Session 1 - 20th of Lowsun, 987 AGW

General Summary

The newly met party camp for the night outside of the wizard's tower, keeping their distance from one another as distrust abounds. Violla dreams of being a wolf, running free and wild through familiar hunting grounds, and wakes with an understanding and affinity for transforming into one. Verian feels a sinister tugging on his mind during his elven trance but is able to resist through strength of willpower. He suspects the infernal Black Tome that he pocketed.

Trouble in Taleah

The party arrives in Taleah (the "bandits" Lonnie and Merl in tow), where a sign is being erected to announce the postponing of the harvest festival honoring Lyrana - Goddess of Light, pending investigation on some thefts, disappearances and other mischevious acts in the town. The people are upset, and so the nobleman that placed the sign attempts to diffuse the situation.

"Now, now, good folk. I assure you, Mayor Thawe and the Watch are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of this mischief."
More shouts and questions arise through the brief calm, all over one another, forcing him to shout as well while slowly backing away, hands raised.
"Mistress... errr... Mayor Thawe will make a statement this evening! ... errr... have a good day!"

The party learns that personal goods, heirlooms, and trinkets have come up missing. The people don't offer much more information other than there are also animals and a child missing, as well as some sort of obscene graffiti on the local brothel.

Sight Rot

Tybalt goes to see the mayor to deliver Aya, the newly stationed Mage of Xithar in Taleah, and the sealed scroll from Alistair Sturm (Tybalt's superior). Fitz and Violla join them while Verian goes to the Temple of Lyrana to help find a cure for Lonnie and Merl's ailing mother.
Verian is greeted by a female dwarf named Orin, head priestess, who takes him to see the medicine man of the church, Walter. He determines that the illness Verian speaks of is Sight Rot, a debilitating disease that slowly and gruesomely strips the victim of their eyesight, likely caused by drinking from a tainted water supply. The cure is Eyebright flowers, 3 doses once per day before sleep.
Verian learns that Rocroft Bog is where the Eyebright grows locally. Walter requests that, since Verian is going to go looking for Eyebright anyway, if he could gather extra for the temple. If the local water supply is tainted, they will need all of the Eyebright he can get his hands on. Verian agrees.
Leaving the temple, Verian goes to Lonnie and Merl's home to question their mother about where they get their water. Her eyes are turning a sickly, milky green. After gathering information, Verian decides that Violla would be helpful because of her tie to nature.

Meeting the Mayor

The mayor is a well-dressed blonde woman named Elyse Thawe. She fawns over the scroll from Alistair Sturm, clutching it to her chest with a dreamy look in her eyes while her assistant wrinkles his nose in apparent distaste. She reveals that part of it contains new orders for Tybalt - remain in Taleah to aid Elyse with anything she needs.

I am so grateful to have such a capable soldier at my disposal. Alistair's praise of you is quite extensive. And truly... you couldn't have come at a more fortuitous time. If this mess isn't resolved soon, I'm going to look a fool. If my brother wasn't so... dimwitted... I would think he was behind this. All at once, right before the biggest event of the year... It reeks of sabotage...

Elyse confides that she suspects her brother, Jasper Thawe, for sabotaging the festival. The two have a sibling rivalry that goes all the way back to their preadolescent years. To put an end to competitive bickering and disruptive pranks, their father Duke Rys Thawe of Ardstead organized a melee tournament to decide leadership of Taleah when the previous mayor died. This would ultimately take the decision out of his hands, preventing any cries of favoritism between the two, and also serve the purpose of separating them so court life could go on like normal. Elyse chose Alistair Sturm, a Knight of renown and her forbidden sweetheart (the Sturm's and Thawe's have been bitter rivals for generations), as her champion and won. She hoped that Alistair would come with her, but the Duke had him reassigned to the capital of the Kingdom, Aurelis.
Before leaving the mayor's mansion, Elyse's assistant stops them in the foyer. His name is Ernest Hyne and they recognize him as the nobleman that spoke to the upset crowd upon their arrival. Ernest discreetly begs of them to keep an eye out for his missing locket during their investigation, and to please return it to him without speaking of it to anyone else. During this whispered conversation he appears to flush with embarrassment.

Investigation

The party meets up at the town center and begins asking questions of the townsfolk that remained of the crowd from before, currently complaining to a few guards about the situation. They learn a few tidbits:

• The missing child is a human named Dorian, and he is known to go exploring on his own quite a lot. His adopted parents are rock gnomes named Wilgrim and Elsa. They own the shop "Bits and Baubles."

• A woman named Edeth claims one of her many, many cats (Mittens) has gone missing. She lives across from the brothel, the Open Purse. Apathy about her missing cat abounds.

• The missing farm animals belong to a halfling named Corgen. His farm is located on the outskirts of town, likely one of the many farms the party passed on their approach to Taleah.

• An elderly elven woman named Ithrel has been arrested under suspicion of stealing the townsfolks baubles. She was newer to town and known for hoarding a pack of trinkets she collected through her many travels.

They begin their investigation at Corgen's farm and discover that the missing animals are chickens. While it is normal for one or two to be picked off occasionally by coyotes or wolves, an entire coop is entirely unusual. The party begins to search around the coop and discover a trail of feathers leading away from the farm, towards Rocroft Bog.

Rocroft Bog

Collecting Eyebright flowers along the way, the party follows the trail through the bubbling muck known as Rocroft Bog. They successfully avoid being drowned in the quicksand-like mud, yet anger the wildlife and are forced to fight giant frogs and bullywugs. During one such encounter, Violla is swallowed by a giant frog and Verian explodes himself with a fire spell.
Several hours later, exhausted and beaten, the party happens upon an island of more solid, vegetated ground. An imp is sitting on a pile of chicken bones, cooking a cat (Mittens!) on a stick over a small fire. Nearby is a small boy, bound and gagged. After defeating the imp, the party unbinds the boy and confirms that he is indeed the missing boy, Dorian.
Not comfortable with spending the night in the bog, the party decides to return in the dark, guided by Verian and a rock he cast the Light spell on. Unfortunately, this light attracts very dangerous company: a bog wight. While they do eventually bring it down, Fitz is killed during the fight. Although weakened and cursed by the wight, he refused to back down in order to protect his only friend, Violla.
They finally make their way back to Taleah and the temple, carrying Fitz's body with them...

Report Date

10 Feb 2019

Primary Location

Taleah

Experience

The party is leveled to 3.

Items Gained

3x stalks of Eyebright flowers

Coin Earned

None.