Session 4: Of Mousefolk and Men
General Summary
As the Rock Troll stood up he asked why malcolm] stabbed him with the stick. Malcolm assured him that it was a misunderstanding. The Rock Troll identified himself as Gronk (by speaking in third person) and explained that he was asked by King Bertram (the last king of Palhas before it became part of the Earrenian Empire ) to prevent Earrenian soldiers from getting through. The party would have to offer a gift to the king to prove their loyalty. Octavia offered a small piece of obsidian and Gronk seemed satisfied, but when he realized it was past dark he warned the party that it was dangerous in the forest after dark and offered to allow them to stay with him.
The party accepted and followed Gronk to a cavern under the bridge where they found a whole deer that he was cooking. Also filling the cavern was piles of various items that Gronk had collected as tolls. In a pile of apparently broken items Malcolm found an ornate magnifying glass. Malcolm tried to discretely grab the object but was caught by Gronk, who assured him that it was broken and he could take it if he wanted to. On the handle was elvish script which Zuko translated to "identify."With some experimenting they determined that the magnifying glass could detect magic items in plain view and identify their abilities with closer inspection.
While eating, the party asked Gronk what the dangers were in the forest at night. After an impromptu game of charades, they determined it was Spiders that posed the biggest threat. When the party woke up the following morning, Zuko searched the piles for anything else of interest and found an old bow with a symbol he recognized carved into the wood. Leaving the cavern they found their horses freshly fed and watered and Gronk standing at his post. They debated the possibility of informing Gronk that the war was over and King Bertram was long dead, but decided against it.
Proceeding through the forest they came to an area where the evergreens that blocked out all light were replaced with species that were shedding their leaves for the winter. A large tree fell onto the road and another fell behind them. A high pitched voice called out to them from an unseen location demanding that they drop their weapons and belongings. The party refused and were quickly surrounded by a band of Musculus (Mousefolk) bandits. Underestimating the strength of these small creatures, Zukko was knocked unconscious in the battle before the rest of the party killed all three of the bandits. They rolled the tree off of the highway and continued forward.
They arrived in Elta Elta an hour later, just as Zuko was regaining consciousness as they arrived at the gates of the walled town. Two members of the Cerulean Guard questioned them about their purpose in town and Zuko's injuries. The party noted that the guards seemed weary of outsiders. They made their way to the first inn they could find, The Welcoming Maiden. The proprietor, Arget Ethyn, seemed surprised to have patrons this early on a Jarlesday, explaining that most tavern business goes to The Fool's Purse on the weekend due to the gambling and organized fighting provided there. After breakfast, Arget recommended that Zuko stop by the local temple in The Shades for healing, and informed Malcolm that the best blacksmith in town was Kamrit Brickfoot at Mind Over Metal .
Octavia retired to her freshly rented room while Malcolm and meara] proceeded to the blacksmith and Zukko went to the temple. Malcolm discovered that Kamrit was already equipped to make ammunition for his guns as he often did work for the military. Zuko found the temple, a multi-deity place of worship, and was healed by a gnomish cleric of Nallula (religion) . Thankful for the service, Zuko made a donation to the temple and went back to meet the party.
Malcolm and Meara checked the local message board and saw two opportunities for work. One was a request from a local farmer for help finding and eliminating a creature that was killing his cattle. The other was a painted image of a young girl that had gone missing a few weeks before. No monetary reward was offered but the party agreed to see if they could help. Zukko went to the blacksmith to see about fixing the bow he found in Gronk's cavern. Kamrit explained that the wood was too old and fragile to turn back into a working weapon but it may have value to a collector as the symbol engraved in it belongs to the Cormanthor Gisiae , which he explained was a roving band of elven rangers that guard ancient temples spread across Acreomond.
Malcolm and Meara asked Arget about the woman that posted the notice about the missing girl and were directed to The Shades district near the wall that separates the town from the Twilight Forest. The party went to The Shades and asked around till they found the home of Johanna Wildma, a local paint and dye maker. She allowed them in to ask questions while she continued working on the hundreds of paintings of her daughter, Rebecca, that covered the inside walls of the home. Johanna explained that her daughter had her first bleeding and was bed ridden during the Harvest Moon's festival when Johanna and everyone else in town was on main street to sell their wares. When Johanna returned home the door was open and Rebecca was nowhere to be found. The party investigated the room and discovered there was no blood, but large slash marks on her mattress. Checking with a local guard that helped with search efforts, they were led to the town wall behind Johanna's home where there were strange claw marks going up the wall. Zuko and Meara managed to identify them as belonging to some sort of Lycanthrope.
They returned to the Welcoming Maiden agreeing that they would search for tracks the following morning. Using the Magnifying Glass of Identify, the looked over some of their belongings. The dagger taken from Emmet was designed to focus the powers of a cleric. The amulet was also a religious icon none of them were familiar with. The goblet was identified as a communication device; when filled with innocent humanoid blood could be used to communicate with a similar device.
The doorknob from Malcolm's chest was identified as an interdenominational door, known as a Wizard's Door that would lead to a small chamber when unlocked with the appropriate key. The party agreed that the key was likely the collateral being held by Miles in Palhas. The blank stone tablet was revealed to have invisible arcane writing on it, but it's purpose was beyond the capability of the magnifying glass to identify.
Searching the manifests again for a mention of the name that Emmet called Malcolm, they discovered a folded up wanted poster. The face on the poster resembled Malcolm but in a way that most people would not be able to connect. It indicated that Percival Boone was wanted for murder, asking that anyone that sees him reports the sighting to the Tercio Legion (an elite law enforcement agency in Rum Lin ) or the Temple of the Black Star (a new religious organization gaining power across the continent.
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