The trek back to the raiders’ camp is quiet, as Greenest had thrown a wild party the previous night and the heroines are now all nursing hangovers. They follow the same footpath as before, however they are much quieter this time, watching for ambushes. As they approach the entrance to the camp, they find there are no guards posted. In fact, the entire crater seems silent. Nimbee (gnome ranger) points out the lack of smoke, implying the lack of campfires. A crow lands on a shrub next to the group, startling them as it caws loudly. 

They enter the camp with caution. A quick scan reveals that most of the tents are missing or burned. The watchtowers still stand, but seem unwatched. Vola (half-orc wizard) enters a smoldering tent and kicks through the ashes, picking up a dagger for later. Issa examines another tent and finds a few copper pieces. Phoebe ducks into another  and finds a map labeled “Hatchery” under a pile of linens. Nimbee ignores the tents, instead taking a few minutes to reexamine the tracks in the ground, and notices some new, deep grooves in the dirt that may have been left by wagons. She determines the new tracks lead west. 

While everyone else explores the camsite, Zelena (elf wizard) walks the perimeter and suddenly spots a man walking towards the camp carrying a deer on his back. 

She rushes back to warn the others. Darting into another remaining tent, empty save for a pile of rags in the corner, the women watch as the human saunters over to the center of the camp and drops the deer on the ground and begins field dressing it.  As the women whisper between themselves, questioning what to do, the rags suddenly move and shift and shake as a half-orc emerges from slumber, “Oi, what are you doin in my tent?” Flustered and surprised, they mumble an apology and quickly exit. The half-orc turns over and falls back asleep.

The man dressing the deer grunts an acknowledgement of their sudden presence. Zelena approaches him, “Hello, are you a cultist?”

“No.”

“Um, what are you doing here? Where did everyone else go?”

“I’m a hunter. I hunt, bring food back. Most of them left. The few in the cave still need to be fed. I get paid. I sleep. I hunt again.” He does not look up from his project. 

“I see. How much for the deer?”

At this he perks up, smiles, and nods, “Yeah, sure, as long as I get paid.” The hunter names a price. Zelena pays him immediately and helps wrap up the meat into smaller bits that can fit in pockets and bags for later. During this exchange, Issa (tiefling druid) keeps watch on the cave entrance at the back of the camp. She spots movement every few minutes, the shifting of shadows. 

When Zelena is ready, the dear meat safely packed away, the group slowly creeps toward the cave mouth. All seems quiet. The cavern is about fifteen feet tall and made of natural stone. As they approach, they hear echoing sounds of dripping water, skittering rodents, and whispered conversation. Further back the cave gets darker without direct sunlight, and it curves to the right. Luckily, most of the group has darkvision. As Issa leads into the shadows, two daggers fly from the darkness into her arm. She yells and lights up the room with a moonbeam directed towards a cultist who has jumped out from behind a stalagmite, and he crumbles into dust. Unlike the raiders from before, this cultist is wearing a black cape and black mask with horns. Nimbee quickly shoots and kills a second cultist who jumps out from deeper within the cave also wearing a black cape and mask. Issa dislodges the daggers from her arm with a grunt and keeps them for later. The hilt of the daggers is ivory with a tiny dragon head carved into each. 

Vola loots the body of the one Nimbee shot and says, “These are dragonclaws, one step above initiates. There are likely more the further in we go.” She pulls up a couple gold coins and pockets them. The cave leads to stairs off to the left. Before descending, Zelena shines light into the dark shadows and discovers a narrow hallway to the right between two boulders. The group decides this is a better path to follow. Squeezing through one at a time, the party finds an empty room containing only a few crates, scattered copper coins, and a guard passed out surrounded by bottles. Every few minutes he whispers to himself, “I don’t like the swamp, you can’t make me go.” 

Continuing down the hallway single file, this time with Phoebe (human paladin) in front, they find a barracks with ten bunk beds. Immediately half a dozen cultists yell, “Intruders!” They spring to action and rush away further into the cave, leaving a few in the room who pull on masks and ready their shortswords. Phoebe disarms one with her broadsword, quite literally slicing off his arms. She moves further into the room to allow Zelena to enter and shoot a witch bolt at the second cultist guard. Behind her Nimbee shoots a couple arrows at a third, but they clatter off a stalactite in the way. Seeing an opening, he rushes toward Phoebe, ducks down, and cuts her legs. Zelena sends off a second witch bolt as she moves out of the doorway to allow Issa to pounce as a tiger onto this tenacious cultist, crushing his chest with her feline weight. The witch bolt shocks the second guard again, stopping his heart. When Vola finally makes it in to assist, all cultists have already been dispatched. The ladies search the room. Only a few silver pieces and pillows reveal themselves. 

The end of the hallway dumps into a bedchamber containing a writing desk and stool, tables with books and papers, a locked trunk, and a queen-sized bed. Light from two oil lamps illuminates the desk and bed. Thick rugs cover the floor. Rifling through the papers, Zelena finds a map of Greenest and the surrounding villages that were all raided. A line is drawn on the map from this area called Greenfields toward the West to a city named Beregost, which is along a trade route called the Coast Way. Then the line angles north along the coast, following the Trade Way, another major road for caravans, to Waterdeep, a huge city and hub for trade, business, education, and entertainment. Under the map lies an open letter containing an inventory of items including jewelry, food, coins, and gems. The letter reads, “Everything must be freighted north to Naerytar. Rezmir allowed us to keep some pearls, a ring, and a handful of small stones.” 

Zelena also skims over the titles of the three books on the desk and discovers really bad poetry about dragons, a textbook of dragonlore, and draconic anatomy and physiology. Inside one of the drawers is a hand-held mirror. She pockets two of the books and the mirror, but leaves the terrible poetry. 

-They have entered their first proper dungeon. The Hoard of the Dragon Queen book provides a map and suggestions for baddies. The map that Phoebe found in the camp was a real physical map I handed them before entering the cave. They could tell me the room number they wanted to explore so I could more easily sift through my notes. I also decided the cavern was too big and scribbled out two of the rooms. These low-ranking cultists looked scary but were easy to kill.

-Zelena assisted in the editing of this episode.

Some Draconic Poetry: (feel free to add your own to the comments)