February 4th, 2020
- Morgana the Druid (Liz)
- Ender the Rogue (Steven)
- Kif the Ranger (Irving)
PREPARATIONS
The party rests at the Stonehill Inn. Maardaar, apparently exhausted, falls into a deep sleep by the fire, his pipe still in his hand. The rest of the party bids him farewell with a note stuck into his cheese-stank coat pocket saying they are headed to Triboar. Out the window, the villagers marvel at the waterfall in the distance. The party banks their money with Barthen, who gives them a promissory note sealed with his seal. He vouches for Northshield Tavern’s owner, Urgula, in Triboar and wishes them good luck.
They check in with Elmar at the Provisions shop, picking up some sweet items like colored smoke signals & medical kits. After stocking up on rations, he informs them the goats they previously escorted were sent on to Conyberry. The Emerald Cheese Co. there ordered them.
Next they check out the Miner’s Exchange, where a line of surly of dwarves has accumulated, carefully examining the scales and swearing loudly as Halia Thornton weighs out their findings and cashes them in for gold pieces. The party intimidates the dwarves in line, getting a private audience with the proprietor to examine their green emerald. She is pissed but gets very interested once they pull it out, examining it with her loupe. To her, it looks like a pretty valuable stone, expertly cut. As far as it’s value as an antique or magical item, well, she only deals in cash and she makes an offer of 2500g the players turn down.
Outside they notice a few changes around town since their last visit. Tresendar Manor is for sale. The Sleeping Giant saloon is open and doing a bustling trade with the dwarven miners.
They inquire at the Townmaster’s Hall with the gnome Harbin Wester. He answers that the Manor is for sale sure, he has the deed right here in his office. But the party turns down his offer for the “fixer upper” / possibly haunted mansion.
ON THE ROAD
Thus well equipped & informed, they head out on the road around mid day. Traveling as far as they can on foot, they make camp by the side of the forest that night. As Ender takes the first watch, he hears the beautiful sound of singing and a soft glow coming from the forest. He digs his dagger into the palm of his hand and clogs his ears with wax to resist.
In the morning, on the road again, the party comes across two gnomes arguing amongst themselves in Gnomish. They have dug a ditch across the road and seem to be arguing about a drawn plan. The party passes them by.
They come to Darren Edermath’s Butterskull Ranch. Darren is having a tea out in his yard, the ruins of his house partially rebuilt and covered with tarps behind him. In the field beyond, a scorched area is visible where the bodies of the zombies were burned. Darren greets them and they exchange news. When asked about the singing from the forest, Darren says, “Ah yes, the druids are out again, a good sign.” Morgana is very disappointed she was asleep during this encounter. They buy some butterskulls before heading out. Darren warns them the people of Conyberry are weirdos who make stinky cheese.
CONYBERRY
The Triboar Trail narrows as the road gains in elevation beyond Butterskull Ranch. As the trail winds it’s way up a hill, the road becomes rutted with cart tracks and full of stones. The party enters into a small village, between two rocky hills. The houses in the town are run down and it’s kind of a shit hole. Giant goats climb the hillsides, eating vegetation. Dilapidated buildings with sagging roofs and soiled clothes hanging from clothesline give way to a giant, three story warehouse at the center of town.
The party chooses to go in the first tavern they see – The Scoundrel’s Mug. It is the diviest bar they’ve been in yet. Rats scurry under their feet, and the propreitor, a human named Jimmy Ammato, seems surprised to see them but welcomes them in and quickly pours some mead. As they are talking his lazy cat just stares at the rats that run by, while Jimmy explains he bought this place after some guy named Dabbledob lost his wife and moved to Phandalin. He’s trying to turn a dollar into two, but he suspects that the local villagers must be doing some kind of dirty. They all barter amongst themselves and live in squalor when they are living on prime real estate here on the Triboar Trail. Jimmy thinks something is going on here, something dirty, and he thinks the local constable Bert is on it. Jimmy seems a little lonely and that maybe he said too much.
While they are talking, outside they hear a commotion. The giant goats are being attacked by wyverns again. A dwarf, the local blacksmith named Svent Pent, is attempting to fight them off by himself. The party comes to his aid and drives off the wyverns. Svent thanks them, and points out to the adventurers that he is responsible for the various posters around town advertising a reward of 1000g for information on the arson of the herbalist shop a few weeks ago. She was a very young half-elf woman name Sulessa with no enemies whatsoever, his own daughter was friends with her, and feels responsible for her. He invites them to stay in town for a few days, pointing out that 2 days from now is their annual Founder’s Day jubilee, where they all don costumes and have a good time. Maybe they’ll even have time to look into the arson. Or enjoy some cheese.
THAT NIGHT
The party goes back to rest at the Scoundrel’s Mug, where Jimmy is smoking on the front porch watching the commotion. The party discovers that the upper floor where the ‘inn’ is has no roof. They use Pass Without Trace to sneak out at midnight, and make it down the stairs and into the streets to investigate without any trouble. They make a beeline for the Emerald Cheese Co. factory. Despite being out on the main street with no cover, Ender attempts to pick the lock. As soon as he inserts his tool a dog from within growls and barks. The houses nearby stir and a baby cries in the distance. They regroup. Morgana attempts heat metal, but this just makes the lock hot. She uses druidcraft to entice the animal within with the smell of steak, but it’s overpowered by the incredible stench of cheese fermenting in the factory, not too mention the wall between her and it. They end up just shoving their swords into it with a brute force attempt, but this just upsets the animal inside and makes a loud noise. Lights come on across the street.
As they do this, a hunch backed man with a droopy eye comes around the corner whistling. The town idiot, Father Thero, asks what they’re up to and advises them against it. He points to his bandaged hand, explaining that he wanted a midnight snack and attempted the same thing. But he got bit by the guard dog. He says the owner, Grendel Orfman, is kind of a dick but he knows where the extra key is for midnight snack time. Constable Bert has a spare copy.
The party gets Father Thero to show them where the constable’s house is, and then Ender sneaks in the door still using the cover of Pass Without Trace. The entry room is split between a small kitchen and utility room with a desk. Ender carefully searches the desk, uncovering various items, among them a keychain with 8 keys. He also finds a receipt from the local Two Sisters seamstress shop, for a giant pumpkin costume. He quietly goes back out to the street and shows the party. They head back. Ender tries the keys, but despite rolling every single number except the correct one (6) he fumbles with the keychain and can’t figure out which key it is. The dog inside barks at his feeble attempts.
THE DISASTER
As they try to figure out what to do next, they hear a great crash from around the side of the building. A cloud of dust blows down the street past them. This great commotion wakes the town up, and suddenly people are everywhere, many yelling for help. The Silver Crescent Inn – the other inn up the street – has collapsed on it’s foundation, trapping the two half-elves inside. Svent Pent is busy throwing away rubble to get to the bodies. Morgana wildshapes into a wolf, and begins sniffing the rubble. The crowd recoils but Kif pets the wolf to show it’s here to help. Ender examines the rubble and sees that the support posts holding the inn up have been chewed by an indeterminate animals teeth.
Morgana, as wolf, sniffs for a scent on the chewed beam Ender shows her. They follow it away from the crowd, past the blacksmiths shop, to the ruins of the burned out husk of the herbalist’s shop. There they see that the building next door, a candlemaker’s shop, shared a wall but was untouched. Morgana sniffs around and whimpers at one area. Kif & Ender examine and find remnants of oil – an accelerant – and a partially smoked cigarette.
They continue to follow the smell, around the back of the buildings and towards a ruined tower on the edge of town. Here the trail zigs and zags amongst the ruins, but ultimately leads right back to…. Constable Bert’s house.
Ender decides to sneak into the back door this time. The door is unlocked, and as he very slowly opens it the almost full moon of this night illuminates a slice of the room: Bert is fast asleep in his bed, snoring soundly.
Ender slowly creeps into the room, and pulls out from underneath the bed a box. Inside is cheese from the Emerald Cheese Co. ravenously gnawed. Bert snores loudly. Ender slowly creeps back out the door. The party returns to the Scoundrel’s Mug but Jimmy is still up. He sees Morgana’s wolf form go up the stairs and as he draws on his cigarette, he says, “Ay, that will definitely keep the rats out.”
THE NEXT MORNING
The next morning the party enjoys some mead from Jimmy before they head out on the town. Next to Svent’s posters for his reward, are many placards for the Founder’s Day Jubilee. Villagers, despite the tragedy last night, go about trying to make the best of it. Bert is outside the Silver Crescent Inn, which has been roped off, and is telling looky-loos to fuck off.
They pass by the temple, where Father Thero is lighting candles for the recently deceased. He explains they were two nice older half-elf gentleman. Such a tragedy
The party heads to the seamstress shop, headed by two twin sisters Nitty & Bitty. They explain that they are sworn to secrecy on the costumes the villagers have ordered. They ask if the adventurers would like to put in an order for tomorrow, which they do. They also explain that the herbalist was just a nice young girl, and how nothing tragic ever happens here in this small town.
[ to be continued ]