Stop the Poaching - Group 2, Session 5

General Summary

2nd day of the Time of Thirar's Carrack, 2171CR

The party has been walking the road toward Spirit Lake, expecting to make it to the village before nightfall. Within about two miles of town, they come across the path that leads off the road to the north to the farm of the Norbert and Girritrude, the two who were well known in Dryad Falls for the strawberry tarts they brought to the Founder's Day fair, but who had nothing but potato and onion tartlets this year. Approaching the farmhouse, they are met by the son of the two, and proceed to discuss the failed crops of the past two years. They did not obtain much useful information. Thornas, however, drew upon his experience as a farmer from the northern plains - an area that was difficult to farm for as long as people could remember - to offer some advice to the son on how to salvage at least some of their crop.

The party continued on to the village, reaching it shortly before sundown. They headed directly to the bakery of Grisela Bladewell, the Village Elder whose name they had been given by Elianna Altuliel. Aryk was surprised to find himself speaking with another Dwarf, but this helped break the ice quickly. Grisela explained that the Village Elders were aware of the poaching issue, but had so far been at a loss as to what to do about it. They had investigated, but found nobody apparently involved from the village. While the two Dwarves conversed - mostly in Dwarvish, Zatqualmie sampled a number of the sweets available at the shop. Eventually, the discussion turned to the Brownies, Button and Bow - two more that the party hoped to contact. Grisela suggested that some of her cupcakes would help in that regard, so the party left with a basket of the sweets.

As the sun was setting, the party decided to secure lodging, so they headed to the Crying Spirit Resort. They hoped that securing rooms there would ease their efforts to contact the Brownies. As the place was just opening up for the season, and had no other customers, the party was pleasantly surprised to find luxurious quarters for relatively cheap prices, and excellent service (as there were no other guests for the place to worry about). A bit of shopping at the Apothecary in town was completed before shops closed for the night.

In the morning, at sunrise, the party makes contact with the Brownies. Aliya speaks with them in their own Sylvan tongue while the rest of the party wonders what is being said. Aliya manages to get the Brownies to help them by playing a game of "'Tective" - they would look for clues and report back in exchange for more cupcakes. With that meeting concluded, and a hearty breakfast for 12 consumed by the 5 adventurers (or, as Zat would say, 4 adventurers and one observer), they decided to check out Duncan's General Goods. They had gotten a few indications that this shop may be important to their investigation, and when they walked in and saw the same cages that the merchant had been carrying the night before, they were wary.

The cages, though, turned out to be intended for songbirds. Three birds were in cages on the counter in the shop. Amaric Duncanson, the shop's proprietor, explained that caged songbirds were something of a fad in town. Tanalith, who has been doing all of the talking with Amaric, begins to make some not-so-subtle suggestions that "the Elves" were more than a little displeased about the village's inability to deal with the problem. This only succeeds in putting Amaric on the defensive, and he finally asks the group to leave.

In the meantime, Zatqualmie, who had not entered the shop with the others, explored around the back of the shop. Finding the rear entrance unlocked, he quietly snuck in to look around. He found nothing but a back store-room (from which he could hear the discourse between Tanalith and the shopkeeper. But as he turned to leave, Zatqualmie spotted something that might be of interest...   ...and the session ended at this point.

Rewards Granted

None.

Missions/Quests Completed

The party has arrived at Spirit Lake and has secured lodgings.

Character(s) interacted with

They have contacted Grisela Bladewell, the Brownies Button and Bow, and the shopkeeper Amaric Duncanson.