An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary
Hours had passed since the dire predictions were spoken. In the meantime, the heroes had split up to investigate the harvest festival on their own. There were shopping and trade to do after all.
Orym the gunslinger and Gwaedd the bard spent those hours sleeping it off, however. It was the half-orc that rose first. After ensuring his otterfolk companion was resting alright in the tent, Orym struck out to get some water and see what trouble he could get into. Instead, trouble found him. Two former knights turned crafters, Landolf and Richriver chatted with Orym. They’d heard tales that there was trouble stirring in Esker Keep on the far side of the colonies. Orym’s father and brother’s names came up in the conversation. The gunslinger hastily found his friends and explained he had to make sure his family was alright. It wasn’t long before he left for the east.
The ranger Wild sought out the other tabaxi at the festival. The three shops the catfolk ran were set up with one another. He had a lengthy conversation with Spotted Caps (Cap), a tabaxi fungus dealer and psychonaut about tabaxi society. Cap wove tales of the empire on the moon the tabaxi used to have and how the right mushrooms helped one almost visit it. Wild got a few samples despite the warning of another tabaxi, Pinecone Field (Pinecone). Pinecone ran the render stand next door where she turned animal parts into useful tools and magical items. She was part of a tribe that believed tabaxi were from the fey wild. After speaking at length, Wild left a screecher eye with her to turn into an ethereal viewing orb.
On the way back to find the others, Wild was confronted by a warlock of the Archfey, the mandolin-player Van Sant. Van Sant’s patron owned Wild’s former fey master a favor. There was something lost in translation, though. Van Sant passed along that the Mercurial Counselor, Wild’s once-owner, was worried about the river crone that controlled the nearby Orange River. It seemed that the crone wouldn’t speak to the Mercurial Counselor anymore, despite them being friends, due to the presence of a mortal knight on the bridge. Wild pretended he’d look into it and went on his way.
Gwaedd finally rose and found he was not alone. The pirate-hunter Captain Dietrich Bankside offered out the otterfolk a cup of coffee. He made no bones about knowing who Gwaedd was and how the mustel was a former river pirate. Captain Bankside grilled Gwaedd about his intentions and former companions. It seemed that the pirates of Brey Docks were becoming more blood-thirsty and vicious. After being satisfied that the bard knew nothing Captain Bankside let him be.
A bit shaken, Gwaedd went to browsing and eventually ended up at a gem stand run by an elf woman, Eris Vaxal. She bore a terrible scar over her nose and a dead eye beside it, but was still pleasant to talk to. Eris as a former adventurer and enjoyed chatting with Gwaedd about his exploits. She offered she might have a lucrative offer for him and his companions and to come back in the morning.
Siegfried the satyr mage continued to drink the night away. He was slowing down, though, when he noticed a lovely human woman in mourning attire settle down for a drink. She was soon joined by a pair of merchant-class dwarves who first harassed her and then tried to drag her from the table. Siegfried noticed one of them was holding a pistol to the woman, Sunna’s, side. Heroically, he intervened and was forced to slay one of the dwarves while the other escaped. Perhaps the scorching ray was overkill, and he did blow up a keg in the process. Still, Sunna was so grateful for his assistance, but they were both horrified when the dwarf turned out to be some sort of waxy creature pretending to be a living thing.
Sykes the rouge arrived in the beer tent around the same time guards did. However, she was too distracted to pay much attention. While shopping she’d seen her missing summer aspect out of the corner of her eye. Recently, the eladrin had made some progress in contacting this absent part of herself and tapped into odd warlock powers in doing so. Sykes followed the apparition to the beer tent, where it proceeded to garrote their ally, the elf runesmith Arvantel. Thankfully the attack was ephemeral and no lasting harm was done. Arvantel didn’t even notice it, but Sykes was quite worried now.
Eshkar, the nature cleric was visited by a dryad crone, Crooked Ellery, and two of her granddaughters. They’d sought out the bearman because of his connection to the golden court. Crooked Ellery was hearing screams of agony and misery from the threes over the mountains around Hillsbrook Valley. She’d learned that Eshkar was heading that way and wondered what he knew. Alas, the cleric knew little but promised to get to the bottom of it. Crooked Ellery asked Eshkar to check on her daughter who tended the orchards around the Convent of Quiet Grace, a dryad named Whitebark. Eshkar vowed to do so.
The group, now missing Orym, gathered back up in the beer tent to discuss their next day's activities. They chatted for a while, talking on what else they might need to pick up before leaving. Before they turned in for the night, an armored knight entered the tent. Women swooned and men were happy to see the tall, dark and handsome fellow. Ser Hademar Silvercrown had requested a post guarding the grim-faced bridge due to an uptick in bandit attacks in the area. He’d tired to courtly life and the constant press of attention his good looks and nature got. It seemed he couldn’t escape it here either. Wild, eager to learn more about this river crone that the knight was somehow keeping away from the Ebon Court, went over to talk to the fellow. Despite his honorable nature, Ser Silvercrown was evasive about the river crone but otherwise had a fine conversation with Wild. As Wild left, the knight was met by two old comrades in arms, Landolf and Richriver.
The party turned in for the night. Wild used a magical tattoo he’d gotten at the faire to turn into an owl and scout the Grim-Faced Bridge. He determined that the river crown had visited Ser Silvercrown’s campsite and likely shared his bedrolls.
The next morning, the heroes got an early start. They visited a few shops before heading out. Eris Vaxal spoke to them about the job she offered. There was a ruin of the Empire of Enuk’Lun nestled in the foothills of the Moon Kiss Mountains that supposedly pulled down power from the stars. She wanted them to take three precious gems to this place, empower them, and bring them back to her in Upland Haven. The gold reward she offered was just too much to pass up so they agreed.
Next, they checked in on the widow Sunna. She was overjoyed that Siegfried came to visit her and a bit clingy. Sunna suspected that the creature that attacked her might be from the Agate Family Traders, who were looking to edge her out on trading contracts. She knew the party was off soon, but was grateful for Siegfried’s help. Sunna gave him a magic missile wand as a reward, and to keep him safe. She asked if they ran into other more waxen horrors to get word to her via her own trading company. The champions agreed.
After a bit more shopping the party reunited with their allies Niq the Goblin and Vaynore the diviner who had sold off some of the booze recovered from the Lodgemaster cult. Arvantel the runesmith approached them and asked if he could travel with them as well. Sykes had left a box of cigars and 150 gold so the former ship captain could get back to his old life. However, the elf felt he needed to travel with them longer. The heroes left the festival.
They soon crossed the Grim-Faced Bridge, an ancient construction from the Empire of Enuk’lun. There they had a final conversation with Ser Silvercrown. He was worried about the bandit attacks, but also that no one had come from the eastern roads in nearly a week. The knight had a bad feeling and asked the heroes to send back word if they could if everything was alright. Wild sensed a fey, likely the river crone, was lurking under the bridge but made no fuss. After some parting words, Ser Silvercrown went back to fishing.
The party used the pass over the nearby Pond Peaks. They made good time too, but also didn’t encounter any travelers. A day in they ran across a blood amber key laying atop a rock. Sykes and Wild recognized it as a symbol for a fey of the waning court to come and claim the territory. That didn’t bode well. As they camped at the top of the pass, the heroes could see down into Hillsbrook Valley at night. There were large bonfires and gatherings of people were expected. However, a great deal of the wood contained the crimson, foul glow of direfly hives. This was anything but expected. The heroes wondered what fresh horrors awaited them in the days ahead.
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