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After some downtime in Rhen nursing wounds both physical and emotional the DORKS attend the dedication ceremony for the eternal flame monument and head north to the fortress city of Bakkarholt. The traveling itself goes smoothly for the first few days though emotions are still a little raw in some places. The group comes across a stopped caravan looking nervous and understaffed. (6 people for 2 wagons) Stopping to talk you find that this group has been coming north for a while, but when it was struck with the plague many of the healthy people bailed forcing them to change course in hopes that help could be found in Rhen as it was closer than their intended destination of Bakkarholt. Getting stranded outside of Hafaway and losing more people to the plague and abandonment, they were among the lucky ones who suddenly started to get better “about 2 weeks ago”. Resuming their travels they started running into a new problem, more people disappearing. People wandering about alone started not coming back. Obviously leading to them not allowing people to be alone, this only worked for a while. Pairs would go out and only one would come back not knowing where the other went to. Two days later the combined caravans encountered a lone figure in dark robes looking down from a hill on the side of the road. Speaking telepathically it only demanded “surrender it to me” a few times before summoning some familiar Delothrim and a couple very large new varieties and attacking. Handily dispatching the summoned monsters the figure frustrated attempts at destruction with the use of gaseous form and dimension door after harassing Feathers specifically for a bit.

Arriving at Bakkarholt the two groups parted ways and the DORKS got rooms at The Crimson Redoubt with the only capable fighter from the other caravan ending up at the same place. Some drunken shenanigans and singing, a meeting with one of the two blacksmiths in town, and some rumor hunting in the lower parts of town (Belorg can be considered to have joined on that front if desired) Bakkarholt seems to be having a stability problem with some of its food shipments going bad where they should be magically protected from that. Upon arrival the group is also told that the Rothen family (Talderans contract) has been spending their time at the country estate and can be found there.

Two of the party had a day trip out to the Rothen property delivering their charge to its final resting place and receiving payment for the contract in gold and a copy of a treatise on magic and magical history written by an ancestor. While the rest of the party ruined the DMs plan for the days encounter made connections and took care of personal projects in the city. While there El and Talderan helped heal one of the Rothen groundskeepers who had been attacked by what was almost certainly a small Delothrim like the party had encountered leaving Passholt, burning out a nest of the creatures on the trip back.

The next day the party investigated a similar attack in the city and ended up tracking the creatures out into the wild. Ultimately losing their quarry it then found them on the road back into town and the upgraded Walker summoned its friends into the party giving the party probably it's most difficult fight yet. Victorious in the end, just as the Walker looked to be set to flee again Feathers tempted it with exactly what it was looking for, luring it back and allowing it to be finished off.