Arc 2, Episode 4 - "Into the Rolling Hills"
General Summary
When last we left off, the party had just concluded a successful mission for the archaeologists Rosni and Ulgan; successful in that everyone survived and obtained a tantalizing set of clues for the origins of the Ten Scepters. After arriving back in Sal Senin, Aucienne discovered a reference to a mysterious figure among the pages of Mama Wadine’s Grimoire: a dark elf divine hunter named Lodmus. Most recently seen in the beleaguered state of Anchek, the party set off down the Mantling Byway and crossed the Iron Hills in pursuit of their objective.
Anchek is one of three “successor states” to the barony of Hethred, which collapsed in the wake of a brutal civil war about 90 years ago. The Veldt, far to the north, survived on its wide expanse of fertile fields, and Farness, the core of old Hethred, maintained the lion’s share of whatever was left in the treasury of the Baroness Alaida, the last surviving heir of the Farness Dynasty. Anchek, largely neutral in the Veldtish Rebellion, boasted some of the most expansive mines in the Ten Scepters, and thus found themselves constantly invaded by either Farness or the Veldt ever since.
Along the way, the party encountered a cart, driven by guards of Highkeep Heathersage, a formidable fortress deep within the Dragon Spine mountain range, perched atop the largest mine in Anchek. The cart was surrounded by a number of dwarves, who alleged that the guards had absconded with a sizeable portion of gold and jewels from the Highkeep, and was headed off towards Greywood Keep with them.
At that moment, Daymon Hyde, leading the interrogation of the scene, was suddenly drawn into the strange green orb the party found some days before, and out popped a highly confused Everett. Having only moments before been studying contentedly in his bedroom/study at the Ballister Family Estate in Mereside, Everett thought himself still in a dream, striding up to the cart and attempting to solve the mystery like a logic puzzle. One of the guards dropped the name “Nambra”, but the name didn’t immediately resonate with any member of the party. After the dwarves produced a warrant for the arrest of this cart, signed by from one Lady Nenogith Wyvernbrow, quartermaster of Highkeep Heathersage, the party found everything to be in order and moved ahead down the road, leaving the cart, the guards, and the dwarves behind them.
After dispatching two Greater Iron Hills Cave Ticks, as well as their broodmother, the party crossed the border into Anchek and arrived soon afterwards in the town of Grugglefield. Built on top of a domed hill, the town served as the center of trade and residence for the many pumpkin farms dotting the fields below. Spotting the Tipsy Triple Tavern, and suspecting an opportunity to gain more information about the mysterious Lodmus, the party enters and makes the acquaintance of the proprietors - two gnomish brothers named Jerry and Perry, and notes the presence of an older gnomish woman sitting by the fire.
Striking up a conversation, the party learns that this region is known as the Rolling Hills - not just for the geographic features, but the fact that they literally seem to roll around at night. Excepting the hill that Grugglefield sits upon, most other large hills rarely stay in one place for long. Rumors abound as to the cause, but no definitive answer is known at this time (though Isadora firmly believed them to be great subterranean turtles). In addition, two locals named Gretchen and Lars from the (sometimes) neighboring city of Andersfield have recently gone missing after going to fetch water from a nearby well. An injured dwarf, sitting at one of the Tispy Triple’s tables, casted doubt on it being an accident - the danger of being out among the hills at night is well known to the regions’ inhabitants. The only other place of refuge would have been the Hollow Grove, but trading the peril of the hills for the terrifying monsters, haunting spectres and deadly Rendiye tribespeoples of the wood would be a dubious proposition at best.
The party then inquired about Lodmus, only to discover, to their great surprise, that the old gnome woman by the fire was Gimbal Twinklefoot, the wife of Lodmus; the two brothers Jerry and Perry their sons. Old Lady Gimbal, as she prefers to be addressed, told the party that her husband disappeared many years ago, after returning home from a job he had been performing in the Farnessian capital of Eredine. He was different, distant, clearly troubled by the mission he had been given. One day, he left to go hunting again, something hadn’t done in quite some time, since the birth of his sons Jerry and Perry and had not been since since. Old Lady Gimbal believes that the ghost of Hollow Grove to be none other than Lodmus himself. When asked by Everett if there was anything the party should tell Lodmus if they see him, Old Lady Gimbal responded only with “Ask him if he’s eating well.”
Anchek is one of three “successor states” to the barony of Hethred, which collapsed in the wake of a brutal civil war about 90 years ago. The Veldt, far to the north, survived on its wide expanse of fertile fields, and Farness, the core of old Hethred, maintained the lion’s share of whatever was left in the treasury of the Baroness Alaida, the last surviving heir of the Farness Dynasty. Anchek, largely neutral in the Veldtish Rebellion, boasted some of the most expansive mines in the Ten Scepters, and thus found themselves constantly invaded by either Farness or the Veldt ever since.
Along the way, the party encountered a cart, driven by guards of Highkeep Heathersage, a formidable fortress deep within the Dragon Spine mountain range, perched atop the largest mine in Anchek. The cart was surrounded by a number of dwarves, who alleged that the guards had absconded with a sizeable portion of gold and jewels from the Highkeep, and was headed off towards Greywood Keep with them.
At that moment, Daymon Hyde, leading the interrogation of the scene, was suddenly drawn into the strange green orb the party found some days before, and out popped a highly confused Everett. Having only moments before been studying contentedly in his bedroom/study at the Ballister Family Estate in Mereside, Everett thought himself still in a dream, striding up to the cart and attempting to solve the mystery like a logic puzzle. One of the guards dropped the name “Nambra”, but the name didn’t immediately resonate with any member of the party. After the dwarves produced a warrant for the arrest of this cart, signed by from one Lady Nenogith Wyvernbrow, quartermaster of Highkeep Heathersage, the party found everything to be in order and moved ahead down the road, leaving the cart, the guards, and the dwarves behind them.
After dispatching two Greater Iron Hills Cave Ticks, as well as their broodmother, the party crossed the border into Anchek and arrived soon afterwards in the town of Grugglefield. Built on top of a domed hill, the town served as the center of trade and residence for the many pumpkin farms dotting the fields below. Spotting the Tipsy Triple Tavern, and suspecting an opportunity to gain more information about the mysterious Lodmus, the party enters and makes the acquaintance of the proprietors - two gnomish brothers named Jerry and Perry, and notes the presence of an older gnomish woman sitting by the fire.
Striking up a conversation, the party learns that this region is known as the Rolling Hills - not just for the geographic features, but the fact that they literally seem to roll around at night. Excepting the hill that Grugglefield sits upon, most other large hills rarely stay in one place for long. Rumors abound as to the cause, but no definitive answer is known at this time (though Isadora firmly believed them to be great subterranean turtles). In addition, two locals named Gretchen and Lars from the (sometimes) neighboring city of Andersfield have recently gone missing after going to fetch water from a nearby well. An injured dwarf, sitting at one of the Tispy Triple’s tables, casted doubt on it being an accident - the danger of being out among the hills at night is well known to the regions’ inhabitants. The only other place of refuge would have been the Hollow Grove, but trading the peril of the hills for the terrifying monsters, haunting spectres and deadly Rendiye tribespeoples of the wood would be a dubious proposition at best.
The party then inquired about Lodmus, only to discover, to their great surprise, that the old gnome woman by the fire was Gimbal Twinklefoot, the wife of Lodmus; the two brothers Jerry and Perry their sons. Old Lady Gimbal, as she prefers to be addressed, told the party that her husband disappeared many years ago, after returning home from a job he had been performing in the Farnessian capital of Eredine. He was different, distant, clearly troubled by the mission he had been given. One day, he left to go hunting again, something hadn’t done in quite some time, since the birth of his sons Jerry and Perry and had not been since since. Old Lady Gimbal believes that the ghost of Hollow Grove to be none other than Lodmus himself. When asked by Everett if there was anything the party should tell Lodmus if they see him, Old Lady Gimbal responded only with “Ask him if he’s eating well.”
Report Date
30 May 2025
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