(Click here to skip to Part II)
The party went to Wolpertinger Caves for a meeting with the leaders of the Resistance and talked about what the vision from Tyton revealed. The gnolls are the pressing problem, but scouts are being sent out to look for any signs of mind flayers.
Kuato reported that the gnolls seem to be consolidating their resources toward the east. Alderheart, the Avium and Brackenmill are solidly under gnoll control. Along with Saltar's Port and Ashbarrow, Meadowfen gained independence too. Marshview and Winnowing Reach are the next focus for the resistance.
The Resistance agreed that the party should seek out the artifact on the Isle of Tyton. On the way, they can look into the death squads in Brackenmill.
The Brackenmill resistance leader Nico greeted them when they arrived and introduced them to his second in command, Corvin. They told the party about the death squads, Corvin being the only one to survive an attack by hiding and waiting it out.
The squads have attacked resistance members as well as those suspected of being in the resistance. Their shields have an emblem of a scorpion on them, reminiscent of The Scorpion's talisman when he was alive.
The party decided to go speak with Tisk who's been under arrest since the death of The Scorpion. Even though folk aren't allowed in gnoll town anymore, it didn't stop the party. Adina and Cyrus made their way inside and spoke with Tisk.
She'd heard The Scorpion talking about beginning the training of the death squads. She knew the plan was for them to travel in groups of five or six, often with an arcane caster.
She asked Cyrus and Adina to take her with them, she still wanted to help the resistance. The only reason she was being kept alive was because her father was Tork Mukluk, the commander of Brackenmill. Her "servant", Madricen, wanted to join them as well. Cyrus and Adina said not now, they'd be back. When they told the rest of the party about all this Düne was amazed, they'd found his sister whom he'd forgot all about until the DM reminded him.
The next morning the party investigated the sight of another attack at an abandoned bell tower. Suspecting a trap, they guessed right. They ended up killing three gnolls, including a spell caster, but some others got away.
Nico said only three folk knew about this particular cell, so one of them must be a traitor.
The party went and spoke to each of them using a zone of truth spell. Wyandotte turned out to be a spellcaster who'd hid that from the resistance. Likewise, the vulpin, Austis the Mute was a sorcerer and wasn't exactly a mute. Aldrich Ames, a corvin, wasn't a spell caster. But he was a bit touched in the head, keeping a gnoll in his closet to torture. He seemed to have a whole list of gnolls he wanted to do this to.
All of them swore under a zone of truth they weren't the traitor. This left the party wondering, could it possibly be Corvin, the second in command? The only folk who has survived a death squad attack. It is certainly suspicious.
While doing all of this, Amichai had the foresight to turn the dead gnoll that Austis had in his closet into a zombie. They threw a cloak over it and had it walk into the gnoll encampment and start attacking. It was quite enjoyable to watch, Aldrich in particular enjoyed himself. Probably too much. It caused so much of a comotion Tork Mukluk came out to see what was going on. They were clearly disturbed on of their missing gnolls had returned as a zombie.
Part II
The party went to Niko and Corvin and put both of them under a zone of truth, which they passed. They debated for a while whether there was an actual traitor, with Niko insisting it had to be one of the folk they'd already interviewed.
Going back to them, they cast identify on Austis and Aldrich (they'd done this to Wyondette earlier). Austis checked out all right but Aldrich was very cagey about this being done to him. He eventually agreed and it was clear, that like Jenny (10: The Great Escape (from the prison at Ashbarrow)) he was under the influence of a Wish spell.
The heroes confronted him and he offered to make a deal. If they let him live he'd tell them the location of the teleportation circle that the Scorpion Squads used. They agreed and he drew them a map. He also said a gnoll wizard had cast the wish spell on him, he didn't know the wizard's name, and turned him into a birdfolk. Also, Aldrich mentioned the wizard couldn't ever cast wish again. Something happened when he did it to Aldrich and he "burnt himself out."
A quick side note: Amachai sent another zombie gnoll into the gnoll barracks. It looks like they're getting a little jumpy about this.
The party handed Aldrich over to Niko and headed to the teleportation circle. They found the remnants of the squad they'd encountered the day before and engaged them. Shortly after the battle began, the teleportation circle lit up and a fresh squad teleported in. It was a vicious battle that taxed the resources of the party. They eventually gained the upper hand (claw? paw?) and defeated both Scorpion Squads.