Holy burning gods! (Oh... Too soon?)

Holy burning gods.... That was. Awful. Appalling. Abhorrent. Abominable. Every horrible word beginning with A and all the way through to Z.
 
I listen to the forest and the claims and try to see if anything's different.
 
I can hear the sounds of lots of things moving, lots of things thudding moving further away from the Hope into the woods.
 
At the hill, I can hear the faintest of picks coming from outside the palisade. I need to go and see... This is possibly the most stupid idea I've had in my life. Tak, gods love him, tries to stop me. I think I need to head out anyway.
 
I head out of the palisade and see a tiny point of light coming from the eastern side of the hill - it's around Arkali or Handelo's claims. If I'm going out in the dark any further, I should be careful. I'll try to make myself as unobtrusive as possible. It's coming from Handelo's claim... But Handelo's dead? Who's digging? I try to take a look but this cursed dark is too much! I fumble a glass jar and it makes a resounding crunch under my feet! The digging comes to a stop - poor unlicensed digger trying to scrape out a few extra coins. I tell him to stop and he tries not to shit himself. Winner. I would really like some breakfast.
 
I make my way back to the camp to find a distinctly unimpressed Tak... I need some tea. And screw trying to be quiet about it. How can I tell these guys that being here is a cataclysmically bad idea? Either way, we break camp and start setting out to maybe find some answers.
 
Silvercheek comes banging out of the 5:2 with her crossbow raised, heading out with a following of Karohar to "go and sort out some business." Abe goes to see what the fuss is about, and I go to see if I can have a quiet chat with Roughneck. She eventually emerges and offers me ham for breakfast. She is clearly a goddess amongst women. She says this is taboo ground and the Karohar cannot step here. We talk, hesitantly, about the best way to clear the Hope if we needed to get everyone out - she suggests she would burn the place down. That said, it's unlikely they'd make it alive in the forest with the clans... We share a rueful smile over the last bits of our breakfast and head out of the 5:2.
 
There is a huddle of workers outside who say that Old Man Arlkali has gone missing? He left in the night and hasn't been seen since. That is very strange. Turns out the pet barbarians who have been seen with Silvercheek are her "legbreakers" who dissuade people from digging without a claim... and not in a "cake and biscuits way..." Handelo killed, Arkali missing, Gidjabolgo's gold disappearing.
 
A massive roar comes from the fire and a tower of silvery white flame comes roaring up from the Great Fire. I'm not sure what this colour means, but I'm sure it's not good. I stop to have a chat with old man Semel about his supplies. He seems.... entirely positive about the little community he lives in. I go to check in with Tak and Abe - Gidjabolgo's been shot! Silvercheek apparently thinks he cheated her out of some gold. We try to talk some sense into him, pointing out that he has no evidence about the Tomb being here, and can't remember any of the circumstances around how he learned about it, but he's digging for it anyway. Trying to talk reason into this man is like trying to squeeze cheese out of a stone. I decide to go investigate Arkali's shack. Too much is happening too quickly here.
 
Arkali's shack is empty. His pipe and tobacco is still on the side, and it looks as if his bed hasn't been slept in. I decide to climb down the shaft and see if there are any signs of the old man, just in case. It is absolutely full of mud here. This place is nasty. Still... best take a quick look. I head down into the shaft and - wait. Is that? Is that a foot? Uh... that's definitely a foot! There's a boot sticking out of the shaft heading into the hill... There's a leg attached to the boot. I try to see if it's Arkali, but it looks like one of the workers. Maybe within the last couple of days - looks like a collapsed wall. Abe decides to go and poke into more potentially dead people. I go to check out Handelo's shaft (hur hur...) but it's much of a muchness. After rummaging around in some really hideous clayish slop, I head back to check on the wizard. Rituals. Ugh.
 
Waiting outside for the wizard to finish up his magic, I can't help but think that things are progressing too quickly. Remnants of last night's dream come back to me, and I feel that the top of the hill is a great warning bell for what's about to happen. I think that perhaps a chat with the wizard is in order. Could we potentially remove the renegade from the equation to make this stop? I try to be vague about the feelings left from me dream... curse that the idiot just won't take my word for it. But I can understand why he wouldn't. Too many vagaries and half-whispered notions. This... is so far over my head I feel like I'm drowning in it. Drowning in clay.
 
We find Tak in the 5:2 ingratiating himself with the barbarians - chap actually looks like he's having a good time! Turns out I have a delivery behind the bar? Who on earth would know that I'm here? I mean I mentioned it to Sister Darda in passing, but I can't imagine she would have sent me something here. Still, at any rate it gives me a chance to talk to Silvercheek. I try to plant a seed of concern over Sikander's actions, but since it's not happened in the walls of the Palisade, she's taking it as a problem that's not on her watch. Still - nothing ventured. Nothing lost. I wonder who's left me this package...
 
This is not a standard package. This is trouble with a capital T. It's definitely a tamper trap - I'm going to have to take a closer look. Badly carved in the lead on the side, there's a crescent moon with smaller moons around it. It kind of reminds me of a story that Sister Darda used to tell me about her favourite place in the temple at Kastor. It could be from her. I find a small pinhole at one end - that's the badger! No vial breaks, so that's good news. I hang on to the casing to keep it for later. It's.... troubling.
 
We decide that going to talk to Sikander - or at the very least go and examine the top of the hill. There are.... so many buckets. So many. Organised in a line ferrying clay out and spare buckets back in. There is a very tatty looking wizard type at the top of this hill. And there, I'm sure I'm not dreaming, right next to him is a giant hulk of a figure made of flame and smoke underneath his armour. Wow.... this guy is absolutely fucknuts. Utterly, utterly bonkers.
 
A chap dashes out and exclaims that they've found stone! Sikander orders everyone out and goes to look at what they've found. I try my absolute best to try to get everyone to leave for the night - some of them are convinced to get to the 5:2, the rest are too taken with the promise of gold to follow. A throb thrums up through the ground and my head starts to spin... once again that horrible dream returns. Worse this time. There is so much blood. So, so very much. We leave and head down the hill.
 
Totally rat out Silvercheek - leaves with all her goods and the legbreakers
Patrons go fucknuts. Tak gets possessed. Roughneck is awesome.
 
Beating is constant now. The rain stops and an ethereal light comes from the top of the hill. Roughneck throws us all into the boat and shoves us downriver.
 
The hunter rips itself form the earth and it's the most horrifying thing I've ever seen. The fist fight on the shore goes absolutely fucknuts. Roughneck waves us goodbye as the light floods the shoreline, and then a massive roar comes from the forest and the tearing of wood echoes through the trees.
 
We are back in Kastor. We’ve been gone for about two weeks. There is pillar of black smoke emerging from behind the wall. Something has definitely been on fire. There are at least twice as many guards as there were when we left. The belltower has a cordon of townguard around it – but they’re not all the same. Some have a kind of blue marking on them – a sash or a patch, a wristband. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it – just some of them have blue markings and some don’t.
 
The annexe of the Sun Temple has burned to the ground….. Happened last night! The town council was attacked, the mayor’s been killed, the treasurer, the fire chief, and father karstak has been killed. Half the town council are dead! Grendol’s been elected as the stand in mayor – he’s the councillor representing the merchants.
 
Talk to Father Belargo – they say he’s the only priest left. I go to offer my condolences and ask for his blessing. Some of the initiates who were in the soup kitchens made it out. Those who were sleeping in the dormitories Darda just returned. The witchburnings sister Garada. Stayed in thistlehold.