Session 5 - Marshaling Peasants and Wolves

General Summary

The party awoke the next day to a group of six orcs banging around the house. They remind Klein and the others that their time for finding the book expires tomorrow. Demonstrably knocking a few things over, they head out and parade around the village.
Klein and the others went to the church with the rest, having been given a hunch about the fresco the night before. Thinking that the basin of holy water inside might be the key, they had Ernst dip his hand in the font and then bless Klein on his forehead with it. This had no effect, but he had a drop left on his fingers, and when he then touched the forehead of Nadad in the painting, a sudden energy was felt, and a grinding noise was heard. Klein went to check upon behind the church for a secret passage, but none had opened. He left Chlothar and Ernst to investigate the fresco more, and went back to the manor to prepare a meal for the apprentice shoemaker who was tasked with making slings.
After the meal, the apprentice asked for money, which Klein provided, but it was clear to both parties that the amount was too low given supply costs. The apprentice, not wanting to anger either side, sent Klein to speak with the master shoemaker, who had earlier told Belak to stay away from Klein and his company. After some harsh words, the shoemaker threatened Klein with legal action, for which Klein mocked him. He was the rightful sheriff of the town, after all, he thought.
Afterwards, Klein went out to the lake and small island with Chlothar. They were taken out to the island by a friendly fisherman, who warned them of the dangers of the island. While there, Chlothar approached the tree, which lashed out at him, and he was fotunate to get away before it did significant harm to him. As he ran, it flung a handful of pears at him.
At the same time, the fey shoemaker went to see the cows in the field. Klein had convinced him that he could gather his own leather, and become the master shoemaker, rather than just continue being the apprentice. So, Belak went to the cows to figure out how to get leather from them. The boy watching the herd of cows suddenly ran past Belak, shouting about a terrible thing in the woods. So Belak went to check it out, and found the body of Ulrich Wolmar having been hung from a tree, dead. Belak tried to get him down, but couldn't reach, though soon the rest of the town arrived to help, got the body down, and carried it to the cemetery behind the church. When Klein and Chlothar noticed a commotion by the church, they quickly tried to swim back across the lake to the shore to find out what had happened. Chlothar, used magic to help, but being a bookworm, was very bad at swimming.
The finally arrived to see Ulrich being buried, and suddenly Klein spoke out, saying that if the orcs allowed his body to be taken down, then the others must be taken down as well. The party went out, with the town following in awe, but when they reached the swamp, the townsfolk were too scared to follow. The party got to one of the hanging bodies, before a pack of wolves started to appear. Klein managed to soothe the wolves, and slowly lead them away from the party, so that they could take down one of the bodies.
Upon arriving in the village at the head of the wolf pack, Klein asked for the townsfolk to bring some meat for the wolves, which they obliged, in part. Then, one of the orcs, disguised as a villager, confronted Klein. Klein explained how the shoemaker asked for prices that were much too high, and the orc agreed, maybe buying that as an excuse, before Klein lead the wolves back into the forest. Upon the party's return, the disguised orc gave Klein a pouch of money, and the orcs left a message saying that no one would be allowed to remove any of the other bodies.
Before the funeral, Klein was confronted by Inga - the girl who had gone off with Ulrich. She tried to explain that she had not been the cause of Ulrich's death. Klein confronted her about the poisonings, but did not blame her for Ulrich's death. During funeral for Ulrich and the other hung soldier, Klein gave a eulogy. Afterwards, in the evening, the party entered into the church to continue working on the fresco. But when they did, five families from the town entered with them. Brother Matthias explained that all the orcs had gone into the swamp just before dusk. The families seemingly wanted to do something about the orc presence. Belak, who can't enter, solicits the help of Brother Matthias, who baptises him in the lake, and admits him inside.

Report Date

08 Oct 2024

Primary Location

Riesenhain