to find amongst the bustling industry of Tradetown, but find it we did; the establishment was run by an elderly couple, retired Paladins both and filled with the pompous religious fervor that only such folk can muster. Fortunately for us, Grogar is more action than words, so we are not often subject to the type of dull sermons that these two were renowned for.
After joining a quick singsong to win their favour, we began to circulate around the place, asking questions about Modra and looking to firm up the lead we had been given; a diseased old man named Brenat affirmed that Modra had indeed used the Happy Beggar as cover for clandestine meetings in the past, but that he hadn’t seen him for around two years. He also told us that Modra was a blackhearted scoundrel who wouldn’t hesitate to kill us if he got the chance. Whilst we talked with the old man, Nalklyr crept downstairs and stealthily explored those parts of the house that were not open to the public; he soon returned, indicating that he had found a hidden passage in the cellar.
We resolved to rest ourselves thoroughly before returning to the almshouse to explore the hidden passage; would it lead us to Modra? Was this Modra merely a front and were we pitting ourselves against a much more powerful foe? What force was bringing together disparate creatures, equipping them and pitting them against the civilized societies of the region?
We felt sure that the answers to all these questions and more besides lay on the other side of Nalklyr’s secret passage….
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