Kyhtorn 9: The Road to Thedon

General Summary

Being a hero takes more than meets the eye. It takes time. It takes dedication. It takes a lot of herbs and...stuff. One especially crafty hero, Anastasia Ragnar, has faithfully kept the newer New Gambitians supplied with all the healing potions they have needed, but the spike in demand has started to cripple her supply.
Lucky for us Ana has heard of a small tribe not too far called Thedon. She believes this tribe knows where the good stuff grows and hopes some of New Gambit’s best and brightest can talk them into spilling the beans or becoming our friends. Ana has also arranged for a Native named Amel, who is totally trustworthy, to guide these heroes and help them in their quest.

Adpetor, Taniel, Dimble, Wynnie, and Lor have gathered together to answer the call when a new addition enters. This newcomer, Alex, walks towards the group clad in perfectly polished armor. From his gleaming winged helmet to his impossibly unscuffed sabatons he had an air about him that proudly exclaimed “I AM LAWFUL GOOD. ALSO I AM A PALADIN.” Wynholora extends one of her famously meek welcome waves as Alex settles into the mix. It becomes quickly apparent that Alex is not a fan of beer and possibly fun so the other adventurers quickly consume their tankards and depart to meet Ana.

Here begins Wynholora’s account:
None of us knew who this Amel guy was or why he wanted to help us so we tried to ask Ana about him. She didn’t seem to know him too well but said he seemed nice. He apparently had been to our town a few times.
Ana was kind enough to write out for us and seal a document with her terms for negotiation so all we had to do was find Thedon and hopefully not offend them.
After leaving the town we quickly found Amel. He was tan skinned with dark brown hair, just like Ana said. Something about him felt off though. I asked about how New Gambit was perceived by the natives and he expressed a negative perception of our settlement. He pointed out our use of local resources as unpopular. At first it made sense to me but then when we came to a river Amel suggested building a bridge rather than paying a toll to Joe downstream. I found that odd considering he only moments earlier criticized our over use of the resources here. In the end most of us decided to swim across. Dimble decided to make himself a sort of ice bridge that somehow worked.
We continued on and not much farther west we encountered something quite strange. It was a humanoid with the head and features of a boar. It seemed to linger somewhere between human and creature, and it was undeniably dead. Upon closer inspection I could tell the poor thing had expired days earlier. The body was littered with arrows.
It was then really I noticed Amel grew quite uncomfortable. I asked Amel if he knew the poor thing and he began to insinuate that our settlement was a likely suspect for this death. The more I pressed Amel as to why he would think that he grew defensive. Whatever he knew he was not willing to share.
We carefully moved the body to a peaceful spot nearby and did what we could to lay it to rest. We knew not who it was or what its customs were. We settled on gently removing the arrows and saying prayers for the soul of the deceased.
As we continued North-West we came to a patch of forest not too far from the sea. Amel told us the village of Thedon was somewhere in this patch of forest. He said their Elder, Elyn, was who we need to talk to. We asked if he had been in Thedon but he said no. He told us his village, Giles, was not too far away and his Thedon contacts always came to him. The people of the village used some sort of magic to hide their location. I prayed to Eldath to help guide my companions safely to the village.
Dimble found traces of an obscuring mist while Taniel noticed a change in vegetation. It seemed we were growing close when suddenly Amel tackled Dimble to the ground and told us all to watch out.
Before any of us could react, an arrow struck Amel. We saw no assailant but discovered what seemed to be a trap set up in the tree. Dimble must have triggered it by accident. I tore some cloth, pulled out my flask and gathered some nearby herbs to create a poultice. It could not heal Amel’s wound but it provided comfort and prevented infection.
We decided at this point to call out to the forest in hopes that we were close enough to be heard. We called out to speak with a representative of Thedon, and not long after someone appeared to us.
Her name was Gilna, and her robes matched the foliage of the canopy. We told Gilna we were in search of Thedon and that our guide was injured and needed healing. Gilna didn’t seem to know Amel, and didn’t seem to care that he was injured. I expressed to her that we had come with only peaceful intentions and to speak to Elyn. Taniel even produced a small mechanism to record a message to her.
Gilna departed for a while then returned to us with news that we would be allowed in to speak with Ellen. Alex escorted Amel to be healed immediately while the rest of us prepared for our audience.
A female dwarf dressed in camouflage came before us and was introduced as Elyn. Despite my nerves I tried my best to speak eloquently. I bowed and expressed our wish to build a friendship with her people and establish a trade partnership. Before I could continue any further chaos erupted.
A bear suddenly appeared and started attacking. People were screaming and we were stunned. It was then that Amel showed he wasn’t the nice guy he seemed. In the midst of the chaos Amel pushed himself forward and declared with a strange amount of certainty that Dimble released the bear.
Amel then told Ellen she could not trust us. He instructed her people to search dimble for metal orbs as proof. Then he suggested her tribe should unite with his against the intruding settlers of New Gambit, meaning us.
WHAT A DICK!?
Dimble submitted to the search and the orbs described by Amel were found much to all of our surprise. It was then Dimble realized what Amel had done. Dlimble cleverly asked the people of Thedon if they set mechanical traps outside their town. To which Elyn said that they did not.
Dimble proceeded to break down piece by piece how Amel set us up. First Amel set up traps in their forest before meeting us. Then when he helped us look for Thedon, he actually led us to one of his traps and set one off so he could look like he was saving Dimble but in reality he used his heroic act as a cover to plant the metal orbs on Dimble.
Elyn sent someone to check and they found more traps. Amel was caught in his web of lies. Elyn declined Amel’s offer and agreed to Ana’s proposal. Then she sent that creep packing.
Amel took off in a hurry and since Amel tried to instigate a war we decided to go after him and bring him back to New Gambit for trial. Alex literally flew after him which was pretty cool, but Amel was oddly fast. When we caught up Amel had transformed into what I believe to be a Waretiger. He bit Alex before escaping so I suggested we make sure to have Ana check his wounds upon return.
Elyn didn’t seem bothered about Amel being a Weretiger, but she agreed our partnership will be mutually beneficial. Adapter asked her about any local villages we should talk to and she gave us a few.
After saying goodbye we headed back to New Gambit by way of the coast. We stopped to rest in the camp that once belonged to Ranin and then crossed Joe’s Bridge. When we returned we announced our mission’s success to Ana and that Amel was a huge Asshole.

Rewards Granted

30 each + 10 Town
175xp

Missions/Quests Completed

Establish potion supply link

Report Date

22 Oct 2020

Primary Location

Thedon