Naturally, Freyja wants a hippogriff.
The party looted and searched. Maendir and Zook had Merosska's room, and Maendir went straight for the desk, so he found the letter from Aerisi regarding the noblewoman from Waterdeep that they took from the Black Earth cult. Since Hazel the rescued halfling was from Waterdeep, this led to some speculation that the letter referred to her, in the absence of any noblewoman on the premises. Liliandra mentioned that the delegation from Mirabar included a noblewoman from Waterdeep, which seemed to put the question to rest.
Hazel told them how the air cult threw people off the roof to sacrifice them to the air, sparing her only so she could cook for their upcoming feast. Freyja and Thoril flew down to the base of the tower and found the grisly remains confirming her story. Hazel also described how some of cultists would breathe steam, trying to "become one with the air." No one knew what to do with that.
There had been some discussion about occupying the keep, but Hazel's story got them to think about destroying it. Unfortunately, it was too solidly built for easy vandalism, so they had to put that idea aside. So no long-term plans at this point, but they decided to return Hazel to Red Larch so she could go home.
Before they left, they released most of the hippogriffs to the wild, but Freyja decided to keep one. The rest of the party is not so enthusiastic about the addition, but Freyja is impervious to hints, and no one was in a position to forbid her.
Along the way, the party was attacked by a couple of ankhegs, one of the reprisal options. I considered hell hounds but ankhegs seemed a better choice given the timing and environment. The problem is that they have a lot of clues pointing them to the earth temple, but the next temple in terms of difficulty is the water temple. Also, they're still 3rd level because I'm having trouble compensating for the size of the group. It would be good to get them to 4th level before the next temple. I'm okay with them going to the earth temple next. It's possible they would come across the water temple if they travel south around the hills toward the earth temple, but there are clues there to send them to the water temple if they go to the Stone Monastery directly.
Since they're in town, I'm going to do the Tomb of Moving Stones next. If nothing else, it will show Freyja that hippogriffs are not always a practical choice for companion. I upgraded the Bringers of Woe to bandit captains, added the Sentinel feat and cut their hit points by 10. I'll start with 4 of them and add one or two more if the fight is going well. Otherwise, I can give Larrakh a couple of guards. After that, I'll hit them with 4 hell hounds, and that should get them to 4th level.
