30 minutes

Arrival

In the interests of saving time, simply explain to the party that they arrive at Fort Daylight on their way to somewhere else. It is late afternoon when they arrive. They have never visited Fort Daylight before, but they have heard that it is generally welcoming and hospitable. The party can either be travelling together, or they can meet each other at the Mess Hall for the first time.

When they arrive at Fort Daylight, they are greeted at the gates by a male Tiefling soldier named Corporal Garrick Halloweave. He is very welcoming and simply asks for their names and the intended duration of their visit. He does not ask them to surrender their weapons, and invites them to attend to the Mess Hall, where they can meet the Fort's Captain and Sergeant Major, who will arrange accommodations for them. They see, to the North of the fort, a huge statue of a woman, dressed in spartan armor, kneeling and facing out from the garrison, with arms outstretched (as if trying to catch rain), over the edge of the garrison walls.

Mess Hall

When the characters arrive at the mess hall, there are a number of people present, as many wives/husbands as there are soldiers, and even some children. The mess hall will be very welcoming and accommodating to visitors, as Fort Dayight sees the value in having people visit and like them (you'll see why later). Notable NPCs in the mess hall are as follows:

Fort Daylight Garrison

Captain Alfric De'Lion

Alfric is the captain of the Fort Daylight Garrison, he is a half-elf male and an accomplished warrior. He is highly professional and doesn't quite know how to react to familiarity or joviality, as he believes that in order to lead the men of the fort he needs to maintain an air of professionalism. Alfric uses the warrior veteran stat block, or alternatively a homebrew monster has been created for Alfric in DnD Beyond, available here.

Sergeant Major Tom McCreadie

Sergeant Major McCreadie is a grizzled warrior and a hardened veteran. He speaks sharply and tends to be the disciplinarian on behalf of his captain (who tends not to raise his voice ever, in sharp contrast to Sergeant Major McCreadie). He wields a large warhammer which he keeps leaning against the table at which he sits. Tom uses the tough stat block, or alternatively a homebrew monster has been created for him in DnD Beyond, available here.

Horatio Verres

Horatio is Fort Daylight's arcanist. He is a mage who also acts as the chief administrator for the site. Horatio will be responsible for assigning a house to the party for the night. Horatio uses the mage stat block, or alternatively a homebrew monster has been created for him in DnD Beyond, available here.

Other Fort Daylight People

Katie Blackwood

Katie is a young girl of 6 or 7. If any of the party are of an "unusual" species (particularly animal species such as tabaxi, harengon, tortle etc), she will be overjoyed at seeing them, refer to them as "kitty", "bunny", or "turtle" and immediately want to play with them - almost to the point of annoyance, at which point her mother, Kara will rescue the party from her.

Soldiers

Soldiers employed at the garrison use the Warrior Infantry stat block.

The Company of the Gilded Banner

Ebkas Firstrom

Ebkas is the leader of the company of the gilded banner. He is an Infernal Tiefling, and a wizard. A homebrew monster has been created for him in DnD Beyond, available here.

Branmil Halfanvil

Branmil is a dwarven fighter, large, loud, and boisterous. A homebrew monster has been created for him in DnD Beyond, available here. He carries a belt of hill giant strength, and a flame tongue flail.

Jaben Krieg

Jaben is a human rogue (thief). A homebrew monster has been created for him in DnD Beyond, available here. He carries a shortsword +1, a short bow and bracers of archery.

The Captain's Speech

Once the party have had some time to settle in, read or paraphrase the following.

With sunset imminent, as the first hint of darkness appears in the sky, Captain De'Lion stands from his seat.

"Guests," says the Captain, "please know that you are welcome and safe within the walls of Fort Daylight. However, you may wonder why it is that we offer you food and lodgings without asking for payment as reward. If you will permit me, I would like to show you why, now. Please accompany me."

Captain De'Lion stands and walks out of the mess hall, with Sergeant Major McCreadie and his arcanist, Horatio Verres in tow. He turns North and moves towards the large statue that you saw on your way in to the fort. Inside the walls of the fort, just to the rear of the feet of the statue, you see a large glass building with an array of conical mirrors about a central chamber. You see a small group of soldiers collecting a large gem, just barely smaller than a man's head, from the chamber, and walk it towards the statue.

"Some time ago," says Captain De'Lion, "this land was scarred by the opening of a portal to the Shadowfell. All manner of deadly creatures spilled through this hole and inflicted terrible horrors upon the people in this region. Great heroes fought through the darkness, and were able to block the portal with the use of this gem - the Elderstone. Each day, we place the Elderstone inside the prismatic chamber to charge with the power of the sun, and each afternoon we set the gem into the hands of the Watcher Statue here, where it is held in place throughout the night, casting a bright radiant light about the area which is deadly to creatures from the Shadowfell, and prevents them from coming through.

This garrison is manned by volunteers from nearby towns, but I am sorry to say that our cause is not well known - in fact, it tends to be quite often forgotten.

Although I do welcome any visitor who wishes to volunteer to become a member of the garrison at Fort Daylight, I do not expect this. All I ask, in return for the hospitality we offer you, is that you go back out into the world and speak of Fort Daylight often to those who would hear it. We survive on the donations of nearby cities, and volunteers who either believe in the nobility of our cause, or perhaps simply wish for a guaranteed job with all the food and lodgings they will require, alongside a brotherhood of good, like-minded men and women. So, please, if any of you should ever find yourself in the company of the wealthy or the powerful and you feel that perhaps they know not how it is that they can sleep so soundly at night, tell them of Fort Daylight, and hint that their patronage would be most welcome."

Alfric will answer any questions the characters may have. Allow the characters to do anything specific that they would like to do that night (in one play-through, one of the party wanted to have an arm-wrestle against Branmil Halfanvil), but before too long, tell them something along the lines of:

The night passes with good food, drink, laughter and song, before you retire to your allocated house in the South of Fort Daylight for a welcome rest.

Proceed to Chapter 2.