Martenin the 22nd, 888 ID
The PCs decide to focus in on recuperating and upgrading their equipment before trekking forth to hire additional hands for their first Graver's Guild expedition. Masaka distributes some goodberries and casts some low level healing spells. Finian heads out to Dronn's Arsenal to trade some weaponry and armor, while Indrid and the newly polymorphed Masaka head to the Twin Lizard Tap which is purportedly a good place to track down some laborers who might hire on to the upcoming dig at the Dwarf Lords' Rest. En route, Masaka tells Indrid that he's choosing an alter ego to match with the new appearance he received from Teven's polymorph. He believes 'Gary Greasewax' to be a better fit. As Finian presents some items to the clerks at the Arsenal, he realizes they have more value than they had expected, and decides to wait for the others before finishing transactions.
Indrid and Gary hear through the grapevine of Twin Lizard Tap patrons that there's a hearty and fit half-elf known as 'Oatmeal' who might be a good fit for their porter needs, and they track down the brawny, charismatic pipe-smoking elf at the Eastern Market nearby. He agrees to tag along for the fee of 4gp per week, despite finding Gary's appearance a little unusual. The two have apparently not met. When they ask Orlann 'Oatmeal' for a potential lantern-bearer, he claims to have seen a girl around fitting that description, named 'Creth', although he doesn't know much more about her, figuring her for a night watchman, courier or burglar of some sort. The pair thanks Oatmeal, and they meet back up with Finian. The three then travel to Dronn's Arsenal, Hondo's House of Mail, and Bowyer Bigstrings to trade in a bunch of their lesser magic items for some upgrades. With the inclusion of the broadsword of chopping +2 that they found in the dwarven crypt between the Saints' Acre, they end up a number of new weapons, including a rapier +1/+2 vs. crustaceans, and a scimitar +2. The trio then trades in some gems to Flitz the Jeweler.
They decide to reconvene at the Guild-house and wait until evening to go and seek out 'Creth' at the Eastern Market. They do manage to find the down-trodden, blue-cloaked girl, and while she seems quite shady and suspicious, she also seems over-enthused by the prospect of joining up with the Gravers' Guild in any capacity, and agrees to accompany them for the rate of 2gp per week. She also warns the PCs that she's heard of them, and that the Hosspotches, embarrassed by the failed mercenary ambush within the Keep, not wanting to get their hands directly dirty, have decided to 'outsource' the problem of our PCs, who had caught them red-handed in some of their dealings. With this warning, the trio returns to the Guild-house, and after a brief conversation with Fleshless Tess, who swears to guard the stairs to the second floor as she doesn't sleep, they turn in...
Martenin the 23rd, 888 ID
Oskar had promised the PCs a breakfast of potato pancakes, and they await our protagonists in the morning, along with some flattened road-sausages, whatever those are made of. Finian peaks out into the street to check if the Guild is being watched by their Hosspotch adversary-kin, but instead sees a flash of blue cloak which might belong to Creth. They head out to finish their dealings at Royal Leathers, and while Gary is able to acquire a suit of enchanted studded leather right there, the suit requested by Indrid will have to be picked up later as it will need some adjustments.
The trio strikes out on the Great Westermarch, taking in the sights about them, hoping that they might make Livenoak by nightfall. After a few hours, they find a dirty peasant girl who is looking for some sort of official help. She was foraging through an abandoned farmstead with her younger brother when a bandit and his 'wolves' arrived. She, Lethys, was able to escape, but her brother was left behind, and she fears he's been captured and potentially harmed, or eaten. The PCs agree to help her out, wary that it might be another Hosspotch trap like they fell into in the Keep. It turns out legit, and soon a battle ensues at the farmstead in question with a half-dozen mangy dogs and their master, a whistling brigand who seems to hold some sway over them, while fighting with an exotic crossbow.
Indrid, Finian and Gary (in the form of a black bear), manage to slay four of the dogs with ease, and Gary changes back to human for to use a silence spell, and later a hold person spell, to deal with the bandit that has already been shot with a few of Finian's arrows. The other two dogs have fled after seeing the rest of their pack slain, and not being able to hear the instructions of their master. They bind the interloper, looting his disc crossbow and wealth, while Finian searches the damaged buildings nearby, and finds the girl's brother, Blinden, stuck in a trap door that leads to some old cellar. Indrid manages to free the boy, and then searches the cellar, finding a number of canisters of sealed honey in various sizes. They grab a bunch of them, gather up the children and their prisoner, and make for Halehusk.
They arrive a few hours after that, and head straight to the Hale Wower, where they meet up with the local officer Captain Caiman. It turns out this particular bandit had been wanted for some time, and the PCs receive the 100gp reward for turning him in. They purchase a new doll and some sweetened corn candy and caramel apples for the children, and then bring most of the honey canisters to the Lone Wheel House, where they sell them off for a good price to the barkeep Crussock. At the risk of running late to Livenoak, they decide that rather than leaving the children up to the Last Eidolorn for safety, they will personally guide them back to their parents' farm. As they leave the main paths through the Crown Pasture, as the sunlight begins to dwindle, they come across a dangerous situation, a pair of vicious looking, man-sized mammals are engaged with a number of serpents in the grasses...neither party seems particularly opposed to adding the five travelers to its target rich environment...
PCs: Finian Redfoot, Indrid Hosspotch, Gary Greasewax (formerly Masaka Reddenbalm)
NPCs:
Blinden (human male): A small boy with spikey black hair wearing grubby clothes and shoes with the toes worn-through. Brambles and dirt, he has a look of unceasing curiosity at everything around him and this has obviously gotten him into a lot of rough patches.
Captain Caiman (lizardfolk male): The captain stands nearly seven feet tall, his
suit of studded armor modified to fit his frame and tail. His scales are an
ochre color, with faint red bands down his spines and back. His eyes are narrow
and light green, his tongue flicking as he contemplates you, and his taloned
feet broad and sturdy. He hefts a jagged spear in one mighty arm, and a
silvered steel shield emblazoned with the Imperial Seal. Into a sash over his
shoulder is tucked a sling and a band of sharpened bullets.
Creth (human female): A teenage girl wearing a long blue cloak over a
suit of padded armor, its stuffing torn and hanging out in several places. She
herself looks as ragged as her clothing, with patchworks of red scars on her
face, oily long hair and old stains on her clothing. She carries a backpack,
hooded lantern and a short sword with a serrated blade. Her no-nonsense glare
marks her as a survivor, probably of many things that she doesn’t look willing
to speak of.
Crussock (human male): The portly barkeep at the Lone Wheel House is a
broad-shouldered man just under six feet tall, with thick, tattooed arms that
he displays under a cream-colored shirt and leather jerkin. His jaw is flat
with a fairly severe underbite, and his thick sideburns are long enough to hang
to the sides of his chin. Despite that, his hair is thinning into mere patches
on the top of his skull, and he ties the rest into a knot in the back. A
corkscrew and paring knife are tucked into his leather belt along with a number
of pouches.
Lethys (human female): A waif stands by
a branching path in the Westermarch, with a desperate look about her. A
rail-thin girl, not yet eight summers old, with dirt-matted brunette hair
hanging scraggly below her shoulders. Her feet are bare and half-sunk in a
patch of mud by the roadside, and her cheeks streaked with dirt and scratches
from the nearby cornfields. She clutchs a torn cloth doll with corn-cob hands
and nose.
Oatmeal (half-elf male): A burly, fair-skinned half-elf, six feet tall and just past his teenage years. A thick paunch is poorly concealed beneath his studded leather vest, offset by the massive biceps on his tattooed arms. He’s got a crop of brown hair combed to the side of an otherwise shaved head, a pair of black leather bracers on his wrists, and is constantly taking drags off a pipe carved to look like an elf maiden. A club and dagger reside in a belt hanging from shining black breeches.
Old Madly Arcott (human male): Arcott is an elderly human male somewhere deep in his 60s, with a shock of gray-white hair, shaven at the sides of his head, and a pair of copper-wire spectacles over bright green eyes and a heavily scarred nose and chin. He wears the standard brown attire of a local peasant, over which hangs an apron stained with several splashes of various-colored dye. A small figure of a girl fashioned from twine and husk encircles his neck, and he has various pockets stuffed with other natural baubles of corn and feathers.
The Whistlin' Man (human male): A scarred, slick-haired man, wrapped in piecemeal leather armor, wielding an unusual crossbow whistles firmly into the breeze. The bodies of the dogs seem to undulate with each note carried on the winds, as they scurry at your location.
