Princes of the Apocalypse: Day Seven - Beliard and River Keep

Following the map they were given, the adventurers flew to the great stone bridge and then followed the road to Beliard.  Lilly convinced her pet bear to follow them.  In the town of Beliard they hired a horse trainer to take care of their animals.  They bought a couple hundred pounds of meat from the butcher. Meanwhile, Kyle the dwarf went hunting and shot a deer.  They used most of the meat to feed their beasts.  The starving bear was finally content.

Next they went to the Knight's Inn tavern.  They heard a lot of rumors.  One was that giant bird riders in blue robes were swooping into towns and abducting girls.  Also, a madman was supposedly in charge of a keep down river.  The Mirabar delegation had been heading that direction when last seen.  The group set off on foot, leaving their hippogriffs with the trainer.  Down the road they saw smoke and vultures circling about a mile off the path.  They found the remains of the servants and guards who were part of the delegation. The red axe design on their clothing and equipment are obviously those of the missing delegation.  They also find shattered looted wagons.  The delegates, themselves, were nowhere to be found, but there were tracks of a large group of bugbears and humanoids leading to the Dessarin River.  Gouges in the bank show where several keelboats landed.

Using the remains of the wagons, they made a make-shift raft.  Then the Druid used his magic to propel them down the river.  They reach Rivergard Keep and talk their way into a meeting with the leader, Grimjaw.  Unable to get any useful answers from him, they are escorted out of the throne room.  The dwarf and the druid mouth off to the guards... the rather large, well-armed guards who carry big shark-toothed swords.  Early in the fight they learn that two of their enemies have the ability to shape shift into giant water serpents.  Kyle, the paladin, uses thunder smite, which causes a massive thunderous sound which sets off alarms all through the keep.  A frightening roar comes from the throne room and something smashes into the wooden doors behind them.  They manage to kill all but one guy who made a run for it. But then he got shot in the back by the ranger's arrow.