From Gnorcia's notes:
The next morning dawned, day 6 of Reaping, and most of us awoke a little fuzzy about the previous night's adventures. Everyone except Armatzi, who had tossed out his herbal drink and had only water during the adventures in the grove. We had a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fruits, then decided to go tell Da’ana that we will not be needing her services, and then to head out for Hookhill.
We got directions to merchants and information about traveling to Hookhill, then headed to the merchant center on Banker Street. We soon came across “The Darling Stone” with a diamond-shaped sign, and determined this must be a jeweler, which Niki and I were looking for. Two mail-clad guards looked at us suspiciously and there was a man with a very pointy beard. I handed him my white jade and sold it, Niki sold some smaller gems, and Lhoss sold him a gold ring. The return on our items was about a 10% loss over the prices in Orlane.
We then went to Hearts & Flowers, the bakery. Kyro, Lhoss, Armatzi and I went in. I purchased a meat pie to share with the group, along with a barley loaf for the trip and a cinnamon roll for an afternoon snack. Lhoss spent all of her copper on cinnamon rolls for the group, and Kyro bought a tart. Armatzi merely nodded at the proprietress and she gave him a scone.
From there we went to Da’ana’s tower and found that she could not see us for another 5 hours. We decided to leave a note for her, letting her know that we found ourselves unable to meet her price at this time, but that we were grateful for her services. I folded this carefully into a little origami shape, which I passed along with a gold piece to the servant for delivery to Da’ana, and he promised to pass it on to her.
We then went back to Banker Street and found ourselves at the amphitheater, where there were people selling goods as well as a group preparing a caravan. After some negotiation, we agreed to join the caravan of Moussa Zidane as protectors for two and a half gold plus two meals a day, for a total of 37 gold and 5 silver at the end of the trip. Moussa proved himself a clever bargainer.
We all pitched in and helped the caravan load up, and after a few hours of heavy labor we were on our way out of the city. As we moved past the river, Zraith appeared next to Armatzi, asked where we were going, then said she would be coming along. When evening came, the caravan stopped and set up for dinner, which was a nondescript stew with hardtack. We took two people per shift guarding the group, midnight to 3 and then 3 to 6, and found it to be a quiet night.
At breakfast I was most displeased to find it was gruel for us all. To make it worse, as we were eating, heavy drops of rain started to splash down. The group quickly mobilized and set up tarps over the tents, but the rain didn’t clear up for hours and left the path muddy and impassable. Fortunately it had dried by the next day and we traveled easily along the road toward Orlane.
We quickly fell into the habit of guard duty for two shifts each night. The next day was a hot one, and we determined there was one more day of travel before we would reach Orlane. The meals were monotonous but I supplemented with my bread to keep it a little bit tastier. We arrived in Orlane at about 8pm that evening and were given coin to find a common room. We immediately went to the Slumbering Serpent Inn. It was then the 10th day of reaping and I needed to renew my contract for my room at Thorin’s inn, to keep my chest there.
We enjoyed the company of the elves and the mayor that evening and the elves in our group stayed up late talking with the Orlane elves, who were especially concerned about the changes in Hochoch as well as the tales of giant raids in the Grand Duchy of Geoff. Llewellyn was also very impressed with Lhoss’s boots. (I snuck down from my room and listened to all of this from behind the door.) The next morning we had a lovely pancake breakfast and were all happy to enjoy the food in Orlane again. We then returned to the caravan and were headed out of town by 7 a.m.
We passed the turnoff toward the barrowmarsh and moved along the main road toward the Dim Forest, then camped that night within sight of the forest. We awoke to another tasteless meal with the caravan, along with fine rain that made our travel through the forest a plodding affair. Everyone was bothered by the weather, in a foul mood, and snapping at each other. That evening we found a location in the forest and set up a camp, lit a smoky fire, and ate a meager meal that I supplemented with the last of my bread. At least there were no problems with any creatures in the forest that night.
The next day, despite the rain, the thick forest canopy made it possible to still travel and that evening we camped again in the forest. On day 14 the rain stopped but a mist arose, making travel challenging, but by midmorning we exited the forest and found ourselves on the plains nearer to Hookhill, though still about five days away. Of course the next day the rain started again and we weren’t able to travel. Our clothes were by then pretty wet from all the past days’ rain and the whole thing was becoming quite miserable. Day 16 came with sun that quickly burned off the water and mud, and we had to fight to get through the drying mud and dirt with the wagons. Guard duty was again boring and the next day we found ourselves even more irritated by the dirt all over everything. The entire group was bothered and overwhelmed by the traveling conditions, resulting in a full day that we were unable to move forward. Finally on the next day we managed to break camp and get moving again.
Each day we would also find ourselves periodically passing other traveling caravans, which required moving off the road and back on, and by the end of each day we were exhausted and even more tired of the disgusting food. Day 19 was the worst. It started with thunderstorms and at midday we were hit with lumps of hail and had to run to protect the animals, tents, and belongings. It was cold and everything was uncomfortable and difficult thanks to the weather. Fortunately the next day the weather cleared up and we found ourselves about a day’s journey from Hookhill. This boosted our spirits some and we were able to put up with the drizzly rain the next day a little better than before. At the end of Day 21 we found ourselves close to Hookhill but it was too late for the customs check-in so we stayed a couple of miles outside the city that night.
The next morning we arrived at the gates of Hookhill. Being a martial city, Hookhill is surrounded by walls and we were interested to see that there is a traveler’s town on the outskirts, around a pond, and yet another town like it closer to the city gates. Moussa paid the fee at the city gates and we moved into the city down Ivory Lane to the merchant area. He then paid our group 30 gold and 75 silver (which we quickly split between us) and seemed more friendly than he had on the rainy travel days, even inviting us to travel with him again another time.
It was then about 10am and we asked Moussa about the locations of a few places, such as a shrine to Merikka (he knew of one but didn’t know where it is), and a fighter or mercenary’s guild for Feno (he suggested going to the northwest quadrant and inquiring there). The group then determined to find an inn. We had passed two on the way down Ivory Lane: The Exotic Ox Inn and The Dapper Crab Tavern. Lhoss and Feno were both especially interested in the Dapper Crab so we went there.
A thin, aging woman with a tight bun of grey hair greeted us and introduced herself as Tiadora, the proprietress. I immediately took one of her best 5gp rooms with a hot bath, a real bed, and breakfast served in the room, and sent my clothing away to be laundered while I cleaned up my armor. Feno also took one of those rooms, and the others took smaller rooms at 2gp with a 1sp bath, or stayed in the common room with a 1sp bath. Feno and Armatzi also apparently each paid for a servant to fetch a new set of clothes, a traveler’s cloak, and low boots. Who knew a fighter and cleric were so particular about spare clothing? Everyone was especially grateful for a relaxing bath to end 15 days of exhausting travel.
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