Being told of Mala's departure, Grimm comments.
"She did not say anything to me about her leaving. I was in her room gathering my things just before turning in, and she mentioned nothing to me..."
Adran comments, "I don't know of any other hill she would go to. Let's get the group together and go there. By the way, is Gustav still around? It is possible Mala may have gone to see the hermit early so she could guard Gustav on his trip back to Hochoch."
[b]I am ready whenever you lot are.[b]
Strangely the only guests at the inn at the moment seem to be you...
To the barkeep, Are things always so quiet?
No but I think you are scaring my customers... maybe they'll come back for an ale at lunch - I don't have any other travellers.
Gustav seems to be absent too.
Said something about getting the harvest loaded early - his wagon his gone
Adran asks the innkeeper, "When we talked to the hermit the other day he expressed an interest in getting some ale. Do you have a small keg or something like that available for purchase and if so how much would it cost?"
sure - hogs head will set you back 5 gold
Adran grimmaces. He says, "That's a little more than I can afford right now so I'm going to have to pass. When do I have to check out of the room to avoid paying for another day?"
The man shrugs. If another comes along? Mid day, otherwise sundown is fine... not exactly a lot of guests here
Adran replies, "Ok then, I'll plan to check out at sundown."
Turning to the rest of the group Adran says, "Let's go see the hermit."
What is some entertainment worth to you? I consider myself skilled with the flute.
We'll talk later - music doesn't exactly spend now does it.
"Lets go see this hermit again....maybe he has some answers!" The dwarf has all his gear with him...just in case we do not return right away.
Empty handed you go up the hill.
Did ya bring me anythin'?!, Comes a voice from the top off the hill. If not, bugger off and get me what I asked or give me a damn good reason t' talk to you.
Adran replies, "Mala should have already been here with your stuff."
The old voice grumbles.
Fools. Seems you are down a friend then as none visited me earlier.
Adran replies, "Well, given that nothing you have told us yet has checked out so far we would be fools indeed to believe you. So, why don't you tell us something we can verify before we start combing the area for somebody we know came here, or even get you food and drink from town."
Blind, fools and witless... Who tole you she came here? The innkeeper? Bah - he's one o' em I reckon! People disappear from town, an' come back all wierdified, if' they come back at all - tha's where yer friend be... Be vanished an' taken.
He seems genuine in his contempt.
Best ya come on in then... But ye owe me mind ya!
The shack is not at all what you expect inside and it seems the outside is a rough facade for a neater, more stable structure. The small the room beyond the front door is clean and orderly.
I wasn't sure where you fell, says an old man in cultured educated tones as he shucks off an over covering of roughly stitched together raggedy clothing.
As is always the case things are not as they seem and here in Faubough, it's for the worst.
Adran says, "It's obvious that something is going seriously wrong here. But figuring out exactly what that is and how to fix it is likely to take time. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give us."
I am called Ramne. I was once called Ramne the Wise and Ramne the Powerful, now I am just Ramne... the Retired.
I noticed changes - subtle at first in some ways but I am convinced that over time many of the town have been subverted... Including the clergy to our church. I do not know who to trust. The situation with your friend has tipped my hand somewhat. I do not know if they have been taken away, deep into the swamp - their place of power or if they remain imprisoned here.
Patient observation has shown me that people, even whole families, have been disappearing only to return subtly changed, and sometimes not returning with all those who first disappeared with. If you act? You must act with caution, and be wary - this cult may have subverted enough people to be a threat to even mercenaries such as yourselves and you do not want to kill the innocent by error or because they are misled .
Adran nods in agreement. He says, "My name is Adran. We don't want to raise any more of a ruckus than we have to. Our mission is to try to help the people of the town, not burn the place to the ground. What can you tell us about the place of power that the cult operates from?"
The swamp, it is the center of their power - I followed the cultists unseen once and know the sites location but I am reluctant to set you on that path without you first proving your skill. Come back with concrete news of your friend - if you are sure they are gone to the swamps then we will see what we will see.
"Can ye tell us who in town we can trust? I fear that the temple might already be compromised..."
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"My name is Adran. We don't want to raise any more of a ruckus than we have to. Our mission is to try to help the people of the town, not burn the place to the ground."
I don' know. Sometimes you can reforge a sword to remove the shotty workmanship, but sometimes you gotta just melt the whole thing down an' start again."
After listening for a while, to let it all sink in, "Back in my days in Mendev, sometimes we'd go an make our way over to the Thunder Step." "Sometimes to Ustalav, too. It was always strange, talkin' with those beast riders. They are tribal people. A lot of tradition, strong warriors. Generally good folk. And they sort of had a mentality of "the Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend", and since we both hated the Wound, that made us kinda of friends. So when we went there, it was to try to help out where we could. Strengthening bonds, introducing ourselves, see about trading, that sort of thing. But somethin' I always found really interestin', and I've found it too be more or less true all over, see, when we would go to one tribe, they would always tell us what's what around them. They where sort of set up so that most of the tribes kind of left each other alone most of the time, and generally the next tribe was camped about a day away. Fences makin' good neighbors and all that.
"But it seemed everywhere we went, all the tribes we talked to and made friends with, well they would tell us about the other tribes in the area, always just two or three villages away. An' almost every time, what we would hear is that the next tribe over, they are ok, but a little strange. Generally okay, but reckless. Like a little too close to the chaos or the darkness, and almost but not quite bestial. But, every tribe that was two villages away, they where always,. . . corrupted. They'd strayed too far from safety, delved too much into dark magics, and they had become like beast-men. Couldn't be trusted. Not evil, just not "human", and anyone that got too close, well they risked it, too."
"Anyway, jus' an ol' mem'ry, pay no attention. How long did you say you've been out here on your own, sir?"
You'd take that burden on? Deciding to 'melt down' the Village so to speak? Well, this village hasn't been the refuge and rest I hoped it would be but I hope that any who casually take on that responsibility get exactly what will come to them.
He seems quietly peeved by the suggestion made by Beckett.
As to the 'Who can be trusted'? Best you make that distinction yourself. Tell me, you fear the church has been corrupted from your own experiences. Who else do you suspect? Maybe thats where you should start - but have a care. Choose wrongly, act in haste and you could find yourselves victims in short order.
Adran says, "Deciding who to trust is a thorny problem. Especially since not everybody is going to agree on what to do. One person we talked to thought that you were part of the problem, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
"If I could pester you for a little more information, you used the term 'cult' to describe those who were up to no good. That would imply they are worshiping something. Any idea what that would be?"
Rex "hears" Adran's voice in his mind saying, "I would like to wait and see what Ranme has to say about that first."
From the mouths of children- yes. It is a cult of the serpent folk - what they worship seems to be a God these creatures call Set, or the Kellid men used to call Yig... Or so I guess from the hideous ceremony I witnessed from concealment where I lay shuddering in the dark in the muck..
The worship of Yig is all but vanished except for the odd shaman or witch among the swamp folk and only in passing, not understanding the nature of what it is they mouth impotent praises to.
Adran replies, "Thank you for the information. I'll see about bringing you something from town when we come again. Unless one of my colleagues has further questions, it looks like we need to start combing the surrounding area for our friend."
Be wary of that inn you are staying in. Travellers have disappeared from there before.
Adran replies, "You have a point. We may need to take over an abandoned farm house to use as a base."
I think I like where this is going.
Adran replies, "We have several different things to do. Trying to find Mala is top of the list. But after that we are going to need a place to stay and neither the inn nor the Constable's bunkhouse will do."
I say we just find some unused house or something and just take it over till we leave. But yeah, we need to find Mala.
You head back to the Inn and find Gustav wiping down the place. He's alone.
Adran says, "Hello Gustav, are you working for the innkeeper now? Have you seen Mala? Do you mind if we have a look at the taproom?"