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Executive Summary: After a trip to Darthis, we found the druid in the woods, fought him, but he got away. 72 Spring 2946 Oakmoss One of the sergeants from the post gave us some money to go to Darthus to hire someone who could track. We needed such a person to get us to the horned man in the woods. The Road Many people seen along the road. Annah tried to meet all of them. Then it came time to eat and sleep. Alas, I only had two days' worth of rations. I looked around for food but didn't find any—at all. Meanwhile, Lisa found enough food to feed 11 people. Thankfully, she shared with the rest of us. Sheik slept in the tent with me as the other two didn't need any protection against the elements. Nothing happened during the night. 73 Spring 2946 It wasn't until around night time that we encountered other souls. Well, not so much souls as much as a very large murder of crows. Lisa noted that they were headed south away from Darthis—just like everything else we'd met on the road. 74 Spring 2946 A courier who had ridden past us from Darthis rode past us again returning to Darthus. Later, we came to a bridge over a creek. There, we met Flidden, who said he was the guardian of the creek. Not only did Flidden survive the encounter with us but the bridge remained unburned. We tipped her a copper piece. In return, she advised us to detour around a troll. He lived near a twisted stump. We avoided it, though I encouraged my fellows to join me in ridding the land of it but they would have none of it. Later, we encountered mounted men-at-arms and warned them of the troll. 75 Spring 2946 More soldiers were encountered. We told them about their friends. By the evening, we came to a house that served hot meals. The stew was "all sorts" but, well, it was hot. It cost three silver pieces and I felt that perhaps I was overcharged. The hot meal lady said that a fair was going on in Darthis. 77 Spring 2946 Two inns were encountered: Elm Tree and Rose and Thorn. We chose the latter's common room. 78 Spring 2946 Many people were encountered on the road. Darthis The gate guards seemed interested in Lisa. Later, clerics came by to greet her. They also gave Lisa permission to enter the city. I couldn't tell, but there seemed to be a bit of tension between the Presleys and the clerics. The search for the tracking person commenced. En route, Annah wanted a cinnamon crumpet. When she went to pay, she discovered that someone had stolen her purse! It contained all her money, the 25 gp for the tracker, her homemade map and, ironically, her rogue's tools. To ease the pain, I bought cinnamon crumpets for everyone. Labor Market A helpful person guided us to the outdoorsmen tent. Someone there said that someone would come to where we were staying. Capstan 'n' Hook I got a common room. Lisa paid for Annah and her to have a private room. A private room would also allow Lisa to receive messages from the labor market. The Temple There was some discussion but I missed most of it. Darthis We saw the sites. I thought about buying a magic wand but they were so expensive. The cheapest one I could find, a wand of detect magic was 375 gp! What charlantry! Capstan 'n' Hook Three messages awaited! Three trackers were available for a week, for money in advance. We paid for all three. 79 Spring 2946 During the night, I heard someone in chain mail armor clinking around though I didn't see anything. Come the morning, a shriek roused the place. Someone was dead! He was dead, blue, and bloated. In fact, he seemed quite decomposed. Lisa discovered a scratch on the body that indicated poison or magical infection. Annah searched the room. We found some money, a magical dagger, and I prestidigitationed a ring off his finger. Also: a black feather, a few strands of long gold hair. The ring was a signet ring: a castle with a star over it. Sheik indicated that it was House Starcastle, a new noble family that came into being with other families following the fall of the Ancient Intolerant King. The guards offered to let us take the nobleman's stuff back to his home, but it was in entirely the wrong direction so we declined. Then, down in the common room during breakfast, Annah discovered another black feather. She went to question the stable boy but that led to naught. The mystery fully explored, we retired to interviewed trackers. Wendel was today's lucky winner. With that, we left the Big City. 81 Spring 2946 During the journey, we heard about the patrol that was wiped out by a troll. The second patrol came in just in time to kill it. I pointed out to Annah that if we had killed the troll ourselves, the patrol wouldn't have died, which would have left more guards on the street so Annah's purse wouldn't have been cut. 85 Spring 2946 Oakmoss The smell of a past fire greeted our noses. A person on the street said that Hubert's house had burned down—the whole family died. The fire was strange. Creatures made of sparks dancing around his house were spotted. Supposedly. I pointed out that Annah must be the guardian spirit of Oakmoss. She can never leave, for if she does, people die. Lisa handed her a sack of turnips to celebrate. Annah, Lisa, and myself opted to attend the funeral. Sheik and Wendel stayed in the tavern. Afterward, we told the guards about our new hire. They told us about the troll and that some people had gone missing recently, but they blamed that on the troll. After that, the tracking commenced . . . . Wendel found a trail! It led south into the forest as we expected! Later, we found a watch post set up in a nearby tree. Then suddenly: Ambush! I enlarged myself and charged into combat, killing one after a pitched battle. With my newfound height, I was able to engage them in melee up in the tree to great effect. They used poisoned arrows so we called them the Poisoned Arrow Bandits. The others were dealt with until the last was forced to surrender—except it wasn't the last! More came down the trail among them a bear, who almost savaged me to death! I was able to get away to get next to Lisa, who healed me enough to keep me in the combat. I killed everyone next to me who wasn't an ally. Then, Lisa said there were yet even more down the trail so I made my way there forthwith only to be blasted into disability by a lightning bolt cast by some sort of druid. I ran toward Lisa, the effort of which made me pass out and collapse next to her. Next thing I knew, a surge of magical healing brought me back. I stood up and got another shot from Lisa. Thus emboldened, I made my way through the trees toward Druid Hill. During this trip, we all saw a large eagle fly up and away. We thought perhaps it might have been a messenger of some sort, so everyone who could shoot it shot it. Alas, it proved extremely tough. This made us think the druid was the eagle. Annah used her last arrow to shoot the eagle, but she missed. This was on top of Lisa using her Quaal's feather token to produce a charging elephant with a pipe organ. Alas, the effort was wasted. The druid got away. Quotes "Well, we know you're leaving, Annah." "This bark is quite tasty." "What kind of oil?" "Did your friends come back after killing that troll?" "I could sell my holy symbol—it's made of silver. I could probably get 25 gp for it. It's basically jewelry." "Maybe you could win money in an archery competition." "You see the stable boy get out of his golden bed: 'Ah, another day of stabling!'" "Have you seen any crows wearing chain mail?" "I was . . . doin' stuff." "Eric, why is your phone on the floor?" |
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