Chapter 11: Respite
With the battle won, the group returned to Hogasun through the portal and found themselves surrounded by cheering warriors outside the walls of the city. They returned to the long hall where the townsfolk were already cracking open the ale and pouring out the horns. The forces of the north were victorious, and the mood was ecstatic. As the victory feast roared on, the group enjoyed the fruits of their labor and mingled with the defenders. Victavia questioned the barrow boys about the dragonborn who had slain Jarl Jorunson, but found no evidence of their involvement. It seemed he had acted as a lone agent. In the midst of the celebrations, they noticed a younger man sitting in the Jarl's chair. He resembled the jarl a bit and wore furs and leather armor, with a sword and axe at his belt. After asking about him, they were told he was the jarl's long lost son returned from his adventuring days. He was thought to have died in the world during his adventures, but returned in the middle of the night after having sensed his father's death. This seemed a perfectly reasonable explanation to the northmen, but the group grew suspicious. When discussing his adventures, the man claimed the exploits of the covenant of the veiled coin. The changeling spent the evening taking the forms of various northmen and spreading damning misinformation about him.
The next morning, they awoke and decided to leave town without much fanfare. They ran across the jarl's son "Ranulf" who was practicing axe-throwing against a post. After questioning him, they discovered him to be from another world entirely (though a mirror of this one). He was driven through a portal by what he called "the voice of Odin" while adventuring in the far eastern land of Yamato (in his version of the world), and found himself outside Hogasun in a world both familiar and different. In this world, the covenant of the veiled coin died fighting in the mistlands and accomplished many of the deeds he called his own. When the changeling probed his mind, they discovered memories of companions who matched the descriptions of the covenant and saw him accomplishing deeds they had accomplished in this world. In his world, Ranulf was successful in navigating Mets Gradaran and destroyed the ascension engine in the mistlands. When Ranulf promised he did not wish to remain here, they decided to leave and not press the issue further.
The party returned to Arlenport, aided by Jolkottr's magical tree transportation spell. There, they found Victavia's apprentice Toryn doing well and having taken good care of their home while keeping up his studies. They reported to Duke Lorens at the castle, who seemed surprised to see them returned already before the soldiers he had sent. After hearing the tale of their battle, he asked for some time to gather their reward. They returned home, and Victavia sent Toryn out to buy new clothes for her. The next day, they returned to the castle after being summoned and were presented with several rewards for their victory against the giants. The duke mentioned the gifts were sent by a third party interested in their prolonged success as adventurers and the safety of the north. Her name was duchess Aelyn Silverlight of Arlencourt (a duchy to the east of Arlenport on the Bay of Sydonia). They were presented with a chest of 1500 platinum coins with the image of a rearing dragon on the face and a crown on the tail, as well as magical cloaks emblazoned with the same rearing dragon that could be attuned to provide elemental resistance based on the color of a dragon. When thus attuned, the cloaks turned the color of the dragon (red for fire, blue for lightning, white for frost, green for poison and black for acid). When the group asked Duke Lorens about the duchess. they were told she was rather reclusive but famously wealthy and ever a patron of adventurers and their efforts. She was even thought to have funded the mistlands expedition. Finally, the duke also presented them with a deed to an estate on the northern edge of the Daggerwood called "Schropsbury" (formerly held by the late adventurer Tar'Kanis, recently murdered) along with the title of "Huscarl." This landed title of nobility did not grant them seats in the house of nobles, but afforded them the honorific "Sir" or "Dame." As lords of Schropsbury, they would now serve as vassals under Duke Lorens and owe him taxes and their allegiance.
After learning about their new estate and what taxes they would owe their new vassal lord, the group departed for Schropsbury. They arrived 2 days later and found the estate in a somewhat unkempt state, with a staff of 5 (a gardener (Wulfric), a cook (Aethelstan), a groundskeeper (Woldric) and 2 housekeepers (Martha and Inga). They introduced themselves to the staff and received a tour of the grounds. They learned that their previous master Tar'Kanis was found dead in his study, entirely devoid of blood. He had been largely a recluse the last 5 years since being granted the estate for his efforts in the mistlands expedition. He was constantly writing and compiling maps and notes from the expedition. In the study, they found a massive painting of an elderly white dragonborn woman (an ancestor of Tar'Kanis). While detecting magic, they found an aura behind the painting. When Jawhara attempted to remove the painting, a spectral voice of the elderly dragonborn screamed at her to stop it saying "it's not for you!" They removed the painting nonetheless and found a safe behind it. After finding the key to the safe in a hidden compartment of tar'kanis' former office, they opened the safe and found a strange metal box with a circle punctured by many holes and a strange crank on the side. Kelthar held on to the strange device as they explored the estate further.
The group settled in to their new home, using Jolkottr's tree magic to transport their effects (and pets/apprentices) from Arlenport. Victavia attempted to sell their ill-gotten home in Arlenport, but the town steward saw through her forgeries and allowed her to simply turn in the fake deed and leave without being arrested. This tarnished he reputation in the eyes of the steward, and she left the city after gathering and purchasing spell components for her and Jolkottr. She spent the next few days scribing spells from the drow spellbooks she had gathered in the great below while the rest of the group settled in. Jolkottr explored the grounds (all 300 acres of it) while Kelthar pored through some of Tar'Kanis' many notebooks in the study and spoke with the elderly dragonborn spectre. He discovered that the Lady Aelyn Silverlight had visited Tar'Kanis in the past, seeking the strange metal device but Tar'Kanis had refused to give it to her. This led the group to believe the duchess may have killed Tar'Kanis. They spent the next 2 months settling in to noble life and researching everything Tar'Kanis had documented about the mistlands. During that time, Kelthar taught Jawhara the giant language and trained as a paladin with Magni while Jolkottr was largely absent on many walkabouts in the wilds of the daggerwood. Having learned more than most knew about the mistlands, the mardik and the origins of humanity on Arlyss (as well as the purpose and effects of the strange device, being a sort of divining rod for the god frequency and extraplanar entities), they decided to host a dinner party and invite the duchess to see what they could find out from her. In the last few weeks, they began hearing from the staff that several people had gone missing from the nearby village of Strathmore. After sending out invitations for their dinner party, they visited Strathmore to investigate.
After speaking to the town sheriff, they discovered a red stag had been seen near the woods on the nights when someone disappeared. They spoke with the local "witch" who had seen the red stag, though she spoke largely in nonsense and riddles. She seemed to suggest the Fae may have something to do with the disappearances and suggested she knew about the Changeling's origins. After speaking with the families of some of the missing people, they learned that most were younger and several had been seeing each other romantically. The daggerwood was a popular place for young lovers to visit to "enjoy each other's company" with the added thrill of the dangerous woods. They also learned that each one had gone missing on a Frigedaeg (friday). After visiting the local watering hole and hearing much of the same, they returned on friday evening and decided to stake out the woods.
As they entered the wood under cover of night, Jolkottr assumed the form of an owl to better see in the dark and the changeling summoned their sprite familiar to scout ahead. Jawhara found tracks belonging to a stag that suddenly turned into human tracks, and they began to follow them. Before long, the device began to audibly whir loudly from Kelthar's pack (a kind of grinding, whining sound). Suddenly, the changeling saw sparkling colorful auras appear around nearby trees and bushes as several diminutive creatures in red caps wielding wicked sickles stepped out from the vegetation, as well as a tall elf creature with pale blueish skin and blue hair with hoarfrost covering his skin. The creatures attacked the group, with most of them attempting to seize the device from Kelthar. The elf proved a skilled combatant and the redcaps nearly overwhelmed them with rapid strikes of their sickles, but the group prevailed against the fae attackers. During the fight, one of the redcaps screamed "death to the servants of queen mab!" before killing the changeling's sprite and Jolkottr's spirit totem had a strange, wild appearance as though covered in bark and thorny vines. Jawhara managed to knock out the elf as the rest of the group finished off the redcaps. Perhaps they would find answers from the strange assailant...
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