- the party had made the deal with the assassin and he led them to the hideout
- on the way, Lirielle felt the presence of traps ahead on the road and warned the pary. The assassin (Lorand) insisted he was going to tell them about them when they got closer.
- As they approached the hideout, he advised them to get off the road and go around. They obliged and followed him through the forest. They saw the cave up ahead and Momeline went in ahead of them, Ferinthria having made her invisible.
- She snuck past the bandits guarding the entrance and misty-stepped up onto a ledge, where she accidently triggered a mine. She was still invisible, but knew it would explode if she stepped on it. In front of her were two bandits (one appearing to be the captain).
- She tried to make them sleep, but it didn’t work on the captain, who saw his companion magically fall asleep and immediately sounded the alarm. Momeline tried to sneak attack him and jump quickly off of the mine, but it triggered and launched her into a pillar of stone in the cave, almost knocking her unconcious. Despite this, she taunted the captain.
- Dravencoles, Lirielle, Ferinthria and Landor Vess heard the explosion and rushed in, each taking out bandits with brutal efficiency.
- The cultists summoned a dark shade to attack for them, but the party was able to take it down pretty quickly.
- After the fight, they looked around and found some interesting items, but most interesting of all was Daran Grimsby chained against a wall, with scars around his eyes. Despite the wounds, Momeline recognized him from her many nights at Rusty’s Tavern.
- They also found Tessa Durn waiting patiently in a back room of the cave. When they approached, she begged the party to kill her and to forgive Jesse Durn and help him out of the cult. Momeline used one of her black poison darts to kill her.
- On the way back, Daran told them about the situation in Southaven, and they were able to draw a map of the area: blockades on the tradeway to the north and south of Southaven, a goblin war camp on the River Aramond at Aramond’s Lookout to the east. Bandit camps coming out of the Hellrock Hills to the west, and strange things going on in Blacktide Swamp.
- Now the party must decide how to move forward.