The River Road to Ruined Villages
Party
Several months after Fires at the Fjordgate, the river inland still led through grief. Jarl Hoffer Magnuson, former jarl of Þýdal, lent a small longship to a party willing to travel upriver and learn what remained of the villages the horde had damaged. The route would pass Selbu, Mebonden, and eventually Þýdal itself.
The journey did not reach its final goal. Selbu was already known to be burned and looted, but Mebonden still had standing structures, and goblins held part of the village. There, the party fought through the occupation. MechaKirby killed the last goblin with a fire Chromatic Orb and set a longhouse burning in the same blast. Shenanigan Swift had reached the rafters after parkouring onto the roof and tearing through the thatch, turning the fight into a rescue as well as a cleanup.
The party saved a tied-up human boy and searched the fallen goblins. One carried the Sling of Chance, a strange weapon that would matter beyond that single skirmish. For a moment, the mission looked as if it might continue upriver toward the deeper ruins and the question of Þýdal.
Then Sanura Sefu's Sending reached MechaKirby: “Ásgeirr assassinated by poison. City destabilizing. Unknown killer at large. Your skills urgently needed in Niðaróss. Respond with status and estimated return.”
The message ended the river-road mission. The party turned back before completing the wider reclamation, leaving the inland villages only partly answered. Later journeys, including the caravan to Selbu, followed the trail this mission could not finish.