About Town

The team get to relax a bit around town but still get caught up in shenanigans that happens here. They get to experience odd happenings and information building.

Plot points/Scenes

The team gather as usual in the morning and get a good look around the town after being away from it for a while. With the recent problems with the mirror and bags of holding they get a bit of a breather and told what happened to Alice. Also they get a better dive into the town and it's dark underbelly.
They mayl be told that the town was originally a village with strong ties to the Barvarii and to a lesser degree the Saxons. It has suffered attacks by the Saxons but these have all but stopped. It's what also killed the wife & child of Duje Grummaz. It wasn't that big of a place until he rose to prominanace with Anselma & Reolus. Others have come & gone over the past few years. Some stayed and integrated, while others moved on.
Three escaped Halflings are brought into town and are to be tried for acts of murder & cannibalism. The team may be the deciding factor whether they are executed there or not, and whether it id quick or slow. Justin, Cairan & Neve are all there to be tried and end up either in prison or in front of the Council. They will await their fate either way in the former.
The latter case involves Alice, and the team will find she did indeed clear out her stuff from the house, and was last spotted two or three days ago in the forest beyond the grove to the west. If searched they'll find her camp and yes, there is her body with an obvious blade wound in her back, and signs of poisoning deeply discoluouring the wound. If asked about they will find that the order came from on up high as the aithorities had been keeping close watch on her. Fearing that she was too much of a threat because of the Hag called Adalwolf, an order had been recieved by the Thieves of Frankia. An assassin from the Assassins Guild had been dispatched and killed her. It was done as they felt she couldn't be trusted and feared Adalwolf would seek Alice out here.
They'll be informed that the stuff referred to as Leviathan's Flesh has been looked into to double check it and tie it in with the murders. It is boiled in human fat to allow it to be manipulaed into shape. It's usually worked into intricate puzzle boxes known as Configurations with the most well known now is the Stitched Configurations. The boxes are usually chased in brass decorations as well as ritual spells cast on the. Specific Infernal, Abyssal and Primordial sigils are physically worked into the pieces. This causes two things:

• an Emerite is linked to it. They are fathered by am unknown Cenobite using some of the Leviathan's Flesh to impregnate the host. This helps bind them together. The Emerite will always know where the box is and try to retrieve it and pass it on to those they find worthy (those with the desires for extremity in emotions & physicality). They can't retrieve the boxes from protected holy ground and very few such places exist.
• A cenobite of the Order Of The Gash has it's name tied to the sigils and when the puzzle is solved and the desire strong enough, will be summoned to either kill the person, or take them to the Order's specific region of Hell. Reseting the box will dispel the cenobite back to Hell.

The local apothecary called Jean-Luc (surname: Picard) is known to be dodgy selling under-the-counter remedies and other 'drugs' of choice to the right buyer. Unfortunately the Burgeaters are literally unable to charge him with anything. It appears that he has been taught by the best to avoid being caught with dangerous & illicit goods every time they swoop in.
Alfrie will talk to the team as well. She wants to accompany the team at times and missing adventuring somewhat while Duke Fyrwin is away. She informs them that Granny Barrowbye has expressed interest in coming through and finding somewhere to live in or just outside the town. The team may even want to go through to the Feywild and speak to her.
Crime is slightly up according to Seageant-at-arms Erdis de Sade. Usual crimes are a mix:

• Public urination & public nuisence (usually loud & obnoxious behaiviour)
• Brawling
• Minor theft including break-ins
• Scams by dodgy traders

These are being dealt with accordingly, and most are carried out by standard citizens. The Thieves of Frankia are doing their own thing and keeping to targetting outsiders especially those who make the wrong type of name for themselves.
There's been a report of a character seen about like a minor noble / dandy with an injury coming & going. Usually linked tby ro=umours o nefarious personages in & out of town "disappearing" or having nasty "accidents" within 24 hours of seeing him. The Burgeaters generally don't bother with these rumours, and those that have met a bad end are those that usually deserve it.
As a side note there is rumours of older abandoned underground chambers being found here and there in & just outside town. Most are too dangerous to be looked at and usually backfilled with rubble. Any found are to be either reported or avoided.
The markets & the wshops are doing good trade in all aspects although could be better. At least one to three caravans is passing throught each week and usually stopping over to buy & sell general goods. The odd specialist caravan is passing through once a month at least if not more. They bring all sorts of news from all over inside the Empire and from without.
The remains of the tower where NINE is is to have extensive work on it to strengthen it and an actual tower to be built on the base of it. This is to be used for some form of local schooling along with NINE's library work being expanded and backed up by the church & grove. Anyoen with any ideas areound this and interested should talk to the council.
The team that knows little of the other older grove will be informed that it was originally used for worshipping older and darker deities. Sometimes old twisted bones and trinkets from as far back as Neolithic times come to the surface in it and at times in the swamp near it's southeast border.
The team is informed that there has been an increase in the spider population in and around the town but nothing the ratcatchers can't deal with as rats have increased so they are dealing with both.

Related Characters

• Baldwin Gerswinda
• Alfre
• Bjorn
• Druid Emma Duckthorne
• Erdis de Sade
• Fleur
• Granny Barrowbye
• Meaven

Related Organizations

• Franks
• The Thieves of Frankia

Related Locations

• Eschbach
• The Eschbach Shields