Meet 67, Adv 12, 9/23/23

Gryg and Hoggar moved back but were intercepted by a batch of 20 of the Gingerbread men. They assaulted the two of them, some of them hitting, and surprisingly, some damage came about. Mebian was laughing as the rest of the party leapt from the table and slammed back to the wall. The larger gingerbread cookie stalked forward, swinging its busted broom handle as it stalked forward. Godrik levitated himself up to the catwalk to get away from the now descended horde. Hoggar stomped and gored, busting some of the cookies and the party had weapons out ready to hit them all.

It was Asher Reed, our Captain, who called to Tyr and Maglubiyet, to blast an echoing reverberating note so loud that it shattered a large batch of the closest gingerbread men. “Damn!” Dizzy exclaimed following suit, and then the same thing was done by Brading – reducing the number of cookies to a notch under 20.

The rest of the fight went much better as the group was able to fire off another sonic burst and then tear into the giant gingerbread man. Mebian was now captured and the entirety of his crimes had been transmitted to the hall of records. We wanted to get him in place to confess his crimes directly to Venains and Baelin. We would need to use a conference room at the Heart of Vitalia to have this occur. We looked through his stuff quickly and found a sheaf of scrolls acting as a spell book – but the spells were strange, things we had never seen before.

We split up, a few of us went to the Hotel to arrange with Amathadwan the room, while the rest of us knocked Mebian out and Gugg carried him in a sack through town and towards the hotel. Two others went off to the Dough Will Rise and Ragamuffins to entice the 2 bakers to come to the Heart. They did so, anticipating they were going to hire the adventuring party to do damage – when they were surprised to see not only each other there – but also Mebian.

The group laid out the situation to the 2 bakers and Mebian’s part in it. The angry small baker was adamant that this would have worked but now that it didn’t, it was time for everyone to go home as he had orders to do tomorrow. Um. No, not how this works. You are going to be remanded to custody and then put in jail. He didn’t get it, assuming that he was sorry was enough. What about his people and staff?

The other 2 bakers agreed that they would send their best journeyman to Look to the Yeast in the morning and have them run the place together for now while Mebian’s situation gets resolved. The constables had come now after being asked to and Mebian was taken away. We returned the sending head and felt that we had done a good job.  So it was a bit before 11 when we chucked it all in and went to bed.

We awoke the next day, Birthmonth the 27th, and after breaking our fast, went off to go see Adjunct Rawanis. He thanked us for resolving the matter and filled us in on Mebian for a bit. He thanked us for the work they had done with and for him, but as of now, he was going to hand them over to the Outer Circle Councilor Mide; his superior. From this point out, upon completion of their jobs they will be paid for their efforts (nice) and after doing some problem solving for her, they will be sent to her boss on the Inner Circle Council, Marrions, – and then the Necrolord Duncan Eternal.

He did give us a bit of advice – for all of OCC Mide’s apparent youth, she is not a force to be trifled with. She is smart, connected, ruthless in her own way, driven, and does not suffer fools or foolishness. She is not your friend and must be given full respect at all times. We thanked him and he brought us down the hall to Mide’s office where she met with us and smiled.

Right away the back and forth was different, and we recognized what Rawanis said about her not being a friend. Immediately she let us know her most pressing problem. There is an industrial Basketweaver on 3rd and 18th who 3 weeks ago had every bit of stock, store, raw goods, and even furnishings and machinery and looms stolen. His name is Goliene and he is well respected and liked around town, employing 23 people and supplying just about every industrial and large scan weaving project in all of Grymeria. He has been a loyal constituent and supporter of the OCC Mide and she wants his issue resolved.

It seems that he borrowed 1,500 crowns from a local banker/lord who was willing to front the Basketweaver and when the month was at an end, was expecting to extend the contract for another month. It's fairly common. The banker/lord though informed Goliene that he no interest in extending the contract and he had till the end of the week to pay the 1,500 crowns or the terms would come due and he would be indentured.  For 10 years.

She wants the party to investigate the situation and help resolve Goliene’s dilemma. The contract is fairly standard but the OCC Mide does not know why the banker/lord I being so inflexible.

It was about 9:30 when we arrived at Grymerian Basketworks. It was a 2 story factory style warehouse with a smaller office door and larger loading bay door. We entered and then met with Goliene’s wife and kids – working on planks of wood  and sawhorses. They had a lot of paper strewn about and they were struggling to make sense of it. We could even see the office furnishings had been stolen – including the carpets.

Once they learned who we were we had a chance to meet with Goliene. He was a harried man, a bit under 6’ and in his late 40’s . He thanked us for coming and was very worried and upset. Lord Gatraise was being inflexible and even though Goliene had spoken with him 3 times now, he was adamant that in 5 days – this was going to happen.

He told us about the robbery a bit over 3 weeks ago now. The constable had come to alert him of the break in about 7. They took everything –tons of raw goods, every finished product – but most troubling were the actual looms and machines that had been taken. Some of them were 10’ tall. We walked the factory floor and could see the space where 6 of them had once stood. Right now there was only 1 weaving loom here – they had purchased it from Ashar a few weeks ago and had it in place to help clear out the massive backlog he has.

Everyone was working hard – many of them for free. Goliene admitted that if he cannibalized everything – he could come up with 500 crowns…maybe – but it would leave him in a terrible situation for next month – and Lord Gatraise was not interested in a partial payment. He did offer that if his family agreed to the indenture as well – he would reduce the time to 4 years.

He had some animates working here, one of them was his brother, Bundus. Bundus died 4 years ago and was raised, staying here with the family to work. He had been a prospector in his younger/living days and part of a 3 person crew that would go out and find possible gold mines in the Rises – in the northwest section of Grymeria.  On his passing, Goliene was his executor and for now he was happy to stay here and help out.

We asked some questions and learned the constable who had discovered and reported the situation was named Clamance. And that Goliene had a friendly fence named Lolloran who was looking all over for where the equipment and machinery might be. So far nothing has been discovered.

We left and figured we’d bite the bullet and go talk to Lord Gatraise first. We made our way to the upper class section in the north part of town eventually coming to 1st and 5th. The place was macabre. Wrought iron fence, half dead skeletal trees, tall black edifice and flying buttresses and towers. There were some undead wandering the grounds cutting rose bushes and just standing around moaning. The gate guard took our name and said to wait shortly. Eventually he came back and said that Lord Gatraise was waiting for us and to follow – stay on the path.

We entered and it was more of the same. Some of the animates try to fit in with the locals – but Lord Gatraise was practically shoving the fact that he was an undead down your throats. We met him in a large office area where he was seated at a wingback chair and gilded desk. There were signs of opulence everywhere. He greeted us and seemed to know a bit about us already.

We broached the contract and our reason for being here and Lord Gatraise did his best to explain it. He was not interested in letting Goliene to get off with an extension. True, he had lent the weaver money in the past and both times he had extended terms. IN fact the extension of terms was a normal part of the deals – but in this case – he did not care. He WANTED the basket weaver to be indentured to him. For if doing so, he would get all of his property and owned items as well.

With nothing left in the Basket Weaving place, we were unsure what he meant. At this point he was pressuring Gugg, the half-ogre, to cast off his other needs and to join him. He would gladly pay 65 crowns for him to join his staff. He has a need for half-ogres. Gugg was uncomfortable and said no. Then the Lord turned to Godrick and offered to give him 45 crowns if he stabbed Gugg in the sleep tonight. He also refused. This was getting weird.

Plus he was laughing and chuckling. Like he knew something we did not. From here he made no bones about it. Getting the Basketweaver was a nice plus – but as the executor of his brother’s estate, Bundus, he would get control of that person as well. Why did he want Bundus, an ex prospector who died 4 years ago?

Because he was 1/3 of a company that registered a possible mining site that had been here-to-for looked over. And Lord Gatraise wanted it. It was supposedly going to yield an immeasurable amount of possible gold – and the Lord had been putting plans in place to make it happen. He was cackling again with glee. We pointed out, what about the other2/3rd? And he laughed aloud, burning eyes flashing and dancing, that he had already taken care of that problem as well.

So there was nothing more for it, tell Goliene that he has to report to him in 5 days and expect to be indentured to the Lord for the long near future. Now go and deliver the bad news, Adventurers. Hahahah.

Damn – we left. We talked about solutions. What kind of undead was Lord Gatraise? We did not know, but he did radiate a power. Also, as Goliene has a loan out – no other lender will give him money at this time. What about this mine? We went back and talked to Bundus and Goliene a bit, without tipping off what we had learned. Bundus was partnered with two other men for a few years before his death, Bethen and Tenet. They had prospected many sites in The Rises, but there was one that at first glance seemed to be a poor yield. But the 3 of them were convinced the veins were deeper and more robust once the talus and pyrite and nickel were peeled away. How good? They guessed 150 to 200 thousand in possible gold piece yield.

Holy crap.

It would be a 2 year venture and some 20,000 in investment to make it happen, but a 7 to 10 times return would make anyone well off. Like a Lord Gatraise. But why now, after 4 years of Bundus’ death? And what did he mean about already taking care of the other 2/3rds of the prospecting claim? We would need to visit some places and answer soon. The Office of Records, the Office of Sanctions, the Office of Portals, and the Constabulary. And we didn’t have that much time.

Meet 66, Adv 12, 9/16/23

Birthmonth the 25th. We went over all we had learned while sharing a small plate of muffins and some milk, angling over the questions again and again. Gryg felt that someone was playing the two bakeries off against each other and have been doing so for the last 4 years. Seems to have started at the award ceremony. We figured to get some information from the town records for now, there were barely a dozen bakeries in town, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. One of them had a contract with the fire brigade, the other had one with the constabulary office. We needed to see who had those contracts at a period prior to 4 years ago.

The proprietor of the Breakfast Nook was looking to get paid and we forgot the gold standard here, grumbling to him about the cost of things and our own dwindling pouch of coins. Some terse words were exchanged but we did eventually move on and made our way to the hall of records.

Information was not so easily forthcoming, but it seems that a bakery, Look to the Yeast, had both of those contracts as some earlier date and the proprietor for the last 10 years has been Baker Mebian. Ok, we had a destination.

Back on Bakers Street we went to the end of the block where a large bakery was located. In the narrow alley to the east was a ramshackle temple and shrine to Odin, the All Father. There had been other shrines around Grymeria, it’s not shunned but it also isn’t promoted; to all sorts of gods and goddesses. But this one was poorly built even though it was lovingly maintained. The clergy in question was a large half-ogre ex-pat from west of Erylond named Gugg Darktooth. He had a clearer way of speaking, testament to a human-centric upbringing.

Gugg had been sent here at the behest of his order to run this shrine and cater to the flock here. However, most people around here seemed to associate Odin to more of a luck god that the all father. Gugg had been rethinking his purpose and felt that Odin was guiding him to a new path. We chatted with the Half-Ogre and learned that Mebian is generally disliked by most people. He has been on and off generous with Gugg over the years so the Odinian Priest occasionally takes care of Mebian and watches his back.

We went to talk with Mebian and Gugg smoothed the way. We identified ourselves as the Adventuring group and he thought we were here for a possible supply and trade agreement with the GRSAG. We didn’t dissuade him of that thought but did dance the conversation about for a while. An attempt to Mind Read the man was put into place (Dizzy) and we discovered that he had some nefarious thoughts about us. At the end of it he suggested we come back tonight, after 8, and we could put a contract together. We left, thanking Gugg and Mebian for their time.

The party headed back to the Heart of Vitalia by way of Adjunct Rawanis. Gugg was concerned about Mebian, the baker was anxious and barely contained in his rage. He too cast Mind Read, and discovered that the Baker was going to set a trap for the party tonight. He went off to the Heart of Vitalia where he found the group and let them know of Mebian’s assumed to be treachery. He offered his help in this matter and the party was happy to accept his offered help and aid.

We came up with some plan and one of them was that Gugg would be hit with an Invisibility spell as well as an Iron Silence spell, allowing the Odinian to sneak into the Bakery with us and not alert Mebian to his presence. He would be there as an observer and to help out should things go south real fast. We also had arranged with Adjunct Rawanis for the party to have access with a sending head, to record the conversation and have it be logged at the hall of records. The sending heads are as expected, severed undead heads that when squeezed, connect with a matching head and sends everything it hears to the partner one. Gryg took possession of it and promised to take care of it – they would transmit and last for a maximum of 6 hours.

Finally the night fell (literally!) and by 7:30, we left the Heart of Vitalia and headed off to the Odinian Shrine. We confirmed with Gugg his aid, hit with Iron Silence and then invisibility. We then went to the Look to the Yeast and Mebian let us in. The Bakery was dark and empty except for him. We went through the selling floor, to the Kitchen and ovens, and then to an alcove area where a meeting table was set up.

We talked for a bit, Gugg staying at the Selling floor for now and silent. He did not think we were here for a deal with GRSAG and called us out on it. We then presented him with some of our investigations about the Dough Will Rise and RaggaMuffins and he was getting a bit concerned. At that point he flat out asked us if we were going to let the matter go and we said no. Dizzy was on high alert and Gryg had gotten up with Hoggar (on a leash), activated the Sending Head already.

And then Mebian made a motion above and gave command word – and 40 11” tall gingerbread cookies came spilling down from the catwalk and hit the table, armed with knives, spoons, forks – anything – and then went to swarm the party. Meanwhile two other ovens opened up and another40 cookies spilled out to cut us off and attack – AND – a single 8’ tall gingerbread cookie man with a busted broom handle smiling and still warm, also charged the party while Mebian laughed and laughed and laughed.

81…to 8.

Meet 65, Adv 12, 9/9/23

Pedirene took us on a long tour of the locale in the Clays. The Flow River runs along the edge of the tall hills and it is here that the hills are stripped clean. The top soil is dug out barrel by barrel to be repurposed elsewhere. Then the revealed clay deposits, some of them 50’ in depth, are next where they are Adzed off in great swaths. Below that are a mix of stones and subcutaneous rocks which are chipped and harvested for concrete and building beds if need be. The process is slow and laborious, and the hills are 400 to 650 feet in height here. There is a humongous area that is worked on and the quotas are constant and high – but manageable.

This has the effect of slowly widening the Flow upriver from New Dam. To combat this, the riverbed on the western side of the flow is buttressed and backfilled to account for whatever widening occurs on the eastern banks. Cutbacks, guides, ropes, nets, and safety rails are often and plentiful.

He took us past New Dam to the space of the river before it flows to Old Dam. Some 40 weeks ago, there was a massive underwater shift and Old Dam actually slipped forward a foot and a half and canted off 2 degrees from plane before lodging into its new place. This caused the Flow to stop downriver for a few days (why the irrigation lines all dried up along with Lake Isner). There was the call to install a 2nd Dam, a New Dam, almost 1,200 feet upriver. The process took the better part of 10 weeks but upon completion it took pressure off Old Dam and restored the proper movement and care to the Flow.

To prevent any further dam issues, at the end of the day, an animate is sent down to the base of the dam with a sledge on each side, and they clean up any fallen rocks, garbage, or tools that might spill down there. They are tied to a rope and after a banging signal; the sledges are pulled up followed by the undead being hoisted out. This system worked without issue for almost 5 more week until the animate never came out. The same thing happened the next day and then again after that. The ropes were not cut, they appeared to be untied.

Requisition were then sent for low functioning animates to do the dredging and cleaning job under the water so that if any were lost, it wouldn’t be as much of a hardship. We asked a number of follow up questions and took the time to walk the sites. We figured there was something down there under the water and we were hoping to coax it out. Go fishing in some manner. We went through a number of plans and Pedirene was fairly interested. When the need to execute got nigh, we had us go back to Angelnan again and explain the situation to him.

He agreed in time and we set up 3 stations – one on each side of the river and one on top of New Dam. Two animates were prepped, one with 3 sets of ropes, the other with a Hide from Undead spell. Ballista defenders at the top of the Clays were ordered at the ready and we Angelnan sent the 2 animates down along with the sledges to clear out the dam. We had a detect undead and a detect chaos spell set up as well and we waited and watched. Dizzy eventually let us a know of a rising Chaos under the water at the base of the dam – getting stronger and more prominent. And then Captain Asher let us know of arriving undead as well. We ordered the undead pulled out and the one from the Hide from Undead came out no issue, the other had 2 of the ropes already untied and a pair of fleshy pink tentacles followed it out, pulling a huge chimeric bulk of compressed zombies behind it.

Holy. Damn.

It was easily 20’ in diameter and had to weigh over 2 tons. A number of fleshy tentacles 30’ long whipped around, dragging the creature closer and trying to pull it out of the water. It hit the dam with a sweeping flash on tentacles and everyone on top dropped to avoid spilling in. It gave a huge roar and crushed one of the animates nearby. We all poured on attacks and shots. The ballistas fired and one of them exploded, killing the 3 men operating it up there. Godrick fired off a Blindness spell; rolling the hundred pull eyes over to white and making it howl and shake in fury. It flailed about with more wild abandon as we hit, slashed, shot, and fired at it.

A number of us were swept into the water but we swam for the dam and pulled ourselves out. The zombie-akira-chimera continued to assault the shore as the clerics all tried to get themselves in place. Meanwhile, Inquisitor #5, Meilwemair, had portaled in on the unsanctioned death of the 3 men who had died at the ballista and was watching this entire thin unfold below. The Wraith was moving down the slope of the Clays, frantic at the adventurers once again doing something…strange and wrong!

As soon as they were able to, a consecration spell was put in place and the 4 priests all fired off a turning spell as the shivering and howling monstrosity – eventually blowing parts of it apart and then it exploded, raining guts and body parts all around. At this point, Inquisitor #6, Herause, arrived and on seeing the aftermath, felt that Angelnan and the party did a good thing. Meilwemair felt otherwise and the conversation got heated until Herause reminded the Wraith – that he was here for the 3 dead ballista men – and they had died due to an accident. The Foreman sided with us and the rest of the Clay Workers agreed. The decision was made to stop work for the day, clean up the site, and everyone to drink and enjoy some barbecue and grilling.

We enjoyed our notoriety and eventually at day’s end, went back to Vitalia and the Adjunct Rawanis. Word had already come thanks to our efforts and he thanked us for a job well done. We had 1 more job for him tomorrow, and it was kind of important for OCC Mide as it took place in her district. For now we went back to the Heart of Vitalia and had a great night before resting

The next day was Birthmonth the 26th and after studying and breaking our fast, headed off to see Rawanis. He was actually meeting with OCC Mide; a late 20’s looking brunette woman who was happy to meet us thanked us for some rather impressive work. She reiterated that Adjunct had a last task for them and upon completion, they would be reporting to her and a few jobs that entailed a stipend. She left and we got a chance to learn of job 4.

There are a dozen bakeries in town and they provide bread and bread products for the entire city as well as the outlying towns. Two of them, a pair of high profile bakeries, have been engaged in a rivalry for the last couple of years. Their rivalry has gotten up to the limit of the law but never go over the line. The Dough Will Rise is run by Venains, a skilled baker in town who has ties to the local constabulary. And Ragamuffins is run by baker Baelin who has ties to the local fire brigade.

Their antics have gotten worse over the years. The locals living near them are having their lives disrupted. The constabularies have come out many times but the law states that public displays and advertisements can be engaged between 9 and 5, 5 out of 6 days a week. They aren’t breaking any law but the complaints are almost too much and the Adjunct and Councilor want the party to interview the 2 bakeries, find out the problem, and resolve it.

We went off to the west side of town to Bakery Way and looked at the places there. Kneaded treats, Bread for Success, a Scone to Settle – lots of bakeries. But the 2 in question were right across the street from one another. The Dough will Rise showed some recent fire damage to the façade of the building, but a guy was out there in full chef’s regalia, standing by a burn bin, and was tossing in muffins into the fire every so often while staring across the street at Ragamuffins with a weird grin.

We decided to divide and get some info. Godrick, Brandon, and Dizzy went to Ragamuffins to do some reconnaissance while Gryg, Thalin, and Asher were going to go to Dough Will Rise.

Ragamuffins was a nice looking bakery with a huge clean front display with racks and shelves. An animate was by the front window working a butter churn with methodical regularity, her eyes vacant but a smile on her lips. At the counter was a heavy set baker constantly looking out the window and complaining to a younger man with similar facial features, that “They’re purposely doing that! How COULD they!? This is it, son! This is it!”

We got his attention and he let us know he was Baelin. His wife was the butter churner and his son worked one of the main ovens. He had a staff of about 20. He offered to sell us some muffins and the “butter is always fresh!” We casually brought up the Dough Will Rise and guy burning the muffins. He had some Juniper berries that had ripened shipped here from Nylwire and had made a batch of 4 dozen muffins seasoned with the berries. The hope was he’d sell them and the townsfolk would like them and it would be worth importing more. Someone came in this morning and bought the entire batch, said he was from a local artisan guild.

It was shortly after that they Baelin learned he had been duped and the buyer actually was a scout from Dough Will Rise – and they bought the muffins and were burning them before anyone could taste them.

At some point he asked us if we worked for the constabulary and if we did, we’d have to answer. Assuring him no, he invited us to the back where eventually he got around to it. Wanted to pay the party 150 crowns to set fire to the Dough Will Rise tonight. Don’t want it burned to the ground, but enough to disrupt business and get Venains off his back. He hated her – at an award ceremony 4 years or so ago, she had the gall to tell the assembled staff that he was a poor baker and that “his wife is a dry fuck”. How DARE she!? That’s his wife, animate or not! We said we’d have to scout it out but would back in touch ASAP to let him know – and then the 3 of us got out of there.

Meanwhile the other group had a similar experience but different. Venains was a large woman, 5’ 7’, 240 plus pounds. Her daughter, maybe 15, was of the same size and weight. Her husband was outside and was burning the muffins in retaliation for an attack Ragamuffins did against her Shoppe last week where a strange fire had set part of her façade ablaze.

She had only a single animate working here, a menial sweeping the floor. She also verified that we were not working for the constabulary and that we’re here to solve problems. She wanted to hire us to spread a mold in the living quarters of Ragamuffins that would make Baelin and his family sick, and force to close the place for a while. She was willing to pay handsomely. She never forgive him at the award banquet 4 years ago when he told everyone that she was a shitty baker and “a great big fat fucker.” How DARE he!??!

We left assuring her we’d be in touch and then regrouped, went down the block to a local outdoor eatery (“The Breakfast nook”), had a short order and discussed what we had learned. Gryg surmised that there might be a 3rd party involved and we might want to look into that matter. It was a bit after 10 at this point on Birthmonth the 26th and we hoped to get to some resolution to this soon.

Meet 64, Adv 12, 8/26/23

Birthmonth the 24th, 1 PM and we were brainstorming some ideas on what to do regarding the Scarecrow. Ideas were taken and then discarded but eventually we cobbled together a plan. At some point we were going to move the existing Scarecrow (the real one, not the river monster) closer but the amount of work involved in moving the oversized 20 plus year construct seemed foolhardy.

We Consecrated the ground area where we were going to goose the monster out and then a hide from Undead was set up and Gryg loaded up his torturing bolt. Finally it was noises in the water that burst onto the ground hissing and steaming. It was shot and held in place with ties and ropes allowing the rest of us to go to town on it, beating and attacking the monstrous creature until finally with a wet gasping snarl, the former farmer Milaine now the Scarecrow, died.

Congratulating ourselves on a job well done we failed to notice a robed and cowled spectral figure portaling it. It was undead (obviously!), and was from the Office of Sanction. Called himself Inquisitor Herause, and arrived as there was an unapproved murder somewhere in the borders of Grymeria. He was dispatched to review the situation and correct matters if need be. We tried to explain what happened and he was receptive but still adamant – we did not get approval from the Office of Sanction for the authorized killing of a sentient being. Given the issue at hand he was willing to reduce the penalty to 2 lashes to be administered immediately.

Dizzy stepped forward and indicated it was his idea and Consecrate spell that was at the crux of it and will take the punishment for the party. He had his turn, strip his shirt, and then unfurled a spectral green leather bullwhip and WHOOSH – whipped him hard, lacing the skin open and dropping the dwarf to the ground with a sobbing gasp.

It was here that Captain Asher and Gryg intervened and said that they too had a serious part in all of this and would take Dizzy’s second blow. Inquisitor Herause agreed and had them also disrobe and bare their back to him. And he swung his whip SIDEWAYS, striking both of them high on their shoulder area, also dropping them down in some pain. HE thanked them for their prompt resolution of the matter, confirmed to them that if they needed to perform a sanction in the future they should get a 6 hour license from the Office of Sanction, and wished them well before portalling away again.

We tended to our wounds and then decided to burn the remains of the Scarecrow. We lit a large fire and set it up, and burned the body for an hour or two before it was successfully consumed to just bone fragments. We went to the Reeve and filled Amrain in on our solution without giving details to Farmer Milaine or anything of the sort. At 6:20 we had tiredly limped back to town and eventually the Outer Circle Council Office and that of Adjunct Rawanis.

He complimented on a job well done and from his pained face and hunched over, admitted that Inquisitor Herause did arrive and hold him equally responsible for today’s unauthorized Sanctioning. He too received two lashes. To his defense, he did not think a situation where a number of scarecrows stopped working properly was going to end up being resolved to murder. He still thanked us for a job well done and hoped that tomorrow’s issue to be resolved would have less need for swordplay or sorcery.

We left and most of us went back to the Heart of Vitalia to rest and relax, meanwhile Dizzy and Gryg volunteered to go to the Office of Sanction to meet with the Inquisitor’s there and make sure there were going to be no issues or hard feelings. Once there, they had a chance the meet with Inquisitor Herause, and two of his colleagues.

Inquisitor Meilwemar, identified as Inquisitor #5, was a Wraith of a figure who had been chased out of burial barrows at least three times by intrepid adventurers in his undeath life before he heard about Grymeria and emigrated here. He was very distrustful of the adventuring party and argued loudly and often that when we had half a chance, we were going to murder them all.

Inquisitor Tandon, identified as Inquisitor #6, was a former orcish chieftain who had been buried in Grymerian lands maybe 60 years ago. When Grymeria “became”, he found himself awakened and took some time acclimatizing himself to the new state of things. He joined the Office of Sanction as an Inquisitor and is more apt to take people at their face value and their word, although he has been called stern and unyielding.

We had made a good impression on Herause and he was telling his fellow Inquisitors about the party and how they accorded themselves. We spent some 20 minutes touching base and asked about the possibility of getting the use of a portal stone. The Office of Portalling would handle that and they are 1 use, 2 way. They leave from anywhere in Grymeria to anywhere in the world the holder had used. And then at any time it can be reopened and only those who came through can come back through to the same place they originated from. Each one is serial numbered and issued to a specific person for a period of 1 month. Good to know.

We went back to the party and the Heart of Vitalia and some of us went to Grave Desires, but Dizzy went to his room and rested. Alone. Eating his rations. Falling asleep in his own clothes muttering how much he hated this place.

We awoke the next morning early enough on Birthmonth the 25th and by 7:30, were at Adjunct Rawanis’ office for our 3rd mission. He joked that it shouldn’t need any attacks or murder or anything like that. Mostly. Further up the Flow, the main river in Grymeria that eventually fed Lake Isner, was a section called the Clays. It was a massive mining area where some 200 assorted workers worked the area. The river was flowing slow here for some reason – the amount of water hitting New Dam did not quite match the amount of water flowing out past Old Dam. That wasn’t the problem – the issue was the last 21 weeks the Foreman Anglenan had issued a requisition for 5 low functioning animates each week. Every week. What is going on and why? What he’s doing isn’t a problem per say, but it is a waste of resources and why?

Wants the party to go there and look around and try to find out why the sudden need and waste to come up with a solution if there is one. We left with a smile and made our way back to the Heart of Vitalia. We gathered our adventuring gear and then left Vitalia out of East Gate. We followed the road east to the Flow, the large river some hundred or so feet wide. It meandered around from north to northeast. Ahead the land rose to a series of huge hits where the river ran right against it. There was a massive new dam in place there , then about a thousand foot run, to a 2nd older dam. That one looked like it was in poorer condition.

We crossed the river and were eventually introduced to Foreman Anglenan. He was not going to be our friend. Abrupt, crude, and had zero time for us. Yep he requisitioned “dumb” zombies, fills out the paperwork, everything is above board and legal. He loses 5 a week during cleanup of the dam base. He’s not doing anything wrong, fills out the paperwork each week. I have quotas and responsibility to over 200 living and animates and truthfully – I’m a busy man.

He passed us on to his 2nd in command, a tall human who might have some orc in his background, named Pedirene. Pedirene was willing to give us a tour of the place but we would have to stay out of everyone’s way and be safe – this was an active worksite.

Meet 63, Adv 12, 8/19/23

Arriving at the Heart of Vitalia, we had the chance to check in with the Concierge, Amathadwan, who assured us that for the rest of today and tomorrow, the Adjunct Rawanis was picking up the party’s lodgings. He looked us over and suggested that we go to the baths and laundry in the basement and then a fine meal and some entertainment to follow. A room was arranged for us on the 3rd floor and as for Hoggar, he summoned the Hotel’s Stablemaster, a ghoulish (no literally – she was a ghoul!) named Dyndrel.

She was affectionate with the wild boar and Gryg felt good enough to leaving his companion with her. She took the pig out, leash firmly held, promising to get him something “meaty to eat”. We went up to our chambers and dropped our bags and armor before heading back down to the manager’s desk. He had some attendants take us down to the basement where we were undressed and washed in a series of differing pools, each designed to relax and cleanse us. A variety of bathers “helped” us along and on completion, we were then taken to a tailor who took our measurements for a set of clothes, “Befitting travelers of your station”. From there we were invited to go to the brothel adjoining the Hotel, Grave Desires, where about half of us had some entertainment for the evening. A few of us went to the smoking room instead and mixed with the upper crust locals.

And Dizzy avoided all of it and everything and instead ate his trail rations and went back to his room alone.

We slept well and the next day we ate and early breakfast and Birthmonth the 24th at 7:30 Am, found us at Rawanis’ office. He inquired about our evening and afterwards thanked us for a good first mission. Today was something else. Grymeria has a single large area where all the growing of the needed vegetation for the kingdom takes place. West and North of Vitalia, it is referred to as The Grains and is looked after by the Reeve, a serious man named Amrain.

It seems that the Scarecrows that are used in the fields aren’t functioning correctly and that in many of the local acreages, yields are down due to an increase of insects and poor behavior by the scarecrows and the birds that are released there from the aviary to help keep the insect population down. It has crossed the Adjunct’s desk too many times and he would like someone to go and see first hand what the problem is and resolve it.

So we left by 8 Am and after making it to the Grains, were directed through the Acreage to the Reeve’s place, a half mile or so in. Each farm was about 2 acres in size and had a master farmer and whatever aids he or she needed to keep it weeded, planted, harvested, watered, tilled, and anything else needed. We eventually found Amrain who was pleased to meet us and was thankful that Adjunct Rawanis had finally sent someone here to take the problem seriously.

There were a half dozen other farmers here and they all got to explaining the problem. The Scarecrows were a mix of two types – prisoners or criminals, living or dead, who had various body parts removed but were stationed in the fields to yell and howl and thrash around to startle any birds who stayed too long as they were in danger of feeding on too many of the vegetables or damaging them inadvertently. We met a few of them and they were surly, but showed they could do the job on the knowledge they would one day be free.

The other type were a bit more disturbing as they were volunteers. Hedonists and pleasure seekers, they recognized that euphoria or other strong positive emotions (sexual and normal) were felt sometimes as waves throughout the body. But if there were “less” body (say an entire leg missing) and the euphoria was still the same “amount”, they would feel it THAT much more intensely. They were…odd…and disturbing…but they also gyrated and yelled and moved about while out on the poles effectively doing their jobs.

Maybe 30 weeks ago, one of the scarecrows had gotten a strange cut on its body and ceased to have any higher brain function. It still reacted to some stimuli, but no longer as needed. So the larger birds (the gulls and some of the crows) were not scared away and has resulted in too many insects, ruined younger crops, too much bird droppings in the soil and eventually lower yields for that farmer and field. Which meant less pay and in some cases, no bonus. If it was just one, it would be no big deal, but roughly once a week or so, another scarecrow (of either type) had gotten a strange cut on its body and ceased to work correctly. And those that did still stay, they were rotting on the poles.

The farmers wanted the matter resolved and the Reeve was hoping the group could turn something up. We took a tour about and got a heads up on a rough map of where the affected scarecrows were – almost entirely in the south east section of the Grains.

We looked over the first ones, the middle ones, the oldest ones. Any sort of clue. And we did find one some. Some green hay – undried green hay grasses in some places. There was also a thick dirty sock near a scarecrow and inside its clothing, a 3” long brittle looking blade to a flensing knife of some sort. Ok, we asked around a bit and learned that the local Hayer was a Half-Ogre farmer woman named Leolla. We went to her farm and she had a troupe of Animates working the field, dropping the green hay in long scything swaths and setting them up to be bundled. We showed her the hay and she said it seemed to be from her fields but not sure how it got somewhere else. Yes, some wind, but not enough to blow it that far.

We did note though that the irrigation trenches went all through every farm. They stretched out from Lake Isner at the Northernmost eastern section of the Grains. The thought was that if something was assaulting the scarecrows, and it wasn’t happening during the dark, it was using the trenches to get around. We went next to the farm of Drulas who had recently attacked scarecrow. A reedy individual with an enhanced sense of his importance, he was growing Wineberries and his crop was almost irreplaceable. We MUST need to find out what is going on and STOP it!. It’s grapes man. Grapes. NO! They are Wine berries! Totally different! Dizzy made sure we left before throttling the twit but it did lead us northward to Lake Isner.

The lake was fed from the Flow, a large river that wound its way through Grymeria and ended up here. There were over a dozen channels and locks cut into the banks of the lake stretching out to the Grains. Two men were armed with long wide tined rakes and were cleaning the muck, reeds, and detritus from the channel mouths. A single Scarecrow was here – but it was not an animate of any kind. Seems that when Grymeria first appeared, the farm that was here had this Scarecrow already in place. It’s become a bit of a local good luck charm for the farmers so as the clothes wear out and the hay gets old, they chip in and replace bits of it as needed, leaving the cast offs at the base of the large post to rot away.

The two men were working and watching the group. On talking to them, we learned they were simpletons. One was named Arippe and his brother said nothing. They had worked here on the farms some years ago and had jobs now raking the channels clear. As the group was looking at the lake and talking about it, the silent brother was nervous and ran off, while Arippe was pleading with them NOT to disturb the lake. Why? Don’t. Why? Just don’t ok!? But Why??

And it was then that Gryg had tossed a fishing line with a weight on the end in the lake. And then Something BURST out of it! It slammed on the ground, clad in scarecrow clothing nad wielding a set of finger knives it slashed at the line and cut it free, before leaping back in the water.

What. The. Fuck?!

We talked more with Arippe who was very sad and nervous. And Got a story from him. His family and another family with 2 young girls, 4 or 5 years ago, worked on a farm run by a terrible farmer named Milaine. He was good at farming, but horrible to the young people. He didn’t say it, but Arippe indicated that Milaine might have abused the girls somewhat. After a particularly bad day of it, the two brothers and the girls turned on Milaine and beat him unconscious with rocks. Terrified they were going to get in trouble and not wanting to bury him as he’d arise the next day, they clad him in the cast off scarecrow clothes and weighed him down with rocks, throwing him in Lake Isner and then they went back and had the parents tend to the daughters’ injuries. When Milaine did not return, the families were cleared of indenture and allowed to have their debt cleared and lives returned. Eventually a new person was assigned Milaine’s acreage and time moved on.

About 9 months ago, the water level in Lake Isner dropped. A lot. Drying up the irrigation trenches and according to Arippe – that’s when the Scarecrow arose. It was no longer “buried” and it roamed around. And has been disabling scarecrows ever since.

We went to Leolla and without saying exactly what we knew, asked her about the drop in the lake level. She confirmed it, something about something that happened up river. It was eventually fixed but things were tough for a week. And as for Milaine? She was nonplussed. He was a skilled farmer and was able to seriously get some good yields from his fields. But he was also a prick to those who worked for him and when he disappeared, no one was really sorry to see him go.

We thought about what to do next and figured we’d try to fish this Scarecrow out of the water again – but this to be ready to engage him when he hit dry land. It was almost 1 and we had just eaten some rations, heading back to Lake Isner to do what was needed.

Meet 62, Adv 12, 7/29/23

The next day was sunny and bright and the party ate a decent breakfast at the Fiery Beehive before leaving Paxian and taking the Main Traderoad eastward. We made our way through Third and decided to head to Bork Keep first and then turn north to Grymeria instead of risking the Northeast Highway and the strange Chickens that are up there. It was almost 11 when we arrived at Bork Demesne and the Chevaliers that came to meet us were surprised that we were not heading for the Keep proper and the eventual Terror Dungeon. They were even more interested to learn that we were truly going to head north and enter Grymeria. “Really? Grymeria? Grymerians often come south from that land to trade and visit, but visitors to? Not common. Be safe in your travels.”

We followed the Borkian Road north and after some short distance beyond the last major timberstands, the road quality dropped off, the thoroughfare pitted and muddy. But it was not much longer before we arrived at the shimmering border to the Sovereign Land known as Grymeria. The first one to form a bit over 16 years ago. Dizzy made some grumblings about it, murmuring that he’d be “damned if I eat anything in this place. Probably all dead people.”

We crossed over and outside of the sun seeming to shift a bit in the sky – the place appeared to be…the same. No increase in temperature, no body odor, it was just pleasant. We could see a large forest north and east of us and north and west was a rise of hills, some reaching maybe a thousand feet in height. The road here though ran straight north with no deviation. Barely 500 yards from the barrier was a walled town, the road passing right through its heart.

We closed to it and saw a sign standard indicating “Slumber”, was this town, 1 mile north was another place called “Ample” and then 3 miles from here, another locale marked as “Vitalia” with a burned star next to the name. At the wall, some 15’ tall wooden palisade with a berm or earth reverse dug around the place, the gates were open and the guards there took our name with some care, writing it down on a clay tablet. He was happy to talk with us, identified himself as Gainsil, and answered a few questions. Killing anyone is a capital crime, defending yourself is ok and expected, lawlessness is frowned upon. And all citizens need to be within any of the 11 cities of Grymeria’s wall at sundown.

“Why?”

The wolves would be out then and have free run of Grymeria at night. Great, great. Also, any animals need to be leashed. Unleashed animals are fair game for the Hunters and would be added to the food stocks. Gryg looked at Hogger and Gainsil offered us a leash for the Ranger’s boar. Six smaller towns make up the hex corners of the realm: Dour, Somber, Gruff, Kip, Rest, and Slumber. Then there are 4 larger towns, smaller cities that encompass the center 4 cardinal axis points: Fair, Amble, Pressing, and Relent. And in the center of the place was Vitalia – the largest location and heart of Grymeria. On learning that we were adventurers, and seeing our letter of introduction from Pha-iyr Carom, he suggested we head there.

Slumber. The people were a mix of living and undead. The undead were referred to as “Animates” and they seemed to be self aware. They had a strange delay in their movement and speech. But the buildings were nice, the roads clean, and most menial tasks were being done by animates. But there were some strange things too. A dead child walking a dog. And odd figures hiding on the rooftops watching everyone. We passed through the heart of the town and there was a Bookbinder here. Named Merosses, we spoke to him for a bit while we noticed a zombie…animate…reading a book! Daring to speak with him, he was named “Van” and was reading, “Parsley on a String” – a book about herbology and growth of parsley and other similar. He had died of brain fever at some point in the past and his family moved here where he awoke again and they’ve been very happy since. Um..great.

We moved further on from Slumber and headed north. The road was again, straight, neat, even, and in excellent shape and repair. To the east the hills continued and we could see a small lake or large pond ahead of us just shy of the next town “Ample”. A bridge crossed the stream that fed the pond and we came to the next location. Ample was much larger than Slumber, almost 3 times as much – and the walls reflected the city’s superior strategic importance – 2 parallel 20’ tall and mortared stone, back filled with earth between. The streets and avenues within were regular and the entire place was maybe 7 blocks square. The décor was also more elaborate and the mix of people and animate was more…lively? There was still a sensation that the places we’ve seen were off a bit, as if window dressing than substance – but the populace we encountered were friendly enough. Also, the guards here knew us already by name and description – even though we saw no messenger go ahead of us – and there had been no birds or any kind so far.

We pressed on and went through Ample, trekking 2 miles north. The hills on the west of us were large and imposing in places, and the forest to our east was thick. But we could see some industry ahead of us, a timbering crew was working on some of the trees there, cutting and culling them. There was a large lake just shy of the city of Vitalia, and a slow loving wide river, hundred feet or so long, left the lake and circled the city to the north and east. The bridge was in excellent repair that we crossed the river with, over its surface at least 25’ and composed of 6 definitive arches of stone.

The city of Vitalia was…awe inspiring. Huge and bustling, 20 city blocks north/south and East/West. The walls were 30’ in height and still many buildings stuck over the wall’s height. Colored shingles, carved and bas relief surfaces, painted and festooned, not a single area wasn’t beautified and enhanced in some manner. We waited a short time before the gate guards were able to let us in, and again – they seemed to know all about us already –building on the knowledge that we had given to both Slumber and Ample. The main guard’s name was Dorreson and he suggested that we go to the Outer Circle Council for now – our presence had been made known and an Adjunct there would likely meet with us.

As for a place to stay, we were recommended to stay at the Heart of Vitalia – a 5 star hotel not too far from the Council district. We followed the directions down the very clean and lively city. There were musicians wandering the streets, singers idly harmonizing out of windows, and everywhere were signs of art and beauty. Eventually we came to the aforenamed hotel and it was a 4 story structure that just dripped with marble and opulence. We entered the entrance hall was outfitted with a small grand piano and full smoking lounge and an indoor fountain and waterfall. The concierge, a tall and exceedingly conciliatory figure named Amathadwan, was happy to bid us hello. On learning that we were the adventuring party from Erylond he had let us know that we were very welcome to stay. Asher looked around and asked, “How much?”

14 Crowns per night for the larger room.

14…crowns.

We were out of our league. We opted to wait both inside the foyer area and outside for the Adjunct to arrive and even though an Animate girl came by to offer us a drink or refreshment (at again, ridiculous prices) we had to demur for now.

Eventually we were invited to the Outer Circle Council where we were met at Adjunct Rawanis. Rawanis worked for the OCC member Mid and even though we had come some way, OCC Mide was not going to be able to meet with the party just yet. If they could do a few tasks for Rawanis first, he would make sure that OCC Mide would meet with them afterwards. As for staying in town, he was willing to have a voucher sent to the Heart of Vitalia for a day and a half for now for the group to be compensated there.

The party was thankful and asked, what was the first task. Rawanis smiled and reached under his desk, dragging out a large wooden crate. 2’ x 3’x 2’, it was latched and locked, nailed shut, and there were a series of chains around the entire thing with another lock in place holding it closed. “I need this box buried.”

“Um…”

“Now. Take the box to the Timbers (the huge forest we passed coming in) across ‘The Flow’ (the large river). Look for the Woodward there and have him guide you to the Willow Grove. Once there, find the willow that seems the oldest and dig a hole at its base. Drop the box in at least 4’ deep, cover it up, and leave no markers or identifiers of where it is.”

“Um…what’s in it?”

Rawanis frowned slightly. “That’s not part of the purview of what I asked, is it?” He glanced at the water clock. “It’s 3:04 right now. Sun set is at 7 PM. If you are as good as you say you are, that gives you just under 4 hours to take the task to completion.”

We hoisted the box up and answered, “Time’s wasting. Let’s go.” Two of us grabbed the box and we moved swiftly out of the OCC office and to the streets. We knew we had to cross the Flow so opted to head east to the gate there. Godrick hit the box with a levitate spell and Gryg made sure that it was tied off on Hoggar. We ran east to the wall and through the gate and then double speeded it, Godrick riding the floating box like a steed as the boar ran ahead, the entire thing floating like a balloon. We hit the bridge and then turned south into the Timbers and made our way for the sound of the timbering we had heard earlier. Eventually we had a chance to meet the Woodward, a Half-Ogre named Larogius.

We explained who we were and that Rawanis wanted us to be led to the Willow Grove. The Half Ogre looked us over and then grunted, “Follow”, turning to the woods as we repositioned the box (levitation was over now) on Asher’s shoulders and followed. Larogius made no effort to help us and kept a steady pace, taking us deeper and deeper in the woods. Gryg tried to pay attention to where we were going and we followed, keeping time in our head.

36 minutes later and very tired, we arrived at a section of the woods that was only Willow Trees. “Here,” the Half-Ogre said. “I’ll meet you back at the timbering camp.” And then he turned and left.

Ok. It was about 4:30 and fanned out, looking at the willows, relying on Gryg to help us narrow down which of the 80 or so trees was the “oldest”. We felt we had a good candidate and with the 2 shovels we had, proceeded to dig. Problem one, willow trees have dense surface roots so we had to start maybe 4 or 5 feet from the trunk to begin with. And it was rough going. By 5 we had gotten about 2’ down and started to angle the hole closed to the tree as we dug deeper. But the earth was dense and we could only get 1 person truly in the hole. It was a bit after 5:20 when dirty and tired, guessed we were 4 feet down.

Shoving and pushing, we managed to get the box down the hole and at the bottom before we scooped and shoveled the dirt back into the hole. Gryg smoothed it out and spent a few minutes obscuring where we had dug and what we had done. We guessed that in a day or two, no one would be able to tell anything was amiss. By 5:40 we headed back, making it to the Timber camp a bit after 6. Larogius grunted on seeing us. “Glad you made it. Getting late.”

We left the Timbers and were heading back to town. Looking up, Dizzy noted, “Does anyone else see the sun is not behaving right?” Sure enough, it was still high in the sky even though it was pretty far to the west. “I hate this place,” the dwarf muttered as we reentered Vitalia at 6:28. By 6:40 we were back at the OCC office and dirty yet satisfied, was at Rawanis’ office.

“Excellent!” he smiled, clapping his hands. The young man was pleased. “You have earned a night with all the trimmings at the Heart of Vitalia, my friends. First matter is resolved and I am very pleased.” Godrick meanwhile had lagged behind to wash his hands and arms in the fountain at the OCC, to the horrification of the people there. “What?” he grunted, running his hands through his hair and then flicking them on the floor.

“My good man,” Rawanis said, “The Heart of Vitalia had a full set of baths and laundry on premises. Please. Avail yourself of it there. I will make sure the next day and a half is fully paid for. I am in every day by 7 PM and work until 7PM. I have a number of tasks I’d like to discuss with you and hope to see you tomorrow.”

We left the OCC with our chit in hand and were out in the street when the clocks all chimed 7 PM. We watched as the sun seemed to hang in the far western edge of the sky…and then in the space of 10 seconds, dropped down with a steady and ready alacrity until it hit the horizon and night fell. At the same time, on the eastern edge of the sky, the moon rose with the same ridiculous speed until it was high in the sky and then stopped.

Dizzy turned to the west to the Heart of Vitalia, holding his holy symbol and grumbling again, “I hate the fuck out of this place.”

Meet 61, Adv 12, 7/22/23

While some of us were training and the rest of us were doing local jobs, we discussed what the next step would be for us. There was talk about heading east to Bork Keep and plumbing the depths a bit, but Dizzy had an alternative idea. The place was already fairly overrun with Adventurers, like too many. Pickings would be slimmer, and we’d have to delve deeper and risk more dangerous foes to make the trip worth it.

Instead, there were still things up here we should follow up. Captain Asher was keen on this, wondering what local things we could take the chance on doing. And that’s when the idea of heading to Grymeria was brought up. Admittedly there was initial push back – no one wanted to willingly go to Necrolord Duncan Eternal’s land. In fact on further looking, outside of the first 6 months of the establishment of the Sovereign Land – no adventuring party had gone to visit the location. Most likely there would be serious work waiting for an adventuring party there.

Plus, we know that Granmund was working with Shadowthyrst and had sights on impacting Grymeria. Alright, it was decided. We would put together a good group to go and offer our services, in exchange for some coin and hopefully a good relation with the distant kingdom.

While all this was going on, Shim had tried to visit the Tower of Water in an attempt to sell or offer his skills and service to the Wizard there, a half-orcish arcanist named Bogron Thrice-Born. HE was eventually escorted to the magister and after going through his spiel, was rebuffed firmly and with the understanding that he had already apprenticed himself to a tower – and seeking to offer his services to another was disingenuous to both Bogron and Shandrilar. He got the hint and left.

And on returning to the Tower to the Winds, got a solid reaming from the Wizardress about his actions; going so far as to offering him the ability to leave and leave now if he so chooses. But don’t ever dare come back. Shimlagesh did his best to ameliorate the Tower Master and the matter was allowed to rest.

During this time we learned that Varilay “Vicious” Penwelter had been released from 15 years imprisonment. She was a notorious figure who had been a member of the GRSAG and had been in one of the first groups to go into the Terror Dungeon. It was after they returned to town and she was cheated out of her share that Varilay put to death every member of her party and absconded with their gold. Only being arrested at the gate and then thrown in prison. She was released after 15 years this week in recognition of prison over-crowding as well as time served.

There was a Bequeathment dinner for the Sunrise Rabbit’s Orphanage and Eoghan had gone as the party’s representative. It seems that our good works and efforts had cascaded elsewhere and some 15 small lords and merchant houses had but together a donation to the Orphanage system, signaling out the Sunrise Rabbits as the largest benefactor. It was a nice affair but Eoghan was upset to see the Gorokian Arcavist for the Underthane Hylf, Hofning Tworock, there at the table. The corpulent dwarf was dabbing his sweaty face and smiling oily at the people he was talking to.

When he had the chance, he went to Taskmaster Hisvild and asked what the heck was going on? The Gorokian Underthane tried to buy the children and take the Font of Lathandar some months ago and was now here? At this point Eoghan learned that the Gorokian’s had tried twice to donate funds to the Orphanage but their donation was returned. Here at the half year bequeathment, the situation was different since it went through the Duke’s coffers.

Chancellor Angers had commented that the Orphanage had taken the Underthane’s funds in the past, including so much to afford 4 Practicals at the time. And the system was not so flush with coins that any donation, including a generous 5,000 noble donation could be ignored. So the bequeathment went through and the Underthane’s people were allowed to visit the Sunrise Rabbits during the monthly walkthrough. They have kept them away from the font and the children of the Skein were never present during visiting days – but Hisvild did not trust them and Eoghan mentioned he would continue to offer his help in the matter.

Finally we decided on 6 of us to head off to Grymeria: Brading, Asher, Dizzy, Thalin, Godrick, and Shimlagesh…no…Grygmiir. The idea of having multiple Clerics in an undead friendly kingdom was a “Just in case” move. Worth it.

We went to Pha-iyr Carom, noting the serious lack of…anyone at the Guild. Pha-iyr was expecting us to say we were also heading to the Terror Dungeon but was surprised to learn we were not. Was even more surprised to note WHERE we were going. We explained why we were going to Grymeria and he agreed it was a good idea and made sense. We asked for a letter of introduction and after getting it, we were on our way.

It was a nice late spring day and the fields were full of locals and sharecroppers and peasants working. The Traderoads were in fantastic shape. The Reetersbeard Engineers had already been through fixing the roads, they were in terrific shape. As the day wore on and we approached evening, we opted to head for Paxian and get a place to stay for the night. Passing through Canaslan we went to the Capital and after getting through the gate, headed off to Whiteshadow where we took a place 1 block off called the Fiery Beehive.

We got a room, some food and drink, talked about the upcoming trip to Grymeria, and then went to bed, ready to face the day on Birthmonth the 23rd, the next morning.

Meet 60, Adv 11, 7/15/23

In the interim before the party returned to Erylond, a few things had occurred in no discernible order. Impressors from Nightwoods, Gnomish Zealots and Bounty Hunters employed by the Theocrat, had arrived in Erylond with a list of 20 gnomish names. During that time they had visited many shops, stalls, homes, and guilds. Many of the gnomish population were concerned but the Duke had assured the populace that the Impressors were only looking for the named gnomes who were wanted for questioning by the Theocrat and no others. No one was on the list who hadn’t emigrated from Nightwoods more than 2 years ago. But still, some of the populace was concerned.

In fact, one full adventuring party was currently listed as on hiatus, its members scattered and unable to be located at their normal addresses. Assumption is that some of the members might be named from the Impressor’s list and Pha-iyr Carom suggested strongly that they disperse for now.

Speaking of the Adventuring guilds, the Gorokian Collective had been making a blitz, advertising that they were willing to pay 500 nobles bonus to the Adventuring party or band that went into the Terror Dungeon and came out with proof of the most interesting kill. To sweeten the prize even more, they were also willing to pay for any training costs to the winner and expanded the contest for 2 plus months before a winner would be decided.

This has resulted in more adventuring parties being formed, the total number now reaching 27 official groups. This does not count the almost 200 unaligned members of the GRSAG. This means there are more people in the guild now than in recent history, and many of them are at Bork Keep and in the Terror Dungeon at this time. Concern is WHY the Gorokian Collective has sponsored this…feeding frenzy at the Dungeon. Is it the supposed Black Orc sightings? Or something else?

The Reetersbeard Spring Caravan arrives in Erylond in about 3 weeks. The Ironcamp Road Crews have already been through the area correcting and fixing the Randari Highway and Traderoads in anticipation of the caravan arrival.

The Sunrise Rabbits Orphange (that the party has been working in and at) due to their notoriety and the party’s efforts, have gotten a number of private Bequeathments from some of the lesser members of the Council of Lords as well some well placed merchant and trade houses. As an aside, it has been noted from Hisvild that the 16 kids that had been saved earlier and reunited with their families, have displayed a small but subtle shift in matters of chance. Not much, but random effects and causality are less detrimental to and around them than most everyone else. Not a great degree, but enough that the Taskmaster Hisvild had noted it and reported it to the party.

Dizzy and Sybil finally had a long explosive back and forth where the dwarven cleric was fed up with the Halfling thief and her lack of “anything” for the party. Words grew heated and Sybil left, making her way to the Sunrise Rabbits to offer her abilities and days full time.

One of Thalin’s students back in Tilani had arrived, Godrick, an untested wizard of some skill. He was looking for a friendly face after taking Thalin’s advice on the mage’s guild and branching out on his own. He did eventually get hired on with a group and made 3 forays into the Terror Dungeon before a falling out with the adventurer leader had him leave and head here looking for help, work, and a friendly face. He met with the party and was welcomed to come and stay, as well as join Thalin at the Scriveners for some per diem work until we knew what we were doing as a group.

When we did arrive on the 6th of Birthmonth, we made our way to the GRSAG where we waited at the entrance hall for a few minutes. There were very few people here and the roster board was rather full, something we didn’t expect to see. Some of the locals filled us in on the recent happenings and we made our way upstairs to meet with Pha-iyr and report in. He had a line of people outside and Connal attempted to move past when he was confronted. “Go to the back.” “We’re here to check in.” “Great. Not your turn, go to the back.”

Things got tense and eventually Pha-iyr did open the door to let 3 others leave. On seeing the party he greeted them but did say that he was swamped and would they please wait. As we were sitting there, a dwarven guy named Halfring Deepbeard dropped some snubs at the group and eventually got into a back and forth with Shim. He threatened to report the gnome to the “Impressors” and did eventually get up, coming back 20 minutes later and chuckling at the gnome. “Good luck getting re-educated shrimp.”

We did meet with Pha-iyr and the record keeper and they heard the entire story. It was almost too much and he suggested that we go and talk to our respective guild soon to see about training. We wanted to avoid the Impressors and instead took a different way out that led us to the 2nd ring and the Erylond Royal Bank. We were let off here under the guise that we were looking to talk about putting some money in the back, under the auspices of House Carom. We would need 10,000 nobles (yeah, right) but thanked them for the information and then left.

The party then went to the various guilds and reported their skills and findings there. They had notarized paperwork from the GRSAG delivered as well and it was discovered that Wilhelm, Eoghan, and Connal all were going to go up in level. Hooray.

Connal was eventually called though to meet with the Abbess and a few others from the Church of Sif. He expected to be commended for his efforts regarding the valkyrie and saving her but was instead upset to learn the Abbess had a different view on it. A valkyrie, a damned Angel of Sig, and you didn’t think to bring her back here to Erylond? You had her spend some days with a lapsed Friggan priest in some backwater lodge for half a week but not here? Did you talk to her? Chat with her? Learn things about Asgard that scholars or theologians would kill for? And a Cathedral? What about this one here in Erylond? Right here, you’re sitting in it. Instead, some…again, Friggan, Cathedral in goblin infested and ogre inhabited area? That was the best bet?

They went at it for a while – best for Sif vs best for the entire collective and church. 1 day. Hell, 12 hours of actually meeting a representative of Asgard here. The prestige, the pageantry, the glory. And now for naught because you did what YOU thought was best. Not what’s best for everyone. Connal grew wroth after an hour of discussion and stormed out to go and meditate for a bit. The Abbess has a quick vote with her people and it was decided that Connal would be rebuked for his actions in not supporting the glory of Sif AND the Church and would have a note appended to his docket. If he were to do another grievous dereliction of duty to the church again, his enrollment would be rescinded.

Connal took it…poorly but stormed away for now.

We trained for a bit and filled in the party about what we had done and what we had learned. Shim had some back and forth with the Falsers and eventually paid a decent chunk of coin for Halfring Deepbeard to get beat up on one knee and one hand – making Shim smile on seeing the nasty dwarf limping about the guild hall with limbs bandaged up.