Meet 41, Adv 3, 8/10/13

Very short meeting, had a few players (3!) show up late so we had "Catan'ed" for a while until they arrived. Be that as it may, the group finally got to a point where there is something "concrete" to examine - the graveyard.

Broken into two sections, there is the proper cemetery with individual and family plots, and the Potter's Field where the less fortunate are buried in large barrows (mass graves) and sealed.

This will come up many times during the adventure.

Write up follows:

The party stood out in Tanner’s Way like a stain on ivory, which made any talk to the locals practically impossible. They had decided on the house in question but wanted to make sure whoever lived there couldn’t escape possible questioning. So we had Fist’al take to the roof and Flimflam/Marcus go down the trash strewn alley behind the tenement housing.

 

It worked as the two bums who lived there could not flee and we were able to question them. There was a 3^rd guy there the night before but he was gone after the two of them went to sleep early. Identified as Johan, we worked on a drawing of the man and then had Auri make multiple copies for us to give out and aid in our investigation.

 

Fist’al went to the baths as he was now lice ridden and the rest of the party broke for lunch and wandered about questioning Marshall Westwynter, Zarik, Captain Thragriel, and Pelis – who gave Fist’al the idea that the “yellow possum” and this Johan guy might be part of a con, a shell game. While we investigate him and what he’s doing, something else more serious is going on elsewhere.

 

We then went back to the graveyard and this time looked elsewhere, along the back of the place where the mausoleum’s were. 3 were there and one of them had some old mortar worn away between stones. We asked the Undertaker about looking inside and he commented that the family had no interest (to date) of people poking around, but he would ask again.

 

We went to sleep and were awakened @ 3 AM the next morn, Firemonth the 6^th, requested to come back to the cemetery. The Undertaker and one of the gravediggers had been beaten half to death by a group of 5 surly youths, 4 girls and 1 boy. One of the girls was the girl Gisette that we had been tipped off about some days ago. She had a crossbow bolt in her leg and the 5 youths were furiously cursing the deputies (Caladis and Belamy) as well as us. The Marshall was here also and we did what we could re: questioning.

 

They were obviously drunk, but not wasted, but no matter what we did or how we asked, they made no effort to help us out or answer questions properly. They were escorted to the jails and a few of us wandered back to the mausoleum that had been “tampered” with earlier. We opened the locked doors (thanks Fist’al!) and went inside.

 

We found digging shovels and picks here, as well as a lantern – odd things to discover in an active family crypt. We pocketed a few of them and rejoined the Marshall and Deputies. With the Undertaker out of action and one of his diggers down as well for the next many days, we were asked if we would be willing to offer our help and maybe a body to patrol the graveyard the next half dozen nights between 10 PM and 3 AM.

 

We agreed to think about it and offered to meet with Marshall Westwynter and Baron Taugis in the morning.

Meet 40, Adv 3, 8/3/13

Further world building this meeting. The party got more immersed in Shakun (but still only the surface of all things) and the tribulations around it and took a brief side trip to Orland.

With the exception of the rare hardwoods in the area, there is no reason for Orland to exist beyond the original walled keep it was in the very early days of my playing. It had been expanded a bit, but it would never be more than a village in size - and the party had an opportunity to poke around before returning home.

Town adventures offer lots of exploration and communication, but little need for fighting. That is going to change in the next meeting or two, but for now, it's swords sheathed for the party.

Write up follows:

It was Firemonth the 1^st, 7 PM, and Flimflam and Fergus had gone to Marshall Westwinter’s office to talk with him, being told to wait briefly while Deputy Belamy Freespell occupied them briefly. They had another head scratching moment while his cat, “Magnum” and a few strange answers to their questions before the former Centurion was will to meet with the druid and paladin.

 

The conversation stayed almost exclusively on whether or not Marshall Westwinter had explicitly ordered Deputy Zerphis to torture the paladin before his trial 5 days ago. The Marshall answered the questions and informed the two party member that Zerphis had been chastised and disciplined and that a strongly worded letter had been placed in his file. The two friends realized that there was not a thing they could do and agreed to let the matter drop (but not forgotten – not to Fergus) for now.

 

Returning to the Hall of Heroes the party got ready for their caravan guarding that was to take place tomorrow, getting a good night’s rest. However, shortly after the awoke, during the end of their breakfast and the start of whatever prayers were needed, there came a frantic knocking at the door. It was Eherego’s eldest son, from Exotic Transportation, and he was anxiously looking for Flimflam. Seems there was some sort of problem with the shipment that was to go to Orland and Nadere (the herbalist), Higrane (stable and caravan master), and Eherego (proprietor of Exotic Transportation where the wagons had been stored overnight) were all clamoring for him.

 

Flimflam stayed behind, continuing his prayers, strongly suspecting that they were going to be needed, while the rest of the party went to the Eherego’s to learn what was going on. Seems the 8 bags of dried herbs had gotten wet during the night and Nadere had noticed it this morning. She opened them up and saw that they were infected with Sporebloom, a flaky white fungus that eats at plants, rendering especially dried ones, useless in 24 hours.

 

Accusations were flying about, Nadere blaming Higrane for poorly preparing the bags, Higrane blaming Nadere for rushing the process and not seeing the unblossoming Sporebloom because she was worried about her cut AND Eherego for his obviously leaking roof, and Eherego blaming both of them for stupidity and defending his stables as being air tight.

 

We investigated while taking the bags out and spreading their contents on a large tarp to minimize the effects of the Sporebloom. The bags were wet only on the bottoms. The roof had no leaks. The seals had been untouched from 10 PM last night when Nadere and Higrane checked them. Getting Sporebloom on one bag would be possible, all 8 was deliberate.

 

Eventually Flimflam did arrive and using a variety of blessings from Demeter, purified the entire shipment for the Sporebloom and saved most of it. We rebundled up what we could, and left town only about an hour behind schedule. The trip to Orland was without issue although passing through the Orland Forest was something that had us on edge as we looked for bandits in the trees (finding none). Orland itself was roughly 1/4^ththe size of Shakun and was heavily walled and defended, with a standing militia of 80+, roughly 10% of the population.

 

We made our trade and delivery, getting paid in the process, and vaulted the money with the local lord and landowner before resting that night.

 

The next day we did some sightseeing and shopping, with Flimflam making friends by using more of his gifts from Demeter, improving some of the fields of a farmer struggling to grow Yarrow in the poor soil. We did also go to the blacksmith where we picked up 10 lbs of slag and metal filings, eventually swapping the gold and silver in the strong box for the dross in case we were accosted by brigands on the way home. We left Orland on Firemonth the 4^thwithout issue and encountered only a band of pilgrims heading back the way we had come. No bandits, no goblins, no wild animals.

 

We arrived in Shakun that night and were paid for our time and trouble, insuring the Summer and Fall harvest caravans would occur as promised. We went to bed feeling good that we did a fine job.

 

The next day we were summoned to Potter’s Field in the cemetery, of all places, requested to be there by Deputy Belamy Freespell as well as the Undertaker. Upon arrival they had learned that someone/thing had knocked over half a dozen gravemarkers along the northern wall and then proceeded to deface at least 8 barrows in Potter’s Field. And the only witness to it all was a drunk named Finarl.

 

He claimed that It was a giant yellow possum that sauntered along sometime during the night, ass knocking over markers as it snuffled along the barrows as if looking for something. The reason we were called is that during Deputy Freespell’s investigation, it was learned that we had been directly involved with 3 bodies recently that had been interred here with some sort of arcanic or alchemaic issues. We aided in investigating the area and confirmed some of what Finarl had seen (churned up ground, big prints, seemed to come from the north).

 

From here we went into town, along where we thought the other side of the graveyard entrance area of the possum was, in Tanner’s Way, just outside some dilapidated building and getting ready to enter.

Meet 39, Adv 3, 7/13/13

This was a short meeting, a few people weren't here this night and there was some RL issues that we chatted about before getting down and actually playing.

And that's the crux that I wanted to mention - in as much as I mention things before the posts - is that RL happens to everyone around the table and sometimes you have to take the time to chat with everyone even if it's just to ask how their week was. They aren't just PC's in the world - they are people, persons, friends, and family as well.

Write up follows:

Heatmonth 28^th, 7:45 PM. Auri came back downstairs to the strange quiet of the living area and the party had a frank conversation with the half-orcish girl and her strange ways. Some matters were cleared up and others would be revisited as the days went on. What was discussed in regards to Marshall Westwinter was whether or not we should have some negative propaganda against the deputies and their heavy-handed treatment of us (and Fergus as of late).

 

We slept well and on the next morning ate breakfast and continued on our way doing investigations on the issues at hand regarding Dreyl Fartree and the other youths in town and their new found disrespect and aggravating behavior. We went to Gerains where we further healed the farmer as well as Fergus before continuing on to Felial’s farm. It was there that we talked to Goodwife Felial and the issues they might be having.

 

Felial’s daughter had been behaving poorly and ran away some days ago, staying with a friend named Gisette whose family had a homestead a bit further out. Their son was not acting out and didn’t understand why some of the people about town were behaving so poorly. The only thing we could come up with was Felial’s son (19) was not a good looking lad and might be classified as “unpopular”. It was a tenuous link, but all we had.

 

What was a boon to Flimflam was the naturally growing Mistletoe on Felial’s farmstead as well as the recently bracken-cleared blackberry bushes the family was hoping to coax into a sturdier crop. The druid gave a plant growth to the field and in a single act of decency, adopted the goodwill for Felial’s family almost instantly.

 

We left and continued on the Gisette’s family homestead, but it was Marketday and no one was home. Fist’al attempted to sneak around the place but the two farm dogs chased him off the property, but not before he was convinced there was someone in the upstairs portion of the house and had seen the party arrive – choosing to ignore them.

 

We continued our way back to Shakun, stopping once more at Gerains for another healing for Fergus, and then spent some time shopping around for Marketday.

 

Over the next few days we firmed up our commitment to Nadere that we would help with the caravan to Orland (with dried herbs – a boon for the struggling Shakun) and we did check with Ungoth the Distiller, but found nothing untoward there that made us concerned. The days were marching on and it was Firemonth the 1^st, and we would be leaving with the caravan on the morrow, heading towards Orland.