"Help me by dragging Odie toward the door. I'll heal him as we go. Typh let the horses out of their stalls! If we can get Odie up he can help with the horses. He's seems to have a calming whisper with most animals."
If Stony still can't see, we will guide him to help us drag the over-sized Odie to the door.
As Odie is being drug out the door, Alset uses the wand again.
"Once we're clear of the building and the fire and are safe, I'll heal the rest with the Wand of CLW. Who else is injured?"
Stonewall moves to urge the horses out of the building. As he is leaving, he grabs Balik’s body to take outside. When he gets outside he checks to make sure everyone makes it out. When no one is in imminent danger he searches the body and says, ”I wish we knew where exactly Anglosa is and when she will be back with the other creature.”
Typhlothrix pulls open the stall doors, the horses whinnying madly and their mouths foaming. Frightened by the medusa, the horse dashes out of the mill through the smoke and into the jungle.
Seeing that Typhlothrix is taking care of the horses, Stonewall instead grabs the Skelettin‘s maces as well as the halfling’s body on his way out.
Typhlothrix, despite not being very good with animals, ushers our the last two horses.
The Muddy Mariners step into the humid air, the mill ablaze behind them. Stonewall grabs the Large flails (not magical) and Balik's body, and Ood grabs the papers from the desk. The five of you plus the horses make it out of the mill as the timbers crack and fall from the ceiling. The path leads through a few trees ahead of you, and you can see the dirt road come to a tee, the walls of Pridon's Hearth just peeking through the foliage to the right (west).
The sun is above you, an hour before noon. Tonight, you remember, you have a meeting with Sheriff Adaela at her home. You'll also need to speak with Banker Valdra about the missing priest of Erastil that started this whole thing with the Skelettin.
"I hope those ledgers are incriminating," Typhlothrix says to Ood. "Otherwise, even though you're deputies, you've got... breaking and entering, arson, and multiple homicides against a thriving local business."
Alset heals the injured to full health with the wand of CLW. I'm going to assume that nine charges of the wand were expended to do this and update the spreadsheet accordingly.
"Typh, what will you do now? Where will you go?"
Alset remembers the chest he had grabbed earlier and set down at the top of the stairs. He rushes in and grabs it exiting the burning building just in time.
He finds the others and attempts to open the chest.
Typhlothrix pulls her hood over her head. "I'm not sure where I even am. You got a harbor? I'll book passage out of this town as soon as I can, jumping ship when we pass my lighthouse. Small towns and strangers don't often mix well. Unless you think Pridon's Hearth is much different?"
The chest pops open and inside is thousands of gold coins, likely the lumbermill's payroll.
"Everyone, this is Harrell the Barrell."
Ood looks over the papers and the cloak.
"Well this cloak may help in all this rain... We should talk to the sheriff before too much time passes. She may be on her way now with all the smoke. We should turn the ledgers over to her at least."
"I think we should turn over the payroll as well. It may be that the ledger will indicate that many in town were wrongly overcharged and will want refunded. And, some should probably go to restore the temple these evil people destroyed. We can lay claim to any unclaimed funds. Of course, we'll have to deal with the wife and her other ettin first."
"I think that Typh should get some of the gold for the loss of her time and eyes. How does 800 GP sound?"
Alset begins to count out the coins to give them to her.
"I wish you well. Perhaps we'll meet again under better circumstances" He looks up from counting to see her reaction as he says, "Unless you want to stay and finish off the wife with us?"
He pauses, then continues, " I'm not sure how welcoming this place is, but they didn't have any problems with Odie or the dwarves, and hobbits are accepted easily enough. I think you can trust the sheriff."
Ood turns the cloak over and smells the stench of death. It is black and embroidered with patterns of skeletons and skulls.
Typhlothrix is grateful for the offer. Having nothing else but the clothes on her back, she says, "Had I eyes, I would weep. Thank you for your generosity. My passage aboard the next ship will not be as a stowaway."
"I hope to meet under better circumstances as well. But civilization is not my preferred place to live, and this town will do nothing but remind me of my imprisonment. I trust you can finish Anglosa on your own. I will stay the night in the walls of town, instead of down the coast, and wait for a ship. I have nothing to offer you in return."
In the distance, a guard comes running toward you from the town, agape at the fire from behind you. "What happened to Wymackie Lumber?" he asks, still staring at the flames.
It is raining, so the fire will not likely spread very far. The sky is overcast, and, you notice, has been since the lizardfolk druid Reszavass attacked Pridon's Hearth not long ago. The supernatural storm that flooded the town seems to still be hanging around in a milder form.
I wonder if there is a good launderer...
Alset commandingly moves to meet the guard with his weapons put away and quickly speaks to the guard, "Sargent, we have uncovered great evil in the lumber mill. We've saved all we could including a couple of hobbits, some horses, and the payroll chest. I think that captain Praet will want to see what we have spared from the fire. Go quick now, and fetch her. Be quick and I'll make sure the captain knows how well you performed your duties. We'll make sure the fire doesn't get out of hand."
The guard nods at Alset. His commanding presence and deputy badge convince him to turn around and run to town.
Not long after, Sheriff Adaela Praet comes through the gate with the guard. The fire has finally sizzled out in the rain.
"You boys look like you have a story to tell."
Before Adaela gets here Stonewall says, ”I’m not for turning in that payroll. If Typhlothtix can have some of it, so can we.”
When Adaela arrives Stonewall looks at her with his arcane sight.
Stonewall explains the secret passage hidden in the temple and the blinded creatures in the cave. He explains how they found the laboratory and the barrow wight and Typhlothrix in a cage. Then he lets her tell her story about being captured by anglosa and Balik and the priest of Erastil being turned into the barrow wight. ”It was then that I realized we were directly under the lumber mill. So we went up the stairs and found the workers in the basement of the mill. The foreman ordered them to attack us. They must have seen our badges. We defended ourselves.” he explains how they found the sawdust slough and the fire started and they ran up into the ground level of the mill and found Balik. ”So we attacked because we knew they would attack us on sight...” So Stonewall explains the final fight with the lumberjacks and the skelettin, ”So here we are. The laboratory might have survived, I don’t know, but you can definitely find the underground cave. We might be able to recover the ettin’s bones and we have the mill’s ledgers that should show they were smuggling.”
Ood offers the ledgers to Adeala as Stonewall explains the foray.
Alset, true to his word, tells Adaela that the guard performed his/her duties very well. "Adaela, do you have any questions or comments on this little adventure through the lumber mill? We'll need to prepare for the return of Alglosa and her second ettin. Or maybe we rest and then set out to meet them outside the city an unexpected ambush of sorts. Regardless, a visit to the tavern and a good nights rest would do me wonders.
While waiting for the sheriff to arrive, Odie inspects the barrel and looks longingly at the death cloak.
Nothing on Adaela is magical.
After listening to Stonewall's story, she looks at the ledgers Ood gives her. "I'll have to look at these later tonight. As for the mill, boys!" she shouts. Two guards come hustling up behind her. "Take some shovels and sort through those ashes. See if you can find that underground entrance, it's probably a ways down there."
The two guards nod and hurry off, looking a bit dejected at having to dig for the rest of their duty.
Adaela nods at Alset's comments. "No sir, everything you said seems reasonable. The Wymackies were always shady. They've tried stunts like this before. But when they're the only lumber source this side of the Bay, there's not much else I can do.
[b]"Still don't know when that necromancer will return though, do we? What do you boys think, an ambush at the ruins of the mill? I can keep one of my guards posted here, and he can send word if he spies them coming. Don't know how fast we can react though, especially if you four are out searching for the lizardfolk menace in the woods. Any of you a tracker?"
"As for a good drink, well, you've got dinner tonight at my place, don't forget. We can chat about this and a few other things there," she says, leaning in conspiratorially. "I've got a story of my own to tell." She taps her armor, emblazoned with Iomedae's sword on it at the paladin.
The barrel sloshes around as Odie looks at it. The top is corked but feels very full. It smells strongly of sawdust and alcohol, with a hint of frogs.
if Ood notices Odie looking at the cloak, "Hey, Odie, I don't know if this would fit you but do you want it?" Well, there's one more thing I don't have to carry around!
Alset checks out the cloak for Odie.
Detect evil on the cloak.
The cloak detects as slight evil. If Stonewall looks for auras, he detects necromancy on the cloak.
After any remaining talks with Adaela regarding how to prepare for the coming Anglosa and Ettin, the sheriff watches over the guards digging out the ashes as the party is free to go back into town.
After helping to identify the items brought out of the lumbermill, Alset will walk the city in search of any who plan to celebrate the holy week, Armasse, which is held each year beginning on 16 Arodus, which is now upon them. This week important to the faithful of Iomedae, who use it to train commoners in combat, ordain apprentice clergy, pick squires for knights, and teach military history, hoping to prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated. Given Alset's current circumstances a little teaching and training of common people is all he can hope for.
"I say we keep the money. Payment has been scarce on these jobs."
Odie graciously accepts the cloak and puts it on immediately. After thinking about it for a second, he decides to offer Ood his barrel as a trade.
Odie decides to help the two diggers with his shovel skills, to look for buried loot. If they find something of value, Odie may share his new barrel of drink with them,
"Thank you Odie, but I don't think I have use for a barrel, maybe you could find some use for it."
You head into town and talk to Mirya at her Emporium about the magic items. After some fussing about with pleasantries, she tells you what you have:
The people of Pridon's Hearth are much interested in Armasse. Most of the town is expected to come to services in two days time. Word of Alset and the Muddy Mariners' exploits have impressed even the surliest residents. Some want to only know how to fight like the Mariners, others simply want to see what if this fuss about Iomedae will last longer than Erastil did. A few more devout townsfolk offer to help build a makeshift temple on the site of the Temple of Erastil for Armasse.
The digging is slow, and the two guards are more concerned with watching the massive half-orc work than doing much themselves. Nothing of interest is found beneath the ashes except the opening to the lower levels appears to still be intact. If you dig all day, you could make a hole wide enough to allow people to move freely between the old Temple of Erastil and the ruined Lumbermill.
When talk of the temple comes up, Stonewall pulls Alset aside and says, "I have no qualms with having a temple on OUR property but either we also need somewhere to live on the same property or you should buy out me and the others."
Stonewall greatly enjoys the Harrell alcohol, especially having the Tortoise vision and considers designs of a Tower Shield with a Tortoise emblem.
Stonewall also shows Mirya his Wand that he picked up to see if she can identify it (and selling it if Alset can't use it).
Ood listens to Alset with interest regarding Armasse, and wonders what history he might be able to learn.
Ood goes to visit the residents he as been instructing to see how they are doing, offer help where he may and see if there is any news while they had been busy. Ood also mentions to any that hadn't heard what he knows of Armasse.
The wand contains 40 charges of Unseen Servant. Balik is wearing a gold chain worth 50 gp around his neck and a set of nobleman's clothes. He is also carrying two scrolls of sending.
Ood's half dozen students also inquire about a more permanent place to study. The biggest news is the missing ship, the Lurching Wyvern. Last seen leaving port with Umuzu soon after dropping off you four at the start of your adventure in Pridon's Hearth, the ship was last seen headed west when the storm struck the city. One of your students think the ship has crashed on the small islet southwest of town, but no one has been out there to investigate.
The only other news is that Count Narsus seems even less concerned about the plight of his town since the storm. With the Muddy Mariners doing a lot of good and cleaning things up, he feels even more justified in his laissez-faire style of governing and is rarely seen outside his mansion (The mansion is where your lessons are currently taking place). You see Hamsa Gadd, financial advisor, hanging around the manor, busy with paperwork at seemingly all hours of the day.
After digging, Odie decides to trade in the death cloak for something more his size. Attempting to convince Mirya that trading it for Eyes of the Eagle will help Hearth in the long run and that it is only 100g more than the cloak. As his words fail, Odie offers up the difference in gold from his share of the days loot.
Odie, with his new eyewear, decides to go for a drink by the beach and see if the local fight club is still up and running, getting a drink, and relaxing for the night.
Maybe I'll start a brewery with my quarter of the land. Yeah, that sounds profitable and tasty.
If he spots the sheriff during any of this he will inquire about the lumber mill and offer to take over management of it, rebuild the burnt sections and run it as a legitimate business. Odie has more interest in drink than lumber, but everyone needs lumber almost as much as they need a drink.
While waiting and betting on the beach fights, Odie asks questions about the shipwreck. Distance, travel time, travel accommodation, whatever else he thinks would be important before informing the Party of our next excursion, assuming we have nothing more pressing on our plates.
Odie if having second thoughts about become management. He'll just let the mill be and will set up a tent for himself and a cooking fire to bake with on his quarter of the plot.
Stonewall sells the scrolls, wand, and trinkets the group has found. After this, he makes a trip to Banker Valdra to let her know about the priest of Erastil. While there, he asks about the shark fin holy symbol found at the abandoned village. As they are wrapping up these conversations, he says, ”Oh, and the priest of Gozreh, can you think of why Hamsa Gadd would lie about what happened to him? She says that the halflings killed but the halflings say they have no idea and I tend to believe them.”
Adaela agrees with Odie' proposition to run the lumbermill. "I'm not sure how burning down a property gives you ownership, and I'm not sure the precedent that would set is something I'd like to see in this town. Talk to Banker Valdra about it. She keeps all the property records."
By the beach, there is a burly bearded half-orc flexing in the tidal waters. "You want to get whooped tonight, big guy?" he asks. "This here fine specimen is Urglit, and my fists don't quit." He winks at his rhyme.
Maso Wangoma (the lame-in-the-leg bard with all the cats) answers Odie's questions about the missing ship. "Most ships head west out of the Little Tiger River toward the ocean. That storm brewed up offshore, so the ship likely crashed along the western coastline somewhere north or south of the inlet."
"Meow," says one of his cats. You recognize the fat cat as the one your rescued from the storm. She rubs against your legs and begs to be petted.
Banker Valdra is saddened by the news of the priest's death. "Poor young man..."" she says, wiping a genuine tear from her eye. "So full of hope. False hope. Stupid hope. You best not have none of that, you big whippersnapper."
She eyes Stonewall, as if seeing him for the first time. "You kids sure grow up fast."
"As executor of his estate, I will deed the property to you four, in equal share, to do with as you see fit."
She hands Stonewall a long and wordy document that is the legal deed to the parcel of land.
"Shark fin symbol? Hmm, let these old bones think. I think it was a symbol of Kelizandri, a goddess of drowning and waves. She was one of the old gods of this land, long before we settlers came here. Longer even than the halflings up in Cahshil. There were 9 minor gods that once fought against her, but they've not been heard of for a long time. I can't offer you any more help, young lad, that's all I know. Maybe there's an old temple of Kelizandri out there, or some corrupted form of worship of hers."
"Hamsa Gadd? I can't prosecute based on guy feelings and misinformation. She's lying because she has something to hide. If you doubt her, go ask her about it."
Stonewall gathers up the others and says, "I think we should go confront Hamsa about the priest of Gozreh. Something about this expedition doesn't seem to add up, especially if they were looking into these "Storm Kindlers". That seems connected to what the Lizardfolk are up to. Who's with me?"
"sounds great! Let's do it then go check it the mines after that, I remember someone giving us that quest when we first landed."
"I'm with you Stony. I need to find Mud and give him this pawn. Perhaps he'll want to join us. Also, we need to Return to Cahshil on Rova 22 and see what this "Abkhazia" is all about."
"I'm going to celebrate Armasse and get our newly deeded land in shape for us to have a home base and a training ground. I think a tent is fine for Odie, if it's only temporary. He deserves something a little more substantial. I'll also ask Mud if he wants to join us here."
Mud is sitting by the beach, a large piece of cloth covering his legs, and a sewing needle in hand. As you walk up he turns around, beaming.
"I been working on something," Mud says. He stands up and holds his newly created flag out for you to see. The flag is the color of unbleached wool. In the center is a golden bear and a moss-colored boar holding up a crimson tortoise shell, an azure falcon with wings spread over the shell. A scroll with the words "Muddy Mariners" is emblazoned above the emblem. Below the feet of the tortoise is the smaller phrase, written in Ancient Draconic: "Obsecro te, non volant. Nemo plus concessi."
Mud happily joins you wherever you want to go. He thanks you for the pawn, and uses it to cast reduce person on himself.
After your afternoon work, you learn that Hamsa is located in the Narsus Estate. After gathering yourselves and doing any last business, you four head out around 3 pm to the Narsus Estate and can find Hamsa pouring over a desk full of papers in her office, a few bottles of wine opened and a jar of candied fruit nearby. She does not look up from her papers when you enter her room.
"That look amazing Mud! What does "Obsecro te, non volant. Nemo plus concessi." mean?"
At the Narsus Estate:
Odie slams his fists on the table, rattling the bottles and candied fruit, then growls:
"So, your priest of Gozreh story, does not add up. What really happened?"
"Mud, thank you for the wonderful flag. It is perfect."
Playing the good guy to Odie's angry bad guy, Alset tries a little diplomacy on Hamsa.
In a calming voice, "Hamsa, why would you treat us this way? Who or what is threatening you so that you felt the need to mislead us? How can we help?"
"Whoa whoa there, big guy," Hamsa Gadd says, pushing her chair back. "Please, have a seat. I don't know what you're talking about."
She looks Alset in the eye and says with all earnestness, "I'm not being threatened by anyone except this brute of a half-orc you call a deputy. You can help me by not barging into my office in the middle of the day and demanding things from me."
"The priest of Gozreh? Magdi Kukoyi was brave until the end. If his apprentice, Kanjo Arram, is giving you trouble, I promise I will furnish the boy with whatever funds he needs to return home. Guards!" she shouts. Three burly men with the Narsus crest badges lumber in.
"Find Kanjo Arram and give him anything he needs. Money, clothes, even a new holy symbol if he needs one. He won't leave town a with frown."
The guards nod and leave wordlessly.
Stonewall, in his burliness, moves to block the guards and says, ”Why don’t we handle that, give us the money for his passage and a holy symbol and we can see him on his way.”