Vasily slides down off Sev and jogs down to the water to the horses. He keeps his hands low, trying not to look too threatening, and reaches out to try to calm the beasts down.
Vasily is able to calm the horses.
The Fitcher assesses the situation, looking a bit edgy astride his horse.
The swirling, silty water blocks easy examination of the state of the wagon's wheels. Based on how it shifted when the ponies tried to pull it, though, the Fitcher thinks that it could move with a bit more muscle behind it. It should be possible to hitch to the traces and get it free,
Vasily is better with the animals, so The Fitcher hitches his steed to the wagon, trying to keep the beasts calm, but letting Vasily take the lead.
Round 1: The Fitcher wades into the surf and reaches the wagon, Vasily calms the ponies, and Katya starts to conjure. Bea follows the Fitcher into the water.
Round 2: The Fitcher is able to get his horse tied on to the tack, and manages to convince the ponies that they'd really like to try to pull the wagon out of the muck. Unless obviated by the player, Bea ties on to the other side of the team.
Katya calls forth an avatar of the Bull of Heaven, which obligingly pushes against the rear of the wagon. It creaks and rocks forward slightly, but remains stuck fast.
Vasily clucks at the horses and pulls out his secret weapon- a couple of dried apples- as he tries to convince the horses to pull harder.
Round 3:
Bea dismounts into the waist-deep water and pulls along with the various quadrupeds. The combined effort nearly frees the wagon...but not quite.
Round 4:
Before the wagon can settle back into the muck, though, the celestial aurochs gives a mighty heave. The wheels come free, and you're able to get the wagon out of the water to the cheers of the grateful gnomes.
The leader of the expedition hops down from his hillock with a broad grin. "Thank you, thank you! Here, come by our fire and dry yourselves. I am Jubilost Narthropple, explorer extraordinaire, and these are my companions and most valued assistants." He gives a florid and elaborate bow. "Please stay for a meal--it is the least that I can do for you who've saved us so much."
The Fitcher walks his horse up onto dry land, tying it nearby so it can relax and eat some grass. He gives it a pat on the flank before turning to the gnome. Pleasure to meet you. I am The Fitcher. We are surveying this land. Where are you bound?
The Fitcher keeps his expression neutral, and says nothing more until Bea speaks up. He looks over at the kobold bodies, but makes no comment.
Vasily nods at the Fitcher, agreeing with his question. He looks curiously in the direction of the wagon and the other gnomes. "Your assistants? This is an organized expedition, then. Where are you from?"
"Artume, most recently. I'm looking for new and interesting things. Seen any?"
"There's a tendriculos guarding a patch of rare mushrooms by a hot spring, if that's the kind of interesting you're talking about. An unfriendly wyvern flying around these parts, too."
The Fitcher holds his arms out to the sides in order to gesture widely. This, I think, is interesting also. Do you wish to speak of these happenings, maybe?
The gnome scribbles note as Vasily and The Fitcher talk. "That's the sort of thing I mean! Where did you see them?"
Vasily gives the gnome directions to the tendriculos's mud pit and the place where they were attacked by the wyvern.
"Interesting, interesting."
The Fitcher produces a genuine, if a bit feral, smile.
The gnome seems to be warming to you. "Tell me--have you been to Candlemere? I didn't have a boat, so all I could do was map it from the shore."
Vasily grimaces. "We have. I would not recommend trying to land on the island. We were attacked by will o' wisps as we tried to explore."
"I hope you didn't leave anyone behind--they're dangerous." Inferring from Vasily's tone that no one died, he laughs and looks over at one of the other gnomes, who has the grace to look abashed. "Told you it was a bad idea to land there!"
As you're talking, the other gnomes are performing various chores--cleaning up the camp area, tossing kobold bodies into the river, and preparing a meal. Narthropple rubs his hands together. "Now, then. You've been most helpful, and I hate to be mercenary, but I do have an expedition to support. If you'd like, I can sell you copies of my maps. Since you've given me some valuable information, I'll start by giving you one outright." He brings out a scroll from the wagon you saved and unrolls it. It shows a location which Katya recognizes as the barrow that the mad hermit also had a cruder map to--Narthropple's map and description are much more accurate, and you'll be able to find it easily.
"I have four other maps, and I'll sell them for 500 gold each."
"What regions do they cover? We wouldn't want to buy a map to territory we already know."
He'll tell you that he's found an abandoned keep west of Nadezhda, that he's met and spoken with a dryad in the forest, he's found signs of some large beast in the forest near the abandoned keep, and he's mapped a ferry station south of Nadezhda.
The Fitcher smiles as the trading begins. People who want to buy and sell generally don't want to stab you in the back. Literally, at least. A reasonable opening offer, but I think you can see that we may be valuable partners in the future, no? Maybe 1500 gp if we buy the lot?
Vasily nods. "Not to mention that we've been through much of this countryside ourselves. Perhaps we could simply trade maps, an even swap."
Fitcher, he seems sincere. He's apparently trying to recoup some part of his investment in the expedition. In response to your counteroffers, he frowns. "You've helped me a lot, I admit. What I'm really interested in is trolls, though. Have you seen any of those in your travels?"
The Fitcher shakes his head, shrugs and looks around at the rest of the group. Have you heard that there are trolls about, maybe?
Vasily shakes his head. "Not that I've heard. Why the interest in trolls?"
"Rumors only. Some sort of troll chief with a fabulous treasure. The usual, don't you know? I think 1500 gold would suffice, if you promise to get word to me if you hear anything about trolls."
Vasily nodded. "Tell us where we can send word and it's a deal."
"Leave word for me at Oleg and Svetlana's trading post, or at the outfitters in Nadezhda. I get back there occasionally."
Not surprisingly, The Fitcher likes the idea of a "fabulous treasure".
Vasily nods. "We'll send word if we hear anything. I wouldn't go chasing trolls if I were you, though."
He smiles. "We can run away with the best of them. Oh--one more question. Do you know of any kobold bands about? We'd really rather avoid the scaly little rats."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Vasily, you know that Bea and a few of the other councilors spoke of having had reasonably cordial dealings with a kobold band in the eastern part of the Kamelands.
Vasily nodded in Bea's direction. "There are some in the eastern Kamelands. The Council has cordial relations with them, so your instinct to avoid them is for the best."
"That's good to know. We'll keep our distance, then." There's some muttering from the other gnomes, apparently about the wisdom of allowing kobolds to survive when they could be slain out of hand.
Are we in the hex immediately adjacent to our home base? Have we fully explored the hex we are in, or do we need to finish doing that?
With the gnomes commissioned to explore, the party can turn its attention back to managing the growth of their small realm. Over the next several months, you manage to unmask a spy/provocateur from Pitax (possibly there because of Retsiji, but more likely because of the possibility that you would be a threat to him later), deal with the resurgence of the cult of Gyronna, and put down a plague of owlbears. As the curtain falls on Nadezhda, it's still thriving despite having had to sever official ties with Brevoy and otherwise handle the minor vicissitudes of the world, and perhaps Doktor Zloty's final warning was unneeded. Perhaps....