Breaking and making deals

Our first few day as the new lords of Dogville, or Wolf’s Rest as we would later come to call it, were certainly eventful ones.
 
It began with a revelation courtesy of Hayley and Liliana. They’d gone to check on Farmer Tommel, both to see how he was recovering and in order to find out if he might have any idea as to who would curse him. And they came back with a rather intriguing theory. Apparently Tommel had somehow he gotten a hold of one of Auntie Patty’s geese. And was keeping it in his shed for its eggs. Based on what I knew of haggs, that would certainly be enough of an offence to them in order to retaliate with a curse like that. So perhaps if we returned it, Auntie Patty might leave the poor farmer alone. But before we could act, Hayley stepped forward and assured all of us that she would handle it. Not sure what she had in mind however, but if she, or any of the other as a matter of fact, asked me to thrust them, then there was no reason for me not to.
 
Next, we received a visit from our old friend Dorr. Having heard of our recent windfall, he had come to offer us his services to help repair the keep. Which was most appreciated, for as you know, anyone could stack stones to make a wall, but only a dwarf could transform those stones into a functional and enduring work of art
 
That said, he wasn’t going to do this just out of the kindness of his heart. He was after all a businessman at heart, not a charity. Fortunately, we still had the funds that the king had provided us. But those were already starting to dwindle at a rapid pace. Which led us to the uncomfortable subject of taxes. In particularly , how much we owed and how much we’d need to collect. According to old records, the current taxation for the district was about 4000 silver coins. Though with the growing population, I was quite certain that this would increase following a new census when the district had been rebuild.
 
In the end, with no agreement in sight, we decided to postpone this discussion for now as we went about our day. Liliana, Dadroz, and Allistan went into the district in order to assist with the construction work, while the rest of us stayed behind at the keep to organize things
 
It was around noonish when Hayley and I heard a loud bang coming from Luke’s library. We rushed over to find Luke distressed, with several books and scrolls scattered across the floor. He pointed out somemuddy tracks and claimed that several of his scrolls had been stolen. And as you know, you just don’t get between a wizard and his scrolls. We immediately started searching throughout the keep. Though sadly with little result as the tracks simple vanished after a few steps. Fortunately Hayley was able to use her magic in order to detect that someone was hiding in Luke’s bedroom. We rushed over but it seemed abandoned. With confidence Hayley inspected underneath his bed and glimpsed a dark shape that disappeared into the floor.
 
From what we’d seen, we deduced that we were most likely dealing with a Boggle. A small mischievous fey known for hoarding shinies and random items. When the others returned, we filled them in. Dadroz, who was particularly eager to catch it, promised that we would lie in wait that evening in order to capture it.
 
And so it happened that around midnight, we were woken by the sounds of Dadroz capturing the Boggle. He had managed to knock it out and tie it up. I must admit that I felt a bit sorry for the poor thing, seeing it hogtied to the ceiling like that. But as it could teleport as soon as it touched a solid surface, we sadly had little other choice
 
As you can imagine, he was quite rattled when he came to. But luckily it didn’t take him to long to calm down. He explained that his name was Pim and he meant no harm. It was just that that he had lived in this keep for a very long time and that he mearily wanted to keep the shines safe. When discussing this with the rest, none of us really wanted to throw him out. Afterall it wouldn’t really be fair. Instead we offered him a deal. he could stay in exchange for keeping an eye out for trouble at night. We even went so far as to give him his own chest to store his shinies in. Granted, this was mostly for our own benefit as it gave us an easy place to look for any items that went missing.
 
The next day, Pim proved his gratitude by alerting us to a visitor at the door. It was Tharven Miller, the man Hayley had chosen as the miller of Wolf’s Rest. During the renovation of the mill, he had stumbled on a most curios sight. On one of the sides of the hill that the mill was stationed on, he had discovered a cave entrance that lead into a room with various runes carved on the walls. Not knowing what to do, he came to us in order to ask if we might be willing to take a look.
 
Intrigued, we immediately sat out in order to investigate. When we got there, we indeed discovered the cave and the room that he discribed. Inside, we found a large magical circle that was surrounded by various menhirs, reminiscent of the room we had discovered underneath the De La Roost manor. In fact, several of the runes made reference of High King Ulther. Which was confirmed after some magical probing by Luke. He explained that it was a teleportation circle linked to Neverhold.
 
This was troublesome to say the least. As I still held my reservations concerning Neverhold. And the thought of them having a backdoor into our domain was not exactly a reassuring one. We debated either closing the cave or destroying the circle, but without understanding its purpose that could be a terrible idea. After all, fear is not an excuse to act out of ignorance. Instead, we investigated further and found some interesting information. Several tracks were coming and going from the cave, but none of them came from inside the circle. We also found several pieces of food had been left behind, suggesting that someone was leaving either a tribute or an offering behind.
 
In order to get to the bottom of this, we decided to ask around the village. And what we learned, or rather didn’t learn, was rather disturbing. The people we talked to were not forthcoming with any answers. The little information we gathered hinted at a deal in place between the people living here and the Fey. And it seemed that complete secrecy was a part of the deal. As they desperately pleaded with us not to meddle any further.
 
Frustrated, we returned to the keep in order to discuss our options. Only to be visited by farmer Thomas, Darrion the kennel keeper and Leen, farmer Tommel’s wife. They had come both to offer us a pie as a peace offering and to explain everything. Though they insisted that before they did, we first each had a slice of pie. Their insistence did nothing to ease our suspicions, right up to the point that Hayley’s patience eventually snapped. She stared deeply into their eyes in order to search their minds for the answer. And as she did, the pie visibly rotted, aging years in seconds. The three were devastated, declaring that the deal had been broken.
 
They then told us the full story. A long time ago, their ancestors had indeed made a pact with the Fey. But it wasn’t anything malicious as we had feared. Instead, in exchange for a small tribute of food, the local Fey would help them tend their fields. Thus providing a beneficial relationship for all of them. The only condition was absolute secrecy. But now, due to our interference, the pact was broken.
 
I felt terrible guilty for this. In our eagerness to do good and keep our people safe, we had decided not to trust them and simple act on our own beliefs. Not understanding the larger picture. And now, we had made everything worse for everyone. As depending on the mood of the Fey involved, they might come to seek for some kind of retribution for the broken deal. But what was even worse was the fact that with that simple act, we had alienated the very people we were meant to lead. Not that they were openly hostile towards us, but they were definitely a lot colder. Something that Alistan experienced firsthand when he went out to buy himself a new puppy.
 
In order to make amends, we went back to the cave that evening in order to plead the villager’s case. It was around the witching our when the runes started to light up and the portal opened. A few seconds later a fey, an Eladrin I believe, stepped out of the portal with with two redcaps in tow. He was most surprised to see that someone was waiting for him and introduced himself as Galladron and explained that he was here to learn as to why the old pact had been broken.
 
We explained the situation as best we could and apologized for interfering. Fortunately, Galladron was receptive to our pleas and proposed offering a new deal. Now while Liliana and myself were open to this, the other not so much. Which led us to a long argument that ultimately went nowhere. So it was decided to simple allow those who wanted to make the deal, to make the deal.
 
Now I can’t exactly give you the details, as I would hate for my actions to break any deal, existing or not, a second time. Instead I would like to clarify something. Over my telling of this tale, I might have given you the impression that I am against making deals with higher powers. Let me assure you that that is not the case. In fact I have no problem with making deals. Afterall, we make deals all the time, though on a much smaller scale. We trade coins for goods, taxes for services, all kind of things that can be classified as a deal in some form or another. And ultimately a deal with a higher power is no different. You give something in order to gain something.
 
The issue that I have with such deals is when they start to involve a third party. Especially when the price that needs to be paid is a personal one instead of a material one. That is my biggest issue with the De La Roost deal. Not that it exists, but rather that the personal sacrifice needed to be paid not just by the signer, but also by his heirs. And without knowing the details, I felt that this was most unfair to both Liliana and Allistan. And most likely had the price been material in nature, then I wouldn’t have mind as much.
 
But to wrap things up, if a deal was proposed that would not only benefit the local population and Fey, but also improved the relations between the two. Then what is the harm in making such a deal?