Tales of the Legacy - Concluded

Very well done

Very well done! I just wanted to be the second to say that I'm enjoying the gameplay, the characters, their interactions, the gaming world, and even the set-up. I admit that I was a little leary at first (and tend to stay away from the somewhat cliche opening set-ups) but I was definately wrong this time around. Also, the writing is smooth and easy to follow.

One question: how far ahead in terms of game time and level is the group currently?

The Amazing Dingo said:

Very well done! I just wanted to be the second to say that I'm enjoying the gameplay, the characters, their interactions, the gaming world, and even the set-up. I admit that I was a little leary at first (and tend to stay away from the somewhat cliche opening set-ups) but I was definately wrong this time around. Also, the writing is smooth and easy to follow.

One question: how far ahead in terms of game time and level is the group currently?

Click to expand...

Admittedly, even I was a little leery when our DM said that he'd be using the school - like you, I've seen it done poorly. I think what he did right in this case was remembering that the school was merely a pretext to get our group together, and didn't keep us there too long. I usually see the school concept overdone in the sense that the PCs stay there far too long, and the players quickly get bored of everything being a 'test' and not really involving any risk or real change.

I appreciate the comment on the writing - one of my primary motivators is improving my style. I'm hoping that the characters and interactions will only improve as I go, as it's one of the things I'm working on. One of the problems with writing a Story Hour as a player is the strong tendency to overemphasize your own character - after all, that's the one you're most familiar with. My goal is to make all the PC's seem like they get their time in the spotlight, and not to make the story turn into "Kyle and his Amazing Friends".

We're about 5-6 months ahead of this point in game time, and currently we're about midway through 6th level. The DM promises that his metaplot will sustain us through 20th level and beyond. I wanted to build up a sizeable lead between my postings here and the actual game, not only to give myself a buffer but also to allow me to continue posting updates regularly even if our group skips a week or two.

Trouble at Grog's

The spring festival came and went all too quickly, and the students found themselves trudging slowly back to the Tower to resume their studies. Shilsen started with another week of book study, and then switched gears unexpectedly. He told the students to come to one of the simulation rooms with all their gear, and for the next week put them through endurance training, having them travel from dawn to dusk in a variety of simulated terrains.

On the evening of the fifth day, as the group sat around soaking their feet in a small mountain stream, Shilsen suddenly walked out from behind a large elm tree.

“I’m here to inform you that your next exam will be held tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow evening, at the end of your day’s march,” Shilsen paused long enough to let them groan at the thought of another day of hiking, “you will come into a small town. You are to go to the inn there, and your next scenario will begin there.”

“Excuse me, sir,” asked Tolly, raising his hand, “but what is the purpose of beginning the exam after the endurance training?”

Shilsen almost smiled. “One of the facts noted during this group’s first exam was that despite the fact that the scenario began at dusk, and it had been implied during the exam that the group had been traveling from a considerable distance, the group immediately launched into activity. While such initiative must be commended, it was felt that fatigue would have to be added in as a factor in order to give the students the opportunity to see how it might affect their decision making.”

The next day they group gathered at the simulation chamber, and as it faded into a worn dirt road cutting through a sparse forest, they began walking. They were surprised to see that today Osborn had been allowed to bring his dog, Rupert, which eased the hin’s burden considerably. Arrie was leading a large white horse, which she called ‘Ghost’, and had filled its saddlebags with extra equipment.

As they walked, Tolly kept his eyes open, trying to get a sense of how the party members related. He saw that Autumn and Arrie stuck close together, conversing in low voices. He couldn’t help but admire the workmanship on Autumn’s full plate armor, which had apparently been a reward she’d earned after the first exam. She’d been a bit awkward in it at first, but quickly adapted.

These two, however, seemed to be the only ones that engaged in any consistent conversation. The others milled about, occasionally asking questions or commenting on a bit of passing scenery, but little else. Tolly saw that Arrie would occasionally speak with other group members, but Autumn was less likely to do so. Lanara had developed the habit of playing what she called “traveling music” on her flute, the mellow tones of the simple reed instrument echoing through the hills. While he couldn’t deny that the tunes were pleasant, they also kept the cansin from conversing much. Osborn seemed far more connected to his riding dog than anyone else, but opportunity for conversation was limited in that relationship. Xu was quiet as well, but seemed to be at ease with this, contenting herself with observing the world around her. The elf Kavan was strangely unreadable, making it difficult to tell how he related to the others. Kyle seemed the most uncomfortable at the lack of communication, but also seemed to be at a loss on what to do about it. Tolly assumed that this lack of communication and camaraderie was due to the group’s relatively short time together as well as underlying tension regarding the upcoming exam. Nevertheless, Tolly had trouble relating to this phenomenon. He’d never had difficulty in finding common interest among his brethren at the Church. Perhaps the lack of a common faith was the missing ingredient. Tolly mulled this over as a topic for future discussion.

Just as the afternoon sun touched the tops of the trees, the group came upon a cluster of small buildings on the bank of a small river. A large, dagger-shaped stone outcropping jutted from the center of the river. They guessed that the town was occupied no more than three hundred souls at best. Beyond the town they saw several fields stretching out into the hills, freshly furrowed after the recent spring planting. At the near edge of town, they saw a large, two-storied building whose windows glowed with firelight. The party moved into town, assuming this building was their destination. Just outside of town, a wooden sign read “Welcome to Dagger Rock”.

The party proceeded toward the large building. They began to hear the shouts of laughter and merrymaking from several yards away. A wooden sign above the door read “The Happy Half-Ogre” and just below it, the phrase “Touched welcome”. There had been a crude attempt to carve the letters “UN” just before the word ‘welcome’, but it had been mostly obscured. The party looked at one another, then walked in.

They were immediately greeted by the sight of a glowering, eight-foot tall figure at the door. The massive brute had flame-yellow hair, and dark eyes. The brute regarded the group coldly for a minute, then broke into a wide grin, showing teeth as yellow as his hair.

“Welcome to the Happy Half-Ogre,” he said. “Name’s Grog, the owner of this fine establishment. Sorry about that bit before, but we needs to keep out the riff-raff, ‘specially those adventurer types.” Grog guffawed loudly, slapping a meaty hand against his thigh. “Ah, I’m just havin’ fun with ye! Everyone’s welcome here. There’s still a table or two at the back, the music’s lively, the food’s hot, and the mugs are as bottomless as yer coin purse.”

The group shuffled through the crowded inn, finding a circular table in the far corner. The building looked capable of holding nearly a hundred people at a time, and it seemed as though that many were in here. As they moved past the locals, they saw with some surprise that a table full of orcs sat at another corner, huddled over drinks*. Kavan eyed the group suspiciously, inspecting their gleaming scimitars and wondering what sinister surprises lay within the folds of their white desert robes.

A few minutes after settling in, a tired but still friendly-looking serving girl made her way to the table. “Good evening, my name’s Mary,” said the human woman. “I’ll be happy to take your orders now. Fair warning, we’re fairly busy tonight, so it may take me a while to get back to you. I’d recommend ordering a lot now.” She gave Tolly a sly wink, to which he did not react.

“Bring meals for everyone, as well as dwarven ale,” said Autumn unexpectedly, tossing Mary a small sack of coins.

“Tea for me,” interrupted Xu, “and no meat, if you please.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Mary said. “Anything else?”

Autumn turned to her sister. “Ariadne, do you require anything else?”

Mary left as soon as Arrie shook her head ‘no’. It took a moment for the rest of them to wrap their heads around the name ‘Ariadne’, as they’d never heard her full name used before. Autumn stood up as soon as Mary left.

“I will go see Grog about getting rooms,” she said, walking away.

Kavan stood up as well. “I’m going to go see if I can hear what those orcs are discussing. Something about them makes me nervous.” He crossed through the busy room and took up a position near the orc’s table, trying to look as if he were watching the stage. A young, pretty elven woman was singing and dancing up there, accompanied by the shouts of the inn’s patrons. The girl had a fair amount of talent, though much of the crowd’s reaction was probably based on the fact that her dancing could best be described as ‘bouncy’ and her clothing did little to hide that.

Autumn returned to the table and announced that she’d acquired a common room for them to sleep in. “I have also obtained a separate room for you, milady,” she said, nodding to Arrie. Again, the others looked at each other uncertainly. While this would be the first time they had had to make sleeping arrangements as a group, and so really couldn’t say that Arrie having her own separate room was unusual, it didn’t seem to fit the exotic warrior’s demeanor. For her part, Arrie said nothing either way.

Most of the group ended up wandering around in the Happy Half-Ogre while waiting for their food to arrive. Tolly and Osborn went to examine an enormous double-headed battleaxe hanging over the bar, flanked by two equally large shields.

“Think they belong to Grog?” Osborn asked.

Tolly shook his head. “Far too large, even for him. There are runes carved on the weapon, but I don’t recognize them.”

Osborn squinted at the faint lines. “I think I’ve seen similar writing before,” the hin said. “Giantish – probably a frost giant dialect. No idea what it says, thought it’s probably just the name of the weapon; ‘Icepick’ or something like that.”

Kavan spent several minutes trying to eavesdrop on the orcs, but after a few minutes they seemed to quiet down, as if they knew they were being observed. Sullenly, Kavan went back to the table to sit. Lanara, meanwhile, had gone to speak with the elven performer, whose name was Salae, and ask permission to play for a short while. Salae agreed, and Lanara ended up playing twice that evening for the rowdy crowd.

Kyle attempted to engage Autumn in conversation. “So, anyway, thanks for getting the food and rooms.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “It was surprisingly inexpensive, really. Grog’s prices are much lower than most places like this I’ve been to.”

“Well, I’m sorry you missed us during Earthturning. We had a good time that first night.” Kyle took a long draw from his mug. Mary had brought several tankards over in order to keep the table happy, and with most of their companions wandering about, there were plenty for the taking. “We all had a good talk.” He blinked, then leaned in closer to the sentinel. “So, how come you came to the school?”

“I follow my lady,” Autumn replied.

“Yeah, but you’re enrolled in the classes too. So you must have something personal you’re after from the Tower.”

She paused before answering. “I seek… experience.”

Kyle blinked again, then shrugged. “Okay, then. So, what exactly is a sentinel? I’ve heard you’re kind of like a paladin, but different.”

“Yes, that is fairly accurate. My order devotes itself to combating outsiders, specifically demons and devils.”

“Well, I’ve never met a demon or a devil before, but I’m sure they need fighting,” Kyle said. “So, you get much of a chance to smite demons following your sister around?”

Autumn smiled slightly. “My sister is very adventurous.”

By this time Tolly and Osborn had returned to the table. Kyle’s attention had been diverted by Lanara’s performance. Tolly looked over at Autumn, and smiled sympathetically. “He did the same thing to all of us the other night,” the priest explained.

The others migrated back to the table as the food finally arrived. Lanara descended from the stage to shouts and applause. Her performance was praised by all her companions.

“Ah, it wasn’t my best work,” she said. “Just a little diversion from the local favorite.”

“Nonsense,” said Kyle loudly. “I thought you were much better than that other woman. You’re dancing was bouncier.” Kyle stopped himself short, looking straight at the cansin bard. He looked down into the mug in his hands, then back at Lanara. “Okay, I think I’ve had enough ale,” he said quietly. Lanara tried to look offended, but cracked a smile when Kyle looked away.

They ate with gusto, not realizing how famished they were after a day’s long journey. The meal was only interrupted once, when a young man who’d snuck in for a few free ales got drunk and nearly fell from the second-story balcony. He was rescued by the bouncer, a Fire-Touched man with wild flame-colored hair and coal-black skin named Fist, who sent the inebriated lad off to wash dishes with Matilda, the cook, who was an orc.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of Grog’s help seems to be made up of orcs and Fire-Touched,” commented Osborn. “Except for the serving girls and that bard Salae.”

“Maybe that explains the presence of those orcs in the corner,” said Arrie.

“Or maybe more,” said Lanara. “While I was working the crowd before my first performance, I heard some of the graybeards talking. Apparently there’s been a crime wave in the town – burglaries and muggings, mostly –and it seems some are putting the blame on Grog’s crew.”

“Odd,” said Autumn, “Grog seems a decent sort, despite his heritage**.”

“Yeah, worst he’s done is sell good ale cheap,” said Kyle.

“Well, that may be the problem,” commented Osborn. “Turns out there are two taverns in this little town. Grog’s only been around for a year or so. Before that some guy named Yuri had the only game in town. Sounds like it was never the best place to begin with – you paid a little too much silver for your ale-flavored water, if you know what I mean – and with Grog selling everything extremely cheap, Yuri’s not doing so well. Sounds like motivation for framing someone with a fake crime spree to me.”

“Or, Grog’s prices could be low because his criminal activities are profitable enough to make up for the loss,” Tolly added. “We should not jump to conclusions.”

“Well, someone should look into it,” said Kyle. “Maybe we could do some checking around while we wait for our exam to begin.” When he noticed the stares, Kyle thought for a moment, then looked back down at his mug, shaking his head as he realized his mistake. “Okay, I really need to stop drinking ale.”

---------------------

* It should be noted that orcs in this campaign are considered a humanoid race just like elves and dwarves, and not just rampaging monsters to kill. Orcs in Aelfenn have a nomadic desert culture. However, they are still generally evil in nature, as their patron deity is Grabâkh, god of evil and fire (he is also one of The Four). Thus their presence in and of itself in the tavern would not be cause for alarm, though it would usually raise the kind of suspicion that Kavan is experiencing here.

** Grog, like a few of his staff, is a Fire-Touched, a being with some trace of ancestry from an elemental outsider. Because the element of fire is associated with Grabâkh, Fire-Touched tend toward evil, and thus generate the same levels of suspicion as orcs.

A couple of hours later the group retired for the night. Most of the group bunked together in a large room with several bunk beds, a large table, and several chairs, obviously meant to cater to adventuring groups. Autumn and Arrie went to a separate room, right next to the large room. After a bit of awkwardness in deciding on sleeping arrangements, the group settled down for a long sleep.

Their slumber was short-lived. Osborn had decided to go out to take a walk around the Happy Half-Ogre that evening, to see if there was anything unusual going on. As he came around the corner, he smelled the pungent odor of burning straw, and saw a flickering orange light coming from the stables. He quickly ran up and saw the building was aflame. Inside, terrified horses screamed, and Rupert was barking wildly. Osborn dimly made out a figure inside, trying to pull one of the horses out. The hin whistled, and Rupert came dashing out of the burning stables just as the figure managed to pull a horse out. Osborn saw that it was one of the orcs from the inn. The orc had been surprisingly adept at handling the spooked animal. The orc spotted Osborn, and quickly gestured – making a motion near his own throat, then pointing at the inn. Osborn understood the pantomimed message immediately; I’m mute, you go tell the others.

Osborn dashed into the inn, “Fire! Fire!”

A bleary-eyed Matilda emerged from the kitchen door. “What you going on about, little one!”

“Fire! In the stables!”

Matilda snapped awake, and immediately began bellowing. Grog and his other staff soon came barreling down the stairs. Osborn, meanwhile, had dashed up to his companions to rouse them. All of them went down to help, except for Lanara, who wouldn’t wake up, and Autumn, who chose to remain back and watch over their belongings.

The party arrived and began to help form a bucket brigade from the river. By this time other townspeople had begun to gather, and were standing around watching. The party noticed with disgust that most of them were not helping. Despite this, they managed to get the blaze under control with relatively little damage and minimal injury to the horses.

Osborn caught sight of the mute orc, whose name he’d caught as ‘Shod’ while fighting the fire, tending to one of the horses. The orc passed his hands over the horse’s flank, and the burn wounds seemed to shrink and disappear of their own accord. There’s more to Shod than he lets on, thought Osborn to himself.

Several of the party had started poking around the stable once the smoke cleared. “This fire was deliberately set,” said Tolly.

“Don’t suppose Ghurka followed us, do you?” asked Arrie.

“Look here,” said Kavan, pointing at a spot on the ground. They gathered around a clear footprint in the earth, a boot mark left by someone with small feet. The print was close to the stable, heading away toward the river.

“There was no one over here fighting the fire,” said Kavan. “I think this is our arsonist.”

“Should we follow the trail?” asked Xu.

“In the middle of the night, in unfamiliar country, with only one print to guide us?” asked Kyle. “Sounds like an invitation to get lost.”

“Or worse,” said Osborn. “Besides, we’re still tired from our march, and in no condition to chase this person.”

By this time the head of the town watch had arrived, a man named Captain Bearclaw. As he approached the scene, several of the party noted that he bore a strong resemblance to Mary, one of Grog’s serving girls. He examined the burnt stables, spoke with Grog and a few others briefly, then came over to the party.

“I understand you found something of interest,” said Captain Bearclaw. He knelt down to examine the boot print, then walked slowly in a crouch in an attempt to follow the trail. “There are a few more boot prints further on, but they start to get obscured after a few yards.” He sighed and straightened up.

“Captain,” Tolly said, “we’ve been hearing rumors about recent criminal activity in your town, and that some suspect Grog and his employees. What are your thoughts on this?”

Captain Bearclaw regarded Tolly and the others. “Grog is a decent person, and I don’t believe for a minute he’s guilty. Unfortunately, I have no proof either way, and most folks” - he jerked his head back to indicate the crowd of townspeople, who were still watching impassively, “have already made up their minds.”

“They honestly believe that Grog would burn down his own stables?” asked Arrie.

“Sure would,” said the captain. “They’ll say he’s just trying to distract the town, or build up sympathy. Some will probably say he was destroying evidence before the meeting.”

Tolly’s eyebrows arched in curiosity. “Meeting? What meeting?”

“Town council’s meeting in six days to ‘resolve’ the issue with Grog.”

“So, like a trial, then?”

Captain Bearclaw shook his head. “Not so much. They’ll just decide whether or not Grog can stay in town or not. That way you don’t have to fuss with things like a trial, or evidence.” The captain shook his head sadly. “Look, folks, I’m going to go send these people off home. Why don’t you get some rest?”

The party went back upstairs to their room and went back to sleep. The next morning, there was a knock at Autumn and Arrie’s door; the kind of knock that was made by a very large person trying to be gentle. Autumn opened the door cautiously, he sword ready behind the door. Grog’s faced peeked through the crack.

“Begging your pardon, ladies,” he said. “But I wanted to invite you and your friends to breakfast – on the house, to thank you for your help last night. And I wanted to talk to you about a private matter.”

“We will join you shortly,” Autumn said. She closed the door, and then finished getting dressed. She sat down on the edge of Arrie’s bed, and began massaging the small of her back gently to wake her sister.

“Ooh, that feels good,” Arrie moaned, sore from their days of long marches. “Don’t stop.”

After a minute or so, Autumn stood up and left to let Arrie change while she went to wake up the others. She opened the door to find that Kavan was already awake, as were Xu and Lanara. Osborn and Tolly were sound asleep. Kyle was also awake, but still lying in bed with the blanket over his head.

“We’ve been invited to breakfast,” said Autumn. “Grog wishes to talk to us.”

“Great! I’m starved.” Lanara dove under her blanket, one hand reaching out and grabbing her clothes from the floor. After a moment of frantic movement under the covers, Lanara emerged fully dressed.

“Shall I wake the others?” asked Xu.

“They will wake up and join us soon enough,” said Autumn. She held the door open while Kavan, Xu, and Lanara walked out. Then she looked back and saw that Kyle hadn’t moved. “Kyle? Are you coming?”

Kyle’s head poked out from the blankets. His face seemed unusually flush, and he was having trouble making eye contact with Autumn. “Umm… I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I just… need a minute, okay?”

Shrugging, Autumn closed the door. Kyle sighed heavily and fell back into bed. His bunk was on the wall closest to Arrie and Autumn’s room, and he’d been awakened when Grog had knocked. He’d continued to listen, and had overheard Autumn waking her sister. Unfortunately, the effects of a night of excessive drinking had caused his imagination to wander, and both Autumn and Arrie were attractive women. When Autumn had come into their shared room, he’d caught himself in the midst of some very unprofessional thoughts about his fellow classmates. Kyle wasn’t certain he’d be able to look either of them in the eye for the rest of the day.

“I swear, I’ve got to be careful around dwarven ale,” he muttered to himself.


“So, anyway, there’s my situation,” Grog said.

They’d finished off their breakfast some time ago. Kyle, Osborn, and Tolly had joined the others only a few minutes late, and had eaten heartily after last night’s excitement. Then Grog had invited them back to his personal room in the back, a spacious room with an enormous bed and a dire wolf pelt rug on the floor.

Grog had explained how he and his fellow adventuring companions had retired here at Dagger Rock after making their fortunes. The Happy Half-Ogre was Grog’s dream, and he’d come here on the recommendation of Captain Bearclaw, who was himself a former adventurer who’d worked with Grog briefly in the past. Things had been fine until recently, when the muggings and break-ins began. Now the people of town blamed Grog, since his inn was open to anyone and he charged less than cost for his wares.

“I don’t need the money,” he explained. “I’d rather use it to run a place where everyone can feel welcome.” Grog looked forlornly across the room. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”

“You think that Yuri’s behind this?” asked Osborn.

Grog shrugged. “Maybe. He’s never liked me for opening up competition. Not that his place would be much competition, even if I did charge full price.”

“What about this meeting?” asked Arrie.

“Well, it’s in six days. Unless I can prove I’m not behind the crimes being committed, I think they’ll vote to shut me down and run us all out of town.”

“Who’s on the council?” asked Kyle.

“Well, there’s Captain Bearclaw…” Grog said.

“Hey!” exclaimed Lanara, “there’s one on your side!”

“…and Yuri…”

Her face fell. “Never mind.”

“… then there’s Barak, and the town smith Logan Ironhand, and of course the mayor, Winston Jacob.”

“Have you tried looking into this yourself?” asked Tolly.

Grog shook his head. “Been too busy to spare the time. Besides, me and my mates sort of stand out,” he ran a thick hand through his flame-yellow hair, “and I don’t think we’d get far. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’d like to ask you to look into this, see if you can find out who’s behind this crime wave. If you can find something out before the meeting in six days, I can reward you for your time.”

“Starting with free room and board?” asked Osborn hopefully. He dodged an elbow from Autumn.

Grog grinned at the comment, however. “Smart little man. Always start with the free room and board; that was the first thing me and my mates learned in our day.”

The party emerged from the Happy Half-Ogre into the morning sunlight. The sun was most of the way over the eastern mountains, and the forest at the edge of town threw long, jagged shadows across the newly plowed fields. They could hear the wheel of the mill churning off to the west. The group turned and began walking up the main road of Dagger Rock.

Soon they arrived at the door of one of the few stone buildings in town; Bearclaw Manor. Grog had suggested speaking with him first this morning. After knocking, the door opened and a young lad of perhaps fourteen answered. He led them into a small foyer to wait. Five minutes later, Captain Sidon Bearclaw came down to greet them.

“Good morning,” said Captain Bearclaw, “have you had breakfast?” When they indicated that Grog had already prepared breakfast, he nodded. “Then I hope you’ll forgive me while I eat.” He led them down a long hallway running the length of the building, and invited them into a simple dining hall. He sat at the end of the long table and invited the group to take seats as well, even as he was served a plate of plain bread with butter and honey.

“We wanted to talk to you more about the fire last night, and the crimes that have been happening over the last month,” said Kyle.

“They’ve stumped me, that’s for sure,” admitted the captain. “This whole mess has been keeping Raymond, Leif, and I busy. The three of us are all this town has for a watch.”

“Has there been trouble like this before?” asked Tolly.

Captain Bearclaw shook his head while chewing. “This town’s been pretty peaceful. No bandits, no humanoid raiding, no violent crimes. Most we ever dealt with was the occasional fistfight at Yuri’s place, and of course Jim the town drunk. Then the muggings start, and then the break-ins.”

“Have you seen any kind of pattern in the attacks?” Tolly asked, “Or have there been certain individuals that haven’t been victimized that should have been?”

“Nope. They only hit the locals, and not the wealthy ones either – like they know they’re more likely to have bodyguards. Sure has got the town riled up, though; the mayor won’t go out into town alone any more, and now there’s this meeting.”

“Do you think Grog is behind this?” Kavan asked.

“No, I don’t. Grog and his band are a decent sort. Maybe not the most upstanding of citizens when they were on the adventuring trail, but they’re not the sort to engage in petty theft. I’ve tried to convince people of that, but a lot of them have gone past the listening stage.”

“What exactly would happen if the town meeting went against Grog?” Autumn asked.

“Well, he and his crew would be run out of town. His holdings and accounts at the bank would be forfeit.”

Tolly scratched at his chin. “Who would benefit from this?”

The captain thought for a moment. “Well, Yuri probably would. He runs the Dagger Rock Tavern, but he’s been close to going broke ever since Grog’s place opened up. Tough to say, other than that. He and his crew certainly have brought a lot more business to town.”

“Has he employed anyone in town,” asked Tolly, “or do his own people do all the work at the inn?”

“No, he’s hired a few folks. My daughter Mary works for him as a serving girl, and so does young Julia. And he hired Esmerelda as a maid right after Yuri let her go – Yuri accused her of stealing, though there was never any proof. And even if he hasn’t provided a lot of jobs, the coin they spend in town makes up for it. Their bouncer, Fist, is a clothes horse, and has probably doubled the tailor’s income since they came here six months ago.”

“I saw another inn on the way here,” commented Lanara. “The Hearthfire Inn? What about them?”

“Oh, the Hearthfire’s been around forever, even since before Yuri. The Withams own that inn, and their business has been the same ever since I can remember. Most of the older folks in town go there, the ones who aren’t keen on the wild atmosphere at Grog’s or the seedy reputation of Yuri’s.”

“How do you think the vote will go?” asked Kyle.

“Well, I know I’ll vote to let Grog stay, and I know Yuri will vote for him to leave. Mayor Winston doesn’t have anything personal against Grog, but he’s a ‘man of the people’, if you catch my drift, and right now most of the vocal town members are against Grog, so I figure that’s two against him. Logan Ironhand, the town smith… I’m pretty sure he’s okay with Grog staying.”

“That’s two votes each way,” said Kyle, “what about the fifth?”

“That would be Barak, who runs the general store,” said Captain Bearclaw. “To be honest, I have no idea where he stands on the issue.”

“If we were to look into this matter,” said Kyle, “who would you suggest we speak to?”

The captain shrugged. “Pretty much anyone you want.” Sidon waved over his servant and muttered a few words in his ear. The servant left and returned a minute later with a large parchment roll. The captain spread it out on the table, and the party saw it was a map of Dagger Rock. He began pointing out buildings to them. “The stonemason, Mexalo Stonethumb, lives here behind me. Good dwarven craftman, and a friend of mine. Tell him I sent you. The bank is here, and the jail here – Leif Delaryn should be on duty now. Here’s Logan’s smithy – he should be at work by now with his son Raymond, my other watchman. The church is up here, you might try talking to the priest, Hiram Veril.”

“What denomination?” asked Tolly.

“Paccë… I mean Krûsh.* Sorry… the church used to be dedicated to Paccë, but six years ago it burned down and the town’s priest was killed. Hiram’s his son, but he follows Krûsh.”

Captain Bearclaw continued to point out where various people lived and did business; the mayor, the baker, the tanner, the tailor. Once finished, he rolled up the map and excused himself, stating he needed to get to work that morning. The young boy, who turned out to be Sidon’s son, escorted the party to the door.

“Well, now where to?” asked Kyle.

“We should split up,” offered Arrie. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Agreed,” said Tolly. “I can visit the stonemason and the blacksmith. Since I have a background in craftsmanship, I may be able to establish a common bond.”

“Autumn and I can visit some of the other businesses.”

“Kyle, do you wish to accompany us?” asked Autumn.

Kyle looked at both Arrie and Autumn, standing next to each other, and an odd look crossed his face. His gaze dropped to a point right around Autumn’s feet. “Um, thanks,” he said, “maybe another time. I think I should, uh, go with Tolly. You know, the whole manual laborer camaraderie thing.”

“Very well,” Autumn shrugged, not sure why the wizard was still acting strangely, “We’ll take Xu with us. Perhaps we three can visit some of the more ‘feminine’ businesses, such as the tailor and the baker.”

“That leaves Lanara, Kavan, and Osborn,” said Kyle.

“Someone should stay at the Happy Half-Ogre, just in case something happens, or to listen for any news or gossip there,” offered Lanara. “I nominate myself.” She raised her left arm into the air. “Seconded?” her right arm shot up. “Then it’s settled.” She dropped her arms, and waggling her fingers in farewell, began flouncing down the path toward the inn.

“How about Kavan and I tackle the bank,” said Osborn, watching the bard walk away. When he caught the gaze of the others, he sighed. “I meant talk to the banker about Grog and the robberies.”

“We can go visit the town church as well,” offered Kavan. “As a courtesy for a fellow man of faith.”

“All right, then,” Arrie said, “Back at the inn for mid-day meal?”



* * *



It was a very busy morning for the group. Tolly and Kyle approached Stonethumb’s house, a squat stone structure just behind Bearclaw Manor.

“You don’t have to worry about translating for me,” said Kyle casually as they approached the heavy oak door.

“Excuse me?”

“I just mean that you don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll be able to follow you. I’ve learned to speak Dwarven.”

Tolly looked perplexed. “Why is that important?”

Now Kyle was beginning to look confused. “Well, given your background with the church of Ardara, I’d assumed you’d take the lead in the conversation with Stonethumb. And sine you’ll probably be talking in Dwarven, I wanted you to know ahead of time that you don’t have to interrupt your talk to fill me in.”

Tolly blinked calmly. “I don’t speak Dwarven.” He knocked firmly on the door.

“You don’t… but I thought… you talked about spending all that time in the church with dwarves…”

He shrugged. “My education focused on extraplanar languages, primarily.”

Kyle was still staring at Tolly incredulously when the door opened and Mexalo Stonethumb appeared in the entry. He was a brown-haired dwarf with a few streaks of gray, and looked up at them with bright blue eyes. His beard and clothes were covered in a fine layer of stone dust, and his hands were large and knobby.

“Hello, strangers,” Stonethumb said, “what can I do for you this morning?”

“My name is Tolly Nightsleaving. Your friend Captain Bearclaw said we should come speak to you.”

“Sidon sent you? Well, come in, then! Hope you don’t mind if I work while we talk.”

“Not at all.” Tolly followed the dwarf into the back, where Stonethumb picked up a hammer and chisel and set to work on a block of granite. “Who’s your big friend?” Mexalo asked.

“Oh, forgive me,” said Tolly. “This is Kyle Goodson.”

“Pleasure,” said Kyle. Seeing that Tolly had been distracted by a carving on the wall, Kyle pressed on. “So, I hear you’ve done most of the stone work in town.”

“Most of it? Ardara’s left teat, son, I’ve done all of it.”

“And excellent work, I must say. It looks like no one’s getting into that bank – and if they try, they sure aren’t getting out of that jail.”

Stonethumb seemed not to pay attention to the complement. “Too bad there’s not more work to be done around here,” Kyle continued.

“Oh, there’s plenty of work,” Stonethumb said. “I’ve done all of the foundations and basements in town. This close to the river, you need a solid foundation.”

“Well, sure, of course you do.” Kyle glanced over at his shoulder to see if Tolly was going to pick up the conversation, but the priest was now looking over the dwarf’s tools.

“Well, you must’ve done the basement at the Happy Half-Ogre, then,” Kyle said.

Stonethumb paused for a moment before grunting in the affirmative.

“Well, it so happens we’re kind of looking into those burglaries that’ve been happening round here.”

“I don’t know nothing about that,” said Mexalo, a little too quickly.

“Well, of course not. I just meant that since Grog is sort of the prime suspect, and since you probably spent a lot of time around him and his men while building the basement, you might have gotten a sense of the man… er, ogre.”

At first it seemed Stonethumb was ignoring the question, but then his hammer slipped and hit the back of his knuckles. Stopping work long enough to flex his fingers, he looked up at Kyle. “Look, Sidon says Grog’s okay, and I believe him. Sidon’s not the sort to hang around with disreputable sorts. All I do is build basements for people around here.”

Kyle regarded the dwarven mason curiously. He was acting as if he’d accidentally mentioned something he shouldn’t have, and rather than backpedaling had decided to push forward. “Well, sure, I’m sure you spend a lot of time on basement work. You probably know more about most people’s homes than the owners.”

Stonethumb sighed and set down his tools. “Look, son, I can’t really say much, you know?” The dwarf began heading back toward the front door. Kyle and Tolly followed, curious as to what they’d stumbled upon. Stonethumb opened the door and pointed west toward the river. “You see those two buildings over by the river?” he said in a low voice, pointing. “The southern one’s the tanner, and the northern one’s the cobbler. All I’m going to say is that you should check out the cobbler’s fields.”

Kyle nodded. “Well, I appreciate the directions, Stonethumb,” he said in a loud voice. “I probably do need to look into a new pair of boots before I leave town.”

Tolly and Kyle began to walk away as Stonethumb closed his door. “We should still head for the blacksmith’s first,” Tolly said.

“Sure, but before we go, I have to ask you something.” Kyle barely suppressed his smile. “You do speak Common, right?”

---------------------------

* Paccë is the goddess of community and harmony. Krûsh is one of The Four; he is the god of Water, and Good, and is the patron of the gnomes.

Arrie, Xu, and Autumn walked up to the tailor’s shop, chewing on hunks of warm bread. They had started their morning at the shop of Aram Gahn, the baker, asking about the crimes in town and his opinion of Grog. Aram had been reluctant to talk at first, but Arrie had wooed him with a combination of flattery and attentiveness that eventually loosened his tongue. Though he didn’t hold a very high opinion of the Happy Half-Ogre, he didn’t seem to hold any specific malice or regard for Grog himself. Aram indicated that he’d noticed a trend in his conversations with customers; most of the older citizens of Dagger Rock were against Grog and the changes he’d brought to town, while the younger populace generally supported him.

The three women walked into the tailor’s store. A tall, thin woman with a narrow face greeted them. Just inside the door were two mannequins, featuring stylish, if not extravagant outfits for a man and woman.

“Welcome!” said the woman. “My name is Jessica Merriweather. How may I assist you three lovely ladies today?”

“Oh, we just had a few questions,” said Autumn.

Jessica’s face fell. “Oh, dear, I had hoped you would be looking to purchase something. I’m afraid I’m very busy right now, and don’t really have time to socialize.”

The three women looked at each other. “I think we have not made ourselves understood,” Xu said quickly. “While my companion does not wish to purchase anything, I am in fact looking for a new set of clothing.”

“Oh, indeed?” Jessica’s face lit up, and she quickly approached Xu, unfurling a long piece of marked twine. “Well, in that case, I’ll be more than happy to take a few measurements. I’m assuming you’re not in town for long, so if you’d like I can place a rush on your outfit… with a deposit, of course.”

“Of course.” Xu dropped a few coins into the tailor’s palm, then stood patiently while Jessica measured her from every angle.

“Do you have anything in mind?” she asked.

“I defer to your wisdom,” Xu replied, “though I would prefer something that conforms to the shape of my body, rather than a garment that flows loosely.”

While Jessica continued to measure and write down numbers on a slate pad, Arrie cleared her throat. “So, we were referred to you by the bouncer down at the Happy Half-Ogre. We were admiring the clothes he wears.”

“Oh, you mean Fist,” Jessica said, her voice brightening. “Yes, I must admit he’s been quite a boon to my little shop here. There aren’t many farmers who have need of fine clothing.”

“You seem to not share the low opinion others have of Fist and his employer,” Autumn commented.

“Well, I suppose I can tell you three, seeing as you won’t be around much,” she looked around the shop as if expecting someone to be listening in. “But if you ask me, things have been a lot better in this town ever since they arrived.”

“They seem to run a respectable place,” said Arrie.

“Oh, I quite agree. But lately there’s been a lot of nasty stuff going around – people assaulted in the streets, homes broken into, that sort of thing. Some of the other townsfolk are convinced that Grog is behind it all – laughing at us from his inn while he becomes the crime lord of Dagger Rock.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous.”

It took a bit of willpower for Arrie to keep from laughing out loud at the notion of ‘Grog, Crime Lord of Dagger Rock’. “That does sound bad. Isn’t there anything that can be done?”

“I wish,” said Jessica, sighing. “There’s no proof of their ‘crimes’, of course, so thankfully Sidon Bearclaw hasn’t been forced to do anything rash. But there’s going to be a town meeting in a week, and I’m afraid the council is sure to vote to kick him and his friends out of town.”

“Are they so certain that things will improve if Grog leaves?” Autumn asked. “It seems they generate quite a bit of income for your town.”

“I’ll miss their coin, and I’ll bet others will too. But people will believe anything as long as they thing the troubles will stop.”

“So, how much do you think has taken from the town?” Arrie asked.

“Pardon me?” the tailor asked, as she did some calculations on his slate pad.

“Whoever’s behind all this. How much do you think they’ve stolen?”

Jessica snorted derisively. “Well, that just goes to show. Whoever they are, they aren’t very bright. The only people who have been robbed are the less affluent in town – the farmers and herders who barely have two silvers to rub together. Anyone in town with real money – the mayor, the banker…”

“Yourself,” Autumn observed.

Jessica nodded, acknowledging the truth of the holy warrior’s statement. “Well, none of us have been victimized. I would think that as long as you’re going to the trouble of robbing someone, you’d want to get as much money as possible while you’re at it.”

“It would make sense,” Arrie mused. “But I’m sure that before you know it the whole problem will be resolved.”

“We’ll see,” Jessica said.

With the measurements finished, Jessica showed Xu a few fabric swatches, then wrote up her order on a sheet of parchment. She bid them farewell and told them to return the next day. As they left, Xu frowned in displeasure.

“Perhaps I am succumbing to the weakness of vanity,” she said, “but I find myself disappointed that my new clothing will not be ready by this evening. I had planned to attempt to lure the robbers into the open by walking alone in the town at night, and a new garment might have done more to entice these men than the simple robes I wear now.”

“Well, don’t worry, Xu,” said Arrie. “I’m sure between Autumn and myself we can fix you up with something for tonight.”

Xu looked at the two warriors and shook her head. “I thank you for your generosity, but I am afraid that your own wardrobes would be inappropriate.”

As Xu walked on, Arrie fell back a step. “Were we just insulted?” she whispered in Autumn’s ear.

Autumn thought for a moment before answering. “You know, the problem is that I’m not exactly sure.”


Meanwhile, Osborn and Kavan were sitting in the priest’s chambers, waiting for Hiram Veril to arrive. They’d started their morning investigations at the bank. Though the banker was tight-lipped about the accounts of the town members, it was no great effort to learn that Grog had a large sum of money in the bank. The banker had also mentioned that fact that due to the recent robberies, many other townsfolk had been putting their own valuables in the vaults.

“You know,” Osborn said to Kavan as they waited, “there’s one theory we haven’t discussed. Maybe whoever’s behind this is trying to create a panic, to get people to put their money in the vault. Grog’s just a handy scapegoat because he’s big, ugly, and new in town. Then someone comes along and steals the whole town right out form under them.”

“Who could pull that off?” asked Kavan.

“Someone who had access to the bank vault, or knew another way in. He mentioned the vaults were underground – maybe someone dug a tunnel.” Osborn listened for a moment to see if anyone was nearby before continuing. “Maybe we ought to try and deposit some valuables of our own so that we can sneak a peek at the vaults.”

“Assuming that we’re allowed inside, of course,” Kavan said. “The banker may just take our valuables to the vaults himself.”

Osborn frowned. “That’s true. But it would also be interesting to see who would get Grog’s money if he were run out of town.”

Just then the door opened, and a young, sandy-haired man wearing simple robes and the dolphin totem of Krûsh came in. “Good morning, gentlemen. I am Hiram Veril. I was told you wish to see me?”

“Good morning, Hiram. I am Kavan, of the church of Erito, and my companion Osborn Greenbottle.” Kavan settled back into the simple chair as best he could. “We wanted to speak to you about the fire last night, as well as the other problems in town recently.”

“Ah, yes, the fire in Grog’s stables,” Hiram said. “A shame that had to happen. I’m thankful that no one was seriously hurt. I did what I could to help, but by the time I arrived the fire was mostly under control.”

“I’m sure Grog appreciates your help,” said Osborn. “He seems like he could use more friends around here.”

“Yes, I’m afraid he’s not very popular right now,” sighed Hiram. “It’s too bad – I’ve spoken to him on several occasions, and he strikes me as a decent fellow, even if he is a bit more boisterous than our little town is used to.”

“You’ve visited the Happy Half-Ogre?” Kavan asked.

“Yes, on occasion. Mostly I go to visit with Mary Bearclaw, his serving girl, though I admit I also have a fondness for Matilda’s spicy sausage.”

“How do you know Mary?”

“Well, her family and mine go back…” he trailed off, a sudden sad look passing over his face.

“Is something wrong?” Kavan asked, extending his hand and placing it on Hiram’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was thinking of my father. He was the priest here before me, though he served a different god. He died six years ago.”

Osborn nodded. “We’d heard something about that. There was a fire, wasn’t there?”

“Yes. Like the fire last night, no one knows who set it or why. But unlike last night, two people lost their lives in that fire – my father, and Sidon Bearclaw’s wife.”

Kavan and Osborn looked at each other. “May I ask why Sidon’s wife was at the church?” Kavan asked.

“My understanding was that she may have been receiving advice from my father around some marital problems. I don’t know much about it; my father was careful to respect the privacy of his parishioners.”

“Would anyone else in town know?” Osborn asked.

“Sidon would certainly know, though I wouldn’t advise asking him. Perhaps Mary may know something. Why do you ask?”

“We’re looking into the recent crime spree in town,” Kavan explained. “We believe, as you apparently do, that Grog is not to blame. The only reason we ask is that last night would be the second unexplained fire in this town, and perhaps knowing more would help us identify the person who did it.”

Hiram nodded. “Well, the fire six years ago was blamed on someone passing through town. I’m not sure whether the two events are related. However, if you wish to approach Mary and ask about her family, that is up to you. I only ask that you respect her wishes if she doesn’t wish to talk about it.”

“Of course,” Kavan said, standing up. “Thank you for your time.”


The group slowly congregated back at the Happy Half-Ogre that afternoon, meeting up with Lanara. They sat at a table in the far corner, discussing what they’d learned. They had been joined by Mary, Grog’s barmaid and Captain Bearclaw’s daughter. She’d caught up to Osborn and Kavan on their way back from the church, and asked if she could show them around town. Kavan had asked her to join them for lunch first, hoping to be able to ask about her parents. As they walked, Kavan noticed that Mary’s gaze kept wandering to him, but he chose to ignore it.

“So,” said Tolly, after they’d all said their piece, “where do we look next?”

“Well, I think we have enough to at least suspect someone else is behind this,” said Osborn. “Whether Yuri’s involved remains to be seen. That connection almost seems too easy now that other possibilities have been raised.”

“True,” said Kyle. “Your thoughts about someone trying to get all the town’s money in the vault so they can grab it is interesting, especially with what Stonethumb was hinting at.”

“I agree. I think I should check that cobbler’s field out tonight.”

“Perhaps you should go in the day, so as to become familiar with the landscape,” offered Tolly. “Someone could accompany you and distract the cobbler by pretending to be interested in buying shoes.”

As they spoke, one of the orcs from out of town came down the stairs, and approached the table. “Does one of you own the gray horse in the stables?” he asked.

“I do,” replied Arrie in Orcish. The two then began a conversation in the orcish tongue. As none of the others could follow the conversation, they turned back to their own affairs. Only Lanara, who did speak the language, bothered to pay any attention. The orc was apparently trying to buy Arrie’s warhorse Ghost.

“Mary,” said Kavan, “perhaps you could tell us what you know about Hiram? I understand your mother was being counseled by his father at one point.”

She looked away. “I’d rather not discuss it publicly,” she said.

Kavan nodded. “I don’t wish to cause you discomfort.” He turned back to the group. “Mary has invited me on a tour of the town. Lanara, would you like to come with us?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” Lanara was too busy listening to Arrie talk to the orcs to notice the disappointed look on Mary’s face.

“And I’d like to visit the school,” said Kyle.

“Why?” asked Tolly.

“Because it’s like Osborn was saying when we first got here. In a town like this if you want to know what’s really going on, you talk to kids. See, adults don’t pay much attention to them, so they don’t realize how much they really see and hear.”

“I can come with you, if you like,” said Autumn.

“Sure,” Kyle agreed. A morning full of investigation and interviewing had put his morning’s embarrassment out of his mind, so he felt more at ease around the two warriors.

“I could go and check the town’s land records at the mayor’s office,” Tolly said. “Knowing who owns the land under this inn, or who will own it if he leaves, might be an important clue.”

“I think we should also talk to Jim,” offered Arrie, who had concluded her conversation with the orc.

“The town drunk?” Lanara asked. “Why? I thought Bearclaw described him as a worthless bigot.”

“Yes, but like Kyle’s children, he’s someone who might have been around to see things other people weren’t because nobody cares what he sees. And perhaps there’s something behind that racism that’s useful. Regardless, I think that whoever approaches him should be ‘pure’, if you’ll pardon the expression.” She nodded toward Kavan, Osborn, Lanara, and Autumn.

“I also think you’ll need this.” Kyle picked up a clay jug at his feet and slid it across the table to Tolly. “Tolly and I had the same thought, and picked that up at the wine and spirits shop across the road. Figured it would make introductions easier.”

“We’re still planning on checking out the Dagger Rock Tavern tonight, right?” said Lanara.

“Tonight or tomorrow night,” said Osborn, “and I think we should look into the Hearthfire Inn as well. I keep hearing what a nice little place it is and how it hasn’t been affected by all this trouble around Grog and his inn. Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but that raises alarms in my head. Surely they’d benefit somehow from removing their main competition. However, I’m planning on resting this afternoon. I’m going to go check out that cobbler’s field tonight.”

“I will rest as well,” said Xu. “I have my own plans this evening.” She looked over at Autumn and Arrie, who nodded knowingly.

“So, it seems we have a busy afternoon ahead,” commented Tolly. “We should finish up our meal and get started.”

The group separated and went about their business in the town. Autumn and Kyle walked toward the schoolhouse, where several children could be seen playing.

“What exactly are we doing here?” Autumn asked.

“We see if any of the kids have seen or heard anything unusual,” explained Kyle. “Sometimes kids’ll tell you things that adults want to hush up.”

They approached a group of four young girls, no more than ten years old. “Hi there,” Kyle said, kneeling down so he was closer to their height.

“Hi,” said one of the girls, looking at the two strangers. “Who are you?”

“My name is Autumn,” said the holy warrior, also kneeling, “and this is Kyle. Do you mind if we ask you some questions about the town?”

“What kind of questions?”

“Just about stuff going on around here,” Kyle said. “You see, we’re adventurers, and we like to help fix problems. We’ve heard there’s been problems here in Dagger Rock.”

The little girl glanced at her friends uncertainly. “Then why don’t you talk to the grownups?”

Kyle smiled. “Because we know who really knows what’s going on in any town.”

The girls nodded to each other confidently. Unfortunately, their attempts to glean any news from the children proved less satisfying than expected. One girl talked about seeing ghosts in the graveyard. Another talked about how the orcs staying at Grog’s tavern were here to buy horses, although they hadn’t bought many. Several of the kids described Grog as a “monster who eats children”, obviously influenced by their parent’s warning about the fire-touched man. After speaking with several of the children, Kyle and Autumn took their leave of the school. They decided to take a walk around town, strolling past the cobbler’s field on their way so they could tell Osborn of any unusual features they saw.

“Kyle,” Autumn said suddenly as they walked, “may I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Yesterday, at the inn, when you were asking all those questions – are you always so direct and inquisitive?”

Kyle thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose part of it comes from my Pa. He always taught me that the best way to start a conversation is to ask someone about themselves. See, most people don’t have a problem talking about themselves – not that they’re conceited, or anything, just that it’s the subject they’re most familiar with. I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all,” Autumn replied, “it was just… abrupt, that’s all.”

“Well, I never was very good at social graces,” he grinned. “Probably comes from my upbringing. I worked on the family farm mostly growing up, and then was a carpenter’s apprentice. Neither profession allows for much socializing. Once I was hired on by the Tower as a handyman, I mostly kept to myself, since the students didn’t talk to me and the staff only would when they needed something. Once I became a student, it didn’t help matters – most wizards are good folks, but pretty intent on what they’re doing. At least, that’s how I see it. I had the hardest time striking up conversations unless I was pretty blunt about it.”

Autumn looked at the broad-shouldered wizard. “How did you come to be a student?” she asked.

“Well,” he replied, “like I said, I was hired on by the school for general maintenance – mostly carpentry, of course, but I also picked up a bit of blacksmithing, stonework, whatever was needed. So one day one of the professors in the wizardry school needs a new set of bookshelves. Well, she lets me borrow a few of her introductory magical theory tomes, so I can get the size right. One night I just picked one up out of curiosity. Though some of it didn’t make sense, I found a lot of it did, and I could follow what they were talking about. I read some of the other books, but didn’t think much about it until the professor asked me why they hadn’t been returned. Well, I fessed up to reading them, but instead of getting mad she was intrigued. She gave me a couple more books, and did a couple of tests. After a while she was giving me private lessons at night – said I was a regular prodigy. She taught me enough wizardry to get by, then encouraged me to apply to the school. Well, several thousand gold worth of debt later, here I am.”

“An interesting story, Kyle,” said Autumn. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“You’re welcome,” said Kyle, blushing slightly. “Though I’d appreciate a little discretion. See, the instructors in the wizardry school aren’t supposed to take on apprentices or private students. I’d hate to get Professor Vorsha in trouble.”

“I understand.” They walked for a little longer, past the cobbler’s fields. Seeing nothing that stood out as obviously unusual, they decided to go to the general store to talk to the owner, Barak Andovan, who was the fifth council member and the only one whose vote on the Grog issue was unknown.

“So, Kyle,” asked Autumn. “What do you think of our companions?”

“Oh, well, they seem a good bunch of folks to me,” he said. “Some of them have their quirks, but who doesn’t?”

“Like what?”

“Oh, well, nothing serious. I noticed that Kavan and Lanara seem real tight-lipped about their pasts – I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that, and they’ll probably talk when they’re ready. I guess I just figure that we’re supposed to be learning to work together as a group, and the best way to do that is to get to know each other.” He grinned again. “Maybe that’s another reason I’m so pushy with my questions.”

“Anyone else?” Autumn prompted.

“Nah, not really. Everyone else is pretty straightforward; your sister really seems to be the ‘what you see is what you get’ type.”

Autumn smiled slightly. “Ariadne is not really my sister,” she said.

“Well, I knew that,” said Kyle. “I mean, obviously you two don’t have the same parents. But Arrie calls you her sister, and I wasn’t going to say much about it because I didn’t know if there was some sort of family secret you two were hiding.”

“No, no secrets,” said Autumn. “We are related, but not true sisters. But Ariadne and I were raised together.”

“I see.” Kyle stopped for a moment to get his bearing before they proceeded to the general store. “So, how about you? What’s your opinion of our classmates?”

“I think I share the same general opinion as you,” she said. “They are a diverse group of people, but each has their own unique skills, all of which I believe will be useful in accomplishing our goals. On a more personal level… I suppose that I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“That’s because you don’t nag people with personal questions the way I do,” Kyle joked.

Autumn laughed, then was silent for a minute. “You know, I could teach you if you like,” she said.

“Teach me what?”

“Social graces, as you put it earlier. Perhaps help you not to come off quite so… abrupt.”

“Well, I’ve never turned down a chance for self-improvement,” said Kyle. “And I’ll be sure to return the favor, though I don’t suppose you’re much interested in the finer points of carpentry.”


Tolly and Arrie had spent the last two hours in the town’s records, deep inside Mayor Jacob’s home. Arrie had donned her family’s signet ring, and used the Verahannen name to convince the mayor that she was interested in acquiring land in town and wished to research available plots. While Tolly has stuck steadfastly to reading land ownership records, Arrie’s search was much broader in scope, thanks to several tomes that ‘accidentally’ fell open on the table.

They had discovered several interesting facts. It appeared that Yuri was the primary landowner in town, and leased to several townspeople. Grog’s inn was owned outright by the fire-touched; he had placed the highest bid on the land when it came up for auction. They also noted that the mayor and the other council members owned their own land. The financial records indicated that for the most part Yuri had recouped his costs for buying land within two years of leasing it out, which meant he was either buying it cheap or overcharging his tenants (or both). They noted that Yuri had first come to town about ten years ago. Interestingly, Arrie noted that two of the people named on the original town charter from seventy years ago were Yuri’s grandparents. There was no mention of Yuri’s parents in any town records.

They left the mayor’s house and began searching for Jim Aransee, the town drunk. They didn’t have to look far, as they spotted him stumbling out of the Green Grape Wine and Spirits shop, a jug in hand. Tolly looked ruefully at the jug he was carrying; they’d originally planned to lure him into conversation with the wine in that jug, assuming he didn’t have the resources to buy his own.

Arrie looked at Jim, then at Tolly. “Just follow me, and play along,” she said. As they got closer to Jim, Arrie clutched the priest’s arm, and began to shuffle and stumble a bit. When they neared the wine shop, she pulled up short.

“Come on, give me some money,” she called out loudly. Jim stopped his progress, and stood, wobbling, watching them.

“Money for what?” Tolly still wasn’t sure what Arrie had up her sleeve.

“You know what,” she said. “Come on, I need a drink.”

Tolly caught on. “Oh, no. Do you think I’m just going to hand over good coin for you to squander? I remember what happened last time.”

“I’ll be good this time, I promise,” Arrie said. “I just need a little.”

“I have my doubts,” said Tolly. Then he looked up at Jim. “Maybe you could convince this gentleman to share with you.”

Arrie looked up at Jim and grinned wildly. “How about it buddy? He won’t give me any money. You want to share your wine with me?”

“Nuh uh,” Jim replied, wobbling as he shook his head back and forth. He staggered off and leaned against the side of the blacksmith’s shop, seeking refuge from the afternoon sun.

“Look,” said Tolly, “why don’t you wait here, and I’ll go inside and get something for you.” He let Arrie’s arm go, and went inside the Green Grape. Arrie stumbled over and sat next to Jim, trying to pretend she didn’t notice the stench.

“I knew he’d see things my way,” she said. She tried to lead the conversation around to various subjects; Grog, the town, the recent muggings. Jim’s answers were mostly long, rambling tirades against Grog and other ‘impure’ races. He seemed to admire Yuri, mostly because Yuri never cut him off. But it seemed that despite their hopes, Jim hadn’t been witness to any unusual activity in the town.

Tolly returned after several minutes; he’d delayed by striking up conversation with the shop owner, Gretchen. She indicated she was fairly neutral toward the issue of Grog staying or leaving; she said that when Grog had arrived, Yuri’s orders from her shop had dropped, but Grog’s had replaced them. She assumed that if Grog left, Yuri’s orders would rise again. Gretchen was apparently happy with her lease from Yuri, and said she’d almost saved enough to buy the land from him outright. Tolly presented Arrie with the jug of wine he and Kyle had bought earlier; she took the jug and pulled the cork with her teeth, filling her mouth with as much as she could. She stood up, and began to stagger away; Jim called out loudly that she should come drink with him again, as soon as she “lost the a**hole”.

Once around the corner our of earshot, Arrie spit out the wine. “What is this stuff?” she asked, disgust on her face.

“What Kyle referred to as ‘the cheap stuff.’ He saw no reason to waste money on something that was being used as bait for a drunk.” Tolly took the bottle from Arrie and replaced the cork he’d picked up before they left. “Should I get rid of it?”

“No, keep it,” she said. “We may need to clean a wound or something one day.”

Kavan and Mary the barmaid strolled through the town, arm in arm. Lanara lagged a few feet behind, trying to look as if she weren’t paying attention. It was fairly obvious that Mary desperately wanted to lose the bard and be alone with Kavan, and it was equally obvious that Kavan wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. Lanara had been in enough taverns in her life to know that it was usually the men who had to chase the barmaids, not the other way around. She wasn’t sure why Kavan was so keen to avoid what she’d consider a ‘sure thing’, but figured that it would be entertaining to watch.

“So,” said Kavan, after looking behind himself for the hundredth time to make sure Lanara was still behind them, “what can you tell me about the town? Any mysteries or strange things happen here?”

“Well, there’s the forest outside of town,” she answered. “Tristan lives out there – he’s the local ranger. He’s kind of mysterious, I guess. And of course there’s Dagger Rock. Say, would you like to swim out and see it?”

“Perhaps… another time,” said Kavan hastily. “I’m just hoping we can do something to help out Grog. I’d hate for all of you to lose your jobs.”

“Yes, it would be sad,” she said. “I could probably find something else, but Esmerelda would have a tough time – Yuri fired her because he said she was stealing. I don’t believe it, but a lot of people in this town listen to what Yuri has to say. And I’m sure Sevem and Julia would have trouble.”

“Why?”

“Well, they used to work for Yuri too. But it got rough for them, especially after they got married. Of course Yuri didn’t like Sevem because he’s orc-touched. Well, when Grog came to town six months ago, he offered them a job with better pay and fewer dirty looks. You know, I could show you the spot up by the church where Sevem proposed.”

“Thank you, but I’ve already visited the church this morning. I’d asked you about your mother and the old town priest, remember?”

“Oh, yes.” Mary’s smile faded just a little. “You know, I really don’t want to talk about my parents. All of that was… in the past.”

“I understand.” Inwardly, Kavan scowled. Though he respected her decision, much of the reason he’d agreed to this tour was in hopes Mary might confide in him about what problems her mother and father had had before the fire six years ago. Though it seemed a remote chance, the current priest Hiram had thought there were similarities between the church fire and the one in Grog’s stables last night. Now he would have to focus on remaining cordial to Mary while at the same time avoiding the possibility of a more intimate encounter with her. It all reminded him too much of his past life for his own comfort.

They let the conversation lapse for a moment, listening to the sound of the nearby river. “I’m curious, Mary,” said Kavan after a while, “those orcs staying at the inn. What are they here for?”

“They’re horse traders,” said Mary. “They’ve been in town since winter.”

“Horse traders?” Kavan thought that Dagger Rock seemed a poor place to trade horses. Then a thought sprang into his mind. “Mary, when did the problems with the burglaries and muggings start?”

“A few months ago, I’d say.”

“Was it before or after the orcs came?”

“After, I suppose.”

“And has no one thought to suspect these orcs are behind the crimes?”

Mary thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose it’s been suggested. But they actually do seem to be horse traders – I mean, they haven’t really bought many, because most people won’t sell their horses around her. But even if they are, it doesn’t help Grog much to point it out. They’ve been staying at his inn all this time, after all, and some of the others would just say that Grog was bringing in outside help. It’s no secret that Grog has no trouble associating with those of orc blood.”

“That’s true,” admitted Kavan, “but perhaps if we…”

Their conversation was cut off by a loud yelp from Lanara. They turned to see her being assaulted by an enormous pig. The swine had a glazed look in its eye and foam dribbling from it’s mouth as it slammed into the cansin, nearly knocking her over. They heard a shout, and saw a farmer rushing over to them, waving his arms wildly. The farmer attempted to pull the pig off Lanara, but for his trouble the animal turned on him and began biting and stomping him.

“Do something!” Mary cried.

Kavan pushed Mary behind him and took a defensive stance. He attempted to move in, hoping to subdue the animal with the flat of his blade. But in its frenzy it lashed out at anyone who came near before turning its attention back to assaulting both Lanara and its terrified owner. Kavan saw that the massive pig could seriously injure or even kill one of them in its rabid state. Quickly, he focused his will and muttered a brief prayer.

“Blessed Goddess, she who fills the Chalice of Life, I pray you now take your measure from this creature.”

Kavan extended a hand and touched the pig on the back. Divine power coursed through the animal, and its eyes went wide. Blood spurted from the pig’s mouth, spraying Lanara’s skirts, and the beast fell lifeless to the ground.

Kavan helped the shaken farmer to his feet while Mary went to aid Lanara. “I’m sorry I had to do that,” he said. “I will compensate you for the loss…”

“Nonsense,” said the farmer, “if anything, I should be compensating you. I’m the one who let Hildy here bust loose before I could take the mallet to her skull.” He pointed over to his house, where a heavy wooden mallet leaned against the wall next to a broken section of fencing. “You probably saved my life,” he added.

“I’m only glad no one was seriously hurt,” Kavan said. Behind him, Lanara cleared her throat loudly. She was limping after twisting her knee in the fall, and her arm bled where she’d been bitten. Kavan stepped over and healed her injuries before returning to the farmer. “What’s your name, good sir?”

“Elmo,” he said, extending a hand. “Say, if I could ask you folks to help me haul Hildy back over to the shed and get her on the hooks, then I’d like to invite you back to my place this evening for a pig roast. Bring your friends.”

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” said Kavan.

“Yes we would,” said Lanara, her wounded pride forgotten at the thought of roast pork.

“Please, I insist. It’s not like I’m going to be able to eat the whole thing myself. Besides, it tastes better fresh.”

“Very well,” said Kavan. “My friends and I will come back this evening. Thank you for the invitation.”

When they had finished, the three decided to head back to the Happy Half-Ogre so that Lanara could change clothes. Mary and Kavan sat downstairs while Lanara headed up to their room. While waiting, Kavan began rubbing his right shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” asked Mary.

“I may have strained my shoulder while trying to subdue that pig,” he said. “Having to carry it back to Elmo’s house didn’t help matters.” He sighed. “Well, it’s nothing a back massage wouldn’t cure,” he said casually.

“Oh, well, then you just sit there and relax!” Mary said, jumping up. She began massaging Kavan’s shoulders, leaning in close enough that he could feel her bosom brushing up against the back of his head. Kavan closed his eyes and groaned. He’d walked right into that one. Old habits, he thought wearily to himself.

Upstairs, unseen by both of them, Lanara leaned over the railing and watched them, smiling. Barmaid one, elven priest zero, she thought.


On the way back from the general store, Kyle and Autumn ran into Arrie. “Any news?” she asked.

“Not really,” Kyle said glumly. “The kids weren’t as observant as we’d hoped, and Barak was pretty tight-lipped about his opinion on Grog. Even with Autumn there to help smooth over my, well, directness,” he flashed a small smile at Autumn, “he wasn’t about to talk to us about it.” He sighed heavily. “Well, at least I got a good set of waterskins while I was there.”

“Speaking of water,” said Arrie, “I’m thinking of going swimming. I asked Tolly, but apparently clerics of Ardara the Earth Goddess aren’t too keen on water. Of course, since he never takes that breastplate off it’s probably a good thing. Want to come with me?”

“That sounds good,” said Autumn. She and Arrie turned and began walking toward the river, but stopped after a few paces. They turned to see Kyle standing there.

“Well, are you coming or not?” Arrie asked.

“Me? Oh, well, I sort of assumed that you were only talking to your sister.”

“No, of course you can come with us. You can swim, right?”

“Well, sure, well enough I suppose.” Kyle fell in behind them.

The three of them walked toward Dagger Rock, Arrie talking about what she and Tolly had learned. Once they reached the river, they found a small ledge near the bank where they could pile their belongings. The river itself was perhaps a hundred feet wide; they could see a small set of docks extending into the water just south of the Rock.

“I’m going to go out and take a look at that thing,” Arrie said, pointing at Dagger Rock. “It just seems so odd, stuck there in the middle of the river like that.”

“Just be careful,” said Autumn. “Kyle and I will stay nearby.”

“Hey, I’m a better swimmer than you, Autumn,” said Arrie. “How about you, Kyle?”

Kyle looked up as he folded his yellow robes. He’d been thanking his lucky stars that he’d decided to wear his breeches under his robe today. Had it been the hot summer months instead of spring, he might have had a potentially embarrassing situation to explain to these two young women. “Oh, I’m sure you could swim circles around me, Arrie. But we’ll hang close just in case.”

The three dove into the water and began to make their way to Dagger Rock. Arrie reached it well ahead of the others, and began exploring the strange obelisk. A lip of stone protruded from the dagger a few feet under the surface, allowing her to walk around it. She circled the stone twice, then dove under to explore the surface. She came up with a quizzical look on her face.

“What is it?” asked Autumn.

“I’m not sure,” said Arrie. “I’m not an expert in geology or anything, but the base just seems odd. I mean, it looks and feels natural, but it’s a very… square kind of natural, you know what I mean?”

“Like it was man-made?” asked Kyle.

“Sort of, but not really. I mean, it doesn’t seem like it was carved.” She looked up at the top of the dagger-shaped stone, thirty feet over her head. “I think I’ll see what’s up there.”

Arrie tried to climb the stone dagger, but the obelisk’s sheer surfaces made the task difficult, and the fact that Arrie was dripping wet didn’t help. After a few minutes, she gave up. She, Autumn, and Kyle spent a few minutes casually swimming around Dagger Rock, then returned to shore. As they pulled their outer clothes back on, Arrie looked back at the rock protrusion.

“That’s just going to keep bugging me,” she said to herself.


The group waited nervously for Osborn to return. The hin had gone out nearly an hour ago to check out the cobbler’s fields. The rest of them sat quietly, drinking slowly. Elmo’s feast wasn’t due to start for another hour at least, and the minutes dragged interminably. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Osborne enter the Happy Half-Ogre. But the look on his face as he approached the table was serious.

“We need to talk,” he said, “but not here.”

After a moment of whispered conversation, the group began to slowly filter out of the inn in ones and twos so as not to attract attention. They met up down at the mill. They all leaned in close to hear Osborn over the sound of the water wheel. Osborn had insisted they meet here so they would not be overheard.

“So I went to the field to look around,” he said, “and I notice a wheelbarrow leaning up against the tool shed. But the dirt in the wheelbarrow didn’t match the topsoil – it came from much deeper. I followed the wheel rut to the stables, where I found a trapdoor covering a tunnel.”

“Just as we suspected when Stonethumb pointed us that way,” Kyle said.

“So I follow the tunnels,” Osborn continued. “And there are a few branches. One of them still seems to be a work in progress, but near as I can tell it’s heading in the general direction of the bank vault.”

“That would seem to support our theory of scaring people into putting their money into the bank so it can be robbed,” commented Tolly.

“Well, let me keep going. One of the other tunnels leads up into a basement. I’m not sure exactly where, but all I saw was a wine rack and a couple of guard dogs. I didn’t stick around to let the dogs get my scent. Another tunnel had human bones in it; kind of spooked me, until I saw there were more bones in the walls, and I realized I was under the graveyard.”

Kyle and Autumn looked at each other. “Ghosts in the graveyard.” Autumn said.

“Yeah, yeah, so anyway I try another tunnel. This one goes up through a well or something, and ends in a little room that I can’t figure out how to get out of. But I figure something’s got to be there, because whoever dug the tunnels set up a tripwire. The best I could guess was that it was somewhere near the center of town.”

“Yuri’s tavern is near the center of town,” Xu observed.

“Yeah, and so’s that other inn, the Hearthfire,” Osborn sighed at the constant interruptions. “Well, I haven’t got to the worst part yet. I finally get to the last tunnel. It kind of narrows down a bit – I was okay, but most of you would have to crawl – which ended in a wooden door with a ring. I open it up, and I’m in a basement. There’s a lot of noise upstairs; people singing, laughing, that sort of thing. It doesn’t take me long to figure out where I am – the Happy Half-Ogre.”

The faces of the party members fell. “That doesn’t look good for Grog,” said Arrie.

“What about those orcs staying here?” asked Lanara. “Kavan had some suspicions about them not really being horse traders.”

“No,” said Kyle, shaking his head. “The tunnels that Osborn described would take months to dig. The orcs have only been here since winter. It’s possible to have dug them in that amount of time, but everyone in town would know about it. For it to stay a secret, they would have had to start last summer at the absolute latest.”

“So, that means that it’s someone in the town,” said Arrie. “Grog’s only been here six months, so he couldn’t have dug those tunnels. Besides, Osborn said they got smaller just before going into Grog’s basement. Most of his crew are pretty big people.”

“So now what?” asked Kavan.

“Tonight Xu will try going out and acting as bait as planned,” said Osborn. “I’ll follow her to make sure she’s all right.”

“I’m meeting one of the orcs out at the stables later,” Arrie said. “They wanted to buy Ghost. I’ll see how much they really know about horse trading, and see what else I can get out of them.”

“Tomorrow we should go back and have a longer talk with the mason Stonethumb,” Tolly said, “and find out exactly how much he knows about those tunnels.”

“There’s still a lot to look into,” Osborn agreed, “but right now we have a date with a pig.”


The feast did much to lift their somber moods. They laughed and talked as grease dripped from their chins. Lanara played, sang, and danced for the group, and even the normally reserved Xu was inspired to play a tune on a small reed pipe. Arrie and Autumn came dressed in their best clothing; after their trip to Dagger Rock they’d changed clothes and attempted to bluff their way into the bank vault in order to see if it was vulnerable, but they were rebuffed by the banker. As the evening wore on and the fire began to die, Elmo stood up and addressed the party.

“Thank you for coming out tonight,” he said. “What with all the trouble in town it’s been hard to get folks together like we used to. You’ve eased my burden some, and that’s no small thing at my age. I’d like you all to have something.” He reached behind the stone he’d been sitting on and pulled out a dagger, handing it to Kavan. The dagger was made of iron, and was roughly made at best. Obviously not meant to hold an edge, the dagger seemed little better than an oddly shaped metal stick. Mounted in the pommel was an oddly shaped yellowish stone of poor quality. Kavan could tell it was a diamond, though not a very good one, worth no more than a few gold at best.

“I found that, years ago, while plowing my field. I always meant to ask someone about it, but never did. It’s just sat on my mantel collecting dust. I know it’s not much, but consider it a token of my appreciation for your help today.”

Each of the party members said their thanks as they passed the dagger around. Tolly examined it closely, frowning. The workmaship was odd, almost as if it was meant to appear as crude as it did. Then a thought occurred to him, and he held the blade up, silhouetting it against the moonlight reflecting off the river. He moved the dagger until it was even with the dark shape of Dagger Rock. The resemblance was uncanny.

“Arrie,” he said, handing her the dagger, “I think your instinct about Dagger Rock being unusual may be correct.” He pointed out the comparison he’d just made to her.

Arrie contemplated the dagger, a gleam in her eye. “I may have to go swimming again tomorrow,” she said.

Soon the moon was high overhead, though it was barely visible through the clouds. The party helped extinguish the bonfire and cart the meat they’d been unable to finish into Elmo’s home. Sleepily, they returned to the Happy Half-Ogre. When they got in, Arrie began changing out of her noblewoman’s clothing and into her armor.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” asked Autumn.

She shook her head. “I’m meeting that orc horse-trader at midnight,” she said. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Arrie went outside about a half-hour later and walked around to the stables. The smell of burnt wood and straw still permeated the air as she stepped inside. Patting Ghost on the flank, she saw the trader, Barok, standing at the far end of the building.

“So, Barok,” she asked in Orcish, “I’m here as we arranged. Tell me, what made you decide to buy my horse?”

A toothy grin was his only reply. Suddenly Arrie saw stars as something heavy hit her on the back of the head. Turning wobbily, she saw a second orc standing behind her, a cudgel in hand. He seemed rather surprised that his blow had not dropped the human woman.

Arrie’s chain was out in a flash, whipping out and raking across the thug’s chest. The orc yelped and tried to make his exit, but with another lash of the chain he was on his feet, dazed. Arrie ran up and kicked him right under the jaw with her heavy boot, knocking him cold.

She turned to deal with Barok, but found him splayed out on the ground. Standing over him, a heavy saddle clutched in his hands, the mute orc stablehand Shod glowered at the unconscious Barok. Arrie could see the imprint of Barok’s teeth embedded in the leather of the saddle.

“Nice work, Shod,” said Arrie.

Shod bowed slightly, then pointed toward the inn, and made gestures framing out a very large person.

“Right, go get Grog. Wait here.”

Just then Osborn came running into the stable. “I was out giving Rupert a walk when I heard a commotion,” he gasped. Then he saw the two unconscious orcs on the ground.

“Go get Grog, and the others,” Arrie said, “we have a couple of horse thieves here.”

Within minutes the party was gathered in the stables, where Arrie and Shod had trussed up Barok and his friend. Grog came in soon afterward, carrying a bastard sword and wearing a chainmail shirt draped over his barrel chest.

“So, shall we wake them?” Arrie asked, as Kavan used a small amount of divine power to heal the injury to her head.

“Allow me.” Tolly summoned up his own divine power, and a moment later the orcs were drenched with gallons of water that appeared over their heads. Sputtering, they looked around angrily.

“Allow me,” said Grog, stepping forward. He walked within an arm’s length of the two orcs, looking down at them. His eyes glowed red, and his hair appeared to literally burst into flames. The orcs fell silent as Grog spoke to them in Orcish.

“I am very, very upset right now,” he told them. “I suggest you talk. Now.”

Twenty minutes later the door to the Dagger Rock jail opened, and Grog walked in, dragging one of the two orcs behind him by the feet. The second was brought in by Arrie and Autumn.

“I have here two criminals,” Grog said to Leif, the young guard. “They’ve admitted to trying to steal her horse, and to setting the fire in my stable last night.”

The group watched as Grog and Leif hauled the two terrified orcs into cells. They looked at each other apprehensively; the orcs had also admitted to being paid by someone in town to run them out, but no amount of coercion had convinced the orcs to disclose the name of their employer.

“Well, at least we know for sure someone else is behind all this,” Lanara said.

“Yes, but our adversary remains hidden, while we are vulnerable,” said Xu.

Arrie watched the two orcs as they were locked up. She rubbed the bump on the back of her skull. “Then we just make sure we find out who it is and get to that bastard first,” she said.

The group talked quietly amongst themselves as they walked from the jail back to the Happy Half-Ogre. Most of them were exhausted from a long day walking about town, and Arrie in particular was nursing a lump on her head after the attack by the orcs. The idea of going down into the tunnels that evening was discussed, but quickly dismissed.

Osborn, Xu, and Lanara, who had spent the day resting in anticipation of a late night, decided to proceed with their plans. Xu walked around the streets of Dagger Rock alone, shadowed by Lanara and Osborne. Though at first Xu had difficulty remembering that she was trying to be conspicuous, eventually she broke the habit of walking in the shadows and went out into the open. Despite their best efforts, however, Xu was not the victim of an assault by the town’s mysterious muggers. In fact, a stray cat was the only living thing they saw.

The three heroes met up at the end of the town, and decided to check out the graveyard, as one of the tunnels Osborn had found came up somewhere inside the cemetery. Xu took up a position in the branches of an elm tree overlooking the graveyard, while Lanara circled around the perimeter. Osborn went inside, exploring the many gravestones. Most of the graves were marked with flat stone rectangles, though several had more traditional standing tombstones. There were two mausoleums as well, jutting into the night sky.

As he walked around, Osborn’s sensitive ears picked up a very faint sound; a dull, rhythmic chunk.

“Digging,” Osborn whispered to himself. He managed to locate the source of the noise; it came from a simple grave with a flat marker. Osborn read the inscription; Jack Kineron – He Deserved Better. A quick inspection revealed a well-hidden seam in the grass, and Osborn couls see that it concealed a wooden trapdoor with sod nailed on top of it.

Osborn went to get Xu and Lanara. “What is it?” asked Xu, after leaping out of the tree and turning a somersault in midair.

“I’ve found where the tunnel comes out in the graveyard,” the hin explained. “And I can hear digging.”

The three walked out to the graveyard and cautiously opened the trapdoor. It was pitch black below, and they could now all hear the digging sound; it seemed far away, though it was difficult to tell with the echoes coming from the tunnel. Lanara indicated that she could see nothing in the tunnel to the limit of her darkvision.

They decided to go down to investigate. Osborn led the way, as he had already been in the tunnels and knew where they led. Xu and Lanara followed, the monk holding a tiny oil lamp in her palm to provide just enough light for she and Osborn to see. They came close to a four-way intersection of tunnels, and Osborn held up his hand so that his friends would stop. He quietly crept back to speak with them.

“I can hear the digging coming from the tunnel to the left,” he whispered. “That’s the unfinished one leading to the bank. There’s also a bit of light coming from there. I’m going to peek around the corner and see what I can; you wait here and come quickly if I yell.”

Osborn moved forward again, disappearing from view as he left the radius of Xu’s dim light. After only a few minutes, he returned. Motioning for Lanara and Xu to turn around and walk back the way they came, he stopped them once they were well out of earshot.

“There are three of them,” said Osborn. “There are two elves doing the digging; one male and one female. There’s a short, balding human supervising them, holding the wheelbarrow I saw out by the cobbler’s field.”

“Anyone you recognize?” asked Lanara.

Osborn shook his head. “But there are plenty of people in town I haven’t seen yet. Yuri, for one.”

“Do you think the short human is Yuri?” Xu asked.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “I don’t know for sure. I didn’t think Yuri would be hanging around with elves, though; I thought he didn’t like non-humans.”

“Should we try and stop them?” asked Xu.

Osborn thought about it for a moment. “Probably not. We have no idea of their capabilities, and it’s three against three right now. Neither Lanara or I are much good in a close-quarters fight, and these tunnels won’t let me get enough distance to throw daggers. I say we wait and come back tomorrow night with everyone.”


The next morning Osborn filled in the rest of the group on their discoveries. They agreed to go down to the tunnels together that evening. In the meantime, there were several people that the group wanted to speak with, mostly about Yuri. They agreed that since whoever was behind the crimes in town was obviously on to their investigation, they should all travel together to avoid any more surprises like Arrie had.

“I want to take some time to investigate Dagger Rock,” Arrie said, as she pulled on her boots. “I want to see if that dagger Elmo gave us has something to do with it.”

“Sure,” said Osborn. “Sounds like something we can do this afternoon. We’ll all swim out and have a look.”

With everyone busy getting ready to leave, no one noticed both Tolly and Lanara looking uncomfortable at the mention of swimming.

Their first stop was very close. Arrie walked down the hall and knocked on the door to the room that until recently was occupied by the orc “horse traders”. Pushing on the door, she saw Grog’s elderly maid, Esmerelda, busy cleaning up.

“Oh, hello dear,” said Esmerelda. “What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to ask you something, if you don’t mind,” Arrie said. The rest of the party waited outside in the hallway, not wanting to mob the poor old woman.

“Well, come inside then,” Esmerelda said. “You don’t mind if I sit a spell while we talk?” She lowered herself to the edge of the bed, groaning slightly as her knees bent.

“Esmerelda,” Arrie began, “you’ve probably heard by now that we’re looking into the recent trouble in town in the hopes of clearing Grog’s name.”

“Yes, and bless you for it, dearie.”

“Well, don’t say anything to anyone yet, because we’re not sure, but some of us suspect that Yuri might be behind it. I wanted to ask you about the problems between you and him. We’ve heard the rumors, of course, about you being accused of stealing.”

“I never stole anything from him,” Esmerelda said testily.

“I know you didn’t,” said Arrie, patting the elderly woman’s hand. “I was wondering if there was some other reason Yuri let you go – something maybe you don’t talk about much?”

Esmerelda shook her head. “Near as I can figure, Yuri was looking for an excuse to let some staff go, seeing as his business weren’t too good. Fortunately Grog was there to pick us up after Yuri kicked us out. He’s hired a lot of Yuri’s old employees – besides me, there’s Sevem and Julia, and not too long ago he hired that girl Jenya to help out Matilda in the kitchen.”

Arrie nodded. “Do you know what happened to Yuri’s parents? I noticed that the Kinerons were some of the town founders, but there’s no mention of his parents, and Yuri himself only came into town a few years ago.”

Esmerelda shook her head. “Afraid I don’t know, dearie. Never met then as far as I can recall.”

“Well, did you know Jack Kineron?”

“Jack Kineron?” Esmerelda repeated. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know a Jack Kineron.”

“There’s a marker for him in the graveyard. It doesn’t say when he died, though.”

Esmerelda shook her head. “No dearie, I’ve known a lot of people in this town, but none named Jack Kineron.”

Arrie smiled, though a bit disappointed. “Thank you for talking to me. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Oh, that’s all right, dearie. I needed the rest anyway. These old bones don’t move like they used to.”

Arrie left the room, and the party went downstairs. They proceeded to Bearclaw Manor to speak with Sidon, but his butler informed them that he was at the town jail. They stopped by in time to see him delivering food to the orc prisoners. Kyle knocked at the jail door, and they were let inside by Sidon.

“Good morning,” he said. “And good work catching these two.”

“Well, the credit really goes to Arrie and Shod,” Kyle said.

“What can I do for you?” Sidon asked. “Have you found out who’s behind these crimes?”

“Not yet,” said Osborn, “but we think we’re close. We wanted to ask you what you know about Yuri.”

Sidon scratched at the beard stubble on his chin. “Well, not much. He came into town just shortly after I did. He built the Dagger Rock Tavern across from the Hearthfire, and then started buying up land around here. He leases a lot of the land to people in town around here. Then Grog came and built his place, and since then Yuri’s been stirring up the town against him.”

“Probably burned him up to see a person not of pure human blood being successful,” commented Osborn.

“Huh? Oh, Yuri’s not racist,” Sidon paused for a moment. “Well, I suppose he doesn’t care much for orcs or folks with orc blood, which is probably why he had a problem with Sevem, but he’s not nearly as bad as that drunkard Jim. No, I think his beef with Grog is just that he’s losing customers.”

“Do you know anything about Yuri’s parents?”

Sidon shook his head. “Like I said, Yuri came here from Vharnath just after me. I’d heard he had roots here, but I have no idea about his parents.”

“What about a Jack Kineron? Is he like an uncle, or cousin or something?”

Sidon looked confused. “Who?”

“Jack Kineron,” Osborn repeated. “There’s a marker for him in the graveyard.”

“You must be mistaken,” said Sidon. “The only Kinerons up there are Yuri’s grandparents, Piter and Hannah. Until Yuri came back those were the only Kinerons that ever lived here.”

“Interesting,” Osborn muttered to himself. “Well, we’d best be getting on our way.”

“Okay, then,” Sidon said. “Just remember that whatever you find out, we need evidence. Either some physical proof, or something that either myself or one of the other councilmen can witness.”

Osborn smiled, thinking of the network of tunnels that lay under Captain Bearclaw’s feet. “Oh, I’m sure we can find something.”

As they were about to leave, Kavan spoke up. “Captain, I was wondering if there are any elves living nearby. I’ve not seen any, and I long for the company of my own people.”

“Well, there’s Tristan the ranger, who lives out in the forest,” said Sidon. “But he’s elf-touched, so not quite what you’re looking for. Oh, and of course there’s Rinlin and Aeoli.”

“Who are they?” Kavan asked.

“Oh, I think they’re siblings or something. They came to town a few months ago, and they’re working for Yuri now. They’ll probably be at the tavern.”

The group looked at each other knowingly. “Thank you,” said Kavan.

The group hurried through the rest of their morning. They attempted to confront the dwarven mason Mexalo Stonethumb about the tunnels and what he knew, but Stonethumb refused to speak with them, slamming the door in Kyle’s face. Convinced he was somehow involved but not wanting to break down the door in the middle of the day, they moved on. On the way to the river Tolly stopped by the wine shop on a hunch and spoke with Gretchen again. He learned that she did, indeed, keep two guard dogs named Buttercup and Cream Puff in the basement to guard her wine, confirming their suspicion that one of the tunnels emerged under her shop.

The group arrived at the riverbank close to Dagger Rock. Several of the group began stripping down in preparation for the swim to the obelisk. Tolly tugged at his breastplate near the neckline, and Lanara almost looked green.

“I’m not going swimming,” she said flatly.

“I have no wish to enter the water myself,” agreed Tolly.

Arrie, who was already wading out, turned around, water lapping at her knees. “Well,” she said, looking at Lanara, “if you want you can stay here with Autumn,” she pointed toward her sister, who was sitting on a nearby boulder watching. “But you have to come, Tolly. You’re the only one who knows about stonework.”

“Be that as it may, I cannot and will not swim,” he repeated.

Arrie sighed and climbed out of the water. She walked a short distance downstream, toward a cluster of small boats in the middle of the river. “Hey!” she shouted to the fishermen, “we want to hire a boat!”

One of the fishermen, who didn’t seem to be having much luck anyway, pulled in his nets and began rowing to shore. The keel ground to a halt in the sandy shoreline.

“A little bird tells me you’re looking to hire a boat,” he said.

“Yeah, a little bird with a fifteen-foot-long chain,” said Lanara quietly to herself.

“Yes, we would, sir, if you don’t mind,” said Arrie.

The fisherman looked at the assembled group. “I can’t take all of you,” he said.

“Not all of us, just him.” Arrie jerked her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the Ardaran priest.

The fisherman eyed Tolly. “He planning on wearing that armor out there?”

“Yup,” answered Kyle. “Actually, I don’t think he can take it off.”

With a quick exchange of coin the group was once more on its way to Dagger Rock. Once they reached the lip surrounding the obelisk, they began walking around, studying it. Osborn was especially diligent, feeling around in the muck with his bare toes for anything unusual even as he studied the sheer stone surface. Tolly, safe in his boat, cast detect magic.

“The entire thing is faintly magical,” he said. “Perhaps some mild preservative enchantment, or the lingering aura from a more powerful spell. The dagger that Elmo gave us doesn’t radiate any magic.”

After a few minutes, Osborn suddenly stopped. “Wait a minute…” he knelt down and felt the stone surface under his feet, the water coming up to his chin. “There’s some sort of hole here, covered in slime… it’s deep, but narrow…” Osborn looked up at Tolly. “Hand me that dagger.”

Tolly tossed the dagger-shaped lump of metal to the hin, who immediately plunged it under the water. A moment later, those standing on the obelisk felt a slight shudder, and there was a sudden swirl of water just in front of Osborn. As the group gathered, they saw that a secret compartment had opened up in the stone just under the water. The fisherman’s eyes got large.

Osborn reached into the boat, where he’d stashed some of his gear in case he’d needed to climb the rock itself, and pulled out a small sack of coins. Pressing it into the fisherman’s hand, he said quietly, “We’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself for a while.”

The fisherman nodded and pocketed the money, likely more than he’d see from an entire season of fishing.

Meanwhile, Ari had already dove down into the chamber. She came up a moment later. “Looks like an old stash,” she said. “Most of it’s rotten, but there a few items left, including an iron chest. It’ll take a few trips, but I can get it all out.”

“Let me help,” Kyle said. He concentrated for a moment on his inner power, and called up his innate Talent. A translucent form appeared next to Kyle. “Go down into the chamber there,” Kyle said, pointing, “retrieve any item you can carry and bring it up to this boat.” The unseen servant immediately disappeared into the chamber, appearing as an amorphous bubble under the water.

It only took a few minutes to clear out the chamber. They quickly rowed back to shore, thanking the fisherman for his assistance and discretion. Osborn tried to jimmy the lock on the chest, but it was rusted shut. Autumn handed her sister a crowbar, and Arrie immediately put the “warrior’s lockpick” to good use, breaking open the chest. Inside they found a well-preserved book, three sealed vials, a gold ring fastened to a leather necklace, and a scimitar, the blade engraved with images of basilisks, displacer beasts, manticores, and hydras.

“Well,” said Lanara, looking over everyone’s shoulder, “either this’ll be our bonus for a job well done, or Grog’s farewell present.”


Flush with excitement from their unexpected find, the group decided to have lunch at the Heathfire Inn. They’d hoped to try the Dagger Rock Tavern to see what Yuri and his elven helpers looked like, but it wasn’t open yet. The group ate a pleasant, if unremarkable meal at the Hearthfire. Most of the customers looked as if they’d been going there for many, many years. They talked with the locals as they ate, and learned a few interesting facts – the first was that no one had ever heard of someone named Jack Kineron in town. The story of Yuri’s parents was finally revealed; the original Kinerons had always been infected with wanderlust and a need to expand their horizons; so while Yuri’s grandparents had been part of the town’s founding, their children found Dagger Rock too settled for their taste, and simply left. The most important thing they learned was that Yuri was a short, balding man, and his workers Rinlin and Aeoli matched the description of the two elves Osborn had seen the previous night.

On the way back to the Happy Half-Ogre to rest, Osborn swung by the jail. “We’re coming by your place at midnight tonight,” he whispered to Sidon when he opened the door, “be ready, and you’ll have your answers.”

Sidon nodded. “Then I’d better get some rest,” he said.

That evening, Sidon was waiting for the party outside his home, dressed in his armor and carrying a sword. He followed the group into the graveyard, and his eyebrows arched in surprise when they lifted the secret trapdoor on Jack Kineron’s grave. Osborn put a finger to his lips, then cupped a hand to his ear. Sidon listened intently, and heard the same thing they’d heard the night before – digging.

“There’s a whole network of tunnels under the town,” Osborn said, lowering the trapdoor temporarily. “One branch connects to the cobbler’s stables, another comes out here, another in the basement of the winemaker’s shop, and another one in Grog’s basement. There’s one tunnel which ends in a small room that I couldn’t figure out how to get out of, but I think it comes up somewhere near the middle of town. The tunnel that you can hear them digging is headed toward the bank vault.”

Sidon’s eyes widened. “I think I need to see this for myself,” he said.

The group moved down the tunnels toward the sound of digging. Most of them stopped at the intersection to block any escape, while Osborn led Sidon forward to the bank tunnel. They came back a few minutes later.

“That’s Yuri, all right,” whispered Sidon, “and Rinlin and Aeoli too. I never would have expected anything this big.”

“We think that they have created an artificial panic in town with these robberies,” said Tolly. “Causing more people to place their valuables in the bank vaults. Yuri gets the money, Grog is voted out of town which eliminates the competition, and once the tunnel connecting the vault to Grog’s inn is discovered he would naturally be blamed for the robbery as well, leaving Yuri blameless.”

“Well, now what?” asked Arrie. “Do we jump them?”

“I think if we just confront them all together,” said Captain Bearclaw, “they should surrender without a fight.”

Indeed, as the group of nine seasoned adventurers rounded the corner and confronted the three diggers, they very quickly realized the odds were against them and gave up. The party helped bring the shackled prisoners up to the surface, where they were led into the jail by Sidon. Once secure, Sidon pulled out a pair of heavy leather gauntlets and began pulling them on.

“I’ll need some privacy to interrogate the prisoners,” he said. “I’ll send Raymond to go get Logan Ironhand up and join you. I think you ought to go take a look at the Dagger Rock Tavern.”

The group emerged from the jail, eager to put the final nail in Yuri’s coffin. “I think we should head back into the tunnels,” said Osborn. “I want to check out that dead-end tunnel one more time. If it leads into Yuri’s place, which I think it does, it’s going to be a lot easier to come up from below than it will be to find the entrance from the tavern.”

Sure enough, once Osborn crawled into the small alcove, he found what he was looking for. Perhaps Yuri and his crew had been less cautious tonight than before, but this time the hin easily spotted the hidden pull-ring that opened the secret door. The party emerged into a long room, containing nothing but a table with six chairs around it. On one wall was a map of the entire tunnel system, showing the intended path straight to the vaults. Autumn pulled the map off the wall and rolled it up. “Evidence,” she said.

Kyle looked at the table. “Six chairs,” he mused. “I think we’ve only caught half the conspirators here.”

Kavan’s head perked up suddenly. He’d caught the faint feel of a breeze where there shouldn’t have been as he walked toward the door. Stepping back, he examined the wall. “There’s another secret passage here,” Kavan said. He pushed on the wall, and it swung open.

“Wait here,” Tolly said, summoning a light. “I’ll check it out.”

The rest of the group sat patiently while Tolly went into the darkness. Osborn listened at the door at the far end of the room. “I hear something inside,” he said. “It sounds like a cat.”

They opened the door and found a small closet. Inside were two large chests, and perched atop one of them was a large cat. Osborn, Lanara, and Xu recognized it as the one they’d seen in the streets the night they’d tried to act as decoys. Kavan attempted to pick the cat up to pet it, but it clawed and hissed at him, then bolted out of the closet and down the hole they’d come in.

“I was just trying to be nice,” said Kavan sadly.

“Well, I’m sure it’s not your fault,” said Osborn, who was already working on the lock of one of the chests.

Tolly came back a minute later. “This leads into a large bedroom, I presume Yuri’s. There’s a hallway that leads into a hidden part of the tavern, where it looks like he’s set up some sort of gambling hall.”

“Is gambling legal here?” asked Arrie.

“I’m not certain. We’ll ask Captain Bearclaw when we get the chance.”

“I don’t think we’ll need to worry about it much,” Osborn said. He was working on the second chest, but pointed at the first one, which was open. “If I had to guess, I’d say that’s all the stuff that’s been stolen from the town.”

Within minutes Yuri’s tavern had let go all its secrets. Lanara found another hidden door while exploring Yuri’s closet, which led out into the main room of the tavern. She walked out just as Logan Ironhand and his son Raymond came in through the front door.

“Oh, you’re just in time,” she called out to them.


The party gathered around one of Grog’s large tables, enjoying the last remnants of a feast. Captain Bearclaw was with them, as was all of Grog’s staff, with one notable exception.

Between the diary kept by the elven wizard Aeoli (who was Rinlin’s wife, it turned out, not his sister) and Yuri’s confession, the whole story had come out. Yuri had known the elven couple back in Vharnath, and had recruited them for this job; in addition to digging, they had also been the burglars and muggers, using Aeoli’s magic to remain unidentified. Their accomplices were Jim Aransee, who turned out not to be quite the drunkard that everyone thought. He’d acted as the eyes and ears of the conspirators. Keeping an eye on Grog was Kayla, the cook’s assistant Grog had hired recently. A search of her apartment above the wine shop turned up a supply of debilitating poisons, which was apparently Yuri’s fallback plan should the bank heist go awry. The sixth conspirator turned out to be Mexalo Stonethumb, who turned himself in. Yuri had blackmailed him when the tavern owner found out that Mexalo had seriously overcharged the town for building the jail.

“So what’ll happen to them?” asked Arrie.

“Mexalo’s agreed to work off his debt. The others have been banished on pain of death. As for Yuri, everything he had – which turned out to be surprising little, thanks to his gambling debts – is forfeited to the town, and as for him… we’ll take care of his sentencing right here in town.”

As if Sidon’s meaning wasn’t clear enough, Grog grinned and drew his thumb across his neck.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me,” said Sidon, standing up, “I’m going home and getting some rest at last.” He walked out the door to the sound of hearty farewells.

“Well, yer as good as yer word, young’uns,” said Grog, grinning. “Ye saved my inn and my crew, and I thank ye for that. Now, I’ve promised ye a reward, and ye’ll get it – I’ve left it up in yer rooms, just to be discreet about it. Stay here as long as ye like before ye have to leave.”

Thanking their host profusely, the party soon went upstairs to collect their reward and turn in. But as they opened the door, they saw their instructor, Shilsen, sitting on the bed, holding the magical jambiya that Arrie had found on the orcs.

“So, it seems as though it’s been a job well done,” he said, looking at them. “You should be proud of yourselves.”

“Thank you,” said Tolly. “It was an interesting simulation, to be sure.”

“Simulation?” Shilsen smiled. “No, I think you’re mistaken. Dagger Rock is a real place, and you actually did walk here. It’s in the Farmer’s Circle, a group of villages that surrounds the city of Vharnath. No, you’ve actually been on a real mission, and helped real people.”

The party looked around at each other, not knowing what to say.

“The Tower feels that a final examination should take place ‘in the field’, so to speak, to give them a chance to see what it’s really like out there,” Shilsen explained.

“Wait,” Lanara said, “did you say ‘final exam’?”

“Why, yes, Lanara, I did. Aren’t you glad you came to class on time for this one?” Shilsen smiled as he stood up. “I’m pleased to say that you’ve all passed, and will graduate from the Tower. Speaking of which, the graduation ceremony’s in three days. If you set a good pace, you should just barely make it back to Trageon in time.” With that, Shilsen twisted a gem on a bracelet he wore, and vanished.

An audible groan filled the room.

-----------------------------

We learned some valuable things in this adventure. The main thing we learned is that a mystery-style adventure takes forever with eight players. THis is a relatively short published adventure, and it took us four sessions to finish. With a group as large as ours, there's no reason not to split up to investigate leads, which means the DM's dealing with four groups of two instead of one group of eight. We also ended up chasing a lot of red herrings and side plots (like Dagger Rock itself) that in a smaller group might have gone untouched. IN the end, we were all so weary of the adventure (including the DM) that the final confrontation was glossed over (though realistically Yuri and his flunkies had no chance against eight of us anyway). We've agreed to avoid these types of adventures in the future - though individually none of us has a problem with an investigative adventure, the group dynamics don't support this particular style.

So, from this point on no more school setting - it's for real now! (Cue ominous music)