Letter to Ileas 6

Hello Ileas,
 
It's crazy to think barely a month passed since Liliana came back from the Feywild. From then we reunited with most of our friends, those who wanted to became knights, we protected the Draconic diplomatic mission and dealt massive blows to a mysterious cult which included fending off an army, and now the likes of Luke, Dadroz and Gael have become nobles as well and we are now tasked with stewarding the town of Dogville as well as integrating the refugees of Ravensfield into it. It's hard not to get a bit superstitious about our group attracting adventure and attention like dragons to a pile of treasure.
 
So around noon the day after receiving our new duty to Dogsville, we all met up at the abandoned keep to meet with Norvick, the administrator of the King's fiefdoms. He was going to give us a tour and introduce us to the locals. We spotted about seven or eight buldings as we approached, one of them being the abandoned keep where we rode up on our newly acquired warhorses. After some consideration I decided to name mine Faerin, after a saint of Irminsul. What do do with Torrin was a distant thought (perhaps gift him to one of my retainers) as we approached a giant carriage with Norvick stepping out with some difficulty in his old age. We greeted each other and immediately Norvick took us around the keep, that was to be our new home. When dividing up the rooms I realized my retainers: Carnwen, Petra and Krysander, might not be able to move into this keep with us. Though some could take a job in the new guards we're going to be building up, they've been trained with a sword and some good sergeants are always needed.
 
After a quick tour of the keep Norvick wished to take us into the village itself, the poor man could barely walk so we offered a hand as we approached the first building, the farm of the Farrick family ran by Darion Farrick, a large man, who kindly invited us in as they had all been informed of our arrival. There was a bit of awkwardness, as Darion hasn't addressed a ruling family in years and none of us have any real experience with being lords and ladies, since despite our status of birth, Lil and I never really ruled anywhere. He introduced his wife Salla and over drinks we heard kids playing outside. They seemed like the idyllic farming family. After some prodding from Lil, Darion started spilling the gossip: he was having a dispute with his neighboring farmer, Tommel Dresner, about a fishing spot they both frequent. He also lamented that the windmill is in disrepair after the family that held it died out, and seemed excited at the incoming refugees possibly having a miller in their midst.
 
Nordick also brough up taxes, but as Darion's gaze darkened we made it clear we still need to decide on the exact amount and don't intend to be greedy. Usually you pay one tenth to your lords and ladies, them a tenth to us, we a tenth to the King, but these things needed to be discussed in private among the group.
 
After that Nordick brought us to the next bulding, a kennel ran by a half-elf named Thomas Teller. He told us that he dogs used to be sold directly to the King, but after the Leper revolt this stopped, the dogs looked impressive and well bred enough and their litter of puppies was a sight to warm anyone's heart. I'm not the King of Keralon, but hopefully he'll sell one to me. Our house in Keralon was too small but in a keep and the surrounding lands a dog would be nice to take on walks.
 
But enough about that, Nordick took us to the next building: The Rusty Crab. It looked like an oversized food cart like you would see on the markets in Hillfield or Keralon, but it was the size of a shed containing only the kitchen and the area around it was fully settled with chairs and tables for guests where the owner, the Half-Orc Eiza, was serving the local delicacy of crabs. Eiza looked extremely busy so we decided to come back later, there was no need to draw her from a busy day.
 
So instead we walked into the Inn next door: The Grubby Griffon, owned by a halfling named Gideon Mudfoot. Though he could not be anymore different from our brother who shares the same name. Over some wine he wished for us to investigate the Rusty Crab, he felt like she was undercutting his prizes with the cheap crab while everyone left the more traditional kitchen of The Grubby Griffon alone. We were almost worried that he was going out of business as he dragged up a big bag of gold, a gift he called it. Now when it looks like a bribe, smells like a bribe and sounds like one, it's best to leave it at the side. So we politely declined and moved the conversation to possibly hosting a festival to celebrate the new beginnings of Dogville.
 
Our next stop, would you believe, was a lot less pleasant. At the local dock we were reunited with Tevon, the bugbear who helped us trespass the curfew. It brought back memories I'd rather forget about, especially once Tevon was proudly talking about the little smuggling business he had running and how he was willing to bribe us to turn a blind eye. When we left I was already adamant on stopping his little scheme but the others pointed out that smuggling will always happen and it's better to control it. While I disagree I do agree that doing something now would be unwise, it's best to see what we're allowing and investigate before making a move against it.
 
Our last stop before turning back was the Dresner farm, but on the way there a little boy named Kalas jumped out of the bushes brandishing a wooden sword, claiming he was a knight stopping the brigands. Eager to play along, grabbing a nearby branch and with some encouraging words from Hayley I happily announced I was the bandit he was looking for and I would not go down without a fight. After some playful fighting I decided to gracefully let myself be felled by the boy, or well, as gracefully as one can be defeated by a boy smacking you with a wooden sword. As he wanted a reward I gave him some money to go buy some crab snacks from Eiza when his mother, Leen Dresner, came rushing to us yelling at Kalas to stop and apologize.
 
We immediately made it clear he wasn't being a bother, and returned the money he dropped (I saw Hayley even add a few copper to the ones I gave). Walking to the farm I couldn't help but be reminded of Tarn, how my sister and I played similar tricks on Gideon when he came to visit. A simpler time, dreaming of becoming a knight. A dream that had become a strange reality in the last few weeks. Maybe it will become so for Kalas as well.
 
When we approached the farm it immediately became apparent it had seen better days, her husband Tommel Dresner was terribly sick and their daughter Niara was looking over him. Liliana and Hayley immediately went upstairs to look over him as we continued talking to Leen, who immediately started talking about the travelers coming through and how they were making her daughter feel unsafe. She made it clear these people were frequenting Tevon's little side business. She also gave a new insight into the dispute between Darion and Tommel, apparently they were good friends, even fishing there together, but had a falling out over something. And now they want the spot for themselves. Gael then mentioned a painting he saw in the corner, a blanket partially obfuscating a silver stag, and as the blanket was removed a painting of what had to be Sylvesse appeared, next to what we were told was a younger Tommel. Apparently when he was younger he was a scout in the army and was a friend to Sylvesse.
 
At this time Hayley and Liliana came back down, Tommel had apparently been cursed. A curse that one of Hayley's brews had managed to break but he still needed time to recover. Thinking of what could be the cause of the curse Leen pulled a basket of fresh looking apples from the cupboard, talking about an old lady that wanted to sell them but her husband yelled at her to go away, but she left the apples anyway. This was two weeks ago and the apples looked like they were plucked yesterday. And though they hadn't eaten from them it seemed worthy of investigating, and Luke took the apples to keep them safe.
 
Before leaving, she promises to send her daughter Niara to our keep in the morning to help clean, but we also asked her about the previous nobles who stayed there. She told us about the Crestfall family, who like their name, fell from grace about twenty years ago as they were arrested for treason to the King, the father was excecuted and the others were in prison. Leen mentioned they were an unkind bunch as far as she remembered. Maybe we could find out more about this Crestfall family but at the time we were thinking it was time to go back to the keep to start cleaning up.
 
On the way back we caught Eiza clearing up her terrace and we finally got a moment to talk. She offered us all some crab on the house, which was delicious. She also complained about the unsavory types that frequented Tevon's ferry, but also assured us she could handle them with a trusty bat behind the counter. Though that kind of thing should not be necessary of course.
 
She also mentions and old church near our keep that is being used by travelers to sleep and meet. And she hoped something could be done with it. So after bringing Nordick back to his carriage and bidding him farewell we set out to explore this church. Luke claimed it was a church for the old God Belenus (not be confused with his son, Belenus). Maybe we could get some priests from the capital to settle here, bring this church back to life. Trying to keep my mind from wandering to any particular priest we saw definite signs of people staying here but despite Liliana's disappointment at the lack of hidden doors or walls we did find some tracks of a massive animal, resembling the tracks of a goose. Sensing at least an interesting encounter we followed the tracks to a misty clearing, where besides a little hut were a chevron of giant geese. With one of them sprouting multiple heads like a hydra.
 
They started hissing as we approached and an old lady shuffled out looking at the commotion. She introduced herself as Auntie Patty, and she immediately made me feel uneasy. She sounded confused when we brought up the farmer, like she couldn't remember he bringing apples to his farm, even as Luke all but confirmed the apples came from here. In the end we introduced ourselves as the new Lords and Ladies of Dogville and left the lady to tend to her geese.
 
On the way back Gael brought up that this is almost definitely one of the hags that the King made a deal with, they must not be harmed and in return they hold some ancient evil at bay. Feeling a bit uneasy at the thought of letting this hag do as she wishes I like the thought of unleashing something worse even less.
 
When we make it back to our keep we were met with another carriage, Dann was there waiting and besides wanting to show us where the refugees would be setting up, he also wanted to ask permission for setting up his organization of merchants. Remember, the one that sounded a lot like a guild? While Hayley and Liliana were agreeable to this, Luke and I were at first a bit more hesitant, at least enough to want to discuss it among ourselves before deciding. Dann did a lot of good for the refugees and I don't think he'll fall into the same trappings as the guilds of the Leper Revolt, but I can see the Silver Keep from here. Is the inevitable scrutiny and following fury of the King and the trouble it'll cause for all people of Dogville worth a few extra gold? Something to at least weigh out. We also visited the refugees that are slowly settling in, marking out buildings to be raised. Here Hayley managed to get the former miller of Ravensfield and we happily gave him leave to restore the old abandoned mill and settle there with his family.
 
And that's where we decided to settle in for ourselves, start some cleaning and make sure we have a bed to sleep in and a small desk to write letters on.
 
The next few days would give us quite a bit to do: build up the keep, settle the disputes, figure out taxes and what to allow or forbid and how to come to a mutual peace with Auntie Patty. But we'll figure it out, or rather: we will have to figure it out. But I have faith that we will.
 
Ali
 
P.S.: We are thinking of renaming Dogville to Wolf's Rest. It's hard to put that anywhere but maybe by the time these letters get to you the change has been made official. If not, suggestions are always welcome.
P.P.S.: It's only been a day, I don't have any new songs.