Gnorcia here. It seems much has happened and been recorded in the writings here.
I had been resting at the inn on the last night of my training, but awoke to find myself somehow with the group, on a trail through the Dim Forest. I blame Jack. He likes to teleport things. Why not people?
As we walked, the group filled me in on what I had missed during my week of training and told how they had stumbled into some terrifying and amazing experiences, great danger, and loot. Of course. At least I learned a few things while they were off adventuring. (Did all that really happen in just a week? I wasn't even sure what day it was, but knew it had to be Brewfest and we were missing out on that.)
One interesting story they told was about a map they purchased.
One evening back at the inn, a cloaked figure approached Lhoss and said, “I hear you’ve been searching for a map.” Lhoss responded in the affirmative and the stranger continued, “I have a large map of the surrounding nations for a certain price.”
Lhoss was unsure what price a copy of that map might be worth and the stranger suggested starting at 1000 gold pieces. Of course Lhoss balked at that and said she would have to consult with her friends as she did not have that sort of sum. She bought him an ale and said she would return with an answer.
The group talked and schemed, then Lhoss went back with our finely-cut sapphire as a counteroffer. He seemed to have some knowledge of gems and thought about it for a minute, then smiled and said he would be willing to take the sapphire and 100 gold. Lhoss countered at 50 and he countered back at 75, which she then accepted. A deal had been made! And a good thing because otherwise we would have to rely on the often-lousy verbal directions of farmers and other travelers.
Map in hand, we traveled for three days through the Dim Forest to the northeast toward Hookhill. Along the road we were passed by travelers moving swiftly on horses in both directions and wished we could travel with such great speed. We also encountered a small group of pilgrims who were worshippers of Farlonigan, traveling from Hookhill to Hochoch. They seemed to have good information that matched with our map.
At the far edge of the forest we came to the road that would take us north to the town of Woodsedge. Apparently that town and a volcano was our goal, but the group had learned the map wouldn't help beyond that because there was no path from the town to the volcano. Obviously. Who in their right mind would make a road to a volcano?
Two more days took us north toward the town of Forestwatch. Along the way we encountered other pilgrims, travelers passing us on horses, and merchants with wagons. They were all friendly but not talkative. At dusk on the second day we arrived at Forestwatch and discovered they were celebrating Brewfest. At last! We hoped to join in the revelry for at least one evening.
As we entered the hamlet, a large building had a sign reading “The Gold Duke” and appeared to be a tavern. We went in and were greeted by a large, boisterous man named Olaf. He offered us roast pig and fried potatoes along with a selection of vegetables and spirits. I immediately requested a bed in a room that wasn’t the common room, and Arnd agreed to share a room with two beds. The three elves took another room with two beds and Lhoss planned to meditate on her bedroll on the floor.
We had delicious meals with cider and ale that evening and celebrated in the square with others in the town, then slept well that night. A little too well, actually. As we slept soundly, a thief or thieves crept in and as a group we lost 20 gold pieces.
Upon hearing of our loss the next morning, the innkeeper was generous with a free breakfast and offered to contact the constable to discuss it. It was now day four of brewfest, a crisp autumn day. We stopped at a shop on the way out of town and purchased some rations. A few of us also bought some utensils, bowls, and plates before we began traveling again.
The next leg of our trip was uneventful. Arriving in Woodsedge, we found it had a stone gatehouse with a guard requesting 1gp each for entrance. After paying the fee and entering the town, we found ourselves at the Two-Cup Inn, a well-kept tavern. The rooms were only 2gp for private rooms with locks and food included in the cost! We were happy to hear about all of that. The proprietoress, Gretchen, asked about our business in the town and referred us to a member of the local watch, Marcus, who she said knows something about displacer beasts.
Gretchen also shared disturbing rumors she had heard of hordes of undead near Orlane. This was very troubling because we thought we had just saved Orlane from the undead! She encouraged us to return and see if the people there needed help. As Arnd, Nikki, and I solemly ate our dinner and discussed possible methods to return quickly to Orlane, Lhoss and Feno found Marcus in the tavern and went to speak with him.
Marcus was a talker and elaborated further on Gretchen's disturbing rumors. He said that Naynor had somehow been strengthened and become bolder in his raids, and the necromancers also seemed to have only been strengthened by the Pit of Chaos being closed, which was very disturbing news to us. He seemed perplexed that we had left Orlane in increased danger, though Feno and Lhoss explained repeatedly that we had thought it even more safe after our efforts.
Feno of course also pressed Marcus for more information about the goal of our quest—the displacer beasts—and he said the beasts seem to have a nest to the west in the forest, but the townsfolk and the watch combined had only been successful in battling them with large groups, and with casualties.
All of this was terribly worrying, of course, and most of us became unsure about our quest and what we could do to serve our beloved friends in Orlane, but Feno convinced us that since we had finally reached our destination, we should seek out the displacer beasts and then find a way to quickly travel back to the town and take on whatever dark forces have taken hold since we left.
As the group finished eating and talking, I said a silent prayer to Zuoken for strength and added a request for Jack to stop puttering about in Orlane and assist us on the displacer beast quest. And maybe he could bring Armatzi, Ramne, Dorian, Llewellen, that snobby Bernard guy, and even some random farmers. We're going to need all the help we can get.
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