Wild Wild Westruun

Dear Sprocksmith,

Firstly I must apologize for the tardiness of my writin' to you. I had begun this lettah all the way back in Westruun, but I hope you'll find in the details closed within an understandable reasonin' for my warin' attention to penmanship.

I hope these lettahs find you well? Please extend my curtesy and best wishes for the new annum to yourself, Mrs Galoti, and the community of Bell in Drynna.

I'm currently writin' this note to you from the Last Woodpecker in Whitestone, I'm sure you're familiar with this fine establishment? I've only been in Whitestone a couple days, but I'll expose later in my journaling attached why it's felt a lot longer!

It has been a long few months since we left Drynna, and I think on the whole we have been for the better for our trails. But the hardship has left its marks on us, some more than others. There are certainly scores for us to settle, and decisions we've yet to (potentially) regret.

No disrespect to Miss Brightflame, and the Unbroken but your companionship has been missed these last few months Sprocksmith. We will be in Whitestone for a week at least, and I'll write before we go to confirm where we're heading next. Probably Stilben as Mr Sabali has similar business to me in findin' his own confidence in what he's doing.

I hope to show the fruits of our creations to you in person soon, and to hear about your latest tinkerin’s as well.

The work is never done,
Orlando


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Westruun Letter

Our business in Westruun has been far more convoluted and abundant in paranoia than our service in Drynna. Fightin' Hags and Sahuagin has been simpler than dealin' with people, double thinkin' every plan and interaction to figure who's secretly workin' for crime syndicates.

I believe these might be local boys to you Sprocksmith, the Myriad? Seems you're not the only export from Wildemount!

We discovered that the Myriad had infiltrated the Pennerton exchequer and been counterfeitin' gold coins with Calthian. Was a fine piece of alchemy that took me a couple of days and the well-stocked laboratory of the Cobalt Reserve to finally crack!

I'll spare the exact minutia of the operation, but when we infiltrated the bank there was a great ugly beast on guard called Salgoroth. Mr Veris said it was an 'Oni'? I've not had the previous pleasure of experiencin' one before and I say I am in no rush to do so again! No siree! But the thing that hurt me most in that brawl was poor Bayou misfiring 3 times in a row, can you believe?

Some ruffian got the bulge on me with that lifeless lead in my hand, and knocked me down. Fortunately, I have good taste in friends, and Lady Ceridwen came to my rescue like countless times before. I can still hear the ringing in my ears of bayou clattering onto the floor along with myself. It's like the background tings of the forge back home in Kraghmmer.

We managed to save the kidnapped son of Lord Pennerton, but the oni escaped. Fortunately, the Myriad hadn't a clue of our ambush, and we managed to infiltrate the Pennerton's hunting lodge to resecue Lord Pennerton himself before the dawn. It was an exhasutin' time, but a mission well accomplished. Lady Ceridwen was honoured with the Pennerton's family sword, a beautifully crafted longsword emblazed with divine magic. I was so proud to see her hold a weapon worthy of her talents and honour.

We took a bit of R&R and I was finally able to craft the silencer and my new arm. The arm could have some improvements on the strappin', but the metal work and mechanisms work like a dream. The silencer turned out to be even more superior than our prototypes, Bayou still has a loud bark but it's considerably less than before. Only people down the street can hear her now, rather than those in the next town over!

Lady Ceridwen had heard of a bounty for an orc ravager by the name of Kardar, who had been giving travellers to and from Westruun trouble. We hired some horses, and I'm now the proud owner of a Mastiff named Reginal Barkely, and set off deep over the Dividing planes to hunt for him. However, whilst we had some initial hard-won victories against groups of his horde, Kardar and his actual force were completely overwhelming. Reginald wasn't the only one who rushed back to Westruun with his tail between his legs!

The failure with Kardar certainly knocked our confidence, and mine wasn't in the best of shape since I got done by those bandits in the bank. I worry that I could be a liability for the group, everyone has been blessed with some mystical talents and I fear me and this ol' girl Bayou can't keep up.
If a literal Angel, and the fastest cat man alive that can create pools of blinding darkness, are all saying that they aren't powerful enough to deal with this. Then how this little ol' gnome with a dodgy weapon that's older than half the party, and has to ride a dog feel like he's going to cope?

I've made a fair number of mistakes in my time, and I've let down several people before. Not again, and not with Lady Ceridwen.

After some soul searching and reflection in the fall of our hubris, I asked the Unbroken if we could venture to Whitestone to find out more about Bayou, and maybe ask the Lord de Rolo for his help. It's only been a couple of months, but the bond that has formed between us has grown. It seemed even in the face of our greatest failure yet, we remained Unbroken in our comradery.

We stayed in Westruun for Winter's Crest, spirits were lifted as they were imbibed, and Bayou had shown there was still life in the ol' girl yet by winnin' the sharp shooting contest. Although don't believe a word anyone says about "Orlando the terrible"!

It was a pleasant time to share between us, but unfortunately not all of us could make it to Whitestone. Mr Veris had business with the Cobalt Soul that took him to Wildemount. He was a quiet man, but we were always richer for the times he talked and shared his knowledge.

By strange happenstance we had bumped into a reveller we had acquainted with during the Winter's Crest festivities. Mr Simeon, a Cleric of the Moonweaver was invited to join our group as we travelled to Whitestone. Whilst Lady Ceridwen may think she has another companion of the divinely touched, I suspect he may give her similar trouble like our more chaotic comrades in the Unbroken!