I continued in my journey to carry the message from Elwood to Aelwyn in Warden Keep. I stopped in a tavern in a town called Brindol. I took a seat near the back and tried to ignore all the wayward glances. The place was busy; a few people sat at my table, though we didn't do much chatting. In the middle of the meal, a bunch of hobgoblins burst in, shouting something about Sinruth and the hand. They started just slaughtering all the innocent people who were sitting closest to the door. One guy who had been sitting in the corner started fighting back and was quickly finding himself the target of their attacks. I ran across the room to help him and managed to draw some of their attention away from him, as more rounds of hobgoblins rushed in and were throwing torches everywhere, setting the place on fire. A few other tavern patrons joined in the fray: a wizard who had been eating at my table, a fiery-looking orange swordsman, even the bard who had been entertaining us, and a human with a club (who, unfortunately, lost his life to one of the hobgoblins). In the meantime, I was hit by a torch of fire and the wall behind us was burning down. Fortunately, a lot of people managed to escape out the back door. I chased down the last hobgoblin who had been throwing torches, as he tried to escape out the front once he realized he was outmatched. However, it was too late to save the tavern, which burned to ruins, though the Bucket Brigade was able to extinguish the fire before it consumed the neighboring buildings. At least everyone who survived the hobgoblin attack was able to get out before it burned to the ground.
The watch patrol, bloodied and wounded, arrived and were asking questions of the witnesses. I staunched my own bleeding as we learned that the town hall had been raided. I met the others who had defended the tavern: the wizard Horadric, the bard Elaira, the swordsman Keh'r, and the rogue Treble. Keh'r asked the watchman about which artifacts were taken, and we learned that they were nonmagical artifacts from the Band of the Red Hand. The watchman still seemed a little stunned and unraveled to be telling us this; he said everyone in these parts knew that the Band of the Red Hand had been defunct long ago.
While we were talking, a band of townspeople came running and shouting down the street. We tried to ask what was going on, but they ran right past us. Then, we saw for ourselves: they were being chased by a huge ogre carrying a wagon of casks and hobgoblins. The casks were explosive: the hobgoblins were lighting them and giving them to the ogre, who was throwing them into the town to light more buildings on fire. I couldn't stand idly by and watch them burn down the town, so I put aside my trepidation and ran up to the ogre to attack it. While I was battling the ogre, Keh'r blew up the wagon of explosives, and he and I were caught in the explosion. Can't say I much appreciated being blown up by an ally, but I guess it did the trick... One hobgoblin was killed; the other ran away. Shortly thereafter, Keh'r and I both retreated to staunch our bleeding, and we all kept our distance as we watched the ogre tied to the explosive wagon trudge on until he self-destructed.
The Bucket Brigade appeared, again late to the fray, to put out the last of the fires as we rushed off to aid in a skirmish at the bridge. This time it was we who arrived too late as the watchmen defeated the last of the band of hobgoblins. The watchmen were grateful for all of our help this evening and a member of the city council who was talking with them thanked us for our aid and offered us lodging at an upscale inn. We also learned that several people from the village were missing, presumed kidnapped.
As we arrived at the inn to get settled, a man approached us and read to us an invitation from Councilmember Troyas to dine at his residence for the midday meal where he would like to discuss enlisting our services to aid in protecting Brindol from rogue bandit attacks in the Elsir Vale. I plan to meet with him to learn more about what services they need and how I can help. I am sure that delivering the message can wait; Elwood advised me to keep on the lookout for ways I can serve the greater good while away from the village, and as a Warden, Aelwyn will certainly understand that I could not put aside my duty to accept this calling to defend the village now that this opportunity has presented itself. After the bandits are defeated and Brindol and the Elsir Vale are safe, I can take the lightning rail to Darguun and make my way to find Aelwyn in Warden Keep.
