IDROTF C1E3: The game is afoot Report
General Summary
Enjoying their free mead untl the wee hours of the ... afternoon ... the party discusses plans for what to do next. Saryeras is in need of some armor and a rapier. Leather armour is easy enough to come by from any number of furriers/tanners in town, but steal is going to require a trip to one of the larger towns in Ten-Towns. For the time being, Andove Littlefoot trades his rapier for a shortsword that Saryeras had picked up. On their way back home to sleep off the morning's drinks, the group is approached by the town cooper, Olivessa Untapoor. She addresses Zinlis Arosath as she speaks and tells them that her friends are urging her to run in the election for Speaker so that Shandar Froth, a local bully and blowhard, does not win the seat. However, Olivessa Untapoor is a woman uninterested in (and ill-equipped for) politics. She asks Zinlis Arosath if he would take her spot and offers to thrown her full support and that of her friends behind him. Before Zinlis Arosath can respond, Kadgrith jumps in and exclaims, "Kadgrith will seek glory in the position of Speaker! Kadgrith will raise army from people of Good Mead and defeat all Orc tribes in Icewind Dale to keep town safe! Verbeegs too!" The party retires to the home of Zinlis Arosath and Saryeras to discuss further, and get some much needed rest. At some point during the night, Kadgrith sneaks into the Speaker's home and signs his name to the register. He is the only opposition to Shandar Froth. In the morning, after a hot breakfast, the party seeks out Shandar Froth to discuss the upcoming election; however, he is nowhere to be found. After an exhaustive search (And door-to-door campaign by Kadgrith ) they determine that Shandar Froth left town in the direction of Bryn Shander in the middle of the night. Deciding that they were heading that way anyways to investigate the murders, the party packs up supplies and extra rations (courtesy of Zinlis Arosath) and begins to follow the already cold trail of Kadgrith 's opposition. It is slow going trying to follow him as they are uncertain if he was truly heading to Bryn Shander or if his trail might veer off in another direction at any moment. After 8 hours of travel they still had not caught him, but were lucky enough to have kept his trail. It is decided to press on the last hour to Bryn Shander (assuming his trail continues it's beeline to the town) but Saryeras is looking truly exhausted by the time they approach the outskirts of town. It is at this point, as well, that Shandar Froth's trail veers finally, skirting the town to the north and likely heading towards Targos now. Taking pity on poor Saryeras the group decides to enter Bryn Shander and rest for the night, as well as see what information they can pick up regarding the murders. They make for the Northlook, the local inn and tavern. It is a rowdy place, frequented by adventurers and mercenaries primarily, but the companions are familiar with it from the years they have lived in Good Mead. They secure rooms, and food and ale and sit back to listen to the happenings of Bryn Shander and it's surrounding areas. Besides the murders, two topics are heard frequently on the lips of the patrons. First, it would seem that noone has seen or heard directly from the Speaker of Caer-Dineval for a long time (it is said he has fallen ill) and that sinister figures have been seen entering and leaving the castle at odd hours. Second, the fishermen in Bremen are being terrorized by a monster that lives in Maer Dualdon; strangely, the other town on that lake are not being bothered by the monster. Eventually, the group retires to their rooms for the night. Saryeras casts his ritual Alarm on the room for extra protection and they fall quickly asleep. In the morning, over breakfast, they decide to visit the local smithy to procure more suitable armour, but find that it is beyond their currently meager means. Carrying on, they head to the home of the glassblower (the most recent victim of the murders) to investigate before leaving for Targos in search of Shandar Froth. On the way, they are approach by three stocky figures bundled in cold weather garb. One introduces herself as Hruna, and her companions as Korux and Storn; they are dwarves that ere travelling with a shipment of iron ingots from Kelvin’s Cairn. It would seem that along the way they were surprised by a yeti and one of their number was killed. In their escape, they left the ingots behind and are looking to employ our heroes to retrieve it - offering to reward them each with a gemstone valued at 50gp as well as with the friendship of the dwarves of Icewind Dale. She mentions that the party will want snowshoes to travel the open tundra on foot, and Korux offers to provide these as part of the compensation in order to encourage our heroes to prioritize their request. Bidding the dwarves farewell, and asking that they monitor Bryn Shander for Shandar Froth's return trip to Good Mead while the party is engaged in the retrieval of the iron ingots, our heroes continue to the glassblower's house. There they find that it has already been boarded up, but Kadgrith "picks the lock" and they easily gain entry. Inside, they investigate thoroughly but turn up very little...until Zinlis Arosath stumbles upon a journal on a nightstand. Two entries jump out at them. The first, dated a little over a month prior, states "OMG! OMG! What will I do? I have 'won' the lottery." The second, dated a tenday or so after the first, states "Thank the gods for the value people put into my work. I was able to bribe my way out of the sacrifice. I think I had better look at closing shop and moving to one of the smaller towns though; where all they sacrifice to Auril The Frostmaiden is some food or warmth." Deciding they have learned what they can here, the party heads off in the opposite direction of Targos in order to pursue the lost iron shipment. They travel for a full day and feel that they are closing in on the location that the dwarves indicated they had lost their cargo; but they are also conscious of the effects of pushing too hard and are now out in the open tundra with little shelter so they decide to camp for the night. The watches go uneventfully, save for that of Kadgrith . During his watch, he is visited by another one of the little sprites (chwinga) who also seems to delight in snowball fights and practical jokes. The two wake Zinlis Arosath with synchronized snowballs to the face. In the morning, after some breakfast, the party packs up camp and continues their search for the lost shipment. However, not thirty minutes after beginning their trek, they are caught in a sudden blizzard. Zinlis Arosath quickly organizes the haphazard construction of a snow shelter and the party waits out the 4 hour long blizzard in relative safety and comfort. When the winds go quiet, they spend 45 minutes digging out of the drifted snow that filled the entrance to their temporary shelter, and they prepare to carry on their search.
Rewards Granted
- Korux provided snowshoes for those party members that did not already own them.
Missions/Quests Completed
- Speaker of Caer-Dineval has not been seen in some time - they say he is ill and surrounded by shady men.
- Fishermen in Bremen are being harassed by some kind of lake monster on Maer Duoldon (but only those from bremen, not other towns)
- Olivessa Untapoor convinced Kadgrith to run for Speaker of Good Mead (Following Shandar Froth to Targos)
- Hruna asked the party to recover a lost shipment of iron ingots somewhere in the wilderness between Bryn Shander and Kelvin’s Cairn.
Character(s) interacted with
Created Content
- Glassblower's house in Bryn Shander is the L-shaped house in the NW quadrant.
- Glassblower's journal revealed he was selected for sacrifice and that he bribed someone to get out of it.
