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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eccles" data-source="post: 489004" data-attributes="member: 5675">Jared Blackspawn’s JournalPart 5----------------------------------Eleasis 21st - We have arrived back in Clearwater at last, nearly a month after our departure. We got back to see a few changes have taken place in our extended absence. An earthen rampart now surrounds much of the town, with a wooden palisade fence atop it, and work is proceeding on fortifying the rest of the settlement. Too, the Temple to Chauntea has been expanded, rising upwards by another storey. Rand spotted a new flagpole flying a flag with the initials VC on it, and his expression went dark. There are also several other new buildings in town, and all of this renovation we quickly found out is due to the money that the Van Cei family have brought into the area. We entered the town walked past Jake Morgan's rundown old house, where the crooked bastard was sat outside on his porch. I noticed him eyeballing the chests we were carrying (or more accurately dragging). I shall be sure to keep an eye on him, I just got wealthy and I have plans for my share of the silver, none of which involve him getting his hands on it. We got back to the Inn, greeted the Mayor and also White Wolf the local bard, and stored the chests below the Inn in the old vault I used to sleep in. I got myself a room for a tenday and a drink. I even bought Taeghen a drink (though he didn't drink it).The town is experiencing a boom thanks to the Van Cei family’s money, as it seems the youngest son of the household has been sent to this backwater to see what he can make of himself. The change troubles me. I was getting to be accepted, or at the least ignored in the town. These newcomers are clearly influential and I do not know them or their motives. The head of the family here in Clearwater, the youngest son I mentioned, styles himself as "The Commander". To my mind pompous titles do nothing but bode ill. Rand has his own reason for hating the Van Cei, they caused the ruination of his family in years past while Daggerdale was under Zhent occupation. There are two other groups of "adventurers" in town now. One group works for the Commander, a professional looking assortment who I believe to be mercenaries, albeit formidable ones. The other group is staying with Jake Morgan... Things go from bad to worse I fear.At 6pm a town meeting was held in the Inn and everyone was there, both old and new faces in the village... and they have never looked more divided. Jake Morgan, the Commander, farmers, traders, both priests. Everyone of importance and everyone else who wanted to just listen in were there. It turns out that this was the first town meeting since Clearwater was founded three years ago. As it happens the meeting was so that the Mayor could present several issues needing resolving to the assembled adventurers present. the tasks were as follows:- Investigate the ruined tower to the north of town, as it is rumoured to again by occupied, and the Mayor wishes to know by whom if the rumour is true. - Investigate the old dwarfhold in the Desertsmouth Mountains to the west that is besieged by Ogres and other fell beings. Not sure why the Mayor wanted this done, I wasn't paying attention at that point as Tannas had distracted me with something or other. - Some personal matter of special delicacy. (The Mayor looked directly at our group when he said this, talk about a hint). - I'm sure there was a fourth task, but I've forgotten what it is, I've had a few to drink today. And as I relate below, it has hardly been the sanest of days! [DM - This was to go and check out the rumours of undead appearing in a cemetary just out of town. The consequences of ignoring this task 2 in-game months ago have yet to be felt!)We opted to check out the tower and the special matter. Morgan’s thugs left without offering any help at all, and the Commander’s posse of minions elected to do all the tasks, but have decided to tackle the Ogres first. Good riddance to them, should keep them busy for ages.The Mayor took us into the back room of the Inn and told us that the special matter was recovering the ring by which he was to wed Rand's mentor the elven wizardess Alliandre. He then urged us to drink a vial of a strange concoction each, which we trustingly did. His bride to be then came in, cast a spell and shrunk us down to roughly half the height of a human thumb! Bastard didn't even warn us. It turns out his ring was taken by a rat or some such other vermin, and is no doubt in the creatures lair, somewhere in the walls of the Inn. The thing was going to be huge to us. We set off eager to get this strange task over with and return to our proper size, whereupon myself and Braddoc intended to have words with the Mayor that involved much hitting him with sharp and blunt objects alike!Setting off through a hole in a skirting board of the back room, we entered the space between the Inn's walls and headed off after a faint trail. We soon encountered out first critter a huge (to us anyway) Stag Beetle. The others battled it but I saw no need to get involved in the melee at first, but then seeing Taeghen fall in its mandibles I charged it, though only succeeded in scratching its carapace. I think Stedd killed it though and Taeghen was restored to health.The beetle vanquished, we proceeded upwards through the wall and entered a spider’s lair. I've never liked spiders; despite how ingrained the images of drow and spiders are in most surface dwellers minds. Three large and huge spiders later and I was covered in ichor and liking spiders no more. The world cannot be rid of them and their wretched goddess soon enough for my tastes. Our next encounter was with a very small (though still larger than us) Dust Mephit, which we destroyed easily enough, though I continue to suffer from the poison that one of the spiders injected into me earlier.Not long after we entered the lair of the rats that had stolen the ring. We noticed that they were distracted, defending their lair from some invading wasps. Using the fight as a distraction, Braddoc, Stedd & I rushed in and grabbed the ring, dragging it away between us, while Rand, Taeghen and Tannas held off the couple rats who tried to interfere in the retrieval. It then took us a couple hours to get back the way we had come, fortunately without further incident, and return to the Mayor, whereupon we were restored to full size. The Mayor was stunned when confronted with what he had done, not having considered the dangers to us in our reduced forms. While annoyed about being shrunk, I noticed that the ire of my companions had faded, and so I no longer had a mandate to kill the irritating fool, so I just slunk off to my room to make a record of the strangest day in my life thus farm and then to bed.Eleasis 22nd - Nothing much really happened today, those of us with wounds from yesterdays bizarre excursion got them seen to, Braddoc spent time with his uncle Gort in the smithy, I sat in my usual corner of the Inn watching the comings and goings. Of interest was the departure of the Commanders minions heading west to the mountains and the old dwarfhold to deal with the Ogres there.Eleasis 23rd to Eleint 2nd - Spent the tenday training and honing our skills. Should this tower indeed be occupied then we might well be in for a fierce battle, as none of us have fought a real wizard before. I devoted much of the time to further improving my stealthy skills, which I hope will prove useful in any upcoming combats.Eleint 3rd - Having spent the last tenday honing our skills, we were eager to set out from the town. We had opted to tackle the tower to the north of town, which after years of being vacant and derelict following the Zhent occupation is apparently occupied again and the Mayor is worried about this (and everything else, Mayor Butterstone worries a lot). From my surveillance of the other groups, I have determined that Jake Morgan’s posse of thugs have barely left his house and seem to spend all their time getting roaring drunk and smashing up the place, fitting company for him indeed. There has been no sign of the Commanders minions, but that is to be expected, as dealing with that many ogres will take some doing. We set off early for the tower, it being a three-day trek to the north of Clearwater. The tower it is said used to belong to a wizardess called Traya the Forsaken, though she was slain by the Zhentarim.Towards the latter part of the day as were we travelling along the road, we were challenged by a bandit with the quaint threat of "Stand & Deliver". He mentioned that crossbows were aimed at us, no doubt from cowardly compatriots in the tree line to either side of the road. Rand then must have done something behind us to alarm him, as he shouted for his men to fire, as he ran into the trees screaming about Warlocks. We handily defeated the bandits who numbered four in all, the last of their number surrendering to us rather than joining his larcenous companions in death. Taeghen prevented me from ridding us of the burden of dealing with him, offering instead to ride back to Clearwater and deposit him with the Mayor. The elf is the only one of us on horseback, mainly due to the heavy full plate armour he is wearing as else he would slow us all down. We split the bandits’ haul of coinage between us, it seems banditry has been good of late, as there was plenty of gold to divide amongst us. Taeghen returned around midnight, finding our camp easily enough. He has deposited the bandit in the Mayor's custody... yet another thing for him to worry about.</blockquote>

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