Our Heroes snuck behind the Caer and scaled the walls to a chimney over the Caer’s Library. They could still hear Speaker Crannoc attempting to evacuate his bowels. When the door to his room was opened, they heard a heavy object drop into the chamber pot, and saw Speaker Crannoc make direct eye contact and exclaim “Oh great fuckin timing”.
The speaker turned out to be a miserable bastard, but despite this, our heroes made an effort to free him and his staff, many of whom he told them were likely imprisoned in the Cistern. He also said the cultists were led by a man named “Kadroth”, who in turn was led by someone named “Levistus” who as far as Crannoc knew, did not reside in the Caer.
Levistus, as it turned out, is actually a Devil lord both imprisoned in and master of the layer of Hell known as Stygia.
Our heroes hatched a plan to lure the guard outside into the room in order to interrogate him. They were again surprised when the cultist welcomed them with open arms. That The Master had informed Kadroth and Hethyl to allow the heroes entry into the Caer. This was a perplexing development, but our heroes went along with it, if only for morbid curiosity.
They were led to Hethyl’s Chambers, the old dwarf spotted by Lynaea during her reconnaisance. Hethyl sighed when they entered saying “I’ve dreaded this moment”.
She told our heroes she had time to tell them just a few important things before her time was up.
- Xardorok Sunblight, a Duergar warlord, will conquer Icewind Dale unless he is stopped by our heroes.
- Xardorok has a fortress in the spine of the world, where they are building a project that will help them destroy the surface world.
- He has a plan to systematically destroy the ten towns. Our Heores would discover it by searching his fortress.
- An attack on the fortress would be foolish if our heroes are not ready. Preparations would need to be made.
After the final message, she expired, and was subsequently encased in magical ice.
Our heroes were then led to Kadroth, who promised support and all but welcomed our heroes into the cult. He claimed to have Levistus’ ear – many cultists on the other hand only received messages from their master.
After being shown their new private quarters, an assembly of cultists was initiated by Kadroth, where he presented our heroes to the cult as the tools of Xardoroth’s destruction. Our heroes were presented a map and offered unconditional support.
Many in the audience met Kadroth’s claims with eyerolls and sideway glances.
When our heroes tried to negotiate the release of the speaker, Kadroth laughed in their faces, and the only message he took from the negotiation was that he himself should become speaker, only then would Crannoc be released.
Our Heroes then decided to follow up on the suggestion that Crannoc’s people may be held in the cistern. Indeed they were – 12 men at arms tied to weights and drowned in the cistern, and 5 servants kept in a sealed section of the cistern.
They also found an albino tiefling in the cistern, scribbling away at notes with a large black raven perched on a horn. She barely paid any mind to these interlopers, except to tell them to “get out.”
Our heroes now face the daunting task of routing these cultists from Caer Dineval, having decided their crimes are great enough to warrant eternal damnation in the nine hells – a fate promised to them by their master when he saved them from death in the wilderness of Icewind Dale.