That list plus Lane seems good I'm ready to head out...

Session #1 - The group headed out along with Evan and Kevian to the former village of Temel. Along the way they were jumped by a handful of orcs from the Broken Tusks. When the heroes reached Temel they found it deserted, save for a hill giant and two orcs who were on demolition detail.

The party forced them to retreat and easily captured another long orc named Morrik. Through an interrogation (that didn’t go that well) Morrik informed them that Thar had retreated to his base in the mountains called Castle Rivenroar and that he was raising and army to carve out an empire in these Nether Mountains. Before leaving Temel, Thar ordered the capture of a handful of humans to give to the “undead horrors” that guard part of the orc’s lair. Morrik finished by drawing a map to the castle.

The map turned out false and they were lead in an encounter with some kruthik along the way.

Session #2 – Descending into Castle Rivenroar the party defeated a room of orcs and dealt with an obstacle of moving, braziers that breathed fire across the room. From here the party headed east and into the sleeping quarters of the orcs. The battle was fierce and Bastion was dropped, both literally (to -3 hit points) and, well, literally again (by falling in a pit). Kregnok was able to get to him in time to save him.

The next room contained a curtain that actually turned out to be a portal to a castle in a swamp. While studying it for a few rounds, two specters emerged from it and attacked the group.

The Von Urstadt crypt was the next room and the party fought two magma claws and two gnome skulkers. Just beyond this room they rescued their first prisoner, Sertanian. He calmly brushed off the imprisonment and when asked he told them he used to be a patrolman in the Everlund Pass. He came into some money and quit the job and moved to Everlund, but when the money ran out he considered rejoining the patrol. A young woman, Jalissa, was traveling from Everlund to Silverymoon and he decided to escort her to her destination. The orcs jumped them when they entered Temel. He also knows that Mirtala the cook is being held downstairs in a chamber near a spiral staircase with frescos on the walls. And he suspects that Kremmel is dead. Kremmel told Sertanian he was going to negotiate with the orcs the following morning.

DM Note – he is a example of a poorly written part in this adventure. None of the NPCs rescued here will fight, but in their background one of them was a former guard. Does that make any sense? After this adventure, Sertanian could certainly join the group working on the Everlund pass or something like that. Maybe he just has a broken arm right now and can’t swing a sword. Yea, let’s go with that.