Damn Elf Press

Day 4, 2nd week of early spring, Middlebury Keep.

Beck and Lugan spend an uncomfortable night in a dungeon cell. They are escorted to the courtyard where they meet the man called Higgins. He is a rough looking fellow, dressed in leather armor, carrying sword and crossbow. “You will take me to the fens and find the body of the nobleman from the vale.” He puts shackles on Beck and points to a waiting mount. Lugan stands by expectingly. Higgins nods at another horse and the dwarf climbs astride with some difficulty. Lugan looks dismayed as he notices the stirrups are far to long for his short legs. Higgins leads them out of the keep. Three mounted guards accompany them.

They travel north to Haversham. Little is said. The riders encounter a group of veterans heading to the Castellan’s keep in the borderlands. They tell of goblins and orcs moving in the north and also of the dead walking. The promise of silver is more than enough motivation for these seasoned soldiers to return to duty.

In Haversham, they rest for the night at the Broken Jug. This is where Beck stayed on his journey to Middlebury. The night is uneventful.

In the meanwhile, Odette and Felix try to rent some mounts. They want to follow Beck and Lugan hoping to come their aid if possible. The livery has no mounts to rent at this time, so they look for a merchant wagon heading north. Odette meets a merchant that notices her novice attire. To show his respect to a servant of Eos, he will take them to Haversham and offers to cover their cost at an inn. Odette and Felix arrive later that evening in Haversham and check into the inn called the Tortoise and Hare.

Felix takes a cot in the common room while Odette has a private room upstairs. It is here that she meets the disguised Althea and her maid, Frances. Does Althea have a conversation with Odette? Yes, AND…she tells the novice the story of her betrothed. She wants proof of her betrothed’s death. She will not have any more arranged marriages by her father and wants to be free of his control. Odette can sympathize with the girl. She had to free herself from the same kind of subjugation in Ren Cele. The chance to become a servant of Eos was her chance to break free. Odette offers to help Althea and suggests they travel to Bree together in the morning.

In the morning, Higgins, Beck, Lugan, and the three guards ride out of Haversham for Bree. It will be a four hour ride. Odette and Felix are still lacking mounts. Althea offers to supply mounts for the trip. They check with the livery stable and the young lady gives the man a handful of silvers to hire a pair of horses for the trip to Bree. The livery man recognizes Althea and reports this to the city watch. Six guards are sent to overtake them on the road and return them for questioning.

Felix’s ability to hide really helps out. He spies the guards and moves the others into the woods. The guards ride past, searching the road to Bree.

Higgins with Beck and Lugan in tow encounter a wine merchant coming from Bree. Beck uses his oratory skill to offer to purchase a jug of wine for Higgins and guards. Secretly he is hoping to improve his fortune with his captors. The merchants continue towards Haversham and Higgins continues with Beck towards Bree.

As they cross the stone bridge just a mile away from Bree, the forest comes alive with the sound of rushing leaves. In a heartbeat, the leaf men are surrounding the party. They look kindly upon Beck remembering him as a friend. Cornwall had given Beck a token of friendship with the fey of the Spiritwoods. The leaf men take a hostile stance against Higgins and the guards. Beck mentions to Higgins that removing the shackles would be a good faith sign of peaceful intentions. Not wanting to be killed by these tiny creatures, Higgins complies. They ride over the stone bridge leaving the leaf men behind.

Before coming into the town, Beck instructs them to skirt the Spiritwoods, travelling around them and reaching the fens. Upon reaching the fens, Beck begins to search for the ghoul hovels hidden in the tall marsh grass. Many hours later, Beck finally stumbles onto the ghouls lair. [GM note–I ruled that a search roll of 8+ would indicate finding the lair and if failed, I would roll a chance of encounters.]

Higgins searches this area carefully and finds a monogrammed handkerchief that most likely belonged to Fostwyck Yardley, the betrothed. He tells Beck that he wants to find the body. Beck retraces his steps and then moves eastward towards the Spiritwood. He finds the area where the ghouls attacked him. No leaf men come out of the Spiritwoods. There are several ghouls lying where they fell. Higgins finds the tattered clothing of a noble on one body. The others are dressed in the rags of what once were commoner’s clothing. Higgins wraps the corpse of the nobleman in canvas and ties it to Lugan’s horse. Lugan climbs behind Beck and the party rides towards Bree.

The wine merchant encounters the guards from Haversham. Does the merchant offer any helpful information? No…AND…he must not like their attitude for he tells them he saw some women and one man take the fork in the road heading towards the Castellan’s keep. The guards rush off to overtake them.

[GM note–It occurred to me that the duke of Middlebury will be looking for his missing daughter by now. I consult the One Page Mythic GM and determine that six mounted guards are dispatched from Middlebury and heading north towards Bree!]

Odette and company meet the wine merchant on the road and he warns them of the guards. He also tells them of meeting Beck and Higgins and their group. Odette thinks that they must be heading to Bree. She thanks the merchant and they hurry to the town.

Arriving in the town of Bree, they see no sign of Beck, Lugan, or Higgins. Instead of staying at the inn, Odette sees the sign of a boarding house. She thinks it may be a more private place to hide from any guards searching for them. [GM note–they actually arrive in Bree a few hours before Beck. Beck took several hours searching in the fens and returned to Bree much later.]

When Beck arrives in Bree, Sheriff John is there to meet them. Higgins tells the sheriff what they have found in the fens and that Beck is no longer considered a suspect in the crime but he still wants Beck to return to Middlebury to meet with the duke. Sheriff John tells him that the lad is now in his custody and will not be travelling to Middlebury. Higgins shrugs his shoulders and does not object. He has several pieces of evidence and the noble’s body. This would be more than the duke would have expected. Maybe with more men, Higgins would have considered challenging the sheriff, but he couldn’t be sure how many allies the hobbit had in the town.

During the evening, riders arrive from Middlebury and the six guards from Haversham return from searching the road to the Castellan’s Keep. Higgins explains what he’s discovered in the fens and declares that he’s seen no sign of Lady Althea, Odette, or the one-armed man. The guards continue their search into the night, riding back towards Haversham looking for any sign.

The next morning, Higgins leaves for Middlebury with the noble’s body. Felix manages to contact Beck and they return to the boarding house. Beck tells Althea that they’ve recovered a nobleman’s body in the fens and that Higgins is taking it back to Middlebury. Althea now knows her betrothed’s life ended in the fens. Her old life is also over. She wants to leave the controlling grasp of her father. Thoughts of Granden Vale and possibly even travel to Ren Cele are in her mind now.

Sheriff John warns Beck to be watchful of riders from Middlebury and that it may be best to lay low for awhile. Beck had offered to accompany Lady Althea to Granden Vale, but she declines. Instead, she and her maid will travel in hiding among the first merchant caravan heading to Grandan Vale.

GM note–Whew! This was a long slough with many moving parts. I had hoped for more action, but the dice didn’t want that. At least there is now a group of four PCs in the town of Bree. It is time for a dungeon crawl and some combat.

More to come…