A Rational Explanation

28 Flaurmont - Melinir
 
With the trial now finished and behind us there are a few items I noticed I left out. Longmane is pretty angry with us. He vowed revenge for what we had done. Dram seems to think it’s pretty serious and he may break the law to get back at us. He was quite upset about not being able to inherit the Keep as well and it going to the Church. Bodgan (Rhiannon’s Father) did not seem upset at the Knights demise as I pointed out in my last entry. Tristram is a bit upset with us as we ruined the tournament. I do feel some remorse for being critical in the Black Knights death. Durbin was the one smashing him in the head but it was my magic that brought him down. I was told he was actually the last member of the Fighters Guild so me doing that seemed like a continuation of the war. In reality I just didn’t want my friends or myself to die. Nothing I can do about it now but try and not harm any humans we come across in the future.
 
8 Yarthmont - Silvercrest
 
Rhiannon and I will be heading back to Edgewater tomorrow, Dram and Sorin as well but only to escort us. He is worried that Longmane could cause trouble for us so we shouldn’t be split up. The clan would like her family to visit so they can meet them. They also want to meet quickly as with only a bit less then a year to prepare there is much to be done. Rhiannon was working with them on blending our traditions together for the ceremony. There was a mix of sorrow and happiness for our marriage announcement. I’m guessing sorrow because i’m not marrying an elf and happiness that she is a great person and we have a good relationship. The Princess is still missing but they are out searching for her now. It could be something we look into but Dram and Sorin are very obsessed with these River Bandits.
 
12/13 Yarthmont - Edgewater
 
Bodgan wanted the elves to come to his home. I had to explain that elves do not really have blood names or bloodlines but that the entire clan was my family. So basically if he wanted to host my “family” he would need to host the entire Silvercrest clan. After that he agreed to come visit Silvercrest. I’m glad he’s come around but the differences still might be a bit much. I’m sure we can overcome them in time though. Aside from that it was a pleasant stay. Before he left, Dram was concerned about us traveling alone so I told him I could send Melwen when we are ready. We decided to both head to Melinir to spend time there and play together again.
 
When Dram arrived he wanted to head to Torlynn. Rhiannon had no issue as the meisterburger had great wine, which was definitely agreeable to me as well, but I had a suspicion that Dram was up to something. Indeed he was. He wanted to attempt to hold another tournament but really needed someone to sponsor it. He also said he had inquired into the river bandits and there is a substantial reward he was going to use to help fund it.
 
The Dimir family could host so I asked Rhiannon if her brother could join but I had forgotten he was too young for the Black Knights tournament. Though you don’t need to send people to join in any tournament games to actually host it. I was a bit torn. I have a very odd sense of loyalty to the Barrik family but I was joining the Dimir family. I didn’t want to really upset either one by helping either one more than the other. It is all very difficult to keep track. Among the clan it wouldn’t really matter much we would just do this and all would contribute. Rhiannon was very excited though. She wanted to announce our engagement then officially and we could play together. It does sound like a good time and would help people in the Rift.
 
We went to Torlynn to meet with Gustavon. Things were going very well there which was good to see. Gustavon was very keen on hosting but did not have the money to do so until the harvest came in which would then put off having the tourney next year. Dram offered up his cut of the river bandit share when we caught them to help host the tourney. Gustavon did not like that idea, he did not want it as a gift. He said he would take a loan but not a gift. I would guess that it would dishonor him for taking money to host the tourney? I wonder if there are any books at the Monks library about these types of things. It’s getting very difficult to keep track of.
 
18 Yarthmont - Melinir and Surrounding Area
 
The others wished to start investigating the River Bandits now to collect the reward to loan the meisterburger the money for the tourney. I wished to have some more time off but to get the tourney going I suppose we could do that. Apparently they would hit different spots on the river between the two forests. It was sporadic so no one would know where they hit and try to capture them. Valum had sent out expeditions to root them out but to no avail. The Guilds had just essentially come to an agreement to pay the bandits what they wanted and everyone be on their way.
 
Dram and Sorin were discussing how to track these bandits down. They were discussing scouring the river area to find any trace and try and track them down. That all seemed far too obvious to me. Any bandit in the area would be alerted and hunker down or simply vanish. I suggested we just go to where their hideout could be and try and surprise them. There are the old abandoned mines and the whispering caves that were rumored to be haunted.
 
Durbin told us according to legend the mine had been going well but was close to being finished up. Then the dwarves in the mines started getting very argumentative with each other and that led to actual fighting breaking out. The dwarves decided that the mine was cursed and since it was almost finished anyways they sealed it up and set a warning that no one should enter. The locals believed it to be cursed as well and stayed away. Well to me that’s the perfect place to hide if I didn’t want anyone to find me. While there are real curses they are few and far between so likely this was explainable.
 
I suggested we should just go directly there. It was the perfect hiding place for a group of ruffians who didn’t want to be found. The others were somewhat skeptical but i explained if we start poking around it would alert them. If we just went to where they are we could perhaps catch them off guard. It seemed to have swayed them and we decided to try that first. I did have one request. Since these were humans we should not try to kill but rather capture. If they were tried and convicted then their punishment was just. We should not be the ones doling out punishment as we see fit. They agreed to that.
 
We had an approximate location of the mine so we headed out. On the way we ran into a father and son on a wagon who called themselves the Green Grocer. They sold goods between all the little villages in the area. Dram and Durbin bought some of his goods, the latter buying a barrel of salt. An entire barrel of salt meant for a small community called Garlands Rest, Apparently the raftsmen would stop there on their way down before entering the Grakken Wood. That could be a good place to check if the Whispering caves yield nothing.
 
After the others bought their supplies we continued on. It quickly became apparent that none of us could actually find the Whispering Cave. It’s not like there was a direct path or signs or anything telling us where it was. Well we would have to check out Garlands rest then I suppose which was just up the road.
 
It was just a few buildings with one large barn that was kind of a communal building, tavern, inn, etc. There was a raft tied up with crates of goods stacked on it. There was a man skinning a deer outside who we would find out is Glahd. We entered the barn and sat down. A middle aged dirty woman was serving beer and some stew. I would try the stew but I had my own wine. I created some water for ice as well and she said we shouldn’t drink the water here. She apparently was offering herself as well which made me sad. After this river bandit thing was over we should help out this area so she wouldn’t need to do that.
 
The others were discussing what we should do next and it all seemed rather roundabout to me. So I just asked the other table if they had been hit by river bandits lately. They had been just a week ago. Then I asked if anyone knew where the whispering caves were. That I got a lot of pushback on. “Why would you want to go there, that place is cursed!” Pretty much exactly why we wanted to go there. The woman said that children had actually come up missing as well in the area. Definitely something to check out then for sure. She said Glahd could probably help us if we really wanted to go there.
 
We dropped some coins on the table and went outside to speak to this man. He gave us the same reaction. Why would we want to go there?! He basically refused to go. He said it was very difficult to find and that he only stumbled upon it by accident. He did give Sorin a detailed description of landmarks and how to get there. We thanked him and headed out. It took some time but Sorin was fairly confident we were on the right path. Eventually he came across some tracks and we decided to follow them. Eventually they split. A larger group went off towards the river and a pair went off towards Garlands Rest which we decided to follow.
 
We quickly followed them to a pair of men leaning against the barn there. As we approached they started to rush off. We pursued them and eventually they stopped to question why we were following them. Dram and Sorin had drawn out conversation with them about what they were doing. They claimed they were just going to check their traps and spots on the river. It was pretty obvious that this wasn’t the case and the Whispering Caves was the River Bandits base at this point, at least to me. There was some conversation about even arresting them but do we have any real lawful authority here? I was getting a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing but they decided that we couldn’t really do anything. Then they walked away from the river though they were saying they were going to check their traps. Dram called them out and they said they were nervous about us following them. They had a point, maybe these weren’t the same men that left the tracks? So now I was getting more nervous, I didn’t want to be put on trial again, I don’t think Bodgan would care for that much after I had finally built a bit of a bond with him.
 
At this point Durbin had his crossbow and Sorin his bow. I reminded them to please aim for limbs so as to not kill them but I was unsure now these men were really a threat. I did notice one man seemed to have a raspy cough and was wheezing a bit as if he was ill perhaps? They began to move away again and without real evidence we couldn’t really do anything. My arm brushed against my pouch of coins I kept on me and I had a spontaneous idea. “5 Gold if you help us, plus we’ll heal you and forget about your involvement”. The last part I now regret as we’ll learn more later but I gave him my word. Just not sure how to go about that now. Anyways they stopped, said a few words between each other and then the raspy man clubbed the other knocking him down. He agreed to surrender and help us if we could heal him. That definitely helped, we were on the right track after all and we had one of them to assist us.
 
He was insistent on collecting his gold but the deal was him to help us. He also was questioning our ability to help him. He showed us the “wound” and his skin was literally turning into bark and the skin around it an angry red. He was a bit hesitant but he did say they blamed the elves. Preposterous! Why would do anything so callous? Dram asked about perhaps any dark elves that would do this? I sternly told him there are no dark elves and to not mention it again. There are no dark elves. I shifted to my mages eyes and could see it was definitely magical in nature. I did this after confirming that Durbin and Dram saw nothing entropic about it. It was almost like the poison that had frozen Prince Elladin and the others.
 
True to his word he led us to the cave. We did have to get this man and his companion back to town though to get him treated as I needed to keep my word as well. Sorin blazed a trail back to the main road so we could find it again and we rushed them back to Melinir. Dram didn’t want to bring them in case the disease would spread. That made sense and Sorin ran off to notify the church. Dram wanted to find Pickman but I assured him the church would call him if needed but he was insistent. I told him to do as he saw best so he ran off into town. He came back with Pickman and a bit later Sorin came back with Father Martin. I explained it was definitely magical related and then was ready to head back. Dram and Sorin were watching over them. I could see even Durbin was ready to go back as well. I announced we should get going, we needed to get back before our surprise was ruined but they kept talking. Durbin started walking off and I followed and that seemed to snap them out of it and they followed us back up the road.
 
We made decent time back to the cave. There was a dwarven statue out front that confirmed the mine was closed and sealed and no one should enter. Of course the seal was broken and tracks going in and out. Next time I hope that the others listen to me! Scouring the river area for days would definitely have alerted them. We entered the “mine” and were greeted by what looked like a well constructed castle. This was definitely not what I was expecting. If it wasn’t underground it would actually be somewhat pleasant. I should have known the dwarves would not simply dig a hole and would make it something grand.
 
We were quickly greeted by a surprised habitant who was expecting his friends to return. The others sat him down and started asking questions and the man kept making noise and looking down the hall. He was clearly stalling for time like the Black Knight was before and I announced it. They tied him up and sure enough there were armed and armored men coming down the hall. I noticed they were very organized as well. Whoever was leading them was very skilled. It was a small hallway and it was finally time to use something that would even the odds here. I began preparing the spell and letting the others know to move or stop to time it correctly. It worked out perfectly and I created a thin layer of perfectly smooth ice under them. It didn’t just even the odds, the battle was over before it started. Five surrendered but three were able to run off. I should add that after we all agreed to capture these bandits Sorin stabbed one as hard as he could in the face. The face. I find it hard to fault him though, it’s not like he knew what I was going to do so he believed he was at risk. The man also will live as well and it seems like these men may have done some nefarious deeds. I apologized to them that we had severely injured one of them, that was not our intent.
 
The ones we captured were not willing to talk at all really so we continued on. There were more rooms built with fine dwarven masonry but eventually it led off to a series of tunnels where they were digging out when they stopped due to the “curse”. We found more sick men. The leader was dead, killed by the lieutenant who was barely hanging on. The same thing, turning to bark and madness. The bandits did tell us that the lieutenant and the captain had been fighting quite recently. There was also a room with a number of what literally looked like tree timbs. Some of the trees were even stood up like people with clothing or weapons. It was quite eerie.
 
There was a pool of water in the tunnel where the actual “mines” were. Durbin had picked some mushrooms and upon closer inspection they were foul, he said. Something was wrong with them, spots that looked like little veins. Very odd. We questioned the men we had captured (we picked up the three that ran) and they said yes that was their drinking supply but they had been using it for years. Also some of them were newer to the gang and were not from the rift. This was very interesting as perhaps there is another way in and out? I digress though, back to the pool of water. I used my mage eyes and could see there was indeed what I would say an entropic mana taint in the water. I used one of Durbins small glass flasks to collect some water using apportation (I did not want to touch it or have an accident). I could still see the foulness. I purified it and it went away. It was all falling into place. Dwarves had a natural resistance to poison so it didn’t turn them into trees but eventually affected their minds. The men did not have this so they started turning. I was correct again, it was no curse and had a rational explanation.
 
There was much more to explore in here but we did not have the time and these men needed to be taken care of. We took the horse and cart and loaded everything we could including grabbing another vial of water that had not been purified. We made our way back to Melinir as quickly as possible. Dram pointed out that the other gang of men (the larger group of footprints from earlier) may get away but we can’t do anything about that now. I was more worried about any odd laws we may have broken. Did this law of hospitality apply here? I mean they were using it as their home and we went in uninvited. A sudden fear crept into my mind that yet again we did the right thing the wrong way. Dram assured me that wouldn't be the case this time. The bandits had unlawfully made the mines their home after the dwarves sealed it so the Hospitality law wouldn’t apply here. That made sense and made me feel better.
 
When we got back to Melinir there were guards outside and tents set up. We dropped off the prisoners and Valum showed us some disturbing news. These men were part of an organized gang from outside the rift. He showed us one man (a Hattian he said which I understood from my Thyatis book, a group of Thyatians who believed themselves superior in every way) and his tattoo. These men were definitely not from the rift. He said they were known slaver’s so the children that came up kissing were likely sold away but where to? We did not have time to question them much as we needed to return to the whispering cave and delve deeper into the source of this foulness to prevent it spreading further.