Report: Dark Times, Dark Tidings
General Summary
As not all of us have our own horses, and as the daily trips between Gravesend and the Hellhole camp are no longer needed, the town graciously offered to lend us the oxen and cart that had been making that trip. In exchange, they asked us to make a delivery for the town: surely you've all noticed the surplus of Drakeflame Cheese that's been lying around. Because of the bandits, the town hadn't been able to send the cheese off to the Imperial Market. With the cart, it was hardly any trouble for us to bring the large wheels with us, and the town had already negotiated a price for the five large wheels with one of the merchants in the city.
Captain Quin also warned us of some, uh, cultural differences in the Empire. For one thing, the Empire has checkpoints here and there where travelers are asked to declare what magic they're bringing with them. I don't know about you, but normally if someone I didn't know asked if I was carrying anything magical, I'd assume they were hoping to rob me once I turned away, so hearing this in advance certainly helped to avoid some awkward interactions. Also, since we were going to be doing some trading in the Imperial Market, we learned that haggling inside the Imperial City is strictly forbidden. Not so much for large wholesale deals between vendors, but for individual purchases, negotiating prices is somehow seen as an embodiment of greed or even corruption! Again, a very good thing we learned this before we left, or else I'm sure Vinny and I would've gotten into some serious trouble.
On the day we were to begin our trip, we met up early by the storehouse to retrieve the oxen, the cart, and the cheese. Most people made a quick stop at the Doubledyne Counting House to retrieve some funds before visiting the market, as who knows what would catch our eye when we arrived? I asked Vinny if he would be willing to bring a second Harvesting Kit along, so that if we got attacked and had to kill some monsters, I'd be able to help him harvest materials from them. For some reason, Vinny the Ever-Greedy thought he could get me to pay for the privilege of helping him, so he wasn't going to bring a second kit unless I paid to rent it. I must say I can't understand the business sense that leads to expecting people to pay you when they're offering to help you, but I suppose that's why I'm not a big-shot merchant, and he is.
The trip through the mountain pass to Edeau was fairly uneventful, and we arrived at our first stop on our second day of travel. As we got closer, we saw a guard station where a handful of people were checking in visitors and asking what they were bringing and what their purpose to travel was. They waved Sir Elron and Dodo through, but they questioned the rest of us. I showed them the few magical trinkets I'd brought along, and I told them we were traveling to make a delivery to the market and to bring news to the Waycrest Estate. Vinny, uh, claimed he had nothing, turning out his empty pockets. If I had to guess, I'd say he has an extra pair of pockets in his trousers just for occasions like these. Russell and Daisy put on a little bit of a show as they presented their magical artifacts. If you haven't seen it before, you really need to watch him perform a song while his elephant does a cute little dance. (And always remember to tip the performers!)
It was late when we got to Edeau, so we found a decent inn and bought rooms for the night. It wasn't quite late enough to sleep yet, so we hung around a nearby tavern and traded stories with the locals. Between the stories, I also picked up on some of the city's politics from my conversations. It sounds like Princess Eloise Augustine III has recently given a lot more power to the Church, particularly in that Bishop Roy Germanus now seems to solely rule over the judicial law of the city. The Princess herself seems to be more focused on policies impacting the artisans the city is known for, such as the sculptors, tailors, and museum curators and docents. A common concern I heard from the people in the tavern was if the Princess had her priorities in the wrong places. Unfortunately, after a night of drinking, Vinny started asking about how the Princess looks and was making talk of finding her to introduce himself, so we decided the time was right to head back to the inn and get some sleep.
In the morning, we set off from Edeau, forgoing the highways to the Imperial City through Kettletoft in favor of a somewhat more direct route through the vast plains in the region. We set off towards the Hallowglade, which we used to keep our bearings for the trip. Traversing the open plains was rather eerie. Being able to see so far in every direction really cemented the feeling that, if anything came to attack us, there would be nobody around to assist, and the five of us would be on our own. The good news was that the ground was quite flat, and the animals were able to maintain a hearty pace through the plains.
We spent our nights making camp just inside the forest, giving us a place to tie up our animals and a way to have a bit of cover from the vast openness of the plains. On our second night after Edeau, as I stayed awake to keep watch, I heard the animals start to grow wary. Then I heard some rustling nearby, and it sounded as though something was coming for us. I went to wake everyone but Dodo, and then we saw a pack of demons approach. Most of them were slow, clumsy, and smelled of death. I believe they were the demons known as Dretches, and there were about a dozen of them. Additionally, there was one demon that looked like it must've been their leader, though I'm afraid I don't know what sort of demon it was.
To give us and our animals some protection, Russell channeled his magic to make all the plants surrounding us grow wildly, severely impeding the already slow Dretches. Russell climbed onto Daisy and Sir Elron summoned his elk, and the two jumped into the fray, slaying demons left and right. I did my part from the rear, dazing about half of them and then taking pot shots at the ones getting too close to the animals still tied up. Vinny…vanished, and he didn't seem to do anything for a while, but eventually he reappeared right next to their leader and managed to charm the demon to get him to cease giving orders to the pack of Dretches. It sounded like Vinny spent some time trying to talk to the leader, but the leader only responded in what I assume was Infernal, so I doubt either of them could understand each other. Still, as a distraction, it was quite effective, and Vinny kept the demon occupied until the rest of us managed to dispatch the rest of the Dretches. Once this happened, the demon must have realized what had happened, and it attacked us, but it was no match for the four of us.
Unfortunately, during the battle, we learned that the Dretches have a…I can't really describe it as anything but a pus sack. A handful of them, as they died, had their pus sacks rupture, spewing a deathly ooze, covering everything near them. The scent was wretched, and we couldn't sleep there. I don't know how Dodo managed to stay asleep during the fight, but when we woke him to get some help moving the cart, he almost puked from how putrid it smelled. Unfortunately, Vinny wasn't able to help us move the cart, as he was too busy trying to harvest parts off of the demons we had just slain. While I can certainly respect the mindset of not letting things go to waste, he seemed to spend about half an hour cutting up the leader demon without getting anything at all. Had he brought a spare kit and let me assist him, I'm certain we could have gotten something, at the very least the horns, but all Vinny was able to get was a giant mess. I suppose maybe this was the universe's sense of humor, repaying his greed by denying him anything of value. Shortly after he finished up, we were able to get the cart past the overgrown plants, and we traveled just far enough to escape the scent before getting the rest of our sleep.
The next day, we came upon the Imperial City in the late afternoon. Rather than entering the city proper immediately, we made our way to the Waycrest Estate a little ways outside the city walls. As we approached, a halfling named Peasley met us and asked why we were visiting. When we said we were from Gravesend, he recalled that Timmons had sent word to expect us, and he led us inside. From the outside, I could tell that the manor was large, but it wasn't until we got inside that I realized just how grandiose it was. Large paintings of Waycrest family members adorned nearly every wall, gorgeous carpets lined all the hallways. Even the candles that burned throughout the manor were decoratively carved. I don't know who they got for their interior design, but whoever it was must never have known the concept of keeping within a budget.
Peasley eventually led us to Mrs. Lotta Butterball, the family's chief servant. Seeing the dirt of travel on us (and no doubt smelling the lingering stench from the Dretches), she had some other servants take our equipment as she led us straight to the baths, where there was already hot water drawn for us. Sir Elron and Dodo had brought nicer clothes to wear, but for the rest of us, Mrs. Butterball arranged for clean dress clothes to be brought to us to wear for dinner. Not wanting to keep the family waiting, we bathed quickly, got dressed, and then followed Mrs. Butterball to the dining room.
As with everything else, the dining room was extravagant. Sitting at the table were Lilith Waycrest and Tana Chandler. Though there were only the seven of us sitting down, the table surely had room for twenty people, with plenty of space around the table for the host of servants to bring everyone their food. After brief introductions, we had to break the unfortunate news as to why we had traveled so far to visit them. When I told them that Samwell and Sons had met their end along the mountain pass, Tana broke down into tears. Lilith tried to comfort her, but her comments that Samwell was perhaps a bit careless and that this news wasn't truly a surprise weren't particularly helpful. Before the food came out, Tana excused herself to grieve alone.
As the meal came out, Lilith wanted to hear all about us, but she particularly wanted to hear any details from us regarding how Samwell died. Unfortunately, I had only come upon the corpses long after whoever killed them had stripped away all their valuables and left, so I didn't have much to say. Lilith was clearly unsatisfied by this, but she agreed to change the topic, eager to hear about the Templar of the Church who was visiting. Lilith clung to every word that came out of Sir Elron's mouth, and when he finished, she posed a surprising proposal. As Tana is part of a powerful family, and as she still has many years left to live, Lilith said she'd need to remarry, and she only hoped Tana would be able to find a good holy man to marry. Sir Elron was quite caught off guard, but the two agreed to discuss it later, in private.
As we went around the table sharing tales, Russell regaled her with the story of our trip to the city, going into plenty of details of our courageous fight against the band of demons, recounting a few events that seemed far more spectacular than what I had remembered. Lilith of course was very pleased with those parts, and the performance was so good that she offered Russell a job on the spot, as evidently the jester the Waycrests had employed recently passed away.
Though Russell declined employment, Lilith had money on her mind, and she asked about the cheese we had brought with us. Though I'd thought haggling wasn't something that happened much around here, the rules might not apply as much to the wealthy and powerful families, and she insisted on buying a wheel for quite a bit more than what had already been arranged. Though I knew our merchant contact had already been promised all five wheels, Lilith seemed like someone we might not be allowed to disappoint, and we let her buy one of the wheels.
After demanding another tale from Sir Elron, this time about how he met Dodo Diggles, his squire, Lilith brought the conversation back to how Samwell met his death, suggesting that if we had more information, she'd happily pay us more, as otherwise she'd spend the money hiring other people to investigate what had happened. I was able to tell her that the bodies were riddled with arrows when they were found, but that with the bandit activity at the time and the scrappers robbing from merchants, it was hard to know exactly what had happened. When she pressed, I remembered that those weren't the only bodies I'd found with arrows in them, as the Howell brothers who died during the Siege of Lochwood were also found with arrows in their backs. I told Lilith I was a little hesitant to say much more regarding those three, as the only lead I had would implicate a Knight of Malaster, but she insisted, saying that if he was truly an honorable knight, that would come out, and he would be fine. So I told her that, for the Siege on Lochwood, the Howell brothers were in a squad with Sir Faldric the Archer, who hasn't been seen since the siege, and signs point to him having betrayed the town to the goblins and murdered the Howells in cold blood.
Seeming more satisfied with this information, as dinner had wrapped up, Lilith offered to take us on a tour of the manor. Honestly, there were so many immense rooms, a full tale could be told just of the building itself. Instead, I'll share just two of the rooms which Lilith was particularly proud to show us. The first was a trophy room, with every wall filled with trophies of beasts the Waycrests had slain, and displays of preserved monsters throughout the room. Lilith told us that each of the thirty or so pairs of demon and Varl horns on the walls had come from demons that her brother, Diamon Waycrest, had bested in single combat. Though I've met many traders from Hraun, Lilith is the first person I've met to have suggested that the Varl are somehow related to demons. The other room Lilith was very fond of she saved for the end, and it is the dungeon in which the Waycrests interrogate those who "are not as cooperative with the Church". Let's just say I suggest you avoid getting on her bad side if you don't have to.
Following the tour, Lilith asks Sir Elron to join her in her drawing room, and the rest of us were taken to our rooms, where we found our equipment, along with our travel clothes, cleaned and mended for us. Vinny decided to go on a walk around the estate with the servant who'd been standing outside our room, but Russell and I were tired, so we just spent some time winding down. When Sir Elron returned, he told us that he and Tana were going to be married the next morning, and that we should rest up before the big event. Not one to make light of a wedding, I found my energy return and suggested a bachelor party, but he refused my offer, so we turned in for the night.
Despite being organized the day before, the wedding was very well attended, with a bishop leading the service. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite the joyous occasion one might hope for, as Tana had just learned the previous night that her husband and her four children had died, and she was still weeping. The ceremony was made rather awkward, but everyone dutifully cheered as the Sir Elron gave his new wife, Tana Cartwright, a peck on the cheek.
After the ceremony, Lilith brought us payment for the cheese, money to thank us for our trip, and a heavy chest to donate to the chapel in Gravesend. Despite Sir Elron now being a married man, he seemed to not be tied down at all, and was going to travel back with us to Gravesend. I suppose the wedding was primarily a political event, and perhaps the two don't intend to spend much time together. We made our way to the Imperial Market, where we were able to sell the rest of the cheese. The merchant was predictably upset that we didn't have all five wheels, but he bought the remainder regardless. We agreed to meet back in a few hours, and then we separated to do our shopping and see a few of the sights in the city.
While I'm not certain what Russell and Vinny did with their time, Sir Elron told me that he visited the Cathedral of Mourning in the Sanctus Excoria. He was invited to give a sermon to the congregants, during which he offered a touching eulogy for Samwell and Sons. Personally, I spent my time in the Lower City, where I listened for rumors. I learned of the Blades of Ash, supposedly a group of organized demons that have been attacking high-value targets in the Empire. I also saw some wanted posters, one of which caught my eye because it looked a little bit like Sir Elron. The guards I found said there was a bald Templar in Underbridge the previous night, causing a ruckus, which is strange both in behavior and that someone as important as a Templar would visit Underbridge. I'm confident Sir Elron would not have declined my offer for a fun night on the town and then caused a scene in the Lower City, so perhaps there's just someone else who looks surprisingly similar to Sir Elron.
Afterwards, we were able to meet back up and depart the city. Thankfully, nothing so exciting as a demon attack occurred on our way home, and we made it back unscathed. By this point we were missing being home, and as it was midday when we got back to Edeau, we decided to press on rather than delay our return by spending the night there. When we got close enough to finally see the peak of the Library Tower through the trees, we were relieved. We divided what remained of the reward money, and we returned the oxen and the cart to Captain Quin, along with the gold we'd gotten for the cheese, including half of the extra gold Lilith had paid us.
Scribed by Patrick Smith
Adventuring Party: Patrick Smith, Elron Cartwright, Vincent Maze, Russell
Date: 17FEB22
Report Date
17 Feb 2022
Primary Location
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