Using Rashaala’s insight, the party renews their pursuit of Kaven, hoping to catch him unawares before he reaches Fort Rannick. Fobias catches sight of the Black Arrow defector several hundred yards in front of the group, and they pause to formulate a plan. Chief Ripnugget’s wand of silent image comes in handy, allowing Theo to conjure an illusory wall between the resting form of Kaven and the party. As they silently creep forwards, the immobile form of Kaven suddenly falls forward into the mud. His hands are manacled.
Theo detects some magic emanating from behind a nearby tree and uses Dimension Door to appear behind it. Or should I say…her. The figure whips around revealing the surprised face of Shalelu. What a relief!
Shalelu leads the party to a secluded tree that she has been using as a temporary base of operations while she observes the situation at Fort Rannick. Kaven has been so loud in his approach that she had been forced to sedate him with a diluted dose of Sweetdream. Unfortunately this substance comes with a mild bout of amnesia. Kaven doesn’t even remember who the PCs are. And thus begins another plan, this time to use Kaven as a pawn in their own game.
They instruct Kaven to scout out the northern gates and report back with his findings. All the while, Kaven will be under the impression that the party is right behind him, but in reality they will be taking the opportunity to sneak into the secret tunnels. The idea is that Kaven will bring some of the ogres outside of the Fort if he is a traitor, and if he’s just a coward…well…then he won’t be a liability anymore. Sounds like a win-win!
On the way to a landmark about a half mile from the Fort, Shalelu finally recognizes Jak – her father who abandoned the village of Crying Leaf after a dragon killed her mother. The reunion is anything but sweet; she is beyond pissed, even though this was exactly the man she was looking for in the lengthy shadow of Hook Mountain.
Following a short bit of downtime where Krask receives some black arrows from Vale, Theo distributes a potion of questionable effects to his companions, Fobias teaches Richard to literally attack anything, and Barnaby converses with Shalelu, Kaven sets off to investigate. Rashaala follows behind him to see Kaven’s intentions. Meanwhile, the party begins making their way towards the waterfall, narrowly avoiding a ranging ogre patrol. Theo begins to sense Rashaala’s emotions: boredom, curiosity, bloodlust, spite, and knowing.
The patrolling ogres return to the Fort, leaving an opportune moment for the party to clamber down into the river and sneak under the raging waterfall. On the other side, Fobias and Krask can make out the docile forms of two shock lizards, who emit small bursts of static electricity with a pleasant ‘pop.’
Rashaala bursts through the water and reports on what she saw. Kaven stood at the tree line for awhile before moving straight for the gates. The ogres inside threw a rock as warning, but Kaven calming showed his Sihedron tattoo and the ogres bowed, granting him access to the Fort’s innards.
Is Kaven something of an ogre overlord? What else lies in the secret tunnels of Fort Rannick? Can somebody please turn down the rain slider?!