The Story so Far.... The Ruins of Riveon

1st Day, Goldengrass the 23rd, 1845

The adventurers are deep in the heart of the ruined citadel of Riveon.

 Long ago the forces of the Shadow Dragon Zorvoath laid waste to the city and it is now under the dominion of a foul horde of orcs and other goblinoid creatures.  Some power holds these chaotic creatures together as it is unusual for them to keep from cutting each others throats.  So now, our intrepid party along with Eldan the ranger, Norgrim the dwarven bard, and the ever faithful Tursan are ready to explore the mystery of this fallen city and put an end to the evil.

The ranger Eldan, in his previous foray into the dire citadel, learned from an orc that he took prisoner that they have a master that they greatly fear called Gorthukon.  From what Eldan could tell he thinks that this may be a  shaman or wizard but he couldn't be sure.  The orc also let out that the master has a "pet" that is almost as feared as he is.  Eldan said that the description was vague, but it is possible that the creature could be a dragon.

In his quest to discover more of the lore of Riveon, Eldan discovered a secret way into the central fortress from a senile old dwarf in Senion.  There was a secret tunnel from the Curthor tomb in the city's cemetery to the chapel within the castle itself.  A way to strike at the heart of the enemy!

The dwarf even gave him some old maps of the castle as he had been one of the architects that had designed it.  Armed with this knowledge Eldan felt confident that a small party of bold heroes could make a difference in Riveon where an army could not hope to assail it.

The adventurers remembered another reason why they were braving the perils of the city.  The sorceress Aness had told them that she believed that a Shadow Cylinder (see previous posts) may be found within the city.  She learned that Cyndara the court illusionist of Riveon had one in her possession before the downfall of the city and it was possible it was still there.  If the party could retrieve this, Aness would have all three of the mysterious cylinders that contained a secret so great that she cast the geas upon the party so that they would tell no one.

Aness believed that this Gorthukon the captured orc spoke of could possibly be Illnath, Cyndara's apprentice that was believed to have betrayed his city and his mistress on the night the Shadow Dragon attacked.

With Lono leading the way the party sneaked into the heavily guarded city through destroyed sections on the north side of the surrounding defensive wall — a legacy of the city's downfall. 

Svarnos, showing his usual resourcefulness,  found a way to get a birds eye view of the layout of the city.  Using the magic wand of levitation found in the ruins of Gormoon's tower he levitated his familiar cat Jarvis high into the air to report back to him what he saw.  In doing this Svarnos was able to get a good idea of the layout of the city and even found the location of the cemetary.  

Inside the city they found a once glorious place run to rot and ruin.  There were burnt out and collapsed buildings and rotting husks of homes once populated by the men and women of Riveon.  But not all the buildings were left derelict.  There were barracks and worg stables for the awful orc soldiers.  Smoke rose into the sky from forges and cooking fires.  The party even found a church once dedicated to Varcan being used by the orcs for rights to their evil gods.  Fionnula the Sister of Varcan led the way in making the orcs regret their sacrilege and  not one orc in the church was left breathing.

So, the party wove a stealthy path through the city.  They encountered ogres, goblins, worgs, and in addition to the typical orcs there was a larger black-skinned breed that fought like devils.  

Slowly, the party was making its way to where they believe the cemetery to be.  Suddenly, in the distance, the sound of orcish horns sounded answered by the howl of the wicked worgs.  Dusk was settling over the broken towers of the city but our heroes with weapons drawn and magic as their ally were ready for anything.