Jhod Kavken’s Arrival: A day after Kesten Garess arrives at the Trading Post, another traveler comes to the area. This is a priest of Erastil named Jhod Kavken (NG male human cleric 4), a traveling cleric and hunter who claims to have heard of the exploration charter and came to Oleg’s to offer his help. In truth, Jhod has been all but excommunicated from the priesthood after he helped form a lynch mob against a traveler his home village thought was a werewolf responsible for several recent killings. Only a few hours after they lynched the man, the true killer was caught by a hunter and revealed to be nothing more sinister than a particularly wily worg. An investigation by the church of Erastil followed, and they found Jhod’s involvement in the village’s overly aggressive pursuit of the traveler’s lynching to be actionable. Only the fact that the traveler happened to be a bandit spy sent to town to look the place over (a fact that Jhod discovered only after the man was executed and his belongings were searched) kept the church from fully excommunicating the priest— and even then, only if he accepted exile. And so Jhod traveled from his home in Galt up the Sellen and into Numeria. From there, his wanderings eventually brought him east into Brevoy, where he had a particularly vivid dream about an overgrown temple of Erastil guarded by a huge, angry bear. Upon waking from the dream, Jhod felt an irresistible tug to the south, and realized that Erastil had given him a chance to redeem himself. The tugging led Jhod to Oleg’s Trading Post, but there it stopped—and soon after he learned about the PCs and their charter from Svetlana. Jhod has also heard rumors of “lost temples” to Erastil in the Stolen Lands, and the first time the PCs return to the trading post after his arrival, he tracks them down and asks them to keep an eye out for anything of that nature—particularly an old temple guarded by an angry bear. Jhod, like Kesten, has a larger role to play in the Kingmaker Adventure Path. For now, though, he can offer the PCs a quest and, perhaps more importantly, serve as a reliable and affordable source of additional healing between forays into the Stolen Lands.
JADE REGENT
Spoiler:
Development: If the PCs fight the faceless stalker, the noise of the combat eventually wakes Walthus in area G9. He listens to the fight, and once it’s over, he risks investigating by opening the secret door and calling out. If he hears anyone other than Volorog reply, he begins sobbing in relief. The halfling can describe to the PCs what happened, and thanks them profusely for saving his life and driving “that monster” off. He even offers the PCs his magical cloak of resistance +1 as a reward for their services. In addition, Walthus invites the PCs to stay the night in his home—he’ll cook them a meal and will answer any questions they might have. He also offers the use of his home as a safe place, where the PCs can retreat to and rest while they explore the swamp. Walthus can certainly confirm that the Licktoad goblins have been acting a bit braver than normal of late. He’s not sure where they got their fireworks, but he can confirm to the PCs that the Old Fish Trail (area B) leads to their village. If you think the PCs could use an ally and ask for his help, Walthus even agrees to accompany them on their exploration of Brinestump. If the PCs don’t uncover what’s really going on here and come back later, there’s a chance that Walthus is dead. Every day that Volorog is allowed to live here after the PCs’ first visit, there’s a cumulative 10% chance that the faceless stalker finds and kills Walthus, then buries his body in the swamp. At this point, Volorog continues living as “Walthus” until the truth is found out. Story Award: If the PCs manage to save Walthus, award them 600 XP, as if they had defeated him in combat.
