[Recap of session1]
Bort= a dwarf w/ long blonde hair, yet receding from the front, his long blonde beard is braided, and affixed with jewelry that matches his earrings. (looks like a plum colored triangular brooch)
A purple scarf and pistachio outfit beneath
Bort, who was previously driving the lead wagon, switches spots with Ulf & Olf, so that he can drive wagon #2, and perhaps get to know his passengers a bit better, after they rescued him from The Caustic Wolves.
Bort: “Thank you all again for help with those wolves. I’m not sure what we would’ve done without you. Your expertise in dispatching those wolves reminds me of the tales that I’ve heard about adventurers over the years. I don’t know you all but I must say that you 4 seem like you are REAL ADVENTURERS. Do you guys work together normally? Do you have any good stories to share?”
Goj: “I don’t know these people, I’m on my own here, just seeing the countryside”
Bort: “Wow I can’t believe it! You handled that wolf situation so well! If I were you I would start Marauding together or something”
Ignatia: “The last thing this world needs is more Marauders. If these warriors are willing to bring light to the world… then maybe…”
Bort: “hmmmmm”
Ayla: “I’m on a quest, and I can tell that you guys are too. I know it’s not safe here, so it’s probably best for us to band together”
Goj: “I’ve known too many people that are quick to offer their hand while holding a knife in the other. Perhaps we should start by exploring the area around Etran’s Folly together?”
Bort: “Once we get in to Etran’s Folly I’m going to buy all you guys dinner! Etran’s Folly is kind of a small town, but I’ve been doing business there for about 20 years or so. There are good people there, and they are fun but over the years the town has really fallen pretty low. A lot of people left and a lot of people died many years ago.”
Ignatia: “What happened ‘many years ago’ ?”
Bort: “There was a plague in town just before the goblinblood wars. A lot of people call the town ‘Plaguestone’ because of a stone at the center of the town that was used to give food to those that were infected by the plague. Many people thought that the plague was a curse that was brought about by this Witch named Silwyth. Silwyth and her daughter were outcast from the town as a result. After this, the plague continued to ravage the town, and nearly everyone in the town died or fled. All this happened maybe more than 20 years ago, but the town never really recovered. All that’s left is some turnip farmers and few others. They don’t have any really marketplace, most of the houses are just abandoned. The population never rebounded.”
Getty: “Well is there anything interesting going on in the town at all?”
Bort: “Well you know, like I said, there are some good people there. The farmers are mostly all drunks. It’s a good pitstop location, but I wouldn’t want to live there”
Goj: “Could you take us to some markets or bazaars where we might be able to find some sort of score or quest or something?”
Ayla: “Hang on a second here… Goj what are you looking for?”
Goj: “Well it seems like Bort here is full of information, he suggested we maraud…
Bort: “I didn’t mean that literally…..”
Goj: “He (bort) might have some type of ‘in’ with a certain type of person where we might be able to find some sort of interesting contraband, or armor or jewels perhaps?”
Ayla: “ok so you want treasure…”
Goj: “Perhaps he knows of an underground black market where we could profit together with each of our talents!”
Bort: “He he, I just thought you guys were a crew that had been working together for years!”
Goj: “Might I ask where you got all those jewels that adorn your beard? You seem quite opulent for a carriage driver.”
Bort: (laughing) “you know I collect a lot of things. I’m basically a merchant by trade. I have all sorts of trinkets in my wagon I can show later”
Ayla: “What was in the wagon? Maybe somebody was after it? (referring to the wolf attack)”
Getty: “We’ll accept some of your jewels and riches for the protection services provided.”
Bort: “Yeah, you know.. A little token of gratitude does seem to be in order. I’ll see if I can find something appropriate for you guys.”
Bort to Goj: “Now we have to stop in Etran’s Folly tonight, as it’s the only town for miles in any direction. But trust me, once we get to Olodí, you will have all the opportunities you could ever want for black market contraband or treasure hunting or whatever.”
------
Goj takes a Short Rest and recovers +5HP
As you approach the town from the North side, the landscape opens up into a large valley. You can now see across the valley as there are fewer trees here. You see a large river running east to west, a lot of plots of farm land, and the small town of Etrans Folly. Many of the farm land looks like it is not in use, but there are still the fences and everything in place. The sun is just about going down.
You make your way down, and cross over a bridge that goes over the river, and then you are in the town of Etran’s folly. There is a main road that heads through the center of the town. You head south on this main road.
On this north end of town, all of the houses you pass are all boarded up. And you don’t see any people. The houses are kind of crappy looking to begin with, and by the looks of it, they haven’t been used in many years.
Once you get to the center of town, you see this Plaguestone feature that Bort was referring to earlier. It’s about 10ft diameter, with a large indentation in the center. Right in the square here, is the only Brick building you see at all. It has a sign that reads “The Feedmill”. There are 3 distinct sections to this building, a stable, a tavern, and a residence. There is clearly activity in the tavern section of the building. You see no other activity or signs of life at all as you look down the roads that extend away from the tavern, just boarded up houses.
You take a left (East) from the plaguestone, and enter the stables that are part of the “The Feedmill”. As the caravan pulls in, y’all hop out of the wagons and collect your gear.
A short human woman named Edra Wythe runs up and immediately starts unhooking the horses and taking care of them. Edra seems really friendly:
Edra: “Hi! How’s everybody doin’?”
….
Edra: “You guys can all go on and head into the tavern, I’ll take care of things here”
Bort (to Ulf, Olf & Tamli): “Hey will ya’ll take our passengers into the tavern? Just go grab the large table and get dinner, and I’ll be in to join you in just a second”
Tamli (to PCs): “Hey ya’ll want to come inside with us and get some food and some beer?”
Ignatia (To Edra): “Is it just you doing all this work madam?”
Edra: “Oh yeah, this is my job! Don’t worry about it. This service is included in the price of your stay here. We’ve been working with Bort for many many years so we have an understanding”
Getty: “Let’s go, let’s get a beer”
Ignatia (tentatively): “Ok…“
The PCs, Tamli, Ulf & Olf all head to the tavern. (Cooky, Bort and Edra are left behind at the stables) Olf & Ulf walk ahead of the group, kind of ignoring everyone else and just heading for the tavern. Tamli kind of leads you nicely to the tavern and says:
Tamli: “Honesetly I wish we could just have Cooky feed us dinner. He would do a much better job. I suppose some people like the food in the Tavern but it’s just a LOT of turnips honestly.”
The group walks around the front of the building (The Feedmill) and head in the door for the Tavern.
Ayla: “Where are all the people of this town?”
Tamli: “Welp, you’re about to meet pretty much all of them!”
Tamli enters the tavern, and as you follow her inside, you see a bunch of people inside.
You are hit as you walk in with the smell of beer and food. People up by the bar are yelling and carousing.
Almost everyone seems rather tipsy. Most of the people are up in the bar area. Tamli gestures for all the PCs to sit down at the larger long table in the Dining Area.
Goj rolls a perception check = 16
Everyone seems to know eachother here. Sir Lawren Krent is obviously drinking alone at a table full of people. He has his head down in his ale. He is wearing of full suit of plate armour. Everyone is pretty rowdy.
Getty (to Tamli): “Hey what’s up with that guy with the armour on?”
Tamli: “Oh don’t worry about him he’s just a drunk. I wouldn’t recommend getting involved with those folks up there. They’re always drunk around this time of day. ”
Getty rolls an insight check = 17
You get the sense that Tamli does know these people very well. She’s part of Bort’s crew and has been coming here for years with the caravan, and she doesn’t seem like she’s putting Getty on for any reason.
Getty (to Goj): “Hey Goj let’s go mess with that guy (Sir Lawren)”
Goj: “I think I’d like to have a drink first”
As you sit down at the long table, you are approached by
Trin
Trin (to the table): “Can I get you guys started with some beer? We only have one kind!”
All: “Yes!”
Trin wanders up to the bar to fulfill your drink order. As you listen to Flonk the Bard attempt to play some songs on the Lute, yet Flonk is TERRIBLE at music and NOBODY is paying him any attention. You notice Phinnick Standing very awkwardly in the other corner, a small goblin that is seemingly waiting for a task to do. Trin then returns to the table promptly with a Light Turnip Ale. Earthy, a little Bitter, but nice. It’s what everyone is drinking in the whole bar.
Ignatia: “I hope this isn’t how the plague spreads” (in reference to the fact that everyone is drinking the same beer)
Trin: “I’ll go ahead and get your food started. We don’t have a menu or anything, but we do have some good stuff ready for you. Some of the fellas caught some pigeons earlier so we roasted them up nice”
Trin walks back to the kitchen and works with Amora to prepare the food. Phinnick still stands by, wringing his hands a bit and looking off away from everyone. The bar crowd is getting even louder and more drunk. The volume has come up a bit back there since you entered. You see Kolnral serving another round of drinks to the table in the back. Delma is working behind the bar. The PC’s are sitting drinking their beer, and finally Bort comes in through the door of the tavern and takes a seat at the table.
Getty beckons over Phinnick.
Getty (in Goblin to Phinnick): “Can you bring a drink to Sir Lawren Krent and would you tell me what is the deal with that guy?”
Getty rolls a Charisma Check = Crit success 26
Phinnick (nervously): “He’s been in the town for a long time, but basically he was abandoned by his crew many years ago and he just never got it together to leave town or pursue something else. I suppose he’s just depressed, I don’t know. But yeah, I’ll make sure he gets a beer from you.”
Phinnick walks away as quickly as he can, he walks back to where he was standing before and calls over to Trin and asks if she will get the beer for Sir Lawren. You see Trin basically indicate that Phinnick should do it himself. Phinnick reluctantly trods over towards the bar and eases by the tables and you see him ask Delma & Kolnral to get the beer for Sir Lawren. You see some of the drunk farmers eyeing Phinnick, as if they don’t really like him. After this, Phinnick walks back, not making any eye contact with the PC’s whatsoever and resumes his previous post.
Sir Lawren is served the beer, and he doesn’t even slightly move. He doesn’t ask any questions or consider where it comes from. He continues to mope, basically.
Getty winks at Sir Lawren to no avail. He is simply not looking in the direction of the PC’s.
Goj: “What kind of honorable person doesn’t give the benefactor a toast?”
Getty eggs Goj on and encourages him to make a scene.
Ayla is watching all this happen and she has been boiling. Ayla gets up and walks over to the bar and slams her axe into the bar (in between Ulf & Olf)
Ayla Demands to the Bar Area: “WHERE ARE OUR DRINKS AND FOOD??!? AND WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON THIS TOWN????? AND WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THESE ANIMALS AROUND HERE??? WHY WERE WE ATTACKED???”
The farmers stare blankly at Ayla, partly in shock, partly in utter confusion.
Delma Fulst, in an attempt to diffuse Ayla’s wrath, directs Ayla’s attention to the table where Trin is literally about to serve them their food.
Ignatia tries to goad Ayla to come sit down.
Ignatia: “Please, don’t be a ‘Karen’ in this establishment”
Goj: “I think we should all have a bit to eat first and then try to talk to the farmers”
Ignatia (to the room): “She gets a little cranky when she’s hungry”
Ayla: “AS MUCN AS I’M EXCITED ABOUT EATING SOME RADISH STEW HERE, OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU HAVE, IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME WE’VE BEEN ON THE ROAD AND THERE’S A BUNCH OF SUSPICIOUS LOOKING PEOPLE HERE DRINKING AND NO ONE IS RESPONDING!”
Bort (to Ayla): “Won’t you come join me? I don’t think it’s necessary to cause a scene like this!”
Getty (to Bort): “Hey, Weren’t you going to hook us up with something special from your wagon?”
Ayla, getting no reaction or response from the farmers, turns to the Bar:
Ayla (to Kolnral & Delma): “Where are all the people of this town? And what’s up with the wolves around here we got attacked on the way in to town?”
Demla: “I’m sorry that you’re upset, I don’t know about any wolves. This is basically the entire town you see here. Anyone who’s not here right now is just at home. Most of the people that used to live here are either dead or they just left.”
Ignatia using “message” cantrip to Ayla: “Ayla, this isn’t the way we’re going to figure out what’s going on, let’s go back and sit down and watch what happens in this town”
Ayla is still feeling aggressive but she is rather trusting of Ignatia.
Goj (to Ignatia): “Please keep this profane rude human in check, cause she can get us into major trouble”
Ayla: “A Barbarian you might say? You better watch your mouth……”
Ignatia (discreetly to Goj): “C’mon you’re going to set her off again!”
Getty (to Ayla): “I think Sir Lawren Krent knows something…”
Everyone finally sits down to eat.
Goj: “I’m getting madder and madder by the minute, that Sir Lawren didn’t thank Getty for the drink.”
Getty: “Damn right!”
Ignatia: “Why is everyone so pissy in this group?”
Ayla: “We just got attacked by wolves for god sakes! This place is DEAD, alright??!? I want to know where the HELL EVERYONE IS”
Ignatia: “What? We just heard the backstory! Everyone left, there was a plague 20 years ago! It’s a shithole town! Let’s just eat our food, go to bed, and leave and go to the better town in the morning!”
Getty: “She’s got a point!”
Ayla: “I agree”
Ignatia regrets insulting the town in front of everybody, but Trin, in particular, while serving your food gives a nod at that notion, as if to commiserate and say “Yep, sure is!”
Food
Rich moist, Roasted Pigeons, Fresh Warm Turnip Seed Bread and Roasted Turnips with fresh herbs and balsamic with a refresher on the Light Turnip Ale
Bort: “Dang Ayla! You’re pretty hot-headed arn’t ya?! You remind me of a woman I used to know named Stacy. I took her to Olodí a few years ago. She was kind of like you in that she would easily get frustrated with people. She was a wizard who was always just losing her temper. And then in Olodí she got roped in with some pretty gnarly characters, she started working for some gangsters there. She ended up getting killed by some adventurers that were trying to rescue some coffee that had been taken hostage from an island known as Santa Lucia.
Getty: “Why’d they kill her?”
Bort: “It’s kind of a wild story… the gang had this elaborate plan to basically control the port of Olodí, which, as you may know, is the largest port in the world. Their operation included the creation of a magical island, which Stacy controlled. They were going to direct boats to just float in to this magical island instead of their destination at the Port of Olodí and they would unload whatever they are delivering to the fake magical port and then leave, and they would be none the wiser. So as they were building this island they were doing a smaller scale test and stole all the coffee shipments to a little island called Santa Lucia, off the coast a bit. The people of Santa Lucia got so mad and desperate, they immediately sent out all these bounty hunters to try and bring to justice whoever captured their coffee. Well, as it so happens, one group of adventurers was successful. They found the secret island and killed the Wizard Stacy for her transgressions against people of Santa Lucia. Killed over a cup of coffee! Imagine that!!!”
Just as Bort finishes up his tale, And everyone has mostly eaten, Phinnick and Trin serve everyone a Desert Turnip Porridge with cinnamon and sugar. Just as they finish serving, Trin gets hit in the face with a glass of beer and she hits the floor.
The entire upstairs room erupts into a brawl. It is absolute chaos. People are throwing chairs, glasses, punches, etc. People are yelling, everyone is running about. Bort gets under the table, and Phinnick runs away into the kitchen. Delma runs out of the door at north side of the bar.
Goj: “hey keep Ayla in check, this is not our fight to be had. Let these fools beat eachother up.”
Ayla: “Do you think we should kick their asses or what?”
Goj: “no, let’s wait and see”
Ayla: “What was that story about that gang? What do you think was going on there?”
Ignatia: “Ayla! There’s a barfight going on! Can you flip over the table so we can crouch behind it so we don’t get hit by beer glasses?”
You see Sir Lawren Krent attempt to escape out the front door. Clearly trying to get away from the brawl. Goj immediately starts to follow Sir Lawren as he heads for the door.
Getty uses 1st lvl spell slot to cast Command. Sir Lawren rolls a wisdom Saving throw = 5 against Getty’s Spell Save DC of 14. And he is under the spell! One word “Talk”
As he is hit with the spell, Sir Lawren begins to ramble. It’s an unintelligible stream. He mentions a list of regrets he has during the fall of Lastwall. Terrible things happening to his comrades that he can never unsee. Nightmares from this terrible battle keep him up most nights. He speaks of the terrible shame of being left here in Plaguestone by the survivors, the guilt of failure stacked on top of the rejection by his only friends. Etc. etc. etc. He’s speech is babbling, and his thoughts are not coherent.
Goj attempts to grab him and throw him out into the mud. Strength check = 2(crit fail!)
Because Sir Lawren is so drunk and heavy with his armor, Goj loses control of him and he plops down on the floor in front of the door.
The fight is still going on, the tavern staff has either left or is hiding. Ulf & Olf somehow got involved in the fight and they are up there throwing punches. Through the front door enters Rolth with Delma Fulst. Rolth is a pretty rotund fella, and he is dressed as a sheriff. He comes in and pulls out his six shooter and fires it off until it goes click.
Rolth (with a thick accent): “hold der, hold der, hold der, hold der, hold der, hold der !”
The brawl comes to an abrupt halt. Trin gets off the ground and runs out the front door.
Rolth: “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?”
Ignatia: “We’re with Bort’s caravan, we’re just havin’ dinner”
Rolth: “Oh Bort’s caravan ah ok”
Delma whispers to Rolth and points up to the Bar area. Rolth then wanders up to the bar and starts yelling at all the farmers up there and starts kicking them around.
Rolth (to Farmers): ”Ya’ll are too drunk and you need to head home! You’re going to pay for the damage you did up in here. I see some broken glasses and some broken chairs.”
Bort crawls out from under the table.
Bort (to PCs): “Sheesh! Let me tell you this is not an uncommon occurrence here so don’t worry. This is kind of like their thing here, I suppose they don’t have much else to do normally.”
The room settles down a bit. Delma walks up to the bar. Bort dives into the porridge and starts to tell the PCs another story about a guy he met on a caravan once who had a special comb that belonged to a goddess of death or something like this, and as the guy was crossing a lake his ship sunk and he drowned but he carried with him the comb into his judgement. While being judged he was able to return the comb to its proper owner, the goddess of death and then she granted him a second chance at life. The story is kind of hard to follow, and as he gets towards the end of it he starts to get interrupted by coughing fits. Before Bort could fully finish his story, Bort’s head suddenly plops down into the porridge.
Goj pulls Bort’s face out of the porridge. Bort’s body is completely limp. Tamli runs over, looking very concerned.
Ayla rolls a Medicine check = 22 (NATTY 20). It is immediately obvious to Ayla that Bort is fully dead.
Getty Sleight of hand = 18 Getty attempts to swipe some jewels from the Deceased corpse of Bort and successfully swipes away a few of Borts brooch’s.
Ayla: “Bort is dead.”
Tamli: “What do you mean??? He can’t be dead! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!!!!”
Amora runs out from the kitchen
Amora: “Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no!”
Rolth comes over from the bar.
Rolth: “What happened here??”
Goj: “You tell me what happened, he was just having some porridge and then he fell into it”
Ayla checks out the porridge: Investigation Check = 11. Bort’s porridge DOES smell different than you own. You find a cool Melon Floral scent, crisp and appealing.
Goj (to Amora): “Take me to whoever made this porridge”
Amora: “Well I made this porridge. What happened to Bort?”
Goj: “Bort, our guide, brought us to this town and he just ate this porridge and he is dead now!”
Amora covers her mouth in shock.
Who ate the porridge:
Getty: 6 no
Goj: 4 no
Ayla: 13 yes
Ignatia: 13 yes
Tamli: 16 yes
Those that ate the porridge are fine. It was delicious porridge even!
Rolth looks around at everybody suspiciously.
Rolth: “Alright, Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but NOBODY’S leaving this room until we figure this out.
You see Delma and Kolnral come down from the bar and start discussing with Amora and Tamli what to do. Rolth, obviously excluded from their discussion, looks a little miffed, and little bit like he’s losing control of the situation. He begins to look flustered and perhaps, out of his depth in terms of what he’s capable of dealing with.
Rolth: “You know what… here’s what were’ going to do…. we’re going to wait for the Circuit Judge. He’s supposed to come into to town by next week. So everybody just go home….. And uh… nobody leave town until we’ve figured this out.”
Amora, Delma and Kolnral take Borts body into the back of the kitchen and down into the cellar.
Rolth (to PCs): “Look I don’t know where ya’ll were headed, but I need ya’ll to stay put until the circuit judge arrives next week. Bort’s been a good patron here for many many years. He’s one of the few merchants that ever even bother to stop in Etran’s Folly. So his death is a pretty big deal and we are going to figure out.. Just WHO is responsible.”
Rolth, feeling confident again, walks out the front door.
The crew of Bort’s caravan: Cooky, Tamli, Ulf & Olf are really SERIOUSLY distraught by the death of their leader. They kind of hunker down in the lofts above the stables (where you guys are all staying for the night) and they spend the whole night drinking and talking about Bort. They start telling stories about Bort, and they start mentioning all these crazy stories that Bort has told over the years.
Ayla: “We’ve lost our caravan leader, I’m pretty comfortable living in the wild and I can provide food for all of us. Do we want to stay here or do we want to just get out of town and make it on our own?”
Getty: “Let’s get out of here, this town sucks.”
Goj: “Do we need the Caravan?”
Getty: “no”
Ayla: “Something smells bad about this situation”
Goj: “Even if we find out what happened, there’s no money to be made, there’s no gains, I mean why are we risking our lives for this Caravan?”
Ayla: “Is there something to learn by being here? Ignatia, what do you think?”
Ignatia: “I don’t want to leave a mystery behind… there’s something very interesting going on. I’ve never seen this sort of affliction that we saw with the wolves. And with the stories of the plague in the past… I wonder if it is connected to that Witch? I mean did you see how everyone fought each other? Maybe there is a witch in the woods casting spells?”
Ayla: “Should we stay or should we go?”
Ignatia: “I think we should stay… if we leave… we’ll just look like murderers, running on the lamb.”
Goj: “Right, We might run into problems if we try to leave. Looks like we’re stuck here”
Ayla: “well if we’re going to be stuck here… we need to at least find somewhere safe to stay”
Goj: “Let’s ask the Caravan hands if Bort had any enemies”
Ignatia: “I say we figure it out to make sure we don’t get blamed, and perhaps we could be rewarded!”
The PCs head over to the Caravan Crew. The Brothers Ulf & Olf displaying more emotional distress than you ever expected they were capable of. As you approach them, Tamli walks right up to you…
Tamli (crying): “Bort was more than just a merchant, more than just the boss. He was my friend. We won’t leave here until we’ve found out who did this. Rolth’s an incompetant fool and he won’t figure anything out, but I’d be a bigger fool if I thought I could get to the bottom of this. Fixing wagons and trading goods… that’s what I do… that’s what I’m good at. But YOU (pointing at all of the PC’s) You might be able to figure this out. Find out who killed Bort and get justice for him. (gesturing to the Caravan Crew) For all of us, will you help us to uncover who did this????”
Goj: “you have my word”
Ignatia: “Bort was a very kind man who showed us great care. Obviously his loyalty to his friends is deep. We will make sure that all is well before we leave this town.”
Tamli invites the PC’s over to drink with them. You spend all night listening to stories about Bort as the Caravan Crew held their little impromptu memorial.
……...