Betrayal at High Hill

After Gragonis and his four guards are defeated, the remaining mercenaries scatter and the battlefield encounter ends.

The mercenaries' retreat is further motivated by the arrival of their horrified commander, Cudgel Ironsmile, along with Mayor Raven, Becklin, and several burly spectators. The group has already seen some fighting, as treacherous mercenaries tried and failed to kill Cudgel at Gragonis's orders.

Anyone who accompanied the characters to the hill, like Darrett, also survived the battle, but almost all of Vogler's militia was wiped out.

Response
Mayor Raven thanks the characters for defending her people, fearing things would have gone far worse if they hadn't. She promises to reward the characters, but at the moment, she's focused on treating the wounded and getting everyone back to Vogler safely.

Cudgel Betrayed
As the characters and Mayor Raven speak, Cudgel Ironsmile seeks answers. While the battle was taking place, one of her own mercenaries appeared and attacked her, only to be killed by Becklin. The typically unflappable mercenary commander is livid. It doesn't take her long to find one of her mercenaries who was wounded but survived the battle. She angrily shakes and yells at the wounded mercenary. If the characters don't act first, Mayor Raven calms Cudgel and has the traitor bound for the walk back to Vogler where they can be interrogated.

Healing the Wounded
Most of Vogler's militia died during the battle, but if the characters search for wounded, they find a few souls in need of aid. A character who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check can bring a villager back from the brink of death. A character can also use healing magic to save a wounded villager by restoring 1 or more hit points. Any healed villager thanks their savior, giving the character a piece of jewelry or lucky charm worth 20 gp.

When Durin and Lance openly use the power of a god to save a villager, locals who see this are awed and consider it nothing less than a miracle. A villager saved in this way is particularly thankful and seeks to learn more about the character's deity.

Back to Vogler
After the wounded are tended to, Mayor Raven and Becklin urge the villagers to return to Vogler so they can organize a proper response. Raven and Becklin ask the characters to escort the villagers home safely in case of further threats, but the somber return trip to Vogler proves uneventful.

Back in Vogler
After returning to Vogler, Mayor Raven, Cudgel, and Becklin ask the characters to join them at the Brass Crab as Darrett and other villagers tend to the wounded. The Kingfisher Festival's levity is abandoned as worried locals seek refuge or mill about the village circle, uncertain how to help.

The Brass Crab's owner, Yalme, had prepared the tavern's common room for a night of celebration, but those plans are quickly abandoned when the characters arrive with the village leaders. Mayor Raven leads the conversation, prioritizing the following points:

• Raven already instructed trusted villagers to tend to the wounded and to recover the bodies of those murdered at High Hill.
  

• Raven wants to understand why the Ironclad Regiment attacked. Clearly Cudgel was betrayed, but why? The captive mercenary might have answers to these questions.
  

• Vogler's leaders need to know whether other dangerous mercenaries are afoot.
  

• If one of the characters used magic—particularly healing magic or other evidence of a god's power—Raven asks if the character can use their talents to help her people.
  

• Cudgel has only one concern: discovering the fate of the rest of her troops. She plans to return to her camp once the mercenary has been interrogated. She won't be deterred, and she refuses to let anyone go with her; if her mercenaries have betrayed her, she doesn't want anyone else walking into danger.
  

Let the characters pose their own concerns and plans, but ultimately the mayor urges everyone—except Cudgel—to stay in the village tonight as they try to learn more. In the meantime, Raven encourages the characters to join Cudgel in interrogating the surviving mercenary.

Mercenary Interrogation
The mercenary captured during the Battle of High Hill is a low-ranking guard of the Ironclad Regiment named Svilnt Sunderlit.

Mayor Raven gives Cudgel and the characters leeway in conducting the interrogation. Raven doesn't oppose the use of coercive magic, but she refuses to let anyone harm the captive. Cudgel initially tries to lead the interrogation, but she struggles to contain her anger at her betrayal. She soon retreats to watch from a distance as the characters lead things—though she occasionally interjects at particularly angering news.

The captive mercenary is brought in with their chest and arms bound by a fishing net. At first, the mercenary only mocks the characters and refuses to reveal anything but their name. By coercing the captive through Intimidation or Persuasion, the characters learn the following information:

• Gragonis planned to kill Cudgel and take control of the Ironclad Regiment.
  

• Several days ago, Gragonis headed into the woods west of the mercenary camp, then returned with a considerable amount of gold.
  

• Afterward, Gragonis hired his most loyal mercenaries to attack the Vogler militia during the reenactment. He planned to then raid Vogler.
  

• The mercenary doesn't know who gave Gragonis the gold he used to pay off the mercenaries.
  

• A few mercenaries remained at their camp, including Jeyev, Cudgel's other lieutenant. The mercenary thinks the others at the camp are loyal to Cudgel—the ones Gragonis paid accompanied him to the reenactment.
  

A Tense Evening
When the characters are done questioning the mercenary, the captive is placed under guard in a nearby shed. Cudgel heads out soon after, intent on verifying the mercenary's story at her camp. She promises to return by the following dawn.

Mayor Raven is eager to learn more about Gragonis's meeting in the woods west of town, despite not wanting anyone else to leave the village. She plans to send out local hunters in the morning.

I suggest in private to the rest of the party that I have concerns about Cudgel being involved in this and it is a deeper plot to pretend she was betrayed to further gain our trust and cover her tracks if the combat went against the mercenary band. I suggest we drag out the interrogation and stall her departure until we can accompany her.

I think Durin should work with Raven to tend to some others if he can. Not sure how many others need healing.

I also think we should interrogate the mercenary without Cudgel around at least once to try to determine if she is potentially involved.

It's good to cautious. No one... actively or passively... or by divinations can sense any deception (or ongoing exterior control) with Cudgel's immediate reactions after the battle or during (& around) the interrogation. The mayor, Derrett... Becklin... all totally trust her and are not in any way trying to deceive us by those actions. Becklin, Cudgel and Ispen were very close adventuring companions for decades prior to Becklin's and Ispen's retirement here to Vogler. That came out loud and clear during all the stories in the celebration of life.

Durin can definitely spend the next day helping with the wounded. He is very skilled in healing both magically and mundanely. "But I think Raven is hinting that we should follow the lead and investigate the meeting place of Gragonis and whoever paid him. But we can divide and conquer if you wish."

I can cast Command to Grovel, then Intimidate, to potentially make him pee his pants and tell us all he knows, but I think we could get by with a guidance and advantage on intimidate with the aid of Cudgel.

I think we can then apply any healing to those that are beyond the basic medical skills the village has, and then head out to investigate (though I think we probably won't get a lot of value from looking at some place that was in attendance days ago). I think we should prepare for evacuation, since they won't be able to handle any sizeable attack with all their militia dead or wounded.... even if it isn't used immediate, having an evacuation plan ready is strategically sound.

I think the younger is also probably involved.. their family was probably sent into the town ahead of time to scope out the defenses.

Skar wrote:

I can cast Command to Grovel, then Intimidate, to potentially make him pee his pants and tell us all he knows, but I think we could get by with a guidance and advantage on intimidate with the aid of Cudgel.

I think we can then apply any healing to those that are beyond the basic medical skills the village has, and then head out to investigate (though I think we probably won't get a lot of value from looking at some place that was in attendance days ago).  I think we should prepare for evacuation, since they won't be able to handle any sizeable attack with all their militia dead or wounded.... even if it isn't used immediate, having an evacuation plan ready is strategically sound.

I think the younger is also probably involved.. their family was probably sent into the town ahead of time to scope out the defenses.

Mayor Raven: "Even if Cudgel and her remaining mercenaries are involved... which I refuse to believe... They don't have enough men left to launch an effective attack on the town. Our remaining militia, Becklin, Derrett, and you all will be able to defend against that. No, I think we need to know more about what we are up against before broaching the subject of evacuating this town and everything my people have worked for."